Category Archives: Alchemy

April Daisies

Posted on by
Reply

Daisy, the flower of April, is associated with the planet Venus and the deities Freya, Artemis (Diana), and Thor.

“April showers bring May flowers,” they say. But its nearly April and April flowers are pretty important as well.

Daisy was said to have sprung from the tears of Mary Magdalen and associated with April whose “showers are sweet with fruit” according to Geoffrey Chaucer. Daisy is a “feminine” flower whose element is water (according to the alchemists). According to an old saying, spring has not fully arrived until you can step on 12 daisies. Daisy can be used in magic to promote lust and love. Thor used daisy-chains when he disguised himself as Freya to fool the giant  Thrymer, who wanted Freya as his wife.

When you were little, do you remember plucking the petals of a daisy while reciting, “S/he loves, s/he loves me not?” I remember my aunt plucking a daisy from my grandparents’ garden and asking the flower this question about her fiancé. This repetitive questioning will reveal the true feelings of a potential lover. Picking the first daisy of the season will make you an uncontrolled flirt and sleeping with a daisy under your pillow will bring an absent lover back to you.

Daisy can be eaten to relieve stomach ulcers (as Henry VIII did). King Henry’s family came from Wales, where daisy was used to cure insanity, treat smallpox, tumors, jaundice and skin diseases. According to an ancient Celtic legend, daisies came from the spirits of children who died at birth; therefore daisies are also associated with innocence.

Spring and innocence and love all go together, right? Pluck a daisy and hold all three in your hand. Gather a vaseful of April daisies and attract spring and innocence and love to your house.

Christmas in July?

Posted on by
Reply

Map of Bones Cvr

Shrine of the Three Magi, Cologne cathedral, Germany

Shrine of the Three Magi, Cologne cathedral, Germany

Shrine of the Three Magi, Cologne cathedral, Germany (another view).

Shrine of the Three Magi, Cologne cathedral, Germany
(another view).

Although the Magi are most often associated with Christmas and Epiphany on December 25 and January 6 each year, they are also associated with July 23, the day their bodies (relics) arrived in Cologne, Germany in 1164.

The relics of the Magi were taken from Milan by Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa and given to the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel in 1164. The Three Kings have since attracted a constant stream of pilgrims to Cologne. Parts of the shrine were designed by the famous medieval goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun, who began work on it in 1180 or 1181. It has elaborate gold sculptures of the prophets and apostles, and scenes from the life of Christ. The shrine was completed circa 1225.

Around 1199, King Otto gave three golden crowns made for the three wise men as a present to the church of Cologne. Because of the importance of the shrine and the cathedral for the later development of the city, the Coat of Arms of Cologne still shows these three crowns symbolizing the Three Kings.

Construction of the present Cologne Cathedral was begun in 1248 to house these important relics. The cathedral took 632 years to complete and is now the largest Gothic church in northern Europe.

Map of Bones, a great sci-fi thriller by James Rollins, begins with the celebration of the bones of the Magi in the Cologne cathedral.

A mystery, “The Bishop and the Three Kings” by Andrew Greeley, is about the theft of the shrine.

Read more about the shrine of the Magi in Cologne here.

Charles IV birthday

Posted on by
Reply
Charles IV is best known today for the Charles Bridge that unites Prague across the Vltava River.

Charles IV is best known today for the Charles Bridge that unites Prague across the Vltava River.

Charles IV, king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, celebrates his 700th birthday on Saturday, May 14! He made Prague the cultural and political capital of Europe and the Beautiful Style that he championed made Prague the artistic center of Europe for nearly 100 years. There are several events in Prague to celebrate Charles’ 700th birthday!

Charles IV wanted his stone bridge, built in 1357, to be a masterpiece of occult workmanship to protect his beloved city of Prague.

Charles IV wanted his stone bridge, built in 1357, to be a masterpiece of occult workmanship to protect his beloved city of Prague.

He is best known today, however, for the magnificent stone Charles Bridge which he had built to span the Vltava River in 1357 to replace the original wooden Judith Bridge which had been washed away by a flood in 1342. In order to protect the city, Charles ordered massive amounts of magical reinforcements to be incorporated into the bridge as it served as the principal means of crossing the Vltava for several hundred miles in either direction and helped make Prague one of the most important business centers in central Europe.

Construction began on Charles Bridge at 5:31am on 9 July 1357 and Charles IV himself laid the first stone. This exact time was very important to the Holy Roman Emperor because he was a strong believer of numerology and this specific time, which formed a numerical bridge or palindrome (135797531), reinforced the bridge’s strength. He had eggs used in mixing the mortar, partly because their chemical composition made the mortar stronger and partly because eggs were so important in alchemy. Charles had a brief poem, each line a palindrome, inscribed on a watchtower on the Old Town side of the bridge in order to confuse any devils that might be lurking in the shadows and waiting to cross the bridge:

SIGNATESIGNATEMEREMETENGISETAUGIS
ROMATIBISUBITOMOTIBUSIBITAMOR

“Reveal yourself as a sign in the sky though in vain you reach for me,
your desire.
Rome, the motion of the stars suddenly brings you love.”

Prague has escaped the ravages of time and history nearly unscathed: no major fires or epidemics, no with hunts, no battles or bombings. The magic of the Charles Bridge seems to have worked!

Click here for events in Prague this year to mark the 700th birthday of Charles IV.