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The Rebis (from the Latin res bina, meaning dual or double matter)^[2] is variably identified as either the end product of the alchemical magnum opus (or great work)^[3][4] or the initial state of matter.^[5] It is heavily associated with the principle of hermaphroditism, or the combination of the male and female sexes into one being.^[3]

The Rebis is sometimes associated with the primordial state of the world,^[4] or the prima materia. While described methods to create the Rebis vary in their specifics, a common theme is the putrefaction of a starting matter into the chaos of nigredo. This is followed by its separation into its parts, such as masculine or feminine. This phase is also called albedo.^[6] Finally, the parts are recombined into a whole, achieving the Rebis.^[3][4]

The Rebis is associated both with divinity and with hermaphroditism, so it is sometimes called the "divine hermaphrodite."^[7] Generally, the Rebis is a symbol of the coniunctio, or the conjunction of opposites, which formed a key role in alchemical philosophy.^[6] Such opposites include male and female,^[3][4][6][8] left and right,^[3], body and spirit,^[9], air and fire^[4], and sun and moon (where the sun corresponds to the male and the moon corresponds to the female).^[8] The Red King and White Queen are similarly associated.^{[citation needed]}

The Rebis image appeared in the work Azoth of the Philosophers by Basil Valentine in 1613.

See also

• Adam Kadmon
• Hieros gamos
• Unity of opposites
• Androgyny

References

Sources

• Robert Allen Bartlett, Real Alchemy: A Primer of Practical Alchemy, Hays (Nicolas) Ltd, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8925-4150-8
• Barbara DiBernard, Alchemy and Finnegans Wake, Suny Press, 1980, p. 71, ISBN 978-0-87395-429-7
• Heinrich Jamsthaler, Viatorum spagyricum, Frankfurt a. M, Germany, 1625
• Jung, C.G. (1969) [1951], "The Psychology of the Child Archetype", in Adler, Gerhard; Hull, R.F.C. (eds.), The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, vol. 9, part 1 (2nd ed.), Princeton University Press, pp. 173–176, ISBN 978-0-691-01833-1
• Long, Kathleen P. (2006). Hermaphrodites in Renaissance Europe. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315253367. ISBN 9781315253367.
• Heinrich Nollius, Theoria philosophiae hermetica, Hanau, 1617
• Pagel, Walter (1 October 1960). "Paracelsus and the Neoplatonic and Gnostic Tradition". Ambix. 8 (3): 125–166. doi:10.1179/amb.1960.8.3.125. ISSN 0002-6980.
• Pagel, Walter; Winder, Marianne (1 November 1974). "The Higher Elements and Prime Matter in Renaissance Naturalism and in Paracelsus". Ambix. 21 (2–3): 93–127. doi:10.1179/000269874790223623. ISSN 0002-6980.
• Alexander Roob, Alchimie et mystique: le musée hermétique, Taschen GmbH, 2006, p. 494, ISBN 978-3-8228-5037-4
• Murray Stein, Transformation: Emergence of the Self, Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 101
• Lazarus Zetzner, Theatrum Chemicum, Strasbourg, 1661

External links

• Basil Valentine 'Azoth' images
• The Rebis image in Alchemy Archived 2013-07-09 at the Wayback Machine