Animal Correspondences
Animal Correspondences
Roland Matthews (2019)
Anyone familiar with alchemy has probably discovered that there is a lot of information about plants, minerals, and metals. However, other than a few items such as oil of egg or the infamous Homunculus, there is very little written about animal alchemy. The art of animal alchemy is considered taboo by some because the creatures are required to be killed in order to separate their various principles. However, in the view of the alchemist, all beings including minerals, stones, and metals as well as plants and animals are all living creatures. All things in this world must kill and consume some other thing in order to survive. So, with moral and ethical considerations aside, an objective, non-judgmental and non-dualistic perspective must be applied in order to appreciate why this too is a part of alchemy. All is One.
The zodiac consists of twelve constellations located somewhat in line with the Earth’s equator and is associated with various creatures, hence the name meaning circle of animals. Aries is the Cardinal Sulphur of Fire ruled by Mars symbolized by a Ram. Taurus is the Fixed Salt of Earth ruled by Venus symbolized by a Bull. Gemini is the Mutable Mercury of Air ruled by Mercury symbolized by Twins. Cancer is the Cardinal Sulphur of Water ruled by the Moon and symbolized by a Crab. Leo is the Fixed Salt of fire ruled by the Sun and symbolized by a Lion. Virgo is the Mutable Mercury of Earth ruled by Mercury and symbolized by a Virgin. Libra is the Cardinal Sulphur of Air ruled by Venus and symbolized by Scales. Scorpio is the Fixed Salt of Water ruled by Mars and symbolized by a Scorpion. Sagittarius is the Mutable Mercury of Fire ruled by Jupiter and symbolized by a Centaur. Capricorn is the Cardinal Sulphur of Earth ruled by Saturn and symbolized by a half Goat half Fish creature. Aquarius is the Fixed Salt of Air also ruled by Saturn and symbolized by a Human with jars of water. Pisces is the Mutable Mercury of Water ruled by Jupiter and symbolized by a pair of Fishes.
Aleister Crowley (1875 – 1947) lists a table of correspondences in his book 777. Aries, path 15 on the Tree of Life is a ram or owl. Taurus, path 16, is a bull. Gemini, path 17, is a magpie. Cancer, path 18, is a crab or turtle. Leo, path 19, is a lion. Virgo, path 20, is any solitary creature. Libra, path 22, is an elephant. Scorpio, path 24, is a scorpion, beetle, lobster, or wolf. Sagittarius, path 25, is a centaur, hippogriff, horse, or dog. Capricorn, path 26, is a goat or ass. Aquarius, path 28, is a man, eagle, or peacock. Pisces, path 29, is a fish or dolphin.
There are six classifications in the animal world: Invertebrates, Mammals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, and Amphibians. If we grouped the Amphibians with the Reptiles and removed the Invertebrates, we could associate the four elements like so: Mammals = Fire, Birds = Air, Fish = Water, and Reptiles = Earth. Aries could be represented by not only sheep, but also deer and any other horned ungulates. Leo could be not only lions, but any kind of feline, and perhaps foxes. Sagittarius could be any kind of equine or non-horned ungulates. The air signs could all be birds. I like Crowley’s Gemini attribution of a magpie because they are clever, mostly black, and very communicative. However, I cannot comprehend his association of Libra with an elephant. I would have suggested a dove, which is typically white and associated with Venus. Aquarius is the most difficult. I would recommend something red such as a cardinal or robin, or even an ibis. But I could see Crowley’s peacock working or even a humming bird. Cancer is obviously a crab, which is primarily an aquatic animal, and so is the lobster, or any other armored sea creature such as a sea turtle. Scorpio seems to fit any arthropod such as scorpions and spiders, but since they aren’t exactly aquatic, we could also include bottom feeders such as catfish and mollusks. Pisces could easily be represented by any cetacean such as whales and dolphins, and also flying fish or salmon. Slow-moving Earth-bound reptiles such as a tortoise could represent Taurus. Any kind of serpent, snake, or viper could represent Virgo as is seen on the caduceus of Hermes, the staff of Asclepius, or the python of Delphi. Any kind of lizard such as iguanas, geckos, anoles, chameleons, or skinks could represent Capricorn as they like to climb ever higher to secure a strategic position.
It is of interest to note that there were five different types of sacrifices mentioned in the Old Testament book of Leviticus: the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the offering to atone for a sin, and an offering for trespass. The shechita, or Jewish ritual slaughter, typically used either a bull, a ram, a goat, or a dove (or all four). All four of these animals are in our zodiac list, and three of them, the ram of Aries, the goat of Capricorn, and the Dove of Libra correspond to cardinal signs. The bull of Taurus is a fixed sign, and I can only assume that Cancer was not used because of the Hebrew prohibition against shellfish. I wonder if they could have been related to the Solstices and Equinoxes as well?
Animal alchemy is taboo because we humans are also animals. But maybe because of our modern sanitized and civilized lifestyles we have lost touch with the requirements of hunting to provide food for our families. The actual process of creating an animal spagyric could be a topic for a later discussion.
