the NachtKabarett
Alchemical engraving as found in the Holy Wood album artworkAll Writing & Content © Nick Kushner Unless Noted Otherwise
Original source'The two snakes.' The image used in the Holy Wood booklet from the 1676 Dutch alchemical text De Goude Leeuw of den asijn der wijsen, or The Gold Lion Of The Vinegar Of The Wise, by Goossen van Vreeswyk. Note also the representations of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water in the corners of this plate.
The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century by Stanislas Klossowski De Rola"Hercules as a child throttled the snakes sent by Juno to kill him. In alchemical symbolism Hercules is the Artist; the killing of the snakes is Fixation of the Volatile; and the flight of the Birds is Volatilization. The Four Elements are represented by Dolphin, Dragon, Bird and Salamander. As all the Philosophers maintain, he who can convert Earth into Water, the same Water into Air, the same Air into Fire, and the same Fire into Earth, shall know the entire process of the Philosopher's Stone."
Alchemical engraving as found in the Holy Wood album artwork
Original source'The attributes of the dragon.' Another figure in the Holy Wood booklet with the same decor and attributes from the above, and also appearing within the same book, De Goude Leeuw of den asijn der wijsen, by Goossen van Vreeswyk.
The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century by Stanislas Klossowski De Rola"Opened by the martial sword, our Subject yields the Vitriol of the Wise."