ABSTRACT
BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THE Third Series, we might ask why the Splendor Solis uses three different series of images to illumine the alchemical process. The symbolism of the First Series is more like the alchemy of the Middle Ages in Europe, when some alchemists really did think that they were going to make gold. Their symbolism referred to the alchemists’ experiences in the laboratory, for example observations of color changes and the use of processes such as distillation or calcification. This was at first done without any awareness that something was being added from the psyche by using an image or symbol.
