Prague has many symbols about alchemy hiding in plain sight. Regular readers will be familiar with some of these stories. There is a larger pattern of alchemical symbols hiding in the streets of Prague. This article guides you through the mystical underbelly of the City of a Thousand Spires.

How it started

Alchemy started in the third century CE in the Nile delta, Egypt. The word derives from the Arabic ‘al-khemiya’ which means ‘The dark soil of Egypt’¹. From Alexandria, the teachings spread to the rest of the world.¹.

Alchemy is the art of transformation. Alchemists thought they could transform base material like soil into gold. Science has since advanced enough to know we cannot do this. Alchemists spent their time looking for the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’. They believed this would help them make gold.

Using alchemy

Bohemia’s King Charles IV wanted to create a royal procession for his coronation. He chose a route from the eastern part of the city towards the castle in the west, following the sun. He saw this as part of a transformation too – from a base material (man) into something precious (a king)

Much later, alchemy influenced Swiss psychologist Carl Jung². He saw a parallel between this and the alchemists’ path of transformation. In his view, as we grow into adults we change from base material (a baby) into a fully functioning adult.

Prague’s alchemical symbols

Alchemy has four distinct stages, each of which having several steps³. This guide explains each stage, maps the stage to the Royal route in Prague and explains the process of self-realisation. Use it whilst walking the streets of Prague to discover the grand pattern behind the symbols.

Start the walk at Prague’s Powder Tower, at the entrance to the Old Town. Charles IV chose this as the starting point for his Royal route because he lived in the building next door. They built the Municipal House⁴ you see today at the end of the nineteenth century.

The Powder Tower is also symbolic of a threshold into the city.

Head through the tower and along Celetna street to begin your journey. As you reach the first junction, look out for the statue of Mercury⁵ on top of the entrance to number 29. This winged messenger holds a staff which can convert things from one state to another.  It’s a sign your journey is about to begin.

(Links in this article take you to other articles I wrote explaining some of the Prague symbols in more detail.)

1 – Nigredo

The first stage in alchemy is Nigredo, or a blackening. Alchemists cleansed the ingredients by cooking them to a uniform black matter³.

The first step in Nigredo is calcination. Here you reduce substances to ashes by heating, drying or crushing them. Tools needed are obvious: furnaces and mortars. The main idea is to reduce the substance into base ingredients¹.

The symbol for fire, and for calcination, is an upwards-pointing triangle¹. Salamanders, lions and dragons are also used. The Sun is another obvious one.

The second step is dissolution. Alchemists immersed the powder into a liquid. Water and acids were common, so the tools needed here include kettles and cauldrons¹.

The symbol for water, and for this step, is a downwards-pointing triangle ¹.

There is also imagery associated with Nigredo; it is all about shadows and obscurity. Bears portray the nigredo because of their colour and their raw nature. This mirrors the raw nature of the ingredients alchemists start with. Crows and toads, because of their colour, are also used.

Psychology

Jung compared the nigredo with our realisation and understanding of consciousness and unconsciousness. Disruptive events, including growing up, make us turn into ourselves. Part of personal development is becoming aware of shadow aspects of our self. Jung describes how we face the darkness inside us calling it, ‘The dark night of the soul'⁶.

Jung points out we can show our true identity by reaching beyond our personality and ego. This is a mechanism to free the masculine essence of ‘spirit’. Dissolution allows us to free the feminine essence of ‘soul’. Together, the spirit and the soul are the two invisible forces key to our transformation. They are our masculine and feminine side, if you will¹.

Prague

The first symbol you will note is the House of the Black Madonna⁷ at the first junction on your left. Unfortunately, this is misleading. The decoration is recent and has no relation to alchemy or the Royal Route.

Further along the road, at number 6, you will find the House of the White Lion. A large shield with the Czech white lion displayed between the first and second floors. Look closer and you will see two bears flanking the shield. The untamed nature, represented by the bears, follows you on this Royal Route. The bear on your right, which faces you as you approach, is roaring and looks rather menacing. It’s almost as if the bear is warning you away!

2 – Albedo

The second stage in alchemy is Albedo, or a whitening. After the disruptive nigredo stage, you need to remove impurities.

The first step is separation. Tools required here include filters, sieves and evaporating jars¹.

The symbol for air represents this step: ?. In paintings, you will see men fighting dragons as an allegory for the forceful act of separation¹.

The second step is conjunction. Alchemists combine the compound they have at the end of the previous step with something else to create a new substance. Mixing bowls, smelters and jars are all used for this¹.

The symbol used is a mirror image of the previous one: ? ¹. Alchemists thought of this as a hermetic wedding of different elements. The imagery is often of a King (Spirit or a Sun) and a Queen (Soul or a Moon) clasping each other’s hands.

Psychology

Jung talks about the anima and the animus which are the names he gives to our feminine and masculine sides. The mechanism to separate the two (which we reached at the end of nigredo) allows us to separate one from the other³. We can then fuse the two in what is ‘a sacred marriage of opposites’.

Jungian psychology represents the duality of the anima and the animus using a bear as a symbol⁸.

Prague

Further along Celetna street, there is an image of a white peacock⁹ on top of number 10. The colour is an obvious connection. Peacocks are royal birds, so there is a clear connection to the Royal route here too.

At number 8, the House of the Black Sun¹⁰ greets us. The imagery of a Sun, reminiscent of a King, is one interpretation of this symbol. A black sun is also indicative of the previous stage, nigredo. It’s almost a warning that nigredo may not be over and we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves on the path to enlightenment.

3 – Citrinitas

The third stage in alchemy is citrinitas, or a yellowing. After purification, raw materials can start to transform themselves into gold³.

The first step is coagulation. The compound starts to thicken and the dissolved solid reappears as it condenses. This suggests that the element, cleansed of impurities, returns. Tools required here include flasks and condensers.

In paintings, a King bearing a sceptre who is rising from his tomb is the image for coagulation. (The analogies to Roman Catholic mythology are obvious.)¹

The second step is sublimation. In chemistry, this would involve a gas becoming a solid without turning into a liquid first (or a solid into a gas). I can see how alchemists would think a solid is reappearing ‘out of thin air’ with this. Tools used here include containers that can withstand high temperatures and temperature changes.

In paintings there are various images used. In paintings you’d see a dove flying down into, or an eagle flying up from, a crucible.¹¹.

Psychology

According to Jung this phase represents the sage, i.e., wise old man or woman archetype. Once we have sorted the anima and animus problem, our unconscious appears in a new symbolic form. This is a sage, or guru, who appears to mentor us to become who we should be¹².

Prague

As Celetna gives way to the Old Town Square, note the Stone Lamb House¹³. It’s façade has imagery related to this stage and the path to enlightenment

The House of the two Bears¹⁴ representing the duality in human nature, but it is too far from the Royal route. Likewise, the House of the Golden wheel¹⁵ is too far despite its alchemical symbols.

The crux of the Old Town is a symbol-laden maze none of which mean anything in alchemy or the Royal route. It’s almost enough to make you want to give up your quest. Fear not! Head towards the Charles Bridge.

The small square between the Old Town and the Charles Bridge is called the Square of the Knights of the Red cross. I wrote about how the Church of St Francis of Assisi, on your right, is connected to Rome’s Piazza del Popolo)

As you cross the Charles Bridge, the statue of St Christopher¹⁶ is a clear sign that you’re still on the right path. Don’t forget superstition governed the designs behind Charles bridge¹⁷ too!

You can also see a rare double-sunset if you’re on the bridge.

4 – Rubedo

Rubedo, from the latin for ‘redness’, is the last stage of alchemy. Alchemists associate gold and the mythical philosopher’s stone with the colour red. This stage suggests success and the end of the ‘great work'³.

The first step is fermentation. This starts when plant material begins to die and decay in an airtight container. Bacteria convert sugars in the cells into gases, oily compounds and alcohol¹⁸.

The symbols for fermentation include the colour red, like blood or a rose, or of a wine barrel. This is sometimes replaced by the figure of Bacchus – the old Roman god of wine harvests.

The next step is distillation to purify and concentrate the previous steps. Tools used in distillation include vaporisers, condensers, boilers and heaters¹⁹. Images of the god Jupiter and of the mermaid Melusine are common for this step.

To end the alchemical process, you need coagulation. This allows substances to congeal, or precipitate into a solid again. Alchemists thought the result was a higher kind of spiritualised matter. Such a compound, they reasoned, would be as perfect as could be²⁰. For them, this meant the Philosopher’s Stone. The child is a descendant of the King and the Queen. Sun and the Moon, sulphur and mercury, King and Queen – the imagery used connects one stage to another as you can see. The child is sometimes portrayed in white or luminous purple, which was the colour of royalty. It is also represented by a hedgehog or a sacred chalice.

As the final phase of alchemy, rubedo is often portrayed as a phoenix or a crowned king²¹.

Psychology

As the last stage in alchemy, this is also the last stage in self-realisation. After transcending your own problems you know what it is you must change. You are now faced with implementing these changes.  You now must change things, even your personality, to match your true nature. Rubedo is the purification of the various parts of our psyche into a better, person³.

Prague

Head across the bridge and walk up Nerudova street towards the castle. The first coincidental symbol linked to alchemy is the Starbucks on Malostranské náměstí. The mermaid in Starbucks’ logo is the mermaid Melusine²²!

As you walk up Nerudova, pause at the junction with the path leading to the castle. The House of the Two suns²³ tempts you to give up everything or continue along your route.

At the point where you could turn right to head to the castle, Hercules’ golden apples²⁴ hang above #1, Úvoz street. They warn you to master your task in the same way Hercules used the dragon Levon to get the apples.

Most people would head up to the castle from here; after all, the castle is right behind you so that’s the logical route. This path, and the staircase nearby, are all recent additions. They were built in 1683 which means in King Charles’ time you could only get to the castle by continuing up Uvoz street and turning right in Pohořelec²⁵.

Uvoz street is narrow making it hard to imagine this being a main thoroughfare. The tall buildings on either side make the street cool in summer, but add an uncomfortable chill in autumn and winter. When I walked through it a couple of buildings were being restored. The state of the buildings is good but the architecture is more recent than Charles’ days so I didn’t find much related to alchemy. The Stone Column house at number 24 sports busts of Luna and Sol which hint at the alchemical journey²⁶.

At the top of Uvoz, as it opens into a wider square, turn right into Pohořelec. The magnificent palaces surrounding the castle neighbourhood are marvellous but few have anything of interest to us here. You’ll pass the Loreto chapel on your left which houses a cross-dressing Christ if the legends are to be believed²⁷. As you saunter along the cobblestones, the castle appears.

There is the end of your journey.

Share this with someone who is fascinated with the esoteric world!

References

1. Exhibits at the Rosicrucian Museum, San José, (Observed in 2016) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Jung and Alchemy; Carl-Jung.net; (Retrieved 2018-09-25) [↩]
3. The alchemical process of transformation; Nigel Hamilton; Sufismus; 1985[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. The not-so-old part of historical Prague; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2017-09-04[↩]
5. The mystery of Mercury in the centre of Prague; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2015-06-29[↩]
6. Navigating the Dark Night of the Soul; Chiara Viscomi; Healthy Psych; 2016-02-26[↩]
7. Revealing the House of the Black Madonna; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2015-06-15[↩]
8. Bear; Symbols; 2011-01-23[↩]
9. The significance of the alchemist’s white peacock; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2015-11-23[↩]
10. The black Sun of Prague; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2016-02-08[↩]
11. The crowning of nature; Alchemy Website; (Retrieved 2018-10-12) [↩]
12. Anatomy of Criticism; Northrop Frye; 1971[↩]
13. The Stone Lamb House in Prague; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2017-05-29[↩]
14. The House of the Two Bears; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2017-10-30[↩]
15. The Golden Wheel; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2016-08-22[↩]
16. St Christopher and the Alchemist; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2017-12-18[↩]
17. The superstition behind Prague’s Charles Bridge; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2018-05-07[↩]
18. Fermentation; Encyclopaedia Britannica; 2017-12-28[↩]
19. Distillation; Wired chemist; (Retrieved 2018-10-12) [↩]
20. Art and Alchemy; Jacob Wamberg; Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006[↩]
21. Alchemy; Rubedo.com.hr; (Retrieved 2018-10-24) [↩]
22. The Other Starbucks Mermaid Cover-Up; Carl Pyrdum; GotMedieval.com; 2010-08-13[↩]
23. The two suns of Prague; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2016-12-19[↩]
24. Prague’s golden apples; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2016-11-21[↩]
25. Prague Castle ramp and Radniční stairs; kralovskacesta.cz; (Retrieved 2018-09-28) [↩]
26. The Stone Column House; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2016-11-07[↩]
27. The statue of a bearded lady; Antoine Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2016-06-06[↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.