"Basilius Valentinus
the earth (as prima materia) is not a dead body, but is inhabited by a spirit that is its life and soul.
All created things, minerals included, draw their strength from the earth. This spirit is life, it is nourished by the stars, and it gives nourishment to all the living things it shelters in its womb.
This invisible spirit is like the reflection in a mirror, intangible, yet it is at the same time the root of all the substances necessary to the alchemical process."
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in alchemy
the orouboros represents life,
the life force, which feeds upon itself.
life eats life, that's life.
so, life requires death, change, transformation.
the Tao.
hence the dual colours.
