Rebis, the Alchemical Hermaphrodite

18/06/2024

In alchemy, we know that all mixtures and fusions have a chemical component and a spiritual, symbolic component. One of these symbols is the so-called Rebis (res-bina, in Latin, "two things" or "double entity"), represented as an anthropomorphic and hermaphrodite being, often with two heads, who unites the characteristics of both male and female sex and gender. Sometimes also called androgyne, Rebis is an alchemical allegory based on a series of ancient philosophical and religious ideas, expressed with a spiritual intention that fit perfectly with the ideals of speculative or philosophical alchemy. Its meaning is perfection.

The name and figure of Rebis appear throughout the 15th century in various medieval manuscripts, most notably Pseudo-Aquinas's Aurora Consurgens. We later find examples of its continued presence throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, for example in the reliefs of the Palazzo Lezze in Venice, or in the work Azoth (ca. 1619) by the alchemist Basil Valentine. However, the idea was latent earlier, and it was considered that beings like the Griffin could have been the "pagan" alchemical symbol of this fusion (eagle + lion), as it later symbolizes synthesis: in the aforementioned Palazzo Lezze, the griffin appears with two heads, replacing the Rebis. The humanized figure would have served to conceal itself from ecclesiastical authorities who might seek traces of pagan symbolism in its works, already elaborate and encoded through metaphors and obscure language.

The Rebis is often illustrated with a crown, or a double crown, because it "achieves status" from the figures of the prince, the king, or the queen: the dissolution of the glittering salt, the red salt, and the white salt. The crown also symbolizes Gold, considered the purest of metals.

The faces are those of a man and a woman, of the sun and the moon, or her face is divided into two halves. His-Her body may also have mixed genitalia or simply neutrality. It is the mixture of sulfur (masculine, the sun, fire, active energy, the will) with mercury (feminine, the moon, cold, passive energy, the soul), from whose union the Philosopher's Stone is born. United with Salt, the two raw materials achieve perfection.

Rebis is also depicted with wings due to her celestial characteristics. He-She also appears treading on a dragon or a serpent, as symbols of overcoming the primordial state, as well as of spiritual impurity, if one uses a Judeo-Christian perspective. If the dragon or serpent coils around itself, then the head symbolizes the fixed part of a substance and the tail the volatile part, that is, the Rebis is subduing and uniting both into one.

To understand all this symbolism, we must first review the ideas of the hermaphrodite or primordial androgyne in different cultures. Ancient ideas about androgyny are found in most Eurasian cultures. We have the most famous example of the androgyne mentioned in the work The Banquet by the philosopher Plato, where Aristophanes and Socrates discuss ancient and primeval beings, more perfect than modern humans, who were nothing more than two people joined into one at the belly and shoulders (although there were also doubly male and doubly female beings). They were, therefore, round in shape, with four arms, four legs, and two heads. But they were so strong and intelligent that they tried to take the place of the gods they worshipped, so that Zeus, king of the gods, split them in half, thus creating imperfect beings, beings with only one sex and gender. The god Apollo, in his role as a physician, healed them by tying the loose flesh of their guts (the navel), but left their sexual organs exposed, as a way of reminding them of their imperfection and causing them "shame." They conclude this story by clarifying that this is why human beings seek love, because they seek to be reunited with their primal double form.

In the Norse world, for example, we have an example in their mythology. The first living and existing being is the giant Ymir, the howler. Born from the union of the primitive lands of ice with those of fire, from their thawing, Ymir contained within his body everything masculine and feminine. Killed some time later by other ancient gods, new gods and giants were born from his blood, and from his corpse, the gods built Midgard.

In India, we have the idea of Purusha (Sanskrit: पुरुष), which is currently an abstract idea of the cosmic spirit, but in its beginnings was a divinity of dual and comprehensive character, omniscient and omnipresent. This duality was also reflected in masculine and feminine nature of what would have been a primordial and unique divinity, who united all existence.

In the Hebrew world, we find multiple examples of this hermaphroditic primordial being. In studies of the Midrash, especially those conducted by Pharisees, philosophers, and Kabbalists, special attention has been paid to Genesis 1:27, since if we look closely, the account of Creation is duplicated. It begins by recounting the creation and ends with the creation of the human being: "male and female he created them." However, after this, the account begins again, this time creating Adam first, and then Eve from him. Here begins the debate about "male and female": according to their interpretations, it should be understood that he created a first being who, like God, was more perfect and androgynous-hermaphroditic, and then separated them ("he took" Eve from Adam).

For Philo of Alexandria (5th century), also known as Philo the Jew, the οὐράνιος ἄνθρωπος or celestial man, that is, the γενικός, engendered, born directly from God, would have been spiritually perfect, neither male nor female, for he would be like the Logos (philosophically speaking). However, the creation of Adam from clay is for Philo the key to a second creation using imperfect material—clay, flesh, and bone—so, in the manner of Platonic philosophy, Philo says that the human being was no longer an idea, but simply its earthly image, and therefore, with deficiencies such as sexual division.

In Jewish Kabbalah, the equivalent would be the image of Adam Kadmon, the primordial, superior, perfect spiritual being, later descended to an earthly and imperfect being. We also have the interpretation of the Hebrew letters Jod and Hva, with their meanings of "man" and "woman," which makes Kabbalists and mystics wonder if God's name, Jehovah, gives clues about this dual origin.

But what could be the reason for the disappearance of perfection? Why would God divide something he himself had created into something imperfect? With all the pre-existing philosophical-esoteric foundation, a Judeo-Christian myth developed throughout the medieval period in which God creates a being in his image and likeness, a Rebis. It is Adam-Eve, or Adam when he still carried Eve inside him, so to speak. But he turns out to be too similar to Him.

Therefore, God repents and divides him in two, thus creating the two sexes and other dualities of the human body and mind. These new, divided beings could not achieve their previous perfection; however, they could reproduce, that is, "create," so to speak. Furthermore, human beings had not forgotten their In their previous form, and despite having everything guaranteed, because God had placed them in the earthly Paradise, they still had a desire to learn and improve themselves. God feared that they would seek to be like Him again and expelled them from Paradise, condemning them to suffer.

It must be understood that this vision of an egotistical God or one afraid of His own creation is a social product of the alchemists, scientific precursors, who saw in their chemical works advances that seemed "against nature" according to the Christian religion, advances that they did not understand should be pursued or hidden. Alchemy, therefore, always had a parallel relationship with Christianity, interpreting the Bible in its own way, creating parallel mythologies, and hiding most of its interpretations under complicated metaphors and symbolism. In other words, a double concealment occurs: pagan symbols to Christian symbols, and then Christian symbols to pagan-mythological-chemical symbols. Especially when alchemy, in addition to seeking immortality through the Stone A philosopher, he also sought spiritual perfection, on a very different path from Christian devotion and submission to divinity. He moved from the transformation of base metals into gold to the transformation of base beings into more perfect beings. This can be seen in the Rebis that appears in the Treatise on Azoth by B. Valentin (1619), mentioned above. In that work, the Opus Magna, the Great Work—which was previously the Philosopher's Stone, for being the union of two matters, one fixed and one volatile—here is the Rebis: the spiritual alchemical objective.

And speaking of spirituality, we find more alchemy in current esotericism, for example in the so-called "third race" of theosophical descriptions. But we have examples even in much more common objects, such as the Tarot, where the Devil card (hermaphrodite and often with a male-female couple at its side) has been interpreted as the Rebis of the arcana—let us not forget the spiritual and narrative value of the Tarot. We also see it in the synthesis The alchemical and spiritual interpretation of Eliphas Levi's Baphomet, a hermaphroditic representation steeped in Hermetic symbolism.

Pietro V. Carracedo Ahumada - pietrocarracedo@gmail.com

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