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Sol niger (black sun) can refer to the first stage of the alchemical
*
In alchemic
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
and Hermetic
Hermetic or related forms may refer to:
* of or related to the ancient Greek Olympian god Hermes
* of or related to Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary Hellenistic figure based on the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth
** , the ancient and m ...
traditions, sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
s () are used to symbolize a variety of concepts, much like the sun in astrology. Suns can correspond to gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
, citrinitas Citrinitas, or sometimes xanthosis,Joseph Needham. ''Science & Civilisation in China: Chemistry and chemical technology. Spagyrical discovery and invention : magisteries of gold and immortality.'' Cambridge. 1974. p.23 is a term given by alchemists ...
, generative masculine principles, imagery of "the king", or Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, the fiery spirit or sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
, the divine spark in man, nobility, or incorruptibility. Recurring images of specific solar motifs can be found in the form of a "Dark" or "Black Sun", or a green lion devouring a sun.
Sol niger
Sol niger (black sun) can refer to the first stage of the alchemical magnum opus
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
, the nigredo
In alchemy, nigredo, or blackness, means putrefaction or decomposition. Many alchemists believed that as a first step in the pathway to the philosopher's stone, all alchemical ingredients had to be cleansed and cooked extensively to a uniform blac ...
(blackening). In a text ascribed to Marsilio Ficino
Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of ...
three suns are described: black, white, and red, corresponding to the three most used alchemical color stages. Of the sol niger he writes:
The black sun is used to illuminate the dissolution of the body, a blackening of matter, or putrefaction in ''Splendor Solis
''Splendor Solis'' ("The Splendour of the Sun") is a version of the illuminated alchemical text attributed to Salomon Trismosin. This version dates from around 1582.
The earliest version, written in Central German, is dated 1532–1535 and is ...
'', and Johann Daniel Mylius
Johann Daniel Mylius (c. 15831642) was a composer for the lute, and writer on alchemy. Born at Wetter in present-day Hesse, Germany, he went on to study theology and medicine at the University of Marburg. He was the brother-in-law and pupil of ...
’s ''Philosophia Reformata''.Stanislas Klossowski de Rola. ''The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century''. 1988. p. 170, 180.
See also
* Alchemical symbol
Alchemical symbols, originally devised as part of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Although notation like this was mostly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists, so this pag ...
* Classical planets in Western alchemy
In classical antiquity, the seven classical planets or seven luminaries are the seven moving astronomical objects in the sky visible to the naked eye: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The word ''planet'' comes from ...
* Five Suns (mythology)
* Solar symbol
A solar symbol is a symbol representing the Sun.
Common solar symbols include circles (with or without rays), crosses, and spirals.
In religious iconography, personifications of the Sun or solar attributes are often indicated by means of a halo ...
References
Alchemical symbols {{philosophy-stub