
Our narrator has just followed his guiding star to the west, through the white door. A strong wind almost blows out his lamp, but he manages to protect the flame. He comes to a white marble platform with nine steps leading up. At the top of the stairs, he sees a stormy sea. His guiding star plunges into the water and he follows. But don't worry! His lamp is set on top of his head by an invisible hand. Very helpful.
One thing to note is that there are nine steps. Three is an important number in esoteric circles, and this is three times three, making it another important number. He walks the nine steps up this time, contrasting all the descending he's done until now. This shows his determination to 'rise' again after his symbolic death. He's ready to face whatever is next so he can move on.
Unfortunately for him, "whatever is next" happens to be a rough sea with hail and rain nearby. This is great symbolism for dealing with our most difficult emotions: betrayal, hate, depression, anxiety, grief, guilt... And deal with it he does. Our man sees that his star wants him to plunge into this mess of emotions, so he dives into the water.
The copper lamp, miraculously still lit, is placed above his head to avoid being extinguished. Again, copper is associated with Venus, which is about the 'feminine' principle and emotions. This could give him the calmer emotions that he'll need in order to process the difficult emotions.
He sees a light ahead, indicating land. He hurries to swim towards it, but it just seems to get farther and farther away. He's getting tired. He could drown. He's not actually worried about death, but he is worried about dying before reaching enlightenment. He has a bit of a breakdown and, tears streaming down his face, calls out for someone to save him. His actual words are translated as "Judge thou my judgment and redeem me, by thy eloquence make me live." He needs someone to judge his judgment because he's unsure of himself. He's having an emotional crisis and expressing vulnerability, which is an important step.
He keeps swimming, but his arms and legs are getting weaker. He's starting to sink. Then, he sees a boat approaching, heading towards the direction our narrator came from. There's a finely dressed man on the boat with a golden crown shining on his forehead. He tells our narrator that he should come onboard with him, and that he'll show him how to become a powerful man in the world our narrator has left behind. Our man states, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to sit among the mighty." Upon hearing this, the rich man and his boat sink. The narrator gets a sudden burst of energy and swims the rest of the way to the shore.
We see that he's swimming through his emotional sea and has a breakdown. Then some guy shows up and offers him the easy way out. "Ignore all of these complex emotions and thoughts, just come back with me and we'll be rich hedonists in the material world, it'll be great." But our narrator is searching for something more meaningful than material wealth and power, so he turns down the rich man's offer. The rich man has been shielded (the boat) from dealing with his emotions (the sea) and, being unprepared for any kind of emotional upheaval, sinks into the water. The rich man hasn't done the introspective work necessary to obtain true power, instead hiding behind material goods. He is unable to deal with and work through his emotions, and that causes his ruin.
When he reaches the shore, our narrator sees that it's covered in green sand. In front of him is a silver wall with two red marble panels. One panel is written in a "sacred script," and the other is in Greek. Between the panels is a circle with two lions on a cloud, one red and one black, with a crown floating above them. The red lion has something written on its side. There are two arrows, one on either side of the circle, and a bow underneath. This is the picture at the beginning of this post.
The "blackening" is the first stage of alchemy and the "reddening" is the last stage. Lions are beasts, so they could symbolize an obstacle to be overcome. The bow and two arrows are for a person to slay the two lions, thus conquering the entire alchemical process from the first stage to the last. Once you defeat these 'lions,' you can get to the crown, which symbolizes knowledge, wisdom, power... whatever you're looking for here. We should also view this crown as real power as opposed to the crown the rich man had.
In order, we've seen black marble, white marble, and red marble. This could be a nod to the main three stages of alchemy: nigredo (blackening), albedo (whitening), and rubedo (reddening). We've seen him pass the blackening (earth) stage and the whitening (water) stage. Now he seems to be going toward the reddening (fire) stage.
What about the citrinitas stage of air? It seems we're skipping a step, but that will be explained later. For now, our narrator is going to the fire stage.
Stay safe!
- me
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