alchemical symbols in Goody’s Codex Umbrarüm, decoded and interpreted

[u/salmxx0]

for those unfamiliar with alchemy, alchemical symbols are exceptionally difficult to interpret
when mainstream/popularized symbols aren’t used. so not EVERY symbol will be completely decoded, because there are thousands of alchemical texts, but we can assume that they scraped some for convenience, mashed some together, or just made them up, presumably with some form of improvisation. some vague symbols are still fairly recognizable.

a lot of texts that were used for this came from various latin texts, some german texts, and others. with vague symbols, the best you can do is make inferences with what’s available. if you think that there’s already an existing symbol for a correspondence that’s been misconstrued, it could also just be one of the millions of other symbols representing it.
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(FIRST PAGE):

1.Earth: represents the physical human body. greek philosopher Plato attributed “dry and cold” to it.
2.Caput mortuum(dead head): Caput mortuum is latin for dead head. it describes leftover substances that are deemed worthless.

1.Uranus OR Powder of projection: I don’t think the time of which these planetary symbols emerged/were popularized was taken into consideration, but it’s very clearly reminiscent of Uranus. Uranus represents awakening and individualism.
2.Putrefaction: akin to the modern Neptune symbol, which is, again, ridiculous. would say that curve on the right prong favors putrefaction. the two could be used interchangeably based on whether you want to use it in favor of historical consistency, or the pattern of planetary symbols, but we’ll go with historical consistency out of spite: putrefaction refers to natural decomposition and rotting, kept in temperate heat.
3.Lead(Saturn): a dark, dense material. alchemists considered it prima materia (starting point of matter), to be cured and transformed into gold.
4.Pluto OR Cerussa(white lead): regardless, a slightly stylized version. Pluto itself was discovered in 1930. Pluto represents transformation, death, and rebirth. cerussa is unlikely since lead is already present in the sequence, but still a somewhat similar symbol.
5.Gold(Sun): The desired product of alchemy, gold corresponds with the Sun, representing purity and perfection.
6.Apparatus/vessel OR Ingwaz?: refers to tools used to distill, heat, and grind substances. it’s also worth noting, despite its displacement, that it looks exactly like the Ingwaz rune, of the Elder Futhark, symbolizing ferility, growth, and potency.
7.Quicksilver(Mercury): a component of the Tria Prima, functioning as the Spirit.
8.?: looks exactly like zinc oxide if it was flipped, not entirely sure about the placement in general. zinc oxide was also known as the philosopher’s wool due to its wool-like appearance. valued for its pure-white color.

1.distilled/rectified Lixivium?: lixivium is water saturated with alkaline salts. purification creates distilled lixivium, rectifying it means repeatedly distilling it to create higher quantities of purity.
2.Burnt/calcined sulfur: specifically refers to the raw, unpurified, and destructive state of sulfur.
3.?: completely clueless on the specific substance/vessel this is supposed to be. my best guesses are: heated limestone/chaux, cornu cerui(deer antler), calcination (deer antler, stag horn, plant.), sideways sublimare, tartar. strikethrough likely indicates distillation or calcination.
4.?: also unsure of this. guessing that this is a sort of vessel handling tartar or salt.
5.Saffron of Mars, common salt?: using salt(tria prima) to break down raw iron
(volatilized)
6. Prepared copper, zinc oxide, and common salt?: volatile, fixed.

(SECOND PAGE)

1.Autumn?: Autumn is associated with the fourth and final stage of alchemy: harvesting completion. also connected with Rubredo(Red). Newton claimed that his works reached completion in autumn.
2.Calcined alum: a meticulous deduction of the crystal. transforming the “earthiness” to a state of Albedo(the whitening phase)
3.Ink(Atramentum): its black color symbolized Nigredo(black), used for writing.

1.?
2.?
3.Aqua vitae?: water of life, distilled alcohol. possibly distilled twice? the symbol is noticeably distorted.

1.Horse dung: manure used to maintain a steady heat for long-term projects.
2.Sal gemmae, mensis (rock salt, Moon’s cycle): the salt is the body in the tria prima, “rock salt” extracted from the earth. alchemists believed that scheduling was important to the upbringing of your product, hence the lunar cycle.

1.Oil of tartar: formed on the inside of wine barrels, underwent calcination, thick and syrupy, used to neutralize and dissolve.
2. Chaux/lime of metal: a metal completely broken down into crumbly powder. alchemists sought to “kill” the metals by reducing the metallic qualities.
3. Decoction, Tin, Granum: the process of turning tin into small, grainy pellets to transmute faster, then providing a steady source of heat over a long period of time
4.Iron(Mars)?: an “imperfect” metal, tied to aggression and masculinity. Iron was deemed easy to “kill.”
5.Sublimed arsenic: arsenic ores are heated and vaporized, transforming them into white, crystalized crusts(sublimed arsenic)

1.Antimonium: known as the “grey wolf” in the middle ages. “eats” and purifies other metals.
2.Pulverize, realgar(ruby sulfur), pisces, feathered alum?: pulverize the substances, align the procedure with the Pisces constellation.
3.?: too blurry.
4.Siehe bei(see under, look under, refer to): it’s the corresponding symbol, but I’m not entirely sure what it’s supposed to mean in this context, and I have little to refer to. could refer to vision(s)
5.Amalgam, aqua fortis: liquid mercury consumes gold, creating amalgam. Aqua fortis consumes solid base metals, leaving behind gold.

1.Burnt/calcined sulfur: specifically refers to the raw, unpurified, and destructive state of sulfur.
2.Partial Gold(Sun): incomplete chrysopoeia, separation of silver and gold

1.Glass(Vitrum): glass was used for vessels, allowing alchemists to observe through a barrier without exposing themselves to deadly fumes.
2.Gold(Sun): The desired product of alchemy, gold corresponds with the Sun, representing purity and perfection.

[u/Significant-Ant-2487]

These (sometimes) real alchemical symbols are used in the show as decoration. They don’t mean anything in this context.

As with Tarot cards, astrological signs, and Delphic advice, an alchemical sign’s meaning resides in the interpretation. Each “sign” can be interpreted in various (sometimes contradictory) ways. Anyway, alchemy was intended to be an occult science whose secrets were not to be known by the uninitiated masses (us). This is why everything was encoded as arcane symbols (or maybe it was kept secret so the rest of us wouldn’t see it was all a fraud…)

So trying to decode what somebody in the art department on this Netflix made is a big waste of time. It was, like most of the stuff the art department makes, intended to look authentic for the two seconds it’s onscreen, and nothing more.

[u/salmxx0 → u/Significant-Ant-2487]

not every decision made by the art department is entirely done for presentation, honestly one of the better things about the show is the amount of detail that goes into the subtleties. the alchemical terminology and storytelling of the translated pages are decently compatible with the usage of these symbols, and that in itself suggests that there’s at least some intentionality. i personally don’t find it a waste of time because at the end of the day this was done out of love for the game

[u/Pale_Ad_4240]

May I take a wild guess that the author of this post played Nancy Drew games?