Atalanta Fugiens, Emblem 13: The Dropsical Copper Washed Seven Times
A heavy figure sits on the bank of a river, one foot touching the water. Behind, a town with towers and a stone bridge rises against the sky. The face looks tired, the body swollen. This is the thirteenth emblem of Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens, and its motto is strange: the copper of the philosophers is dropsical, and it wants to be washed seven times in the river, like Naaman the leper in the Jordan.
The book was printed in 1617 at Oppenheim. It has fifty emblems, and each one joins an engraving, a Latin verse, a prose discourse and a fugue for three voices. The engravings are attributed to the workshop of Matthäus Merian. Maier, a physician at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, filled the book with riddles for those who knew how to read them.
The Motto
The Latin word for copper is aes. In the old language of the Work, the "copper of the philosophers" was not the common red metal. It was a name for the matter being worked, swollen with moisture and in need of cleansing.
The word "dropsical" fits the picture. Dropsy is the old name for a body swollen with fluid. The figure on the bank carries that weight.
Naaman in the Jordan
The comparison comes from the Bible. In the Second Book of Kings, Naaman, a commander of the army of Syria, suffers from leprosy. The prophet Elisha tells him to wash seven times in the river Jordan. Naaman is angry at first. The advice seems too simple. Finally he obeys, and his skin becomes clean.
The story gives the emblem its shape. A sick thing is cured not by a clever trick but by a patient, repeated washing.
Washing in the Work
The alchemists called such a step ablution, from the Latin for washing. After the dark stage of the Work, the matter was cleansed again and again, with water, with dew or with distilled liquids. Each round was said to remove more of the impure part.
Seven was a number of completion. Seven days of creation, seven planets known to the ancients, and seven metals tied to them: all gave the number weight in the tradition. Seven washings meant a full cleansing.
Copper and Venus
In the old scheme of correspondences, copper belonged to Venus. The planet of love and beauty and the metal of ordinary pots were joined. This pairing is a matter of tradition, not of chemistry.
It gives the emblem a double reading. Something humble, a common metal, carries the memory of beauty. After enough washing, the tradition said, that beauty can show again.
A Reading for Today
The picture speaks to anyone who feels heavy. The emblem does not say to tear off the weight at once. It says to go to the water and wash, and to repeat the washing patiently.
Naaman's lesson still stands. The remedy is often plainer than the sufferer expects. Daily care, repeated without drama, can change a state that force could not.
The Engraving
The engraving rewards a slow look. The figure is large and soft, and the body seems to weigh on the rock. The foot at the edge of the river is the only part of the scene that moves toward the water.
Behind, the town stands calm, with its towers and its bridge. The contrast is deliberate. The world goes on as usual, while one person sits apart and waits to be cleansed.
The Fugue
The fugue that goes with this emblem is written for three voices. The voices enter one after another and repeat the same line, as if each chased the one before. That is the sense of the title. In the myth, Atalanta was a swift runner, and Hippomenes won her by dropping golden apples to make her stop. Maier turned that chase into music and into a series of images. Modern recordings let us hear it today.
Contemplating the Emblem
For those who wish to work with this image:
- Look at the figure by the river and the one foot touching the water.
- Ask what in you feels swollen, heavy or in need of cleansing.
- Think of one small act you could repeat seven times, simply and without drama.
- Notice how you feel after each repetition.
A Word of Care
Dropsy is a real medical condition, now called edema, and it needs a doctor. The emblem is a symbol of cleansing, not a treatment. Handling metals, acids or unknown substances at home is also dangerous. The claims of the tradition cannot be confirmed.
Closing
A swollen figure by a river, one foot in the water. Maier needed only a motto and an engraving to tell an ancient story again in the language of the Work. For the seeker, the teaching is simple and hard: go to the river, wash, and wash again, as many times as it takes.
Related Esoteric Inquiries
- Atalanta Fugiens, Emblem 40: The Union of the Two Waters
- Atalanta Fugiens, Emblem 1: The Wind in the Belly
- Atalanta Fugiens, Emblem 9: The Old Man Shut in with the Tree
Lux Esoterica.
2026.
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