Machine summary:
Fig. I there• fore is a symbol of Dualism in the first instance and of Eternity as the next; the two aspects are like cause and effect.
I. As far as we know, Scythians did not practise any alchemy and their symbol, fig.
Fig. 3 is stated to represent birds different in colour, the upper or the male being red and the female below, green.
The upper bird is winged but to represent the female it has been idealized as wing• less and thereby made into a symbol of Yin. The partners are biting each other by their tails and ,this makes it a variant .
It may be added that the serpent is an immortal creature and so is the dragon, but the latter belongs to Yang, the former to Yin. The paired animals form a ring, with their bodies joined posteriorly and anteriorly, resulting in a rough circle, a feature of no little importance.
position and its own comb, represents the male, while the serpent is to be understood as female which has been already explained in connection with fig.
Fig. 12 really is a hermaphrodite, representing half each of a male and a female serpent.
It is the· famous Ouroboros, or the serpent biting its own tail, one of the earliest symbols of Greek alchemy ( 3; fig.
The red or black head is biting the white tail much as the cock in fig.
The serpent as such symbolizes the soul, the head the Yang, tail Yin, while the Red (Black).