Apollo and Diana · Lexicon

From the book

Aphorismi Urbigerani

Baro Urbigerus · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordApollo and Diana are the solar and lunar names through which the author figures relations and transformations. Their meaning must be read at the stated stage, not replaced everywhere by one guessed material.
In the bookThe lesser work begins one way from Diana’s tears; the postscript makes Apollo and Diana’s embrace, descent, emergence and approach to firm ground a sequence of preparation and conjunction.
In this editionThe edition retains the names and the unusual “Diana having obtained everything,” rather than supplying a chemical identity or an unstated list of what she obtains.
A place to readThe full second postscript paragraph (1690, pp. 85–86), especially the distinction between finished Herculean works and conjunction still being completed.

Meaning

Apollo carries the sun and Diana the crescent in the author’s explanation of the plate. These attributes identify their emblematic relation, while the surrounding prose assigns that relation its place in the work. The names are therefore not isolated mythological decoration. Nor does the author’s account require a separate retelling of classical mythology before its immediate meaning can be understood.

At Lesser III, Diana’s tears are undetermined until the specified sequence has occurred and Apollo has appeared. IV explains their determination by union with prepared vegetable earth. This local account gives a firmer basis for reading “tears” than a conjectural substitution of a modern liquid. It also shows why the word undetermined matters: the tears begin with a universal property that the following aphorism describes as becoming particular.

Use in the book

The postscript makes a more extensive claim for the embracing figures. They show the third way and the continuation of the first and second. The two functions must be retained together. Apollo and Diana do not belong only to an isolated third route; they also figure a later relation within the other routes. Conversely, the explanation does not say that the three ways begin identically in every operation. Their shared continuation is distinguished from their earlier configurations of Dragon and Serpent.

The river marks a required reduction. Before the subjects can be born again, and before perfect spiritualisation and union can be attained in any of the three ways, they must reach the state signified by descent. The text does not name the river as a geographical place or simply identify it with every occurrence of water in the book. Its stated function is to show a condition preceding regeneration.

Emergence in one wonderful body represents the Herculean works already finished and the beginning of conjunction. That conjunction is not yet described as fully completed merely because a combined figure can be seen. The movement towards firm ground, where Diana is to sow noble fruits for procreation, signifies its continuation until full union and perfection. Grand LXIX and LXXVII clarify the distinction: preparing and perfecting the principles completes the Herculean work, but their exact inseparable union is still required.

The parenthetical “Diana having obtain’d all” belongs to the emergence. The author does not itemise the all or supply an independent biography behind the figure. It should not become a warrant for elaborate claims about the triumph or elimination of one principle beyond what the text says. The same paragraph ends by making the scheme exhibit points of biblical faith and orienting contemplation towards immortality. The solar and lunar relation thus participates in both material and religious meanings explicitly claimed by the author, rather than forcing a choice between them.

Places to read

The Frontispiece InscriptionsLatinSolar and lunar figures appear with local mottos; the inscriptions should not be read as a single speech.
Grand Elixir · Aphorism LXIXOriginalCompletion of the prepared principles defines the Herculean works.
Grand Elixir · Aphorism LXXVIIOriginalTheir inseparable union remains necessary after that preparation.
Vegetable Elixir · Aphorism IIIOriginalDiana’s tears and the appearance of Apollo belong to the first lesser way.
Vegetable Elixir · Aphorism IVOriginalThe tears acquire a particular property through union with prepared vegetable earth.
Postscript · Passage 2OriginalThe author explains embrace, descent, emergence, firm ground and sowing as connected but distinct states.

In this edition

“Dianas” in the historical text is read as the possessive “Diana’s.” The modern reading keeps “tears,” “Apollo” and “Diana” rather than identifying them with conjectured chemicals; note 92 makes that policy explicit. At the emergence, “Diana having obtain’d all” becomes “Diana having obtained everything,” with the unusual formulation acknowledged in note 114. “Regeneration” in the plate motto and “being born again” in the postscript are related expressions, but the latter explains a stage rather than merely translating the former word for word.

Historical forms and local uses:

Apollo [Classical name as printed] — The solar figure whose relation with Diana represents ways and stages in the author’s emblem. (Vegetable Elixir · Aphorism III; Postscript · Passage 2)

Dianas undetermin'd Tears [printed English emblematic phrase] — The undetermined beginning named in the first lesser way. (Vegetable Elixir · Aphorism III)

Diana [Classical name as printed] — The lunar figure joined with Apollo and described as having obtained all on emergence. (Postscript · Passage 2)

one wonderful Body [printed English phrase] — The combined form in which Apollo and Diana emerge from the river. (Postscript · Passage 2)