The Circle and the Wheel and the Sundoor

 

[aras-image:5Gs.573,,10,,,Figure 18 17th century alchemical drawing.]

When a visual image changes from a two dimensional to a three dimensional form, the content and the feeling associated with it changes also. When the circle becomes a sphere, a more literal container, it not only delimits the inside from the outside, but visually emphasizes the sphere as a closed, complete container. A 17th century alchemical drawing by Michael Maier shows the Earth as a sucking mother with a great belly and the text says that she is the creator not because she "washes and cares" but because she "coagulates, fastens, colours and changes into sap and blood, food brings about changes in length, width and depth." Mother Earth becomes a literal metaphor.
 

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