ALchemy in Art part 3

The Fall of Icarus
Painting by Joos de Momper,
Netherlands 16th-17th c.

In alchemical symbolism, the wings
of birds symbolize spiritual elevation.
Wings acquired by humans symbolize
their capacity to overcome and transcend
the limitations of the physical realms. In
this way the ordinary human condition is
elevated as man becomes an intermediary
between heaven and earth, bringing
blessings, messages and visions from God.
To soar in heaven like an eagle is a power
belonging to the purified soul. The
impure, the uninitiated, the ill prepared,
those who dare to force their way into
higher spiritual energies before their
psychic and sympathetic nervous systems
are gradually unfold to the fire of the
spiritual sun, meet with its awesome
intensity only to be burned and destroyed .

One raising the Kundalini imprudently
without proper knowledge and practice
may be prone to the same fate. The
disruption on the psychological and the
metaphysical natures may be severe.

Steve Kalec