The Blue Bird of Paradise
The Peacock, Guardian of Paradise
Associated with shifting colors and transmutation, the peacock is the perfect symbol of the metal of Venus. In certain ancient traditions, especially Indian ones, it is described as a creature of Paradise, of incomparable beauty, and as its guardian.
The peacock is the guardian of the threshold, while the serpent is the gate of humankind. Driven out of Paradise because of the serpent’s deceitful words, it has since sought to return. The peacock is the revelation of hidden light. In Hermeticism, the peacock’s tail is the appearance of iridescent colors in the Work — a sign that matter is opening to inner light: transformation, passage, descent into matter.
Symbol of Rebirth
It was once believed that its flesh did not decay. In paradisiacal scenes, it is associated with fountains of life, representing Eternal Life and the source of Paradise.
Perfumes and Fragrant Waters
In Egyptian, Indian, and medieval traditions, scented waters are waters of life, and fountains are sacred sources. In ancient thought, water is linked to perfume: it is the matrix of life.
The Peacock’s Fragrances
A celestial perfume, a fragrance of awakening and return to the primordial garden. Its composition blends the delicacy of May rose, the sensuality of tuberose, and the enveloping light of ylang-ylang.
Top notes: orange, tangerine
Heart notes: lavender, kewra, tuberose, May rose, ylang-ylang, jasmine
Base notes: vanilla, vetiver, ambrette
Fish and Hidden Wisdom
Because it lives in the depths, the fish represents the quest for origin and inner knowledge. In certain astronomical depictions, two fish swim in the celestial river — the Milky Way or the celestial Nile. The fish is a symbol of Mercury: the double nature of humanity, the celestial soul and the earthly soul.
The Primordial Waters and the Ship
The peacock is the guardian of the threshold of the celestial gates. Carina is the ship that crosses the primordial waters and symbolizes them. In Hermetic iconography, the peacock’s feathers also represent the map of the sky, closely linked to the constellation Carina, the map of the journey.
The constellation Carina contains the pilot star, Canopus, which guides the soul. This star is closely linked to Sirius: it is the hidden star of deep knowledge, the star of the initiatory journey.
Symbolism of Canopus, the Gate
Canopus is the light of the pilot. It leads toward the light, just as the peacock reveals the light. Canopus guides the journey, and Sirius opens the gate. Sirius is the original light — shimmering, multicolored, associated with the peacock: the moment when all colors appear.
The Chessboard as Stellar Grid and Gate
In certain traditions, each square corresponds to a star, a decan, or a force (breath). In iconography, checkered floors mark sacred spaces and liminal zones. The chessboard is often interpreted as a celestial grid corresponding to the revealed law. The alternation of green and red represents the forces that animate transformation. They form an initiatory pattern representing the manifested world.
In Hermeticism, this alternation is the image of the Emerald Tablet: “That which is above is like that which is below.”
Red
Color of fire, blood, grains, and above all the planet Mars and spirit.
Green
Reborn life, the alchemical green of the lion, the color of Venus. It is spiritual growth.
Red + Green
Colors of Sirius in several traditions. This alternation symbolizes the Gate (Sirius), the origin and the end of the cycle.
Lilac, Symbol of the West and the Setting Sun
It symbolizes rebirth, the return of light, the end of winter. The sun dies in the West to be reborn in the East: not an ending, but an initiatory cycle.
The West is the place where the sun disappears, where the dead enter the other world. The setting sun is therefore the gate to the invisible, the threshold between life and death. It is the initiatory passage par excellence.
In several European traditions, lilac is associated with rites of passage and gates between worlds. It is memory, nostalgia of the garden, and mystery. Its fragrance is powerful, enveloping, almost hypnotic — it evokes memory, the past, subtle worlds.
Lilac is initiation and threshold. Its color is an alchemical transition, like the peacock’s feathers. Often, lilac is associated with Mercury as a passage toward light. Its fragrance is volatile.
The Guardians on the Columns
Openers of paths, guardians of cycles, they are the double Mercury. They assist in the ascent toward the mountain of knowledge. The columns are the symbol of reversal.
The Mountain of Revelation is the Mountain of Fire
The mountain of fire is the access to the knowledge of the Word and the revealed law. In tradition, this mountain represents the setting sun and the inner fire. It is the axis of the world, symbol of pure spirit, the place where the stone of the heart is received.
