TAM MORALIS QUAM CHYMICA, ladies and gentlemen.
This is part three of my series on Full Metal Alchemist.
In case you haven't watched either of the first two videos,
the purpose of this series is to link real-life alchemical concepts and symbols to Full Metal
Alchemist in order to reveal some undiscovered secrets.
So far, I have discussed the characters of Truth, Father, and Hoennheim.
Specifically, I explained how their names and abilities relate to famous alchemical concepts,
including but not limited to things like the transmutation of metals and the philosopher's stone.
Today, I will be introducing a less famous but equally important alchemical concept,
one that is everywhere in Full Metal Alchemist and real-life alchemy.
That concept is the Union of Opposites.
An understanding of this concept will reveal secrets about the series that nobody else seems
to have discovered, and I don't say that flippantly.
In various religions across the world, unifying opposites into something paradoxical is commonly
seen as a sign of divinity.
If you have watched the past two videos, you might have noticed a couple of these paradoxical unions
already. There are symbols like the Ouroboros, which unifies the opposites of life and death,
as well as the Union of Fire and Water with the Intersecting Triangles.
For this video, I want to focus on what is arguably the most important and sacred Union in alchemy,
the Union of Sol and Luna, which is Latin for Sun and Moon.
The importance of the Sun and the Moon in alchemy is alluded to throughout Full Metal Alchemist.
Aside from the obvious example of the eclipse, there is the appearance of the Sun and Moon
on the Xerxes Tablet in Episode 26. The alchemical symbols for Sun and Moon also appear on the hands
of Kimberley, the Crimson Alchemist. The Sun and the Moon also bear some importance to the
symbols on Armstrong's metal glove, but that's a surprise I will say for later on.
But why are the Sun and the Moon important?
Well, unfortunately, Full Metal Alchemist doesn't really make this clear. The most that one could
reasonably ascertain from the show alone is that the Sun and the Moon have something to do with God,
also known as Truth, but that's about it. There is a hint, however, at the beginning of Episode 61,
one which would set the inquisitive mind on the right path. The show flashes back to Edward and
Alphonse's childhood, when they are researching the Sun and the Moon and their importance to alchemy.
They note that the Sun represents male and masculinity, and the Moon represents female
and femininity. Then they say, quote, when the Sun and the Moon overlap, then the two genders
become one. In other words, the Union represents a perfect being, end quote.
The viewer would correctly surmise that that perfect being is Truth, or God. But the relation
between Truth, Gender, and the Eclipse remains unclear to those who aren't well versed in alchemy.
Thankfully, though, you guys have me, so I can explain things. The Union of the Two Genders
is a prevalent concept in world religion. Though it does show up in some of the more
mainstream religions, I have found it to be much more prevalent in hermetic traditions,
like the occult, Kabbalah, and of course alchemy. But why gender? And why do the Sun and the Moon
represent the genders? Well, the answer is actually quite simple. Alchemy preceded modern science,
and before science, we didn't have scientific categories that we could use to understand
the world. In their absence, we had to make use of the few reliable and universal categories
available to us at the time, and one of those was gender. In alchemy, gender was projected because
when gendered things unified, something of great value is produced. For example, the alchemical
mortar is feminine, and the alchemical pestle is masculine. This is because the pestle acts upon
the mortar in the same way that a male acts upon a woman in intercourse, and the result of both
is something new and precious. This gendered symbolism goes beyond alchemy to cultures that
were separated from the Western alchemists. When making fire, the Hindus likened the stick and
the notch to intercourse, the stick being masculine and the notch being feminine. The Taoists likened
the concept of order or yang to masculinity, and the concept of chaos or yin to femininity. This
is because order acts upon the chaos by making order out of chaos. And just to save my ass,
by the way, chaos and order are not moral principles. They are morally neutral. Saying
chaos is feminine is in no way a moral judgment of femininity or women. Ask any alchemist to this.
They will say the same thing. Returning to alchemy, just as the stick and notch brought fire,
the union of chaos and order brought balance, and intercourse brought children, the union of
Saul, Luna, and everything they represent in alchemy would also bring about something of
great significance. Many alchemists believed that the union of these opposites was a necessary
precursor to making the philosopher's stone. One of the most famous examples of this idea comes
from Sir George Ripley, an alchemist of the 15th century, one who preceded the likes of Paracelsus.
Quickly, before I invoke Ripley's example, I will introduce the first mind-blowing link to
Full Metal Alchemist. You know Alphonse's Gate of Truth? The illustration on his gate comes from
an alchemical text called the Marrow of Alchemy, which was written by George Ripley. This tells
me that Paracelsus wasn't the only alchemist that Arakawa drew inspiration from when writing her
series. Ripley's speculations regarding the philosopher's stone and its link to the Sun and
the Moon comes from his most famous alchemical contribution, the Ripley Scroll. As we see here,
the Sun and the Moon are personified as Saul and Luna, coming together in a bath. In this next photo,
we see the Sun and Moon dissolve and then coagulate into a single being, following a seven-step
alchemical process. This woman represents what Ripley refers to as the White Stone. This White
Stone combines with the Black Stone, which is produced by this dragon eating a toad. The Black
Stone represents the Prima Materia. In case you didn't watch the second video, the Prima Materia
is the dark void that existed at the beginning of time, the material from which the material
universe was made. When making the Philosopher's Stone, the Prima Materia is the first ingredient
one must use. The White Stone of Saul and Luna, combined with the Black Stone of Prima Materia,
and from them, the Red Stone is produced. Now while it's hard to say for sure, given the
general impenetrability of the Ripley Scroll, it's reasonable to suggest that the Red Stone
is the Philosopher's Stone itself. After all, Ripley links the Red to the Elixir Vite,
which is another name given to the essence which resides inside the Philosopher's Stone,
the one that gives eternal life. Now we're going to review the Ripley Scroll again,
but this time around, I'm going to point out the things that relate to Full Metal Alchemist.
Break out the Tylenol and hold on to your chairs, because this is going to be a barrage of mind-blowing
stuff. First, there is an alchemical name given to the being that is produced when Saul and Luna
unite. That name is Rebus. To some Alchemists, the Rebus is the personification of the Philosopher's
Stone. The Rebus is also hermaphroditic. If you watched the second video in my series,
you might recall that I used the word hermaphroditic in regards to truth and father. In case you forgot,
I pointed out how Father referenced the alchemical god Mercurius, who is also hermaphroditic.
I also pointed out how Truth referenced the Kabbalistic concept of the Primordial Man,
Adam Kadmon, a concept that was co-opted by Paracelsus into alchemy. Adam Kadmon was also
hermaphroditic. All of this tells us three things. The Primordial Man, aka Truth and Rebus,
are perfect beings. They are perfect because they are hermaphroditic and that hermaphroditic state
is symbolized by the union of the Sun and the Moon. As for Mercurius, aka Father, he is not
perfect. But as I pointed out in video two, he is of the same essence as God slash Truth. The fact
that hermaphroditicism echoes within Mercurius' being is appropriate. Before we move on to other
mind-blowing details, I must acknowledge one question that most of you might be asking,
even the ones that accept my analysis. Am I suggesting then that Father and Truth are hermaphrodites?
If so, why don't they seem to be hermaphroditic? That is a very good question, one that has a
good share of potential answers. For the sake of time and clarity, I will put the answers to those
questions in the description box in case you're curious. I'm just doing this because the information
in this video is already difficult enough to ingest, and I feel that putting that explanation
into this video would be too much. By the way, if you are already confused, don't be discouraged.
Wrapping your head around alchemy is like eating a steak. You have to chew on it for a while before
you truly appreciate it. Now with that small break out of the way, let us return to the Ripley
Scroll. Another alchemical concept it invokes is a concept that I attributed to Paracelsus back in
the first video, the Triaprima, or Three Primes. Let's recap. Paracelsus believed that the philosopher
Stone was a perfect union of three compounds, Sulfur, Salt, and Mercury. These three compounds
correspond to human soul, body, and mind slash spirit. This concept was invoked in episode 26
when Edward was observing the Xerxes' tablet, saying that the sun represented soul, the moon
represented mind, and the tablet itself represented body. The tablet would also represent space,
the void, or Prima Materia. Ripley references the trinity of body, soul, and mind multiple times
on the scroll, attributing Sulfur slash soul to sun, and Mercury slash mind slash spirit to moon.
However, there is a key difference between Ripley and Paracelsus over the issue of body.
The Triaprima was codified by Paracelsus, who came after Ripley. Paracelsus was the one that
equated body with salt. Before Paracelsus came into the picture, Ripley seemed to equate the body
with the Prima Materia, the black, the void. The white stone of Sol and Luna, of soul and mind,
combined with the black stone of the Prima Materia, of body, and together they produced the philosopher
Stone. With the union of the white and the black, we see two new unions of opposites. One, the heavens
and the material world, and two, the corporeal with the incorporeal, the white stone representing
soul and spirit, do not have bodies, and are therefore incorporeal. Also, as the sun and the
moon, they exist in the heavens. The black stone represents the material, corporeal universe, the
body, the Prima Materia, the void. In alchemy, the philosopher's stone was created by unifying the
heavens and the earth, the spiritual with the material. This is why many western alchemists
would often make a parallel between the stone and Jesus Christ, because Christ was the same sort of
paradox. He was God, but also a mortal man. He was of the material universe, but had a divine
essence within, just like the philosopher's stone. This union of the incorporeal of Sulphur and Mercury
with the corporeal void is referenced in two other places in Full Metal Alchemist. One place
is on Armstrong's metal glove. Here, we see the alchemical symbols for Sulphur and Mercury,
Sul and Luna. However, curiously, we do not see the alchemical symbol for salt, but for
another compound known as antimony. I think I'm pronouncing that right. But that's no problem,
because in alchemy, antimony represents blackness, the darkest depths of matter. In other words,
primimateria. Unify the incorporeal with the corporeal, the heavenly with matter,
and you produce the philosopher's stone. The other place we see this is during the eclipse.
Sul and Luna, Sun and Moon, unite in the heavens and produce the perfect being,
Truth slash God, in the form of the eye. Truth does not have a body, but Father does.
Father attempts to swallow God by reaching up to the heavens from the earth. In other words,
the corporeal Father is trying to swallow the incorporeal Truth and thus become a perfect being.
This interpretation is confirmed when we consider what I pointed out in video two about Father,
specifically his dwarf form being the actual primimateria. Blackstone unites with white stone
and the philosopher's stone is produced. Father swallows God and becomes the perfect being,
synonymous with the stone. I am fully aware that this video probably ended up being the most
confusing of the three I've produced so far. Due to this, I will be keeping my eye on the comment
section for the next few days in order to answer any questions you may have. By the way, if you
don't get everything I said at first, do not be discouraged. Remember my stake metaphor. It takes a
while before you can wrap your head around something as inconsistent as alchemy. Hell,
it took me a long time before I could decipher the alchemical texts, but eventually, I promise,
you will get the picture and you will see, just as I do, the remarkable consistency and
understanding that Arakawa demonstrated with her remarkable series.
If you like this video, make sure to give it a like if, in fact, you believe in the law of equivalent
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the description box below. Thanks for watching and until next time, I want to remind you as
always and as per usual, stay yellow.