back to The Secret of Hermetic Alchemy

Rebis

The Rebis may seem an awkward figure. Dom Pernety defines Rebis as: "The Matter of the Wise in the first operation of the Work. The mineral spirit rough like water, as the good Trévisan tells us, mixes itself with its bodies in the first brew in the process of dissolving. That is why it is called Rebis, because it is made of two things, male and female, solvent and solvable bodies, which basically is but one thing and one matter."
Your normal consciousness is the matter, and is the male aspect, fixed in this physical reality. When directing your attention inwards, in meditation, your consciousness feels more subtle, like water, in the beginning, and it compared to the female. Nevertheless it is still the same you, just two different aspects of your consciousness. When you meditate the everyday physical consciousness dissolves and becomes more fluid when attention shift towards the inner consciousness.
The Rebis is a clear androgyn figure, not always named as such. However the male-female aspects are always clearly visible.