alice πͺβ₯οΈ π©π#Touch, c1500, from #TheLadyAndTheUnicorn series.from The lady and the unicorn series. wool and silk, 373 x 358 cm MuseΜe de Cluny β MuseΜe national du Moyen AΜge, Paris Photo Β© RMN-GP / M Urtado
Simon AshcroftI would suggest the unicorn represents an idealised state of transformative innocence. A sort of personal purification - not according to some overbearing pseudo morality (as if there is any other sort), but letting go of all that is personally holding back the psyche.
Maybe that is overly romanticised, but I suspect a study linked to hermetic / alchemical symbolism may prove instructive.
@SJAsh_03
May we be spared to 'studies' in 'hermetic / alchemical symbolism'. π
May we be spared to 'studies' in 'hermetic / alchemical symbolism'. π
The imagery is intriguing...
https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Mysticism-Alexander-Roob/dp/3836549360
There may even be a unicorn hidden behind one of those items...
@SJAsh_03
That's poetic language.
In the raw, the unicorn was probably a very imaginative drawing of a rhinoceros. π
That's poetic language.
In the raw, the unicorn was probably a very imaginative drawing of a rhinoceros. π
What real-world creature lay behind the unicorn (and its possibly having its horn replaced with a narwhal's tusk) is interesting in itself β but, to my mind, a secondary issue to its symbolism. The importance lies in what ideas and associations it sparked.
Poetry Rules...