Alchemical Symbolism and the Language of Dreams

 I've been reading about alchemy again and it's started creeping into my dreams with some pretty fantastical symbolism. There have been 2 dreams in a row featuring talking animals; the first a conversational peahen and the second a white fox who said "Goodbye". Nice dreams when you can get them eh?The alchemical symbolism of animals tends to be a little different and rather more interesting than your standard dream interpretation. Ask the internet about foxes and peacocks and you'll get the usual hodgepodge of 'foxes are crafty' and 'peacocks are proud'The peacock's tail appears in alchemy near the completion of the 'work' whether by an oily residue on the surface of the final liquid (the 'wet path') or as a colourful oxidation on metals (the 'dry path'). The peacock itself denotes nobility, glory and holiness - a path to attaining the Great Work.Foxes are always closely aligned with the trickster archetype. Alchemically they are linked to the sun along with lions, although I'm not sure what white foxes would relate to? Maybe an alchemical transformation related to the moon or maybe the albedo process. They were also believed that they are the keepers of Elixir of Life and that they assume human form at night to visit the sick.My main research lately has been around the symbolism associated with the Nigredo process, that of burning, putrefaction, death and resurrection. The symbolism of the Black Madonna is associated with nigedo, the Prima Materia, the black earth (Kemi) and also with Isis, and she is another character that has popped up briefly in my sleep. The photo above is one I took of the Virgin of Montserrat "La Moreneta". She is housed in the Benedictine Montserrat Abbey in the hills above Barcelona. She has become a site of pilgrimage for Catholics and the pilgrim is able to obtain her blessing by touching her exposed hand which is holding a globe representing the universe. She sit's in a pose known as the Throne of Wisdom with the baby Christ making a traditional sign of benediction.When I had the chance to visit the Abbey the weather was bad and the whole mountain was covered in mist. There was no view either up or down the mountains which meant that the tourist numbers were very low - lucky for me! I wasn't fussed about the views and was most interested in seeing the monastery. The mist was so dense that it was impossible to see more than 50m ahead and the grottoes filled with votive candles flickered all around. Going into the buildings meant that the mist swirled with you into the dark interiors and getting photos was very hard. La Moreneta usually has a long queue of pilgrims waiting to see her and if that had been the case I would have kept away and let them have their time with her. But there was no one else there! I was able to walk up to her and touch her hand, which was incredibly smooth and seemed to have a static charge from the thousands of hands before me."Rosa d’abril, Morena de la serra..." (April rose, dark-skinned lady of the mountain...)- el Virolai, Hymn to the Virgin of MontserratI enjoy my research popping up in my dreams as sometimes it will make certain aspects that I can use for future work stand out more clearly. I hadn't thought about La Moreneta for a while and I can't think of the last time I even considered white foxes!