The Peacock

The diffraction of light that occurs in natural phenomena such as rainbows, peacock feathers, certain insects, and the colors that appear on the surfaces of some metals during heating are persistent motifs within a particular stage of the alchemical opus. The cauda pavonis (the peacock s tail) is the brief stage that heralds the final... 

The lion [shown below the Athanor] is the symbol of Eixed Sulphur the eagle is a symbol of Volatile Mercury and the serpent and the dragon are symbols of the Alchemical Matter. The crow represents the black color the swan the white color, the peacock represents all the colors of the rainbow and, finally, the phoenix symbolizes the red color [those birds shown here in fig. 10]. ... 

With the Peacock stage, the alchemist has entered into the inner experience of the astral world, which initially appears as ever shifting patterns of colour. This experience is often symbolised in alchemy by the appropriate image of the peacock s tail with its splendid iridescence of colour. In terms of this series of five stages, the turning point is reached with the Peacock. Up until this point the alchemist has experienced aspects of his being which he was... 

The Peacock s Tail is the central experience to this process, the point of inner transformation, which arises from a true consciousness of the astral body. We note also that the other stages mirror each other. Thus the Black Crow and the Phoenix are related as beginning and end of the process, but in a deeper sense they are both connected with death-processes. The dying to the senses of the Black Crow stage is ultimately transformed into the triumph over the death process of the physical, that is pictured by the Phoenix. There is a further mirroring of the White Swan and Pelican stages. The White Swan is an experience of the etheric forces in one s being, and this is later transformed into a conscious mastery and outward expression of these life forces. 

In addition to the 12-molybdocerate complexes described in Section 2.1, and the Peacock-Weakley analogs listed in Table 4, there have been other attempts to synthesize rare-earth complexes of molybdates. In view of the inadequacies of 95Mo-NMR caused by low sensitivity and quadrupolar relaxation, and the ambiguities of other spectroscopic methods, it has so far been impossible to confirm whether those compounds that reveal discrete polyoxoanions in crystal structure analysis yield solutions that retain the same structures. 

The Peacock-Weakley complexes [R(PWn039)2]11 and [R(P2Wi706i)2]17 are reported to give higher luminescence intensities than the corresponding de-catungsto complexes when R = Nd or Yb, but no energy transfer to the rare-earth... 

The Syphar, i.e., the Old Skin, or Slough, of our Chelydrus, has medicinal virtues. It wonderfully heals complaints of the posterior and falling of the womb, when these parts are fumigated therewith. Also the skin of the eft or lizard, which is very rarely found, because it is eaten by the animal itself (even as the peacock devours his own dung, which to man is so valuable), is good for the falling sickness. 

Of various colours, having White, Black, Waxen, Yellow, and Honey colour Zones also frequently like to the Plumage of the Peacock. 

TAIL OF THE PEACOCK — The Colours of the Rainbow which manifest upon the Matter in the operations of the Stone. To indicate the colours which pass in succession over this Matter, Basil Valentin and many other Philosophers have employed a defined sequence of symbolism. The Raven signifies the Black colour, the Peacock the several hues of the Rainbow, the Swan the colour White, while the Phoenix stands for the Red. 

India, in the mid-seventeenth century, was just waking up to the beauty of pearls and starting to use them extensively. Again, they were sewn onto clothes and used as jewellery, especially necklaces. Shah Jehan, who built the Taj Mahal, had a throne - the Peacock Throne... 

Once it has secured a mate, the peacock builds a nest, usually in a thicket. The female lays a clutch of about ten eggs, which she alone broods. The peahen also takes care of the chicks. 

The lacunary anions [PWnOsg] ", [SiWn039] " and (a2-) [P2Wi706i] °" were first shown to form complexes with a variety of lanthanide cations (Ln POM =1 1 and 1 2) by Peacock and Weakley in 1971.[41] At that time only the 1 2 complexes could be isolated, and the ai isomer of [P2Wi706i] ° had not been discovered. The first actinide (tetravalent Th, U) analogs of the Peacock-... 

Cronin H 1991 The ant and the peacock altruism and sexual selection from Darwin to today. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge... 

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