A bath is in alchemy, a simmering heat that is part of the process of creating the Philosopher’s Stone. The bath is also called the Bain Marie, named after Maria Prophetessa, who is credited with developing the warming apparatus. The bath is related to Baptism.

In alchemical art, naked men and women, symbols of opposites, are shown together in a bath: Sol and Luna or the King and the Queen, representing the masculine and the feminine, the volatile and the fixed, gold and silver, or mercury and sulphur. The bath is cleansing, perfecting, and purifying; the water is rejuvenating and redemptive.

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The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy Written byRosemary Ellen Guiley Copyright © 2006 by Visionary Living, Inc.