Queen Elizabeth II

Other Features

Queen Elizabeth II

Jack Tresidder, Dictionary of Symbols

Volume 37  Issue 7, 8 & 9 | Posted: October 9, 2022

In alchemy, the sacred marriage of the white queen (Mercury) and the red king (Sulphur) symbolized the union of male and female principles to produce the Philosopher’s Stone.

As consorts, queens were subordinate to the dynastic male, but as sovereigns they could quickly acquire symbolic importance, as did Elizabeth I (on whom Edmund Spenser based his Faerie Queene Gloriana; 1596).

In the ancient world, mother goddesses (including the Virgin Mary) were Queens of Heaven, lunar goddesses Queens of the Night. Symbolic attributes included the blue robe, chalice, turreted or starry crown, orb and sceptre, and the metal silver.

   

Jack Tresidder, Dictionary of Symbols