#incorrect cleopatra

[theclassclone]

JFK, dramatic: So, I got this, uh, new anime plot. Basically, there's this high school girl, er, except she's got these huge boobs. I mean some serious honkers. A, uh, real set of badonkers. Packin' some dobonhonkeros, er, massive dohonkabhankoloos. BIG OL' tohongerekoogers. [Abe covering Topher's mouth; Frida, laughing into Cleo] CJ: What happens next?! [Joan, rolls eyes; Confucius and Harriet, invested] JFK, even MORE dramatic: Uh, transfer student shows up one day! With even BIGGER bonkhonagahoogs! HUMUNGOUS hungolomhnonoloughongous!

[coco6420]

the way names like hector (steadfast, in an honourable sturdy way), penelope (usually meaning weaver but duck/eye isn't unpleasant either) and helen (light and warmth etc) are widely used today in english but names like odysseus aren't. raise your hand if you'd like to call your kid what can be very badly translated as "anger bringer"

[danganronpafakes]

Gonta: I wish you all joy of the worm.

Source: William Shakespeare (“Antony and Cleopatra”)

[meowshroom1230]

Incorrect quotes: ✨Clone High edition✨

[trixxzee]

[unhonestlymirror]

Politics has long been called "systematically organized hatred"

(c)"Cleopatra: A Life" quoting "The Education of Henry Adams"

[neutrallyobsessed]

that sure is A Take, and that's pretty cool! it compelled me to do my own chart lol

.

[olderthannetfic]

Oke we've already covered the "You do fucking know that people travelled before the "age of exploration" and that non-white people DID in fact exist in some form in Europe. Right?"

Well I need to also shout the reverse because I literally just saw someone so confidentially incorrect about Ancient Egypt it hurts. Bro, yes, pale people existed in fucking Egypt, white people-travellers especially and "white" people existed. Aka just pale skinned Egyptians, because your skin tone doesn't actually bar you from being part of your own ethnic group. Do I even need to fucking mention where Cleopatra's bloodline came from?

Like you can fucking have your issues with world history as a whole, but for the love of fuck, can people stop being chucklefucks about humans travelling because they have a fetish about ethnic purity and heavily modern-racial group-thinking? Aka "Everyone of this one ethnicity has to look like X, no deviations exist, anything else is whitewashing. All of them belong to the clearly defined group of Y skin color. AND most importantly, nobody got visited by foreigners and inter-ethnic children didn't exist."

--

[dreamerwitches]

It's the----- updated Madoka iceberg yaaay!

I'll only be discussing the additions on this one (in green) so please check out the old one for the original descriptions

Content warning fooooor: fetishes, child abuse, artists being perverted about children, suicide, death and organ trafficking. This is gonna be fun, huh

Let's goooo!

Sky:

Mami forever alone: A bit of a joke/observation in the fandom. The popular pairings are Madoka and Homura, and Sayaka and Kyoko, often leading to Mami being alone which sadly suits her character... This is jokingly noticed in fanart and manga with Mami often being left out. Sadly it's also led to some darker pairings for her such as Kyubey, Nagisa and even the witch kissed woman from episode 2.

Witches speak: Although witches are often silent or cry out like monsters. Two are known to have spoken. Elly speaks in reverse in episode 4 saying 'I really had fun today, I want to do it again. Next time, I'll bring a bentou'. Izabel also speaks in episode 10 to lure Homura into her labyrinth. However it is completely unconfirmed that the witches are actually speaking and it may even be their familiars. Mildly related, Oktavia's scream from episode 9 is actually a distorted scream from Sayaka.

Walpurgisnacht festival: Walpurgisnacht's name comes from the real world European festival of the same name, or Walpurgis night, that lands on the 30th of April or the 1st of May. Some people theorise that Walpurgisnacht actually arrives in Mitakihara on one of these days.

Walpurgisnacht rising: The sequel film to Rebellion announced on April 25th, 2021... very little was first shown and not a sausage has been revealed since... v-v

Madoka Magica Cafe: A temporary cafe set up around the release of the original anime in 2011. It offered special drinks and desserts as well as Madoka merch. It was extremely popular with waits of over 2 hours on opening day. A few more were held in Japan and Taipei.

Tip:

Magia Record Anime ver. Units: Very controversial variant units from the Magia Record game. These units were criticised as lazy copies of existing characters. With either very minor differences to talk sprites or none at all, ugly battle sprites and lazy transformation animations ripped straight from the anime. These units were not received well with one of the only good aspects being the beautiful card art.

Juubey: The Kyubey for the Pleides Saints in Kazumi Magica. Spoilers for the manga. He was an altered Kyubey that served the girls and purified their Soul Gems without need for Grief Seeds. After learning the truth about witches, the girls killed Kyubey and turned them into a Dependent-Version Incubator with the nickname Juubey and blocked out Kyubey's influence on the city. Yeah, it's complicated XD

Covid delivery girls: The dual unit Tsuruno Felicia Delivery Girls features face masks in their transformation and Magia sprite because the Covid pandemic was occuring when the unit was released.

Ebony: Ebony was the third Puella Historia unit released in Magia Record being a girl from ancient Egypt. She is heavily criticised in the western fandom for not only having a terribly revealing and historically inaccurate outfit but for also being white. However, like Cleopatra, she could be Greek therefore her skin tone would be correct. This however does not excuse her poor design overall On a similar note, how Cleopatra appears in Magia Record is incorrect as she is tanned in-game but has been confirmed by historians to have been white.

Cancelled figures: What is says on the tin! Merchandise that was cancelled including a scale figure of Nagisa and figures of Yachiyo and Tsuruno in their casual clothes and uniform respectively (possibly prize figures). Some that are in a terrible limbo include the 1/8 scale Holy Mami figure, Figuarts mini of Mami, Sayaka and Kyoko and a 1/7 scale figure of Madoka in the style of Aoki Ume's art.

Rebellion was just fanservice: My, my, a controversial one! Some people speculate that the sequel movie, Rebellion, was merely made for fanservice and money. This can be argued with the finite feeling to the anime's ending as well as the many tropes seen in the movie. It shows all the girls fighting happily together (a thing wanted by many fans), ties up loose ends with Sayaka and Kyoko and adds a fan favourite witch, Charlotte, into the main cast. I like to think this isn't the case but you can decide this yourself.

Masara Kokoro Bride ver. A recent variant for Masara and Kokoro where Masara is in a wedding dress and Kokoro is in a tuxedo. Their description is that they're modelling for wedding photos but the gay theming is too overpowering for it to be simply platonic. The less than subtle hints at romance between two girls is a change for the series that loves to be ambiguous. The unit was very well received.

Kyubey and Charlotte scooters: A unique piece of merchandise are scooters by Brain Police that feature decals of Kyubey and Charlotte. You can get yourself one for the low low price of 134,400 yen (£750). These are certainly unique, but quite a funny piece of merch

Lesbian Rika: Rika from Magia Record is the only magical girl canonically who has been in love with another girl (don't get the pitchforks, SPECIFICALLY confirmed). Her wish was for her childhood friend to fall in love with her instead of the boy she liked which does work yet Rika realises it doesn't feel right and breaks up with her.

Shallows:

Trans Ria: Ria is a magical girl from Magia Record, her wish was 'Turn me into a naturally beautiful girl'. This has led fans to believe that her wish was for her to transition from male to female. This can also be seen with her doppel Heide Jekyll that transforms from a dumpy blob in a rectangle to a feminine figure with a circle. Her witch's name also comes from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which is not only a male character but they were also known for transforming into an alter ego or a different person.

Devil Homura in Magia Record: A total tease. Fans have been wanting Devil Homura as a unit in Magia Record since its very beginning however she still hasn't come. To add salt to the wound, the Magia Report version of her, Devil Homura-chan was added on April Fools 2022. It's speculated she may be released on Magia Day but she's still not here...

Alina Eve's name: Alina Eve is a witch fusion of Alina, her doppel and Shitori Egumo who debuted in episode 25 of the Magia Record anime. In the anime, her name appeared in Runes as 'Neo Dorothy Motherfucker'. This links to her use of curses and her doppel's name, Old Dorothy. However, when her profile was revealed on the official twitter she was named Alina Eve and in-game she is called Neo Dorothy. The reason for the change and discrepancy is unknown but it may be because they didn't want to use swear words in media outside the anime.

Swimsuit Madoka's transformation: An infamous one. When Madoka got her swimsuit unit her transformation was the first (and only so far) to use the live2D models instead of traditional animation. This was not well received and was a disappointment for one of the main character's units. The reason may have been time constraints but fans were not pleased.

Mami is Walpurgisnacht: Forgive me, it's a little clickbait-y..! The reason is..! Mami's voice actress, Kaori Mizuhashi also voiced Walpurgisnacht in the anime. She also voiced Tatsuya, Madoka's little brother.

Fetishes: Oh dear... we're getting here... Two magical girls have clear fetishes. Yukika gets pleasure from dangerous situations while Miyuri has a foot fetish that is probably played off for laughs... It is NOT okay to give child characters fetishes, okay? Fetishes are a sexual thing. Next.

Dub bloopers: Bloopers for the English dub of the anime were released at Otakon 2012 (can be found on Youtube). It certainly feels like 2010s humour but it's still a little funny. Also great if you wanna hear some of the girls swear.

Iroha x Yachiyo: Ugh. It is very clear from Magia Record media that Iroha and Yachiyo are played off very similarly to Madoka and Homura. While the pairing of Madoka and Homura is perfectly fine as they're both children, Iroha and Yachiyo are not. Yachiyo is an adult and Iroha is a child. The anime, merchandise, and the unit of them together rub salt into this wound as dual units are mostly seen as ship units by fans. It's disgusting and not okay.

Yuma's abuse: Yuma is an abuse victim in Oriko Magica. (cw description of child abuse) Her father is absent (either neglectful or has left) and her mother, Mako, would beat and burn her with cigarettes as well as kick her out of the house for long periods of time. Her parents are killed in the original manga and she is taken in by Kyoko because of her similarity to her late sister Momo. In Extra Story she never contracts and is living happily with her grandparents.

Deep Waters:

Gan: Ugh again. Gan is the artist behind Suzune Magica (probably the least liked spin off lol) who is infamous for their clear lack of restraint in making children sexualised. Arisa has an outfit with circles right where her nipples are, Chisato has an outfit with a strip of fabric for a skirt and she is canonically uncomfortable with it and they love giving older characters enormous (and unrealistic) breasts. The art they draw of their UNDERAGE characters is always sexual and borderline pornographic and. Not. Okay. (even told by Magireco staff to tone down their puella historia character, haha fuck you)

Takashi Tensugi The illustrator for Kazumi Magica. Their disgusting taste is evident in the character design for the protagonists as well as sexual and revealing shots in the manga but I've also heard that they've drawn hentai before. No I'm not going to fucking look for that thank you. But... another bad egg in the spin off manga series... Not okay

Masugitsune ANOTHER BAD EGG! One of the illustrators for Tart Magica and also the illustrator for Yukika (you can tell where this is going). Sexualises minors, just like every madoka spin-off artist seems to... Has drawn Yukika in revealing swimsuits and bunny costumes as well as the rest of the Tart cast. Remember, they're all children----! NOT OKAY!

Riz's former companions names Omg thank god we're past the nonce section... Riz had unnamed magical girl companions in Tart Magica that have been slowly named by their artist. Their names are... pretty shit honestly as they're just named after their weapons. They are Machete, Frusta and Falce with one being still unnamed.

Kuroe was a marketing stunt: Not confirmed of course but... Kuroe was introduced at the very beginning of the Magia Record anime with her being the only new character. She disappeared for the rest of the series until the very end with a very lacklustre and ineffective ending. One could imagine that her inclusion and focus was to grip watchers into continuing with an otherwise pretty underwhelming series. But... take it how you wish...

Livia's backstory: Hey, this isn't new! I hear you say! Well, it's not new, but it's changed! The original iceberg said that her backstory may have been linked to a miscarriage but NOPE its worse! She was actually almost a victim of organ trafficking when she was a child. And later in life, she watched one of her friends die on her wedding day as she was run over by a tractor that she caused to malfunction...

Himena and Hiko: Himena's wish was for her boyfriend to be with her within her. After... her boyfriend committed suicide yaaayyy! (sarcasm) The end of this iceberg isn't very nice, is it? Her boyfriend didn't want to come back and now he's stuck with her forever.

Well... that's it! Sorry it became a bit of a bummer at the end...

Have a plushy Charlotte for making it to the end! Yay!

[kimtiny]

"Mom im a lesbian" "nonsense you're egyptian" is incorrect bc Cleopatra was greek not egyptian 🤓

https://theconversation.com/cleopatras-skin-colour-didnt-matter-in-ancient-egypt-her-strategic-role-in-world-history-did-205240#:~:text=She%20came%20from%20a%20long,been%20of%20Macedonian%20Greek%20descent.

I'm not a Cleopatra scholar, but being born in Alexandria from a family that lived in Egypt for 300 years and being culturally Egyptian kinda makes her Egyptian in my book. My family is technically from Italy but been living in France for 4 generations, I think it qualifies me as French first and not italian. It's a fun fact that's not really a fact like, yeah her family is from greece but saying she's not Egyptian is just wrong isn't it?

I know she didn't fully embrace the egyptian culture, and her first language wasn't egyptian (even tho she was fluent in it) but that has more to do with how she grew up and personal choices than where she was born. And if you wanna go off what she identified herself as, then greek is wrong too isn't it? Since she claimed herself Macedonian.

But anyway it was just a funny bit, and I did hesitate to say 'you're greek' but it would have made less sense since again; she identified as macedonian and was born in Egypt from a family that lived in Egypt.

[miguel-manbemel]

The Greatest Lovers in History

Inspired by an incorrect quote by @dikdikpronouncedxylophone .

[theclassclone]

Confucius: What did you guys get in the yearbook?

Cleo: Prettiest smile.

Frida: Nicest personality.

Harriet: Most likely to start a bar fight.

CJ: Least likely to start a bar fight, but most likely to win one.

[CJ and Harriet high-five and celebrate their matching yearbook votes]

[thenwethrowitonthefire]

hello, sparks-anon here. it must've been a long time since I hardly remember when was the last time we talked or what was it about. recently [mostly by accident] I listened to gratuitous sex album after such a long time, and it hit different than the first times. it was very interesting how the album made me feel strange mixed feelings together, in senseless violin there is intensity while it the song should be senseless, now that I own the BBC has joyful tone but the guy in song is freaking out or confused why they did that! the gratuitous sex feels uncomfortable and chill...it is interesting how they put this paradoxes together.

anyway what I meant to ask in first place before I carried away was hearing your take on "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil"

p.s any take on other song in album is welcome, hit me in

My favourite anon is back! 🌞

🎶 Throw in a-a-a-aaan… excellent ask! *saxophone solo* 🎶

(Yeah you've seen the album cover, I know. I just love it.) Long answer follows, so I'm adding a read more thingy.

Your ask was so excellent in fact that I've really had to think about this one and do some research because I never had given that song a lot of thought yet. I also asked a friend for their take on Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil, but their initial response was the same as mine: not actually knowing what the lyrics are because we just vibe to it + Russell's voice is nice to listen to. (Sorry Ron, man's out there writing brilliant lyrics and we never got past vibing with this one until now.) So yeah! Good question! I've read the lyrics a good couple of times now, started writing my thoughts down 5 times, made notes throughout the month since receiving your ask and read up more about the people mentioned in the songs. (Historical knowledge is not my strong suit, neither is researching, but Sparks are so cool for their cultural knowledge/references. The amount of stuff people have learned over the years because of Sparks…!) Anyway, I think I can finally write about the song in a comprehensible way now :) (It may still be incorrect or incomplete though, so if anyone wants to add on, please do!)

Let's start with the meaning of the proverb Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil. Here's two things taken from Wikipedia that put us in the right direction: "(it) is often used to refer to a lack of moral responsibility on the part of people who refuse to acknowledge impropriety, looking the other way or feigning ignorance", or more simply put, "(in the West) it is often interpreted as dealing with impropriety by turning a blind eye". The song relates this proverb to 3 women of historical importance, who must have been especially good at turning a blind eye as they held a lot of power and stood next to men who held a lot of power: the wife of Clinton, Madame Mao and Cleopatra. Let's go over all of the lyrics (I'm adding colour for the lyrics to easily distinguish the lyrics and my thoughts.)

"I'm the wife of Clinton / I don't have a problem with all of this / They come and go, of course I know, I know everything" …sounds like she knows things and does not give a shit. "You don't know my thinking, who I dream of, all the gifts that I bring" Is this her saying that there's more to her that people don't know, is this her defence for holding her tongue? "One thing is clear, the atmosphere is thin and it's cold" No doubt, but is that about the atmosphere she chooses to move around in, or is it about how she herself adds to the thin and cold atmosphere? *enter the repeating of Hear no evil (Monkey 1 says you shouldn't hear it) / See no evil (Monkey 2 says you shouldn't see it) / Speak no evil (Monkey 3 says you shouldn't speak it)* As to say, those are the rules she lives by.

"I am Madame Mao / Following the Tao to the extreme / I know the score, all this and more, they're still in their teens" Despite the fact that I've tried to read up on her, I don't have enough context when it comes to Chinese history, however it's sounding like there were very young people drastically impacted by decisions that had been made by her husband and/or her. Again, sounding less like purposefully looking away and more like being fine with what's happening, more like "that's a sacrifice we're willing to make to achieve the goal we're after". "You don't know my thinking, who I dream of, or the gifts that I bring / One thing is true, I won't leave clues to where I have been" Someone sounds like she's got her own agenda that she's secretly working on… Which is again followed by the chorus of the repeating proverb.

The next bit gives me visions of rulers doing a parade or standing on a balcony or something, happily waving at enthusiastic civilians, like "of course we love our country and the people in it, aren't we taking good care of you" - the two faced thing of letting harmful decisions be made/actively making them, but then giving a display of smiles, love and welfare. We don't speak of the evil things, what evil things, there's only good times here. Aren't we good. "We on the Potomac love good times / We on the Yangtze love good times / We on the Nile love good times / Can't get enough of good times" Good times for everyone or are you just taking care of your own interests and your own good times? "More than enough love to go 'round / More than enough power to go 'round" This is no doubt personal now, speaking about the romance and power shared between them and their partners who are world leaders "More than enough ids to be found" Is this about the ability to show multiple faces? The smiling pleasant wife, who's other face may be politically cutthroat, wielding the right face at the right time to achieve the goals they're after. "More than enough bids to go down"

*repeating of See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil once more*

"I am Cleopatra, Caesar's former lover, now I am yours" There's the romance and the power again. "Marc Antony, you're biting off more than you can chew" ...And here is the twist, here's the demise. He indeed bit off more than he can chew. There's no further lyrics about Cleopatra, just the repeating of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. This may allude to the fact that it doesn't end well. Cleopatra and Marc Antony lost it all, in the end both of them committed suicide to escape consequences.

Maybe the song was a critique on US politics at the time (maybe someone older than me has a better perspective on that idea), but maybe Ron would say it was just a song about power, romance and tragedy, exploring those themes. I think it's an interesting choice to ponder the lives of these women, questioning what happens behind closed doors, what they might have been thinking or feeling, illustrating the fact that we don't truly know what secrets they may have kept or what power they did or did not hold. It's a man's world out there (maybe a little less so in Cleopatra's case?), all the public would ever get to see is their smiling pleasantly and not saying a word. Fittingly, the sound of this song has always sounded very resigned to me. The sound is very much like "this is my place and that's just the way it is, it's my job to simply be present and stand here, observe and keep my mouth shut when people might hear it".

I love that you mention the mix of emotions you get from the songs on this album. It's one of those things that makes Sparks so special to me in general (not just on this album). They have this ability to create things that can be opposite things at the same time, without diluting either side of it. It's like they choose to paint things black and white at the same time and it then indeed is both those things at the same time, there's no gray. And it works.

...I had started writing this whole paragraph about the album and the themes on it and all that, but I am not getting my words to hit the way I want them to so I'll leave that for now. It's an album that you can analyse and enjoy a lot that way, but also it's an album where you can just... not do that and enjoy it a lot all the same. It's not surprising to me that this album is in many fans' album top 10.

I will leave you with a live performance of my favourite song from the album, without any clever words about it :) I'm a bit worded out but also I just feel this song, it's very "mm piano so good!" and "damn I LOVE those drums on this one specific live version!!" There's no separate upload of it but if you click here it should take you to the 1:17:20 point in the video, which is the start of the song :)

Putting the video below as well, though I don't think it'll start playing at the right time.

[capinejghafa]

A YEAR IN REVIEW: CREATIONS OF 2023

Post your favourite and most popular posts from each month this year (it's okay to skip months)

tagged by @girlbutcherwife, @taiturner, @crowley-anthony THANK YOU <333 I realized i just giffed a lot last year and I might need to chill lol

JANUARY

MOST POPULAR: Dream - Do my own subjects not know me? (1.3K) FAVORITE: dream of the endless + location of his tools

FEBRUARY

MOST POPULAR: aziracrow + i forgive you (913) FAVORITE: kanej gif/fic collab with @oneofthewednesdays

MARCH

MOST POPULAR: kanej + dream sequence (3.3k) FAVORITE: (1) the crows + colors (2) kanej + sankta neyar quote

APRIL

MOST POPULAR: kanej + incorrect quote (iasip) (1.2k) FAVORITE: (1) kanej + "no saint ever watched over me. not like you have." (2) kanej + incorrect quote (addams family)

MAY

MOST POPULAR: kaz + "the city's price is blood" (703) FAVORITE: genya + "your beauty is your armor."

JUNE

MOST POPULAR: grace le domas (ready or not) (1.2k) FAVORITE: hargreeves siblings + cleopatra by the lumineers

JULY

MOST POPULAR: (1) crowley's snake eyes appreciation post (4.7k) (2) the real reason why aziraphale turned bentley yellow… (4.7k) FAVORITE: the crows + "I think it’s brave to try to be happy..."

AUGUST

MOST POPULAR: crowley + regretting trying to get jimbriel to jump out the window (1.3k) FAVORITE: (1) aziracrow + jane austen (2) aziracrow + william shakespeare (3) number five + dynamic

SEPTEMBER

MOST POPULAR: (1) crowley + waiting for aziraphale (1.1k) (2) crowley + questions (1.1k) FAVORITE: beginner’s guide to kerch (island)

OCTOBER

MOST POPULAR: crowley + getting closer (2.4k) FAVORITE: (1) aziracrow + "this the precious, peaceful, fragile existence that we have carved out for ourselves here." (2) kaz + orange/black coloring (3) crowley + gray bg

NOVEMBER

MOST POPULAR: aziracrow + space | season one (1.4k) FAVORITE: (1) the crows + opening credits (2) crowley + good lad/not really)

DECEMBER

MOST POPULAR: aziraphale + the Second Coming (748) FAVORITE: (1) kanej + favorite crows' relationship (2) the crows + tumblr year review

tagging (no pressure/if you've already done it!): @yenvengerberg @stars-bean @samwwise @alivedean @rachelsennot @padme-amidala

[unhonestlymirror]

Anthony, too, realized something that spring morning. Octavian had just finished his studies, during which he probably learned that the people themselves encourage discord and exalt talkers themselves only in order to later have the pleasure of throwing them off their pedestal so that they themselves squabbled with each other [68]. Of course, he was not wrong. And no one knew how to stir up enmity better than Cicero, who, as one of his contemporaries put it, could always be counted on if it was necessary to “slander the famous, blackmail the powerful, insult the distinguished” [69]. This came in handy right now.

[vanilla-cigarillos]

Women in Alchemy

Like many aspects of history, woman have been widely removed from the narrative of alchemy’s history. However, this false narrative hides the extraordinary impact that female figures had in the world of alchemical practices.

Michael Maier (German physician and counsellor to Rudolf II Habsburg, a notable alchemist) named women who were able to create the famed Philosopher’s Stone. 

Mary the Jewess

A.k.a. Mary the Prophetess or Maria the Copt; Mary the Jewess was an early alchemist who became known from the works of Zosimos of Panopolis (Greco-Egyptian alchemist). On the basis of this work, Mary the Jewess lived between the first and third centuries A.D. in Alexandria. She is noted as one of the first alchemical writers, with her works not being dated later than the first century.

Mary is credited with the invention of multiple kinds of chemical apparatus, and is considered the first true alchemist of the Western world. She believed that metals had two different genders, and that if you were to join these two together a new entity could be made.

Axiom of Maria

One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes one as the fourth

Carl Jung notably used this axiom as a metaphor for individuation, and wholeness.

Inventions

Tribikos

An alchemical still (alembic) with three arms used to obtain substances purified by distillation

Still used today in chemistry labs

Kerotakis

Device used to heat substances used in alchemy, as well to collect vapors

Bain-marie

A.k.a. “Mary’s bath”

Limits the maximum temperature of a container and its contents to the boiling point of a separate liquid (essentially, it is a double boiler) 

Cleopatra the Alchemist

A Greek alchemist and philosopher active in Alexandria during the 3rd or 4th century A.D. It’s notable that this is not Cleopatra VII, rather this is a pseudonym for an unknown author (or even a group of authors). Despite her hidden identity, Cleopatra the Alchemist is a foundational figure in alchemy, her influence perhaps even pre-dating Zosimos of Panopolis.

Cleopatra the Alchemist is most noted for the Chrusopoeia of Cleopatra, a lone sheet document containing only symbols, drawings and captions. Examples of the imagery seen are the Ouroboros, an inscription saying:

One is the Serpent which has its poison according to two compositions, and One is All and through it is All, and by it is All, and if you have not All, All is nothing.

There are also drawings of “dibikos”, an instrument similar to a kerotakis.

Another is a symbol of the eight-banded star, and many believe the drawing of these star symbols and the crescent shapes above them are a depiction of turning lead into silver.

Paphnutia the Virgin

Living around the time of 300 C.E., Paphnutia was an Egyptian alchemist referred to in the letters between Zosimos of Panopolis and his sister, Theosebeia (also assumed to be an alchemist). Within these letters, Zosimos criticizes his sister for associating with Paphnutia, someone he considered to be uneducated and incorrect in her practice of alchemy. 

Little else is known about her, aside from the possibility that she could have also been a priestess. It’s also theorized that she was connected to a school of alchemy that competed with that of Zosimos.