The Grotto of Diana,

The Mistery of the Metamorphoses in Villa d´Este

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I.·.P.·.H.·. Guillermo Calvo Soriano, 33°

 Source of Life of the World and its promise
of Transfiguration to come, The Spiritus Mundi animates
the Prodigies of the Water Artifices of the Garden of Villa d´Este,
represents for the Neoplatonists of the Renaissance influenced
by the Egyptian Hermeticism, the Magic Power capable of assuring
to those who are in the Mastery of the Redemption of the Soul.
 Marsilio Ficino Cardinal Hipolito d´Este

According to her Hopes, he will redirect her to the Icon

of the Sovereign Good in this World, the Sun, Origin and End
of All Things. For this reason, in the 16th century,
for the Heirs of Marsilio Ficino “Magic Knowledge is also Savior”.
 a “Everything changes,
nothing perishes”
Coming from
the Fountain of Nature,
whose rhythms of time
return on themselves and unfold
the Splendors of Converting
the World into its Universal Flow,
to the Grotto dedicated
to Diana - Artemis,
located at the other end
of the Garden,
this flow is staged
in its Metamorphoses,
in its incessant Mutations,
Artemis. on the Elements Fire, Air,
The Fountain of Nature. Water, Earth.
 Grotta of Diana

For the Neoplatonists and Pythagoreans of the 16th century,

its infinite Combinations constitute, as well as the Egg and its shell
broken under the effect of time, in a Shortening of the World,
the Ovoid Grotto is a Cosmic Symbol. She represents at the same
time the dark depths, where the Mysterious Alchemy of the Powers
of the Earth operates, and the hole at the Entrance of the Cave,
is its threshold that communicates with the Light.
 Breaking the shell and manifestly leaving the Cave to an irruption
of Light in receptacles that are the Matrices of the Mystery of Life
and Metamorphosis, testify to its emergence in the heart of dark
matter. The Den, the Grotto, is like the World. The Mysteries that
it hides in its depths, the darkest ones, only make sense when
they return to the Source that gives them life, the Cosmic Sun, which
shines on the Horizon of the World as it shines above Plato's Cave.
The Grotto of Diana - Artemis,
Master of Metamorphosis,
located at the western end
of the path that leads to the foot
of the first terrace and forming
an architectural body
with the Mirador that closes it,
has two openings. One,
at the same level as this alley,
faces north, the other,
like a balcony in the landscape,
faces west,
towards the marine horizon
of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Antechamber. Entering through the alley, you come to an anteroom
where two niches housed statues, one Amazon and the other
of her queen, Penthesilea. On the walls, a decoration of hard stones
and shells presents a coat of arms of the Fleur de Lys surmounted
by a crisscrossed trophy, shield and breastplate,
from which a covered head protrudes.
 An oblong
room
constitutes
the Home
of this Grotto.
Its central
space is below
a cross of ribs
that organizes,
by symmetry,
the entire
decoration.
On the walls,
large panels
of painted stucco present scenes taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses,
Diana and Apollo, Athena and Hermes work.
Daphne is transformed into Laurel.
 Balcony.
Decorated
with the same
materials,
hard stones,
shells and
painted stucco
a small
bedroom
to the west
dominates
the
landscape.
Its vault houses a large central medallion that illustrates
the episode of Actaeon surprising Diana in the bathroom.
On both sides, two small medallions evoke Hippolytus
and Diana with their bows.
 At the ends of the Vault two other scenes: Amazons animated
by Diana Thunderer in the clouds, decimate their Greek enemies,
and a group of Giants, companions of the Cyclops Polyphemus,
try to seize the Waves of the Acis river in which they are half
submerged, under the gaze of the goddess Galatea surrounded
by her followers. Acis, Allegory of Water,
is the quintessential emblem of Metamorphosis.
To the east, we see the encounter
of Athena and the Muses
on Mount Helicon,
near the Fountain of Pegasus,
and in front,
today very degraded,
Hermes with Hersé and Aglauros,
daughters of Cecrops,
the first mythical king of Attica,
in a scene where the god hovers,
like a comet,
over the city of Athens.

Athena
 The episode of Actaeon surprising Diana naked, near a fountain
decorated with stucco and limestone concretions, like the rocky
landscape of Tivoli. Turned into a Deer, Actaeon is dismembered and
disemboweled by his dogs. There were two statues,
one of Athena and the other of Diana, occupying the central space.
 The semicircular Vaults, on either side of the intersection of ribs,
house other decorations made of hard stone, stucco, and seashells.
The Inhabitants of the Celestial Ocean: Merfolk that blow
in conches, winged Nereids, forked Mermaids, anguished Mermen
and Centaurs that challenge themselves to fight, Entwined Dolphins,
mythical figures of the high seas, protagonists of the dangerous
navigation that awaits Souls on pilgrimage towards the Fortunate
Isles, beyond the Gates of Atlas. Large canopies, in the middle
of the vaults, indicate the direction of this Celestial Ascension.
 At the focal point of the Striated Cross, Hipolito d'Este's
White Eagle finishes off the composition. In the four directions,
highlighted by the ribbed sides of the Cross, intertwined
four Branches loaded with Golden Fruits unfold that seem
to escape from four Vases carried by Caryatids placed
in the two corners of the Niche that houses the Fountain.
Caryatids carrying the Vessels
adorned with Black Masks
with large dilated white Eyes,
loaded with Golden Fruits
illustrates the Allegory
of the impure Soul
in carrying out its Journey
through the Bodies
and the Elements, which,
in the Vessel of
Transmutations,
Atanor of Spiritual Alchemy,
you will know,
the last Purification,
the last Mutation.
 The Transformation back
into a Golden Fruit equal to
the Fruits of Immortality
of the Thunderous Tree of Life in
the heart
of the Garden of the Gods
before being snatched away
by the Solar White Eagle
hovering below
the Warhead Cruiser.
 This Grotto is dedicated to Diana,
the Mighty Goddess of the Desert,
as well as her fervent devotee, Hippolyta,
the Amazon. Diana, Goddess of Nature,
virgin, inviolable,
of the Secret Nature of the Origins
that she fiercely defends,
is a menacing and hidden divinity
that resides on the other side
of the Visible World.
She is the Guardian of the Limits,
of the precarious and fragile borders,
in the limits of the Wild
and the Domesticated,
of the Animal and the Man,
Diana, of the Man and the Divine.
now in the Capitoline Museum
 Diana reigns over the corridors,
the margins,
the boundaries between
Civilized and Wild.
“Virgin Goddess”,
she watches over the Mysterious
Common Matrix of forms,
the Original Matrix in which
the passage through
the Indeterminate of the
Raw Material forges new Births.
She is the Owner
of the Metamorphosis
that turns all Death into a Rebirth.
 Diana commands
the Law of Transformations
and the incessant Renewal of the Forms that
govern the Universal Flow of Becoming.
She goddess of fertility, virgin and mother,
she protects the Amazons,
who despise marriage and perpetuate
the archaic tradition of the Matriarchy,
recognizing only
the Fatherhood of the Mother.
A Primitive Matrix,
she embodies the virginity of the wild world
and the Mystery of it.

Artemis Louvre Museum

Hippolytus, son of Theseus and Hippolyta,
the queen of the Amazons, dedicated
his life to the cult of the hunting goddess.
Like her, he hunts in the forest, followed by
her pack. Having made
a vow of absolute Chastity, he dedicates
his Virtue to the very pure virgin goddess.
Alone among mortals, he has the privilege
of approaching her, of speaking to her,
and if he does not see her face,
he at least hears her voice. Hippolytus,
imbued in gymnastics and music,
is an ascetic who seeks to detach himself
from the World, purifying himself.
 He attends
the Eleusinian
Mysteries
and affiliated
with the
Orphic Sect,
he abstains
from
consuming
animal flesh and worships the “Darkness of the Books”.
Dreaming of Perfect Purity, he dedicated his life to Diana,
with whom he forged bonds of “mystical tenderness.” Aphrodite
provokes it in the person of Phaedra, another wife of Theseus,
determined to take revenge for this exclusive passion, with whom she
falls in love with the young man. With this, her destiny is fulfilled:
Hippolytus rejects her insinuations, she commits suicide and leaves
a tablet in which he accuses him of having tried to violate her.
 Theseus emerges who exiles him, cursing him.
Fleeing from Trezene and his father, who pleads
with Poseidon to scare his horses by sending
a Monster Bull, his chariot is smashed
and Hippolytus dies, horribly dismembered.
In Epidaurus, he is welcomed by Asclepius who
bandages and heals his body, Diana resurrects
him. Thus reborn, he takes the name Virbius,
“Twice a Man.” Thanks to the intervention
of the goddess, he accesses a heroic and divine life.
They adore him, they erect temples and altars
for him. He consecrates, near Lake Aricio,
south of Rome, a forest and the Lake itself to the
benefactor goddess. He founded the city of Arica,
where he builds a temple to Diana,
and another to Asclepius.
 Hippolytus, the Pure, the Virtuous,
dedicates his life to the lover
Metamorphosis, as Guardian of
the Mysterious Common Matrix of forms.
He has conquered Death, Dismemberment,
to return to the Common Womb, he gains
Immortality from him. Mystery of
the Cult of Diana, model of purity, lived the
Supreme Metamorphosis that turned him
into an Immortal, thus rising to the rank
of Mythical Symbol of Spiritual Alchemy
for whom the repeated Purification
is resolved in a Final Metamorphosis
that leads to Immortality,
in as many degrees as necessary
for the Spiritual Transmutation of Man.
 This search for
the Assumption of a Pure
and Virginal Body
to Transmute it into
a Glorious Body of Light,
in the image
of the incorruptible and
imperishable
Golden Fruits
of the Garden of the Gods,
Alchemical Allegories
of the Oblong Room
of the Grotto of Diana.
In the presence of the Muses, Athena metamorphoses the Pierides,
Nymphs who, because of her song, wanted to compete with them,
sublimates them into black birds, into Magpies, nine in number.
We see them fly near the Fountain of Hypocrene.
 Painting by Willem de Pannemaker. 1550.

Hermes, petrifies Aglauros like a white stone statue,

jealous of the love that Hermes feels for his sister Herse.
 Daphne, loved by Apollo,
having consecrated her
virginity to Diana, rejects
the god. Her father, the river
god Peneo, metamorphoses
her into Laurel,
the tree of Apollo.
Daphne becomes the symbol
of the Spiritual Union
of a Virgin there, emulates
Phoebus-Diana and the Solar
God Phoebus, the mystical
union of Latona's children,
united in a symbol
of triumph, victory, immortality, eternity and youth, that reigns
in the icon of the Evergreen Laurel. On the opposite side,
a heavily weathered stucco bas-relief
of Diana's Hunting Companions in the Forest.
So many images of Transmutations
that the Artisans of the Spagyric Art
practice in their Search
for the Philosopher's Stone:
Diana and Actaeon,
image of dismemberment,
are symbols of the Black Work,
of the Putrefaction that leads
to the separation of the Elements:
to the Separatio Alchemy.
 Athena and the Piérides, Metaphors of Sublimation (black cube),
Hermes and Aglauros, Petrification (white stone), illustrate
the Dissolve and Coagulate Principles (sublimate the fixed,
fix the volatile), tireless search for Cyclic Rotation, Distillation
and Condensation leads the Bodies to their Perfection and allow
the spagyric extraction (from spao: to extract and ageiro: to collect)
their purest part, the Essential Principle that gives them Life.
 Apollo and Daphne, symbol of the Spiritual Union of Phoebus
and Phoebe, of the emblematic Union of Opposites, in a symbol
of Triumph and Immortality, the Sun and the Moon, illustrate
the Alchemist Conjunction, the Ultimate Distillation
that the famous Chrysopéia must allow, or “Manufacture of Gold”.
 Marsilio Ficino

Pure Body, which is no longer a Body properly speaking, but which

has become an extremely subtle Body, quasi-Body, quasi-Spirit,
permanent and incorruptible Quintessence, “Igneous or Mercurial
Water”, “Mercury” “Philosopher's Stone”, “Heaven
of the Alchemists” that the followers of Spiritual Alchemy,
in the 16th century, assimilated the Spirit of the Soul of the World,
that is to say, the Spiritus Mundi of Marsilio Ficino.
 Diana and Apollo,
the Moon (Generation)
and the Sun
(Regeneration),
Origin and End
of all things, bear
witness to the Great
Principles of divisibility
and indivisibility,
of separation
and conjunction, which
govern the World
according to
the Neoplatonists,

principles at work. in the Transmutations and Cycles

of Metamorphosis of the Elements,
whose combinations form the Becoming.
 And as on the Vaults
of the Hall, they are
associated with Dionysus
and Demeter in
a Celebration of
the Mysteries that stage
the Birth and Rebirth
of the Orphic Mystery,
they appear in this Cave
dedicated to the Mystery
of Metamorphosis,
of which Artemis is the
memory and Hippolytus
the “Reborn Man”,
the jealous devotee,
but this time in the company of Hermes and Athena.
 By their union in this icon that combines Science and Wisdom,
knowing how to do the Spagyric and Natural Philosophy,
these divinities allegorically represent the aspirations of Hermetic
Humanists who dream of Dominating the World through
the Practice of the Great Work that must lead them to exercise
their Sovereignty over Nature, while liberating their Souls obtaining
the Pure Liquor or Life-giving Mercury,
that is, the Spirit of the Soul of the World.
 This appropriation of the Spirit is made
symbolically tangible in this Grotto by
the Metaphor of the Union of Opposites,
implemented under the auspices
of Hermathena and represented
by the Meeting of the Moon and the Sun,
united in the icon of the Nymph
transformed into Laurel, attribute
of Apollo and symbol of Return to Unity.
Two emblems, Hermathena and Daphne,
that celebrate and reveal
at the same time,
the indissolubly linked Paths
of World Dominion and Liberation
by the Spirit,
in the Eyes of the Hermetists
of the 16th century.
Apollo and Daphne of Bernini
At the intersection of Warheads,
the Vessel overflowing
with Golden Fruits,
ties the emblematic
of the Work Done,
indicates that within
it the Spiritual Alchemy
of Purification,
of the Extraction of the
“Igneous or Mercurial Water”
mixed with the Elements,
has reached the End,
evidenced by the Luminous
Presence of the Golden Fruits.
 with Dilated Eyes inscribed
on the walls of the vase,
is a simulacrum of the Soul
United with the Elements,
it represents this dark mixture
that sees the Spirit of the World
intimately penetrate
the Bodies to give them Life,
a Spirit that Marsilio Ficino
compares with the brightness
of the blood that anchors
the Soul to the Body
and animates it.
 The Art of Alchemical Transmutation of this Spiritual Alchemy
imbued with Hermeticism and Neoplatonism initiated by Ficino,
will consist in separating, distilling, condensing, tirelessly purifying
the Bodies to extract the Principle that gives them Life, this
quasi-body or quasi-spirit, this Quintessence of Life, Pure as Gold,
including these Fruits, these Golden Apples
that overflow from the vase, the Mighty Symbol.
In the Vault of the Oblong Hall, on both sides of the intersection
of Ribs The Baskets loaded with Golden Fruits, an image
of the Souls that have recovered their Purity and
that the White Eagle leads towards the Celestial Empyrean.
Nereids and Tritons, Forked Sirens, Angiped Centaurs (Arimaspes
holding sword and shield) and Dolphin’s sail in Celestial Waters,
accompanying the Souls in the Ocean from the Ethereal Blue
to the Islands of the Blessed, in this Garden of Paradise,
Garden of the Gods guarded by the Hesperides, located
in the West of the World, in the center of which is planted
the Tree of Life that bears the Fruits of Immortality.
 In the Anteroom, the Fleur de Lis, another Shield of the Cardinal
d'Este, also illustrates the Transformation of the Soul. Having shed
the Human Passions represented by the crossed armor and shield,
she dresses Victoriously in her Heavenly Sand garb:
you covered yourself,
a recurring motif of the expunged Celestial Soul,
which we have repeatedly found on the Ceilings of the Villa's Rooms.
 In the Center of the Vault, two Medallions represent the Myth
of Europe kidnapped by Zeus transformed into a Bull, evoking
the genealogy and singular destiny of Hippolytus, son of Theseus,
the Conqueror of the Minotaur. Half man, half bull, the Minotaur is
the monstrous son of Minos and Pasiphae, the grandson of Europa,
grandson of Minos.
Theseus, son of Poseidon,
killed the Minotaur.
Through his father,
Theseus has the privilege
of being able to summon
the mighty Bull of the Sea,
the Bull of Poseidon.
He does it to get revenge
on his son Hippolytus,
who died under the wheels
of his chariot,
following the appearance
of the Monstrous Bull.
 “Hippolytus, Son of the Queen of the Amazons”,
consecrated his life to Diana, the “virgin goddess”,
the lunar protective goddess of the Amazons,
who saved him and opened the Gates of Immortality for him.
 Tied to a rock
as an expiatory victory,
Andromeda will perish
under the assaults of
a Dragon sent by Poseidon.
Perseus, returning from
his expedition to the center
of the Gorgon,
kills the monster
and marries the girl.
One of these medallions
represents Andromeda
and the Monster,
the other represents
the defeated monster,
moving away in the sky.
 Perseus, fighting Gorgon with the help
of Hermes and Athena, seized
the Petrifying Power of Medusa's Gaze,
which will allow him
to defeat the Dragon.
Cutting the Head of Medusa,
he makes two powers sprout from
his neck: Chrysaor and Pegasus, one evil,
the other beneficial, while
the blood-poison gushes from his
left vein, from the right flows a remedy
capable of resurrecting the dead.
Medusa Remedy that Asclepios receives
from Athena to resurrect Hippolytus after
his death. Model for Every Man
concerned for the Salvation of his Soul.
 Pegasus, the Winged Horse born of the Blood of Medusa,
lives in Heaven with Zeus beyond the Ocean, near the Night,
he is the ally of Perseus. They will save Andromeda,
icon of the Soul chained to the Body, about to perish under
the onslaught of the Dragon of Passions, from the impulsive matter,
the Raw Material.
 Now endowed with the Power of Medusa, Perseus will tear her
from her rock, extract from her body, grave, the Soul in danger,
he will petrify the Dragon, using the Power of Metamorphosis,
placed at the service of the Elevation of the Soul. Thus,
we see Perseus fleeing in Heaven in the company of Andromeda,
Soul carried by Pegasus, the Psychopomp Horse.
 As the Conqueror of Medusa,
dominating
the Power of Metamorphosis
with the help of Hermes and Athena,
Possessors of Benevolent Wisdom,
Man will know how to get rid
of the Evil Powers,
embodied by Gorgon,
and will manage to defeat
the Dragon of Passions
that inhabits the Body,
to Free your Soul ...
Hermes and Athena
a The Transmutational Art.
“The Metamorphosis
is in the Heart”
Allegories of this Grotto
dedicated to Diana,
an emblematic figure
of the incessant Mutations
that rule
the Sensitive World.
Diana Artemis,
Guardian of the mysterious
invisible Original Matrix
leads the forms
to the indeterminate,
to the Raw Material.
She also exalts the mythical
figure of Hippolytus.
 Behind the Transmutation
Processes that operate
in the World,
Man is offered the possibility
of Transforming himself,
of transcending
his human condition
to reach a Divine Destiny.
Thus, Hippolytus is ordered
to initiate in the Arcana
of the “Transcendental Art”
that will turn him into a God.
 According to the common Teaching of Platonism and Hermeticism,
God produces Our Souls in the World and makes them always
turn towards him, so that they do not become attached to the World
but once they return, they make it Perfect.
 “The Transmutation” is analogous to that which transforms
the “base” metal into “Very Pure Gold”,
fulfilling the Cosmic Destiny of Man, practicing
the Arcana of a Spiritual Alchemy that aims to extract from
the Pure Bodies the Pure Substance that the gives Life, that is,
the Spirit of the Soul of the World, the Spiritus Mundi.
 Man can transform himself
into an absolutely
Superior Nature,
becoming, precisely,
“Very Pure Gold”.
The Spirit of Man,
decanted according to the Arcana
of the “Transmutational Art”,
can then enter
into communication
with the Spiritus Mundi,
reach an agreement with him
and thus participate
in the Divine Life.
 In this Grotto, Cosmic Symbol of the Mysteries of Life and of
the Mutations carried by the Flows of Becoming, Metamorphosis,
the prerogative of the Thunderous Flows of Generation,
is transformed into Anagogical Power under the effect
of “Conversion”, in a Powerful Desire to Return to the Origin
that every Soul feels as it is carried by the Waves of the World.
 Metamorphosis, dominated, oriented,
worked by the “Transmutational Art” that a Spiritual Alchemy
will know how to implement Purifying the Body
in order to extract its Living Principle, it will allow
the Purest part of the Soul to return to its Celestial Origin,
Pure Luminous Star Fire, as “Very Pure Gold”.
 “Everything Changes, Nothing Perishes”. The Flows of the World
in its Metamorphosis, under the influence of Diana, are damaged
in the Sea Ocean, but this is also the Horizon that makes the Earth
communicate with the Sky, showing them the Way back
to the Origin of the Principle that animates them, guided by Apollo.
 The Metamorphosis is both the vector of the “Procession”
of the Divine Intelligences in the World, through the infinite
dispersion of the Soul of the World in a Multitude of linked Souls
that have Bodies, as well as the Tool of the Return of these Souls to
their Source through the Enlightened Domain of the Transmutation
of the Bodies under the auspices of Hermes and Athena.
 In this way,
the Pure Substance,
the Purified Soul,
will be extracted,
again similar to the Spirit
that Rules the World,
the Spiritus Mundi,
which after
having recovered,
during a Final
Metamorphosis,
its Ethereal form,
will finally return
to dialogue
in the Celestial World
with
the Angelic Intelligences.
 “Procession”and “Conversion” are at the heart of the Hermetic
and Platonic Meditation initiated by Marsilio Ficino and
Jean Pico de La Mirandola. According to one of Píco's Conclusions
inspired by “the very Ancient Doctrine of the Egyptian
Hermes Trismegistus”: “Nothing is susceptible to death
or corruption in the Universe”.
Corollary: “Everywhere there is Life,
everywhere Providence,
everywhere Immortality.”
 The Destiny of the World and of Man, of all the Souls
scattered in the World, is to return to his Immortal Origin,
because Nothing perishes ...
 To the Pure Souls who knew how to subjugate
the Arcana of Metamorphosis, the Celestial Sensation
will be beneficial, while the Impure and Ignorant Souls
will see themselves always prey to the Power of Metamorphosis that,
in an Infinite Cycle,
will throw them into the Generation and The Bodies.
 Controlling
the Metamorphosis,
practicing
the “Transmutatory Art”,
is undoubtedly the dream
that animates
the Sponsor of Villa d´Este,
Hipolito d´Este,
eponymous of Hippolitus,
the Man turned into God.
 Meditating, from this balcony of the Grotto, the Processes
that these Allegories reveal, looking down on the Line of the Ocean
that surrounds this Belvedere, one can certainly imagine
the slow Ascent of the Soul
through the Celestial World from this Sea Horizon.
 Ascent that we will try to read through other Allegories
of the Garden that sing Praises to the Mastery of the Metamorphosis
of the Soul in her Pilgrimage here below, teaching her
the Paths of Ascension, from the thunderous Sea of Senses
to the Celestial Spheres of the Intelligible.
Translator : I.·. P.·. H.·. Emilio Ruiz Figuerola, 33°
Bibliography : - Apuleyo “El Asno de Oro” o “Las Metamórfosis”
- Gérard Desnoyers “La Villa d´Este a Tivoli”
ou “Le Songe d´Hippolyte”, Paris 2002
- Isabella Barisi y Marcello Fagiolo - Villa d´Este. Roma 2003