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Post by waruitanuki on Jan 31, 2007 17:06:48 GMT
The real goal of alchemy (for the die-hard alchemists anyway) was perfection of the soul. They used physical alchemy as a metaphor for the greater "spiritual alchemy." So theories along those lines are pretty close to how the alchemists thought, anyway.
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Post by fjodor on Feb 1, 2007 23:43:24 GMT
After re-reading most of the comic, it strikes me how often the Bismuth symbol is used. Especially in the Two Strange Girls chapter. In below link, the symbol is positioned between the characters representing Gamma and Zeta. www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=70The symbol comes back in that same chapter several times. Must indicate something. Same for the overview picture of GC. www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=149Same sign is on Eglamore's detention sheet. I strongly suspect Bismuth refers to something important. I found out that it's sometimes confused with Antimony. Let's use that info for a new entry in the Wild Speculation thread, shall we? |
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brice
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Post by brice on Feb 2, 2007 0:01:17 GMT
On one GC page there is part of an alchemical table or diagram: www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=152It shows Bismuth and an alternate symbol for Antimony inside the circle. www.chemsoc.org/viselements/pages/alchemist/alc_antimony.htmlHow many other times have wee seen Bismuth directly associated with Antimony? There is also Gold, Lead, and Mercury arranged in a column. The arrangement could imply Lead (Eglamore) is keeping Mercury (Reynardine) away from Gold. Mercury is usually intermediate between Lead and Gold. EDIT: hold on!! When you take the circle-with-horns for bismuth and add it to the circle-and-cross for antimony you get the normal symbol for mercury. I'm sure that's not coincidental. ... or am I? Anyhow, it's another nice puzzle piece ...maybe? |
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shadow314
New Member
Help, the light, it burns!
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Post by shadow314 on Feb 2, 2007 17:39:46 GMT
Maybe, Tom just likes Alchemy, I mean who doesn't.
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Post by La Poire on Feb 2, 2007 23:19:56 GMT
Yeah, he absolutely seems to, but the references seem a bit too well thought out and common for it to be just Cool Stuff. And anyway, as you can see in some other threads, it appears to amuse Tom to put in as many easter eggs and obscure references as possible. We really just want to find some meaning behind all of it, post it here and get people to tell us What Good Boys and Girls we are. Any which way you look at it, speculation is fun – or at least a number of people including myself think so.
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Post by mrw on Feb 4, 2007 19:57:54 GMT
An explanation of alchemy can be found here, plus endless links. www.answers.com/topic/alchemyHere's the page that links the "bismuth" symbol with Salt. www.alchemylab.com/dictionary.htmThis page links the "bismuth" symbol with the astrological symbol Taurus and the alchemical process of congelation. www.alphachisigma.org/alchemy/symbols/Other Thoughts: If the circle-with-horns is interpreted as Taurus (congelation), then one could potentially reach this conclusion: The title page for "Two Strange Girls" could be read as "Zeta, congelation, Gamma", possibly meaning "Zeta combined with Gamma", or even "Zeta stabilized by Gamma" with a little imagination. Neat, huh? |
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Post by todd on Feb 5, 2007 2:11:36 GMT
I've suddenly started wondering what chemistry classes must be like at Gunnerkrigg Court. (Other than the teacher and any teacher's assistants having to keep a very close eye on Winsbury whenever he's in the lab, that is....)
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Ben²
Junior Member
Participant
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Post by Ben² on Feb 5, 2007 2:31:29 GMT
Not that I wanna be a downer or anything, but I'd imagine that the chemistry classes would be rather straightforward. Incredibly advanced, maybe, but still based entirely on established modern concepts. Gunnerkrigg Court, after all, is a sciences and technology boarding school first and foremost.
Alchemy, history, and all the other fun stuff like that seems more like Annie's area, and not generally what the school would focus on.
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Post by Aspen d'Grey on Feb 5, 2007 4:49:19 GMT
Yay for someone agreeing on that point... Remember how surprised Kat's science teacher was when she made the anti-gravity machine? Really weird stuff is not commonplace at GC.
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Post by fjodor on Feb 5, 2007 21:33:00 GMT
Weird stuff not commonplace??
Shadow2- Zimmy- Rogat Orjak- dragonslayerwithreallybigcoolsword- Mort- TicToc- cherrytree- Basil's time share- abominablescienceproject- magicwieldingms.Donlan... and I'm leaving out pixies and Muut because it didn't happen in GC itself. Could be Annie is one big magnet for weird stuff, but I still think the general idea is that GC is not your standard boarding school.
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Post by mrw on Feb 6, 2007 1:07:49 GMT
I think you guys are both right.
Edit: Okay, maybe that's not adding much to the conversation...
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Post by Aspen d'Grey on Feb 12, 2007 4:03:03 GMT
Of course Annie is a magnet for weird stuff- a focal point if you prefer that terminology. All this weird stuff is what makes her interesting... Would you WANT to read a comicc about Paz's normal boring day to day existence? (Except for Mort...)
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Post by fjodor on Feb 12, 2007 21:01:12 GMT
Hah, but we don't know what Paz gets up to when she walks out of the story!
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Post by owl on Feb 13, 2007 0:15:11 GMT
No but I see what you mean. Weird stuff may happen a lot, but it's not part of the school's curriculum and a lot of people seem to be too surprised about it for it to be commonplace.
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Post by mrw on Feb 13, 2007 0:16:51 GMT
Just for that reason it might be nice to see Paz' typical day. So we could see what "normal" is at the Court.
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Post by owl on Feb 13, 2007 0:17:44 GMT
True! Besides, as fjodor says, she might not be the normal girl she seems. Who says what is normal anyway?
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Post by Aspen d'Grey on Feb 14, 2007 17:03:24 GMT
Normal is boring. x.x
I like sticking with the characters we have.
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mysticturtle
New Member
What the? Where did my face go?
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Post by mysticturtle on Mar 18, 2007 15:00:21 GMT
I've been looking into wings because they're in the center of the page at the end of the first book and because Robot had wings on his back. There might be instances elsewhere, but I haven't checked yet. I found this page on the symbolic meaning of wings in general and in alchemy. www.nisbett.com/symbols/caduceus.htmTo sum up: In alchemy, wings represent the higher, active, male principle. Mercury had winged staff called the caduceus which had many powers, one of which was to turn any substance into gold. I think, although I don't have a reference for it, that Hermes was the god of alchemy and alchemists. |
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Post by owl on Mar 18, 2007 17:00:47 GMT
Well, Hermes in Greek Mythology is Mercury, so that would be logical.
Innnnterestingg.....
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Post by fjodor on Mar 19, 2007 9:01:29 GMT
There's a Bismuth / Taurus sign on Robot's Chip! Think of all the meanings this could have. I'm gonna lose so much slep again :-)
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Post by Aspen d'Grey on May 16, 2007 5:24:10 GMT
This, in general, needs a revival.
I'm wondering, if we continue it, what would Alistair represent? >.<
Plus I want to know the results of fjodor's insomnia.
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Post by mrw on May 16, 2007 5:36:15 GMT
In the Treatise bonus page, Kat was associated with Water, and Annie with Fire. So I postulate that Aly represents the "element" Air. If there's any truth to that, Aly will stick around as a character, and eventually we will meet someone who manifests Earth.
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Post by Aspen d'Grey on May 16, 2007 5:37:55 GMT
Hmm, that's a good reference, but I was thinking more of an actual symbol. I haven't been able to find one to directly associate with him yet, though. x.x
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Post by owl on Jun 5, 2007 1:00:00 GMT
The Very Nice Man is Earth! Hence the wooden arm, the forest, and such.
So it's like water, air, and fire against earth.
Water + Fire = steam, which is a gas, hence air....
Steam is also very much a part of industry...
Hence the entire comic is simply a metaphor for the fight of nature against industry and technology. (Kidding, kidding! ;D )
But yeah. That's a thought.
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Post by Count Casimir on Jun 5, 2007 2:48:31 GMT
We don't know that the Very Nice Man is bad. He gave robot a new arm! Who knows if the Evil Shadow was allied with him? Maybe he was a bad shadow who takes advantage of passed out robots.
See this way, if Kat dropped out of the story for a while, we could have Earth Wind & Fire.
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Post by owl on Jun 5, 2007 3:05:14 GMT
Hm, yeah, you're right. Sorry. Whenever someone has "Nice" in their name I always feel like they're evil. And vice versa. It just happens. Except for my brother's friend Evil Tom. He is truly, absolutely evil. So Earth Wind and Fire....Earth + Wind + Fire = Deserts (glowy picture anyone?) Though I really hope Kat doesn't disappear....  Hehe, I dunno, just making things up. ;D |
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Post by UbiquitousDragon on Jun 6, 2007 12:27:22 GMT
Yes, but it was because of the arm that was given to Robot that he tried to kill Annie. I mean, pushing her off a bridge ain't exactly nice.
The desert thing is curious, with the glowing-ness and the footprints, but I dunno if you can make the connection to alchemical elements ... Though I'm curious if there's any bird-alchemical mythology (for want of a better word).
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Post by fjodor on Jun 6, 2007 17:45:24 GMT
This, in general, needs a revival. I'm wondering, if we continue it, what would Alistair represent? >.< Plus I want to know the results of fjodor's insomnia. It has led to a very high tolerance for cafeine, for one thing. But it has also made me doubt whether these symbols are in synch with 'traditional' alchemy. A chip is made of silicon, which is sand, which is connected to earth, I would guess. But I am starting to wonder whether these symbols could be used for a completely different type of classification. After all, we only see a limited number of alchemic symbols. As you may have guessed, I still don't get much sleep :-) |
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Post by Aspen d'Grey on Jun 10, 2007 4:29:23 GMT
Also remember that Robot is the one who calls him the 'very nice man', so it's from Robot's perspective. He could be totally evil but still do this one act of kindness to gain Robot's trust.
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Post by Mezzaphor on Jun 10, 2007 4:55:35 GMT
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