Pelican

[sleeveless]

The pelican [in alchemical labs] is a circulatory distillation vessel with two side-arms feeding condensed vapors back into the body. It resembles a pelican pecking at its breast to feed its hatchlings with its own blood, and thus is a symbol of the sacrifice the original solution goes through to give up its essence in the experiment. The alchemist believed that compounds could be created in the pelican that no other apparatus could produce. - source

When this vessel is heated the materia at the bottom release steam that rises upwards. The steam is condensed in the throat of the pelican and the liquid drips back to its origin. In the same way it was believed that the parts of materia and spirit were separated. The spirit were freed from its bonds in materia and became refined and pure, but the process was completed with the return of the spirit into the materia (symbolized by the condensed liquid that returns to the materia at the bottom of the vessel).

[deviadah]

It almost looks like an 8 too... which is another important symbol in alchemy and in some religions (if not all).

[BeautifulEvil]

It's an interesting piece of laboratory equipment from past ages. I can see where it would serve it's purpose in the process for the creation of the philosophers stone -- i.e. the creation of the waters of paradise to use in the multiplication and fixing process.

[MythMath]

Reminds me also of these:



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