Rebis

The Rebis (from the Latin res bina, meaning dual or double matter) is the end product of the alchemical magnum opus or great work.

After one has gone through the stages of putrefaction and purification, separating opposing qualities, those qualities are united once more in what is sometimes described as the divine hermaphrodite, a reconciliation of spirit and matter, a being of both male and female qualities as indicated by the male and female head within a single body. The sun and moon correspond to the female halves, just as the Red King and White Queen are similarly associated.

The Rebis image appeared in the work Azoth of the Philosophers by Basil Valentine in 1613.

  • The Rebis is a central element in the fourth season of the television series Castlevania.
  • A perfect being of both masculine (sun) and feminine (moon) qualities, brought about by an eclipse, is used in the manga and 2009 anime of Fullmetal Alchemist.
  • The angelic antagonist of the first season of the 2008 anime Black Butler is a rebis, whose two forms initially appear as separate characters.
  • In the Italian series Gomorrah, Genny Savastano wears a t-shirt with a rebis illustration in the second and third season.
  • In the video game Genshin Impact, the concept of the Rebis is referenced through the Khaenri'ahn Alchemist Rhinedottir in her quest to create the Primordial Human.
  • In the video game Elden Ring, the major story characters Marika and Radagon may be inspired by the Rebis and the concept of the Red King and White Queen, as they are a blonde-haired woman and red-haired man who are eventually revealed to be the same person.
  • In The Witcher action video game trilogy, Rebis is an alchemical ingredient.
  • One of the versions of DC Comics' Negative Man, a member of the Doom Patrol, was a fusion of a male and a female called Rebis.
  • In the Moebius/Jodorowski graphic novel series The Incal, a major character is a "perfect androgynous" called Solune (Sunmoon in the English translation).
  • The rebis is featured in the cover artwork for Mastodon's second EP, Lifesblood.
  • The rebis can also be a Janus/Jana John/Jane as the character of Predestination movie.
  • Yubel of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is based on the Rebis, being half male and half female, split down the middle.
  • In the video game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, the main religion of the setting revolves around a trinity composed of: Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec. The former two are a woman and a man respectively while the latter one is a so-called "Magic Hermaphrodite" that unites the opposing qualities of the male and female in one, possibly being inspired by the Rebis.

See also
  • Hieros gamos
  • Nondualism
  • Unity of opposites

Sources
  • Robert Allen Bartlett, Real Alchemy: A Primer of Practical Alchemy, Hays (Nicolas) Ltd, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8925-4150-8
  • Barbara DiBernard, Alchemy and Finnegans Wake, Suny Press, 1980, p. 71, ISBN 978-0-87395-429-7
  • Kathleen P. Long, Hermaphrodites in Renaissance Europe, Ashgate, 2006, p. 131, ISBN 978-0-7546-5609-8
  • Alexander Roob, Alchimie et mystique: le musée hermétique, Taschen GmbH, 2006, p. 494, ISBN 978-3-8228-5037-4
  • Murray Stein, Transformation: Emergence of the Self, Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 101
  • Heinrich Nollius, Theoria philosophiae hermetica, Hanau, 1617
  • Heinrich Jamsthaler, Viatorum spagyricum, Frankfurt a. M, Germany, 1625
  • Lazarus Zetzner, Theatrum Chemicum, Strasbourg, 1661
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