About five months ago, I had an extremely significant dream wherein a double-headed eagle landed in the Baltimore neighborhood where I was staying. The bird seemed to have some kind of magical significance in the dream. Also, in the dream, I ended up at this gathering of holy men from all over the world, who were showing me ancient tapestries of the bird, and explaining me their traditions surrounding it.

Hadn’t thought about it until recently, partially brought about by a resurgence in interest of a book of alchemical/mystical art which I have. One of my favorite books actually. It’s gorgeous, and the information and art in it is just amazing.

There are a few references and illustrations of the double-headed or bicephalous eagle in this book, but nothing horribly informative. They do, however, mention that it was the symbol of the Habsburg Dynasty.

Further searching online, yielded a very nice image of and quote about the double-headed eagle from a 1928 book on the occult, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, by Manly Palmer Hall. The passage (which I don’t think is actually included in the book - it may just be a reference to it) reads:

DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE: The Supreme Symbol—here is depicted the Supreme Hierophant, Master of the double Holy Empire of the superior and inferior universes. The ancient emblem of equilibrium consisted of an androgynous body surmounted by two heads, one male and the other female, wearing a single imperial crown. That being is perfect in which all opposites are reconciled. Hence the double-headed eagle is reserved as the emblem of completion, for it signifies the Philosopher’s Stone, the ultimate soul condition.

This explanation of it makes sense according to the religious reverence with which the figures in my dream regarded this creature.

Also, going back to that book on alchemy, I realized earlier tonight that I had a dream/vision last night which presented a shape very similar to one on the cover of that book. On the cover, a winged figure is sitting on the retort, which is the alchemical oven. Three roots growing out of it indicate three legs the retort stood on. Arching branches grow out of it. I’m not sure what they symbolize. In this vision, I saw a chair made of black iron, which was very similar to the shape of the lower half of the retort, here. It had three (or maybe four?) legs, and out of the top of it, instead of branches, it had three segments of curved pointed iron. The chair was on some kind of stone floor, in a semi-circle, which was ringed by a series of short skinny columns. In front of the chair, three black children were on their hands and knees playing some kind of game with marbles.