THE KEY

MYSTERIES OF NATURE,

MR. ECKARTSHAUSEN.

PART I.

An allegorical engraving featuring a central figure of a bearded man with feathered wings on his head The wings on the head often identify the figure as Hermes or Mercury, the traditional messenger of the gods and the patron of "hermetic" or hidden wisdom., his torso emerging from the body of a classical lyre. He extends his arms to the sides, holding a small globe in his right hand and a radiant sun in his left, both connected to the lyre by heavy chains This visual metaphor suggests that the sun and the planets are bound together by a single, divine "harmony" or law, much like the strings of a musical instrument.. The lyre rests atop a stack of five large books from which several seals or medals on ribbons hang. This assembly sits on a stone plinth draped with a fringed cloth adorned with astrological symbols. On the face of the plinth is the inscription "THE LYRE OF THE WORLD-HARMONY" original Latin: "LIRA ZARABTALAM." The term "Zarabtalam" is a mystical cipher used by Eckartshausen to refer to the secret resonance of the universe.. Sparse vegetation grows at the base of the monument.