De homunculibus: working notes from the lab
Each piece in my creative spaces is a Homunculus (Latin “Little man”), a small, staged life that carries its own history.
Alchemical homunculus has a rich, bizarre, and sometimes grotesque history. It has evolved from a literal goal of alchemical labs to a symbolic figure in art and even scientific model for how our brains perceive our body.
In alchemy homunculus was not just a myth but a pursuit of “artificial life”. The most famous recipe comes from the 16th century Swiss alchemist Paracelsus, who claimed that a human could be created through a process of “putrefaction”. You just need to seal human semen in a glass retort/flask and bury it in horse manure for 40 days. The manure provided needed conditions for semen to develop into human. So, after 40 days, a transparent, human-like shape would begin to move. The alchemist would then “feed” the creature with the Arcanum of human blood for 40 weeks while keeping it at constant temperature.
In art, the image of the “little man” appears in religious symbols, alchemical illustrations, and modern surrealism. The “ugly” Medieval Babies: they look like grumpy middle-aged man, but really they are a version of homunculus. In theology, the belief was that Jesus was born fully formed and unchanged. To show its divinity, artists painted him as a “little man” (homuncular) rather than an infant. This style eventually became the standard for all children in art until the Renaissance.
In alchemical manuscripts (like The Splendor Solis), the homunculus is shown inside a glass jar or flask. It is frequently depicted as a king or winged spirit, symbolizing the soul trapped in the “vessel” of the body. It represents the “inner man” or the spiritual spark that alchemist is trying to liberate from the gross matter.
In 1930, neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield created a “map” of the human brain, representing how much of the brain is dedicated to each body part. Because our arms and lips are so sensitive, the homunculus has massive hands and a huge mouth, but a very small torso - quite “artistical” representation of our self-image:).
The “Internal Observer” (The Ghost in the Machine). In philosophy and psychology there is a concept called the Homunculus Fallacy. It’s the idea that inside our heads, there is a “little man” sitting in a theatre, watching the “performance or movie” of our lives and pulling the levers of our brain. Like a creative, I often feel that it not the only me, who puts her hands into the clay, something inside me is directing my hands. Is it my Inner Homunculus?
In alchemy, the homunculus is a layered symbol. It usually represents Anima Mundi (the Soul of the World) or the spirit being purified. In Splendor Solis (1582), the figure inside the flask often changes colour or state. Sometimes it is a king, sometimes a queen, and sometimes a blackened corps. Symbolically, it represents the stages of the Great Work (Magnum Opus): Nigredo (blackening/death), Albedo (whitening/purification), and Rubedo (reddening/perfection).
The Mutus Liber (Silent Book, 1677) is a series of 15 plates without any text. It depicts an alchemist and his wife working together. In certain plates we can see a tiny, radiant figure emerging from the materials they are heating.
The Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum (1652) - collection of English alchemical literature often uses the homunculus to represent the Hermetic Androgyne. We might see a “Rebis” - a figure with two heads (male and female) on one body. While not always called a homunculus, it functions the same way: it is a new being created in the lab that represents the perfect balance of opposing forces: Sun and Moon, Sulfur and Mercury).
In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Faust”, Part II (1832) Homunculus is not created by the Faust himself, but by his former student Wagner. While Faust is off chasing grand ideas and supernatural experiences, Wagner stays in the laboratory, trying to master nature through pure intellect and Enlightenment science mixed with alchemical magic. Was Mephistopheles there also present?..
Wagner’s Homunculus is a being of pure spirit and light. He is physically confined to his flask, if the glass breaks, his spirit will dissipate. From the moment of “birth”, the Homunculus is incredibly wise. He is an “idiot savant” of the universe - he knows everything about history, philosophy, and Faust’s own dreams, despite having never lived. The Homunculus serves as a “mirror” or “double” to Faust. Their desires are exact opposites: Faust is a human with a body who wants to transcend his physical limits and become like a pure spirit or god. The Homunculus is a pure spirit who desperately wants to become physical. He craves a body and a place in the natural world. He become a guide to Faust and Mephistopheles leading them to ancient Greece for the “Classical Walpurgis Night”. Homunculus’ story there ends in a beautiful poetic sacrifice. Homunculus consults ancient philosophers (Thales and Anaxagoras) on how best “begin” his existence. During a festival of the sea, the Homunculus is so impressed by the beauty of the sea-nymph Galatea that he crashes his flask against her chariot. The glass shatters, and his spirit spills into the sea. This is his “birth” - he chooses to start life at its very beginning in the water and evolve naturally, rather that staying a fake man in the bottle.
Modern critics often point the Goethe’s Homunculus as one of the first “AI” characters in literature - a mind created by man that knows everything but lacks a souls or body.
The transition through the alchemical homunculus to modern science fiction is mostly through 19th century Gothic novel, providing the blueprint for the Artificial Being - a creature that is human-like but lacks a natural soul.
Mary Shelly’s Victor Frankenstein (1818) is essentially a modern alchemist. While he uses electricity and chemistry instead of horse manure and magic, the homunculus is just his creation, trying to get life from dead or base matter. Much like Goethe’s Homunculus, the Monster suffers because he is unnatural. In alchemy, it was a spiritual triumph, in Shelly’s world and modern sci-fi it is a horror story about the danger of playing God.
In 20, 21th centuries the glass flask was replaced by bio-tank, hard drive, new homunculi - robots or Large Language Models and Virtual Assistants.
Modern art continues to play with the image of the “contained human” to express feelings of isolation or “manufactured” nature of modern life. They also often use various distorted human forms to represent the subconscious or rise the ethical questions related to genetic engineering. It is also often used in Manga, Anime, video games, movies. H.R. Giger’s biomechanical art represents our modern fear of dehumanization, as his creatures are cold, eroticized, and terrifying efficient, reflecting a world where technology has replaced the soul. What else?