Circle: the symbol of perfection. The circle signifies the perfect, eternal spiritual realm in contrast to the square, which signifies the earth, the corruptible world of illusion, the four elements, the four arms of the earthly cross. The circle with the dot in the centre symbolizes, at the macrocosmic level, gold. The completed opus alchymicum is also symbolized by the circle.

Circulatory: an alembic [a vessel used for distilling] with a neck bent back, re-entering its lower part, used for the purpose of continuous distillation.

On one level, the “Circle” of [Pulter’s] title refers to the ouroboros, the self-birthing snake (sometimes dragon) that devours its own tail. This is the ancient symbol of eternity, the perfection of art and of the completion of the alchemical opus (the opus circulatorium). Superficially, it is a positive image of unity. It represents life as an ongoing cycle of birth and death, and the alchemical opus as a continuing series of acts of creation and recreation, progress and refinement. In alchemical texts, the ouroboros is mapped on to two other spaces, the womb and the alembic (the vessel or retort, within which alchemical processes take place). Both spaces are associated with the creation of new life and both are enclosed (‘hermetically sealed’) …