In part 11 it was stated that Lecter desires to have a chymical marriage come about between himself and Starling. Chymical Marriage is also part of the name of a book: The Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosencreutz. The story in the book follows the Passover and the seven days of unleavened bread. The slaughtering and roasting of the Paschal lamb begins in the evening (near Easter), as does The Chymical Marriage. The Chymical Marriage begins with Christian Rosencreutz sitting at a table with both the Paschal Lamb and the unleavened bread. The events of this story span seven days and are divided into seven chapters, each chapter being a different day.
In Hannibal, Paul Krendler represents the Paschal Lamb from the Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosencreutz (recall that earlier in the analysis, it was mentioned that the name 'Krendler' is a reference to Passover seder). Hannibal Lecter's meal with Krendler and Clarice Starling (shown at left) is a depiction of the first day of the Chymical Marriage. (The chymical marriage is sometimes called the chymical wedding).
Below is the opening paragraph of The Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosencreutz:
"On an evening before Easter-day, I sate at a table, and having in my humble prayer conversed with my Creator and considered many great mysteries (whereof the Father of Lights had shewn me not a few), and being now ready to prepare in my heart, together with my dear Paschal Lamb, a small, unleavened, undefiled cake, all on a sudden ariseth so horrible a tempest, that I imagined no other but that, through its mighty force, the bill whereon my little house was founded would fly all in pieces."[a]
a. The Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosencreutz in The Real History of the Rosicrucians, Arthur Edward Waite, 1887, at sacred-texts.com.
