Mercury is a chemical element; it has symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum (/haɪˈdrɑːrdʒərəm/ hy-DRAR-jər-əm) from the Greek words hydor 'water' and argyros 'silver', from which its chemical symbol is derived. A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is known to be liquid at standard temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature. wikipedia
A Process for the Purification of Mercury
The purest mercury revivified from cinnabar is to be dissolved in as much aqua fortis as is necessary. Into the solution pour gradually as much solution of sea salt or hydrochloric acid as is necessary to precipitate the mercury, and the result is a white calx of mercury. Wash this well with water, and dry the calx.
Mix the dried calx with one, two, or three parts of its weight of stone lime, and half a part of rye or wheat flour. Then distill the mixture by means of a retort.
The distilled mercury, unless perfectly clean, may be passed two or three times through chamois leather.
This revivified mercury is bright, like the firmament, and dissolves gold in a very short time, even by rubbing, and without heat. The whole process may, with advantage, be repeated two or three times. Such mercury will be wonderfully pure. The aqua fortis solution must always be diluted with clean water before precipitating. Ordinary mercury contains crudities which it deposits in the water. Weigh the purified mercury, and it will be observed to have diminished by the quarter part or more of its mercury, because whatever impurity there was in the mercury (though it be virgin running mercury) remains in the water, and cannot be precipitated.
But, to prove this truth, evaporate the water which was poured off from the precipitate, and there remains a sediment as black as ink. Purify, therefore, the mercury, and it is fit for all operations, and is a master over all metals. [anon]
Paracelsus
By the mediation of Vulcan, or fire, any metal can be generated from Mercury. At the same time, Mercury is imperfect as a metal; it is semi-generated and wanting in coagulation, which is the end of all metals.
Up to the halfway point of their generation, all metals are Mercury. Gold, for example, is Mercury; but it loses the Mercurial nature by coagulation, and although the properties of Mercury are present in it, they are dead, for their vitality is destroyed by coagulation." [Paracelsus, De Morbis Metallicis, Lib. III., Tract II]
Philosophers Stone
This Awareness indicates that the First Matter for alchemist normally referred to as water, is that element known as urine.
The urine or First Matter, is sometimes described as Mercury and Sulfur; mercury because it flows in a liquid form, and sulfur because of the sulfur content in urine. [Philosophers Stone]
Cayce
"Then all of these astrological influences (as known or called) from without, bear witness - or are as innate influences upon our activity, our sojourn through any given experience. Not because we were born with the sun in this sign or that, nor because Jupiter or Mercury or Saturn or Uranus or Mars was rising or setting, but rather:
"Because we were made for the purpose of being companions with Him, a little lower than the angels who behold His face ever yet as heirs, as joint heirs with Him who is the Savior, the Way, then we have brought these about because of our activities through our experiences in those realms! Hence they bear witness by being in certain positions - because of our activity, our sojourn in those environs, in relationships to the universal forces of activity.
"Hence they bear witness of certain urges in us, not beyond our will but controlled by our will!" [Cayce (1567-2)]
Manly Palmer Hall
"According to the ancient philosophers, salt was of the earth earthy, sulphur was a fire which was spirit, while mercury was nothing, only a messenger like the winged Hermes of the Greeks. His color is purple, which is the blending of the red and the blue—the blue of the spirit and the red of the body.
The alchemist realizes that he himself is the Philosopher’s Stone, and that this stone is made diamond-like when the salt and the sulphur, or the spirit and the body, are united through mercury, the link of mind. Man is the incarnated principle of mind as the animal is of emotion. He stands with one foot on the heavens and the other on the earth." [Initiates of the Flame, by Manly Palmer Hall]
C. G. Jung
The mystic vessel where the two natures unite (sol and luna, caduceus) to produce the filius hermaphroditus, Hermes, flanked by the six gods of the planets. «Solidonius dominator elementorum, author rarissimus et excellentissimus philosophus», c. 1701-1800
"Since olden times “the seven” have represented the seven gods of the planets; they form what the Pyramid inscriptions call a paut neteru, a “company of gods”. Although a company is described as “nine,” it often proves to be not nine at all but ten, and sometimes even more.
Thus Maspero tells us that the first and last members of the series can be added to, or doubled, without injury to the number nine. Something of the sort happened to the classical paut of the Greco-Roman or Babylonian gods in the post-classical age, when the gods were degraded to demons and retired partly to the distant stars and partly to the metals inside the earth.
It then transpired that Hermes or Mercurius possessed a double nature, being a chthonic god of revelation and also the spirit of quicksilver, for which reason he was represented as a hermaphrodite. As the planet Mercury, he is nearest to the sun, hence he is pre-eminently related to gold. But, as quicksilver, he dissolves the gold and extinguishes its sunlike brilliance.
All through the Middle Ages he was the object of much puzzled speculation on the part of the natural philosophers: sometimes he was a ministering and helpful spirit, a ???????? (literally “assistant, comrade”) or familiaris.."
"For instance he is dragon, lion, eagle, raven, to mention only the most important of them. In the alchemical hierarchy of gods Mercurius comes lowest as prima materia and highest as lapis philosophorum. The spiritus mercurialis is the alchemists’ guide Hermes Psychopompos: and their tempter; he is their good luck and their ruin.
His dual nature enables him to be not only the seventh but also the eighth—the eighth on Olympus “whom nobody thought of.” [Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 12: Psychology and Alchemy]
The Rosary of the Philosophers
“Of Our Mercury which is the Green Lion Devouring the Sun Know that it is Mercury cold and moist and God hath created all minerals of it, for it is an airy element, flying from the fire.
Therefore, when any part is fixed to it, it effecteth an high matter and it is a profitable spirit, and there is not any thing in the world but it. Neither is there any thing that may stand in the place of it, and it is a thing searching to the bottom in every body, and enriching it.
Therefore, when it is mingled with the body, it reviveth it and illuminates it and converts it from disposition to disposition, and, from one colour into another, therefore it is the whole Elixir of whiteness and redness, and it is a permanent water, and water of life and death..”
“Therefore Gold says unto him, dost thou prefer thyself before me, And I am Lord of Stones enduring the fire. Our Mercury says unto it, but I have begat thee and thou art born of me, and one part of me revives many parts of thee, but thou art covetous and givest not any thing in comparison to me, and he which shall bind me with my brother and my sister shall live and rejoice, and it shall suffice him in all his life, if he should live a thousand thousand years, and every day sustain seven thousand men, yet he should never want, and I am the whole secret and in me the Science is hidden, because I convert all bodies into Sol and Luna, when my nature is such that I mollify the hard, and make the soft hard.” [The Rosary of the Philosophers, c. 1550]
Michael Maier
"The Latins call thee Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods; among the Greeks thy name is that of great Hermes. Thou art called Tenthius on the soil of Egypt; thy father is Nilus, who enriches that soil, and has bequeathed unto thee untold wealth. Thou hast duly conveyed to the peoples of Egypt the laws which Vulcan, being in the secret with thee, has given.
All nations of the world behold thee with delight, yet thou desirest to be known to very few. Of how many secrets of Nature have the keys been entrusted to thy keeping!
Thy face is red, thy neck is yellow, thy bosom is whiter than purest snow. Thy feet are shod with black sandals, a wand with a double snake in no wise hurts thy hand. This is thine apparel whereby thou art known to all, O Hermes ! Thy complexion is fittingly of four hues." [A Subtle Allegory Concerning the Secrets of Alchemy, by Michael Maier]
Bernard Trevisan
“The Moon reduced to first Matter, is passive Matter; for truly she is the Spouse of the Sun, and they are one and the other in very near affinity. Such is the agreement between the Male and the Female of the Genus of the Art, from which is engendered the White and red Sulphur, conglutinating and congealing the Mercury.” [Bernard Trevisan "Verbum Dismissum"]
Basil Valentine
“We must again repeat that our substance is not collected from many sources; but, as Basilius says, it is one universal thing, and is found in, and obtained from one thing, being the spirit of mercury, the soul of sulphur, and a spiritual salt, united under one heaven and dwelling in one body.” [Basil Valentine, The Golden Tract Concerning The Stone of the Philosophers]
"The Mercury of the Philosophers, what is it?"
Mercury is nothing other than water and salt, which have been combined for so long in natural warmth that they have coagulated. When this happens, it then becomes a true water—not wet, but also not dry—and it is called Mercury. However, I am not speaking here of crude Mercury, but rather of the Mercury that the stars bring into the earthly realm, along with a body that can be understood. This is what philosophers refer to when speaking of the Quintessence, for it is the power that governs all created things. The higher power makes things mature and perfect, while the lower and imperfect Quintessence, which is found within the earth, becomes corporeal.
It governs the seed and acts according to the nature of its kind. Thus, from the Quintessence of the earth comes the power of its fertility, enabling seeds to sprout. These seeds draw their inner moisture from the Quintessence of the earth. This is Mercury and the Quintessence of the heavens, namely Sulfur. Philosophers say that Sulfur is a coagulation of Mercury, and this is true. Just as man and woman produce children here on earth, no human truly understands that truth cannot be given in one day. This is far beyond our understanding, so I will offer an example: you have common Sulfur, which coagulates with ordinary Mercury, and you observe how the inner power of these substances unites them.
Since Sulfur is poisonous and Mercury deadly, how then can one extract anything good from this? For this, one must purify Mercury itself, so that it can reunite all the halves to form a whole. This is only possible because the halves each hold within themselves the potential for completion. If Sulfur unites with our refined Mercury and they both melt together in the fire, then a small amount is added to raw Mercury, which purifies itself, becomes new, and is perfected. So, I return to the earlier discussion of the Quintessence of the earth and the Quintessence of the heavens. You can see that the Quintessence of the earth contains its powers in a mixture, so that the earth becomes fruitful, as if the Quintessence of the stars were acting upon the earth. This process occurs in the summer, when warmth awakens the Quintessence within its lower powers.
Thus, they generate and sustain the masculine power of each seed according to its nature. You can also set both the Quintessence of the heavens and that of the earth into rotation in water and retain them there. Then you will recognize the Quintessence in water by the varied colors of sunlight. As you see in the rainbow, when sunlight shines through the rain, one side shows green and the other purple. Such hidden power becomes visible in the art of distillation.
This is explained and described in the craft of distillation: for it is not a stone, not a herb, and not an elixir, but rather something that unites the higher and lower powers. This is the great secret that underlies the mastery of the wise. Hermes speaks in his Emerald Tablet as follows: "That which has a soul rises up from the earth to the heavens, and then returns again to the earth. It has power over the higher and lower realms because its virtue is in the air, and it will be revealed."
Thus, its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon, and Mercury was carried forth from their womb to become the master of the art. The earth is the mother, and water is its vessel. This is the foundation of all philosophy. When speaking of the stone, it is not a stone but rather a body that is stable, fluid, and alive—it is spirit and soul. The Sun and Moon are the man and woman, the king and queen, representing a balance of forces.
Composition:
Now we speak of the composition or union of the stone: crude or ordinary compositions are not suitable, for there is no path to join raw materials. First, all parts must dissolve in water and then unite, forming a natural material. Over time, they will merge harmoniously into the Elixir.
For this, one must first dissolve the components, separate the water, purify it, and recombine it. Thus, a single body forms, which becomes stable as if it required no further refinement.
This idea is confirmed by philosophers, including Aristotle, who called this water Mercury. It contains the seed, born from the Sun and the Moon. According to the ancient masters, this substance is the key to creating the Elixir of Wisdom. Glowing and warming, they sow with their fire, that is Mercury, and there is water, which then does not make wet. This Mercury they have honored, loved, enjoyed, and used until their end, for they have recognized its virtue." [Gloria mundi, c. 1774 by Anonymous]
Nicolas Flamel
"The potentiality of mercury, which is the metallic fire: being thus united, it is called by the philosophers the flying dragon; because the dragon kindled by its fire, while he flies by little and little, fills the air with his fire, and poisonous vapours.
The same thing doth mercury; for being placed upon an exterior fire, and in its place in a vessel; it sets on fire its inside, which is hidden in its profundity; by which may be seen, how the external fire does burn and inflame the natural mercury. And then you may see how the poisonous vapour breaks out into the air, with a most stinking and pernicious poison; which is nothing else but the head of the dragon, which hastily goes out of Babylon.
But other philosophers have compared this mercury, with a flying lion, because a lion is a devourer of other creatures, and delights himself in his voracity of every thing, except that which is able to resist his violence and fury. So also does mercury, which has in itself such a power, force, and operation, to spoil and devastate a metal of its form, and to devour it. Mercury being too much influenced, devours and hides metals in its belly; but which of them so ever it be, it is certain, that, it consumes it not, for in their nature they are perfect, and much more indurate.
But mercury has in itself a substance of perfecting sol and luna; and all the imperfect bodies or metals, proceed from argent vive; therefore the ancients called it the mother of metals; whence it follows, that in its own principle and centre, being formed, it has a double metallic substance. And first, the substance of the interior; then the substance of sol, which is not like the other metals; of these two substances, argent vive is formed, which in its body is spiritually nourished.
As soon then as nature has formed argent vive, of the two after-named spirits, then it endeavors to make them perfect and corporeal; but when the spirits are of strength, and the two sperms awakened out of their central principle, then they desire to assume their own bodies. Which being done, argent vive the mother must die, and being thus naturally mortified, cannot (as dead things cannot) quicken itself as before.
But there are some proud philosophers, who in obscure words affirm, that we ought to transmute both perfect and imperfect bodies into running argent vive; this is the serpent's subtlety, and you may be in danger of being bit by it. It is true, that argent vive may transmute an imperfect body, as lead or tin; and may without much labour, multiply in a quantity; but thereby it diminishes or loses its own perfection, and may no more for this reason be called argent vive.
But if by art it may be mortified, that it can no more vivify itself, then it will be changed into another thing, as in cinnabar, or sublimate is done. For when it is by the art coagulated, whether sooner or later, yet then its two bodies assume not a fixed body, nor can they conserve it, as we may see in the bowels of the earth." [The Summary of Philosophy by Nicolas Flamel]
ChatGPT reviews the above data and compares it to SVP [Dale Pond, ChatGPT 12/14/24]: https://chatgpt.com/share/675db5aa-8e5c-800d-8c4f-5dbd3d8e2fa3
See Also
AI Interpretations of SVP
Alchemy
Astrology
Astronomy
Dragon
Jupiter
Mars
Moon
Saturn
Solar System
Soul
Stages of Soul Development
Sun
Table of the Elements - Russell Elements
Uranus
Venus
Will