Mercury is the son of heaven and light. He is the messenger of heaven, the mediator between gods and humans; it’s his task to conduct the souls of the dead to the Underworld. The alchemists equated Mercury with concepts of fluency and transmutation. The alchemists considered the archetypal structure of the planet Mercury a double nature: closely related to both characteristics of the Moon (silver) and the Sun (gold), Mercury is both chtonian and celestial at the same time. The metal mercury often represents the unconscious because of its fluid and dynamic character. Its unlimited capacity for transformation can be regarded as symbolic for the aim of the alchemist, which is to transmute matter (or spirit) from inferior to superior. Molten metal is an alchemic symbol for the conjunction of Fire and Water, coniunctio oppositorium, which is related to Mercury and Plato’s primordial androgynous being.
Other keywords: Gemini myth, hermaphrodite
meaxylon 