Mercury-Hermes
In the Greek and Roman tradition Mercury, called Hermes in Greek, was the messenger deity, distinguished by his winged sandals and winged helmet and carrying the caduceus.
The cadeceus is a staff with two intertwined serpents topped by open wings and sometimes a small round mirror. The two serpents represent the opposing magnetic energies of male and female, positive and negative. They travel up the staff which is a symbol of the spinal column, to unfold the wings of the spirit. The mirror is the quicksilver, the liquid mirror where our true nature is reflected.
The god Mercury is related with travel, commerce, trade, communication, and divination.
Mercury did not have a particular realm that was his own but worked as a messenger for gods and humans. It was Mercury in his role as messenger who informed Aeneas of his destiny to found the city of Rome. It was Mercury who brought the captured goddess Persephone back from the underworld to reunite with her mother Demeter. Mercury would bring worthy heroes to enter the heavenly realms and also guide the souls of the newly dead down into the underworld.
Mercury-Hermes and the goddess Venus-Aphrodite had a child named Hermaphroditus who was both male and female, the root of the word hermaphrodite. Mercury is oriented toward the reconciliation of duality and opposites in all forms.
The Planet Mercury
The planet Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system and the closest to the Sun. It has a short orbit, and the greatest temperature range of any planet in the solar system.
The Element Mercury
The element mercury also called quicksilver, is the only metallic element that stays in a liquid state in almost any natural temperature or pressure level. Mercury has traditionally been used in thermometers as it can withstand hot to cold temperatures changes while staying liquid.
Mercury is found in ore deposits as mercuric sulfide, called cinnabar for its red color, and is referenced in many ancient alchemical texts as a key ingredient for the elixir of long life.
Mercury in Astrology
Mercury is always found within 30 degrees of the Sun, signifying its role as the communicator or means of expression of the Sun, which is pure spirit.
Mercury rules the zodiacal signs Gemini and Virgo. Gemini the Twins is an air sign related with communication, logic, mental activity, with the need for constantly changing environments and new ideas.
Virgo the Virgin is an earth sign and here Mercury’s influence relates to the exchange, movement, and organization of the earth element such as money and goods, in systems of trade and distribution. Examples of this are the traditional professions related to Virgo including banking, accounting, and food processing and distribution.
The symbol for Mercury is the circle of pure spirit in between the cross of matter and the crescent of soul. This represents Mercury’s function as an intermediary between matter and spirit, always working closely with the impulses of pure spirit- the Sun- and able to bring it into the soul or psychological aspect, and the material aspect of life.
Mercury in Alchemy
Mercury is a symbol for the sexual waters which are the physical, vital and spiritual substance within our sexual secretions.
The sexual waters must be purified, circulated, transmuted to accomplish the great alchemical work. Mercury is that messenger inside of ourselves that can connect and balance our sexuality with our heart and mind. The Mercury can help us to overcome the duality and conflict within ourselves when used wisely.
Mercury is related with the traveler and pilgrim because the liquid sexual essence moves and travels up the spine in harmony with the Kundalini fire, seen in the symbol of the caduceus.
According to the esoteric astrological teachings of Samael Aun Weor each planet has its own heart temple and its own regent. The regent of Mercury is the archangel Raphael, and it is related with the cosmic ray of healing, medicine, science and the mind.
Mercury is the liquid metallic aspect that has the possibility of reflecting the light of our internal Being for ourselves and others.
“In reality, each thing can be disarranged within its own elements. With the help of heat, we can disarrange ice into water, because water is the element of ice. Therefore, all the metals of the Earth can be disarranged into Mercury, because Mercury is the crude matter of all the metals. Mercury is the spermatic semen [sexual fluids in males and females] in which all the metals can be disarranged, because this is the element from which all things emerge. The human being can be disarranged in the semen, because this is the element that he departed from. Each thing can be disarranged in its own elements from which it is composed.”
-Samael Aun Weor, A Treatise of Alchemy