Mercury

[black]

Many people talk about many different protocols but most of these people
do not go to the trouble to do the work required in the laboratory to prove their
half baked theories.

Only a very small handful of truly dedicated Sons of Hermes have the tenacity
and heartfelt desire to pursue this Great Work with the effort that is required
in the practical Lab work.

It's easy to talk about the practice of Alchemy .... But not so easy to do the hard
work that is essential for any type of progress in Alchemy.

Only through a sincere desire, work and the gift of God will any of us receive the
knowledge of these Mercuries.

[ghetto alchemist]

Dwellings,
The Way that I follow I put in detail , step by step, for those who are interested.

I’m interested.
Please tell about your process with as much detail as possible.

[Illen A. Cluf]

As many Alchemists have stated in the past, it's absolutely necessary to understand the philosophical nature of Mercury and how metals "grow in the earth" before any alchemical work can be done. I could provide many quotes, but I'm sure you've all seen them

Many alchemical texts are divided into two parts - the Philosophical part and the practical part. Ignoring the Philosophical part, and jumping directly to the practical part can lead to a lifelong search with no result. It leads to chemistry and not alchemy, not that chemistry in itself is not a worthwhile pursuit.

But if you want to practice alchemy, it is absolutely essential to FIRST study and learn the Philosophical aspect of alchemy - as the ancients understood it. It may not be accurate in today's understanding, but knowing how they thought and explained their observations will lead to an understanding of how alchemy can be practiced today. It can also lead to significant shortcuts.

It is not without reason that the alchemists wrote: "Lege, lege, relege, bora et invenies" ("Pray, read, read, read, reread, work, and you shall discover).” Notice that after "pray" "read is repeated three times! ONLY THEN does it mention "work".

There is a reason why they dwelt so often on the Philosophical aspect of alchemy before they began their writing about the practical work. This is the part most often ignored by readers, but actually constitutes the critical part that separates alchemy from archemy and chemistry.

Again, without understanding the philosophical meaning of "mercury" and how the ancients believed metals "grew" in the earth, I don't think you will ever discover "our mercury".

[P.S. I believe that Much of this discussion on Mercury should be moved to the Philosophical section rather than the Practical section - just my opinion].

[True Initiate]

Question for all of you: Is mercury extracted out of some stone or mineral or is it found by itself in nature?

[Illen A. Cluf]

Question for all of you: Is mercury extracted out of some stone or mineral or is it found by itself in nature?

The answer, according to my study and practice, is "Both".

However, to qualify, as a in most questions, there is always the difficulty of semantics.

Mercury exists everywhere.

[True Initiate]

There is a contradiction in your studies then Illen. The first mercury should gush out of the rock like living water or out of our old oak tree like a stream after the alchemists pierces the rock/oak/dragon with it's fiery rod/lance/sword.

[Illen A. Cluf]

That's just an allegory.

Leach oak wood ashes, dry it, pulverize it into a fine powder, set it out on an early dewy morning, and watch the water stream out.

[True Initiate]

Well maybe but this is how alchemists describe the first operation. Roughly speaking we need to heat the tip of an iron rod to incandescence and pierce our first matter with it in order to extract the mercury. Some people are holding the hot iron rod towards the North in order to magnetize it before piercing with it others add salts like nitre and tartar to the first matter in order to speed the reaction and so on...

[True Initiate]

Leach oak wood ashes, dry it, pulverize it into a fine powder, set it out on an early dewy morning, and watch the water stream out.

Ok this is another possible explanation like in Roger Caro Cinnabar path but that will mean the oak wood or Cinnabar is our first matter with which i reject both of them. But we are getting somewhere!

[Illen A. Cluf]

Well maybe but this is how alchemists describe the first operation. Roughly speaking we need to heat the tip of an iron rod to incandescence and pierce our first matter with it in order to extract the mercury. Some people are holding the hot iron rod towards the North in order to magnetize it before piercing with it others add salts like nitre and tartar to the first matter in order to speed the reaction and so on...

It's confusing because there are so many variations to achieve the same results. So when you take several variations and assume they are all talking about the same approach, this can lead to major confusion. I know of at least 7 or 8 variations.

Anyone who says there is only one approach is not being honest.