Mercury, salt, sulphur - in Book of Thoth

[Storm82]

(Alchemical Triad )
some have learnt that the Priestess is Mercury, the Empress salt and the Emperor is sulphur
but....
some say The Magus should be Mercury

what do you think and why ?

I have heard that Crowley referres both as mercury (both magus and priestess) in BoT ( read about "Emperor" and "Fortune")

 

[nicky]

Crowley sets the Magus as Mercury in the BOT.

From astrology.com: "Mercury, the messenger of the gods, symbolizes mentality: our intellect and mental outlook, the way we think and communicate. Mercury, as Hermes, is the emblem for the magus, the wise counsellor, divine messenger, and the prince of thieves."

 

[Richard]

(Alchemical Triad )
some have learnt that the Priestess is Mercury, the Empress salt and the Emperor is sulphur
but....
some say The Magus should be Mercury

what do you think and why ?

I have heard that Crowley referres both as mercury (both magus and priestess) in BoT ( read about "Emperor" and "Fortune")

Planetary and Zodiacal correlations: Magus-Mercury, Priestess-Moon, Empress-Venus, Emperor-Aries.

Alchemical correlations: Priestess-Quicksilver (aka Mercury), Empress-Salt, Emperor-Sulphur.

 

[Laura Borealis]

Is the Magus also Hermes? (The Greek Hermes is usually equated with the Roman Mercury.) And thus linked with Hermes Trismegistus as well. Seems appropriate.

 

[Richard]

Is the Magus also Hermes? (The Greek Hermes is usually equated with the Roman Mercury.) And thus linked with Hermes Trismegistus as well. Seems appropriate.

Don't forget the all-important Egyptian version of Hermes/Mercury, namely THOTH!

 

[Aeon418]

I have heard that Crowley referres both as mercury (both magus and priestess) in BoT ( read about "Emperor" and "Fortune")

The reference to Atu II in the Emperor section (p.77) is a typo.

 

[Richard]

The reference to Atu II in the Emperor section (p.77) is a typo.

Oh my! It's in the infamous Emperor-Tzaddi section. Anyhow, I think that at least a distinction between the astrological/mythological and alchemical mercury is not too nit-picky. Or maybe I'm wrong, as usual.

 

[Aeon418]

There is a third reference in the Book of Thoth. (p.104)

It represents a balanced combination of the three alchemical principles Sulphur, Mercury and Salt. These names have no connection with substances so named by the vulgar; they have already been describd in Atu I, III and IV.

Quicksilver would be one of those substances.

On top of that, look at the Magus card. His pose represents the glyph of Alchemical Mercury. I've been trying to find a piccy of it, but have come up empty. It's like the standard Mercury, but it's got wonky arms.

 

[Grigori]

A little tangential to this topic, but for interests sake the alchemical glyph for mercury appears along with the other mercurial glyphs on the 10 of Disks (in the position of Binah/3. Astrological Mercury's glyph appears in the position of Kether/1 on the same card)

 

[Babalon Jones]

I go with the Magus as alchemical Mercury, myself. Though I've seen the possible typo in BOT and wonder about it, and can see some argument for the Priestess.

One thing I've noticed is that in the Lovers card, the alchemical marriage, Empress (Salt) & Emperor (Sulphur) are being joined by a hooded figure that looks like it could be the Hermit. The Hermit being a mature form of Thoth, just as the Magus is the intermediate form of Thoth. So it makes more sense in a way that it would be the Magus than the Priestess I think.

edit: plus the Magus is hermaphrodite, and the other two are male and female, so it seems more "balanced" to have one of each gender for each of the three alchemical elements