The Dragon is a powerful symbol in alchemy. Dragon is one of many names for the prima materia or Philosopher's Stone in the West. In China the Dragon signifies the Emperor and the number nine. The alchemical dragon relates to Mercurius and powers of creation.
The dragon in alchemical symbolism is an ancient mystic creature who embodies balance between opposing forces. The winged dragon is a metaphor for ascension, transcendence of earthly limitations and fusion of material and spiritual worlds.
Fire, often around or breathed by the dragon, is a potent symbol of purification and metamorphosis. It signifies the intense process of inner change and personal growth required to achieve the Magnum Opus.
Mentioning Mercurius, the alchemist may seem to refer to quicksilver (mercury), but truthfully means the world-creating spirit concealed or imprisoned in matter. Mercurius can appear as dragon in the birth of the Magnum Opus; he can be the Divine Hermaphrodite himself.
The dragon is among the oldest pictorial symbols in alchemy with documentary evidence.
It appears as the Ouroboros, the tail-eater, with the legend All is One (One is All).
German chemist August Kekulé visualizes the ring structure of benzene in 1865 after experiencing a waking dream of an ouroboros. The snake itself is a primal form of dragon.
"One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth."
Axiom of Maria (Mary the Jewess)
Time and again the alchemists reiterate the opus proceeds from the one and leads back to the one, that it is a sort of circle like a dragon biting its own tail. For this reason the opus is often called circulare (circular) or rota (the wheel).
For psychologist Carl Jung (1875 - 1961) the chthonic spirit Mercurius of medieval alchemy has a deep influence on his personal and intellectual life. While preparing lectures about Mercurius in 1942, he writes of being “dissolved almost.”
He can metaphorically be shown flowing out of three pipes in the form of lac uirginls (virgin milk), acetum fontis (spring vinegar) and aqua vitae (water of life). These are also three of the many synonyms for Mercurius.
He can also be symbolized by a night raven, roaring lion, cloud, eagle, shadow, fish, stone, unicorn, rhinoceros, water, fire, man encompassed by a woman. Mercury is bisexual, translated as engendering both sexes. He may be shown as masculine with a feminine soul.
" ... Outwardly Mercurius corresponds to quicksilver but inside he is anima mundi (world soul)."
Carl Jung, Collected Works
Mercurius stands at the beginning and end of the work: it is the prima materia, the caput corvi (raven's head), the nigredo or blackening. Nigredo processes such as purification and decomposition help to free the spirit of Mercurius.
Thus a guiding inner moon-light shines brightly as the next phase approaches. As dragon it devours itself and as dragon dies, to rise again in the lapis philosophorum, the Philosopher's Stone.
It is the play of colors in the cauda pavonis, the Tail of the Peacock, and that which can give life and take it away. Mercurius is a divine protector, creator and destroyer.
In the beginning it's the divine hermaphrodite. It splits into the classical female-male duality to be reunited in the coniunctio or Unity of Opposites. It appears again at the end in the radiant form of the lumen novum (a New Light), the stone.
Mercurius the spirit or essence of the metal also assumes its qualities. It is metallic yet liquid, matter yet spirit, cold yet fiery, poison and yet healing. Mercurius flows as a symbol uniting all opposites.
Mercurius in alchemy is described as "a world-creating spirit," blending light and dark, positive and negative, male and female. It's both the start and the conclusion of the alchemist's journey.
It is a life-giving essence, a crucial energy. Mercurius is the Dragon and also the divine hermaphrodite. Mercurius is a shining light of wisdom and guidance. As central to the process, Mercurius may be indicated by its planetary / alchemical sign ☿.
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