The seven metals of alchemy (gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron, tin and lead), are each paired with one of the seven classical planets, and the same symbol serves for both. The pairing is ancient and consistent across the Greek, Arabic and Latin alchemical traditions, which is why the planetary glyphs still appear in chemistry's older notation. Each entry records the metal, its planet and its place in the work.
Facts
Overview
- Entries in the Atlas
- 11
- Size of the Traditional Set
- Seven 1
Origins
- Origin Period
- Graeco-Egyptian alchemy, c. 1st-4th century CE; the pairing is then constant across the Greek, Arabic and Latin traditions 1
- Place of Origin
- Graeco-Roman Egypt, above all Alexandria 1
Structure
- Structure
- Seven metals paired one to one with the seven classical planets, gold with the Sun, silver with the Moon, quicksilver with Mercury, copper with Venus, iron with Mars, tin with Jupiter, lead with Saturn, the same sign serving for both. 1
Learn More
The Seven Metals of Alchemy
The seven metals of alchemy, gold, silver, mercury (quicksilver), copper, iron, tin and lead, are each paired with one of the seven classical planets, and the same symbol serves for both metal and planet: gold with the Sun, silver with the Moon, mercury with Mercury, copper with Venus, iron with Mars, tin with Jupiter, lead with Saturn. The pairing is ancient and remarkably consistent across the Greek, Arabic and Latin alchemical traditions.
This correspondence is one of the foundations of alchemy and astral magic: a metal shares the nature of its planet, so that working with the metal, or with a talisman made of it, is a way of drawing on the planet's power.
Planet, metal and transmutation
The planet-metal scheme underlies both alchemy, where the transmutation of base metals toward gold mirrors the perfecting of the soul and the ascent through the planetary spheres, and talismanic magic, where images are engraved on the appropriate metal at the appropriate planetary hour. The seven metals were, for the tradition, the seven planets made solid.
The atlas gives each metal its planet, its symbol, and its associations. The planets the metals are paired with are treated in the planet category, and the alchemical context under Texts & the Canon.