The fifth transmutation of the Anabasis is from silver to mercury. This involves the mysterious process of quickening. Silver is quickened to become mercury and, in doing so, develops a divine spark. Thus, the transmutation of silver to mercury involves beginning (but not completing) the process of apotheosis.
In quickening, silver becomes liquid. This liquidity is the essence of the realm of mercury. The character of mercury displays the opposite of the rigid thinking found in the realm of iron. They are the quickest of thinkers, always a step ahead of everyone else. For this reason they evoke a wide range of reactions from other characters. Mercury is therefore unpredictable to the lower elements, hence the term mercurial.
The rigidity of silver means that it cannot flow into certain spaces. Mercury can. Hence characters of mercury can be explorers of the mind and soul as well as of physical or cultural space. A transmutation from silver to mercury might be motivated by a character who has achieved everything possible in their career or business, and started to wonder what else there is to life. For such people, the occult often beckons.
Psychologically, the character of mercury is beyond any character of the previous levels. They are intellectually superior to an extent that is awesome. But they don’t merely intellectualise. The character of mercury is capable of intuiting knowledge in a way that seems psychic to others. They seem to know things that could not possibly be known, as if they had access to another world.
It is said of the brilliant that they can hit targets no-one else can hit, but of the genius it is said that they can hit targets no-one else can see. The transition from silver to mercury is like this transition from brilliance to genius. A character who achieves it will not merely impress others – they will instill awe. Other characters will generally not understand how the transition has been made.
Aldous Huxley once said (maybe) that “an intellectual is someone who has discovered something more interesting than sex.” The character of mercury is entirely capable of having sex and enjoying it – but they are also capable of sublimating their sexual energy into incredible cultural, artistic, scientific or spiritual achievements. If they choose to attempt such a thing, and if they come to value this higher than sex, they will be seen as very strange by most others. Thus, the transition to mercury can only be attempted by those with superior will.
Socially, the transmutation from silver to mercury could see a character go from leading their clan to leading an empire. In some ancient cultures, the king was also the chief judge. If the judges of a nation are those who the villages nominate to resolve conflicts, the king would be the one who resolves conflicts among the judges themselves. A transition to mercury could be made by becoming a king of kings, or an emperor.
The character of mercury, then, is of the highest terrestrial rank. This might not necessarily be evident, especially at the beginning of the story. A transmutation from silver to mercury might occur very early in the life of a character, such that those around them don’t readily recognise the change. They might simply be too young for higher honours yet, despite being spiritually worthy.
Physically, a character of mercury could look like anything. If characters of lead are scrawny, those of tin fat, those of iron muscular, those of copper muscular and fat and those of silver slender, characters of mercury could look like any such phenotype plus others. For a character of mercury, who is beginning to apotheosise, the physical form is almost irrelevant. They may even start to move beyond physical form as they move away from silver.
The transmutation of silver to mercury is a challenge unlike any of the previous four stages, because it’s primarily a spiritual process, whereas the previous four stages deal with physical and mental processes. For the fifth transmutation of the Anabasis to begin, the spiritual realm has to be accessed. This makes the nature of the transmutation much more subtle than any of the previous four.
This can make a character of mercury a highly complex one. They are capable of anything that the lower levels are capable of. The difference is that the lower five elements are somewhat bound to their realm of frequency, whereas mercury can flow readily to any frequency. Thus the character of mercury can party as if tin, fight as if lead, make love as if copper and socialise as if silver. They are not specialised in any one aspect of life but are rather masters of life in a general sense. As such, the transition to mercury requires a certain depth of life experience.
Glory can transmute mere silver to mercury. A character who rises to become a general or warlord might discover, in the throes of victory, a glory that raises them to a place not previously possible. In the wake of a military triumph, a commander might attain realms of consciousness that had otherwise been inaccessible.
A near death experience can also do it. As mentioned above, the process of transmutation to mercury is, at one level, divine. In almost dying, a person sometimes realises that they are more than just their body and mind. When the physical senses are shut off, the soul can make itself present. Many a person has passed over to the other side only to then return and, imbued with occult knowledge from those shadow realms, risen to a position of social prominence.
A psychedelic experience might be another, similar way to achieve this. A character who undergoes a sufficiently powerful spiritual experience though use of a psychedelic might seem, to other characters, to have acquired superpowers. They may also seem to have gone insane: the transmutation to mercury implies that a character no longer cares as much about material concerns such as wealth or social status. This might not be understood or appreciated by characters of the lower levels.
Yet another way might be getting chosen by a secret society for a special role, such as the harbinger of a new age of humanity. A character of silver who is chosen as a special representative by a secret society could begin the transmutation to mercury by way of ritual. Ancient rites intended to drive out weaknesses from lower frequencies could effect the transmutation to mercury.
The ultimate action that transmutes silver to mercury is application of will. It’s ultimately will that overcomes the rigidness of silver and transmutes into something quasi-divine. The rigidity of silver is testament to the extent to which it is programmed by circumstance. The application of will causes a character to rise above circumstance and to define themselves according to their own values. Even the stronghest, the smartest, the richest and the most handsome of men are subordinate to the most willing.
An example of the transmutation of silver to mercury in popular fiction is the film Braveheart. William Wallace starts as a well-respected villager, the son of a well-respected villager, and seemed destined for the realm of silver. But on account of being taught to use his brain properly, he was able to reshape the course of history.
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This is an excerpt from Viktor Hellman’s The Alchemy of Character Development, the sixth book in VJM Publishing’s Writing With Psychology series. This book will show you how to use alchemy to create deep, realistic and engaging characters for your creative fiction.
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