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'''[[w:Mercury (mythology)|Mercury (mythology)]]'''(/ˈmɜrkjʉri/; [[w:Latin language|Latin]]: Mercurius listen (help•info)) is a major [[w:Roman mythology|Roman god]], being one of the ''Dii Consentes'' within the ancient [[w:Roman pantheon|Roman pantheon]]. He is the [[w:Tutelary deity|patron god]] of [[w:Gain (accounting)|financial gain]], [[commerce]], [[eloquence]] (and thus [[poetry]]), [[w:Message|messages]]/[[communication]] (including [[divination]]), travelers, boundaries, [[luck]], [[w:Trickery|trickery]] and [[thieves]]; he is also the [[guide]] of [[souls to the [[underworld]].
==Quotes==
*[[Hermes]] in [[w:Greek mythology|Greek mythology]], a [[deity]]; herald and [[w:Courier|messenger]] of the [[gods]]; gods of [[roads]], [[commerce]], [[invention]], [[cunning]], and [[theft]]; [[w:Patron|patron]] of ... and Mercury of [[w:Roman mythology|Roman mythology]], often identified with Hermes, who served also as messenger to the other gods and was god of commerce, travel and thievery.
**United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=9L4dmQoihFkC&pg=PP7 "Star of Life", Emergency Medical Care Symbol: Background, Specifications, and Criteria]'', U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Enforcement and Emergency Services, 1995
*Mercury is related with the [[w:Mind|mental faculties]] of the individual. Its primary role is to comprehend the [[intonations]] from [[Budddha|Buddhic]] [[consciousness]]. It also operates to derive lessons from various mundane experiences. Mercury sharpens the [[intellect]] and [[Energy|energises]] the mind principle.
**Bepin Behari in:''[http://books.google.com/books?id=RFbKppKJLHgC&pg=PA41 The Timing of Events],'' Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1 January 2002, P.41
*Mercury is related to self-knowledge and [[Jupiter]] with [[philosophy]], [[righteousness]],
and [[religious]] [[aspirations]] which are very different aspects of the [[Sun]]. [[Venus]] is the [[embodiment]] of [[happiness]], an aspect of the Supreme. [[w:Saturn|Saturn]] stands for the cause of [[destruction]] but then ultimate [[dissolution]] is also an aspect of the solar deity for its withdrawal of vital energy form the individual leads to dissolution or [[death]].
**Bepin Behari in: “The Timing of Events”, Page xxiii
[[File:Hermes_Maia_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_2304.jpg|right|thumb|...is [[worship]] was introduced early, and his temple on the [[w:Aventine Hill|Aventine Hill]] in [[Rome]] was dedicated in 495 BC. There he was associated with the [[goddess]] [[Maia (mythology)|Maia]], who became identified as his mother through her association with the Greek Maia, mother of Hermes... -The Editors of [[w:Encyclopædia Britannica|Encyclopædia Britannica]].]]
[[File:JosephWright-Alchemist.jpg|thumb|right|...I am the [[spirit]] of [[w:Metals|metals]], the [[fire]] which does not burn, the water which does not wet the hands. If you find the way to slay me you will find the philosophical mercury of the wise, even the White Stone beloved of the [[Philosophers]]. If you find the way to raise me up again, you will find the philosophical [[w:Sulphur|sulphur]], that is, the Red Stone and [[w:Elixir of life|Elixir of Life]]. [[Obey]] me and I will be your [[servant]]; free me and I will be your [[friend]]. Enslave me and I am a dangerous [[enemy]]; command me and I will make you [[mad]]; give me [[life]] and you will [[die]]. - [[w:Patrick Harpur|Patrick Harpur]].]]
[[File:Mercury_on_a_St._Lucia_1949_UPU_stamp.jpg|right|thumb|Mercury in his role as messenger - The [[w;Roman people|Romans]] believed that [[gods]] and [[goddesses]] were in charge of everything on [[Earth]]. Mercury is named after the [[w:Messenger|messenger]] for their gods. The [[w:Mercury (mythology)|Roman Mercury]] had [[w:Wings|wings]] on his helmet and shoes. He could travel very quickly from place to place. The planet Mercury moves quickly around the [[sun]]. That is how it got its name.]]
[[File:Italian_-_Bracelet_-_Walters_41269.jpg|right|thumb|350px|But it is a very remarkable circumstance, that an acquaintance with the [[w:Names of the days of the week|seven days of the week]], so familiar from remote [[w:Antiquity|antiquity]] to the people who originally spoke [[w:Sanskrit language|Sanskrit language]], though unknown to the Greeks and Romans, should have been preserved among the Germans... - [[w:Vans Kennedy|Vans Kennedy]].]]
*Mercury, Latin Mercurius, in [[w:Roman religion|Roman religion]], [[god]] of [[w:Merchandise|merchandise]] and [[merchants]], commonly identified with the [[w:Hermes|Greek Hermes]], fleet-footed [[w:Messenger|messenger]] of the gods. His [[worship]] was introduced early, and his temple on the [[w:Aventine Hill|Aventine Hill]] in [[Rome]] was dedicated in 495 BC. There he was associated with the [[goddess]] [[Maia (mythology)|Maia]], who became identified as his mother through her association with the Greek Maia, mother of Hermes. Both Mercury and Maia were honoured in a festival on May 15, the dedication day of Mercury’s temple on the Aventine. Mercury is sometimes represented as holding a [[w:Purse|purse]], symbolic of his [[business]] functions.
**The Editors of [[w:Encyclopædia Britannica|Encyclopædia Britannica]] in: ''[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/375807/Mercury MercuryAlternate title: Mercurius]'' , Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 March 2014
*In [[w:Vishnu Purana|Vishnu Purana]], in the final [[dissolution]] [[w:Vishnu|Vishnu]] assumes the form of [[w:Rudra|Rudra]], the destructive persona of [[w:Shiva|Shiva]], and proceed to set the [[world]] ablaze. The seven main rays of the [[Sun]] which are mentioned in this [[myth]] are, according to [[w:Hindu astronomy|Hindu Astronomy]] in this myth the most important among its thousands. These seven are all identified by name and supply [[heat]] and [[light]] to the [[moon]], [[stars]] and the planets Mercury, [[Venus]], [[Mars]], [[Jupiter]] and [[w:Saturn|Saturn]]. The blaze is followed by a flood and then a period of [[quiescence]] and [[regeneration]].
**[[A. L. Dallapiccola]] in: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=AEQovil-HSoC&printsec=frontcover Hindu Myths]'', University of Texas Press, 2003, p.52
*'''My Seal-Ring'''<br>Mercury has cast aside<br>The [[w:Signs|signs]] of [[w:Intellectual|intellectual]] [[pride]], <br>[[Freely]] offers thee the [[soul]]: <br>Art thou [[noble ]] to receive? <br>Canst thou give or take the [[whole]], <br>Nobly [[promise]] and [[believe]]? <br>Then thou wholly [[human]] [[ art]], <br>A spotless, radiant, ruby [[heart]],<br>And the golden chain of [[love]]<br> Has bound thee to [[w:Heaven|the realm above]]
**[[Margaret Fuller]] in: Julia Ward Howe [http://books.google.com/books?id=DsMIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA228 Margaret Fuller, marchesa Ossoli], 1883, p.228
*Know this: I, [[w:Mercury (mythology)|Mercurius]], have here set down a full, true and infallible account of the Great Work. But I give you fair warning that unless you seek the true [[philosophical]] [[gold]] and not the gold of the [[w:Vulgar|vulgar]], unless you [[heart]] is fixed with unbending intent on the true [[w:Philosopher's stone|Stone of the Philosophers]], unless you are steadfast in your quest, abiding by [[God]]’s [[laws]] in all [[faith]] and [[humility]] and eschewing all [[vanity]], [[conceit]], falsehood, [[intemperance]], [[pride]], [[lust]] and faint-heartedness, read no farther lest I prove [[fatal]] to you. For I am the [[water]]y [[venomous]] [[serpent]] who lies buried at the [[earth]]’s centre; I am the fiery [[dragon]] who flies through the [[air]]. I am the one thing necessary for the whole [[w:Opus (mythology)|Opus]]. I am the [[spirit]] of [[w:Metals|metals]], the [[fire]] which does not burn, the water which does not wet the hands. If you find the way to slay me you will find the philosophical mercury of the wise, even the White Stone beloved of the [[Philosophers]]. If you find the way to raise me up again, you will find the philosophical [[w:Sulphur|sulphur]], that is, the Red Stone and [[w:Elixir of life|Elixir of Life]]. [[Obey]] me and I will be your [[servant]]; free me and I will be your [[friend]]. Enslave me and I am a dangerous [[enemy]]; command me and I will make you [[mad]]; give me [[life]] and you will [[die]].
**[[w:Patrick Harpur|Patrick Harpur]] in: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Io9Js0SWGFcC&pg=PA17 Mercurius, Or, the Marriage of Heaven & Earth]'', Blue Angel Gallery, 2007, p,17
*[[w:Johannes Rudbeckius|Rudbeck]] thinks that the different attributes of Mercury, as the father of letters, the god of money, the [[inventor]] of [[geometry]], of [[astronomy]], of numbers, of [[w:Units of measurement|weights and measures]], and of merchandise, may all be traced to Goth. merkia which signifies to cut on [[wood]], to enumerate, to strike metals, to affix limits, and to distinguish the heavenly signs.
**Jamieson in: Francis Edward Jackson Valpy ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=m2QSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA259 An Etymological Dictionary of the Latin Language ]'', Baldwin and Company, 1828,p.259
*But it is a very remarkable circumstance, that an acquaintance with the [[w:Names of the days of the week|seven days of the week]], so familiar from remote [[w:Antiquity|antiquity]] to the people who originally spoke [[w:Sanskrit language|Sanskrit language]], though unknown to the Greeks and Romans, should have been preserved among the Germans. It is true, indeed, that among them the days received their names from their principal [[deities]], and not merely from the [[planets]], which, in [[w:Hindu mythology|Hindu mythology]], are considered only as celestial beings of an inferior description. There seems, also, to be no doubt that Germans selected the names of the same planets to designate the days of the week, which have been immemorially used for the same purpose by the [[Hindus]]; and that, in both [[Germany]] and [[India]], their consecutive order was the day of the [[Sun]], the [[Moon]], [[Mars]], [[w:Mercury|Mercury]], [[Jupiter]], [[Venus]] and [[w:Saturn|Saturn]].
**[[w:Vans Kennedy|Vans Kennedy]] in: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=JpgIYbEtdQ8C&pg=PA391 Researches Into the Nature and Affinity of Ancient and Hindu Mythology by Vans Kennedy],'' Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, 1831, p.396-97
*And while he was [[w:Euphorbus|Euphorbus]], he used to say that he [Pythagoras] had formerly been [[w:Aethalides|Aethalides]], and that he had received as a gift from Mercury the perpetual [[w:Transmigration|transmigration]] of his soul, so that it was constantly transmigrating and passing into whatever [[plants]] or [[animals]] it pleased.
**[[Diogenes Laërtius]] in: D. Nickerson ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=8jBVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA333 The origin of thought]'', K. Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1901, p.333
*And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of [[God]], was produced without sexual union, and that He, [[Jesus Christ]], our [[Teacher]], was [[w:Crucifixion|crucified]] and died, and rose again, and [[w:Ascended|ascended]] into [[heaven]], we propound nothing different from what you [[believe]] regarding those whom you esteem sons of [[Jupiter]]. For you know how many sons your esteemed writers ascribed to Jupiter: Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; [[w:Asclepius|Aesculapius]], who, though he was a great [[physician]], was struck by a [[thunderbolt]], and so ascended to heaven; and [[Bacchus]] too, after he had been torn limb from limb; and [[Hercules]], when he had committed himself to the flames to escape his toils; and the sons of [[w:Leda|Leda]], and [[w:Dioscuri|Dioscuri]]; and [[w:Perseus|Perseus]], son of [[w:Danse|Danae]]; and [[w:Bellerophon|Bellerophon]], who, though sprung from mortals, rose to heaven on the horse [[w:Pegasus|Pegasus]]. For what shall I say of [[w:Ariadne|Ariadne]], and those who, like her, have been declared to be set among the [[stars]]? And what of the [[emperors]] who die among yourselves, whom you deem worthy of [[deification]], and in whose behalf you produce some one who swears he has seen the burning [[Caesar]] rise to heaven from the [[w:Funeral pyre|funeral pyre]]? And what kind of deeds are recorded of each of these reputed sons of Jupiter, it is needless to tell to those who already know. This only shall be said, that they are written for the advantage and encouragement of youthful scholars; for all reckon it an honourable thing to imitate the gods. But far be such a thought concerning the gods from every well-conditioned [[soul]], as to believe that Jupiter himself, the governor and creator of all things, was both a [[w:Parricide|parricide]] and the son of a parricide, and that being overcome by the [[love]] of base and shameful [[pleasures]], he came in to [[w:Ganymede|Ganymede]] and those many women whom he had violated and that his sons did like actions. But, as we said above, wicked [[devils]] perpetrated these things. And we have learned that those only are deified who have lived near to God in [[holiness]] and [[virtue]]; and we [[believe]] that those who live wickedly and do not repent are punished in everlasting fire.
**[[w:Justin Martyr|Justin Martyr]] in: the Apostolic fathers uoted in: ''[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.viii.ii.xxi.html Chapter XXI.—Analogies to the history of Christ.]'',ccel.org
*Mercury was the son of [[Jupiter]] ([[king]] of the [[gods]]), the result of an illicit union with [[w:Maia|Maia]], [[goddess]] of the [[clouds]] (as well as one of the [[w:Pleiades|Pleiades]]). His many [[adventures]] and his assignment as guide of the [[dead]] to [[w:Hades|Hades]], made him the patron god of travellers. But his tricks also made him patron of [[thieves]]. The [[Romans]] also made him god of [[merchants]] and he lent his name to "[[w:Mercantilism|mercantilism]]". [[Wednesday]] was his day of the week. This day the Romans called "Mercurii dies", which survives in the names for that day in many of the [[w:Romance languages|Romance languages]], such as the [[w:Spanish language|Spanish]], "miércoles". We also find Mercury lending his fame, in a "[[w:Mercurial|mercurial]]" manner, to a number of other objects...
**Messenger In: ''[http://www.indepthinfo.com/mercury/messenger-god.shtml Mercury - the Messenger God]'', InDepthInfo
*The [[w:Roman people|Romans]] believed that [[gods]] and [[goddesses]] were in charge of everything on [[Earth]]. Mercury is named after the [[w:Messenger|messenger]] for their gods. The [[w:Mercury (mythology)|Roman Mercury]] had [[w:Wings|wings]] on his helmet and shoes. He could travel very quickly from place to place. The planet Mercury moves quickly around the [[sun]]. That is how it got its name.
**[[w:NASA|NASA]] in: ''[http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/what-is-planet-mercury-k4.html#.VD2EKRYkD94 What Is the Planet Mercury? ],'' NASA, 30 March 2011
[[File:Wodan_heilt_Balders_Pferd_by_Emil_Doepler.jpg|right|thumb|....Mercury was connected with the [[deity]] [[w:Wōden|Woodan]], or [[w:Odin|Odin]] among the northern seafarers. In [[Italy]] ancient people called Mercury Boudha, a word with the same origin as Woodan or Odin. The connection lives on in our current use of English day of week Wednesday derived from [[w:Wednesday|Woodan’s day]]. - Robert G. Strom]]
*There is ample linguistic evidence that some of the first people to observe Mercury and commit the [[planet]] to the immortality of [[myth]] were [[w:Germanic people|Germanic people]] and [[w:Scandinavians|Scandinavians]] who navigated far south from their native lands into what is now the [[Mediterranean]] and the [[w:Coasts|coasts]] of [[Africa]]. Mercury was connected with the [[deity]] [[w:Wōden|Woodan]], or [[w:Odin|Odin]] among the northern seafarers. In [[Italy]] ancient people called Mercury Boudha, a word with the same origin as Woodan or Odin. The connection lives on in our current use of English day of week Wednesday derived from [[w:Wednesday|Woodan’s day]].
**Robert G. Strom, Ann L. Sprague in: ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=b6BRNJEkq2EC&pg=PA1 Exploring Mercury: The Iron Planet]'', Springer Science & Business Media, Jul 15, 2003, p.2
*[[Hermes]] is the god of the unexpected, of [[luck]], of [[coincidence]], of '[[w:Synchronicity|synchronicity]].' The ancient Greeks would say: 'Hermes has entered our midst,' whenever a sudden [[silence]] had entered the room, descended on conversation and introduced into the meeting another dimension. Whenever things seem fixed, rigid, 'stuck,' Hermes introduces [[fluidity]], [[motion]], new beginnings - as well as the [[confusion]] which inevitably precedes new beginnings.
**Gisela Labouvie-Vief in: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xmIIfICUtGcC&pg=PA257 Psyche and Eros: Mind and Gender in the Life Course]'', Cambridge University Press, 26 August 1994, p.257
*As [[w:Hermes|Hermes]] [[w:Psychopomp|Psychopompos]], he also serves as a guide of [[souls]] into the [[underworld]]. Under his Roman name of Mercury, Hermes is the prime [[god]] of the alchemists who hoped to transform base matter into refined, spiritual gold. Mercury is “[[w:Quick silver|quick silver]]”, the [[spirit]] that existed in [[w:Matter|matter]].
**Gisela Labouvie-Vief In: "Psyche and Eros: Mind and Gender in the Life Course", P.258
*Roman version of the Greek god [[Hermes]], Mercury played a particular role among the [[w:Medieval|medieval]] [[w:Alchemist|alchemists]] who hoped to transform mercury to [[gold]].
**Gisela Labouvie-Vief in: :Psyche and Eros: Mind and Gender in the Life Course", P.276
*Mercurial is relating to, or born under the [[planet]] Mercury. It is having qualities of [[eloquence]], [[ingenuity]], or thievishness attributed to the [[w:Mercury (mythology)|god Mercury]] or to the influence of the planet Mercury. It is characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood [a mercurial temper] of, relating to, containing, or caused by Mercury.
**[[w:Merriam-Webster|Merriam-Webster]] in: ''[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercurial mercurial]'', merriam-webster.com
==External links==
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[[Category: Mythology]]
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