Metallen Anhang 2

[Peter Morrell]

THE HEALING POWER OF METALS

There are seven metals in the ancient alchemical system of healing, which have resurfaced from time to time in medical thought. With growing interest in this area, this article gives merely an outline of them, their links with disease and materia medica and thus hopefully an introductory portait of their perennial relevance to natural healing.

The article is basically divided into two parts - first a part that describes the 7 metals and their symbolic links; second a discussion of how this knowledge can be applied to heal your life.

The seven metals are

gold

silver

mercury

copper

iron

tin

lead

They correspond respectively to the planets sun, moon, mercury, venus, mars, jupiter and saturn. These in turn correspond with certain key qualities or personalities described in detail in astrology and Hermetic science.

Stated simplistically and for brevity, mars is seen as masculine and active, venus is feminine, artistic and passive, jupiter the theorizer, saturn the lord of death, mercury the communicator, sun the day-king and moon the

night goddess.

They are also deemed to correspond to the parts of the body as follows

sun - gold - aurum - heart and spine

moon - silver - argentum - brain and fluids

mercury - mercury - hydrargyrum - nervous system, lungs

venus - copper - cuprum - kidneys, nutrition

mars - iron - ferrum - blood, muscles and circulation

jupiter - tin - stannum - liver & gall bladder

saturn - lead - plumbum - skeleton and skin, hair, nails

Similarly the planets and metals correspond to certain colours. There are various schemes. One such scheme is as follows:

sun - gold - golds, yellows

moon - silver - white, cream, greens

mercury - mercury - silver, grey, yellow

venus - copper - blues, pinks, pastel shades

mars - iron - reds & browns

jupiter - tin - oranges

saturn - lead - black, dark colours, purple, violet, indigo

Because foods can also be classified as the seven metals, one may change one's diet so as to reduce foods that are harmful for you and increase your use of more helpful foods. This applies generally, not just to considerations of which foods might be rich in which metals. Some food correspondences are shown:

sun - sunflower seeds, oranges, eggs, grapes

moon - melons, cucumbers, yogurt, cheese, milk

mercury - cereals

venus - fruits, potato, chocolate, sweets, berries

mars - peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, curry, meats, black pudding

jupiter - nuts, seeds, lemons, apples

saturn - coffee, carob, aubergenes, olives

Guide to the seven metals

A brief outline of the metals is as follows:

Iron: excess of Iron makes is hard, strong, active and assertive - an 'Iron Man'. It is the masculine metal that will fight or argue if pushed, or even without pushing. They make decisions quickly, they speak abruptly and

forthrightly, they move quickly and are always busy, moving on to new things. They gravitate naturally to military, metal-working, butchering and police matters where they find others of their own kind and a job they

thoroughly enjoy. They think on the hoof, rarely reflecting on what they do. They are activity centred, spending most of their time fully occupied. They like sports of all kinds. Many business people fall also into this

category. They are accused of being hard, selfish and aggressive. Some incline to violence or criminality. Iron is softened, domesticated and improved with silver, copper or gold. The iron type needs to be less assertive and

more kind, needs to be mellowed and made more passive and receptive to others' needs. Nux vom and Coffea types abound here. Also Sulphur and Ferrum met.

Copper: excess of Copper, like venus, makes mild and artistic, goes with the flow, creates harmony, will never upset others needlessly. It is prominent in artists of all kinds; they like sweet things, sloppy films.

Silver: excess makes inspired, poetic and romantic. The copper type has the needs of others just as clearly in mind as their own. They are kind, deep, generous and warm-hearted. They like their creature comforts, food, etc

and a romantic life. Copper people love life and people; they love to socialise and mix with others. They have strong family ties and the presence and companionship of friends and family are very important to them. jobs

like designers, film-makers, artists, actors, musicians. The copper type needs to develop more confidence, more structure, more strength, more grit. Copper can be strengthened either with iron or lead. Pulsatilla is a key

remedy for copper types.

Lead: excess makes dark and heavy, rather sombre or gloomy, rather depressed or maybe a control-freak; 'don't touch that, it's mine!', etc. Like coffee, dark clothes, winter, night-time and gloomy or highly structured music.

They tend to be rather conservative and love structure and strict time guidelines, etc. They can be uptight and intolerant especially of interference from others, which they dislike. They are often too wrapped up in themselves

to bother much about others. They fail to see how others can't also lead a strict and orderly life. They tend to be very serious, to think too much and to dwell in the past. Jobs like architects, bankers, accountants, solicitors.

They are rather conservative and set in their ways. They dislike change and upset of any kind. Interested in politics. The lead type needs to loosen up a bit and develop more spontaneous joy. It is chiefly mellowed and

improved through gold, copper, tin or silver. Close remedies are Calc., Plb-met. Alum. and Lyc.

Tin: : excess makes the theorizers; even when there is nothing to think about; they like to speculate, maybe gamble a little, a flutter on the horses is not beyond them; they also like travel and long journeys abroad. They might

be accused of having a suspicious mind and of seeing things that aren't there. Their love of theories comes from their ability to clearly see patterns in events and data. These patterns are often not visible to others. From these patterns and trends they build up theories to explain the world around them. They are natural philosophers. They often have a well developed sense of humour. Tin types need to develop more action and less thought, to live

less in themselves and more in the outer world. It is the inquisitiveness, expansiveness and growth tendency of jupiter that makes tin people so obsessed with patterns and information. They tend to be excessive and obsessive

in the things they do. This also stems from their great natural enthusiasm. jobs like university and college lecturers, philosophers, bishops, clergy, professors, travel agents. Tin can be livened up a little with iron, made more artistic with silver or copper and deepened with lead. Chel. and other liver remedies associated with Tin.

Mercury: excess makes a chatterbox, ceaselessly talking and gossiping, sometimes harmlessly, sometimes bitchily. Merc. makes a good messenger, diplomat or go-between, yet they can be two-faced and cannot keep a secret! They appear as all things to all people, somewhat promiscuous in every sense and rather changeable. they love books, letters, newspapers, magazines, journals, correspondence, reading, writing, telephones, crosswords,

languages, jobs like teachers and writers, servants, doctors, diplomats, entertainers, Merc., Tub., Cann-i. and Stram. are related remedies.

Silver is the sensitive metal of the emotions and the more refined senses. Excess makes clairvoyant or just oversensitive; they like to be treated kindly and will not tolerate any roughness. They do not get on with iron types,

for example, who they find far too rough and insensitive. Like copper they have a fine artistic sense and prefer family and friends most. The lunar silver type is the most caring and compassionate of all the metals; they

like people and want to mother them and care for them. In this sense they are the archetypal feminine type. People with excess silver may find life rather painful and constantly on an emotional roller-coaster, as they react to negative and positive things so intensely and with powerful emotion. They need to develop some lead or iron to harden and protect them from the harsh realities of life, by reducing the intensity of their emotional response. mothers, childminders, nannies, nurses, teachers. Argentum, Pulsatilla and Ignatia are related to the Silver type of person.

Gold: excess makes king, proud, refined and naturally superior. Vain, arrogant and somewhat haughty, the sun type is nevertheless very warm-hearted and kind. Once you get past the vanity, you see that they are kind givers

who love to throw parties and splash out on big shows. They are music lovers and especially like opera. They make loyal friends, and though intent on big schemes, will always help others in need. Gold people succeed very

easily and are gifted as natural winners; they come top, come first, get the gold medals, strive to win or win without even trying; they can be proud, aloof, smiling, aim to succeed, become famous; kings, queens, bosses,

directors, music lovers, etc. Remedies like Aurum, Platina.

Discussion

To utilise metal therapy directly, you need to search through your life and identify all those qualities that mark you out as being lead, tin or silver, say. By checking your likes and dislikes for example, you can eventually

narrow this down. In this way you will eventually discover your own unique metallic blend. You can build up through a few days thinking a quite complete profile of yourself in relation to the qualities of the 7 metals.

This is quite easy. You just set yourself a questionnaire about colour and food preferences, etc. Then you can determine where your metallic strengths and weaknesses lie. The end-goal is to restore the metallic balance and

acquire a more even blend which likewise promotes a balance in health and well-being.

There is a very accurate but complex astrological method for determining the precise blend of metals in one's make-up and for showing in numerical terms which metals are strongest and weakest in one's make-up. But such a method is too complicated to describe here.

There are three possible outcomes of your search.

1. you may find you have an even blend of all the metals and no problems in life. Make the most of your good fortune, you are unusual!

2. you might have several metals even, with one or more deficient, in which case it is those deficient one's that you need to boost further.

3. it may turn out that you have all the metals even but one or more standing out as having a much higher score. This indicates that you have an excess of this one metal in your life. To reduce its effect upon you, you

need to push it further away from you by discarding all colours etc that relate to it and adopt qualities, colours, etc, that are its opposite. This will neutralise its overall effect and restore the balance.

One's life contains two distinct kinds of 'metallic' things. There are things you like and have by virtue of a metal excess, and there are those that you have due to a metal deficiency. You must search for both. If you like blacks

and dark blues, sleep easily, but are hard to rouse and lack energy then you have a clear excess of lead. But you may also feel brightened by reds, which is your second favourite colour. This indicates a lack of iron. Thus this

person should reduce the lead in their life and heighten the iron. By making this kind of adjustment, they can compensate for the lack of one and excess of another. They will lose their tiredness and gain a more positive

outlook, just through making quite subtle changes to the contents of their life.

As a general rule, men need to cultivate more silver or copper to tone down their mars, and women need to develop more lead or iron to balance their copper and silver.

It is well to bear in mind that although we all contain aspects of all the metals, nevertheless, one or more will tend to be dominant (in excess or deficient) in any one person.

Rationale

In a sense 'as above so below' the heart in the body is seen in alchemy as equivalent to the gold of the earth and the sun of the heavens; brain of the body as silver in the earth and moon in the heavens; nerves and lungs of the

body as mercury in the rocks and mercury in the heavens, etc. The reasoning behind these close correspondences is that they share similar qualities and resonate with each other on many different levels.

A link is thereby established and repeatedly emphasised between man, the earth-bound metals and the wider cosmos. In alchemy this link is seen as vital for gaining any fundamental grasp of our nature, disharmonies in the

body, the earth or the cosmos. All are seen as intimately and inextricably interconnected. By identifying deficiencies in one realm, for example, one can then apply the appropriate change or re-tuning through the organ, metal

or planet that corresponds. In this way adjustments can be made in any realm and the harmony of interrelationships that constitutes 'man-earth-cosmos' can be re-established.

It is inherent in this view of life, that any imbalance in the cosmos which has become imprinted in your makeup will inevitably manifest as an imbalance within your life, often as disease. The imbalance may lead you

inexplicably and intuitively to favour a particular food, colour, plant, metal, etc over others. By searching through these like and dislike patterns in your life, you can begin to express that imbalance in terms of the 7 metals.

And then you can begin to deal with it.

This interrelationship means, amongst other things, that we uncontrollably attract into our life that which is helpful or useful to us and which reflects our inner nature. This includes people, relatives and friends, as well as

objects, plants, pets, etc. The inner and the outer natures cooperate, reflect and reinforce each other. Yet also, through the polarity principle, we can attract that which is the exact opposite. To some extent this is why we can

become ill from the very thing that will heal us and be healed by that which makes us unwell - contraries and similars being to this degree convergent. It also means we can attract into our lives the very things that cause us

ill-health. Yet, as Louise Hay and Edward Bach both indicate in their little books, it is through developing love (and especially self-love) that we can begin to liberate ourselves from the negative in our life - which is perhaps

the ultimate healing.

They both also point to the power of another great imponderable in healing - that of belief. Belief has immense power. Whether we choose to 'rationally' scoff at it or accept and use it as a tool in healing, the choice is ours.

Not just belief in the practitioner or the therapy, belief in yourself. In this sense, belief is the difference between wanting to do something and actually doing it. It is the power of belief not science, that built the Pyramids

and Stonehenge and other wonders of the world. In this sense too it is belief that sets the healthy apart from the sick.

A simple example of alchemical re-tuning would be to wear a tin or orange bracelet if a person was prone to liver problems. Kidney complaints could be improved by 'bringing copper more intimately into your life'; nerve disorders through bringing silver; heart through bringing gold, etc. This sounds deceptively simplistic, but it conveys the essence of a profound teaching and its ordinary application in our everyday life. Of course, the world

is very complex and we must also take into account not only the seven metals, but also certain plants, minerals and animals, including homoeopathic remedies, as long as they are viewed or classified as 'aspects of the seven

metals' and thus used as agents of natural healing.

Many other methods exist. One might just place in one's home or garden the metal or a mineral, plant or animal that corresponds and fill that 'gap in one's life' in that way.

If, for example, it turns out that you are an excessively 'lead or saturn type' person, then you can reduce or eliminate the wearing of blacks and blues, stop eating black cherries and drinking coffee, and start using brighter

colours and eating other foods. If however, you have a deficiency of saturn-lead, then you would take the reverse steps, and bring this metal much more into the forefront of your life by so doing. Through simple and

harmless experimentation of this kind one can come to test the usefulness of these ideas very easily and maybe come to know profound truths.

Thus the phrase 'bringing some metal more into your life' can be interpreted in many different ways, each having the potential of bringing about the desired healing effect. So it does not just mean the metal - it means the

archetype the metal has come to represent. It may mean a colour, a metal, a herb, a food, a crystal or an animal. Once one's metallic deficiency or excess - or what we might term one's 'simillimum metallicum' - has been

identified, then one can explore different ways of bringing that metal into your life and adjusting and exploring the right intensity or dosage of one's intimacy with it. The essence can be placed under one's bed, made into

a pillow, put in your bath, placed on the tongue, held in one's hand, sewn into clothes, incorporated into a bodily ornament or piece of jewellery, used as a lotion or ointment, or as tablets in the mouth, etc. The possibilities

here are endlessly exciting.

I recall with some shame now my own scepticism when told by a patient some years ago about a local Muslim healer she had visited for her sick son, who mostly used Islamic prayers written in Arabic on pieces of paper to

be placed in the bath of the sick person. I privately scoffed at this idea at the time, yet now I can see its more subtle significance. Perhaps the lesson to learn here was that we do not know everything and should always be

open minded even towards the apparently ludicrous - especially towards the ludicrous!

The method we adopt is largely immaterial, it is the process of linking and correspondence that is important, and bringing it more closely into your life. By re-establishing your intimate correspondence with that metal in

some way, one initiates a healing process, which is in reality a harmonisation of imbalances. The precise method one uses to link up with the archetype is secondary, varies from individual to individual and embraces all the

healing arts available. A certain amount of harmless experimentation is required with this technique to find for oneself what acts best.

One might meditate upon a certain colour, metal or flower, immerse oneself in a certain phrase or poem that encapsulates the quality one seeks to acquire. These might include acquiring a cat (gold), dog (mars), fish (tin),

tortoise (lead) or horse (tin) as a pet, wearing a certain colour more often, placing of crystals upon one's body or the use of Flower essences or essential oils.

One can find in Britain simple remedies that are useful. They occur in fields, waste-places and gardens. They can be prepared in homoeopathic form by the usual methods or by flower essence preparation using spring water

and pressed juice, preserved with some vodka and then potentised in the usual way. Gems, crystals and mineral remedies can be used directly or prepared using the Rae potentiser. Remedies can also be introduced into your

life by being with them, holding them, placing them within your active environment. This especially applies to colours, crystals, metals, plants and minerals. It is the original method of Bach with his flowers. It is also

worthwhile considering removing some elements from your life that might be harmful to your health. Some colours, foods, fragrances, plants etc that you have around you may be producing mild provings in your health or

are counteracting more subtle forces that would otherwise enhance your health.

For each remedy it is important to gain some insights about its healing properties, some astrological links and also associated colours, etc. These will help people who wish to meditate upon each remedy before using them.

Perhaps the remedies a person needs grow right outside their own house. And we attract to us the remedies we need. So looking beyond the very commonest plants that are found in your garden - including foreign plants –

pick those unusual ones that only grow or thrive in your garden. It is safe to assume that these plants are specifically attracted to you. Choose those and make tinctures or a mixed tincture to potentise or as an oil to rub behind

the ears. This acts like the Bach remedies. They can also be brought closer to you by bringing them indoors, placing them in the bedroom, etc.

All of these are perfectly valid methods of bringing the desired healing quality into your life. They represent different methods of 'imbibing' a metal into one's psycho-physical system. In this way they are all methods of

'bringing a metal into one's life' and activating a healing response or re-tuning of one's life. They are also different expressions of the same law of similars, which is the driving force behind homoeopathy.

From the above it becomes possible I hope, to more fully appreciate the otherwise silly sounding sentence that 'jupiter in the heavens is tin in the earth and the liver in man'. It is a remarkable correspondence of qualities and functional processes that is being revealed, an organic vision of universal wholeness, not a logical or scientific claim.

It is surely exciting to feel that here is a system of very profound and yet relatively simple natural healing. It can be explored by anyone truly interested in healing their lives in the fullest sense. It recommends itself as safe, harmless, universal and effective. Worth trying.

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