Avis Hermetis

Metals minerals and metallic preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The Hermetic bird explained through an ascending and descending Mercury.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 9; facsimile PDF page 337.

Historical Definition

Avis Hermetis is the Mercury of the philosophers, which ascends and then descends for nourishment.

Meaning

The dictionary supplies an action-based explanation of its bird name. Ascent is followed by descent, and nourishment gives the stated purpose of the return. A reader should preserve the full movement rather than extract only a general association between birds and volatility. The descent is as much a part of the gloss as the rising.

The possessive qualification links this Mercury to the philosophers’ vocabulary. It does not by itself establish that every bird figure in an alchemical work names the same material. Aquila is a useful comparison precisely because the dictionary there supplies other, more specific explanations. Follow the actions described in the particular passage before choosing among them.

Places to Read

Aquila. An eagle-name with more than one stated material meaning.

Aquila Philosophorum. The philosophers’ eagle explained as metallic first matter.

Sublimatio. An operation defined by the upward movement of heated dry matter.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 9; facsimile PDF page 337 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Avis Hermetis ; compare Aquila, Aquila Philosophorum, Sublimatio

See also. Aquila; Aquila Philosophorum; Sublimatio