From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe Hermetic bird explained through an ascending and descending Mercury.
- A place to readThe 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
- Avis HermetisRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- AquilaAn eagle-name with more than one stated material meaning.
- Aquila PhilosophorumThe philosophers’ eagle explained as metallic first matter.
- SublimatioAn operation defined by the upward movement of heated dry matter.
Source note
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