Flying lion

Meaning

The Summary reports the philosophers' name 'flying lion' for Mercury and immediately explains the lion through appetite. Mercury strips added metals of form, eats and swallows them, while gold and silver receive a qualified exception: even when swallowed and hidden, they are not consumed. The passage then presents Mercury as mother of metals containing two spiritual metallic substances. The lion is thus an explanatory image of power and reception, not a securely decoded recipe symbol. The supplied English keeps the comparison and the limits on consumption rather than letting the voracious animal imply that every metal is destroyed alike.