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The Alchemy of Mercurius - A Brand Manifesto

We are frequently asked about our business name - What is Mercurius? Why did we choose it? How is it spelled? Here’s the lowdown on our inspiration, but hang on to your Erlenmeyer flask, cause we’re about to get deep.


The term comes from Alchemy, the renowned ancient system of metallurgy and metaphysical philosophy.


Mercurius is the binding force of the universe which brings together unlike things. This is the guiding principle behind our craft - creating a new and unified object from previously disparate parts. In order to achieve this we must begin with recognizing the spirit within matter.

An essential premise of alchemy is that our world is composed of vital consciousness manifested physically via the four basic elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air. This embodied form is possible thanks to a fifth element which both contains and connects all of them - this is Ether, sometimes also called Space Element or Spirit.


The belief that everything is composed of these base elements means that transmutation should be possible, including the pursuit alchemy is best known for - turning base metal to gold. Whether this was a literal pursuit or a metaphor for spiritual work is a question we will leave for historians to debate.


Alchemists understood that the subtle animating spirit is never absent from the material. It is actually essential to it and exists within it. However, we easily forget this and live most of our lives perceiving objects as nothing more than that. When we remember the subtle nature of all things the magic of the world is revealed.


With renewed perception, we remember that other human beings are not objects either, and we cherish their animating spark. We celebrate our plant and animal allies. We feel the great web of life. The material composition of our objects becomes very important to us and we choose to surround ourselves with meaningful objects.


In designing new jewelry we take the spirit contained within the material into consideration. The alchemy that we practice is connecting with our materials to reveal what is essential in each of the individual components and create a new object that expresses this spirit in an elevated way. In other words, a whole that is both a celebration of, and greater than, the sum of its parts.





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