Ophiel

What this is

Ophiel is the Olympic Spirit of Mercury in the Arbatel, the quick and clever governor of the swiftest planet. The tradition names him Messenger, Master of Arts and Sciences. He is the spirit of mind, message, and exchange, the one who moves between the others.

What it governs

He presides over Mercury and over Wednesday, and over the 14 provinces of heaven assigned to him. His dominion is communication and commerce, the arts and sciences, alchemy and especially the fixing of quicksilver and the making of the Philosophers' Stone, and the granting of familiar spirits. He governs all that passes between minds and all that turns one thing skilfully into another.

Its properties

His colour is mixed and iridescent, often orange, his metal quicksilver, his stone the opal, and his number is 14 kings, twice the planetary seven, reckoned at 48 years. The Arbatel says he teaches all arts swiftly, gives a hundred thousand familiar spirits at need, and makes the great work of mercury. The upright Mercurial virtue is intelligence, eloquence, adaptability, the bridge-building mind; the shadow is trickery, the silver tongue that deceives, cleverness without conscience. He teaches that the mind is a tool that takes the shape of the hand that holds it.

Where else it appears

Ophiel is the Mercury-note in Renaissance dress. It sounds again as the archangel Raphael of Wednesday, as the sephirah Hod, Splendour, the sphere of intellect and form, as Greek Hermes the messenger and guide of souls, as Roman Mercury of merchants and travellers, as Egyptian Thoth the scribe of the gods, as Norse Odin whose day Wednesday still bears. Quicksilver, the eight of Hod, the opal, the winged sandal: each is the same restless intelligence seen through a different window.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

On The Day, Ophiel is the tradition-face of Wednesday, the day of Mercury, beside the angel Raphael, the fox, Sencha tea, and the Mercurial pentacles. When his is the day's face, the day rewards thought, words, and exchange: write the message, make the deal, learn the thing, move quickly and lightly. Read him as the day for the mind and the tongue, and as a reminder that cleverness is best when it is also kind.

Why it matters

Mercury is the principle of connection-by-meaning, the messenger without whom the other powers could not speak to each other. He matters because thought and word are how a person shapes their world, and he is the friendly face of that shaping. He asks you to think clearly and speak truly.

Correspondences

planet

Mercury

element

Air, Water

zodiac

Gemini, Virgo

number

14

sephirah

Hod

day

Wednesday

colour

Orange

metal

Quicksilver

stone

Opal

tarot

The Magician