Second Pentacle of Mercury

What this is

The Second Pentacle of Mercury is the seal recorded in the Key of Solomon for bringing to effect things contrary to the order of nature, the most ambitious of the Mercurial figures. It belongs to the alchemical and transformative reach of Mercury, the planet of the great work that turns one thing into another. It is the seal of the seemingly impossible made possible.

What it governs

It governs the bringing-to-effect of things contrary to the order of nature. Its sphere is Mercurial transformation at its boldest: the turning of one thing into another, the working of changes that the ordinary course of things would not allow. It rules the achieving of what seems beyond the natural reach.

Its properties

It is figured in Mercury's mixed colours at the planet's hour, its inscription invoking the names by which the order of nature is bent. The upright virtue of the seal is the transformative intelligence that works real and lawful change, the mind that finds the way where none seemed possible; its shadow is the hubris that would overturn what should be left in its course. The pentacle teaches that the deepest Mercurial art is transformation, and that the wise worker bends nature only where it is right to do so.

Where else it appears

This seal of transformation is the talismanic skin of the same Mercurial alchemy that Ophiel embodies in mastering the great work and the making of the Philosophers' Stone and that Hod holds as the sphere of intellect that re-forms and re-orders. The Mercury-spirit's transformative power, the fox's slipping between worlds, and the drawn seal that bends nature are facets of one Mercury. Set them together and the same transforming mind looks back.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

On The Day, the Second Pentacle of Mercury appears as a tradition-face of Wednesday, the day of Mercury, beside the planet itself, the angel Raphael, and the planet's other daily faces. When it surfaces it colours the day with its single purpose, recorded in the old grimoire as one to brings to effect things contrary to the order of nature. Read it not as a literal talisman to cut but as the day's invitation to that exact work under Mercury's hand: a pointer to the matter the day is shaped for, the door that stands open today.

Why it matters

It names the truth that the deepest intelligence is transformative, finding the way where none seemed possible, yet bound by what is right to attempt. It matters because the Mercurial day favours the bold change worked by wit. It asks you to find the unexpected way, and to use it wisely.

Correspondences

planet

Mercury

element

Air, Water

zodiac

Gemini, Virgo

sephirah

Hod

day

Wednesday

colour

Orange

metal

Quicksilver

stone

Opal

tarot

The Magician