. . . Well, not exactly. This week isn’t about meteoroids or moon rocks (though I do have those on the list for further research!). This week, we’re talking about silver.
Silver first came up waaay back in my post about “the Romance of the Seven Metals,” or the metals which formed the basis for alchemical thought. Silver isn’t as fancy as gold, nor as toxic as mercury, but it is useful and revered in its own right.
Like the other alchemical metals, silver has been in use for a very long time. At least since 3000BCE, people have made jewelry and money from silver. As one of the softer metals, it’s easy to work with — the only problem is that it tarnishes quickly. When in contact with air, silver forms silver sulfide, which we see as that unpleasant black stain on our silver utensils. Aesthetics aside, silver is highly conductive and still used in technology today.
Early Greek and Arabic alchemists associated silver with the moon, and therefore, with the mind. (Think “lunar” and “lunacy.”) They used silver nitrate, a salt distilled from the metal, in “Pills of the Moon” to treat vertigo and diseases thought to affect the brain. Even nowadays, silver is considered a calming influence and associated with moon goddesses. Wearing silver jewelry is a folk remedy for anxiety or anger.
Oh, and one more thing. Not only is silver safe for humans, it’s antithetical to vampires! 🙂 Some people claim this is because silver is a “pure” metal and vampires are, by nature, impure. Whatever the reason (if there is one . . .) silver bullets are believed to be effective against the undead. It’s also been theorized that vampires don’t cast reflections in mirrors because early mirrors were backed with — you guessed it — silver!
Whatever your theories about the “moon’s metal” may be, I hope you now view your silver coins and necklaces with a little more respect. 🙂
Selected Resources
“The Facts on Silver.” Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program. Find it here.
“What’s With Vampires and Mirrors?” Tracy Cooper-Posey: Stories Rule. Find it here.
Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic. Llewellan Publications, 2nd edition: 2020.
Thompson, CJS. Alchemy and Alchemists. Dover Publications, Inc: 2002.
