Alchemy & philosophy · The Language of Alchemy, part 4 of 8 · 30 September 2026 · Charlotte Himsworth
The Seven Planets and Their Metals
Gold for the Sun, silver for the Moon, lead for Saturn: the alchemists’ map of heaven and earth.
The alchemists paired each of the seven classical planets with a metal. It is one of the clearest examples of “as above, so below”: each light in the heavens was thought to have its counterpart in the earth.
The pairings
The Sun and gold share radiance and incorruptibility. The Moon and silver share a soft, reflected light. Mercury and quicksilver are both swift and changeable. Venus and copper belong to beauty and Cyprus, the island of copper sacred to Venus. Mars and iron share strength and the colour of rust. Jupiter is paired with tin, and Saturn, the slowest planet, with heavy, grey lead.
From lead to gold
The famous dream of turning lead into gold is, in this language, a journey from Saturn to the Sun: from heaviness, limitation and the long patience of time towards radiance and wholeness. Read inwardly, it is the work of a lifetime.
The days of the week
The same seven planets still name our days, from Sunday to Saturday. Our Today’s sky page shows which one rules each day.
A practice
Ask: “What in my life feels like lead right now, heavy and slow? What would one small step towards gold look like?”