Alchemical Study Group - Three of Coins

I thought I'd just get this thread started with a description of the card.

A man sits at a desk drawing a profile. He looks ahead rather than down at what he is doing. Beside him is a window with a view to a lake (or the ocean) and green hills and trees. On the wall above the window are three coins with the symbols for mercury, salt and sulphur.

I've been getting this card in my daily three-card readings all week long, so I'm glad we're discussing it! Thanks for the information one what those symbols on the wall are. I Googled "mercury, salt and sulphur" and found some enlightening information (http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/alchemy_5.htm)

Sulfur is the symbol for the omnipresent spirit of life.
Mercury is the symbol of the soul. The soul can be described in many ways, and thus Mercury has gained a really mysterious character in alchemy... (too much info on Mercury to copy here!)
Salt is the third element in the trinity of the alchemical substances in the Great Work...Here salt is symbol for knowledge and wisdom.

From the Book

Three coins are attached to a building, representing the alchemical trinity of mercury, salt and sulphur. The building shelters an artist who is at work on a profile.

Tarot wisdom: The card suggests an artist who works for the establishment, or who works at a salaried position. It signifies creativity with security and stability. It also represents bringing the unconscious, in terms of creativity and ideas, into the physical plane. The salt coin, which is over the center column, is stability, for in order to express the unconscious, you need stability in life. The message might relate to receiving patronage or contracts for your creative work, with a minimum risk on your part. The message also could relate to work you've done in the past, or will do in the future, depending on the card's position in a spread.

Leisa said:

.... for in order to express the unconscious, you need stability in life.

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Yes, and this card also strikes me as a "vice versa" of this, that to achieve stability one needs to express the unconscious.
For me this is a portrait of a person examining life, even making journal notes of feelings and happenings so that these things can be fully reflected on and "handled." It is a sort of work on one's person, self-discovery to stay on course, with awareness of all details of one's journey.

brenmck said:

Yes, and this card also strikes me as a "vice versa" of this, that to achieve stability one needs to express the unconscious.
For me this is a portrait of a person examining life, even making journal notes of feelings and happenings so that these things can be fully reflected on and "handled." It is a sort of work on one's person, self-discovery to stay on course, with awareness of all details of one's journey.

Click to expand...

I like your thought on this brenmck. I like this card a lot visually but I'm stil trying to understand it fully.

Some ideas I've had so far are......It's interesting that the artist isn't looking at what he's doing? Does this mean he's working instinctively, or he's so accomplished at what he does that he doesn't need to think about it? I also like the idea that he is drawing a portrait but it seems like it's a self-portrait....so does this indicate that he's expressing himself, or his unconscious, in a tangible way? Or perhaps that he is trying to define himeslf or get a good picture of who he is. Also, he isn't looking at the view out the window, so perhaps he's so engaged in his work that he is able to shut out the world around him.

Thanks also mj07 for the info about Mercury, Sulphur and Salt. It does seem to point to the idea of bringing your spirit and soul into the material world in some way.

Totally unrelated to the meaning of this card, I did an exercise the other day from Mary Greer's 'Tarot for Your Self' where you had to choose cards face up that represented things you wanted in the future. I used this card to indicate a home with water views Wouldn't that be lovely!

Am loving this thread!!!

Thanks for your elucidating thoughts on this card everyone.
Mj07, thanks for that link. This was a quote linked to the description of mercury:

Every child is an artist.
The difficulty is to remain one
when you grow up.

Picasso

That really resonated with me (being an artist - in the theatre world). I feel that the artist in the picture has retained his child artist, that is why he can draw the self-portrait without looking. The self-portrait to me indicates true artistic expression - not something outside of himself, not something imposed. It is so much his own work that he can even do it without looking.

I like the view that there is some stability for the artist but I also feel that the artist is confined (maybe that's just me). He is in doors when he could be out. Perhaps the artist has been retained, but not the child? But perhaps to be artistic and live in the real world - there is always a balancing act between financial survival and following your own artist expression. Here the person has managed to do both with a little compromise on the expression.

Place suggests that the artist is doing work for an establishment or is in a salaried position. Yes... so where to from here? Being the three of coins I believe it is the end of a phase. The artist can stay in this secure position... but do they want to grow old here? Even though the artist is accomplished, I feel his is a little bored.

I imagine someone sitting across from him, whom he is drawing (a commissioned portrait perhaps?)

Interesting thread.

Mac22

I don't see someone else with him, it seems like he's looking into space and drawing what he sees. He rests his hand so gently on the cheek that it seems like he cares about who he is drawing, however the rest of him is distant.

The trinity on the wall is the male, female, and the whole. The changing substances when perfectly balanced become unchanging--the purpose of the Great Work, to find a deep balance.

So the man is aware that he is not balanced yet he wishes to become so, he wants to invite balance into himself. A hard task.