Metal

GOLD and SILVER are often male and female, respectively. They also have connections to the SUN (gold) and the MOON (silver). Historians popularly associate time scales with metallic Òages.Ó Man moved from the stone age into the bronze age, when people started working with this highly malleable metal to create tools and weapons. The first instance of this is believed to be around 3500 BC. Next came the Iron age, starting between 500 and 800 BC. in middle Europe. The Golden age came about with the advent of the Renaissance in Europe around 1500 AD, some arguing that it extends up to the present day. Other historians argue that we have moved into the silicon age with the implementation of computers. Besides their temporal associations above, metals in general are thought of as pre-natal in the womb of MOTHER EARTH; Metals other than gold are considered primitive man, while gold is often correlated with the spiritual and intellectual triumph of man. Specific metals are associated with certain planets; lead and Saturn, tin and Jupiter, iron and Mars, quicksilver (mercury) and Mercury, finally, copper and/or brass and Venus. The study of ALCHEMY was concerned with transforming base metals (predominantly lead) into gold.

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