bump! ha! fooled you... hehehe.... seriously though... As best as I can tell, there are subtle hints that it is a mind expanding compound... I usually stick to the metaphysical side of the alchemical process... Experimenting only in the Imaginal realm.

Last week however, I was creating a new wand. One with a vial of Mercury at the tip... I used a long thin glass test tube. Just the Heat from my hand was enough to start the oxidation of the mercury... A white film appeared on the sides of the tube. (White mercuric oxide is usually thought to be poisonous) Tiny brilliant red colored crystaline sediment also began to appear at the bottom of the glass. I have read references to red mercuric oxide being medicinal. Is this true?

Wiki pedia lists Mercury oxide as being toxic. It does not differienciate between Red and White. Though the picture provided is from an industrial sample and has a light pink/orange color.

does anyone here have any input?
Hermes?
Balinus?
anybody?

love
noah

First, from a completely practical, scientific standpoint, be aware that Mercury (II) Oxide is a very dangerous compound and is poisonous no matter what the color. Truth of the matter is that red or white just represents differing levels of oxidation. I would not recommend ingesting it or using it topically. I would also be very careful when handling it at all. If you must go about the process of gathering it, use stringent safety controls.

For a time, Mercury (II) Oxide was used in OBAs and other breathing apparatus because it produces oxygen on decomposition. This was phased out because an easier, less expenisve way to store oxygen (under pressure) was discovered and also because of the hazards of using mercury. So, at least as recently as the 1960's, mercury (II) oxide was useful in allowing people to breathe in places they couldn't before, such as smoky environments and under water.

From a medicinal standpoint, though mercury was considered to have enormous healing properties by the classical alchemists, there's no writing on Mercury (II) Oxide, though the classical alchemists did consider oxidation to be a corrupting process. Part of the reason gold was so highly valued by alchemists is because it didn't oxidate. I would submit that signs of oxidation would indicate, to a classical alchemist, that the mercury in your wand isn't pure enough (though even the purest mercury oxidates in the right circumstances).

To me, magic(k) is all about associative symbol systems, so you could conceivably use the substance for whatever you'd like, though, again, I urge caution in harvesting it. I would use it in an operation to silence communication (corrupt the Mercury), impede travel or confuse the mind, though what you use it for is entirely personal.