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Mercurius in the Massa Confusa
Mercurius in the Massa Confusa
Jung identifies the figure who animates the chaos. Mercurius is “the chthonic spirit who dwells in matter, more especially in the bit of original chaos hidden in creation, the massa confusa or globosa” (Jung 1944, Psychology and Alchemy). At the start of the opus he is indistinguishable from the prima materia itself: “At the beginning of the process, he is in the massa confusa, the chaos or nigredo (blackness). In this condition, the elements are fighting each other. Here Mercurius plays the role of the prima materia, the transforming substance” (Jung 1944).
The thread is the principle by which the massa confusa, though confused, is nevertheless capable of differentiation. The alchemists’ capax differentiationis is not an abstract potency; it is Mercurius. He is the spirit hidden in the chaos who ferments it toward form. Without him the chaos would be inert matter; with him it is living matter, materia animata, that responds to the opus.
This is why the alchemists’ first task is not to destroy the massa confusa but to recognize Mercurius within it. The recognition is what makes the work possible.