CHAPTER IV
THE SCOURGE, THE DAGGER, AND THE CHAIN
THE
Scourge, the Dagger, and
the Chain, represent the
three alchemical
principles
of Sulphur,
Mercury,
and
Salt.
'I'hese are not the substances
which
we now call by these names;
they represent
" principles,"
whose
operations
chemists
have
found
it
more convenient
to explain
in other ways.
But Sulphur
represents
the
energy
of things,
Mercury
their
fluidity,
Salt
their
fixity.
They
are
analogous
to Fire, Air and Water; but they
mean rather more, for they
represent something
deeper
and
subtler,
and
yet
more truly active.
An
almost
exact
analogy
is
given
by
the
three
Gunas
of
the
Hindus;
Sattvas,
Rajas,
and
Tamas.
Sattvas
is Mercury, equable,
calm,
clear;
Rajas
is
Sulphur,
active,
excitable,
even fierce;
Tamas
is
Salt, thick,
sluggish,
heavy,
dark.^
But Hindu
philosophy is
so
occupied
with
the main idea that only
the Absolute
is
worth
anything,
that it
tends to consider
these Gunas
1 There
is a long description
of these tliree Gunas in the Bhagavadgita.
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