The History Of Silver
Silver is known by mankind since Pre-History, and its discovery is estimated to have happened shortly after that of copper and gold. The oldest reference to the element appears in the book of Genesis. The Egyptians considered gold to be a perfect metal, and gave it the symbol of a circle. Since silver was the closest to gold in perfection, it was given the symbol of a semi-circle. Later this semi-circle led to a growing moon symbol, probably due to the likeness between the shining metal and the moon glow. The Romans called silver argentum, keeping this as the international name of the element, from where its chemical symbol derives.
Just as gold, silver was considered by the Ancients an almost sacred metal and consequently, of extremely restricted use. Its malleability and ductility make it ideal for ornamental purposes. It was also used for paying debts, in personal and religious places decoration and in utensils of the wealthiest houses.
Some mineral scums in old mines of the Near-East and in some islands of the Aegean sea seem to reveal that by 5000 b.C. a method was already known to separate silver from lead. The gold and the silver were extracted from its ores and bonded to lead. After oxidation of this mixture, it was possible to obtain the precious metals.
Since ancient times, silver has been closely associated with the moon and lunar influences. The finest artist eyes have described the midnight sheen cast by the sun’s reflection off of the moon in terms of silver. Silver is a cool color, and stands as a diametric opposite to gold. Silver is closely tied to Isis and all things flexible, creative, and emotionally intelligent.
In alchemy, silver is an archetype concept - one of seven. Before the periodic table emerged through technological advancement, there were in fact seven sacred metals, of which silver held a place of high esteem. In hermetic philosophy, an alchemical concept more than simply describes physical characteristics. All ideas were centered on discovering and utilizing the essence behind the material manifestation, with the goal of expressing in absolute terms primary principles governing both time and matter. Practitioners of the past were as much poets as scientists, and possessed unparalleled patience in their works.
Silver is even attributed in the ancient chakra system - a system of seven sacred energy centers of the body. Silver is associated with the sixth chakra, often referred to as the “third-eye”. In this sense, silver certainly represents the concept of reflection, both physically ( all reflective substances are silvery ) and as an internal exercise of self-analysis.
Silver has always held a value above material and economic considerations. Gifts of silver jewelry in many cultures are given as a symbol of trust, truth, excellence, wisdom and love.
Even the ancient Vedas expound on the intrinsic power of silver. Within the Ayurvedic system of thought, all illness is rooted in an imbalance in the human energy system, and pure metals in precise combinations are used to help restore the body’s electromagnetic balance to a state of equilibrium. Medically, silver was known to be a liver and spleen detoxifier.
In Roman and Greek Mythology, the First Age was called Golden, the second Silver. Apollo, god of truth and light, teacher of medicine, carried a silver bow. His twin sister Artemis lost a hand in battle and later was given a silver replacement by the Irish god of healing. In the shamanic religion of Bon-Po, a special river filled with silver sands is said to make anyone who drinks the water lovely as a peacock.
Islamic alchemy gives silver an important place physically and conceptually. Silver was known as one of the seven sacred bodies. Alchemical procedures were even defined in terms of silver, i.e. the silvering of other metals; the act of giving other metals silver-like qualities.
The history of silver is as old as the history of man. It speaks in the Bible of “Joseph, who was rich in silver, gold, and oxen”. In the pre-Christian era, in certain civilizations, silver was considered more precious than gold. To the early Egyptians, silver had a religious significance and was used profusely in articles of worship.
Silver can be hammered into sheets so thin that it would take 100,000 of them to stack an inch high.
It can be drawn into a wire finer than a human hair.
It is this ductility (or ability to be formed) that makes silver the wonderful art form that it is.
Silver can be shaped by hammering, spinning, or drawing - it can be decorated with etching, chasing, or engraving - sterling silver is the queen of metals. There is no substitute.
Through the centuries, the silversmith or goldsmith has, by a process of elimination, become the most highly skilled craftsman in the world today.
In every generation the “Master Smith” would select from his apprentices those best qualified for training necessary to make a jeweler or silversmith. The less skilled craftsmen stayed in the “minor leagues” and became blacksmiths or bronze workers.
As only the finest craftsman in each generation became master gold and silversmiths, this evolution through the centuries, created a tradition of excellence in both artistry and craftsmanship which is found only in the silver field.
Silver, as we know it today, dates from the 16th and 17th Century. Prior to that time silver was available only to the extremely wealthy nobility - or to the church.
Alchemists began experimenting with silver colloids (Argentum Potable) in the Middle Ages, although the Egyptians knew of the protective powers of silver thousands of years earlier. In alchemy, silver is one of the noble metals and represents the restorative, healing power of the Moon or soul. Silver was said to help both the physical body and the spiritual (astral) body. It lunar powers were invoked to “calm” nervous disorders and balance an overly active spirit. Indeed, silver solutions have been used for centuries to treat an amazing variety of spiritual, mental, and physical problems.
Silver has been used in healing since 4000 BC, and many ancient cultures have incorporated the use of silver in their healing practices. The Persians kept their “healing waters” in silver vessels to leach silver atoms into solution. Egyptians used a form of a silver wrap for wounds and burns, as do modern hospitals. Druids lined their drinking bottles with silver metal for a disinfectant. Medieval royalty held a substantially higher immunity to bacteria than a commoner due to the fact that they dined with silver ware, ate off silver plates and drank from silver chalices. Even soldiers were known to swallow a whole silver dollar to ward off infection from wounds. Before refrigerators were invented a silver coin was kept in milk to keep it from going sour. In the nineteenth century, colloidal silver was used as a germ killer, and silver solutions were regularly in the early 20th century to knock out bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, although silver colloid was gradually replaced by new sulfur drugs in the 1930s. Modern physicians use silver creams to treat burns and degenerative skin diseases.
A silver colloid is a mixture in which minute particles of pure elemental silver dispersed in purified, demineralized water. The method of forming a colloid is done by taking a metal and dispersing it by evaporating the element in an electrical arc; if electrodes are immersed in water, colloidal particles of the metal form as the metal vapor cools. The colloid particles have the same internal structure as the bulk of the solid metal. One property of a colloid is that distinguishes it from other solutions is that colloidal particles scatter light. If a light or laser beam passes through a colloid, the light is reflected by the colloidal particles and the path of light can be seen by the naked eye. When a beam of light passes through a solution of salt, there is so little scattering of the light that the path of light cannot be seen.
November 2nd, 2006 at 6:49 am
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