t nor does the wind wither him.
Not to be cut, not to burn, not to get wet, not to be withered,
He is constant, above everything, continuous, eternal immovable."
[II 23 ff.]

This characterization sounds almost like the description of the mercury of
the philosophers, which is indestructible, a water that does not wet, a
fire that does not consume.

Hermes on the human soul: "The accidents residing in the material
substances have never sympathized with each other, but on the contrary
have always been in opposition and in mutual conflict. Guard thyself O
soul from them and turn away from them.... Thou O soul art of one nature,
but they are manifold; thou art but one with thyself; they are, however,
in conflict with each other. [Psychoanalytically regarded, to the soul is
here assigned the property which is desired but is not present, while that
which is undesired but actually present in the soul (inclination and
disinclination) is projected into the external world.] ... How long O soul
wilt thou yet be needy, and flee from every sensation to its opposite, now
from warmth to cold, now from cold to warmth, now from hunger to satiety,
now from satiety to hunger?" (Fleischer Herm. a. d. Seele, pp. 14 ff.) "Be
thou O soul regardful of the behavior in this world, yet not as a child
without understanding who when one gives him to eat and acts leniently
towards him is satisfied and cheerful, but when one treats him severely
cries and is bad, indeed begins to weep while laughing and when he is
satisfied begins again to be bad. This is not worthy of approbation but
rather a mongrel and blameworthy behavior. The world O soul, is so
organized as to unify exactly these opposites; good and evil, weal and
woe, distress and comfort, and contains types of ideas that have the
effect of waking the soul and making it aware of itself, so that as a
result it gains reason that illumines and consummates knowledge, i.e.,
wisdom and knowledge of the true nature of things. For this purpose alone
has the soul come into the world, to learn and experience; but it is like
a man that comes to a place to become acquainted with it and know its
conditions, but then gives up the learning, inquiring and collecting of
information, and diverts his spirit by reaching after luxury and the
enjoyment of other things, and in so doing forgets to acquire that which
he was to strive for." (L. c., pp. 8 ff.)

I return to the psychological po