Metal

Iron

One of the seven metals in the medieval planetary series.

3 correspondences · 1 with an ancient or scriptural source · 0 with no source located

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The oldest attribution here is Metal of Mercury, first attested 175 CE.

Metal of

  • Mercury

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Mithraic ladder reported by Celsus (attested c. 175–180 CE)
    Earliest verified attestation
    175 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Attested
    Evidence
    The source states it

    The pairing belongs to the seven-gated ladder exactly as Celsus's report survives in Origen; it is not silently replaced by the later alchemical sequence.

    Evidence

    1. Celsus, The True Doctrine, c. 175–180 CE — Origen, Contra Celsum VI.22

      Ancient primary · repeats · Fragments in Contra Celsum, Ante-Nicene Fathers translation

      The preserved passage names the gate material and its planet explicitly.

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  • Mars

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Latin alchemical planetary metals (attested after 1248 through 1533)
    Earliest verified attestation
    1249 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    None located
    Evidence
    The source states it

    The complete seven-metal series is explicit in Albertus Magnus. The Agrippa citation is included only where the checked chapter explicitly names the same material; this edge does not claim exclusivity across all authors.

    Evidence

    1. Albertus Magnus, De mineralibus, After 1248; probably completed 1261–1262 — Book III, tractate I, chapter 6, pp. 168–169

      Esoteric primary · repeats · Book of Minerals, Dorothy Wyckoff translation (in copyright: locator only)

      Albert gives all seven planet–metal names in one passage and attributes the opinion to earlier Hermetic and alchemical writers.

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    2. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1509–1510, revised through 1533 — Book I, chapter 27

      Esoteric primary · repeats · English translation, J.F., London 1651

      Agrippa explicitly includes Iron among the materials placed under Mars.

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  • Mars

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Agrippan occult philosophy (1509–1533)
    Earliest verified attestation
    1509 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated
    Evidence
    The source states it

    Evidence

    1. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1509–1510, revised through 1533 — Book I, ch. XXVII

      Esoteric primary · systematises · London: Gregory Moule, 1651

      Amongst Metals, , Iron, and red Brass;

      What things are under the power of Mars and are called Martial.

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