☿Mercury

Its letter and path

Mercury rides the double letter Resh (ר), on the path that connects Hod ↔ Yesod.

Its sphere and correspondences

Its sphere is Hod (הוֹד) — Splendor / Glory, intellect & communication, in the world of Yetzirah.

Rational mind, language, analysis, intellectual understanding, magic.

Further planetary correspondences (day, metal, incense) to be added from source.

Its tarot, in this current

The card on this path is The Magician. The Golden Dawn places The Sun here instead, having assigned the letter to a different planet.

Its polarity

The letter Resh carries the polarity Clarity / Distortion (Sefer Yetzirah §37). The polarity is a property of the letter; Mercury supplies the energy that leans it one way or the other.

In the Sefer Yetzirah

The planetary assignment follows the Chaldean order set out at §§41 and 44; the polarity pair is given at §37 (Hayman critical edition).

Annotated passages to be added.

Related angels

Where the Golden Dawn differs

In this current, Mercury rides Resh (The Magician). The Golden Dawn moved Mercury to the letter Beth, and reassigned Resh to Sun ☉ — so on their tree the Resh card became The Sun.