North Pole

The North Pole is the center of the world around which everything revolves (see also Circle), and with its magical magnetism, it drives the machinery of the world. According to the alchemists, the heart of Mercurius lay hidden in this center, "the true fire."

The hellfire (!) that mystics claim burns at the North Pole is, according to Jung, in reality Deus absconditus (the God who hides), who resides at the "North Pole" and reveals itself through magnetism. (Aion, par. 209.) This center of the world—"the highest and the lowest"—guides, like Mercurius, those who travel across the seas.

The four cardinal directions emanate from the North Pole, thus forming a quaternity, which emphasizes its symbolic "middle." (See also Pole.)

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