During the "dark ages"
a great deal of time and effort was spent
in attempting to turn dross into gold.
This science or art was called "alchemy."
Here, very roughly, is the recipe that was employed:
First, take you base metal and grind it down into dust.
The, take a quantity of quicksilver (mercury)
and mix it with the base metal.
Then find a way to hold the quick-silver
and make is still and motionless.
Holding the still mixture over a flame - heat it.
Then introduce a single particle of pure gold.
And, in time, the base mixture
will be united with the particle of gold
and the whole will become gold.

I know of no record that claims that the recipe actually worked.

So what were the alchemists talking about?
Are we looking at a perfect simile for quite another process?

The base metal - the ego;
grind it down under pressure.
Quicksilver - the mind;
find a way to make it still and quiet.
The flame - the heart.
The heat of the flame - love,
suffusing the body and the mind.
The particle of gold -
truth, higher knowledge, "wisdom."

Perhaps...
-William Corlett and John Moore