Red Mercury and The Blue Blooded Giants

For centuries rumors have persisted about a powerful and mysterious substance. And these days, adverts and videos offering it for sale can be found online. Why has the story of "red mercury" endured?

Some people believe it's a magical healing elixir found buried in the mouths of ancient Egyptian mummies.

Or could it be a powerful nuclear material that might bring about the apocalypse? 

Videos on YouTube extol its vampire-like properties. Others claim it can be found in vintage sewing machines or in the nests of bats.

There's one small problem with these tales - the substance doesn't actually exist. Red mercury is a red herring. Evidence of it can be found in the work of the medieval alchemist and philosopher Jabir ibn Hayyan, who wrote: "The most precious elixirs to ever have been blended on earth were hidden in the pyramids." there is a red-coloured mercury-containing ore which does actually exist. Mercury sulphide, to give it its proper name, is a comparatively mundane substance. It's also known as cinnabar. This treatise goes into the elusive substance and why the mainstream disavows it altogether.