Here I offer information firstly on the basic method of the spagyric making process, then I shall detail why the process is so worthwhile. 

The Spagryic Process:
In crafting spagyric tinctures one begins by either fermenting a plant to obtain its organic alcohol or extracts the ethanol soluble compounds by adding strong alcohol (a Brandy of at least 30%, after which no more water is added, or 95% + ethanol whereafter water decoctions may be added).  After either fermenting or adding ethanol to tincture the herb, the herb is pressed to obtain a liquid solution free of hard matter – this is where the process ends when making tinctures… but this is where Spagyrics really come in to their own. Rather than simply straining out and composting the organic herbal matter as one would do in tincture preparation, one keeps the precious plant body and transfers it to vessels where it can be burnt down. This begins a process called calcination which liberates trapped salts that cannot be released no matter how long one macerates a tincture for. I may incinerate the marc (macerated plant body) in strong glass dishes and then transfer into ceramic crucibles which are placed in a high temperature wood burning stove, or simply put straight in to the crucibles to burn down in the stove for at least 12 hours and sometimes as much as 60 hours. During this calcination process one will remove the plant matter from the fire and its vessel, transferring to a mortar wherein it is ground down to crack open the plant cells, allowing carbon and impurities to be burnt off. Once the plant ash reaches a consistent fluffy texture and it is significantly lighter in colour, one then adds those ashes to distilled water. This water pulls forth the salts that were trapped in the plant body. One then evaporates this water to leave the purified plant salts. These salts are said to be the plant body, the sulfurs (essential oils) and mercury (alcoholic or alcohol soluble compounds) were drawn out in the earlier steps of the process. Once the salt (purified plant body) has been obtained it is then added back in to the tincture which contains the sulfurs (unique soul/panache of the plant) and mercury (overarching spirit, the plants connection to the all). All steps in the above process are performed according to astrological timings which enhance the plants main physical, emotional and spiritual properties (refer to the section on ‘The Planets’ for more words on this astrological matter).


Why use Spagryics?
Potency. Spagryic tinctures are a more thoroughly and well processed plant product than most other herbal remedies out there – besides higher order alchemical works. Normal tinctures are useful in that they increase the bioavailability of prevalent plant compounds such as terpenes, alkaloids and polyphenols, helping these compounds reach parts of the body in need of them – whereas simply taking a powder of the plant or the fresh plant itself would have these constituents stopped by the blood brain barrier, destroyed by our digestive process or they may simply pass through us underutilized. With that said, tinctures are naturally acidic - alcohol is acidic. Interestingly, the salts obtained through the spagyric calcination process are extremely alkaline, so when one adds them back in to the acidic plant tincture they balance each other out to create a pH neutral product, which is more agreeable to the body. There is something else much more remarkable than simply alkalization that these salts enable, it is the creation of entirely novel molecules…

When tincturing a plant, esters are produced, however, esterification is limited by the presence of water -which is found even in the 96% ethanol that most herbalist use for tincturing. The salt that the alchemical process introduces to the tincture is of course hydrophilic (water loving), thus it draws water away from molecules whose esterification was limited by the water, and new molecules are formed: Carboxylic salts and esters, otherwise known as Carboxylates. The alkali salts bind to the outside of plant acids to create what are called ‘prodrugs’ in modern pharmacology. These salt shielded molecules move through first past digestion intact to enter the cells and blood with greater ease, wherein the bodies own enzymes split the salt from the plant acids to make more effective use of them.

On a more esoteric level: adding salts back into the tincture is essentially reunifying the ‘illuminated’ or ‘enlightened’ plant body (the salts), with the plants soul (sulfurs), and spirit (mercurial, alcohol soluble compounds). This is the holy trinity spoken of throughout the eons… Healing and transformation occours most deeply when working with the mind/emotions (sulfur), body (salt) and spirit (mercury), thus it seems quite wise to utilize products that are a mind, body, and spirit in themselves!