This basic spagyric Elixir is an herbal tincture with an added strength and effectiveness, which comes from the addition of the herb’s Salt. This Elixir is not only stronger than normal tinctures, but will also influence the user on a psychic or spiritual level. Making this Elixir is a great, easy work to do if one is starting out on the alchemical Path.
Start by making a tincture of the herb of your choice. Grind up the herb in a mortar and pestle. If the herb was twigs mixed in with it, sift them out and use just the leaves to make the tincture, but save the twigs for later. You can now use a soxhlet extractor to make t
he tincture, or macerate the herb in a mason jar. If you are using the latter method, cover the herb to a depth of 2 – 3 fingers widths, close the jar shut (make sure there is enough room for circulation). Incubate at roughly 38C for at least two weeks, shaking at least once a day.
Siphon off the tincture using a syringe or similar method, and filter. What you have now is a clear tincture and a soggy, muddy mass of herb. If you had any twigs from earlier, mix them all in with this muddy herb, along with anything you can salvage from the filter. Put the mixture evenly in a cast iron pan or similar heat resistant vessel, take it outside, and light it on fire. Be careful, as the mixture, having been saturated with the alcohol, will quickly light and even flare a little. When the fire dies down a little, start stirring it with a long handled metal spoon to continue the combustion. Avoid inhaling the smoke, as it is toxic. This process of combustion is known in alchemical terms as Calcination.
Continue stirring and helping the flame do its job. Eventually the fire will die and more smoke will be released, so be careful. Once cooled you will be left with black ashes. Take these carefully inside, as the slightest wind will cause them to stir. It may help to use a lid for transportation. Grind up the ashes finely and put them back into the cast iron pan, or perhaps a smaller heat resistant vessel such as a stainless steel porringer.
Do not pack the ashes down, as you need air and smoke to be able to move through them. Put the ashes onto a bbq or electric range and heat at a medium heat. The ashes will smoke more. When there is no more smoke, let cool and regrind. Repeat this cycle over and over. Eventually the ashes will turn grey, then a light grey. Get them as light as you possibly can. This may take a few days.
The next step is to leach the calcined ashes. Take two mason jars, and a funnel large enough to rest on top of one of the jars without falling in. Lightly stuff the neck of the funnel with a small piece of surgical cotton or a folded piece of filter. In the other jar put four spoonfuls of your ashes, then fill the jar with distilled water (never use tap water!). Mix the ashes with the water for several minutes, then let it settle for a few hours or overnight. Using a syringe or similar device, siphon off the now clear water (which may have a slight golden colour to it) and filter it into the other jar.
After it has filtered, transfer the water into a slightly heated evapourating dish (such as a 7-inch pyrex baking dish), and evapourate the water off. Do not let it boil, or you will lose some of your salts with the steam. Pour more water over the ashes and repeat this process three or four times to ensure you have extracted out all the soluble salts. Then again repeat this entire procedure for the rest of your ashes. Throw away the spent and used ashes once you are done with them. Now you can pour distilled water over your salts in the evapourating dish and filter again, and dry them again. Repeat the leaching three or four times to ensure that they are very pure. On the last evapouration, towards the last bit of water to be evapourated off, mix the salts around with a glass rod or small metal spoon (never aluminum) while drying, as if you were slowly cooking eggs. Eventually the salts will dry, at which point you can turn up the heat a little to evapourate off the last bit of the water. The Salts should now be very white, whiter than snow. If they have a little bit of colour, like yellow, then you can continue to calcine and leach, or you can use as is, it is your choice. It is best, though, to have them very white.
Now combine your Salts with your tincture and circulate at 38C for anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months, it is up to you; the longer the better. The vessel can be anything from a mason jar filled to 1/3rd to a volumetric flask. Eventually the salts will combine with the tincture, and your tincture may take on a reddish hue. When you feel it has circulated for long enough, filter out the remaining Salts and store the tincture in an amber bottle. The dose is 10 – 20 drops per day in water. A good regimen to have for health and spirituality is to have seven tinctures, one taken per day, each ruled by a different planet which corresponds to the day of the week. In other words, on Sunday you take a dose of a tincture made from an herb ruled by the Sun; on Monday one that is made from an herb ruled by the Moon; on Tuesday one ruled by Mars; Mercury for Wednesday; Jupiter for Thursday; Venus for Friday; and Saturn for Saturday.
Guide originally written by James Collins
Video by: Luxor Media