Spagyric
Encyclopedia
Spagyric is a name given to the production of herbal medicines using alchemical
procedures. These procedures involve fermentation
, distillation
and the extraction of mineral
components from the ash
of the plant
. These processes were in use in medieval alchemy generally for the separation and purification of metal
s from ore
s (see Calcination
), and salt
s from brine
s and other aqueous solutions.
. In its original use, the word spagyric was commonly used synonymously with the word alchemy, however, in more recent times it has often been adopted by alternative medicine
theorists and various techniques of holistic medicine.
to which has also been added the ash of the calcined
plant. The original rationale behind these special herbal tinctures seems to have been that an extract using alcohol
could not be expected to contain all the medicinal properties from a living plant, and so the ash or mineral component (as a result of the calcination process) of the calcined plant was prepared separately and then added back to 'augment' (increase) the alcoholic tincture. The roots of the word therefore refer first to the extraction or separation process and then to the recombining process. These herbal tinctures are alleged to have superior medicinal properties to simple alcohol tinctures. In theory these spagyrics can also optionally include material from fermentation of the plant material and also any aromatic component such as might be obtained through distillation. The final spagyric should be a re-blending of all such extracts into one 'essence.'
The concept of the spagyric remedy in turn relies upon the three cardinal principles of alchemy, termed as salt
, sulphur and mercury
. "The basis of matter was the alchemical trinity of principles--salt, sulfur and mercury. Salt was the principle of fixity (non-action) and in-combustibility; mercury was the principle of fusibility (ability to melt and flow) and volatility; and sulfur was the principle of inflammability."
The three primal alchemical properties and their correspondence in spagyric remedy are:
Paracelsus
stated that the true purpose of Alchemy
was not for the vulgar purpose of gold making, but rather for the production of medicines. The term 'Spagyria' has been used by Paracelsus in his book 'Liber Paragranum', deriving from the Greek words 'spao' and 'ageiro', the essential meaning of which is to 'separate and to combine'.
He formulated that nature in itself was 'raw and unfinished,' and man had the God-given task to evolve things to a higher level. As an example: The 'raw' medicinal plant would be separated into the basic components he termed 'mercurius', 'sulphur' and 'sal' and thereby cleaned of non-essential components. 'Mercurius', 'sulphur' and 'sal' were then recombined forming the medicine.
In contemporary terms, this would be the extraction of the essential oil
s with vapour gaining the 'sulphur'. Then fermentation of the remaining plant and distilling the alcohol produced thus gaining 'mercurius'. Extraction of the mineral components from the ash of the marc which would be the 'sal'. Diluting the essential oils in the alcohol and then solving the mineral salts in it would produce the final potion.Note that this is a simplified representation of the process which varies strongly depending on the source chosen.
Joseph Needham
devoted several volumes of his monumental Science and Civilisation in China
to Spagyrical discovery and invention. In 1965, Malaclypse the Younger
and Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst popularized the term as a result of their joint seminal work Principia Discordia
.
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
procedures. These procedures involve fermentation
Fermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
, distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
and the extraction of mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
components from the ash
Wood ash
Wood ash is the residue powder left after the combustion of wood. Main producers of wood ash are wood industries and power plants.-Composition:...
of the plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
. These processes were in use in medieval alchemy generally for the separation and purification of metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
s from ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
s (see Calcination
Calcination
Calcination is a thermal treatment process applied to ores and other solid materials to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction. The calcination process normally takes place at temperatures below the melting point of the product materials...
), and salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
s from brine
Brine
Brine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
s and other aqueous solutions.
Etymology
Origin: Greek: Spao, to tear open, + ageiro, to collect. It is a term probably first coined by ParacelsusParacelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
. In its original use, the word spagyric was commonly used synonymously with the word alchemy, however, in more recent times it has often been adopted by alternative medicine
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
theorists and various techniques of holistic medicine.
Spagyrics in practice
Spagyric most commonly refers to a plant tinctureTincture
A tincture is an alcoholic extract or solution of a non-volatile substance . To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have an ethanol percentage of at least 40-60%...
to which has also been added the ash of the calcined
Calcination
Calcination is a thermal treatment process applied to ores and other solid materials to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction. The calcination process normally takes place at temperatures below the melting point of the product materials...
plant. The original rationale behind these special herbal tinctures seems to have been that an extract using alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
could not be expected to contain all the medicinal properties from a living plant, and so the ash or mineral component (as a result of the calcination process) of the calcined plant was prepared separately and then added back to 'augment' (increase) the alcoholic tincture. The roots of the word therefore refer first to the extraction or separation process and then to the recombining process. These herbal tinctures are alleged to have superior medicinal properties to simple alcohol tinctures. In theory these spagyrics can also optionally include material from fermentation of the plant material and also any aromatic component such as might be obtained through distillation. The final spagyric should be a re-blending of all such extracts into one 'essence.'
The concept of the spagyric remedy in turn relies upon the three cardinal principles of alchemy, termed as salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, sulphur and mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
. "The basis of matter was the alchemical trinity of principles--salt, sulfur and mercury. Salt was the principle of fixity (non-action) and in-combustibility; mercury was the principle of fusibility (ability to melt and flow) and volatility; and sulfur was the principle of inflammability."
The three primal alchemical properties and their correspondence in spagyric remedy are:
- Mercury = waterWaterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
elements, representing the life essence of the plant, the very alcohol extract of the plant is the carrier of the life essence. - Salt = earth element, representing the vegetable salts extracted from calcined ashes of plant body.
- Sulphur = fire element, virtue of plant, representing the volatile oil essence of the plant.
Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
stated that the true purpose of Alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
was not for the vulgar purpose of gold making, but rather for the production of medicines. The term 'Spagyria' has been used by Paracelsus in his book 'Liber Paragranum', deriving from the Greek words 'spao' and 'ageiro', the essential meaning of which is to 'separate and to combine'.
He formulated that nature in itself was 'raw and unfinished,' and man had the God-given task to evolve things to a higher level. As an example: The 'raw' medicinal plant would be separated into the basic components he termed 'mercurius', 'sulphur' and 'sal' and thereby cleaned of non-essential components. 'Mercurius', 'sulphur' and 'sal' were then recombined forming the medicine.
In contemporary terms, this would be the extraction of the essential oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
s with vapour gaining the 'sulphur'. Then fermentation of the remaining plant and distilling the alcohol produced thus gaining 'mercurius'. Extraction of the mineral components from the ash of the marc which would be the 'sal'. Diluting the essential oils in the alcohol and then solving the mineral salts in it would produce the final potion.Note that this is a simplified representation of the process which varies strongly depending on the source chosen.
Joseph Needham
Joseph Needham
Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA , also known as Li Yuese , was a British scientist, historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941, and as a fellow of the British...
devoted several volumes of his monumental Science and Civilisation in China
Science and Civilisation in China
Science and Civilisation in China is a series of books initiated and edited by British biochemist and China scholar Joseph Needham . They deal with the history of science and technology in China. To date there have been 27 volumes...
to Spagyrical discovery and invention. In 1965, Malaclypse the Younger
Malaclypse the Younger
Gregory Hill , better known by the pen name Malaclypse the Younger , was one of the two writers of the Principia Discordia, along with Kerry Wendell Thornley . He was also adapted as a character in The Illuminatus! Trilogy...
and Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst popularized the term as a result of their joint seminal work Principia Discordia
Principia Discordia
Principia Discordia is a Discordian religious text written by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley . It was originally published under the title "Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost" in a limited edition of 5 copies in 1965...
.
External links
- http://www.alchemywebsite.com/johnreid.html A detailed online course of plant alchemy