Introduction
Introduction
Spagyricsinvolvesapplying the principles of Alchemy to the production of medicines. This practice has its roots in Ancient Egypt where Hermeticism was taught in the temples of Memphis and Thebes, from the works of Zosimus of Panopolis (b. Akhmin 300 A.D.).How are spagyric preparations different from simple tinctures?
A simple tincture only uses part of the medicinal power of the plant, while a spagyric preparation “opens” the plant, integrating various elements after a process of separation and purification. A spagyric preparation, for example, contains mineral salts extracted from the plant during the process of incineration and calcination. These salts are only partially soluble in water, the soluble parts being called in alchemy "Sal Salis", while the non-soluble ones are known as "Caput Mortum". Experience has shown that the former are of greater medicinal value.
In spagyrics, great importance is placed on the three alchemic principles, "Mercury", "Sulphur" and "Salt" and it therefore produces the most complete preparation, since it contains the plant’s medicinal value in its holistic form.
For a long time, it was modern medical belief that the pharmaceutical action of certain medicinal plants was the result of individual elements that could be isolated, but it was later discovered that such action depends above all on the synergism of the components, not all of them known or capable of being precisely defined chemically. The trinity (triple manifestation of all things in existence) finds its alchemic expression in the three philosophical principles "the three substances" that are considered the basis of every manifestation. These philosophical principles constitute a "unity in the trinity", although they are different from one another. They are mercury, sulphur and salt.
From time immemorial, the Egyptians were known for their sacred art of harnessing the energies and forces of Nature to produce cures and with the passing of time, this knowledge was passed to the Arabs who named it Alchemy, a word consisting of “Al”, meaning God, and “kimia” meaning chemistry, and therefore the “chemistry of God”.
Alchemy is the science that teaches the mysterious dynamism that drives the transformation, or transmutation, of natural bodies. In his laboratory, the alchemist seeks to imitate Nature, he is a philosopher who, guided by 
analogy, mimics on a small scale what the Creator did in the wider universe, he is the one who performs divine transmutation. The principal objective of the alchemic philosophy is based on discovering the “primal matter", matter from which everything else sprang, matter that perfects the imperfect, that makes pure what is impure. The quest for this primal matter called by a thousand alchemists by as many different names, led these philosopher-alchemists to discover medicines and formulas of unparalleled power, forcing them to speak and to write in ways that were incomprehensible to those not initiated into their art. This “hermetic” way of expressing themselves meant that only a few were able to understand their discoveries.
analogy, mimics on a small scale what the Creator did in the wider universe, he is the one who performs divine transmutation. The principal objective of the alchemic philosophy is based on discovering the “primal matter", matter from which everything else sprang, matter that perfects the imperfect, that makes pure what is impure. The quest for this primal matter called by a thousand alchemists by as many different names, led these philosopher-alchemists to discover medicines and formulas of unparalleled power, forcing them to speak and to write in ways that were incomprehensible to those not initiated into their art. This “hermetic” way of expressing themselves meant that only a few were able to understand their discoveries.The primal matter, or philosopher’s stone, is the stone bearing the sign of the sun, red in colour. The stone is said to give off a smell similar to apples and its main property is that it melts, like wax, in fire. When the stone is heated it transforms into a liquid, and when it subsequently cools down, it resumes its solid form; even left in contact with air, it passes from a solid to a liquid state. "The philosophers’ stone is the living light, condensed, concentrated and coagulated into a substantial form.” Over the course of its evolution, alchemy hassplit into two branches giving us:
- alchemy, representing philosophical study and its application in the laboratory, in order to achieve a divine transmutation;
- and spagyric, a particular technique for processing materials originating from the three realms of Nature, whose aim is to exalt to the maximum the potential virtues of their active ingredients. This ancient art consists of separating the three base elements of plants (SALT, SULPHUR, MERCURY), purifying them separately and recombining them into a single pure essence that will not decay over time.
Spagyric techniques used to process plants, minerals and metals, all start from the same basis: separation into the three principles, purification and reunification into a single essence.
We will now move on to some of the stages in a spagyric process.
1) Firstly, the plant is divided into three equal parts. The essential oil is extracted from the first part, usually in a stream of vapour.
2) Then the second part of the plant is calcinated, burnt in a closed crucible at a temperature of 400-500° C, to obtain the ash which is then dissolved in distilled water to extract all the soluble salts, which are then purified until they are completely white.
3) The third operation involves fermenting the third part of the plant which, with the addition of some special ingredients, transforms its cellulose into alcohol and this is then rectified by distillation in a long-necked flask, in order to concentrate the alcohol until it contains only volatile active ingredients.
4) After this stage, the plant alcohol is mineralised, mixing it with part of the plant salt, then distilling it to produce the perfectly prepared third principle.
5) The final operation involves recombining these three substances in particular proportions that vary according to the plant, in order to obtain what the ancient spagyrists called the “quintessence”.
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