What are spagyrics?
Putrefaction precedes germination, the “king” gold must be killed and buried, in order that he may awake again to life, and who, ascending through the seven regimes, attains his full glory”
-alchemy, Titus Burckhardt
Alchemy and Spagyrics are a way of life, practice, and experienced theory. The art of spagyrics is alchemical philosophy . Laboratory alchemy is alchemical theory put into practice.
Solve Et Coagula (to separate & reunite or to separate & reawaken)
The word solve correlates to Levity or volatility the above comprising of the Fire and Air elements
The word Coagula correlates to Gravity or solidity everything condensing down and becoming more fixed representing the Water and Earth elements.
The three philosophical principles: Sulfur, Mercury, & Salt
The Sulfur principle: represents the soul level, the most volatile aspect, or consciousness. Through the lens of the soul, we come into this life to self realize and to remember our latent capabilities. We are here to REMEMBER who we truly are. To awaken the dormant, to bring forth inspiration. To step into self-knowing through lived experiences. This brings us to understanding.
The Mercury Principle: represents the spirit level or the mind, the spirit or vital force that flows through all things, known as the vital intelligence. In this realm, we learn to see through clear perspectives by anchoring our minds into our hearts. We learn to live through heart perception
The Salt Principle: represents the body or material existence, physical plane, or form, the densest aspect. the most condensed form of the soul. In this realm, we learn to manifest into physical form.
these three components comprise of consciousness or the “vital spirit” manifested into form
alchemy views everything in nature in a state of transformation seeking perfection. Alchemy is about taking our wounds and using them as catalysts for stepping into our power and seeing it as fuel for motivating ourselves to turn these experiences into our gifts. illness is simply an imbalance or stagnation of the vital intelligence. ALchemy views the human being as a microcosm of the macrocosm by observing the patterns of the above and understanding that we also contain these patterns within ourselves. When imbalance and manifestation of dis-ease are present ( the word disease literally means dis ease in the body), alchemy identifies this as not living in virtue or harmony with an archetypal pattern from the above. We may experience certain circumstances where we face challenges or difficulties learning to integrate these spiritual energies in a healthy and conducive manner. When we fail to recognize these imbalanced patterns this is where we may start to see disease manifest in the body. However, when we learn to understand these energies we may start to realize that there are lessons these archetypal forces are trying to teach us. These energies express themselves in a variety of ways through excess and deficiency. spagyrics clear, remove, and extract out all the non-essential components of the self and enable an authentic relationship with the self. Spagyric medicines allow certain aspects of the self to die in order to purify and come back into contact with the true. Spagyrics remind us to accept ourselves exactly as we are. whole and complete. We can learn about the deepest layers of oneself through learning to understand and observe these patterns, archetypes, planets, and elements within people and nature.
Planetary Correspondence
In alchemical preparations, we consider the materials we are working with "planetary correspondence” to enhance the effectiveness of the medicine’s archetypal imprint. In the alchemical tradition, it is believed that everything in existence has a corresponding element aka (pattern). Medical Astrology and Astro herbalism are sister sciences of alchemy bridging the two languages of correspondence together. When working within the realm of plants it is believed that each plant has a corresponding planet. We can view these as the plants imprinted archetypal virtues or reoccurring themes & patterns.
How do we know the plant has a planetary correspondence?
An example of this would be how the plant is influenced by the planet. We can see this in its morphology, in the existing environment it grows in, in its energetic qualities, through its tastes, the actions the plant has on the physiology, & how the plant is affecting us on an emotional & spiritual level. In observing these qualities of the plant we can determine the planetary patterns the plant is being influenced by.
Each planet has an elemental quality it exhibits on an energetic, psycho-spiritual, & way it manifests in the body. The way we can determine this is through the lens of medical astrology, an ancient science that has been practiced by ancient civilizations cross-culturally since the beginning of time. To read more about the archetypes & how they manifest in the body check out the planets section.
Why consider Its correspondence?
In the alchemical tradition, it is believed that when we are working with alchemically prepared medicines we are not only healing physical aspects of ourselves but are also balancing the imbalanced archetypal forces within. The alchemist believed that illness was simply an imbalance on an archetypal level. Therefore when ingesting these medicines we are realigning & communicating with our inner cosmos. This is how spagyrics address the psycho-spiritual & emotional aspects, by preparing these medicines in accordance with the planetary influences we are also aligning ourselves with balancing the energies of our imbalances with the planetary archetypes.
How Spagyrics heal our bodies
In the herbal spagyric process, a plant is separated and purified into its three essential components. We can find these three principles everywhere in nature. The evolution of these realms consists of a cycle of processes of life, death, and rebirth. A very similar process to the same cycles we witness is nature through the transition of the seasons.
A spagyric is a highly concentrated full-spectrum extract that contains the three essential principles the (sulfur) soul its essential oil, (mercury) mind its spirit, (salt) alkali plant body. A full spectrum extract is a holistic preparation of plant medicine. containing the entirety of the plant, not just macerating and filtering and disposing of the plant material afterwords. It’s a truly integrative medicine that contains the wholeness of the plant. The process of incineration of the plant materials is essential for bioavailability. We do this through distillation, fermentation, calcination, dissolution, & cohobation. through this method, we separate all three parts, purify, recombine, and then further process to evolve & mature the extract.
Spagyrics are more effective & bioavailable because the salt principle acts as an essential electrolyte anchoring the sulfur (essential oil) directly into our cells. Simple tinctures are considered “disembodied” medicine due to the lack of alkali mineral salts. It is said that the sulfur works on the soul level, the spirit works on the “mind” aspect, and the salt works on the physical body. Leaving out the essential component of the purified mineral salt in a tincture fails to include the influence of the medicine on the physical plane.
The essential oil, spirit, and salt carry the medicine deeper into the body. The spirit acts as a vehicle or delivery mechanism for the essence to be carried through and the salt penetrates and anchors the medicine into our cells. The spagyric process merges both the masculine (sulfur) qualities and feminine (salt) qualities together bringing about true balance. The Mercury fuses the two together creating the alchemical marriage.
The difference between this extraction method and a basic tincture preparation is that tinctures last in the bloodstream anywhere between 6 to 8 hours whereas a spagyric can run its course throughout your system for up to 72 hours. the dosage is also a lot less than a tincture, a spagyric dosage is anywhere from 1 to a few drops daily, signifying the potency of these medicines.
Spagyric medicines don’t solely focus on the chemistry of the plant but in this method, we see the integration and concentration of the spiritual, energetic, evolutionary lessons, and physical aspects of the plant present in these medicines. As my teacher, Sajah Popham refers to spagyric preparations as “whole plants for healing whole people” healing the person on a physical, psychological, & emotional level.
Evolved extracts preserve the life force of the plant, the wholeness, & the intelligence of the plant