Alchemical Calcination and Extraction
The full calcination and extraction process for my Inula helenium (Elecampane/Elfwort) tincture. This was a 3-day procedure, carefully timed with the movements of the planets, per tradition. This process works to transform the “body” of the plant into its purest corporeal essence - known as the “salt of salts.” This mineral powder will be reintroduced into the fluid extract at an auspicious moment, creating a complete liquid extract (spagyric) of all components of this wonderful healing herb.
Alchemy is largely misunderstood in the modern world. Most simply know it through its mysterious process of chrysopoeia, the transmutation of base metals into gold. But as the ancient alchemical maxim states: “aurum nostum non est aurum vulgi” - “our gold is not vulgar gold.” One such “gold” in alchemy is, and has always been, medicine.
Tantric Buddhism is a form of inner alchemy - working to transmute the body, speech, and mind of the practitioner into the enlightened three kayas. There are methods of outer alchemy in the Tibetan tradition, but laboratory alchemy is mostly found in the purification of mineral substances for medicine.
The western method seen here, popularized for medicinal preparation by Paracelsus in the 16th century, is a method of taking a medicinal plant through a similar process of liberation, utilizing myriad processes that work to separate, purify, and elevate the components of the plant into its most potent and dynamic healing expression.
Solve et coagula. Ora et labora. གཡུ་ཐོག་མཁྱེན་ནོ།
In western alchemy, there are three components of all animate and inanimate matter - the “soul” (or alchemical “sulphur”) is the unique character expressed in the essential oils, the “spirit” (alchemical mercury) is the alcohol produced by the substance during fermentation along with soluble compounds, and the “body” (alchemical salt) is composed of the pure mineral salts which can be extracted through calcination.
This is the process of calcination. After letting a tincture of Inula helenium (a close relative of Indo-Tibetan མ་ནུ་པ་ཏྲ་) macerate for some months, I drained the tincture and incinerated the plant remains. Through repeated incineration and trituration, I was able to refine the plant matter into a fine light grey/almost white ash. This process of albedo is believed to purify, refine, and ultimately liberate the substance from impurity. We’re left with the essential “body” of the Inula, which contains both the pure salt and the dark caput mortuum/terra damnata (dead head/damned earth), which will need to be purified in the next process, dissolution (post coming soon).
In my medical practice, I strive to integrate the rich western alchemical herbal tradition with Traditional Tibetan Medicine in order to make the best use of our unique resources (and lack thereof) in the west. I use a number of tincture formulas in my practice, which are not usually used in our familiar form in TTM. One of the downsides of tinctures is that you usually don’t make use of the entire plant - only the compounds that are soluble in water or alcohol.
As with all procedures in alchemy, everything must be done with the planetary elements in mind. The straining and calcination, as with the creation of the tincture, took place on a Wednesday (day of Mercury, the planetary ruler of Inula according to Culpeper) during the Mercury hour. The Moon was also in Sagittarius, the sign of calcination. When the purest salts are leeched out following dissolution, they’ll reunite with the combined sulphur and mercury of the plant to form a dynamic, full-plant extraction.