Hawthorne Tincture
Creation of a Hawthorne Essence. Herb picked from a local tree. Hawthorne Essence has a mars correspondence. Hawthorne Essence is reputed to be beneficial
to the heart. I have had sound effects using this to alleviate palpitations. I have endeavored to explain as best as possible the methodology and praxis
the way I work Herbal "Solve et Coagula. " The separation and recombination of the elements and principles are a complete Spiritual Medicine, unlike other
practices which leave out aspects of the plant, namely the salts " the body aspect. "The salts of the Hawthorne Essence are added back into the tincture
spirit working this way. Into the spirit sulfur combination. Through this, we realize the symbolic idea of the Hermetic wedding through the re-integration
of elements and their unity. A new being is created free from all that is not necessary. These unnecessary ultimately hinder the perfect expression of the
Hawthorne Essence.
I hope this work inspires others on the path. It gives one the impetus to begin their exploration into herbal " Solve et Coagula." Hawthorne Spagyric Essences
made this way have very beneficial healing qualities for the organism.
I will add more information on this matter over time.
The Hawthorne Essence Picking the herb.
First we need to locate a suitable Hawthorne tree to pick our herb for the Hawthorne Essence. Preferably we will want to
use fruit, leaves and roots if possible.This Hawthorne fruit and leaves were picked late summer. It was quickly
taken home, as some say the spirit begins to leave the Hawthorne herb quickly after picking. As always choosing an auspicious timing
astrologically to work the Hawthorne Essence can take the work to another level and assist us in its realisation. This is in the
strictest sense of the word, in my mind anyway an astrological talisman. More on this in a later post.
Hawthorne Essence. Beginning fermentation.
After discarding any dead, rotten matter. The Hawthorne was immersed in distilled rainwater. a small pinch of yeast and salt were added
to aid fermentation. This coaxes a spirit " the liquid fraction of the Hawthorne Spagyric Remedy from its fixed dwelling space
of the body matrix (its physical manifestation. The spirit is the most volatile portion. And one of the three essentials.
Fermentation finished its left to clear.
We want to clear the ferment, getting the matter ready for distillation to retrieve the spirit. Placed somewhere cool this can
take many months. A beautiful red appears with the herb Hawthorn. the red is the sulphurs. With the spagyric way of working
nothing is wasted.
Beautiful colour
The liquid which is now essentially a wine of Hawthorne, for our Hawthorne Essence. After the clearing it can be racked off and
left to mature or we can proceed on with the distillation. It is beneficial to use astrological timings for our operations.
I will speak more on this in a future post.
Distill off the spirit
If we are using astrology we pick a significant timing to distill the spirit off. This will be one of the elements for the Hawthorne
Spagyric Remedy, Our Hawthorne Essence. We can use fancy distillation setups or just keep things simple. All will be revealed in time.
For now just soak it up.
Hawthorne Essence. The three essentials
After the first distillation a spirit and subtle sulphur combination is realised. This is in the vessel marked Essence. It can be used
as is. But we will go a few stages further to create the Hawthorne Spagyric Remedy. Our Hawthorne essence. On the first distillation a
red gloopy substance remained. Look at the image.
Hawthorne Essence.Fixed sulphurs
The substance from the previous image labelled fixed salts etc. This is the fixed sulphur aspect. We refine this many times or we destroy
any unwanted nature within, by trial of fire. Or both. Our Hawthorne Spagyric Remedy the Essence will use both aspects to create two new
beings.
Preparation of fixed sulphurs
After preparation the fixed sulphurs will be so clear we can see right through it. Should we wish its acceptable at this stage to realise
the fire principle and label it so. Locked within is the earth principle also " The salt ". All matter has the three principles and four
elements realised within their nature.
First main calcination
We started the operations of fire with the first fermentation. " A subtle fire " breaking down and recombining the matter to create a new
nature harnessed to serve the operator. We used fire to distill off the spirit and free it from its burdens. Now we use fire again to realise
the body a first salt " fixed salts ". It can be a true labour of Hercules depending on the herb in question.
Ash from calcination
In symbolic fashion we can relate the process of calcination to a freeing up of the burdens in the life. The belief in a fixed
body that moves through time and space with free will is the illusion. We work to break down this illusion. Likewise we break
the carbon bonds to free our essential through the turning of dissolution and evaporation. Like the stuff of mind its illusory
nature can be understood for what it is.
Ash processed to produce fixed salts
With much labour. heat pounding, grinding more heat. The ash turns ever lighter grey. A sure sign we are nearing the goal.
When we are ready we wash the ash, filter and evaporate the residue. A beautiful thing to behold. Their is much symbolism
within these processes. Much symbolism for meditation and inner work.
First circulation
Turning the water wheel.I use distilled rain water to purify the salts. Repetitive filtering and evaporation eventually reveals
pure salts fit for our Arte. If we have calcined sufficiently our filtrate will be clear. maybe a little milky. If it is coloured muddy
or maybe amder these are the sulphurs of the salt. We have not worked sufficiently to remove what is not conducive to our realisation.
More work then.
Distillations may draw more subtle sulphurs
The distillaions or circulations may draw out more subtle sulphurs. This is not a bad thing. However some essences may not. We can tell
the difference between a work circulated or distilled over the salts by taste and effect. It energises the work on a level different to
a basic tincture. for the extra work we go through it is well worth the effort. The Lab Operators believe the salts married to the spirit can ingress
deeper into the system.
We can distill instead of circulation
We can distill instead of a circulation or both. Seven times placing the spirit back over the salts each rotation. Distilling many times marries
the principles. The marriage is the ultimate aim of all Alchemical / Spagyric operations. The marriage is the culmination of much hard work
and meditation. It is said the operations in our retorts and vessels is mirrored both physically and psychospiritually. We aim to purify our
matters as we aim to separate and disregard what is not conducive to our personal Great Work.
We may think this is the culmination of the work
Many lab operators I know suggest that a working such as the "Solve et coagula" of a chosen herb achieves an Essence although not complete.
I would therefore like to plant a seed in your minds. May I suggest that our essence is not alive in the strictest sense of the word? Through ritual simple or complex, we can charge
the work. We can ritually charge our Hawthorne Essence to a planetary influence. I have not mentioned this in this post as the work is repetitive enough. I do work Astrologically
and will be making a post on the subject. We can also use a drop of our blood and add this to our Hawthorne essence.
We should remember that the work should not be shared with others as it now becomes personalized to our unique genetic signature.
Doing this will charge our work with an aspect of ourselves though I stress the work is already very much a part of ourselves through
the meditation and physical work attributed to it. Imagine this energetic charged many times through ritual. I make no claims whatsoever to being
an adept. I choose to enliven up my work with prayer, correspondences, and ritual theatricals. Don't worry this method is not witchcraft or anything sinister as we perform
many rituals every day are probably unaware. Even making a cup of tea in the morning has ritualistic elements attached to it. Choice of teabag, cup, time of
making it, what milk we use. These are all conscious choices that affect the outcome of our cuppa. Ever been in someones home and been offered
a cup of tea only to think yikes nowhere near as palatable as the ones I make. That's because the effect of choice and careful selection of the elements
that make in my mind anyway the perfect cup of tea of our choice. We need to spend some time thinking over this and giving it some meditation time. Ultimately the decision is yours.
I will talk more about this and how I work my lab work in a later post.