Chickweed Essence. Making herbal essences.

I distilled rainwater. I placed the herb as soon as I had picked it into this water. The subtle spirits soon escape as they are very volatile. Doing this helps minimise subtle spirit losses. The herb is picked on an auspicious astrological timing. The Chickweed Essence is a Lunar correspondence ensuring the Moon is well placed aids our working.

The timing for harvesting the herb is important if we are working astrologically. Using astrology invokes subtle energies into the work. Astrological Essences may hold more potency than those not worked this way. The herb is taken into the lab as soon as is possible ensuring minimal losses of subtle volatiles and energies.

Chickweed Essence is a lunar working. We can invoke the energies to the work with prayer, using sigils or talismans. This attracts the forces by correspondence. The energies assist us in our endeavour.

Getting the herb to the lab as soon as possible is best. The subtle spirits will be escaping. We want try to preserve as much of the subtle energies as is possible. The next step is to distill the herb to obtain an essential oil. In this working no essential oils were present. We will use the fixed sulphurs instead. The fixed sulphur is still an expression of the herbs soul. From the fermentation we will also create a spirit. Just like winemaking. The spirit will be subtly charged with the Chickweed essence.

Filtering the wine to remove the solids. The dead body is now devoid of its spirit and soul. We have captured these energies in the water which we used for the fermentation. This water distilled from rainwater also holds subtle essences. We will keep this water the phlegmn as its now called and use it for the salt work.

The chickweed Essence needs separating from the fractions received. Setup the distillation apparatus. Now gently distill the coloured water from the fermentation. The volatile which is our spirit will come over first. This spirit will be mixed with water which also comes over. There is a good reason for this which I will post on another time. We can go with a 50/50 water spirit ratio. Or distill to a very dry spirit. We always make informed decisions whilst working Solve et Coagula.

I only use tealights for my heat source for low heat distillations. I find I have better control over my work. They also ensure I keep connected to the work. I have to constantly time when I must go and change the candles. They only last eight hours so i change them three times a day. Timing is crucial. This is my way of working.

The Chickweed Essence spirit has completed. No we are left with a honey like tar in the bottom of the distillation vessel. We will use this as nothing is discarded in the Solve et Coagula of Chickweed Essence. We can calcine these for a salt or rotate the spirit over the tars. Doing so ensures the spirit picks up subtle energies from the fixed Sulphur. Tincturizing it.

I was surprised to see just how much salt the fixed sulphurs expressed. this tells me that the plant is of a fixed quality.I find this very interesting as the qualities of lunar are water. For it to express such a quantity of what is essentially a fixed earth told me much about the qualities of the finished Chickweed Essence. Fixed Essences work at a deeper level on fixed imbalances in the bodys constitution. I will be looking forward to realising these qualities when I ingest upon completion. They also fix themselves spiritually at a much deeper level promoting long lasting spiritual realisation.

For my Chickweed Essences spirit to test its ratio of water to spirit I use a hydrometer. I work with different ratios of the spirit sulphur water combination depending on how I am feeling. I like to think the herb leads the way in the work if we can connect to its energies.

The time had come for calcination again. An important part of the Solve et Coagula process. We burn the herb under fierce heat to ensure the unwanted elements are removed. We need to realise a salt for the wedding of the principles. This salt needs to be soluble in water. If we are working with dry spirit then we will work to volatilize the salts. If we are working a 50/50 ratio water to spirit then the water element will absorb the salt. Either way the salt must be pure and pristine like crystals.

Once we reach the ash satge as in the image we can begin the water cycle. At this stage their are different ways to proceed. I will be posting more on my investigations in future posts. For my Chickweed Essence I continued the calcination. We will see if we continue this work a fine ash will be our reward. Sometimes this ash may be light grey. I have had the ash white on many occasions. Some operators work with the black ash they reckon they get more salts this way. Experiment to find which way suits you best.

Now I have the ash. I tried to take it to white but it was not having it. For the Chickweed Essence we need the salts pure. Ensuring a good calcination drives off the sulphurs. We can of course not drive the calcination so hard and use these sulphurs in our work. I will of course be posting more on this idea in future posts. There are many ways we can work in the lab with plant herbal Essences. I have spent many hours in the lab running experiments. I have some interesting ideas to share.

We repeat the calcinations on the fixed sulphurs. The tar like honey from the distillation of the fermented wine of Chickweed essence. These sulphurs will eventually after much processing lead to a second salt. A fixed salt of sulphur by name. This will be added in an equal amount to the chickweed essence alongside the salts of salts from the calcination of the dead herbs body..

Adding the fixed sulphur tar like honey to the spirit ready for a circulation or distillation. Rotate it seven times or circulate for one Alchemical month 40 days. Doing so assists the spirit in a subtle fusion with the energies of the fixed sulphur salts. thereby we eventually end up with a spirit that has a good fire like energy although subtle in its nature. We can at the end of these rotations taste test. We should notice a subtle yet marked difference in our Chickweed essence.

The Moon and water are ruled by Artemis. The Greek Goddess of the hunt. Protector and patreon of young girls. She is the twin sister of Apollo daughter of Zeus and Leto. She is depicted with a bow and a quiver of arrows. She is the protector of animals in contradiction however she also protects the followers of hunting. Diana is her classical equivalent often portrayed with a moon or crescent.

The ash from the salts of salts ready for the purifications turning the water wheel. Through first drowning in water, then allowing the soup to settle, I will then proceed to a filtration. Having then a clear solution of saturated salt I will evaporate this salt to realise the salt of the body of Chickweed Essence. A salt of salt. This salt when purified will be exposed to the Moon on a waxing cycle. We could also wash these salts in distilled dew from the spring months. If worked properly they will crystallise immediantly. The volatilization will occur much easier working this way.

My spirit has now been rotated over the sulphur honey tars. I need to know may ratio of water to spirit. For this I use my hydrometer. Variations in the ratio of the two elements affects the final product. Where possible we must always try to add the energies of the Sun and Moon to our workings. We can do this with Gold and Silver as the two correspond to the lights respectively. We must however remember that the solar and lunar energies are already present in the elements or priciples we are working with for the Chickweed Essence. In fact truth bne told these energies are present in all material and non material phenomina. More on this in another post.