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As natural methods of health care increase in popularity, more and more people are becoming familiar with various types of herbal remedies and their uses. Few people, however, are familiar with the herbal work of the alchemists or other philosophers and scientists of the past. While our products are neither conventional herbal preparations nor homeopathics, the common origins of alchemy, herbalism, and homeopathy are apparent in similarities between these three systems. Our extracts are made Spagyrically, a process whose name comes from two words meaning "separate" and "recombine". The core of Spagyrics is the idea that the substance being operated on should be separated into its
various parts, those parts should be purified, and then recombined. The other distinguishing aspect of our processing is the timing of our work. All of the processes we perform on the herbs are done according to planetary timing, determined by the rulership of the herb being worked on. The completeness with which we extract all constituents of the plant, coupled with the subtle timing and energetic aspects of our work, follow the alchemical idea that Spagyric processing is a type of death and rebirth, in which the whole being of the plants are worked with in their original proportions, but in a way that concentrates and elevates them past what a mere plant could achieve. The results of our careful processing are products with a life force, or "intelligence", the alchemical term for the ability to operate quickly and efficiently on an illness or imbalance, without creating another imbalance elsewhere in the body . In various philosophical systems, including alchemy, there are many levels of being, from the most apparent physical level to the more subtle levels of mind and spirit. Often, these levels are described as three-fold, corresponding to the physical body; the soul, or seat of thought and spirituality; and the spirit, or life force. In alchemical thought, all natural things are made up of these three principles, in different proportions, and it is these proportions that determine the nature of the being, whether animal, plant, or mineral. Following this philosophy, our products are made within a three-level system, in which one of the three levels of the plant is emphasized in each preparation, and one plant can be made into three different products to work on three different corresponding levels in the patient. These three levels of being correspond to those described in the writings of Paracelsus and other alchemists whose work we have studied in the development of our system of constitutional healing. Like past alchemists, Paracelsus looked at the inner subtle constituents that make up all things, which are called Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. These terms are not to be understood literally, but as states of being or qualities of form which exist in different proportions in all things, in all three realms- plant, animal, or mineral. Sulfur is the soul of a being, which is essential, unique, and eternal. Mercury is the spirit, or life force animating a being, and is the mediator between the other levels. Salt is the body or container of form, which holds the other principles together. Paracelsus taught that a balance in the three elements means health, and disease arises from an imbalance in these levels. This imbalance often occurs due to the influence of one or more of the planets. Western alchemical and spagyric philosophy works with the same planetary archetypes found in Qabalah and astrology, as seen in the familiar diagram of the Tree of Life. As in Qabalah, each planetary sphere has individual qualities associated with it, such as deities, colours, musical tones, and days of the week. In spagyric work, each of these planets also rules organs, organ systems, and body parts, diseases and medical effects, and herbs. This rulership is a two-way interaction called sympathy, and refers to the planetary energies from above affecting beings below, and the beings below manifesting different proportions of these planetary energies. These sympathies, as ruled by each planet, can also be organized according to the planets, using the celestial archetypes as a sort of filing cabinet for easily structuring and understanding otherwise scattered pieces of medical and herbal knowledge. This organizational device is the best one we have found for both doing our work and presenting it to others, and, after the study of a few basic principles, it is both easy to understand and powerfully effective. Each of us is made up of the three levels Salt, Mercury, and Sulfur, as described above. Each of these levels has one of seven possible planetary rulerships, determined by the day and time of birth, when a sort of energetic "snapshot" of that moment was imprinted on each of these levels. This energetic snapshot, with its three levels of planetary rulership, is the constitution, and is like a health picture. This health picture shows strengths, weaknesses, disease tendencies, and affinities for certain healing treatments, each according to a planetary sympathy. The personal constitution shows the planetary energies that each of us has the greatest need for, and which are most likely to become imbalanced and cause disease. Understanding the constitution and its needs enables each of us to easily maintain health and vitality at all levels of being. To learn more about our system, products, and work, visit these pages: The articles we wrote for the Philosopher's of Nature newsletter are a very detailed description of our overall system, the planets and levels of being in health, and some approaches to prescribing within the system. Our Spagyric and Alchemical Products website contains descriptions of the three levels of being as they relate to our specific products, as well as a Materia Medica for the herbs that we work with, and links to ordering our Spagyrics. In addition to the physical level of healing work described above, we also make Spagyrics for Energy-based healing of the Spirit level and for Initiatic work with the Soul level of being. |
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