The Rosemary Magistry by Steve Kalec

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Rosemary is a very interesting herb and one of the favorites of the alchemists as it yields allot of oil (volatile sulfur) and so it is an excellent plant to teach and demonstrate the Spagyric methods.

The herb is also very medicinal and its virtues are many, such as being antibacterial and antiviral. It is excellent for enhancing memory and students have been known for using it during exams. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia says, "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance”. It is a Solar plant ruling over the intellect, the heart and the circulatory system. It is a rejuvenating tonic helping in physical fatigue and tiredness, It is quickening in nature. Being Solar it also has the virtues of being warming, expansive, and radiating in energy physically, mentally and psychically. I have done many tests with its spagyric and alchemical preparation. I put two drops of my elixir on the tongue of a friend of mine at work because he insisted. He then realized he was almost late for a meeting as he rushed off. He came bake after the meeting telling me that he was never on top of a meeting as he was just now. He was able to anticipate all their questions and he was ready with all the right answers. His memory was clear and his intellect was quickened. I was instantly relieved as I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, 2

especially at a meeting. However I was not too surprised of his testament, for those were exactly the virtues of Rosemary. One day my son came to visit me and his left eyelid was infected by an insect bite. It was inflamed and looked wicked. He told me he had been using Polysporine but had no effect. I dipped a Q-utip into my elixir and swabbed his eye lid. An hour later the inflammation was gone and by the time he left that same evening his eye was perfectly normal. I have done many other tests on myself for various reasons ranging from fatigue to mental and emotional inharmonies as well as for infections and all were positive in its effects. What is most stunning is the immediate effects and that one or two treatments or applications are always enough. The experiment and work that I conducted on this Rosemary magistry took me two years to complete. The first year I distilled the volatile sulfur, calcined the body for its salt of salts and its salt of sulfur as will be depicted and further explained with the photos inserted below. The salts were leached in distilled water, re-calcined and leached again a total of seven times until they were white as snow. I also distilled my own home made wine for its alcohol which is needed in the elixir. This alcohol was distilled several times until it reached a purity of 98 % alcohol devoid of its phlegm and known from this point as Spiritus Vini of the alchemists and the alchemical Mercury of the vegetable kingdom. In the first years work I had in my possession the three alchemical principles of Sulfur, Mercury and salts, or Soul, spirit and salts of Rosemary. During the second year I worked on the volatilization of the fixed salts of tartar, the very salts I whitened in the first year. The superior quality and alchemical virtues of such salts compared to its common estate will be explained below along with the photos depicting the work. Also the conjunction of the three alchemical principles was achieved as the final steps in the creation of a most wonderful alchemical elixir, which was now the original herb purified of its inhibiting matters and its darkness, elevated in vibrations as its life energy was enhanced, and transformed as its virtues became more noble on a higher order of being. 3

Truly this was a very pleasurable work through which I learned allot on the method of working and mastering the spagyric techniques. I was connected with nature and what purification, cleansing and exaltation transpired in my work were also transposed inwardly into my very being as I found myself within my crucibles, retorts and flask of my experiment. Through resonance and sympathetic attunement with the spagyric and alchemical processes, I became one with my matter. Alchemy is veritably an art, and the persevering alchemist become sensitive to an inner receptiveness. Through such receptiveness, one’s awareness allows that he be cleansed by the work just as his matter is purified during his experiment. I was even baptized seven times in the Jordan River through the leaching and washing of my salts. In this experiment I did not keep records of volumes and weights. I saw no need for it as I allowed the work to just unfold. What I was gong to receive , was what I was going to receive and so I began. I bought a large quantity of Rosemary herb that cost me $70.

An oil separation train was set up. The Rosemary was allowed to be soaked in distilled water over night and was steam distilled using the same water. Although I had a specially made oil separator as per Manfred Junius’s book “Plant Alchemy” . One can easily set up a 4

distillation train and steam distil collecting the oily water and use a funnel separator to separate the oil from the water as the oil always floats on top of water.

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The residue or the depleted body at this point was in need to be calcined. One could also here add to this mass sugar and yeast and allow for a fermentation. By adding water a wine could be made from which the spirit could be distilled as alcohol. However since the vegetable mercury is universal to the vegetable kingdom, and since the vines is the most noble plant of the vegetable kingdom the grape is king, and so grape wine is said by the alchemists to produce the most noble mercury of the vegetable kingdom, and they suggest to use it for all our vegetable works. So I went directly to distilling my own home made wine for the mercury used in this work. I will not be showing the wine distillation in this presentation.

Calcination of the plant body to arrive at the Salt of Salts

Propane gas is a great source of heat, however care must be taken that it not be used indoors because of the carbon monoxide release. I Also like to use Vision Ware products versus metals for calcination. They withstand extreme temperatures without cracking and are none reactive with plants. 6

Calcination can take a long time. Care must be taken not to set alight into flames the body as we would lose allots of the more volatile salts. Slow patient work is virtuous at this point. Once the smoking has stopped and the ashes are grey, they can be taken inside and the work continued on a hot plate. Since the weather was nice I continued outside.

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Calcination of the Salt of Sulfur

After the volatile sulfur (oil) has been distilled, we are left with a very dark tinged water within which is contained an other salt which we need. It is the Salt of Sulfur. These salts are also very soluble and can easily be extracted through Calcination. This Calcination is somewhat more delicate and elaborate. The waters are allowed to cool and are poured off the depleted body into containers. All the tinged water from all the distillations is collected and slowly evaporated before we begin the calcination. Again this is done outside and the fire must be well watched 8

especially when it becomes the consistency of honey and tar as it can easily spill and splatter all over the place.

See short video https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/51631607/Salt%20of%20Sulf ur.wmv 9

The Tar of the Salt of sulfur results into a stone like Lava rock. What is interesting are the beautiful colors that are displayed on its surface. It reminds me of the term used in alchemy as the Peacock’s Tail.

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We now have both our ashes and our volatile sulfur (oil) ready for further purification through water.

The First Order of the Purification

SOLUTIO  Work through the water element

And God caused Such a Great Flood That it destroyed the old world and all that was evil in it.

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Leaching With Water We arrive now at the process we call leaching through water, through which we separate the Caput Mortem (Death Head), that which is the false from the true, to receive our pure white essential salts. We thus cut off the raven’s head and remove the darkness from our matter. We imitate God and cause a great flood.

The insoluble salts that do not dissolve in the water precipitate to the bottom. The soluble salts make salty water which is easily siphoned off the residue below. These residues we are not interested in as they are useless to us in our work and prevent us to whiten our salts. They are considered as the gross, and the darkness in our matter and are not belonging to that which are the essentials. “Separate the Finer from the Gross with great sagacity”. –Hermes__ 12

COAGULA

(Work of the Earth) And when the Sun shone again, the waters receded and a new earth appeared. In the solve stage and through the leaching with water allot of salty water is collected and all this will need to be evaporated for our salts to coagulate and resolve.

After allot of work in dissolving and filtering, we are ready for the coagula. The same procedure is applied to both the Salt of Salts, and the Salt of Sulfur.

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Picture will speak here a thousand words.

Saturation point begins - Salt of Salts - Salts begin to crystallize

Salts resolving

- Salt of Sulfur -

Coagula

Many such hot plates were set up as allot of salty water was waiting to be evaporated. 14

To remove the darkness, the “terra damnata” from our matter is an Art.

The salts were re-calcined and leached seven times to ensure the whitening and purification. This is the canonical way and so it is a Herculean work.

The Cleansing of the Augean stables by Hercules is a work of perfection.

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The Salts of Salt, the Salt of Sulfur and the volatile Sulfur (oil ) are finally presentable as being the purified essentials.

The next stage of this work will be the volatilization of the now purified salts. These salts are known as the most fixed fire proof part of the life principle. We can go on and make a plant stone or an elixir with these matters as they are or we can go one step further towards The Third Order of the Purification and the volatilization of these fixed Alkalies or Salts of Tartar. It is said that John BaptistaVan Helmont, who having pity on the seekers of Art who tried to follow him in the quest of his Alkahest Arcanum as the universal medicine, said … “ If you cannot attain this Arcanum of Fire, meaning “The Alkahest” , (at least) learn then to make the Salt of Tartar Volatile.” Since the Alkahest was extremely difficult, Helmont offered us an alternative, which is this, “the Volatilization of the fixed alkalies”, or the Salt of Tartar. 16

And this is what he said of this work,  __« It is really very astonishing to see all that the tartar salt achieves in itself, because as soon as it is made volatile; it eliminates all the impurities in the vessel. This elimination is clearly seen by any one who would do the work as impurities are truly left behind in the bottom of the retort. The impure cannot rise to heaven. For to the alchemists, the lower half or the inferior level of a vessel belongs to earth while the upper half or the superior level belongs to heaven.

Further purification is clearly seen in this work as the last of the impurities are eliminated and are left behind in the lower half of the vessel just as Helmont has said “because as soon as it is made volatile; it eliminates all the impurities in the vessel”. The clear crystallized salts can be evidently seen as having ascended into the upper half of the vessel and into the beak of the retort. 17

The technique and the process of the volatilization have been kept a secret by the alchemists. At least it never was openly revealed. There is an interesting story of an alchemist by the name of Alexander Von Bernus, the author of Alchemy and Medicine. He had founded Soluna Laboratories where to this day herbal remedies continue to be made there in the tradition of the medical formulations and production methods that he established. At one time he was producing a herbal medication which was labeled that the preparation was including the alchemical volatilized salts of Tartar. His competitors quickly brought him to court for false advertising as scientifically it was known that the fixed salts of tartar could not be volatilized. He argued his claim that it was an alchemical preparation. The judge demanded that he reveal the technique and prove that such was possible. He had lost his case as he, rather than reveal the method openly, decided to keep the secret from being revealed. Of course he had to remove the reference to the alchemical labeling of his preparations. The competitors had great reason to want to silence Von Bernus for they knew well what the alchemical texts presented on the truly amazing virtues of such volatilized salts. Philalethes has expressed that, “If these fire resistant salts are rendered volatile, the power that they acquire renders them to resemble the Great Arcanum and Magisteries in Power. They penetrate into the fourth digestion and dissolve and disperses all clogging. “ Von Bernus himself has said,”they dissolve uric acid and eliminate them. The great iatrochemical doctors treated the calcites and other similar affections exclusively with Volatilized Salts.

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Basilius Valentinus, has written that “Ten or Twelve grains of this Magisterium promotes urine, cleans the blood, drives of dropsy, breaks the bladder stones and helps Podogra which is Gout and Arthritis.” Starskey has explained that ordinary alkali salts are neutralized in the stomach and are destroyed, while the Sulfurs (Oils) being none soluble in water are destructively digested or simply expelled. But if the tartar salt is volatilized and glorified together with its sulfur, it is capable of penetration into the human body, directly into the fourth level of digestion. He meant that it penetrates directly into the blood and vital centers. The Spagyric technique truly maximizes and perfects the healing powers of such volatilized Tartar Salts, cleansing the blood, and acting as an excellent Vitalizing Tonic when made into an elixir.

When these volatilized salts ascend for the third time, they are truly a most beautiful sight, being pristine and in an uncorrupted state as in its original purity, fresh and clean. One can easily imagine how such a work of purification, elevation and spiritualization of matter, must leave a trace within the inner man. How could it be otherwise? As Meister Eckchart has said, “The whole reason of the work rests on that it take place in me. What avails it, if it should not take place in me? ” The Modus Operandus for the volatilization of these salts is belonging to a higher Arcana and I cannot reveal it here openely. Steve Kalec 19