Photos of progress

auggie wrote:

hello AB .. I did my search, what I just read was amazing. could it be that simple ? what other goodies are you hiding.. Auggie

I am not hiding anything. Noone is hiding anything. Nature certainly isn't. If anything is hidden, it's because our own split and limited perception is hiding it from ourselves.

I'm glad my message got through to you, though...

kevinpaw123 wrote:

I can always apply lute around the lid.

I think the lid/cover should be at least somewhat permeable. This is just my opinion. After things I've recently learned, I don't think I'll be using closed systems or high temperatures any time soon

AB wrote:

Meanwhile, I suggest you do some research on Starkey's and Van Helmont's secret "Artificial and Hidden Circulation". This may cause you to completely re-define for yourself the meaning of the words "Hermetically Sealed".

Hi AB, I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction, because I cannot find anything on the internet except "Alchemy Tried in Fire" which seems to be more of a biography.

Yes, and it's this biography where the "Hidden Circulation" is mentioned and explained.

Just google "Van Helmont Hidden circulation" and it will pop right under your nose. I think it's on page 143, but you also need to read around it.

Google... artifical and hidden circulation Van Helmonts then Look in the "Arcanum of the Alkalies" section , between paragraph's 113 & 114 Auggie

Thanks for the info; it's hard to understand but I think I get the jist of it. I will try doing it with a cotton ball lid and lower heats.

Another question I have is, what do you do with the salt after it is melted and stands? The next step it to mix both liquors. So after you dry and calcine the grosser parts you mix it with the liquor and then add the salt and let stand?

I want to try this with sheep sorrel as it is considered to have many spiritual properties and is high in Rhodium and Iridium. Cures cancers too.

These are great posts guys, but hopefully Nick will move this discussion to a thread relating to the melissa path, if that is what it is, I am not following super closely right now, so they can be easily found later.

Thanks for the redirect bluefloor!
The dew method is the main focus of this thread, but the process is so long and I wanted to try something that was quick. I learned to post videos as well while making the Ens so it was a double benefit for me. By the way new photos. Two of the 1st in it's 3rd b/m, one of the 2nd in it's 1st s/b (it may be toast cause it looks like it leaked), and two of the third dew batches. The third is starting to smell strange like it is fermenting. " border="0" alt=""/>" border="0" alt=""/>" border="0" alt=""/>I'm not sure what to do with this second batch that leaked...distill it a couple times and drink it? It probably would offer no benefits though." border="0" alt=""/>" border="0" alt=""/>

The white stuff in the oak bucket looks like fungus or something... Can you confirm if this is so? Do you need to distill it with the fungus, or do you only use the dark water for creating the alkahest?

Jairo
You gave the answer on the 4th page of this thread! As to the dark water (Dew/Thunderstorm Rainwater) it is evolving on it's own probably reacting with the gur and the oak bucket. Something significant seems to be happening!

That was taken from the book Real Alchemy...
But I have never seen it with my own eyes..
but from the pictures it looks like miselium/fungus growth..
So that got me thinking.. is the key to a successful elixir really just a fungus?
That is why I asked...
hmm... who knows.. may be it contains the same stuff found in magic mushrooms.. which would then explains "the heavens opening up" and all the things the alchemists were seeing and hearing...

Sorry jairo
I thought you knew. I hope the photos help you and others if you use this method. You can see how the gur is evolving if you click back to page 4 and then again back to this page.
Joy to all and Love the work!

Hi Kevin

Great progress !

Was the lid on the crock pot while boiling?

Yes

Dear Kevin,
I think that you should find a glass vase or jar or flask with a glass stopper.
Anyway I like to remember you all that you can use other herbs as well, not only the Balm/Melissa that, anyway, is the best choice becuase of its wonderful effect on heart, breath and melancoly.
But you can use in the same way Virga Aurea, Mint, Rosmary, Eufrasia etc...
Having more "soul" or Sulfur doesn't mean only "smell", like Chamomille or Bay for instance, but the possibility to produce essential oil in large amount...
I'll start this weekend with Virga Aurea, and I'll post.
I heard a lot of people, Nick too, that produced nothing with the only Bartlett recipe, everybody having, more or less, problems of separation or coloring.
I'll study a lot about it .

Zosimo

"hidden circulation" how to prepare the Legendary, full strength Primum Ens Melissa... re-discovered by alchemist Starkey and given to us by {AB} this is my interpertation so it may need tweaking.. Take any plant material ( in this case Melissa) (1) Purchase or steam distill some essential oil from the fresh plant & set it aside.. (2) Purchase or dry a large batch of plant leaf & powder it.. (3) Take a portion of this dried leaf powder and calcine / burn it into a white ash.. (4) Mix all three together.. the essential oil / powdered leaf / white ash into a paste do not add water.. (5) Expose this paste to the open air for 2 months protected from direct sunlight, dust & insects with a cloth..(6) This entire mass will be changed by mother nature naturally into a Volatile Salt called.. Elixir (7) Take this volatile salt mass and dissolve it into a weak spirit of wine.. (8)Then filter it and discard the filter and the mass that wouldnt pass through it..(9) Then distill off the filtered wine spirit into the receiver (10) The dry salt left over in the condensor is the Legendary Ens Melissa.. But in this case it will be a powder and be dispensed in grains instead of drops and could even be made into pill form to be dissolved in a glass of white wine.. did i get it right {AB} ? Auggie

Hi Auggie -

I can't really comment on your interpretation, because I've chosen to focus my attention on the more standardized method, the one that Starkey recommends most - the one using his standardized Plant Alkahest made from readily available Potassium Carbonate and Oil of Terebinth (via the hidden Circulation), which is then used to extract the Essence of any chosen plant without the need to break it up into its Salts and essential Oils. The method I'm refering to (the one that Starkey recommends) is the third and last variation of his process, which you can find towards the end of page 149 in the book.

Melissa (Lemon Balm) is notoriously poor in essential oil, and it takes huge plant volumes to make very little oil - and you are likely to pay around 200 $ for an ounce of this oil.

Starkey's third variation with his standardized Alkahest seams much cheaper and less time consuming.

ENS PRIMUM MELISSA........Creating an inexpensive Extracting solvent by combining Potassium Carbonate and Pure natural pine turpentine into an Elixir of Volatile salt... Which can then be used to isolate & glorify the Sulphur from any herb... Melissa.... To make the Elixir Solvent & ultimately Ens Primum,Melissa do the following : (1) Combine cheap Potassium Carbonate and natural pine Turpentine into a paste. Expose this paste to the open air for 2 weeks protected from direct sunlight & covered with a cloth.. (2) Dissolve this paste in a dilute, approx. 35% Spirit of wine.. (3) This will create a powerful Extracting Solvent.. (4) Digest your powdered herb in this solvent for a while..(5) Filter the plant mass out of your solvent extract.. (6) Evaporate the filtered extract (7) This will leave behind colored crystals..( Treat these crystals with 190 proof spirit of wine or concentrated Ethanol.. This concentrated spirit of wine will capture the Sulphur , or (vital fire) of Melissa (9) Evaporate one last time to remove the concentrated spirit of wine.. Leaveing behind the Pure .. ENS MELISSA.... did i get it right this time ? {AB} Auggie

It appears to be correct, except I think he dissolved, filtered and dried the conjoined paste into a salt before before dissolving it again in dilluted spirit of wine to make the solvent.
(I can only assume it was for purification purposes, and it's somewhere in the book).

Besides that, maybe you should also try a version using the fresh plant...

Also, if I recall, it took him quite a bit longer than 2 weeks to conjoin the Potassium Carbonate with the Oil of Terebinth.

One more correction: You must first separate the 190 proof spirit from the colored crystals before evaporating it.

Personally, I am curently much more interested in working with the red crystals which are the Universal Alkahest made from our Philosophical Water (via same circulation) - much quicker to marry/conjoin, and good for all three Kingdoms, not only plants. Should I work with Melissa again, I will certainly use the Universal Alkahest, and not the one from Salt of Tartar and Oil of Terebinth.

In my opinion, the important dicovery to focus on here is not this particular plant Alkahest, but the Hidden Circulation which appears (to me) to be one of the major keys that the Philosophers never plainly revealed. However, if your main present focus is to work with Melissa, then Starkey's "Elixir of Volatile Salt" will probably do just fine (-:

Good Luck ! ! !

Thanx again (AB) for going over my recipe.. and your suggestions to dissolve filter evaporate after exposing the paste to 2 weeks or 2 months of hidden circulation.. Fresh plant matter is a good idea although I only have grown about 1 lb. of leaf so I will be forced to throw in some dried leaf too...And yes absolutely the "Hidden Circulation" is the Key to every thing and the whole point of your thread and a new direction in Alchemy.. I also understand why your more interested in the Philosophical water ( red crystals) and i would be too if was as far along as you.. I promise I will quit bugging you, As I was just excited by what you showed us.. Although the Silence from the other members is quite deafening and confusing... take care good friend and good luck

It can be frustrating to feel like you are not making a lot of progress but combined we are making a lot of progress as long as we continue to share our results. I think the reason people aren't sharing their thoughts is because there are a lot of novice alchemists that really don't have an opinion to give. When the book comes out I hope that many of us will gain a better understanding as to the workings of how to make the alkahest, and bring about many new ideas to the work. An alkahest of any sort is worth experimenting with even though your results may not have been as successful as another's you will have gained knowledge the other did not , which in and of itself is a great gift. As long as we are diligent in studying and experimenting we will continue to grow, and those that wish to be nothing more than knowledge leaches will never truly appreciate this gift. I don't even have my distillation setup yet (way too broke) so I study about an hour a day, just so I can progress.

I wanted to add something about Starkey's "artificial and hidden circulation". I understand that the "hidden" refers to open air, but what is the "artificial"? There is nothing artificial about exposure to open air. I think there is still something missing. Some thoughts come to mind, perhaps a forced air circulatory system, some sort of automatic mixer, or including the use of a pelican. Any thoughts? I think that he may not only be referring to open air, but taking it one step further by assisting air circulation within the vessel.

Hi Goatz -

Philosophers often speak in opposites.

'Hidden' means 'Exposed' and 'Artificial' means 'Natural'. Yes, it's as simple as that.
It's our tendency to complicate things that keeps us away from the true works of nature.

It is even possible to open metallic gold and make it into a Stone by simply adding it to the mixture while making your Alkahest of red crystals from our Philosophical Water, via this "Hidden and Artificial" circulation, with no need for high temperature torches and crucibles. The gentle heat of a summers day is enough to perform the Work.

My suggestion is to keep it simple. Set the stage, plant your Seed and let Nature do the rest.

This is the way I see it (-:

There are some serious inherent difficulties in translating the text to a way we can understand. I see what you are talking about AB, and it does make sense now.

Nice work AB. This is very exciting that you have obtained crystals. I am following what you have done and have set two glass jars with our Water, already Crude, outside covered from the sun with just a light cloth over the opening. The weather has cooled just a bit. It is not getting quite as hot in the days and is getting pretty cold at night, but we will see what happens after 10 or 12 days. I am wondering if your mixture completely dried out, and if so would it have been easy to get the bare crystals that we need for our work? I know you said your work left "only crystals" but it seems there would be other material in there too. I don't think I have quite the heat here righ now to comletely dry it out, we will see. I just ordered some pyrex tubing that I am going to try to bend into a condenser setup so I can follow the distillation path of making the crystals. But again, if you have had results then you have found something very exciting. Hopefully soon I will have some results, if not by this open method, then by distillation. Best wishes with you work.