“Once a disease has entered the body, all parts which are healthy must fight it: not one alone, but all, because a disease might mean their common death. Nature knows this; and Nature attacks the disease with whatever help she can muster.” PARACELSUS
I am fully persuaded that Plant Alchemy preparations will prove to be the 21st century’s preferred medicine track over pharmaceuticals — for those open-minded ones that want and need natural healing. The art of Plant Alchemy is as fraught with mainstream accusations of quackery as that of the natural health, alternative education and free energy fields. And there may be good reasons for this. For example, alchemical drawings can be mind-boggling if you are uninformed. Picture a painting of miners with picks and shovels digging for gold. On the surface this may look like miners digging for gold but the Alchemist meant it to represent the search for the finer traits of the character/personality that are hidden or buried under material burdens. There are countless ‘weird’ paintings from the Alchemists of history that have been misconstrued as demonic or depraved.
My journey with plant medicine has been circuitous since the 1970s. At times, I’ve had to take long breaks from the work, sometimes years. But each time I’ve come back to it I have new understandings. Returning to my love of Nature, it brings me the greatest joy to share my new/old venture with you, my reader friend.
In Plant Alchemy, the Alchemist works with the Plant Kingdom in a process of separating, purifying and recombining the matter, consciousness and energy of the plant to release its Quintessence, or full curative power. The results are synergistic and the electrical potential much more in line with the electricity of the human body than synthetic drugs which isolate chemicals. In the end, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.*
Matthew Wood writes:
If you are just beginning your journey with plant alchemy you will need to do a great degree of research and meditation. Alchemy has an initiatory process that is so personal, you won’t find much about it on the Internet; this is your very own Divine invitation to touch the stars!
An initiation of sorts for me began around 1994-5 when I signed up for a Spagyrics* class in Hawthorne Valley, N.Y. An herbalist and Nature lover from way back in my childhood, I was awestruck with this new information. I began taking my walks with my inner deep eyes wide open for the first time, and I saw new things. I saw patterns. I saw the formative forces assisting new growth after a long winter. I saw colors and the purest light. I saw, with my inner eyes, the possibility of true healing and knew there were very great and valuable secrets waiting to be revealed. I was immensely grateful to my teachers Kenyon Raku and Naomi Call, and volunteered for their call for a Spiritual Gardener: to work in their beautiful but overgrown gardens.
I have since been to Findhorn twice and had a Sacred Garden of my own in 2012 where I led a community effort in making flower essences:
The ancient alchemical literature is very difficult, and although I’m thrilled there are a few contemporary authors, alchemy still resides heavily in obscurity. So, the way I am presenting information here is by doing my best research and using my own discernment to intelligently present it. I will mention names, books/writings and other references where possible.
I cannot apologize for any mistakes in the material at this stage (other than a missed typo or two). The lab effort consists of experiments and mistakes are bound to be the case in the journey. Corrections will be made by and by.
I do, however, apologize for the inability to explain everything I have learned. The reader will no doubt come across something that will spark a need to know more. Countless days and nights toggling pages on the internet may result, which can be daunting, but stick with it and you’ll be rewarded.
*Spagyrics is the term used for the practice of plant alchemy in the laboratory, whereby the healing substances of the plant are separated, purified (changed) and recombined into a stronger medicine than the original plant (as an infusion or decoction). Spagyrists attain this effect through several phases but basically the terms used are 1) separation, 2) purification and 3) cohobation (recombined product).