Merryweather’s Apothecary                          



Spagyrics are one of the primary alchemical techniques for making herbal remedies. They are made like standard tinctures but with a few extra and quite laborious steps. 

The first is the use of astrological timing. Every herb is considered to have a planetary ruler. Nettle, for example, is ruled by the planet Mars. To make a nettle spagyric, one might begin macerating the herb on a Tuesday (the day ruled by Mars), just after sunrise, when Mars is transiting the sign of Capricorn, where it is considered to be exalted — this would be an appropriate time to capture the strongest Martian energy. 


 The second consideration is the calcination of plant matter. A typical tincture is made by macerating herbs in alcohol for a period of time — weeks, ideally months. The alcohol is then strained, and what’s left is a standard tincture. To make a spagyric, an additional step is taken here: once the alcohol is separated from the plant matter, that plant matter is then calcined, i.e. burned into a pure white ash. 

In our case, we use a kiln, though it can be done over an open fire as well. This ash is then distilled and purified several more times until it becomes crystalline in form, resulting in what are called the plant salts. These plants salts are then added back into the original tincture. 

The result is a spagyric. Spagyrics are much more potent than standard herbal tinctures: a few drops of a spagyric is often as strong as an entire dropper-full of a standard tincture. They work on more levels than just the physical body, creating longer-lasting effects in the process. With spagyrics, it’s best to begin slowly, allowing the healing to work over time and the subtler effects to take place, rather than trying to force it; proper healing takes patience and has much to teach us. 

Check out our available spagyrics here. 


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