ʘ 6° 3’ ♑ ☾2°51’♎ A°IV.˙.XVIII
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Abstract:
Soda ash, or salt of tartar, is an important element in vegetable alchemy. Particularly, it is useful as a precursor for the preparation of the Ens Tincture. In the following procedure, crude soda ash was extracted from a mixture cedar and oak ashes with water. The particular focus of this work was to discover an optimal ratio of Wood Ash to Water in the extraction procedure.
Materials:
Lab glass was purchased from Laboy (BaoDing, China). A total of 70 g of wood ash was taken from the fireplace at home in three samples. Test pH strips were purchased from Online Science Mall (Pinson, AL).
Methods:
Three representative samples of mixed ash were taken from the fireplace. From this, three separate dilutions of ash/water were prepared (see table 1). Each sample was allowed to macerate for 45 minutes at approximately 22° C (room temperature). Every 15 minutes, each sample was thoroughly agitated. At the end of the 45 minute time-cycle each sample was filtered under vacuum with a Buchner filtration apparatus. The pH of each solution was checked so that it could be compared to the dehydrated product.
Table 1:
Each sample was distilled, using a fractionating column, at 100° C until ˜5 mL remained in the mash pot. The resulting solution was checked for pH, then placed on a small glass saucer and baked at 70° C until dry.
Results:
Each sample collected yielded a yellowish-white crystalline residue. All of the 5 mL solutions which resulted from fractional distillation were extremely caustic, with a pH of 14. As the ratio of ash:water increased across samples, the product output also increased (see table 2, along with fig. 1).
Figure 1:
Table 2:
Be that as it may the efficiency of the extraction procedure markedly decreased as the ash:water ratio increased. Furthermore, it seems like there as an inverse relationship between the ash:water ratio and the yield:ash ratio (see fig. 2).
Fig. 2:
Discussion:
Given the change in extraction efficiency across ash:water ratios, it seems that a much greater yield overall could be achieved my maintaining lower ratios during extraction procedures. That being said, more research could be done in this area, not only from an alchemical perspective, but also from a chemical perspective.
As for the mechanism of this phenomenon, I can only speculate. One likely answer to this problem would be that the extraction efficiency is highly dependent upon collision theory. The probability that soda ash will be leached increases with higher volumes of water. The water used could, perhaps, be recycled for further extractions.
Appendix:
Soda ash, or salt of tartar, has a wide variety of uses in alchemy. Its primary constituent is potassium carbonate, a strong base and essential soil nutrient. If left in the open air, It can absorb up to one equal proportion (by weight) of water ("Potassium Carbonate" Merck Index. 14th ed.). In the modern alchemystical tradition, this phenomenon is called deliquescence. According to the text, Real Alchemy, deliquescence should be performed after the vernal equinox, because the influence of Aries is strongest at that time (Bartlett, Robert Allen. 2009). The nature of this particular work is an alchemical incursion upon archaic Greek Myth. Along these lines, this soda ash will be used to collect the influence of Zeus during the next coming storm. Be sure to stay tuned for my work along these lines and others.
Lastly, it should be stated that there is a moral lesson to be learned in this experiment. The alchemist’s claim is that it is his task to accelerate the perfection of nature. If the alchemist truly cares about the beauteous perfection of nature, then he will also be concerned with efficiency. This means that a minimum of nature’s bounty is being cast off with the detritus of the work.
Love is the law, love under will.
Works Cited:
Bartlett, Robert. Real Alchemy: a primer of practical alchemy. Lake Worth: Ibis Press, 2009.
NIST. Merk Index, 14th ed. 2006.
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