The Green Lion and Vitriol.

Caveat

    Please read the previous article, Ora et Labora: Introductio, before attempting to perform any of these works! 

This is the beginning of the disclaimer. 

The author assumes no personal responsibility for any accidents or harm that may come to any individual (or their property) who attempts to work with the procedures listed below. By reading past this disclaimer, you (the reader) agree that, if you in any way perform with the experiments listed below, you do so at your own risk. 

This is the end of the disclaimer.  

Introduction

     So much of the symbolism of Alchemy is lost to modern thinkers. With the rising popularity of Hermeticism came so many arguments about whether Alchemy was a chemical philosophy, or an operative process. I shall state here, for all posterity, that for most Alchemists, the distinction would have been nothing else but a doppelganger. Although certain alchemists, such as Zosimos of Panopolis, were primarily contemplative in their use of the exoteric symbols of alchemy (Linden). For most the the division between the sacred and the profane was not as clear cut as it is to us today. Metals changed color according to the power of celestial virtues, the natural putrefaction of animal and vegetable matter occurred by virtue of the ubiquitous pneuma settling upon them (Madigan, Martinko, et al). According to Avicenna, the fusion of metals was proof of the al ishaq, or divine love between them (Eliade).

     I ask you this: Why cannot we produce copper sulphate by way of reacting clean copper with conc. Sulfuric Acid with a Hydrogen Peroxide workup and call it alchemy? It is because the transformation of the metals were not only proofs, but reenactments of divine truths. Without the passion, death and resurrection of copper, we are lost. The copper needs to die by fire, be transfigured in the mercurial waters (be spiritualized), and be coagulated as the as the young green lion—solve et coagula.

      In this article, I shall reveal to you operative alchemy and how it demonstrates the efficacy of certain philosophical truths.  

The Green Lion

     The Green Lion first undergoes the process of putrefaction by way of fire in a salt bath. According to The Perfection of Metals, "The Salt takes out the excess humidities and sulphuriety of the metal"(Geber). Take your copper and bathe it in salt water until clean. Dry your copper, then place it in a crucible which has salt in its bed. When you heat it with a hot flame, a black crust will begin to form after a few hours of calcination. After this happens, carefully remove your copper pieces and place them into a small glass beaker. Shake the contents vigorously, so the the blackness sheds off of your copper. Take the solid pieces and repeat the process until all is rendered black. This is your nigredo phase; it is the death of the metal.

     Take two small beakers and place your powder into one beaker and charge the other with distilled vinegar (mercurial water). Place the black matter upon a heating mantle at 70° C. Gently drop mercurial water over the black matter until it is just wet. As it drys out, you should begin to notice a slight green film forming at the bottom—the chase begins! Let the black matter cool, then pour the entire contents of the mercurial water flask onto the black matter. Your Green Lion will dissolve in the mercurial water, while the black matter will not. Decant the mercurial water off and re-heat the wet black matter. Repeat the process until most or all of this matter has dissolved in the mercurial water.

     Allow the mercurial water to slowly evaporate and the Green Lion will emerge as bright verdigris crystals after the period of a few weeks. 

     I think the Green Lion is the subject in question for several reasons. According to George Ripley:

Take the green lion without dissolution in vinegar, (as sometimes the custom is) put it in a large earthen retort, which can endure the fire, and distil it the same way as you distil aqua fortis, putting a receiver under it, and luting the joints well, that it may not respire:—then distil first with a gentle fire, till you see white fumes appear, then change
the receiver, stopping it well, and distil with a great fire so, as aqua fortis is distilled, thus continuing twenty-four hours, and if you continue the fire the space of eight days, you will see the receiver always full of white fumes, and so you will have the blood of the green lion, which we call secret water, and acetum acerrimum, by which ail bodies are reduced to their first matter, and the body of man preserved from all infirmities. (312)

So, according to Ripley, the "acetum acerrimum" or "sharp vinegar" is obtained from our Green Lion. Also, when copper oxide is reacted with strong vinegar in the presence of heat, it turns a resplendent verdigris color. Contrary to popular thought, the Green lion is not an unintelligible ubiquitous curio lost to the ages, but something the alchemist may still work with.

      Sharp vinegar is used in the preparation of the white tincture (ibid). Evylyn Underhill in her seminal work, Mysticism, has a great many insights to add to the subject. I shall cite her at length:

     Perhaps the quaintest and most celebrated of all these allegories is that which describes the quest of the philosopher's stone as "The Hunting of the Green Lion." The Green Lion, though few would divine it, is the first matter of the Great Work: hence, in spiritual alchemy, natural man in his wholeness—Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury in their crude state. He is called green because, seen from the transcendent standpoint, he is still unripe, hid latent powers undeveloped; and a lion because of his strength, fierceness, and virility. Here the common opinion that a pious effeminacy, a diluted and amiable spirituality, is the proper raw material of the mystic life, is emphatically contradicted. It is not by education of the lamb, but by hunting and taming of the wild intractable lion, instinct with vitality, full of ardure and courage, exhibiting heroic qualities on the sensual plane, that the Great Work is achieved. The lives of the saints enforce the same law. 

"Our lyon wanting maturitie
Is called greene for its unripeness trust me:
And yet full quickly he can run,
And soon can overtake the Sun."

     The Green Lion, then, in his strength and wholeness is the only creature potentially able to attain Perfection. It needs the adoption and purification of all the wealth and resources of man's nature, not merely the encouragement of his transcendental tastes, if he is to "overtake the Sun" and achieve the Great Work. The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by violence, not by amiable aspiration. "The Green Lion," says one alchemist, "is the priest by whom Sol and Luna are wed." In other words, the raw stuff of the indomitable of the alchemist, the transmuting process, is therefore described as hunting the Green Lion through the forest of the sensual world. He, like the Hound of Heaven, is on a love chase down the nights and down the days.

      When the lion is caught, when Destiny overtakes it, its head must be cut off as a preliminary to the taming process. This is what is called by the alchemists "The Head of the Raven," the crow, or the Vulture for its blackness. (104)

     Moving through the sensual world to capture the Green Lion should have obvious meaning to any magician or alchemist. Copper is the metal of Venus, who rules Taurus, whose realm is the sensual. It also refers to the physical aspect of raw and putrefied copper; The Green Lion, the spiritualized and coagulated powder. 

     It's important to note the reference to the role the Green Lion plays in the marriage of Sol and Luna. In fact, this is only half of the formula. The acetum acerrimum, as is stated by Ripley, produces the white tincture; philosophical oil (oil of vitriol) is used for the red(314ff). The decapitation of the lion is none other than its rectification. As the white spiritualized vapor of the lion is collected, the body undergoes the process of the Raven's Head. From this point, the Green Lion may be hunted yet again by adding more Mercurial Water. The addition of the mercurial water is the equivalent to re-breathing the spirit of life back into the body of death; the exhalation of the Green Lion, the liberation of that spirit.

Vitriol

   We begin with the death of Venus, or copper by fire as was performed above. Instead of imbibing it with Mercurial Waters, honer it with liquid Sulphur (dilute Sulfuric Acid). Set it on a mild heat and allow it to dissolve completely. It will be evident that this has happened when the solution becomes a dark blue color. 

     After this has been accomplished, allow your solution to slowly coagulate over the period of several weeks and large crystals will begin forming.

                                                      Vitriol coagulating in solution.

     The acrostic V.I.T.R.I.O.L., or Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem, is translated roughly as "Visit the interior of the Earth and by rectification thou shalt discover the hidden stone." This is simply an admonition for how one aught use this material. By rectification, you will obtain the Mercurial Oil (conc. Sulfuric acid), which is used in the preparation of the red tincture (idem).

Conclusion

    The transfiguration of metals is not mere allegory in most cases, but an operative process that confirms certain philosophical truths. In the two procedures given above, we explored the life, death, and resurrection of Venus. The calcination lead to the death, or nigredo, phase of Venus. The dissolution of the metal was its spiritualization, and the coagulation is the resurrection. That is to say that the fist phase of the work is to make all water, as it were, then take the sudtilized copper and bring it back to the material realm, but in a new and spiritually exalted sense.

     The process I'm describing is commonly referred to with the adage, "Solve et Coagula," or dissolve and coagulate. Death is not the end of anything, but rather, it represents the death of excesses in the body, so that the seed of your being may be liberated and a new spiritual being may arise at the other end of the work. 

      

Works Cited:
Anon. The Lives of the Alchemystical Philosophers: The Philosophers Mercury, by George Ripley. London: Macdonald and Son, 1815. PDF.


Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible. Trans. Stephen Corrin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978. Print.

Geber.  Investigation, or Search of Perfection. Trans. Richard Russel. London, 1696. PDF.

Linden, Stanton J. The Alchemy Reader. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print.

Michael T. Madigan, John M. Martinko, Paul V. Dunlap, and David P. Clark. Biology of Microorganisms, 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2006. Print.

Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism.Stilwel, KS: Digireads, 2005. Print.

  

Ora et Labora: Intoductio.

Caveat: [This entry does not claim to fully encompass all lab safety protocol according to OSHA, NIOSH, EPA, or any other government or academic institution. This blog entry is a list of recommendations for lab safety protocol, as the author remembers it from his experiences as a student of lab sciences at The Evergreen State college. Along these lines, the author does not claim to represent The Evergreen State College in any official capacity.]

In this entry, I will present a vast purview of information concerning basic laboratory procedures that should be of interest to the laboratory alchemist or the perfumer. Along these lines, the information I will impart will not be of a mystical nature. Instead, I will do my best to impart what I have learned from my own experiences both within Evergreen Lab Science Programs and at home.

1. Constructing a plan of action: Have a vision, construct a hypothesis (and possible controls, depending on the nature of the work), and design your project before you practice it. Do not let anyone convince you to run into your lab with intuition as your guide. There is nothing more tragic than seeing a good aspirant injure themselves in the name of spiritual discovery.

• Do background research. Make sure to research, not only in how-to manuals, but also journals which contain a discussion of the specific materials, methods, and results of the experiment in question. Look for any problems that are commonly noted in the journals. For example: steam injections are more efficient when run at lower temperatures with a low-flow-rate; an overabundance of water causes the polar fraction of the extract to be lost in the water layer. 

• Once you have done your background research, begin designing your procedure, making sure that you take note of all of the materials you need. It's usually a good idea to make sure that you have an excess of the materials you need, in case something goes wrong.


• The lab notebook should be a composition notebook (see legal section below). Be sure to write up your procedure along with a flowchart. All observations, procedures, and results should be kept in the lab notebook.

2. The aspirant needs to be aware of the properties of the materials they are working with: There are a wide variety of resources the aspirant can take advantage of. For certain labs, this will be legally mandated.  Lets assume that you are a perfumer, who has designed a soxhlet extraction procedure for lavender.

• Use a Merck Index (preferably 14 ed. or newer)*.  Under the entry "lavender" we find: Cinstit. volatile oil (1-3%), tanins, coumarin, umbelliferoneherniarin, flavonoids. Under the "Lavender Oil" entry, we find: Constit. complex mixture of components, chiefly linool (20-50%), linalyl acetate (30-40%), terpinen-4-ol, lavendulyl acetate, lavendulol.  The individual properties of each of these compounds can be looked up fairly easily.

• Material Data Safety Sheets (MSDS): Be sure to familiarize yourself with the MSDS for all of the compounds you're working with (including alcohol) and keep them on file--you only have to print them out once. MSDS sheets can be obtained from a wide variety of sources. The two primary sources I use are J.T. Baker (http://www.jtbaker.com/europe/msds/) and Sigma Aldrich (http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/safety-center/msds-search.html). Be sure to take note of HMIS ratings, along with the reactivity of each compound, and the safety equipment necessary (see lab safety below).


• Other toxicology sources may be insightful. Journals may be found on ToxNet (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/index.html), Science Direct (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), Google Scholar, and The National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/). A great deal of new research is going into natural medicinals that could be of great use to you in your perfumery/alchemical endeavors. For example: "Lavender effects dopamine receptor expression in the olfactory bulb of mice" (Younghee Kim, et al. 2009).


• Online Databases. The two following sources will prove invaluable to you in your search from chemical structures and properties: Chem Spider (http://www.chemspider.com/), and Chem ID Advanced (http://chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/).

3. Lab Safety: The Evergreen State College has a good lab safety manual (http://academic.evergreen.edu/groups/labstores/lab_safety_manual.pdf).

• Appropriate Glass: Be sure to use Borosilicate glass (e.g. brand names Pyrex, or Kymax, or LaBoy). Many of the safety measure listed below will be fruitless without the proper equipment.

• Ventilation: Make sure that you either have a new fume hood, or an open window close to your workbench. If you're working with Mercury or explosive metals (such as would be the case in alchemy) only use a new fume hood. Fume hoods are very expensive and hard to come by for a variety of reasons. Caution! Do NOT buy a used fume hood, unless it has been cleaned and re-certified up to NIH/NIOSH standards. 


• Wear Appropriate Gloves: leather, silk, cotton, or any other absorbent materials are not appropriate for handling organic materials. When dealing with hot flasks, always use the appropriate lab tongs. Latex is never an appropriate material, as many organic solvents (such as acetone) will readily dissolve latex. The Lab safety manual states, "[W]hen in doubt, polypropylene is proper."  Polypropylene, Nitrile, and PVC gloves work well for handling a variety of reagents. Be sure to look in the lab safety manual, or your MSDS for clues as to the correct gloves to wear. Wear your gloves as a second layer of skin. Do not think that the gloves serve as an indefinite protection against all harm. Do not wear your gloves outside your work area to prevent contamination of doorknobs, food, or other items.


• Eye glasses: make sure that you wear good goggles while you work. Most hardware store sell good polypropylene or PVC goggles that provide good splash protection.


• Lab Coat: cotton is always better. Cotton lab coats are incredibly more expensive, but the are more resistant to fire. The lab coat is great because, in the event of a spill, the lab coat can be readily torn off and thrown in a waste basket.

• Hygiene: a lab assistant at Evergreen once said, "[I]f you wash your hands before you go to the bathroom, you know you're a chemist." Most wise words for us as well. 
• Hair and dangleys: be sure to pull your hair back. Do not wear loose clothing.
• Spills: refer to your MSDS. Also, it is really nice to have a beaker of vinegar, or dilute sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) handy when dealing with strong acids and bases. 
• Dilutions: Alchemists deal with strong acids and bases quite frequently. MSDS sheets are your best friend. Make sure you look in an appropriate manual before preparing dilutions of substances such as Sulfuric Acid (Oil of Vitriol), as it can cause water to boil explosively. 
• Closed-toed shoes: be sure to wear close-toed shoes in case of a spill.  No sandals or tennis shoes. I wear polypropylene tipped shoes that I purchased for $20.00 at K-Mart. ;-)
• Fire Extinguisher: Use a type-2 chemical fire extinguisher, unless directed otherwise by the MSDS. 
• Phone: have a phone readily available, so that the fire dept. can be called if there is serious emergency.
• Try not to work alone: as an independent alchemist, it isn't always easy to work with a partner. That not withstanding, it should be something that the aspirant is ready to adopt, when the time is right. Above all, someone should be aware of what your activities are, so that in case of an emergency, you are not on your own.

 4. Legal: be sure that your equipment is legal and that you have all of the appropriate certifications for the work at hand. You may be surprised as to how easily some of these certifications can be obtained.

•  Research protection: The lab notebook serves as your virtual witness. If your experiences are properly recorded, the lab notebook stands as a legal escutcheon should anyone try to claim your work.  Its good to have each procedure signed and dated with a witness. Never rip any pages from the notebook, as this de-validates everything that is written therein. Instead, cross incorrect entry with a single strike through.

• Alcohol Distillation: this is illegal under federal law. However, a license can be obtained through the federal Dept. of Alcohol, tobacco, and Fire Arms for the purposes of fuel supplementation.

• Class 2 and 5 permits: I do not distill my own alcohol. What I do instead, is purchase a Class 2 permit from the Washington State Liquor Control Board. This allows me to purchase 5 gallons of 95% alcohol for the purposes of extracting odoriferous resins and for the preparation of tinctures. 


• Be sure that you're in compliance with the Controlled Substances Act. Simply because it is on sale on the internet does not make it legal. I'm not trying to harp on you. I'm merely saying that it would be sad to see a good aspirant do jail time or have to pay heavy fines for their pursuit of knowledge. Be aware of the Analogue Act. Analogues of controlled substances may, or may not be illegal.


• EPA regulations: please be sure that any emissions that you let off are minimal. Be sure to check both your MSDS sheet and the EPA website for proper disposal and handling of wastes, such as lead acetate.

Lab safety is not always the most exciting thing to read about on your weekend off from work. However, for some of us, the alchemy lab is just as much a part of our daily lives as taking a shower is. That being the case, it an sometimes be easy for us to get lost in the mysticism and the mos maiorum of the practice. 

*The Merck Index is a good source for technical abbreviations, such as mp, bp 760, and mol wt.

It is also a good reference for checking the validity of other people's research.

work cited:

-Younghee Kim, et al. Effect of lavender oil on motor function and dopamine receptor expression in the olfactory bulb of mice 2009 Department of Public Health, Keimyung University, Taegu 704-701, Republic of Korea)

Accelerating Natures Progress with Efficiency

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. 

Production of vitreous Abramelin Incense

Abstract:

                Incense making, as it is used in modern magick, owes its practice to traditional techniques. This work covers a novel production of the fragrance, Incense of Abramelin. This product is typically constituted of the resins of frankincense, storax, and lignum aloes. These resins are compounded in a ratio of 4:2:1 by weight. Other methods include the use of a binding agent, such as Benzoin or Gum Arabic, along with the powders of these plants.

                In this procedure, the fragrances were extracted from their corresponding resins in an exhaustive Soxhlet extraction using a 95% alcoholic solvent system. After the extraction, the alcohol was distilled via fractional distillation.

               The resulting resin was a solid at room temperature. This phenomenon is somewhat unique for this traditional incense, as the primary active constituent of frankincense is β-Boswelic Acid—a sterol that has a melting point of 120°C ("Merk Index"). The result was a much more concentrated preparation of Incense of Abramelin, having a lower melting point than many raw resins.


Materials:

              Lab Glassware was purchased from LABOY (BaoDing, China). Styrax, Wood Aloes, and Frankincense were obtained from Isis Books (Englewood, CO). The Ever Clear was purchase from the Washington State Liquor Control Board (Olympia, WA).


Methods:

                The herbs (8 g. Frankincense, 4 g. Styrax, and 2 g. Wood Aloes) were charged into a 50 mL soxhlet extraction chamber. The digestion flask was charged with 100 mL of 95% alcohol such that there was enough alcohol to fill the extraction chamber of the soxhlet extractor twice.

               The exhaustive soxhlet extraction was initiated on the 18th day of Luna[1], lasting four Lunar days. On the 22nd  day of Luna, the Caput Mortuum was dried and weighed to determine the change in weight of the incense.

              Alcohol was removed via fractional distillation at 85°C.  The product was weighed. Its weight was compared to the difference in weight of the incense and Caput Mortuum.


Results:

                The Caput Mortuum weighed 4 grams. The relative difference between the Caput Mortuum and the raw resins was 71.45

                The weight of the product was 5 grams. The difference between the weight difference of the raw herb and Caput Mortuum, and the product weight was 50%. It appeared as a vitreous, translucent brown.

                                          figure 1

Discussion:

                The morphology of the product appeared as was predicted, as a vitreous, transparent golden-brown color. Upon burning upon charcoal, it instantly vaporized to produce the characteristic smell of Abramelin Incense; however, there seemed to be an overabundance of the Benzoin smell.

                If 0.5 grams of the incense was burned at lower temperatures, using an alcohol lamp or heating mantle, it would produce a thin line of smoke, along with the characteristic smell for 45 minutes.

                The yield was unexpectedly low (only 50%). Upon inspecting the soxhlet extractor, I noticed that there was a small fissure in the snorkel. It is likely that some of the extractives could have volatilized away through the fissure.  Future experiments will work towards minimizing the loss of product.


Appendix:

                Abramelin incense first appeared in text, as such, in the MS. The Sacred Magick of Abramelin the Mage, found in the Bibliotheque de l’Arsenal. The recipe, as given in S.L. Mathers’ translation, goes thus:


“Incense in tears[2] one part; of stacte[3] a half part; of lign aloes one fourth; and if not being able to get this wood you shall take that of cedar, rose, or of citron, or some other odiferous wood.” (The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage)


         According to another source, the recipe calls for four parts Frankincense, two parts Storax (or Benzoin as a substitute), and one part lignum aloes (Apirion and Helena).

         The appropriate time for the production of incenses and oils is unclear in both sources. In the Sacred Magic, the author makes it clear that he does not subscribe to the divisions of the planetary virtues into days and hours. Howbeit, the operation is supposed to proceed from the feast of Passover, corresponding to the 15th day of the Jewish month Aviv (The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage). There is mention that preparations should be made before Passover and that the incense should be prepared just before the day. Other sources may give a clue as to the appropriate time to perform the operation.

                The modern practice, as is done by students who espouse the Paracelsus Research Society, is to perform alchemical work on the planetary day and hour that the subject calls for. Thus, for benzoin, an extraction would occur on a Friday at 1 am or 8 am (Stavish). Another source states that an alchemical work should take place under the influence of the appropriate zodiacal sign. Thus, for a digestion, the Sol should be in Ares; these workings also being attributable to Mars (Bartlett).

                Lunar considerations are also taken by modern practitioners. Luna should be in its increasing when procedures involving increase, such as the coagulation of a plant stone; while distillations should occur only on the waning of the moon (Stavish).

                With time constraints considered, I determined that the 18th day of Luna was an appropriate time to conduct this project, as the operation essentially was concerned with the he processes of extraction and distillation. Sol was in 5° Leo (see figure 1) at the beginning of the project.

                Leo was deemed an appropriate astrological constellation to conduct the work in because of its importance within the Thelemic Sacramental system of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica—Insence of Abramelin is the fragrance called for in the celebration of Liber XV:

                I decided to consult Crowley's thought on the issue of the new aeon in terms of  the constellations. He believed that the sign opposite to the one that rises at the beginning of the vernal equinox was also of import. He further states, "To call this the Aquarin age is really a joke. The characteristic so far has been much more that of Leo" (Liber CXI vel Aleph, 2nd ed.). 

                                          Figure 2

                                          Figure 3

Works Cited

Albertus. Alchemists Handook. York beach: Samuel Weiser, 1974.

Tau Apirion and Helena. The Gnostic Mass. 2004 e.v. 8th July 2010 <http://hermetic.com/sabazius/gnostic_mass.htm>.

Bartlett, Robert. Real Alchemy: a primer of practical alchemy. Lake Worth: Ibis Press, 2007.

Crowley, Aleister. 777 and other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1973.

—. Liber CXI vel Aleph. Ed. Hymanaeus Beta. 2nd ed. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1991.

NIST. Merk Index, 14e. 2006.

Skinner, Stephen. The Complete Magicians Tables. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publication, 2009 .

Stavish, Mark. The Path of Alchemy. Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2008.









[1] For astrological considerations, along with the data for the particular day can be found in figures 2 and 3 of the appendix.

[2] Frankincense

[3] Storax