Getting more out of your herbs - Teas, Ferments, Essential oils, Tinctures and Spagyrics
Plants are often poorly digested in their raw form. Their cellulose and fibrous structure make it difficult for the human body to access the full spectrum of their potential.
I started my journey with Teas and Ferments, and still use these today. Three years ago, I began practicing the art of Tincture making and created an amazing range of plant extracts starting with Eastern White Pine.
Recently, I have felt called to take this practice to a new level of integrity. An ideal i'd always hoped to master, The Spagyric.
How can we access the totality of the plant and make it fully absorbable?
Here is the range of extraction techniques:
Teas: Soften the plant using hot water, penetrating the cells to harness the water-soluble phytochemicals.
Ferments: Use bacteria to break down the plant structure. This effectively pre-digests the material so the digestive system can better access compounds trapped in the cellular matrix.
Essential Oils: Steam distillation captures a potent fraction of light aromatic oils. This is the volatile half of the "Soul" which leaves behind the heavier fixed resins and the mineral body.
Tinctures: Pulls more from the plant than a tea, ferment or essential oils. The combination of water and alcohol acts as a solvent to extract a wider range of compounds, preserving them for a longer shelf life and increasing bioavailability.
The Missing Piece
However, none of these methods contain the Mineral Salts. This is the crystalline "Body" of the plant that allows the fixed and volatile energies to anchor physically into your cellular structure.
Quintessences utilize a synthesis of ancient and modern alchemy to elevate dry herbs and standard tinctures to new levels of bioavailability. A Spagyric.
Low-Temperature Ultrasonics: High-vibrational sound waves open the plant’s cellular structure, liberating the full spectrum of volatile Essential Oils (Soul) and heavier fixed resins. I use pure Water and Ethanol as the medium of absorption and preservation, the Spirit.
High-Temperature Calcination: I take the spent plant material that others discard and burn it to a fine white ash, freeing the Mineral Salts from their carbon bonds. This is the Salt. The soluble, alkaline body of the plant.
The Alchemical Marriage (Esters and Solubility): The true power of a Spagyric lies in the reunion of these separated parts. When the purified, alkaline Mineral Salts (the Body) are reintroduced to the acidic Essential Oils, Resins, and Alcohol (the Soul and Spirit), a dynamic chemical reaction occurs. This process is known as esterification and converts plant acids into esters. These are new, highly bioavailable compounds that are often more potent and aromatic than the original material. Furthermore, these crystalline salts perform a crucial physiological function. They act as a natural surfactant. They transform the hydrophobic (water-hating) resins and essential oils into a water-soluble form, allowing the compounds to bypass digestive resistance and pass directly through cellular membranes. The Salt essentially grounds the Spirit and Soul, ensuring the medicine is not just ingested, but fully integrated.
True Constellational Astrological Timing: I align the alchemical work with the specific movements of the heavens, ensuring the plant is processed during optimal cosmic alignments.
The Spagyric Reunion
I separate, refine, and recombine the Soul (Resins and Oils) and Body (Salt) using the messenger Spirit (Ethanol).
The Exalted Spagyric Tincture holds, preserves, and finally delivers the full spectrum into your system. It is highly bioavailable and absorbable, allowing you to experience the complete magic of nature exactly as the cosmos intended.