The Difference between a Spagyric Magistery and a Cohobated Philosophic Spagyric Essence

The Difference between a Spagyric Magistery and a Cohobated Philosophic Spagyric Essence

This blog post is reconstructed from a social media interaction between Phoenix Aurelius and a fellow Spagyrist. Phoenix is making a point to share that the information that the fellow Spagyrist shared about his process of creating a Magistery of Eucalyptus is actually better suited to be called a Cohobated Philosophic Spagyric Essence. Phoenix explains how one is to make a Magistery based off of Paracelsian text, as it is Paracelsus himself who created Spagyria and coined the term Magistery. If the field of Spagyria is to have any sort of cohesiveness to it whatsoever, Phoenix argues that we should be sticking to Paracelsian terminology in order to stay true to the art of Spagyria and avoid general confusion throughout the field. Read below to see the commentary.
 
Fellow Spagyrist Text:
 
(Following the recipe from Heliophilous - The Green Book) Steam Distillation of Eucalyptus for its Essential Oil.
At least 100ml of oil will be obtained over multiple batches. Then cohabited upon its salts and gently distilled via retort until homogenous.
A final pass with a rectified spirit of wine to be followed by a philosophical month of circulation and digestion, will leave us with the Magistery of Eucalyptus.
Phoenix’s Response:
Great Work! I just want to bring something up as a talking point, and I do sincerely hope that it is not construed as criticism or me being overly-critical. That said, based on the logic I share below, the name of this item of spagyric pharmacopoeia ought to be a "Cohobated Philosophic Spagyric Essence." By definition, it is not a Magistery. The term Magistery was coined by Paracelsus himself who defined the production of a Magistery in the following way [though I have of course taken the liberty to use common terms instead of quoting his original text]:
1. Take a certain quantity of 100% Ethanol. [for instance 500mL]
2. Take a Quantity of Fresh Herb and Tincture the Fresh Herb with the Ethanol.
3. Filter the Herb From the Ethanol after 24 hours.
4. Take the filtrate and Distill it out, ensuring to bring over both the Ethanol and the Vegetable Phlegm.
5. Take this Distillate, and repeat steps 2-4 until you end up with twice the amount of finished menstruum as you started with [for instance, if you started with 500mL of 100% ethanol, then you will have 1000mL of roughly 50% ethanol by the time you finished, with the 50% of Distilled Vegetable Phlegm accounting for the decrease of 50% ABV].
6. Calcine all of the biomass and fixed sulfur - Solve et Coagula to yield perfectly crystalline Potassium Carbonate.
7. Combine Salts and Digest for 24 hours or until the Material turns red [though circulation isn't necessary, it does accelerate the process in most cases]. In my experience, not all Magisteries turn Red, but they all do regain color, most of them being somewhere between Yellow to Amber to Burnt Orange to Blood Red.
 
This procedure outlined above will produce a proper Paracelsian Magistery. The process described in the original post deviates from the Paracelsian definition of a Magistery. Since Paracelsus founded Spagyria, and the term Magistery, I posit that it is important to stick to his terms and methodologies for various processes concerning the manufacture of items of pharmacopoeia. It prevents adulteration of the art and maintains as direct a lineage to Paracelsus as possible.
 
I have posited that the name of the item of Spagyric Pharmacopoeia that is described in this original post is a Cohobated Philosophic Spagyric Essence. It is, of course, an Essence, as it only contains the Essential Oil and Salts of the plant and contains neither Fixed Sulfur [which would technically make it some form of a tincture (which means "colored"), nor Vegetable Phlegm. However, because the Essential Oil was not taken through maceration and distillation [which would be called a Spagyric Essence per Destillatio], and instead was taken through an Essential Oil (EO) extraction whereby the Volatile Sulfur is isolated, this makes it a Philosophic Essence because all the components were Philosophically separated. The Volatile and Fixed Sulfurs were separated from the herb through an EO Distillation; the Fixed Sulfur [being a water-soluble by-product of the EO Distillation] and the Biomass was Calcined to Yield Salt of Sulfur and Salt of Salt. Ideally, the Hydrosol would be Fermented to produce some form of Endogenous Spirit, although Exogenous Spirits can also be used without any significant loss to the potency of the product since 96% - 100% Ethanol ought to ideally be used. And because the Volatile Sulfur was first Cohobated with the Salts before being washed with the Ethanol Content, this is now called a Cohobated Philosophic Spagyric Essence. At least this is the logic used to determine the naming of items of Pharmacopeia that we use here at PARA (Phoenix Aurelius Research Academy) Labs.
 
Regardless of what you choose to call it, what you have made is an excellent remedy that works very heavily on the limbic system, and is therefore suited to both the Emotional and Mental aspects of the Astral Body [Yetzirah] and also to the Regulation of the Causal Body [Briah]. This product works much better on both the Astral and Causal Body than the Physical Body [Assiah]. Though the Causal informs the Astral, the Astral informs the Etheric Interface, and the Etheric Interface informs the Physical, it is without a doubt that it will have an effect, however indirect, on the Physical Body at length.
 
I invite you to consider all that I have shared here, as we, as an emerging global network of Spagyrists, must soon come to a point where we standardize the terminology and corresponding processes for the benefit of the Study and Recognition of Spagyria everywhere. The time is quickly upon us when regulatory commissions will begin to be aware of this emerging trend, and if we are not unified and able to make our own committees and associations with standardized terms and processes, we will be the subject of the regulations instead of being able to define the regulations ourselves. It is an inevitable reality, so we must be prudent and judicious in this regard if we hope to be able to continue our work freely.