Alchemy in Appalachia

Join us for a 3 Days Hands-On Initiation crafting your own Aurelian Spagyric Tincture nestled in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. 

Watch the tour of the training facilities and community campgrounds at Holly River State Park in this youtube video: https://youtu.be/hzdLcrb4qqM

When:  August 4th, 5th, 6th (10am - 7pm all three days), though conversation and good craic is likely to continue after class each day.

Cost:  $950 per attendee OR bring a friend/partner and register 2 people for $1750* 

*In order to register for 2 people and receive the discount, please email Rebecca at support@phoenixaurelius.org and she will send you a custom invoice that you can pay in order to be registered. 

Class Size:  Participation is limited to 25 Students

Description: 

Join Phoenix Aurelius for this one-of-a-kind initiation into Aurelian Alchemy and Spagyria. Hosted at the outstandingly beautiful Holly River State Park, students will be immersed in Temperate Broadleaf Rainforest while learning about the Theory, Cosmology, Materials, and Practices to make Aurelian Spagyric Tinctures. During these three days, new initiates will study everything they need to begin making Aurelian Spagyric Tinctures for personal and/or professional use. 

Students will have the unique opportunity to see Phoenix perform Live IDF Demonstrations showing how Advanced Practitioners of Aurelian Medicine use Intrinsic Data Field Investigations to find the ideal ratios of biomass to ethanol using the particular herbs we grow/source as well as demonstrating how we balance and clear the ingredients with the SE-5 2000 Gold to remove any and all negative and incoherent informational and energetic fields. We’ll also show how we test for the Vitality of the Spagyrist, any Entia of Imbalances that could affect the Spagyrist, and how we use the Astronomological Calendar to determine ideal elections to work on various products. Just these points alone set the curriculum of Aurelian Spagyric Tinctures and Elixirs head and shoulders above other training programs, but this is still just part of the pre-requisites for practice.

Students will then learn Aurelian Cosmology and Alchemical Theory in addition to exploring Aurelian Terminology for various items of Spagyric Pharmacopoeia and learning about how they work, why they work, and what their healing actions are. Students will be taught laboratory etiquette & safety, as well as having the opportunity to learn about each piece of labware we will be using during the weekend. 

Students will then be guided through the entire laboratory process of making an Aurelian Spagyric Tincture from beginning to end, which includes, but is not limited to:

• Discussions Concerning Preferred Equipment and other Acceptable Equipment

• Prep Work (Including IDF Work + Astronomology)

• Maceration Methods

• Incubation Methods for Herbal Tincture

• Filtration Methods

• Incineration and Calcination of Biomass

• Solve et Coagula work dealing with Leaching of Ash to obtain Crude Salt of Salt

• Crystallization Methods for Purifying Salts

• Proper Final Calcination Method

• Introduction of Purified Salts to Tincture

• Incubation Methods for Spagyric Tincture

• Final Filtration

• Making an Aurelian Spagyric Elixir

Students will be given their own Mason Jar, Herbs, and Ethanol to craft their own Spagyric Tincture! Phoenix will help students while they take turns at the Filtration and Ultrasonication Stations. Students will then work together to calcine the spent biomass (weather and fire regulations permitting) to yield an acceptable ash, and then will work together as a class to refine that Ash into crude Salt of Salt, eventually even crystallizing it into Crystalline Salt of Salt. We will have plenty of finished Salt of Salt on hand to work with in case what we work on in class isn’t fully finished in time to use, which can then be added back to the filtered tinctures. Students will then be taught how to professionally finish their Spagyric Tinctures.

Students will have the option of taking their Spagyric Tinctures with them OR we can ship them to students in the United States for no additional cost (international students will likely have to pay the difference in shipping if they won’t be taking the product with them).

What to bring to class: 

It is highly recommended to bring a notebook as well as your phones, audio recorders, cameras, and any accompanying file storage devices you might want (like additional Micro SD cards, USB Drives, etc.). You are encouraged to take photos, videos, and audio recordings so you can reference the equipment, processes, special techniques, etc. We request that you don’t share the information without our written consent, though sharing clips of your day on Social Media Platforms is fine as long as you tag us in your posts. 

Meal Info:

3 Healthy, Clean-Sourced Meals + Snacks will be provided each day of class! Not everything will be certified Organic as many suppliers we work with don’t bother with the expense of that meaningless certification, though they operate their farms without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, vaccines, and other nonsense. But we will do our absolute best (given the remote location of our venue) to source local, organic, and nutrient dense foods so that you can learn with a happy belly and mind. Meals will be whole food based and centered around protein with veggies and grains to supplement. 

We will do our best to cater to the dietary preferences of the group as a whole, though if you are especially sensitive or have a particular diet that you must adhere to for medical, religious, or personal reasons, we ask that you prepare your own meals and bring them with you in a cooler.

Being able to stay on site and share meals with fellow students really enhances the overall experience of our immersion study programs. Our experience is that the fewer outside breaks there are, the more comradery between students and the more thorough the education is. 

Breakfast Served at 9am each day

Lunch Served at 1pm each day

Dinner Served at 7pm each day

About Our Venue:

Classes will be held at the Anderson Activity Center in Holly River State Park. With 8,101 acres of dense broadleaf forest, Holly River is West Virginia’s second largest state park. Located in a narrow valley in the Mountain Lakes region, the park is surrounded by heavily forested mountains, some reaching more than 2,800 feet in height.

There are some outstanding hikes throughout the Park, and there are some parts of the Park that are accessible within a 15-20 minute Drive from the main Campground area, including Upper Falls, Shupe’s Chute, and Potato Knob Trail. Upper Falls and Shupe’s Chute can be accessed without any special equipment and can be enjoyed by hikers of nearly all skill levels. Potato Knob is a significantly more strenuous hike that can be done in half a day, but it requires crossing rivers and making some rather perilous maneuvers over logs, fallen trees, boulders, rocks, and more. We suggest that only moderately experienced to advanced hikers undertake it due to these conditions – and be sure to either wear sandals, water shoes, muck boots, or other appropriate footwear.

Please keep in mind that you will be deep in Central Appalachia. This entails the presence of biting insects that are considered capable of carrying transmissible diseases such as Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, and more. We have Wood Ticks, Deer Ticks, at least four different species of No-See-Ums/Biting Midges, and Mosquitos. The nymph deer ticks are the ones that are most commonly associated with Lyme and other diseases and they are usually the size of a speck of cracked black peppercorn. They are very small and you should thoroughly search yourself at the beginning and end of each day using a mirror. Pay special attention to sock lines, underwear lines, hat lines, etc. If a tick has latched on to you, let one of our staff know and we’ll make sure we get it off. Usually a person has between 24 and 36 hours after latching before diseases are transmitted, which is more than enough time to find it and let our staff know. We will also have IDF solutions broadcasting on-site during class to prevent all insect-borne diseases. We will also have 100% Natural Insect Solutions available each day for students – (Lemongrass Essential Oil, Geranium Essential Oil, Eucalyptus Essential Oil, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Peppermint Essential Oil, Citronella Essential Oil, and Lemon Balm Essential Oil diluted in a carrier oil (Soybean is most effective because most creatures hate it, but any carrier oil works well). Of these, Lemongrass, Geranium, and Lemon Balm are the most effective, but all of them work together to keep biting insects away.)

Venomous Creatures are not many in number, though in this area of West Virginia, we have Copperheads, Eastern Timber Rattlesnakes, Eastern Massasauga Snakes, 2 varieties of Black Widows, and Brown Recluse Spiders. Encounters with venomous creatures are not very common, but keep in mind the nearest hospital is at least 40 min away in Webster Springs, WV.

Holly River State Park and surrounding areas are home to White Tailed Deer, Wild Turkeys, about 30 varieties of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, and Black Bears (which are usually skittish and afraid of people out here because they get ran by hounds all season long and hunted in the winter).

And, as is true of all of Appalachia, there are known to be a host of Cryptids and Otherfolk roaming the woods at night. We STRONGLY suggest staying inside or very near to your lodging facilities from Nightfall until Sunrise. The woods are ominous at best at night, and there are many things you don’t want to encounter out there. In particular, we strongly suggest that guests do not look up in the trees after nightfall and it is important to note that whistling or singing in the woods after nightfall can make you a target to these Cryptids. We take the safety of our guests very seriously and we will ask everyone who attends our immersion study to adhere to certain safety precautions during their stay. 

Though there are hundreds of botanicals and fungi that grow in the park, attendees and students are not permitted to harvest anything without a permit. If you are interested in either coming early or staying afterwards and doing some harvesting, you can apply for a harvest permit. Contact us and let us know what you are looking for and we can help direct you to the organization you need.

A side view of the Anderson Center where class will be held

Main section of Anderson Center

Will be the dinning room once tables are set up

A view of the Men's bathroom inside the Anderson Center

The foot bridge leading over the river on the side of the Anderson Center

Lodging Options:

We have reserved the entire Group Camping Area at Holly River State Park which will accommodate up to 15 tents. On-Site Camping is FREE for up to 15 tents. First come first serve. We don’t care how many people are in the tents, but we can only have 15 tents in the Group Camping Area. Please note that students are responsible for furnishing their own tents, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, etc.  For those who choose to camp onsite, there is a dumping station and four-centralized bathhouses available as well as two coin-operated washers and dryers. 

First group tent area

Group fire place and pavilion at the group camp site

For Those That Want Housing:

We also have reserved the Quinn House (scroll down to bottom to see it), which is a 5 bedroom rental home about 2.5 miles from the entrance of Holly River State Park. Students may choose to reserve one of these rooms and there are options to either bunk with someone or to bunk alone. The cost of this house is $200 a night and will be split between whoever ends up staying at the Quinn House, so the more people stay, the less everyone pays! In order to reserve your spot at the Quinn House please email norianna@phoenixaurelius.org directly so she can put your name down. 

The Quinn House

For those who would like to stay in Holly River State Park, but do not want to camp, several on-site cabins are usually available for rent, though they are first come, first serve and may already be booked out by others staying in the Park.  Please check cabin availability using the following link: https://wvstateparks.com/places-to-stay/cabins/holly-river-cabins/.

There are other lodging options available within an hour’s drive of Holly River State Park. Within about 5-10 minutes drive from the State Park, Kickin’ Back In the Valley offers several cabins for rent. As stated above, we have already reserved the entire Quinn House for students that would like to stay there. Within just 10-15 minutes drive, there is the Wild, Wonderful Skoolies + Camping that have several converted school bus tiny houses and additional campgrounds. There is also a really cute Swiss Immigrant Town called Helvetia about 40 minutes from the Park which is home to the Beekeeper Inn Bed and Breakfast that has 3 rooms available. Along similar lines, and just a little closer than Helvetia, there is the The Balli Farm House which is an historic location that also boasts Swiss Immigrant History. Buckhannon, WV is about an hour North of the Park and has a number of Motels and Hotels. There are also various lodging options (usually cabins) available for rent in the areas between Hacker Valley and Webster Springs (45 minutes South) like this one about  30-45 min away on Airbnb. Please email norianna@phoenixaurelius.org if you’re having problems finding lodging or if you have special needs and accommodations as we would love to direct you to a location that will suit your needs. 

Travel Info:

This event will be held at the Anderson Center of Holly River State Park in Hacker Valley, West Virginia. If you are flying, there are two airport options:

1: West Virginia International Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV. There are limited flights in and out of this location, so flights in here usually have layovers and connecting flights. The Airport is about a 2 hour drive from Holly River State Park.

2. Pittsburgh International Airport. There are lots of International and Domestic flights in and out of this location and this is the airport we suggest most attendees look into. The Airport is about a 3 hour drive from Holly River State Park. 

If you want to rent a car and even extend your stay, we highly recommend taking some time out to explore this area of the world called "Almost Heaven" for a good reason. Unless you fly into Pittsburg International Airport, you will have to rent a car to get to Holly River State Park, or rely on a one way taxi fare.

About 3 weeks before the event, we will assess whether or not registered students would like us to create a rideshare program from Pittsburgh International Airport and arrange one if needed. Due to lack of resources, we will not be able to initiate a rideshare program from Charleston, WV. There are buses that go from Charleston, WV to Sutton, WV. From Sutton, students can hire a taxi. Use the link below to learn more about the route: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/West-Virginia/Holly-River-State-Park#r/Bus-taxi

Additional Info and Help:

To protect our students as well as the Medicines we are making from any contamination, students may not wear scented toiletries, colognes, perfumes, or other heavily scented products, EVEN IF THE PRODUCTS ARE NATURAL (the only exception to this being the natural insect spray we provide). Please ensure that your clothes are not scented from the use of any of the aforementioned products or from commercial laundry detergents or fabric softeners. Students are not permitted to wear chemicals like DEET or other known toxic chemicals, though the use of Permethrin is fine as long as the product is not artificially scented. All of the aforementioned products contain Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals; even some natural scents are distracting for students and are capable of altering the Limbic Brain and causing Neurological Dysfunction. Phoenix has a VERY sensitive sense of smell and usually multiple students in every group do as well; if your scent is disruptive to either Phoenix or the rest of the class, you will be asked to change your clothing. If the problem persists, you will be asked to leave. To prepare for the trip, please purchase unscented travel size deodorant and please also wash your clothes in unscented detergents before packing them up on the trip.