HERBALISM WORKSHOP SERIES

There will be five courses available. 

Essential Oil Distillation and Other Extractions -Fire/Spirit Module – “Sulfur”

Production and Distillation of Alcohol itself – Water/Mind Module – “Mercury”

Calcination and withdrawal of mineral salts – Earth/Body Module – “Salt”

Introduction to Ancient Astrology and Astro Diagnose

Spagyric phytotherapy

ABOUT SPAGYRICS and PARACELSUS

“What is above is like what is below, and what is below is like what is above to fulfill the miracle of one thing.” Hermes Trismegistus on his Emerald Tablet

Paracelsus (1493-1591) was an alchemist and the so-called father of Spagyrics. He believed that nature is a form of alchemy and that “heaven is man and man is heaven…we must, therefore, understand that when we administer medicine, we administer the whole world.”

To him, this meant that the whole universe was in perfect balance, and could be demonstrated by opposite and complementary principles: day and night, birth and death, the rising and setting of the sun. The sun was a primary symbol of this balance manifesting in our solar system, from it everything and every form of life derived its own motion and vital energy. The seven planets could be considered the organs of our solar system and correspond to the seven principal energies at work in the universe as well as the seven points of consciousness that correspond to our own body.

Paracelsus further believed that nature was raw and unfinished and Man had the God-given task to evolve the elements of each plant into a medicine.

Spagyrics (extraction of divine gifts) is a technique considered to be a sister of Alchemy, with which one can extract the essence of materials from a plant-based on the three kingdoms of nature (water, earth, and fire) and then recombine them to create a single ‘essence’ with superior medicinal properties. These three kingdoms of nature are based upon the three cardinal Principles of Alchemy, Salt (earth, Principle of Fixity/non-action), Sulfur (fire, Principle of Inflammability) and Mercury (water, Principle of Fusibility/ability to melt and flow).

In order to extract each essence:

First, from the fire elements of Sulfur the spirit  or virtue of a plant is extracted from the essential oil of the plant.

Next, from the water elements of Mercury the mind or life essence of the plant is extracted by  fermention and distilled alcohol.

Then, from the earth elements of Salt the body or vegetable salts are extracted from the calcined ashes of the plant body.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT INDIO

“Indio embodies all that is beautiful on this planet. I still marvel about the time I spent in his company; with his inherent wisdom and ability to bring forth the magic and natural elements for our healing. Spagyrics is a fascinating, mystical, yet entirely practical branch of alchemy and I would welcome any opportunity to learn more about them.” Anna, Australia

“This course is more than a practical home remedies course. Indio is a wealth of knowledge about working with plants and plant medicine. His work is somewhat of a revival of age-old traditions in alchemical medicine that is being sadly lost. The teachings contained within this course promote the expansion of our awareness and relationship with plants and the natural world. There is mystery, intuition and clinical research that makes for a well-rounded and profound course”