Tincture Handbook: Part 15 - Old-Fashioned Alchemical Spagyric Tinctures

Spagyric tinctures are an ancient alchemicalAlchemy is the ancient medieval and renaissance form of chemistry where much of the language and methods of tincturing were advanced before modern times introduced greater scientific research and technology. and old-fashioned method of doing a single-step extraction tincture and then calcining, by indirect high-heat, the marc after extraction into white mineral ash, which is then dissolved into the single-step extraction.

Spagyric was specifically accomplished by using the leftover herbs and spices from single-step extraction or oil distillation. The marc was calcined, by being burnt to white ashes, The ashes are minerals, oftentimes containing minerals salts, which were then dissolved into the tincture.

Nowadays, scientific research has shown that mineral ashes are unabsorbable by the body, so this method is ineffective for the purpose of obtaining the minerals of herbs. But modern multi-step extraction methods can be used to include minerals and salts into tinctures without calcining them into ashes. Minerals and salts found in herbs are extracted, concentrated, and simply added as an ingredient to the tincture without calcining the herb into unabsorbable ashes.