Understand the Core Concepts of Alchemy and Spagyrics

Explore the Spagyric concept of the Tria Prima, alongside the classic four Alchemical stages, and the accompanying operations.

Combine the Laboratory and Psychological Work

Engage the inner psychological, philosophical and even spiritual aspects of the Work, alongside the outer laboratory practice, as was always intended within the tradition of Alchemy and Spagyrics.                                                                   

Create Full-Spectrum, Bioavailable and Potent Herbal Medicine

Artfully capture, refine and recombine the therapeutic compounds and mineral salts of plants using a framework of both traditional and modernized laboratory techniques alongside modern chemical and biological understanding.

Work with Accessible and Efficient Equipment

Craft exceedingly high quality and effective herbal extracts using a combination of modern and classical equipment.

Address the Misunderstandings of Modern Spagyric Methods 

Learn how to truly merge the therapeutic compounds and minerals of plants into a homogenous and full-spectrum extract, compared to the more commonly known but incomplete and even erroneous modern simple Spagyric methods.

Optional experiential homework

Start your Spagyric and bring your results and questions to our Q&As

Reflective practices will invite students to work with these operations personally, paying attention to where they may already be unfolding within dreams, relationships, creative work, emotional life and periods of transformation.

Spagyrics is a 16th century branch of Alchemy, created by the Swiss-German physician and father of modern toxicology, Paracelsus. The title Spagyric, derived from the ancient Greek words spao (to draw out) and agerio (to gather) highlights the basic techniques underlying the many forms of Spagyric medicine making, utilizing natural ingredients such as plants, mushrooms, metals, gems and even animal substances.

This system draws from the framework and practices of classical laboratory and philosophical Alchemy, with a particular focus on rendering it useful for clinical practice. Its central concept known as the Tria Prima (Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury) is understood as representing the Body, Soul, and Spirit  of all things in the manifest world. Not only do these terms refer to material components, but perhaps even more importantly to the Philosophical truths of this trinity. In essence, the matter associated with each of the three primes simply act as a carrier of the philosophical qualities which animate and give meaning to them.

Emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, depth psychology explores the deeper and often unconscious dimensions of human experience. C.G. Jung became one of its most influential figures, working with dreams, images, symbols and archetypes as expressions of the living psyche.

Alchemy became central to Jung’s work as he recognized within its imagery and operations a framework for understanding psychological transformation. Within this course, we approach operations such as calcination, dissolution, separation, fermentation and conjunction as processes we can encounter both in the laboratory and within ourselves, bringing the inner and outer dimensions of the Alchemical Work into relationship.

This 8-week intensive includes weekly 2-hour live classes with a Q&A session, an online student portal and forum, and additional supportive materials such as PDF’s and video tutorials. All live classes will also be recorded for review and for students who could not attend live. The entire program will be co-taught by instructors Ash and Daniel, whose bios can be found here. All students will receive a certificate of participation and class materials will be made available for an additional 3 months after the conclusion of the program.

Although this particular offering is online-based, our approach is focused on direct personal connection and live participation, rather than solely digital/pre-recorded elements. Therefore, class space is limited to ensure an intimate, personal and quality experience for all participants.

Live classes will include:

Tetractys Alchemia 

This class presents a classical Alchemical framework of how all things come into being from a single source, tethered to the example of plants and the nitrogen cycle. It explores Alchemical philosophy, modern chemistry and the connections between the nitrogen cycle and pivotal alchemical texts such as the Golden Chain of Homer and the Emerald Tablet of Thoth.

Intro to Depth Psychology

This class introduces depth psychology and its relationship to Alchemy, exploring the four Alchemical stages as a framework for psychological transformation, with an introduction to the operations that move the Work through these stages.

Intro to the Spagyric Elixir & the Eros of Healing

This class presents the history, process, clinical application and chemistry of Spagyric Elixirs of Plants.

Ora-Spao

This class introduces the Alchemical operations through a depth psychological lens, exploring how these transformative processes can be recognized and worked within the psyche. 

Labora-Spao 

This class details the methods and equipment required to fully separate a plant into its essential parts.

Ora-Ageiro

This class explores the lesser-discussed Alchemical operations essential to deeper transformation, and how the Work moves toward integration, embodiment and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Labora-Ageiro

This class details the methods and equipment needed to fully recombine the essential parts of a plant into a full-spectrum and bioavailable solid or liquid Spagyric extract.

Conclusion & Final Q&A

This course is open to both beginning and experienced students. No previous experience with Alchemy, Spagyrics, herbal medicine, laboratory work or depth psychology is required, only curiosity and a willingness to engage the Work.

It may especially appeal to herbalists and medicine makers looking to create more potent, full-spectrum Spagyric medicines; Alchemists and laboratory practitioners wanting to bring the philosophical, psychological and inner dimensions of the Work more fully into their practice; and those drawn to depth psychology, Hermeticism, plant medicine, natural science, or the meeting place between matter and psyche.

It is equally open to those who may not yet know where their interest fits. If something about Alchemy has caught your attention, stirred your imagination, or piqued something within the psyche, that curiosity is enough. No laboratory is required to participate, and the experiential psychological work is invitational rather than mandatory.

While this course engages the psychological and inner dimensions of Alchemy, it is not therapy, nor are the instructors acting as therapists. Reflective exercises and experiential homework will be offered for those who wish to explore how the Alchemical operations may be moving through their own lives, dreams, relationships, creative work and inner experience. Participation in this aspect of the course is entirely optional, and students are invited to engage at whatever depth feels appropriate to them.

This course may be less suited to someone seeking exclusively laboratory instruction or exclusively psychological Alchemy, as the heart of the program is the relationship between the two: matter and psyche, laboratory and inner Work, Alchemical philosophy and contemporary natural science.

This program is also not built around providing absolutes. We will offer detailed instruction, historical and scientific context, and our own interpretations developed through years of study and practice, but we believe a deeper understanding of Alchemy comes through direct encounter. Some answers can only be found by doing the Work yourself; spending time with the material, working in the laboratory, observing what unfolds, and attending to your own inner world. Our intention is to walk you through the framework we believe in, while giving you the tools and foundations to empower you to do the Work yourself and discover what it reveals through your own experience.