by Shawn Kirby L.Ac.

This blog was inspired by a rather unique birthday present I received this year. Following my blog on practical herbal alchemy, or spagyrics, I found myself in possession of a bottle of Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse. Intrigued by this unusual and wonderful gift, I was inspired to research the history of its origins, and what I found fascinated me. As I dug deeper, I found myself led back to one of the most legendary herbal preparations in all of alchemy, the Primum Ens Melissa, and the legends surrounding it. What follows is a further discussion of this arcane yet fascinating branch of western herbalism.

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We begin our journey with my birthday present. The origins of this elixir begin with King Henri IV of France who was in possession of a secret manuscript written by a 16th century alchemist on the preparation of Aqua Vitae, or the “Water of Life.” Aqua Vitae was purported to halt the aging process and could, it was said, even raise the dead. King Henri gave this manuscript to the order of the Chartreuse monks for them to prepare this elixir for the furtherance of the order (and undoubtedly for his own use). The manuscript, however, was filled with “blinds” or coded information, known only to the author. Alchemists have, for most of alchemy’s history, hidden information in plain sight by writing down their recipes in code so that they would not fall into the wrong hands – the “wrong hands” being other alchemists who might steal the information and then abscond with their fame and fortune. The Chartrusian monks were unable to decipher the code for 133 years until finally Frère Jerome Maubec, the order’s apothecary, purportedly cracked the code and solved the mystery of preparing the Aqua Vitae. Production began soon thereafter.

The order still makes the herbal preparation today, and sales are a primary source of income for the brotherhood. According to tradition, one third of the recipe is known only to three different monks, so that the secret of the preparation remains safely within the order. The recipe calls for 130 total herbs, each harvested in a particular manner. The original elixir is what I received, but the order now also makes two other liqueurs for recreational consumption which contain a similar herbal formula but with lower alcoholic percentages. The original preparation is 71% alcohol by volume, 142° proof US (more on this later). A few drops of this 'moste potent potion' mixed with water, and sugar if desired, are taken daily as a general tonic.

Having taken the elixir for about a month now, I can report that it is a very effective digestive, and seems to have excellent properties for calming the shen, promoting a mellow mood and excellent sleep even in such a small dose. While my palate is certainly not sophisticated enough to be able to detect all 130 herbs, a couple of familiar flavors sung out over the rest of the choir. The predominant taste is a licorice flavor, most likely from star anise. More importantly, I also detect quite a bit of Lemon Balm or Melissa (Melissa officianalis) not just from the taste but also from the gorgeous green color. I found this instantly fascinating considering this formula’s claim as a version of Aqua Vitae. Melissa is one of the most famous medicinals in the history of Alchemy.

Beloved by alchemists throughout the history of herbal alchemy, Melissa has a legendary reputation, particularly in the preparation known as the Primum Ens Melissa. An Ens is similar to a tincture, however potassium carbonate is used as part of the process and consequently the production of an ens isn’t really a project for a beginner. Lesebure, a physician of Louis XIV of France, in his "Guide to Chemistry" (Chemischer Handleiter) gives an astonishing account of the use of this preparation.

“One of my most intimate friends prepared the Primum Ens Melissae, and his curiosity would not allow him to rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effects of the this arcanum, so that he might be certain whether or not the accounts given of its virtues were true. He therefore made the experiment, first upon himself, then upon an old female servant, aged seventy years, and afterwards upon an old hen that was kept as his house. First he took, every morning at sunrise, a glass of white wine that was tinctured with this remedy, and after using it for fourteen days his finger and toenails began to fall out, without however, causing any pain. He was not courageous enough to continue the experiment, but gave the same remedy to the old female servant. She took it every morning for about ten days, when she began to menstruate again as in former days. At this she was very much surprised, because she did not know that she had been taking a medicine. She became frightened, and refused to continue the experiment. My friend took, therefore, some grain, soaked it in that wine, and gave it to the old hen to eat, and on the sixth day that bird began to lose its feathers, and kept losing them until it was perfectly nude, but before two weeks had passed, new feathers grew, which were much more beautifully colored; her comb stood up again, and she began again to lay eggs.” 1

I have made a simple spagyric tincture of Melissa that I have taken myself and given to a few friends. While not the same as an Ens, the tincture has a similar effect to the Chartreuse, both as a digestive and excellent spirit quieting herbal preparation. Below is an extremely simple method for creating an alchemical tincture of Melissa for yourself. (Again, as I stated in my last article, I am not advocating these practices as a modality to be used by practitioners of Chinese medicine for their patients. This is for your own amusement, and you engage in the creation and ingestion of this preparation at your own risk.)

First of all, you will need to acquire some Melissa. Bulk dried organic Melissa is available from health food stores and numerous suppliers online. (I like Mountain Rose Herbs). Next you will need a bottle of “spirits.” Referring to my last blog, spirits, or “mercury”, is alcohol in alchemical plant work. Mercury/alcohol is said to have an affinity with the “sulfur” or the essential oils (and other medicinal constituents) of the plant, and will draw them out of the raw plant. The more pure and undiluted the spirits, the less adulteration and therefore the more effective the final product. This is why alchemical tinctures, such as my Chartreuse elixir, use extremely pure, and consequently extremely potent, alcohol. The most readily available source for this kind of alcohol for the average Joe is, of course, Everclear.

Next you will need something to use for marinating your tincture in. I find that old spaghetti sauce jars that have been thoroughly cleaned work great, provided that you do not use the lid. No metal can touch the tincture as it is being made, since this will alter the energetic resonance of the final product. (Alchemists regard metals as living things with their own energetic properties. Contact with the tincture as it is being made could confuse or even nullify the energetic properties of the plant being worked with.) You can cover your jar with plastic wrap and a rubber band. Lastly you will need something non-metallic with which to grind up the bulk herb into a find powder (more herbal surface area exposed to the alcohol equals a stronger tincture). A mortar and pestle are ideal, but anything non-metallic will work, even a rolling pin.

The next consideration that needs to be made is to decide upon an auspicious time in which to make your tincture. Half of alchemy lies in being a good astrologer, and mastery of this part of the art alone can take years or even decades. For our purposes, we will use the lunar cycles and the planetary hours of the day and night as basic working guidelines. The work should be begun on the day of the new moon at the hour of the sun. The Lunarium online is a great resource that will calculate planetary hours for you at the push of a button – simply enter your location and you’re good to go.

You should begin by spending at least half an hour performing an activity that will calm, center and ground you, be it meditation, taiji, prayer or whatever is preferable to you. This hour of meditation should begin prior to the hour of the sun. Once you have reached the appropriate hour, you will begin by grinding up your herbs and then combining them in your jar with enough Everclear to cover the herbs with two fingers of alcohol on top of that. Pay particular attention to your interaction with the materials with which you are working – your conscious attention, attitude and empathy for the preparation will have a great effect on how powerful the final product is. Once you have finished, place the jar in a warm dark place (on top of your hot water heater is good) and then leave it alone. You should agitate the contents of the jar, mixing everything around, once a day – if you can conveniently do this during the hour of the sun each day, so much the better. On the day of the full moon, your tincture will be complete. At the hour of the sun, strain the liquid through as fine a strainer as you can find – plastic strainers for canning work well, or use a nylon stocking. Discard the herbs and decant the tincture into dropper bottles. A dosage for this preparation would be just a few drops diluted in either water or a little wine.

The potency and effectiveness of this kind of preparation is directly proportionate to the spiritual attitude of the operator in his or her creation of the product. Bob has recently had a few Tibetan rasayanas around the office. In reading up on these Tibetan herbal preparations, correct astrological timing as well as prayer and blessings given by the Lama doing the work are an integral part of the preparation of the medicine. This is doubtless why Henri IV entrusted an order of monastics with the preparation of his recipe for Aqua Vitae, knowing that the fruits of their personal spiritual practice would have a direct effect on the outcome of the herbal preparation. This is the initiatory mystery of this type of work, and what makes it so fascinating.

1. http://www.levity.com/alchemy/plant2.html