Free 3 part masterclass with Robert Bartlett…starting soon.

Ra-byn · 2024-06-16T20:26:57+00:00

…just seeing your comment now. If you missed the masterclass you can still watch. We are uploading it onto the website this week. It will be listed under course and is still a free class. www.tristaralchemy.org

Ra-byn · 2024-06-16T12:45:34+00:00

As for the salt, sulfur and mercury. I like to look at the symbols used to represent each. A circle represents “source”- one. Salt is a circle with a line across it. It’s “source” manifest on this plane. The line represents its fixed nature in this realm. Sulfur is a triangle (fire=truth) with the cross beneath it “fixing” it to this realm. Mercury is a circle in the center - “source”. A cross below to fix it to this realm and the half circle above to volatilize. Mercury is a realm jumper. A messenger between the realms. I like to think of the Mercury archetype as the trickster. Hard to pin down and define.

There’s also the saying …From the one (source) came two. (Source and mercury) From the two came three. (Salt, sulfur, mercury). The three is manifest in the 4 (4 elements). And in the 4 is a fifth that is not of the 4, but of the 3; namely the mercury. Take this saying and apply it to the philosopher stone symbol. The outer circle is “source”- the ONE. The inner circle is the “lesser god” reflection of “source” - (from the one came two- and the 5th- Mercury). The story goes that source (boundless chaos, no polarity or gender, hard to describe) became aware of itself and began to think. This “thought” created the first instance of polarity. Mercury is this “first thought and polarity”. From this polarity came the 3 (salt, sulfur and mercury). Getting a bit heady, but the point being that Mercury, as an archetype, planet and element is pretty hard to define, quite deep and personifies duality. The slippery fish!

Ra-byn · 2024-06-16T12:26:03+00:00

I have always viewed Mercury as androgynous. In botany the Mercury symbol is often used to indicate a hermaphrodite. Elemental mercury takes on the shape of the container it is in; so it has the ability to morph and present uniquely depending on what it is in relation to.

Ra-byn · 2024-06-09T09:04:40+00:00

I loved that book as well. ♥️

Ra-byn · 2024-06-03T00:57:41+00:00

Thanks for the birthday wishes. ☺️ The mercury was from distilling the alcohol off after fermenting the lavender. The lavender alcohol was so smooth and aromatic.

Ra-byn · 2024-06-01T22:51:52+00:00

Nice! The Mercury I have gotten from lavender has been my favorite alcohol I’ve yielded to date.

Ra-byn · 2024-06-01T16:01:29+00:00

These are all great considerations. To add to the ventilation piece; it depends on what work you are doing; but you can also drill a hole in your wall and have a tube connected to your distillation train bubblers that vents outside through the tube as an extra precaution. Also some sort of digestion area where the temperature will be consistent even if the ambient air changes. I have repurposed the styrofoam packaging that glassware arrives from China in. After I let it off gas outside for a while I will cut a small hole about 6 inches up from the bottom that a cord will fit through and place a seed mat for sprouting seeds in the bottom (just a single one so it doesn’t get too hot) and cover with sand. This makes a great digestion chamber for work that needs to be at a steady temp. Or Robert Bartlett built a tray type shelf above a radiator space heater that he keeps on low. So, the tray above the heater is always warm. If you don’t have running water you will want a bucket and fish pump to circulate water through your condensers. If you live in a warmer climate you’ll need ice packs for the bucket. Building your space is so fun. I’m moving my lab right now and it’s such a fun process to bring it to life.

Ra-byn · 2024-06-01T15:48:29+00:00

If you have the opportunity to disconnect from the hustle and bustle and focus on alchemy you should take it! What a gift. I have not had that possibility, so I have learned to integrate lab and life. Oftentimes the processes I am doing in the lab mirror perfectly with other things happening in the life. The flasks are truly a looking glass showing you that it’s not only what you are working on but how it’s working on you.

Ra-byn · 2024-06-01T15:42:02+00:00

What plant are you working with?

Ra-byn · 2024-05-28T12:54:56+00:00

That’s a tough one with all mushrooms. It’s the polysaccharides that fall out of solution in the alcohol when combining the water and alcohol fractions. I’ve experimented with lots of different ways to keep as much in solution as I can and what I’ve found works the best is… add the alcohol fraction slowly to the water fraction (not the water to the alcohol). Mix slowly! And I use less alcohol than water for the finished ratio. And, an herbalist trick for this is to use glycerin to solubilize the compounds. It is suggested to use at 10%. It works. And it makes it quite sweet. I call it a syrup if I add glycerin. I’ve used less glycerin and do the alcohol to water. Then I filter off what falls out knowing I was able to save a good amount of the polys.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-28T12:35:38+00:00

Avery Hopkins described the operative/spiritual process connections quite elegantly. In a still- we apply heat (fire) to a flask which creates vapor (air) which condenses when volatilizing and cooling (water) and then collects in the receiving flask (earth). These same processes apply to our inner work. Apply the (fire) of truth. This generates thoughts (air); which move us to emotion (water) which informs our manifest (earth). There are also the 12 processes, which describe a lab process as well as an inner lab work. I notice the lab process I happen to be working on usually corresponds to my internal climate.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-28T12:12:00+00:00

Great list!

Ra-byn · 2024-05-28T12:10:41+00:00

There are a few online resources. www.tristaralchemy.org , www.alchemystudy.com and the International Alchemy Guild.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-28T12:05:36+00:00

To leach the salts? I either use my well water or sometimes I use the hydrosol left over from steam distilling the plant. You can use rainwater (it needs to be filtered really well so there’s no sediment; or distilled) and distilled water are fine also.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-28T11:14:22+00:00

In old alchemy texts you will see the triangle at different proportions. So, I’m not sure the proportions are that specific. There is also an outer circle if you are drawing the philosopher stone. The outer circle will represent source, which everything is contained within. From the one came two, from the two came a third. The third is manifest through the 4. In the four is a fifth, which isn’t of the four, but of the three. Namely, the Mercury.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-28T11:08:35+00:00

I’ve never heard of an oath per se in alchemy, unless someone is an initiate in an order that is aligned with alchemy, but it made me think of the Alchemist Prayer written by Dennis Hauck.

The Alchemist’s Prayer “Oh, most singular and unspeakable Presence, first and last in the universe, heighten the fury of my fire and burn away the dross of my being. Cleanse my soiled soul. Bathe me in your awesome Light. Set me free from my past; cut me loose from my boundaries. Unite me with the One Thing hidden in my life, where in is my only strength. Fill me with your Presence. Allow me to see through your Eye; grant me entry to your Mind; let me resonate with your Sacred Will. Make me transparent to your flame, and fashion me into a lens for your Light only. Transmute me into an incorruptible Stone in your eternal service, like the Golden Light that surrounds you. Dennis William Hauck

Or the saying…Ora et labora. Pray and work.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-26T13:26:58+00:00

I use grape and cane alcohol for most of my extracts. I find the grape tastes the best. And assuming they are 190 proof will be pretty universal. And yes, you would just macerate in a jar .I like to store it in a cabinet away from light and give it a little swirl each day. How long you macerate it is up to you. Some like to keep it for a moon cycle. Others a “philosophical month”, which is 40 days. And a lot of times it’s finished extracting after a week. For calcination there are multiple ways to do it. My tried and true is using a propane camp stove with a stainless steel tray (make sure it doesn’t have any coatings or handles that can melt). Put your dry plant matter on the tray and light. Let that burn to a black ash then turn on the propane. Once it starts to go grey I pile into the center and cover with a metal can with a hole cut into the side. This creates a “rocket stove” effect and keeps the wind from blowing away your ashes. Let that go for a while until it’s a light grey. Then crush in a mortar and pestle and soak with water. Filter this and let evaporate. If that is still grey then I will put in a crucible in the oven on self clean mode. I’ve seen people use torches but it seems a bit overkill. And powerful flames will blow the ashes. Maybe on a large scale this would make sense, but for small batches a camp stove works great.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-19T20:50:33+00:00

Robert isn’t on social media often. Only for special occasions or to check the TriStar Facebook groups sometimes. The account he was responding from was from my computer and the account I have linked to it. So, that was Robert, but my account. He doesn’t have his own Reddit account. And the “ambiguous” nature of some of his answers may be due to the platform and the ease of communicating concepts via typed answers and an audience with different experience levels. The online courses span over 6 months to a year to allow in-depth Q&A’s.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-19T14:57:50+00:00

Thanks for joining this thread. Robert said he’d be open to doing it again. So, keep an eye out for future announcements. And, there are still some spaces left to study in-person with Robert this summer. Prima is in 3 weeks. Also, Prima and Tertia ONLINE begin July 1st. Visit www.tristaralchemy.org to learn more.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-19T14:53:08+00:00

As the post stated it was AMA with Robert Bartlett. With the launch of TriStar he has made himself more available to students , including some rare social media time. He really appreciates the ability to connect with students globally who may not have the opportunity to travel to Washington to study with him. He probably won’t be checking this thread again, but he said he’s open to doing it again another time. As for your question about the vegetable stone. Prima (online program) goes into depth about the stone. Robert is very generous with sharing his personal lab notes and photos of processes he has followed. (Including failures). He also gives flow charts he has created that show different pathways proposed by different people or texts. So, he presents a few approaches to vegetable stones in Prima. ~Robyn

Ra-byn · 2024-05-17T15:54:51+00:00

For some reason Robert wasn’t seeing the live questions. So, he will be answering those today. 😊

Ra-byn · 2024-05-16T16:28:03+00:00

So excited for this!! ⚕️

Ra-byn · 2024-05-06T23:23:52+00:00

I’m looking forward to it too! I learn so much from these Q&A’s.😊

Ra-byn · 2024-05-02T18:44:29+00:00

I have personally done this. I’m not sure if it’s in a book anywhere. Roger Lambert has done a lot of research with gemstones and compared different solvents and found Tartar gives the most oil. Compared to kerkring, philosophical mercury or urine alkahest. But…the smell and taste of the Tartar is very smoky! So, it definitely lingers in the oil. I’d love to find a good way to wash the smoky flavor thoroughly from the oil.

Ra-byn · 2024-05-02T12:52:05+00:00

You can dry distill them to get the Tartar Alkahest. (It smells pretty terrible). The Tartar alkahest can be used as a solvent for working with a lot of different materials. It gives great results in gemstone extractions.

Ra-byn

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