Spagyrics are used as a plant spirit medicine by many medical herbalists and practitioners in traditional medicine using an holistic approach. Some historical milestones For instance, it has been reported that the deglycosylation of harpagide gives a degradation product called H-harpagide (2-(formylmethyl)-2,3,5-trihydroxy-5-methylcyclopentane carbaldehyde) that is able to induce the inhibition of the COX-2 enzyme in vitro, in contrast to the parent molecule, which is instead completely inactive [ 29]. Due to its structure, this molecular species might also undergo oxidation and possibly be more powerful as a ferric-reducing agent. We can suggest that if such a reaction happened upon the aging of the 014 product, it could account for the lower IC50 observed with the FRAP method and the lower amount of harpagide detected in this sample. Each Spagyric essence has its own Certificate of Analysis, indicating that the necessary criteria have been satisfied to the standards of both the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and World Health Organisation (WHO).

There are some indications that the antioxidant properties of some of the specialized metabolites also contribute to the anti-inflammatory effects of pharmaceutical preparations based on H. procumbens [ 14, 15, 25, 27]. However, the antioxidant activity of devil’s claw has not been extensively investigated, and there have been no previous investigations on the antioxidant bioactivity of spagyric preparations. Previous studies have only reported moderate antioxidant activity in methanolic root extracts of H. procumbens, while an aqueous extract containing 2.6% harpagoside was shown to have a good capacity to scavenge DPPH. In addition, intraperitoneal administration of a 53% ethanolic extract of devil’s claw to male Wistar rats indicated antioxidant effects similar to those induced by selegiline [ 4, 14, 28]. One way to think about it is that it’s the difference between “the world” and “the earth.” The world is everything that human beings have created from our minds. I live in the country, so I’m surrounded by nature and trees and plants and the earth, but every time I go to a city, it’s overwhelming in a way, being surrounded by the humanmade objects that arise out of the human mind. The world is the human mind made manifest. In contrast, the earth is something greater. Something greater than us created the earth. Obviously we didn’t create the ways the elements are and the way nature is. We’re a part of that. Separation within Ourselves The renewed interest in this medicine system, in more recent times, was due to the work of Dr Carl Zimpel (1801-1879), a German physician. Today, Zimpel's methods of preparation are used. Safety of Spagyric Medicine The purified white salts are gathered and crushed into a fine powder to increase their surface area. They are recombined with the tincture of the plant that was made prior. By reintroducing the minerals into the tincture, all three philosophical principles are now recombined together. This is the basic method for completing the spagyric process. The tincture now contains all the acids, oils and minerals the plant originally had but now in a more potent and purified form. In this way, the energetics and the chemical aspects of the plant are maintained to the fullest extent. It also creates new compounds specific to the chemistry of that plant and its method of preparation. A Little Chemistry….Based on this, we evaluated the antioxidant potency of the two spagyric tinctures to eventually detect any variation in their bioactivity due to the aging of the product and possible degradation of the bioactive phytochemicals. A comparison of the chemicals in and the bioactivity of these two tinctures was also made with a commercial NST. After developing this relationship with your plant of choice, you’ll start to notice archetypal qualities about it that correlate to a particular planet. Once you make this connection, you can identify which day and hour are associated with that planet and use those as references to know when to plant, cultivate, and prepare your plant in your spagyrics lab. These planetary timing mechanisms are central to the production of true spagyric medicines, as you’re aligning your work with the specific energetic quality of time associated with the planetary energy you want to harvest into your medicine. Religion aside, and any connotations to ghosts, this spirit is a volatile component invisible to the naked eye. This Spirit is a communication principle, it outwardly expresses much more than the plant's essential nature, to the formative creative principles. Its azoth is the information within the creation process. Science is still nowhere near understanding the secret life of the plant kingdom.

One of the most common questions we get here at Natura Sophia Spagyrics is “how do I use or work with my spagyrics?” It’s an understandable question, considering the therapeutic approach to spagyrics is a bit different than your standard run-of-the-mill herbal tincture, especially if you are using them to support healing on the Mercury and Sulfur levels of being (psychological/emotional and soul). We’ve created this world that has separated us from nature. This is the core, fundamental issue that we’re facing on this planet right now. That core separation creates deeper layers of separation within ourselves, where our mind is separated from our heart, our intuitive faculties are separate from our rational mind. In our culture, our science is separate from our spirituality. And in that way, we create a world that is separate from the earth. Antioxidant activity of spagyric tinctures 019 and 014, the NST, quercetin, acteoside, and Trolox as a positive control, as determined by DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP methods.

Some historical milestones

Our Spagyric Essences are a whole different form of extract and are significantly more potent than most liquid herbal preparations. These are a concentration of the essential oils (Sulfur), alcohol (Mercury), and alkali minerals (Salt) of the plants, and are thus taken in much lower dosages than the Spagyric Tinctures and Formulas. To paint the picture a little, the amount of plant material we use to yield approximately 1 gallon of Spagyric Essence would prepare roughly 7-8 gallons of Spagyric Tincture, depending on the plant. The quality control of herbal products aims to assure their consistency, efficacy, and safety. The overall quality of botanicals depends on several factors, including the selection of raw plant materials, harvest time, seasonal changes, and post-harvest processing, and it also relies on extraction procedures and product preparations. All of these factors can primarily affect the plant/drug content of bioactive constituents and impair the efficacy of the final formulation. However, compared to quercetin and acteoside, all three tinctures (019, 014, and the NST) displayed lower antioxidant activity ( Figure 4). Both of these two compounds showed antiradical activity reaching 96–100% of DPPH inhibition at concentrations between 26 and 50 μg/mL for quercetin and acteoside. Similarly, quercetin and acteoside were very effective in scavenging the ABTS + radical cation, displaying 100% inhibition between 7 and 13 μg/mL. In addition, they showed discrete FRAP values amounting to 330 (quercetin) and 67 (acteoside) μg/mL to obtain 95% inhibition. Adaptation is our core adaptogenic formula, designed to specifically support a healthy stress response,* strengthen the immune system*, and build core vitality*, with a specific affinity for the neuroendocrine system.* In essence, we are recreating old time apothecaries and pharmacies when alchemical methods were used to extract plants and make medicines. There is a rich history of pharmacognosy and pharmacology getting their inspiration from old time alchemists. Paracelsus for example glorified the alchemical extraction of poppy, which led to the understanding of new and more effective compounds now used in todays pharmaceutical industry. Sadly in todays day and age much of what is learned in chemistry has no foundations in understanding where these compounds are derived naturally. This is where alchemy shines, as it is a science of causes and understanding the creation of solvents, compounds and their synthesis – using only naturally derived compounds and methods.