A Druid's Handbook to the Spiritual Power of Plants: Spagyrics in Magical and Sexual Rituals - Jon G. Hughes 2014

A Pause for Reflection
The Refinement Process: The Complex of the Flower
The Druidic Workshop

The work we have undertaken thus far has a great deal in common with many other herbal traditions. We have already looked at the way that Bach Flower Remedies are prepared by steeping the flowers in water to extract their energies and how similar processes are used in the homeopathic school. The ancient alchemists used much the same method to extract their basic essences before they began its repeated distillation. However, there are a number of very significant differences that distinguish the Druidic methodology from other herbal traditions and the alchemical workings we have looked at in so much detail earlier.

To get to this point in our process we have already endowed our work and our developing complex and incense with the energies of two spiritual/magical rituals, one at harvesting and one at separation. These spiritual/magical workings are one factor that raises the potential of Druidic potions above those of other traditions.

We have also seen that it is only the Druidic tradition that separates the plant into its cardinals, its male and female component parts. All other traditions use the whole of the harvested plant part, whether it is the flower, root, or leaves, as the one source material, without dividing its cardinals. Once the plant material has been macerated, many traditions would consider their work complete and their remedies and elixirs ready for use. Not so with the Druidic tradition: this is only the beginning of our workings.

The liquid cardinal essences we have crafted thus far are just the fundamental essences, containing the basic, unrefined potential attributes of the plant we are using. They therefore need to be further refined and purified before use. The solid cardinals retain the subtler attributes that we still need to extract and add to our refined liquid in order to realize the full potential of the plant’s attributes, both physical and magical.

Below we shall explain these unique procedures, called the sublimation of the cardinals, and go on to show just how these processes empower the potions we eventually employ.