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

The Unification of The Essences And of The Solid Cardinals of The Flower
The Refinement Process: The Complex of the Flower
The Druidic Workshop

Because this is the first stage of the uniting of the flower’s cardinal essences and its incense, the unification is undertaken as a ritual working. There must be a spiritual/magical bonding of the two parts of the cardinal essences and incense along with their physical unification. We must therefore return to our working stone and prepare it and ourselves for the ritual working ahead.

Unification: The Working

For this ritual working we will need:

· The candle triangle.

· A vessel of moon-cleansed water.

· An incense burner, with a suitable incense.

· The stave and dagger, to cast and seal the protective Circle. If you are using a permanent working stone within your workshop, you may well have cast the Circle previously, in which case you will need just the dagger to seal its entrance.

· Three small bowls, in which we will reunite the essences and the flower’s solid cardinals.

· The bottles containing the two leached cardinal essences.

· The bottles containing the two fermented cardinal essences.

· The jars containing the two solid cardinals of the flower.

· Two 100 ml storage bottles, to store the united cardinal essences.

· A 250 ml storage jar, to store the flower’s incense.

The working stone should be laid out as shown below in preparation for the ritual working.

The working stone is now ready to begin the ritual working, so we must once again look to the preparation of our body, mind, and spirit before we undertake our work. The process of personal preparation has been discussed earlier and is explained in detail in part 4 of this book.

Having completed our personal preparation, we are ready to proceed with the ritual working of unification. For the purpose of this example, we will again assume that a priestess is facilitating the ritual working.

If you are working outside your workshop, the first step is to cast the protective Circle using the stave as described in part 4. If you are within your workshop, you may have already done this for previous activities. With the Circle cast around the working area, the entrance is sealed with the dagger. Again, this procedure is explained in part 4.

The charcoal in the incense burner is now lit in preparation for the ritual working. The next step is the lighting of the candles. This part of the ritual has already been described here. Having lit all three candle flames in the required manner, the priestess then facilitates the uniting of the flames. This too is described earlier here.

Working stone layout for the ritual working of unification

The next stage of the ritual working is the invocation of the collective energy’s influence in the reuniting of the energies and potency of the flower’s cardinals. The priestess stands before the working stone and raises both hands high into the air. While doing so she says:

“I invoke the power of the collective energy and call upon it to guide my work. I call upon the four elemental essences to empower these cardinals and maintain them as they are again united.”

The four bottles containing the plant’s essences are then placed at the front and center of the working stone. The priestess forms her two hands into an inverted cup shape and places them above the four bottles. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental essence of the earth that yielded up these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

Then, dipping her fingers into the vessel of moon-cleansed water, the priestess sprinkles some water on each of the four bottles and says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the water that nourished these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

The priestess now sprinkles a little incense on the smoldering charcoal in the incense burner. As the smoke rises, she lifts each of the bottles in turn and holds it in the smoke. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the air that gave life to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.” (Repeat in turn for each bottle.)

The priestess now holds each of the bottles in turn above the flames of the candle triangle (about twelve inches [30 cm] above the flames), and as she moves each bottle in a clockwise circle around all three flames she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the fire (the sun), whose heat and light have given strength to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.” (Repeat in turn for each bottle.)

Finally, while holding each of the bottles in turn above the flame of the collective energy candle, the priestess says:

“I now call upon the one, the collective energy that animates all things, to guide my work and to protect the energies of these essences and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

The four bottles are now placed in their original positions on the working stone and their stoppers are removed. The priestess stands in front of the working stone, ready to begin the actual unification. Bringing one of the three small bowls to the front and center of the working stone, the priestess takes the bottle of leached cardinal essence of the petals in her left hand and the bottle containing the fermented cardinal essence of the petals in her right hand. Lifting both bottles high in the air, she says:

“Conceived as one, grown as one. I reunite the essences of this flower’s cardinals. I create the male essence of the sun.”

Having said this, she simultaneously pours the contents of each bottle into the bowl. Then, lifting the bowl carefully into the air so as not to spill any of the contents, she says:

“By my work and with the will of the collective energy, I have created the male cardinal essence of this flower. And so it shall remain until it is again reunited and amalgamated with its equal.”

She then places the bowl at the base of the male candle of the flame of the sun as she turns her attention to the remaining female essences. Bringing the second of the three small bowls to the front and center of the working stone, the priestess takes the bottle of leached cardinal essence of the flower head in her left hand and the bottle containing the fermented cardinal essence of the flower head in her right hand. Lifting both bottles high in the air, she says:

“Conceived as one, grown as one. I reunite the essences of this flower’s cardinals. I create the female essence of the moon.”

Having said this, she simultaneously pours the contents of each bottle into the bowl. Then, lifting the second bowl carefully in the air so as not to spill any of the contents, she says:

“By my work and with the will of the collective energy, I have created the female cardinal essence of this flower. And so it shall remain until it is again reunited and amalgamated with its equal.”

She then places the bowl at the base of the female candle of the flame of the moon.

This completes the unification of the leached and fermented essences, so the priestess now turns her attention to the two solid cardinals that will make up the flower’s incense. The two jars containing the plant’s solid cardinals are then placed at the front and center of the working stone. The priestess forms her two hands into an inverted cup shape and places them above the two jars. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental essence of the earth that yielded up these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

Then, dipping her fingers into the vessel of moon-cleansed water, the priestess sprinkles a little of the water on each of the two jars and says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the water that nourished these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

The priestess now sprinkles a little incense on the smoldering charcoal in the incense burner. As the smoke rises, she lifts both jars, one in each hand, and holds them in the smoke. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the air that gave life to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

The priestess now holds both jars above the flames of the candle triangle (about twelve inches [30 cm] above the flames), and as she moves them in a clockwise circle around all three flames she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the fire (the sun) whose heat and light have given strength to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

Finally, while holding both jars above the flame of the collective energy candle, the priestess says:

“I now call upon the one, the collective energy that animates all things, to guide my work and to protect the energies of these cardinals and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

The two jars are now placed in their original positions on the working stone and their screw caps are removed. The priestess stands in front of the working stone ready to begin the actual unification.

Bringing the last of the three small bowls to the front and center of the working stone, the priestess takes the jar of the solid cardinal of the petals in her left hand and the jar containing the solid cardinal of the flower head in her right hand. Lifting both jars high in the air, she says:

“Conceived as one, grown as one. I reunite the solid cardinals of this flower and create the incense, the energy of fire and air.”

Having said that, she simultaneously pours the contents of both jars into the bowl and sets aside the two jars. Then, lifting the bowl with her left hand, she gently stirs the contents with the fingers of her right hand to amalgamate both cardinals. As she does this, she says:

“By my work and with the will of the collective energy, I have created the incense of this flower, bringing together the elemental energies of fire and air.”

She then places the bowl at the base of the candle of the flame of the collective energy.

This completes the ritual working of the unification of the essences and of the amalgamation of the solid cardinals of the flower. Each of the two cardinal essences is now poured into a clean storage bottle and sealed. The incense is poured into a clean powder jar and sealed. The protective Circle is unsealed and erased. Both cardinal essence bottles and the incense jar are labeled and then stored in a cool, dark place until they are needed.

In order to give a complete overview and to aid the reader’s understanding of this complicated sequence the entire refinement process may be seen in a schematic form in the diagram on the facing page.

Generally, newly crafted cardinal essences and incenses are not used immediately, but rather are left to mature for at least one month. This period of rest allows the newly combined energies and attributes of the flower to mingle and increase in potency. Often the color and perfume of the essences will change as a result of the maturation, so try not to disturb this process, as it is a vital part of the empowerment of the potions.

It is best to store the bottles and jar containing all three components together, as they jointly contain the entire energies and the physical and spiritual/magical attributes of the harvested plant. When the time comes to use them in your ritual, they must be used together. You cannot mix the male essence of one plant harvest with the female essence of another, as they will conflict. Nor can you use the incense from one plant harvest with the essences of another. It is essential that all the components used are from the same plant harvest; the physical and spiritual/magical workings of their crafting speak of the division and reuniting of the plant’s latent energies and attributes. Do not be tempted to mix essences or incenses even if they are from the same genus and species.

The combining of the complexes crafted from the reuniting of the cardinal essences may take place only under very specific circumstances and for very specific reasons. We will look at these combined complexes in part 4 of this book.

Complex Refinement Schematic for Flowers