The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook: A Complete Guide to Magickal Herbs and How to Use Them - Karen Harrison 2020

Introduction

The use of herbs for Magick and medicine has fascinated people for millennia—and for good reason. Herbs have been used effectively in Magick and religious ceremony for tens of thousands of years. The Healing Arts and the Magickal Arts developed together as our ancestors sought ways to control and sustain their survival in the days well before a pharmacy was located on every corner. Indeed, what our forebears discovered and experimented with was the fact that a pharmacopeia existed in every meadow, forest, and river bend—if you knew what to look for and what to do with the herbs once you found them.

As the compiled knowledge of our ancestors evolved, they developed complex, integrated systems of information in order to understand and affect the world around them. Based on their keen observations of the natural world's flows of energy, the movement of the stars and Planets, the cycles of the Earth's seasons, and the Waxing and Waning Phases of the Moon, the ancients could begin to predict the course of the weather and what its effects would be on their lives, as well as the paths that the herds would follow and therefore when to go on the hunt. They could foretell where the herbs that healed would grow and when they would be ready to harvest.

The components of herbs (roots, leaves, flowers, resins, and essential oils) were certainly used for their physical healing properties in the creation of salves, poultices, tinctures, fomentations, and much more, but they were also extensively used Magickally in conjunction with their medicinal properties. Our ancestors knew that the value of the herb was not just in the physical ailments it could alleviate or heal, but also in the energy, the spirit of the plant. This energy/spirit could be harnessed to heal an individual or influence events and so could be used for Magickal purposes as well. This wisdom and understanding of the cycles of the natural world combined with knowledge of the effects of herbs, Magickal and medicinal, forms the foundation of Herbal Alchemy and Herbal Magick.

Alchemy (al-kimia in Arabic; or al-khimia in Hebrew) is a philosophy and practice that has as its goal the attainment of ultimate wisdom and connection with the Divine. Alchemy became known in the 16th century as the spagyric art with the Latin motto solve et coagula, meaning “to separate and to rejoin,” as one of its practices is the infusing of natural materials such as herbs or metals with spiritual and/or Magickal intention and then using the result to transform one's life. Steeped in mysticism and mystery, Alchemy is also an ancient path of spiritual purification and the transformation of the spirit: the expansion of consciousness and the development of insight and intuition with the goal of uniting the Alchemist with her True Self and higher consciousness. Alchemy is the investigation of and joining with nature via a philosophical and spiritual discipline, combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, Astrology, medicine, mysticism, and art—all components that when combined create a greater whole.

Alchemy is a science and philosophy that focuses on the innate character of the four Elements—Fire, Water, Earth, and Air—in conjunction with the energies of the Planetary bodies and the Planetary correspondences of organic materials abundant in nature such as metals, herbs, and stones.

Although it has been practiced worldwide—we find treatises on Alchemy in Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt and Persia, India, China, Japan, and Korea, classical Greece and Rome, and Europe and the Americas through the modern day—the roots of Alchemy are in Khem, the ancient name for Egypt (from which we get the Arabic word al-kimia), and in Taoist Chinese practice of creating medicines from combinations of herbs, stones, and metals along with energy (chi) practices. Taoist Alchemy focuses mainly on the purification of one's spirit and body in the hopes of gaining immortality through the practice of Qigong and/or consumption and use of various concoctions—alchemical medicines or Elixirs, each of which serves different focused purposes.

In this book, we explore Herbal Alchemy as practiced in the West, through the uses of the plants and their Planetary signatures as developed by the 14th-century philosopher and Alchemist Paracelsus. Paracelsus said, “As Nature is extremely subtle and penetrating in her manifestations, she cannot be used without the Art.”

A fascinating figure, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim was a philosopher, physician, Astrologer, mathematician, Alchemist, and more. This eminent gentleman took the title Paracelsus, meaning “equal to or greater than Celsus,” who was an earlier botanist and a 1st-century Roman encyclopedist. Aulus Cornelius Celsus was famous for his writings on medicine and compilations of notes on plant life and its medicinal uses. Inspired by Celsus's work, Paracelsus traveled extensively in the Old World visiting the healers of villages, talking with the wise men and wise women in hundreds of hamlets about their uses of local herbs, their observations of the herbs' effects, and the best growing conditions for those herbs as well as their best gathering times. As he traveled, he kept a diary of what he was learning and gathered it into a large body of work. Up to this point, the lore, use, and history of each plant had been given to an apprentice only orally. Through the use of writing and the printing press, this information would make its way into the wider world.

Paracelsus's work with herbs utilized his experience as an Astrologer, aligning each known herb with the energy of a Planet. As an Astrologer, he organized his Doctrine using the system of the Planetary energies to designate the effects and disposition of each herb. The Doctrine of Signatures recorded each plant and its medicinal and Magickal uses. The way that Paracelsus used the term signature was to signify and organize each herb according to its specific appearance, geographical location, and the physical effects of the herb on the human system. The Doctrine of Signatures organized each herb in terms of its unique properties: what type of climate in which it grew, what time of day it bloomed, the form and color of its flowers and leaves, what type of physical ailments it addressed, what type of Magickal uses for which it was customarily employed, whether it had a heating or cooling effect on the body, whether it was bitter or sweet tasting, sweet smelling or acrid, and more. For example, he placed herbs that affected the heart; were primarily golden in color; thrived in sunny areas; and promoted a sense of well-being, success, and confidence in an individual under the dominion or rulership of the Sun.

Paracelsus was also revolutionary in his work with plant life, as he combined spiritual alchemical practices with the herb's use in addition to traditional basic medicinal herbal concoctions. In subsequent centuries, Paracelsus's Doctrine was expanded and built upon by medieval herbalists like Nicholas Culpeper and John Gerard, and his Doctrine of Signatures continues to be the cornerstone of Western Magickal herbal practice today.

The aim of this book is to give you the knowledge and tools for your own personal transformation using readily available tools and herbal ingredients. Partnered with each chapter on Planetary/herbal energies you will find tried and effective rituals, meditations, and workings that highlight the use of Magickal herbs designed to improve your life in all its myriad aspects. Each working has been used in a real-life situation, and each one has manifested its purpose. These rituals and meditations include practical and Magickal techniques to solve and improve both physical-world issues and workings devoted to understanding and actualizing your spiritual goals.

A famous Hermetic axiom states, “As above, so below.” Your spiritual life is reflected in your physical life, and your physical life mirrors your spiritual condition. If the problems you face in your mundane existence can be resolved and transmuted in ways that will change your challenges into opportunities, you will have much more time and energy to devote to your true work—your spiritual transformation.

The Herbal Alchemist's Handbook is eminently practical. The use of it will teach you the energies and Magickal properties for each herb and how to use each singly or in combination. In most herbal Magickal applications, combinations of Planetary/herbal energies are utilized. In part 1 of this book, we explore each Planet and consider very specific applications for each Planetary energy and its corresponding herbs. In each chapter, we apply the Planet's energy in a ritual, energy working, or meditation as an example of its practical use.

Part 2 explains in detail how to compose your blend or formula in any form you deem the most efficacious for it, such as Incense, Fluid Condenser, or blended essential oil. Part 3 discusses creating custom formulas based on Numerology and Astrology. Also included are appendixes of herbal materials, Planetary energies, and suggested formulas making use of their natural affinities.

The blending of Incense, ceremonial oils, Bath Salts, Herbal Amulets, Fluid Condensers, and Herbal Philtres, along with a multitude of recipes, are here at your fingertips. I hope you will enjoy the recipes and find them useful, but my main goal is to show you how to create your own Alchemical combinations using natural substances so that you claim this work and make it your own.

This book is a culmination of the decades of medicinal and Magickal experience I have with herbs. I was raised in a family that was considered strange at the time, which I have realized over the years was quite fortunate for me, as I am certainly their product . . . they prayed to the Moon, talked to trees, communed with spirits, called to the lightning, and used natural things like herbs, rocks, and bird feathers to contain power and make Magickal changes in their lives. Just as I live today.