THE LESSER CIRCULATION

Suphur

Salt

Mercury (This is the same symbol as

that for the planet Mercury.)

As previously explained, alchemical Mercury is not the same as com-

mon quicksilver. Neither is Sulphur common sulphur or brimstone. Nor
is Salt common table salt or sodium chloride.
Sulphur, that is, the alchemical Sulphur, is usually found in its oily
form adhering to the Mercury. It must be separated by means of dis-
tillation. This yellow substance is the Sulphur that common alcohol
extraction did not set free sufficiently. (With metallic Sulphur the differ-
ence will become even more noticeable.)
In the herbal process, the separation of the Sulphur from the Mercury
(Essence) is not as essential as in the mineral work. Therefore, the begin-
ner will not use the three alchemical substances separately, but will use
Mercury and Sulphur combined and Salt separately. The first two (form-
ing one liquid in the herbal extraction) are joined to the Salt, and from
this combination, the alchemical medicine or elixir is then produced. In
this way, from any herb an elixir can be made by art that is more potent
than either the tincture, extract, or Salt taken alone, as is commonly pre-
scribed by present-day therapeutics.
The foregoing is an attempt to present a synopsis of the fundamen-
tals in Alchemy, the basic theory underlying all alchemical work. What
follows is an example of the practice; in this case, a presentation of the
procedure for obtaining alchemical elixirs from herbs. The process used
in the herbal work differs only slightly from that employed with animal
and mineral substances. One of the differences is the non-separation of
the Sulphur from the Mercury in the herbal process.

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