Et_Habebis_Magisterium

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Et Habebis Magisterium:

Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century

The acceptance of the essential unity of the universe and the cousinhood of allthings in nature opened up an experience of the world that was very different from

technical prescriptions. Alchemical work became an immersion in a sacramental

activity, and it was termed the Great Work in which prayer and contemplationplayed an essential part.

- from Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke

The vast field of spagyrics presents itself rather like a mosaic that is only slowlycompleted by the collaboration of the reader.

- from Spagyrics, Manfred Junius


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Study which centers on the very essence of truth finds its most valuable expression in a

fully engaged life of practice. InAlchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare

Goodrick-Clarke brings us a vital exploration of the humble, yet profound, art ofspagyrics, the Paracelsean alchemical approach to discovering the quintessence of the

vegetable kingdom.

As she explains in the introduction The word spagyric (German spagyrik) comes fromtwo Greek verbs: spao (to separate) and agyro (to unite), in accordance with the

alchemical maxim solve et coagula, et habebis magisteriumdissolve and bind, and

you will have the magistery. As the two Greek verbs suggest, the process of separatingand combining imply a synthesis in which the finished whole is greater than the sum of its

parts. Spagyrics formed the core of Paracelsus practical medicinal work, and drawsbenefits from his synthesis of folk herbalism, academic theory, esoteric philosophy and

practical experience.

While many are familiar with herbalism, and the use of natural remedies, as alternatives

to pharmaceuticals or invasive medical treatments, these are not the sole means ofparticipating in the beneficial medicinal aspects of plant life. .

We stand at the threshold of a new era of medicine and at a point where it may

be useful to engage with what has been known in the past about the importance of

phytomedicines in all their various forms.


Goodrick-Clarke clearly demonstrates the expansion of contemporary medical practices

possible through the application of Alchemical insights. Offering no illusory cure all, she

shows that it is in our relationship with the whole that we become healthy. This ismedicine for living, and a living medicine, whose preparation, application and influenceworks to ground us in the very life of the world around us.

The physical sciences of the past identified four stages in the living expression of matter;

first came the mineral realm, then the vegetative, than the animal, and finally the spirit.

Each of these realms is alive in some sense, their differences expressed in how fully theyare able to participate in the universal experience. Alchemy, the Royal Art, acts within all

of these realms, and can be applied, using the familiar processes ofNigredo,Albedo, andRubedo, to sublimate and divine the essence of each station.

There is a modest admonition in the introduction to be prepared for rethinking our

relationship with weeds. This belies the much deeper change that occurs as Goodrick-Clarke guides us through the history and theory of alchemy and its application to the

medical field. Realizing that what we think of as weeds may be helpful as herbal

remedies is a small step, compared to the initiatory leap necessary to fully grasp the

correspondences associated with the Hermetic cosmology at the core of the alchemicalwork.
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Paracelsus provides both a foundational figure for

spagyric practice, as well as a historical framework

where we can begin to absorb the Hermetic worldview. Following his turbulent career, and exploring the

influence of his insights, we are able to better

understand the tensions existing between alchemicalHermetic practice and the mainline of Western

thought, and the deep stream of wisdom that flows,

often unseen, through the history of Western culture.

For Paracelsus the world was a series of corresponding

alchemical movements, each to a greater or lesserextent interlocked in the movement of the whole.

Plants, whose life force is fed by the intermingling

celestial influences of the sun, moon, stars and comets,and the mineral deposits of the soil, represent alchemically active receptacles for the very

essences of those influences, having refined them through organic spagyric processes.Knowing this, the spagyric alchemist further refines these celestial essences through thefamiliar processes of alchemy.

Exploring history Goodrick-Clarke is able to address issues of practice, theory andprecedence, awakening us to new relationships with the world. Stellar influences are

explored in terms of their historical understanding, and practical importance to the Art. In

the second part of the book, dealing with practical spagyric instruction, this introductionproves very helpful for integrating with the full depth of the art.

We are also introduced to contemporaries such as Lily Koskinko, whose experiments

with with mineral tinctures and their reaction to certain celestial alignments, showintriguing evidence for planetary affects beyond what is accepted by most scientists.

Goodrick-Clarke leads us on a historical overview of Paracelsean practice through briefintroductions to the major figures that have applied his theories down to the present day.

Such historical precedence shows the need for more experimentation, and the

groundwork for the present application of these alchemical preparations.

In 1900, there were three main causes of death: pneumonia or severe influenza,

tuberculosis, and enteritis. All that has now changed. Since 1940, heart disease,

stroke, and cancer have taken the place of these fatal diseases. Chronic ill-health

and debilitating conditions are a huge cost to the happiness of human life. TheNational Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion describes

chronic disease (heart problems, cancer, diabetes) as the leading cause of death

and disability in the United States, accounting for 70 percent of all deaths.


Quoting the alchemist Arnau Vilanova she notes that The plagues beginning in 1348

further stimulated the search for the mother and Empress of medicines, [which] others


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have named . . . the inestimable glory; others, indeed, have named it the quintessence, thephilosophers stone, and the elixir of life. In our own time the problems attendant with

globalization, industrialization, environmental degradation and the increasingly chronicnature of our illnesses have brought a similar return to the everlasting quest.

Our conditioning leads us to see disease as something to be fought; the fight forhealth is a war in which the enemy (disease) must be eradicated, excised, orbeaten. The means to this end often involve the pharmacological blocking of

natural responses, surgical excision, and genetic modification. Most modern

medical interventions fall into these categories. The medical paradigm is to goagainst, for which we use the term allopathy.

Such an approach seldom leads to cure, and a growing number of people todaydo not wish to take pharmaceutical drugs, which burden the body with

synthesized chemicals and suppress natural responses. Despite the billions of

dollars spent on drug development, it is now widely recognized and reported that

pharmacological use is itself a source of disease, with many thousands of peopleaffected by iatrogenic illness every year.


Goodrick-Clarkes work is deeply embedded in the historical transmission of alchemicalknowledge. As a student ofManfred Junius, she received hands on training in thepractical aspects of the alchemical tradition from a well respected exponent of its

contemporary expression. The key to her work lies in her erudite scholarship, which

allows these deeply immersive traditional ideas aterms that are accessible to thecontemporary scientific and medical communities, and to all those willing to reassess

their beliefs.

Medical students typically spend their first weeks of instruction on the corpse, inall its grim gradations of decay. Once dissection and anatomy has familiarized

them with the structure of the body as it is in death, they are brought into the

wards, where they encounter the living. Here, students find an important

difference between the living and the dead, a difference so obvious and striking asto pass without comment. Here, even in the sick, is the mysterious, magical, and

mystical quality of aliveness that marks the living from the dead.


In attempting to open our vision for seeing new relationships It is important to recognize,as Goodrick-Clarke points out, how cultural conditioning leads us to certain assumptions.

In the historical figure of Samuel Hahnemann, who developed homeopathic dissolution,

she explores the concept of the vital force, and how this concept alters the way in which

we view treatment.
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Treating the controversial theories of Hahnemann, she shows the value in establishing the

historical stream of knowledge before dismissing an idea. Placing Hanehmann in his

proper setting, Goodrick-Clarke is able to reevaluate his theories and their application tocontemporary medicine. Using Hanehmann as a focus allows the scientific dismissal of

his homeopathic work to provide an opening for an accurate historical review that

demonstrates the true nature of the disagreement.

Through technical specialization and application the art of medicine has deteriorated tothe level of mechanics. As Goodrick-Clark points out, conventional medical science

knows a great deal about the numerous ways in which the body deteriorates in disease,but it does not have a fully developed theory of the vital force and the dynamis that keeps

a person well. Many people, observing living beings, would take as selfevident the

proposition that the life force exists. Yet within the medical profession, there is a

determined and vocal group whose position is that there is no evidence whatsoever for alife force.

Scholarship and insight combine in presenting an overview of Alchemy through out theages that aligns it with the current, and more generally know, cultural streams. Herhistorical knowledge aids her enthusiasm in expressing the full importance of these

traditions, illustrating how current understanding lacks much of the holistic depth

necessary for true healing to occur.

Both she and her husband, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, have been instrumental in thecontemporary critical reevaluation of esotericism as an intellectual topic worth

investigating. It is a credit to her work that the same critical eye for scholarship has gone

into evaluating the practical application of these ideas. The second half of the work is

dedicated to sharing the hands on tradition of spagyrics she learned from Manfred Junius,

as well as her own insights proven through practice. These step by step instructionscontinue to develop the application of the history and theory covered in the beginning of

the work. Through preparing spagyric remedies themselves we are able to meditate onand integrate the insights provided by the active theory.

Access to such vital and long lived traditions in such an open manner is a gift of ourcurrent culture. As she amply expresses, Finding a few sage leaves, steeping them in hot

water, and drinking the resulting tea soothes a sore throat, or drinking mint tea alleviates

mild indigestion. This book is for those who would like to go further and explore thewonderful range of healing that is ours for the taking as soon as we step out into the

natural, wild world. Go further, because as Manfred Junius mused, spagyrics is a

relationship as much as a practice, a relationship with the world around us in its livingwhole. WithAlchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke has

provided a historically erudite, practically applicable and deeply engaging work to initiate

a new understanding of our relationship with the vegetable world.


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***

About Clare Goodrick-Clarke:

Clare Goodrick-Clarke is a writer, lecturer, complementary health practitioner

and meditation teacher. She is currently an Honorary Fellow of ExeterUniversity where teaching modules on the Esoteric Body, and the History of

Alchemy for the MA Programme in Western Esotericism (the first degree of itskind in the world!) You can see details at the Exeter Centre for the Study of

Esotericism.

Since 1995, Goodrick-Clarke has been a faculty member of theNew York Open Center,

speaking regularly at the New York Open Center International Esoteric Quest

conferences. You can see forthcoming conference details as well as past conferences on

the New York Open Center page.

For more information you can visit her website:

Wellspring Homeopathy

and visit the publisher, Inner Traditions, page for the book, which includes a briefpreview:

Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century

Note: Special thanks to Inner Traditions for providing a copy of Alchemical Medicine forthe 21st Century for research and review.
http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/research/exeseso/http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/research/exeseso/http://mail.opencenter.org/webdev/esoteric5.pdfhttp://www.wellspringhomeopathy.co.uk/http://store.innertraditions.com/isbn/978-1-59477-319-8http://store.innertraditions.com/isbn/978-1-59477-319-8http://www.wellspringhomeopathy.co.uk/http://mail.opencenter.org/webdev/esoteric5.pdfhttp://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/research/exeseso/http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/research/exeseso/

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