Before Preparatory Work, Magnetization

True. From a purely chemical point of view, the matter “macerated” in the Sun and the Moon is torn apart.

True. The inner principle of magnetization, or astronomical laceration,   brings the Spiritus Mundi, spirit of life, from power to action.

We can extract Spiritus Mundi through the potential arising from day/night temperature differences and this is still called “magnetization”.

Magnetization is a phase of exposure, especially at night, during which the raw material should absorb from the outside and release from its interior as much Spiritus Mundi as possible. It will then be the alchemist’s task to collect it.

See Flow and Reflux. Anyway, if the traditional harvests preferably take place during the equinoxes (better, the week before), and the week of weeks occurs on the Ides of May (see Third Work and Alchemy Resounds), the winter solstice and its different composition of the air in the caves are rarely mentioned.

I am aware that you will almost always find the translation “to collect”, but some prefer “to harvest”, as it gives the idea of a completeness to its natural conclusion, the ripe grain, the harvest, the death. Since the raw material, at that moment, is called to die.

Traditionally, the best times to harvest raw materials are the week before the calendrical equinoxes.

More than well placed, the moon should be as far away from the sun as possible, so paradoxically during the full moon phase. Traditionally, the raw material is harvested during the full moon phase.

Those conceived during the equinoxes are born during the solstices.

Alchemists say: “the death of the body experiences the life of the soul and, vice versa, the death of the soul experiences the life of the body”. In short, during magnetization the spirits begin to come to light.

Magnetization is the destruction of the raw matter to let out the Secret Fire inside and, for the law of density, to make it more attractive for the Spiritus Mundi. Condensation is the catching of raw matters, particularly rich in Secret Fire, through materials either prepared for the purpose or natural. For instance, the atmospheric humidity absorption through a peculiar salt artificially dried out is considered condensation, while the dismemberment of a matter under the Sun and Moon is considered magnetization.

During the magnetization for the preparatory work, the Spiritus Mundi/Secret Fire seems to suffer from sunstrokes. Mind, I mean the substances that have already condensed a certain amount of Spiritus Mundi in previous processes, not the raw matter, which can still be subjected to hot-cold regimes. And this may seem like a paradox since the Sun is, in certain cases and moments of the year, a producer of Spiritus Mundi. See Solar Alchemy.

In fact, the best time of day to collect the raw material must occur before the sun rises. We have already explained that the Spiritus Mundi, during the day, is pushed by the Sun not to get close to the earth’s crust. The reverse operation, of approach, occurs at times with the help of the Moon.

Magnetization helps the raw matter to do the work for us: to imbibe with Spiritus Mundi and to free its own inner Spiritus Mundi.

Although we have seen that Spiritus Mundi fears sunstrokes and, in some cases, matter should be protected from too invasive solar rays, lunar rays are much more destructive on raw matter. Destructive, in this case, means precisely free its own inner Spiritus Mundi. And since magnetization is precisely around this, the presence of lunar rays is indispensable in every magnetization. See also Flow and Reflux and Lunar Alchemy.

It is not only an affair of the astronomical Sun and Moon by the canonical outdoor exposition, but also by the symbolical Sun and Moon intervention, that’s to say, getting the raw matter to undergo sudden changes of the state through thermic stress, volatilization/condensation, crystallization-grinding-deliquescence, etc. It is interesting to note how changes of state are also indicated with the symbols of Sun and Moon. Sun: hot, dry, active; Moon: cold, liquid, passive. Finally, there is the magnetization esoterical aspect, we have already seen in Solar Alchemy and Lunar Alchemy: from the sun a sparkle “comes down” which is “moistened” into a ray by the moon at night.

Very much so, see Flow and Reflux and Stellar and Planetary Alchemy.

Since we have already seen how the Spiritus Mundi tends to descend into the earthly cavities at night, it is legitimate to ask whether a “stellar” magnetization is possible in caves. Well, yes, although the temperature in the recesses of the earth is constant, “something” intervenes that “humidifies” the material to be magnetized. A typical example is the burial of nostoc, or mucilage from the sky, in a hole dug in the earth. Even manure, to be used in Alchemy as raw material, must first be buried. Additionally, minerals are collected naturally buried.

In theory, no, the material to be magnetized should be protected from any windy and stormy conditions. The reason is understandable: the natural fumes and gases have gone or become corrupted.

In theory, no, the material to be magnetized should be protected from rain. The reason is understandable: it would be extremely difficult to then work on it because, from a purely chemical point of view, it is not pure rainwater, nor is it more raw matter (the fumes and gases have gone or become corrupted).

For the reasons mentioned above, and in the current state of my knowledge, you would find yourself with a mixture that could hardly go beyond the state of Saturn, or nigredo or blackness. From a chemical point of view the mineral is now difficult to volatilise, as the natural fumes and gases have gone or become corrupted.

Sure. We must remember that the Spiritus Mundi is present mainly underground. And this is because at night, through the moon, it came down to earth even in the most hidden recesses.

As we have seen, the mineral exposed to surface conditions instead of absorbing and releasing Spiritus Mundi would instead lose it irreparably through the release of gases and vapors. Minerals must necessarily be mined, and the reason is simple: the Spiritus Mundi tends to descend at night and lodges itself inside the mineral veins. In conclusion, a mineral immediately collected from the mine is already highly magnetized, it does not require anything else.

To summarize briefly, Barbault noticed a phenomenon of blackening inside a microgreenhouse and wondered if this could be compared to an alchemical nigredo. Despite many attempts, he never managed to get out of the blackness, that is, he never managed to overcome the stage of intense magnetization and enter the stage of the first alchemical work. It is likely that Barbault had created a situation that was too little saline-metallic and too much colloidal-acid. We could compare Barbault’s experiment attempt to do Alchemy directly from a putrescent corpse.

No, a decomposing corpse is not magnetized, it is simply in a state “devoid” of life, I mean alchemical life. An alchemist would say that the volatile vital spirits have fled forever, leaving behind an acidic mush that has nothing to do with alchemical nigredo.

We know that Spiritus Mundi is present mainly underground. And this is because at night, through the moon, it descends to the earth even in the most hidden recesses. Some raw materials are highly “magnetized” by the practice of burying them: clayey earth, manure, and “bottled” products or placed in vials. The latter can be either materials already naturally ionized, such as snow, hail, dew and mucilage from puddles, or semi-finished products, such as the Mercury of some methods.

True. The magnetization subjected to the spring equinox is said to be “male”, while the autumnal one is said to be “female”. The two are then worked together.

In the case of grinding with mortar and pestle, we speak about the most sudden changes of state possible. And pounding in a mortar also produces similar effects, that is, it reproduces the method that nature itself uses to generate small lightning bolts, and thunder that cannot be heard by the human ear.

Better to avoid lighting a bonfire near the matter to be magnetized. When you light a bonfire the magnetization escapes from the exposed raw matter, because the focal point of the magnetization is concentrated in the air near the flames (not too close, of course). In some alchemical practices a bonfire is used as “bait“ for the Spiritus Mundi, see also Fire Alchemy.