Leaching of the salt may also yield up greater progress in the final stages of balancing the elements.
• Smooth, flat-bottomed glass or Pyrex baking dish.
• Several ounces of distilled water. Distilled water can be purchased from a grocery or drug store.
• Desk lamp or toaster oven.
• Butterknife, spatula, or other instrument to scrape the salts off the surface of the baking dish.
• Salts calcined to a gray-white color.
• Container for the salts.
Leaching is accomplished by placing the salt in a thin layer on the surface of a glass or Pyrex baking dish. A moderate amount of distilled water is then added and evaporated naturally or with the assistance of a heat lamp or toaster oven. The salt is then scraped off the container, ground, and recalcined. Experience has shown that leaching can be done in fifteen to thirty minutes if the salt is finely spread and the heat source is close by. A simple desk lamp, with as low as a 71h-watt bulb, will be sufficient.
The sulphur and mercury, which have previously been together in the tincture, in some instances are separated into their respective aspects. Thus, in the creation of a Stone, we have three separate materials that we will recombine in the alchemical laboratory.
If separation of the sulphur from the mercury-or essential oils from the alcohol-is not possible because of equipment limitations, then they may be used together, but this may affect the quality of the Stone produced. An "artificial" Plant Stone may also be made with sea salt, alcohol, and high-grade essential oils of the desired plant. Above all, it is important to note that a Vegetable Stone takes time to produce-in some cases up to several months-and will change in color and texture after it is created. Patience, dedication, and confidence are the needed attributes at this stage.
Preparation is the key to success in alchemical work. Preparation of the materials, of the place of working, and above all, of the attitude of the worker are needed. The attitude must be a mixture of humility and unswerving confidence in the ultimate success of the undertaking. An internal image and a feeling of the product coming into being, up to the final moment it is realized, will greatly assist in its creation. Meditate and visualize the successful completion of the work often.
Remember the words of Heinrich Khunrath, "Ora et labora," or "Prayer and work," and the aphorism on the fourteenth plate of the Mutes Liber, "Ora, lege, lege, lege, relege, labora et invenies," or "Pray, read, read, read, reread, work, and [you will] discover [it]." Note the order of the directions: prayer comes first, then reading and rereading, and finally the material operations.
While alchemists work alone, or at best with a mate, they do the work not for themselves only, but to assist in the relieving of pain and suffering of others. Their motive is well expressed in the motto of the Knights Templar, which comes from the 115th Psalm and which they sang in victory: "Non nobis Domine! Non nobis, sed nomini tuo da Gloriam." That is, "Not unto us, 0 Lord! Not unto us, but unto Thy name give Glory." This is ever the motto of a true alchemist.