If salts from the plant used to make the tincture are not available, an "artificial" Stone may be made in its place using a similar process. In place of the calcined residue, sea salt is soaked in rainwater and dried several times, being crushed with mortar and pestle between cycles. The aura and energy radiating from the hands of the alchemist are most crucial in the work. That is why during the handling of the salt and tincture, the attitude of the alchemist is so important; it is also why alchemists work alone, undisturbed by the inquisitive and disruptive thoughts of others.
While it should not have to be said to someone interested in alchemical, Qabalistic, or Hermetic work, we will state it again to drive the point home: thoughts are real things on their way to becoming tangible in our material world. It is for this reason that we mentally wrap ourselves in a blanket or veil to psychically isolate ourselves from the disruptive psychic energy of others, and why we wrap our products in aluminum foil when they are completed. Alcohol is very susceptible to psychic vibrations, as is cold water, and both act as storage mediums for those concentrated energies. Consider this the next time you are in a bar or drinking an alcoholic beverage. In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is said that the recovering addict must avoid "stinking thinking," as that is what drives them back to drinking and drugging. When you consider that many alcoholics sit and stew over what is bothering them while clutching an ice-cold drink between their hands, deep in an inner contemplation of failure, anger, and self-destruction, and then consume their "desecrated talismans" one after the other, is it any surprise that alcohol and drug abuse is so destructive to the body and soul of individuals and society?
In addition to the equipment listed above, the following will be needed:
• French or Celtic sea salt.
• Additional essential oils, commercially produced, matching the herb being used (may be needed).
If you chose not to soak the sea salt, then crush it, imagining that, like the plant salt, it is opening itself up to the creative powers of the tincture, or cosmic energy and consciousness.
On the appropriate planetary day and hour, begin the imbibing process with an eyedropper, first with grain alcohol until saturated, and then with essential oil. Repeat several times, and proceed as discussed in the previous method.
Modern salt-refining techniques are indebted to the ancient alchemists for much of their methods. The sea and its symbols have been a rich inspiration for alchemists and mystics of all periods. It is not surprising, then, to learn that the ocean itself, the very source from which our physical bodies have arisen, is also the source of much of our foodstuffs as well as potential medicines. The salty waters of Eaux-Meres, or "Mother Waters," is the basis of our plasma, amniotic water, and all of our body fluids. For this reason, only sea salt that is naturally refined and collected (i.e., organic) is suitable for this work. Salt mined from deep inland or strip-mined off the beaches is "alchemically polluted" and will not do for this work of rejuvenation. Salt produced in the slow, natural manner contains over eighty-four trace minerals, many of which are absent from produced salts, and is gray-brown in color.
To make an artificial Plant Stone from sea salt, perform all of the steps in Method I or Method II, and in place of plant salts use organic sea salt. Be sure to dry the salt under a lamp or in an oven at a low tem perature before using it, as salt will absorb moisture from the air unless stored in an airtight container. Moisture in the salt will delay the process as well as inhibit the absorption of the sulphur and mercury. Take a few extra minutes to prepare your sea salt accordingly.