Life Elixirs - the Medieval Wonder Remedies

Life Elixirs, healing and medicine itself all have their origin in applied mysticism. Mysticism accepts physical reality as real but, also acknowledges that physical life has its existence as a result of much higher, organized forces and is subordinate to them. The study of these forces and potentialities is above the scope of regular religion and deals with mysticism and the highly organized spiritual studies and practices of Hermeticism. These beliefs and practices have existed in all advanced cultures. It is out of these concepts that the idea and possibility of Life Elixirs originate. Mysticism is by definition a non-physical pursuit that deals with the science of the spirit, soul, physical life and their spiritual potentialities and correspondences. Some find it impossible to accept the possibility that such extremely fine concepts exist at all let alone in the times before modern science. Yet, it is out of these beliefs that medicine itself has it's origins. The universally adopted symbol for medicine is actually the hermetic symbol of the Caduceus of Hermes. It is symbolic of the highest possible wisdom on planet Earth but, otherwise has nothing to do with medicine per se, healing being a mere extension of mysticism.


The fact that Life Elixirs are to be found in all advanced cultures implies that the spiritual practices they came out of must have shared
A) a lot in common and,
B) a certain amount of what might be regarded a universal view of life and existence or universal philosophy.

Because of the mysticism that Life Elixirs in particular and healing in general originally came out of, it would be impossible to comprehend what a Life Elixir actually is without first explaining several basic concepts that up until very recently were central to life among many including the mystics of the world. It should be noted that there were also many false concepts of reality related to physical life, the life of the soul and spirit as well. These superstitions were gradually and thankfully removed with the aid of the modern sciences. At present, the modern sciences, accepting only what is physically tangible do not accept anything unseen. This, however, does not invalidate the unseen. Thoughts and feelings are completely invisible and no amount of brain or heart analysis will reveal them or their origin and yet everything we know comes from them.

The first overriding concept is that all things physical exist and are maintained and influenced from a higher level. Physical life consists of a physical organism, an animating principle called the soul which is intern itself animated by a spirit. These three components make up the general order of all living things. The physical part of a living thing on Earth lives in the physical world, the soul or astral component exists in an astral realm or dimension and the spirit exists in a spirit realm. A physical being has its characteristics from its soul and its life from its spirit. And, In the same way as there are quantifiable rules that govern physical life, there must also be principles that govern the astral and spiritual dimensions.

It is understood that at the onset of these explanations that many do not believe in the concept of a "soul," a "spirit" or even a God much less a discussion of physical life being dependent upon them. This in no way invalidates the concepts themselves, the possibility of their existence, their influence upon physical life, or the ability or possibility of actively being able to work with them directly or indirectly through collected physical means or materials. In fact, one could also conclude that working with physical materials and manipulating them without an awareness of their higher correspondences could actually be quite dangerous. A case of "fools rushing in where angels fear to tread." In modern life this danger manifests itself most graphically in the incredible volume of poisons that result from industrial activity which could be completely avoided with a deeper understanding and respect for the materials being manipulated chemically or otherwise.

In addition to there being a physical component, an astral component and a spiritual component to life, another even more basic and universal concept of existence and life is to be found in simple "polarity" - the idea that there is a universal Positive Principle and Negative Principle. These, being opposing forces, one would tend to frustrate the effect of the other or repel away from each other because of their opposition. But, the very fact that these two Principles are coexistent means that there must be a third Principle that understanding the nature of both keeps them together and mitigates or coordinates their activity rather than having them endlessly repel because of their natural antipathy. Further, forces that exist but cannot manifest are as good as non-existent so, in order that these forces might usefully manifest as practical, useable forms, yet another Principle must exist out of which they are given substantiality that they might manifest in life. In order for these basic life Elements to exist and have their maintenance they must exist within a sustaining medium that is finer than their own substance. This medium is most often called the Fifth Essence or Quintessence. These principles together are absolutely fundamentally basic. These two principles, two additional subsequent forces and the Fifth Principle are the primary essences of life and existence of all things outside of the Godhead. They are the Principles of Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Akasha respectively, also known as the Four Elements and the Quintessence. Within each principle there is a further polarization - ensuring that everything has its opposite.

Both main Principles are essentially inseparable, necessary and interactive in all things. This idea is identical to the Oriental Yin and Yang concept. Each principle has a physical correspondence that, although analogous, is not the principle itself. Generally, what is found to live in water is generally of that Element. The same goes for what is found living in the air or in the earth. Each will generally draw on it's corresponding Element for it's general sustenance.

These Principles simultaneously work within a framework that is multidimensional - like multilevel chess. That is to say, that what is physical is animated and energized by its astral counterpart and, what is astral is animated and energized by what is spiritual; forming a trinity that exists within a still finer medium. And, everything is animated and otherwise given life by a still Higher Force of life most often acknowledged as God.

According to this general and somewhat simplified outline, all possible possibilities and therefore all things that exist can be expressed and have their correspondence within this framework. Within this framework all things mineral, vegetable and animal are considered to be alive varying only in degree of spiritual freedom and subsequent activity.

A Life Elixir could only have been conceived and formulated with these multidimensional principles of life in mind. Based on this philosophical concept of created order, it would be logical to assume that a Life Elixir, as a combination of certain natural substances, can serve multiple purposes, healing possibly being only a very secondary one.

To a worldly person, whose scope is confined by their materiality, what could be more important than physical life, while to a more spiritually inclined person, physical existence is more of a veil within which life itself is more shrouded than actual. To the former, a life Elixir is a mere remedy for physical endurance, to the later, such a formulation is more multidimensional; a vehicle to something much higher; health being more of an added bonus or by-product. This can be concluded because if someone is aware of a higher power and can constructively interact with it, then all else would be of secondary importance.

Because, as was mentioned previously, all things mineral, vegetable and animal have higher correspondences it would be impossible to harvest their physical housing or form without simultaneous also having in hand their higher energies out of which the physical form is made possible. The extension of this thinking would be; what is the nature of and how does one make use of the less apparent yet, what should be more substantial forces within their physical shell?[1]

In this paradigm everything is basically of spirit origin and what is physical is just a temporary housing that is completely subordinate to it.

Because of this hierarchal, "top down" order of ultimate determination all things that exist necessarily display what they are made of externally in their characteristic geometry, distinguishing qualities such as colour, texture, scale, habitat, compatible neighbors, density, warmth, coolness, wetness or dryness, an emanating atmosphere (scent) and so on. These distinguishing physical traits have been traditionally called the "signature." This defining external signature tells all other creatures what the particular created thing is and what make up it has.

In order to have each of these qualities, the natural substance or living thing in question must be able to sustain each of its qualities otherwise they would dissipate ultimately resulting in its dissolution.

The theory behind what maintains a naturally occurring substance or living thing is its own natural ability to accumulate what it needs out of Nature itself. This maintenance is a little more involved than mere food and gets closer to what a Life Elixir and natural remedy actually are.

A living thing must sustain itself by eating; from the natural point of view this seems simple enough but, there is also a mystical view to this fundamental idea.

Few people will dispute that for any living thing, living in the air and of the air; life is unsustainable after only a few minutes for lack of air while being without food or water are much less of an immediate threat to life. Without air; life is gone in a few minutes, without water life is gone is a several days depending on the conditions and without food, life can last for weeks. Clearly there is more to air than just simple gases.

This concept may be hard to accept because the air is transparent and otherwise invisible and therefore would seem, except for gases, to be predominantly empty. This, however, is not how the ancients conceptualized air. As mentioned in the previous tab; the concept of there being a medium within which all things exist and out of which all possible possibilities have their origin and sustenance is central to life itself; this medium is the Quintessence or Akasha principle. From a strictly material point of view; on Earth, the finest possible medium is our atmospheric air which itself is contained or otherwise exists within the medium already defined as the Akasha. To the ancients, the air itself was the Akasha of the Earth so to speak and very pregnant at all times with the substances of life; out of the air, life having its genesis and primary sustenance there from.

To add to this idea even further. The atmospheric air of the Earth is a product of the Earth and compatible with it as are all other life forms spawned from the Earth. The atmosphere in addition to this also receives emanations from all other heavenly bodies. Some might say, “well what could that ever do?” But, considering the effect of the rays of the Sun on our Earth or such things as ultraviolet light on epoxy, there is something to be said about the effect of an emanation and what it carries on another substance or body.

This idea can be further elaborated upon because the ancients believed that all things, being alive, give off their own living emanation. To animals something as simple as scent is enough to drive them to mate, or to be threatening. In the case of Suns, stars and planets, when their emanation in the form of light or, reflected light, hits our atmosphere, some of what is of that body is now part of our Earth and subsequently also its life forms. The effect that these emanations have was believed to produce through fertilization in the Earth's atmosphere a life substance called "specifica." The specifica was considered to be the primary food of all species through the air. This is where the astronomical - not to be confused with the astrological - ordering of species by Element, planet and constellation has its origins. By this explanation, the building blocks of everything are in the air thus making the air more immediately essential than food and water.[2]

Based on this premise, it is conceiveable that human space travel beyond our immediate atomsphere for extended periods of time is highly unlikely. It would be the equivalent of taking a fish out of its water. Star Trek is either a long way off yet or, may never happen.

By now you must be asking, what does all this have to do with Life Elixirs?

At one time it was the intelligent and precise harvesting and combining of the "specifica" that all healers were trying to assemble through particular plants and other naturally occurring substances in Nature that it might be replaced or supplemented in an ailing person where it has been depleted in order that health might be restored. Conceptually, this is a much more refined approach to healing than the still unproven "germ theory." At present, the idea of "active ingredients" is an attempt to rationalize why plants or other substances might be effective or produce an effect. Based on the concept of specifica, active ingredients sound rational but, are not logical and a very incomplete explanation of things.

A Life Elixir is composed of natural substances deliberately combined because of the sympathetic "specifica" they contain. In a Life Elixir, not only do these combinations have healing properties, they also have spiritual or ritual applications.

To extrapolate the concept of specifica further.

Having determined that very specific "potentialities" accumulate and exist within a living thing, the next step is to determine how they are to be utilized and what purpose is to be achieved through them. These "potentialities" are what are contained within the finer chemistry of things. In this context something like calcium is looked upon as a container of a number of other finer ingredients that give it it's characteristic properties. Furthermore, calcium which is derived from a water source or mined from the ground are seen to have different properties because of their respective environment even if they appear identical chemically for industrial uses.

In this paradigm and as previously stated, the make up of living things necessarily consists of "spirit substance." The implication of this is that through this substance corresponding and very specific characteristics become apparent. The above mentioned calcium gets it's properties from the "spirit substance" it draws to itself. Therefore, calcium will always behave like calcium; iron like iron, copper like copper, nettles like nettles, a trout like a trout; each form having been predetermined and held to its design to preserve the overall order. If substances are mixed one can naturally expect that the characteristics of the blended substances will be in the final mixture.

In the strictly scientific view all substances have their properties based on their chemical make up. From the natural/spiritual view all substances have their properties because of the intelligence of the particular spirit substance or specifica that make it up or, make up it's chemistry.

The same principle of accumulated intelligences and skills is necessary to deliberately produce any ultimate end purpose whether it is preparing specific foods, building a car, a ship, a house, an airplane or anything. There is nothing arbitrary about this process: it is focused and deliberate and will consistently produce the same result. Why then is it inconceivable that a flower, for instance, is being assembled in a similar manner by beings unseen out of matter that is too fine to quantify? How else could the flower, without having any moving limbs or the ability to verbally instruct, know where to put what, in what sequence, in which season, on which continent and in which environment? Genetics or DNA alone do not explain this. At best, they may provide a blue print but, not the intelligence or impetus to do anything.

The proposition here is that the organism, which in this case is a flower, is designed to draw to itself out of the Air, which is the closest substance to the actual God Substance, Life Substance, or Akasha Principle out of which the ingredients to form all possible possibilities exist - what it needs to form its structure, its color, its scent and all other ingredients needed to form itself out of and distinguish itself as part of a distinct species. Furthermore, if this living and highly organized organism can do this while it is alive and in the process of assembling itself, then the fact that even after being harvested it is capable of expressing its assembled properties means that they are still active and therefore still alive and will still draw a similar or sympathetic activity to itself - even after being ingested.

A room full of aromatic roses or cinnamon bark will definitely have an effect that is characteristic of the plant properties on who ever enters the room. The atmosphere created by the concentration of these plant accumulated substances will necessarily have a very specific and predictable effect due to the concentrated life substance within which also a spirit activity exists.

The effect in an area scented with juniper, jasmine, roses, lilies, violets, frankincense, or myrrh, will all differ. Because of this, tangible activity certain combinations of substances were used ceremonially. Churches and similar spiritual sanctuaries, for thousands of years were routinely fumigated with frankincense and myrrh to clear them of so called unclean spirits and to supposedly draw cleaner spirits during ceremonial services.

This concept is not altogether out of sync with modern thinking. Even though there was a time when aristocrats wore cologne or perfume to cover the stench of their unwashed bodies, few would argue that at present these same fragrances are often used for the sake of being more alluring. The perfume industry is not as huge as it is just for sake of its fragrance alone. It is what the aroma might do for its wearer.

If these concepts are unacceptable then so will the concept of a Life Elixir.

The formulations of Life Elixirs have their premise in the utilization of these active principles and actually have their primary purpose and origins as part of specific spiritual rituals. When deliberately and intelligently combined natural substances have specific properties of attraction that make them conductors or accumulators of similar or sympathetic spiritual properties and activities.

When consciously being used for this purpose in spiritual rituals these have been called "fluid condensers." And, when a fluid condenser is used medicinally it is called a Life Elixir. Why? Because they are accumulators of specific life forces. In rituals, they create or, draw together an atmosphere - in healing they create an atmosphere that is "clean" and conducive to health without interfering with the body. They attract positive and specific spiritual activities, which is why they are excellent healing remedies. A poison will create a negative atmosphere and produce the exact opposite effect. These may seem to be rather abstract or even far fetched ideas. Whether they are true or real cannot really be disproved.

The concept of a condenser or accumulator is perhaps best illustrated in a simple dynamo. A dynamo consists of magnets and simple wires. When static no electricity is produced. If there is no electricity in the materials it is made up of, where is the electrical energy coming from? A dynamo does not actually create electricity, it is simply harvesting or accumulating energy that already exists into the form of electricity. (This was a central theory of the father of modern electronics - Nikola Tesla - the movement of electrons is just part of it.)

In nature; a Rose gets it scent by accumulating it out of nature. Nettles get their sting by accumulating it out of nature. A snake gets its venom by accumulating it out of its environment and then its glands put it together. The raw material for any of these specific substances in these living organisms must be gathered first before being put together. They are not synthesized from nothing and will not necessarily to be found in their food. (Poisonous Amazonian frogs loose their poisonousness when brought into captivity away from their natural environment.) It is the organism of the species that draws what it needs out of a very fine substance that in the East is called Prana - a Vital Substance from the air itself. In the West this concept is best expressed as the life substance "specifica.". In like fashion a herbal combination, once ingested will draw unto itself from nature more of what it already contains producing an effect. This concept and it's ramifications is completely foreign to most.