The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy: An Herbalist's Guide to Preparing Medicinal Essences, Tinctures, and Elixirs

Rating:
Summary: Best book on the subject going.
Review: I think this is probably the single best book on how to get started with any kind of practical work, however, I have one complaint about it: The author shows you how to do everything with high-priced equipment, that you really don't have to have. The fact is that the ancient alchemists/spagyrists usually didn't have all that equipment, and it's probably smart to at least start off with simpler items before you invest a thousand dollars in this stuff. I think he would have done the art more justice if he had given lower-cost alternatives to the equipment in this book. Get this book, and supplement your reading with lots of material from Adam McLean's website, various alchemy forums and the Philosophers of Nature books if you have the money. Also question what all of them have to say, and compare, because all of them have their quirks.

Rating:
Summary: Best book on the subject going.
Review: I think this is probably the single best book on how to get started with any kind of practical work, however, I have one complaint about it: The author shows you how to do everything with high-priced equipment, that you really don't have to have. The fact is that the ancient alchemists/spagyrists usually didn't have all that equipment, and it's probably smart to at least start off with simpler items before you invest a thousand dollars in this stuff. I think he would have done the art more justice if he had given lower-cost alternatives to the equipment in this book. Get this book, and supplement your reading with lots of material from Adam McLean's website, various alchemy forums and the Philosophers of Nature books if you have the money. Also question what all of them have to say, and compare, because all of them have their quirks.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most informative how-to's of herbalism
Review: One of the most informative how-to's of herbalism

Rating:
Summary: Great book, top flight, thumbs up
Review: This book systematically presents both the theory and philosophy of spagyrics and the corporeal application of said philosophy in an accesible proletarian manner, perfectly fit for the lay-seeker who isn't attuned to the sometimes involute terminology that attends dated alchemical manscripts. There are countless exserts from spagyric texts from such illustrious illumined exponents as Johannes Isaac Hallandus, Paracelsus, Basilius Valentinus (and more) which are generally followed by a delicatessen recapitulation by Manfred M. Junius, who breaks it down into manageable simple terms. Don't despair, for those tyros going into this book not knowing a lick of the ideas and axioms of the alchemical work will most unequivocally come out transmuted into knowledgable cognoscente of the natural science of Khem. Rove hand-in-hand with Paracelsus collecting morning dew from the manorial sward of your higher genius.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction to practical Alchemy
Review: With the rise of serious interest in alternative medicine andthe western occult, there is a need for a good, relatively clear introduction to practical alchemy. This is it. This book explains the equipment you need and proposes a theory of alchemy which reveals real respect for the ancient texts- though as the title promises there is little here on the work with metals. If you want a detailed or scholarly history of Alchemy you will have to look elsewhere, but this book is essential for anyone interested in the work itself *or* in herbal medicine.