"How to Make the Elixir of Life"

Here the easy path to the Elixir of Life is revealed. So many alchemy books only detail how to make the stone through the use of dangerous acids and corrosives, but on this earth there are 2 elements with which the whole art of alchemy can begin -- The Sun and the Moon. The solar rays shine down on the sea water covering the vast majority of the earth, and the power condenses in the sea salt itself. This is our Philosophical Gold or condensed sunlight. The lunar rays condense in the morning dew mists, and this is our Philosophical Silver, or condensed moonlight. We simply combine above with below --- the dew of the air with the sea salt of the ocean -- and the universal spirit is obtained, which not only can be ingested but also dissolves all metals radically and without violence or release of any toxic gases. Truly this path is one of the most beautiful in all the works of alchemy.

First you will need to collect your morning dew. By simply placing a bag of ice in an empty pitcher, you can collect around 100ml of water if you place it outside at 1am, then take it back in before sunrise. This process is convenient and the water is kept clean. But the best morning dew is that which is found on the tips of pine needles because it is charged with extra energy, and it has the added bonus of a lovely aroma. But it's far more painstaking to collect the droplets this way. You can shake the branches in a bucket and slowly get more and more dew, and actually collect an entire liter of dew in one morning. It's important that you put your dew in a bottle and close it as soon as possible, because once the dew reach a higher temperature, the spirit will begin to escape. Maybe there is a logical chemical explanation for this.

Now dissolve raw sea salt in your morning dew water in small increments. If you have 1 liter of dew, then only 1 tsp should be added each time. After vigorous stirring or shaking, if some salt remains undissolved, it's almost ready. Wait a few days, each day shaking vigorously, and if after 4 days the salt still won't dissolve, then it's finally reached it's saturation point. This first step is *crucial* because for this process to work, the water needs to be completely saturated with salt so that it will let go of the "Alkahest" and precipitate it as a powder each time you overheat the flask.

Pour this salt water into a flask until it's 2/3 full, then seal it and set it into digestion of a Balneo Mary bath. This means to place the flask in a bowl of water that is heated to around 110° to 120°F. A heating pad from the local pharmacy drug store will warm the bowl enough to accomplish this.

After 40 days (a Philosophical Month, 6 weeks) there should be a black powder that has precipitated to the bottom of the flask, not yet a salt, only a powder. (continue reading)