The name "spagyric" derives from two Greek roots: "spaein," meaning to separate, and "ageirein," meaning to reunite.

The father of spagyric medicine is Paracelsus: born in Einsiedeln (Switzerland) in 1493, he studied medicine in Vienna and became a professor at the University of Basel. He was a pioneer who inspired his students and achieved remarkable cures. Driven out by the establishment and beloved by the poor whom he healed with his art, he spent his life in poverty, dedicating himself to studying, researching and preparing spagyric remedies that he successfully tested.

What are the foundations of spagyric medicine

Spagyric medicine is based on the conviction that in a healthy person the dense and subtle forces are in perfect balance, and that illness occurs when this balance is broken. Disease would therefore depend on energetic imbalances that only later manifest on the physical level as well. To treat illness, it is first necessary to act on the subtler aspects of the person.

Spagyric medicine holds that there is a fundamental unity, a common origin among the different manifestations of nature, and therefore considers the relationships that exist between the microcosm (the human being), the local macrocosm (the three kingdoms: mineral, plant and animal) and the macrocosm (the cosmos). By identifying the cause of illness, the physician can find the right path to healing and restore the patient to harmony. True healing, however, can only come from the patient themselves; therapeutic methods merely provide the impulses necessary for self-healing.

Spagyric medicine is an interweaving of alchemy and herbalism

The selection of plants and minerals, according to the imbalance to be reharmonised, is fundamental. Since, according to the alchemical conception, everything that exists in the macrocosm is reflected in the microcosm, through the principle of analogy it is possible to recognise the characteristics and qualities of plants and minerals and use them to rebalance the organism. Every plant and every mineral has energetic correspondences with the planets, with the organs of the human body, and possesses particular therapeutic virtues.

To give an example, St John's wort, a solar plant that loves warmth and blooms at the summer solstice, carries within it the characteristic of the Sun. It strengthens vital energy, is a remedy for physical and psychological exhaustion, and offers great support to the nervous system.

It is also very important to choose fresh plants and to ensure that the timing and periods of harvesting take place in harmony with the macrocosm, at particular times of day and in accordance with the lunar phases. The process of preparing spagyric remedies according to alchemical laws includes a slow fermentation of the whole fresh plant, followed by a distillation of the fermented mixture and a calcination of the undistilled residue. In this way a quintessence is obtained — a purified energy of very high therapeutic potential, freed from all toxicity and perfectly assimilable by the organism. This process does nothing but imitate the laws of Nature: putrefaction in autumn, slow fermentation in winter and renewal in spring. The spagyric remedy is holistic because it concentrates within itself the healing forces of body, soul and spirit.

Today spagyric remedies are valued as effective gentle therapies. They can also be used successfully in combination with other medicines, as they cause no side effects and considerably accelerate the healing process.