Alchemical Traditions by David Gordon White

However, it is also understood to pacify pitta, so perhaps it is the soothing of that 'fire' that can be understood as a parallel to the fire of mercury. There, triphala is thought to enhance the digestive fire. The use of the three myrobalans ( triphala) against fire, on the other hand, is not easily explicable in ayurvedic terms. So, in a roundabout way, in the third procedure, aloe may be understood to clear away the waste matter of mercury. It also helps to clear waste matter from the digestive tract. Aloe has cooling properties, which counter the heat of pitta. An excess of pitta is associated with digestive problems and a build up of undigested matter in the digestive tract. In ayurvedic therapy, aloe addresses the aggravation of the humour pitta ('bile' or 'fire'). Aloe addresses the flaw of 'dirt' ( mala), which could perhaps be understood as a kind of waste product of mercury as opposed to literal dirt coating mercury, since it would then not be an inherent ( naisargika) flaw. The substances used for this, aloe, the myrobalans ( triphala), and leadwort, are all drugs used in ayurvedic treatment. The effects of these qualities range from unpleasant to lethal, and it is clear that their removal is paramount. One cannot use ‘dirt’, ‘fire’, and ‘poison’ in a positive way. In the case of mercury, the term doṣa is always used in a negative sense, as a flaw. Conversely, humours in the right amounts and in the right place lead to perfect health. Too much or too little of a humour in the body leads to disease. The Sanskrit word used for this is doṣa, a term well-known in Ayurveda, where it denotes the three humours of the body ( vāta, pitta, and kapha), and more specifically, the humours when they are causing problems through being in the wrong quantity or in the wrong place in the body. (Rasahṛdayatantra, chapter 2, verses 5-6)įor once, we are given an explanation for the use of the substances mercury is mixed with: to remove the 'inherent faults'. Therefore, one should thicken it seven times with a mixture of these.' Through dirt, it produces fainting, through fire, a burning sensation, through poison, death.Īloe removes dirt, the three myrobalans remove fire, and leadwort removes poison. 'The three inherent faults of mercury are called ‘dirt’, ‘fire’, and ‘poison’.

This is how the Rasahṛdayatantra describes the third procedure: Now, it is time for the third step in the series of refinement procedures ( saṃskāra). The mercury has by now been exposed to various herbal ingredients and steamed with sour gruel it was rubbed for several days with other substances, such as burnt wool, brickdust and molasses and then washed with water and vinegar.

Alchemical Traditions by David Gordon White