Primum Ens Melissa

‘The ‘Primum Ens’ of a thing is its first beginning, its Prima Materia; an invisible and intangible spiritual substance, which may be incorporated in some material vehicle. ‘He who wants to separate the Primum Ens from its Corpus must have a great deal of experience in the spagyric art. If he is not a good alchemist his labour will be in vain’ (‘De Separat. Rer.’)

The Primum Ens Melissa is a unique rejuvenative in the Vegetable Realm due to its simplicity and the educational lessons it provides to a novice of the Royal Art. It is this particular preparation that we have started off with many years ago when we began our apprenticeship in Practical Laboratory Alchemy, and we do encourage anyone wishing to take their first step in Alchemy to try it.

Let us begin by taking a look at the 3 published versions of this particular rejuvenative.

•  Arthur Edward Waite's (ed.) Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus the Great

"Take celandine or balm; beat them into a pulse, shut them up in a glass vessel hermetically sealed, and place in horse dung to be digested for a month. Afterwards separate the pure from the impure, pour the pure into a glass vessel with dissolved salt, and let this,when closed, be exposed to the sun for a month. When this period has elapsed, you will find at the bottom a thick liquid and the salt floating on the surface. When this is separated you will have the virtues of the balm or of the celandine, as they are in their first entity; and these are called, and really are, the first entities of the balm or of the celandine." 

•  Franz Hartmann's The life and the doctrine of Paracelsus

‘The Primum Ens Melissae is prepared in the following manner: Take half a pound of pure carbonate of potash, and expose it to the air until it is dissolved (by attracting water from the atmosphere). Filter the fluid, and put as many fresh leaves of the plant melissa into it as it will hold, so that the fluid will cover the leaves. Let it stand in a well-closed glass in a moderately warm place for twenty-four hours. The fluid may then be removed from the leaves, and the latter thrown away. On the top of this fluid absolute alcohol is poured, so that it will cover the former to the height of one or two inches, and it is left to remain for one or two days, or until the alcohol becomes of an intensely green colour. This alcohol is then to be taken away and preserved, and fresh alcohol is put upon the alkaline fluid, and the operation is repeated until all the colouring matter is absorbed by the alcohol. This alcoholic fluid is now to be distilled, and the alcohol evaporated until it becomes of the thickness of a syrup, which is the Primum Ens Melissae; but the alcohol that has been distilled away and the liquid potash may be used again. The liquid potash must be of great concentration and the alcohol of great strength, else they would become mixed, and the experiment would not succeed.’

• Anonymous A Compendium of Alchemical Processes

THE PREPARATION OF THE SO-CALLED PRIMUM ENS MELISSÆ

Take half-a-pound of pure carbonate of potassa, and expose it to the air until it is dissolved (by attracting water from the atmosphere). Filter the liquid and put as many fresh leaves of the plant melissa, or balm, into it as it will hold, so that the liquid will cover the leaves.

Let it stand in a well-closed glass and in a moderately warm place for a period of twenty-four hours. The fluid may then be removed from the leaves, and the latter thrown away. On the top of this liquid absolute alcohol is to be poured, so that it covers the former to the height of one or two inches, or until the alcohol becomes of an intensely green colour. This alcohol, or spirit of wine, is then to be taken away and preserved, fresh alcohol is put upon the alkaline liquid, and the operation is repeated until all the colouring matter is absorbed by the alcohol. This alcoholic liquid is now to be distilled, and the alcohol evaporated until it becomes of the thickness of syrup. This is the primum ens melissæ. But the alcohol which has been distilled away may be used again and again.

The liquid potassa must be of great concentration and the alcohol of great strength, else they would become mixt, and the experiment would hardly succeed.