Primum Ens Melissa - Labora 01

Once we have assembled all the basic equipments, such as airtight glass jars, distillation train set and have procured our source of potash, alcohol and melissa officinalis, we can then get down to work.

Besides ensuring our equipment are all properly cleaned and dried, the first step is to deliquesce our tartar. This can be done in 2 ways as follows

1. Pour a thin layer of potash, about half an inch high, unto a clean shallow porcelain dish of 2 inch in height and leave it in a dust-free corner overnight. The potash will absorbed the moisture from the humid atmosphere, and in the morning you can simply pour what is collected in the porcelain dish into an airtight glass jar. Repeat until you have accumulated at least 500ml of deliquesced tartar.
2. Pour about 500ml of distilled water into a clean airtight glass jar, and add the potash by the spoonful until it is fully saturated. When potash is mixed with water, it will cause an exothermic reaction, so please be careful. The solubility of the potash in water is 112g/100ml at 20 °C.

We would recommend that the deliquescing of the tartar be done in advance, prior to gathering your fresh Melissa Offinalis. We also recommend that you try out the 2 methods above, for comparision. Once you have your required amount, keep it airtight. This is important.

Once you have the deliquesced tartar, the next step is to rectify your alcohol. It will take at least 3 to 5 careful and patient distillations to achieve a strength of 96% to 98%. We will require at least 1 litre of rectified spirit, so ensure you have procured enough alcohol. Likewise, this must be kept in an airtight glass jar and stored in a cool place.

Now that we have our solvent and menstruum with which to extract the ens, we will now gather our melissa officinalis. Gather as much as you can, choose the green and healthy leaves and work fast. This is preferably done in the morning before noon, to ensure the volatile principles do not all evaporate under the hot noon Sun.

The leaves are then quickly pulped and as finely as you can, either in a mortar or a food processor. We will have to work quickly as well in this. As soon as the leaves are pulped, put them into the airtight jar of deliquesced tartar until you have at least an inch of deliquesced tartar above the leaves and add a couple more spoonful of potash to ensure maximum strength of the solvent.

Place the jar near somewhere warm, undisturbed and preferably around 30°C. Leave it to macerate for at least 24 to 48 hours.

Newly macerated Melissa Offinalis in deliquesced tartar

Primum Ens Melissa - Materia

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin



The method which we will be detailing here will, of course, be the one that we have personally employed, which comes from Franz Hartmann's The life and the doctrine of Paracelsus. It is this particular method which we have followed over the years with good results and possibly the clearest. It is relatively simple, however, it requires some experience to get it right as it involves some knacks or little tricks which we have come to learn from a couple of failed attempts.

Therefore, if you are embarking on making this wonderful rejuvenative, do not be put off by failures, for even in failures you will learn many valuable lessons, essential lessons in spagyrical techniques.

Before we start on the process, let us begin by looking at the raw materials we should gather.

Melissa Officinalis

Lemon Balm Plant

Commonly known as Lemon balm, it is an perennial herb which has a wonderful nice lemon scent. It can grow quite easily under temperate conditions and can spread very quickly, almost weed-like, in your garden if left unattended.

An infusion made with fresh lemon balm leaves is a wonderfully refreshing drink in the summer. It is a favorite tea of ours, as it helps to calm and soothe the nerves, it is most comforting when you are having a cold or flu.



If you do not have the luxury of space to grow this herbs, you will have to check your local nursery. We will require fresh lemon balm leaves for this particular preparation, so if you are buying from your local nursery, try to make an arrangement with them to harvest it on the morning when you are going to collect. After harvesting, they wilt quite quickly, so we have to work fast.

We will need a minimum of 500 grams of fresh lemon balm leaves for this endeavour to worth any while.

Contraindication: Lemon balm is believed to inhibit the absorption of thyroid medications, such as Thyroxine.

Potassium Carbonate

Also known as Pearl Ash or Potash. Chemically K₂CO_3, it is a white salt, highly hygroscopic and soluble in water forming a strong alkaline solution. We have personally used lab grade and industrial grade potassium carbonate, both in our opinion, are comparable and can be used. We will need a minimum of 2 kilo grams of it.






Besides the above, you will also need a number of 500ml to 1.5 litre airtight jars, a distillation train set as well as a good supply of alcohol such as brandy or red wine. We would recommend high proof alcohol, so if you can get hold of grappa or as a last resort everclear, it would be easier to have at least 1 litre of  alcohol at 98% strength, for that is the minumum amount we would need to have at hand.