If you are not capable to make the Alkaest, at least learn the tartar volatilization…" Van Helmont ".

Tartar salt in the science of spagyric is potassium carbonate because it can be prepared pure from wine tartar. We also call tartar salt the potassium carbonate prepared from plant salt that any spagyrist will know how to prepare.

Lemery in his "Cours de Chymie" Paris, MDCCLVI, page 697, describes the "Esprit de Vin Tartarisé": which is distilling the wine spirit and tartar salt (potassium carbonate) several times. The wine spirit carries within its distillate a small amount or tartar salt. But this is not a true volatilized salt.

Normally the volatilized salt is made by essential oils but there is a "key" that is necessary to know to give it the volatility. Without this "key" only by accident will you see it rise.

The plant salt volatilization occurs in the neck and throat of the retort…"Never", will say the chemists of the so call formal science. In the meantime, for the pleasure of our eyes, we see it form like ice along the throat and neck of the retort to the receiver!

As you know, there are four elements in Nature: Air, Fire, Earth and Water. Within these four elements, two have a natural affinity and the other two are opposites. Also, oil and water are opposite elements because if you pour water into hot oil it will violently repel it.

Pay attention because this is the work's "key"!

Collect al least 5 or 10 kg of Rosemary (Romarinus officinalis) and dry the whole of it. Burn it and extract its salt.

Into a 500-ml retort, pour 150-ml of essential oil of Rosemary. Put the retort on a small butane gas stove into a stainless steel porringer (pan) and sand bath. To the retort, attach a receiver with an air hole in it.

With a small spoon (teaspoon) and a funnel, pour the salt prepared, as Art requires, into the retort by small quantities to a maximum of 30 gr. There is a strong reaction when the salt falls into the oil and its color will change between dark yellow and dark brown.

Now, distil the works but take care not to boil the oil.Distil gently and at the end of the distillation when you see the kaput mortem (the dregs), showing like dark honey or coffee, then you can stop the fire.

Pour the distilled oil again into the retort and distil 3 to 6 more times and the last time, distill all the oil in the same manner, but with more heat. Now you can see the salt volatilize, going up to the top (heaven) of the retort, the throat, and the neck and forming like ice as you saw in the photo.

Pour a small amount of oil into the retort and distil again to dissolve the salt at the top and throat of the retort. Again, the kaput (in the bottom of the retort) is like dark honey. Now, clean the retort with good turpentine, and again, pour in the retort, the oil with the volatilized salt and add 150-ml of mercury (alcohol) made by distilling the plant and flowers to get the canonical wine spirit rectified at about 100%.

Repeat again and again in the same manner. Take out the kaput each time, distill and finally pour a small amount of the mercury into the retort, distills again to completely dissolve the salt in the retort's throat. Now, in the receiver, you will have the first Being (ENS) of Rosmarinus Officinalis; Mercury, Sulfur and volatilized Salt all together. It is a fine medicine as Van Helmont says.

If you understood the "key" necessary to the work, you will be successful certainly, but if not, we are sorry, because it is a great Arcane occulted by the ancient alchemists and the great modern spagyrists like Von Bernus.