Question ... according to The Alchemists Handbook, from Chap 2 The Lesser Circulation,
To begin with, the selection of herbs for medicinal purposes must be known to the aspirant. This means a fair understanding of herbs and their uses.
How to Collect and Prepare Plants
The different parts of plants should be gathered when their peculiar juices are most abundant in them.
Barks
The barks of either trunk, branches, or roots should be peeled from young trees in autumn or early spring. After shaving off the outer portion of the bark, cut thinly.and place in a good position in the shade to dry.
Roots
These should be dug after the leaves are dead in the fall at which time all the strength has gone down into the root. But better still, dig them in early spring before the sap rises.
Seeds and Flowers
Onlv after they are fully ripened and in full bloom should seeds and' flowers, respectively, be gathered. Then they should be dried quickly in the shade.
Medicinal Plants
These should be taken while in blossom for best results, but can be gathered at any time before the frost comes. Dry quickly in the shade.
Leaves
Leaves should be collected while the plant is in flower. Dry quickly.
Fruits and Berries
These should be picked when fully ripe. Dry quickly."
[2] The progressive student will learn later on at what planetary times herbs should be gathered.
One of the best methods for drying herbs is to spread them thinly on clean paper, preferably on the floor, over which a constant stream of fresh air can pass.
Herbs. or all vegetable medicines, should be kept in a dry and dark place. Tin cans are to be preferred to other containers for storing powders. Roots are best kept in covered boxes. Tinctures and extracts should be kept in dark glass bottles to protect them from the action of light.
Let us suppose then that the herb known as Balm, Lemonbalm, or Melissa (Melisa officinalis) has been selected. After the selection of the desired herb from which the true alchemical medicinal potencies shall be derived, we shall now consider the principle ways of ob- taining an extract. They are as follows:
1. Maceration
The fresh or dried herb is soaked in water and left standing in room temperature.
2. Circulation
The fresh or dried herb is circulated (percolated). This is accomplished by having a condenser over the flask which lets the moisture condense and drip back into the bottom container. It then repeats this process which is also known as reflux.
3. Extraction
The fresh or dried herb is put in a thimble and both are placed in a Soxhlet Extractor for extraction.
Either of the three procedures can be used to obtain an extract. Water, Alcohol or Ether may be used as extraction media (menstrum). The above three ways are chiefly employed to obtain the extract or the tincture. A tincture derived from a distillation with water does not contain as much of the essential essence of the herb as the macerated herbal extract obtained by immersion in alcohol or ether. To obtain all possible essence, including the oily substance inherent in the herb, the latter method, that by extracting it in an extraction apparatus
(Soxhlet or other), is preferable,"
So if all I have at hand are dried and or ground herbs, is it sufficient to mix the herbs and then add a light amount of water, or make a potpourri, and drain the raw leftover potpourri water into a glass and set it high in the room away from light?
