Living Alchemy: A Spagyric Ecology - 20 Jun 2026

Saturday, June 20 & Sunday, June 21 10AM - 5PM $555 / person Led by Mo Judith of Aura La Voura This is an 18-hour immersive course that re-situates herbal medicine making within Earth systems, cosmology, and material science. Rather than treating alchemy as metaphor or spagyrics as technique alone, this course approaches medicine as a relational process. At the center of our time together is the art of spagyrics, an ancient alchemical approach to herbal medicine that honors the full being of the plant: body, soul, and spirit. Through this lens medicine making is more than extraction. It becomes a dialogue with living worlds. Shaped by chemistry, ecology and attention. Bridging animism, the history of science, astronomy, astrology, phytochemistry, medicine-making and Gaia theory: participants are guided through re-orienting intellectual and practical foundations of spagyric and alchemical medicine making. We trace how early scientific thought emerged from close observation of natural systems, and how modern phytochemistry, solubility, and extraction methods remain rooted in those same principles when approached with ecological integrity. The course blends lecture with hands-on practice. Participants engage in hands-on spagyric and alchemical medicine-making that extends beyond tinctures into plant preparations, guided by chemically precise, Earth-centered practice. Providing the why behind technical decisions: solvent choice, temperature, time, and material compatibility. Living Alchemy emphasizes humility over mastery. The practitioner is not positioned as the agent of transformation, but as a participant within living systems. Plants, minerals, and planetary rhythms are approached as active collaborators rather than inert resources. This course is designed for herbalists, medicine makers, and students of natural science seeking a deeper, integrated understanding of spagyrics, not as an isolated craft, but as a living ecological practice. Over the course of two immersive days, we explore alchemy as a living ecological language and a rooted science one that speaks through the cycles of nature, the transformation of matter, the processes of our universe, and the deep memory carried by the beings inhabiting earth. This is not merely science or tradition, but both: a way of seeing, a practice of relationship, and a path of healing grounded in Earth systems. The course moves fluidly between history of science, animism, cosmology, phytochemistry, and hands-on practice. We examine how early alchemical thought gave rise to modern scientific frameworks, and how contemporary chemistry and solubility principles remain inseparable from the living contexts in which plants grow and medicines are made. Spagyric tinctures are taught in depth, alongside several other alchemical preparations, situating technique within a wider ecological and practical framework. Throughout the weekend, participants work collectively and individually observing processes unfold, sharing questions and learning from one another’s insights. This is a communal learning space designed to foster conversation, collaboration and lasting relationships among people drawn to herbalism and the attunement of Earth-centered medicine making. Meals, breaks and lab time are treated as extensions of the learning, allowing friendships and shared language to emerge naturally. Participants will craft their own spagyric tincture over the course of the workshop that they take home with them, while also engaging with classical alchemical preparations such as the Ens, Quintessence of Honey, Magistry, and Oil of Egg. Emphasis is placed on understanding material behavior, process, and transformation rather than reproducing fixed recipes. This workshop blends theory with practice, myth with method and science with spirit. Participants leave with practical skills, a deeper understanding of alchemy as an ecological practice, and a strengthened sense of kinship not only with the earth and plants, but with the fellow practitioners of this rich work.