Separatio

Separatio (Latin for separation) is the general term used in alchemy to describe the separation of the original substance into individual fractions. In most cases, the solid, liquid and easily vaporisable substances are separated from each other. According to the alchemical conception, in which the spiritual and the material are always considered in connection, the three principles Sal, Mercury and Sulphur, as described by Paracelsus, are thereby separated from each other. In nature, as Rudolf Steiner has described in detail (→ Christmas imagination), the separation of these three principles takes place regularly in the course of the year during the winter season, culminating at the time of the longest night, and thus gives it its specifically Christmas character. In the height of summer, on the other hand, the separatio of Sal, Mercury and Sulphur is almost completely cancelled.

The most important practical procedures for separatio are destillatio, praecipitatio and sublimatio.

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: Das Miterleben des Jahreslaufes in vier kosmischen Imaginationen, GA 229 (1984), Zweiter Vortrag, Dornach, 6. Oktober 1923 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

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