The Didactical Path: the Wine Path

The Didactical Path: the Wine Path

Taking it for granted that the didactic path par excellence was the wet path, the procedure chosen until the Baroque era to train neophytes was the wine path. Much of the operational alchemical symbolism was based on this process. Second on the list of teaching subjects was the urine path. However, this latter path already contained macrocosm and microcosm implications which constitute a subsequent step.
Let’s say it clearly right from the start: ethyl alcohol has been known since the dawn of time as a “lifting” substance. Vinegar was a commonly used “disintegrant”, and barrel tartar is a magnificent substance to “disintegrate and lift”. Suppose we need “cohesive” materials between powders and liquids; essential oils also find their use. 
The difficult aspect of this path is the final part, which is the achievement of the philosophical egg. But this was not an apprentice’s goal.