464 – Print from Mute Book of Alchemy
- Physical description:
- Print showing people collecting dew by spreading out cloths overnight and wringing them out the next morning.
- Museum classification:
- Herbs and Healing
- Size:
- 280 x 330
- Information:
Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'When it comes to magic making, the old ways die hard. So it is that today many west country witches set clean sheets out to catch the night dews, as was done in long past times. In the morning early the sheets are wrung out and the liquid gathered in bowls. It is held that this liquid has the true spirit of nature in it. Dew water is the liquid most favoured by witches for the making of green medicine.'
This image is from the Mutus Liber of Mute Book of Alchemy. It shows an alchemist and his assistant collecting dew on sheets. The animals pictured relate to the sign of the Zodiac it is best to gather dew under i.e. Springtime (ram - Aries, bull- Taurus). Dew was what Paracelsus called an "azoth", a substance which may have been the key to transforming base metal into gold as it was seen as being a gift from the heavens/the Godhead, a special substance.
- Resource:
- Materials:
- Copyright ownership:
- Copyright to The Museum of Witchcraft Ltd.
Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'When it comes to magic making, the old ways die hard. So it is that today many west country witches set clean sheets out to catch the night dews, as was done in long past times. In the morning early the sheets are wrung out and the liquid gathered in bowls. It is held that this liquid has the true spirit of nature in it. Dew water is the liquid most favoured by witches for the making of green medicine.'
This image is from the Mutus Liber of Mute Book of Alchemy. It shows an alchemist and his assistant collecting dew on sheets. The animals pictured relate to the sign of the Zodiac it is best to gather dew under i.e. Springtime (ram - Aries, bull- Taurus). Dew was what Paracelsus called an "azoth", a substance which may have been the key to transforming base metal into gold as it was seen as being a gift from the heavens/the Godhead, a special substance.