Legend and history speak of numerous sacred relics with fabulous properties that have not yet been discovered. There is a long list of such artifacts and relics which includes the spear of Longinus, the sword of Nuada, the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail and many more.

The Loculus is also counted among these relics and it is said to contain the blood of Christ. Speculations say that it might contain the nails used during the crucifixion, smeared with the blood of Jesus.

A reconstruction of the Loculus, an ancient satchel believed to contain the blood of Jesus. ( Public Domain )

The Parts Recreate the Whole

As the concept of palingenesis promises the reconstruction of a destroyed body starting from its remains (ashes, bones, corpse) or from parts of it, (blood, tissue samples, body parts, organs, etc.) in order to understand exactly what can be achieved through palingenesis, one can say that, by using this process, should the Loculus be discovered, Jesus could theoretically be brought back to life.

Loculus (satchel) hung from the canopy of a boat. Image of a part of the cast of Trajans Column at Mainz. ( Public Domain )

The term palingenesis comes from the Greek "palingenesie" and it implies the idea of regeneration, rebirth, hence the ability to reconstruct or revive any destroyed body of a plant, animal or mineral.

This process is believed to not be limited to deceased humans. It could be applied to all living beings, animals and plants, as long as it is in regards to things that once had life. The magic process similar to palingenesis but which can also be applied to destroyed objects in order to restore them to their initial state was known as restoration. Palingenesis was also mentioned by alchemists, its symbolic representation being that of a scepter surrounded by two snakes.

Serpents entwine a scepter. (Flickr/ CC BY 2.0 )

The Transition of Matter

In his " Treaty on the Apparitions of Spirits ", the French Benedictine scholar Dom Calmet (1672-1757) writes about how the process can be applied in the case of plants:

"They (the scientists) take a flower, they burn it and from its ashes they extract its juices through calcination. These salts are placed in a glass vial in which, by mixing certain compositions in state of movement by heating, all these materials form a powder of a bluish color. From this ash, set in motion by a low heat, a trunk, leaves and a flower rise; in one word one can see the appearance of a plant that rises from the ashes. Once the heat stops, the plant evaporates, the matter spreads and settles on the bottom of the vile to form a new chaos. A new heating always revives this vegetable phoenix hidden in the ash and, as the presence of heat gives it life, its absence induces its death."

The doctor of Charles II of England proposed another palingenesis recipe:

"One must take a sufficient quantity of rose petals and once they become dry at a medium fire one must blow over them until they turn into a very white ash. One must then extract their salt by means of ordinary water then, introduce them in a well closed bottle and this bottle is to be slowly heated for three months after which they are to be placed in a stove chimney. After all this time, one must take the bottle and expose it to heat until the figures begin to appear. "

A three headed monster in an alchemical flask, representing the composition of the alchemical philosopher's stone: salt, sulphur, and mercury. (Wellcome Trust/ Creative Commons BY 4.0 )

David van der Becke also offers a recipe in the same regard:

"On a clear day, one must collect the ripe seed of a plant, break it and place it in a glass vile of the size of the plant. One must keep the vile well covered until a night with a lot of dew comes. The matter is to be taken out of the vile and placed in a bottle placed on top of a plate by exposing it in an orchard or in a garden so that enough dew can get in and, before sunrise, it must be placed back into the vile. One must then filter the obtained dew and use distillation until the complete disappearance of any deposit. Of what remains as a deposit, one must dry it obtaining after a series of washes which will be dissolved in distilled water which will then be poured out until it remains of only three fingers above the dew soaked seeds and the glass balloon must be closed hermetically so that no evaporation will take place. The vile is to be placed in a place with continuously appropriate heat and after a few days the seed begins to transform little by little in a sort of viscous earth of green color; the alcohol floating above will be stained by stripes as a crust forms on the surface. The glass balloon must be exposed to sun and moon rays and, on rainy periods, kept in a heated room. After some time, one will be able to observe the image of the plant corresponding to the used seed appearing in the vile and this will disappear when kept at lower temperatures. The form of something is inseparable of that of the essence ."

An alchemical adept carrying the vase of Hermes, which is inscribed "Let us go to seek the nature of the four elements". (Wellcome Trust/ Creative Commons BY 4.0 )

The German Jesuit scholar named Kircher also wrote about this process. He explains how the seminal power of each mix is found concentrated in its salts and as soon as they are set in motion by heat, they rise and move as a vortex in the glass recipient. In this suspension, the released salts arrange themselves with the tendency to take the exact same form initially set by nature. They have the will to revert to what they used to be, to arrange themselves in the exact same order as if they were green, each salt particle returning to its first initial position. They arrange themselves in such a way that the first ones are the ones which used to form the root, then those of the trunk, and those which formed the leaves.

In this way, by returning to the original position, a perfect apparition of the plant as a whole is formed.

Processes for Returning the Dead to the Living

Guy de Brosse used to speak of a Polish man who was said to be capable of capturing the ghosts of plants inside empty vials. Each vial contained a separate plant, and this plant was visible as long as the container was exposed to heat. On the bottom of the vials one could have noticed the ash of each plant of which, after heating, the trunk with branches, leaves and flowers would arise depending on the type of plant contained.

In addition to plant matter, palingenesis was thought to also be applied to animals and humans. The ghost of a deceased person was believed to be produced in a glass container by using hair and nails from the dead body, the ash resulting from incineration, or pieces of bone and bits of the rotting body from the tomb. All these items were used in the same operations as in the case of plants.

Palingenesis remains a metaphysical and alchemical concept of being and recreation, and researchers still quest to discovery answers and solve the mysteries surrounding the legendary sacred relics.

Featured image: Palingenesis was believed to be a process to recreate or reincarnate matter, plants, animals and even people. (Modified; Alchemy (Flickr/ CC BY 2.0) .)

By: Valda Roric