What is ARKANA?

ARKANA was created to provide the modern individual with traditional alchemically prepared plant medicines as well as other sacred tools and products that support in the harmonizing of one’s Body, Mind, and Soul. We seek to make available truly unique one of a kind products that will act as allies in assisting  the individual along the personal journey of Self-Knowing and the balancing of both one’s inner and outer world.

Our inspiration

At the Heart of ARKANA we have united the wisdom and philosophy of two ancient healing traditions, The Hermetic Alchemical Tradition of the west and the indigenous plant wisdom of South America. Through these two great streams of sacred knowledge we have found a synergy of principles and discovered deeper insight into the art of healing and its practical applications. Both traditions hold dear that the value of plants in regard to Man & medicine is not purely physical in nature but that plants contain an invisible essence that offers psychological and even spiritual medicine as well. This hidden “Arkana” or “Virtue” as described by Paracelsus locked deep within each plant offers a secret potency that could only be accessed and made available through Alchemical operations. In the long lineage of Amazonian Healers it is similarly understood that each medicinal plant also contains an individualized spirit or intelligence that works in tandem with the healer in the treating of disease & illness. Our chosen company name “Arkana” is a word that by definition refers to this hidden medicinal quality of nature and plants. We hope to share not only potent Alchemical herbal remedies but also share this traditional wisdom that incorporates both the physical and invisible aspects of life. It is our fundamental belief that the human beings true state of Health & Wholeness is only achieved when all aspects of man, Body, Mind, and Soul are brought into harmony.

What is Alchemy?

The royal art of alchemy can be symbolized respectively to that of a gardener who by assisting and imitating nature perfects and ripens any seed to bear its proper fruit. Alchemy skillfully applies nature's wisdom to the evolution and transformation of not only base substances but to the perfection of the alchemists themselves. In traditional Alchemical cosmology every aspect of the universe contained three primary principles, a physical fixed aspect they called “Salt” or Body, a volatile active aspect they called “Sulphur” or Soul, and a unifying aspect or substance they called “Mercury” or Mind. These three essential principles demonstrate a practical framework to understand that nature is a compound of material (matter) and non material (spirit) qualities. They also believed that the human being was a microcosm of nature and the cosmos, so he too was a compound creature containing both visible & invisible qualities. It is through this lens of nature and reality that the Alchemist of old was able, through knowledge of these underlying principles, to perfect nature and produce the Universal Medicine. The same alchemical operations of separation, purification, and reunification could be applied to all levels of man and nature and by doing so achieve what was called the "Philosophers Stone”. This transformed substance was the perfect union & harmony of all three primary aspects of Body, Mind, and Soul. This alchemical wedding between spirit and matter could only take place when all three essentials were purified properly and united through art. Thus medicine made in this way was to facilitate in the purification of man, to clean his body, mind, and soul and bring them into union with the Eternal. The Gold and goal of the the Alchemist was to bring about this transformation within ones self and be of service to the collective evolution of mankind.

What are Spagyrics?

ARKANA follows the practical herbal branch of the alchemical tradition known as Spagyrics. The Spagryical work that operates within the “vegetable kingdom” of nature involves producing plant based medicines prepared using the ancient technique of separation, purification, and recombination. The Spagyric Process as taught by Paracelsus separates, purifies, and then recombines the three essentials of the plant kingdom to raise the vibration and therapeutic potential of each medicine. A plant's Body or “Salt” principle is expressed in the crystalline mineral salts that remain behind as a white ash after being burned through fire. The Soul or “Sulphur” principle is present in the volatile essential oils specific to each Plant, and the “Mercury” that unites them refers to the ethyl-alcohol produced through fermentation. When an herbal medicine is properly brought together in such a  way via “Solve et Coagula” it can assimilate and operate much more effectively within the human body. Not only are all plant medicine’s bio-availability greatly increased through this process, but also their potency as only the purest aspects of each plant is now present. Spagyric medicines can now work towards restoring harmony to both man's physical and invisible nature. We recommend these rarified medicines be used with intention and respect. Such alchemical products can become great tools in helping one achieve harmony within one's self and in restoring a healthy relationship to Nature.

Who we are

ARKANA is a locally owned and operated Spagyric Apothecary located on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Here owner Tally Shackelford lives on a six acre off-grid solar powered farm, where he hand makes and produces ARKANA’s line of herbal products as well as grow and cultivate a wide range of ethnobotanical & medicinal plants. With Tally’s deep passion for plants and the healing potential they offer he vows to be a forever faithful student of Alchemy and to continue consciously participating in the Great Work of walking in harmony with one's self & nature. Through ARKANA he hopes to inspire and spark a renewed interest in these ancient traditions of Medicine, Transformation, and Healing.

“Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines.”    - Paracelsus