#Process Of Putrefaction

[forensicfield]

Sign of Putrefaction

Putrefaction is the term used for the process through which organic matter undergoes microbial decomposition and produces an unpleasant odor. This occurs after 10 to 20 days after the organism's death. Several things happen during the putrefaction....

Continue reading Sign of Putrefaction

[deancasforcutie]

The Winchesters' underlying plot and unreliable narration of Dean as the new restless spirit, the new angry god (interference from on high) leeching trauma brainworms onto his parents' love story as he can find no happy ending without his beloved (his partner in apotheosis) in it

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Stages of Decomposition

The decomposition process occurs in several stages following death:

Pallor mortis

Algor mortis

Rigor mortis

Cadaveric spasm

Lividity

Putrefaction

Decomposition

Skeletonization

PALLOR MORTIS

The first stage of death.

Occurs once blood stops circulating in the body.

The cessation of an oxygenated blood flow to the capillaries beneath the skin causes the deceased to pale in appearance.

In non-Caucasians, the pallor may appear to develop an unusual hue; the skin will lose any natural lustre and appears more waxen.

Occurs quite quickly, within about 10 minutes after death.

ALGOR MORTIS

The cooling of the body after death.

The cooling process will be influenced by many factors, including the deceased’s clothing, or whether they are covered with bed linen such as blankets or duvets.

The body will typically cool to the ambient room temperature, but this alters if there is heating in the room or if there is a constant draught cooling the body.

RIGOR MORTIS

Can occur between 2 and 6 hours after death.

Factors including temperature can greatly affect this.

Caused by the muscles partially contracting, and the lack of aerobic respiration means that the muscles cannot relax from the contraction, leaving them tense, subsequently resulting in the stiffening we associate with rigor mortis.

This stage typically begins in the head, starting with the eyes, mouth, jaw and neck, and progresses right through the body.

The process is concluded approximately 12 hours after death (although, again, certain variables may occur) and lasts between 24 and 72 hours depending on circumstances.

Contrary to popular belief, rigor mortis is not a permanent state and is in fact reversed, with the muscles relaxing in the same order in which they initially stiffened.

The reversing process also takes approximately 12 hours, when the body returns to its un-contracted state.

It is possible to ‘break’ rigor mortis by manipulating and flexing the limbs. This is usually done by undertakers, pathologists or crime scene investigators who are attempting to examine or move a body – or by a murderer trying to hide their victim in the closet or the boot of a car.

CADAVERIC SPASM

A phenomenon that can be misinterpreted as rigor mortis.

The instantaneous stiffening of the body (most commonly the hands) following a traumatic death.

Unlike rigor mortis, the stiffening of the affected limb is permanent and is not reversed, causing the deceased to maintain the rigidity until such time as putrefaction causes breakdown of the particular muscle group.

Examples:

The deceased following an air crash were later discovered still clutching their seatbelts or arm rests in a final, desperate act of survival.

In a drowning case, the victim was discovered with grass from the riverbank still grasped in their hand.

Perhaps the most famous case of cadaveric spasm involves the rock band Nirvana’s lead singer, Kurt Cobain. Cobain reportedly committed suicide in April 1994. His body was discovered a few days after his death with a shotgun wound to the head, and tests revealed he had large traces of heroin in his system. He was reportedly discovered still clutching the gun in his left hand, due to cadaveric spasm. However, a great deal of controversy surrounds the veracity of this latter assumption, and indeed the cause of his death, with many people insisting and attempting to prove that he died as the result of foul play rather than suicide.

LIVIDITY

Also known as livor mortis, hypostasis, or suggillation.

Once blood can no longer circulate, it will gravitate towards the lowest point of the body.

Example: A supine body will display pinkish/purple patches of discoloration where the blood has settled in the back and along the thighs.

Occurs about 30 minutes after death, but will not necessarily be noticeable until at least 2 hours afterwards as the pooling process intensifies and becomes visible, finally peaking up to between 8 and 12 hours later.

Once it is complete, the lividity process cannot be reversed.

Therefore a body discovered lying on its side, but with staining evident in the back and shoulders, must have been moved at some point from what would have been a supine position at the time of death.

It is worth noting that if the body has had contact with the floor, a wall or other solid surface, lividity would not occur at the points of contact as the pressure would not allow the blood to seep through the capillaries and pool. The specific area of pressure will be the same colour as the rest of the body and a pattern of contact may well be evident.

PUTREFACTION

Derives from the Latin putrefacere, meaning ‘to make rotten’.

The body becomes rotten through the process known as autolysis, which is the liquefaction of bodily tissue and organs and the breakdown of proteins within the body due to the increased presence of bacteria.

The first visible sign is the discoloration of the skin in the area of the abdomen.

Bacteria released from the intestine cause the body to become bloated with a mixture of gases; over time these will leak out, and the smell will intensify to unbearable proportions.

Typically, this will attract flies that will lay eggs, which develop into maggots.

Bloating is most evident in the stomach area, genitals and face, which can become unrecognizable as the tongue and eyes are forced to protrude due to the pressure of the build-up of gases in the body.

At this stage, the body will also begin to lose hair.

The organs typically decompose in a particular order: starting with the stomach, followed by the intestines, heart, liver, brain, lungs, kidney, bladder and uterus/prostate.

Once all the gases have escaped the skin begins to turn black: this stage is called ‘black putrefaction’.

As with all the other stages of death so far, the rate of putrefaction depends on temperature and location. A body exposed to the air above ground will decompose more quickly than a body left in water or buried below ground.

During putrefaction, blistering of the skin and fermentation can also occur:

Fermentation - a type of mould that will grow on the surface of the body. This mould appears white, and is slimy or furry in texture. It also releases a very strong, unpleasant, cheesy smell.

As the putrefaction process comes to an end, fly and maggot activity will become less, which leads to the next stage.

DECOMPOSITION

The body is an organic substance comprising organisms that can be broken down by chemical decomposition.

If the body is outside, any remains that have not been scavenged or consumed by maggots will liquefy and seep into the surrounding soil.

Thus when the body decomposes it is effectively recycled and returned to nature.

SKELETONIZATION

The final stage of death is known as ‘dry decay’, when the cadaver has all but dried out: the soft tissue has all gone and only the skeleton remains.

If the cadaver is outside, not only is it exposed to the elements but it also becomes food for scavengers such as rats, crows or foxes.

As the remains are scavenged, the body parts become dispersed so it is not unusual to find skeletal remains some distance from where the body lay at the point of death.

The way in which skeletal remains are scattered in such cases is of interest to archaeologists, and is referred to as taphonomy.

Where a body has lain undiscovered at home for a period of time it has also been known for family pets, typically dogs, to feed on the body. The natural instinct of a pet is to attempt to arouse the deceased by licking them, but once it gets hungry, its survival instinct will take over and it will consider the body as little more than carrion: it will act with the same natural instinct as a scavenger in the wild, which will feed on any corpse, be it animal or human, if it is starving.

Obviously the number of pets, the body mass of the deceased and the time lapse before the body is discovered will influence to what extent it has been devoured.

For further research on the stages of decomposition and the factors that affect it, look up body farms. These are medical facilities where bodies are donated for research purposes so scientists can specifically observe the decomposition process. However, be aware that some of the images are quite graphic.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Autopsy ⚜ Pain & Violence ⚜ Injuries Bereavement ⚜ Death & Sacrifice ⚜ Cheating Death ⚜ Death Conceptions

Writing Resources PDFs

[cryptotheism]

These stages can additionally be broken down into several steps. The number of these steps will vary from alchemist to alchemist, but the most common form of the process involves ten steps. They are: 

Calcination. Meaning oxidation by heating. Whenever you see an alchemist describe somemthing as a “Calcinate” that means its oxided. Rusty iron is “Iron Calcinate” old green copper is “Copper Calcinate”

Solution. Meaning ”dissolution in “sharp” (or mercurial) liquids.” This means breaking a substance down by bathing it in acids. 

Putrefaction. Decomposition. Now that you’ve broken your substance down with acids, you gotta boil it in warm compost to induce fermentation. This part turns a nasty black color, and is often described by alchemists as the “Black Raven” which is soon ressurected as the “White Dove.” Thus marking the end of Nigredo, and the beginning of Albedo. 

Reduction, The recovery of the fugitive “spirits” (Spirit in this context means a volatile substance) during the calcination process by means of a fluid (“philosophical milk”), whereupon a yellow coloration (citrinitas) appears. Basically, you’re adding back what you boiled off earlier. You know you’re doing it right when it turns yellow.

Sublimation. Adding the volatile, “spiritual” matter back to the vessel causes a violent reaction, and a red coloration. Alchemists often describe this as the raging of the “red dragon.” This is where Rubedo occurs. 

Coagulation or Fixation. The reaction dies down, and the substance begins to solidify. This is the coagula part of solve et coagula. Congratulations, you have yourself some stable Prima Materia. 

Fermentation. This is a rare step. Some alchemists like to add a little bit of gold at this stage to act as a sort of “Yeast of Gold” to speed up the process. 

Lapis philosophorum. The Philosopher’s Stone! Now your prima materia can grow into ultima materia, (supreme matter). This bit is usually described as a heavy, dark red, mildly shiny, powder or stone. When you heat it up, it turns kinda waxy, but solidifies again when it cools. (What the alchemist has probably done at this point is produce mercury(II) sulfide, better known as Cinnabar.)

Multiplication. Now that you have your philosophers stone, you can shave off bits of residue, and use that to make more. Like a mushroom. 

Projection. So you’ve got your Philosophers Stone, time to make some gold. All you gotta do is get some Philosophers Stone dust, and mix it into your base metal. If you’ve done your alchemy right, it should make the base metal change color until it looks like gold. In later, medical applications of alchemy, this is the point where you apply your panacea. 

I do my best to explain the Magnum Opus, today on Patreon

[todayis-snowy]

touchstarved LIs and their matching alchemical processes

in attempting to achieve the magnum opus (creation of the philosopher's stone), alchemists devised a 12-step, and to each, a zodiac sign.

which is really good because i get to play theorist and attempt to link things together now :]

tldr: the alchemical processes give us a hint towards character motivations and very general guides for their routes i feel

Mhin - 1 - Calcination - Aries ♈︎

calcination is the thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound, raising it to high temperature without melting it under the restricted supply of oxygen to remove impurities or volatile substances

easy linkage to their desire to rid themself of their curse!

it is interesting how calcination is linked to very controlled fire (who else is linked to fire? kuras!) but more than that I like how it also stresses that the compound must not melt in order for calcination to be successful, could this hint at how carefully mhin (and by extension, the player) must tread in dealing with their curse?

Leander - 3 - Fixation - Gemini ♊︎

fixation is the process where a previously volatile substance is transformed into a form that is not affected by fire - this is done so by separating the substance and putting it back the same or in a different shape at a subatomic level

this honestly screams 'rebirth' to me which isn't surprising at all considering leander is also associated with ouroboros and the triple moon symbol which represent the same theme

it is interesting how fixation stresses the process of breaking something down to recreate it stronger, it's double interesting that making something stronger equals not being affected by fire

all in all leander's link to fixation is telling of his drive for power and knowledge, maybe even through self-destructive means. after all we still don't know where he got that scar from

Ais - 5 - Digestion - Leo ♌︎

digestion is the process where raw materials are transformed into a more purified or refined state - it's more symbolic than the biological digestion and refers more to how a substance undergoes a series of stages leading to its ultimate transformation

if anything, this process is a better link towards ocudeus than ais (who is acting as that fuckass octopus' agent, even if he doesn't know it yet) we know Ocudeus has consumed all challengers within the shroud and is now seeking to expand his domain into the real world after all

that means the raw materials can be seen as those who drink from the Seaspring and thus are transformed and join the groupmind as a big happy family!

it is interesting that many Monsters in the real world are simply bracing themselves for Ocudeus' inevitable onslaught, you'd think someone would warn the humans but at the moment everyone seems more willing to watch it all burn

Vere - 8 - Separation - Scorpio ♏︎

separation is the process where a previous mixture is separated into two or more distinct products in order to obtain purity

in more spiritual terms they highlight a need to distinguish the true self from acquired personality traits shaped by external influences

this one's also pretty obvious (for now...) as we know vere's gotten sick of the senobium and is viewing us, the player, as a new opportunity to get out from his chains

but this has also made me think, after a separation like that there is always waste and byproduct, how are we going to deal with the aftermath? and more importantly, after such a long time of being under the senobium's thumb, who is vere without them?

Kuras - 10 - Putrefaction/Fermentation - Capricorn ♑︎

putrefaction in the purely alchemical sense is linked to nigredo - in modern terms it's simply allowing something to rot undisturbed but I don't necessarily see the links between that and kuras' route unless of course we're supposed to think that kuras is the seed to rotting humanity (which is a bummer.) - putrefaction was necessary to cleanse and cook all alchemical ingredients necessary for the philosopher's stone into a uniform black matter

kuras' linkage to brimstone, sulfur, and divine fire/judgement also lend itself to this definition

cleansing fire and turning everything to ash seem just up kuras' alley in his journey to atonement, we just might get singed along the way

also interestingly nigredo in analytical psychology is also metaphorical for when an individual confronts the shadow within, which are very fitting for kuras' self-imposed guilt and turmoil

[facts-i-just-made-up]

How do you build a atomic bomb?

Easily!

All you need are a few household items, a little bit of patience, and a Class 1 Top Security clearance for the manufacture of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons under the Fermi laws of 1954 contingent to permission from the United Nations Security Council.

You're gonna need-

A box of matches

A blender

Tape

Some wire mesh (Like a window screen, for sifting)

Cake mix (Yellow sponge cake works best)

Ziplock bags

String

Ice cubes (The cold kind, not the rapper/actor)

A toilet paper tube

A Catholic Missal

An empty kitty litter bucket

First, you're gonna need two rare substances- Weapons grade uranium and "heavy" water. For the uranium, just take your yellow cake mix and sift it with the wire mesh. Whatever stays on top of the mesh- That's weapons grade. For the heavy water, take some ice cubes, which are heavier than water but still made of water, and put them in the blender. By breaking up the ice cubes and releasing the water, you keep the weight but make it a fluid. This is a process that scientists call "Putrefaction".

To build the weapon, pack some uranium into one end of the toilet paper tube and then cover that end with the Catholic Missal. This guarantees what we call a "Critical Mass" of uranium. Then take a smaller wad of uranium and pack it into the other end of the tube, leaving plenty of space between the two.

Tape the box of matches to that end of the tube. It will act as an explosive device to send the "bullet" of uranium into the critical mass, thus resulting in a nuclear fission explosion.

You now have a nuclear fission device! This device has a yield equal to about 10 thousand tons of T.N.T. But fission is for wimps, right? So let's turn that fission bomb, into a fusion bomb!

Tape your string to the matches to act as a fuse, and then put the nuclear warhead in a ziplock bag. Be sure to seal it tight! Now place that assembly into the kitty litter bucket. Make sure it's empty of kitty litter before the next step.

Fill the rest of the bucket with the heavy water you made in step one, and seal the top of the kitty litter bucket with the string still poking out. Once the fuse is lit, it will light the matches and detonate the nuclear fission bomb. This acts as a heat source to boil the heavy water, and when heavy water boils- Nuclear Fusion!

Congratulations, your bomb is now complete. Remember that it's illegal to carry or detonate a nuclear fusion warhead in public (except in Texas), and bear in mind this will be quite a bit stronger than your usual firecrackers. We recommend only setting off your nuclear device on official U.S. testing grounds, such as the desserts of New Mexico or islands in the Pacific only populated by tribes under no country's protection, because that's seriously what the U.S. did.

So play safe and have a good time,

-facts-i-just-made-up.tumblr.com

[morbidology]

Saponification is the process of the human body partly or completely turning to soap. The fatty tissue and the liquid from putrefaction gradually form into adipocere, which is also known as grave wax. This process can happen to embalmed and non-embalmed bodies. It is most common with those who are overweight. The photograph above is of “The Soap Lady” who is housed at the Mutter Museum. She is entirely composed of grave wax.

[memecucker]

After the death of Pius XII, Galeazzi-Lisi gave an article and photographs of the dead Pope to a French magazine, Paris Match, and to an Italian magazine. He also tried to publish a diary which he had composed of the last four days of Pius XII. In a controversial press conference, Galeazzi-Lisi described in great detail the embalming the body of the late Pontiff. He claimed to have used the same system of oils and resins, with which the body of Jesus Christ was preserved.[3] However, heat in the halls, where the body of the late Pope lay in state, caused chemical reactions, according to Galeazzi-Lisi, which required it to be treated twice after the original preparation. Unlike all popes before him, Pope Pius XII did not want the vital organs removed from his body, demanding that it be kept "in the same condition in which God created it".[3]

This novelty, according to Galeazzi-Lisi, was the reason why he and Professor Oreste Nuzzi, an embalmer from Naples, used a different embalming approach, which was complicated by the intense heat in Castel Gandolfo during the embalming preparations.[3] He predicted in the press conference that the embalming system would work to its full extent once the body had been closed in the coffin. He said that he and Professor Nuzzi treated the body of the Pontiff three times altogether.[3]

The treatment was completely opposite to the ordinary embalming style. Instead of draining bodily fluids and keeping the cadaver cold, Galeazzi-Lisi covered the corpse with a plastic bag, inside which he placed herbs and spices. Virtually eliminating the air circulation, he dramatically accelerated the anaerobic putrefaction. According to the press, the body literally decomposed before the eyes of the mourners, during the procession from Castel Gandolfo to Rome.[4] Despite Galeazzi-Lisi's efforts, decomposition was unstoppable: the Pope's body reportedly turned into an "emerald green" (or black, depending on the source) color.[5] The stench was so acrid that some Swiss Guards fainted,[5] and had to be rotated every 15 minutes.[6]

[gatheringbones]

[“The dance itself probably developed under the influence of recurring plague, as a street performance to illustrate sermons on the submission of all alike to Death the Leveler. In murals illustrating the dance at the Church of the Innocents in Paris, fifteen pairs of figures, clerical and lay, from pope and emperor down the scale to monk and peasant, friar and child, make up the procession. “Advance, see yourselves in us,” they say in the accompanying verses, “dead, naked, rotten and stinking. So will you be.… To live without thinking of this risks damnation.… Power, honor, riches are naught; at the hour of death only good works count.… Everyone should think at least once a day of his loathsome end,” to remind him to do good deeds and go to mass if he wishes to be redeemed and escape “the dreadful pain of hell without end which is unspeakable.”

Each figure speaks his piece: the constable knows that Death carries off the bravest, even Charlemagne; the knight, once loved by the ladies, knows that he will make them dance no more; the plump abbot, that “the fattest rots first”; the astrologer, that his knowledge cannot save him; the peasant who has lived all his days in care and toil and often wished for death, now when the hour has come would much rather be digging in the vineyards “even in rain and wind.” The point is made over and over, that here is you and you and you. The cadaverous figure who leads the procession is not Death but the Dead One. “It is yourself,” says the inscription under the murals of the dance at La Chaise-Dieu in Auvergne.

The cult of death was to reach its height in the 15th century, but its source was in the 14th. When death was to be met any day around any corner, it might have been expected to become banal; instead it exerted a ghoulish fascination. Emphasis was on worms and putrefaction and gruesome physical details. Where formerly the dominant idea of death was the spiritual journey of the soul, now the rotting of the body seemed more significant. Effigies of earlier centuries were serene, with hands joined in prayer and eyes open, anticipating eternal life. Now, following Harsigny’s example, great prelates often had themselves shown as cadavers in realistic detail. To accomplish this, death masks and molds of bodily parts were made of wax, incidentally promoting portraiture and a new recognition of individual traits. The message of the effigies was that of the Danse Macabre. Over the scrawny, undraped corpse of Cardinal Jean de La Grange, who was to die in Avignon in 1402, the inscription asks observers, “So, miserable one, what cause for pride?”

The cult of the lugubrious in coming decades made the cemetery of the Innocents at Paris, with the Danse Macabre painted on its walls, the most desirable burial place and popular meeting place in Paris. Charnel houses built into the 48 arches of the cloister were donated by rich bourgeois and nobles—among them Boucicaut and Berry—to hold their remains. Because twenty parishes had the right of burial at the Innocents, the old dead had to be continually disinterred and their tombstones sold to make room for the new. Skulls and bones piled up under the cloister arches were an attraction for the curious, and bleak proof of ultimate leveling. Shops of all kinds found room in and around the cloister; prostitutes solicited there, alchemists found a market place, gallants made it a rendezvous, dogs wandered in and out. Parisians came to tour the charnel houses, watch burials and disinterments, gaze at the murals, and read the verses. They listened to daylong sermons and shuddered as the Dead One blowing his horn entered from the Rue St. Denis leading his procession of awful dancers. Art followed the lugubrious. The crown of thorns, rarely pictured before, became a realistic instrument of pain drawing blood in the paintings of the second half of the century. The Virgin acquired seven sorrows, ranging from the flight into Egypt to the Pietà—the limp dead body of her son lying across her knees. Claus Sluter, sculptor to the Duke of Burgundy, made the first known Pietà in France in 1390 for the convent of Champmol at Dijon.”]

barbara w. tuchman, from a distant mirror: the calamitous 14th century, 1987

[sun-death]

The very name “Black Sun” as an esoteric concept is not the historic property of the Nazis. In Western alchemy, the “black sun” was the Sol Niger, a symbol of the process of nigredo, the state of spiritual putrefaction or “death” that necessarily precedes renewal and the completion of the Great Work. There have been other “black suns” and similarly dark lights with different symbolic meanings throughout the ancient pre-Christian world. In Egypt, a “black sun” can be seen in some tombs as a devourer of the unrighteous and the enemies of the gods, and this sun was represented by a demon in the form of a black ram dubbed “The Lord of Power”. In Greece and Rome, the god Dionysus or Bacchus was sometimes referred to as the “Night Sun”. The planet Saturn was in some cultures considered to be a “sun of night”, and in Mesopotamia the sun god Utu was believed to travel to the underworld as a “night sun” to judge the dead. Mayans believed that the Sun took the form of the “Night Sun” as it journeyed to the underworld.

Aleph Skoteinos, "Chaos, nihilism, and the way of “No Surrender” (or, In defence of the Chaos Star and the Nihilist-Anarchists)"

[iteratorsex]

what's your take on the specifics of the benefactor ascension process?

personally, the setup going on in the watcher's ascension temple made me assume that they leave their dead in coffins where their matter is left to slowly trickle down into the void fluid as the body breaks down and decomposes, though that implies ascension is actually quite a long and gradual process so I'm not certain how correct this perception of it is.

I actually imagine it to be a similar process to how the philosophers stone might've been made (at least with George Ripley's Gates)

While yeah there's a LOT of disagreement on the steps, generally it ends with the same thing. The body becoming so perfected by the Void Fluid that the essence can escape

First, they are likely sedated and mercifully killed and then embalmed, to keep the body pure and the essence trapped for the rest of the steps Shaded echo mentions being embalmed

Then the rest of the operation would begin

These steps were likely... unnecessary. And changed between cultures. I'm sure by the time of the late-iterator era, they simplified it and weren't as intensive about purification

So those steps would basically be...

Calcination - Burning of the embalmed body for purification into an ash

Solution - The ashen body is added to the void fluid

Separation - Separation of mortal body and immortal mind/soul in the solution

Conjunction - Recombination of the two

Putrefaction - Festering of the solution, and allowing the body to truly dissolve in the fluid

Congelation - The moment when the golden substance appears within solution in a congealed mass

Cibation - Addition of more void fluid

Sublimation - The letting off of necessary materials that may have made it through the initial processes

Fermentation - A second batch of dissolving, this time free of all impurities, and allowing the essence to "bloom"

Exaltation - I'm uh... kinda lost on this one. But I believe it has something to do with activating all the elements, in this case the essence. Through what means? Fuck idk man

Multiplication - Usually a repetition of the processes of congelation, cibation, and fermentation. Just to REALLY be sure.

Projection - The moment the final solution is poured through the grate. The solution has become so pure at this point that the essence is so lightweight and effortless its able to fly away and truly ascend alongside its memories that it carried

(Sorry I definitely struggled with trying to understand these steps to their fullest extent! Really, however you wish to interpret them in this case is ok)

[theantarwitch]

Alchemy, the untouched friend of Witchcraft

If there is something interesting that is nearly not used on mostly of the witch community, is Alchemy, and is something from which we could take some few useful stuffs.

As always, disclaimer first, I’m not an expert on the subject and I barely if I read a couple of books about the topic (from another 10 untouched ones lol), so as always in life, take what I say with tweezers. This is meant to be a light superficial view to open a door of possibilities in a mix of Witchcraft and Alchemy, is not a thesis. Saying that, to the core of the question.

Alchemy use elements. A lot of them.

The three primes or Tria Prima (the basic 3 materials): Sulfur (Related to the Soul and the principle of combustibility, so it has volatility, can burn, explode, combust), Mercury (Related to the Spirit, the principle of fusibility so the material can be fused together and volatility so a substance vaporizes), and Salt (Relate to the Body, the principle of non-combustibility and non-volatility).

Our beloved Four basic Elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water.

The Seven Metals associated with the seven classical planets: Lead, corresponding with Saturn. Tin, corresponding with Jupiter. Iron, corresponding with Mars. Gold, corresponding with the Sun. Copper, corresponding with Venus. Mercury, corresponding with Mercury. Silver, corresponding with the Moon.

The 13 Mundane Elements and Later Metals: Antimony, Arsenic, Bismuth, Cobalt, Magnesium, Manganese, Nickel, Oxygen, Phlogiston, Phosphorus, Platinum, Sulfur, Zinc (All of them with a lot of interesting properties and functions, in and out the alchemy world).

The 10 Alchemical Compounds: Acid, Sal ammoniac, Aqua fortis, Aqua regia, Aqua vitae, Amalgam, Cinnabar, Vinegar, Vitriol, Brimstone (All of them also with amazing properties).

And what interesting me the most (at least to my way to do witchcraft), The 12 Alchemical Processes:

Calcination (Aries): The thermal treatment of a solid to removing impurities or volatile substances.

Congelation (Taurus): Term used in medieval and early modern alchemy for the process known today as crystallization. Process by which a solid form into a structure known as a crystal, by precipitating from a solution or freezing.

Fixation (Gemini): Process by which a previously volatile substance is "transformed" into a form (often solid) that is not affected by fire.

Solution (Cancer): Homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent.

Digestion (Leo): A process in which gentle heat is applied to a substance over a period of several weeks.

Distillation (Virgo): Separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation.

Sublimation (Libra): The transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas state, without passing through the liquid state.

Separation (Scorpio): Converts a mixture or solution of chemical substances into two or more distinct product mixtures. Process of distinguishing to two or more substance in order to obtain purity.

Ceration (Sagittarius): Chemical process, by continuously adding a liquid by imbibition to a hard, dry substance while it is heated. Typically, this treatment makes the substance softer.

Fermentation/ Putrefaction (Capricorn): A metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes/ Decomposition of organic matter by bacterial or fungal digestion.

Multiplication (Aquarius): Process to increase the potency of the elixir or projection powder, in order to increase the gains in the subsequent projection.

Projection (Pisces): Process to transmute a lesser substance into a higher form; often lead into gold.

Damn, alchemy even have symbols to Units: Month, Day, Hour, Dram (Unit of mass between 1 and 3 grams), Half Dram, Ounce (Unit of mass, weight or volume of 28 grams, Half Ounce, Scruple (1 grams), Pound (500 grams).

So just with this simple 2 pages of basic Wikipedia info, we have a ton of new things to use. Everything here has specific properties, some more physical and chemical oriented, but others (like the 3 Tria Prima and The 12 Alchemical Processes) have a lot of correspondences with the witch life itself.

The 12 Alchemical Processes could be absolutely used to represent an desired outcome.

Calcination uses thermal treatment, so it can boost the Fire element of a spell. It also “removing impurities or volatile substances”, so can be applied to generate a mild fever to get rid off the flu, or to boost the organs that clean the body (kidneys and liver mostly)

Congelation turns a solid by freezing, can boost the Water element, so all the “freezer spells” can be boosted with this.

Fixation? A volatile substance is transformed into a solid form? Sound pretty much to grounding, or to help to focus an ADHD head as mine, or to put down to earth someone who is VOLATILE AND VIOLENT. Also, Earth element.

Solution? Homogeneous mixture of two or more substances? It sounds like an aid to make two people on conflict to get into an agreement, or to boost a new business by mixing the opportunities with the action. Air element.

Digestion. A process in which gentle heat is applied to a substance over a period of several weeks? It sounds like something that can help any process that need digestion (bad news must be “digested”, hard choices must be “consulted with the pillow”), and the “gentle heat” sounds comforting. Someone is grieving? Maybe Digestion can help them to overcome the awful times.

Distillation. Separating the components or substances. Anything that need to be separated can be helped with this. Relationships that must end, breakups, cut the ties with older things or habits.

Sublimation. The transition of a substance. I heard trans rights? Can this maybe help with your hormones? Or even to transition from what you previously left behind with the distillation, to focus in a new better future.

Separation. Process of distinguishing to two or more substance in order to obtain purity. How to choose from two or more choices? How to pick the better one? The one with purity? Separation maid aid.

Ceration. A hard, dry is heated to make it softer. Make that person less frigid, make the boss less bitchy, make your chronic pain less hurtful, make your bills less heavy, all that you can think in make softer.

Fermentation/ Putrefaction. I personally love this one. Produces changes in organic substrates and decomposition of organic matter by bacterial or fungal digestion. Prime element to curses. All what you want to rid off in the most disgusting way. May their flesh get rotten under a car in a hot summer.

Multiplication. Process to increase the potency of the elixir in order to increase the gains in the subsequent projection. MONEY MONEY MAKE MORE MONEY, all what need to be increased and all what you want to multiply, go go go!

Projection. Transmute a lesser substance into a higher form “lead into gold”. Perfect to get better as a person, to learn to adapt, accept, to grow compassion, love, etc.

At this you can add the Units, the metals and mundane elements, the 4 elements, the tria prima, your crystals and herbs and sigils and all. And your spells will be filled with components and correspondences.

What’s better, a lot of the physical elements are not too hard to get (some yes, they are, but you are not here to make lead into gold with a full set of chemistry), but alchemy use a lot of symbology, so even if you don’t have the physical element, you can use their properties with the symbol, just as any other sigil.

Salt is easy. Tin in a food can. Antimony in mostly all the rocks. Arsenic in apple seeds (technically no but still). Cobalt and Manganese basically everywhere. Magnesium in your own body. Nickel in coins. Oxygen in the air., Phosphorus, Zinc and Sulfur in food. Acid in anything acid lol. Aqua vitae in alcohol (especially Whisky). Vinegar in vinegars.

Long story short, if you feel that maybe you are lacking something, check some books about alchemy would maybe help. Don’t pick super chemical specific pro books and don’t be discouraged by the terms, pick what can be useful to you, and I hope this open some doors and bring more curiosity about this amazing topic.

[talonabraxas]

"The alchemist realizes that he himself is the Philosopher’s Stone, and that this stone is made diamond-like when the salt and the sulphur, or the spirit and the body, are united through mercury, the link of mind. Man is the incarnated principle of mind as the animal is of emotion. He stands with one foot on the heavens and the other on earth. His higher being is lifted to the celestial spheres, but the lower man ties him to matter. Now the philosopher, building his sacred stone, is doing so by harmonizing his spirit and his body. The result is the Philosopher’s Stone. The hard knocks of life chip it away and facet it until it reflects lights from a million different angles." - Manly P. Hall

The Alchemist Talon Abraxas

The alchemist supports the goal of reaching the enlightenment in seven distinct processes.

As the great work initiates, we watch a considerable mutation on the elements from their original state. Although, the evolution is far beyond the earthly metallurgy. The metaphor behind the altered matter and planetary influence, affect both spirit, psyche and body. For many authors, to follow the steps as a scientist may lead us to frustration and disappointment. That idea underlines the fact that the journey could be purely spiritual.

Calcination

The process of calcination is the beginning stage in alchemy. To calcine something is to burn it until it’s reduced to ashes. This is the false identity or poisoning ego that fights desperately for its survival. Is crucial to remove it from our inner selves. That way we will step up into a new level of spirituality. To be free from the impurities of an inflated pride, let a new self be purified, to achieve the maturity of the soul.

Dissolution

This kind of operation demands a cycle of meditation, which is crucial for a successful dilution of the parts into a fluid condition. “The consequence of true meditation is an accurate perception that all things within us and in creation are fundamentally of the same primal substance.” The operation occurs in the interior to opening-up our energy channels, recharging every single cell.

Separation

This stage is defined by the division of thoughts and emotions acquired by the dissolution. The separation of the elements allows us to observe them more clearly. Their true nature and shape are finally exposed to us. Such manifestation dissipates the fog of ignorance and obstinacy. The door of self-improvement lets the light of dawn in.

This process aware us about our authentic feelings. The violence of reality might find us off guard, but this could be the only true way to move forward. The light may hurt our eyes at first, but will soon reveal our paths.

Conjunction

The separated elements demand a new combination to find the balance. The male and female principles are significant for every human being and its physical and spiritual lucidity. The conjunction provides a bed for the royal marriage between the Sun (the male) and the Moon (the female) which is the improvement and evolution of the spiritual self in its search for perfection.

Fermentation

The stage of Fermentation is also a metaphor for pregnancy and fecundation. Like an inspiration from above that reanimates and enlightens the soul. This is a two-part process. Firstly the “Putrefaction” takes the father and the mother. Matter is allowed to breakdown and decompose. They die so the child can be born, their bodies will be the fertiliser for the seed. As we experience this phase our consciousness confronts the darker side. In the second part the conjunction child is born. The forces of the spirit Above are merged with the matter below.

Distillation

Distillation is the process of boiling the elixirs to increase purity.

“In Distillation many bitter, sharp, and acrid things become very sweet, like honey, sugar, or manna ; and, on the other hand, many sweet things, such as honey, sugar, or manna(…)” Paracelsus The final purge before the enlightenment happens in this stage. There are no impurities left, the environment for a spiritual apotheosis is attained.

Coagulation

The perfect substance is found. In the most physical way, we observe a fluid state change into a thickened mass. This process is a metaphor for the elevated self. The maturity is finally achieved and the body, spirit and soul find the perfect balance between themselves. We will become truly free from the mind and our consciousness is able to connect spirit and soul in perfect harmony. We watch the rebirth of a beautiful new being.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hello! By any chance, do you have synonyms or related words to "decompose"?

Thank you in anticipation!

Hi! Here are some words related to decompose:

Decompose—to break up into constituent parts by or as if by a chemical process

Addle - to become rotten; spoil

Atrophy - to waste away (as from disease or disuse)

Corrode - to wear away gradually usually by chemical action

Corrupt - rot, spoil; to cause disintegration

Crumble - to fall into small pieces; disintegrate

Curdle - to go bad or wrong; spoil, sour

Decay - to undergo decomposition

Decline - a gradual physical or mental sinking and wasting away

Deteriorate - to become impaired in quality, functioning, or condition; degenerate

Devolve - to degenerate through a gradual change or evolution

Dilapidate - to bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin

Disintegrate - to break or decompose into constituent elements, parts, or small particles

Dissolve - to separate into component parts; disintegrate

Fester - to undergo or exist in a state of progressive deterioration

Mildew - to become affected with mildew (i.e., a superficial usually whitish growth produced especially on organic matter or living plants by fungi)

Mold - to become moldy (i.e., covered with a superficial often woolly growth produced especially on damp or decaying organic matter or on living organisms by a fungus, as of the order Mucorales)

Mortify - to become necrotic (usually localized death of living tissue) or gangrenous (local death of soft tissues due to loss of blood supply)

Necrotize - to undergo necrosis (i.e., usually localized death of living tissue)

Perish - deteriorate, spoil

Putrefy - to undergo putrefaction (i.e., the decomposition of organic matter)

Putresce - to become putrescent or putrid; putrefy

Putrid - being in a state of putrefaction; rotten

Rot - to undergo decomposition from the action of bacteria or fungi

Rust - to be affected with a rust fungus

Sour - smelling or tasting of decay; rancid, rotten

Sphacelate - to become gangrenous (local death of soft tissues due to loss of blood supply)

Spoil - to lose valuable or useful qualities usually as a result of decay

Taint - to affect with putrefaction; spoil

Tarnish - to dull or destroy the luster of by or as if by air, dust, or dirt; soil, stain

Wither - to shrivel from or as if from loss of bodily moisture; to lose vitality, force, or freshness

Hope this helps with your writing. Do tag me, or send me a link. I'd love to read your work!

More: Word Lists

[jasontoddspussy]

ALRIGHTY lets go!

The Corpse; A short guide.

So. You want to write or depict cadavers in your work? Well, look no further! Hopefully, this will be helpful to you.

A corpse is a dead person, also known as a cadaver - it's something that we all become at some point. Corpses can vary a lot, depending on the person and the context of their deaths. Let's start with a general corpse description and what usually happens after death.

Following the cease of circulation when the heart stops, some muscle and tissue will remain responsive to stimuli for approximately 3-4 minutes. In this short window of time, resuscitation is still possible, however anoxia and irreversible ischemia is a risk.

That doesn’t feature in the supravital period, which extends from 100-120 minutes after the heart has stopped. During this period, muscle and tissue will respond to mechanical and electrical stimulation.

In other words; As soon as your heart stops beating, your body is now on a clock of decomposition (unless of corpse, other preventative measures are taken). Decomposition can vary in appearance and signs depending on various factors pre-and-post mortem, but generally it's divided into separate stages; Fresh. Bloat. Active decay. Advanced decay. Skeletonised.

The natural body;

By this I mean a body that's died and left to own devices, not autopsied or embalmed. That means this body goes through the post-mortem stages of decomposition, be it in a casket or shroud placed directly in the ground.

Fresh cadavers are people who've died within 24-48 hours, where rigor mortis sets in and dissipates. Generally, fresh cadavers start to change colour within 2-4 hours post-mortem. Cadavers can have all sorts of colors of decay, be it due to pre-existing conditions such as liver failure (which would cause a build-up of bilirubin and give the skin and eyes a very yellow tone), livor mortis, blood or mold.

A fresh corpse looks slack at first. Eyes are open, more often than not unevenly so with lazy-eyes, beginning to cloud-over, and lines of dust (also known as kevorkian sign) will adhere onto the eyeball as it deflates. Lips pull back in most cases or they shrink and become very thin. Jaw is slack. The scent of death varies from person to person, but generally the more body fat you have, the stronger the scent.

From the time a cadaver cools to ambient temperature and until it becomes a skeleton, soft tissue decomposes by aerobic and anaerobic bacterial action, known as Autolysis, the disruptions and disintegration of cell walls, varies depending on the surrounding environmental conditions but generally begins in bodies buried graves at 48-72 hours after death. Intestinal membrane disruption releases aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The process of autolysis gradually blends into the stage of decomposition known as putrefaction, which is characterized by decomposition occurring in an anaerobic environment. It’s faster in the presence of oxygen, and therefore bodies on the surface decompose faster than those buried, while bodies submerged in water decompose slower than buried.

Temperature plays a role, where the higher the temperature is the quicker it’ll set in and resolve. Meanwhile the colder it is, the slower it’ll set in and the longer it’ll last.

Things like death by electrocution effects it by hastening the onset and short duration, or poisoning which can both hasten or delay it.

Algor mortis, or body temperature, refers to The cooling of the body until it reaches ambient temperature.

It can vary depending on external and internal factors such as ambient/room temperature, the temperature of the deceased pre-mortem (like, hypo/hyperthermia), clothes, body mass and body position.

Using a formula that says normal temperature x rectal temperature divided by 1.5hrs = approximate time since death.

1.5 is because it’s said that the body cools by 1.5 degrees fahrenheit every hour. However, when the body’s temperature is around 7 degrees F from ambient temperature, the cooling slows significantly and can take several hours to reach room temperature.

Bodies will get red-purpley patches on them depending on their positions post-mortem. This is known as Livor Mortis.

Livor mortis is the gravitational pooling of blood post mortem in the body - both in capillaries, venules and in organs. Onset is variable, but usually starts to show around 2 hours, but can occur as early as 15 minutes post mortem. The color will change from red to purple as oxygen dissociates from the red blood cells, turning it into deoxyhemoglobin. However, certain types of poisoning (such as carbon monoxide) will keep the color a consistent cherry red.Bodies that are very anaemic may not experience this.

Lividity, as in the blood flow post mortem, is not fixed. If applied pressure, the area will turn white as blood is squeezed into surrounding areas - this can be done until approx 4-6 hours post mortem, as the cooling of the body will have solidified the fat making the blood unable to be squeezed into other areas. The quantitative measurements of livor mortis are only useful for 30-40 hours post mortem and before the changes of putrefaction have begun. The rate of occurrence, intensity of coloration, distribution, and possible redistribution of lividity are so variable and difficult to standardize.

The estimate, of the postmortem interval (PMI) during this stage of decomposition is more difficult and less precise because of the multiple factors involved which consist not only of intrinsic factors (ie, the physical and diseased state of the body) but also extrinsic factors (ie, the context in which the body decomposes). A body will decompose more rapidly if sepsis or a fever was present before death, in edematous tissues, in obese individuals, while decomposition will be slower in thin individuals.

What is rigor mortis?

Rigor Mortis refers to the contraction of muscles that sets in around 2-6 hours after death, lasts around 24-84 hours, then gradually loosens. This happens because ATP is still being produced after death, but when there’s no longer any energy left to keep muscles fluid, it contracts.

Several outside and inside factors contribute to the speed of which rigor mortis develops; things such as violent exercise or high fever during the agonal stage will cause a rapid onset and shorter duration.

The amount of skeletal muscle dictates the duration - an infant will have an early onset and early disappearance, while a strong and robust person will have a slower onset and a longer duration.

Bloat refers to the stage of which bacteria will have eaten through broken down cell-walls and tissue, since the proteins that kept them in place from doing this is no longer working, the bacterial in your body will essentially eat you from the inside. Because of this, they produce gasses, which will cause the torso, especially the abdomen, the genitals, throat, tongue and eyes to bulge and 'bloat' because of the gasses expanding the flesh until it pops. The flesh will take on a bruised and sickly-looking appearance as your insides slowly turn liquid. When you pop, you're officially in the active-decay zone. Congrats!

Your insides are liquid, and honestly look like thick chunky chicken soup (you're welcome for that visage), and if there wasn't any insect before (which I highly doubt) there surely will be now. Maggots will feast on the fat, burrowing beneath the skin, but beetles will come and feed on you, spiders, larvae, moths - it's a smørgasbord for insects. Your body will actively rot, or be eaten, or both, as you speed through active and advanced decay.

Finally, your skeletonised remains is the result. Your skin may hang on in places, leathery and dry, and your hair might still be there. But you're now a spooky scary skeleton.

Autopsies & Embalmed bodies;

In many places in the world, if someone dies unexpectedly, from crime, disease, or if the next-of-kin desires, an autopsy is done to figure out what went wrong, or to file a death certificate. Bodies who are autopsied will have their organs removed and often times preserved in a formaldehyde mixture for an (x) amount of time post-autopsy in case of further study, police work or evidence protocol.

On that note, when someone dies, usually the first people on the scene alongside the police are the MLI - The MLI are the first responses from the medical offices, they’re the ones arriving at the scene of an untimely or unusual death and document, investigate and examine everything. They're what they'd call forensics in TV.

What's typically in a morgue? Each table, autopsy table really, is instrumented with a high-powered faucet, kind of what you’d see in industrial kitchens. The ones resembling a hose. Metal slats are built into the tables to allow fluids to drip down. Beneath the tables are narrow basins that catch the drippings, leading directly to a biohazard waste container, and it's pluggable, which is handy when working with homicides or suicides by gun, that way bullets doesn’t get into the container.

The main goal of an Autopsy is essentially;

Finding the cause of death, and the manner of death.

The cause of death is the “what physically caused this person's body to die” - the chain of lethal events that is purely physiological in nature.

The manner of death is the classification of the circumstance. Every death is categorised as either;

Accident, Homicide, Suicide, Natural causes, Theraupeutic complication or Undetermined.

The distinction between the two are important for lots of reasons, depending on the person and their life. Be it insurance companies policy, or someone's landlady.

Every autopsy begins roughly the same. An extremely thorough external examination.

Anything from clothing, jewellery, hair, scars to whatever metal you have pierced through flappy parts of flesh, or miscellaneous pocket items. Any scar, birthmark, tattoo - You name it, is noted down. Everything is important, a forgotten freckle or birthmark, anything really, can make or break any death certificate or an investigation.

Then different samples are taken, such as samples of the vitreous fluid (one of the fluids in the eyeball), using a 1 ml syringe with a 20 gauge needle (pink needles). The needle is inserted into the side of the eyeball until the tip is visible through the pupil (usually, this takes approx. 2 seconds). Normally this is done for both eyes, but that’s not always possible. Yes, sometimes eyes pop out.

Next is a blood sample, typically taken from the large femoral vein or one behind the collarbones.

The first incision is the Y-incision. From each collarbone, there's an incision made towards the sternum, until it meets in the middle. From there it's a straight line down ending by the pelvis. Now the body can be carefully opened up and have connective tissue on the ribs sliced off and soft flesh on the stomach removed.

Now the torso is visually divided into the 5 cavities that make it up;

The abdominal cavity, which is also the largest. It holds the intestines. Behind it is the cavity that holds the kidneys. There’s the chest which has the lungs, both of them have their own cavity filled with fluids. And finally, the heart, also in the chest. When conducting an autopsy, it's important to both count all the organs, and also remember to separate based on cavities. This makes it easier when it comes to contamination of inside or outside sources, since not every organ could be affected.

Where someone starts with the organs depends on different things such as damage. Typically someone would start with membranes that protect organs. Observing the tissue and membranes help the examiner with the COD, since damaged tissue would be red, infections would be yellow/green, and large pools of blood could be an indicative of a burst aorta or spleen. Yes, those organs are very fragile and will burst very easily, and is actually often times the COD when someone dies from a crash or fall.

The tools used are scalpels, clampers, pincers - which are medical in nature, but a lot of tools can also just be something brought from a hardware store. For example, large pruning scissors you'd use in a garden works excellent enough as a rib-cutter. Typically, when more advanced tools is used, like a bone saw, the examiner is not the one using the tool, but an assisting technician.

From there, it's snapping off the breastplate, and opening different membranes. If there's a large pool of blood coming out of say, the abdominal membrane, then it's because the person's heart was still beating after the trauma occurred. This distinction is useful for the examiner, for example, if the body's neck is broken alongside the large amount of blood; that'd mean the person likely died from blood loss to the surrounding tissue (ischemia) and not the broken neck.

When someone has been opened and examined, it's time to remove the organs. Typically the examiner starts with the lungs, which are pink and spongy less the person was a smoker, then they're crispy like a chicken nugget, and heart, and places them where they feel is best. Organs are slippery though, so it might be trial and error on where it's easiest to put them. Like by the body's feet.

The knives used here could be medical, but it could, again, also just be regular sharp kitchen knives.

Once the heart and lungs are gone, it's time for the intestines. To start, the fatty tissue that adheres it to the rectum is trimmed away, it's just about pulling since it's one long organ. When everything but the start of the duodenum is out, that's cut away, thus severing the intestines from the stomach. The intestines are placed in a bowl to weigh. The liver is attached to the intestines and the stomach, but it’s easy to remove. Opposite to the liver is the spleen.

Next the stomach, pancreas, duodenum and oesophagus can be pulled out in one line and placed with the other organs. Now there's plenty of room to remove the kidneys and adrenal glands, which don't look all that grand unless they're infected.

The only things left to remove from the abdominal cavity are the bladder, sex-organs and the rectum. To do this, the examiner will need to reach down deep into the pelvis and cut around the anus. It makes a terrible suck-like sound.

Removing the bladder is always a gamble. If it’s full, it’ll be like handing a soft water balloon.

The sexual organs are removed if it's a uterus. If it's testicles, the body's scrotum will be inverted and if the testicles are undamaged, they'll likely just be pushed back in place.

Next is the aorta and vena carta, the largest artery and vein in the body respectively.

They're adhered to the spine, and will be sliced off to be placed alongside other organs.

Here the examiner will also be able to see if any parts of the spinal collum, medulla spinalis, has been broken. You can often feel and hear it when a body has a lot of broken bones, but you still need to confirm it. If you want to confirm if someone's hip is broken, you do it by slicing away the flank muscles.

Next up is the face. For starters, a U-incision is made from ear-to-ear, peeling away as much of the scalp as possible and let it hang down the face. Here is where the cranium will be opened using a bone-saw, making a halo-like cut. It's important not to slice too deep so as to not damage anything. Then it's just about popping off the top of the cranium. The outside of the brain is white because of the arachnoid and pia maters. Delicate blood vessels line the tissues, and if someone dies from a headwound, you'd see blooms of red on the sub-arachnoid mater. Outside the skull, the brain has the consistency of jello. If someone fell from a building, and their head hit something, it'd likely make the brain pooling and bloody.

When the cerebrum, cerebellum and medulla oblongata have all been removed, all that's left is the neck.

The trachea, thyroid and upper oesophagus is in a big pile, being pulled from the base of the tongue. Here, the examiner can poke a couple fingers down by the back of the jawbone, feeling for jutting bones or listening for crunches. If the body's head had been shaken in a specific way, a hit to the upper neck bones could sever the skull and neck, injuring the medulla oblongata and causing instant death. It’s similar to decapitation but the head stays on.

With the organs weighted, notes filled out, the medical examiner can now conduct and finalise their investigation for the COD and MOD filling out the death certificate.

The embalmed body:

Embalming is the process of slowing down decomposition of a cadaver, be it because of travel, funeral arrangements or for display. Most American funeral homes will just do embalming, because it is law in the US for funeral homes to offer, and be trained, in embalming procedures. This hurts funeral homes owned by Jewish people and Muslim people, for example, as their culture of deathcare doesn't allow for embalming.

Very advanced decomposed or damaged cadavers can still be embalmed, however, you'd need someone specifically trained in reconstructive embalming and deathcare, as it sometimes entails replacing body parts. Since everything will decay, some bodies on display have teams of scientists and reconstructive specialists to replace and bathe the body in whatever formular they use periodically.

Also, quick disclaimer, embalmment is illegal here because of chemicals, so all my knowledge stems from research only. The part of dressing cadavers is based on experience of myself and people I know.

The most common reason for embalming is for a funeral viewing. Families/next of kin can request a specific make-up look, hair-do, outfit, and will sometimes participate in this process. In some cultures it is the family that washes and prepares the body entirely, which used to be the norm until funeral homes made death-care a business and the idea of housing the dead, and death in general, became more and more taboo.

Different chemicals are used depending on how the person died, as well as their complexion, so it's sort of personalised. The embalmer will be using a mixture of chemicals and dye as the embalmment fluid to help with the body's complexion.

The embalmment fluid is made up of the aforementioned dye, a mixture of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, methanol, and other solvents, and humectant (which means, it helps restore some of the fluid lost during the dying process)

The strength of the fluid depends on how much formaldehyde is present. The other chemicals present are known as co-inject chemicals, which act as the vehicles for the humectant, dye and formaldehyde to move through the body. How long an embalmment process last depends on the state of the body, COD, ect.

Now that the cadaver is on a steel table, the mortician will begin washing and disinfecting it. While doing so, the person will be massaging the different joints and body-parts to break up any rigor-mortis that may be present.

Clean and massaged, it's time to open up an incision in the neck to gain access to the vein and artery present. This is done with a scalpel right along he collarbone, where then the mortician will lift up the carotid artery with a large lock-pick looking tool called an aneurism hook.

Then, using a large tube, the arterial tube, will be inserted into the artery. Once it's in place, a pair of tool-scissors with a flat horizontal tip, called a haemostat, will be clamping down on the artery with the tube-nozzle inside to keep it in place.

The machine that holds the tank full of embalmment fluid is connected to the arterial tube, which will begin pushing the mix throughout the body, into the arteries, the heart, all into the veins and it's going to push out the bacteria-rich blood. As mentioned earlier, the bacteria that eats you up inside can do so because there's no longer proteins there to stop them. What this mixture of chemicals does is fix those proteins, because formaldehyde coagulated protein, and thus halts, pauses or slows down, the bacterial decomposition on the inside.

And, while the embalmment fluid is being run into the cadaver, it's important for the mortician to massage the body so that the mixture can get into as many capillaries as possible, massaging and pushing towards the heart. Any part of the body that's accessible should be stimulated.

Meanwhile, the mortician will use what's called a "trocar" which is a tool that looks kind of a like a very very long screwdriver. It's very sharp, and hollow, and works by puncturing the abdominal cavity towards the right ear, puncturing the heart, and moved back and forth in sideways slow motions to create channels through the organs. The trocar is hollow, because it works as a suction-tool. When the mortician is working and pushing it through the organs in the torso, they're also sucking up the different fluids that's accumulated, to make way for the embalmment fluid that's going to replace it. This is done both for the upper and lower parts of the torso.

When it comes to the face, with the features being "set", which involves a reconstruction of the face using make-up or injections. It's also when you close the eyes and mouth. Some funeral homes use onions to put into the eyesockets to keep them shaped. Others use eye-caps, which also helps keeping the lids shut.

Whether the mortician begins with the face or the body is generally up to preference.

There's several different ways to close the mouth, be it needle injection in the gums, or using a long curved needle to sew it shut (muscular suture) where it starts through the nostril, through the septum, down below the lip, opposite side, and back up to the nostril to be tied off.

Some like to use a simple rolled up towel beneath the chin to keep the mouth shut.

Since the face will often be sunken, or heavily decomposed, hypodermic injections of a perseverative fluid to reconstruct features.

When the face has been reconstructed, and body embalmed, it's time for the clothes and the make-up/hair.

For the clothes, it's put up by cutting the back open, so it's kind of like a backwards jacket, and then able to easier be put on the deceased.

The same is done for pants, but there's a tool, a sort of bench, and a shoe-horn-esque thing, that helps with the legs of the deceased in case they're wearing pants. The cut open parts are then arranged to be hidden beneath the body. The hair is done so the front is styled, more often than not the back is tied into a knot or otherwise concealed. The make-up is a mixture of cosmetic products and mortuary make-up, and will more often than not be sprayed on (like, the foundation).

The body is now embalmed and ready for viewing!

Burned bodies;

Burned bodies are cadavers that've died by fire, or been boiled. The main differences here, is the way that bodies will contract because of the heat. The skin will split open to let vapors out, bubbling and sizzling from the fat and tissues being cooked. The organs would turn solid. The high heat makes bones brittle, and the skin extremely dry and black.

It takes immense heat to cremate or burn a body to ash, hence why crematories have specialised machines. The body would be in a fetal-position from the muscles seizing. The throat and inside of the mouth would be burned from the hot air. During cremations, the organs liquify, and the brain with typically leak out of the ears and nose.

Fun fact. 5-degree burns is a thing, that's what you call blackened or bodies that turned to ash.

Water-logged bodies;

Bodies that're lost at sea and later wash up can vary a lot, and will often times look different as opposed to your natural corpse. Not just because water is more often than not cold and will act as a liquid fridge, but because of scavenging animals, and that as soon as the body is out of the water, putrefaction or active decay, will occur much faster. Another key differential is the presence of 'adipocere' which a wax-like substance that forms due to the anaerobic nature of water. Clothing on a body will alter the buoyancy and the progression of decomposition, it can also be misleading.

One of the most well-known external change that immersion in liquid has on the body is wrinkling of the skin, particularly involving the hands and feet, kinda like when you've been in the shower too long. But much more severe. The top layer of the skin looks like a wrinkled glove. Another cutaneous change and is caused by rigor of the erector pilli muscles within the skin is called Cutis anserina. Both of these changes, wrinkling and cutis anserina, will occur as a postmortem change and do not require the individual to be alive upon entering the water.

Livor mortis and discoloration of the tissue happens in water-logged cadavers like it does for regular cadavers, just at a slower rate, especially in colder waters.

During an autopsy, people who drowned will have fluids built up in their pleural cavities. Regardless of if they died or not in the water, if a body is later on placed in the water, fluid might enter through the mouth, as well as dirt and other debris. The rate of decomposition affects this, as bodies that're more decomposed have been found to be more predated upon, and have larger build up of fluids in their chest cavities. Rigor mortis and livor mortis are typically present in bodies recovered from the water though the onset and waning of these classic postmortem changes may be altered by water temperature, current, changing of body position due to movement, and level of activity prior to death. Pink discoloration of the teeth and gums, an observation once thought to be a sign of drowning, is likely due to lividity in these tissues occurring while the body is what is known as the "drowning position" where the head and limbs are facing downwards while the back is facing upwards, likely breeching the surface of the water.

The other main difference to bodies found in water, is the currents. The currents can alter the temperature, but also move the deceased and drag them across or into several obstacles, creating injuries that can mislead the COD.

And that's pretty much it! I hope it made sense, and that it'll be useful. Feel free to ask clarifying questions!

[moonsceptre]

Alchemy & Dreams in Beetlejuice Part 2

As mentioned in the last post, red represents Lydia: the material realm & sulphur. The item which falls next to Astrid's cracked photograph is a molecular structure with a red atom and a green atom. It's already common knowledge that Betelgeuse is green-coded, but I have further proof to support the atom theory.

Alchemists viewed the human body (microcosm) as a reflection of the universe (macrocosm). This suggested that atoms could give insights about human nature. Within this context, consider Rosenkreutz illustration of the Chymical Wedding, where the married couple are holding onto the structure. They're supposed to represent two atoms of the same trigonal planar molecule, because they are of the same element, thus sharing a chemical bond.

Alchemy consists of a mix of chemistry, philosophy, semiotics, and metaphysics, with much of the symbolism used to convey alchemical themes in Beetlejuice.

Before I come back to this, let's talk about...

Otho

Throughout the first movie, Otho is typically associated with black and red. He's often wearing black with either a red tie, red buttons, or red shoes (which mysteriously disappear in a couple scenes only to be replaced by different colour shoes).

Red shoes have long been used in media to represent a metaphorical journey (The Red Shoes (1948), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), and Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes are a few examples). Need I remind you of one of Tim Burton's favourite movies, The Wizard of Oz?

Otho is the only character other than Lydia who piques interest in the dead. Despite his willingness to exploit them, he is ready to believe in their existence and study the handbook. These visual cues are conveying the character's motives.

Part of the alchemical process are the stages "Rubedo" and "Nigredo". Rubedo is Latin for "redness", the stage of understanding where two opposites have joined and created harmony. Nigredo is Latin for "blackness", the stage of putrefaction or decomposition, thus symbolising the dead. In layman's terms, red and black represent the character's willingness to connect with the dead. The only other character really associated with black and red is Lydia, and that speaks for itself.

Otho is a character who inspired the creation of Rory in the second movie. Within Lydia's psyche, Rory has been manifested from guilt. In the first film, Lydia is almost complicit in helping Otho to exorcise the Maitlands after he makes it clear that he wants to capitalise on the dead. In the second film, Lydia is under Rory's management to capitalise on the dead, and she is trying to make peace with that guilt by trying to help people through exorcisms.

Guilt in dreams is often seen as a manifestation of the unconscious mind's attempt to communicate unresolved internal conflicts. This is where the shadow becomes a central concept in Jungian psychology, referring to the parts of the Self that the conscious mind rejects or ignores. Lydia rejects the traits that Otho and Rory embody, and that is why her reconciliation with Astrid is a manifestation of her own forgiveness.

More on The Chemical Wedding

We talked about the purpose of the Chemical Wedding before, but why is it so relevant to the plot of Beetlejuice? Other than the fact Betelgeuse has fallen in love with Lydia, there is an allegorical reason for why the wedding must take place between these two, and no one else but these two.

A Chemical Wedding is the marriage between the sun and the moon. In alchemical texts they are often depicted as the white queen and the red king, though this has nothing to do with literal gender roles, for we see Lydia herself portrayed as the red king in her parallel with Astrid. It is related to the Anima (the female self) and the Animus (the male self). This is also the marriage between mercury and sulfur, spirit and matter, the dead and the living.

One of the most famous works on the subject of a Chemical Wedding is a Rosicrucian allegory published in 1616 by Christian Rosenkreutz. It describes a mystical journey where the main character must attend a wedding at a mysterious castle. The journey is a symbol of the alchemical process, while the wedding itself represents the final transformative stage.

The story is filled with strange and dreamlike imagery, with many claiming it as a source of German dark romanticism.

Rosenkreuz's allegory actually represents inner transformation of the individual, with marriage being used as a metaphor, insofar as the masculine and feminine halves must be merged together in matrimony to achieve completion within oneself.

"Death and the Maiden" trope is a motif that depicts a woman being taken by Death, as he desires to marry her. It is dire for death to marry his living bride, for he wishes to venture the living world and the underworld with her.

Betelgeuse is the perfect complementary opposite to Lydia, each crafted to embody the other's symbolic missing half. Betelgeuse is the animus; he's loud, provocative, and dead; Lydia is the anima; she's quiet, thoughtful, and alive. The contrast is straightforward and uncomplicated. You could easily spend hours analysing their differences, and you'd still be right—because they are deliberately written as foils to one another.

Looking back at how Otho/Rory represents the shadow of Lydia, we should take into account who guided her through this dream sequence. Our psyche creates these thought-images in our unconscious minds as a means to roleplay scenarios where we have internal conflict. It gives us a chance to psychoanalyse ourselves and try to understand the core of our trauma.

Betelgeuse, within Lydia's dream, is acting as a guide (remember his guide outfit in the first film?). He's constantly appearing to her, influencing her and urging her to face her fears. While he's causing chaos in the way he knows best, he's also showing Lydia the bare truth, and this is especially apparent when it comes to Rory: he tells Lydia she's an enabling codependent and forces Rory to tell the truth about his intentions. Betelgeuse is what Jung would refer to as the Trickster archetype. The Trickster is often seen as a figure that disrupts the status quo and challenges the Ego through chaotic and karmic actions, serving as a profound guide in the process of one's personal development. Think of "Jester's privilege", or The Fool in tarot.

In mythological symbolism, there comes the legend of a scorpion that stung Orion to death (the giant red star "Betelgeuse" sits on Orion's belt). The scorpion was delivered as to snub Orion's pride and teach him a lesson by way of death, because the scorpion is a symbol of death and rebirth. This is the Trickster archetype again, teaching a lesson in a very karmic way. Betelgeuse does the same throughout both movies. Otho, the Deetz, and the Deans are all punished by him in the first film for acting as antagonists against the ghosts of Winter River. Despite this, he also acts as an antagonist himself by punishing the Maitlands, two loving parental figures for Lydia, for getting in the way of his plan to marry her.

"They therefore represent a supreme pair of opposites, not hopelessly divided by logical contradiction but, because of the mutual attraction between them, giving promise of union and actually making it possible. The coniunctio oppositorum engaged the speculations of the alchemists in the form of the ‘Chymical Wedding," — Carl Jung, Psychology & Alchemy

In alchemical tradition, Saturn is associated with the metal lead, which symbolises the starting point of the alchemical work—the Nigredo phase. Alchemy is mostly known as the quest to turn lead into gold, but the allegorical meaning is to refine the Self. Saturn is equated with Cronos in mythology, the father of time, who was portrayed as an old man with a scythe/sickle, similar to the grim reaper, who is associated with the end of one's time. Betelgeuse has time-warping powers and wears time-keeping devices on his wrist, all a microcosm for how we measure eternity.

The whole Alchemical Opus works through THREE stages:

Nigredo (Black Stage): Betelgeuse represents lead and Saturn. Putrefaction.

Albedo (White Stage): Before Lydia summons Betelgeuse and agrees to the marriage, he is wearing a black and white suit. White is added to the mix. Purification.

Rubedo (Red Stage): Lydia is manifested a red wedding dress to finish the ceremony. They completed the alchemical process. Lead is turned into Gold.

In the movie's original wedding scene, found here, at 9:11 on the clock the afterlife creature who marries Lydia and Betelgeuse dissipates into fire, and then the scene ends. 911 in numerology is the number of completion, and is used in occultism to symbolise new beginnings and rebirth.

For this reason, it has been theorised that the wedding vows went through, and the Chemical Wedding was completed.