ORMUS (ORMEs and Sea Salt) update

Some of you might remember that back in April I critiqued a YouTube video by HealingMindN (or his website here or here or … There are a number of places so I won’t list them all) entitled “How to Make Your Own Philosopher’s Stone”. That article can be referenced here.

Well, the intent of this posting is to provide an update to what’s transpired with regards to my ORMUs (ORMEs) harvesting quest in the last month. Let’s start with the good news.

I am now the proud owner of a new hand operated vacuum pump and filter. I took HealingMindN’s words to heart and ordered one up. It came with a flask and a bunch of filter paper so you’re pretty much set when it arrives. Having never really used one of these filters before, it took me a few tries to figure out how to capture a vacuum that will hold the paper down before adding the ‘dirty water’. That was a while ago, but I remember Googling around until I found a demonstration video that showed someone placing in a bit of water to soften the paper and letting it sit wet for a little while. Then, if you run water through the system the paper will form (mold) over the holes in the filter and draw a little vacuum. Then, you have to carefully take is apart, remove the water and put it back together again. When adding the liquid that you want to filter, you’ve got to slowly add it making sure you don’t draw to much vacuum giving the paper time to settle in place. Once its set, you can really pump out the air and draw the liquid through. Yet it still takes time. You’ll want to schedule for it.

Other good news; the article brought me in contact with HealingMindN. If you’re going to copy someone’s work and you have problems, you might as well ask questions of the source, right? Well, things didn’t work out as expected the first or second attempts, thus I asked a few questions. And, as it turns out, HealingMindN is willing to share with people that take the process serious.

After asking a couple questions, he shared notes from one of his ‘harvests’ with me. I believe the notes mirror the critique and would add value to his process by posting them publically. So, here they are:

Day 1: Mixed 2 cups mineral water w/ half cup of grey celtic sea salt.
Solution is about 500 ml. Allow to rest for 1 day.
 
Day 2: Resulting seawater is ~ pH 5.9 > Filter it (thru Buchner Funnel).
Lye Solution is ~ pH 12.7. Slowly added 125ml lye. Measured pH at ~
10.5. Slowly added more lye until pH ~ 10.6 – 10.7. Total solution at
600 ml; Rest for 2 days in grounded metal container.
 
Day 4: Precipitate at 300 ml mark; Drained substrate to 350 ml mark from
600 ml; Added distilled H20 back to 600 ml mark; Rest for a day in
container…
 
Day 5: Precipitate at 300 ml mark; drained substrate to 400 ml mark;
added distilled H2O back to 600 ml mark; A few M-state bubbles escaped
when moving beaker; Rest for a day…
 
Day 6: Repeat above procedure; no m-state bubbles observed (hope shield
is working); Rest for a day…
 
Day 7: Repeat above procedure; for some reason the solution is at the
650 ml mark (I recall adding water to the 600 ml mark – I could be
wrong); Drained substrate; Added water to 600 ml mark; A few m-state
bubbles observed; Rest for a day…
 
Day 8: Precipitate has grown to 350 ml mark; Substrate is milky; Boil
solution in double boiler config. for 5 min. at the level of the
precipitate; Rest for a day…
 
Day 9: Drained substrate to 425 ml mark before changing pH, currently
10.6; Slowly Added 225 ml lye, pH 12.3 to obtain ~ pH 12 in solution;
Drain off a little more substrate back to 600 ml mark; Filtered through
Buchner funnel; Filtrate at 550 ml mark in funnel.
 
Returned filtrate to beaker; Slowly added white distilled vinegar at pH
~2.3; Colloidal suspensions begin forming; Stopped adding vinegar /
stirring solution at pH 10.8 – 10.7, solution at 700 ml mark; pH is
lowering on its own; Gelatinous ORMUS forms @ ~ pH 10.5; definite
“tingling” sensation in my palm as I hold the beaker of ORMUS; definite
“buzzing” in my head as I focus on the ORMUS.
 
Allow ORMUS to settle for a day before washing with distilled water; pH
remains stable at 10.5 with successive washings; Allow ORMUS to settle
overnight; Drain off substrate / dry the ORMUS according to your needs.

Editors note: this quote will stand as long as HealingMindN doesn’t object.

First attempt

After watching the video, I was inspired to really give it another go. A couple years ago, I’d mixed up a couple dozen batches, but never got what HealingMindN shows as being so simple. But, in light of this new information, I figured it was time to try again.

Thus, I added a Buchner flask and vacuum pump to my collection along with some distilled white wine vinegar, a new bag of Celtic Sea Salt and some fine imported German mineral water.

Also, before starting, I figured I would need a faraday case of some sort, so I snooped around the house until I found an old metal cookie container. I promptly placed my cell phone inside the container and gave it a call… Nothing. Good. I figure that if it cuts out a common cell phone wave, it might cut out enough to allow the M-state to ‘rest.’

The first thing that I noticed that was different then his video was that the amount of precipitate that formed from my ½ cup salt in water. It barely made it to the 100 ml mark. Having performed the pH swings on sea water before, I knew that all the measurements that he described would not apply to the volume of precipitate that had settled for me.

That might have been the downfall for me that first time through. Yet, I continued with the process following the pH meter rather than the volumes that he suggested. By the time I’d filtered the material to ‘harvest’ the M-state, there was next to nothing left (in solution) to react to the vinegar. Nothing like adding a single drop and watching the pH swing 10 one hundredths.

Even through the reactions showed that there was next to nothing in solution to actually react with the added base, I still got to experience the runaway pH process. That was interesting and exciting at the same time.

When adding the base I added it a single drop at a time and waited for the pH to stabilize. This, as you might imagine, took a while. When raising the pH the acid that you add reacts, but eventually the pH will drop a little showing that it’s reacted and you can add a little more. The first drops of vinegar acted this way, but once I got down into the 10 range, there was a point where the pH simply kept ticking down. I slid the vinegar away from me and simply watched the process. Slowly, tick by tick, the pH lowered.

The problem was that the ‘cooper’s pairs’ never became visible. I figured that I’d give it another try and push to get as much precipitate as possible.

Here is a picture showing some of the components in my lab.

From left to right.

The blue liquid in the left most jar is a calibration fluid. It’s a known mixture that holds a pH of 10.00. I use that to calibrate my pH Metter. And as you can see, the box for my meter is shown just to the right of the calibration fluid. Back left is the water jug from my distiller. Nothing like having distilled water for my hobbies. Back center is the cookie can. Fits a one liter beaker perfect. The two smaller beakers contain Lye water and White Wine Vinegar. The smell gives the vinegar way. The foreground shows a bit of Dead Sea Salt precipitate still in solution. Hanging from the loop in the stand is my feeder when mixing in the mild acid or base.

Second Attempt

With the second attempt I used a bit more Celtic Sea Salt and a bit more mineralized water. Also, with the first attempt, I filtered the sea water through the Buchner filter which took a really long time. This time I simply used a couple coffee filters. I had the feeling the first time that I didn’t let the Sea Salt rest long enough before filtering and that the filtering process itself was a little to aggressive. Thus I made the modifications.

By using a bit more salt, I did get a bit more precipitate, but I also ended up with more water. I figured that I’d simply go with the flow and use a bit more water (during flushing) and observe the results. One result was that the water really didn’t have the saltiness that it should have when you get to the filtering process. And two, I noticed that when I removed the substrate I could add lye water to it and get more precipitate.

Getting more precipitate was very interesting to me. That action showed that I hadn’t added enough lye to complete the reactions that should have taken place in the sea water. I should have continued to add and wait letting the water react it’s fullest. I will take my time next time.

The filtering process was much easier the second time and, because the pH swings were so extreme the first time through, I diluted the base 50% so each drop would be ½ strength. Again, I went to work lowering the pH. This time, I got no runaway pH lowering.

It was at this point that I tasted the mixture and noticed that it didn’t taste salty. My observations – salt may play a role in helping this process occur.

In conclusion

In both cases, I noticed that the cookie container really did let the mixture ‘rest.’ I will continue to use this type of shielding as I continue to refine this process. Also, if the M-state is stable when trapped with salt, I would expect that salt will help keep it stable during this refining process. Thus, I will not use too much water next time. And finally, when raising the pH, I’ll keep adding until the lye stops reacting within the solution. I would be willing to guess that not taking the mixture to the ‘limit’ has a counter affect on the end results.

I’ve also been to the Asian store a few times looking for HealingMindN’s lye water. Looks like I might have to order it from Amazon. Yet, I’m going to wait a little longer on that and see if I can balance out the water to salt ratio so as to get the runaway pH lowering next time. I have a feeling that’s pretty important.

In any case, I’m sure the plants in my garden will enjoy these minerals.