Halloween at Mystic Springs: Medical Matters

Hiya, kid! Good to see ya back again. We’re all ‘avin’ fun ‘ere at Mystic Springs; then we normally always do! What about that shed? Mr Beckwith’s Buffet went down a treat. An’ we all ‘ad to clap along when Adam Mirage sang ‘is song. Did you manage to catch either of them? I know it’s tricky with timin’s an’ things when you pop in and out like this, but you may ‘ave been able to linger around a little instead of fadin’ back into the ether, as it were. We spend a lot of time in that ether, you know – more time than you actually realise! An’ that ether – that’s where the magic truly ‘appens. I’ll tell you more about that later, but first (I’ve put my posh voice on now, but it don’t show through in typed form) Doctor Felix would like to talk about somethin’ medical, for ‘allowe’en.

Good evening.

Medicine here on Mystic Springs has always been less conventional than it has been in the Outer World. We still use potions and lotions, concoctions and tonics, spells and incantations, and leeches. Only not in that order.

I go by the name of Doctor Felix, but throughout the years I have been more of an alchemist than a doctor. It’s easier to call me Doctor Felix than de Chiel Felix, as most people pronounce my first name incorrectly. It’s Dash-Ool, by the way, although I don’t mind however it’s pronounced. Dash-Eel will do, or Dash-El, or just Doc if you prefer.

I love medicine. The potions, that is. I’m not too keen on blood, although on occasions I do have to perform bloodletting on my patients. That is only used for keeping the four humours in balance… I don’t let blood just for the sake of it!

The four humours, if you aren’t aware, are a blend of what makes up the person’s body. Each one of us has a different make up, made up of differing amounts of blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. I find it all very interesting how these four elements tie into the four natural elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and how in turn they tie in with the seasons of the year – and then the seasons tie in with the stages through life.

I’ll leave things there for the humours, as I want to give only an overview and they in themselves go back centuries, and I don’t have the time to cover all that here. If you get time, search on line for diagrams of the humours, and you can see the relationships between, well, everything really!

Alchemists through the years have always been working for ways to prolong life, if not make it eternal. We here on Mystic Springs have managed that to some extent, although we still age. We use the natural elements created to help us to age slower – or even stay where we are.

Alchemy looks for the Elixir of Life, which basically covers everything, the Panchrest which cures all illnesses and the Alkahest which is a substance that dissolves every other substance. And these are all achieved by being able to transmute one substance into another. We do like our gold as well, you know!

Our Elixir works for us here on the island, but we have been using it for centuries; although you probably wouldn’t know it by looking at us. We are all quite youthful, even if outward appearances may deceive.

On the first day of each season, we create a new batch of Elixir to be used in that season the following year. The new batch is stored in the vault that corresponds to the next cardinal compass point along (North, South, East or West) from where the last batch for that season was stored – so if Spring’s batch was stored in the East vault last year, this year’s Spring batch would be stored in the South vault, with the East vault’s batch being used this year.

It’s far more complicated than it sounds, but basically, it’s just another step of the whole process of life. The cycle. Everything moves around. Things end yet things go on.

It’s almost a paradox, if you think about it. The Elixir of life is created using a substance that dissolves every other substance, and the Elixir is stored in a cyclic pattern as it has been since the beginning… but where did the first year’s last year’s batch come from?

I shall leave you with that one. We don’t live on an island named Mystic Springs because of the beautiful views, you know… although they do help. And the mist at this time of the year is simply phenomenal.

I’m out of time now, but could go on for hours about this. That will have to wait for another time.

I hope you are enjoying Hallowe’en!

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