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Oak Gall Ink Recipe By Karen Gorst One of the most commonly used inks in the Medieval period was oak gall ink, so named for the oak galls which serve as the basis of the ink. Oak galls are rich in tannin and gallic acid. The tannin and gallic acid, when combined with ferrous sulfate, creates the blackness of the ink. 3 parts* ground oak galls (start with about 3-4 oz. oak galls) Boil 12 parts distilled water. Add 3 parts ground oak galls. After 15 minutes, add the ferrous sulfate. Pour through a filter. Separately, add a small portion of the liquid to the gum arabic. Make sure the gum arabic dissolves completely. Add this to remaining liquid. Place in Bottle for storage until used. Add egg shells to neutralize the pH of the ink. The quality and permanence of the ink is dependent upon the quality of materials used. The best ink will be produced with oak galls which are found with the wasp still inside of them. This insures that they are rich in tannin. if the eggs have hatched, a small hole will be evident where the hatched wasp made its way to freedom. Oak galls harvested in fall have a lower acid content. Oak gall ink takes time to reach its optimum state. Over the course of six months, this ink will gradually darken. it continues to darken after applied to vellum or paper, and may appear faint when first applied. After this period of time, the sediments will settle to the bottom of the jar. Stirring ink frequently will keep the sediments from settling. Another method of keeping sediments combined is to add urine to the ink. While this method of keeping the sediments is effective in keeping the ink of one consistency, the urine adds extra acids which must be neutralized in order to keep the parchment from deteriorating.
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The Spirituality of Ink
Making: A Meditation In the Middle Ages every technical process was linked to a spiritual process. Ink making was no exception. As we follow the spiritual development of an ink make, keeping in mind that what takes place does so not only physically, symbolically and mentally, but also within the soul, on a spiritual level within the ink maker. The final product of the process of ink making is a transformation, a fundamental integration of disparate aspects of the self: the physical, mental and spiritual. Our key to enter into the workings of such profound integration is the symbolism of the ink maker's materials. The basic material of iron gall ink is oak gall, which consists of wasp eggs and an oak tree. A wasp is considered an inverted symbol of the bee. The bee represents the Virgin Mary and goodness; its inversion means evil. The wasp, instead of spreading the word of God symbolically as the bee does by pollinating, just scavenges and lays its eggs. Oak trees, where the eggs are often laid, are the sacred tree of the Druids and as such, a symbol of deep and aged wisdom. The meeting of the two forms the gall. As the oak tree protects itself from the wasp eggs, symbolically it is trying to arrest the spread of evil through fibers of wisdom. So the medieval scribe took this ultimate symbol of good and evil and transformed it eventually into the ultimate good‑ God's word. With the nature of the oak gall in mind, let us look at the ink maker's journey through the sensual process of grinding. Physically, grinding in its action is a full body experience. The whole arm must be used and the body throughout the process must become relaxed to keep strain from occurring to the muscles. the breath must be steady and even to support the ease of physical activity. On a spiritual level what is occurring is preparation for transformation, mechanically induced meditation. Vespasiano Amphiareo, a Franciscan scribe from the 1500's said in his book, Un Novo Modo d'Insegnar a Scrivere, that time in this process should be measured by the number of Misereres (a mantra like prayer) Said(1). This is a state of being present so that the mind, body and soul are one, creating the self as a doorway where the limits of the inner and outer are blurred. the Unification of seeming opposites of body (identified with original sin), and soul (identified as a manifestation of God) are symbolically represented in the pestle by the opposites of good and evil merged in the form of ground oak gall. To this unified state we add water in the next step: the making of the tea. Water is the symbol of life. Here the ink maker is preparing to take on life, true life, the life of the spirit. The ground oak gall is akin to mud, the symbolic earth from which we all come. It provides nurturing for the plants to grow; it is the place into which God's breath enters to create man. First the ink maker creates the doorway, the mud, and then by adding water, symbolically takes on life. This, then, is the final stage in the process of readiness for alchemical transformation. The moment of alchemical transformation is the addition of the ferrous sulfate. Here is the magical moment, to see the brown tea change to black. Ferrous sulfate has two components: iron and sulfur. Sulfur was believed by the alchemists to be a highly reactive substance that could cause transformation; hence its combination with mercury in the search for making gold, leaving us today with the startlingly beautiful color of mercuric sulfide or vermilion. Sulfur, also believe to confer form(2), was commonly acquired from eggs which hold the possibility of birth, potentiality in form. So in the context of pure potentiality that sulphur provides, the iron (ferrous) and the wood (from oak gall) meet. St. Boneventure, in his treatise, A Soul's Journey Into God, writes “...opposites cannot be conceived by a man who understands being itself...”(3) He implies that opposites can only be comprehended by the discursive chatty mind which keeps us separate from the Divine. But now the ink-maker finds him or herself in a place of pure being because all things have become one: the body, the mind, and the soul. Forcing two opposites into one space at the same time can thrust us through the doorway we have previously created, producing the final integration. This places us in the presence of God thus causing our transformation. This alchemical transformation which occurs in the moment of adding ferrous sulphate mirrors the internal addition of awareness of God. Therefore, from the context of the oak gall egg, the ink-maker is birthed forth to become more fully who they are. Next the gum arabic is added to allow the ink to bond to the parchment. But gum arabic is also a symbol of the binder of the soul, binding the transformation of the soul to the body, which is symbolized by the animal skin parchment. Finally, when the ink is used to write, the experience of God is shared. First, the giving of the substance of ink through writing is by nature a captured measure of an ink-maker’s transformation in the presence of God. Secondly, the writing was often used to spread God’s sacred words in the form of scriptures, bibles and the like. A 13th century sermon from Durham England tells us that, “The ink with which we write signifies nothing other than humility as we know takes first place among the virtues.” (4) The humility of which he speaks is to accept what is given, to strive to achieve our calling, be grateful for our results and to share the fruits of our lives. (1) Osley, A.S. Scribes and Sources. Godine, 1980. (2) Burckhardt, Titus, Tans. William Stoddart, Alchemy, Elemeny Books, 1967. (3) Bonaventure, Trans. Ewert Cousins (Paulist Press, 1978) (4) Child, Heather, Trans. T.W. Swindlehurst. Calligraphy Today, Taplinger Publishers, 1979.
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