Oil of Brick is known as Oil of Philosophers by alchemists and Oleum de Lateribus (Oil on the Sides) by apothecaries. This medicinal and beauty oil is produced through distillation of a brick soaked in olive oil at high temperature.
The process begins with smashing a clay brick into smaller chunks. The manufactured bricks of the ancient world are typically clay mud, formed in molds. They may be air-dried for inner works and fired for outer layers.
After the brick is pulverized the pieces are heated in live coals until red-hot. The maker then extinguishes them in earth half-soaked with olive oil. After being separated and once more roughly pounded, the brick absorbs the oil.
Clay has been used to absorb oil in masks and facials, and oil of the hands is drawn in to enrich the clays of potters and sculptors. In the ancient world there are many kinds of clay, named after the places they're from, like Armenian bole, earth of Chios or Sinopean earth.
Different colors and textures of clay have various properties, requiring a bit of geological knowledge from the alchemist, pharmacologist or physician. According to health experts, olive oil has the same benefits refined or unrefined so it's the maker's choice.
Brick work is the same through millennia as workers fill molds with clay. In mythology clay has significant meaning. In many cultures such as Chinese and Egyptian, humans are created from clay. This material holds within it a certain life force or quintessence.
Clays have medicinal qualities as they can be high in minerals. They get their colors from the inclusions of iron oxides, calcium and/or copper. Earth of Chios is white kaolinite.
Clay minerals primarily consist of silica, alumina, or magnesia, along with water. Iron can replace aluminum and magnesium to different extents, while notable amounts of potassium, sodium, and calcium are often found in these minerals.
Illite, silicate or mica clays are considered effective for detoxifying and decongesting. These clays are also used to treat skin and remove impurities.
They include:
illite - most abundant, any of a group of mica-type clay minerals in marine shields and related sediment. In nature it occurs by alkaline weathering of potassium & aluminum-rich rocks such as feldspar and muscovite. Illite has a good reputation for treating skin ailments.
glauconite - a green-colored mineral belonging to the mica group, it's formed by alteration of clay minerals in marine settings or by deposition from seawater. Occurring in shallow marine habitats, it's known for high potassium levels. It's crumbly, with poor resistance to weathering.
muscovite - plentiful, found in granite, pegmatite, gneiss, schist. A metamorphic rock, it's formed by transformation minerals like topaz or feldspar. Composed of double silicate of aluminum and magnesium, it's used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat gastric disease.
The colors of clay come primarily from iron oxides and can vary from off-white to golden yellow to deep reddish brown. Common iron oxides are goethite, often responsible for yellow; hematite (red, red ocher) and magnetite.
When the mixture has been thoroughly pounded it's placed in a retort and distilled in a reverberatory furnace to extract the oil through heat of fire. In ancient medicine, the oil of brick is used to treat conditions such as tumors, spleen issues, palsies and epilepsies.
Lapidaries also use Oil of Philosophers as a medium for emery, a grayish-black mixture of corundum and magnetite, abrasive in powdered form. Emery is favored by gem cutters and jewel makers for sawing or cutting stones and gems.
The distillate or oil should be kept in a dark glass bottle for longer shelf life. It can be taken as required. For women especially, iron-rich clay extracts can feed the body's iron needs.
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