On Eid, while disposing of the remains after slaughtering our sacrificial sheep, I found myself drawn to the sheep's horns.
They were incredibly well textured. I liked the way that they curled and the way they tapered into an almost dagger-like shape. On top of that, they were the perfect size, just long enough to fit exactly in my hand, I thought.
After observing them for what felt like an hour, I decided that I would do something with these horns. I recounted the taxidermized animal heads or skulls that I often saw hanging on the walls of mansions in places such as old movies; this would be my inspiration for what was to come.
After further contemplation, I decided that if I were to fashion these horns into anything worthwhile, I would have to get creative. I would have to become an alchemist.
Alchemy
Few practices have reached the same levels of esoteric infamy and gained the same cult-like following as alchemy.
The word stems from the Arabic phrase "Al-Kimia", with its mystic and sacred implications, alchemy was often hailed as one of the cornerstones of early Muslim philosophy.
The development of this "protoscience" eventually led to the creation of the quintessential field of chemistry later on. In fact, many of the basic laboratory techniques used today were developed by alchemists.
One of the most well-known aims of alchemy was the creation of gold from base metals. This process, chrysopoeia, loosely tied into the larger ethos, which was the creation of the famous "philosopher's stone". Most alchemical texts were written with cryptic wording, with underlying themes and free interpretation.
It is for this reason that alchemy has often been interpreted as a process that does not involve the purification of metals into gold; but rather it was the cleansing and perfection of a man's mind and soul that was thought to arise from this highly transformative process. After spending close to 12 hours working on this project, I believe I am in a position to verify this statement.
The first steps
After I began my research into the world of skull cleaning (which is in fact a very popular hobby abroad!), I began to notice a few patterns emerging.
The niche hobby of horn/skull cleaning is predominant in the Southern part of the United States. They also reveal some strange attraction towards cleaning and polishing alligator skulls – a passion that I am unable to fully grasp. For doing so, they often rely on hydrogen peroxide.
Instead of waiting to procure the chemical, I felt I needed fast solutions. If I didn't start as soon as possible, I would soon be left with a rotten bone instead of a well-polished horn. It was here that I first took action.
I began by breaking out a toothbrush and some toothpaste, which I used to clean the exterior of the horns and eliminate the large pieces of dirt that were stuck on the horns. I am glad to report that this part of the process was largely successful.
Afterwards, I found myself in an odd position. I had no idea where to go from there. This is where I felt that my creativity had waned, but immediately afterwards, I came up with a new idea for how to actually get things going.
The Actual Alchemy at Play
I was now left with two horns, with some lustre to them, but no glimmer. There was still a lot of dirt on the horns, it was stuck inside of the ridges, and it was extremely resilient up until the very end of the process.
I turned to whatever materials I had access to at home and made good use of them. It was here that I first struck gold.
An important reaction taught in school is neutralisation. It is a nearly ubiquitous reaction that can be observed on an almost daily basis. It's the basic principle behind why toothpaste is effective, why stomach acidity can be treated with an antacid and why shampoo makes your hair glossy.
Chemically speaking, neutralisation occurs when an acid and a base react, forming a "salt" (not necessarily the kind of salt we eat, that's table salt) and water in the process. At home, it just so happened that I had an acid and a base both at my disposal.
My acid of choice was acetic acid, which we commonly refer to as vinegar. Meanwhile, my base was sodium bicarbonate, colloquially known as baking soda.
Before I finally explain how all of this came together, let me touch upon the horns too, since this section is dedicated to the science behind my vision.
The horns are made of a kind of protein known as keratin, the same substance that comprises your hair and nails. When exposed to the solution I created, the keratin was expected to loosen up. This would then allow me to come in with my brush and wipe of any remaining impurities. Additionally, this will also effectively deodorise the horns, which is the main purpose of this step.
In summary, this reaction can be summarised by the following schematic I drew up. Please note that sodium acetate is the salt formed in this process. As the soda and vinegar react, the air bubbles released, which contain carbon dioxide and water, also greatly contribute to the loosening process.
The final steps to purification
After dipping the horns in the freshly prepared sodium acetate solution and letting them sit there for an hour, I took them out, since too much exposure could possibly ruin the keratin.
After finally cleaning the remaining impurities, my penultimate step began. This was arguably the most arduous of them all, but it was also the most necessary. The time had come to use sandpaper to smoothen the horns.
I had a great amount of fun testing out different grades of sandpaper on the horns. I began with lower grades and worked my way up as the horns became progressively smoother. This process took almost 5 hours per horn, but I believe it was the most rewarding as well.
After all the sand papering was done, I was left with the final step, which was shining the horns using wax. After this, I could gladly proclaim that I too had become an alchemist. After my personal experiment and experience, I can say with confidence that alchemy is a transformative process for the mind more than for the object at hand.
This project allowed me to develop a lot more room for tolerance when I came to my creative blunders and also helped me develop a great deal of patience. I like to think that the cumulative effects of activities like this do go a long way.
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