Many moons ago, four Stellar witches found their ancient spectroscopy knowledge waning. These particular witches had been practicing their craft for many years, using their powers to provide spectroscopy solutions and potions to their loyal StellarNet coven. As time wore on and their coven grew larger, the demand for their solutions also grew. Their spectroscopy spells grew in number and became more complex. As the witches had a passion for potion, they took on the challenge with wicked enthusiasm until something stopped them in their tracks. Their life force started to diminish.
While most witches operate in the shadows, these witches connect their magic with the science of light. Distraught and confused about their powers dwindling, they banded together and took action. By gaining power over light, they thought that they could increase the power of their spells and potions once again. But how does one master the power of light?
Part 1: The Black Flame
The stellar witches researched through their grimoire, “Chemistry of Magic”, a spellbook passed down to them from witches, wizards, and scholars of the past. They searched and searched through the tome and finally found a small ritual that could help them harness the power of light – by creating the black flame.
To master the flame, the book read:
“Light from the yellow sun (589nm)
In the darkness of the darkest night
Take a flame and ignite
A solution of water from the deepest sea
Create a flame of dark and watch with glee”
They began to gather supplies, knowing that the book never gives exact instructions, they went off into the world in their usual fashion – riding vacuums into the night.
After reaching the deep sea and taking a solution of saltwater, finding a strong flame source, and getting a yellow monochromatic light source, the witches knew what they had to do. It was time to master the black flame. Maybe learning about the absence of light will give them more insight into the next step…
To create the black flame, one will need to find a monochromatic light source – the witches used a low-pressure sodium lamp that emits at 589nm. The low-pressure sodium lamp has the inverse spectral signature as the flame when salt solution is introduced to it. As the witches add the sodium (from the salt) to the flame, the sodium atoms absorb the light from the lamp. What happens when you absorb all the light? You find yourself in the wicked dark shadows and only see black. An important part of this ritual is to perform it in darkness. Light from other sources may cause no black flame to emit.
The witches performed the act but were confused as to how it actually worked. If they were going to gain intelligence from light, wouldn’t they want more information? Kimberly (one of the witches in the group), pulled out her StellarRAD handheld spectrometer to see what was happening.
Now that the witches mastered the black flame and understood the significance of darkness in light – it was time to perform the next rite – the potion of knowledge of light.
Part 2: Process of Illumination
With only three moonlit nights left to prepare, the stellar witches went back to the book of science and spells and quickly found the “Knowledge of Light” recipe:
“Bring to full rolling bubble. Add two Drops of oil, of bubble. Mix blood of an owl, with the herb that’s red. Turn three-times, pluck a hair from my head….
Add newt saliva, a vial of deadman’s scorn, a dash of pox and ground unicorn horn… “
As the witches read through the recipe, they also rummaged through their lab to find all of the ingredients mentioned by the wise book. But they stumbled into some trouble!
While going through the storeroom of potions, Stephanie (another witch in the group) found two glass jars labeled ‘horn.’ Because the horn was ground into a fine powder, there was no way to know visually if it was preserved unicorn horn or dragon horn. One wrong ingredient could result in toxic fumes and deadly consequences. With this in mind, Stephanie brought both jars to the coven and explained the dire situation. David, the warlock in the group, skimmed through the scholarly passages in the book of spells and found a spectroscopy technique that could help them out and save them from an untimely demise – Raman spectroscopy. Using a StellarRAM handheld Raman spectrometer that they used light to figure out the correct unknown ingredient.
By shining a laser onto each glass jar, the molecules in the unknown ground horn samples would vibrate, resulting in a shift of energy and ultimately emitting scattered radiation of a lesser frequency. The StellarRAM would detect the emitted light and provide a spectral signature or structural fingerprint unique to each sample. This could then be saved to a library or matched to an existing one to identify.
Stephanie checked the existing StellarRAM libraries and found several databases for plastics, Drugs/Narcotics, Veterinary Drugs, Pesticides, Household Chemicals, Food Additives, Explosives, Chemicals, Hazardous Chemicals, Carcinogens, & Corrosives. Unfortunately there was nothing specifically for keratinized skin and bone.
The Stellar witches decided that they should create their own library of miscellaneous potion ingredients to avoid this issue in the future. Luckily, through more of David’s research on spectra in sorcery, they were able to correctly identify the spectral fingerprint of both the ground unicorn and dragon horns. After correctly identifying the proper ingredient, they continued the creation of their potion and made a note to catalog their entire potion storeroom in a Raman library (starting with unicorn and dragon horn).
Disclaimer: No unicorns or dragons were harmed in this experiment
With all of the ingredients added to the witches brew, they continued reading:
… when the brew glows red you shall unlock the powers of the undead…
Turn north, then south, a drop of gillyweed from the mouth, stir the opposite of a clock, and knowledge will soon unlock…
Excite thee at 390nm to finish the elixir, doth knows it ready at the intense glow of the mixture”
Part 3: Regain Essence through Fluorescence
The witches had all of their ingredients and supplies ready and All Hallow’s Eve was fast approaching. After finishing up their recipe they were ready – except for the last step. Were they sure 390nm was the correct excitation wavelength to make the concoction glow? The spellbook was known to give both tricks and treats to the witches and they didn’t want to use their waning powers and make a major mistake.
Jason (the oldest warlock in the group) had a fantastic idea – “Why don’t we use our preconfigured fluorescence system? We can pull a small aliquot to test the concoction with our available excitation LEDs – this way we can be sure which excitation frequency creates the brightest fluorescence!”
After taking a small sample, the witches placed the cuvette into the cuvette holder. First, they tried the white LED and saw no results. After a few different wavelength excitation LEDs; they determined that it was actually the 295nm LED that caused the brightest fluorescence of them all!
Now they were ready. They took the correct LED and shined it into the cauldron. As they did, the brew started to smoke and suddenly erupted with red light. The glow of the brew filled the entire room!
It was time for them to drink the potion, so they each took a ladle and filled their mugs. Kimberly nodded to the coven at the stroke of midnight and they gulped the brew down. Immediately they all felt drowsy and the room began to get dark.
Suddenly, a flash of light brightened the room and the SpectraWizard appeared!
“Now, now. Didn’t you turn the page to see what would happen after you ingested the potion? The creation of your potion was a test! By mastering the black flame, identifying correct ingredients, and using the correct excitation LED to make the potion glow you were able to use light to gain knowledge through teamwork! You’ve gained intelligence from light! But, by ingesting the potion you’ve also summoned me, the SpectraWizard. I will now bestow the blessing of light and spectroscopy upon you. You can now go forth, using your new grasp on light to maximize your powers.”
And then, with another bright flash, he disappeared. The witches looked around and noticed they could feel their powers growing as the sun started to rise.
