(1493-1541)
One of the most striking and picturesque figures in the history of medicine, alchemy, and occultism, full name Auraelus Philippus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim, this illustrious physician and exponent of the hermetic philosophy was renowned under the name of Paracelsus.
He was born December 26, 1493, in Einsideln, near Zürich, Switzerland. His father, the natural son of a prince, himself a physician, desired that his only son should follow the same profession. The fulfillment of that desire was directed during the early training of Paracelsus. The training fostered his imaginative rather than his practical tendencies, which first cast his mind into the alchemical mould.
He freed himself from the constraining bonds of medicine as practiced by his contemporaries, who chiefly applied bleeding, purging, and emetics, and set about evolving a new system to replace the old. In order to study the book of nature better, he traveled extensively between 1513 and 1524 and visited almost every part of the known world. During his travels he compiled the wisdom present at the time on metallurgy, chemistry, and medicine, and the folk wisdom of the untutored.
Paracelsus met the Cham of Tartary, conversed with the magicians of Egypt and Arabia, and is said to have even reached India. At length his protracted wanderings came to a close, and in 1524 he settled in Basel, then a favorite resort of scholars and physicians, where he was appointed to fill the chair of medicine at the university.
His inflated language, eccentric behavior, and the splendor of his conceptions attracted, repelled, and gained him friends and enemies. His antipathy to the Galenic school became ever more pronounced, and the crisis came when he publicly burned the works of Galen and Avicenna in a vase into which he had cast nitrate and sulphur. By such a proceeding he incurred the hatred of his more conservative brethren and cut himself off forever from the established school of medicine. He continued his triumphant career, however, until a conflict with the magistrates brought it to an abrupt close. He was forced to flee from Basel, and thereafter wandered from place to place, earning a living as best he could.
An element of mystery surrounds the manner of his death, which took place September 24, 1541. Some say that he was poisoned at the instigation of the medical faculty, others that he was thrown down a steep incline.
But interesting as were the events of his life, it is to his work that most attention is due. Not only was he the founder of the modern science of medicine, but the magnetic theory of Franz A. Mesmer, the "astral" theory of modern Spiritualism, and the philosophy of Descartes were all foreshadowed in the fantastic, yet not always illogical, teachings of Paracelsus.
He revived the "microcosmic" theory of ancient Greece, and sought to prove the human body analogous to the solar system by establishing a connection between the seven organs of the body and the seven planets. He preached the doctrines of the efficacy of willpower and the imagination (i.e., magic): "It is possible that my spirit, without the help of my body, and through an ardent will alone, and without a sword, can stab and wound others. It is also possible that I can bring the spirit of my adversary into an image and then fold him up or lame him at my pleasure.
"Resolute imagination is the beginning of all magical operations.
"Because men do not perfectly believe and imagine, the result is, that arts are uncertain when they might be wholly certain."
He was thus a forerunner of New Thought teachings. The first principle of his doctrine was the extraction of the quintessence, or philosophic mercury, from every material body. He believed that if the quintessence were drawn from each animal, plant, and mineral, the combined result would equal the universal spirit, or astral body in human beings, and that a draught of the extract would renew youth.
He came to the conclusion that "astral bodies" exercised a mutual influence on each other, and declared that he himself had communicated with the dead and with living persons at a considerable distance. He was the first to connect this influence with that of the magnet, and to use the word "magnetism" with its modern application in the occult. It was on this idea that much of Franz A. Mesmer's work was built.
While Paracelsus busied himself with such problems, however, he did not neglect the study and practice of medicine, into which both astrology and the magnet entered largely. When he was sought by a patient, his first care was to consult the planets, where the disease had its origin, and if the patient were a woman he took it for granted that the cause of her malady lay in the moon.
His anticipation of the philosophy of Descartes consisted in his theory that by bringing the various elements of the human body into harmony with the elements of nature—fire, light, earth—old age, and death might be indefinitely postponed.
His experiment in the extraction of essential spirits from the poppy resulted in the production of laudanum (a popular form of opium through the nineteenth century), which he prescribed freely in the form of "three black pills." The recipes he gives for the philosophers' stone, the elixir of life, and various universal remedies are exceedingly obscure. He was known as the first physician to use opium and mercury, and to recognize the value of sulphur.
He applied himself also to the solution of a problem that exercised the minds of scientific men in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—whether it was possible to produce life from inorganic matter. Paracelsus asserted that it was, and left on record a quaint recipe for a homunculus, or artificial man. By a peculiar treatment of certain "spagyric substances" (which he unfortunately omitted) he declared that he could produce a perfect human child in miniature.
Medical, alchemical, and philosophical speculations were scattered so profusely throughout his teaching that one concludes that here was a master-mind, a genius, who was a charlatan, by reason of training and temperament. Paracelsus displayed a curious singleness of purpose and a real desire to penetrate the mysteries of science.
He left on record the principal points of the philosophy on which he founded his researches in his Archidoxa Medicinae. It contains the leading rules of the art of healing as he practiced and preached them. He stated that he had resolved to give ten books to the Archidoxa, but had reserved the tenth in his memory. He believed it was a treasure that men were not worthy to possess and should only be given to the world when it abjured Aristotle, Avicenna, and Galen, and promised a perfect submission to Paracelsus. The world did not recant, but Paracelsus relented and at the entreaty of his disciples published his Tenth Book of the Arch-Doctrines, also known as On the Secret Mysteries of Nature.
At the beginning Paracelsus hypothesized, and then attempted to substantiate, the existence of a universal spirit infused into the veins, which forms within us a species of invisible body, of which our visible body directs and governs at its will. This universal spirit is not simple—not more simple, for instance, than the number 100, which is a collection of units. The spiritual units are scattered in plants and minerals, but principally in metals. There exists in these inferior productions of the earth a host of sub-spirits that sum themselves up in us, as the universe does in God. So the science of the philosopher has to unite them to the body, disengage them from the grosser matter that clogs and confines them, and separate the pure from the impure. To separate the pure from the impure is to seize upon the soul of the heterogeneous bodies and evolve their "predestined element," "the seminal essence of beings," and "the first being, or quintessence."
To understand this latter word "quintessence," it is necessary to postulate that every body is composed of four elements. The essence compounded of these elements forms a fifth, which is the soul of the mixed bodies, or, in other words, its "mercury." "I have shown," stated Paracelsus, "in my book Elements, that the quintessence is the same thing as mercury. There is in mercury (soul) whatever wise men seek." That is, not the mercury of modern chemists, but a philosophical "mercury" of which every body has its own. "There are as many mercuries as there are things. The mercury of a vegetable, a mineral, or an animal of the same kind, although strongly resembling each other, does not precisely resemble another mercury, and it is for this reason that vegetables, minerals, and animals of the same species are not exactly alike…."
Paracelsus sought a plant in the vegetable kingdom that was worthy of holding the same rank as gold in the metallic—a plant whose "predestined element" united in itself the virtues of nearly all the vegetable essences. Although this was not easy to distinguish, he claimed to recognize at a glance the supremacy of excellence in the melissa, and first decreed to it the pharmaceutical crown. Then: "He took some balm-mint in flower, which he had taken care to collect before the rising of the sun. He pounded it in a mortar, reduced it to an impalpable dust, poured it into a long-necked vial which he sealed hermetically, and placed it to digest (or settle) for forty hours in a heap of horse-dung. This time expired, he opened the vial, and found there a matter which he reduced into a fluid by pressing it, separating it from its impurities by exposure to the slow heat of a bain-marie (a vessel of hot water in which other vessels are heated). The grosser parts sunk to the bottom, and he drew off the liqueur which floated on the top, filtering it through some cotton. This liqueur having been poured into a bottle he added to it the fixed salt, which he had drawn from the same plant when dried. There remained nothing more but to extract from this liqueur the first life or being of the plant. For this purpose Paracelsus mixed the liqueur with so much 'water of salt' (understand by this the mercurial element or radical humidity of the salt), put it in a matrass, exposed it for six weeks to the sun, and finally, at the expiration of this term, discovered a last residuum which was decidedly, according to him, the first life or supreme essence of the plant. But at all events, it is certain that what he found in his matrass was the genie or spirit he required; and with the surplus, if there were any, we need not concern ourselves."
Those who wished to know what this genie was like were informed that it as exactly resembled, as two drops of water, the spirit of aromatic wine known today as absinthe suisse. It was a liquid green. Unfortunately, it failed as a specific in the conditions indispensable for an elixir of immortality.
By means and manipulations as subtle and ingenious as those that he employed upon the melissa, Paracelsus learned to extract the "predestined element" of plants that ranked much higher in the vegetable aristocracy—the "first life" of the gilly-flower, the cinnamon, the myrrh, the scammony, and the celandine. All these supreme essences, which, according to the fifth book of Archidoxa, united with a mass of "magisteries" as precious as they were rude, were the base of so many specifics, equally reparative and regenerative. This depended upon the relationship that existed between the temperament of a privileged plant and the temperament of the individual who asked of it his rejuvenescence.
However brilliant were the results of his discoveries, those he obtained or those he thought he might obtain, they were for Paracelsus but the beginning of magic. To the eyes of so consummate an alchemist, vegetable life was not important; it was the mineral—the metallic life—that was significant. Paracelsus believed it was in his power to seize the first life-principle of the moon, the sun, Mars, or Saturn; that is, of silver, gold, iron, or lead. It was equally facile for him to grasp the life of the precious stones, the bitumens, the sulphurs, and even that of animals. Paracelsus set forth several methods of obtaining this great arcanum. Here is the shortest and most simple explaination as recorded by Incola Francus: "Take some mercury, or at least the element of mercury, separating the pure from the impure, and afterwards pounding it to perfect whiteness. Then you shall sublimate it with sal-ammoniac, and this so many times as may be necessary to resolve it into a fluid. Calcine it, coagulate it, and again dissolve it, and let it strain in a pelican [a vessel used for distillation] during a philosophic month, until it thickens and assumes the form of a hard substance. Thereafter this form of stone is in-combustible, and nothing can change or alter it; the metallic bodies which it penetrates become fixed and incombustible, for this material is incombustible, and changes the imperfect metals into metal perfect. Although I have given the process in few words, the thing itself demands a long toil, and many difficult circumstances, which I have expressly omitted, not to weary the reader, who ought to be very diligent and intelligent if he wishes to arrive at the accomplishment of this great work."
Paracelsus himself described in Archidoxa his own recipe for the completion of it, and profited by the occasion to criticize his fellow-workers.
"I omit what I have said in different places on the theory of the stone; I will say only that this arcanum does not consist in the blast [ rouille ] or flowers of antimony. It must be sought in the mercury of antimony, which, when it is carried to perfection, is nothing else than the heaven of metals; for even as the heaven gives life to plants and minerals, so does the pure quintessence of antimony vitrify everything. This is why the Deluge was not able to deprive any substance of its virtue or properties, for the heaven being the life of all beings, there is nothing superior to it which can modify or destroy it.
"Take the antimony, purge it of its arsenical impurities in an iron vessel until the coagulated mercury of the antimony appears quite white, and is distinguishable by the star which appears in the superficies of the regulus, or semi-metal. But although this regulus, which is the element of mercury, has in itself a veritable hidden life, nevertheless these things are in virtue, and not actually.
"Therefore, if you wish to reduce the power to action, you must disengage the life which is concealed in it by a living fire like to itself, or with a metallic vinegar. To discover this fire many philosophers have proceeded differently, but agreeing to the foundations of the art, have arrived at the desired end. For some with great labour have drawn forth the quintessence of the thickened mercury of the regulus of antimony, and by this means have reduced to action the mercury of the antimony: others have considered that there was a uniform quintessence in the other minerals, as for example in the fixed sulphur of the vitriol, or the stone of the magnet, and having extracted the quintessence, have afterwards matured and exalted their heaven with it, and reduced it to action. Their process is good, and has had its result. Meanwhile this fire—this corporeal life— which they seek with toil, is found much more easily and in much greater perfection in the ordinary mercury, which appears through its perpetual fluidity—a proof that it possesses a very powerful fire and a celestial life similar to that which lies hidden in the regulus of the antimony. Therefore, he who would wish to exalt our metallic heaven, starred, to its greatest completeness, and to reduce into action its potential virtues, he must first extract from ordinary mercury its corporeal life, which is a celestial fire; that is to say the quintessence of quicksilver, or, in other words, the metallic vinegar, that has resulted from its dissolution in the water which originally produced it, and which is its own mother; that is to say, he must dissolve it in the arcanum of the salt I have described, and mingle it with the 'stomach of Anthion,' which is the spirit of vinegar, and in this menstruum melt and filter and consistent mercury of the antimony, strain it in the said liquor, and finally reduce it into crystals of a yellowish green, of which we have spoken in our manual."
As regards the philosophers' stone, he gave the following formula: "Take the electric mineral not yet mature [antimony], put it in its sphere, in the fire with the iron, to remove its ordures and other superfluities, and purge it as much as you can, following the rules of chymistry, so that it may not suffer by the aforesaid impurities. Make, in a word, the regulus with the mark. This done, cause it to dissolve in the 'stomach of the ostrich' (vitriol), which springs from the earth and is fortified in its virtue by the 'sharpness of the eagle' (the metallic vinegar or essence of mercury). As soon as the essence is perfected, and when after its dissolution it has taken the colour of the herb called calendule, do not forget to reduce it into a spiritual luminous essence, which resembles amber. After this, add to it of the 'spread eagle' one half the weight of the election before its preparation, and frequently distil the 'stomach of the ostrich' into the matter, and thus the election will become much more spiritualized. When the 'stomach of the ostrich' is weakened by the labour of digestion, we must strengthen it and frequently distil it. Finally, when it has lost all its impurity, add as much tartarized quintessence as will rest upon your fingers, until it throws off its impurity and rises with it. Repeat this process until the preparation becomes white, and this will suffice; for you shall see yourself as gradually it rises in the form of the 'exalted eagle,' and with little trouble converts itself in its form (like sublimated mercury); and that is what we are seeking.
"I tell you in truth that there is no greater remedy in medicine than that which lies in this election, and that there is nothing like it in the whole world. But not to digress from my purpose, and not to leave this work imperfect, observe the manner in which you ought to operate.
"The election then being destroyed, as I have said, to arrive at the desired end (which is, to make of it a universal medicine for human as well as metallic bodies), take your election, rendered light and volatile by the method above described.
"Take of it as much as you would wish to reduce it to its perfection, and put it in a philosophical egg of glass, and seal it very tightly, that nothing of it may respire; put it into an athanor until of itself it resolves into a liquid, in such a manner that in the middle of this sea there may appear a small island, which daily diminishes, and finally, all shall be changed to a colour black as ink. This colour is the raven, or bird which flies at night without wings, and which, through the celestial dew, that rising continually falls back by a constant circulation, changes into what is called 'the head of the raven,' and afterwards resolves into 'the tail of the peacock,' then it assumes the hue of the 'tail of a peacock,' and afterwards the colour of the 'feathers of a swan;' finally acquiring an extreme redness, which marks its fiery nature, and in virtue of which it expels all kinds of impurities, and strengthens feeble members. This preparation, according to all philosophers, is made in a single vessel, over a single furnace, with an equal and continual fire, and this medicine, which is more than celestial, cures all kinds of infirmities, as well in human as metallic bodies; wherefore no one can understand or attain such an arcanum without the help of God: for its virtue is ineffable and divine."
Sources:
Hartmann, Franz. The Life of Philippus Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim Known by the Name of Paracelsus and of the Substance of his Teachings. London: George Redway, 1887; Retd. with: The Prophecies of Paracelsus; Occult Symbols and Magic Figures. Blauvelt, N.Y.: Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1973.
The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, of Hohenheim, called Paracelsus the Great. 2 vols. Edited by Arthur E. Waite. London: James Elliott, 1894. Reprint, New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1967.
Stillman, John M. Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim called Paracelsus; his Personality and Influence as Physician, Chemist and Reformer. LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court Publishing, 1920.
Webster, Charles. From Paracelsus to Newton: Magic and the Making of Modern Science. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge University Press, 1982.