Paracelsus

[Paulo]

Paracelsus (born 11 November (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_11) or 17 December (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_17) 1493 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1493) in Einsiedeln, Switzerland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsiedeln%2C_Switzerland) - 24 September (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_24) 1541 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1541)) was an alchemist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy), physician (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician), astrologer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrologer), and general occultist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occultist). Born Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, he took the name Paracelsus later in life, meaning "beside or similar to Celsus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulus_Cornelius_Celsus)", a Roman physician from the first century CE.

Biography

Paracelsus was born at Einsiedeln (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsiedeln), Switzerland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland), of a Swabian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabia) (Wilhelm Bombast von Hohenheim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenheim)) chemist father and a Swiss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland) mother. He was brought up in Switzerland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland), and as a youth he worked in nearby mines as an analyst. He started studying medicine at the University of Basel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Basel) at the age of 16, and later in Vienna. He gained his doctorate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctorate) [1] (http://web.unife.it/centro/paracelsus/archivi/c_2005_hexagon_winter2005.pdf) degree from the University of Ferrara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Ferrara).

He later journeyed to Egypt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt), Arabia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabia), the Holy Land (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Land), and Constantinople (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople) seeking alchemists from whom to learn. He pursued medical treatments that were considered ludicrous in the Western world. Paracelsus was the disseminator in Europe of the medieval Islamic alchemists. [2] (http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Paracelsus,+Philippus+Aureolus) Instead of pouring boiling oil onto wounds to cauterize (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauterization) them; or if they were on a limb, to let them become gangrenous (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangrene) and then to amputate the limb, Paracelsus learned that wounds would heal themselves if allowed to drain and prevented from becoming infected. On his return to Europe, his knowledge of these treatments won him fame.

Paracelsus rejected Gnostic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism) traditions, but kept much of the Hermetic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeticism), neoplatonic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism), and Pythagorean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras) philosophies; however, Hermetical science had so much Aristotelian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle) theory that his rejection of Gnosticism was practically meaningless. In particular, Paracelsus rejected the magic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28paranormal%29) theories of Agrippa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Cornelius_Agrippa) and Flamel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Flamel); Paracelsus did not think of himself as a magician and scorned those who did, though he was a practicing astrologer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrologer), as were most, if not all of the university-trained physicians working at this time in Europe. Astrology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology) was a very important part of Paracelsus' medicine. In his Archidoxes of Magic Paracelsus devoted several sections to astrological talismans for curing disease, providing talismans for various maladies as well as talismans for each sign of the Zodiac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac). He also invented an alphabet called the Alphabet of the Magi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_of_the_Magi), for engraving angelic names upon talismans.

Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine).
He used the name "zink" for the element zinc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc) in about 1526, based on the sharp pointed appearance of its crystals after smelting and the old German word "zinke" for pointed. He used experimentation in learning about the human body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_anatomy). His hermetical views were that sickness and health (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health) in the body relied on the harmony of man, the microcosm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosm), and Nature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature), the macrocosm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrocosm). He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. (Debus & Multhauf, p.6-12)
He summarized his own views: "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold) and silver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver). For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines." (Edwardes, p.47) (also in: Holmyard, Eric John. Alchemy. p. 170)
Indeed, the remnants of alchemical traditions can still be seen in modern medicine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine). For instance, the Caduceus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus) has been adopted as the prime symbol of western medicine.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/300704_beratzhausen-oberpfalz-paracelsus-denkmal_1-480x640.jpg/180px-300704_beratzhausen-oberpfalz-paracelsus-denkmal_1-480x640.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:300704_beratzhausen-oberpfalz-paracelsus-denkmal_1-480x640.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:300704_beratzhausen-oberpfalz-paracelsus-denkmal_1-480x640.jpg)
Monument to Paracelsus in Beratzhausen, Bavaria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria)



Paracelsus gained a reputation for being arrogant, and soon garnered the anger of other physicians in Europe. He held the chair of medicine at the University of Basel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Basel) for less than a year; while there his colleagues became angered by allegations that he had publicly burned traditional medical books. He was forced from the city after having legal trouble over a physician's fee he sued to collect.
He then wandered Europe, Africa and Asia Minor, in the pursuit of hidden knowledge. He revised old manuscripts and wrote new ones, but had trouble finding publishers. In 1536, his Die grosse Wundartzney (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Die_grosse_Wundartzney&action=edit) (The Great Surgery Book) was published and enabled him to regain fame.
After his death, the movement of Paracelsianism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsianism) was seized upon by many wishing to subvert the traditional Galenic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen) physick- and thus did his therapies become more widely known and used.
His motto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motto) was "alterius non sit qui suus esse potest" which means "let no man belong to another that can belong to himself".
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary), the origin of the word "bombastic" is not a play on Paracelsus's middle name, Bombastus. Instead, that dictionary cites "bombast": an old term for cotton stuffing. However, many books mentioning Paracelsus cite him as the origin of "bombastic" to describe his often arrogant speaking style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

[deviadah]

Ever since I discovered Paracelsus I have been deeply interested in his life and body of work. The BIO that you've lifted is ok for a basic overview of his life. Some things in it I disagree with, but hey history is subject to interpretation.

Now, without any intention of being an asshole, I will try to go deeper with a little thing I call:

Paracelsus and the Hermetic Arts

The Renaissance saw a rise in interest of science and medicine. Great lengths were taken to create new translations of such respected authors as Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates and Ptolemy because the Latin translations of the Middle Ages were no longer acceptable. Some of these translators studied Greek so they could directly do justice to these ancient treasures. But the hunt for original manuscripts led to the discovery of new ones.
The recovery of the Corpus Hermetica was a major event for all intellectuals, especially Paracelsus who found great knowledge in the Emerald Tablet. Scorning his fellow doctors he stated that:
“…the ancient Emerald Tablet shows more art and experience in philosophy, alchemy, magic, and the like, than could ever be taught by you and your crowd of followers.”
Paracelsus tried to apply the principles of the Emerald Tablet everywhere he could and he wrote a great deal on the subject openly preaching the correspondences between the Above and Below careful not to say too much.
”To write more about this mystery is forbidden and further revelation is the prerogative of the divine power. For this art is truly a gift of God; wherefore, not everyone can understand it.”
Paracelsus considered magic to be Supreme Wisdom and not sorcery. A person that is Master of Heaven and Earth by his own free will is called a Magus.
“There is nothing dead in Nature, Everything is organic and living, therefore the world appears to be a living organism.”
According to Paracelsus life exists in every form, moving slower in the mineral kingdom and rapidly in the plants and animal kingdoms. Nature (the universe) is an organism where all things harmonize and sympathize with each other. Man is the microcosm and nature is the macrocosm, and together they are one. The unity of man and nature is the heart through which the physical, astral and spiritual forces manifest themselves.
Paracelsus popularized the notion of these three heavenly forces and was the first to call them Salt, Sulphur and Mercury (rejecting the Aristotelian elements of fire, air, earth, and water). When the three substances were in harmony health was the result, if in disharmony disease and if in disruption death.

SALT the physical body
SULPHUR the indwelling energizing nature, the astral man
MERCURY the intelligence, the indwelling God, the Spirit and above Salt and Sulphur.

There is one vital substance in Nature upon which all things subsist. It is called the archæus, or vital life force, and is synonymous with the astral light or spiritual air of the ancients. The vehicle for the archæus Paracelsus called the mumia. A good example of a physical mumia is vaccine, which is a vehicle of a semi-astral virus.
In other words anything that serves as a medium for the transmission of the archæus, organic or inorganic, truly physical or partly spiritualized, was termed mumia. The most universal form of mumia was ether, which modern science has accepted as a hypothetical substance serving as a medium between the realm of vital energy and that of organic and inorganic substance.
To control universal energy is virtually impossible save through one of its vehicles (the mumia). Man does not secure nourishment from dead animal or plant organisms, but when he incorporates their structure into his own body he first gains control over the mumia, or etheric double, of the animal or plant. Having obtained this control the human organism then diverts the flow of the archæus to his own uses.
For example if we eat the flesh of a ferocious animal we would become ferocious ourselves. The mumia of any creature, according to Paracelsus, is closely connected to the bloodstream. Hence any substance taken into the bloodstream makes a direct magnetic connection between the mumia of the person receiving the substance and the mumia of the animal or person whom it was taken.
“That which constitutes life is contained in the Mumia, and by imparting the Mumia we impart life.”
Paracelsus divulges the secrets of the remedial properties of talismans and amulets. For the mumia of substances of which they are composed serves as a channel to connect the person wearing them with certain manifestations of the universal life force.
Paracelsus declared that the mumia of a person may be strengthened by the power of imagination, which is a tremendous force, able to create actual images in the astral light, and to give a kind of consciousness to those forms.
“Imagination is a great power, and if the world knew what strange things can be produced by the power of imagination, the public authorities would cause idle people to go to work.”
Paracelsus saw the mind as the most powerful healing power and he stressed the importance of the patient’s thoughts and emotion introducing the concept of holistic healing. He was certain everything in the universe was good for something. At his estate in Hohenheim he gathered dew during certain configurations of the planets on glass plates, at midnight, discovering the water possessed medicinal virtues absorbing the properties of the heavenly bodies. But as popular as astrology was in his day he did not fully endorse it.
“The stars determine nothing, incline nothing, suggest nothing; we are as free from them as they are from us. The stars and all the firmament cannot affect our body, nor our colour, beauty and gestures, not our virtues and vices… the course of Saturnus can neither prolong or shorten a man’s life.”
The magnet appealed to Paracelsus and he referred to it as a Monarch of Secrets placing it above all other remedies. He explored magnetism and its relation to the human organism. Later his work would inspire the great, and neglected, Anton Mesmer. On the subject Paracelsus wrote:
“The magnet, like the stars and other bodies of the universe is endowed with a subtle emanation, fluidum, that has a favourable influence on the health and life of man. It assures cure for discharging sinuses of the limbs, for fistulae of the various parts of the body, for fluxes of the eye, ear, and nose, and for jaundice and dropsy. It stops hemorrhagic disturbances in women.”
In 1542 Copernicus published On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres proposing that the sun is at the centre and that the planets, including Earth, orbit around it. Andreas Vesalius, one year later after that, published his work On the Structure of the Human Body. It established a standard for anatomical works for many centuries and was the real beginning of the end for Galen. Thus the understanding of the universe continued.
Like many alchemists before, and after, Paracelsus was reported to be seen in several places after his own death having achieved immortality by producing the Philosopher’s Stone.
Three hundred years later his grave was exhumed and the body found was identified as his own, still revealing no true cause of death. Immortal or not his legacy lives on, as he himself wrote:
“Eternal Wisdom is without time, without a beginning and without an end.”

[m1thr0s]

great post deviadah. this quote in particular struck a chord for me:
”To write more about this mystery is forbidden and further revelation is the prerogative of the divine power. For this art is truly a gift of God; wherefore, not everyone can understand it.”I've really been the rounds with that one as I think have others. It is difficult sometimes to know if there is even any point attempting to expound on certain things...particularly things powerful enough to at least potentially constitute a threat if they fell into the wrong hands or were otherwise reconfigured by the greedy for the sole purpose of personal fame or fortune...

I think sometimes that not coming from an established tradition or school constitutes an authority in its own right to some extent. Things which have been discovered independantly must intrinsically belong to anyone I think, though it is still the case that not just anyone will be able to recognize or benefit from things of an especially subtle or lofty caliber.

m1thr0s

[deviadah]

Thanks...

All this secrecy comes from the past, and in those days it wasn't easy to be an alchemist or magus. Now it is not a problem. I think out with all secrets. There will be no problem because those that are not ready will not understand, and those that are will be exposed to ideas greatly needed.

It's time to get out of the closet for all esoteric/occult movements!

There has been a gnostic and occult revival in the last ten years and it is not strange the success The DaVinci Code has had (piece of shit in my opinion though). The so-called common folks are leaning towards these subjects because they are more open now. Especially due to the Net.

I also sense a difference with anyone below fifteen. There is a spark. An indigo force moving behind their eyes... or maybe I just see what I wish?

[Okazaki Castle]

Respect. I liked Paracelsus, still do...

OC.

[m1thr0s]

All this secrecy comes from the past, and in those days it wasn't easy to be an alchemist or magus. Now it is not a problem. I think out with all secrets. There will be no problem because those that are not ready will not understand, and those that are will be exposed to ideas greatly needed.

This has been my thinking as well, though I have to say that it is still a daunting task and one I am never really comfortable with. I do believe that the rule of secrecy has been motivated from more than just a sense of the need to protect life and limb. Our predecessors were typically a pretty gutsy bunch, willing to lay down their lives for their principles and so on. But the problem we really face with this whole notion of secrecy today is that there is no such thing in practical reality. One is better off to set the record straight even if no one really gets it than to sit back and watch the record being maligned and prostituted to accomodate a wider audience.

Inevitably a few will get it anyway, and that's all that really matters I think.

m1thr0s

[Okazaki Castle]

Well, I do disagree there, primarily because I think it is war down here and it is not strategically wise to give others keys and tools which they can use in that process. It's why I never reveal how to actually do anything significant (other than meditate and progress spiritually and sex also, but not war stuff really, unless missing keys or under a Bael Gate, which controls such things of its own accord).

Unless or until we are in a position of established external power, that is. Before then, I think secrecy on the essential keys and tools needed for practical application of an approach is more useful, if it is Conquest, or Dominion, which is aimed for that is.

all the best,
Oazaki.

[m1thr0s]

The perverbial use of the royal "we" assumes more than it is worth in my experience. That's the whole problem really. What exactly makes anyone else so qualified to judge the rest, save only their own exalted opinion of themselves?

Wars of consciousness are not the same as wars of ambition...there are different rules and different strategies that must be implemented...

m1thr0s

[Okazaki Castle]

Well, my perspective on the 'we' is more that since a young age I always intended to conquer the world single-handed (cuz I always felt nobody would come along for the ride, of the people I knew physically anyway). And then, once conquered, I wanted to share the results of that with everyone I knew and liked. So that's the externally established position I talked of in the 'we' form.

Of course, then I was slightly surprised to find that others not only had the same aim (which I knew) but were also competent about it, and I liked them, and they were honourable and moved in justice too (so I had no ground or excuse to remove them from the 'race', or picture, as it were). I dind't really expect that when I started, and, like, maybe it was or is a problem, cuz what do you do when severa people want to conquer the world, or universe, single-handed? Fight it out? Share power? I think a 'we' could work there too, but hey, am also open to other suggestions, and also admit I could be misunderstanding the point/direction here...

all the best,
Oazaki.

[m1thr0s]

there's only so much cream in any vat of milk. this is pretty much what i have come to on this matter. there's no sense trying to protect what cannot really be stolen, yet there are good reasons to let others know what barriers may have been crossed in consciousness itself as this alerts *the few* and also encourages their efforts. No one is really going to be able to use Abrahadabra to conquer anything but themselves for instance and anyone who conquers himself is then uniquely qualified to conquer the world (doesn't really matter who). This is the principle of the Godman...this is how it works...so there is nothing to hide really. The awake will take what they need and run with it while the asleep will remain perfectly oblivious as ever...

It's a failsafe system really...there is nothing to fear, save only timidity & inaction...

So...if you believe you have already fullfilled this process, then again, there is nothing left to fear and you are free to conquer the world confident in the knowledge that you are uniquely authorized to do so. If you are wrong about this, then you are wrong and you will fail. If you are not wrong, then you are not wrong and nothing in this universe can stop you.

m1thr0s

[Okazaki Castle]

there's no sense trying to protect what cannot really be stolen, yet there are good reasons to let others know what barriers may have been crossed in consciousness itself as this alerts *the few* and also encourages their efforts.

OK, that's cool, works very well for me. I guess that's why I keep on posting weird threads which push the boundaries everywhere (and get me into trouble, usually... :rofl: ). The other point on that is that some barriers need Time to progress to be crossed I have found - primarily because (as I view it) this system is slow and Time here is retarded...

So, I knew Pacelsus would be good at healing stuff and sorting out medical-type issues. He always was far more insightful than the mechanistic approach to medicine that western world took in the last 400 years or so...


anyone who conquers himself is then uniquely qualified to conquer the world (doesn't really matter who)...


So could I nominate Jesus Christ's reincarnation for that, working with the Mahdi? OK, I know most people don't like JC, but it works well in the prophecy context regarding mass society and saves the real 'players' from having to interact with the system in that way - which is a hassle for us as humans and thier systems are generlaly annoying and also they generally get freaked out by us. Plus it teaches him responsibility and things like that, which he failed in last time he was famous, so I sort of want to rub his nose in that...

We could answer that on a thread split somehwere I guess if you think this is going too off topic... Of course, cd also be issues for later...

all the best,
Oazaki.

[m1thr0s]

this topic has been dragging its ass anyway but yes, it's off-topic.

Paracelsus was a pretty amazing individual. One of the very few men alive in his own time that had the wherewithall to analyze the Black Plague correctly and attack it at its source. Of course, he had to duck and dodge the established order of things to do this. Spent most of his life on the run actually...

m1thr0s

[deviadah]

It is concerning mental illness Paracelsus gets really interesting (considering the fact that he lived in the days of Bedlam). Paracelsus was a humanist considering his patient as a human being realizing that individualization is necessary, especially with mental disorders, because it is a highly individual phenomenon. He said:“As long as one wishes to ride all horses with one saddle and recognise not disease in its essence, rather, what comes into each man’s head, is his art, there is yet no experience nor truth established.”Mental disorder was, for a long time, considered to be a matter for theology and not of medicine. In fact the traditions of treating mental disorders was not abandoned until 200 years after Paracelsus death.

There is a mystery on how Paracelsus received his great knowledge on the illness of the mind. Nothing of what he wrote was practiced in the times he lived. He anticipated the descriptive methods of psychiatry and the clinical manifestations of epilepsy, mania and hysteria. He truly possessed a complete intellectual freedom not afraid to admit whenever he came across something new. In a chapter entitled On the Origin of Truly Insane People Paracelsus lists four kinds of insane people.

Lunatici
The moon does not posses the brain but attracts, like a magnet, reason out of it. The power of attraction is at its height during the full moon and somewhat the same during the new moon.

Insani
Insanity brought from the womb through family heritage.

Vesani
The loss of reason and sense through the use of food and drink.

Melancholici
Those people who lose reason by their own nature by “…driving the spiritus vitae up towards the brain so that it is too much of it there.”

The list is abbreviated and rewritten, but the whole essay is highly recommended if you can get hold of a copy. Look for Four Treatises of Theophrastus Von Hohenheim called Paracelsus, edited with preface by Henry E. Sigerist, 1941, United States of America.

[deviadah]

Some PARACELSUS resources:

Paracelsus - part 1 - alternative history (http://alternative-history.blogspot.com/2007/07/paracelsus-part-1.html)

Paracelsus - part 2 - alternative history (http://alternative-history.blogspot.com/2007/07/paracelsus-part-2.html)

Coelum philosophorum (http://sacred-texts.com/alc/coelum.htm)

The Book Concerning The Tincture Of The Philosophers (http://sacred-texts.com/alc/paracel2.htm)

The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists (http://sacred-texts.com/alc/paracel1.htm)

The Aurora of the Philosophers (http://sacred-texts.com/alc/paracel3.htm)

The Philosophical Cannons of Paracelsus (http://www.alchemywebsite.com/para-can.html)


Additional stuff:

Portraits of Paracelsus (http://www.alchemywebsite.com/paintings/paracelsus_portraits.html)

Short bio + list of selected works and further reading (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/parace.htm)

Abrahadabra thread that deals a lot with Paracelsus + the Humunculus (http://forums.abrahadabra.com/showthread.php?t=664)

http://www.alchemywebsite.com/paintings/Paracelsus%20woodcut%20medicorum.jpg

[deviadah]

Read an interesting passage in an anti-alchemy book called Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay:

"[According to Paracelsus]... life was an emanation from the stars - the sun governed the heart, and the moon the brain. Jupiter governed the liver, Saturn the gall, Mercury the lungs, Mars the bile, and Venus the loins. In the stomach of every human being there dwelt a demon, or intelligence, that was a sort of alchymist in his way, and mixed, in their due proportions, in his crucible, the various ailments that were sent into that grand laboratory, the belly."

I recommend, by the way, everyone to read books anti whatever subject you love. Often you find gems (like the one above)!

:cool: