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In the history
of alchemy there is not a more striking or
picturesque figure than Aurcelus Philippus
Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim,
the illustrious physician and exponent of the
hermetic philosophy who has chosen to go down to
fame under the name of Paracelsus. He was born
at Einsideln, near Zurich, in the year 1493. His
father, the natural son of a prince, himself
practised the " art of medicine," and was
desirous that his only son should follow the
same profession. To the fulfilment of that
desire was directed the early training of
Paracelsus—a training which fostered his
imaginative rather than his practical
tendencies, and which first cast his mind into
the "alchemical mould. It did not take him long
to discover that the medical traditions of the
time were bat empty husks from which all
substance had long since dried away. " I
considered with myself," he says, " that if
there were no teacher of medicine in the world,
how would I set about to learn the art ? No
otherwise than in the great open book of nature,
written with the finger of God." Having thus
freed himself from the constraining bonds of an
outworn medical orthodoxy, whose chief resources
were bleeding, purging, and emetics, he set
about evolving a new system to replace the old,
and in order that he might study the book of
nature to better advantage he travelled
extensively from 1513 to 1524, visiting almost
every part of the known world, studying
metallurgy, chemistry, and medicine, and
consorting with vagabonds of every description.
He was brought before 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 Basle, then a
favourite resert of scholars and physicians,
where he was appointed to fill the chair of
medicine at the University. Never had Basle
witnessed a more brilliant, erratic professor.
His inflated language, his eccentric behaviour,
the splendour of his conceptions flashing
through a fog of obscurity, at once attracted
and repelled, and gained for him friends and
enemies.
prescribed freely in the
form of " three black pills." The recipes which he gives
for the Philosopher's Stone, the Elixir of Life, and
various universal remedies, are exceedingly obscure. He is
deservedly celebrated as the first physici. n to use opium
and mercury, and to recognise the value of sulphur. He
applied himself also to the solution of a problem which
still exercises the minds of scientific men—whether it is
possible to produce life from inorganic matter. Paracelsus
asserted that it was, and has, left on record a quaint
recipe for a homunculus, or artificial man. By a peculiar
treatment of certain " spagyric substances " —which he has
unfortunately omitted to specify—he declared that he could
produce a perfect human child in, miniature. Speculations
such as these, medical, alchemical and philosophical, were
scattered so profusely throughout his teaching that we are
compelled to admit that here was a master-mind, a genius,
who was a charlatan only incidently, by reason of training
and temperament. Let it be remembered that he lived in an
age when practically all scholars and physicians were wont
to impose on popular ignorance, and we cannot but remark
that Paracelsus displayed, under all his arrogant
exterior, a curious singleness of purpose, and a real
desire to penetrate the mysteries of science. He has left
on record the principal points of the philosophy on which
he founded his researches in his " ArcMdoxa Medi-cince."
It contains the leading rules of the art of healing, as he
practised and preached them. " I had resolved," he says, "
to give ten books to the ' Archidoxa,' but I have reserved
the tenth in my head. It is a treasure which men are not
worthy to possess, and shall only be given to the world
when they shall have 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 this tenth book,
the key to the nine others, but a key which might pass for
a lock, and for a lock which we cannot even pick. It is
entitled the " Tenth Book of the Arch-Doctrines ; or, On
the Secret Mysteries of Nature." A brief summary of it is
as follows:—
He begins by supposing and ends by establishing that there
is a universal spirit infused into the veins of man,
forming within us a species of invisible body, of which
our visible body, which it directs and governs at its
will, is but the wrapping—the casket. This universal
spirit is not simple—not more simple, for instance, than
the number loo, which is a collection of units. Where,
then, are the spiritual units of which our complex spirit
is composed ? Scattered in plants and minerals, but
principally in metals. There exists in these inferior
productions of the earth a host of sub-spirits which sum
themselves up in us, as the universe does in God. So the
science of the philosopher has simply to unite them to the
body—to disengage them from the grosser matter which clogs
and confines them, to separate the pure from the impure.
To separate the pure from the impure is, in other words,
to seize upon the soul of the heterogeneous bodies—to
evolve their " predestined element," " the seminal essence
of beings," " the first being, or quintessence."
To understand this latter word " quintessence," it is
needful for the reader to know that every body, whatever
it may be, is composed of four elements, and that 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," says Paracelsus, " in my book
of' Elements,' that the quintessence is the same thing as
mercury. There is in mercury 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. . . . "The true mercury of
philosophers is the radical humidity of each body, and its
veritable seme-it, or essence."
Paracelsus now sought for a plant worthy of holding in the
vegetable kingdom the same rank as gold in the metallic
—a plant whose " predestined element" should unite in
itself the virtues of nearly all the vegetable essences.
Although this was not easy to distinguish, he recognised
at a glance—we know not by what signs—the supremacy of
excellence in the melissa, and first decreed to it that
pharmaceutical crown which at a later period the
Carmelites ought to have consecrated. How he obtained this
new specific may be seen in the Life of Paracelsus, ~ by
Savarien: ~
" 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. 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 lief 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 may wish to know what this genie was like, are
informed that it as exactly resembled, as two drops of
water, the spirit of aromatic wine known to-day as
absinthe suisse. It was a liquid green as.emerald,—green,
the bright colour of hope and spring-time. Unfortunately,
it failed as a specific in the conditions indispensable
for an elixir of immortality; but it was a preparation
more than half-celestial, which almost rendered old age
impossible.
By means and manipulations as subtle and ingenious as
those which he employed upon the melissa, Paracelsus did
not draw, but learned to extract, the " predestined
element" of plants which ranked much higher in the
vegetable aristocracy,—the " first life" ot the
gillyflower, the. cinnamon, the myrrh, the scammony, the
celandine. All these supreme essences, which, according to
the 5th book of " Archidoxa," unite with a mass of "
magisteries " as precious as they are rude, are the base
oi so many specifics, equally reparative and regenerative.
This depends upon the relationship which exists between
the temperament of a privileged plant and the temperament
of the individual who asks 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 a b c of Magic. To the eyes
of so consummate an alchemist vegetable life is nothing;
it is the mineral—the metallic life—which is all. So we
may assure ourselves that 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 sets forth several methods of obtaining this
great arcanum. Here is the shortest and most simple 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 during A philosophic month, until it thickens
and assumes the form of a hard substance. Thereafter this
form of stone is incombustible, 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 tells us in his " Archidoxa," when
•explaining his o\vn recipe for the completion of it, and
profiting by the occasion to criticise his fellow-workers.
" I omit," he writes, " 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 (romlle) 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
havespoken incur manual."
As regards the Philosopher's Stone, he gives the following
formula:—
" Take," said he, " 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 caknduU, 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."
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