COLUMBIA LIBRARIES OFFSiTE HEALTH SCIENCES STANDARD HX64096289 R147.P21 H253 The life of Philippu ■^..-'U',-^-- 0//rr/^yC^. Columbia ^[mbersJitp \^ m tje Citp of iSeto gorfe CoEege of $})j>^icians; anb ^urgeonsf i^eference 11itirarj> w PARACELSUS BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND C^ viii PREFACE. in producing external appearances or manifestations with whicli the ancients were not acquainted ; the initiates into ancient sciences could create internal causes of which modern science knows nothing whatever, and which the latter will have to learn if it desires to progress much farther. There is no resting-place in the evolution of the world. There is only progression and retrogression, rising or falling. If we falter at the door to the realm of the invisible, and dare not enter the temple where the mys- terious workshop of Nature exists, we will sink still more into the mire of illusion, and lose still more of the facul- ties necessary to perceive the things of the soul. A mem- ber which is not used atrophies ; a faculty that is not actively employed is lost. If our whole time and atten- tion is taken up by the illusions of sense, we will lose the power to perceive that which is supersensual ; the more we look at the surface, the less will we know of the kernel ; the more we sink into matter, the more will we become imconscious of the spirit which is the life of all thiugs. But, fortunately for humanity, each evil carries its own remedy in its bosom, each action is followed by a reaction, and the j)rogression of the world resembles the movements of a pendulum that swings from one side to the other, while it at the same time moves forward. Ages of bigotry are followed by periods of thought that may end in ages of scepticism ; centuries of scientific or religious ignorance, intolerance and superstition lead to revolutions of thought tliat may again end in atheism and crime; but each swing of the pendulum raises humanity a step higher on the ladder of progression. When it reaches the point PREFACE. ix of gravity, it would stop unless pushed on by the impulse coming from one or the other extreme. It seems that our age is nearing that neutral point again. "Blind " Materialism " has expended its powers ; it may still have many pretended followers, but very few that believe in it in their hearts. If there were any persons who sincerely believed in it, and followed its teachings to its last logical consequences, they would necessarily end their days in jail or be driven to suicide ; but the great majority of the advocates of Materialism, like the bigots of old theology, feel and think differently from what they say : they deal out their theories to others, but do not desire to* use them themselves. Doubt, the great enemy of true faith, is also the enemy of dogmatic ignorance ; it destroys all self-confidence, and therefore impedes not only the power to do good in those that are good, but it also weakens the poison of those that do evil. The eyes of a world that stepped out from a night of bigotry into the light of day, were dazzled and blinded for a while by the vain glitter of a pile of rubbish and broken pots that had been collected by the advocates of material science, who palmed it off for diamonds and precious stones ; but the world has recovered from the effect of the glare, and realized the worthlessness of the rubbish, and it again seeks for the less dazzling but priceless light of the truth. Treasures that have long been buried and hidden away from the sight of those that were neither able to realize nor to appreciate their value are now brought to light ; pearls of ancient wisdom are brought from the East ; fountains of knowledge that have been for centuries closed up are again opened, and a flood of light is thrown X PREFACE. over tilings that appeared impossible, mysterious, and occult. As we dive into the ancient mysteries a new world opens before us. The more we begin to understand the language of the Adepts, the more grows our respect for their wisdom. The more we become able to grasp their ideas, the more grows our conception of man. The anatomy, physiology, and psychology which they teach make of man something immeasurably greater than the puny and impotent being known to modern science as a compound of bones, muscles, and nerves. Modern science attempts to prove that man is an animal ; the teachings of the Adepts show that he may be a god. Modern science invests him with the power to lift his own weight ; ancient science invests him with the power to control the destiny of the world. Modern science allows him to live for a very limited number of j^ears ; ancient science teaches that he has always existed, and will never cease to exist if he desires to live. Modern science deals with the instru- ment that the real man uses as long and as often as he comes into relationship with the world of phenomena, and she mistakes that instrument for the man ; the Adepts show us the true nature of the essential man, to whom one earthly existence is nothing more than one of the many incidents of his eternal career. There is an invisible universe "U^ithin the visible one, a world of causes within the world of effects. There is force within matter, and the two are one, and are dependent for their existence on a third, which is the mysterious cause of their existence. There is a world of soul within a world of matter, and the two are one, and caused by the PREFACE. xi world of spirit. And within these workls are other workls, visible and invisible ones. Some are known to modern science, of others she does not even know that they exist ; for, as the material worlds of suns and planets and stars, the worlds of animate and inanimate beings, from man the lord of creation down to the microscopic world with its countless inhabitants, can only be seen by him who is in the possession of the powers necessary for their percep- tion, likewise the world of the soul and the realms of the spirit can only be known to him whose inner senses are awakened to life. The things of the body are seen through the instrumentahty of the body, but the things of the soul require the power of spiritual perception. This power of spiritual perception, potentially contained in every man, but developed in few, is almost unknown to the guardians of science in our modern civilization, because learning is often separated from wisdom, and the calculatino" intellect seekino; for worms in the dark caverns of the earth cannot see the q'enius that floats towards the lidit and it cannot realize his existence. And o yet this ancient science, which tlie moderns ignore, is perhaps as old as the world. It was known to the ancient prophets, to the Arhats and Eishis of the East, to initiated Brahmins, Egyptians, and Greeks. Its fundamental doc- trines are found in the Yedas as well as in the Bible. Upon these doctrines rest the fundaments of the religions of the world. They formed the essence of the secrets that were revealed only to the initiated in the inner temple where the ancient mysteries were taught, and whose dis- closure to the vulgar was forbidden under the penalty of torture and death. They were the secrets known to the xii PREFACE. ancient sages and to the Adepts and Eosicrucians of the Middle Ages, and upon a partial understanding of their truths rests the system of modern Freemasonry. They are not to be confounded with speculative philo- sophy, that reasons from the known to that which it cannot know, trying by the flickering light of logic to grope its way into the darkness, and to feel the objects which it cannot see. These doctrines were taught by the children of light who possessed the power to see. Such men were the great religious reformers of all ages, from Confucius and Zoroaster down to Jacob Boehme and Eckartshausen^ and their teachings have been verified by every one whose purity of mind and whose power of intellect have enabled him to see and to understand the things of the spirit. Some of their doctrines refer to morals and ethics, others are of a purely scientific character ; but both aspects of their teachings are intimately connected together, because beauty cannot be separated from truth. They both form the two pages of a leaf in the book of universal ISTature, whose understanding confers upon the reader not merely opinions but knowledge, and renders him not only learned but illuminated with wisdom. Among those who have taught the moral aspect of the secret doctrine there are none greater than Buddha, Plato,, and Jesus of Nazareth ; of those who have taught its scientific aspect there have been none more profound than Hermes Trismegistus, Pythagoras, and Paracelsus. They obtained their knowledge not merely from following the prescribed methods of learning, or by accepting the opinions of the " recognized authorities " of their times. PREFACE. xiii "but they studied Nature by her own light, and they became lights themselves, whose rays illuminate the world of mind. What they taught has been to a certain extent verified and amplified by the teachings of Eastern Adepts but many things about which the latter h^-ve to this day kept a well-guarded silence were revealed by Para- celsus three hundred years ago. Paracelsus threw pearls before the swine, and was scoffed at by the ignorant, his reputation was torn by the dogs of envy and hate, and he was treacherously killed by his enemies. But although his physical body returned to the elements out of which it was formed, his genius still lives, and as the eyes of the world become better opened to an understand- ing of spiritual truths, he appears like a sun on the mental horizon, whose light is destined to illuminate the world of mind and to penetrate deep into the hearts of the coming generation, to warm the soil out of which the science of the coming century will grow. CONTENTS. I. The Life of Paeacelsus PAGE I II. Explanations of Terms . 27 III. Cosmology . 41 IV. Anthropology . . . . . . 58 V. Pneijmatology . . ' 85 VI. Magic and Sorcery . 102 VII. Medicine 132 VIII. Alchemy and Astrology , . 161 IX. Philosophy and Theosophy 184 X. Appendix . . 199 PARACELSUS. I. THE LIFE OF PAEACELSUS. The dawn of the sixteenth century called into existence a new era of thought, and was the beginning of the most stupendous and important accomplishments of those times — the reformation of the Church. The world awoke again from its long sleep in mental torpitude during the Middle Ages, and shaking off the incubus of Papal suppression, it breathed freely once more. As the shadows of night fly at the approach of the day, so clerical fanaticism, superstition, and bigotry began to fade away, because Luther, in the name of the Supreme Power of the Universe, spoke again the Divine command : " Let there be light ! " The sun of truth bes^an ac^ain to rise in the East, and although his light may afterwards have been obscured by the mists and vapours rising from fields on which dogmas and superstitions were undergoing the process of putrefaction, nevertheless it was penetrating enough to extend its beneficial influence over the subse- quent hours of that day. It shone through the murky atmosphere of sectarian bigotry, and sent its rays into doubting minds. Free thought and free investigation, having shaken off the chains with which they were bound down for centuries by the enemies of religious liberty, broke the door of their dungeon, and rose again to heaven to drink from the fountain of truth. Free inquiry B 2 PARACELSUS. took the place of blind credulity ; reason rose victorious out of its struggle with blind belief in clerical authority. Sx^irits that had been bound to cold and dead forms were set free, and began to expand and take their natural shapes ; and truths that had been monopolized and held captive for centuries by an exclusive caste of priests, became the common property of all that were able to grasp them. Such a great struggle for liberty on the battle-field of religious thought could not take place without causing a commotion in other departments where mind was at work. In the department of science there could be seen a general struggle of the new against the old, of reason against sophistry, and of young truths against errors that had become venerable through age. Logic battled against belief in antiquated authorities ; and new constellations, composed of stars of the first magnitude, began to rise, sending their rays into the deepest recesses of thought. Luther overthrew the barrier of ecclesiastical hierarchy ; Melanchton and Erasmus liberated speech ; Cardanus lifted the veil off the goddess of ITature ; and •Copernicus, like Joshua of old, bade the sun to stand still, and, obedient to his command, the sun stood still, and the planetary system was seen to move in the grooves in which it was ordained by the wisdom of the Supreme. One of the greatest and illuminated minds of that age was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus, Bombast of Hohenheim. He was born in the year 1493, in the vicinity of a place called Maria-Einsiedeln,^ being a village about two hours' walk from the city of Zurich, in Switzerland. His father, William Bombast, of Hohenheim, was one of the descendants of the old and celebrated family Bombast, and they were called of Hohenheim after their ancient residence, known as Hohenheim, a ^ At present a place of pilgrimage. THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS. 3 -castle near tlie village of Plinningen, in tlie vicinity oi Stuttgart, in Wlirtemberg. He was a relative of the Ghrand Master of the Order of the Knights of St. John of these times, whose name was George Bombast of Hohen- lieim. He established himself, in his capacity of a physician, near Maria-Einsiedeln ; and in the year 1492 he married the matron of the hospital belonging to the abbey of that place, and the result of their marriage was Theophrastus, their only child. It may be mentioned that Paracelsus, in consideration of the place of his birth, has also been called Helvetius Eremita, and furthermore we sometimes find him called Germanus, Suevus, and Arpinus. Whether or not Paracelsus was emasculated in his infancy, in consequence of an accident or by a drunken soldier — as an old tradition says — or whether he was or was not emasculated at all, has not been ascer- tained. It is, however, certain that no beard grew on his face, and that his .skull, which is still in existence, approximates the formation of a female rather than that of a male. He is painted nowhere with a beard. His portrait, in life-size, can still be seen at Salzburg, painted on the wall of his residence (Linzer Street, No. 365, opposite the church of St. Andrew). Other portraits of Paracelsus are to be found in Huser's edition of his works,^ and in the first volume of Hauber's " Bibliotheca Magica." The head of Paracelsus, painted by Kaulbach in his cele- brated picture, at the Museum at Berlin, called "The Age of Keformation," is idealized, and bears little resemblance to the original. In his early youth Paracelsus obtained instructions in science from his father, who taught to him the rudiments of alchemy, surgery, and medicine. He always honoured the memory of his father, and always spoke in the kindest terms of him, who was not only his father, but also his ^ The portrait of Paracelsus on the frontispiece of this book is taken from that edition. "B 2 4 PARACELSUS. friend and instructor. He afterwards continued his. studies under the tuition of the monks of the convent of St. Andrew — situated in the valley of Savon — under the- guidance of the learned bishops, Eberhardt Bamngartner^ Mathias Scheydt of Eottgach, and Mathias Schacht of Freisingen. Having attained his sixteenth year, he was< sent to study at the University of Basel. He was after-^ wards instructed by the celebrated Johann Tritheniius of Spanheim, abbot of St. Jacob at Wurzburg (1461-1 516),, one of the greatest adepts of magic, alchemy, and astrology, and it was under this teacher that his talents for the study of occultism were especially cultivated and brought into practical use. His love for the occult sciences led him to enter the laboratory of the rich Sigismund Fugger, at Schwatz, in Tyrol, who, like the- abbot, was a celebrated alchemist, and able to teach to his disciple many a valuable secret. Later on, Paracelsus travelled a great deal. He visited Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Piussia^ and it is said that he even went to India, because he was taken prisoner by the Tartars and brought to the Khan, whose son he afterwards accompanied to Constantinople. Every reader of the works of Paracelsus who is also acquainted with the recent revelations made by the Eastern Adepts, cannot fail to notice the similarity of the two systems, which in many respects are almost identical, and it is therefore quite probable that Paracelsus during his captivity in Tartary was instructed in the secret doctrine by the teachers of occultism in the East. The information given by Paracelsus in regard to the sevenfold principles of man, the qualities of the astral body, the earth-bound elementaries, &c., was then entirely unknown in the ^Vest ; but this information is almost the same as the one given in " Isis Unveiled," " Esoteric Buddhism," and other books recently published, and declared to have been given by some Eastern Adej^ts. Paracelsus, moreover, wrote a great deal about the Elementals, or spirits of THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS, $ Nature, but in his description of them he substituted for the Eastern terms such as were more in harmony with the German mythological conceptions of the same, for the purpose of bringing these subjects more to the under- standing of his countrymen, who were used to the Western method of thought. It is probable that Paracelsus stayed among the Tartars between i 5 i 3 and 1 5 2 1 , because, according to Van Helmont^s account, he came to Constan- tinople during the latter year,* and received there the Philosopher's Stone. The Adept from whom Paracelsus received this stone was, according to a certain aiireiim mllus (printed at Eorschach, 1598), a certain Solomon Trismosinus (or Pfeiffer), a countryman of Paracelsus. It is said that this Trismosinus was also in possession of the Universal Panacea ; and it is asserted that he had been seen, still ^live, by a French traveller, at the end of the seven- teenth century. Paracelsus travelled through the countries along the Danube, and came to Italy, where he served as an army surgeon in the Imperial army, and participated in many of the warlike expeditions of these times. On these occasions he collected a great deal of useful information, not only from physicians, surgeons, and alchemists, but also by his intercourse with executioners, barbers, shep- herds, Jews, gipsies, midwives, and fortune-tellers. He collected useful information from the high and the low, from the learned and from the vulgar, and it was nothing unusual to see him in the company of teamsters and vagabonds, on the highways and at public inns — a circum- stance on account of which his narrow-minded enemies heaped upon him bitter reproach and vilifications. Having travelled for ten years — sometimes exercising his art as a physician, at other times teaching or studying alchemy and magic,^ according to the custom of those days — he A Van Helmont, " Tartar! Historia," § 3. 2 Conrad Gesner, *' Epist. Medic." lib. i. fol. i. 6 PARACELSUS. returned at the age of tliirty-two again to Germany,, where he soon "became very celebrated on account of the many and wonderful cm^es which he performed. In the year 1525 Paracelsus went to Basel ; and in 1527, on the recommendation of Oxcolampadius, he was appointed by the City Council a professor of physic, medicine, and surgery, receiving a considerable salary. His lectures were not — like those of his col- leagues — mere repetitions of the opinions of Galen,. Hippocrates, and Avicenna, the exposition of which formed the sole occupation of the professors of medicine of those times. His doctrines were essentially doctrines of his own, and he taught them independently of the opinions of others, gaining thereby the applause of his students, and horrifying his orthodox colleagues by his contravention of theh estabhshed custom of teaching nothing but what could be well supported by old and accepted authorities,, irrespective of whether or not it was compatible with reason and truth. He held at the same time the ojffice of city physician^ and in that capacity he offered a resolution to the City^ Council of Basel to the effect that the apothecaries of that city should be subjected to his supervision, and that he should be permitted to examine whether or not the com- pounders of medicines understood their business, and to^ ascertain whether they had a sufficient quantity of pure and genuine drugs on hand, so that he might prevent them from asking exorbitant prices for their goods. The consequence of this measure was, as might have been expected, that he drew upon himself the concentrated hatred of all the druggists and apothecaries ; and the other physicians and professors, jealous of his success in teaching medicine and curing diseases, joined in the persecution, under the pretext that his appointment as a professor at the university had been made without their consent, and that Paracelsus was a stranger, of whom " nobody knew where he came from," and furthermore that they did not THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS, 7 know whether or not he was " a real doctor." But perhaps all these annoyances and vilifications would have had no serious consequences if he had not made the members of the City Council his enemies by writing a severe publication against a decision which he considered very unjust, and which was rendered in favour of a certain Canonicus Cornelius of Lichtenfels, whom he had saved from death after the latter had been given up to die by the other physicians, and who had acted very un- gratefully towards him. The consequence of his hasty action was, that he had to leave Basel secretly and hurriedly in July 1528, to avoid unpleasant complications.^ After this event, Paracelsus resumed his strolling life, roaming — as he did in his youth — over the country, living in village taverns and inns, and travelling from place to place. Numerous disciples followed him, attracted either by a desire for knowledge or by a wish to acquire his art and to use it for their own purposes. The most renowned of his followers was Johannes Oporinus, who for three years served as a secretary and famulus to him, and who afterwards became a professor of the Greek language, and a well-known publisher, bookseller, and printer at Basel. Paracelsus was exceedingly reticent in regard to his secrets, and Oporinus afterwards spoke very bitterly against him on that account, and thereby served his enemies. But after the death of Paracelsus he regretted his own indiscretion, and expressed great veneration for him. Paracelsus went to Colmar in 1528, and came to Esslingen and Nuremberg in the years 1529 and 1530. The " regular physicians " of Nuremberg denounced him a quack, charlatan, and impostor. To refute theh^ accusa- tions he requested the City Council to put some patients that had been declared incurable under his care. They sent him some cases of elephantiasis, which he cured in a 1 Urtstisius, " Baseler Claronik,'' bk. vii. chap. xix. p. 1527. 8 PARACELSUS. short time and without asking any fee. Testimonials to that effect may be found in the archives of the city of !N"uremberg. But this success did not change the fortune of Paracelsus, who seemed to be doomed to a life of continual wanderings, In 1530 we find him at Noerd- lingen, Munich, Ee^;ensburg, Amberg, and Meran ; in 1 5 3 I in St. Gall, and in 1535 at Zurich. He then went to Maehren, Kaernthen, Krain, and Hongary, and finally landed in Salzburg, to which place he was invited by the Prince Palatine, Duke Ernst of Bavaria, who was a great lover of the secret arts. In that place Paracelsus obtained at last the fruits of his long labours and of a wide-spread fame. But he was not destined to enjoy a long time the rest he so richly deserved, because already, on the 24th of September i 5 4 1 , he died, after a short sickness (at the age of forty-eight years and three days), in a small room of the inn to the " White Horse," near the quay, and his body was buried in the graveyard of St. Sebastian. There is still a mystery in regard to his death, but the most recent investigations go to confirm the statement made by his contemporaries, that Paracelsus during a banquet had been treacherously attacked by the hirelings of certain physicians who were his enemies, and that in consequence of a fall upon a rock, a fracture was produced on his skull, that after a few days caused his death. A German physician, S. Th. von Soemmering, examined the skull of Paracelsus, which on account of its peculiar formation could not easily be mistaken, and noticed a fracture going through the temporal bone, which, by reason of the age and frequent handling of that skull, had become enlarged in size so as to be easily seen, and he believes that such a fracture could only have been produced dming the life- time of Paracelsus, because the bones of a solid but old and desiccated skull would not be likely to separate in that manner. THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS. 9 The bones of Paracelsus were exhumed in the year 1572, at a time when the church was repaired, and re-interred near the back side of the wall that encloses the space in front of the chapel of St. Philippi Xeri, an •extension of the church of St. Sebastian, where his monument may be seen at the present time. The midst of a broken pyramid of white marble shows a cavity which contains his picture, and above it is a Latin inscrip- tion, saying : Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi qui tantam orbis famam ex auro chymico adeptus est effigies et ossa donee rursus circumdabitur pelle sua. — Jon. cap. xix. Belov/ the portrait are the following words : Sub reparatione ecclesiae mdcclxxii. ex sepulchraH tabe eruta heic locata sunt. The base of the monument contains the following inscription : Conditur hie Phihppus Theophrastus insignis Medi- cinae Doctor qui dira ilia vulnera Lepram Podagram Hydropsin aliaque insanabilia corporis contagia mirifica arte sustulit et bona sua in pauperes distri- buenda locandaque honoravit. Anno xdxxxxi. Die xxiv. Septembris vitam cum morte mutavit. Below this inscription may be seen the coat of arms of Paracelsus, representing a beam of silver upon which are ranged three black balls, and below are the words : Pax vivis requies aetema sepultis. A translation of the above inscription into German may be seen on a black board on the left side of the monument. The two latter inscriptions have evidently been taken from the original monument, but the one around the portrait was added in 1572. Thus were the earthly remnants of Paracelsus disposed lo PARACELSUS. ^ of ; but an old tradition says — and those who are supposed to know confirm the tale — that his astral body having already during physical existence become self-conscious I and independent of the physical form, he is now a living Adept, residing with other Adepts of the same Order in a certain place in Asia, from whence he still — invisibly, but nevertheless effectually — influences the minds of his fol- \ lowers, appearing to them occasionally even in visible and ^tangible shape. Paracelsus left very few worldly goods at the time of his death, but the inheritance which he left in the shape of his writings is rich and imperishable. This extra- ordinary man — one of the most remarkable ones of all times and all peoples — found many enthusiastic followers ; but the number of those who envied and therefore hated him was still greater. He had many enemies, because he overthrew the customary old-fogyism of the orthodox physicians and sj)eculative philosophers of his age ; he proclaimed new, and therefore unwelcome, ideas ; and he defended his mode of thinkinc^ in a manner that was rather forcible than polite. One-sided culture could see in Paracelsus nothing else but an enthusiast, a fanatic, and noise -maker ; his enthu- siastic followers, on the other hand, looked upon him as a god and a monarch of all mysteries and king of the spirits. It was his destiny to be misjudged by his friends as well as by his enemies, and each side exaggerated his qualities — the one his "vdrtues, the other his faults. He was denounced and vilified by one set of ignoramuses, and his qualities extolled by another, and the two camps roused each other into a frenzy by their inordinate praises and vile denunciations, whose exaggerations were evident to every one but themselves. Those historians who have criticized the character of Paracelsus severely, forgot to take into consideration the oostume.s and fashions of the time in which he lived, the character of his surroundings, and his restless wanderings. Xow, as the battle of con- THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS. ii tending opinions has ceased to rage, we may take a dis- passionate view of the past, and after studying his works and the writings of his critics and biographers, we will arrive at the conclusion that he was one of the greatest and most sublime characters of all times. His works con- tain inexhaustible mines of knowledge and an extraordinary amount of germs out of which great truths may grow if they are attended to by competent cultivators, and a great deal that is at present misunderstood and rejected will by future inquirers be drawn to the light, and be cut into some of the noblest blocks in the spiritual Temple of Wisdom. The writings of Paracelsus are especially distinguished by the short and concise manner in which his thoughts are expressed. In this regard they may be compared to some of the writings of Thales, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, and Hippocrates. There is no ambiguity in his expressions, and if we follow the roads which he indicated, progressing at the same time along the path of physical science, we shall find the richest of treasures buried at the places that he pointed out with his magic wand. Paracelsus was a Christian in the true meaning of that word, and he always attempted to support the doctrines he taught by citations from the Bible. He asks : " What is a philosophy that is not supported by spiritual revela- tion ? Moses did not attempt to teach physics ; he wrote in a theological sense calculated to impress the feelings and awaken the faith of the simple-minded, and perhaps he may not have understood physics himself. The scientist, unlike the theologian, does not put any trust in his feelings, but believes only in his experiments, because physical science deals with phenomena and not with faith. The Hebrews, moreover, did not know much about natural science, and as a people they have always been more ignorant than others in that respect." " Faith is a luminous star that leads the honest seeker 12 PARACELSUS. into the mysteries of Nature. You must seek your point of gravity in God, and put your trust into an honest, divine, sincere, pure, and strong faith, and cling to it with your whole heart, soul, sense, and thought — full of love and confidence. If you possess such a faith, God (Wis- dom) will not withhold His truth from you, but He will reveal His works to you credibly, visibly, and con- solingly." " Everything that happens takes place through the will of the Supreme. Conscience is the state which we have received from God, in which we should see our own image, and according to the dictates of which we should act, without attempting to discover reasons in the guidance of our life in regard to morals and virtues. We should -do that which our conscience teaches, for no other reason but because our conscience teaches it. He who does not burn himself will not be burned by God, and God pro- vided him with a conscience into which he may put his implicit trust. To learn from others, to accept the opinion of others, to act in a certain manner because others are acting in that way, is temptation. Therefore faith into the things of the earth should be based upon the holy Scripture and upon the teachings of Christ, and it will then stand upon a firm basis. Therefore we shall put the fundament and the corner-stone of our wisdom upon three principal points, which are : first. Prayer, or a strong desire and aspiration for that which is good. It is neces- sary that we should seek and knock, and thereby ask the Omnipotent Power within ourselves, and remind it of its promises and keep it awake, and if we do this in the proper form and with a pure and sincere heart, we shall receive that for which we ask, and find that which we seek, and the doors of the Eternal that have been closed before us will be opened, and what was hidden before our sight will come to light. The next point is Faith : not a mere belief into something that may or may not be true, but a faith that is based upon knowledge, an un- THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS. 13 "wavering confidence, a faith that may move mountains and throw them into the ocean, and to which everything is possible, as Christ has Himself testified. The third point is Imagination. If this power is ]3roperly kindled in our soul, we will have no difficulty to make it har- monize with our faith. A person who is sunk into deep thought, and, so to say, drowned in his own soul, is like one who has lost his senses, and the world looks upon him as a fool. But in the consciousness of the Supreme he is wise, and he is, so to say, the confidential friend of God, knowing a great deal more of God's mysteries than all those that receive their superficial learning through the avenues of the senses ; because he can reach God through his soul, Christ through faith, and attract the Holy Ghost through an exalted imagination. In this way we may grow to be like the Apostles, and to fear neither death nor prison, neither suffering nor torture, neither fatigue nor hunger, nor anything else." But with all his piety Paracelsus was no bigot. He was an enemy of hypocrisy, ceremonial service, and pious ostentation. He says : " If you pray publicly, to what purpose will it serve ? It will only be the beginning and the cause of idolatry, and therefore it has been prohibited by Christ/' During the time of the Eeformation, when the mental atmosphere was in a state of great commotion, wdien everybody contended either for Luther or for the Pope, Paracelsus stood above the quarrelling parties, and rejected all sectarianism, for he said : " Among all sects there is none which possesses intellectually the true religion. We must read the Bible more with our heart than with our brains, until at some future time the true rehgion will come into the world." His sympathies, however, went with the liberal Protestants, and he expressed himself in regard to the action of Luther as follows : " The enemies of Luther are to a great extent composed of fanatics, inaves, bigots, and rogues. Why do you call me a 14 PARACELSUS. ' Medical Lutlier ' ? You do not intend to honour me by giving me that name, "because you despise Luther. But I know of no other enemies of Luther but those whose kitchen prospects are interfered with by his reforms. Those whom he causes to suffer in tlieir pockets are liis enemies. I leave it to Luther to defend what he says, and I shall be responsible for what I may say. "Whoever is Luther's enemy will deserve my contempt. That which you wish to Luther you wish also to me ; you wish us both to the fire." Such were the true characteristics of this great man. The accusations brought against him by his opponents show that his faults have been so grossly exaggerated, that the very absurdity of the charges brought against hmi renders such statements incredible and harmless. He has been represented as a drunkard, and this accusation has been based upon a passage occurring in a letter which he wrote to some students of the University of Ziirich, and in which he addresses them as Comhibones oj^timi. It seems, however, more probable that the partnership in drinking alluded to in this expression was meant to refer to the " wine " of wisdom rather than to any more material liquid ; moreover, the contents of that letter are very serious and pathetic, and show no indication of frivolity or a love for debauch. It has also been ascertained that Paracelsus up to his twentieth year never drank any intoxicating drinks, and even if it should be found that he afterwards drank wine, such a fact could easily be explained by the general custom of these times, according to which even the most honourable and respected persons (Luther included) were in the habit of " drinking each other's health." If we, moreover, take into consideration the quantity and quality of his works, which were all written within a period of time covering fifteen years, we may be permitted to conclude that he could not have accompHshed such a work in a state of that continual intoxication in which, according to the statement of his THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS. 15 enemies, lie must have remained. " Therefore," says Arnokl in his " History of Churches and Heretics " (vol. ii. cap. xxii.), " the report is disproved by the fact that a man who is a glutton and drunkard could not have been in possession of such divine gifts." Paracelsus has been accused of vanity and boasting, and the fact is, that he was proud of his own attributes or accomplishments ; but he did not glorify his own person, only the spirit that exalted his soul. Seeing himself sur- rounded by ignorance, misjudged and misrepresented, but conscious of his own strength, he asserted his rights. He maintained that the value of the truths he taught would be appreciated in due time, and his prophecy has proved to be true. It was this consciousness of his superior power that inspired him to exclaim : " I know that the monarchy (of mind) will belong to me, that mine will be the honour. I do not praise myself, but ^N'ature ]Draises me, for I am born of Nature and follow her. She knows me and I know her. " ^ This language is not that of a boaster, but rather that of a general who knows that he will be victorious, when he writes : " After me, ye, Avicenna, Galenus, Ehases, Montagnana, and others ! You after me, not I after you, ye of Paris, Montpellier, Suevia, Meissen, and Cologne, ye of Vienna and all that come from the countries along the Danube and Ehine and from the islands of the ocean I You Italy, you Dalmatia, you Sarmatia, Athens, Greece, Arabia, and Israelita ! Follow me ! It is not for me to follow you, because mine is the monarchy. Come out of the night of the mind ! The time will come when none of you shall remain in his dark corner who will not be an object of contempt to the world, because I shall be the monarch, and the monarchy will be mine." ^ This is not the language of vanity and self-conceit. It is rather the language either of inspiration or of folly, because extremes resemble each other. Paracelsus was 1 " Libr. Paramirum," Preface. ^ «« Libr. Paragranum," Preface. i6 PARACELSUS, proud of the spirit that spoke through him; but personally he was modest and self-sacrificing, and he well knew that a man would be a useless thing if he were not over-shadowed by the spirit of the Supreme. He says : " Eemember that God has put a mark upon us, consisting in our shortcomings and diseases, to show to us that we have nothing to pride ourselves about, and that nothing comes within the reach of our full and perfect understanding ; that we are far from knowing absolute truth, and that our own knowledge and power amount to very little indeed." Personal vanity and ostentation were not the elements to be found in the character of Paracelsus — they were the customs of the physicians of that age; but it is a daily occurring fact, that he who exposes and denounces the faults of others appears to the superficial observer as boasting of his own superiority, although no such motive may prompt him. And as Paracelsus was not slow to criticise the ignorance of the " learned," it was necessarily supposed by the vulgar that he looked upon himself as more learned than all others, and they had not the capacity to know whether or not he was justified in such an estimate of himself. He was, however, far superior in medical skill to all his colleagues, and performed apparently miraculous cures among many patients that had been pronounced incurable by the leading doctors — a fact that has been proved by Erasmus of Eotterdam, a most careful and scientific observer. Among such patients were not less than eighteen princes, on whom the best j)hysicians had tried their arts and failed. In his thirty- third year he was already an object of admiration for the laity, and an object of professional jealousy for the physicians. He also incurred the wrath of the latter by treating many of the poorer classes without pay, while the other physicians unrelentingly claimed their fees. The most common reward for his labour was ingratitude, and this he earned everywhere, not only in the houses of THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS. 17 the moderately wealthy, but also among the rich ; for instance, in the house of the Count Philippus of Baden, whose case had been given up as hopeless by his physicians. Paracelsus cured the Count in a short time, who in return showed great penuriousness towards him. Moreover, the ingratitude of that prince caused great joy to the enemies of Paracelsus, and gave them a welcome opportunity to ridicule and slander him more than ever. Accusations of a different order are brought against him, referring to the bluntness of his style of writing, which was not always refined or polite. It should, how- ever, be remembered that such a style of speaking and writing was universally used at these times, and objec- tionable expressions were adopted by all, not excluding Luther, the great Eeformer, who, in spite of his genius, was a mortal man. Paracelsus was a great admirer of Luther, and even surpassed him in enthusiasm for re- ligious and intellectual freedom. Luther seemed to him to be still too conservative. He believed that such a gigantic revolution in the world of mind could not be accomplished with meekness and condescension, but that it required firmness, tenacity, and an unbending will. He says of himself : " I know that I am a man who does not speak to every one only that which might please him, and I am not used to give submissive answers to arrogant questions. I know my ways, and I do not wish to change them ; neither could I change my nature. I am a rough man, born in a rough country ; I have been brought up in pine-woods, and I may have inherited some knots. That which seems to me polite and amiable may appear unpolished to another, and what seems silk in my eyes may be but homespun to you." Great abuse has been heaped upon Paracelsus by his enemies on account of his restless and roaming way of living. He acquired- his knowledge, not in the comfort- able manner in which the great majority of scientists acquire theirs, but he travelled all over the country on c i8 PARACELSUS. foot, and went wherever he expected to find something that might be useful to know. He writes : " I went in search of my art, often incurring danger of life. I have not been ashamed to learn that which seemed useful to me even from vagabonds, executioners, and barbers. We know that a lover will go a long way to meet the woman he adores : how much more will the lover of wisdom be tempted to go in search of his divine mistress ! " {Paragranum : Preface.) He says : " The knowledge to which we are entitled is not confined within the limits of our own country, and does not run after us, but waits until we go in search of it. No one becomes a master of practical experience in Ms own house, neither will he find a teacher of the secrets of Nature in the corners of his room. We must seek for knowledge where we may expect to find it, and why should the man be despised who goes in search of it ? Those who remain at home may live more com- fortably, and grow richer than those who wander about ; but I neither desire to live comfortably, nor do I wish to become rich. Happiness is better than riches, and happy is he who wanders about, possessing nothing that requires his care. He who wants to study the book of Nature must wander with his feet over its leaves. Books are studied by looking at the letters which they contain; Nature is studied by examining the contents of her treasure-vaults in every country. Every part of the world represents a page in the book of Nature, and all the pages together form the book that contains her great revelations." Paracelsus did not read or write much. He says that for ten years he never read a book, and his disciples testify that he dictated his works to them without using any memoranda or manuscripts. On taking an in- ventory of his goods after his death, a Bible, a Biblical Concordance, a Commentary to the Bible, and a written book on Medicine, were all the books that could be found THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS. 19 in his possession. Even earlier than Luther he had publicly burned a Papal bull, and with it the writings •of Galen and Avicenna. He says : " Eeading never made •a physician. Medicine is an art, and requires practice. If it were sufficient to learn to talk Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, to become a good physician, it would also be sufficient for one to read Livius to become a great com- mander-in-chief. I began to study my art by imagining that there was not a single teacher in the world capable to teach it to me, but that I had to acquire it myself. It was the book of iSTature, written by the finger of God, which I studied — not those of the scribblers, for each scribbler writes down the rubbish that may be found in his head ; and who can sift the true from the false ? My accusers complain that I have not entered the temple of knowledge throu:2fh the '' leoitimate door." But which one is the truly legitimate door ? Galenus and Avicenna or Nature ? I have entered through the door of Xature : her light, and not the lamp of an apothecary's shop, has illuminated my way." Great stress was laid by his accusers upon the fact that he wrote the greater part of his books and taught his doctrines in the German language, and not, as was then customary, in Latin. But this was one of his most important acts ; because in so doing he produced a refor- mation in science similar to the one that Luther produced in the Church. He rejected the time-honoured use of the Latin lan^uasje, because he believed that the truth could as well be expressed in the language of the country in which he lived. This daring act was the beginning of free thought in science, and the old belief in authorities began to weaken. It is probable that Paracelsus would never have attained his knowledge if he had permitted his mind to be fettered and imprisoned by the idle for- malities that were connected with a scientific education at that time. It is, however, true that it is very difficult — if not c 2 20 PARACELSUS. altogetlier impossible — to understand correctly tlie writings- of Paracelsus, unless one is well acquainted with his. peculiar terminology and phraseology. He deals in his. writings with many subjects, for which our modern language has no appropriate terms. ^ He therefore in- vented a great many words of his own to express his meaning, and only few of his words have obtained the right of citizenship in our language. To facilitate the- study of the work« of Paracelsus, his disciples Gerhard Dorn, Bernhard Thurneyssen, and Martin Euland, com- posed dictionaries to explain the meaning of such curious terms. The one compiled by Euland, entitled " Lexicon Alchemicum," Pragae, 1 6 1 2, is the most complete. Guil- helmus Johnson published the same under his own name- at London in 1660, and it has been incorporated into the greatest collection of alchemical writings, the '' Bibliotheca Chymica Curiosa," by J. T. Mangets (Geneva, 1702). Another '' Dictionarium Paracelsicum " was written by a certain Bailiff, and added to the Geneva publication. But as all these books have become very rare, and can only be obtained with difficulty and at a great expense^ we therefore add below a complete list of his favourite terms, for the benefit of those who may wish to read his. complete works. THE WRITINGS OF PAEACELSUS. Paracelsus wrote personally not a great deal. He usually dictated that which he desired to be put into writing to his disciples. The greatest part of his works is therefore in the handwriting of his disciples. Pew of the w^orks of Paracelsus were printed during his lifetime. Those that were printed consist of his seven books, " De Gradibus et Compositionibus Eeceptorum et Naturalium,'* Basel, 1526; and of his " Chirurgia Magna,''' printed at ^ Appropriate terms for the subjects referred to are only found in Eastern languages, especially in Sanscrit. WRITINGS OF PARACELSUS. 2e XJlm, 1536. The rest of his writings did not become -known publicly nntil after his death, and it is to be regretted that his disciples and followers — such as Adam von Bodenstein, Alexander von Suchten, Gerhard Dorn, Leonhard Thurneyssen, Peter Severinus, Oswald Crall, Melchior Schennemann, and others — delivered them in such a state of confusion to the printer, that frequently entire pages were missing, and it was very difficult to put those that were to be had into some order. Separate editions of the works of Paracelsus were published by Hieronymus Feierabend in Frankfurt, by Arnold Byrkmann in Cologne, and by Peter Barna in Basel. Simultaneously a great many spurious prints and writings^ falsely attributed to Paracelsus were put into •circulation, as appears from a note by Antiprassus Siloranus, who says that Paracelsus wrote 35 books on Medicine, 235 on Philosophy, 12 on Politics, 7 on Mathematics, and 66 on Necromancy. If we remember that Paracelsus was engaged in literary labours for only fifteen years, it appears self-evident that Siloranus referred in his note to all the books and papers that were put into circulation, and attributed to Paracelsus by the public. John Huser, doctor of medicine at Grossglogau, under- took a critical examination of such works, on the request of the Archbishop Prince Ernst of Cologne. He collected with great labour all the autographs of Paracelsus and the original manuscripts of his disciples, such as could be found ; he put them into order, and revised and published them at Cologne in a general edition during the years 1589 and 1590. That collection contains the following works : — 22 PARACELSUS. I. WOEKS OIT MEDICmE. 1. Paramimm de Quinque Entibus Omnium Morborum- {AvAocjrajili of Paracelsus.) 2. Opus Paramirum Secundum. {Autogra^pli.) 3. Liber de Generatione Hominis. 4. Liber Paragranum. {Aiitogra]plh.) 5. Liber Paragranum Secundum. {Autograph.) 6. Chronica des Landes Kaerntben. 7. Defensiones und Yerantwortung wegen etliclier Yerung- limjDfung seiner ISIisgoenner. 8. Labyrintlius medicorum erranlinm. 9. Das Buch. vom Tartaro, das ist vom Ursprung des Sands. und Steins. 10. Epistel der Landschaft Kaerntlien an Theophrastum. 11. De viribus membrorum. 12. De primis tribus essentiis. 13. Yom Ursprung und Heilung der natuer-^ liclien Pestilenz. 14. Eiu Buecblein von der Pestilenz an die Stadt Sterzingen. 15. Zwei Buecber vom Ursprung und Ursacb. der Pest. 16. Drei andere Buecber von der Pestilenz. 17. Eltiche Collectanea de Peste. {Autogro.iJli.f 18. De Morbis ex Tartaro oriundis. 19. Tlieopbrasti Ej^istola ad Erasmum Potterdamum. 20. Erasmi Potterdami Kesponsio. 21. Liber de Teteriis. From the original MS.ofPr.Joh. ' Montanus, of Sirschfeld. >■ 31 S. of Montanus. ^ Paramirum of the Five Causes of Disease. ^ Second Book, Paramirum.. ^ Book of the Generation of Man. '^ Paragranum. ^ Paragranum, Second Book. ^ Chronic, of the Country of Kaernthen. ^ Defence and Answer- respecting some Misrepresentations made by his Enemies. ^ The Labyrinth of the Wandering Physician. ^ The Book of Tartarus — i.e., of the Origin of Pebbles and Stones. ^^ Letter of the Country of Kaernthen to Theo- phrast. ^^ Of Organic Powers. ^- Of the Three First Elements. ^"^ Of the Cause and Cure of the ordinary Pest. ^^ Letter about the Pest to the Town of Sterzingen. ^^ Two Books on the Cause and Origin of the Pest. ^^ Three more Books on the Pest. ^"^ Collections of Notes on the Pest. ^s On Diseases coming from the Tartams. ^^ Theophrastus' Letter to Eras- mus of Rotterdam. -° His Answer. -^ Book on Jaundice. WRITINGS OF PARACELSUS. 23 22. 23- 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. zz- 34. 35- 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43- 44. 45- 46. \ Autogra'plis of Paracelsus, Liber quatuordecim paragraphomm. Von den tartarischen Krankheiten. Yon den Krankheiten die den Men set en der Yernunft herauben. Yon Krummen und lahmen Gliedern. Yon den astralischen Krankheiten. Yom Podagra. Andere zwei Buecher vom Podagra. {Print.) Yom Ursprung, Ursach und Heilung des Morbi Caduci und Epilepsy. {MS.) De Caduco matricis. {MS.) Yon den Bergkrankheiten. {MS) Theorica Schemata sen Typi. {Autograph.) Practicae particularis sen Curationis morborum Tartareorum. {Fragment.) Etliche Consilia Medica. {MS.) Etliche Fragmenta Medica. {MS.) De Sanitate et Aegritudine. \ De Stercore et Aegritudinibus en hoc oreundis. De anatomia ocnlorum et eornm affec- tionibus. Anslegung primae sectionis Aphoris- \ morum Hippocrates. Autographs. De modo phlebotomandi. De Tirinis et pulsibus. De modo pharmacandi. Archidoxornm Libri X. De Renovatione. De Yita longa. (German.) De Yita longa. {Latin.) Sources not men- tioned. Autographs. 22 Book of Fourteen Paragraphs. -^ On Tartaric Diseases. ^^ On Dis- eases causing Insanity. -■' On Contracted and Paralyzed Members. ^^ Dis- eases caused by Astral Influences. ^^ On Gout. -^ Two more Books on Gout. 2^ On the Cause, Origin, and Cure of Nervous Diseases and Epilepsy. 30 On Displacements of the Uterus. ^^ Diseases in Mountainous Ptegions. 32 On Types of Diseases. ^3 q^^q of Tartaric Diseases. "^ Some written Consultations. '^^ Medical Fragments. '-^^ Health and Disease. ^7 Excre- mentive Substances and Diseases caused by them. '*^ The Eye, its Anatomy and Diseases. ^^ Explanation of the First Sections of Hippocrates' Aphor- isms. '^° How to Let Blood. '^^ Diagnostics from Urine and Pulse. 42 Pharmaceutics. ^^ The Book of Archidoxes. ^^ Pienewal. ^^ Long Life. 4« Ditto. 24 PARACELSUS. 47. Some fragments in German. \ 48. De praeparationibns libri duo. I 71^ 49- Process den Spiritum Yitrioli zn machen. | ^^^'^^^cnpifs. 50. De natura rerum. / 11. ALCHEMY. 51. De Tinctura Physica. \ 52. Liber Yexationnm. \ Manuscripts. 53. Thesaurus Alchemistarum. -^ 54. De Cementis. ) 55. Cementum super Yenerem et Marte. l^'^^osraphs. 56. Das Manuale de Lapide Philosopborum. {MS.) 57. Eatio extrahendi ex omnibus metallis Mercurium, Sulphur, et Crocum. [M8.) III. YAEIOUS WEITIISTGS. 58. Intimatio Theophrasti. ) itm j- a 59. Degradibusrerumnaturalium.J ^S. of Aporinus. 60. Herbarius. \ 61. YondenfuenfnatuerliclienDingen. [ ^^^°^*'^^^^^- 62. ZweiTractate vom TerpentMn und Honig.\ 63. Yom Ebenholz, von Brueclien und Prae- h -pj/r i paration der JMumie. } 64. De virtutibus berbarum. {MS. of Aporinus.) 65. Liber Principiorum. {MS. of Montanus.) 66. De Thei-mis, {MS. of Oporinus.) 67. Yom Bade Pfeffers. \ 68. De gradibus et compositionibus. r MS. of Montanus. 69. Scholia in libros de gradibus. ' JO. Fragmenta. ] 7 1 . Fragmenta aliquod de re Herbaria. | ^'^iograpJis. ^^ Yarious Fragments. '^^ Preparations of the Second Book. ^^ How- to make Spirit of Vitriol. ^^ The Essential Nature of Things. ^^ " Curative Tincture." ^^ Vexations. ^'^ Alchemical Treasures. ^* Cements. ^^ A Cement for Venus and Mars. ^^ Manual of the Philoso- pher's Stone. ^7 How to Extract of all Metals their Mercury, Sulphur, and Crocus. ^8 Advice of Theophrastus. '^ Of the various Grades of Things. 60 On Plants, ^i On the Five Natural Things. 62 Two Tracts on Turpen- tine and Honey. 63 Ebony-wood, Ptuptures, Preparation of the Mumia. ^* The Virtues of Plants, es The Books of Beginnings. ^^ Mineral Springs. c7 The Baths of Pfeflfers. eg Gradations and Compositions. ^^ Eemarks about Gradations. ''^ Fragments. ^^ Fragments treating of Plants. WRITINGS OF PARACELSUS, 25 IV. NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY. 72. Philosophia ad Athenienses. {Print.) y2,. Opus anatomicum. {Autograph.) 74. Philosopliia degenerationibus et fructibus quatuor elemen- tarum. {Print.) 75. Pbilosophia de generatione liommis. {Print.) 76. De meteoris. {Autogra'pli.) yj. Aliud opusculum de meteoris. {Autograph.) 78. Liber meteorum tertius. {MS. of Montanus.) 79. De generatio metallorum. [Ditto.) 80. Yon den natuerlichen Waessern. Y. MAGIC. 81. De divinibus operibns et secretis naturae. N| 82. De sagis earumque operibus. 83. De Daemonicis et Obsessis. 84. De somniis. 85. De sanguine ultra mortem. \ j / 7, 86. De animalium hominum post mortem ( y 1 ' apparentibus. 87. De virtute imaginativa. 88. De cbaracteribus. 89. De Homunculis et Monstris. 90. DePhilosophia occulta. I mS. of Montanus. 91. De Imagmationibus. j 92. Philosophia Paracelsi. \ 93. Yom Fundamente nnd Ursprung der I Other Weisheit und Kuenste. [ Manuscripts. 94. Fragmenta. j 95. Philosophia sagax. 72 Letters to the Athenians. ''^ Anatomy. ''•* Doctrine of the Products and Fruits of the Four Elements. ''^ On the Generation of Man. 76 Meteors. '' More about Meteors. "^ Third Book on Meteors. ''^ The Generation of Metals. ^^ Natural (Thermal) Springs, ^i The Divine Works and Secrets of Nature. ^^ Sorcerers and Witches and their Arts. ^"^ Devils and Obsessions. ^^ Dreams. ^^ The State of the Blood after Death. 8c Souls of Men appearing after Death. ^^ Characters. ^9 Homunculi and Monsters. ^^ Occult Philosophy. ^^ Imaginations. ^- The Philosophy of Paracelsus. ^^ The Foundation and Origin of Wisdom and Arts. ®* Fragments. ^^ Critical Philosophy. 26 PARACELSUS. 96. Erklaerung der ganzen Astronomie. (lf>S'. of Montanus.) 97. Practica ia Scientiam Divinationis. | 98. Erklaerung der natnerliclien Astronomie. r Autograjglis. 99. Eragmenta. 100. Das Bucli Azoth sen de ligno Yitae. ) ^, . , . , ., -nr • f r, ^ \ \ Manuscrims. loi. Arcmdoxes Magicae (seven books) J -^ 102. Anslegnng von 30 magisclien Mguren. (Autograph.) 103. Prognostication znknenftiger Gescliicliten auf 24 Jahre. (Print.) 104. Yaticininm Theophrasti. _ \ ^^^^ Montanus 105. Yerbesserte Auslegung Theophrasti. ] ' "^ 106. Pascicnlus Prognosticationum Astrologicarum. ' 95 j^3;;planation of Astronomy. S'' Instructions in the Science of Divina- tion, ^s Natural Astronomy. ^^ Fragments. ^"^ The Book Azoth, or the Tree of Life. ^^^ Fundamental Doctrines of Magic. ^"^ Explanation of Thirty Magic Figures. ^'^^ Prophecies for Twenty-four Years. ^"^ The Predictions of Theophrast. ^"^ Explanations. ^"^ Astrolo^cal Predictions. ( 27 ) II. EXPLANATION'S OF TEEMS USED BY PAEACELSUS. Includinrj some other Terms frerpiently used hy Writers on Occultism. *' Since the days of the unlucky mediaeval philosophers, the last to •write upon these secret doctrines of which they were the depositaries, few men have dared to brave persecution and prejudice by placing their knowledge upon record. And these few have never as a rule written for the public, but only for those of their own and succeeding times who possessed the key to their jargon. The multitude, not understanding' them or their doctrines, have been accustomed to look upon them as either charlatans or dreamers. " — H. P. Blavatsky : Isis Unveiled, vol. i. A Abessi, or Kebis. — Kefuse; dead matter; excrementitlous sub- stances. Adech. — The inner (apiritual) man; tlie lord of thought and imagination, forming subjectively all things in his mind, which the exterior (material) man may objectively reproduce. Either of the two acts according to his nature, the invisible in an in- visible, and the visible one in a visible manner, but both act correspondingly. The outer man may act what the inner man thinks, but thinking is acting in the sphere of thought, and the products of thought are transcendentally substantial, even if they are not thrown into objectivity on the material plane. The inner man is and does what he desires and thinks. Whether or not his good or evil thoughts and intentions find expression on the material plane is of less importance to his own spiritual development than to others who may be affected by his acts, but less by his thoughts. Admisl'Hal. — Earth (literally and allegorically). Adrop, AzA^-E, or Azar. — " The Philosopher's Stone." This is not a stone in the usual sense of that term, but an allegorical ex- pression, meaning the principle of wisdom upon which the 28 PARACELSUS, philosopher who has obtained it by practical experience (not the one who is merely speculating about it) may fully rely on, as he would rely on the value of a precious stone, or as he would trust to a solid rock upon which to build the foundation of his (spiritual) house. AcTHNA. — An invisible, subterrestrial fire, being the matrix from which bituminous substances take their origin, and sometimes producing volcanic eruptions. It is a certain state of the " soul " of the earth, a mixture of astral and material elements, perhaps of an electric or magnetic character.-^ AcTHNici. — Elemental spirits of fire ; spirits of Nature. They may appear in various shapes, as fiery tongues, balls of fire, &c.. They are sometimes seen in " spiritual seances." ^ A'kaSA. — An Eastern term. Living primordial substance, corre- sponding to the conception of some form of cosmic ether per- vading the solar system. Everything visible is, so to say, condensed A'kasa, having become visible by changing its supra-ethereal state into a concentrated and tangible form, and everything in nature may be resolved again into A'kasa, and be made invisible, by changing the attractive power that held its atoms together into repulsion ; but there is a tendency in the atoms that have once constituted a form, to rush together again in the previous order, and reproduce the same form ; and a form may therefore, by making use of this law, be apparently destroyed and then reproduced. This tendency rests in the character of the form preserved in the Astral Light. Alcahest. An element which dissolves all metals, and by which all terrestrial bodies may be reduced into their Ens priniumj or the original matter (A'kasa) of which they are formed. It is a power which acts upon the Astral forms (or souls) of all things, capable of changing the polarity of their molecules and thereby to dissolve them. The power of Will is the highest aspect of the true Alcahest. In its lowest aspect it is a visible fluid able to dissolve all things, not yet known to modern chemistry. Alchemy. — A science by which things may not only be decomposed and recomposed (as is done in chemistry), but by which their essential nature may be changed and raised higher, or be trans- muted into each other. Chemistry deals with dead matter ^ It is an element in the life of the "great snake " Vasuki, that according to Hindu mythology encircles the world, and by whose movements earth- quakes may be produced. ^ They are the Devas of fire in India, and hulls were sometimes sacrificed to them. EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 29 alone, but Alchemy uses life as a factor. Everything is of a threefold nature, of which its material and objective form is its lowest manifestation. There is, for instance, immaterial spiritual gold, ethereal fluid and invisible astral gold, and the solid visible, material and earthly gold. The two former are, so to say, the spirit and soul of the latter, and by employing the spiritual powers of the soul we may induce changes in them that may become visible in the objective state. Certain external manipulations may assist the powers of the soul in their work ; but without the possession of the latter the former will be perfectly useless. Alchemical processes can therefore only be successfully undertaken by one who is an Alchemist by birth or by education. Everything being of a threefold nature, there is a threefold aspect of Alchemy. In its higher aspect it teaches the regeneration of the spiritual man, the purification of the mind, thought, and will, the en- nobling of all the faculties of the soul. In its lowest aspect it deals with physical substances, and as it leaves the realm of the living soul, and steps down to dead matter, it ends in the science of modern chemistry of the present day. Algol. — The substance of a body free from all earthly matter ; its ethereal or astral form. Aluech. — The pure spiritual body (the Atma). Aniadus. — The spiritual activity of things. ANiADTJii. — The spiritual (re-born) man ; the activity of man's spirit in his mortal body ; the Seat of Spiritual Consciousness. A_nlada. — The activities that are caused by astral influences, celestial powers; the activity of imagination and phantasy. Ajjyodei. — The spiritual life ; the subjective state into which the higher essence of the soul enters after death, and after having lost its grosser parts in Kama-loca. It corresponds to the con- ception of Devachan. Aquastoe. — A being created by the power of the imagination — i.e., by a concentration of thought upon the A'kasa by which, an ethereal form may be created (Elementals, Succubi and Incubi, Yampires, &c.). Such imaginary but nevertheless real forms may obtain life from the person by whose imagina- tion they are created and under certain circumstances they may even become visible and tangible. AucHATES, or Archalles. — The element of the mineral kingdom. Archaeus. — The formative power of iN'ature, which divides the elements and forms them into organic parts. It is the principle of life ; the power which contains tbe essence of life and charac- ter of everything. 30 PARACELSUS. Aees.— The spiritual principle ; the cause of the specific character of each thing. Astral Light. — The same as the Archaeus. A universal and living ethereal element, still more ethereal and highly organized than the A'kasa. The former is universal, the latter only cosmic — viz., pertaining to our solar system. It is at the same time an element and a power, containing the character of all things. It is the storehouse of memory for the great world (the Macrocosm), whose contents may become reimbodied and reincarnated in objective forms ; it is the storehouse of memory of the little world, the Microcosm of man, from which he may recollect ^Dast events. It exists uniformly throughout the interplanetary spaces, yet it is more dense and more active around certain objects on account of their molecular activity, especially around the brain and spinal cord of human beings,'Which are surrounded by it as by an aura of light. It is this aura around the nerve- cells and nerve- tubes by which a man is enabled to catch im- pressions made upon the astral aura of the cosmos, and thereby to " read in the Astral Light." It forms the medium for the transmission of thought, and without such a medium no thought could be transferred to a distance. It may be seen by the clairvoyant, and as each person has an astral aura of his own, a person's character may be read in his Astral Light by those who are able to see it. In the case of a child who has not yet generated any special characteristics that emanating aura is milk white ; but in the adult there is always upon this fundamental colour another one, such as blue, green, yellow, red, dark-red, and even black. Every living nerve has its astral aura, every mineral, every plant or animal, and everything of life, and the glorified body of the spirit is made to shine by its light. AsTHUM. — This term is frequently used by Paracelsus, and means the same as Astral Light, or the special sphere of mind belong- ing to each individual, giving to each thing its own specific qualities, constituting, so to say, its world. AviTCHi. — An Eastern term. A state of ideal spiritual wickedness ; a subjective condition ; the antitype of Devachan or Anyodei. AzoTH. — The creative principle in Nature ; the universal panacea or spiritual life-giving air. It represents the Astral Light in its aspect as the vehicle of the universal essence of life ; in its lowest aspect the electrifying power of the atmosphere — Ozone, Oxygen, &c. B. Beryllus. — A magic mirror or crystal in whose Astral aura appari- tions may be seen by the clairvoyant. Berillistica ars : The EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 31 art of divining by means of seeing in crystals, magic mirror, flowing water, looking into cups, into stones, &c., all of which, methods are calculated to render the mind passive, and thereby to enable it to receive the impressions that the Astral light may make upon the mental sphere of the individual, by de- tracting the attention from external and sensual things, the inner man is made conscious and receptive for its subjective impressions. Eruta. — Astral force manifested in animals ; second sight in ani- mals ; power of animals to discover instinctively poisonous or curative medicines, &c. c. Oaballi, Oa bales, Lemures. — The astral bodies of men who died a premature death — that is to say, who were killed or killed themselves before their natural term of life was over. They may be more or less self-conscious and intelligent according to the circumstances in which they lived and died. They are the earth-bound suffering souls of the dead, wandering in the sphere of the earth's attraction (Kama-loca) until the time arrives when they would have died according to natural law, when the separation of their higher principles from the lower ones takes place. They imagine to perform bodily actions, while in fact they have no physical bodies, but act in their thoughts ; but their bodies appear to them as real as ours appear to us. They may under certain necessary conditions communicate with man through " mediums," or directly through a man's own medium- istic organization. Chaomantia. — Divination by aerial visions ; clairvoyance ; second sight. Cherio. — " Quint-essence." The essence or fifth principle of a thing ; that which constitutes its essential qualities, freed of all im- purities and non-essentials. Clissus. — The hidden specific power contained in all things ; the life-force which in vegetables mounts from the roots into the trunk, leaves, flowers, and seeds, causing the latter to produce a. new organism. Corpus Invisibile. — The invisible body ; the animal soul (Kama rupa) ; the medium between material forms and the spiritual principle ; a substantial, ethereal, but under ordinary circum- stances invisible thing ; the lower astral form. Corpora supercoelestia. — Forms that can only be seen by the highest spiritual perception ; they are not ordinary astral forms, but the refined and intelligent elements of the same. 33 PARACELSUS. D. Deeses. — An occult exhalation o£ the earth, by means of which plants are enabled to grow. Carbonic acid gases, &c., are its vehicles. Devachan. — An Eastern term. A subjective state of happiness of the higher principles of the sonl after the death of the body. {See Anyodei.) It corresponds to the idea of Heaven, where each individual monad lives in a world which it has created by its own thoughts, and where the products of its own spiritual ideation appear substantial and objective to it. Drv'BsrATio. — The act of foreseeing future events by means of the soul's own light ; prophecy. DiVEHTELLTJM. — The matrix of the elements, from which the latter generated.^ DuRDALES. — Substantial but invisible beings, residing in trees (Dryades) ; elemental spirits of nature. E. Edelphus. — One who divines from the elements of the air, earth, water, or fire. Electeum magicum. — A composition of seven metals, compounded according to certain rules and planetary influences ; a prepara- tion of great magic power, of which magic rings, mirrors, and many other things may be made. Eleme:n'tals. — Spirits of nature. Substantial but (for us) invisible beings of an ethereal nature, living in the elements of air, water, earth, or fire. They have no immortal spirits, but they are made of the substance of the soul, and are of various grades of intelligence. Their characters differ widely. They represent in their natures all states of feeling. Some are of a beneficial and others of a malicious nature. Elementaeies. — The astral corpses of the dead; the ethereal counterpart of the once living person, which will sooner or later be decomposed into its astral elements, as the physical body is dissolved into the elements to ', which it belongs. These 1 For instance, each metal has its elementary matrix in which it grows. Mines of gold, silver, &c., become exhausted, and after centuries (or millen- niums) they may be found to yield again a rich supply ; in the same way the soil of a country having become infertile from exhaustion, will after a time of rest become fertile again. In both cases a decomposition and a development of lower elements into higher ones takes place. EXPLANATIONS OB TERMS. 33 elementaries have under normal conditions no consciousness of their ov/n ; but they may receive vitality from a mediumistic person, and thereby for a few minutes be, so to say, galvanized back into life and (artificial) consciousness, when they may speak and act and apparently remember things as they did during life. They very often take possession of Elementals, and use them as masks to represent deceased persons and to mislead the credulous. The Elementaries of good people have little cohesion and evaporate soon ; those of wicked persons may exist a long time, those of suicides, &c., have a life and con- sciousness of their own as long as the division of principles has not taken place.^ These are the most dangerous. Elementum. — The invisible element or basic principle of all sub- stances that may be either in a solid (earthly), liquid (watery), gaseous (airy), or ethereal (fiery) state. It does not refer to the so-called simple bodies or " elements " in chemistry, but to the invisible basic substance out of which they are formed. Etesteum. — The Astral Body (Doppelgaenger) of Man ; his con- scious ethereal counterpart, that may watch over him and ■warn him of the approach of death or of some other danger. The more the physical body is active and conscious of external things, the more is the Astral body stupefied ; the sleep of the body is the awakening of the Evestrum. During that state it may communicate with the Evestra of other persons or with those of the dead. It may go to certain distances from the physical body for a short time ; but if its connection with that body is broken, the latter dies. ERODi^'iirir. — A pictorial or allegorical representation of some future events ; visions and symbolic dreams that may be produced in various ways. There are three classes of dreams from which may arise four more mixed states of dreams. The three pure classes are: i. Dreams that result from physiological con- ditions ; 2. Dreams that result from psychological conditions and astral influences ; 3. Dreams that are caused by spiritual agency. Only the later are worthy of great consideration, although the former may occasionally indicate important changes in the planes to which they belong; for instance, a dream of a nail being driven into the head may predict apoplexy, &c. ^ This diyision takes place in consequence of the opposite attraction of matter and spirit. After it is accomplished, the astral body will be dis- solred into its elements, and the spirit enter into the spiritual state. — /See A. P. SiNNETT : Esoteric Buddhism. D 34 PARACELSUS, F. FiRMAHENT. — The sonl — sphere of the Macrocosmos, respectively that of the Microcosmos. Flagae. — Spirits knowing the secrets of man; familiar spirits; spirits that may be seen in mirrors and reveal secret things. a. Gamathei, or G-AMA-HEU. — stones with magic characters and pic- tures, iDOssessing powers received from astral influences. They may be made by art or in a natural manner. Amulets ; charms. GIGA^'TES.— Elementals having the human form but of superhuman size. They live like men, and are mortal, though invisible under ordinary circumstances. Gnom, PYGiiAEi, Ctjbitali. — Little Ele mentals having the human form and the power to extend their form. They live in the ele- ment of the earth, in the interior of the earth's surface, in houses and dwellings constructed by themselves. H. HoMUNCULi. — Artificially made human beings, generated from the sperm without the assistance of the female organism. (Black magic). HoiiUNCULi niAGUNCULAE. — Images made of was, clay, wood, &c., that are used in the practice of black magic, witchcraft, and sorcery, to stimulate the imagination and to injure an enemy, or to afi'ect an absent person in an occult manner at a distance. I. Ilech PEiMUiT, Ileias, Ileadus. — The first beginning ; primordial power; causation. Ilech supernatueale. — The union of the superior and inferior astral influences. Ilech magxum. — The specific healing power of medicine. Ilech crudum. — The combination of a body out of its three con- stituent principles, represented by salt, sulphur, and mercur}'-, or body, soul, and spirit ; respectively the elements of earth, water, and fire. Ileiades. The element of the air ; the vital principle. Iliaster. — The hidden power in Nature, by means of which all things grow and multiply ; primordial matter ; materia prima ; A'kasa. Iliaster iirimus : life ; the balsam of Nature. II. secundus : the power of life inherent in matter. U. tertius : the astral power of man. II. quoMus: perfection; the power obtained by the mystic process of squaring the circle. EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 35 Imaginatio. — The plastic power of the soul, produced by active con- sciousness, desire, and will. Impressiones. — Effects of a passive imagination, which may give rise to various bodily affections, diseases, malformations, stig- mata, monsters (hare-lips, acephali, &c.), moles, marks, &c. Incubus awl Succubus. — Male and female parasites growing out of the astral elements of man or woman in consequence of a lewd imagination. 2. Astral forms of dead persons (Elemen- taries), being consciously or instinctively attracted to such persons, manifesting their presence in tangible if not visible forms, and having carnal intercourse with their victims. 3. The astral bodies of sorcerers and witches visiting men or women. for immoral purposes. The Incubus is male, and the Succubus female. K. Kama Loca. — An Eastern term. Region of Desire. The soul-sphere (third and fourth principle) of the earth — not necessarily on the earth's surface — where the astral remnants of the deceased putrefy and are decomposed. In this region the souls of the deceased that are not pure, live (either consciously or in a state of torpor) until their Kama rupas (bodies of desire) are laid off by a second death, and they themselves having been dis- integrated, the division of the higher principles takes place. The lower principles being disposed of, the spirit, with liis purified affections and the powers he may have acquired during his earthly existence, enters again into the state of Devachan. Kama Loca corresponds to the Hades of the Greeks, and to the purgatory of the Roman Catholic Church — the Litnhus. {See Elementaries.) L. Leffas. — Astral bodies of plants. They may be rendered visible out of the ashes of plants after the latter have been burned. {See Palingenesis, in the Appendix.) Lemures. — Elementals of the air ; Elementaries of the deceased ; *' rapping and tipping spirits," producing physical manifes- tations. LiiiBus {Magnus). — The world as a whole; the spiritual matrix of the universe ; Chaos, in which is contained that out of which the world is made. M. . Magic. — Wisdom ; the science and art of consciously employing invisible (spiritual) powers to produce visible effects. Will, love, and imagination are magic powers that every one possesses, D 2 36 PARACELSUS. and lie wlio tnows how to develop them and to use tliem con- sciously and effectually is a magician. He who uses them for good purposes practises white magic. He who uses them for selfish or evil purposes is a black magician.^ Paracelsus uses the term Magic to signify the highest power of the human spirit to control all lower influences for the purpose of good- The act of employing invisible powers for evil purposes he calls ISTecromancy, because the Elementaries of the dead are- often used as mediums to convey evil influences. Sorcery is not Magic, but stands in the same relation to Magic as; darkness to light. Sorcery deals with the forces of the human and animal soul, but Magic with the supreme power of the spirit. Magisteeium. — The medicinal virtue of medicinal substances, pre- served in a vehicle. Mangonaria. — A magic power by which heavy bodies may be lifted without any great physical effort ; magical suspension ; levita- tion. It is usually accomplished by changing their polarity m. regard to the attraction (gravity) of the earth. Matrices. — The vehicles of things ; elementary bases. Melosinae. — Elemental sj^irits of water, usually appearing in female forms, but which may also take the forms of fishes or snakes. They have souls, but no spiritual principle ; but they may obtain the latter by entering into a union with man. (The fourth principle uniting with the fifth.) The human shape is their true form ; their animal forms are assumed. They are also called Undines. Magrocosmos. — The Universe; the great world, including all visible and invisible things. MiCROCOSMOs.— The little world. Usually appHed to Man. A smaller world is a microcosmos if comj^ared with a larger one. Our Solar System is a Microcosm in comparison with the Uni- verse, and a Macrocosm if compared with the Earth. Man is a Microcosm in comparison with the Earth, and a Macrocosm if compared with an atom of matter. An atom of matter is a Microcosm, because in it are all the potentialities out of which a Macrocosm may grow if the conditions are favourable. Every- thing contained in a Microcosm in a state of development is contained in the Mici-ocosm in germ. MoNSTRA, — Unnatural — usually invisible — beings, that may spring from corruption or from unnatural sexual connection, from the (astral) putrefaction of sperma, or from the effects of a morbid ■* See "Magic, White and Black ; or, The Science of Finite and Infinite Iiife." By Dr. F. Hartmann. EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 37 imagination. All such and similar things may pass from the merely subjective into the objective state ; because " objective '* and "subjective" are relative terms, and refer rather to our capacity to perceive them, than to any essential qualities of their own. What may be merely subjective to a person in one state of existence may be fully objective to one in another state : for instance, in delirium tremens, insanity, subjective hallucinations appear objective to the patient. MuMiA. — The essence of life contained in some vehicle. (Jiva, Vitality ; clinging to some material substance.) Parts of the human, animal, or vegetable bodies, if separated from the organism, retain their vital power and their specific action for a while, as is proved by the transplantation of skin, by vaccina- tion, poisoning by infection from corpses, dissection wounds, infection from ulcers, &c. (Bacteria are such vehicles of life.) Blood, excrements, &c., may contain vitality for a while after having been removed from the organism, and there may still exist some sympathy between such substances and the vitality of the organism ; and by acting upon the former, the latter may be affected.^ Mysterium MAGNUii. — Original matter ; the matter of all things ; the ultimate essence ; essentiality of the inner nature ; specific quality of the semi-material part of things. All forms come originally from the Mysterium magnum, and all return to it in the end ; the Parabrahman of the Yedantins. K NECROCOiiiCA. — Visions of future events in the air. Kecromantia. — Sorcery ; witchcraft ; the art of employing the un- conscious Elementaries of the dead by infusing life into them, and employing them for evil purposes. ^ A case is cited in whicli a plastic operation was performed on a man's nose by transplanting on it a piece of skin taken from another person. The artificial nose answered its purpose for a long time, until the person from whom the piece of skin was taken, died, when the nose is said to have rotted. Cases are also known in which persons have felt a pain caused by the pressure of a stone upon a recently amputated leg, that without their knowledge had been buried, and the pain instantly ceased when the stone was removed. This sympathy existing between man's consciousness and his body is the cause that the astral form of a dead person may keenly feel any injury inflicted upon his corpse. The " spirit " of a suicide may feel the effects of a post-mortem examination as severely as if he had been cut up while alive. 38 PARACELSUS, ITECTEOMAifTiA.— The perception of the interior (the sonl) of things ; psjchometry ; clairvoyance. ITENurAHENi. — ElemeiDtals of the air. Sylphs. Nymphae. — Elemental s of water-plants. 0. Occultism. — The science that deals with things that transcend sensual perception and are generally little known. It deal& especially with effects that cannot be explained by the uni- versally known laws of Nature, but whose causes are still a mystery to those who have not j)enetrated deep enough into the secrets of Nature to understand them correctly. What may be occult to one person, may be fully comprehensible to another. The more the spirituality and intelhgence of man grows and the more it becomes free of the attractions of sense, the more will his perceptive power grow and expand, and the less will the processes of Nature appear occult to him. P. Penates or Pennates, Laees hepvCii, Etesii, Meilichh. — Spirits of the elements of fire, as well as imps, hobgoblins, &c., attached to particular places, haunted houses, &c. They may produce noises, " physical manifestations," stone-throwing, &c. Pentacula. — Plates of metal with magic symbols written or en- graved upon them. They are used as charms, amulets, &c., against diseases caused by evil astral influences. Puantasmata. — Creations of thought ; " spirits" living in solitary places (they may be produced by the imagination of men and be able to communicate with him) ; hallucinations. Praesagitjm. — Omen ; signs of future events. Pygmaei. — Spirits of the Element of the Earth; being the products, of a process of organic activity going on in that element, by which such forms may be generated. They are dwarfs and quite microscopical beings, ever at war with the Gnomes. E. KuPA. — An Eastern term. Form. Kama rujpa^ form caused by desire; Mayavi rwpa, illusive form caused by the will and imagination of a person who consciously projects his own astral reflection, as that of any other form. EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 39 S. Sagani. — Elementals or spirits of Nature. Salamandri. — Salamanders ; spirits living in the element of fire. ScAiOLAE. — Spiritual powers, qualities, virtues, depending on the quality and quantity of the elements that produce them. Such powers are thought, love, hate, imagination, hope, fear, &c. SoiiNiA. — I. Dreams. 2. The invisible astral influences that one person may exercise over another in his dream. A person may thus make another person dream what he desires him to per- ceive ; or the astral body of one sleeping person may converse with that of another; or such astral bodies of living persons may be impressed or be made to promise to do certain things after awakening, and they will then keep such promises when they awake. Spirit. — This term is used very indiscriminately, a fact that may cause great confusion. In its true meaning spirit is a unity, a. one living universal power, the source of all life ; but the word spirit and spirits is also used very often to signify invisible, but nevertheless substantial things — forms, shapes, and essences^ elementals and elementaries, shades, ghosts, apparitions, angels, and devils. Spiriius viTAE. — The vital force ; a principle taken from the ele- ments of whatever serves as a nutriment, or which may be im- parted by " magnetism." SpiEiirs ANiMALis. — Astral power, by which the will of the higher principles in man is executed on the sensual and material plane; instincts. Sylphes. — Elementals residing in mountainous regions (not in the air). Sylyestees. — Elementals residing in forests ; the Dusii of St. Augustine ; fauns. Syre^jes. — Singing elementals. Melusinae, attracted to and often keeping in the waters ; half women, half fishes. T, Theosophia. — Supreme wisdom, acquired by practical experience by which it is eminently distinguished from merely speculative philosophy. Trarames. — An invisible power that may communicate with man through sounds, voices, ringings of bells, noises, kz. 40 PARACELSUS. Umbratiles. — Shadows ; astral appearances becoming visible and sometimes tangible (modern spiritualistic form manifesta- tions);^ tbe Scin-lecca, or wraith, or the German Doppelgaenger of a person. They may become visible by attracting ethereal material elements from the body of a medium, or any other person in whom there is little cohesion of his lower elements in consequence of some disease, or on account of inherited pecu- liarities of his organization ; or they may attract them from the surrounding atmosphere. Their life is borrowed from the medium, and if it were prevented to return to the medium, the latter would be paralyzed or die. {See EYESTurii.) Yampires. — Astral forms living at the expense of persons from whom they draw vitality and strength. They may be either the astral bodies of living persons, or of such that have died, but which still cling to their physical bodies buried in the grave, attempting to supply them with nutriment drawn from the living, and thereby to prolong their own existence. Such cases are especially well-known in the south-east of Europe — Moldavia, Serbia, Bussia, &c. (Yourdalak).^ X. Xeni nephidei. — Elemental spirits that give men occult powers over visible matter, and then feed on their brains, often causing thereby insanity.^ A great number of physical mediums have become insane. Y. Yliastee. — Primordial matter out of which the universe has been formed in the beginning of time. ^ Euland says about them : " Cmbratilia transmutata sunt in hominem conspectum ab astris et suis ascendibus occultis oblata, quae non sicus lemures apparent oculis, idque per magiam efficaciam." — Lexic. Alchemic. p. 466. ^ Well-authenticated cases of vampires may be found in Maximilian Perty's works, and in H. P. Blavatsky's "Isis Unveiled." 3 They assist "physical mediums" to lift material oljects without any visible means. ( 41 ) III. COSMOLOGY. The power that was active in the formation of the world was God; the Supreme Cause and Essence of all things, being not only the Father of the Son, but of all created things that ever were, that are, or will be ; the Yliaster/ the primordial and original Cause of all existence. This Power is, was, and will be the eternal Constructor of the world, the Carpenter of the universe, the Sculptor of forms. Creation took place through the inherent AYill of that Creative Povrer being expressed in the "Word"^ or Mat (active and efficient thought), in the same manner as if a house would come into existence by a breath.^ The cause of the beginning of creation was in the eternal inherent activity of the immaterial Essence^ and all things w^ere invisibly or potentially contained in the First Cause, or God. When creation took place the Yliaster divided itself ; it, so to say, melted and dissolved, and developed out of itself the Ideos or Chaos (Mysterium magnum, Iliados, Limbus major, or Primordial Matter). This Primordial Essence is of a monistic nature, and manifests itself not only as vital activity, a spiritual force, an invisible, incomprehensible, and indescrilDable power; but also as vital matter, of which the substance of livim? beino-s consists."* In the Limbus or Ideos of primordial matter, ^ From v\7j, forest, and astra, stars or worlds. - The A070S. ^ By the breath (out-breathing) of Brahma. ^ This means that Life is the cause of matter and force. Force and matter are originally identical ; they are only two different modes of one and the same cause or eubstance which is called Life, and which is itself an attribute or function of the supreme cause of all existence. !Modern discoveries go to prove the unity or identity of matter and energy. Eecent researches in 42 PARACELSUS. invested with the original power of life, without forie,, and without any conceivable qualities — in this, the only matrix of all created things, the substance of all thijogs-, is contained. It is described by the ancients as the- Chaos, and has been compared to a receptacle of germs, out of which the Macrocosmos, and afterwards by division and evolution in Hysteria specialia,^ each sepa- rate being came into existence. All things and all elementary substances were contained in it, in ]potentia^ but not ill actii, in the same sense as in a piece of wood a.. figure is contained, which may be cut out by an artist,. or as heat is contained in a pebble, that may manifest its, essence as a spark if struck with a piece of steel.^ The Magnus Limbus is the nursery out of which all creatures have grown, in the same sense as a tree may grow out of a small seed ; with the difference, however, that the^, great Limbus takes its origin from the Word of God, while the Limbus minor (the terrestrial seed or sperm) takes it from the earth. The great Limbus is the seed out of which all beings have come, and the little Limbus is- each ultimate being that reproduces its form, and that has itself been produced by the great. The little Limbus- chemistry, and comparisons made between the chemical, musical, and colour- scales seem to indicate that the cause of the difference between the hetero- geneous single bodies is not caused by an essential difference of the sub - stances of which they are composed, but only a difference in the number of' their atomic vibrations. ^ " Mysterium " is everything out of which something may be developed,, which is only germinally contained in it. A seed is the " mysterium" of a, plant, an egg the mysterium of a living bird, &c. If Eastern mythology says that the universe came out of an egg put into the water by Brahma, Neuter, or Ideation, it implies the same meaning as the Mysterium magnum of Paracelsus ; because the egg represents the mysterium, the water the life,, and the spirit hatches out of it the Creative God, Brahma. 2 It seems that Paracelsus anticipated the modern discovery of the " potency of matter " three hundred years ago. ^ The Yliaster of Paracelsus coiTesponds to the "Ev of Pythagoras and Empedocles, and it was Aristotle who spoke first of the form in potentia before it could appear in actu — the former being called by him "the; jprivation of matter. " COSMOLOGY. 43 has all the qualifications of the great one, in the same sense as a son has an organization similar to that of his father. " As it is above^ so it is below." As creation took place and the Yliaster dissolved. Ares, the dividing, differentiating, and individualizing power of the Supreme Cause, began to act. All produc- tion took place in consequence of separation. There were produced out of the Ideos the elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, whose birth, however, did not take place in a material mode or by simple separation, but spiritually and dynamically, just as fire may come out of a pebble or a tree come out of a seed, although there is. originally no fire in the pebble nor a tree in the seed. *' Spirit is living and Life is Spirit, and Life and Spirit produce all things, but they are essentially one and not two. The tongue talks, and yet it does not talk, for it is the Spirit that talks through the tongue and without the Spirit the tongue would be silent, because the flesh alone cannot talk." The elements, too^ have each one its own Yliaster, because all the activity of matter in every form is only an effluvium of the same fountain. But as from the seed grow the roots with their fibres, afterwards the stalk with its branches and leaves, and lastly the flowers and seeds ; likewise all beings were born from the elements, and consist of elementary substances out of which other forms may come into existence, bearing the characteristics of their parents.^ The elements, as the mothers of all creatures, are of an invisible spiritual nature, and have souls. ^ They all spring from the Mysterium magnum, which is eternal life, and therefore the spiritual elements, and all the beings that have been formed of such elements, must be eternal ; just as a flower ^ This doctrine, preached 300 years ago, is identical with the one that has revolutionized modern thought after having been put into a new shape and elaborated by Darwin ; and is still more elaborated by the Indian Kapila, in the Sankhya philosophy. 2 Everything, whether it may manifest itself as matter or as force, is CBsentially a trinity. 44 ^ PARACELSUS. consists of elements similar to those of the plant on which it grows. " Nature being the Universe, is one, and its origin can only be one eternal Unity. It is an organism in which all natural things harmonize and sympathize with each other. It is the Macrocosm. Everything is the product of one universal creative effort ; the Macrocosm and man (the Microcosm) are one. They are one constellation, one influence, one breath, one harmony, one time, one metal, one fruit." ^ (" Philosophia ad Athenienses.") There is nothing dead in Nature. Everything is organic and living, and consequently the whole world appears to be a living organism. " There is nothing corporeal which does not possess a soul hidden in it. There exists nothing in which is not a hidden principle of life. Not only the things that move, such as men and animals, the worms of the earth, and the birds of the air and the fishes in the water, but all corporeal and essential things have life." There is no death in Nature, and the dying of the beings consists in their return into the body of their mother ; that is to say, in an extinction and suppression of one form of existence and activity, and in a re-birth of the same thing into another and more interior world, in a new form, possessed of new faculties that are adapted to its new surroundings. "Two factors are discernible ^ This description of the sympathy existing between Man and Eternal Nature recalls to memory the old hroTrav and the aviiirvoLa ixia, crvppia. /xia, cvfMiraSeia iravra of Hippocrates, and it especially reminds us of the *' Timseus " of Plato and the "Emerides " of Plotin, in which works the whole of Nature is represented as a living and rational beiDg( ^cDoj'), having come into existence by the will of the Supreme Cause. The head of man is there pictured as being an imitation of the peripheric constitution of the world. The basis of the natural philosophy of Paracelsus is the evidently existing corre- spondence, correlation, and harmony existing between the human constitution and the constitution of the starry world, including all terrestrial things, and this philosophy is almost identical with that of Plato, which speaks of the for- mation of all things in the inner world according to eternal patterns existing in the realm of the pure Ideal. COSMOLOGY. 45 in eacli tiling — its Body (form) and its Activity (qualities). The latter is nothing else but an effluence of the Supreme Cause, because everything exists from the beginning in God, into whose unman if ested state all things will return in the end, and from whose power they all receive their qualities, or whatever they deserve on account of their capacity to receive or attract it/' Life is an universal omnipresent principle, and nothing is without life. In some forms life acts slowly — for instance, in stones \ in otliers (organized beings) it acts quickly. Each element has its own peculiar living existences, belonging to it exclusively/ Such existences or beings, living in the invisible elements, are the elemental spirits of Nature. They are beings of the Hysteria specialia, soul-forms, which will return into their chaos, and who are not capable of manifesting any higher spiritual activity because they do not possess the necessary kind of constitution in which an activity of a spiritual character can manifest itself. Otherwise they live like animals, or even like human beings, and they propagate their species. By the knowledge of ether (A'kasa) we may come into contact with such beings, and there are some of them that know all the mysteries of the elements.^ " Matter is, so to say, coagulated smoke, and is con- nected with spirit by an intermediate princijjle which it receives from the Spirit. This intermediate link between matter and spirit belongs to all three kingdoms of Nature^ In the mineral kingdom it is called Stannar or Trughat,^ in the vegetable kingdom Leffas ;'' and it forms, in connection with the vital force of the vegetable kingdom, the Primum Ens, which possesses the highest medicinal ■^ For instance, jBshes in tlio water, blood -corpuscles in the air, aniraalculae in putrid fluids, bacteria in impure air, &c. &c. 2 Each Elemental may know the mysteries of that element to which it belongs. ' Tlie Astral hody (Linga-sbarira) of minerals, plants, and animals. •* Astral protoplasm. 46 PARACELSUS. properties.^ This invisible ethereal "body may be resur- TBcted and made visible from the ashes of plants and animals by alchemical manipulations. The form of the ■original body may thus be made to appear and disappear.^ In the animal kingdom this semi-material body is called Evestrum, and in human beings it is called the Sidereal Man. Each living being is connected with the Macro- cosmos and Microcosmos by means of this intermediate •element or Soul, belonging to the Mysterium magnum, from whence it has been received, and whose form and <;[ualities are determined by the quality and quantity of the spiritual and material elements. As all things come from the same source, containing the primordial substance of all things, they are all intimately related to each other and connected with each other, and are essentially and fundamentally a unity. Any difference existing between two dissimilar things arises only from a difference in the forms in which the primordial essence manifests its activity. Such a differ- ence is caused by the different grades through which such forms have passed in the progress of their evolution and development. [Note. — If we compare the teachings of the Eastern sages with the cosmo- logy taught by Paracelsus, and substitute the Sanscrit or the Tibetan terms used by the former for those invented by the latter, we find the two systems almost, if not wholly, identical. According to the Eastern sages, there is a ceaseless activity going on during the state of Pralaya (the night of Brahm), in that incomprehensible eternal First Cause that may be looked upon in one cf its many aspects as being Matter, Motion, and Space, in an absolute sense, which is beyond the grasp of our relative conception. Its motion is the unconscious latent life inherent in it. This is the Yliaster of Paracelsus, the " root of Matter," or Mula prakriti of the Vedantins, out of which Prakriti (Matter) and Purusha (Space) become manifest as body and form. In this, The Absolute, Infinite, and Unconditioned, being the endless aggregation of everything conditioned and finite, the germ or ^ Perhaps this may serve as a clue to explain the action of homoeopathic medicines. 2 See Appendix : " Palangenesis of Plants." COSMOLOGY, 47 "J)otentialities of all things are [contained. It is the Limbus Chaos of Paracelsus, and the germs contained in it are developed by the action of 'the Universal Mind, Dyan-Chobans, and the power of Wisdom, Fo-hat — to use tbe Tibetan words. Thus the Universe may be said to be a product of Cosmic Ideation and Cosmic Energy, acting, not at random or in an arbitrary manner, but according to a certain order produced by previous causes, wbicb are tbemselves tbe effects of otber causes, and wbicb consti- tute tbe Law. The existence of this inevitable and unchangeable law is frequently alluded to by Paracelsus. He says, for instance, in his book, "De Origine Morborum Invisibilium " : "Does not holy writ say that God spoke : Am I not the God who made the dumb and the deaf, the blind and the seeing? What else does this mean, but that he is the creator of all things, of good and of evil?" The writings of the Buddhists teach the same doctrine, saying that there is only One Power, Srdbhdvat. It cannot act otherwise than according to the law of cause and effect, and that makes a useful tree grow as well as a useless stone in the bladder, according to the causes that have been produced by previous effects. Each act and each thought has a cause, and the cause of the cause is the Law.] Man, as such, is the highest being in existence, because in him ISTature has reached the culmination of her evolutionary efforts. In him are contained all the powers and all the substances that exist in the world, and he constitutes a world of his own. In him wisdom may- become manifest, and the x^owers of his soul — good as well as evil — may be developed to an extent little dreamed of by our speculative philosophers. " In him are contained all the Coelestia, Terrestria, Undosa, and Aeria " — that is to say, all the forces and beings and forms that may be found in the four elements out of wdiich the Universe is constructed. Man is the Microcosm containincf in himself the types of all the creatures that exist in the world, '^ and it is a great truth, wliich you should seriously consider, that there is nothing in heaven or upon the earth which does not also exist in Man, and God who is in heaven exists also in man, and the two are but One." Each man in his capacity as a member of the great organism of the world can be truly known only if looked upon in his connection with universal Nature, and not as a separate being isolated from l^ature. Man is dependent for his existence on I^ature, and the state of ISTature 48 PARACELSUS. depends on the condition of mankind as a whole. If we know ISTature we know Man, and if we know Man we know E'ature." A^lioever desires to be a practical philosopher ought to be able to indicate heaven and hell in the Microcosm, and to find everything in Man that exists in heaven or upon the earth ; so that the corre- sponding things of the one and the other appear to him as one, separated by nothing else but the form. He must be able to turn the exterior into the interior, but this is. an art wliich he can only acquire by experience and by the light of ^N'ature, which is shining before the eyes of every man,^ but which is seen by few." The science which deals with the comparison of the ^Microcosm and Macrocosm for the purpose of elucidating the nature of the two (which are in reality one), and to bring to an understanding the rational principle governing their activity, is called by Paracelsus, Astronomia, and this term is not to be confounded with modern physical Astronomy, or the science of the revolutions of the suns and planets in cosmic space, neither does it refer to the mathematical astrological science of the sixteenth century. The Astronomy of Paracelsus means Wisdom, or a direct recognition of the truth, caused by a just appreciation and comprehension of the relationship existing between the Macrocosmos and the Microcosmos, " whereby the nature of man becomes known through an understanding of the upper sphere of the great world, as well as by investigating the lower sphere of his little world, as if they were ap]Darently (what they are essentially) one 1 Thus a man in whom Supreme Wisdom or God has become fully manifest is a god to the extent of his wisdom, and the power which he can exercise will extend as far as the power manifested through him will reach. A man will become an incarnation of good or evil according to the degree in which the good or evil existing in the Universe becomes manifested through him. But as no one can become a Christ by merely speculating upon the doctrines of Christ without practising them, so nobody can come into possession of practical knowledge by merely accepting a creed or a belief in the scientific opinions of others without any experience of his ovra. COSMOLOGY. 49 Eirmament/ one Star, one Being, althougli appearing temporarily in a divided form and shape." ^ The sphere of the Universal Mind is the upper firma- ment, and the sphere of the individual mind the lower firmament, but the two are intimately connected together and are essentially one. " It is the knowledge of the upper (outer) firmament that enables us to know the lower (inner) firmament in man, and which teaches in what manner the former continually acts upon and inter- relates with the latter." Upon this knowledge the true science of Astrology is based. Each, however — the Microcosmos as well as the Macro- cosmos — are to be looked upon as having each a separate and independent existence, and as being independent of each other, each one by reason of the individuality of its own inherent power, notwithstanding the fact that both have the same origin and the same life ; for the one primordial power has become differentiated in each separate form, and its originally homogeneous action has become modified by the special qualities that have been acquired by the forms in which it manifests itself. " As the sky with its stars and constellations is nothing separate from the All but includes the All, so is the ' firmament ' of Man not separate from Man ; and as the Universal Mind is not ruled by any external existence, likewise the firmament in Man (his individual sphere of mind) is not subject to the rule of any creature, but is an independent and powerful whole." ^ ^ One world. ^ "Liber Paramirum," cap. 2. This is tlie fundamental doctrine of the teachings of Paracelsus. The Macrocosm and the Microcosm may not only be " compared together,'' but they are one in reality, divided only by form, which is an essentially vedantic doctrine. 5 This fundamental truth of occultism is allegorically represented in the interlaced double triangles. He who has succeeded in bringing his indi- vidual mind in exact harmony with the Universal Mind, has succeeded in re- uniting the inner sphere with the outer one, from which he has only "become separated by mistaking illusions for truths. He who has succeeded in carrying out practically the meaning of this symbol has become one with } E 50 PARACELSUS. A part of Astronomia is called Magic, a science whicL. by investigating the parts of tlie whole leads to a comparison of their ideal relations and connections^ and consequently to a recognition of their inner nature. *' Hidden things (of the soul) which cannot be perceived by the physical senses, may be found through the sidereal body, through whose organism we may look into Nature in the same way as the sun shines through a glass. The ■inner nature of everything may therefore be known through Magic in general^ and through the powers of the inner (or second) sight.^ These are the powers by which all secrets of Nature may be discovered, and it is necessary that a physician should be instructed and become well versed in this art, and that he should be able to find out a great deal more about the patient's disease by his own inner perception than by questioning the patient. Eor this inner sight is the Astronomy of Medicine, and as physical Anatomy shows all the inner parts of the body, such as cannot be seen through the skin, so this magic perception shows not only all the causes of disease, but it further- more discovers the elements in medicinal substances in which the healing powers reside.^ That which gives healing power to a medicine is its ' Spiritus ' (an ethereal essence or principle), and it is only perceptible by the senses of the sidereal man. It therefore follows that Magic is a teaclier of medicine far preferable to all the father ; he is virtually an adept, because he has succeeded in squaring the circle and circling the square. All of this proves that Paracelsus has brought the root of his occult ideas from the East. ^ If the individual mind is one with the Universal Mind, and if the possessor of the individual mind wishes to find out some secret of Nature, he does not require to seek for it outside of the sphere of his mind, but he looks for it in himself, because everything that exists in Nature (which is a manifestation of the Universal Mind) exists in, and is reflected by himself, and the idea of there being two minds is only an illusion ; the two are one. - It would be difficult to find many practitioners of medicine possessed of genuine powers of true spiritual perception ; but it is a universally recognised fact that a physician without intuition (common sense) will not be very successful, even if he knew all medical books by heart. We should be guided by wisdom but not by opinions. The opinions of others may serve U8, but we should not be subservient to them. COSMOLOGY, 51 Avritten books. Magic power alone (that can neither be conferred by the universities nor created by the awarding of diplomas, but which comes from God) is the true teacher, preceptor, and pedagogue, to teach the art of curing the sick. As the physical forms and colours of objects, or as the letters of a book can be seen with the physical eye, likewise the essence and the character of all things may be recog- nized and become known by the inner sense of the soul." ^ " I have reflected a great deal upon the magical powers of the soul of man, and I have discovered a great many secrets in Nature, and I will tell you that he only can be a true physician who has acquired this power. If our physicians did possess it, their books might be burnt and their medicines be thrown into the ocean, and the world would be all the more benefited by it. Magic inventrix finds everywhere what is needed, and more than will be required. The soul does not perceive the external or *^- internal physical construction of herbs and roots, but it intuitively perceives their powers and virtues, and recog- nizes at once their signatum. " This signatum (or signature) is a certain organic vital activity, giving to each natural object (in contradistinction to artificially made objects) a certain similarity with a certain condition produced by disease, and through which • health may be restored in specific diseases in the diseased i part. This signatum is often expressed even in the exterior / form of things, and by observing that form we may learn. * something in regard to their interior qualities, even with- I out usino' our interior siQ;ht. We see that the internal ^ Von Eckartshausen describes this inner sense as follows : " It is the centre of all senses, or the inner faculty of man, whereby he is able to feel the impressions produced by the exterior senses. It is the formative imagination of man, whereby the various impressions that have been received through the outer senses are identical and brought into the inner field of consciousness. It is the faculty through which the spirit interprets the language of Nature to the soul. It changes bodily sensations into spiritual perceptions, and passing impressions into lasting images. All the senses of man originate in one sense, which is sensation." E 2 I 52 PARACELSUS. character of a man is often expressed in his exterior appearance, even in the manner of his walking and in the sound of his voice. Likewise the hidden character of things is to a certain extent expressed in their outward forms. As long as man remained in a natural state, he recognized the signatures of things and knew their true character ; hut the more he diverged from the path of Nature, and the more his mind became captivated by illusive external appearances, the more this power became v,lost. ^ "A man who wholly belongs to himself cannot belong to anything else. Man has the power of self-control, and no external influences can control him if he exercises this. y^ power. The influences of the Macrocosm cannot so easily I impress their action upon a rational, wise, and passionless- man as they do upon animals, vegetables, and minerals^ which they impregnate to such an extent that their characters may be seen in the forms, colours, and shapes,. and be perceived by the odour and taste of such objects. Some of these external signs are universally known ; for instance, the age of an elk is indicated by the number of the ends and the shape of its horns ; other symbols may 4 require a special study for their true interpretation." This science, resulting from a comparison of the external appearance of a thing and its true character, is called by Paracelsus their Anatomy. There are even to this day a great many vegetable medicines used in the prevailing system of Medicine whose mode of action is not known, and for whose employment no other reason has been given but that the exterior shapes of such plants corre- spond to a certain extent to the form of the organs upon which they are supposed to be acting beneficially, and "because experience has supported such a belief. — I)(i JN'atura Berum} ^ In Babbitt's "Principles of Light and Colour," it is demonstrated that each Tay of colour has a certain therapeutic influence on the human system ; Blue acting soothingly on the circulation of the blood ; lied stimulating ; Yellow COSMOLOGY, 53' "Eacli plant is in a sympathetic relation with the Macrocosm and consequently also with the Microcosm, or, in other words, with Constellation and Organism (for the activity of the organism of man is the result of the actions of the interior constellation of stars^ existing in his interior world), and each plant may be considered to be a terrestrial star. Each star in the great firmament ^nd in the firmament of man has its specific influence, •and each plant likewise, and the two correspond together. If we knew exactly the relations between plants and •stars, we might say : this star is ' Stella Eorismarini,' that plant is ' Stella Absynthii,' and so forth. In this way a lurharium spirituale sidereum might be collected, ■such as every intelligent physician, who understands the relationship existing between matter and mind, should possess,^ because no man can rationally employ remedies without knowing their qualities, and he cannot know the qualities of plants without being able to read their ■signatures. It is useless for a physician to read the books 'Of Dioscorides and Macar, and to learn from hearsay the •opinion of others who may be his inferiors in wisdom. He ought to look with his own eyes into the book of IN"ature and become able to understand it; but to do this, requires more than mere speculation and to ran- sack one's brain ; and yet without that art nothing useful 'can be accomplished." But this harmony existing between the form and the character is furthermore remarkable in certain other con- acting as a purgative, &c. He gives some interesting examples of corre- spondences between the colours and medicinal qualities of certain flowers, plants, drugs, &c., with the action of the above-named colour-rays. 1 It will be impossible to bring this idea to the perfect understanding of the reader unless he is able to use his own intuition. These doctrines contain the spirit of Paracelsus, and those who wish to realize the full extent of his meaning must be able to enter mentally into his sphere of mentality. 2 Eckartshausen has made such a herbarium: he gives the names of medi- cinal plants and the names of the planets with which they are sympa- thetically connected. 5+ PARACELSUS, ditions and qualities, which are often of more importance to a physician than the external shapes. " If the physician understands the anatomy of medicines and the anatomy^ of diseases, he will find that a concordance exists between the two. There is not only a general relationship existing "between the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, but a separate and intimate interrelation and interaction exist between their separate parts, each part of the great organism acting- Tipon the corresponding part of the small organism in the- same sense as the various organs of the human body are. intimately connected and influencing each other, and manifesting a sympathy with each other that may con- tinue to exist even after such organs have been separated from the trunk." There is a great sympathy existing- between the stomach and the brain, between the mammae and the uterus, between the lungs and the heart.^ There is, furthermore, a great sympathy existing between the planets and stars and the organs of the human body. Such a sympathy exists between the stars and the plants,, between stars and stars, between plants and plants, and between the plants and the organs of the human body, in consequence of which relationship each body may produce certain changes in the activity of life in another body that is in sympathy with the former. Thus may the action of certain specific medicines in certain diseases be explained. As a bar of magnetized iron may induce magnetism in a.nothei? bar of iron, but leave copper and brass unaffected, likewise a certain plant, possessing certain powers, may induce certain similar vital powers to become active in certain organs if the plant and the organ are related to the same " star." Certain plants may therefore act as- antidotes in certain diseases, in the same manner as fire will destroy all things that have not the power to resist it. The neutralization, destruction, or removal of any ^ Dr, J. E. Buchanan, in his " Therapeutic Sarcognomy," makes practical use of this sympathetic relationship existing between the various parts of the human body. COSMOLOGY. 55- specific elements producing disease, the change of an unhealthy and abnormal action of the vital principle into a normal and healthy state, constitutes the basis of the therapeutic system of Paracelsus. His object was to re-establish in the diseased organism the necessary equili- brium, and to restore the lost vitality, by attracting the vital principles from living objects and powers. Eemedies containing the required quality of that jjrinciple in the greatest quantity were most apt to replace such lost powers and to restore health. The organisms — that is to say, the material forms of invisible principles — take their origin from the soul of the world, symbolized as " water." This doctrine of Paracelsus is therefore the same as the ancient doctrine of Thales, and as the old Brahminical doctrine according to which the world came into existence from an egg (allegorically speaking) laid in water (the soul) by Brahm (Wisdom). He says that by the decomposition of that essence a " mucilage " is formed, containing the germs of life, out of which, by generatio aequivoca, first the lower and afterwards the higher organisms are formed. We see, therefore, that the doctrine of Paracelsus bears a great resemblance to the one advocated by the greatest modern philosophers, such as Haeckel and Darwin ; with that difference, however, that Paracelsus looks upon the continually evoluting forms as necessary vehicles of a continually progressing living spiritual principle, seeking higher modes for its manifestation, while many of our modern speculative philosophers look upon the intelligent principle of life as non- existing, and upon life as being merely a manifestation of chemical and physical activity of dead matter in an incomprehensible and causeless state of development. "According to the biblical account, God created the animals before he created man. The animal elements, instincts, and desires existed before the Divine Spirit illuminated them and made them into man. The animal 56 PARACELSUS, soul of man is derived from tlie cosmic animal elements, and the animal kingdom is therefore the father of the animal man. If man is like his animal father, he re- sembles an animal ; if he is like the Divine Spirit that may illuminate his animal elements, he is like a god. If his reason is absorbed by his animal instincts, it becomes animal reason ; if it rises above his animal desires, it becomes angehc. If a man eats the flesh of an animal, the animal flesh becomes human flesh ; if an animal eats human flesh, the latter becomes animal flesh. A man whose human reason is absorbed by his animal desires, is an animal, and if his animal reason amalgamates with wisdom, he becomes an angel." " Animal man is the son of the animal elements out of which his soul was born, and animals are the mhrors of man. Whatever animal elements exist in the world, exist in the soul of man, and therefore the character of one man may resemble that of a fox, a dog, a snake, a parrot, &c. Man need not therefore be surprised that animals have animal instincts that are so much like his own ; it might rather be surprising for the animals to see that their son (animal man) resembles them so closely. Animals follow their animal instincts, and in doing so they act as nobly and stand as high in Nature as their position in it permits them, and they do not sink thereby below that position ; it is only animal man who may sink below the brute. Animals love and hate each other according to the attraction or repulsion of their animal elements : the dog loves the dog and hates the cat, and men and women are attracted to each other by their animal instincts, and love their young- ones for the same reason as the animals love theirs ; but such a love is animal love — it has its purposes and its rewards, but it dies when the animal elements die. Man is derived from the dog, and not the dog from the man. Therefore a man may act like a dog, but a dog can- not act like a man. Man may learn from the animals, for COSMOLOGY. 57 they are his parents ; but the animals can learn nothing useful to them from man. The sjiider makes a better web than man, and the bee builds a more artistic house ; he may learn how to run, from the horse, to swim, from the fish, and to fly, from the eagle. The animal world is taught by Nature, and it is divided into many classes and species, so that it may learn all the natural arts. Each species has forms that differ from those of another species, so that it may learn that art for which it is adapted by nature ; but Man, as a whole, has only one kind of form, and is not divided, and therefore the animal soul of Man is not divided, but all the animal elements are combined in it, the reason of Man selecting what it likes. " A man who loves to lead an animal life is an animal ruled by his interior animal heaven. The same stars (in- fluences) that cause a wolf to murder, a dog to steal, a cat to kill, a bird to sing, &c., make a man a singer, an eater, a talker, a lover, a murderer, a robber, or a thief. These are animal attributes, and they die with the animal elements to which they belong ; but the divine principle in man, which constitutes him a human being, and by which he is eminently distinguished from the animals, is not a product of the earth, nor is it generated by the animal kingdom, but it comes from God ; it is God, and is immortal, because, coming from a divine source, it cannot be otherwise than divine. Man should therefore live in harmony with his divine parent, and not in the animal elements of his soul. Man has an Eternal Father who sent him to reside and gain experience in tlie animal principles, but not for tlie purpose of being absorbed by them, because in the latter case man would become an animal, while the animal principle would have nothing to gain,'* and would thus be led individually to speedy annihila- tion. (" De Fundamento Sapientise.''^) ( 5S ) TV. ANTHEOPOLOaY. The Geneeation of Man. IIan is a being composed of three graduated Elements or Torces : Spirit, Soul, and Matter. Each of these elements is visible and tangible to the beings that live exclusively in it, or in whose constitution the respective element pre- ponderates.^ Spirit is perceptible to spiritual existences, and the thoughts of mortals consequently appear visible and material to spirits ; the Soul essence, with its currents and forms, may be seen and felt by the Elementals and beings that live in the realm of the soul, and they are also capable of reading such thoughts as are not of a too refined and spiritual character to be discerned by them, and to perceive the states of feelings of men by the colours and impressions produced in the auras of the latter; but they cannot perceive divine and spiritual things. Matter, in the state in which it is known to us, is seen and felt by means of the physical senses ; but to beings who are not provided with such senses, material things are as invisible and intangible as spiritual things are to those who have not developed the power of spiritual perception. '-•^^H The Spiritual Essence of Man comes from the first emanation of God. It is gifted with divine wisdom and ^ Thus the Gnomes may see all that is going on in the interior of the earthly shell surrounding our planet, this shell being as air for them ; the Undines thrive and breathe in their watery world, the Sjlphs in the air, and the Salamanders in the lire. A person in Avhose soul organization the ele- ment of earth preponderates will have great talents for mining ; one soul sympathizing especially with the watery element, will be a good sailor, &c. ANTHROPOLOGY. 59 Tvitli divine power, and if tlie elements constituting the normal man become conscious of the possession by them of divine gifts, and learn to realize their power and how to employ them, they will be, so to say, super- human, and may rightly be called divine Beings, or Sons of the Almighty. Whenever a child is conceived a word proceeds like a ray from God, which provides the future man with a Spirit. This Spirit, however, is not absorbed immediately by the new-born child, but becomes incarnate gradually, as the man grows and attains reason and intelli- gence.^ Many men and women live and marry and die without ever coming into full possession of (or without entering into a firm connection with) that divine ray of wis- dom that can alone transform them into immortal human beings ; because, although the powers and essences that go to make up their souls may be much more enduring in their form than their physical bodies, still these powers will become exhausted and these essences be decomposed into their elements in due time, and there is nothing that endures to the end except the Spirit of God, that may become manifest in man by assimilating v/ith the more re- fined essences of the soul. If no such assimilation takes place — in other words, if the individual during his life does not become wise and good and spiritually enhghtened — the divine ray will at the death of the person return again to the source from whence it came, but that individual's per- sonality ^ will only remain as an impression in the Astral light. There are two kinds of intelligence in man — the human and the animal intelligence. It is only the human (superhuman) intelligence that can combine and unite itself with the spirit. The lower or animal reason, however well ^ This is not to be -understood as if some spirit in the human shape were waiting to crawl into the body of the child as it grows up, but that the spiritual element gradually develops and becomes active in the child, in proportion as the human instrument through which it desires to act enables it to manifest that activity. Pure spirit is formless. 2 There is a difference between individuality and personality ; personality being a changeable mask which the individual wears. 6o PARACELSUS. versed in dogmatic science, logic, and sophistry it may "be, and however much learning in regard to the external appearances of things it may possess, will be lost, because it will be repulsed by the spirit of truth, and it is the spirit or life alone that can hold forms together and prevent their dissolution and their return into chaos. Pure spirit has no personality, but exists impersonal in and as God, and every birth produces a new person, but not a new spiritual ray. The impersonal spirit survives, but the personality of man, as such, may be lost. Only those elements belong- ing to his personality, that will be absorbed by the spirit, will survive with the latter. The cement that unites the soul with the spirit is love, and a strong love of the Divine is therefore the highest good attainable by mortal man. The Soul- essence of Man is formed by the ethereal or astral influences coming from the souls of the world and of the planets and stars, especially from the soul (or astral body) of the planet whereon he lives. As the soul of €ach man and of each animal has its peculiar qualities that distinguish it from others, likewise the " soul " of each planet, each sun, each world has its peculiar characteristics, and sends out its beneficial or its destructive influences, pervading cosmic space, acting upon the Microcosm of man, and joroducing finally visible results. These astral •elements are the organizers of the soul of man. They are the builders of the temple in which the spirit resides, and being stimulated by them, the soul of man attracts by physiological processes the elements of the earth, and forms tissues, muscles, and bones, and becomes visible and tangible to other similarly constituted beings as the material or animal body of man.^ Man may therefore be looked upon as a twofold 1 Those anatomists, physiologists, and other scientists, that claim to know all about the constitution of man, because they have studied the organization of his body, and who deny the existence of a soul and a spirit, know only a part — and in fact the most unimportant part — of the essential constitu- tion of man. ANTHROPOLOGY. 6| "being — a visible and an invisible man (or as having a material and a spiritual aspect), linked together by a soul. The visible man consists of such originally invisible elements as have become visible in his form, the invisible man consists of feelings and thoughts whose origin is in the Macrocosm, and their light is reflected and impresses itself upon matter. Man is therefore the quintessence of all the elements, and a son of the universe or a copy in miniature of its Soul, and everything that exists or takes place in the universe, exists or may take place in the constitution of man. The congeries of forces and essences making up the constitution of what we call m(X?^, is the same as the congeries of forces and powers that on an infinitely larger scale is called the Universe, and everything in the Universe reflects itself in man, and may come to his consciousness ; and this circumstance enables a man who knows himself, to know the Universe, and to perceive not only that which exists invisibly in the Universe, but to foresee and prophesy future events. On this intimate relationship between the Universe and Man depends the harmony by which the Infinite becomes intimately connected with the Finite, the immeasurably great with the small. It is the golden chain of Homer, or the Platonic ring.^ The object of man's existence is to re-establish the original harmony that existed between God and Man before the separation took place which disturbed the equilibrium, and which caused the first emanation of the divine essence to be attracted by the third material ^ This doctrine of Paracelsus is identical with the one taught by the ancient Brahmins and Yogis of the East ; but it may not necessarily be de- rived from the latter, for an eternal truth may as well be recognized by one Beer as by another, in the East as well as in the West, and two or more spiritually enlightened persons may perceive the same truth independently of each other and describe it — each one in his own manner. The terms — Microcosm and Macrocosm — are identical in their meaning witli the Micro- prosopos and Macroposopos or the " Short-face " and "Long-face " of the Kabala. 62 PARACELSUS. emanation and to sink into matter. To re-establisli this harmony, Man may bring the will of God to perfect expression in Nature, and thereby JSTature will become spiritualized and the Macrocosm be rendered more perfect. The individual qualities and temperaments of men may be developed to a certain extent, independent of their surroundings, by the power of the Ens seminis, a forma- tive power (potency) of matter. Adam and Eve (the spiritual dual male and female essence) have received their body through the "creatures" (elemental or astral essences), and through the Ens seminis, and through this never- ceasing supply men and women will come into existence until the end of the world. If there were no planets and stars, and if there never had been any in existence, never- theless the children of Adam and Eve would be born and have their particular temperaments. One may be melancholy, another choleric, a third sanguine or bilious, &c. Such qualities of men come from the Uns proprie- tatis and not from any astral influences, for the tempera- ments, tastes, inclinations, and talents form no part of the body ; that is to say, they give no complexion, colour, or form to it — they are the attributes of the Ens proprietatis.^ Although, speaking in a general sense, the Microcosm and the Macrocosm bear to each other a similar relation- ship as the chicken in the egg bears to its surrounding albumen, nevertheless the action of the Macrocosm upon the Microcosm is only an external condition of life, called by Paracelsus, Digest. No man or any mortal being can exist without the influence of the Astra, but they do not come into existence through them. A seed thrown into the soil may grow and produce a plant, but it could not accomplish this if it were not acted upon by the sun, nor could the soil itself produce a seed, no matter how 1 What else can tins "Ens proprietatis " mean, but the spiritual monad re-incarnating itself, and being in possession of all the tastes, inclinations, talents, and temperament acquired during its former existences as an indi- vidual being. ANTHROPOLOGY, (i^ long the sun would shine upon it. Paracelsus explains the origin of the qualities of the external conditions of life as being produced by the mutual attractions and interactions existing between the Macrocosmos and the Microcosmos, and by the harmony of both spheres (the upper and lower firmament), of which either is formed in accordance with the other. The common basis of both — which is, so to say, their common receptacle of germs — is called Limhus. " Man being formed out of the Limbus, and the Limbus being universal, and therefore the mother of all things, it follows that all things, including man, have the same origin, and each thing is attracted to its original like by reason of this mutual relationship. " If man were not formed in such a manner and out of the whole ring and of all its parts, but if each man were made out of a separate piece of the world essentially dis- tinct from others, he would not be capable to receive the influences residing in the whole. But the soul of the great world has the same divisions, proportions, and parts as the soul of man, and the material body of man receives the material body of ]N'ature in the same sense as the son receives ' the blood ' of his father." A relationship similar to the one existing between the Macrocosm and the Microcosm exists between man and woman, and between woman and the uterus, and between the uterus and the foetus. " The whole of the Microcosm is potentially contained in the Liquor Vitae, a nerve-fluid comparable to the fluidic brain- substance, and in which is contained the nature, quality, character, and essence of beings, and which ethereal life fluid in man may be looked upon as an in- visible or hidden man — so to say, his ethereal counterpart or reflection." ( " De Generatio Hominis.") " From this nerve-aura or liquor vitae, in the process of the generation of man, the semen separates itself in a manner comparable to the separation of the foam or froth from a fermenting liquid, or as the quintessence (the 64 PARACELSUS.-, fifth principle) of all things separates itself from the lower elements. This semen, however, is not the sperma or the visible seminal fluid of man, but rather a semi- material principle contained in the sperma, or the auT(h seminalis, to which the sperma serves as a vehicle. The physical sperma is a secretion of the physical organs, but the aura seminalis is a product (or emanation) of the ' liquor vitae.' It is developed by the later in the same sense as fire is produced out of wood, in which there is actually no fire, but out of which heat and fire may proceed. This emanation or separation takes place by a kind of digestion, and by means of an interior heat, which during the time of virility may be produced in man by the proximity of woman, by his thoughts of her, or by his contact with her, in the same manner as a piece of wood exposed to the concentrated rays of the sun may be made to burn. All the organs of the human system, and all their powers and activities, contribute alike to the formation of semen ; and the essences of all are contained in the liqtior vitae, whose quintessence is the aicra semi- nalis, and these organs and physiological activities are reproduced in the foetus out of this liquor. They are therefore germinally contained in the seminal fluid that is necessary for the reproduction of the human organism. The semen is, so to say, the essence of the human body, containing all the organs of the latter in an ideal form.''* rurthermore, Paracelsus makes a distinction between Sperma cagastricum and Sperma iliastricum, of which the former is the product of the imagination (thought), and the latter is attracted directly from the " Mysterium magnum." ^ "Woman, however, being nearer to Nature, furnishes the soil in which the seed of man finds the conditions required for its development. She nourishes, develops, ^ The universal matrix, into which the spiritual monad, having passed through the Devachanic state, finally enters, and from which it is again attracted into new incarnations. ANTHROPOLOG Y, 65 and matures tlie seed without furnishing any seed her- self. Man, although born of woman, is never derived from w^oman, but always from man. The cause of the mutual interaction of the two sexes is their mutual attraction. The tendencies of man cause him to think and to speculate ; his speculation creates desire, his desire grows into passion, his passion acts upon his imagination and his imasjination creates semen. Therefore God has put semen into the imagination of man, and planted into women the desire to be attractive to man. The matrix contains a strong attractive power, to attract the semen, similar to that of the loadstone to attract iron." " The relationship existing between the Macrocosm and Microcosm finds its analogy in the relationship existing between the female body and the uterus. The latter may be looked upon as a Microcosm in a Microcosm. As the semen of man contains potentially all the organs of the parent body, likewise there are contained potentially in the uterus all the attributes of the female body, the whole of man's body is potentially contained in the semen, and the whole of the body of the mother is, so to say, the soil in which the future man is made to ripen, because all the essences and forces of her body centre in the uterus, and there the power of her imagination is especially active. Thus is Man the product of a secondary fluid, while the Macrocosmos is the product of a primor- dial fluid, and as the Spirit of God in the beginning of creation moved upon the surface of the waters (the soul), likewise the human spirit being diffused through the whole of man's organism moves upon the (seminal) fluid, out of which the human form is developed. That Spirit of God is the vivifying and spiritualizing element in the process of procreation. But the human foetus passes in the uterus through an animal-like existence, receiving the spirit at a later period. It is then like a fish in the water, and brings an animal nature into the world." The fact of the semen being formed of all parts of the 66 PARACELSUS. body in equal proportion explains why persons may be born in whom certain organs may be missing. If for some cause one part or another of the human organism does not participate in the formation of semen, its essence mil be missing in the constitution of the seminal fluid, and cannot reproduce the corresponding part in the matrix.^ If for some cause a part of the father's organism produces a double quantity of semen, a child may be born having supernumerary members. As the imagination of man is productive of semen, likewise the imagination of the mother exerts a great constructive influence upon the development of the foetus, and upon this fact is based the similarity existing between children and parents." Twins and other multi^jle births are caused if the uterus attracts the semen with more than one single draught. The power of attraction which the uterus exercises upon the seminal aura is so great that by coming into contact with the spermatic fluid of animals it may absorb it and bring forth monstrosities.^ " It may therefore be said that the imagination of the father sets into activity the creative power necessary to generate a human being, and the imagination of the ^ It might be objected, that if tMs were true, a man having lost a leg could beget only one-legged children, but such a superficial reasoning would be caused by a misunderstanding of the true nature of man. The invisible man is the essential man, the physical body only the outward expression. If the physical body loses a limb, it does not follow that the soul-body loses it like- wise ; but if there is a congenital malformation, such as supernumerary fingers or toes, they are found in the astral form as well as in the physical body, and such malformations may be reproduced in the child. ^ This creative and formative power of the imagination may be used to advantage for the purpose of producing male or female offspring at will, as has also been proved by experiments made in cattle-breeding. If the desire or passion, and consequently the imagination of the female is stronger than that of the male during coition, male children will be produced. If on such an occasion the imagination of the male is stronger than that of the female, the child will be of the female sex. ^ It will perhaps be difficult to state an example to prove this assertion ; neither has it been disproved. But we must remember that Paracelsus does not merely deal with objective, visible, and tangible bodies, but with the essence of the soul, that may or may not appear in a tangible form. ANTHROPOLOGY. 67 mother furnislies the material for its formation and de- velopment ; ^ but neither the father nor the mother is the parent of the essential spiritual man, but the germ of the latter comes from the Mysterium magnum, and God is its father. Parents do not endow their children with reason, ■although they may furnish the child with a body, in which the principle of reason may or may not be able to act.^ [Reason is the natural birthright of every human being ; it is eternal and perfect, and need not be educated in the x;hild, but it may be overpowered and driven out by dog- matism and sophistry. Intellectual acquisitions are perishable, memory must be educated, and it is often lost much quicker in old age or on account of cerebral diseases -than it is developed in youth. ^ Children may inherit irom their parents the powers to employ their reason, but they do not inherit reason itself, because reason is an attribute of the Divine Spirit. Man cannot lose his reason, but he can become lost to it, because reason is an ■universal principle, and cannot be owned or monopolized by any individual man. THE COITSTITUTION OF MAN. According to Paracelsus, the constitution of man con- -sists of seven principles, or, to express it more correctly, ut on the whole there may be more reliance put into dreams than in the revelations received by the art of ISTecromancy ; because the latter are usually false and deceptive, and although the Elementals, using the astral bodies of the dead on such occasions as masks, will give correct answers to questions, and often confirm their assertions with oaths, nevertheless, no im- plicit confidence or reliance can be put into what they may say, because they do not wish to speak the truth, nor are they able to speak it.''' " The patriarchs, prophets and saints preferred there- fore visions and dreams to any other mode of divination. Balaam was so well versed in the art of calling forth pro- phetic dreams that he could have them whenever he wanted. He was therefore falsely accused of being a sorcerer ; for the Scriptures do not use any discrimina- tion in such matters, but call every one a sorcerer who has such powers, and uses them to obtain information inde- pendently of such as may be received through recognised saints." " There are two kinds of dreams — natural ones and such as come from the spirit. It is unnecessary to say much about the former, because they are known to all. They may be caused by joy or sadness, by impurities of the blood, by external or internal causes. A gambler may dream of cards, a soldier of battles, a drunkard of wine, a robber of theft. All such dreams are caused by the lower principles of such persons, which play with their imagina- tion, heat their blood, and stimulate their phantasy." " But there are supernatural dreams, and they may be messengers from God, that may be sent to us at the ap- proach of some great danger. Such a dream was sent to the Magi of the East at a time when Herodes desired to have the new-born child killed. Joseph had such a dream, 78 PARACELSUS. and so did Jacob at the time wlien lie started for Egypt. Ananias, Cornelius, and many others, had similar visions, and such su^oernatural dreams take sometimes place even among the present generation ; but only the wise pay at- tention to them. Others treat them with contempt, although such dreams are true, and do not deceive." " There are some persons whose nature is so spiritual, and their souls so exalted, that they can approach the highest spiritual sphere at a time when theu' bodies are asleep. Such persons have seen the glory of God, the happiness of the redeemed, and the torture of the wicked ; and they did not forget their dreams on awakening, but remembered what they had seen unto the end of their days. Such things are possible, and the greatest mysteries may be laid open to the perception of the spirit ; and if we earnestly desire such gifts, and pray with an un- relenting faith to the power of the Supreme, that rests in ourselves, to grant them to us, we may be enabled to see the Mysteria Dei, and to understand them as well as Moses, Jesaiah, and John." '* It may happen that the Evestra of persons who have died perhaps fifty or a hundred years ago may appear to us in a dream, and if such an Evestrum comes to us in our dream and speaks with us, we should pay especial attention to what it says ; for such a vision is not a hallucination or delusion, and it is possible that a man is as much able to use his reason during the sleep of his body as when the latter is awake, and if in such a case such an Evestrum appears to him, and he asks questions, he will then hear that which is true. A great deal could be said about such Evestra, but it is not proper to say more about them.'"* ^ " Through the Evestra we may obtain a great deal of ^ As it has been said above that the Evestrum disappears with the complete dissolution of thebo'3y, it seems probable that Paracelsus refers in this passage to a higher state of that principle than that which is usually called the Astral body, and refers to the fifth, or Mayavi Kupa, the soul-body of the Adept. ANTHROPOLOGY. 79 knowledge in regard to good or to evil things, if we ask them to reveal them to us. Many persons have had such prayers granted to them. Some people that were sick have been informed during their sleep what remedies they should use, and after using such remedies they became cured. And such things have happened not only to Christians, but also to the heathens, to Jews, Saracenes, Mamelukes, Persians, and Aegyptians; to good and to bad persons ; and I cannot therefore believe that such revelations come directly from the Deity, because, there being only one God, all those peoples cannot have separate gods ;^ but I believe that the universal light of ISTature illuminated such disciples, and as that liglit has no organs of speech, it causes Evestra in the astral spheres of men during the sleep of the latter." (" De Caducis.") When men are asleep, their bodies are like those of animals or plants, for animals and plants have also their elementary and their sidereal bodies ; but the divine spirit can only become active in man. During sleep the sidereal body, by which man is connected with the inner nature of the Macrocosm becomes free in its movements, and it may then rise up to the sphere of his ancestors, and converse with the stars ; — that is to say, the processes taking j^lace in the intellectual s^^here of the Macrocosm may throw their reflections into his soul and come to his inner perception. Dreams, visions, and omens are gifts given to the sidereal man, and not to the elementary body." " But dreams may be pure or impure, wise or fooHsh, rational or irrational, according to the position which man occupies in his relation to the light of Xature. Prophetic sights are caused by the circumstance that ^ Every man having liis ovrn jjersonal god in him, called the highest spirit or the Divine Monad, what the author means by "separate gods" is, that apart from Budhi, or the Divine Soul, its veJiicJe, these "spirits " cannot be regarded as separate individualities, but are all portions of the One Supreme Essence. 8o PARACELSUS. man lias a sidereal body, united with the substance of the Universal Mind, and the former confabulates with the latter whenever the attention of the sidereal body is not needed by the requirements of the physical body. That is to say, all that takes place in the outer world is mirrored forth in the inner world, and appears as a dream. The elementary body has no spiritual gifts, but the sidereal body possesses them all. Whenever the ele- mentary body is at rest, asleep or unconscious, the sidereal body is awake and active, because the latter needs neither rest nor sleep ; but whenever the ele- mentary body is fully awake and active, the activity of the sidereal body will then be restrained, and its free movements be impeded or prevented, like those of a man who is buried alive in a tomb." " The quality of the dreams will depend on the harmony that exists between the soul and the Astrum (Universal Mind). To those who are self-conceited and vain of their imaginary knowledge of exterior things, having no real wisdom, nothing can be shown, because the perverted action of their own minds opposes the harmonious action of the Universal Mind and repulses it. The spheres of their souls become narrow and contracted, and cannot expand towards the whole. They rest self- satisfied, buried in the shadow of their own ignorance, and are inaccessible to the light of Nature. Their attention is fully absorbed by the smoke of the candle- wick of their material reason, and they are blind to the light of the spiritual sun. The activity of the Universal Mind can only come to the consciousness of those whose spheres of mind are capable of receiving its impressions. Those who make room for such impressions will receive them. Such impressions are passing in and out of the sphere of the individual mind, and they may cause visions and dreams, having an important meaning, and whose interpretation is an art that is known to the wise." (" Phil. Sagax.") ANTHROPOLOGY. 8i DEATH. The word " Deatli " implies two meanings : i. Cessation of tlie activity of Life ; 2. Annihilation of Form. Form is an illusion, and has no existence independent of Life ; it is only an expression of life, and not productive of the latter. It cannot cease to live because it never lived before, and the deatli of a form is only the cessation of the eternal power of life in one form of manifestation of its activity preceding its manifestation in some other form. But Life itself cannot die or be annihilated, because it is not born of a form. It is an eternal power, that has always existed and always will exist. The annihilation of a particle of life would be a loss to the Universe that could not be replaced. Life is a function of God,^ and will always exist as long as God lives. The word Death can therefore have no other meaning but tlie transformation of one kind of activity into another kind, and death and resurrection are therefore identical, because the cessation of one kind of activity of the never-resting power of life causes the existence of another kind, and the beginning of new forms depends on the disappearance of the old. All forms are subject to annihilation ; they are only illusions, and as such they will cease to exist when the cause that produced them ceases to act. The body of a king or a sage is as useless as that of an animal after the life whose product it was, has ceased to act. A form can only maintain its illusory existence as long as the action of life upon tlie substance of the form produces such an illusion. But life is an eternal and perfect power; it can be brought into contact, but it cannot be united witli physical matter. It can only be attracted to physical matter by the power of tlie spirit, and if the spirit ceases to attract it, life will depart from matter, and the matter will be dissolved into its elements. Nothing can become ^ The seventh principle. G 82 PARACELSUS. united with eternal and perfect life except that which, is eternal and perfect. That which is good and perfect can live ; that which is evil and imperfect will be transformed. If all the elements constituting a man were good, if his whole emotional and intellectual constitution were perfect, such a man would be wholly immortal. If there is notliing good in him, he will have to die and to be wholly transformed. If a part of him is good and another part evil, the good portion will live and the evil one will perish. Omne honum perfectum a JDeo; im^erfec- tuin a diaholo. Everything that exists is a manifestation of life. Stones and metals have a life as well as plants — animals or men ; only the mode of the manifestation differs on account of the organic structure of the particles of which they are composed. A fly, for instance, has the same life as a stone, because there is only One Life, but in a fly it manifests itself otherwise than in a stone, and while the shape of the former may exist as an illusion for thousands of years, the latter may live only a few days. The elements, which are used by the power of life for the purpose of manifesting itself, are as indestructible as life itself, but they continually change their states, they are continually undergoing transformations, they are continually calcinated, sublimated, dissolved, decomposed, distilled, coagulated, and tinctured in the alchemistical laboratory of Nature. Each form has a certain period during which it may exist as a form, and the length of this period is pre- determined by the number which is a constituent factor in the organization of form, and which springs from life itself, because life is a conscious power, and does nothing at random, but everything according to its own inherent law, and if the form should be prematurely destroyed, life will nevertheless be active in the astral soul of the form, which cannot be destroyed until the time for its natural dissolution has arrived. The outer form is only caused ANTHROPOLOGY. 83 ♦by tlie action of life upon the astral form, and if the exterior form is broken, the inner form still continues to ^xist, and may under certain conditions be brought again into contact with the remnants of the broken form, and thereby the latter may be revived again. If a thing dies •a natural death, such a revival is impossible ; but if the vdeath has been premature, such a revival may take place, if the vital organs of the person or animal have not been irrevocably destroyed. But even in the latter case there still exists a close •sympathetic relationship between the remnants of the body and the living astral form, and this relationship ■continues to exist until the period of the natural life of the individual has expired, or until the substances composing his body have been entirely dissolved into their elements.^ The remnants of such bodies, the ■corpses of persons that have committed suicide or died by the hands of an executioner have therefore great occult ■powers. They do not contain life, but the balsam of life,^ and it is very fortunate that this fact is not publicly known, because if evil-disposed persons knew these things, and the use that can be made of the latter, they might use them for sorceries and evil purposes, and inflict ;much suffering upon others.^ If we would burn a tree, and enclose the ashes and the ;smoke and the vapour and all the elements that made up the tree, into a great bottle, and plant a living seed of "that tree into the ashes, we might resurrect the same ^ Spirit-communications from suicides go to confirm this fact. - The vehicle of life (the astral hody). 3 The Eastern esoteric doctrine teaches the same : The astral form, or ■Cahcdli, of suicides, or of one who died an unnatural premature death, cannot he dissolved or die " a second death," but will linger and wander in the earth's atmosphere {Kama loka) for the period that was allotted to its body's life, save accidents. The astral bodies (spirits, so called) of suicides are those who appear nine times out of ten in spiiitual seances, when they will assume -any celebrated name, or even the appearance of certain well-known persons, whose images are well impressed in the aura around those present. They are the most dangerous of all the Elementaries. G 2 S4 PARACELSUS. tind of a tree again out of its ashes, because there would be a centre of life, to which all the elements that were be- fore necessary to form that tree could be again attracted to form another tree of the same kind, having all the characteristics of the former ; but if there were no seed, there would be no tree, because the character of the tree is neither in the ashes nor in the vapour nor in the smoke, but in the Mysterium magnum, the eternal store- house of life, from which it may be attracted again by a seed, and be made to live in a new form endowed with greater virtues and powers than the ones it possessed before. ( 85 ) V. PNEUMATOLOGY. The orthodox creeds of the Middle Ages looked upon •angels and devils and departed human spirits as being personal invisible entities. They personified the powers of good and of evil, and made of them caricatures and monsters that flitted from place to place, attempting to subjugate the souls of men or to bring them within their power. The governmental institutions during those times v^ere those of oligarchy, and the poor were dependent on the favours of the rich. The power of the Church was supreme, and the dictates of the clergy suffered no disobe- dience. Servility and the craving for personal favours were the order of the day, and this state of mind neces- -sarily influenced and modified the religious conceptions of the people. The Supreme Spirit of the Universe became •degraded in their eyes to a personal tyrant, into whose favour they attempted to wheedle themselves by peni- tences, supplications, and by means of the intercessions of priests, who were supposed to be his favourites. Every- thing that could not be reconciled with existing prejudices and opinions was attributed to the devil ; and the horrors •of the inquisitions, religious persecutions, and witch-trials are too well-known to require to be recalled to the memory of the reader. The doctrines of Paracelsus differ entirely from such a ■creed. His power of spiritual perception enabled him to recognize the constitution of the Macrocosm and that of the microcosmic man. He describes in his work, '•' De 'Generatione Hominis," how the elements that go to make up the physical body of man are attracted together and made to grow into a human form, and he describes how 86 PARACELSUS. they become separated after death. Life — according to» him — is an universal principle,' leaving the physical form' at the time of death, and during the gradual decomposition, of the latter, and going to form new organisms ; but a part, of the vital-principle remains in the sidereal body (Kama rupa) until this too is dissolved into its elements. The; higher principles, containing the highest essence of the life -principle, pass into a higher state — called by Paracelsus. Olymfiis oiovus (The N'ew Olympus/ — where they con- tinue to exist until they finally return into the Myste- rium magnum, from which they took their origin. Such is the fate of those who die a natural death ; but the conditions of those who die prematurely, either by their own hands or in consequence of some accident,, differ greatly. They remain in such cases human beings< like any others ; only, with this difference, that they do not possess a physical body, and they remain in such a state until the time arrives when, according to the law of Nature and their own predestination (Karma), their- X^hysical death should have taken place. At that time the separation of their higher and lower principles takes- place. Up to that time they possess their astral bodies.. Such bodies are invisible to us, but they are visible to. them, and have sensation and perceptive faculties,^ and. they perform in their thoughts that which they have been in the habit of performing during life, and believe that they are performing it physically. Tliey still remain in tlie earth sphere, and Paracelsus calls them Caballi^ Zemures, &c. They are still in full possession of their earthly desires and passions : they attempt to satisfy them, and are instinctively attracted to persons in whom they ^ This is the old Brahminical doctrine. - Devachan. •' Sensation is an attribute of life. If life resides in the astral body, the astral body will have sensation, and as long as that body is connected sympathetically with the dead physical body, it may even feel any injury in- flicted upon the latter. The physical body, if it is inanimate, has no sensation ; the latter belongs to the inner man. Wherever the centre of con- sciousness is established, there is sensation. PNEUMATOLOGY. 87 find corresponding desires and passions, and to such places where tliey may hope to satisfy them, by entering into sympathy with such persons (mediums), and they are therefore often inclined to instigate such mediumistic persons to the commission of crimes and immoralities ; neither can they avoid doing so, because, by losing their physical bodies, they have also lost the necessary amount of energy and will-power to exercise self-control and to employ their reasoning faculties. They often haunt the places where they used to spend their time during life ; ^ thus attempting to find relief from their burning thirst after the gratification of their desires. Wherever their thoughts attract them, there they will go. If they have committed some crime, they may be bound by repent- ance to that place where it was perpetrated ; if they have a treasure buried, care for their money may hold them there ; hatred or desire for revenge may tie them to their enemies f love may turn them into vampires, and connect them with the object of their passion, provided that there are some elements in the latter which will attract them ; because the astral body of an evil person cannot influence the mind of a pure person, neither during life nor after death, unless they are mutually connected by some simi- larity in their mental organizations.^ 1 Books might be filled with reliable accounts of haunted houses, and instances in which such ghosts have been seen are exceedingly numerous. Some persons, that may not be able to see them, may feel them instinctively, or even physically, like a cold wind, or like a current of electricity passing through the body. - Chinamen and Hindus have been known to kill themselves for the purpose of revenge, so that their souls may cling to their enemies and trouble their minds or drive them to suicide. It is also well proven that wars are often followed by numerous suicides occurring in the victorious army. ' Such a case of vampirism is personally known to me. A young man killed himself on account of his passion for a married lady. The latter loved him, but did not encourage his advances on account of her matrimonial obliga- tions. After his death, his astral form became attracted to her, and as she was of a mediumistic temperament, he found the necessary conditions to be- come partly materialized. It required a long-continued eflfort of her will, and 88 . PARACELSUS. " Under certain circumstances, sucli human entities may become visible or manifest their presence in some manner. They may appear in bodily shape, or remain invisible and produce sounds and noises — such as knocks, laughing, whistling, sneezing, howling, groaning, sighing, walking, trampling, throwing stones and moving articles of furniture or other objects, and all this may be done by them for the purpose of calling the attention of the living, so that they may obtain an opportunity to enter into com- munication with them."^ But not all the appearances of supramundane or sub- mundane visitors are caused by the apparitions of the ghosts or astral bodies of suicides or victims of accidents, nor by the astral corpses and the Evestra of the dead ; but there are other invisible entities that may haunt the houses of mortals, and may become occasionally visible and tangible to the physical senses, if the conditions necessary for such a purpose exist. One of these classes is made up of beings called " phantasmata." These ghost-like beings are " nocturnal spirits,'^ having reasoning capacities similar to those of man. They seek to attach themselves to men, especially to such as have very little power of self-control, and over whom they may gain power. There are a great many kinds of such spirits, good as well as evil ones, and they love to be near man. In this they are comparable to dogs, who are also fond of the company of men. But man can profit nothing from their company. They are empty shadows, and are only an encumbrance to him. They are afraid of red corals, as dogs are afraid of a course of treatment, until she finally became rid of the Incubus. If our practitioners of medicine were better acquainted with occult facts, many " mysterious " cases that come under their observation might become clear to them, and they would obtain a deeper insight into some causes of mania, hysteria, hallucination, &c. ^ Fragment, " De animabus mortuorum." A great part of this fragment has been lost. PNEUMATOLOGY. 89 a wliip ; but the brown corals attract them." (" Herbarius Theophrasti : De Corallis.")' " Some people believe that such spirits can be driven away with holy water and by the burning of incense; but fi genuine holy water cannot be had so long as no man is found who is holy enough to be able to invest water with an occult power, and the odour of incense may sooner attract evil spirits than drive them away : because evil spirits are attracted by things that are attractive to the senses, and if w^e wish to drive them away it would be more reason- able to employ disagreeable odours for such a purpose. The true and effective power against all evil spirits is the will. If w^e love the source of all good with all our heart, mind, and desire, we may be sure never to fall into the power of evil ; but priestly ceremonies — the sprinkling of water, the burning of incense, and the singing of incan- tations — are the inventions of clerical vanity, and they therefore take their origin from the source of all evil. Ceremonies have been instituted originally to give an external form to an internal act ; but where the internal power to perform such acts does not exist, a ceremony will be of no avail except to attract such spirits as may love to mock at our foolishness." (" Philos. Occulta.") Another class consists of the Incubi and Succubi, of which rabbinical traditions speak in an allegorical manner as having been created by the spilling of the seed of Adam (the animal man) while engaged with Lilith, his first wife (meaning a morbid imagination). Paracelsus ^ Paracelsus recommends the wearing of red corals as a remedy against melancholy. They are said to be ruled by the influence of the suu, while those of brown colour are under the influence of the moon. The red ones are disagreeable not only to Phantasmata, but also to Monsters, Incubi, Succubi, and other evil spirits ; but the brown corals are agreeable to, and attract them. I know of some cases of melancholy, depression of mind, hypochondria, &c., that have been successfully treated by the wearing of red corals, while other articles employed for the same purpose had no effect, and the cure could therefore not be attributed merely to the belief of the patient. The ignorant will find it easier to ridicule such things than to explain them. 90 PARACELSUS. says in his book, " De Origine Morborum Invisibilium," lib. iii. : " Imagination is the cause of Incubi and Succubi anclfluidic Larvae. The Incubi are male and the Succubi female beings. They are the outgrowths of an intense and lewd imagination of men or women, and after they take form they are carried away. They are formed of the Sperma found in the imagination of those who commit the unnatural sin of Onan in thought and desire. Com- ing, as it does, from the imagination alone, it is no true sperma, but only a corrupted salt (essence). Only a seed that enters the organs which Nature provided for its de- velopment can grow into a human body/ If seed is not planted into the proper soil it will rot. If sperma does not come into the proper matrix, it will not produce any- thing good, but something useless. Therefore the Incubi and Succubi grown out of corrupted seed, without the natural order of things^ are evil and useless ; and Thomas of Aquinas has made an error by mistaking such a use- less thing for a perfect one." " This sperma, coming from the imagination, is born in Amove Hereos. This means a kind of a love in which a man may imagine a woman, or a woman a man, to perform the connubial act with the image created in the sphere of his mind. From this act results the expulsion of a use- less ethereal fluid, impotent to generate a child, but capable of bringing Larvae into existence. Such an imagination is the mother of a luxurious unchastity, which, if continued, may render man impotent and w^oman sterile, because much of the true creative and formative power is lost by the frequent exercise of such a morbid imagination. This is frequently the cause of moles, abortions, miscarriages, and malformations. Such cor- rupted sperma may be taken away by spirits that wander about at night, and who may carry it to a place where they may hatch it out. There are spirits that may per- ^ This does not seem to refer to the Homunculi. See Appendix. PNEUMATOLOGY. 91 form an " actus " with it, as may also be done by witches, and, in consequence of that actus, many curious monsters of horrible shapes may come into existence." " If such monsters are born from a powerful, conscious imaoination, the same consciousness will also be created in them. The spirits of night may use all that is born from such sperma according to their pleasure, but they can use nothing of a human character or possessing true spirit." " Amor hereos is a state of the invisible body, and is caused by an overheated imagination, stimulated to such an extent as to eject sperma, out of which Incubi and Succubi may grow. In ordinary ijollutionibus noc- Uirncdis, the body loses sperma without any effort of the imagination, and the spirits of night can therefore not use it for their purposes." " If women who have passed beyond the age of fertility and are unchaste and of a vivid imagination, they may also call such things into existence. If persons of either sex have lewd desires and an active imagination, or if they are passionately in love with another person of the opposite sex, and unable to obtain the object of their desire and fancy, then an Incubus or Succubus may take the place of the absent object, and in this way sorcerers may call Succubi, and witches Incubi, into existence." ^ " To prevent such unfortunate occurrences, it is necessary to be chaste, honest, and pure, in thought and desire, and whoever is unable to remain so, should not remain single.^ 1 Mediseval occult literature and that of Modern Spiritualism, contains many examples of Incubi and Succubi, some having appeared visibly and tangibly ; others, though unseen, were touched and felt. Such cases are at the present day much more numerous than is commonly believed, but they can only " materialize " if the necessary conditions are given. They are therefore only felt during a state of sickness, and after the recovery of the patient they disappear, because they cannot draw the elements necessary for materialization out of a healthy conbtitution. - Animal instincts cannot be suppressed, and the "flesh" cannot be " mortified," except by awakening a higher psychical activity in the place of the lower ones, or by an exaltation of the spiritual nature over the animal piinciple in man. Abstinence in acts is useless for spiritual development, 92 PARACELSUS, Imagination is a great power, and if tlie world knew what strange things may be produced by the power of the imagination, the public authorities would cause all idle persons to go to work and to employ their time in some useful manner, and they would take care of those who are unable to control their own imagination, in order that such evil results should be avoided." " The so-called Dragon is an invisible being, which may become visible and appear in a human form and cohabit with witches. This is accomplislied by means of the sperma which is lost by onanists, fornicators, and prosti- tutes in ade venerco, and which such spirits use as a corpus to obtain for themselves a human form, because the whole of the human form is typified in the sperma, and if such spirits use the sperma of a certain person, it is as if one man puts on the coat of another man ; and then they have the form of that person and resemble him in all his parts and details." (" De Fertiiitate," Tract, ii.') " If such forms are sufficiently dense to become visible, they appear like a coloured shadow or mist. They have no life of their own, but they borrow it from the person who called them into existence, just as a shadow is cast by a body ; and where there is no body, there can be no shadow. They are often generated by idiots, immoral, depraved, or diseased persons, who lead irregular and solitary lives, and who are addicted to br.d habits. The coherence of the particles composing the bodies of such beings is not very strong, and they are afraid of draughts of air, light, fire, sticks, and weapons. They are a sort of airy appendix to the body of their parents, and there is sometimes such an intimate connexion between them and unless it is followed by abstinence in thought. Enforced celibacy does not make a priest ; a true priest is a saint, and saints are persons who have out- grown their carnal desires. ^ They cannot, however, become visible, unless they can draw some of the astral essence from the person or pereons in whose presence they desire to appear; in other words, persons must be mediumistic to produce such manifestations of form. RNEUMATOLOGY, 9^' the body of their progenitors, that if an injury is inflicted upon the former, it may he transmitted to the latter. They are parasites drawing vitality out of the persons to whom they are attracted, and they may exhaust the vitality of the latter very soon, if such persons are not very strong." ^ " Some such beings influence men according to their qualities ; they watch them, increase and deepen their faults, find excuses for their mistakes, cause them to wish for the success of evil actions, and gradually absorb their vitality. They fortify and support the imagination in the operations of sorcery, they sometimes utter false pro- phesies and give out misleading oracles. If a man has a strong and evil imagination, and wishes to injure another, such beings are always ready to lend a helping hand for the accomplishment of his purpose." Such beings may Tender their victims insane, if the latter are too weak to resist their influence. " A healthy and pure person cannot become obsessed by them, because such Larvae can only act upon men if the latter make room for them in their minds. A healthy mind is a castle that cannot be in- vaded without the will of its master ; but if they are allowed to enter, they excite the passions of men and women, they create cravings in them, they produce bad thoughts which act injuriously upon the brain ; they sharpen the animal intellect and suffocate the moral sense. Evil spirits obsess only those human beings in whom the animal nature is preponderating. Minds that are illumi- nated by the spirit of truth cannot be possessed ; only those 1 Paracelsus gives here a very good description of some of the modern spirit-materialization. The " airy appendix " (astral form) usually comes out of the left side of the medium, in the region of the spleen. Mediums need not necessarily be depraved persons, but there must be some fault in their organization, else the combination of their principles would be too strong to part with some of their astral substance. Materializing mediums may be very good people, but solitary lives and vicions habits may lead to the development of such mediumship, which may prove to be very injurious in the end. 94 PARACELSUS, who are habitually guided by their own lower impulses may become subjected to their influence. Exorcisms and ceremonies are useless in such cases. Praying ^ and absti- nence from all thoughts that may stimulate the imagina- tion or excite the brain, are the only true remedies." (" De Ente Spirituali.") '' The cure of obsession is a purely psychical and moral act. The obsessed person should use true prayer and abstinence, and after that a strong- willed person should ivill such spirits to depart." f Philosophia Occulta. ")= The reason why we cannot see such astral entities is because they are transparent as air. We cannot see the air unless we produce a smoke in it, and even in that case we do not see the air itself, but the smoke that is carried by the air. But we may feel the air when it moves, and we may also occasionally feel the presence of such entities, if they are dense enough to be felt. More- over, the purpose of our senses is to perceive the objects that exist on the plane for which those senses are adapted, and therefore the physical senses exist for the purpose of seeing physical things, and the senses of the inner man are made to see the things of the soul. If the interior senses are inactive, the inner senses may awaken to life, and we may see the objects on the astral plane as we see things in a dream. There are also some poisons by which the organic activity of the body may be suppressed for a time, and the consciousness of the inner man be rendered more active, and which may therefore enable us to see the things on the astral plane. But such poisons ^ By "praying" is not meant lip-prayer, but exaltation of thought and aspiration. ^ It often happens that bodilydiseases are the cause of morbid desires. A disease of the skin (pruritus vaginae or scroti) may cause erotic desires ; a displacement of the womb, an erosion, ulcer, or inflammation of the os uteri, cause mental depression and hysteria ; piles may cause melancholy, &c. &c. ; but all such causes are, in their turn, the eft'ects of previous causes that may have a psychical origin, and they establish the conditions by xvhich. elementary influences may act. PNEUMATOLOGY. 95 are destructive of reason, and very injurious to the health. In fevers, deliriums, &c., such things may also be seen. Some of them may be the creations of the mind of the patient, others may have been created by the morbid imagination of another person, as described above/ But if such entities are invisible under normal condi- tions to a human being, they may be well enough per- ceived by a human Elementary consciously existing on their plane, and what is still more : Depraved human characters may, after death, take themselves the forms of animals and monsters, to which they were brought to resemble by their evil thoughts. Form is nothing but an illusion that represents a character, and the character shapes the form. If tlie character of a person is thoroughly evil, it will cause the astral form to assume a hideous form. Therefore the souls of the depraved may appear in animal shapes.^ Pure spirit has no form : it is formless, like the sun- shine. But as the sunshine causes the elements of matter to grow into plants, likewise the soul-substances may be formed into beings having shapes, through the action of the spiritual rays. There are good spirits and spirits of evil ; planetary spirits and angels. There are the spirits of the four elements, and there are many thousand different kinds.^ ^ Experiments that have' been made in London, with the inhalation of various ethers, chloroform, nitrous oxide gas, and hydrocarbonates, have had the effect of producing such " hallucinations." Before these gases were known, fumigations of poisonous substances were used for such purposes. The receipts for the materials used for such fumigations were kept very secret, on account of the abuse that might have been made of such a knowledge, and in consequence of which a person may be even made insane. One of the most effective fumigations for the purpose of causing apparitions were, according to Eckartshausen, made of the following substances : — Hemlock, Henbane, Saffron, Aloe, Opium, Mandrake, Salanum, Poppy-seed, Assafoetida, and Parsley. The fumigations to drive away evil spirits were made of Sulphur, Assafoetida, Castoreum, and more especially of Hypericum and Vinegar. Carbolic acid was not known at that time. 2 This seems to be confirmed by Swedenborg in his^description of " Hell." 2 There is a never-ending chain of births and transformations taking place 96 PARACELSUS. " Each child receives at the time of its birth a familiar spirit or genius, and such spirits sometimes instruct their pupils even while the latter are in their earliest youth. They often teach them to do very extraordinary things. There is an incalculable number of such genii in the uni- verse, and we may learn through them all the mysteries of the Chaos in consequence of their connection with the Mysterium magnum. Such familiar spirits are called Flagaer ' " There are several kinds of Flagae, and there are twa ways by which we may obtain knowledge through them. One way is by their becoming visible and able to talk with us ; the other way is by their exercising an invisible influence upon our mind. The art of Nectromancy^ enables man to perceive interior things, and there is no mystery concerning any human being that may not be found out by that art, and the Flagae may be made to reveal it either by persuasion or by the strength of one's in the world, of causes (spirits) as in the world of effects (forms). The lives of some such entities extend over enormous periods of time ; others have only a short individual existence. According to the Brahminical teachings, there are seven main classes of spirits, some of them having innumerable sub- divisions : — I. Arupa Devas (formless spirits), planetary spirits — the intelligent sixth principle of the planet whose product they are. 2. Arupa Devas (having forms). High planetary spirits. Dhyan-Chohans. 3. Pisachas and Mohinis — Male and female Elementaries, consisting of the astral forms of the dead, that may he obsessed by Elementals, and cause Incubi and Succubi. 4. Mara rupas : forms of desire or passion. Souls doomed to destruction. 5, Asuras : Elementals, Gnomes, Sylphs, Undines, Salamanders, &c.). They will develop into human beings in the next Manvantara (cycle of evolution). 6. Beasts. Elementals having animal forms, monstrosities. 7. Eaksasas or demons. Souls of sorcerers and of men with great intelligence, but with evil tendencies. Criminals for the advance- ment of science, dogmatists, sophists, vivisectionists, &c., furnish material for the development of such "devils." The Asuras are often called Devas, and are worshipped in many places of India. They are the guardian spirits of certain places, gardens, houses, &c., and have temples of their own. There are many thousand varieties. ^ They are evidently a different class of "familiar spirits" than the ** invisible guides '' mentioned above. ^ Nectromancy is not to be confounded with Necromancy. PNEUMA TO LOGY. 97 will, for the Tlagae obey the will of man for the same reason as a soldier obeys the will of the commander or an inferior obeys that of his superior, although the latter may be physically stronger than the former. The Plagae can be made to appear visibly in a mirror of Beryll, in a piece of coal or a crystal, &c., and not only the Flagae themselves, but the persons to whom they belong, may be seen, and all their secrets be known. And if it is not practicable to cause them to become visible, such secrets may be found out by a communication of thought or by signs, allegorical visions, &c. By the assistance of these riagae hidden treasures may be found and closed letters may be read, and everything may be seen, no matter how much it may be hidden from sight, for the opening of the interior sight removes the veil of matter. Thin^^s that have been buried may thus be found, stolen goods be recovered, &c. The Flagae may reveal their secrets to us in our dreams, the good as well as the evil. He who obtains knowledge from the spirit obtains it from his father ; he who knows the Elementals knows himself ; he who understands the nature of the elements understands how the Microcosm is constructed. The Flagjae are the spirits that instructed mankind in arts and sciences in ancient times, and without them there would be no science or philosophy in the world." ^ " In the practice of divination by sortilegium, &c., the Flagae guide the hand. Such arts are neither from God nor from the devil, but they are from the Flagae. The ceremonies that are customarily used on such occasions are mere superstition, and have been invented to give to such occasions an air of solemnity. Those who do practice that art are often themselves ignorant of the laws that control it, and they may attribute the results obtained to the ceremonies, and mistake their tomfooleries for the essential thing." ^ Such kinds of Flagae are the Planetary Spirits, that instruct mankind at the beginning of each Bound. H 98 PARACELSUS. In regard to the reliance that may be put into the revelations of invisible beings, Paracelsus says : " Evil spirits love to lead men into error, and therefore their prophecies are usually unreliable and their predictions based upon trickery. God made spirits mute, so that they may not tell everything so plainly to man, that the latter does not need to use his reason to avoid making- mistakes. The spirits should not instruct man, but they do not always obey that command. Therefore they are often silent when their talk is mostly needed, and they frequently speak false when it is of the utmost importance to know the truth." This is the cause that so many things that have been told by spirits have been proved lies and illusions, and some spirits lie a great deal more than others. But it may happen that perhaps out of a dozen predictions made by such spirits one accidentally comes out true, and ignorant people will in such cases often pay no attention to the fact that the other eleven predictions were false, but they will be ready to believe everything that such spirits may say. Such spirits often teach those persons who deal with them to perform certain ceremonies, to speak certain words and names in which there is no meaning, and they do all such things for their own amusement, and to have some sport at the expense of credulous persons. They are seldom what they pretend to be ; they accept names, and one will use the name of another, or they may assume the mask and the ways of acting of another. If a person has such a spirit, belonging to a better class, he may make a good fortune-teller; but one who has a lying spirit will hear nothing but lies ; and on the whole all these spirits surpass each other in deception and lies." (" Philosophia Sagax."^) ^ Those who have some experience in modern spiritualism will recognize the truth of this description. Spiritualists should not act upon the advices of spirits, if such advices are against their own reason, and scientists should not rely on the opinions of others if such opinions are against their own common eense. PNEUMATOLOGY. 99 There is another class of spirits, the Saganae or Ele- mental Spirits of Xature. Paracelsus says about their bodies : " There are two kinds of flesh. One that comes from Adam and another that does not come from Adam. The former is gross material, visible and tangible for us ; the other one is not tangible and not made from earth. If a man, who is a descendant from Adam, wants to pass through a wall, he will have first to make a hole through it ; but a being which is not descended from Adam needs no hole or door, but may pass through matter that appears solid to us, without causing any damage to it. The beings not descended from Adam, as well as those descended from him, are organized and have substantial bodies ; but there is as much difference between the sub- stance composing their bodies as there is between Matter and Spirit. Yet the Elementals are not spirits, because they have flesh, blood and bones ; they live and propa- gate offspring ; they eat and talk, act and sleep, &c., and consequently they cannot be properly called " spirits." They are beings occupying a place between men and spirits, resembling men and women in their organization and form, and resembling spirits in the rapidity of their locomotion. They are intermediary beings, or Composita, formed out of two parts joined into one ; just as two colours mixed together will appear as one colour, re- semblino' neither one nor the other of the two orisrinal ones. The Elementals have no higher principles ; they are therefore not immortal, and when they die they perish like animals. Neither water nor lire can injure them, and they cannot be locked up in our material prisons. They are, however, subject to diseases. Their costumes, actions, forms, ways of speaking, &c., are not very unlike those of human beings ; but there are a great many varieties. They have only annual intellects, and are in- capable of sphitual development." " They live in the four elements : the iSTymphae in the element of water, the Sylphes in that of the air, the II ?. loo PARACELSUS, Pigmies in tlie earth, and the Salamanders in fire. The}^ are also called Undinae, Sylvestres, G-nomi, Vulcani, &c. Each species moves only in the element to which it belongs, and neither of them can go out of its appropriate element, which is to them as the air is to us, or the water to fishes ; and none of them can live in the element belonsjinsj to another class. To each elemental being: the element in which it lives is transparent, invisible and respirable, as the atmosphere is to ourselves." " As far as the personalities of the Elementals are con- cerned, it may be said that those belonging to the element of water resemble human beings of either sex ; those of the air are greater and stronger ; ^ the Salamanders are long, lean, and dry ; the Pigmies are of the length of about two spans, but they may extend or elongate their forms until they appear like giants. The Elementals of air and water, the Sylphes and I^ymphs are kindly disposed towards man ; the Salamanders cannot associate with him on account of the fiery nature of the element wherein they live, and the Pigmies are usually of a malicious nature. The latter ones are building houses, vaults, and strange-looking edifices of some certain semi- material substances unknown to us. They have some kind of alabaster, marble, cement, &c. ; but these sub- stances are as different from ours as the web of a spider is different from our linen. Nymphs have their resi- dences and palaces in the element of water; Sylphs and Salamanders have no fixed dwellings. On the whole, the Elementals have an aversion against self-conceited and opinionated persons, such as dogmatists, scientists^ drunkards, and gluttons, and against vulgar and quarrel- some people of all kinds ; but they love natural men, who are simple-minded and child-like, innocent and sincere, and the less there is vanity and hy^DOcrisy in a man, ^ Semi-animal man may be looked upon as an elemental of the air, originating from a union of the Dhjan-Cholians (Sons of Wisdom) with daughters of the Giants. See Bible, Genesis vi. 4.) PNEUMATOLOGY, loi the easier will it be for him to approach them ; but otherwise they are as shy as wild animals." Man lives in the exterior elements, and the Elementals live in the interior elements. The latter have dwellings and clothing, manners and costumes, languages and governments of their own, in the same sense as the bees have their queens and herds of animals their leader. They are sometimes seen in various shapes. Salamanders have been seen in the shapes of fiery balls, or tongues of fire running over the fields or appearing in houses. ]^ymphs have been known to adopt the human shape, clothing and manner, and to enter into a union with man. There are certain localities, where large numbers of Elementals live together, and it has occurred that a man has been admitted into their communities and lived with them for a while, and that they have become visible and tangible to him.^ . In the legends of the saints the Elemental spirits of ]N'ature are often alluded to as " devils," a name which they do not deserve ; because there are good as well as bad Elementals ; but, although they may be very selfish, they have not developed any love for absolute evil, because they have only mortal souls, but no si)iritual essence to make them immortal. "The evil spirits are, so to say, the bailiffs and executioners of God (the Law). They have been called into existence by the influences of evil, and they work out ^ It is not credible that a person has entered with his physical body into the Yenus mountain or Untersberg, or any other such renowned places of which popular tradition speaks. Neither have the witches and sorcerers of the Middle Ages been at the witch-sabbath in their physical bodies, and it seems equally iruprobable that a person should ever have entered physically the abodes of disembodied adepts. But the physical body of a man is not the real man ; it is only his external illusion, and wherever man's centre of con- sciousness is established, there will he be present himself. But Avhile he is there, he does not miss his exterior body of which he has no more use than of a part of his clothing purposely laid away, and on re-awakening to physical conciousness he may well believe that he had been to such a place in his physical form. 102 PARACELSUS. their destiny. But the vulgar have a too high estimate of their powers, especially of the power of the devil. The devil has not enough power to mend broken old pots, much less to enrich a man. He — or it— is the poorest thing that can be thought of, and poorer than any being that can be found in the four elements. There are a great many inventions, sciences, and arts that are ascribed to the agency of the (personal) devil ; but before the world grows much older, it will be found that the devil has nothiDg to do with such things, that the de\dl is nothing and knows nothing, and that such things are the results of natural causes. True science can accom- plish a great deal ; the Eternal Wisdom of the existence of all things is without a time, without a beginning, and without an end. Things that are considered now to be impossible, will be accomplished ; that which is unex- pected will in future prove to be true, and that which is looked upon as superstition in one century, will be the basis for the approved science of the next." (" Philosophia Occulta.") ( I03 ) VI. MAGIC AND SOECEEY. In proportion as an art or science is lost or forgotten, the very name by which it was called will be misunder- stood, misapplied, and finally forgotten. In proportion as men become unspiritual and material, they will become incapable of comprehending the power of Spirit. There are many persons even to-day who deny the existence of spirit, or of anything that transcends the power of per- ception of their physical senses. One example of the degradation of terms is the meaning which is at present commonly attributed to the word Magic. The true sig- nificance of that term is spiritual knowledge or Wisdom, in contradistinction to merely speculative philosophy or changeable scientific opinions. But the vulgar have come to believe " Magic " to mean mere sleight-of-hand per- formances, or perhaps conjuring or dealings with the devil, or with the spirits of the dead. True magic is the greatest of all natural sciences, because it includes a knowledge of visible and invisible nature. It is not only a science, but also an art, because it cannot be learned out of books, but must be acquired by practical experience. To acquire that experience is to become wise ; it is to know the true nature of the visible and invisible elements that compose the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, and to possess the art to direct and employ the invisible powers of l^ature. Paracelsus says : — " Magic and Sorcery are two entirely different things, and there is as much difference between them as there is between light and darkness, and between white and black. Magic is the greatest wisdom and the knowledge of super- 104 PARACELSUS, natural powers/ A knowledge of spiritual things cannot be obtained by merely reasoning logically from external appearances existing on the physical plane, but it may be acquired by obtaining more spirituality, and making one's self capable to feel and to see the things of the spirit. It would be well if our clergymen, who are called spiritual guides, would know more of spiritual things than what they have read in their books, and if they had some prac- tical experience in divine wisdom, instead of merely repeating the opinions of the ' divine.' " X " Christ and the prophets and the apostles had magical powers, acquired less by their learning than by their holi- ness. They were able to heal the sick by the laying on of their hands and to perform many other wonderful but natural things. The clergymen talk a great deal about such things ; but where is the priest of to-day who can do like Him ? It has been said by Christ that His true followers would do the same things and still greater ones ; ^ but it would be difficult to find at present one Christian minister who can do anything as Christ did. But if auy one who is not a man-made minister comes and cures the sick by the power of Christ acting through him, they call him a sorcerer and a child of the devil, and are willing to burn him upon a stake." ^ The first requirement for the study of Magic is a thorough knowledge of natural science. But there is a false and a true natural science. The false science may be ^ The word "supernatural," as employed by Paracelsus, does not imply anything beyond Nature as a whole, because nothing exists beyond the All, but it means that which transcends Nature iu her lower aspect, or a higher or spiritual aspect of Nature, than the merely mechanical and physiological part of her work. If, for instance, we follow our instincts, we act naturally — that is to say, according to the demands of our animal nature ; but if we resist natural impulses by the power of will and reason, we employ powers belonging to a higher order of Nature. If we avoid to do evil on account of the evil consequences which it would cause to ourselves, we act naturally; but if we avoid it on account of an inherent love for the good, we act on a plane above our animal nature. MAGIC AND SORCERY, 105 perfectly logical in all its deductions, but its fundamental doctrines are false/ and are based upon a misunderstand- ing of spiritual truths, wliicli a cold, calculating intellect is unable to grasp. The true science of Nature draws its logical conclusions from fundamental truths, which it knows to be true, because it perceives them by the power of the mind that is illuminated by wisdom. False science bases its conclusions upon external appearance caused by the illusion of the senses ; true science reasons from that which it not merely believes, but knows to be true. Maggie is a science which teaches the true nature of the inner man as well as the organization of his outward body. The superficial reasoner can comprehend nothing but what he can perceive by his senses ; but the inner man has perceptive faculties transcending those of his body. '' You should know that man has the capability (latent or active) to foresee future events and to read the future from the books of the past and from those of the present. Man also possesses a power by which he may see his friends and the circumstances by which they are surrounded, although such persons may be a thousand miles away from him at that time. This art is taught by Gabalis (the spiritual perception of man). It is a power which may become especially active in dreams, and that which is seen in such dreams is the reflection of the light of wisdom and prophecy in man. If a man in his waking state knows nothing of such things, the cause of his ignorance is that he does not understand how to search in himself for the powers that are given to him by God, and by which he may arrive at all the Wisdom, Eeason, and Knowledge concerning everything that exists, whether it be near him or far away." Ignorance is the cause of imperfection. " Men do not know themselves, and therefore they do not understand ^ Such false fundamental doctrines of modern science are her misconcep- tions of the true constitution of man, of the constitution of matter, the origin of life, of good and evil, of the nature of thought, soul, spirit, &c. &c. io6 PARACELSUS. the things that are in their inner world. Each man has the essence of God, and all the wisdom and power of the world (germinally) in himself ; he possesses one kind of tnowledsje as much as another, and he who does not find that which is in him cannot truly say that he does not possess it, but only that he was not capable of successfully seekincr for it." o The exercise of clairvoyance requires a passive state. " Slee^Ding is waking in regard to such arts, because it is the inner light of I^ature that acts during sleep on the invisible man, who, notwithstanding his invisibility, is existing as truly as the visible one. The inner man is the natural man, and knows more than the one that is formed of flesh." " ^N'ature is the universal teacher. Whatever we cannot learn from the external appearance of Nature we can learn from her spirit. Both are one. Everything is taught by Nature to her disciple, if he asks for information in an appropriate manner. Nature is a light, and by looking at Nature in her own light we will understand her. Visible Nature may be seen in her visible light ; invisible Nature may become visible if we acquire the power to perceive her invisible light.^ There is a light in the spirit of man that illuminates everything, and by which he may even perceive supernatural things. Those who seek in the light of external Nature know the things of Nature ; those who seek knowledge in the light of man know the things above Nature, wdiich belong to the law. Man is an animal, a spirit, and an angel, for he has all three qualities. As long as he remains in Nature he serves Nature ; if he moves in the spirit, he serves the angel (in ^ There is notliingto prevent any person from seeing by this inner light of nature, except the errors, prejudices, and misconceptions which are caused by the illusions of the senses, and which are intensified by an education in a system of philosophy which mistakes these errors for fundamental truths. The tiTith can only be found where it is. A knowledge of the supreme power of the universe cannot be obtained by denying its existence. Life cannot be found in an empty form. MAGIC AND SORCERY. 107 him) ; if lie lives in the angel, he serves as an angel. The first quality belongs to the body, the two others to the soul, and they are its jewels. The body of man remains on the earth, but man having a soul and the two addi- tional qualities is enabled to rise above Nature, and to know that which does not belong to ISTature. He has the power to learn all that belongs to heaven and hell, to know God and his kingdom, the angels and spirits, and the origin of evil. If a man is to go to a certain place, it will be useful to him to know all about that place before he goes there ; he will then after his arrival be enabled to move about freely, and to go wherever he pleases. The quality of each thing created by God, whether it be visible or invisible to the senses, may be perceived and known. If man knows the essence of things, their attributes, their attractions, and the elements of which they consist, he will be a master of nature, of the elements, and of the spirits." (" Philosophia Sagax.") " The light of Nature (Astral Light) teaches us that each form, reasonable and unreasonable, sensitive ones and such as are without sensation, has its natural spirit (astral body). The Nectromanticus (seer) must know these spirits, for without that knowledge he will not find their true character. By his art he may sense them, and having perceived them with his inner sense he will find their corpus. Such spirits may be perceived in crystals, they may guide the divining-rod and attract it as a magnet attracts iron ; it may turn the sieve and the key,' and draw the flame of a light away from the wick. By the art of Nectromancy we may look into the interior of rocks ; closed letters may be read without being opened,^ hidden things be found, and all the secrets of men be brought to light. Some people believe that such arts can best be practised by virgins and innocent children, because their minds are not clouded by false opinions nor darkened by memories of evil deeds ; but any one may practise this ^ Such modes of divination are well known to modern spiritualists. ' Tlie astral duplicate of the writing is seen hy the astral sense. io8 PARACELSUS. art if he has the necessary qualifications." (" Philosophia Sagax.") He who understands letters can read words, and he who knows words can read books. If we know that a certain cause may produce a certain effect, and if such an effect takes place, we may easily recognise the cause that produced it. " If the crowing of cocks announces a change of weather^ and if we liear the cocks crow in an unusual manner, we may predict that the weather will change. Certain animals have inherited instincts that cause them to act in a certain manner, which may indicate other future events than a change in the weather. The peculiar €ry of a peacock, or the unusual howling of a dog may in- dicate the approach of a death in the house to which they are attached ; for every being is a product of the universal principle of life, and each contains the light of I^ature. Animals possess that light, and men bring it with them into the world." ^ The power of clairvoyance and prevision is especially active in dreams, when the activity of the physical body is subdued, and the disturbing influences coming through the avenues of the physical senses are excluded. " Artists and students have often received instructions in their ■dreams in regard to things which they desired to know. Their imagination was then free, and began to work its wonders. It attracted to it the Evestra of some philo- sophers, and they communicated to them their knowledge. Such things happen frequently, but it very often occurs that on awakening to consciousness in the outer world a part of what has been learned during the dream is forgot- ten. If this happens and we wish to remember such dreams, we should not leave the room after rising, and speak to nobody, but remain alone and undisturbed, and eat no- thing until after a while we may remember that dream." ^ ^ Man possesses that power from birth, but the majority lose it afterwards by neglecting to use it, and in consequence of concentrating all their attention «pon the illusions of the material plane. ^ Dreams or visions of a true spiritual origin make usually a very strong impression, and are then not easily forgotten. MAGIC AND SORCERY. 109 " It is often tlie case that dreams have an important meaning, but many dreams that are pleasant may signify sorrow, and disagreeable dreams may signify joy ; and we should therefore not put too much confidence in dreams." Men's astral bodies may more easily be influenced during sleep than during the waking state. The power to influence persons during their sleep is sometimes used for evil purposes : " Some persons being in love with others, and finding their love unrequited, have sometimes used this circumstance to influence those whose love they desired by appearing to them in their dreams. They wrote with their own blood their names upon pieces of new paper, and put the slips under their pillows or beds, so that these persons may see the intended lovers in their dreams and fall in love with them. Girls used to put their belts, ribbons, locks of hair, &c., under the pillows of young men for whose love they craved ; but very seldom they found the desired result in this manner, because they forgot that faith is necessary to obtain success." ^ A strong faith and a powerful imagination are the two pillars supporting the door to the temple of magic, and without which notliing can be accomplished. Imagina- tion is the creative power of man, and it may act instinc- tively and without any conscious effort of the will. " Man has a Adsible and an invisible workshop. The visible one is his body, the invisible one his imagination (mind). The sun gives light, and this light is not tangible, but its heat may be felt, and if the rays are concentrated it may set a house on fire. The imagination is a sun in the soul of man, acting in its own sphere as the sun of the Earth acts in his. Wherever the latter shines, germs planted in the soil grow and vegetation springs up, and the sun of the soul acts in a similar manner, and calls the forms of the soul into existence. Visible and tangible forms grow into existence from invisible elements by the power of the sun- ^ This art of causing certain visions by contact witli certain articles has been rediscovered in modern times, and is now called Psjchometrj. no PARACELSUS. sMne. Invisible vapours .are attracted and collected together into visible mists by the power of the sun of the outer world, and the inner sun of man may work similar wonders. The great world is only a product of the ima- gination of the universal mind, and man is a little world of its own that imagines and creates by the power of ima- gination. If man's imagination is strong enough to pene- trate into every corner of his interior worlds it will be able to create things in those corners, and whatever man thinks will take form in his soul." " The sun acts upon the visible soil of the earth, and upon invisible matter in the air ; imagination acts upon the invisible substance of the soul, but the visible Earth is formed from the invisible elements of the Earth, and man's physical body is formed from his invisible soul, and the soul of man is as intimately related to the soul of the Earth as the physical body of the former is related to the physical body of the latter, and they continually act upon each other, and without the latter the former could not exist. Visible matter becomes invisible, and is acted on bv the soul, and invisible matter becomes orsjanized and is made visible again through the influence of the soul. If a pregnant woman imagines something strongly^ the effects of her imagination may become manifest in the child. Imagination springs from desire, and as man may have good or evil desires, likewise he may have a good or an evil imagination. A strong desire of either kind will give rise to a strong imagination. Curses as well as bless- ings will only be effective if they come from the heart." (" De Virtute Imaginativa.") "Nothing can come out of the sphere of the mind except what is drawn into it, and that which is drawn into it may come out. If a pregnant woman craves for strawberries, the image of strawberries will be drawn into her mind, and her imagination may impress a mark resembling a strawberry upon the child. Frogs do not grow in the sky, and if (as has happened) a multitude of MA GIC AND SORCER V. in frogs come down from it during a rain, these frogs_must have been drawn up before they came down." " The imagination of women is usually stronger than that of men. The former are more passionate, stronger in love and stronger in hate, and their imagination may -carry them during their sleep to other places, where they may be seen by others who are in the same state. They are then really at those places, and may remember what they have seen, although they were there without their physical bodies ; for their minds were active at such places, and the mind is the real person, not the body that is asleep." ^ " If a person dies, and seriously desires that another person should die with him, his imagination may create a force that may draw a menstruum (vehicle) from the dead body to form a corpus, and it may be projected by the im- pulse given to it by the thought of the dying person towards that other, and that other one may die. Such may be especially the case if a woman dies of puerperal fever,^ and if such a woman wishes that the whole world •should die with her, an epidemic may be the consequence of her poisoned imagination." "Eear, terror, passion, desire, joy, and envy, are six states of the mind which especially rule the imagination, •and consequently the world of man ; and as the mind of man is the microcosmic counterpart of the universal mind the antitypes of these states are also active in the imagi- nation of the world, and the thoughts of man act upon the latter as the latter acts upon him. It is therefore desir- ^ This passage refers to the supposed excursions of witches on the Hartz Mountains and other places, often spoken of in the witch trials. Many sup- posed witches were burnt to death for having confessed that they had attended at such meetings. - It is well known that the corpses of women having died of puerperal fevers are very infectious, and dissecting wounds received in such cases are especially dangerous. The passage implies that the invisible mind-substance may draw contagion from the poisonous body, and spread it by the power of An evil will. 112 PARACELSUS. able that we sliould govern our imaginatioTi and not allow it to run wild. We should attempt to grasp the spirit by the power of the spirit, and not by speculative imagi- nation."^ ("De Virtute Imaginativa.") "Man is a twofold being, having a human and an animal nature. If he feels, and thinks, and acts as human beings should act, he is a man ; if he feels and acts like an animal, he is then an animal, and the equal of those animals whose mental characteristics are manifested in him. An exalted imagination caused by a desire for the good raises him up ; a low imagination caused by a desire for that which is low and vulgar drags him down and degrades him." " The spirit is the master, imagination the tool, and the body the plastic material. Imagination is the power by which the will forms sidereal entities out of thoughts. Imaf^ination is not fancy, which latter is the corner-stone of superstition and foolishness. The imagination of man becomes pregnant through desire, and gives birth to deeds. Every one may regulate and educate his imagination so as to come thereby into contact with spirits, and be taught by them. Spirits desiring to act upon man act upon his imagination,^ and they therefore make often use of his dreams for the purpose of acting upon him. During sleep the sidereal man may by the power of the imagina- tion be sent out of the physical form, at a distance to act for some purpose. N'o place is too far for the imagination to go, and the imagination of one man may impress that of another, wherever it reaches." (" Philos. Sagax.") " Imagination is the beginning of the corpus of a form, and it guides the process,, of its growth. The Will is a dissolviRg power, which enables the body to become im- 1 This means that we should be ahle to feel the truth with our souls, with- out reasoning about it from an objective standpoint. We should realize the truth by being one with it, and not examine it as if it were something strange and separate from ourselves. 2 Even physical sight depends on the imagination. If we behold an object, it is not scientific to say " I see," but we ought to say, "I imagine to see." ' MAGIC AND SORCERY. 113 pregnated by the " tinctura " of the imagination. He who wants to know how a man can unite his power of imagination with the power of the imagination of Heaven must know by what process this may be done. The wisdom which man ought to possess does not come from the Earth, nor from the firmament ; ^ but from the fifth essence — the Universal Mind. A man may come into possession of creative power by identifying his own mind with the Universal Mind, and he who succeeds in doing so will be in possession of the highest possible wisdom ; the lower realm of Nature will be subject to him, and the powers of Heaven will aid him, because Heaven is the servant of wisdom." " Before man is born, and shortly afterwards, his soul is not perfect, but it may be perfected through the power of the Will. Spirits are essential, visible, tangible, and sensitive in relation to other spirits.^ They stand in a similar relation to each other, as physical bodies to other physical bodies. Spirits speak with each other through the will, but not through audible speech. While the body is asleep, the soul may go to a distant place, and act intelligently at such places.^ If it meets another spirit, whether it be an incarnated or a disincarnated one, they may act upon each other as two human beings act, if they meet. One man may communicate his thoughts to another with whom he is in sympathy, at any distance however great it may be,"* or he may act upon the spirit ^ The sphere of the soul. ^ The term ''spirits" refers here to intelligent souls. •■^ It may happen that the spirit of a person will go to a distant place, while the body is asleep, and act intelligently there, and that the man after awakening from his sleep remembers nothing about it. But an adept, in whom spiritual consciousness is his normal state, may do so knowingly and consciously, and remember all about it after his spirit (Majavi-Eupa) returns to his body. ■* Many successful scientific experiments with thougbt-transference have recently been made. Similar scientific experiments for long distances will be more difficult, on account of the differences of time, place, and conditions, and because spiritually enlightened persons, possessing great power of im- pressing their thoughts at great distances are at present not easily found. I 114 PARACELSUS, of another person in such a manner as to influence hiS' actions after the body of the latter awakens from his sleep,^ and in this way he may even injure the health of the latter^ and upon this law of Nature is based the possibility of witchcraft and sorcery." " The exercise of true magic does not require any ceremonies or conjurations, or the making of circles or signs ; it requires neither benedictions nor maledictions in words, neither verbal blessings nor curses ; it only requires- a strong faith in the omnipotent power of all good, that can accomplish everything if it acts through a human mind who is in harmony with it, and without which nothing useful can be accomplished. True magic power consists in true faith, but true faith rests in knowledge, and without knowledge there can be no faith. If I know that di^dne wisdom can accomplish a certain thing, I have the true faith ; but if I merely believe that a thing- might be possible, or if I attempt to persuade myself that I beheve in its possibility, such a behef is no knowledge, and confers no faitli. No one can have a true faith in a thing which is not true, because such a " faith '■' would be merely a belief or opinion based upon ignorance of the truth." " But even if such a belief or perverted faith, if strong enough, may give rise to a powerful evil imagination, and is the cause of witchcraft and sorceries, by which means one person may injure another without running much risk of discovery ; because he may kill or injure his enemy without going near him, and the latter cannot defend Mmself as he might, if he were attacked by a idsible foe." " It would be very easy to give instructions so that ^ It has been proved by many experiments tliat a person thrown into a mesmeric sleep by a mesmerizer may be requested to do certain things after he awakens from his sleep, and that after he awakens he will perform such actions, although he will not remember what has taken place during his sleep. It is therefore very fortunate that at the present state of morality of our modern civilization such powers are not generally known, and that they are not in the possession of our sceptics. MAGIC AND SORCERY, 115 every one miglit convince liimself of the truth of these statements, but such instructions might ?je misused by wicked persons who might employ such knowledge for evil purposes ; and it is, moreover, not to be regretted if methods by which one man may injure another should not be publically known/ But there are certain things that ought to be known to physicians, so that they may learn the cause of certain mysterious diseases, and know the means how to cure them, and to counteract evil influences by the power of good. There are, for instance, some sorcerers who make an image representing the person whom they desire to injure, and they drive a nail into the foot of that image, and evil will and malicious thought cause the person whom the image represents to experience a great pain in his foot, and to be unable to walk until the nail from the image is removed. ISTow, if a physician meets with such a case, and he does not know the cause of the pain in the foot of his patient, he will not be able to cure it ; but if he knows the cause, he may employ the power of imagination to counteract the evil that has been caused by a similar power." ^ ^ " Thus, it has happened that nails and hair, needles,, bristles, pieces of glass, and many other things, have been cut or been pulled out of the bodies of some patients, and were followed by other things of a similar character, and that such a state of affairs continued for many weeks or months, and the physicians stood there helpless, and did not know what to do. But if they had better understood | ^ It may be remarked tliat tlie processes given below would not be eflfec- tive if employed by any one who is not in possession of the powers to make them efiective, and we see therefore no cause why they should not be pub- lished. Those who possess such evil powers know these things already. ^ If the representatives of modern erudition would take some trouble to inquire in an unsophisticated manner among the country populations of Europe, they would be surprised at the great amount of evil that is still caused by sorcery, either consciously or unconsciously employed. Such things are all caused by natural means, but with whose character our modera sceptics are not acquainted. I 2 ii6 PARACELSUS. their business, tliey would have known that these things had been brought into the body of the patient by the power of the evil imagination of a sorcerer, and they might have put one of the extracted articles into an elder or oak tree, m the side directed towards the rising sun, and that article would have acted like a magnet to attract the e^dl >. influence, and it would have cured the patient." ^ "A strong will may subdue a weaker one, and there- fore the first necessary condition for the purpose of producing magic effects is the development of the will. The power of the will may act more readily upon animals than upon man, because the soul of man — being sup- ported by the divine spirit — has more power to defend itself against the influence of a foreign will than the sidereal body of animals. The will of a waking man may act upon another person, who may l3e awake or asleep, but it may also happen that one man may act spiritually upon another while both are asleep ; the astral iorm of a sleeping person may \dsit another person in his dream, and influence the latter to love him ; or it may injure that other ; or it may cause him to perform some- thing which he would not perform if left to himself." v.- In regard to the action of the will at a distance Paracelsus says : " As to images of wax (which are made for the purpose of assisting the imagination and con- centrating the will), I will tell you that if a person desires to injure an enemy he may do so through some medium — i.e., a Corpus. In this way it is possible that my spirit, without the assistance of my body and without a sword, may kill or wound another person simply by the action of my will. It is furthermore possible that I may bring the spirit of my enemy into an image, and afterwards injure or lame him in the image according to my will, and that the body of that enemy will be correspondingly injured or lamed thereby. The power ^ of the will is the main point in medicine. A man who wishes every one well will produce good effects. One MAGIC AND SORCERY. 117 who begrudges everybody everything good, and who hates himself, may experience on his own person the effects of his evil thoughts. Images may be cursed, and diseases — such as fevers, epilepsy, apoplexy, &c. — may thereby be caused to the persons whom those images are made to represent. I am speaking seriously, because oui^^ phy- sicians know only a very small part of the power of the will. The will creates spirits (forces) that have nothing to do with reason, but obey blindly/"^ (" Paramirum," X- Tract. iv. cap. viii.) ■ "Another great spiritual power is contained in Faith. Faith stimulates and elevates the power of the spirit. A person who has a strong faith feels as if he were lifted up, and were living independent of the body. By the power of faith the Apostles and Patriarchs accomplished great things that were above the ordinary run of N'ature ; and the saints performed their miracles^ by the power of faith. Such miracles as were performed by them during their lifetime were performed by their own faith ; other miracles that took place through their relics or near their tombs were caused by the power of faith of those who asked their help. All the wonders of magic are per- formed by "Will, Imagination, and Faith." " A dead saint cannot cure anybody. A living saint may cure the sick by virtue of the divine power that actsjthrough him. This divine power does not die with the body of the saint, and therefore true saints are still ^ We would not advise any reader to make any sucli experiment, because, apart from tlie immorality of such a practice, it is known to every occultist, that if such an evil power is once propelled, and is not of sufficient strength to penetrate the soul-sphere of his object, and to accomplish its purpose, it rebounds with a destructive effect to the source from whence it was projected. - The term "miracles" means natural feats produced by spiritual power. If a person acts against his own natural instincts ; if he, for instance, per- forms an act of unselfishness without any hope of reward ; such an act may be called a supernatural act, because it is not in the material nature of man to perform it, but he is impelled to do so by a power which comes from the spirit. Spirit may manifest itself in Nature, but it is not produced by Nature. ii8 , PARACELSUS. living, although their bodies may have died. The power which enabled the saints to work miracles is still alive, and accessible to all. It is the power of the Holy Ghost, and if you live in God, He will overshadow you with that power, and it will teach you the laws of God, and you will be guided like other saints, even as the apostles, Peter or Paul." (" De Sanctorum Beneficiis Vindictis.") " Faith has a great deal more power than the physical body. You are visible and corporeal, but there is still an invisible man in you, and that invisible man is yourself too. Each act performed by your body is performed by the physical man. The one acts in a visible, the other in an invisible manner. If an injury is inflicted upon the invisible man, that injury will be reproduced on his visible body. Such things can be done, but it is very wrong to attempt them. Whoever attempts them is tempting God, and he who succeeds will seriously injure his own soul. There have been people who have made images of wax representing certain persons of the opposite sex, and they melted such forms by the heat of a light, to assist their own evil imagination, and by using their faith they have succeeded in enticing those persons into an unlawful love. Tlie Chaldseans and Egyptians used to make images according to the constellations of the stars, and these images moved and talked, but they did not know the powers that acted in them. Such things are done by faith, but it is not the true faith in God, but a false faith, supported by the desire for evil; because a faith that kills and injures men is not good ; a true faith can only come from the source of all good, in which there can be no evil, and that which is not good is not true. Evil belongs to the world, because without evil good could not be known or appre- ciated ; but in the source of good there can be no Evil." ^ " True faith has wonderful powers, and this fact proves 1 Absolute good cannot be evil, but requires tlie presence of evil to become manifest. MA GIC AND SORCER V. 1 19 that we are spirits, and not merely visible bodies. Faith accomplishes that which the body would accomplish if it had the power. Man is created with great powers ; he is ^Teater than heaven and greater than the earth. He possesses faith, and faith is a light more powerful and superior to natural light, and stronger than all creatures (nature- spirits). All magic processes are based upon faith. By Faith, Imagination, and Will we may accomplish whatever we may deshe. The power of faith overcomes all spirits of I^ature, because it is a spiritual power, and spirit is higher than x^ature. Whatever is grown in the realm of ISTature may be changed by the power of faith. Anything we may accomplish that surpasses nature is accomplished by faith, and by faith diseases may be <3ured." ^ C Philosophia Sagaria.") " The sidereal man is of a magnetic nature, and for that reason he may attract the powers and effluvia of the astral-world (A'kasa). If, therefore, any inimical astral influences are circulating in the All of nature, he may become sick, and if these currents change he may become well again. The same thing may happen if a good or an evil Will, supported by a strong faith, changes or creates I currents that act upon the sidereal man." ^ " The astral currents created by the imagmation of the Macrocosmos act upon the Microcosmos, and produce certain states in the latter, and likewise the astral currents produced by the imagination and will of man produce certain states in external nature, and these currents may reach far, because the power of the imagina- .tion reaches as far as thought can go. The physiological ^ However mucli this may be disputed in theory by material reasoners, it ds nevertheless accepted in practice even by the most sceptical practitioners of medicine. A physician who has no confidence or faith in his own ability, will not accomplish much. Moreover, physicians often have each one his own favourite remedy, which may act successfully, if employed by one, and fail in the hands of another, and this may be explained by the fact that one physician may have more faith in his own favourite remedy than in that of another. I20 PARACELSUS, processes taking place in the body of living beings are caused by tlieir astral currents, and the physiological and meteorological processes taking place in the great organism of N'ature are caused by the astral currents of Nature as a whole. The astral currents of either act upon the other, either consciously or unconsciously, and if this fact is properly understood, it will cease to appear incredible that the mind of man may produce changes in the universal mind, which may cause changes in the atmosphere, winds and rains, storms, hail, and lightning, or that evil may be changed into good by the power of faith. Heaven is a field into which the imagination of man throws the seeds, l^ature is an artist that develops the seeds, and what is caused by ISTature maybe imitated by Art." ("De Sagis et eorum Operibus.") " To conjure the spirit of a thing means to seek after the truth which that thing represents. To see the spirit of a thing means to recognize the character of that thing with all its qualities and attributes. To make the spirit of a thing subservient to one's power, is to know how to- use the powers that are hidden in such a thing for our own purposes. If I know the attributes of a thing, I know its spirit. If I can make use of the qualities of a thing, its spirit will be my servant. Nothing can be known of a thing unless we succeed in making its- character appear plain to our understanding." "The Menstruum, through which the will may act for effecting good or evil, is the living Mumia. Mumia ^ is a vehicle that contains the essence of life. If we eat the flesh of animals, it is not their flesh that forms again blood and bones in our bodies, but the invisible vehicle of life derived from the flesh of these animals, which is taken up into our bodies and forms new tissues and organs. If an animal dies in consequence of some internal disease, we do not eat its flesh, because its Mumia has been poisoned by its disease ; neither do we' ^ The magnetic body. MAGIC AND SORCERY, I2B eat the flesli of animals that died of old age, or the flesh of a rotten carcase, because its healthy Mumia has de- parted on account of the decomposition, and what is left of the Mumia has been poisoned by the process of putrefaction. The Mumia of a living being partakes of the characteristics of the being from which it is taken. For this reason we do not eat the flesh of ferocious animals, such as tigers, lions, wild- cats, &c. They con- tain a fiery Mumia which stimulates the astral essences of man, and causes in him such tendencies as were the characteristics of the animals from which they are taken. We eat the flesh of domestic animals, because their character is more gentle and their Mumia not exciting, such as the stupid ox, the gentle sheep, &c., but the healthiest animal food is the flesh of birds, because they live in the air, and the air is the noblest of the four elements." " The Mumia of the dead body is useless, and the Mumia that is prepared by embalming a corpse is good for nothing, but to serve as food for worms. The most efficacious Mumia is that of a person who died in an unnatural manner while his body was in good health ; such a one, for instance, as has been hung or decapitated, or whose body has been broken on the wheel. A person who dies a slow death in consequence of some disease, loses his powers before he dies, and putrefaction begins often in such cases even while the patient is still alive. His Mumia will then be worthless. But if our physicians knew the occult powers of the Mumia of persons that have died sudden deaths, they would not permit the body of an executed criminal to hang at the gallows for over three days, but they would take it away and use it for their own purposes. Such a Mumia is very powerful, especially after it has been exposed to influence of the air, the sun, and the moon." " The Mumia of a being who dies a violent death in the air, returns to the air ; the Mumia of a body is taken up by that element in which the body is decomposed. I£ 122 PARACELSUS. .■a person is drowned, his Mumia will go to the element of water ; if he is burnt, it will go to that of the fire." ^ (" Philosoph.," Tract, iii.) " These three kinds of Mumia have very wonderful occult powers, and many strange feats may be performed through their use by those who know how to employ them, especially by such as have taken the Mumia them- selves from the persons for whose life it served as a vehicle. Such people may be executioners, hangmen, and murderers, and the latter sometimes kill a man for the mere purpose of obtaining his Mumia to perform wicked things. But for such people it would have been better if a millstone had been hung about their necks, ^nd they had been thrown into the sea ; because they will themselves end in a pitiful manner, and their souls will experience the evil which they themselves have created." ^ On account of the great occult power contained in the Mumia, it is used in witchcraft and sorcery. " Witches and sorcerers may make a bargain with evil spirits, and cause them to carry the Mumia to certain places where it may come into contact with other people, without the knowledge of the latter, and cause them harm. They may take earth from the graves of people who have died of the plague, and infect other people with it. They may also ^ Those who are to a certain extent acquainted with modern spiritualism ■will know that usually at the beginning of a strong " physical manifesta- tion " a cold draught of air is felt, and sometimes even a corpse-like odour pervades the air of the room where the seance is held. This is caused by the presence of the astral body of the dead, bringing with it the elements of its surroundings, such as are connected with its Mumia, from the grave. If it is the " spirit " of a drowned person, the air in the room may appear to become damp and musty, or perhaps a sprinkling of spray may take place. Moreover, if the "spirit" of a person who was a great drunkard manifests itself, the air may become pervaded with the odour of alcohol. 2 The final fate of sorcerers and black magicians has often been alluded to in writings on occultism. The organization of spiritual forces which they •create, and in which their consciousness and sensation rests, is very strong ; hut as it does not receive its life from the Supreme Spirit, it is not immortal, and its dissolution will therefore be painful and slow. MA GIC AND SORCER V. 123 infect the cattle, spoil the milk/ and cause a great deal of damage, and the injured people do not know the cause of the evils that afflict them. A great deal might be said ^ Note. — I have taken especial pains to investigate this subject, and I have come to the conclusion, that if such persons make a bargain with evil spirits, they usually do this eflfectually, not by any word or ceremonies, but by entering into a state of harmony of feeling (coming en raijport) with such evil entities, and they may do this unconsciously or unknowingly in their normal state, or it may be that only the sidereal man knows that such a compact exists. Such " sorcerers " are often evil-disposed but ignorant persons, who perhaps do not even know that they possess such powers, and they may " bewitch " persons simply by the power of their ill-will, guided by some unseen intelligence, and without being themselves conscious of their success, but in other instances they may know it. The fact that such sor- ceries do occur will not be doubted by any one who has investigated the sub- ject. They occur to a great extent among the country people in Europe, and especially in Koman Catholic countries. In Bavaria and Tyrol the country people are always suspicious of strangers, whom they believe capable of bewitching their cattle. They will not permit such strangers to enter their stables if the latter do not pronounce a blessing on enteiing it, and if they are afraid of the evil power of some neighbour, they will under no cir- cumstance lend any article to him or accept anything from him. Several cases of "bewitched cattle " and " blue milk " are known to me personally, of which I will mention the following as an example : — At a farm-house not far from BI the milk became one day " blue." After having been deposited in the usual place it began to darken, became lightly blue, and that colour after a while deepened into an almost inky darkness, while the layer of milk exhibited zigzag lines, and soon the whole mass began to putrefy and to emit a horrible odour. This occurred again and again every day, and the farmer was in despair. Everything was attempted, to find out the cause of the trouble ; the stable was thoroughly cleaned, the place where the milk was kept was changed, a different food was given to the cattle, and samples of the milk were sent to M to be examined by chemists ; the old milk-pots were replaced by new ones, &c. ; but nothing produced a change in the existing state of affairs. At last my sister, the Countess S , who resided in the neighbourhood, hearing of these things, went to that farm-house to investigate the matter. She took with her a clean new bottle, and filled it with the milk as it came from the bewitched cows. This milk she took home with her and deposited it in her own pantry, and from that day the trouble in the house of her neighbour ceased, and all the milk in her own bouse became blue. Here again everything was tried to find out the cause, but without any success, until, about three months afterwards, some old lady — living about 300 miles distant — effected another spell by her own occult powers, using some slips of paper, on which she wrote something, and in consequence of which the trouble ceased. Before it ceased, however, something strange 124 PARACELSUS, in regard to this subject, but we will not write it down^ because we do not desire to give instructions in sorcery, or enable the wicked to use the knowledge obtained for the purpose of injuring others." (" De Pestilitate.") " It is very desirable that some good and wise men,, well versed in the secret arts, should be appointed by the authorities to counteract and prevent the evils produced by the wicked who x^i'actise witchcraft and sorcery, and they should pay particular attention to convents^ monas- teries, and houses of prostitution, because in such places a lascivious and evil imagination is especially active, and great quantities of sperma are there collected by evil spirits, and that sperma contains a powerful Mumia, which may be extracted, and transformed into evil things ; or it may decom230se and become a strong poison, furnishing life to innumerable invisible (microscopic) existences, by wliich epidemics and plagues may be caused. One witch may poison another by such means, and the familiar spirits of witches often steal sperma from persons who are addicted to bad habits and use it for evil purposes." " An especially powerful poison that may be used in sorcery is the menstrual blood. " If a woman exposes a cloth impregnated with the menstrual blood to the rays of the new moon at night, and to the rays of the sun during the day, a powerful happened. Before daybreak, as tlie ini]ki]Qaid was about to enter tlie stable, some black tbing like an animal ruslied out of tbe half-opened door, knocked the milk-pail and the lantern out of her hands, and disappeared. After this happened all went well again. On another occasion, in a similar case that took place in the same neighbourhood, the owner of the bewitched cattle was advised to take a sample of the milk from each cow, to mix it in a pan, to boil it over a slow firOj, and to whip it with a rod while it was boiling down, and to throw the rest away. This advice he followed, and on the next day a person of ill-repute was met, having his face covered with bloody streaks, as if they had been inflicted with a rod. This man could give no satisfactory account of the origin of his marks, and it is supposed that he was the punished sorcerer. The trouble then ceased. These examples go to corroborate what Paracelsus- says about the Mumia. MAGIC AND SORCERY. 125 basilisk is created, because it attracts the ' magnes salis.' This invisible poison may give rise to many and various diseases, because the moon is the ' menstruum mundi/ and exercises a very evil influence. Gold attracts mercury and amalgamates with it, and likewise the sun attracts the ' mercurium menstrui mulierum.' The moon exerts a certain evil influence periodically every month, and the menstruum mulierum is renewed periodically every month, and during such periods there is an especially strong sympathy between them." " Women should know such things and pay attention to them, else they may run great danger. It is a known fact that during the time of a plague many more women die than men. It is also known that v/omen who, on account of their age, have lost the power to menstruate, are more powerful than others to effect evil spells and sorceries, and to injure men and animals.^ " If you take turpentine and distil it, the spirit of turpentine will go away and the rosin remain ; and if you mix the rosin again with the spirit, you will have your turj)entine again as it was before. Likewise the human blood contains an airy, fiery spirit, and this spirit has its centre in the heart, where it is most condensed, and from which it radiates, and the radiating rays return to the lieart. Likewise the world has its fiery spirit pervading the atmosphere, and its centre is called the sun, and the influences radiating from the sun return to that centre. The sun radiates heat and attracts the vapours of the earth, and likewise the heart of man attracts the ' humidum menstrui,' which is a poisonous planetary exhalation of the Microcosm of woman. The ' spiritus vitse cerebri ' of an insane person may be attracted towards the moon in the same manner as the needle of a compass is attracted towards the Pole, and such a person will therefore — ^ This was a common belief during the Middle Ages, and many a poor old woman has been burned to death for having been suspected of being a witch. 126 PARACELSUS. especially at the time of the new moon, when that attrac- tion is strongest — grow worse, and begin to rave ; and likewise the ' spiritus sensitivus ' of a man who is weak and offers no resistance may be attracted towards the moon and be poisoned by its evil influence." " The witches and evil spirits may, moreover, use certain invisible and poisonous elements, taken from spiders, toads^ and other villainous creatures, and use them in combination with the menstrual blood for evil purposes ; but it is not advisable to publish the secret how this is done. We may, however, say that sometimes they make an image of a person in wax, and tie a rag, soiled with the menstrual blood, around it, and add the Mumia of the carcase of some animal — preferring one of an animal that has died of an ulcer — and by using their evil imagination they throw the evil spell upon the person whom the image represents, and in this manner they may poison his blood and cause him to die." " They sometimes take a mirror set in a wooden frame, and put it into a tub of water, so that it will swim on the top with its face directed towards the sky. On the top of the mirror, and encircling the glass, they lay a cloth saturated with menstrual blood, and thus they expose it to the influence of the moon ; and this evil influence is thrown toAvards the mooU; and, radiating again from the moon, it may bring evil to those who love to look at the moon. The rays of the moon, passing through that ring upon the mirror, become poisoned, and poison the mirror ; and the mirror throws back the poisoned ether into the atmosphere, and the moon and the mirror poison each other in the same manner as two malicious persons, by looking at each other, poison each other's souls with their eyes. If a mhror is strongly poisoned in this manner, the witch takes good care of it ; and if she desires to injure some one she takes a waxen image made in his name, she surrounds it with a cloth spotted with the menstrual blood, and throws the reflex of the mirror through the opening in the middle MA GIC AND SORCER V. 1 27 upon tlie head of the figure, or upon some other part of its body, using at the same time her evil imagination and curses ; and the man whom the image represents may- then liave his vitality dried up and his blood poisoned by that evil influence, and he may become diseased, and his body covered with boils. Such is the ' pestis particularis,' which may be known if it affects a man who has not been near any other persons or places from which he may have caught the disease." " But if a witch desires to poison a man with her eyes, she will go to a place where she expects to meet him. When he approaches she will look into the poisoned mirror, and then, after hiding the mirror, look into his eyes, and the influence of the poison passes from the mirror into her eyes and from her eyes into the eyes of that person ; but the witch may cure her own eyes by making a fire and staring into it, and then taking the menstrual cloth, and, after tying it around a stone, throwing it into the fire. After tlie cloth is burnt, she extinguishes the lire with her urine, and her eyes will be cured ; but her enemy may become blind." (" De Pestilitate.") " There are furthermore certain substances used by witches and sorcerers wliich they give to other persons in their food or drink, and by whicli they may render those persons insane, and such an insanity may manifest itself in various ways. Sometimes it renders men or women amorous, or it may make them quarrelsome ; it may cause them to be very courageous and daring, or turn them into cowards. Some will fall deeply in love with the person who administered to them such philtres ; and it has hap- pened that in tliis way masters and mistresses have fallen deeply in love with the servants who administered to them such things, and thus they became themselves the servants of their own servants. Even horses, dogs, and other animals have thus been broudit under the influence of such spells. If women administer such things to men the latter may fall so deeply in love with the former as 128 PARACELSUS. to be unable to think of anything else but of them ; and if men administer such things to women, the latter will continually think of them." (" De Morbis Amen- tium.") " But the things which such persons use for such pur- poses are nothing else but substances that have long been in contact with their own bodies, and which contain a part of their own vitality. Women are more successful in such experiments, because they are more impulsive, more implacable in their revenge, and more inclined to envy and hate. If they are fully absorbed by their own imagination^ they call into existence an active spirit that moves their imagination v^rherever they may desire it to go. A wood-carver takes a piece of wood, and carves out of it whatever he may have in his mind ; and likewise the imagination may create something out of the essence of life. The Mumia is the corpus of which the imagination makes use for the purpose of taking some form. It is lifted up and expanded by the power of the faith, and it contracts and sinks into the mind by being impressed by the will. Yv^omen have a greater power of imagination during their dreams, and when they are alone ; and they ought therefore not to be left alone a great deal, but ought to be amused, because if they are ill-disposed and harbour- ing evil thoughts, they may by the power of their imagina- tion poison the food which they cook, or make it impure, without being themselves aware of it. Women who are occupied a great deal with their own imagination, and who are unable to control it, should not be permitted to nurse and educate infants, because the impressions which their imagination creates may unconsciously impress itself and act injuriously upon the latter. The imagination is the cause that beings may be created out of the ' Mumia spiritualis,' which may possess great powers." (Fragment : " De Virtute Imagination^e.") " By the power of the imagination foreign bodies may be transferred invisibly into the bodies of human beings, MAGIC AND SORCERY, 129 in the same manner as if I take a stone in my hand, and put it into a tub of water, and, withdrawing my hand, I leave the stone in the water. Menstruating witches especially may dissolve (dematerialize) bodies by the power of their imagination. They make a figure of wax repre- senting the person whom they wish to injure, and they tie a cloth spotted with menstrual blood around the neck of that figure, and attach it there by means of a string ■drawn through the pulpy mass of a crushed spider. They then take a bow and an arrow made of a certain kind of wood ; they tie pieces of glass, or nails, or bristles, or any- thing else, to that arrow, and shoot it into the waxen image ; and in this way the articles dissolved by their imagination are by the power of the Mumia transmitted into the body of the sensitive person, and there they may be found in a corporeal form." (" De Sagis.") " The power of the imagination is a great factor in medicine. It may produce diseases in man and in animals, and it may cure them. But this is not done by tlie powers of symbols or characters made in wax or being written on paper, but by an iaiagination which perfects the will. All the imagination of man comes from the lieart. The heart is the " seed " of the j\'Iicrocosm, and from that seed the imagination proceeds into the Mac- rocosm. Thus the imac^dnation of man is a seed that becomes materialized or corporeal. A thought is an act having an object in view. I need not turn my eye with my hand in the direction in which I desire to see, but my imagination turns it wherever I want it. An imagin- ation coming from a pure and intense desire of the heart acts instinctively and without any conscious effort. The power of a strong imagination directed upon another may Idll or cure him according to the nature of the desire that impels__the force, and which may be good or eviL There- fore a curse may become productive of evil, and a blessing productive of good, if it comes from the heart." '•' Magic is a great hidden wisdom, just as that which is K I30 PARACELSUS. commonly called reason is a great folly. To nse wisdom, no external ceremonies and conjurations are required. The making of circles and tlie burning of incense are all tom- foolery and temptation, by wliicli only evil spirits are attracted. The human heart is a great thing, so great that no one can fully express its greatness. It is im- perishable and eternal, like God. If we only knew all the powers of the human heart, nothing would be impossible for us. The imagination is fortified and perfected through faith, and each doubt destroys the effect of its labour. Paith must confirm the imagination, because it perfects the will. The reason why men have not a perfect imagi- nation is because they are still uncertain about their- power, but they might be perfectly certain if they only possessed true knowledge." •^ " If the imagination of a man acting upon another ': cannot always accomplish wdiat he desu^es, it is because I it is too weak to penetrate the armour of the soul of that * other person, and a weak imagination has no effect upon another person, if the latter is protected by a strong and ; resisting will, and each one may strengthen his own will I and make his soul invulnerable by a strong faith to the J supreme power of Good." ^ (" De Peste," lib. i.) ^ " Those who are strong in their faith, and full of confi- dence that the Divine power in man can protect him against all evil influences, whether they come from an incarnated or a disincarnated entity, cannot be harmed by either. But if a weak person is obsessed by such an evil influence and is unable to drive it out, then it is necessary that some other person who xoossesses that spiritual power should drive it out in his place. A worm may grow in a hazel-nut, although the shell of the nut is whole, and there is no place where the worm could have ^ Fear malces a person negative and liable to be infected. During tlie time of epidemic diseases, those who are not afraid of being infected are the least liable to become their victims. He who knows that he cannot be affected bj sorceries is not liable to become their victim. MAGIC AND SORCERY. 131 entered. Likewise an evil spirit may enter into the body of a man and produce some disease without making a hole into him. If his mind is weak and his soul not protected by faith and confidence, it may enter ; and there- fore the best remedy is a strong mind, illuminated by the interior li"ht of wisdom comincr from God." o o " Ills of the body may be cured by physical remedies or by the power of the spirit acting through the soul. Ills of the soul are cured by the power of the spirit, but to do this requires more than mere lip prayer and gibberish and idle ceremonies, but the consciousness of the spirit that it can accomplish that which it desires to do. A paternoster is useless if the lips speak it while the heart desires evil. He who is dressed up like a clergyman is therefore not necessarily a spiritual person, although he may have been ordained by the Church. To be ordained by man does not imply the possession of spiritual power, because such a power can only be given by the spirit ; \^ who possesses the power to cure diseases and to drive out evil influences by the power of the s^oirit is ordained by God. The others are quacks and maleficants, in spite of their superstitious beliefs, their illusory science, and their man-made authority." (" De Sanctorum Beneficii^.") K 2 ( 132 ) YIL— MEDICINE. All organic fanctions are caused by the activity of one universal principle of Life. This principle acts in all forms, either slow or quick, perceptible or imperceptible, consciously or unconsciously, normal or abnormal, accord- ino" to the constitution of the forms in which it is active. o As long as the character (the spirit) of an entity is pre- served, it acts in that entity as a whole ; if the form is broken up and loses its character, it manifests itself in other forms ; the life which is active in a man during his lifetime in causing the organic functions of his body, will manifest its activity in creating worms in his body after the spirit has left the form. The spirit is the centre which attracts the principle of life ; if the spirit has left the form, life will be attracted to other centres. If the activity of the life principle takes place in a form in a normal and regular manner, unimpeded by any obstacles, such a state is called health. If its activity is impeded by some cause, and if it acts abnormally or irregularly, such a state is called " disease." This principle of life is called by Paracelsus, Archaeus. It is not a material substance, in the usual acceptation of that term, but a spiritual essence, everywhere present and invisible. It may cause or cure disease according to the conditions under which it acts, as it may be pure or impure, healthy or poisoned by other influences. The animal organism attracts it from its surroundings and from the nutriments which enter into its form ; it may assimilate it, and lose it again. '" The Archaeus, or Liquor Yitae," constitutes the invisible man. The invisible man is Iiidden in the visible one, and is formed in tlie shape MEDICINE. 133 of the outer one as long as it remains in tliat outer one. The inner man is, so to say, the shadow or the counterpart of the material body. It is ethereal in its nature, still it possesses substance : it directs the growth and the formation and dissolution of the form in which it is contained ; it is the noblest part in physical man. As a man's picture is reflected in a mirror, likewise the form of the physical man is reflected in the invisible body." ("De Generatione Hominis.") " The Archaeus is an essence that is equally distributed in all parts of the human body, if the latter is in a healthy condition ; it is the invisible nutriment from which the visible body draws its strength, and the qualities of each of its parts correspond to the nature of the physical parts that contain it. The Spiritus Vitae takes its origin from the Spiritus Mundi. Being an emanation of the latter, it contains the elements of all cosmic influences, and is therefore the cause by which the action of the stars (cosmic forces) upon the invisible body of man may be explained." (" De Yiribus Mem- brorum.") > " The Archaeus is of a magnetic nature, and attracts or^ repulses other sympathetic or antipathetic forces belong- ing to the same plane. The less power of resistance for astral influences a person possesses, the more will he be subject to such influences. The vital force is not en- closed in man, but radiates around him like a luminous sphere, and it may be made to act at a distance. In those semi-material rays the imagination of man may produce healthy or morbid effects. It may poison the essence of life and cause diseases, or it may purify it after it has been made impure, and restore the health.'"' " All diseases, except such as come from mechanical causes, have an invisible origin, and of such sources popu- lar medicine knows very little. Men who are devoid of the power of spiritual perception are unable to recognize the existence of anything that cannot be seen. Popular •X 134 PARACELSUS, medicine knows therefore next to nothing about any diseases that are not caused by mechanical means/ and the science of curiner internal diseases consists almost entirely in the removal of causes that have produced some mechanical obstruction. But the number of diseases that orisjinate from some unknown causes is far greater than those that come from mechanical causes, and for such diseases our x^^jsicians know no cure, because not knowing such causes they cannot remove them. All they can prudently do is to observe the patient and make their guesses about his condition ; and the patient may rest satisfied if the medicines administered to him do him no serious harm, and do not prevent his recovery. The best of our popular physicians are the ones that do the least harm. But, unfortunately, some poison their patients with mercury, others purge them or bleed them to death. There are some who have learned so much that their learning has driven out all their common sense, and there are others who care a great deal more for their own profit than for the health of their patients. A disease does not chansfe its state to accommodate itself to the knowledge of the physician, but the physician should understand the causes of the disease. A physician should be a servant of Mature, and not her enemy ; he should be able to guide and direct her in her struggle for life, and not throw, by his unreasonable interference, fresh obstacles in the way of recovery." (" Paragranum.") " Medicine is much more an art than a science ; to know the experience of others may be useful to a physician, but all the learning in the world could not make a man a physician, unless he has the necessary talents, and is destined by ISTature to be a physician. If we want to learn to know the inner man by studying only the appearance of the exterior man, we will never come to an end, because each man's constitution differs in some ^ Sucli as are caused by overloading the stomach with food, constipation of the bowels, obstructions, &c. MEDICINE. 135 respect from that of another. If a physician knows nothing more about his patient than what the latter tells him, he knows very little indeed, because the patient usually knows only that he suffers pain. Xature causes and cures disease, and it is therefore necessary that the physician should know the processes of Nature, tlie invi- sible as well as the visible man. He will then be able to recognize the cause and the course of a disease, and he will know much more by using his own reason than by all that the looks or the patient may tell him. Medical science may be acquired by learning, but medical wisdom is given by God."^ (" Paragranum.") " Xatural man has no wisdom, but the wisdom of God may act through him as an instrument. God is greater than Nature, for Nature is His product ; and the beginning of wisdom in man is therefore the be!:^innin;? of his supernatural power. The kind of knowledge that man. ought to possess is not derived from the earth, nor does it come from the stars ; but it is derived from the Highest, and therefore the man who possesses the Highest may rule over the things of the earth, and over the stars. There is a great difference between the power that removes the in- visible causes of disease, and which is Magic, and that which causes merely external effects disappear, and which. is Physic, Sorcery, and Quackery."" The Archaeus is the essence of life, but the principle in which this essence is contained and which serves as its vehicle, is called Mumia. In the Mumia is great ^ This mode of reasoning is as applicable upon the stale of medical science to-day as it was at the time of Paracelsus. " It would be interesting to find out how many chronic diseases and life- long evils £.re caused by vaccination. If the organism contains some poisonous elements, Nature may attempt to remove it by an expulsive effort caused by the action of the spirit from the centre towards the peri- phery, and producing cutaneous diseases. If by vaccination a new herd is established to attract the diseased elements (mumia), the manifestation of the poison on the surface of the body may disappear, but tbe poisonous elements will remain in the body, and some other more serious disease will manifest itself sooner or later. 136 PARACELSUS. power, and the cures that have been performed by th& use of the Mumia are natural, although they are very little understood by the vulgar, because they are the results of the action of invisible things, and that which is invisible does not exist for the comprehension of the ignorant. They therefore look upon such cures as having been produced by the " black art," or by the help of the devil, while in fact they are l^ut natural, and have a natural cause; and even if the devil had caused them,. the devil can have no power except that which is given to him by God, and so it would be the power of God after all." ^ " There is a twofold power active in man — an imdsibly acting or vital power, and a A^sibly acting mechanical force. The visible body has its natural forces, and the invisible body has its natural forces, and the remedy of all diseases or injuries that may affect the visible form are contained in the invisible body, because the latter is the seat of the power that infuses life into the former, and without which the former would be dead and decaying. If we separate the vital force from the physical form, the latter dies and putrefies ; and by impregnating a dying body with vitality it may be made to live again. The invisible forces actinGj in the visible body are often very powerful, and may be guided by the imagination and be propelled by the will. As the odour of a lily passes from the flower into the surrounding air, so the vital force contained in the invisible body passes into the visible form, and beyond it. The physical body has the capacity to produce visible organs — such as the eyes and the ears, the tongue and the nose — but they all take their origin from the invisible body, of which the external visible form is only the outward representation." " But if the germs and the essences of all the organs of ^ This invisible Mumia, that may be transfeired from one living being to another, is nothing else but the vehicle of life, or " animal magnetism." MEDICINE. lyr tlie physical body are contained in the invisible vehicle of life, it follows that this invisible microcosniic body contains certain definite qualities, which, if they are properly under- stood, may be used for some purpose ; and the cures that have been performed by the use of this Mumia prove that this assertion is true. The pinks are beautiful flowers so long as they are not separated from the plant upon which they grow, and the chelidonium grows as long as it can draw its nutriment from tlie earth ; but if tlie pinks are separated from the parent stem, and if the roots of the chehdonium are dead, these plants, being separated from the source out of which they drew their vitality, will decay. The life that made them live is not dead, but it is departed from the dead form ; and if it could be restituted, the form could Ije made to live again. The IMumia, or vehicle of life, is invisible, and no one sees it depart; but nevertheless it is a spiritual substance containing the essence of life, and it can be brought again by art into contact with dying forms, and revive them, if the vital organs of the latter are not destroyed. That which constitutes life is contained in the Mumia, and by imparting the Mumia w^e impart life. The visible body seems to see and to talk, and yet we do not see the powers that see and talk through it. Likewise the action of the Mumia upon the visible body cannot be perceived by the senses — only its effects can be seen. A visible form witliout vitality has no other power but its own w^ eight ; but if it contains the Mumia, it may perform a great deal. The Mumia is the arcanum, the "flower of man," and the true elixir of life. The Mumia may act from one living being directly upon another, or it may be connected with some material and visible vehicle, and be employed in that shape." ^ (" De Origine Morbor. Invisibilium.") " Man possesses a magnetic power by which he may ^ Paracelsus, not Mesmer, is the original discoverer of so-called Mesmerism. I3S PARACELSUS. attract certain effluvia of a good or evil quality in the same manner as a magnet will attract particles of iron. A magnet may be prepared from iron that will ■attract iron^ and a magnet may be prepared out of some vital substance that will attract vitality. Such a magnet is called the "magnes microcosmi;' and it is prepared out of substances that have remained for a time in the human body, and are penetrated by his vitality. -Such substances are the hair, the excrements, urine, blood, &c. If it is desirable to use the excrements, they are to be dried in a shadowy, dry, and moderately warm place until they have lost their humidity and odour. By this process all the Mumia has gone out of them, and they are, so to say, hungry to attract vitality again. If ■such a magnet is applied to a part of the patient's body, it attracts and absorbs vitality from that part in the same manner as a sponge absorbs water, and it may thereby allay the inflammation existing in such a part, because it will attract the superabundance of magnetism carried to that place by the rush of the blood. The Mumia coming from the body of a person continues to remain for a while in sympathetic relationship (mag- netic rajpfort) with the Mumia contained in such a person, and they act magnetically upon each other. If therefore the Mumia is extracted from a diseased part of a person by a microcosmic magnet, and the magnet mixed with earth, and an herb is planted into it, the Mumia in the magnet will be extracted by that plant, and lose its •diseased matter, and re-act in a beneficial manner upon the Mumia contained in the body of the patient ; but it is necessary that the selected plant should be one which bears the signature of the disease with which the patient is affected, so that it may attract the specific influence \from the stars. In this way diseased elements may /be magnetically extracted out of a person and inoculated into a plant. This is called the transplantation of I diseases ; and diseases may, in a similar manner, be trans- MEDICINE. 139 planted into animals that are healthy and strong, or • , the virus may be transferred upon other persons ; and 1 many practices of sorcery are based upon that fact. ^-^ In this way diseases may be cured in one person and caused to appear in another; love between two persons of the opposite sex may thus be created, and magnetic links be established between persons living at distant places, because there is only one universal principle of life, and by it all beings are sympathetically connected togetlier." The plants used for the transplantation of diseases'^ bear the signatures of the diseases whose names are \ added. In cases of ulcers and wounds the Mumia may be planted with Polygonum persicaria, Symphytum offici- nal, Botanus europeus, &c. The latter plant may be brought for a while into contact with the ulcer, and then \ ^ It is notliing uncommon — especially in Moliammeclan countries — to see packages lying in the road tied together Avitli a string. On opening them, hair, bloody rags, excrements, &c., maybe found. 8uch packages are laid there by some sick persons or their friends ; they contain the Mumia of the sick, and it is intended that he who opens the package should get the disease of the patient, and the latter get well. Occasionally such a " magnet " is buried under the doorstep of an enemy, so as to cause the latter to walk over it and become sick. It is dangerous for sensitive persons to handle such things. The mode of curing diseases by transplanting the virus into trees has been used by the successors of Paracelsus, Tentzel, Helmont,Flood, Maxwell ; and others practised them to a great extent, and acquired great reputations. They give some of the following instructions : — **Many diseases may be cured by way of sympathy, by employing the •warm blood of the patient as a magnet for the Mumia. The blood may bo extracted by venesection or cupping, and made to run into lukewarm water or milk, and this is given to a hungry dog to cat. The process may be repeated several times, until the patient recovers. "The excrements of the patient maybe dried as described above, and pulverized ; they are tied up in a cloth and applied as a poultice, until they are penetrated with sweat from the patient, and the powder is then mixed with earth and inserted into a flower-pot, and a plant bearing the signature of the patient's disease is planted into it. After the plant has grdwn awhile, it is thrown into running water in cases of fevers and inflammations, but in cases of a humid character or in lymphatic afTcctions it should be hung into smoke." I40 PARACELSUS. be buried in manure. As it rots, the ulcer heals. In toothache the gums may be rubbed with the root of Senecio vulgaris until they bleed, and the root is then to be replaced into the earth ; or a splinter may be cut out of a blackthorn or willow after the bark has been lifted up. Pick the gums with that splinter until they bleed, and replace the splinter into the tree and tie the cut in the bark ujd so that it will heal. In menorrhagia uterina the Mumia may be taken from the groins and planted with Polygonum persicaria. In menorrhoea difficilis, Mentha pulegium is used. In phthisis pulmona- lis the Mumia may be planted with an orchis in the A'icinity of an oak or cherry tree, or the Mumia may be planted directly into such trees. The (fresh) urine of a X:)atient may be heated in a new pot over a fire, and an egg be boiled in it. When the egg is hard boiled, some holes may be made into the Qgg, and the urine boiled down until the pot is dry. The egg is then to be put into an ant-hill ; the ants will eat it, and the patient may recover. In atrophy of the limbs the Mumia is taken from the upper and lower joints of the diseased limb, and planted with an oak or cherry tree. Diseases may also be cured by transplantation, if the diseased part is covered for a while with a piece of fresh beef, until the sweat enters into it, and the beef is then given to a cat to eat.^ An especially favourite remedy of Paracelsus is the Hypericum j)erforatum, which is used especially against elementals, spirits, and larvae inimical to man. " The veins upon its leaves are a signatum, and being perforated they signify that this plant drives away all phantasmata existing in the sphere of man. The phantasmata pro- duce spectra, in consequence of which a man may see ^ An intelligent physician will neither accept nor reject the sympathetic cures to which the directions given above refer, although they may seem to he absurd and based upon superstition. The term superstition signifies a belief in something of which Ave have no knowledge, but if we understand the rationale of a thing, the superstition ends. MEDICINE, 141 and hear ghosts and spooks, and from these are induced diseases by which men are induced to kill themselves, or to fall into epilepsy, madness, insanity, &c. The hyperi- cum is almost a universal medicine." ' (" De ISTaturali- bus.") Paracelsus was well acquainted with the therapeutic powers of the magnet, and used it in various diseases. He knew the powers of mineral, human, and astral magnetism, and his doctrines in recjard to human macrnetism have been confirmed to a great extent since the time of his death. More than a hundred years ago Mesmer created a sensation in the medical world by his discovery of animal magnetism and by his magnetic cures. His discovery w^as then believed to refer to something new and unheard-of ; but Lessing proved already in 1769 that the real discoverer of animal magnetism ^vas Paracelsus. In regard to the powers of the magnetism Paracelsus says : " That which constitutes a magnet is an attractive power, which is beyond our understanding, but which, nevertheless, causes the attraction of iron and other things. Our physicians have always had magnets at their disposal, but they did not pay much attention to them, because they did not know that they may be used for any other thing than to attract nails. Our doctors have ceased to learn anything from experience, and they make use of idle talk ; and it is a pity and a shame that the repre- sentatives of our science should know so little. They have every day occasion to see magnets publicly and privately, and yet they continue to act as if no magnets were in existence." " ^ Have those who ridicule this statement ever employed the hypericum in ■cases of hallucination? - The knowledge of the therapeutic use of the magnet has not advanced much since the days of Paracelsus. Baron Ileichenbach investigated the suhject in a scientific manner, hut the result of his experiments is still ignore I by the medical profession as a whole. 142 PARACELSUS, " They complain of me because I do not follow the- metliods prescribed by the ancients ; but why should I follow the ancients in things in which I know they were wrong. They could not know things of which they had. no experience, and it would be foolish to follow them in things in which they were mistaken. Wliatever I know I have learned by my experience, and I therefore depend upon my own knowledge, and not upon the ignorance of another." " Our doctors say that the magnet attracts iron, and verily it does not require a great deal of learning to be able to perceive a fact that may be seen by every igno- rant boor ; but there are qualities in a magnet not known to every ignoramus, and one of these qualities is that the mamet also attracts all martial humours that are in the human system." " Martial diseases are such as are caused by auras coming and expanding from a centre outwards, and at the same time holding on to their centres ; in other words,, such as originate from a certain place, and extend their influence without leaving the place from where they originate. In such cases the magnet should be laid upon the centre, and it will then attract the diseased aura towards the centre, and circumscribe and localize the disease, until the latter may be re-absorbed into its centre.^ It is useless to try to suppress the external symptoms that are caused by a disease, if w^e at the same time allow the disease to spread. A poisonous tree cannot be kept from growing if we simply cut off some of its branches or leaves, but if we can cause the vital essence which it draws by its roots from the earth to descend again into the roots and re-enter the earth, the poisonous tree will die on its own account. By the attractive power of a magnet acting upon the diseased If we remember that the Wool corpuscle?, and consequently alsc tho nerve auras contain iron, this statement appears very rational. MEDICINE. 143-. aura of tlio blood in an affected part, that aura may be- made to return into the centre from which it originated, and be absorl^ed tlierein ; and thereby we may destroy the herd of the virus and cure the patient, and we need not wait idly to see what l^ature will do. The magnet is. therefore especially useful in all inflammations, in fluxes and ulcerations, in diseases of tlie bowels and uterus, in internal as well as in external disease." "The magnet has a front (north pole) and a back (south pole) ; the former attracts and the latter repulses. In a case of hystery the attracting part of the magnet is applied above the uterus, and the repulsing part of another magnet below. In this way the nervous force controlling the movements of the uterus will be propelled towards its proper place. In cases of epilepsy, where there is a great determination of nervous fluid towards the brain, the repulsing (negative) pole of a magnet is applied to the spine and to the head, and the attracting (positive) pole of other magnets upon the abdominal region. There are a great many other diseases that may be cured by the proper use of the magnet, but for those who are able to understand such things the hints already given will be sufficient, while those who have little under- standing would not comprehend this system even if we were to write a book about it. It should, however, be remembered that the manner of employing a magnet changes according as to whether we wisli to draw the diseased aura out of the body, or to cause it to be re- absorbed into its centre." The forces composing the Microcosm of man are- identical with the forces composing the Macrocosm of the world. In the organism of man these forces may act in an abnormal manner, and diseases will be thereby created ; in the great organism of the Cosmos they may act in an abnormal manner, and thereby abnormal con- ditions or " diseases " in the earth and atmosphere, in the water and in the elements of fire (electricity), may be- 144 PARACELSUS. created. Man may be affected with, spasms, or dropsy, or colic, or fevers, &c., and the Macrocosm of the earth may be affected with earthquakes, rain-spouts, storms, and lightnings. The elements that constitute the life of the heart of man constitute the life of the sun ; the quality of life found in the elements constituting his blood corresponds to the quality of the invisible influences radiating from Mars ; if the soul-essences that characterize the influences of Venus had not existed, the instincts which cause men and animals to propagate their species w^ould not exist, and thus every planet and every star contains certain magnetic elements that correspond with the identical mao-netic elements existing^ in the con- stitution of Man. A physician w^ho wishes to be rational must know the constitution of the universe as well as the constitution of man ; he must be an anatomist, a physiologist, and an astronomist ; and it will avail him little to learn these sciences from the books, but he should have an understanding of them by the power of interior perception, which cannot be taught in books, but must be acquired by art. There are five invisible causes from which, diseases may originate, and they are as follows : — I. Diseases that are caused by astral influences acting upon the astral body of man, and re-acting upon his body. 2. Diseases that are caused by impurities, poisonous substances, and internal obstructions. 3. Diseases caused by the abnormal state of physiological functions, caused by the misuse of organs or by injurious influences. 4. Diseases originating from psychological causes, such as desires and passions and vices, and from a morbid imagina- tion. 5. Diseases that have their origin in spiritual causes (tendencies) created (in former lives) by a disobedience to the law of God (Karma). But the origin of some particular disease may be not in only one of these causes, but in two or more of them, and unless a person is able to recognize all the causes of such a disease, he will be MEDICINE, 145 unable to prognosticate the time of its duration. An astrologer may calculate your horoscope correctly, and tell you by what diseases you are threatened and when they will end ; but he takes only one of the five causes into consideration, and the chances are four to one that his predictions will prove to be wrong, and that he will be laughed at by those who have only a superficial know- ledge, and who do not know the cause of his failure. I. Diseases caused hy Astral Influences. " The world is the Macrocosm and man the Microcosm, rand the elements of all that exists in the former exist in the latter. All the influences that come from the sun, the planets, and stars, act therefore invisibly upon man, and if these influences are evil they will produce evil .effects. No vegetables would grow without the influence of the sun, but if that influence is too strong, they will wither and perish. The world is surrounded by a vaporous sphere, like an egg surrounded by a shell. Through that shell the cosmic influences pass towards the centre, and on that occasion they may become poisoned by the miasmas in the air, and create epidemic diseases. An evil astral influence does not poison the whole world, but only those places where causes for infection exist. If no germs of disease exist in our atmosphere, the astral influences coming from the outside will cause no harm. If evil elements exist in the sphere of our soul, they may attract such astral influences as may develop diseases. If the water in a lake freezes to the bottom the fish will die, and they will likewise die if the water gets too warm ; and if certain evil elements exist in the water which attract certain correspondingly evil planetary influences,^ a great many fish may die, and no one may know the cause." (" Paramirum.") ^ Such influences consist in certain states of electricity, magnetism, and other "forces," for which modern science has no names and modern languages no words. L 146 PARACELSUS. " The moon may exercise a very bad influence, espe- cially at the time of the new moon, which majr "be very injurious for persons whose sidereal bodies possess magnetic elements that will attract that influence, and the conjunction of the moon with certain other planets may make her influence still more injurious. Per instance, a conjunction of the moon, Yenus, and- Mars may give rise to the plague ; a conjunction with Saturn to certain acute diseases, &c., but no evil in- fluence can develop a disease where the germ of that disease does not already exist. The seat of the sun in the Microcosm is in the heart, that of the moon is in the brain. The moon's influence is cold ; and insane people have been called 'lunatics^ because they are often injuriously affected by the moon, whose influence acts upon the brain and stimulates the sexual passions,, and causes injurious dreams and hallucinations." " There are certain stars whose influence corresponds to the medical qualities of certain metals, and others that correspond to those of certain plants, and they may act for good or for evil if they are attracted by corre- sponding elements in the sidereal body of man. A physician should know the physiology and anatomy of heaven as well as that of man, to understand the cause and cure of astralic diseases, because he may vainly try his remedies as long as his patient is under the ascending in- fluence of an evil star, but after that evil influence ceases the disease will also be changed or disappear. Every metal and every plant possesses certain qualities that may attract corresponding planetary influences, and if we knovv^ the influence of the star, the conjunctions of the planets^ and the qualities of our drugs, we will know what remedy to give to attract such influences as may act beneficially upon the patient.''^ ^ ^ Diseases often appear without any assignable cause. In acute diseases the patient often grows suddenly worse, or he may grow suddenly better, and no cause can be assigned to it. Such changes are usually attributed to MEDICINE. 147 " If, for instance, a woman is deficient in the element whose essence radiates from Mars, and consequently suffers from poverty of the blood and want of nervous strength (ansemia), we may give her iron, because the astral elements of iron correspond to the astral elements contained in Mars, and will attract them as a magnet attracts iron. But we should choose a plant which contains iron in an etherealized state, which is preferable to that of metallic iron. In a case of dropsy it would be exceedingly injurious to give any remedy that would help to attract the evil influence of the moon ; but the sun is opposed to the moon, and those remedies which attract the astral essences of the sun will counteract those of the moon, and thereby the cause of dropsy may be cured. The same mode of reason- ing may be applied in all other astralic diseases." 2. Diseases caused hy Poisonous Sicbstances and Impurities. Impurities and injurious elements may enter the human organism in various ways. They may be taken in the food or drink, they may be inhaled with the air, or be absorbed by the skin. There are visible and in- visible poisonous substances, and some substances that are not injurious if they enter the organism alone, may become poisonous if they come into contact with others. There are poisons and impurities of various kinds, and what may be healthy food for one organism may be injurious if taken into another, and each thing contains hidden virtues that may be useful for some beings while they are evil for others. The salamander eats fire, the ox eats grass, the peacock may swallow snakes and the ostrich stones ; but man requires a different kind of food. "catching cold " where no cold has been caught, to mistakes in the diet ■where no such mistakes have been made, or they are attributed to " meteoro- logical changes," of whose action upon the human system therapeutic science knows less to-day than at the time of Paracelsus, because it is fashionable among certain scientists to reject everything which they cannot see, as being- "unworthy of their consideration." L 2 J48 PARACELSUS, There are tliree invisible substances wliich by their -coagulation form the physical body of man, and who are .symbolized as " sulphur, mercury, and salt." The " sul- phur " represents the auras and ethers, the " mercury " the fluids, and the " salt " the material and corporeal parts of the body ; and in each organ these three sub- -stances are combined in certain proportions, differing from each other. These three substances are contained in all things, and the digestive power is the great solvent for these substances, of which each part of the body assimi- lates whatever it may require. Dew falls from the invisible air, corals grow in the water, and seeds draw their nutriment out of the soil ; the earth is a great stomach in which everything is dissolved, digested, and transformed, and each being draws its nutriment from the earth ; and each living being is a stomach that serves as a tomb for other forms, and from which new forms spring into existence. Every living being requires that particular kind of food which is adapted to its species and to its individual organism, and Life, the great alchemist, transforms the food taken. In the alembic of the animal organism it -extracts from it those substances which the various organs need. The lower class of animals are even better al- chemists than man, because they may extract the essence of life out of things which he is forced to reject. Man extracts the more refined essences from food ; but a hog, for instance, may extract nutriment out of substances that would act as poisons in the organism of man, but there is no animal known that will eat the excrements of a hog. Animals refuse to eat or drink things which are injurious to them, and they select by their natural instincts those things which they require ; it is only given to intellectual man to disobey his natural instincts, and to eat or drink things which are injurious to him, but which may gratify some artificially acquired taste. Man is much more subject to diseases than animids in a state of liberty, MEDICINE. 149 because the latter live in accordance with the laws of their nature, and man acts continually against the laws of his nature, especially in regard to his eating and drink- ing. As long as his body is strong it may expel or overcome the injurious iniluences wliich are continually caused in it by intemperance, gluttony, and morbid tastes ; but such a continuous effort at resistance will imply a serious loss of vitality, and a time will come when disease will be the result, because the organism requires a period of rest and a renewal of strength to expel the accumulated poisonous elements. If the physician attempts to prevent such an expulsion of poisonous elements, he attempts a crime against Nature, and may cause the death of his patient. If he weakens in such cases the strength of his patient 1 )y abstracting blood, he may become his murderer. Eheumatism and gout, dropsy, and many other diseases, are often caused by such accumulations of impure or superfluous elements, and Nature cannot recover until such elements are expelled and the vital jDOwer of the organs restored. While the organism is weakened and its vitality on the wane, the germs of other diseases may develop by attracting injurious astral influences, because its power of resistance is enfeebled, and thus one kind of a disease may grow out of another. 3. Diseases originating from Pliysiological Causes. Such diseases are caused especially l)y the abuse of physiological powers, in consequence of which the organs lose their strength and vitality. Thus the stomach may be overloaded witli food and irritated by stimulating drinks, which force it to perform more than its natural and legitimate amount of work ; the kidneys may be irritated by stimulating and poisonous drinks, and become weak, or inflamed, or enlarged, on account of their over- work ; tlie same may be said of tlie liver ; the sexual powers may become prematurely exhausted l)y excesses, and the health of women be destroyed by the unnatural I50 PARACELSUS, frequency by which natural acts are performed. Animals live according to their nature, and it is only given to reasoning man to argue against his instincts, to neglect to listen to the warning voice of his nature, and to misuse the organism with which he has been entrusted by the creative power of God. In many cases of lost vitality the weakened organs may recover their strength after a time of rest and cessation of abuse. Nature is a patient mother that often forgives the sins committed against her, although she cannot forget them. We may therefore often trust to her recuperative powers, and Nature may be able to restore that which has not been irrevocably lost ; for Nature is a great physician, and the dabblers in medi- cine and apothecaries are her enemies, and while the latter fill the graveyards of the country with corpses, Nature distributes the balsam of life. Every organ in the human body is formed by the action of certain principles that exist in the universe, and the former attract the corresponding activity in the latter. Thus the heart is in sympathy with the elements of the sun, the brain with the moon, the gall-bladder with Mars, the kidneys with Venus, the lungs with Mercury, the liver with Jupiter, the spleen with Saturn, &c. There are many stars in the great firmament of the universe, and there are many germs hidden in the little world of man, and the high influences the low ; and in the Micro- cosm and Macrocosm all things stand in intimate sympa- thetic relationship with each other, for all are the children of one universal father. It must not be supposed that a certain material element coming from the planets enters the organism of man and adds something to it which it does not already possess. The light of the sun does not contribute any corporeal substance to the organisms existing upon the earth, and a man does not become heavier if he stands in the sun ; but the natural forces acting in the various organs are intimately related to similar forces acting in MEDICINE. 151 the organism of the workl, and as the liver, the spleen, the heart, &c., are the bodily representatives of certain, activities, likewise the sun and the moon, Venus, Mars, &c., are the visible representatives of the corresponding organs of the Cosmos. If a man gets angry, it is not because he has too much bile, but because the " Mars," the combative element in his body (the invisible power that guides the production of bile), is in a state of exaltation. If a man is amorous, it is not because his spermatic vessels are overloaded, but because the " Venus " (the amorous element) in his body is in a state of exaltation. If in such cases a conjunction of the combative and amorous elements takes place in his body, an ebullition of jealousy may be the cause ; and if such an internal conjunction should take place at a time when conjunction of the planets Mars and Venus takes place in the sky, the sympathetic relationship existing between the elements representing these planets in the Microcosm with the elements represented by those of the Macrocosm may lead to serious consequences unless counteracted by the superior power of reason and will.^ There are a great many stars in the universe, there are a great many forces active in the organism of man. There are a great many plants who are the earthly repre- sentations of astral influences corresponding to the quali- ties of tlie stars, and which will attract the influences of the stars to which they are sympathetically related. By using such plants as medicine we may attract the plane- tary influences needed to restore the vitality in diseased parts. We give below a list of some principally useful herbs, the names of the planets to which they are sympatheti- oally related, and the names of the principal diseases in ^ It would be intereBting to collect statistics of crimes, sho^^ang exactly the time when they have taken place, and comparing the latter with the time of the conjunctions of the planets existing at the same longitude and latitude. 152 PARACELSUS. whicli they may be used with advantage. It will, how- ever, appear reasonable that it makes a vast difference whether such plants are fresh or whether they have been driedj and their occult properties are, moreover, to a great extent modified by the time of the day or night, and under what planetary conjunctions, they have been gathered and at what time they are used. Each plant should be gathered at a time when the planet to which it is related rules the hour, and its essence should be- extracted as long as it is fresh. Bun. — Rosmarinus officinalis, Lavandula officinahs, Salvia offici- nalis, Satureja officinalis, Melissa officinaUs. (Acute inflam- mations, diseases of the heart, rheumatism, &c.) Moon. — Thymus majorana, Helleborus niger, Ruta graveolens^ (To be used in insanity, hysteria, nervous diseases, &c.) Mercury. — Pulmonaria off., Althaea off., Piantago laureola. (Pneumonia, catarrh, phthisis pulmonalis, inflammations of mucous membranes.) Venus. — Ononis spinosa, Yerbascum thapsus, Apium petro- selinum. (Dropsical swellings, diseases of kidneys or bladder, &c.) Mars. — Carduus benedictus, Urticaria diocia, Erythraea centau- rium. (Fevers, diseases of an acute and violent character ; eruptive fevers, &c.) Jupiter. — Ruta graveolens, Hepatica nobilis, Adianthum vene- ris, Chehdonium magus, Linum usitatissimum. Cannabis sativa. (Jaundice, liver diseases.) Saturn. — Ohrysosplenium alternifoHum, Scrophula nodosa, Teu- crium chamaedrys. (Hypochondria, piles, melancholia, &c.) ^ There are a great many other plants whose essence^' correspond to the ethers radiating from other planets and stars, and if we knew all the qualities of the stars we- would find that the quality of each of them is rep)resented on the earth by some plant. By the judicious use of plants beneficial astral activities may be attracted and 1 The physician of the nineteenth century will hardly fail to recognize among these remedies many that are habitually used in modern medicine,, although there is hardly any other reason for their employment known but that experience has taught that they are useful. MEDICINE. 155 evil influences neutralized ; but to know what plants are required in each case it is necessary to know not only the anatomy of the human body and the functions of its organs, but also the constitution of the starry heavens, the qualities of the stars, and the time of the appearance and conjunctions of planets. The impossibility to grasp all these things intellectually shows that the power of spiritual perception is a most necessary qualification for the true physician. It is not within the scope of this work to enter into a detailed account of the treatment of special diseases adopted by Paracelsus. It may suffice to say that the difference between the system of medicine of the present day and that of Paracelsus is a difference growing out of an entirely different apprehension of fundamental truths. Modern science looks upon the universe as being a con- glomeration of dead matter, out of which, by some unex- plainable process, life may become developed in forms. The science of Paracelsus looks upon the whole of the universe as the manifestation of a universal principle of life, acting through the instrumentality of forms. Modern science seems to regard the forms as the sources of life ; the science of Paracelsus looks upon the forms as being the products of life. Forms are, so to say, con- densed forces or crystallized space ; but space itself is life, and there is no dead matter in the universe, for that which dies returns again into the matrix of Nature, to be reborn into other forms, and to serve again as an instru- ment for the manifestation of life. In the universe of Paracelsus there is life everywhere, and all beings are connected together by a common link. >Some forms are in a close mutual sympathy, while between others an antipathy is prevailing. Some attract and others repulse each other. During the ascendency of a planet its essence will be especially attracted by plants and by animal organs that are in harmony with it ; but what else is this radiating planetary essence but 154 PARACELSUS. the elixir of life, the invisible vehicle of life peculiar to that planet, and therefore a patient may grow better or worse without any visible cause. A medicine that will do good at one hour will be useless at another, and a system of medicine without intuitional understanding and without true knowledge of natural laws will remain a system of mere opinions and superstitions, of passive observation and inactivity, and if it attempts to interfere with the cause of a disease, the probability is that it will do serious harm. Paracelsus says : '* Our physicians pay no attention to the position of the planets, and therefore they kill more patients than they cure, because a medicine that may do good at one time may be injurious at another, according to the prevailing planetary influence. That which is active in medicines is their astral elements acting upon the astral man, and they are produced by astral influences, and it makes the greatest difference wdiether a medicine is pervaded by one influence or by another." <" De Caducis.") It should always be remembered that astral influences do not act directly upon the physical bodies of men and animals, but upon their vital essence, in which all elements are contained. Love for a certain person may be created by a word or a touch, by a breath or a kiss, but only if the person who is touched or breathed upon has in his soul the elements that are capable to manifest that particular kind of love. The vehicle of life that contains the life -essence in the body of man (the Mumia) is the same in all its attributes as that which contains the universal life and forms the astral body of the world ; but each energy may exist in innumerable states and modifications, differing from each other. " Even the igno- rant knows that man has a heart and lungs, a brain and a liver and stomach ; but he thinks that each of these organs are separate and independent things, that have nothing to do with each other, and even our most learned doctors are not aware of the fact that these . MEDICINE. 155 organs are only the material and bodily representatives of invisible energies that pervade and circulate in the whole system ; so that, for instance, the real liver is a force that circulates in all parts of the body, and lias its herd in that organ which we call the liver. All the members of the body are potentially contained in the centre of the vital fluid, which has its seat in the brain, while the activity which propels it comes from the heart." ^ ("De Viribus Membrorum.") Thought is not created by the brain, neither is love nor hate created by the heart ; but thought acts through the brain, and love and hate have their centres in the heart. " A man who is angry is not only angry in his head or in his fist, but all over ; a person who loves does not only love with his eye, but with his whole being ; in short, all the organs of the body, and the body itself, are only form-manifestations of previously and universally existin^^ mental- states." " The body of a man is his house ; the architect who builds it is the astral world. The carpenters are at one time Jupiter, at another Venus ; at one time Taurus, at another Orion. Man is a sun and a moon and a heaven filled with stars ; the world is a man, and the light of the sun and the stars is his body ; the ethereal body cannot be grasped, and yet it is substantial, because if it had no substance it could not exist. If the life of the sun did not act in the world, nothing would grow. The human ^ This doctrine is corroborated by modern discoveries. Amputations of limbs are followed by a state of atrophy of certain parts of brain-substance, which seems to indicate that the force which shapes the limbs has its centre in the brain. If certain parts of the brain were destroyed, the limbs would begin to atrophy. If we apply this mode of reasoning to the Macrocosm we find that all the essences and ethers that go to make up the organs of the Macrocosm are also contained in its centre, the sun ; and if a ceiiain element were taken away from the sun, the planets could not exist. If a certain element that goes to form the legs of men were suddenly taken away from the universal storehouse of the Macrocosm (the Limbus), human beings would be born without legs ; if no principle of reason existed, there would be no use for brains, &c. 156 PARACELSUS, "body is vapour materialized by sunshine mixed witli the life of the stars. Tour elements are in the world, and man consists out of four, and that which exists ■visibly in man exists invisibly in the ether pervading the world. Where is the workman that cuts out the forms of lilies and roses that grow in the field ? and where is his workshop and tools ? The characters of the lilies and roses exist in the astral light, and in the workshop of Nature they are made into forms. A blooming flower cannot be made out of mud, nor a man out of material clay; and he who denies the formative power of the astral light, and believes that forms grow out of the earth, believes that something can be taken out of a body in which it does not exist." ("De Caducis.") " The power of sight does not come from the eye, the power to hear does not come from the ear, nor the power to feel from the nerves ; but it is the spirit of man that sees through the eye, and hears with the ear, and feels by means of the nerves. "Wisdom and reason and thought are not contained in the brain, but they belong to the invisible and universal spirit which feels through the heart and thinks by means of the brain. All these powders are contained in the invisible imiverse, and become manifest through material organs, and the material organs are their representatives, and modify their mode of mani- festation according to their material construction, because a perfect manifestation of power can only take place in a perfectly constructed organ, and if the organ is faulty,, the manifestation will be imperfect, but not the original power defective." ("De Viribus Membrorum.") 4. Diseases originating from Psychological Causes. This class of diseases includes all evils that are caused by passions, evil desires, disordered thoughts, and by a morbid imagination. Such psychological states may pro- duce physiological changes in the physical body. Shame MEDICINE. 157 produces a blush in tlie face, and terror produces a paleness. Fear may cause diarrlicea, melancholy may cause obstructions, anger or envy may give rise to jaundice. Gaiety may cure, and grief may kill. Violent emotions may produce miscarriages, apoplexy, spasms, hysterics, and cause malformations of the foetus, &c. &c. Such things are known to all who have investigated such matters ; but it is less generally known that the evil imagination of one person may affect the mind of another, poison his vitality, and injure or kill his body. The reason why this is not generally known, is that the imagination of the majority of men and w^omen at 'the present state of civilization is too weak, their will too feeble, and their faith too much pervaded by doubt, to produce the desired effects ; and it is fortunate that their imagination, however evil it may be, has not much power as long as the state of morality is not higher advanced than it is at present.^ Nevertheless, there have been persons whose evil will was so strong as to project the products of their imagination instinctively or consciously upon a person whom they desired to injure, and such persons are still in existence, although they may not deem it prudent to boast of their gifts or to exhibit their ];)0wers in public. Envy and hate produce an evil imagination, and create forces that may be more active •during sleep than during waking. The evil thoughts of a malicious person may affect another (sensitive) person, not only while the former is awake, but also during his sleep ; because when the physical body is asleep, the .sidereal body is free to go w^herever it pleases or wher- ever it may be attracted. " The life that is active in the organs is the anuna ^ To think 13 to act on tlie plane of thought, and if the thought is intense •enough, it may produce an effect on the physical plane. It is very fortunate that few persons possess the power to make it act directly on the physical plane, hecause there are few persons who never have any evil thoughts ■enteririrr into their mird. 158 PARACELSUS. vegetiva (the animal soul). It is an invisible fire (sulphur), that can easily be blown into a flame by the power of the imagination. Imagination may create hunger and thirst, produce abnormal secretions, and cause diseases ; but a person who has no evil desires wiU have no evil imagination, and no diseases will spring from his thoughts." " A person who has evil desires will have an evil imagination, and the forces created in the sphere of his mind may be projected by powerful will into the mental sphere of another. Thoughts are not empty nothings,, but they are formed out of the substance that forms the element of the soul, in the same sense as a piece of ice is made out of the substance of water. The will is the power that may concentrate the image formed in the mind, in the same sense as the power of cold will cause a body of water to freeze into solid ice ; and as an icicle may be thrown from one place to another, likewise an evil thought, formed into shape by an intense will, may be hurled against the mental sphere of another, and enter his soul if it be not sufficiently protected." " Imagination is the cause of many diseases ; faith is the cure for all. If we cannot cure a disease by faith, it is because our faith is too weak ; but our faith is weak on account of our want of knowledge ; if we were conscious of the power of God in ourselves, we could never faiL The power of amulets does not rest so much in the material pf whiq ;] ^ thpy atp. made as in the faith X with which, they are worn ; the curative power of medicine often consists, not so much in the sphit that is hidden in them, as in the spirit in which they are taken. Paith will make them efficacious ; doubt will destroy their virtues." " One poison may render another j)oison harmless, and the effect of the imagination of one person may neutralize the effects of the imagination of another. If any one can make an image of wax to injure my body, I may make MEDICINE. 159 another image to attract the evil spell, His image obtains its power by the force of Ms faith, and my image obtains its virtue by the power of my faith; and the injuries inflicted by my enemy upon the image will leave me unharmed, and the curses that he heaps upon me will return to him and leave me unhurt." 5. Diseases orig inciting from Sjn'ritucd Causes (Karma). All diseases are the effects of previously existing causes. Some originate from natural and others from spiritual causes. Spiritual causes are those that have not been created by a man during his present life, but which he has created during a former existence. For such cases there is no remedy but to wait patiently until the evil force is exhausted and the law of justice satis- fied, for even if the just retribution for our sins could be evaded at one time, it would only be postponed, and the evil would return at another time with an accumulation of interest and with increased force. "No physician should presume to know the hour of recovery in such cases, because it is not given to man to judge of the offence of another, and the inner temple contains mysteries in which no uninitiated stranger is permitted to pry. If the trial is over, God will send the physician. If a patient recovers by following the ad\'ice of a physician, it is a sign that the physician has been sent by God; but if no recovery takes place, God did not send the physician. Xothing in the world happens without a cause. The ignorant physicians are the servants of hell, sent by the devil to torment the sick ; but the true physician is God. God does nothing in an unnatural manner, and if he produces wonders, he pro- duces them throui^h human beinfrs. God does not £ro to see a patient ; if he comes to him, he comes in the shape of a man. If a town possesses a good physician, people may look upon him as a blessing from God ; but the a6o PARACELSUS, presence of an ignorant doctor is a public calamity and a -curse to all. But all bodily diseases will be cured at the legitimate hour, when the battle of life is ended and the angel of death opens the portal to the eternaP king- dom of rest." ^ 1 The word eternal does not signify a time without end, but a state in which time is not measured, and in which it therefore does not exist. ^ A misunderstanding of the doctrine of Karma may give rise to an erro- neous belief, which may be productive of serious harm. There are great numbers of religious fanatics in the East, and some in the West, who would not make an attempt to pull a person out of a burning house, even if they could eaisily do so, because they believe that if it is " the will of God," or his Karma, that he should perish in the fire, it would be wrong to interfere with that law, and to frustrate the purpose of God. They should remember that if it was the will of God which caused such a person to fall into danger, it must also have been the will of God which sent them near, and enabled them to save ; and if they neglect to do their duty and suffer him to perish, they are arrogating to themselves the prerogatives of gods. They then act against the law, and will become responsible for their act. God acts through man, and a man who does not respond to His call, and refuses lo obey the Divine command, spoken within his heart, is a useless instru- ment, and will be rejected. ( i6i ) VIII. ALCHEMY AND ASTEOLOGY. Alchemy and Astrology are sciences wliicli are at tlie present time very little understood, because they deal with, supersensual things, which cannot be known to jjer- sons who are not in the possession of supersensual powers of perception. Chemistry deals with physical matter; alchemy deals with their astral principles. Astronomy deals with the physical aspect of planets and stars ; astro- logy deals with the psychic influences which their souls exert upon each other and upon the Microcosm of man. Chemistry is a science that may be learned by any one who has ordinary intellectual capacities, and a certain amount of skill required for its practical aj^plication. Astronomy may be studied by any one who is able to comprehend mathematics and possesses logic and physical sight. Alchemy is an art which cannot be understood without spiritual knowledge. Astrology is incompre- hensible to those who cannot feel the influences of the stars. The books treating of alchemy and astrology will easily be understood by persons who have the power of interior perception, but to those who are not in possession of such powers they will be incomprehensible ; neither can their allegories be satisfactorily explained to them, because it is an eternal truth that spiritual verities can- not be grasped by an intellect reasoning merely from the material plane. The more the intellect is sharpened for the perception of the exterior and superficial appearances of things, the more easily will it lose its power to see interior spiritual realities, and the advancement of modern science in the knowledge of exterior things is the M i62 PARACELSUS. reason that the majority of our modern scientists have lost the power to realize spiritual truths, and there are many who .even deny their existence. Everything in ISTature has a threefold aspect. The highest aspect of alchemy is the transformation of vices into virtues by the fire of love for the good, the purification of the mind by suffering, the elevation of the divine principle of man over the animal elements of his soul. The sign in which the true alchemist works is the Cross, because man, standing erect among his brothers of the animal kingdom, roots with his material elements in the earth, penetrates with his soul through the elementary forces of Nature, which cause his human nature to suffer and die, but his higher nature (his head) reaches above the animal creation into the pure atmosphere of heaven. The next aspect of alchemy is the knowledge of the nature of the invisible elements, constituting the astral bodies of things. Each thing is a trinity having a body and a soul held together by the spirit, which is the cause and the law. Physical bodies are acted upon by physical matter ; the elements of the soul are acted upon by the soul, and the conscious spirit of the enlightened guides and controls the action of matter and soul. By the power of the spirit material elements may be sublimated into invisible elements, or invisible substances be coagu- lated and become visible. Instances of this may be occasionally seen in " spiritualistic seances," although in such cases the alchemist who produces them is equally invisible. The lowest aspect of alchemy is the preparation, puri- fication, and combination of physical substances, and from this science has grown the science of modern chemistry, which in its present state is a great advancement over the lower aspect of old chemistry, but which has lost sight entirely of the higher aspects of the latter. A higher advancement of the science of chemistry will bring it again into contact with alchemy. Chemistry decomposes ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 163 and recomposes material substances in certain propor- tions ; it may purify simple substances of all foreign elements, but it will always leave the primitive elements nnclianged ; but alchemy changes the character of simple bodies, and raises them np into higher states of existence. To exercise this power, not merely mechanical labour, but artistic skill, is required. A person who composes a chemical preparation by manual labour and according to certain rules, is a chemist ; the weaver who manufactures a cloth, and the tailor who makes a coat, may be called alchemists, becanse neither clothes nor coats are grown by jS'ature. The chemist imitates N'ature, the artist surpasses her ; the labourer lends his hands to ]^ature, so that she may accomplish something through him ; the artist makes use of the material with which Nature pro- vides him, and produces something that exists only in his mind. The painter who daubs a wall is a chemist ; his work requires skill, but no genius. The artist who com- poses a picture is an alchemist, because he embodies an idea, and puts his own character into his work. To understand correctly the meaning of the words alchemy and astrology, it is necessary to understand and to realize the intimate relationship and the identity of the Micro- cosm and Macrocosm, and their mutual interaction. All the powers of the universe are potentially contained in man, and man's physical body and all his organs are nothing else but products and representatives of the powers of Nature. The Microcosm and Macrocosm may not only " be compared together," but they are really and actually essentially one in their power, and one in the constitution of their elements. " If I have ' manna ' in my constitution, I can attract ' manna ' from heaven. ' Melissa ' is not only in the garden, but also in the air and in heaven. ' Saturn ' is not only in the sky, but also deep in the earth and in the ocean. What is * Yenus ' but the ' Artemisia ' that grows in your garden ? AVhat is ' iron ' but ' Mars ' ? That is to say, Venus and ^i 2 i64 PARACELSUS. Artemisia are both the products of the same essence, and Mars and iron are both the manifestations of the same cause. What is the human body but a constella- tion of the same powers that formed the stars in the sky 1 He who knows what iron is, knows the attributes of Mars. He who knows Mars, knows the qualities of iron. What would become of your heart if there were no sun in the universe ? What would be the use of your ' vasa spermatica ' if there were no Yenus ? To grasp the invisible elements, to attract them by their material correspondences, to control, pnrify, and trans- form them by the living power of the S^Dirit — this is. true alchemy." (" Paragranum," i.) What does material science know about things of the soul ? Chemistry is a science which deals with th& chemical combination, separation, and recombination of physical substances. Alchemy deals with the purifica- tion and combination of astral elements, and with the development of lower forms and lower states into higher ones. By chemistry we may purify physical substances- from all foreign elements, and divest them of physical impurities, but their own element will not be changed. By alchemy we may raise an element into a higher and purer state of existence. The processes in Nature by Avhich combinations and decompositions of matter take place, such as putrefaction, caused by the contact of a substance with air, and the chemical combinations of two or more substances coming into contact with each other, are chemical processes. The growth of a tree out of a seed, the evolution of worlds, the development of precious metals out of an apparently worthless matrix, the growth of a foetus, the development of an animal or a human being, &c., are alchemical processes, because life itself enters into these i)rocesses as a factor, and they would not take place without the action of life.^ ^ 1 Johannes Tritheim, Abbot of Spanbeim, one of the greatest alcbemists„ theologians, and astrologers, a learned and highly esteemed man, makes ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY, 165 " Separation is the cause of existence, the birth of things from the Mysterium magnum. It is the greatest wonder known to practical philosophy ; it is a divine art. lie who can attract things out of the Mysterium magnum (A'kasa) is a true alchemist." This power is possessed fiome remarks in his Look (printed at Passau 150G) tliat may help to throw some light on the perplexing subject of alchemy. He says : " The art of divine magic consists in the ability to perceive the essence of things in the light of ^"^ature, and by using the soul-powers of the spirit to produce material things from the unseen universe (A'kasa), and in such operations the Above (the Macrocosm) and the Below (the Microcosm) must be brought together and made to act harmoniously. The spirit of Natnre is a unity, creating and forming everything, and by acting through the instrumentahty of man it may produce wonderful things. Such processes take place accord- ing to law. You will learn the law by which these things are accomplished, if you learn to know yourself. You will know it b}'' the power of the spirit that is in yourself, and accomplish it by mixing your spirit with the essence that comes out of yourself. If you wish to succeed in such a work you must know how to separate spirit and life in Nature, and, moreover, to separate the astral soul in yourself and to make it tangible, and then the substance of the soul will appear visibly and tangibly, rendered objective by the power of the spirit. ' Christ speaks of the salt, and the salt is of a threefold nature. Oold is of a threefold nature, and there is an ethereal, a fluid, and a material gold. It is the same gold, only in three different states ; and gold in one state may be made into gold in another state. But such mysteries should not be divulged, because the sceptic and scoffer will not be able to comprehend it, and to him who is covetous tliey will be a temptation." [jSTotice. — I wish, to warn the reader, who might be inclined to try any of the alchemical prescriptions contained in this book, not to do so unless he is an alchemist, because, although I know from personal experience that these prescriptions are not only allegori- cally but literally trae, and will prove successful in the hands of au alchemist, they would only cause a waste of time and money in the hands of one who has not the necessary qualifications. A jjerson who wants to be an alchemist must have in himself the ^' magnesia," which means, the magnetic power to attract and " coagulate " invisible astral elements. This power is only jjossessed by those who are " reborn in the spirit." Those who do not know what this expression means are not " reborn " (or initiated), and it cannot be explained to them. But he who is initiated will know it, and needs no instruction from books, because he will know his instructor.] i66 PARACELSUS. only by those who are spiritually developed/ ]N'ature continually exercises that art through the organizing power of the invisible astral body. " As the fowl produces a chicken with wrings and legs out of the small microcosm contained in the shell of an ^^^g, likewise the arcana of Nature are ripened by the processes of alchemy. IN'atural alchemy causes the pear to ripen, and produces grapes on a vine. !N"atural alchemy separates the useful elements from the food that is ^\A into the stomach, transforms it into chyle and blood, into muscles and bones, and rejects that which is useless. A physician who knows nothing of alchemy can only be a servant of N"ature, however well he may bo versed in the science of external things ; but the alchemist is her lord. If the physician cannot infuse vitality into decaying parts, he cannot effect a cure, but must wait until N"ature accomplishes the task ; but he who can guide the power of life can guide and command Nature." Alchemy is described by Paracelsus as an art in which Vulcan (the lire of Nature — the astral light) is the active artist. By this art the pure is separated from the im- pure, and things are made to grow out of primordial matter (A'kasa). Alchemy renders perfect what Nature has left imperfect, and purifies all things by the power of the spirit that is contained in them. " All things (man included) are composed out of three substances, and all tilings have their number, their weight, and their measure. Health exists when the three sub- stances constituting a thing preserve their normal pro- portion of quantity and quality ; disease results if this proportion becomes abnormal. These three substances are called sulphur, mercury, and salt,^ and they are acted ^ Spiritual development is not necessarily dependent on intellectual acquire- ments, and there are sometimes persons that are ignorant in worldly things, but who possess great spiritual powers. - This does, of course, not refer to the chemical substances known to us by these names. The alchemy of the future will probably invent more appro- priate terms. ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 167 upon by a fourth princijjle, which is life. These tliree substances are not seen with the physical eye, but a true physician should see them, nevertheless, and be able to separate them from each other. That which is perceptible to the senses may be seen by everybody who is not a jjhysician ; but a physician should be able to see things that not everybody can see. There are natural physicians, and there are artificial physicians. The former see things which the latter cannot see, and the latter dispute the existence of such things because they cannot perceive them. The latter see the exterior of things, but the former see the interior ; but the inner man is the sub- stantial reality, while the outer one is only an apparition, and therefore the true physician sees the real man, and the quack sees but an illusion." " The three substances are held together in forms by the power of life. If you take the three invisible substances, and add to it the power of life, you will have three invisible substances in a visible form. The three constitute the form, and become separated only after the power of life deserts them. They are hidden by life, and joined together by life. Their combined qualities constitute the qualities of the form, and only when life departs their separate qualities become manifest. If the three are united in due proj)ortions, health exists in the form ; but if they become separated, the one will putrefy and the other will burn. Man does not see the action of these three substances as long as they are hehl together by life, but he may perceive their qualities at the time of the destruction of their form. The invisible fire is in the sulxjliur, the soluble element in the salt, and the volatile element in the mercury. The fire burns, the mercury produces smoke, and the salt remains in the ashes ; but as long as the form is alive there is neither fire, nor ashes, nor smoke." " There are hundreds of different kinds of salt, sulphur, and mercury in the universe and in the human system, i68 PARACELSUS, and tlie greatest arcana (potencies) are contained in them. All things are hidden in them in the same sense as a pear is hidden in a pear-tree and grapes in a vine. The super- ficial observer sees only that which exists for his senses, but the interior sight discovers the things of the future. A gardener knows that a vine will produce no pears, and a pear-tree no grapes. The ignorant speaks of heat and. cold, of dryness and moisture, of sweetness and acidity, of bitterness and astringency, without knowing the cause that produces such qualities ; but the wise recognizes in them the elements of the stars." (Paragranum.) Paracelsus wrote comparatively little about popular alchemy ; he was an enemy of endless prescriptions, and of all the daubing and greasing, quackery and nastiness connected with the apothecaryship of his time. He says : " What shall I say to you about all your alchemical prescriptions, about all your retorts and bottles, crucibles, mortars, and glasses, of all your complicated processes of distilling, melting, cohibiting, coagulating, sublimating, precipitating, and filtering, of all the tomfoolery for which you throw away your time and your money. All such things are useless, and the labour for it is lost. They are rather an impediment than a hel^D to arrive at the truth." ISTevertheless he was well versed in alchemy. In the preface to his work entitled " Tinctura Physica "^ ^ The " tinctura pliysicorum " is a great alchemical mjstery. Hermes Trismegistus of Egypt, Orus of Greece, Hali, an Arab, and Alberti:s Magnus of Germany, were acquainted with it. It is also called the Eed Lion, and is mentioned in many alchemical works, but was actually known to few. Its preparation is extremely difficult, as there is the presence of two perfectly harmonious people, equally skilful, necessary for that purpose. It is said to be a red ethereal fluid, capable to transmute all inferior metals into gold, and having other wonderful virtues. There is an old church in the vicinity of a town in the soutli of Bavaria where this tincture is said to be still buried in the ground. In the year 1698 some of it penetrated through, the soil, and the phenomenon was witnessed by many people, who believed it to be a miracle. A church was therefore erected at that place, and it is still a well-known place of pilgrimage. In regard to the material (if it may be so called) used for the preparation of this great medicine, Par-acelsus says : *'Be careful not to take anything from the lion but the rose-coloured blood, ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 169 he says : " I have a treasure buried at the hospital at Weiclen (Friaul), which is a jewel of such a value that neither Pope Leo nor the Emperor Carolus could buy it with all their wealth, and those who are acquainted with the spagyric art (alchemy) will confirm what I say." The power of certain substances to absorb and to retain certain planetary influences is used for the purpose of investing them with occult qualities. Pure metals may be used by the alchemist for that purpose, and in this way amulets, " magic mirrors," and other things that may produce magic effects are prepared. Paracelsus says : " The compositions of metals produce wonderful effects. If we make a composition of seven metals in the proper order and at the proper time, we will obtain a metal which contains all the virtues of the seven. Such a composition is called ' electrum.' It possesses not only the physical but the astral virtues of the seven metals that enter into its composition, and the electrum is one of the most valuable preparations known to secret science. The ordinary metals cannot be compared with it on account of its magic power. A vessel made of the electrum will immediately indicate it, if any poisonous substance has been surreptitiously put into it, because it will begin to sweat on its outside." "Many wonderful things may be made of this electrum, such as amulets, charms, magic finger-rings, arm-rings, seals, figures, mirrors, bells, medals, and many other things possessing great magic powers, of v/hich very little is publicly known, because our art has been neglected, and the majority of men do not even know that it exists." " It would not be proper to explain all the virtues and and from llie -white eagle only the -white ghiten. Coagulate (corporify) it according to the directions given by the ancients, and you will have the tinctura physicorum.' But if this is incomprehensible to you, remember that only he -who desires %Yith his whole heart will find, and to him only "who knocks strong enough, the door shall be opened." lyo PARACELSUS. powers of the electriim, because the sophist would begin to blaspheme, and the ignorant would become angry ; the idiot would ridicule and the wicked misuse it ; and we are therefore forced to be silent in regard to some of its principal virtues. But there are a few wonderful qualities which it possesses, and of which we will speak. We have observed them personally, and we know that we are speaking the truth. We have seen finger-rings made of the electrum that cured their wearers of spasms and paralytic affections, of ejoilepsy and apoplexy ; and the application of such a ring, even during the most violent paroxysm of an epileptic attack, was always followed by immediate relief. W"e have seen such a ring begin to sweat at the beginning of a hidden disease." " The electrum is antipathic to all evil influences, because there is hidden in it a heavenly power and the influence of all the seven planets. Therefore the Egyptians and Chaldeans and the Magi of Persia used it against evil spirits, and made great discoveries by its use. If I were to tell all I know about the virtues of the electrum, the sophists would denounce me for being the greatest sorcerer in the world." " I will, however, say that I have known a person in Spain who possessed a bell made out of the electrum, and weighing about two pounds, and by ringing that bell he could cause various kinds of spectres and apparitions to appear, and they would obey his commands. Before using the bell he always wrote some words or characters on its inside. He then rang the bell, and immediately the spirits appeared in such a shape as he ordered them to take. He was even able to attract by the sound of that bell the spectres of men or animals, or to drive them away when they were not wanted ; and whenever he wanted another spirit to appear he wrote some other characters on the inside of that bell. He refused to tell me the secret of these words and characters, but I medi- tated about it, and found it out myself." ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 171 " You need not be surprised to hear that such things are possible, because everything is possible that is con- sistent with natural laws. One man may call another man by his name, and order him to do certain things, and if the latter res^^ects the former, or is awed by his superiority, he will obey his order without being forced to do so with a weapon or stick. On invisible beings the will of man has still more effect, and an inferior being may be made to obey the. will of a superior one by the force of the mere thought of a word, because the lower is subject to the higher, and the inferior to the superior, and what else is the will but a power hidden in the thought (mind) of man, and becoming active through his imagination.^ But the thought of man is as potent to impress a spirit as the spoken word is to impress the mind of a man, for spirits have no physical ears to hear physical sounds, and the voice is only needed for those Avho cannot hear with the spirit." " " If the astral element in man can be sent into another man by the power of his Olympic spirit, such an astral element may also be embedded in metals and leave its influence in them, and thereby the metal may be raised into a higher state, than the one into which it was put by Nature." ^ THE ELECTEUM MAGICUM. The electrum magicum is prepared as follows : " Take ten parts of pure gold, ten of silver, five of copper, two of tin, two of lead, one part of powdered iron, and five of ^ The power that man may silently exercise over animals is well known. ^ It does not require the sound of our voice to bring the image of some object before our imagination, and if we see the image of a thing in our mind, and realize its presence, it actually exists for us, and thus a spirit may be brought into a form by the power of our imagination. ^ This remark throws some light on alchemical processes, and goes to show that it is not the magaetism of the planets alone, but also the " magnetism " of the operator, that is to be bound, and the two connected together in the metal by the process described below. 172 PARACELSUS, mercury. All tliese metals must be pure. ISTow wait for the hour when the planets Saturn and Mercury come into conjunction, and have all your preparations ready for that occasion ; have the fire, the crucible, the mercury and the lead ready, so that there will be no delay when the time of the conjunction arrives, for the work must be done during the moments of the conjunction. As soon as this takes place melt the lead and add the mercury, and let it cool. After this has been done, wait for a con- junction of Jupiter with Saturn and Mercury, melt the compound of lead and mercury in a crucible, and in another crucible the tin, and pour the two metals together at the moment of such conjunction. You must now wait until a conjunction of the sun with either one or both of the above-named planets takes place, and then add the gold to the compound after melting it previously. At a time of a conjunction of the moon with the sun Saturn or Mercury, the silver is added likewise, and at a time of a conjunction of Venus with one of the above- named planets the copper is added. Finally, at a time of such a conjunction with Mars, the whole is completed by the addition of the powdered iron. Stir the fluid mass with a dry rod of witch-hazel, and let it cool." ^ " Of this electrum magicum you may make a mirror in which you may see the events of the past and the present, absent friends or enemies, and see what they are doing. You may see in it any object you may desire to see, and all the doings of men in daytime or at night. You may see in it anything that has ever been written down, said, or spoken in the past, and also see the person who said it, and the causes that made him say wliat he did, and you may see in it anything, however secret it may have been kept." ^ ^ All the above-named conjunctions take place in our solar system in tlie ■course of thirteen successive months, but the directions may refer to conjunc- tions of principles contained in the Microcosm of man. - That is to say : You may come en rajjport with the astral light, which ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY, 173 " Such mirrors are made of tlie electro mamcum ; tliey are made of the diameter of about two inches. They are to be founded at a time when a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus takes place, and moulds made of fine sand are used for that purpose. Grind the mirrors smooth with a grindstone, and polish them with tripoly, and w^ith a piece of wood from a linden tree. All the operations made with the mirror, the grinding, polish- ing, &c., should take place under favourable planetary aspects, and by selecting the proper hours three different mirrors may be prepared. At a time of a conjunction of two good planets, when at the same time the sun or the moon stands on the ' house of the lord of the hour of your birth,' the three mirrors are to be laid together into pure well-water, and left to remain there for an hour. They may then be removed from the water, enveloped in a linen cloth, and be preserved for use." ^ Xothing in ^N'ature is dead, and alchemy does not deal with inanimate things. The old alchemists were be- lievers in the possibility of spontaneous generation, and by the combination of X->sychical powers and essences they created forms in which life became manifest. They could generate living beings in closed bottles, or by the Palingenesis ^ of plants or animals, cause the astral form of a plant or an animal to become visible again, and to resurrect from its ashes. One of the greatest secrets, however, was the generation of beings like men or women, that were generated without the assistance of a female organism, and wdiich were called Homunculi. Paracelsus speaks about them as follows : — IS the sensoriam of the world, and in ?rliich the " memory " or impression of everything is preserved. ^ It would be useless to give detailed descriptions of processes that cannot 1)6 followed out by any one who does not possess the necessary magic (mag- netic) power, and those who possess the power will hardly require such descriptions, in which allegories are strangely mixed with truths. ^ See Appendix. 174 PARACELSUS, HOMU^TCULI. " Human beings may come into existence without natural parents. Tliat is to say, sucli beings may grow without being developed, and born by a female organism ; by the art of an experienced spagyricus (alchemist)." (" De Xatura Eerum," vol. i.) " The generatio homunculi has until now been kept very secret, and so little was publicly known about it that the old philosophers have doubted its possibility. But I know that such things may be accomplished by spagyric art assisted by natural processes. If the sperm.a, enclosed in a hermetically sealed glass, is buried in horse manure for about forty days, and properly 'magnetized,' it may begin to live and to move. After such a time it bears the form and resemblance of a human beinc^, but it will be transparent and without a corpus. If it is now artificially fed with the arcanum sanguinis hominis ^ until it is about forty weeks old, and if allowed to remain during that time in the horse manure in a continually equal temperature, it will grow into a human child, with all its members developed like any other child, such as may have been born by a woman, only it will be much smaller. We call such a being a homunculus, and it may be raised and educ-ated like any other child, until it grows older and obtains reason and intellect, and is able to take care of itself. This is one of the greatest secrets, and it ought to remain a secret until the days approach when all secrets will be known.^ 1 '^^itbout this arcanum the experiment would not succeed, nor the form iDecome visible. 2 Paracelsus has been reproached for his belief in the possibility of gene- rating homunculi ; but a deeper insight into the processes of Nature will show that such a thing is not necessarily impossible. Modern authorities believe it to be not impossible. Moleschott thinks that we may perhaps yet succeed in establishing conditions by which organic forms may be generated ; Liebig is of the opinion that chemistry will yet succeed in making organic substances by artificial means. Goethe says in his " Faust " : ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 175 It seems to be useless to quote any more alcliemistical prescriptions of Paracelsus, or of any other alchemist. To the uninitiated they are unintelligible, and appear al)surd; while the initiated — having the light of the spirit "And such a brain, that has the power to think, May in the future be produced by a thinker." — Faust ^ Pt. II. act il. Where no germ is present such a generation would certainly be impossible : but chickens may be artificially hatched out, and perhaps homunculi may be developed. There seem to be some historic evidences that such things have been accomplished, as the following account will show : — In a book called the " Sphinx," edited by Dr, Emil Besetzny, and published at Vienna in 1873 by L. Ptosner (Tuchlauben, No. 22), we find some interesting accounts in regard to a number of " spirits" generated by a Joh. Ferd. Count of Kueffstein, in Tyrol, in the year 1775. The sources from which these accounts are taken consist in masonic manuscripts and prints, but more especially in a diary kept by a certain Jas. Kammerer, who acted in the capacity of butler and famulus to the said Count. There were ten homunculi — or, as he calls them, "prophesying spirits" — preserved in strong bottles, such as are used to preserve fruit, and which were filled with water; and these "spirits" were the product of the labour of the Count J. F. of Kueffstein (Kufstein), and of an Italian Mystic and Kosicrucian, Abbe Geloni. They were made in the course of five weeks, and consisted of a king, a queen, a knight, a monk, a nun, an architect, a miner, a seraph, and finally of a blue and a red spirit. " The bottles were closed with ox- bladders, and with a great magic seal (Solomon's seal ?). The spirits swam about in those bottles, and were about one span long, and the Count was very anxious that they should grow. They were therefo''C buried under two cartloads of horse manure, and the pile daily sprinkled with a certain liquor, prepared with great trouble by the two adepts, and made out of some "very disgusting materials." The pile of manure began after such sprinklings to ferment and to steam as if healed by a subterranean fire, and at least once every three days, when everything was quiet, at the approach of the night, the two gentlemen would leave the convent and go to pray and to fumigate at that pile of manure. After the bottles were removed the " spirits '' had grown to be each one about one and a half span long, so that the bottles were almost too small to contain them, and the male homunculi had come into possession of heavy beards, and the nails of their fingers and toes had grown a great deal. By some means the Abbe Schiloni provided them with appropriate clothing, each one according to his rank and dignity. In the bottle of the red and in that of the blue spirit, however, there was nq^hing to be seen but " clear water ; " but whenever the Abbe knocked three times at the seal upon the mouth of the bottles, speaking at the same time some Hebrew words, the water in the bottle began to turn blue (respectively red), and the blue and the red spirits would show their faces, first very small, but growing in proportions until they attained the size of an ordinary human 176 PARACELSUS, for his teaclier, will not require them. But those who condemn the ancient occultists for their supposed igno- rance and superstition, Avould do well to remember that it requires a vastly greater amount of credulity to believe that great reformers in science, and men possessed of wisdom, such as Paracelsus, Johannes Tritheim, Yan Helmont, and others, should have consented to write face. The face of the blue spirit was beautiful, like an angel, but that of the red one bore a horrible expression. These beings were fed by the Count about once every three or four days with some rose-colonred substance which he kept in a silver box, and of which he gave to each spirit a pill of about the size of a pea. Once every week the water had to be removed, and the bottles filled again with pure rain- water. This change had to be accomplished very rapidly, because during the few moments that the spirits were exposed to the air they closed their eyes, seemed to become weak and unconscious, as if they were about to die. But the blue spirit was never fed, nor was the water changed ; while the red one received once a week a thimbleful of fresh blood of some animal (chicken), and this blood disappeared in the water as soon as it was poured into it, without colouring or troubling it. The water containing the red spirit had to be changed once every two or three days. As soon as the bottle was opened it became dark and cloudy, and emitted an odour of rotten eggs. In the course of time these spirits grew to be about two spans long, and their bottles were now almost too small for them to stand erect ; the Count therefore provided them with appropriate seats. These bottles were carried to the place where the masonic lodge of which the Count was the presiding master met, and after each meeting they were carried back again. During the meetings the spirits gave prophecies about future events that usually proved to be correct. They knew the most secret things, but each of them was only acquainted with such things as belonged to his station ; for instance, the king could talk politics, the monk about religion, the miner about minerals, &c. ; but the blue and the red spirits seemed to know everything. (Some facts proving their clairvoyant powers are given in the original.) By some accident the glass containing the monk fell one day upon the floor, and was broken. The poor monk died after a few painful respira- tions, in spite of all the efforts of the Count to save his life, and his body was buried in the garden. An attempt to generate another one, made by the Count without the assistance of the Abbe, who had left, resulted in a failure, as it produced only a small thing like a leech, which had very little vitality, and soon died. One day the king escaped from his bottle, which had not been properly sealed, and was found by Kammerer sitting on the top of the bottle con- taining the queen, attempting to scratch with his nails the seal away, and to liberate her. In answer to the servant's call for help, the Count rushed in, and after a prolonged chase caught the king, who, from his long exposure to ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 177 whole volumes of such intolerable rubbish, as such writings would certainly be if they were to be taken in a literal meaning, than to believe — as is actually the case — that great sj)iritual truths were thus hidden behind allegories that were intended to be understood only by those who jDossessed the key in their own hearts. Although Paracelsus asserts that it is possible to make gold and silver by chemical means, and that some persons have succeeded in making it,^ still he condemns such the air and the want of his appropriate element, had become faint, and was replaced into his bottle — not, however, witLout succeeding to scratch the nose of the count." It seems that the Count of Kufstein in later years became anxious for the salvation of his soul, and considered it incompatible with the requirements of his conscience to keep those spirits longer in his possession, and that he got rid of them in some manner not mentioned by the scribe. We will not make an attempt at comment, but would advise those who are curious about this matter to read the book from which the above account is an extract. There can be hardly any doubt as to its veracity, because some historically well-known persons, such as Count Max Lamberg, Count Franz Josef V. Thun, and others, saw them, and they possessed undoubtedly visible and tangible bodies ; audit seems that they were either elemental spirits, or, what appears to be more probable, homunculi. 1 The following is a prescription how to make artificial gold, taken from an old alchemistical MS., and a marginal note says that an experiment tried with it proved successful : — Take equal parts of powdered iron, sublimated sulphur, and crude antimony. Melt it in a crucible, and keep it in red heat for eight hours. Powder it, and calcinate it until the sulphur is evaporated. Mix two parts of this powder with one part of calcinated borax, and melt it again. Powder and dissolve it in common muriatic acid, and let it stand in a moderate heat for one month. The fluid is then to be put into a retort and distilled, and the fluid that collects in the recipient (the muriatic acid) is returned into the retort and again distilled, and this is repeated three times ; the third time a red powder will be left in the retort (probably a mixture of muriate of iron with antimonium oxide). This powder is to be dissolved in the menstruum philosophicum (made by pouring chloride of antimony into water, filtering, and evaporating the fluid to a certain extent, to make it stronger). The solution is to be evaporated again, and the remaining powder mixed with its own weight of corrosive sublimate of mercury. 'J his powder is to be dissolved again in the menstruum philosophi- cum (diluted muriatic acid), and distilled until a red oily substance passes into the receiver. If you obtain this oil, you may take some newly prepared chloride of silver, saturate it gi^adually with the oil, and dry it. Put one part of this powder into five parts of molten lead ; separate the lead again from the silver (by cupellation), and you will find that one third of the silver has been transformed into gold. 178 PARACELSUS. experiments as useless, and it seems to "be more than probable that even in such chemical experiments as may have succeeded, something more than merely chemical manipulations was required to make them successful.^ Astrology is intimately connected with medicine, magic, and alchemy. If we desire to make use of the influences of the planets for any purpose whatever, it is necessary to know what qualities those influences possess — how they act, and at what time certain x^lanetary influences will be on the increase or on the wane. The quality of the planetary influences will be known to a man who knows his own constitution, because he will then be able to recognize in himself the x^lanetary influences correspond- mg to those that rule in the sky; the action of such influences will be known if we know the qualities of the bodies upon which they act, because each body attracts those influences that are in harmony with it, and repulses the others ; the time when certain planetary influences rule may be found out by astronomical calculations, or by tables that have been prepared by such for that purpose ; but the spiritually developed seer will require no books and no tables, but will recognize the conditions of the interior world l^y the changes taking place in his own soul. Paracelsus was not — what is called to-day — a pro- fessional astrologer. He did not calculate nativities, or make horoscopes, but he knew the higher aspect of astrology, by which the mutual relations of the Macrocosm 1 There is a considerable amount of historical evidence of a trustworthy- character that goes to prove that pure gold has been artificially made, but it is — to say the least — doubtful that this was done in a way that could be successfully imitated by one who is not an alchemist. According to a trustworthy report, coming from a source whose veracity is not doubtful, a certain alchemist was kept imprisoned by the prince-elect of Saxony at a fortress at Dresden in the year 1748, because the prince wanted to obtain through him artificial gold. This adept produced four hundred pounds of gold by alchemical means, and finally escaped from the prison in some unex- plained manner. Flamel is said to have made artificial gold on April 25, 1382. ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 179 and the Microcosm are known. He rejected the errors of popular astrology as he did those of other popular religions or scientific beliefs ; and his system of astrology, if rightly understood, appears of a sublime character and full of the grandest conceptions. He says : " No one needs to care for the course of Saturn : it neither shortens nor lengthens the life of anybody. If Mars is ferocious, it does not follow that JNTero was his child ; and althouoh Mars and iSTero may both have had the same qualities they did not take them from each other. It is an old saying that 'a wise man may rule the stars,' and I believe in that saying — not in the sense in which you take it, but in my own. The stars force nothing into us that we are not willing to take ; they incline us to nothing w^hich we do not desire. They are free for themselves, and we are free for ourselves. You believe that one man is more successful in the acquirement of knowledge, another one in the acquisition of power ; one obtains riches more easily, and another one fame ; and you think that this is caused by the stars ; but I believe the cause to be that one man is more apt than another to acquire and to hold certain things, and that this a]3titude comes from the spirit.^ It is absurd to believe that the stars can make a man. Whatever the stars can do we can do ourselves, because the wisdom which we obtain from God over- powers the heaven and rules over the stars." He objected strongly to the use of ceremonies that were made for the purpose of attracting spirits by means of planetary influences. He says : " Whatever comes from the ' spirits ' is sorcery. Such spirits are false, and we do not believe in them; but we believe in the power of that wisdom which rules heaven, and by wdiich all the mysteries of Nature may be known. Sorcery has been called magic ; but magic is wisdom, and there is no wisdom in sorcery. True science knows everything. The ^ If they come from the spirit, tlie spirit must have pre-existed, and Lave acquired tliem in a previous incarnation N 2 i8o PARACELSUS. eternity of all things is without time, without beginning,, and without an end. No hopes are lost. Whatever seems to be incredible, improbable, and impossible, may become wonderfully true in eternity." " Man's soul is made up of the same elements as the stars ; but as the wisdom of the Supreme guides the motions of the stars, likewise the reason of man rules the influences that rotate and circulate in his soul. The essence in man's sidereal body, which he attracts from the stars, is of a material nature ; still, we consider it as being- something spiritual on account of the ethereality of its substance, and on account of the great dimensions of its- invisible body. The essences in man's sidereal body are intimately related to the sidereal essences of the stars, and the former attract the powers of the latter ; but man is the master over his own soul, and he can permit those attractions to take place in an irregular manner, or he may control his passions and repulse influences which he does not desire. There is an attractive power in the soul of man, which may attract physical, mental, and moral diseases from the Chaos. The planetary influences extend through all E"ature, and man may attract poisonous- qualities from the moon, from the stars, and from other things ; but the moon, and the stars, and other things may also attract evil influences from man, and distribute them again by their rays,^ because ]S"ature is an un- divided whole, whose parts are intimately connected." " The sun and the stars attract something from us, and we attract something from them, because our astral bodies are in sympathy with the stars, and the stars are in sympathy with our astral bodies ; but the same is the case with the astral bodies of all other objects. They all attract astral influences from the stars. Each body attracts certain particular influences from them ; some attract more and others less ; and on this truth is based the power of amulets and talismans, and the influence 1 See " Sorcery," p. 102. ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. i8i wliicli tliey may exercise over the astral form of the .bearer. Talismans are like boxes, in which sidereal in- fluences may l)e preserved." " Three spirits, united in one, live and act in man ; three worlds, united into one, throw their rays upon liim ; but all three are only the reflection, image, or echo of one primordial creation. Tlie first is the essence of the elements ; the second the soul of the stars ; the third the spirit — tlic life. The lower instincts of man are caused by the life of the elements, but there is only one lifi, and the life that causes the instincts of man is contained in all elements — in the stars as well as in vegetable and animal forms. The activity of the life essence is modified in vegetable, animal, and human forms ; it becomes the life of the earth, and the life of the earth is radiated back to the stars. Stars attract and repulse each other ; they have their sympathies and antipathies ; and these living antipathies and sympathies, attractions and repulsions, could not exist if no vehicle of life existed between them." "Primordial matter, forming the basis of the constitu- tion of tlie human body, has absorbed influences from the stars, and they nourish the elementary (physical) body, and by means of these influences man's soul is connected with and united to the souls of the stars. Having three worlds in liini and living in three worlds, man should learn to know the lower elements, understand the sidereal, and know the eternaL" " The body comes from the elements, the soul from the stars, and the ^])\y\{j from God. All that the intellect can conceive of comes from the stars." ^ "All knowledge comes from the stars (the Universal Mind). Men do not invent or produce ideas ; the ideas exist, and men may be able to grasp them. If all ^ By " stars " {astro) Paracelsus does not refer to the physical bodies of the planets, but to all the principles existing in the Cosmos, and which are represented by the stars. i82 - PARACELSUS. professors of music in the world would die in one day^ heaven, heing the original teacher of music, would not die, and it would teach other persons this art. Many ideas exist which men have not yet grasped ; many stars are still too far to form a strong connection with the earth. The realm of stars and ideas is infinite, and therefore the source of inventions and discoveries is not yet exhausted." "N'ew stars appear and others disappear on the sky. l^ew ideas appear on the mental horizon, and old ideas are lost. If a new comet appears on the sky, it fills the hearts of the ignorant with terror ; if a new and grand idea appears on the mental horizon, it creates fear in the camp of those that cling to old systems and accepted forms." " Physical man takes his nutriment from the earth ; the sidereal man receives the states of his feelings and thoughts from the stars ; hut the spirit has his wisdom from God. The heat of a fire passes through an iron stove, and likewise the astral influences, with all their qualities, pass through man. They penetrate him as rain penetrates the soil, and as the soil is made fruitful hy the rain, likewise man's soul is made fruitful by them ; but the principle of the supreme wisdom of the universe penetrates into the centre, illuminates it, and rules over all." " Hail may destroy tlie fruits of the earth, evil planetary influences may be attracted by the soul of the earth and cause epidemic diseases, and the spiritual centre in man may be devoid of wisdom, and darkness rule in its place. The earth, the animal kingdom, and physical man are subject to the government of the stars ; but the sj)iritual man rules over the stars and over the elements, and conquers the worlds without and the world within by the wisdom tliat comes from God. Stones, plants, and animals obey the government of the mind, and man should obey the will and wisdom of God. The individual ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY. 183 terrestrial life should correspond to the laws governing the universe ; man's spiritual aspirations should be directed to harmonize with the wisdom of God. If we accomplish this, the inner consciousness will awaken to an under- standing of the influences of the stars, and the mysteries of Nature will be revealed to his spiritual perception." ( i84 ) IX. PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY. Modern philosopliy is a system of theoretical speculation, based upon reasoning from tlie known to the unknown, drawing logical . deductions from accepted opinions ; but theosophy is the possession of knowledge obtained by practical experience. To be a philosopher it is necessary to have acute reasoning powers, and to calculate possi- bilities and probabilities ; to be a true theosophist it is necessary to have the power of spiritual perception and to know the things perceived, irrespective of any possibilities, probabilities, or accepted opinions. A speculative philo- sopher occupies an objective standpoint in regard to the thing which he examines ; the theosophist finds the character of that thing in himself. There is nothing in the Macrocosm of Nature that is not contained in man, because man and Nature are essentially one, and a man who is conscious of being one with Nature will know everything in Nature if he knows only himself. A philosopher having no knowledge of self can only speculate about things which he does not see ; a practical theo- sophist, knowing his own self, does not need to speculate, because he knows what he sees, and he sees what he knows. No one can therefore be called a theosophist who does not possess the knowledge of self which enables man to know all things by introspection into one's own mind. This power is in possession of so few people that the majority of men do not even believe in the possibility of its existence, nor do these powers exist for them as long as they cannot realize them, because only that which a PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY. 185 man can realize has for him a real existence, and every- thing that he cannot realize appears to him illusory, no matter how real it may he for others. It requires a high degree of moral and intellectual perfection to acquire a perfect knowledge of self, and it is even doubtful whether a man can arrive at the summit of all perfection as long as he lives in an imperfect physical form, because the imj^erfections of tlie form hamper the spirit, and only a spirit that has outgrown the necessity to live in a physical form may be said to have arrived at that high degree of perfection at which a perfect knowledge of self, and consequently a perfect knowledge of the universe, is obtained. Such beings are called planetary spirits, but a lower order, who are still living in the form, are called Adepts/ The knowledo-e of a man in reojard to a truth, however learned and intellectual he may be, can be nothing else but an opinion to one who does not recognize the same truth in himself. If we believe or accept the doctrine of another man who perceives the truth, it does not follow that w^e recognize that truth as our own ; it simply means that we consider his opinion worthy of our belief. A knowledge of the opinions of others may guide us in our researches as long as we cannot find the truth in ourselves, but such a knowledge is as liable to mislead us as to lead us right ; the only way to arrive at the recognition and understanding of the truth is the development of the knowledge of self. Opinions change, and creeds and beliefs change accordingly ; but the knowledge which we find in ourselves stands as firm as a rock, and cannot be changed unless I^ature changes, and we change our- selves, because it forms a part of ourselves and of Xature. There is no such thing as a real theoretical knowledge of things, because real knowledge can only be acquired by practice. To know a thing we must see it and feel it 1 See Appendix. iS6 PARACELSUS. oiirselves. Things that transcend the physical power of sight can only be known if they are experienced and felt by the soul. Things that transcend the power of the intellect to grasp them cannot be scientifically demon- strated to those who have no comprehension for them. Love or hate, reason and conscience, are unknown things to those who do not realize their existence. The attributes of the spmt are not only beyond the power of sensual perception, but they are beyond the power of intellectual comprehension ; they can only be known to the spirit, and they are called occult because they cannot be understood without the possession of the light of the spirit. To obtain knowledge we must experience the good and the evil, because without knowing evil we could not know what is good. As soon as we begin to realize what is good, good becomes for us a reality, and as the highest happiness can only be attained by the realization of the highest good, it is necessary that w^e should be able to reahze it if we wish to be happy and wise. We may realize the presence of evil without desiring it, but we cannot realize the existence of the highest good without desiring it, and we cannot seriously desire it if we do not believe that it exists. The first and most necessary condition for the attainment of knowledge and happiness is therefore faith in the existence of good and a strong desire to realize its existence, and we shall never be able to find and to realize it anywhere but w^ithin our own hearts. God does not live without, but within the spirituul temple of man. Intellectual reasoning supported by intuition may arrive at the door of the spiritual temple, but it cannot enter without knowing that the temple exists and that it has the power to enter. This knowledge is called faith ; but faith does not come to those who do not desire it, and a desire for the highest is not created by man. Man's desires depend on his attractions, and that which attracts him strongest is the thing for which he has the greatest desire. PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY, 187 It is not within the power of the animal or intellectual nature of man to desire or to love that which he does not know. He may have a curiosity to see the unknown God, but he can love with all his heart only that which attracts him, that which he feels, and that of which he knows that it exists. He must realize Jbhe presence of the highest in his own heart before he can know it with his intellect, and it appears therefore that the door of occult truth — or the spiritual temple — is locked with many keys, and those who are vain enough to believe that they can invade it by their own power, and without being shown the way by the light of wisdom, will storm against it in vain. Wisdom is not created by man ; it must come to him, and cannot be purchased for money nor coaxed with promises, but it comes to those whose minds are pure and whose hearts are open to receive it. It is said that those who wish to become wise must be like children, but there are few amongst the learned who would be willing to undertake such a feat. There are few who would be able to realize the fact, even if they were willing to do so, that they themselves are without life, without knowledge and without power, and that all life and consciousness, know- ledge and power, comes from the universal fountain of all, of which they are merely imperfect instruments for its manifestation. There are few amongst the learned who would be willing to give up their illusory independency of thought^ their accepted opinions, their dogmatic reasoning and speculations about possibilities and probabilities, and to devote themselves to the service of hope, faith, and charity, to the knowledge of self by introspection and meditation, and to render their souls fit places for the residence of the truth. Humanity resembles a field of wheat, in which each individual represents a plant, each attempting to grow higher than the others and to bear more abundant fruit; but there are few who desire to develop into beautiful flowers, that are looked upon by the others as being " of no practical use," and they forget that 1 88 PARACELSUS. it is said tlmt to those who possess the kingdom of God all other things will be added.^ The object of man's existence is to become perfectly happy, and the shortest way to become so is to be perfecD and happy now, and not wait for a possibility to become so in a future state of existence. All may be happy, but only the highest happiness is enduring, and permanent happi- ness can be obtained only by attaining permanent good, The hio'best a man can feel and think is his hig;hest ideal, and the higher we rise in the scale of existence and the more our knowledge expands, the higher will be our ideal. As long as we cling to our highest ideal we will be happy in spite of the sufferings and vicissitudes of life. The hifrhest ideal confers the hisjhest and most endurincj happiness, and the whole of Theosophy consists in the recog- nition of the highest ideal and in a constant adhesion to it, which cannot be loosened by the illusions of the senses, nor weakened by doubts which an imperfectly developed and short-sighted intellect attempts to create, but which may be strengthened by a constant regard for the truth and an unwavering attention to duty. 1 God is the greatest power in the universe, because He is the source and sum of all powers in their highest mode of manifestation. God is therefore absolute consciousness, absolute love, and absolute wisdom. If we wish to accomplish anything great, the first requirement is the presence of God, because He is man's understanding and power, and resides in man. But God cannot be approached by an intellect that is without love. God is love, and is only attracted by love. We cannot know the principle of all good intellectually, unless we love it with our heart, and the more we desire it, the more will we be able to comprehend intellectually what this principle is. The love of God is therefore a power transcendicg the lower nature of man ; it cannot develop itself out of the animal elements of man, but it is a gift from the universal fountain of love, in the same sense as sunshine cannot grow out of the earth, but comes from above. God lives in the hearts of men, and if we desire to love Him, we must love all that is good in humanity. The love of humanity is the beginning of the knowledge of God. The intellect is the greatest possession of mortal man, and an intellect that rises to the source of all knowledge by the power of love may know God and all the mysteries of Nature, and become godlike itself; but an intellect without love leads into error, grovels in darkness, and goes to per- dition. An intellect combined with love for the supreme good leads to wisdom ; an intellect without love leads to the powers of evil. PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY. 189 Paracelsus was an intellectual giant who surpassed the vast majority of his contemporaries by his reasoning powers, and, what is still more, by the spirituality of his nature. These qualities enabled him to inaugurate reforms in science similar to those which Luther inaucjurated in the field of theology. For nearly two thousand years the Aristotelian system of teaching kept the human spirits tied with the most galling chains of mental slavery, and the necessity to throw off the degrading yoke became a universally recognized necessity. All independent research, inventive spirit, and creative power were banished from the halls of science, and the students of philosophy and medicine were merely pitiable repeaters of the opinions of fashionable authorities. School divines were autocrats in their schools ; the philosophy of Aristotle formed a cut-and-dried and finislied whole, in which there was nothing to be gainsaid or corrected, and any attempt made by an independent spirit to bring life into the putrid mass was looked upon as heresy, arrogance, and conceit, and those who attempted it were ridiculed and scorned. JSTothing new was admitted; That which already existed furnished material for endless and fruitless disputations and quarrels among professors and doctors. Even the Alexandrian and Eoman civilization contributed very little new information, and what little it contributed was obtained in a superficial and empirical manner. The activity of studious minds was limited to the work of collecting opinions, and to attempt to fit them as well as could be done into the Aristotelian framework of theories, and those facts which did not agree with fashionable theories were peremptorily rejected, as is often done this day. But empty phrases, dogmatism and words without meaning were not the things to be sought after by a mind like that of Paracelsus. He was a searcher after trutli, and not a dealer in scientific terms. Pacts were more valuable to him than opinions ; the phenomena of E'ature iQo PARACELSUS, were more instructive to him than books containing elaborate sophistry, and thus he became the representative of a new era, and an intellectual focus to which all minds were attracted that hated darkness and desired the lisrht. In regard to the source and the foundation of wisdom he says : "All numbers are multiples of one, all sciences converge to a common point, all wisdom comes out of one centre, and the number of wisdom is one. The liojht of wisdom radiates into the world, and manifests itself in various ways according to the substance in which it manifests itself. Therefore man may manifest reason in a threefold manner : as instinct, as animal reason, and spiritual intelli- gence. The knowledc^e which our soul derives from the physical and animal elements is temporal ; that which it derives from the spirit is eternal. God is the Father of wisdom, and all wisdom is derived from him. We may grow into knowledge, but we cannot grow knowledge our- selves, because in ourselves is nothing but what has been deposited there by God.^ Those who believe that they can learn anything without the assistance of God (love and wisdom) will fall into idolatry, superstition, and error. They may obtain great names in the world and be admired by. the ignorant, but their intellect is repulsed from the light and will end in darkness. But those who love the luminous centre will be attracted to it, and their knowledge comes from God. God is the Father of wisdom, and man is the son. If we wish for knowledo-e we must apply for it to the Father and not to the son. And if the son desires to teach wisdom, he must teach that wisdom which he derived from the Father. The knowledo-e which our clergymen possess is not obtained by them from the Father, but they learn it from eacli other. They are not certain of the truth of what they teach, and therefore ^ It will be seen that a true spiritual guide, being taught by absolute wisdom, must necessarily be infallible, and if we believe that a person is a true spiritual guide, we must believe him to be infallible. If he is not infallible he will be no true spiritual guide. PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY, 191 they use argumentation, circumvention, and prevarication ; they fall into error and vanity, and mistake their own opinions for the wisdom of God. Hypocrisy is not holiness, conceit is not power, slyness is not wisdom. The art of deceiving and disputing, sophisticating, per- verting, and misrepresenting truths may be learned in schools ; but the power to recognize and to follow the truth cannot be conferred by academical degrees ; it comes only from God. He who desires to know the truth must be able to see it, and not be satisfied with descriptions of it received from others. The highest power of the intellect, if it is not illuminated by love, is only a high grade of animal intellect, and will perish in time ; but the intellect animated by the love of the Supreme is the intellect of the angels, and will live in eternity." (" De Fundamento Sapientiae.") In regard to the true and the false faith he says : " It is not a faith in the existence of a historical Jesus Christ that has the power to save mankind fromx evil, but a faith into the Supreme Power (God), through which the man Jesus was enabled to act. The former ' faith ' is merely a belief and a result of education ; the latter is a faith belonc^ino' to the constitution of man. Christ does not say that if we believe in His personal power to accomplish wonderful things we would be enabled to throw mountains into the ocean ; but He spoke of our own faith, meaning the divine power of God, that may act through ourselves as much as it acted through Christ, if we become like Him. This power comes from God and returns to Him ; and if one man cures another in the name of Christ, he cures him by the power of God, and by his own faith. That power becomes active in and through him by his faith, and not out of gratitude for his professed belief, or the belief of the patient that Christ once existed upon the earth." " The power of the true faith extends as far as the power of God. Man can accomplish nothing by his 192 PARACELSUS, own power, but everything may be accomplished through man by the power of faith. If we did not have faith in our abihty to walk, we would not be able to walk. If we appear to accomplish anything, faith accomplishes it through us. If we were in possession of faith ' as big as a mustard seed,' we might throw a mountain into the sea ; bat if we would attempt to do so for the purpose of showing our power before men, we would fall into vanity, and the power of faith would desert us." ^ " Faith does not come from man, and no man can create faith ; but faith is a power coming from the source of all good. Its germ is laid within man, and may be cultivated or neglected by him ; it may be used by him for good or for evil, but it only acts effectively when it is strong and pure — not weakened by doubt, and not dispersed by secondary considerations. He who wants to employ it must have only one object in view. Diseases may be caused and cured by faith, and if men knew the power of faith they would have more faith and less superstition. We have no right to call a disease incurable ; we have only the right to say that we cannot cure it. A physician who trusts only in his own science will accomplish little, but he who has faith in the power of God acting through him, and who employs that power intelligently, will accomplish much." " If any one thinks that he can cure a disease or accom- plish anything else, because he believes that he is able to accomplish it, he believes in a superstition ; but if he knows that he can perform such a thing, because he is conscious of having the power to do so, he will then be able to accomplish it by the power of that consciousness, which is the true faith. Such a faith is knowledge and gives power. True faith is spiritual consciousness, but a belief based upon mere oi^inions and creeds is the product of ignorance, and is superstition." 1 This is perhaps the cause why Indian Yogis and saints will not perform occult phenomena for pay, nor for the satisfaction of curiosity, or for the * ' advancement of science. ' ' PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY. 193 " The body which we receive from our parents, and which is built up from the nutriments it draws directly and indirectly from the earth, has no spiritual powers, for wisdom and virtue, faith, hope, and charity, do not grow from the earth. They are not the products of man's physical organization, but the attributes of another in- visible and glorified body, whose germs are laid within man. The physical body changes and dies, the glorified body is eternal. This eternal man is the real man, and is not generated by his . earthly parents. He does not draw nutriment from the earth, but from the eternal invisible source from which he originated. And yet the two bodies are one, and man may be compared to a tree, drawins: his nutriment from the earth, and from the sur- rounding an\ The roots extend into the earth, and seek their nutriment in the dark, but the leaves receive their nutriment from the light. The temporal body is the house of the eternal, and we should therefore take care of the former, because he who destroys the temporal body destroys the house of the eternal, and although the eternal man is invisible, he exists nevertheless, and will become visible in time, just as a child in its mother's womb is invisible before it is born, but after its birth it may be seen by all but those Vvdio are blind ; and as everything returns after a while to the source from wdience it came, so the body returns to the earth and the spuit to heaven or hell. Some children are born from heaven, and others are born from hell, because each human being has his inherent tendencies, and these ten- dencies belong to his spirit, and indicate the state in which he existed before he was born. Witches and sorcerers are not made at cnce ; they are born with powers for evil.^ The body is only an mstrument ; if you seek for man in his dead body, you are seeking for him in vain." 1 Tliey are born with the tendencies -which they acquired in former lives upon the earth, or upon some other planet. 194 PARACELSUS. Paracelsus did not believe that anything could occur that was against the laws of Nature ; but he never claimed that all of N"ature's laws were already known. He rejected the blind bigotry and credulity of the igno- rant clergy of his timeS; he claimed the right to read the Bible by the light of his own reason, and to reject the opinions of others if he found them to be erroneous, although such opinions may have been proclaimed authoritatively and dogmatically by the legalized keepers of science or of religion. He remained nominally a Catholic, but he nevertheless supported and defended the reformation of the Church, and was therefore regarded as a heretic by the bigots of his time. It is not surprising that a liberal-thinking and far- seeing mind like that of Paracelsus should create a great many enemies among the ignorant and bigoted, but he stirred the hatred of his enemies into desperation by his unsparing criticism of popular superstitions and scien- tific absurdities, and by the daring manner in which he confronted; attacked, and overthrew old forms and abuses that had not only become venerable but also rotten by age. He condemned the abuse of ceremonies and the idolatry that was practised with pictures and relics of saints, saying that he who wants to obtain the true Christian faith should not seek it in forms, ceremonies, and pictures, but in the living Christ, without any mediator of the clerical persuasion. " It is the word of wisdom from which you should learn, and in that word you will find neither statuary nor paintings, but only the universal spirit. If faith is preached to you, it is done for tlie purpose of implanting it into your heart, where it may take root and grow and become manifest to you ; but if your faith is not in your heart, but in forms and ceremonies, and if you cling to these forms you may know that your heart is evil ; because, although the forms and the ceremonies may cause you to weep and to sigh, this sighing and weeping is worthless, because PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY. 195 your sentiment comes from those images, and to those images will it return. All things return finally to the place from whence they took their origin, and as these things are perishable, the sentiments which they excite will perish with them. God only desires the heart and not the ceremonies. If you do not require the cere- monies, they will be useless in matters of faith as well as in the art of magic. Their employment only leads to credulity and to superstition." Again he says in regard to the adoration of the images of the saints : " The saints are in heaven, and not in the wood out of which an imao-e is carved. Each man is him- self nearest to his own god. I contradict your old fathers because they wrote for the body and not for the sonl; they wrote poetry, but not theology ; they spoke flatteries instead of telling the truth. They were teachers of fashions and usaires, not teachers of eternal life. The mere imitation of the personal usages of the saints leads to nothing but to damnation. The wearing of a black coat, or the possession of a piece of paper signed by some human authority, does not make a man a divine. Those are divine who act wisely, because wisdom is God. A clergyman should be a spiritual guide for others ; but how can a man be a spiritual guide if he merely talks about spiritual things, and knows himself nothing about it ? It may be said that the personal behaviour of a clergyman does not affect the truth of what he teaches ; but a clergyman who does not act rightly does not possess the truth, and can therefore not teach it. He can only, parrot-like, repeat words and sentences, and their meaning will be incomprehensible to his hearers, because he knows nothing: about that meaning^ himself." " Belief in opinions is no faith. He who foolishly believes is foolish. A fool who believes unreasonable things is dead in faith because he has no knowledge, and without know- ledfre there can be no faith. He who wants to obtain true faith must know, because faith grows out of knowledge. The faith that comes from knowledge is rooted in the 2 196 PARACELSUS. mind, and he who imorantlv believes has no knowledcre, and possesses no faith and no power. God does not desire that we should remain in darkness and ignorance ; on the contrary, our knowledge should be of God : we should be the recipients of divine wisdom. God does not rejoice to see fools, blockheads, and simpletons, who are ready to believe anything, no matter how absurd it may be ; neither does he desire that only one wise and learned man should be in each country, and that the other people should follow him blindly, as the sheep follow a ram ; but we should all have our knowledge in God, and take it out of the universal fountain of wisdom. We should know who and what God is, and we can learn to know God onlv bv becominor wise. The works of God will become manifest to us through wisdom, and God — living within ourselves — will be most pleased if we become like him. But to become like God we must become attracted to God, who is the universal fountain of all ; and the power that attracts us is love. The love to God will be kindled in our hearts by an ardent love for humanity, and a love for humanity will be caused by a love to God. Thus the God of the Macrocosm and the God of the Microcosm act upon each other, and both are essentially one, for there is only one God and one law and one ]N'ature, through which wisdom becomes manifest.'^ ("De Fundamento Sapientiae.") There is an earthly sun, which is the cause of all heat, and all who are able to see may see the sun ; and those who are blind and cannot see him may feel his heat. There is an eternal sun, which is the source of all wisdom, and those whose spiritual senses have awakened to life will see that sun, and be conscious of his existence ; but those who have not attained spiritual consciousness may yet feel His power by an inner faculty which is called Intuition. Animal reason is active in the animal soul, and angelic wisdom in the spiritual soul. The former sees by the light of I^ature, which is produced by a reflection of the rays of the divine light acting in I^ature ; but the light of the spirit is not a PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY. 197 product of Nature, but the supreme cause of all which in Nature becomes manifest. Nature does not produce a sage ; she merely furnishes a natural form for a sage. Nature is not yet perfect, but produces cripples and diseases, abnormalities and monstrosities, the blind and the lame ; but that which comes from God is perfect. It is a germ which is planted into the soul of man, and man is the oardener and cultivator, whose business it is to surround it with the elements necessary for its growth, so that when the earthly tabernacle is broken, the spirit, attracted by His love, His eternal home, may return to it, having grown in knowledge, being clothed in purity and illuminated by his own wisdom. Spirit passes into the body, and out of it, like a breath of air passing through the strings of an Aeolian harp. If we succeed in binding it there, we will create a source of undying harmony, and create an immortal being. But to bind spirit we must be able to bind thought. Man is a materialized thought ; he is what he thinks. To change his nature from the mortal to the immortal state he must chans^e his mode of thinkinsj ; he must cease to hold fast in his thoughts to that which is illusory and perishing, and hold on to that which is eternal. The visible universe is a thought of the eternal mind thrown into objectivity by its will, and crystallized into matter by its power. Look at the everlasting stars, look at the indestructible mountain-peaks. They are the thoughts of the universal mind, and they will remain as long as the thoughts of that mind do not change. If we could hold on to a thought, we would be able to create. But who but the enligiitened can hold on to a thous^ht ? Are not the illusions of the senses con- tinually destroying that which we attempt to create ? Men do not think what they choose, but that which comes into their mind. If they could control the action of their minds, they^would be able to control their own nature and the nature by which their forms are surrounded. But mortal man has no power to control his mind, unless 1 98 PARACELSUS. that power is given to him by the spirit. Mortal man is blind to the recognition of the truth, and cannot perceive the splendour of eternal verities so long as he is held by the attractions of the senses. Only when he has freed himself from all earthly attractions will he be able to rise into the realms where the beauty and glory of the spirit can be seen. He who trusts in his own power will fail^ and become a victim of his own vanity ; he who expects salvation from others will be disappointed. There is no god, no saint, and no man in whom we can put any con- fidence, faith, or trust for the purpose of our salvation,, except the power of the divine principle acting within ourselves. Only when man begins to realize this truth will he begin his infinite life, and step from the realm of evanescent illusions into that of the permanent truth. ( 199 ) APPENDIX. ADEPTS. There are Adepts of various grades. There are sucli as live like normal men in their physical bodies, and who are able to send their astral spirit out of their bodies during their sleep to any place they choose, and on awakening, their astral spirit returns again into the body to which it belongs ; and there are others who have no physical bodies, because they have arrived at a state of perfection in which such bodies are no longer re- quired for their purposes. " There are persons who have been exalted {yerzueckt) to God, and who have remained in that state of exaltation, and they have not died. Their physical bodies have lost their lives, but without being conscious of it, without sensation, without any disease, and without suffering, and their bodies became transformed, and disappeared in such a manner that nobody knew what became of them, and yet they remained on the earth. But their spirits and heavenly bodies, having neither corporeal form, shape, or colour, were exalted to heaven (became incorporated into the Universal Mind), like Enoch and Elias of old.'" (" Philosoph." v.) ^ C. von Eckartskausen speaks in his "Disclosures of Magic" (1790) about the Adepts as follows : — " These sages, whose number is small, are children of light, and are opposed to darkness. They dislike mystification and secrecy ; they are open and frank, having nothing to do with secret societies and with external ceremonies. They possess a spiritual tempL*, in which God is presiding. "They live in various parts of the earth, and do not meddle with politics ; their business is to do as much good to humanity as is in their power, and to drink wisdom from the eternal fountain of truth. They never quarrel about opinions, because they know the truth. Their number is small. Some live in Europe, others in Africa, but they are bound together by the harmony of 200 PARACELSUS. " There is a great difference between the physical and the spiritual body. The former is visible and tangible, but the latter is invisible and intangible. The body eats and drinks ; the spirit lives in faith. The body is evanescent and destruc- tible ; the spirit eternal. The body dies ; the spirit lives. The body is conquered by the spirit ; the spirit is victor. The body is opaque, clouded ; the spirit transparent and clear. The body is often sick ; the spirit knows no disease. The body is dark, but the spirit is hght, and may see into the hearts of the mountains and the interior of the earth. The body exe- cutes acts which the spirit orders. The body is the mumia ; the substance of the spirit is the balsam of life. The former comes from the earth, but the spirit from heaven."^ ('•' Philosophia," iv.) their souls, and they are therefore as one. They are joined together, although they may be thousands of miles apart from each other. They understand each other, although they speak in different tongues, because the language of the sages is spiritual perception. "No evil-disposed person could possibly live among them, because he would be recognized immediately, for he would be incapable of being illuminated by wisdom, and as a mirror covered with mire cannot reflect the light, likewise his soul cannot reflect the truth. But the more the soul of man grows per- fect, the nearer does it approach to God, and the more will his understanding grow and his love be exalted. Thus may man elevate himself into sanctifi- cation ; he may communicate with perfect beings in the spiritual kingdom, and be instructed and guided by them. He will be a true child of God. All Nature will be subject to him, because he will be an instrument to carry out the will of the Creator of Nature. He knows the future, the thoughts and the instincts of men, because the mysteries of eternity are open before him. " But the plans of the worldly-wise will come to nought. That which took the followers of false science centuries to accomplish, Avill be wiped out by a single stroke of the finger of God, and a nobler generation will come, which will worship God in spirit and in truth." ^ There are three kinds of knowledge: — I. External knowledge, or scientific opinions in regard to external things (Galatians vi. 3). This knowledge leads into error, because it concentrates all the attention upon the illusory exterior of things, and keeps the mind in ignorance in regard to interior truths, 2. Knowledge received by entering into the mysteries of Nature ; comprehension of truths, independent of the opinions of others. It is the beginning of wisdom (Sirach i. 16). 3. Wisdom, or the knowledge of the Supreme Cause of all effects obtained by knowledge of self (Book of "Wisdom," vii. 17-27). This is the wisdom of Solomon. There are three kinds of knowers: — i. The " scientists," who deal with opinions and with illusory appearances ; the opinionated and dogmatists, APPENDIX, 201 CREATION. The unmanifested Absolute cannot be conceived otherwise than as a mathematical point, without any magnitude, and such a point in becoming manifest in all directions would necessarily become a sphere. If we imagine such a mathe- matical point as being self-conscious, thinking, and capable to act, and desirous to manifest itself, the only thinkable mode in which it could possibly accomplish this would be to eradiate its own substance and consciousness from the centre towards the periphery. The centre is the Father^ the eternal source of all (John i. 4) ; the radius is the Son (the Logos), who was contained in the Father from eternity (John i. i ) ; the sub- stance of father and son from the incomprehensible centre to the unlimited periphery is the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth (John XV. 26). We cannot conceive of a body without length, breadth, and thickness ; a circle or a sphere always consists of a centre, radius, and periphery. They are three, yet they are one, and neither of them can exist without the other two.''^ God sends out His thought by the power of His will (the Iliaster divides itself). He holds fast to the thought, and expresses it in the Word, in which is contained the creative and con- servative power, and his thought becomes corporified, bring- ing into existence worlds and beings, which form, so to say, the visible body of the invisible God. Thus were the worlds sceptics, materialists, &c., who continually quarrel about tlieir difi'erent opinions. 2. Those who are able to recognize interior truths by the power of their interior perception. 3. The Adepts, who are one with the truth, and know everything because they know themselves, by the power of the Holy Ghost being manifest in themselves (Proverbs ix. 7). ^ The doctrine.of the Trinity is found in all the principal religious systems : In the Christian religion, as Father, Son, and Spirit ; among the Hindus as Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva ; the Buddhists call it Mulaprakriti, Prakriti, and Purush ; the Persians teach that Ormuzd produced light out of himself by the power of his word. The Egyptians called the first cause Ammou, out of which all things were created by the power of its own will. In Chinese, Kwan-shai-gin is the universally manifested Word, coming from the unmani- fested Absolute by the power of its own will, and being identical with the former. The Greeks called it Zeus (Power), Minerva (Wisdom), and Apollo (Beauty). The Germans, Wodan (the Supreme Cause), Tlior (Power), and Freia (Beauty). Jehovah and Allah are trinities of Will, Knowledge, and Power; and even the Materialist believes in Causation, Matter, and Energy. 202 PARACELSUS, formed in the beginning by the thought of God acting in the Macrocosm (the Universal Mind), and in the same manner are forms created in the individual sphere of the mind of man. If we hold on to a thought we create a form in our inner world. A good thought produces a good, and an evil thought an evil form, and they grow as they are nourished, by thought or " imagination." GEKERATIOK All beings are the product of the creative power of the imagination,^ This imagination may proceed (i) from Nature, (2) from man, (3) from God. There are consequently three modes in which men may come into existence : 1. Natural men, the result of sexual intercourse between men and women. The imagination of the parents creates the sperm; the matrix furnishes the conditions for its develop- ment. "They are born of flesh and their destiny is to be re-born into the spirit " (St. John iii. 6).^ 2. God-men, the products of the imagination and will of the divine Logos, developed in the bodies of virgins (St. Matthew i. 23; Luke i. 35). ''They are already born of the Spirit" (St. John i. 14).^ 3. Primordial men, without fathers or mothers and without sex ; produced by the thought of God in the matrix of Nature (Hebrews vii. 3). " They are the true images of the Creator, the children of God, without sin and without material ele- ments " (Luke iii. 38). Being attracted to matter and desir- ing to enjoy material pleasures, they gradually sink into matter and become material.^ ^ There are three kinds of imagination : Passive imagination, active thought, creative thought. ^ There are three kinds of birth : the birth of the flesh, of the soul, and of the spirit ; and each birth has three stages : generation, germination, and fructification. The first birth is the natural birth of man, the second is the awakening of the soul, and the attainment of its power (Ephesians iv. 13) to control the desires and passions ; it is, so to say, an invisible fire, pene- trating the whole of the body. The third birth is the regeneration of the spirit, its awakening to spiritual consciousness. The last stage is attained by very few (Cor. xv. 47 ; St. John iii. 6). ^ Krishna, Buddha, Christ. " Adam." The failures of the Dhyan-Chohans. 4 APPENDIX. 203 INITIATION. " Initiation," or " baptism," is the growth of the spiritual principle, which is germinally contained in every man, into consciousness. " Two germs grow into one man. One comes from the spirit, the other germ comes from Nature ; but the two are one. One becomes conscious of Nature ; the other one may become conscious of the Spirit. One is the child of Adam the other the son of Christ. There are few whose spiritual consciousness is awakened to life, who have died in Adam, and are re-born of Christ ; ^ those who are re-born know themselves and are initiated into the kingdom of the spirit. "Initiation is therefore a matter of growth and cannot be obtained by favour. Ceremonies are only external forms. The true baptism is the baptism of fire, the growth into the spirit of wisdom, the victory of the spirit over the animal nature of man." ^ MEDIUMSHIP. " Nature teaches everything ; she derives her knowledge from the Spirit. But Spirit and Nature are one, for Nature is a hght that comes from the Spirit. If Nature learns from the Spirit, the one becomes divided into two : the disciple asks 1 The " flesh of Adam " forms the animal elements of the soul, but the flesh of Christ is the spirit (the sixth principle). All the animal principles existing in Nature exist germinally in the soul-essence of man, and may grow there and develop into entities. The whole of the animal creation may thus he represented in the soul of man, because the growth of an animal passion means the growth of an animal principle in the soul. If such jjassions are conquered by the power of the spirit, these animal "creatures" will die and be expelled from the organism of the soul, in the same way as a decayed part of the physical body becomes separated from the physical organism, and as such processes going on in the physical form may be observed during the waking state, likewise the corresponding processes going on in the organism of the soul may be observed during a dream. ^ There are three kinds of baptism, by which three different names are re- ceived. The first baptism is only an external form, and the name is optional ; the second is the baptism with the " water of truth," or the awakening of the soul to a recognition of the truth, by Avhich a new name is received, expressing the quality and destination of the individual (i Moses xvii. 5); the third is the baptism with the " fire of the spirit," and the name which it confers expresses the power of the perfect and immortal divine man (St. John's Kevelation ii. 17). 204 PARACELSUS. questions and answers them himself. In a dream the dreamer and the person he dreams of are one ; and in temptation the tempter and the tempted are one." " The Hght of Nature is a Hght that comes from the Spirit. It is in man — is born mth him and grows up with him. There are some persons who hve in this interior Hght, but the hfe of others is centred in their animal instincts, and they grope in darkness and error. There are some who write wiser than they know, but it is wisdom that writes through them ; for man has no wisdom of his own; he can only come into contact with wisdom through the light of Nature that is in himself." *' Those who hve in their animal instincts are not wise, and that which they write is inspired by their animal reason. Some animals are murderous and others are greedy ; some are thievish and others are lewd ; but all the elements of the animal kingdom are in the soul of man, and whenever such elements become alive in him, they dominate over his reason, and man becomes like a reasoning animal, and writes as dictated by his animal reason." " That which a man -pyrites is not originated by him, but it existed before him, and will exist after him ; he only gives it a form. Therefore that which he writes is not his, but another's ; he is only the instrument through which truth or error expresses itself. There are those who write mechanically, and such writing may come from three causes : intellectual writ- ing may come from over fifty-seven causes, and the writing of the Word of God may come from ten causes. A person who writes should know the cause from whence his ideas come, for only he who knows wisdom can write msely." ^ (" De Funda- miento Sapientiae.") OCCULT PHENOMENA. Bisa'piJearance of Ohjects. — " Visible bodies may be made invisible, or covered, in the same way as night covers a man ^ There are tliree distinct classes of mediumsbip : mechanical mediumship, in which the physical forces of the mediuoi are used by extraneous iuiluences (obsession, physical manifestations, &c.) ; emotional mediumship, by which the energies of the soul of the medium are stimulated, and his feelings and his thoughts aroused (trance speaking and writing) ; spiritual mediumship, in which wisdom manifests itself through transcendentally conscious man (ecstasy, illumination). APPENDIX, 205 and makes him invisible^ or as if he would become invisible if he were put behind a wall ; and as Nature may render some- thing visible or invisible by such means, likewise a visible substance may be covered with an invisible substance, and be made invisible by art."i (" Philosoph. Sag." i. ) Palingenesis. — " If a thing loses its material substance, the invisible form still remains in the light of Nature (the astral light) ; and if we can re-clothe that form with visible matter, we may make that form visible again. All matter is composed of three elements — sulphur, mercury, and salt. By alchemical means we may create a magnetic attraction in the astral form, so that it may attract from the elements (the A'kasa) those principles which it possessed before its mortification, and incorporate them and become visible again." ^ (" De Resusci- tationibus.") Occult Letters. — '' If the elementary body may write a letter and send it by a messenger to somebody in a month, why should not the ethereal body of an Adept be able to write a letter and to send it to its destination (by an elemental spirit) in an hour?" ^ ("Philos. Sag." i. cap. 6.) Transformations. — " There is a species of magic by which living bodies may be formed and one body be transformed into another, as was done by Moses."'^ (" Philos. Sag.") Passage of Matter through Matter. — "Things that are done by visible means in the ordinary manner may be done by invisible means in an extraordinary way. For instance, a lock m.ay be opened with a key ; a cut may be made with a sword ; ^ It is said that "darkness is absence of light." We may say with equal truth that "light is absence of darkness." Light and darkness are certain states of the cosmic ether (A'kasa). Light is "spirit," darkness is "matter." Both have positive qualities (Genesis i. 4). 2 Plato, Seneca, Erastus, Avicenna, Averroes, Albertus Magnus, Caspalin, Cardanus, Cornelius Agrippa, Eckartshausen, and many others wi'ote about the palingenesis of plants and animals. Kircher resurrected a rose from its ashes in the presence of the Queen Christina of Sweden, 1687. The astral body of an individual form remains with the remnants of the latter until these remnants have been fully decomposed, and by certain methods known to the alchemist it may be re-clothed with matter and become visible again. •^ The value of a letter should be determined by the quality of its contents, and not by the manner in which it may have been received. ^ Exodus vii. 10. 2o6 PARACELSUS. the body may be protected by a coat of mail. All this may be done by visible means. You may grasp a man with your hand without making a hole in him, and you may take a fish out of water without leaving a hole in the water ; or you may put something into water, and if you withdraw your hand no hole will be left in the water. By the necromantic art something may be put through a body or into a body, and no hole will be left in the latter." i (^' Phil. Sag." i. 4.) THOUGHT TEA^SFER. " By the magic power of the will a person on this side of the ocean may make a person on the other side hear what is said on this side, and a person in the East may thus converse with another person in the West. The physical man may hear and understand the voice of another man at a distance of a hundred steps, and the ethereal body of a man may hear what another man thinks at a distance of a hundred miles and m.ore. What may be accomplished by ordinary means in a month (such as the sending of messages) may be done by this art in one day. If you have a tube a mile long, and you speak through it at one end, a person at the other end may hear what you say. If the elementary body can do this, how much easier will it be for the ethereal body, which is much more powerful (in relation to other ethereal bodies) than the former."^ (" Philos. Sag." i. cap. 60.) SPIRITS OF THE DEPARTED. " If a person dies, it is only his body that dies ; the human soul does not die,^ neither can it be buried, but it remains 1 Such manifestations of occult power may be witnessed frequently in spiritualistic seances. The reason why they seem incomprehensible to us is because we habitually look upon form as something real, instead of seeing in it an illusion, and because our accepted opinions in regard to the constitution of matter are fundamentally wrong. - The earthly atmosphere may be, so to say, perforated by a tube or wire, carrying an electric current, and the ether (A'kasa) may be "perforated" likewise by a current of spiritual force. An electric current passes unimpeded through the earth ; a thought current passes unimpeded through the A'kasa). 2 The human soul is threefold : the animal, intellectual, and spiritual soul. The imperfect elements of the soul die, that which is perfect remains alive. Life is threefold : the organic life, the life of the soul, and that of the spirit. APPENDIX. 207 alive, and knows whatever it knew before it became separated from the body. It remains the same it was before death : if a man has been a liar in his life, he will be one after death ; and if it has been well experienced in a certain science or art, it will know that science or art; but a human soul that knew nothing about a certain science during its life, will not be able to learn much about it after death." " If we desire to enter into communication with the spirit of a deceased person, we may make a picture representing that person, and write his name and the questions we wish to ask him upon it, and put that picture under our head after retiring to rest ; and during our sleep the deceased may appear to us in our dreams and answer our questions. But the experiment must be made in a spirit of unfaltering faith, full of confidence that it will succeed, else it may fail, because it is not the picture that brings the spirit, but our faith that brings us into communication with them ; and the picture is only made for the purpose of assisting the imagination and to make it more powerful. "1 ('' Philosoph." v.) " Men have two spirits — an animal spirit and a human spirit — in them.^ A man who lives in his animal spirit is like an animal during life, and will be an animal after death ; but a man who lives in his human spirit will remain human. Animals have consciousness and reason, but they have no spiritual intelhgence. It is the presence of the latter that raises man above the animal, and its absence that makes an animal of what once appeared to be a man. A man in whom the animal reason alone is active is a lunatic, and his character resembles that of some animal. One man acts like a wolf, another one like a dog, another one like a hog, a snake, or a fox, &c. It is their animal principle that makes them act as they do, and their animal principle will perish like the animals themselves. But the human reason is not of an animal nature, but comes from God, and being a part of God it is necessarily immortal." (" De Lunaticis.") ^ There are three sources of faith : opinion, belief, and knowledge. 2 The human spirit has a two-fold aspect, a humanly and a divine one. 2o8 PARACELSUS. THE ELIXIR OF LIFE.i Paracelsus, as well as his predecessors, such as Galen, Arnold, de Yillanova, Raimund Lullius, &c,, laboured studiously to discover a remedy for the prolongation of life. He did not believe in the possibility of rendering the physical body im- mortal, but he considered it the duty of every physician to attempt to prolong human life as long as it could be prolonged, because it is only during life upon the earth that man may ac- quire knowledge and improve his character ; after death he ac- quires nothing new, but enjoys his possessions. Paracelsus, like Poger Bacon, Yerulam, and others, maintained that the human body could be rejuvenated to a certain extent by a fresh supply of vitality, and it was his aim to find means by which such a supply could be obtained. He says : "If we could extract the fire of life from the heart without destroying the heart, and draw the quintessence out of inani- mate things, and use it for our purpose, we might live for ever in the enjoyment of health, and without experiencing any disease. But this is not possible in our present condition. We cannot reverse the laws of Nature, and whatever dies a natural death cannot be resuscitated by man. But man may mend that which he himself has broken, and he may break that which he himself has made. All things have a certain time during which they may exist upon the earth. The saints have a certain time during which they may exist, and likewise the wicked. If a man's time to stay is over, he will have to leave. But many die before their time is over, not by a visitation of Providence, but because they are ignorant of the laws controlling their nature." " Metals may be preserved from rust, and wood may be protected against the rot. Blood may be preserved a long time, if the air is excluded. Egyptian mummies have kept their forms for centuries without undergoing putrefaction. Animals awaken from their winter-sleep, and fiies having be- come torpid . from cold, become nimble .again when they are 1 The writings attributed to Paracelsus in regard to this subject that are known at present, are partly spurious, partly fragmentary, and the transla- tions incorrect. The extracts given below of his writings on the Elixir of Life are taken from an original MS. in private possession. APPENDIX. 209 warmed. A tree may bear no fruit for twenty years, and then begin again to bloom and bear fruit as it did when it was young ; and if inanimate objects can be kept from destruction, why should there be no possibility to preserve the life-essence of animate forms % " "Life itself comes from heaven. It is an emanation of the Supreme Power of tlie universe, and it is therefore eternal and unchangeable ; but it requires a substantial form for its mani- festation. Material forms are earthly, and like all earthly substances they are subject to dissolution and change. To prolong the process of Hf e we must try to protect the material form in which hf e is active against all injurious influences that may act upon it. We must therefore attempt to eradicate all physical and psychical diseases, and to prevent all evils that may be caused by age, occupation, or accidents. AYe should protect man against all evil influences that may act upon him during the foetal state, in infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; we should defend him against injurious influences coming from the astral plane ; cause him to avoid immoderate eating and drinking, fatigue of body or mind, excessive joy or grief, or mental excitement of any kind. We must protect him against infectious or epidemic diseases, whether they are of a physical or moral character, and employ such remedies as have been provided by Nature for such purposes." " Such a remedy is the Primum Ens, the source of all life. As the fabulous halcyon becomes rejuvenated and its own substance renewed by drawing its nutriment from the Primum Ens, so may man rejuvenate his constitution by purifying it so that it may be able to receive without any interruption the hfe-giving influence of the divine spirit.^ " But the vehicle that forms the medium through which life acts consists of elementary substances that are found in Nature, and which form the quintessence of all things. There are some substances in which this quintessence is contained in greater quantities than in others, and from which it may more easily be extracted. Such substances are especially the herb called melissa, and the human blood. "But the Primum Ens Melissae is prepared in the following 1 Compare «' Five Years of Theosophy " : Tlie EUsir of Life. P 2IO PARACELSUS. manner : Take half a pound of pure carbonate of potash, and ex- pose it to the air until it is dissolved (by attracting water from the atmosphere). Filter the fluid, and put as many fresh leaves of the plant melissa into it as it will hold, so that the fluid will cover the leaves. Let it stand in a well-closed glass and in a moderately warm place for twenty-four hours. The fluid may then be removed from the leaves, and the latter thrown away. On the top of this fluid absolute alcohol is poured, so that it will cover the former to the height of one or two inches, and it is left to remain for one or two days, or until the alcohol be- comes of an intensely green colour. This alcohol is then to be taken away and preserved, and fresh alcohol is put upon the alkaline fluid, and the operation is repeated until all the colouring matter is absorbed by the alcohol. This alcoholic fluid is now to be distilled, and the alcohol evaporated until it becomes of the thickness of a syrup, which is the Primum Ens Melissae ; but the alcohol that has been distilled away and the liquid potash may be used again. The liquid potash must be of great concentration and the alcohol of great strength, else they would become mixed, and the experiment would not succeed, "i The second great secret of Paracelsus was his Primum Ens Sanguinis. To make the Primum Ens Sanguinis, take blood from the 1 Lesebure, a physician of Louis XIV. of France, gives, in his " Guide to Chemistry" (" Chemisclier Handleiter," Nuremberg, 1685, page 276), an account of some experiments, witnessed by himself, with the Primum Ens Melissae as follows : — " One of my most intimate friends prepared the Primum Ens Melissae, and his curiosity would not allow him to rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effect of this arcanum, so that he might be certain whether or not the accounts given of its virtues were true. He therefore made the experiment, first upon himself, then upon an old female servant, aged seventy years, and afterwards upon an old hen that was kept at his house. First he took, every morning at sunrise, a glass of white wine that was tinctured with this remedy, and after using it for fourteen days his finger- and toe-nails began to fall out, without, however, causing any pain. He was not courageous enough to continue the experiment, but gave the same remedy to the old female servant. She took it every morniug for about ten days, when she began to menstruate again as in former days. At this she was very much surprised, because she did not know that she had been taking a medicine. She became frightened, and refused to continue the experiment. My friend took, therefore, some grain, soaked it in that wine APPENDIX. 211 median vein of a healthy young person, and let it run into a warm bottle that has been weighed upon scales, so that the exact quantity of the blood used may be known. Add to this blood twice its quantity of alcahest, close the bottle, and permit it to remain in a moderately warm place for about four- teen days, after which the red fluid is to be separated from the sediment, filtered, and preserved. This is the Primum Ens Sanguinis, and it is used in the same manner as the Primum Ens Melissae. His third great secret was the celebrated Alcahest. It is itself already a universal medicine, whose preparation was also known to Helmont and to some Ptosicrucians. It was con- sidered by them as one of the greatest mysteries. It is prepared as follows : — " Take freshly prepared caustic lime, if possible still warm ; powder it quickly in a dry place, and put it into a retort. Add as much absolute alcohol as the powder may absorb, and distil the alcohol at a moderate heat, until the powder in the retort is left perfectly dry. The distilled alcohol is now to be poured again upon the lime, and distilled, and this operation repeated ten times. Mix the powder with the fifth part of its own weight of pure carbonate of potash. This must be done very quickly and in a dry atmosphere, so that it may not attract any moisture. Insert the mixture of the two powders into a retort and heat it gradually, after putting about two ounces of absolute alcohol into the recipient. White vapours arise from the powder, and are attracted by the alcohol, and the heating is to be continued as long as this takes place. Pour the alcohol from the recipient into a dish, and set it on fiiT. The alcohol burns away, and the alcahest remains in the dish. It and gave it to the old hen to eat, and on the sixth day that bird began to lose its feathers, and kept on losing them until it was perfectly nude, but before two weeks had passed away, new feathers grew, which were much more beautifully coloured ; her comb stood up again, and she began again to lay eggs." In the "Life of Cagliostro " some such rejuvenating medicine is mentioned, and the names of some persons who succeeded in the experiment are given. These and similar facts have neither been proved nor disproved by science, but are waiting for an investigation. The judges at the trial of (Jagliostro, before the tribunal of the Inquisition at Eome, were only intent to convict him; but he who can read their report "between the lines " wiU find a great deal that speaks in favour of Cagliostro, and much that has not been explained. 212 PARACELSUS. is an excellent medicine, and is used in the same manner as the Primum Ens Melissae." i On account of the great powers con- tained in the limestone, Paracelsus says that " many a man kicks away with his foot a stone that would be more valuable to him than his best cow, if he only knew what great mysteries were put into it by God by means of the spirit of Nature." ^ ZENEXTOK One of the greatest sympathetic remedies of Paracelsus, for the possession of which he was envied a great deal, and the preparation of which he kept very secret, was his Zenexton. His disciple Oswald Sroll, in his "Basilica Chemica," pp. 210- 213, describes its preparation as follows : — " Make an instrument of good steel, by which you may cut some small tablets of the size of a penny, and whose composi- tion will be given below. The instrument consists of two disks, which can be connected together by a middle piece in the shape of a ring, forming a hollow space between the two disks, and the latter are provided with handles. Upon the inner side of one disk is engraved a snake, and the inner side of the other represents a scorpion, so that the substance which is to be put into the hollow space between the two disks will receive the impression of the snake on one side and of the scorpion on the other. The instrument is to be made at a time when sun and moon are together in the sign of the Scorpion.'^' By this process the upper bodies will be joined to the lower ones in an inseparable sympathetic union." ^ We give these and the following prescriptions as curiosities, for what they are worth. They contain great truths, but only those who know will be able to understand and to prepare them. 2 The alchemistical writings of Paracelsus are as obscure for the un- initiated as those of any other alchemist, but to the initiated they are plain enough. He gives, however, many plain directions in regard to the treat- ment of special diseases, and which can easily be followed out. The reason why the doctrines of Paracelsus are not more extensively followed out by modern physicians is that his system is, unfortunately, little known, and still less understood. The time may come when the resurrected doctrines of Paracelsus will create again a revolution in medical science, as the man Paracelsus did three hundred years ago. 2 This takes place in the Macrocosm during the time of the new moon occurring each year between October 23 and November 23. , APPENDIX. 213 " The substance of which the tablets are made is pre- pared as follows : — Take about eighteen live toads, dry them by exposing them to the sun and the air, and powder them. They must be dried very quickly, else they will rot. Take a number of menstrual cloths from young girls ; white arsenic, auro-pigment, half an ounce of each ; roots of Diptamus albus and Tormentilla erecta, of each three drachms ; one drachm of small pearls ; red corals ; pieces of hyacinths and smaragds, half a drachm of each ; oriental saffron, forty grains ; and a few grains of musk and amber. Powder all fine, mix it all together, and make a paste out of it with rose-water and gum tragacanth. Make a paste out of it at the time when the moon is in the sign of Scorpion, cut it into tablets, and seal them with the instrument. Dry the tablets, cover them with red silk, and wear them by a string around your neck, but they ought not to touch the bare skin. Such an amulet protects the wearer against the plague, sorcery, poison, and evil astral influences ; it draws poisons out of the body, and absorbs them entirely." ^ 1 It seems unnecessary to add that this prescription is not to be taken in its external and literal sense, but that it is written in an allegorical language, referring to certain processes going on in the elemental world composing the soul, and which may be controlled by the power of the illuminated spirit of the awakened. INDEX. Abessi, 27 Abnormal forms, 66 Abstinence, 91 Actiina, 28 Adepts, 185, 199 Admisural, 27 Adrop, 27 Adam, 99, 202, 203 and Eve, 62 A'kasa, 28, 45 Alcabest, 28, 210 Alchemical prescriptions, 165 Alchemy, 28, 161 Alcol, 29 Ahiech, 29 Amor hereos, 90 Amulet, 31, 158, 169, 213 Angels, 95 Angodei, 29 Animal form?, 95 instincts, 57 principle, 56, 95, 207 reason, 60, 186, 196, 207 sonl, 31, 158 Animals, 55, 148, 150 Apparitions, 71, 88 Aquastor, 29 Archeeus, 29, 132 Archates, 29 Ares, 30 Artificial clairvoyance, 177 gold, 177 physicians, 167 Arupa devas, 96 Astral body, 3i> 33i 69, loi, 107, 109, 118 influences, 145, 150, 155, 169, 178 life, ^6 light, 30, 107, 156, 172 parasites, 93 plane, 76 Astralic diseases, 147 Astrology, 145, 161, 178 Astronomia, 48, 50 Astronomy, 161 Astrum, 30 Asuras, 96 Avitchi, 10 Azoth, 30 BAPTiSiT, 203 Basilisk, 125 Beasts, 96 Belief, 185, 191, 195 in authority, 142, 189 Beryllus, 30 Birth, 202 Black magic, 126 magicians, 122 Blessings, 129 Blue milk, 123 Body, 68, 69, 181, 193 Caealli, 31, 86 Caffliostro, 211 2l6 INDEX. Carpenter of tlie universe, 41 Causes of disease, 144 Celibacy, 92 Ceremonies, 89, 99, 114, 130, 179, 194 Chaomantia, 3 1 Chaos, 31 Chemistry, 161, 163 Cherio, 31 Children, 193 Christ, 104, 191, 194, 203 Clairvoyance, 31, 94, 106, 108 Clergymen, 190, 195 Conception, 59 Conjunction of planets, 146, 151, 172 Conjurers, 71 Conjuring spirits, 120 Constitution of man, 61 Convents, 124 Corals, 28 Corpus invisibile, 31 Cosmology, 41 Creation, 41, 55, 65, 201 Creed, 185 Cubitali, 34 Cure by faith, 119 of obsession, 130 Curses, 129 Death, 68, 81, 86 Decomposition, 69 Derses, 32 Desires, 94, no, 186 Devachan, 32 Devas, 96 Devil, 85, 102, 136 Devils, 71, loi Dhyan Chohans, 96, 100 Disease, 132 Diseases, causes of, 1 16, 129, 131, 144,147, 149, 156, 159 cured by faith, 119, 132 by magic, 116, 129 Dissolving bodies by magic, 129 Diver tellum, 32 Divination, 31, 32 Dogmatism, 189 Double members, 66 Dragon, 92 Dreams, 33, ^^^ 108 Durdales, 32 ECKARTSHAUSEN, 1 99 Edelphus, 32 Electrum magicum, 32, 169, 171 Elemental spirits, 29, 32, 34, 39, 99 of air, 32, 38 of earth, 34 of fire, 28, z^, 39 of water, -^^^ 38, 39 Elementals, 58, 72, ^jd^ 95, 96, 99, 100 Elementaries, 31, 32, 70, 95 Elementary body, 70 Elements, 33, 34, 39, 40, 43, 45, 99, 100, 156 Elixir of life, 137, 154, 208 Emanations, 61 Ens seminis, 61 Erodinium, 33 Essence of life, 133 Eternity, 180 Evestrum, 33, "Ji^ 108 Evil, 186 imagination, 127 spirits, 97, 98, 1 01 Evolution, 55 Excrements, 138 Existence, 61 Exorcising spirits, 71, 89, 94 Faith, 109, 114, 117, 119, 130, 186, 190, 191, 192, 194 in medicine, 119, 192 Fall of man, 61 Familiar spirits, 34, T^ii 9^ INDEX. 217 Fancy, 112 Fate of sorcerers, 122 Fear, 130 Fifth essence, 31, 113 principle, 31 Firmament, 44, 49 Flagae, 34, 96, 97 Foetus, 65 Food, 120, 148 Foreseeing the future, 74, 108 Form, 81, 82, 95 manifestations, 40 Fortune-tellers, 98 Gabalis, 105 Gamathei, 34 Generation, 63, 65, 84, 85, 202 Gigantes, 34 Gnomes, 34, 100 God, 41, 58, 106, 135, 186, 188, 190, 195, 196, 197 Gold artificially made, 177 Good, 188 and evil, 186 Graveyards, ^o Guardian spirits, T},^ 76 Hades, 35 Happiness, 186, 188 Harmony, 62 Haunted houses, "jo^ 87 Health, 132 Heaven, 32, 193 Hell, 193 Hidden treasures, 97 Holy water, 89 Homunculi, 34, 174 Humanity, 187, 196 Humidum menstrui, 125 Hypericum perforatum, 140 Ideas, 181 Ideos, 43 Ilech, 34 Heiades, 34 Iliaster, 34, 41 Illusion, 81 Images, 34, 115, 195 Imagination, 35, 66, 90, 91, 109, no, 128, 156 of nature, 119 of women, 128 Immaculate conception, 202 Immortality, 60 Impressions, 35 Incarnation, 59 Individuality, 59 Infallibility, 190 Initiation, 202 Intellect, 67, 191 Intelligence, 59 Interior jDerception, 161 Intuition, 135, 144, 196 Invisibility, 94 Invisible causes of diseases, 136, 144 man, 118, 132, 136 Jesus of Nazareth, 191 Kama log a, 31, 35 rupa, 31, 70 Karma, 86, 159 Knowledge, 104, 181, 186, 194, 195, 200 of good and evil, 186 of self, 184, 190 Lax Gr AGE of spirits, 113 Larvae, 90, 93 Laws of Nature, 194 Lefi'as, 35 Lemures, 31, 35, 86 Life, 43, 45, 81, 82, 86, 132, 137, 153, 181 elixir of, 137, 154 essence of, 133, 181 vehicle of. See Mamia Q 2l8 INDEX. Light of Nature, io6, 196, 204 Lilith, 89 Limbus, 35, 41, 42 Liquor vit^, 132 Logos, 201 Love, 196 cbarms, 118, 127, 154 Lying spirits, 98 Macrocosm and Microcosm, 36, 44,54,61,64,69, 143, 145, 163, 184, 196 Magic, 35, 50, 103, 114, 129 ceremonies, 130, 179 circles, 130 mirrors, 126, 172 Magisterium, 36 Magnets, 138, 141, 143 Majavi rupa, 32, 38 Man, 47, 56, 58, 61, 65, d-], 69, 106, 112, 182, 190, 193, 197, 202, 207 Mangonaria, 36 Martial diseases, 142 Masses for the dead, 71 Materia prima, 34, 41 Matrix, 36, 63 Matter, 45, 58 Medical wisdom, 135 Medicine, 54, 133 Mediums, 93 Mediumship, 31, 203 MelusinEe, 36, 39, 44 Memory, 67 Menstrual blood, 124, 129 Mercury, 167 Microcosm. Bqq Macrocosm Mind, 49, 93 Miracles, 117 Mirrors, 126 Modern sorcery, 123 Mohinis, 96 Monsters, 36, 66, 89, 95 Moon, evil influence of, 125, 146 Mumia, yj ^ 120, 128, 135, 137, 154 of suicides and criminals, 121 Mysterium magnum, 37, 41, 84, 96 ISTatural man, 106, 135 physician, 167 Nature, 47, 106, 135, 197 Necrocomica, 37 Necromancy, 36, 37, 71 Necromantia, 37 Nectromantia, 38, 107 Nenufareni, 38 Nerve aura, 63 Nymphae, 38, 99, 100 Obsessions, 71, 87, 93, 130 cure of, 130 Occultism, 38 Occult letters, 205 Omens, 108 On an, 90 Opinions, 185 Palingenesis, 173, 205 Paracelsus, his life, 52 his writings, 32 his terms, 27 Parentage, 67, 202 • Passage of matter through bodies, 186 Passions, 57, 157 Penates, 38 Pentaculae, 38 Perception, 186 Personality, 59 Phantasmata, 38, 140 Phenomena, 72 Philosopher's stone, 27 Philosophy, 184 Physicians, 134, 141, 149, 150, 159, 166, 167, 192 INDEX, 219 Planetary influences, 146, 150 169, 178 spirits, 97, 185 Planets, 163, 180 in man, 146, 150, 163 Poisoning the moon, 125, 126 Poisons, 147 Possession, 71 Practice, 185 Praesagium, 38 Prayer, 79, 94 Premonitions, 74 Primordial man, 202 matter, 34, 40, 41, 181 Primiim Ens, 45, 209 Ens Melissae, 210 Sanguinis, 210 Prophecy, 74 Prophets, 'j'] Psychometry, 109 Pygmaei, 34, 38, 100 QUACKEHY, 135 Quacks, 131, 167 Quinta essentia, 31 Raksasas, 96 Reading closed letters, 97, 107 Reasoning, 186 Rebis, 27 Rejuvenating medicine, 211 Relics of saints, 117 Remedy against obsession, 130 against witchcraft, 117, 158 Resurrection, 68 Rupa, 38 Sagani, 39, 99 Saints, 195 working miracles, 118 Salamander, 39, 100, loi Salt, 167 Scaiolae, 39 Science, 104 Second sight, 31 Semen, 65 Sensation, 94 Senses, 94, 156 Seven principles, 67 Sex, 66 Sibyls, 75 Sidereal body, 69, 112, 119, 182 Signatures, 51, 139 Sleep, 79, 109, U3 Somnia, 39 Sorcerers, 96, 193 Sorcery, 103, 114, 135, 179 Sortilegium, 97 Soul, 58, 68, 113, 180, 181, 2c6 of things, 31 Souls of the dead, 31, 96 Sperm a, 64, 90, 124 Spiders, 126 Spirit, 39, 58, 60, 68, 95, 103, 181, 197, 207 communication, 97, 98, 207 Spiritism, 72, 98 Spirits, 95, 97, 113. 179 of deceased persons, 'jo, 206 of the drowned, 122 Spiritual consciousness, 192 man, 182, 193 perception, 78, 105, 183 temple, 186, 187 Spiritualistic phenomena, 71 Spiritus animalis, 39 vitae, 39, 125 Stars, 146 Succubi, 35, 89, 90, 96 Suicides, '}>'], 83 Sulphur, 167 Sun, 109, 196 Supernatural, 104 Supernumerary members, 66 Superstition, 85, 189, 192 Sylphs, 38, 39, 99 Sylvestres, 39, 100 Sympathy, 54, 83 220 INDEX. Talking images, 128 tables, 62 ■ Temperaments, 62 Tendencies, 193 Theory, 185 TheosopHa, 39, 184, 188 Thouglit, 155, 197, 202 Thought-transfer, 113, 158, 206 Three substances, 167 Tinctura physica, 169 Toads, 126 Transference of matter, 115, 128 of thought, 113, 158 Transformations, 205 Transplantation of disease, 138 Trarames, 39, "Ji Triangles interlaced, 49 Trinity, 201 Tritheim, 164 Truth, 191, 198 Twins, 66 Umbratiles, 40 Undines, 36, 100 Universal mind, no, 113, 197 Universe, 197 Yaccination, 135 Yampires, 40, 87 Yulcani, 100 Wax figures, 115, 129, 158 Will, 94, 116, 157, 171, 206 acting in the distance, 116 Wisdom, 113, 135, 182, 187, 190 Witchcraft, 109, 114 Witches, 91, 10 1, 193 Woman, 64, no, 128 Word, 41, 201 Worlds, 76 Xeni nephidei, 40 Yliastee, 34, 40, 41 Zenexton, 212 ERRATUM. Page 25, line 18, /or animalium read^ animabus. FRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. LONDON AND KDINBURGH A Selection FEOM Mr. Redway's Publications. GEORGE REDWAY, 15, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. 1886. ME. EEDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. In crown Svo, in French grey wrapjper. Price Qs. A few copies on Large Paper. Price 10s. Qd. The Bibliography of Swinburne ; A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST, ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, OF THE PUBLISHED WRITINGS IN VERSE AND PROSE OF ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE (1857-1884). TMs Bibliograpliy commences witli the brief-lived College Magazine, to whicli Mr. Swinbuene was one of the chief con- tributors when an undergraduate at Oxford in 1857-8. Besides a careful enumeration and description of the first editions of all his separately published volumes and pamphlets in verse and prose, the original appearance is duly noted of every poem, prose article, or letter, contributed to any journal or magazine {e.g., Once a WeeJc, The Spectator, The Gornhill Magazine, The Morning Star, The Fortnightly Revieio, The Examiner, The Dark Blue, The Academy, The Athenoeum, The Tatler, Belgravia, The Gentleman's Magazine, La Repuhlique des Lettres, Le Pappel, The Glasgow University Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, &c., &c.), whether collected or uncollected. Among other entries will be found a remarkable novel, published in instalments, and never issued in a separate form, and several productions in verse not generally known to be from Mr. Swinburne's pen. The whole forms a copious and it is believed approximately complete record of a remarkable and brilliant literary career, extending already over a quarter of a century. *#* ONLY 250 COPIES PRINTED. GEORGE REDWAY, Y.ORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. HINTS TO COLLECTORS OF OEIGINAL EDITIONS OP THE WORKS OF Charles Dickens. BY CHARLES PLUMPTRE JOHNSON. Printed on hand-made paper, and hound in vellum. Crown Svo, 6s. The Edition is limited to five hundred and fifty copies, fifty of which are on large paper. "Enthusiastic admirers of Dickens are greatly beholden to Mr. C. P. Johnson for his useful and interesting ' Hints to Collectors of Original Editions of the Works of Charles Dickens' (Redway). The book is a com- panion to the similar guide to collectors of Thackeray's first editions, is compiled with the like care, and produced with the like finish and taste." — The Saturday Review. " This is a sister volume to the ' Hints to Collectors of First Editions of Thackeray,' which we noticed a month or two ago. The works of Dickens, with a few notable ' Dickensiana,' make up fifty-eight numbers .... and Mr. Johnson has further augmented the present volume with a list of thirty- six plays founded on Dickens's works, and another list of twenty -three published portraits of Dickens. As we are unable to detect any slips in his work, we must content ourselves with thanking him for the correctness ol' his annotations. It is unnecessary to repeat our praise of the elegant format of these books. . . . ." — The Academy. " These two elegantly-produced little books, printed on hand-made paper and bound in vellum, should be welcomed by the intending collector of the works of the two authors under treatment, and the more experienced biblio- grapher will find the verbatim reproductions of the original title-pages not without use For the purpose of checking the correct numbers of these illustrations, verifying the collations, and detecting possible frauds .... Mr. Johnson's books are unique. The ' Hints,' moreover, incorporated in his prefaces .... and the ' Notes' appended to each entry are serviceable, and often shrewd ; indeed, the whole labour, evidently one of love, bestowed upon the books is exceptionally accurate and commendable, and we hope to welcome Mr. Johnson at no distant date as a bibliographer of a more pretentions subject." — Time. GEORaE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GAEDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. HINTS TO COLLECTORS OF ORIGINAL EDITIONS OF THE WORKS OP William Makepeace Thackeray. BY CHARLES PLUMPTRE JOHNSON. Printed on hand-made paper and hound in vellum. Crown Svo, 6«. The Edition is limited to Jive hundred and fifty copies, twenty-five of which are on large paper. " .... A guide to those who are great admirers of Thackeray, and are collecting first editions of his works. The dainty little volume, bound in parchment and printed on hand-made paper, is very concise and convenient in form j on each page is an exact copy of the title-page of the work mentioned thereon, a collation of pages and illustrations, useful hints on the differences in editions, with other matters indispensable to collectors Altogether it represents a large amount of labour and experience." — The Spectator. " Those who remember with pain having seen the original yellow backs of Thackeray's works knocked to pieces and neglected years ago, may be recom- mended to read Mr. C. P. Johnson's ' Hints to Collectors.' " — The Saturday Review. " . . . . Mr. Johnson has evidently done his work with so much loving care that we feel entire confidence in his statements. The prices that he has affixed in every case form a valuable feature of the volume, which has been produced in a manner worthy of its subject matter." — The Academy. " The list of works which Mr. Johnson supplies is likely to be of high interest to Thackeray collectors. His preliminary remarks go beyond this not very narrow circle, and have a value for all collectors of modern works." — Notes and Queries. " .... It is choicely printed at the Chiswick Press ; and the author, Mr. Charles Plumptre Johnson, treats the subject with evident knowledge and enthusiasm It is not a Thackeray Bibliography, but a careful and minute description of the first issues, with full collations and statement of the probable cost Mr. Johnson addresses collectors, but is in addition a sincere admirer of the greatest satirist of the century." — Boole Lore. " . . . . This genuine contribution to the bibliography of Thackeray will be invaluable to all collectors of the great novelist's works, and to all who treasure an ' editio princeps' the account here given of the titles and charac- teristics of the first issues will form a trustworthy guide The special features which will enable the purchaser at once to settle any question of authenticity in copies offered for sale are carefully collated." — The Publisher's Circular." GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. Demy 18mo, 200 pages, clothe uncvi. Price 2s, Wei 1 er i s m s FROM " Pickwick'' and " Master Humphrefs Clock:' Selected by Charles F. Eideal. EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY CHAELES KENT, AUTHOR OP " THE HUMOUR AND PATHOS OF CHARLES DICKENS. Some write well, but he writes Weller." — Epigram on Dickens. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. In crown Svo, 2 vols., cloth. Price Ss. The Valley of Sorek. BT GERTRUDE M. GEORGE. With a Critical Introduction by Richard Hernb Shepherd. ** There is in the book a high and pure moral and a distinct conception of character The dramatis personcB .... are in reality strongly individual, and surprise one with their inconsistencies just as real human beings do There is something powerful in the way in which the reader is made to feel both the reality and the untrustworthiness of his [the hero's] religious fervour, and the character of the atheist, Graham, is not less strongly and definitely conceived It is a work that shows imagination and moral insight, and we shall look with much anticipation for another from the same hand." — Contemporary Review. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. Fifth Thousand. An edition de luxe in demy 18mo. Bound infancy cloth, uncut edges. Price 2s. Tobacco Talk and Smokers' Gossip. An Amusing Miscellany of Fact and Anecdote relating to " Tlie Great Plant" in all its Forms and Uses, including a Selection from Nicotian Literature. " One of the best books of gossip we have met for some time. .... It is literally crammed full from beginning to end of its 148 pages with well- selected anecdotes, poems, and excerpts from tobacco literature and history." — QrapMc. " The smoker should be grateful to the compilers of this pretty little volume No smoker should be without it, and anti-tobacconists have only to turn over its leaves to be converted." — Pall Mall Gazette. " Something to please smokers ; and non-smokers may be interested in tracing the effect of tobacco — the fatal, fragrant herb — on our literature." — Litera/ry World. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. NEW BOOK BY MISS BAUGHAN. The Handbook of Physiognomy. BY ROSA BAUGHAN. Defmy 8vo, wrapper. Is. " The merit of her book consists in the admirable clearness of her descrip- tions of faces. So vivid is the impression produced by them that she is able to dispense with illustration?, the reader using the faces of his acquaintances for that pxirpose. The classificatioD, too, is good, although the astrological headings may be regarded by the profane as fanciful. Physiognomy may now be scientifically studied by means of composite photography." — Pall Mall Gazette. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STEEET, COVENT GARDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. In 'preparation. Price to Subscribers, 6s. The Praise of Ale; OR, Songs, Ballads, Epigrams, and Anecdotes relating to Beer, Malt, and Hops. Collected and arranged by W. T. MARCHANT. Contents. — Introduction; History; Carols and Wassail Songs; Church Ales and Observances ; Whitsun Ales ; Political ; Harvest ; General ; Barley and Malt ; Hops ; Scotch Songs ; Local and Dialect ; Trade Songs ; Oxford Songs; Ale Wives; Brewers; Drinking Clubs and Customs; Royal and Noble Drinkers ; Black Beer ; Drinking Vessels ; Warm Ale ; Facts, Scraps, and Ana ; Index. The volume will contain much curious and out-of-the-way information, embracing a short sketch of the rise and progress of the art of brewing in this country ; an account of the laws relating to beer, and the statutes against , drunkenness ; of the manners and customs of " malt worms'' and mug-house clubs; and the obsolete phraseology of "toss-pots," such as " super-nagulum," " upsee-freeze," "shoeing horns," and " carousing the hunter's hoop." The author will pay attention to the drinking customs more or less connected with the Church — Whitsun Ales, Bride Ales, Bride Bush, Bride Wain, and the like ; the chants of the wassail-bowl, of the Hock Cart, and the Sheepshearing and Harvest Home rejoicings — " Here's a health to the Barley mow, brave boys, Here's a health to the Barley mow" — and Brazenose songs in honour of the brew for which that college is renowned. Then there are lyrics pertaining to particular sorts and conditions of men, as the songs of the threshers and tinkers, sailors and soldiers, and the clubs, which may be considered as forming a class of themselves. This work will doubtless prove a valuable and pleasant addition to the library of the student of history and lover of poetry. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN 10 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. In crown 8?;o, price 6s. Illustrated with magical signs, and a symbolical frontisjpiece etched hy MacJcaness, from a design by the Author. MAGIC, WHITE AND BLACK; Or, The Science of Finite and Injinite Life. CONTAINING Practical Hints for Students of Occultism. BY FRANZ HARTMANN, M.D. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. In prejparation. NEW TRANSLATION OF "THE HEPTAMERON." The Heptaineron ; OE, Tales and Novels of Margaret, Queen of Navarre. Now first done completely into English prose and verse, from the original French, by Aethuk Machen. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. Just ready f in small 8vo, cloth. Price 5s. Mountaineering Below the Snow-Line ; Or, the Solitary Pedestrian in Snowdonia and Elsewhere. BY M. PATERSON. WITH ETCHINGS BY MACKANESS. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 11 Fourth Edition. With Engraved Frontisjpiece. In crown 8vo, 6«. Cosmo de' Medici ; An Historical Tragedy. And other Poems. BY RICHARD HENGIST HORNE, Author of " Orion." " This tragedy is tlie work of a poet and not of a playwright. Many of the scenes abound in vigour and tragic intensity. If the structure of the drama challenges comparison with the masterpieces of the Elizabethan stage, it is at least not unworthy of the models which have inspired it.'^ — Times. GEORGE RED WAY, YORK STREET, CO VENT GARDEN. Fcap. 8vo, parchment. Tamerlane and other Poems. BY EDGAR ALLAN POE. First pubhshed at Boston in 1827, and now first repubHshed from a unique copy of the original edition, with a preface by Richard Herne Shepherd. Mr. Swinburne has generously praised " so beautiful and valuable a little volume, full of interest for the admirers of Poe's singular and exquisite genius." GEORGE RED WAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 12 MR. REDWAY^S PUBLICATIONS. Just ready, in demy ^vo, choicely ]}rinted, and hound in Japanese parchment. Price 7s. 6d. Primitive Symbolism As Illustrated in Phallic Worship ; or, the Eeproductive Principle. BY The late HODDER M. WESTROPP. With an Introduction by Major- Gteneeal Forlong, Author of « Rivers of Life." " This work is a multum in parvo of the growth and spread of Phallicism, as we commonly call the worship of nature or fertilizing powers. I felt, when solicited to enlarge and illustrate it on the sudden death of the lamented author, that it would be desecration to touch so complete a compendium by one of the most competent and soundest thinkers who have written on this world-wide faith. None knew better or saw more clearly than Mr. Westropp that in this oldest symbolism and worship lay the foundations of all the goodly systems we call Religions." — J. G. R. Foelong. " A well-selected repertory of facts illustrating this subject, which should be read by all who are interested in the study of the growth of religions." — Westminster Review. GEORaE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. In large crown Svo. Price 3s. Qd. Sithron, the Star Stricken. Translated {Ala hereket Allah) from an ancient Arabic Manuscript. BY SALEM BEN UZAIR, of Bassora. " This very remarkable book, ' Sithron,' ... is a bold, pungent, audacious satire upon the ancient religious belief of the Jews. . . . JNo one can read the book without homage to the force, the tenderness, and the never-failing skill of its writer." — St. James's Gazette. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MK. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 13 THE ONLY PUBLISHED BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN LEECH. An edition de luxe in demy 18mo. Price Is. John Leech, ARTIST AND HUMOURIST. A Biographical Sketch. BY FRED. G. KITTOW. New Edition, revised. " In the absence of a f uUer biography we cordially welcome Mr. Kitton's interesting little sketch." — Notes and Qtieries. " The multitudinous admirers of the famous artist will find this touching monograph well worth careful reading and preservation." — Daily Chronicle. "The very model of what such a memoir should be." — Graphic. GEOEaE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. Nearly ready, about 500 pages, crown 8vo, cloth. Price 10s. Qd. The History of the Forty Vezirs; OE, The Story of the Forty Morns and Eves. Written in Turkish by Sheykh-Zada, and now done into Enghsh by E. J. W. Gibb, M.R.A.S. The only complete translation of this collection of tales that has hitherto appeared in any European language is that pub- lished in G-erman by Dr. Behrnauer in 1851. A complete text of the romance contains eighty subordinate stories, and this is the number given by Behrnauer ; but MSS. differ widely in the selection of such tales, and Mr. Gibb has collected one hundred and twelve distinct stories from different versions that have come under his notice. Among these, all of which will appear in the forthcoming volume, will be found variants of many widely distributed popular tales. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 14 MR. RED WAY'S PUBLICATIONS. Fourth Edition, newly revised, in demy 8vo, wiih lUiistrative Plates. Price Is. The Handbook of Palmistry, BY ROSA BAUGHAN, ATJTHOE OP "INDICATIONS OF CHABACTEE IN HANDWEITING." " It possesses a certain literary interest, for Miss Baughan shows the con- nection between palmistry and the doctrines of the Kabbala.'^ — Graphic. " Miss Rosa Baughan, for many years known as one of the most expert proficients in this branch of science, has as much claim to consideration as any writer on the subject." — Sussex Daily News. "People who wish to believe in palmistry, or the science of reading character from the marks of the hand," says the Daily Neivs, in an article devoted to the discussion of this topic, " will be interested in a handbook of the subject by Miss Baughan, published by Mr. Redway." aEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. In 2 vols., cloth, 6j?. The Curate^s Wife. A NOVEL. BY * J. E. PA NT ON, Author of "Sketches in Black and White," " Less than Kin," &c. "The author of "Less Than Kin" has produced in "The Curate's Wife" a story as powerful and full of genuine human interest as has appeared for some long time past. This tale of "country life" is realistic in the best sense of the word. Faithful as a photograph in all its minor details, it shows clear insight into character of both the sexes, and under very varied conditions. The gradual transformation of the heroine from a young girl, full of high purposes and enthusiasm, into the hopeless drudge who in despair lays herself down to die, is painted with an almost Zola like fidelity. Her tyrant, the popular curate, is also a powerful sketch. It is difficult not to think that an expiation worked out in the scene of his misdeeds, with people who pity while they blame him, is insufficient punishment for so contemptible a cur. It would have been, doubtless, move satisfactory had Meta conquered in the unequal contest between her well-meaning inexperience and her husband's brutal self-love, but in real life the chances would be against her, and this clever novel is, above all, an exact picture of certain phases of human nature as it is, and in this lies its chief merit." — Morning Post, May 19th, 1886. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COT EXT GARDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 15 NEW NOVEL BY ME. A. P. SINNETT, Author of "Karma,'* &c. In 2 vols.f crown 8vo, cloth. Published at 21s. Now offered at 10«. Qd. United: A. p. SINNETT. " Mr. Sinnett's previous works on ' Esoteric Buddhism' and ' The Occult World" in some way prepare the reader for the marvellous psychological phenomena with which the present volumes abound, and which cannot fail to have an irresistible charm for all those who love the byeways of speculation." — Literary World. *' There is, nevertheless, a weird attractiveness about United which makes even the non-believer in theosophy loth to put down the book when once he has taken it up ; while to the lovers of occult phenomena it will prove irresis- tibly fascinating." — Literary World. " Literary ability is evident throughout the book." — St. Jameses Gazette. "Mr. Sinnett has produced a novel turning on psychic, mesmeric, and magnetic causes operating on English men and women of ordinary and very extraordinary types, and he has succeeded in making it of special interest for spiritualists and readable by common people." — The Lady. " It is even doubtful whether Mr. Sinnett will win one genuine convert to occultism by ' United ;' but those who are occult already will take his powerful romance to their hearts ; will pour out libations before him, and loudly cry well done." — Court and Society Review. " Over this thrice-silly subject the author has expended some most excellent writing, ideas that equal in breadth and strength some of those of our best writers, pure English, and undeniable grammar." — 2%e Whitehall Heview. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. Just published, 32 'pages, wrapper. Price Is. The New Illumination. BY EDWARD MAITLAND, Author of "The Pilgrim and the Shrine." GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, 16 ME. EEDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. In Preparation. The Life and the Substance of the Teachings of PhiHpp Theophrastus, Bombast of Hohenheim, KNOWN BY THE NAME OF Paracelsus, jin Adept of the Secret Science, Containing his essential doctrines in regard to Cosmology, Pneumatology, Magic, Medicine, Alcliemy, Theosophy, and Philosophy, and some important secrets, such as the preparation of the true Elixir of Life, the Electro-Magicon, the generation of Homunculi, the nature of Elemental Spirits, &c. Extracted and translated from his extensive works and from some unpublished Manuscripts, and supplied with Annotations, by ' F. HARTMANN, M.D., AUTHOR OP " MAGIC," ETC. GEORaS REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 64 pp. J Svo, wrapper. Price \s. Qd. The " Occult World Phenomena," AND The Society for Psychical Research, BY A. P. SINNETT, AUTHOR OF *' THE OCCULT WORLD," " ESOTERIC BUDDHISM," ETC. With a Protest by Madame Blavatsky. " An interesting- addition to the fast-expanding literature of Theosophy." — Literary World. "All who are interested in Theosophy should read it."— Glasgow Herald. " Mr. Sinnett scores some points against his adversary, and his pamphlet is to be followed by some memoirs of Madame Blavatsky, which may contain further refutations. Madame Blavatsky herself appends to the pamphlet a brief and indignant denial of the grave charges which have been made against her." — Graphic. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. MR. RED WAY'S PUBLICATIONS 17 In crown 8vo, parchment. Price 3s. Qd. The Anatomy of Tobacco; Or, Smoking Methodised, Divided and Considered after a New Fashion. BY LEOLINUS SILURIENSIS. "A very clever and amusing parody of the metaphysical treatises once in fashion. Every smoker will be pleased with this volume." — Notes and Queries. " We have here a most excellent piece of fooling, evidently from a Univer- sity pen .... contains some very clever burlesques of classical modes of writing, and a delicious parody of scholastic logic." — Literary World. "A delightful mock essay on the exoteric philosophy of the pipe and the pipe bowl .... reminding one alternately of 'Melancholy' Burton and Herr Teufelsdroch, and implying vast reading and out-of-the-way culture on the part of the author." — JBooJcseller. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. In demy Svo, with Illustrative Plates. Price Is. 6d. Chirognomancy; Or, Indications of Temperament and Aptitudes Manifested by tlie Form and Texture of the Thumb and Fingers. BY ROSA BAUGHAN. " Miss Baughan has already established her fame as a writer upon occult subjects, and what she has to say is so very clear and so easily verified that it comes with the weight of authority." — Lady's Pictorial. " Ingenious and not uninteresting." — The Queen. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN 18 ME. EEDWAY'S PFBLICATIOXS. Annual subscription^ payable in advance, post free, bs. The East Anglian; OE, Notes and Qjieries ox SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE COUNTIES OE SUFFOLK* CAMBRIDGE, ESSEX, AND NOEFOLK. Issued Montlily. EXITED BY THE Rev. C. H. EVELYN WHITE, F.R.Hist.S., Ipswich, EOyOEAEY SECEETAET OE THE SUTTOLK INSTITUTE OP AECH^OLOGY AKD IfATTTEAL HISTOEY. " Antiquities are Mstory defaced, or remnants that have escaped the ship- wreck of time .... wrecks of history wherein the memory of things is almost lost ; or such particulars as industrious persons, with exact and scrupulous diligence can anyway collect from genealogies, calendars, titles, inscriptions, monuments, coins, names, etymologies, proverbs, traditions, archives, instru- ments, fragments of private and public history, scattered passages, of books no wav historical, &c., by which means something is recovered from the deluge of time In this imperfect history no deficiency need be noted, it being of its own nature imperfect." — Lord Bacon, Advancement of Learning. GEOEGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COYENT GAEDEN. In irajjerial IQmo, Dutch paper j cloth extra. Price 2s. 6d. The Rueing of Gudrun, And other Poems. BY THE Hon. Mrs. GIIEVILLE-K"UGEN"T. " It is clear from many exquisite passages that Mrs. Nugent, if she were go minded and in earnest, might be a real poetess." — Daily Telegraph. " The writer touches the various chords of her lyre with no inexperienced hand." — Morning Post. " Mrs. Greville-Nugent has succeeded very fairly well with her villanelles and rondeaux, her triolets and scstines, her ballades and chants royal." — St. James' & Gazette. "Where she shows herself at her best is in the French forms of verse, which exactly suit her talent." — The Times. GEOEGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COYENT GAEDEN. MR. RED WAY'S PUBLICATIOlSrS. 19 In preparation. THE PLAYS OF GEORaE OOLMAN THE YOUNGER. The Comedies and Farces OF aEOEaE COLMAN THE YOUNaER. Now first collected and carefully reprinted from the Original Editions, with Annotations and Critical and Bibliographical Preface, BY RICHARD HBRNE SHEPHERD. In Two Volumes. " Mr. R. H. Shepherd is engaged in collecting and reprinting, with a critical and biographical introduction and annotations, the -dramatic works of George Colman the younger, which will shortly be published in two volumes by Mr. Redway, of York Street. Most of them were issued in Colman's life- time in pamphlet form, but many have, nevertheless, become scarce, and of those which, like the ' Heir-at-Law,' * John Bull,' and ' The Poor Gentleman' have held the stage, the text has become more or less corrupted. Considering the great popularity of Colman's plays, the spirit and humour of their scenes, and their association with the names of great actors in the past, it is a curious fact that Mr. Shepherd's publication, though it appears more than a century after the production of the earliest of Colman's pieces on the stage, will be the first collected edition. It will comprise, of course, the suppressed preface to ' The Iron Chest,' in which Colman made his famous personal attack upon John Kemble." — Daily News. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 20 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. An edition de luxe, in demy 18mo. Price Is. Confessions of an English Hachish Eater. " There is a sort of bizarre attraction in this fantastic little book, with its weird, unhealthy imaginations." — Whitehall Meview. " Imagination or some other faculty plays marvellous freaks in this little book." — Lloyd's Weekly. " A charmingly written and not less charmingly printed little volume. The anonymous author describes his experiences in language which for picturesque- ness is worthy to rank with De Quincey's celebrated sketch of the English Opium Eater." — Lincolnshire Chronicle. " A weird little book .... The author seems to have been delighted with his dreams, and .... carefully explains how hachish may be made from the resin of the common hemp plant." — Daily Chronicle. " To be added to the literature of what is, after all, a very undesirable subject. Weak minds may generate a morbid curiosity if stimulated in this direction." — Bradford Observer. " The stories told by our author have a decidedly Oriental flavour, and we would not be surprised if some foolish individuals did endeavour to procure some of the drug, with a view to experience the sensation described by the writer of this clever brochure." — Edinburgh Courant. aEORaE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. Monthly, One Shilling. Walford's Antiquarian : A Magazine and Bibliographical Review. EDITED BY EDWARD WALFORD, M.A. *^* Volumes I. to IX., Now Ready, price 8s. 6d. each. " The excellent archaeological monthly." — CasselVs Art and Literature. " This magazine is dear to the hearts of the lovers of antiquities. The meetings of the various learned societies are also described .... and a number of articles of both antiquarian and bibliographical interest." — Nonconformist. ** There is not much in Walford's Antiquarian that any connoisseur in literary curiosities would care to pass over." — St. James's Gazette. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. ME. EEDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 21 Monthly, 25. ; Yearly Subscription, 20s. The Theosophist. A Magazine of Oriental Philosophy, Art, Literature, and Occultism. CONDTJCTED BY H. P. BLAVATSKY. Vols. I. to VII. Now Beady, "Theosopliy has suddenly risen to importance The movement implied by the term Theosophy is one that cannot be adequately explained in a few words .... those interested in the movement, which is not to be confounded with spiritualism, will find means of gratifying their curiosity by procuring the back numbers of The Theosophist and a very remarkable book called Isis Unveiled, by Madame Blavatsky." — Literary World. GEOHaE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COYENT aAEDEK NEW WOEK BY JOHN H. INGRAM. The Raven. BY EDGAR ALLAN POE. "With Historical and Literary Commentary. By John H. Ingram. Grown 8vo, parchment, gilt top, uncut, price 6s. " This is an interesting monograph on Poe's famous poem. First comes the poet's own account of the genesis of the poem, with a criticism, in which Mr. Ingram declines, very properly, we think, to accept the history as entirely genuine. Much curious information is collected in this essay. Then follows the poem itself, with the various readings, and then its after-history ; and after these ' Isadore,' by Albert Pike, a composition which undoubtedly suggested the idea of ' The Eaven' to its author. Several translations are given, two in French, one in prose, the other in rhymed verse ; besides extracts from others, two in German and one in Latin. But perhaps the most interesting chapter in the book is that on the ' Fabrications.' " — The Spectator. " There is no more reliable authority on the subject of Edgar Allan Poe than Mr. John H. Ingram .... the volume is well printed and tastefully bound in spotless vellum, and will prove to be a work of the greatest interest to all students of English and American literature." — The Publisher's Circular. aEOEaE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. 22 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. Now ready, at all Booksellers', and at Smith's Bailway BooJcstalls. Popular Edition, price 2s. 6d. Burma : AS IT WAS, AS IT IS, AND AS IT WILL BE- BY J. G. SCOTT. Crown 8vo, cloth. " Before going to help to govern them, Mr. Scott has once more writtf r n the Burmese .... Mr. Scott claims to have covered the whole grouna, to show Burma as it was, is, and wiU be j and as there is nobody competent to criticise him except himself, we shall not presume to say how far be has suc- ceeded. What, however, may be asserted with absolute confidence is, that he has written a bright, readable, and useful book." — Saturday/ Eeview, March 27- "Very lively and readable.'' — Tall Mall Gazette. " The author knows what he writes about." — St. Stephens Meview. " There is a good deal of curious reading in the book." — Literary World. " The book is amusing and instructing, and Mr. George Redway, the publisher, will have done the public and Jiimself a service." — Court Journal. " The print is clear, and the binding in excellent taste." — JBooJcseller. " Evidently full of genuine information." — Society. "A handy guide to Burma, as readable as it is accurate." — Qlohe. " Mr. Scott should have called this volume ' A book for Members of Parlia- ment.' " — London and China Telegraph. ** The sketch of Burmese cosmogony and mythology is very interesting." — Nature. *' A competent historian. He sketches Burma and the Burmans with minute fidelity." — Daily Chronicle. " Probably no Englishman knows Burma better than Mr. J. G. Scott." — Contemporary Review. " An excellent description both of land and people." — Contemporary Review. " Most interesting.'^ — St. James's Gazette. " Shway yoe is a graphic writer .... no one can supply this information better than Mr. ^coii.'* —Asiatic Quarterly Review. GEORGE RED WAY. YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. ME. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 23 Just published, handsomely printed and tastefully hound, 436 pages large crown Svo, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Essays in the Study of Folk- Songs. BY THE COUNTESS EVELYN MARTINENGO-CESARESCO. " A pleasant volume on a pleasant topic The Countess, with her sincere enthusiasm for what is simple, passionate, and sensuous in folk-soug, and with her lucid and unaffected style, well understands the mode iu which the educated collector should approach the shy singers or story-tellers of Europe Her introduction is perhaps, to the scieutific student of popular culture, the best part of her book. . . . , Next to her introduction, perhaps her article on ' Death in Folk-Poetry' is the most serviceable essay in the volume. .'...* Folk Lullabies' is perhaps the most pleasant of the remaining essays in the admirable volume, a volume remarkable for knowledge, sympathy, and good taste." — Extracts from a page notice in the Saturday Review, April 24, 1886. "This is a very delightful book, full of information and thoughtful sugges' tions. It deals principally with the Folk-songs of Southern peoples, Venetian, Sicilian, Armenian, Provence, and Greek Songs of Calabria, but there are several essays devoted to the general characteristics of Folk-Poetry, such as the influence of Nature, the Inspiration of Death, the idea of fate, the nume- rous songs connected with the rites of May, Polk -Lullabies, and Folk. Dirges. There is also an interesting essay on what is called the White Paternoster and Children's Khyming Prayers. This is one of the most valuable, and certainly one of the most interesting, books which has been written on a subject which has of late years been exciting an ever-increasing attention, and which in- volves many important problems connected with the early history of the human race." — Standard. " ' Folk-Songs,' traditional popular ballads, are as tempting to me as King Cbarles's head to Mr. Dick. But interesting as the topic of the origin and diffusion and literary merit of these poems may be — poems much the same in all European countries — they are rather caviare to the general. The Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco is, or should be, a well-known authority among special students of this branch of literature, to whom I heartily commend her Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs.' The Countess is, perhaps, most familiar with Southern volksleider, as of Greece, Italy, and Sicily. Her book is a treasui-e house of Folk-lore of various kinds and the matter is bandied with much poetic appreciation and a good deal of learning." — Daily News. " A kind of popular introduction to the study of Folk-lore." — St. James's Gazette. GEORGE RED WAY, YORK STREET, COVEN I GARDEN. 24 ME. EEDWAT'S PUBLICATION'S. EBENEZER JONES'S POEMS Inmost 8vo, cloth, old style. Price 5s. Studies of Sensation and Event. Poems by Ebenezee Jones. Edited, Prefaced, and Annotated hj Eichard Herne Shepherd. With Memorial Notices of the Author by Sumner Jones and W. J. Linton. A new Edition. With Photographic Portrait of the Poet. "This remarkable poet affords nearly the most striking instance of neglected genius in our modern school of poetry. His poems are fuU of vivid disorderly power." — D. Gr. Rossetti. GEORaE EEDWAY, YOEK STREET, COVENT GAEDEN. I7i demy 8vo, elegantly printed on Butch hand-made paj)er, and hound in jparchment-pajper cover. Price Is. The Scope and Charm of Antiquarian Study. BY JOHN BATTY, P.R.Hist.S., MeMBEE of the YoEKSHIEE AeCHJEOLOGICAL and ToPOGEAPHICAIi Association. "It forms a useful and entertaining guide to a beginner in historical researches." — Notes and Queries. "■ The author has laid it before the public in a most inviting, intelligent, and intelligible form, and offers every incentive to the study in every depart- ment, including Ancient Records, Manorial Court-Rolls, Heraldry, Painted Glass, Mural Paintings, Pottery, Church Bells, Numismatics, Folk-Lore, &c., to each of v/hich the attention of the student is directed. The pamphlet is printed on a beautiful modern antique paper, appropriate to the subject of the work." — £rigMon Examiner. " Mr. Batty, who is one of those folks Mr. Dobson styles ' gleaners after time,' has clearly and concisely summed up, in the space of a few pages, all the various objects which may legitimately be considered to come within the scope of antiquarian study." — Academy. GEORGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. MK. RED WAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 25 A few large paper copies, wOh India proof portrait, in imperial 8t;o, parchment. Price 7s. 6d. An Essay on the Genius of George Cruikshank. BY *'THETA" (WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY). With all the Original Woodcut Illustrations, a New Portrait of Ckuikshank:, etched by Pailthoepe, and a Prefatory Note on Thackeray as an Art Critic, by W. E. Church, Secretary of the Urban Club. " Thackeray's essay ' On the Genius of George Cruikshank/ reprinted from the Westminster Review, is a piece of work well calculated to drive a critic of these days to despair. How inimitable is its touch ! At once familiar and elegant, serious and humorous, enthusiastically appreciative, and yet just and clear-sighted; but above all, what the French call personnel. It is not the im personnel reviewer who is going through his paces .... it is Thackeray talking to us as few can talk — talking \vith apparent carelessness, even ram- blingly, but never losing the thread of his discourse or saying a word too much, nor ever missing a point which may help to elucidate his subject or enhance the charm of his essay Mr. W. E. Church's prefatory note on * Thackeray as an Art Critic' is interesting and carefully compiled." — West- minster ^Review, Jan. 15th. "As the original copy of the Westminster is now excessively rare, this re-issue will, no doubt, be welcomed by collectors." — Birmingham Daily Mail. " Not only on account of the author, but of the object, we must welcome most cordially this production. Every bookman knows Thackeray, and will be glad to have this production of his which deals with art criticism — a subject so peculiarly Thackeray's own." — The Antiquary. " It was a pleasant and not untimely act to reprint this well-known delight- ful essay . . . the artist could have found no other commentator so sympathetic and discriminating The new portrait of Cruikshank by F. W. Pailthorpe is a clear, firm etching." — The Artist. GEOEGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 26 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. Edition limited to 500 copies, liandsomely printed on antique paper and tastefully hound. Price 7s. 6d. THE ASTROLOGER'S GUIDE. Anima Astrologiae; OR, A Guide for Astrologers, Being the One Hundred and Forty-six Considerations of the Astrologer, G-tjido Bonattjs, translated from the Latin by Henry Coley, together with the choicest Aphorisms of the Seven Segrments of Jeeom Cardan, of Milan, edited by William Lilly (1675) ; now first republished from the original edition with Notes and Preface BY WILLIAM CHARLES ELDON" SERJEANT. " Mr. Serjeant deserves the thanks of all who are interested in astrology for rescuing this important work from oblivion The growing interest in mystical science will lead to a revival of astrological study, and advanced students will find this book an indispensable addition to their libraries. The book is well got up and printed.'' — TheosopJikt. GEOEGE EEDWAT, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. In tJie Press. Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky, Compiled from Information supplied by her Relatives and Friends, AND EDITED BY A. P. SINNET T. With a Portrait reproduced from an Original Painting by Hermann Schmiechen. GEOEGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 27 To he published shortly, handsomely printed and hound in one vol. Small demy 8vo, price 10s. 6d. The Kabala Denudata (Translated into English), CONTAINING THE FOLLOWING BOOKS OF THE ZOHAR : 1. The Book of Concealed Mystery, 2. The Greater Holy Assembly, 3. The Lesser Holy Assembly, Collated with the original Hebrew and the Latin text of Knorr de Rosenroth's " Kabala Denudata," BY S. LIDDELL MACGREGOB, MATHERS. aEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN". 'Now ready. Trice Is, Low Down : Wayside Thoughts in Ballad and other Verse, BY TWO TRAMPS. " This is a collection of short pieces, most of which can fairly be con- sidered poetry — no slight merit, as verses run just now. Some of the pieces are singularly pathetic and mournful; others, though in serious guise, are permeated by quaint humour ; and all of them are of considerable merit. From the variety and excellence of the contents of this bundle of poetical effusions, it is likely to attract a great number of readers, and many passages in it are particularly suitable for recitation." — Army and Navy Gazette, Aug. 14, 1886. " But * Low Down,' as it is called, has the distinction of being multi- coloured, each sheet of eight pages consisting of paper of a special hue. To turn over the leaves is, in fact, to enjoy a sort of kaleidoscopic effect, a glimpse of a literary rainbow. Moreover, to complete the peculiarity of the thing, the various poems are printed, apparently at haphazard, in large or small type, as the case may be. There are those, perhaps, who would take such jokes too seriously, and bring them solemnly to the bar of taste, there to be as solemnly condemned. But that is scarcely the right spirit in which to regard them. There is room in life for the quaint and curious as well as for the neat and elegant." — The Globe. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 28 ME. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. In crown 8vo, cloth. Price 7s. 6d. Theosophy, Religion, and Occult Science. HENRY S. OLCOTT, PEESIDENT OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. WITH GLOSSARY OF INDIAN TERMS AND INDEX. " This book, to which we can only allot an amount of space quite incom- mensurate with its intrinsic interest, is one that will appeal to the prepared student rather than to the general reader. To any one who has previously made the acquaintance of such books as Mr. Sinnett's ' Occult World,' and ' Esoteric Buddhism,' or has in other ways familiarised himself with the doctrines of the so-called Theosophical Society or Brotherhood, these lectures of Colonel Olcott's will be rich in interest and suggestiveness. The American oflScer is a person of undoubted social position and unblemished personal reputation, and his main object is not to secure belief in the reality of any * phenomena,' not to win a barren reputation for himself as a thaumaturgist or wonder-worker, but to win acceptance for one of the oldest philosophies of nature and human life — a philosophy to which of late years the thinkers of the West have been turning with noteworthy curiosity and interest. Of course, should the genuineness of the phenomena in question be satisfactorily estab- lished, there would undoubtedly be proof that the Eastern sages to whom Colonel Olcott bears witness do possess a knowledge of the laws of tlic physical universe far wider and more intimate than that which has been laboriously acquired by the inductive science of the West ; but the theosophy expounded in this volume is at once a theology, a metaphysic, and a sociology, in which mere marvels, as such, occupy a quite subordinate and unimportant position. We cannot now discuss its claims, and we will not pronounce any opinion upon them ; we will only say that Colonel Olcott's volume deserves and will repay the study of all readers for whom the bye-ways of speculation have an irresistible charm." — Manchester Examiner. GEORaE RED WAY, YORK STREET, COYENT OARDEK MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 29 Post free, price Sd. The Literature of Occultism and Archaeology. Being a Catalogue of Books ON SALE relating to Ancient Worships. Astrology. Alchemy. Animal Magnetism. Anthropology. Arabic. Assassins. Antiquities. Ancient History. Behmen and the Mystics. Buddhism. Clairvoyance. Cabeiri. China. Coins. Druids. Dreams and Visions. Divination. Divining Rod. Demonology. Ethnology. Egypt. Fascination. Flagellants. Freemasonry. Folk-Lore. Gnostics. Gems. Ghosts. Hindus. [Writing. Hieroglyphics and Secret Herbals. Hermetic. India and the Hindus. Kabbala. Koran. Miracles. Mirabilaries. Magic and Magicians. Mysteries. Mithraic Worship. Mesmerism. Mythology. Metaphysics. Mysticism. Neo-platonism, Orientalia. Obelisks. Oracles. Occult Sciences. Philology. Persian. Parsees. Philosophy. Physiognomy. Palmistry and Handwriting. Phrenology. Psychoneurology. Psychometry. Prophets. Rosicrucians. Round Towers. Rabbinical. Spiritualism. [and Quakers, Skep)tics, Jesuits, Christians, Sibylls. Symbolism. Serpent Worship. Secret Societies. Somnambulism. Travels. Tombs. Theosophical. Theology and Criticism. Witchcraft. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. 30 ME. EED WAY'S PUBLICATIONS. Quarterly, Is. 6d. Annual subscription, 5s. Northamptonshire Notes and Queries. An illustrated quarterly journal devoted to the Antiquities, Family History, Traditions, Parochial Eecords, Folk- Lore, Ancient Customs, &c., of the County. EDITED BY The Rev. W. D. SWEETING, M.A. aEORGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. The Mysteries of Magic; A DIGEST OP The Writings of Eliphas Levi. WITH BIOGBAPHIGAL AND CRITICAL ESSAY BY ARTHUR EDWARD WAITS. GEOEGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COYENT GAEDEN. In demy Svo, wrappered, uncut for binding, with Extra Portrait, Price 5s, ^^Phiz'' (Hablot Knight Browne): A Memoir ; including a Selection from his Correspondence and Notes on his Principal Works. By Feed. G. Kittost. With a Portrait and numerous Illustrations, l^' A few copies only remain. GJ:0EGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEJST. MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 31 1 vol., crown Svo, 4!00 jpages, 6s. A Regular Pickle: Ho'w He Solved his Wild Oats, BY HENRY W. NESPIELD. " Mr. Nesfield's name as an author is established on such a pleasantly sound foundation that it is a recognised fact that, in taking up a book written by him, the reader is in for a delightful half-hour, during which his risible and humour- ous faculties will be pleasantly stimulated. The history of young Archibald Highton Tregauntly, whose fortunes we follow from the cradle to when expe- rience is just beginning to teach him a few wholesome lessons, is as smart and brisk as it is possible to be.'' — Whitehall Review. " It will be matter for regret if the brisk and lively style of Mr. Nesfield, who at times reminds us of Levee, should blind people to the downright wickedness of such a perverted career as is here described.'* — Daily Chronicle, aEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. In post 8vo, with numerous plates coloured hy hand. Price 7s. 6d. Geometrical Psychology; OR, The Science of Representation, Being the Theories and Diagrams of B. W. Betts EXPLAINED BY LOUISA S. COOK. '* His attempt (B. W. Betts') seems to have taken a similar direction to that of George Boole in logic, with the difference that, whereas Boole's expres- sion of the Laws of Thought is algebraic, Betts expresses mind-growth geome- trically; that is to say, his growth-formulae are expressed in numerical series, of which each can be pictured to the eye in a corresponding curve. When the series are thus represented, they are found to resemble the forms of leaves and flowers." — Extract from " Symlolic Methods of Study," ly Mary Boole. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 32 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. NEW REAT. ISTIO NOVEI. 620 pages, handsomely hound. Price Qs. Leicester: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. BY PBANCIS W. L. ADAMS. "Even M. Zola and ]^Ir. George Moore would find it hard to beat Mr. Adams's description of Kosy's death. The grimly minute narrative of Leicester's sehoolbov troubles and of ' his attempt to get a living when he is discarded h\ his guardian is, too, of such a character as to make one regret that Mr. Adams^ had not put to better use his undoubted, though undisciplined, powers."— T^€ Academy. "There is unquestionable power in 'Leicester.'" — The Athenceum. aEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT aARDEN. In post Mo. Illustrated with Engravings on Wood. ASTROLOGY THEOLOGIZED. The Spiritual Hermeneutics of Astrology and Holy Writ. BEING ^ Treatise upo?i the Influence of the Stars on Man^ and on the Art of Ruling them by the LaiJD of Grace, Eeprinted from the Original of 1649. With a Prefatory Essay on Bible HermeneTitics. BY ANNA KINGSFORD (Doctor of Medicine of tlie Paris Faculty). GEORGE REBWAY, YORK STREET, COYENT GARDEN. MR. EED WAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 33 Small 4:tOf with Illustrations ^ hound in vegetable parchmeni. Frice 10s. 6d. The Virgin of the World. BY HERMES MERCURIUS TRISMEGISTUS. A Treatise on INITIATIONS, or ASCLEPIOS ; the DEFI- NITIONS of ASCLEPIOS ; FEAGMENTS of the WRITINGS OF HERMES. TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY THE AUTHORS OF " THE PERFECT WAY." With an introduction to " The Virgin of the World*' by A. K., and an Essay on " The Hermetic Books" by E. M. " It will be a most interesting study for every occultist to compare the doctnnes of the ancient Hermetic philosophy with the teaching of the Vedantic and Buddhist systems of religious thought. The famous books of Hermes seem to occupy, with reference to the Egyptian religion, the same position which the Upanishads occupy in Aryan religious literature." — The Theosopkist, November, 1885. aEOEGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVEXT GARDEI^. The Path: A magazine devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, Theosophy in America, and the Study of Occult Science, Philosophy, and Aryan literature. EDITED BY WILLIAM Q. JUDGE. (Published under the auspices of The Aryan Theosophical Society of New York.) Montlily. Subscription, 10s. per annum. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 34 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. In preparation. In large crown 8vo. Sea Songs and River Rhymes. j4 Selection of English Verse, from Chaucer to Swinhurne. EDITED BY Mrs. DAVENPORT ADAMS. With Etchings by Mackaness. This is a Collection of Poems and Passages by English Writers on the subject of the Sea and Eivers, and covers the whole of the ground between Spenser and Tennyson. It includes numerous copyright Poems, for the reproduction of which the author and publishers have given their permission. " Mrs. W. Davenport Adams, who has produced many charming volumes of verse, has nearly ready " Sea Songs and River Rhymes." Mrs. Adams is sure to prepare an interesting work, for she displays considerable industry, coupled with sound scholarship and a cultivated taste. — WalcRjield Free Fress. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDETf. MEWLY-DISOOVEEED POEM BY OHAELES LAMB. Beauty and the Beast; OE, ^ Rough Outside "with a Gentle Heart, By Charles Lamb. Now first reprinted from the Original Edition of 1811, with Preface and Notes BY RICHARD HERNE SHEPHERD. * Only 100 Copies Printed. Fca]). 8vo, printed on handsome jpajyer ai the Chiswich Press, and bound in jtarchment hy Burn to form a companion volume to " Tamerlane" Price 10s. 6d. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. ME. REDWAY'S PUBLICA^ONS. 35 In small 8vo, handsomely printed on antique paper, and tastefully bound. Price 2s. 6d. Pope Joan (THE FEMALE POPE). A Historical Study. Translated from the Greek of Emmanuel Ehoidis, with Preface by CHARLES HASTINGS COLLETTB. " When Dr. DoUinger wrote to the effect that * the subject of Pope Joan has not yet lost interest,' he said no more than the truth. The probability is that the topic will always have its attractions for the lovers of the curiosities of history. Mr. Baring-Gould has declared that * the whole story of Pope Joan is fabulous, and rests on not a single historical foundation ;' but others are not so firmly convinced in the matter, and at all times there are those who are anxious to investigate singular traditions. To the two latter classes the little monograph on ' Pope Joan,' written by Emmanuel Rhoidis, edited with a preface by Mr. C. H. Collette, and published by Mr. Redway, will be very acceptable. The author discusses the topic with much learning and ingenuity, and Mr. CoUette's introduction is full of information." — Globe. GEORaE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT aARDEN. Sphinx : Monatsschrift fiir die geschichtliche und experimentale Begriin- dung der iibersinnlichen Weltanschauung auf monistischer Grundlage herausgegeben von Hubbe Schleiden, Dr. J. U. Is. 6d. monthly ; 12s. per annum. " We cordially recommend this magazine to all those of our readers who are acquainted with the German language, as it promises to be one of the best extant periodicals treating of transcendental subjects." — The TJieosojphist. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 36 ME. EBDWAY'S PUBUCATIONS. Transactions of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society : Nos. 1 and 2. — Out of print. No. 3. — On the Higher Aspect of Theosophic Studies. By MoHiNi M. Chattekji. No. 4. — A Synopsis of Baron Du Prel's "Philosophic der Mystik." By Bertram Keightley. No. 5. — A Paper on Eeincarnation, By Miss Artjndale. And other Proceedings. No. 6. — The Theosophical Movement. By A. P. Sinnett. No. 7.— The Higher Self. By A. P. Sinnett. No. 8. — The Theosophical Society and its Work. By Mohini M. Chatterji. No. 9. — A Paper on Krishna. By Mohini M. Chatterji. No. 10. — On Mesmerism. By A. P. Sinnett. No. 11. — Theosophy in the Works of E-ichard Wagner. By W. AsHTON Ellis. Nos. 3 to 11, and each succeeding number as issued, maybe had, price One Shilling. GEOEaE EEDWAY, YORK STEEET, COYENT aARDEJN". In the press. ME. SWINBUENE'S NEW POEM. A Word for the Navy. BY ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE. Edition limited to 250 copies j each numbered. GEOEGE EEDWAY, YOEX STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. ME. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 37 A few copies only remain of the following important work, by the author of " The Rosicrucians.** Phallicism: Its connexion with the Eosicrucians and the Grnostics, and its Foundation in Buddhism. BY HAR GRAVE JENNINGS, AUTHOE OF "the ROSICEUCIANS." Demy 8vo, cloth. " This book is written ad elerum^ and appeals to the scholar only, and not to the mialtitude. It is a masterly and exhaustive account of that worship of the creative powers of nature which, under various names, has prevailed among all the nations of antiquity and of mediaeval times, alike in Egypt and India^ in Italy and Gaul, among the Israelites of old, and among the primitive inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland .... a most valuable auxiliary to all who care to pursue such a subject of inquiry, a subject for which Mr. Jennings is the better fitted on account of his long and intimate acquaintance wdth the Eosicrucians, their tenets, and their practices." — Antiquarian Magazine and Bihliographer. "Unpleasant as this subject is, we are quite prepared to agree that in it. scientific aspect, as a form of human worship, it has considerable importance Mr. Jennings deals almost entirely with the subjective part of his enquiry, and he has evidently made a considerable amount of research into the literature of early religions He has produced something which is, at aU events, worth the attention of the student of comparative psychology." — Antiguary. " This book ... is profoundly learned, and gives evidence on each page of deep thought, intense powers of research, clear and unmistakable reasoning, and thorough mastership of the subject. The appendix also contains much very curious matter which will interest those who desire to study the subject under all its different aspects and bearings." — Heliquary. GEOEGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. 38 ME. EEDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 544 pages f crown 8vo, green cloth hoards, price 7s, Sd. {Only 600 copies printed.) Dickensiana. A Bibliograpliy of the Literature relating to Charles Dickens and his Writings. Compiled by Fred. G. Kitton, author of " ' Phiz' (Hablot K. Browne), a Memoir," and " John Leech, Artist and Humourist." With a Portrait of " Boz," from a Drawing by Samuel Laurence. " This book is honestly what it pretends to be, and nothing more. It is a comprehensive catalogue of aU the writings of Mr. Charles Dickens, and of a good quantity of books written about him. It also contains copious extracts from reviews of his works and from sermons on his character. The criticisms are so various, and some of them are so much at variance with others, that the reader of them can complain of nothing less than a lack of material on which to form his judgment, if he has not formed it already, on the claim of Mr. Dickens to occupy a front place in the rank of English classics. Assertions, if not arguments, are multiplied on either side." — Saturday/ Review. " Mr. Kitton's task has obviously involved much labour and research, and it has, on the whole, been very ably performed." — Scotsman. " The labour involved in the preparation of such a volume is, of course* enormous, but all Dickens students and collectors will thank Mr. Kitton for his work. The volume contains a finely-executed portrait of Dickens, from a drawing by Samuel Laurence." — GrapTiic. " It is a very full and delightful book -, for open it at any page, and you are almost certain to come upon some interesting fact or fancy, the thought of a man of genius, or an incident bearing on a memorable life and its work." — St. James's Gazette. " A great deal that relates in numberless ways to the best known and most loved of English humourists will be found in this volume, certainly the most comprehensive that has yet essayed to illustrate his popularity from every personal and critical point of view." — Daily Telegraph. ** Mr. Fred. G. Kitton .... has done his work with remarkable thorough, ness, and consequently with real success. It is a subject on which I may fairly claim to speak, and I may say that all that I know, and a great deal I did not know, about Dickens is to be found in Mr. Kitton's work." — " Atlas," in the World. " DICKENSIANA." " If, with your Dickens-lore you'd mak6 Considerable headway, The way to be well-read 's to take This book brought out by EEDWAY. 'Tis clear, exhaustive, and compact, Both well-arranged and written ; A mine of anecdote and fact, Compiled by F. G. KITTON."— PmwcA. GEOEGE EEDAf AY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. INDEX. PAGE Astrology Theologhad 32 Anatomy of Toharxo 17 Antiquarian Study 24 Astrologer's Guide 26 Arehceology and Occultism 29 Adams, F.W.L 32 Adams, Mrs. Davenport 34 Arundale^ Miss 36 Baughan, Bosa 8, 14, 17 Blavatsk7, H. P 16, 21, 26 Bitnna 22 Batty, John 24 Bonatus 26 Browne, Hablot K 30 Betts, B. W -,. 31 J^eauty and the Beast 34 Chirognoinancy Cosmo de' Medici Curate's Wife {The) Colynan' s Plays Confessions of an English Hachish Eater Cruikshank, George Church, W.E Cardan Cook, Miss Louisa S CoUette, C. H Chatterji, Mohini M Dickens Dickensiana East Anglian Eliphas Levi's Writings Ellis, W. A Forlong, Major-General J. G. E. Forty Vezirs Folk-Songs Geometrical Tsychology George, G. M Gibb, E. J. W Greville-Nugent, Hon. Mrs. ... Hints to Collectors Hubbe-Schleiden, J. U Heptameron Home, E; H Hartmann, F Hermes Illumination Ingram, John H incidents in lAfe of S. P. Blavatsky Johnson, C. P Jones, Ebenezer Jones, Sumner Judge, W. Q Jennings, Hargrave Keightley, B Kitton, F. G Kent, Charles Kahala Denudata Kingsford, Mrs. Anna, M.D. Lamb Leech Linton, W. J Lilly Leolinus Siluriensis 17 11 14 19 20 25 25 26 31 35 36 5 38 18 30 36 12 13 23 31 7 13 18 ... 5, 6 ... 35 ... 10 ... 11 10,16 ... 33 ... 15 ... 21 ... 26 ... 5, 6 ... 24 ... 24 ... S3 ... 37 ... 36 13, 30, 38 ... 7 ... 27 32,33 ... 34 ... 13 ... 24 ... 26 ... 17 PAGE Low Dovin 27 Literature of Occultism and Arehceology 29 Leicester 32 Marchant, W. T 9 Martinengo-Cesaresco, Countess ... 23 Mathers, S. L. M 27 Maitland, E 15 Machen, A 10 Magic ... 10 Mountavnecring Below the Snow-Li/ae ... 10 Mysteries o/ Magic 30 Navy 36 Nesfield, H. W ... 31 J^'ort/iamptonsMre Notes and Queries ... 30 Occult World Phenomena, 16 01cott,H. S. ... • 28 Occultitm and Archosology 29 "Phiz" PTiysiognomy Primitive Symbolism Palmistry Panton, J. E Paracelsit* Pope Joan Praise o/ .Ale Poe Paterson, M. Pat7i(T?ie) Phallicism Raven (The) Kegular PicHe (A) ... Rideal, C. F Jitt^ing of Gudrun Salem Ben Uzair Sphinx Sultan Storlc Sheykh-Zada Swinburne, A. C Sinnett, A. P Sweeting, W. D Spiritual Sermeneutics ... Sea Songs and River Rhymes Shepherd, E. H Swinburne Bibliography of Sithron Scott, J. G Studies of Sensation and Event Serjeant, W. C. Eldon ... 15, 16, 11, 19, ... 30 ... 8 ... 12 ... 14 ... 14 ... 16 ... 35 ... 9 11,21 ... 10 ... 33 ... 37 ... 21 ... 31 ... 17 ... 18 ... 12 ... 35 ... 3 ... 13 ... 36 26,36 ... 30 ... 32 ... 34 24,34 ... 4 ... 12 ... 22 ... 24 ... 26 Theosophy, Religion, and Occult Science 28 Tobacco Talk 8 Theosophist {Tlie) 21 Two Tramps 27 Transactions L. L. T. S 36 Thackeray Tamerlane United Falley of Sorefc Virgin of the World Walford's Antiquarian Westropp, H. M. ... Walford, E. Wellerisms White, C. H. Evelyn Waite, A. E. Word for the Navy ... 3, 6, 25 ... 11 ... 15 7 ... 33 ... 20 ... 12 ... 20 ... 7 ... 18 ... 30 ... 36 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is due on the date indicated below, or at the expiration of a definite period after the date of borrowing, as provided by the rules of the Library or by special ar- rangement with the Librarian in charge. DATE BORROWED DATE DUE DATE BORROWED DATE DUE s :P 1 1944 C28(239)M100 ia47.P21 Hartmann Paracelsus 112 55 cop.l mi