Who was Paracelsus?
The symbolical name adopted by the greatest Occultist of the middle ages—Philip Bombastes Aureolus Theophrastus von Hohenheim—born
in the canton of Zurich in 1493. He was the cleverest physician of his age, and the most renowned for curing almost any illness by
the power of talismans prepared by himself. He never had a friend, but was surrounded by enemies, the most bitter of whom were the
Churchmen and their party. That he was accused of being in league with the devil stands to reason, nor is it to be wondered at that
finally he was murdered by some unknown foe, at the early age of forty-eight. He died at Salzburg, leaving a number of works behind him,
which are to this day greatly valued by the Kabbalists and Occultists. Many of his utterances have proved prophetic. He was a clairvoyant
of great powers, one of the most learned and erudite philosophers and mystics, and a distinguished Alchemist. Physics is indebted to him
for the discovery of nitrogen gas, or Azote.
- {To Paracelsus, father of modern chemistry, as he has been called, weaken the discovery of many
Chemical preparations and their application to the art of healing. As a doctor, he acquired universal popularity. Here is one of his
maxims: "If you love your neighbor, don't say: nothing needs to be done in your case; first you must say: I can help you without
know how. But it is not necessary to undertake the cures only with the opposite means, as the ancients did, but
that it must also be done using similar means; not only contrary, but also similia
similibus ". He performed a chair at the University of Basel; he wrote several very important works, full
of deep thoughts and very bright ideas, among which occult Philosophy deserve special mention,
From Natura Rerum; From Generatione Hominis, etc. Also notable are his works on the arching, of the stone
philosophical, alkaest, homunculi, etc., etc. His extraordinary knowledge and wonderful works attracted
on him the envy and the rage of numerous adversaries, who used slander and attributed Paracelsus
Apocryphal books and writings to denigrate him. He died poor, then, endowed with high altruistic feelings,
He shared his assets with the poor.] (G.T. H.P.B.)
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