Renaissance magic
Paracelsus
Theophrastus von Hohenheim
Physician and medical reformer who transformed alchemy from a metallurgical caricature into an expansive theory of medicine, cosmos and spiritual nature.
- Dates
- 1493 – 24 September 1541
- Dating
- documented dates
- Born
- Switzerland
- Died
- Salzburg
The life
He attacked much of university medicine and emphasised experience, chemicals, and a universe filled with correspondences between macrocosm and microcosm.
Place in the tradition
Everything later esotericism assumes about the human being as a small cosmos runs through him.
a note on the record
History and later legend
A large body of magical, theological and alchemical text was published under his name after his death, and distinguishing authentic Paracelsian writing from later pseudo-Paracelsian literature can be difficult.
the written record
Principal works
-
c. 1529–30
Paragranum
Sets out the foundations of medicine: philosophy, astronomy and astrology, alchemy, and virtue.
-
c. 1531
Opus Paramirum
Develops his distinctive medical and alchemical understanding of disease.