Paracelsus
| Paracelsus (Theophrastus von Hohenheim) was a Swiss alchemist and astrologer, who played a role in early rosicrucianism and chemistry. His father was a commander of the Order of St John. He was educated at the University of Basel (like Erasmus and later Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Jung) and Ferrara. He introduced the concept of salt, sulfur and mercury, representing the 3 humours and 3 principles of masculine, feminine and androgynous. He studied the work of Trithemius on cryptography and the work of HC Agrippa. |  |
He was the teacher of rosicrucian Heinrich Kunrath (Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom). He influenced German philosopher Jacob Boehme and British Kabbalist Robert Fludd (friend of Johannes Kepler), who published on geomancy (divination through sand).
He worked with opium and wrote a book on syphilis. He introduced mercury poisoning as a cure to syphilis. He defended the use of toxins as medicine with the phrase: only the dose makes the poison. He introduced the alchemical concept of a homunculus ('little man', dream of creating a Golem) and the philosophical egg.
In 1530 he published Paramirum.
Jesuit Pieter Paul Rubens made a portrait of him.
He made predictions about the Endtimes (later interpreted as the Thirty Years' War with Gustav of Sweden as the Lion of the North).
In 1566 A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, Salamanders and on Other Spirits was published posthumously. He categorized elemental beings with the 4 elements (nymphs with water, sylphs with air, pygmies with earth, salamanders with fire) in a Christian cosmology. He described gnomes as elementals of earth.
The goal of the alchemical Frederick and Elizabeth wedding orchestrated by John Dee was to create a Moonchild. John Dee developed the cryptographic Enochian system with 4 elemental tablets.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe based his Dr Faustus on him.
Mary Shelly, the daughter of feminist Mary Wolstonecraft (worked with William Blake) based her Dr Frankenstein (the Modern Prometheus) on Paracelsus.
Franz Hartmann (German Theosophical Society) wrote Life and Doctrine of Paracelsus in 1918.
The Ordo Templi Orientis developed a grade system of 9 grades with the 9th grade as a grade of the homunculus, creating a Magical Child, or Moonchild. From 1942 the OTO was led by Antichrist figure Jack Parsons in Pasadena.
Arthur Edward Waite of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn translated The Hermetic and Alchemic Writings of Paracelsus.
Carl Jung wrote two essays on Paracelsus. Arthur Schnitzler and Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story about him.
Werner Krauss (Jud Suss) played Paracelsus in a movie of GW Pabst (The White Hell of Pitz Palu with Leni Riefenstahl).
The Trinity Test and atom bombs Fat Man and Little Boy of the Manhattan Project (the WW1 and WW2 ritual as another Thirty Years' War) were a reference to Paracelsus.
David Lynch's Eraserhead (Jack Nance=Jack Parsons) contains Homonculus symbolism.
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke wrote Paracelsus: Essential Readings.
died 9/24/1541.
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