V. MAGIC.

81. De divinibus operibus et secretis
naturae.
82. De sagis earumque operibus.
83. De Daemonicis et Obsessis.
84. De somniis.
85. De sanguine ultra mortem.
86. De animabis hominum post mortem
apparentibus.
87. De virtute imaginativa.
88. De characteribus.
89. De Homunculis et Monstris.
90. De Philosophia occulta.
91. De Imaginationibus.
Autographs.
MS. of Montanus.
73 Letters to the Athenians. 73 Anatomy. 74 Doctrine of the Pi oducts and Fruits of the Four Elements. 76 On the Generation of Man. 73 Meteors. 77 More about Meteors. 78 Third Book on Meteors. 78 The Generation of Metals. 8llNatural (Thermal) Springs. 81 The Divine Works and Secrets of Nature. 83 Sorcerers and Witches and their Arts. 83 Devils and Obsessions. 84 Dreams. 84 The State of the Blood after Death. 88 Souls of Men appearing after Death. 88 Characters. 86 Ilomunculi and Monsters. 90 Occult Philosophy. 81 Imaginations.
36
PARACELSUS.
Other
Manuscripts.
92. Pkilosopkia Paracelsi.
93. Yom Fundamente und Uraprung
der Weislieit und Kuenste.
94. Fragmenta.
95. Pliilosophia sagax.
96. Erklaerung der ganzen Astronomie. (MS. of Montanus.)
97. Practica in Scientiam Divinationis.
98. Erklaerung der natuerlicken As¬
tronomie.
99. Fragmenta.
100. Das Buck Azotk seu de ligno Vitae.
101. Arckidoxos Magicae (seven books).
102. Auslegung von 30 magiscken Figuren. (Autograph.)
103. Prognostication zukuenftiger Gesckickten auf 24 Jakre.
(Print.)
> Autographs.
j” | Manuscripts.
104.
105.
106.
Yaticinium Tkeopkrasti. Yerbesserte Auslegung Tkeopkrasti
a
MS. of Montanus.
Fasciculus Prognosticationum Astrologicarum.
95 The Philosophy of Paracelsus. 95 The Foundation and Origin of Wisdom and Arts. 94 Fragments. 06 Critical Philosophy. 96 Explanation of Astron¬ omy. 97 Instructions in the Science of Divination. 98 Natural Astronomy. 99 Fragments. 190 The Book Azoth, or the Tree of Life. 101 Fundamental Doctrines of Magic. 109 Explanation of Thirty Magic Figures. 103 Prophecies for Twenty-four Years. 104 The Predictions of Theophrast. 106 Explanations. 10
n. EXPLANATIONS OF TEEMS USED BY PAEACELSUS.
Including some other terms frequently used by 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 dream¬ ers.”— H. P. Blavatsky : Isis Unveiled, vol. i.
A.
Abessi, or Kebis. — Kef use ; dead matter ; excrementitious substances.
Adech. — The inner (spiritual) man ; the lord of thought and imagination, forming subjectively all things in his mind, which the exterior (material) man may objectively repro¬ duce. Either of the two acts according to his nature, the invisible in an invisible, and the visible one in a visi¬ ble manner, but both act correspondingly. The outer man may act what the inner man thinks, but think¬ ing 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 impor tance to his own spiritual development than to others who may be affected by his acts, but less by his thoughts.
Admlsural. — Earth (literally and allegorically).
3S
PARACELSUS.
Adrop, Azane, or Azar. — “ The Philosopher’s Stone.” This is not a stone in the usual sense of that term, but an alle¬ gorical expression, meaning the principle of wisdom upon which the 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. It is the Christ in man ; divine love substantialized. It is the light of the world ; the very essence of that of which the world has been created ; it is not mere spirit but substantial ; for in the body of man is contained the greatest of all mysteries.
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.1
Aothnici. — 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 stances.” 5
A’kasa. — An Eastern term. Living primordial substance, corresponding to the conception of some form of cosmic ether pervading the solar system. Everything visible is, so to say, condensed A’kasa, having become visible by changing its supra-etliereal state into a concentrated and tangible form, and everything in nature may bo resolved again into A’kasa, and be made invisible, by changing the attractive power that held its atoms together into re¬ pulsion ; but there is a tendency in the atoms that have once constituted a form, to rush together again in the
1 It is an element in the life of the " great snake ” Vasuld, that according to Hindu mythology encircles the world, and by whose movements earthquakes may be produced.
a They are the Devas of lire in India, and bulls were sometimes sacrificed to them.
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS.
39
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.
Alcahert. — An element which dissolves all metals, and by which all terrestrial bodies may be reduced into their Ens primum, 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 magic power of the free 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 de¬ composed and recomposed (as is done in chemistry), but by which their essential nature may be changed and raised higher, or be transmuted into each other. Chem¬ istry deals with dead matter alone, but Alchemy uses life as a factor. Everything is of a threefold nature, of which its material and objective form is its lowest manifesta¬ tion. 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 em¬ ploying 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 posses¬ sion 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 purifi¬ cation of the mind, thought, and will, the ennobling of all the faculties of the soul. In its lowest aspect it
40
PARACELSUS.
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. True Alchemy is an exercise of the magic power of the free spiritual will of man and can therefore not be prac¬ tised by anybody except by him who has been re-born in the spirit.
Alcol. — The substance of a body free from all earthly mat¬ ter; its ethereal or astral form.
Aluech. — The pure spiritual body (the Atrna).
Aniadus. — The spiritual activity of things.
Aniadum. — The spiritual (re-born) man ; the activity of man’s spirit in his mortal body ; the Seat of Spiritual Con¬ sciousness.
Aniada. — The activities that are caused by astral influences, celestial powers ; the activity of imagination and phantasy.
Anyodei. — 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 cor¬ responds to the conception of Devaclian.
Aquastor. — A being created by the power of the imagination — i. e. , by a concentration of thought upon the A’kasa by which au ethereal form may be created (Elementals, Succubi and Incubi, Vampires, &c.). Such imaginary but nevertheless real forms may obtain life from the per¬ son by whose imagination they are created and under certain circumstances they may even become visible and tangible.
Archates, or Archalles. — The element of the mineral kingdom.
Archaeus — The formative power of Nature, which divides the elements and forms them into organic parts. It is the principle of life ; the power which contains the essence of life and character of everything.
Ares. — The spiritual principle ; the cause of the specific character of each thing.
Astral Light. — The same as the Archaeus. A universal and
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS.
41
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 mem¬ ory 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 past events. It exists uniformly throughout the interplane¬ tary 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 impressions made upon the astral aura of the cosmos, and thereby to “ read in the Astral Light.” It forms the medium for the trans¬ mission 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 charac¬ teristics that emanating aura is milk white ; but in the adult there is always upon this fundamental coloiir an¬ other one, such as blue, green, yellow, red, dark-red, and even black. Bvsry 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.
Astrum. — This term is frequently used by Paracelsus, and means the same as Astral Light, or the special sphere of mind belonging 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 wick-
42
PARACELSUS.
edness ; a subjective condition ; the antitype of Devaclian 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 apparitions may be seen by the clairvoyant. Berillistica ars : The 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 detracting the atten¬ tion from external and sensual things, the inner man is made conscious and receptive for its subjective im¬ pressions.
Bruta. — Astral force manifested in animals ; second sight in animals ; power of animals to discover instinctively poi¬ sonous or curative medicines, &c.
c.
Caballi, Cabales, 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 in¬ telligent 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 at¬ traction (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
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS.
43
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.
Chaouantia.— 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 impurities 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 lat¬ ter to produce a new organism.
Corpus Invisible. — The invisible body ; the animal soul (Kama rupa) ; the medium between material forms and the spiritual principle ; a substantial, ethereal, but under ordi¬ nary circumstances 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.
D.
Deeses. — An occult exhalation of 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 happi¬ ness of the higher principles of the soul after the death of the body. (See Antodei.) It corresponds to the idea of Heaven or paradise, 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.
Divinatio. — The act of foreseeing future events by means of the soul’s own light ; prophecy.
44
PARACELSUS.
Divertellum. — The matrix of the elements, from which the latter generated.1
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.
Electrum magicum. — A composition of seven metals, com¬ pounded according to certain rules and planetary influ¬ ences ; a preparation of great magic power, of which magic rings, mirrors, and many other things may be made.
Element als. — Spirits of nature. Substantial but (for us) in¬ visible 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 charac¬ ters differ widely. They represent in their natures all states of feeling. Some are of a beneficial and others of a malicious nature.
Elementaries. — 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 elementaries have under normal condi¬ tions no consciousness of their own ; but they may receive vitality from a mediumistic person, and thereby for a few minutes be, so to say, galvanized back into life and (arti¬ ficial) consciousness, when they may speak and act and apparently remember things as they did during life.
1 For insiance, each metal has its elementary matrix in which it grows. Mines of gold, silver, Ac., become exhausted, and after centuries (or millen¬ niums) they may he 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 OF TERMS.
45
They are very often observed by Elementals, who use them as masks to represent deceased persons and to mis¬ lead 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 consciousness of their own as long as the division of princiiDles has not taken place.1 These are the most dangerous.
Elementum. — The invisible element or basic principle of all substances 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.
Evestrum. — The Astral body (Doppelgaenger) of Man ; his conscious 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 con¬ scious of external things, the more is the Astral body stu¬ pefied ; the sleep of the body is the awakening of the Evestrum. During that state it may comnmnicate 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.
Erodinium. — 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 : 1. Dreams that re¬ sult from physiological conditions ; 2. Dreams that re¬ sult from psychological conditions and astral influences ; 3. Dreams that are caused by spiritual agency. Only the
1 This division takes place in consequence of the opposite attraction of mat¬ ter and spirit. After it is accomplished, the astral body will be dissolved into its elements, and the spirit enter into the spiritual state. See A. P. Sinnett: Esoteric Buddhism.
46
PARACELSUS.
latter are worthy of great consideration, although the for¬ mer 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.
F.
Firmament. — That which remains firm when the elementary body is disrupted or dissolved. The soul — sphere of the Macrocosmos, respectively that of the Microcosmos.
Flagae. — Spirits knowing the secrets of man ; familiar spir¬ its ; spirits that may be seen in mirrors and reveal secret things.
G.
Gamathei, or Gamaheu. — Stones with magic characters and pictures, possessing powers received from astral influ¬ ences. They may be made by art, or in a natural man¬ ner. Amulets ; charms.
Gigantes. — Elementals having the human form, but of su¬ perhuman size. They live like men, and are mortal, though invisible under ordinary circumstances.
Gnomi, Pygmaei, Cubitali. — Little Elementals having the human form and the power to extend their form. They live in the element of the earth, in the interior of the earth’s surface, in houses and dwellings constructed by themselves.
H.
Homunculi. — Artifically made human beings, generated from the sperm without the assistance of the female organism.
Homunculi imagunculae. — Images made of wax, clay, wood, etc., that are used in the practice of black magic, witch¬ craft, and sorcery, to stimulate the imagination and to in¬ jure an enemy, or to affect an absent person in an occult manner at a distance.
EXPLAN A TIONS OF TERMS.
47
I.
Ilech primum, Ileias, Ileadus. — The first beginning ; pri¬ mordial power ; causation.
Ilech supeenaturale. — The union of the superior and infe¬ rior astral influences.
Ilech magnum. — The specific healing power of medicine.
Ilech crudum. — The combination of a body out of its three constituent principles, represented by salt, sulphur, and mercury, or body, soul, and spirit ; respectively the ele¬ ments of earth, water, and fire.
Ileiades. — The element of the air; the vital principle.
Iliastek. — The hidden power in Nature, by means of which all things grow and multiply ; primordial matter ; ma¬ teria prima ; A’kasa. Piaster primus : life ; the balsam of Nature. II. secundus: the power of life inherent in matter. II. tendius: the astral power of man. II. quartus : perfection ; the power obtained by the mystic process of squaring the circle.
Imaginatio. — The plastic power of the soul, produced by active consciousness, desire, and will.
Impkessiones. — Effects of a passive imagination, which may give rise to various bodily affections, diseases, malforma¬ tions, stigmata, monsters (hare-lips, acephali, &c.), moles, marks, &c.
Incubus and Succubus. — Male and female parasites growing out of the astral elements of man or woman in conse¬ quence of a lewd imagination. 2. Astral forms of dead persons (Elementaries), being consciously or instinctively attracted to such persons, manifesting their presence in tangible if not visible forms, and having carnal inter¬ course with their victims. 3. The astral bodies of sor¬ cerers and witches visiting men or women for immoral purposes. The Incubus is male, and the Succubus fe¬ male.
48
PARACELSUS.
K.
Kama Looa. — 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 rem¬ nants 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 becoming disintegrated, the division of the higher principles takes place. The lower principles being disposed of, the spirit, with his purified affections and the powers he may have acquired during his earthly existence, enters again into the state of Deva- chan. Kama Loca corresponds to the Hades of the Greeks, and to the purgatory of the Roman Catholic Church — the Limbus. ( See Element aries.)
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 de¬ ceased ; “rapping and tipping spirits,” producing physi¬ cal manifestations.
Limbus (Magnus). — The world as a whole ; the spiritual ma¬ trix 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 employ¬ ing invisible (spiritual) powers to produce visible effects. Will, love, and imagination are magic powers that every¬ one possesses, and he who knows how to develop them and to use them consciously and effectually is a magician.
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS.
49
He who uses them for good purposes practises white magic. He who uses them for selfish or evil purposes is a black magician.1 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 Nec¬ romancy, 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 animal soul, but Magic with the supreme power of the spirit.
Magisterittm. — The medicinal virtue of medicinal substan¬ ces, preserved in a vehicle.
Mangonaria. — A magic power by which heavy bodies may be lifted without any great physical effort ; magical sus¬ pension ; levitation. It is usually accomplished by chang¬ ing their polarity in regard to the attraction (gravity) of the earth.
Matrices. — The vehicles of things ; elementary bases.
Melosixae. — Elemental spirits of water, usually appearing in female forms, but which may also take the forms of fishes or snakes. They have souls, but no spiritual prin¬ ciple ; 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 ani¬ mal forms are assumed. They are also called Undines.
Macrocosmos. — The Universe ; the great world, including all visible and invisible things.
Micbocosmos. — The little world. Usually applied to Man. A smaller world is a microcosmos if compared with a larger one. Our Solar System is a Microcosm in comparison with the Universe, 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
’ See " Magic, White and Black ; or, The Science of Finite and Infinite Life.”
By Dr. F. Hartmann.
4
50
PARACELSUS.
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. Everything con¬ tained in a Microcosm in a state of development is con¬ tained in the Microcosm in germ.
Monstra. — Unnatural — usually invisible — beings, that may spring from corruption or from unnatural sexual connec¬ tion, from the (astral) putrefaction of sperma, or from the effects of a morbid imagination. All such and simi¬ lar 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 per¬ ceive 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, sub¬ jective hallucinations appear objective to the patient ; while during our sleep all that seemed to be objective to us in our waking state disappears and ceases to be objec¬ tive to our consciousness.
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 sep¬ arated from the organism, retain their vital power and their specific action for a while, as is proved by the transplantation of skin, by vaccination, poisoning by in¬ fection 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 for mer, the latter may be affected.1
’ A case is cited in which a plastic operation was performed on a man’s nose by transplanting on it a piece of skin taken from another person. The artifi¬ cial 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
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS.
51
Mysterium magnum. — Original matter ; the matter of all things ; the ultimate essence ; essentiality of the inner nat¬ ure ; 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 Yedantis. According to Jacob Boehme, the Mysterium magnum is God. “ God is the most secret and also the most revealed. The darkness is before the eyes, but the anguish in it is incomprehensible unless the will enters therein and then it will be felt and experienced if the will loses its light.” (Forty Questions, i. 51.) “Those who find the Mysterium magnum will know what it is ; but to the godless it is incomprehensible ; because they have not the will to desire to comprehend it. They are captured by the terrestrial essence so as to render them unable to draw will in the mystery of God.” (Forty Questions, xvii. 13.)
N.
Necrocomica. — Visions of future events in the air. Necromantia. — Sorcery ; witchcraft ; the art of employing the unconscious Elementaries of the dead by infusing life into them, and employing them for evil purposes. Nectromantia. — The perception of the interior (the soul) of things ; psvchometry ; clairvoyance.
Nenufareni. — Elementals of the air. Sylphs.
Nymphae. — Elementals of water-plants.
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. All this is neither surprising nor mysterious, if we remember that all things are nothing but will substance ren¬ dered objective, and that the harmony existing between two parts belonging to the same quality of will does not necessarily cease to exist when the two parts have become separated.
52
PARACELSUS.
o.
Occultism. — The science that deals with things that tran¬ scend sensual perception and are generally little known. It deals especially with effects that cannot be explained by the universally known laws of Nature, but whose causes are still a mystery to those who have not penetrat¬ ed 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 intelligence 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. Occult in fact is that which transcends the power of the externa! senses to perceive it ; but which is fully perceptible and comprehensible to the inner spiritual understanding, after the inner senses of man have become unfolded and active.
P.
Penates or Pennates, Lares hercii, Etesii, Meilichh. — ■ Spirits of the elements of fire, as well as imps, hobgob¬ lins, &c., attached to particular places, haunted houses, &c. They may produce noises, “ physical manifesta¬ tions,” stone throwing, &c. That which exists visibly and tangibly for us in the material world exists also visibly and tangibly in the “firmament (the world of mind) of the elemental spirits of nature.” (Meteorum, Cap. iv.)
Pentaoula. — Plates of metal with magic symbols written or engraved upon them. They are used as charms, amulets, &c., against diseases caused by evil astral influences.
Phantasmata. — Creations of thought; “spirits” living in solitary places (they may be produced by the imagina¬ tion of man and be able to communicate with him) ; hallucinations.
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS.
53
Praesagium. — Omen ; signs of future events. That 'which takes place in the world of effects exists in the world of causes, and may, under certain circumstances, become revealed even before it enters the plane of effects.
Pygmaei. — Spirits of the Elements 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.
R.
It up a. — An Eastern term. Form. Kama rupa, form caused by desire ; Mayavi rupa, illusive form caused by the will and imagination of a person who consciously projects his own astral reflection, as that of any other form.
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.
Somnia. — 1. 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 de¬ sires him to perceive ; 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
54
PARACELSUS.
signify invisible, but nevertheless substantial things— forms, shapes, and essences, elementals and elementaries, shades, ghosts, apparitions, angels, and devils. Spirit means conscious will and in this aspect everything is the expression of its own indwelling spirit ; but spirit without organization or substance is without individuality and like a breath of air. Only after the spirit has become organized as a substantial being within a living form can it exist as an individual being.
Spiritus vitae. — The vital force ; a principle taken from the elements of whatever serves as a nutriment, or which may be imparted by “ magnetism.”
Spiritus 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).
Sylvestres. — Elementals residing in forests ; the Dusii of St. Augustine ; fauns.
Syrenes. — Singing elementals. Melusinae, attracted to and often keeping in the waters ; half women, half fishes.
T.
Theosophia. — Divine self-knowledge. The true understand¬ ing. Supreme wisdom, acquired by practical experience by which it is eminently distinguished from merely spec~ ulative philosophy. Theosophy is not any new creed nor any system of philosophy ; neither can it be taught by one person to another. It is not any knowledge relating to any external thing ; but the self-knowledge of the awakened spirit in man ; i. e., the knowledge by which the god in man knows that he is.
Trarames. — An invisible power that may communicate with man through sounds, voices, ringings of bells, noises, «fcc.
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS.
55
u.
Umbbatiles. — Shadows ; astral appearances becoming visible and sometimes tangible (modern spiritualistic form mani¬ festations) 1 the 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 peculiarities of his organization ; or they may attract them from the sur¬ rounding atmosphere. Their life is borrowed from the medium, and if it were prevented to return to the me¬ dium, the latter would be paralyzed or die. (See Eves- tbum.)
Y.
Vamfibes. — 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 bod¬ ies 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 wTell-known in the south-east of Europe — Moldavia, Serbia, Russia, &c. (Vourdalak).5 The key to the understanding of the nature of vampires is that the sensitive sphere of man, whereof the visible body is so to say nothing more than the kernel of the fruit, extends far beyond the limits of the body ; but a constant interchange takes place between the two. Consequently the body of the dead in whom
1 Ru' and says about them : “ Umbratilia transmutata sunt in hominein con- apectum ab astris et suis aacendibus occultiB oblata, quae uon Bicus lemures ap¬ parent oculis, idque per magiam efflcaciam." — Lexic. Alchemic., p. 466.
2 Well-authenticated cases of vampires may be found in Maximilian Perty’s works, and in II. P. Blavatsky’s “ Isis Unveiled.”
56
PARACELSUS.
still a remnant of the astral life exists, may vampirize the living, and still more may this take place among the living themselves.
X.
Xeni nephidei. — Elemental spirits that give men occult powers over visible matter, and feed on their brains, often causing thereby insanity.1 A great number of physical mediums have become insane.
Y.
Yliaster. — Primordial matter out of which the universe has been formed in the beginning of time.
1 They assist “ physical mediums ” to lift material objects without any visi, ble means.