The 16th-century Swiss alchemist Paracelsus ( Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim ) believed in the existence of alkahest, which he thought to be an undiscovered element from which all other elements ( earth, fire, water, air ) were simply derivative forms.

Paracelsus believed in the Greek concept of the four elements, but he also introduced the idea that, on another level, the cosmos is fashioned from three spiritual substances: the tria prima of mercury, sulfur, and salt.

The name is believed to have been invented by Paracelsus from Switzerland, who modelled it on similar words taken from Arabic, such as ‘ alkali ’.

The Romans believed the fumes produced by burning castoreum could induce an abortion ; Paracelsus thought it could be used in the treatment of epilepsy ; and medieval beekeepers used it to increase honey production.

became the tri prima of the Swiss alchemist Paracelsus, who reasoned that Aristotle ’ s four element theory appeared in bodies as three principles.

The element was probably named by the alchemist Paracelsus after the German word Zinke.

Swiss alchemist Paracelsus ( 1493 – 1541 ) uses chaos synonymously with element ( because the primeval chaos is imagined as a formless congestion of all elements ).

Paracelsus thus identifies Earth as " the chaos of the gnomi ", i. e., the element of the gnomes, through which these spirits move unobstructed as fish do through water, or birds through air.

Paracelsus ( 1493 – 1541 ), for example, rejected the 4-elemental theory, and with only a vague understanding of his chemicals and medicines formed a hybrid of alchemy and science in what was to be called iatrochemistry.

Outside the Italian Renaissance, yet another major current of esotericism was initiated by Paracelsus, who combined alchemical and astrological themes ( among others ) into a complex body of doctrines.

A similar figure was the Swiss magician known as Paracelsus ( 1493 – 1541 ), who published Of the Supreme Mysteries of Nature in which he emphasised the distinction between good and bad magic.

The use of Paracelsus ' laudanum was introduced to Western medicine in 1527, when Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, better known by the name Paracelsus, returned from his wanderings in Arabia with a famous sword, within the pommel of which he kept " Stones of Immortality " compounded from opium thebaicum, citrus juice, and " quintessence of gold.

" The name " Paracelsus " was a pseudonym signifying him the equal or better of Aulus Cornelius Celsus, whose text, which described the use of opium or a similar preparation, had recently been translated and reintroduced to medieval Europe.

Laudanum was originally the sixteenth-century term for a medicine associated with a particular physician that was widely well-regarded, but became standardized as " tincture of opium ," a solution of opium in ethanol, which Paracelsus has been credited with developing.

During his lifetime, Paracelsus was viewed as an adventurer who challenged the theories and mercenary motives of contemporary medicine with dangerous chemical therapies, but his therapies marked a turning point in Western medicine.

The first case of DID was thought to be described by Paracelsus in 1646.

Having experimented with various opium concoctions, Paracelsus came across a specific tincture of opium that was of considerable use in reducing pain.

Indeed, Paracelsus ' laudanum was strikingly different from the standard laudanum of the 17th century and beyond.

Paracelsus ( born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 11 November or 17 December 1493 – 24 September 1541 ) was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist.

Paracelsus was born and raised in the village of Einsiedeln in Switzerland.

Astrology was a very important part of Paracelsus ' medicine, and he was a practicing astrologer — as were many of the university-trained physicians working at this time in Europe.

Paracelsus was also responsible for the creation of laudanum, an opium tincture very common until the 19th century.

Paracelsus viewed the universe as one coherent organism pervaded by a uniting lifegiving spirit, and this in its entirety, Man included, was ' God '.

Paracelsus supplemented and challenged this view with his beliefs that illness was the result of the body being attacked by outside agents.

* Arthur Edward Waite, member and later head of the Golden Dawn, wrote the Hermetic Museum and later the Hermetic Museum Restored and Enlarged and did the editing for Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus that was published as a two-volume set.

This paradigm was highly influential in Medieval natural philosophy, and Paracelsus drew a range of mythological beings into this paradigm by identifying them as belonging to one of the four elemental types.

The word " synvovia " or " sinovia " was coined by Paracelsus, and may have been derived from the Greek word " syn " (" with ") and the Latin word " ovum " (" egg ") because the synovial fluid in joints that have a cavity between the bearing surfaces is similar to egg white.

Kurt Peters speculates that the curious name opodeldoc was concocted by Paracelsus from syllables from the words " opoponax, bdellium, and aristolochia.

Albertus is also mentioned, along with Agrippa and Paracelsus, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in which his writings influence a young Victor Frankenstein.

In 1459 Pope Pius II endowed the University of Basel where such notables as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Paracelsus later taught.

Paracelsus saw these principles as fundamental, and justified them by recourse to the description of how wood burns in fire.

The archangel of fire is Michael, the angel is Aral, the ruler is Seraph, the king is Djin, and the fire elementals ( following Paracelsus ) are called salamanders.

The archangel of air is Raphael, the angel is Chassan, the ruler is Aral, the king is Paralda, and the air elementals ( following Paracelsus ) are called sylphs.

The archangel of earth is Uriel, the angel is Phorlakh, the ruler is Kerub, the king is Ghob, and the earth elementals ( following Paracelsus ) are called gnomes.

The more extreme liberal movements began to challenge the role of authority in medicine, as exemplified by Paracelsus ' symbolically burning the works of Avicenna and Galen at his medical school in Basle.

Galenism's final defeat came from a combination of the negativism of Paracelsus and the constructivism of the Italian Renaissance anatomists, such as Vesalius in the 16th century.

A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature.

The word comes from Renaissance Latin gnomus, which first appears in the works of 16th Century Swiss alchemist Paracelsus.

Alternatively, the term may be an original invention of Paracelsus.

Paracelsus uses Gnomi as a synonym of Pygmæi, and classifies them as earth elementals.

The result is a sweeter spirit, and one that may have possessed additional analgesic / intoxicating effects-see Paracelsus.

Other books found in the Harmony Society's library in Economy, include those by the following authors: Christoph Schütz, Gottfried Arnold, Justinus Kerner, Thomas Bromley, Jane Leade, Johann Scheible ( Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses ), Paracelsus, and Georg von Welling, among others.

In 1567, Swiss physician Paracelsus suggested unidentified substance in mined ore ( identified as radon gas in modern times ) caused a wasting disease in miners, and in England, in 1761, John Hill made the first direct link of cancer to chemical substances by noting that excessive use of snuff may cause nasal cancer.

The origins of the movement can be found in Medieval astrology and alchemy, such as the writings of Paracelsus, in Renaissance interests in Hermeticism, in 18th century mysticism, such as that of Emanuel Swedenborg, and in beliefs in animal magnetism espoused by Franz Mesmer.

The Canon of Medicine, the standard medical textbook that Paracelsus burned in a public bonfire three weeks after being appointed professor at the University of Basel, also described the use of opium, though many Latin translations were of poor quality.