Paracelsus, the devil’s doctor
Motto: 
Alterius non sit qui suus esse potest
(Let no man belong to another who can belong to himself)
Paracelsus (1493-1541), born Theophrast von Hohenheim in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, is sometimes called the father of toxicology. A pioneer in the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine, he was the one who named the element zinc (from "zinke" German for pointy). An alchemist (initiated by Henry Cornelius Agrippa), he worked off the hermetic view of health centered around the harmony between the microcosm, Man and the macrocosm, Nature. Despite the risk, he investigated the plague firsthand. He also came up with a chemical diagnosis of madness and was the one who invented the Alphabet of the Magi used for engraving angelic names on talismans. Though a pacifist, he always had a huge broadsword at his side, even when he slept. His search for occult knowledge took him through Germany, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, China, to Constantinople, where an Arabian adept supposedly imparted Paracelsus with the supreme secret of a the alkahest, a hypothetical universal dissolvent. Another story has it that the devil gave him a white horse, but considering the historical Paracelsus died in a White Horse Inn makes the similarity questionable. A new book by Phillip Ball, Devil’s Doctor, explores the life of this mysterious figure. Today, Paracelsus still crops up in Harry Potter books.
Ragged-trousered alchemist, Guardian.uk.com
Devil’s Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science, Phillip Ball
thanks
Comment by buddha statue — September 10, 2009 @ 3:22 am