Paracelsus: Essential Readings [Paperback]

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Western Esoteric Masters | Publication Date: December 17, 1999

Regarded today as the father of modern medicine, Paracelsus (1493-1541) was in fact much more besides. Natural scientist, philosopher, alchemist, with a deep distrust of orthodoxy and rational thought, he intermixed Christian theology with the Qabalah, believing that magic reveals the invisible influences behind things, bringing heavenly forces down to earth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[This] volume is of particular value to the historian of ideas in making the contribution of Parcelsus available to the general reader and enabling us to see the contemporary relevance of his world-view and the seminal nature of his contributions to the intellectual debates of his time."
- David Lorimer, The Scientific and Medical Network Newsletter

"This new collection will serve a useful purpose for those who wish to introduce Paracelsus in their course on Renaissance and Early Modern science and medicine."
- Allen G. Debus, The University of Chicago, Ambix.

About the Author

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke was educated at Lancing College and the University of Bristol. He gained his Doctorate of Philosophy at Oxford for a thesis in German history, subsequently published as The Occult Roots of Nazism. He is Series Editor of the Essential Readings.

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books; 2 Sub edition (December 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556433166
• ISBN-13: 978-1556433160
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #794,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to Paracelsus, November 5, 2002

By 

Dennis M. Clark (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paracelsus: Essential Readings (Paperback)

Having read Jung's glowing praises of Paracelsus, as well as various accounts of his amazing life, I was very excited to read this book to get a better idea what his actual writings are like. This selection of excerpts is alternately enjoyable and baffling, since Paracelsus was a very complicated thinker with enormous ambitions, and it appears from these excerpts that his reach often exceeds his grasp. He takes an encyclopedic approach to explaining everything about the science of his day as he understood it, completely mingled with his personal theology. The Paracelsian universe is saturated with living and breathing forces, stars influencing everything but in very strange ways that seem to contradict each other, and the inner light of nature leaving signs strewn about everywhere for the enlightened person to interpret. It's rather daunting to read that you really can't just use a particular herb to cure something, because you have to choose the right herb at the right time to fit the current astrological environment as it relates to the person requiring healing. All very heady stuff, and it might be easy to dismiss Paracelsus as a wooly-headed dreamer except for the known historical facts about his rather heroic life, and his reputation for expending great amounts of energy helping the poor.

In summary, the book doesn't (and really couldn't) cover any of the many subjects that concerned Paracelsus in great depth, but it provides a wonderful survey and starting point for additional investigation into this great man's writings.