Customer Reviews

Paracelsus

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Overall, this is a decent effort. The long introductory essay puts Paracelsus' life and works in perspective. And the many wood-block reprints from the general period are interesting--if a bit distracting, since they are interpolations not drawn by Paracelsus himself and not appearing in the original works. But certainly, after hearing so much about Paracelsus from various readings in alchemy (including Jung, who wrote the Preface here), I quite enjoyed reading Paracelsus himself. The downside is that this primer is composed of short paragraphs plucked from all of Paracelsus' published works, shorn of context, then thrust into juxtaposition with whatever else the editor thought fit into the same category. So the readings are jumpy, paragraph by paragraph leaping amongst all 13 or so of Paracelsus' collected works. Many of the most interesting subjects are not covered at all or only thinly, including Paracelsus views on astrology, alchemy, magic and medicine. And much of it is given over to his (largely Christian) theological speculations--even tho' no one reads Paracelsus for his theology. All in all, this primer will whet your appetite for something more substantial. Personally, I can't wait to get a copy of "Archicoxes of Magic" or the A.E. Waite collection. But this book will point you in the right direction.

The main thread of Paracelsus' theology is that man is the "Little Universe" while the Universe is the "Great Being." To Paracelsus, however, this is not just a passing thought or a nice philosophy, but one to be explored, understood, and lived every day.

This selction of works gives a basic overview of Paracelsus' writing and thought in a comprehensive, yet, fairly easy to digest compendium. Edited by Jolande Jocobi for the Princeton "Mythos Series" does a wonderful job splicing together many of Paracelsus' works together in a rather cohesive and streamlined format. The subjects range from the creation of the universe to the practice of the physician to alchemy and art in general. If one is looking for a specific aspect of Paracelsus, this may not be the book to get, however, if one just wants to read or get a trace of his writings, then there is no better book to buy.

The writing is somewhat archaic, however, if one takes the time to understand what is written in the first couple of pages, then one can appreciate the point of view Paracelsus is coming from. In another way of saying this, according to Paracelsus, God and Man are intricately united and there is nothing on this Earth or the Universe that can separate the two. From this understanding Paracelsus stems all his other experiences and revelations.

The introduction by Jacobi is a fairly extensive biography of Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hoenheim called Paracelsus (which means "beyond celsus"). Throughout the book are many engravings from various artists from his books or other various books that pertain to the topic at hand. As stated, the book offers a wide variety of subjects for the reader to chew from which may make this book limited in range as it is a book of "Selected Writings", however, I believe if one is beginning to look into the works of Paracelsus, this might be the best place to start.

history. His volumnous works were a major feat of the 16th century. Both political and spiritual in nature, these voumes covered every topic literaly under the sun, and above it! All from the perspective of the curing physician, his works give a total cosmological overview of the universe all with the purpose of making the doctors craft that much more fruitful, while continually deriding the pompous, indulgent ,ineffective doctors, and berating the drug-dealing, devious, greedy apothacaries and pharmecutical companys of the time. Paracelcus teaches that the art of Astronomy is comprehensive, in that is inclusive of every art in the universe, from the stars to geology, biology, horticulture, meteorology, astrology, and even psycology, all of these under the rubric of Astronomer. Linked to the tradition of Western spiritual alchemists, Paracelsus defines the mastery and depth of the subtle, holistic western mystics, able through great effort to practice in an ignorant and conservative society.

I found this book to be fascinating. Paracelsus seemed way ahead of his time medically. He was against the medicine of humors then current. Paracelsus was against autopsies for studying how the body works, because he felt it to be more important to study the living and their environment, rather than the dead. He championed metallic medicines, and the distillation of natural plants for medicines. His attitude was if something doesn't work as a cure, throw it out, it's not worth keeping just because it's "been written." Paracelsus would study with village healers, and "witches," if they were successful healers. He advocated sensible diets, sleep patterns, exercise and cleanliness. Paracelsus lectured in the vernacular, German, not Latin. He even anticipated the genetic theories of Mendel over three hundred years earlier when he spoke of seeds, not genes, for all the body parts. If all the seeds came from the father you would be an exact duplicate of your father, but you're not because some of the seeds came from your mother.

this is an overview of everything paracelsus thought about. he thought a lot. that is what hes known for. so this antholgy probably spreads itself a little thin, right? yes, now that you mention it. it doesnt contain any of his alchelmical texts or his texts on magic or his texts on medicine...do you understand? i myself was expecting a few alchemical texts or something. instead, it takes exerpts from nearly all of his writings and weaves them together show you how morality relates to medicine, magic, cosmology, alchemy... and delivers it all in clear language along with 150 great medieval illustrations, wood cuts, engravings and whatnots all very nice. a good starting point. but just keep in mind that it lacks actual complete texts. have i made myself clear? barely huh? well pull yourself together. its a great book and it will leave you wanting more.