divellicate: to tear apart, break off
dross: the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal
effluvium (pl., effluvia): something especially subtle and invisible that flows out or issues forth
endogenous: growing from or on the inside
eremetic: like a hermit or recluse
esurient: hungry, voracious, greedy
eunuch: a castrated man; Paracelsus was rumored to be one; he expressed little or no interest in women throughout his life
fabulist: one who makes fables; a storyteller, or one who invents falsehoods
famulus: a private secretary or attendant, especially for a scholar or magician
febrile: of or pertaining to fever
florin: an old gold coin first struck at Florence in 1252 weighing about 54 grams and noted for the purity of its gold
frangible: capable of being broken
fructify: to bear fruit, become fruitful
fustiness: mustiness; a stale-smelling state
Galen (c. 129–199 A.D.): Greek physician; considered founder of experimental physiology; last great scientist of antiquity, courtier of rank, and the fashionable doctor of imperial Rome; demonstrated that arteries carry blood, not air; believed in the theory of the four humors of the body; of his many theories, about one hundred are extant; his works were accepted for many centuries as authoritative in Greek, Roman, and Arabic medical practice; Paracelsus violently attacked Galen’s ideas because he believed that absolute acceptance of them was hindering medical progress
gasconade: a boast or a bluster
geomant: one who practices divination by means of configurations of earth or by means of figures derived from even or odd numbers of dots jotted down hastily at random
gnostic: an adherent of Gnosticism, the thought and practice of any of various cults of late pre-Christian and early Christian centuries; Gnosticism was declared heretical by the Church and chiefly distinguished by the pretension to mystic and esoteric religious insights and by emphasis on knowledge rather than faith
grimoire: a grammar book of witchcraft, or a magician’s manual for invoking demons and spirits of the dead
Hermes Trismegistus: Hermes thrice greatest, a Greek version of the Egyptian god Thoth, identified as founder of occult science, first noted in 150 B.C.
hermetic: relating to or dealing with occult science, especially alchemy from Hermes Trismegistus
hermeticism: a system that incorporates both theory and magical practice, with the latter presented as natural and therefore good magic, in contrast to the evil magic of sorcery or witchcraft
homunculus: a “little man”; Paracelsus was said to have fathered a “little man” without the aid of a woman
ichor: the ethereal fluid, not blood, supposed to flow in the veins of the gods; a watery, acrid discharge from certain wounds and sores
insalubrity (pl., insalubrities): something not conducive to health
joskin: a bumpkin
kabbalists (or cabbalists): followers of Jewish Neoplatonism of the Middle Ages; originated in Gnosticism and the apocalyptic writings of the first century A.D.; popular during Paracelsus’s time
kickshaw: something dainty or elegant, but unsubstantial, frivolous
Kunckel von Löwenstjern, Johann (1630?–1702): German chemist who discovered processes for making artificial ruby glass and preparing phosphorus; studied putrefaction, fermentation, and the nature of salts
lapidify: to become or to make into stone
laudanum: a tincture of opium
legerdemain: sleight of hand; jugglery; conjuring tricks
limbus: a border or an edge
lincture: a syrupy medicine to be licked up with the tongue
lodestone: an imaginary stone; a magnetic oxide of iron; a piece of this used as a magnet; something that attracts
luculent: full of light, bright, shining
Lull (Llull), Ramon (c. 1235–1316): Catalan mystic, philosopher, poet, and missionary; reared at court of Majorca, where he wrote troubadour poetry; experienced mystical visions (c. 1263), abandoned courtly life, and devoted himself to philosophy and missionary work; traveled throughout Asia Minor and North Africa attempting to convert Muslims; according to legend, he was stoned to death at Bougie; as a philosopher, he was influenced by Neoplatonic Augustinianism and opposed Averroism; his chief work, Ars magna, set out his theosophical attempt to encompass all knowledge in a Neoplatonic schema and to resolve all religious differences and establish a tranquil world
magi (sing., magus): Zoroastrian priests or members of a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Medes and Persians, whose doctrines included belief in astrology
magisterium: the Church’s teaching power or function
malapert: presumptuous, impudent, saucy
mandrake: a Mediterranean herb with whitish or purple flowers having emetic and narcotic properties; with its forked root, it resembles the human form
manumit: to release from slavery; to set free
marcasites: crystallized forms of iron pyrites used in the eighteenth century for ornaments
mucor: a fungus belonging or allied to the genus Mucor, originally including all molds
nacreous: consisting of or resembling mother-of-pearl
Nilotic: of or relating to the Nile or the peoples of the Nile basin
nitre: a supposed nitrous substance or element occurring especially diffused through the air
numinous: relating to a spirit believed by animists to inhabit a natural object or phenomenon; of or relating to a dynamic or creative force or an unseen but majestic presence that inspires both dread and fascination and constitutes the nonrational element characteristic of vital religion
obnubilate: to make cloudy of mind; to cover or obscure by or as if by clouds
ontogeny: the history or science of the development of the individual
orpiment: a bright yellow mineral substance, the trisulfide of arsenic, also called yellow arsenic, naturally occurring in soft masses resembling gold in color; also known as king’s gold
Ourobouros: the tail-eating serpent, a symbol of the unity of matter
palliative: something that lessens, abates, or eases without curing
phial: a vessel for holding liquids; a small glass bottle, especially for liquid medicine
philosopher’s stone: an imaginary stone, substance, or chemical preparation believed to have the power of transmuting the baser metals into gold; much sought after by alchemists
phlogiston: the hypothetical principle of fire or inflammability regarded by the early chemists as a material substance
piebald: of different colors, or composed of incongruent parts
pillory: a wooden framework erected on a post or pillar, having holes through which the head and hands of an offender were thrust, in which state the offender was exposed to public ridicule and molestation
Pliny the Elder (23–79 A.D.): Roman naturalist, revered encyclopedist of antiquity; known today as an uncritical collector of factual reports and tall tales
Plotinus (205–270 A.D.): chief exponent of Neoplatonism; philosopher of Roman parentage born in Egypt
porphyry: a beautiful and very hard rock quarried anciently in Egypt, composed of crystals of white or red feldspar embedded in a fine red groundmass
pseudologue: a pathological liar
puissant: of great force or vigor
putrescent: becoming putrid
Quintum Esse (quintessence): the first principle of Paracelsus’s doctrine; involves the extraction of the quintessence, or philosophical mercury, from every material body; if the quintessence were drawn from each animal, plant, and mineral, the combined result would equal the universal spirit, or “astral body” in human beings, and a draught of the extract would renew youth
rachitic: relating t
o or affected by rickets
refulgence: the quality of shining with, or reflecting, a brilliant light; radiant, resplendent, gleaming
rennet: a mass of curdled milk found in the stomach of an unweaned calf or other animal and used to curdle milk for cheese making; anything used to curdle milk
Rhases, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, or Razi (c. 865–923 or 935 A.D.): Persian physician and philosopher considered the greatest physician of the Islamic world; chief physician of hospitals in Rayy and Baghdad; believed in atomist theory of nature; wrote numerous treatises in medicine, especially a survey of Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medicine and a treatise on smallpox and measles, on philosophy, and on alchemy; some of his works were translated into Latin and had great influence on medical science in the Middle Ages
roil: to roam or to agitate
rubefaction: the process of heating to redness
salammoniac: ammonium chloride
sapient (sapientia): wisdom; Paracelsus used the term to mean science and philosophy; he believed that knowledge is attained by experience, that wisdom lies hidden in all beings
scolopendra: a fabulous sea fish; a centipede or millipede
scrivener: professional penman; scribe, copyist
scrofulous: afflicted with swellings of the lymph glands of the neck
sectarian: an adherent of a particular religious sect; confined to the limits of one religious group; limited in character or scope
secundine: afterbirth; in botany, second of two coats or integuments of an ovule
selenite: a stone described by ancient writers, now considered a mineral; a moonstone supposed to wax or wane with the moon
seraphic: resembling a seraphim, which in biblical use is a six-winged living creature with hands and feet and a presumably human voice; seen in Isaiah’s vision as hovering above the throne of God; by Christian interpreters, the highest class of angels of the nine orders; from the Hebrew root word meaning “to burn,” seraphim are specially distinguished by their fervor of love and by the symbolic use of red as the color appropriate to them in artistic representations
sextile: astrologically, the aspect of two heavenly bodies that are 60 degrees (or one-sixth part of the zodiac) distant from each other
sidereal body: “astral body”; a part of the human body, consisting of fire and air, that receives the impressions of “the stars” and is responsible for the body’s vital motions
sigil: a sign, word, or device of supposed occult power in astrology or magic
simulacrum (pl., simulacra): an image (of a god, etc.) to which honor or worship is rendered
sophistry: reasoning that is deceptive
sophists: pseudoscientists who lead the public astray by many ingenious words, and especially physicians who deceive their patients
spagyri (adj., spagyric): alchemists
stibnite: native trisulfide of antimony; “gray antimony,” the most common ore of the metal
sublimation: the chemical action or process of converting a solid substance by means of heat into vapor, which resolidifies on cooling
sublunary: existing or situated beneath the moon; belonging to this world, earthly
succubus (pl., succubi): a demon in female form supposed to have carnal intercourse with men in their sleep; a demon, an evil spirit
talisman: a stone, a ring, or another object engraved with figures or characters to which are attributed the occult powers of the planetary influences and celestial configurations under which it was made; usually worn as an amulet to avert evil from, or bring fortune to, the wearer; also used medicinally to impart healing virtue; hence, any object held to be endowed with magic virtue, a charm
tapster: one employed to dispatch liquors in a barroom
taradiddle: a colloquial euphemism for a lie or fib
telluric: of or relating to the earth; something containing tellurium, a semimetallic element related to sulfur and selenium
tenebrous: shut off from the light or hard to understand; dark, murky
terraqueous: consisting of, or formed of, land and water; living in land and water, as a plant
Thales (625–547 B.C.): Greek philosopher and scientist. One of the seven wise men of Greece; gained fame in his own day by predicting an eclipse of the sun for May 28, 585 B.C.; considered the father of Greek philosophy by Aristotle; taught that water, or moisture, was the one element from which the world was formed
thaumaturgic: performing miracles
theriac: an antidote to poison, especially to the bite of a venomous snake
tincture: a dye; any fluid that can bring about a transmutation; also, a fluid occult remedy
trine: threefold, triple; astrologically denoting the aspect of two heavenly bodies that are a third part of the zodiac (i.e., 120 degrees) distant from each other; figuratively: favorable or benign
turbith: a mineral, basic sulfate of mercury
turgid: swollen, distended, puffed out; in reference to language: inflated, grandiloquent, pompous, bombastic
Ultima Thule: ancient Greek or Latin name for a land six days’ sail north of Britain, which the Greek historian Polybius (c. 200–118 B.C.) supposed to be the most northerly region of the world; the extreme limit of travel and discovery; the highest or uttermost point or degree attained or attainable
umbratile: carried on in seclusion, or of an insubstantial nature
unction: the action of anointing with oil as a religious rite or symbol
unguent: an ointment or a salve
velleity: the fact or quality of merely willing, wishing, or desiring without any effort or advance toward action or realization
venery: pursuit of, or indulgence in, sexual pleasures
vermifuge: serving to destroy or expel parasitic worms, especially of the intestine
Villa Nova, Arnold di (c. 1235–1312): Catalan physician, astrologer, alchemist; taught at Barcelona, Montpellier, Paris; counselor to Pope Clement V; discovered poisonous property of carbon monoxide and of decayed meat
vitreous: related to or consisting of glass
vitriol: one or another of various native or artificial sulfates of metals used in the arts or medicinally, especially iron sulfate
Whitsunday: White Sunday, probably from the custom of wearing white robes by the newly baptized