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principles; others insisted that he really meant the opposite.
80
Ibid., 57 - Although it seems possible that he meant salt, sulphur, and mercury to act as vulcani within the
elements, this was not clear to all of his followers. For them the relationship of the two elemental systems was
difficult to understand; indeed, it was even possible to cite contradictory passages from within the Paracelsian
corpus.
45
many kinds are there of Sulphur, Salt, and so many of Mercury. A different Sulphur in gold,
another in silver, another in iron, another in lead, zinc, etc. 81 Thus there are an almost infinite
number of mercuries, sulphurs, and salts; for it appears that they are as numerous as natural
objects themselves.
But one fact is for certain, and that is that Paracelsus conception of elements and
substances are far different from the conceptions of those in modern chemistry. Referring to the
tria prima, Pagel offers, it is true that all objects have Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury in common.
But these are not simply chemical constituents, in the sense of being particles of different
materials. Each of them rather stands for a principle conferring on matter some faculty or
condition such as structure, corporality and function. 82 Because of this, it is acknowledged that
Paracelsus generalized theory of the elements and principles could not be integrated into
modern chemistry, an analytic and systematic science, but rather stands apart as a still somewhat
medieval philosophical system of experimentation.
Although there is a strong case for a spiritual rather than physical overall interpretation of
Paracelsus elements and principles, we will wait to explore these ideas in the chapters dealing
with the sidereal and celestial aspects of his alchemy. Despite the fact that Paracelsus seems to
alternate between tangible and intangible forms of these elements, as well as emphasize the
abstract notion of their nature as general properties, the case can be made that they do correlate,
at least on some level, with physical, chemical processes. Pagel himself concedes that,
admittedly, sometimes the elements as well as the three principles are used in the traditional
sense as indicating the actual chemical composition of bodies. This is evident where the three
principles are regarded as the actual constituents of the elements as it were the Elements of
81
Paracelsus as quoted by Stillman, 107
82
Pagel, Introduction to Philosophical Medicine, 102-103
46
the elements. 83 Thus we can begin to look at the evidence suggesting a physical interpretation of
his chemistry, and by listening to the words of Paracelsus himself, see how he conceptualized the
phenomenon of the Philosophical Stone.
Paracelsus introduces it thus,
I am neither the author nor the executor of that Philosopher s Stone, which is
differently described by others; still less am I a searcher into it, so that I should speak of
it by hearsay, or from having read about it. Therefore, since I have no certainty thereof, I
will leave that process and pursue my own, as being that which has been found out by me
through use and practical experiment. And I call it the Philosopher s Stone, because it
affects the bodies of men just as their s does, that is, just as they write of their own. Mine,
however, is not prepared according to their process; for that is not what we mean in this
place, nor do we even understand it.
Concerning the entrance of this penetration, you shall also further note, by which
entrance it penetrates the body and all that therein is. For by that penetration it restores
and renews it, not that it removes the body altogether, and introduces a new body in its
place, or that, like that primal matter, it infuses its spermatic Arcanum thereinto, but that
it so purges the old whole body as the skin of the salamander is purged, without any
injury or defect, and the old skin none the less remains in its essence and form. In like
manner, this Philosopher s Stone purifies the heart and all the principal members, as well
as the intestines, the marrow, and whatever else is contained in the body. It does not
allow any disease to germinate in the body; but the gout, the dropsy, the jaundice, the
colic, fly from it, and it expels all the illness which proceed from the four humours; at the
same time, purges bodies and renders them just as though they were newly born& Even
so, all weakness fly before this renovation.84
Paracelsus clearly delineates this Stone to be one of miraculous power, in this case for the
renovation of men, and as such it appears in the common guise of the traditional Elixir of
Life.85 This potency is of such a rare quality that he speaks of any disease or weakness flying
from it, leaving the person as though they were newly born. Although we are left wondering
how exactly this Universal Medicine is to be ingested and how exactly it operates, we know with
no uncertainty its non-discriminatory nature in dealing with the enemies of the human body; it
83
Ibid., 86
84
Paracelsus, The Archidoxies of Theophrastus Paracelsus, trans. & ed. E.A. Waite, The Hermetic Writings Vol. 2,
42
85
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