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Life of Paracelsus
(1493-1541)
Franz Hartmann MD
Chapter 7 Medicine, part 1
Modern Medicine
Those who imagine that the medicine of Paracelsus is a system of superstitions which we have fortunately outgrown, will, if they once learn to know its principles, be surprised to find that it is based on a superior kind of knowledge which we have not yet attained, but into which we may hope to grow.
– LESSING (Michael Benedict, 1809-1884) Paracelsus.
THE practice of medicine is the art of restoring the sick to health. Modern medicine is, to a great extent, looked upon and employed as if it were a system by which man by his cunning and cleverness may cheat Nature out of her dues and act against the laws of God with impunity, while, to many persons calling themselves physicians, it is merely a method of making money and gratifying their vanity. [1]
[1. Is not even now the scientific world continually engaged in seeking for means by which man may lead an intemperate and immoral life without becoming subject to the natural consequences thereof? Are not even now many of our doctors poisoning the imagination of their patients by frightening them instead of seeking to instil hope and confidence into their minds?]
Instead of seeking to know the divine laws in Nature, and to help to restore the divine order of things, the highest aim of medical science is at present to find means to so poison the body of man and make it pestiferous by inoculation as to render it immune, which means, to make it incapable of reacting upon the introduction of a similar poison. This system corresponds in religion to that which succeeds in quieting the voice of conscience by never paying any attention to it.
Four hundred years ago Paracelsus spoke the following words to the physicians of his times, and we leave it to the reader to judge whether or not his words may find just application today. He says:—
"You have entirely deserted the path indicated by Nature, and built up an artificial system, which is fit for nothing but to swindle the public and to prey upon the pockets of the sick. Your safety is due to the fact that your gibberish is unintelligible to the public, who fancy that it must have a meaning, and the consequence is that no one can come near you without being cheated."
"Your art does not consist in curing the sick, but in worming yourself into the favour of the rich, in swindling the poor, and in gaining admittance to the kitchens of the noblemen of the country. You live upon imposture, and the aid and abetment of the legal profession enables you to carry on your impostures, and to evade punishment by the law. You poison the people and ruin their health; you are sworn to use diligence in your art, but how could you do so, as you possess no art, and all your boasted science is nothing but an invention to cheat and deceive?"
"You denounce me because I do not follow your schools; but your schools can teach me nothing which would be worth knowing. You belong to the tribe of snakes, and I expect nothing but poison from you. You do not spare the sick: how could I expect that you would respect me, while I am cutting down your income by exposing your pretensions and ignorance to the public?"
This is not applicable to the medical profession of our day as a whole; not because that profession has of itself risen to a higher standard, but because physicians are human beings, and humanity as a whole has been somewhat improving in morals. There are, however, numerous well-intentioned fools in the medical profession, knowing nothing whatever about the real nature of man, and their mistakes are not less injurious if committed in ignorance than if they were intentional. Moreover, their folly is the more dangerous as it is protected by the authorities of the State. [2]
[2. Those who study the effects of vaccination without prejudice will easily find that nothing is done in that practice except substituting a slowly developing and far more dangerous disease for a more acute and less dangerous one. The reason why this is not generally known is because the diseases inoculated by vaccination often appear only a long time after its performance, and their cause is therefore not recognised. Thus a lifelong suffering from eczema is often the consequence of vaccination. As to the celebrated Pasteur cures, it is said that of all his patients, ninety-six per cent have died, while the remaining four were probably not infected, and would have remained well anyhow.]
Three Kingdoms
There are three kingdoms acting in the constitution of man, an outer, an inner, and an innermost principle; namely, the external physical body, the inner (astral) man, and the innermost centre or soul. Ordinary (regular) physicians know hardly anything about the external body, nothing about the inner man, the cause of the emotions, and less than nothing about the soul. Nevertheless, it is the divine spark in the soul which created and supports the inner man, and the outer form is the vehicle in which the inner man is outwardly manifesting himself.
Man's natural body is produced by Nature; but the power in Nature is God, and God is superior to Nature. Man's divine spirit is therefore able to change his nature, and to restore the health of his physical form through the instrumentality of the soul.
The medicine of Paracelsus deals not merely with the external body of man, which belongs to the world of effects, but more especially with the inner man and with the world of causes, never leaving out of sight the universal presence of the divine cause of all things. His medicine is therefore a holy science, and its practice a sacred mission, such as cannot be understood by those who are godless; neither can divine power be conferred by diplomas and academical degrees.
A physician who has no faith, and consequently no spiritual power in him, can be nothing else but an ignoramus and quack, even if he had graduated in all the medical colleges in the world and knew the contents of all the medical books that were ever written by man.
The Virtues of a Physician
The object of medical instruction should be to educate the natural talents of those who are born physicians, so that they may make use of the experiences gained by their elders. It is useless and dangerous to make a medical practitioner out of a person who is not a physician at heart.
"The greatest and highest of all qualifications which a physician should possess is Sapientia -- i.e., Wisdom – and without this qualification all his learning will amount to little or nothing as far as any benefit or usefulness to humanity is concerned. He alone is in possession of wisdom who is in possession of reason and knows how to use it without error or doubt."
"The book of wisdom is the recognition of the truth, and the truth is God; for He who has caused all things to come into existence, and who is Himself the eternal fountain of all things, is also the source of all wisdom and the book in which the truth is to be found without any interpolation or error. In and through Him alone shall we be able to find wisdom and to act wisely, and without Him all our learning will be mere foolishness."
"As the sun shines upon us from above and causes plants to grow, so the talents necessary for the exercise of this art, whose germs exist in the human heart, must be developed in the rays of the sun of divine wisdom. We cannot find wisdom in books, nor in any external thing; we can only find it within ourselves. Man cannot create day, nor can he create night; and he cannot create wisdom, but it must come to him from above. He who seeks wisdom in the fountain of wisdom is the true disciple, but he who seeks it where it does not exist will seek for it in vain."
"Wisdom is not created, manufactured, or developed by man, but it becomes manifest in him by its own power, whenever the conditions are favourable. Intellectual learning is an artificial thing, and may be accumulated by man's selfish efforts to learn and possess knowledge; but wisdom is the realisation of truth within the soul, that comes from an awakening to its realisation."
"It is said that we should seek first the kingdom of heaven which is within us, and that everything else would be added; it has also been said that if we only knock strongly enough the door will be opened, and we will never ask in vain, provided we ask with a sincere heart and not with an adulterous object in view."
"A physician must seek for his knowledge and power within the divine spirit; if he seeks it in external things he will be a pseudo-medicus and an ignoramus. God is the Great First Cause in and from which all things came into existence, and all our knowledge should therefore come from God and not from man-made authorities." (Labyrinthus Medicorum)
"A physician should exercise his art, not for his own benefit, but for the sake of the patient. If he practises merely for his own benefit, such a physician resembles a wolf, and is even worse than an ordinary murderer; for, while a man may defend himself against a murderous attack made upon him on the high-road, he has no means of defence against the murderer who, under the guise of a benefactor and protected by law, comes to steal his goods and destroy his life."
"A physician should be above all honest and true. Let his speech be 'yes' and 'no,' and let him avoid using subterfuges and prevarications; God acts through him who is upright, honest, and pure, but not through him who is wicked and false. God is absolute Truth, and His power does not become manifest in those who are not true. The power of the physician should be resting in the truth; if it rests upon lies, it will be useless and belongs to the devil."
"If man were made only out of one kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, then would it be sufficient for him to lead a holy life, to enable him to cure all diseases in himself and in others; but as he is made of three worlds, it is necessary that the physician should also have a knowledge of the conditions existing in the two other worlds, the world of mind and external Nature." [3]
[3. Here comes in the advantage of intellectual education, but an educated intellect without any self- perception of truth belongs to the devil.]
"He should also be well experienced; for there are many kinds of disease, and they cannot be known without experience and learning. No one ever knows so much that he could not learn more. Every art requires experience. You cannot become a good painter, sculptor, or shoemaker by the mere reading of books, much less can you be a good physician without being experienced."
"He should know the laws of Nature, but above all the constitution of man, the invisible no less than the visible one. His knowledge will strengthen his faith, and his faith will endow him with power, so that he will be like an apostle, healing the sick, the blind, and the halt."
The Four Pillars of Medicine
The medicine of Paracelsus therefore rests upon four pillars, which are: [links are to sections on this page]
- Philosophy, i.e. a knowledge of physical nature;
- Astronomy, i.e., a knowledge of the powers of the mind;
- Alchemy, i.e., a knowledge of the divine powers in man; and
- Virtue, i.e., The personal virtue (holiness) of the physician.
1. Philosophy
A physician should be a philosopher; i.e., acquainted with the laws of external Nature.
"The knowledge of Nature is the foundation of the science of medicine, and it is taught by the four great departments of science: Philosophy, Astronomy, Alchemy, and Physical Science. These four sciences cover a large field, and require a great deal of study. A common proverb says, 'Life is short, art is long.' Ever since the beginning of the world men have sought for the art to destroy disease, and they have not found it yet; but to the patient it appears that the medical art is very short and the acquisition of science very slow, while his disease is quick, and does not wait until the doctor has found his art."
"If a physician is in possession of true knowledge, then will his art make short work with the disease, and the life of the patient will be comparatively long. Art is short, for it requires little time to apply it when it is once in our possession; but error is long, and many die before finding the art." (Commentaria in Aphorismas Hippocratis)
"A physician must be a Philosopher; that is to say, he must dare to use his own reason and not cling to opinions and book-authorities, be they old or new. He must above all be in possession of that faculty which is called Intuition, and which cannot be acquired by blindly following the footsteps of another; he must be able to see his own way."
"There are natural philosophers and there are artificial philosophers. The former have a knowledge of their own; the latter have borrowed knowledge from their books. If you wish to be a true physician, you must be able to do your own thinking, and not merely employ the thoughts of others. What others may teach you may be good enough to assist you in your search for knowledge, but you should be able to think for yourself and not cling to the coat-tail of any authority, no matter how big-sounding the title of the latter may be." (De Modo Pharmacandi)
"The wisdom of our sophists and medicasters does not consist in a knowledge of Nature, but in a knowledge of what Aristoteles, Galen, Avicenna, and other accepted authorities have supposed Nature to be; they only know the dead body of man, but not the living image presented by Nature; they have become untruthful and unnatural, and therefore their art is based upon their own fancies and speculations, which they imagine to be science."
"The true physician is a product of Nature, not a product of speculation and imagination. If you are not able to see a thing, it will be useless to try to imagine how it may look; perception enables you to see, but speculation is blind. Wisdom is not given by Nature, nor does man inherit it from the latter; it is planted in him by his eternal parent, and grows and increases in him by practice."
It is not true, as has been asserted by certain modern writers, that Paracelsus has objected to the dissecting of dead bodies and called it useless; what he said is, that such a practice was unnecessary for those who had developed the true inner sight; just as it is useless for a man to walk on crutches when he is in perfect health. He says:—
"The anatomy of man is twofold. One aspect of it may be known by dissecting the body, so as to find out the position of its bones, muscles, and veins, &c.; but this is the least important. The other is more important, and means to introduce a new life into the organism, to see the transmutations taking place therein, to know what the blood is, and what kind of sulphur, salt, and mercury (energy, substance, and mind) it contains." (Paramir., i. cap. c.)
"By the power of wisdom man is enabled to recognise the unity of the All, and to perceive that the microcosm of man is the counterpart of the macrocosm of Nature. There is nothing in heaven or upon the earth which may not be found in man, and there is nothing in man but what exists in the macrocosm of Nature. The two are the same, and differ from each other in nothing but their forms. This is a truth which will be perceived by every true philosopher, but a merely animal intellect will not be able to see it, nor would man's fancy enable him to understand it."
"That philosophy which is based upon wisdom – i.e., upon the recognition of the truth of a thing – is true philosophy; but that which is based upon fancy and the idle speculation is uncertain. The former is the true gold; the latter is merely an imitation which if put into the fire will leave nothing but sulphur and ashes."
"He who wants to know man must look upon him as a whole and not as a patched-up piece of work. If he finds a part of the human body diseased, he must look for the causes which produce the disease, and not merely treat the external effects. Philosophy – i.e., the true perception and understanding of cause and effect – is the mother of the physician, and explains the origin of all his diseases. In this understanding rests the indication of the true remedy, and he who is not able to understand will accomplish nothing; he will go on in the future laming, crippling, and killing his patients in Nomine Domini as he did in the past."
"A physician who knows nothing more about his patient than what the latter will tell him knows very little indeed. He must be able to judge from the external appearance of the patient about his internal condition. He must be able to see the internal in the external man; for if he wanted to experiment merely according to his own fancy, the world could not furnish him enough patients to arrive at the end of his experiments."
"He must have the normal constitution of man present before his mind and know its abnormal conditions; he must know the relations existing between the microcosm of man and the macrocosm of Nature, and know the little by the power of his knowledge of the great."
"We should rise up to a true realisation of the nature of man and his position in the universe, and then apply our knowledge according to the teaching of wisdom, and this kind of study will injure no man; but those who experiment with their patients, without knowing the real constitution of man, are murderers, and may God protect the sick from them!"
"Nature – not man – is the physician. Man has lost the true light of reason, and the animal intellect with its speculations and theories has usurped the place. Try to enable yourself to follow Nature again, and she will be your instructor. Learn to know the storehouse of Nature and the boxes in which her virtues are stored up. The ways of Nature are simple, and she does not require any complicated prescriptions."
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2. Astronomy
A physician should be an Astronomer; this means that he should know the heaven (the mental sphere) wherein man lives, with all its stars (ideas) and constellations.
"A physician must be an Astronomer, for he ought to know the influences of the seasons, of heat and cold, of dryness and moisture, of light and darkness, &c., upon the organism of man. There is a time for everything, and what may be good at one time may be evil at another. There is a time for rain and a time when the roses are blooming, and it is not sufficient that a physician should be able to judge about today, he should also know what tomorrow will bring."
"Time is man's master, and plays with him as the cat with a mouse, and no one knows the future but God. A physician should, therefore, not depend too much on the accomplishments of the animal intellect in his brain, but he should listen to the divine voice which speaks in his heart, and learn to understand it. He should have that knowledge which cannot be acquired by reading in books, but which is a gift of divine wisdom."
"He should be married to his art as a man is married to his wife, and he should love her with all his heart and mind for her own sake, and not for the purpose of making money or to satisfy his ambition. If he loves his art, his art will be true to him; but if he sticks to it only for mercenary purposes, or if he merely imitates the art of another, it will be an adulterous alliance, and no good will be the result."
"True marriage is not a mere binding together of two forms, but it is an union of the soul. The physician who is not married to his art with his soul is a quack, an adulterer, and an impostor. (Comm. in Aphor. Hippocr.)
Man's body is itself a product of mind, and its condition depends to a great extent on the state of his mind. All his diseases, in so far as they are not directly due to external mechanical causes, are due to mental conditions.
"Philosophy (anatomy) deals with the visible material part of man's constitution; but there is a vastly greater part of man which is ethereal and invisible. As the terrestrial body of man is intimately related to his terrestrial surroundings, likewise his astral body is in relation with all the influences of the astral world; and that part of philosophy dealing with these astral influences is called astronomy."
"Astronomy is the upper part of philosophy by which the whole of the microcosm may become known. Philosophy deals with the elements of earth and water, belonging to man's constitution. Astronomy deals with his air and fire (the mind). There is a heaven and earth in man as there is in the macrocosm, and in that heaven there are all the celestial influences, whose visible representations we see in the sky, such as the planets and stars, the Milky Way, the Zodiac, &c., neither more nor less; for the microcosm is an exact counterpart of the macrocosm in every respect except its external form."
"The terrestrial part of man is a child of the earth, and the astral man is a child of the astral world, and as the two worlds are intimately connected with each other, the physician should be acquainted with the influences of the astral as well as with those of the terrestrial world. Man's diseases do not originate in himself; they originate from the influences which act upon him and enter his constitution. The astral influences are invisible, but they act upon man, unless he knows how to protect himself against them."
"Heat and light are intangible and incorporeal; nevertheless, they act upon man, and the same takes place with other invisible influences. If the air becomes vitiated, it will poison man's body; if the astral influences are in a state of corruption, they will do likewise. The elements themselves are invisible; that which is visible belongs merely to the external form. The Arcanum of Man – i.e., the real inner man – is invisible; that which we see of him is not an essential part of his constitution, but merely his external corporeal form." [4]
[4. Recent experiments go to prove that sensation may be externalised. Thus, for instance, a man may surround himself with an invisible shell or aura by projecting his own odic emanations to a certain distance from his body; so that, while his body becomes insensible to pain, the pain will be felt when the aura around him is touched. This goes to show that sensation exists in the odic aura (Prana), and not in the physical form. (Compare E. Du Prel, Die sympathetische Kurmethode.) ]
"The things which we see are not the active principles, but merely the corpus containing them; the visible forms are merely external expressions of invisible principles. Forms are, so to say, the vehicles of powers, and they may be visible or invisible. The invisible air and the ether of space, or a perfectly clear and, therefore, invisible crystal, are just as much corporeal as the solid earth, a piece of wood, or a rock."
"Each of these corporeal things has its own particular life and inhabitants (micro-organisms); we walk about in the air, although the air is corporeal; fishes swim about in the water, and the yolk of an egg rests in the albumen without sinking to the bottom of the shell. The yolk represents the Earth, and the white represents the invisible surroundings of the Earth, and the invisible part acts upon the visible one, but only the philosopher perceives the way in which that action takes place."
"All the influences of the terrestrial and the astral world converge upon man, but how can a physician recognise the manner in which they act and prevent or cure the diseases which are caused by that action, if he is not acquainted with the influences existing in the astral plane? The star-gazer knows only the external visible heaven; but the true astronomer knows two heavens, the external visible and the internal invisible one. There is not a single invisible power in heaven which does not find its corresponding principle in the inner heaven of man; the above acts upon the below, and the latter reacts upon the former."
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3. Alchemy
The physician ought to be an Alchemist; that is to say, he ought to be regenerated in the spirit of Jesus Christ and know his own divine powers.
"He should be an Alchemist; that is to say, he should understand the Chemistry of Life. Medicine is not merely a science, but an art; it does not consist merely in compounding pills and plasters and drugs of all kinds, but it deals with the processes of life, which must be understood before they can be guided."
"All art, all wisdom, all power, acts from one centre towards the periphery of the circle, and whatever is enclosed within that circle may be regarded as medicine. A powerful will can cure where doubt will end in failure."
"The character of the physician acts more powerfully upon the patient than all the drugs employed. A carpenter or a mason will fail to make perfect work without compass and square, and a physician without religion and firmness will be a failure. Alchemy – i.e., the employment of a strong will, benevolence, charity, patience, &c. – is, therefore, the principal corner-stone in the practice of medicine."
"The psychical surroundings of the patient have a great influence upon the course of his disease. If he is waited upon by persons who are in sympathy with him, it will be far better for him than if his wife or his attendants wish for his death. In a case of sickness, the patient, the physician, and the attendants should be, so to say, all one heart and one soul, and they should always keep in mind the doctrine of Christ, which says: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." [5] (Comm. in Aph. Hippocr.)
[5. We should sympathise with the patient, but not with his disease. We should not confirm him in his morbid fancies, or encourage him in believing himself sick. The majority of sick people lack the energy necessary to cure themselves. In such cases we should show them energy instead of a helpless commiseration.]
"The physician should be well versed in physical science. He should know the action of medicines, and learn by his own experience and by the experience of others. He should know how to regulate the diet of the patient, and neither overfeed nor starve him. He should know the ordinary course of disease, and the premonitory symptoms; for a disease is like a plant, which may grow to a big tree if it is not rooted out while it is young. A child can cut down an old oak when it first comes out of an acorn, but in time it will require a strong man and an axe to cut it down."
"A physician should be learned, and profit by the experience of others, but blessed is he who knows the living medicine and how to obtain it. He knows that there are innumerable remedies in Nature, which are the Magnalia Dei -- i.e., the mysteries of God, hidden from the eyes of the vulgar, but opened to the spiritual perception of the wise." [6] (Comm.)
[6. Modern medicine, with its hypnotism, and suggestion, seems to be about to learn the first letters of the alphabet of the system of Paracelsus.]
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4. Virtue
The physician must have a natural qualification for his occupation.
"He who can cure disease is a physician. To cure diseases is an art which cannot be acquired by the mere reading of books, but which must be learned by experience. Neither emperors nor popes, neither colleges nor high schools, can create physicians. They can confer privileges and cause a person who is not a physician to appear as if he were one, but they cannot cause him to be what he is not; they can give him permission to kill, but they cannot enable him to cure the sick, if he has not already been ordained by God."
"Theory should precede practice; but if it consists in mere suppositions and assumptions, and is not confirmed by practical works, such a theory is worthless and ought to be abandoned. The pseudo-physician bases his art on his books – i.e., on that which he believes the authors of those books to have known; the art of the true physician is based on his own knowledge and ability, and is supported by the four pillars of medicine – Philosophy, Astronomy, Alchemy, and Virtue." (Paragranum)
"A physician who is true to his own higher self will also have faith in himself, and he who has that faith will easily command the faith of the people. A preacher who utters moral sermons, but does not observe his own doctrines, will not command respect; he will rightly be despised and bring his doctrines – even if they are true – into discredit; likewise a physician who is seen to be untruthful, wavering, and ignorant will lose the confidence of the public."
"The art of medicine should be based on truth; it is a divine art which should not be prostituted for base purposes. A physician who deserves the confidence of the people will be trusted by God, for it is the Spirit of God that guides the hearts of mankind."
"I praise the spagyric [herbal medicine] physicians (the alchemists), for they do not go about idling and putting on airs, being dressed in velvets and silks, having golden rings on their fingers and their hands in white gloves; but they are daily and nightly patiently engaged in their work with the fire and seeking their pastime within their own laboratory (the mind). They do not talk much or praise their medicines; for they know that the work must praise the master, and not the master the work." (De Separat. Rer.)
"All arts originate in divine wisdom, and no man ever invented anything through his own power. Man cannot accomplish even the most trifling thing without the power of the Will; but the will of man is not his product and does not belong to him; it belongs to God, and has merely been lent to man; he is permitted to use it, and he abuses it on account of his ignorance."
"All things come from God, the good as well as the evil ones; but while the former are His direct products, and in harmony with the Law, the latter are, so to say, His grandchildren which have become degenerated; for evil is good perverted. Those who put their trust in God – that is to say, in the power of Goodness, Wisdom, Justice, and Truth – will surely succeed; but those who, while they pretend to serve God, serve merely themselves, are the children of evil, and will perish with it."
"One of the most necessary requirements for a physician is perfect purity and singleness of purpose. He should be free of ambition, vanity, envy, unchastity, pomposity, and self-conceit, because these vices are the outcome of ignorance and incompatible with the light of divine wisdom which should illumine the mind of the true physician; but our practitioners of medicine will not believe me when I say that it is necessary that a physician to be successful should be virtuous; because they imagine that success is due only to learning, and they cannot realise that all true wisdom and power is derived from God."
"There is a knowledge which is derived from man, and another one which is derived from God through the light of Nature. There are artificially made physicians and there are born physicians. The latter possess their talent from birth, and it may be unfolded and grow like a tree if it is properly nursed. He who has no natural talent to be a physician will never succeed. He who is not a physician in the spring of his life will not be one in the fall."
"A physician should be faithful and charitable; he should have full and perfect faith, a faith which is not divided. Faith and Charity are essentially identical; they both spring from God, and God is one and cannot be divided."
"The faith of a physician is not manifested by making many visits to his patient, but by his ability to recognise and treat the disease. He should give to his patient his utmost attention, he should identify himself heart and soul with him, and this cannot be done without charity and benevolence. He who loves only himself and his own profit will be of little benefit to the sick, for he will neglect the patient."
"To recognise the disease of the latter and to be able to benefit him, entire harmony should exist between the physician and the patient; a physician who loves his art for its own sake will also be charitable towards the sick." (Origin of Diseases)
The Archaeus
All organic functions are caused by the activity of one universal principle of Life. This principle acts in all the members of the body, either slow or quick, perceptible or imperceptible, consciously or unconsciously, normal or abnormal, according to the constitution of the organs in which it is active.
As long as the character (the spirit) of an entity is preserved, it acts in that entity as a whole; if the form is broken up and loses its character, it manifests itself in other forms; the life which is active in a man during his lifetime in causing the organic functions of his body, will manifest its activity in creating worms in his body after the spirit has left the form. The spirit is the centre which attracts the principle of life; if the spirit has left the form, life will be attracted to other centres.
If the activity of the life-principle takes place in a form in an harmonious and regular manner, unimpeded by any obstacles, such a state is called health. If its activity is impeded by some cause, and if it acts abnormally or irregularly, such a state is called "disease".
This principle of life is called by Paracelsus, Archaeus. It is not a material substance, in the usual acceptation of that term, but a spiritual essence, everywhere present and invisible. It causes or cures disease according to the conditions under which it acts, as it may be pure or impure, healthy or poisoned, by other influences. The animal organism attracts it from its surroundings and from the nutriments which enter into its form; it assimilates it, and loses it again.
"The Archaeus, or Liquor Vitae, constitutes the invisible man. The invisible man is hidden in the visible one, and is formed in the shape of the outer one as long as it remains in that outer one. The inner man is, so to say, the shadow or the counterpart of the material body. It is ethereal in its nature, still it is substance; it directs the growth and the formation and dissolution of the form in which it is contained; it is the noblest part in physical man. As a man's picture is reflected in a mirror, so the form of the physical man is reflected in the invisible body." [7] (De Generatione Hominis)
[7. It is the Pranamaya of Sankaracharya. [Wikipedia]]
"The Archaeus is an essence that is equally distributed in all parts of the human body, if the latter is in a healthy condition; it is the invisible nutriment from which the visible body draws its strength, and the qualities of each of its parts correspond to the nature of the physical parts that contain it."
"The Spiritus Vitas takes its origin from the Spiritus Mundi. Being an emanation of the latter, it contains the elements of all cosmic influences, and is therefore the cause by which the action of the stars (cosmic forces) upon the invisible body of man may be explained." (De Viribus Membrorum)
"The Archaeus is of a magnetic nature, and attracts or repels other sympathetic or antipathetic forces belonging to the same plane. The less power of resistance for astral influences a person possesses, the more will he be subject to such influences."
"The vital force is not enclosed in man, but radiates around him like a luminous sphere, and it can be made to act at a distance. In those semi-material rays the imagination of man produces healthy or morbid effects. It will poison the essence of life and cause diseases, or strengthen and purify it after it has been made impure, and restore the health."
"All diseases, except such as come from mechanical causes, have an invisible origin, and of such sources popular medicine knows very little. Men who are devoid of the power of spiritual perception are unable to recognise the existence of anything that cannot be seen externally. Popular medicine knows, therefore, next to nothing about any diseases that are not caused by mechanical means, [8] and the science of curing internal diseases consists almost entirely in the removal of causes that have produced some mechanical obstruction."
[8. Such as are caused by overloading the stomach with food, constipation of the bowels, obstructions, &c.]
"But the number of diseases that originate from some unknown causes is far greater than those that come from mechanical causes, and for such diseases our physicians know no cure, because, not knowing such causes, they cannot remove them. All they can prudently do is to observe the patient and make their guesses about his condition; and the patient may rest satisfied if the medicines administered to him do him no serious harm, and do not prevent his recovery. The best of our popular physicians are the ones that do the least harm."
"But, unfortunately, some poison their patients with mercury; others purge them or bleed them to death. There are some who have learned so much that their learning has driven out all their common sense, and there are others who care a great deal more for their own profit than for the health of their patients."
"A disease does not change its state to accommodate itself to the knowledge of the physician, but the physician should understand the causes of the disease. A physician should be a servant of Nature, and not her enemy; he should be able to guide and direct her in her struggle for life, and not throw, by his unreasonable interference, fresh obstacles in the way of recovery." (Paragranum)
"Medicine is much more an art than a science; to know the experience of others may be useful to a physician, but all the learning in the world could not make a man a physician, unless he has the necessary talents, and is destined by Nature to be a physician."
"If we want to learn to know the inner man by studying only the appearance of the exterior man, we will never come to an end, because each man's constitution differs in some respect from that of another. If a physician knows nothing more about his patient than what the latter tells him, he knows very little indeed, because the patient usually knows only that he suffers pain."
"Nature causes and cures disease, and it is therefore necessary that the physician should know the processes of Nature, the invisible as well as the visible man. He will then be able to recognise the cause and the course of a disease, and he will know much more by using his own reason than by all that the books or the patient may tell him. Medical science may be acquired by learning, but medical wisdom is given by God." [9] (Paragranum)
[9. This mode of reasoning is as applicable to the state of medical science today as it was at the time of Paracelsus.]
"Natural man has no wisdom, but the wisdom of God may act through him as an instrument. God is greater than Nature, for Nature is His product; and the beginning of wisdom in man is therefore the beginning of his supernatural power."
"The kind of knowledge that man ought to possess is not derived from the earth, nor does it come from the stars; but it is derived from the Highest; and therefore the man who possesses the Highest may rule over the things of the earth, and over the stars."
"There is a great difference between the power that removes the invisible causes of disease, and which is Magic, and that which causes merely external effects to disappear, and which is Physic, Sorcery, and Quackery." [10]
[10. It would be interesting to find out how many chronic diseases and lifelong evils are caused by vaccination. If the organism contains some poisonous elements, Nature attempts to remove it by an expulsive effort caused by the action of the spirit from the centre toward the periphery, and producing cutaneous diseases. If by vaccination a new herd is established to attract the diseased elements (Mumia), the manifestation of the poison on the surface of the body may disappear, but the poisonous elements will remain in the body, and some other more serious disease will manifest itself sooner or later.]
The Mumia
"The Archaeus is the essence of life, but the principle in which this essence is contained, and which serves as its vehicle, is called Mumia. In the Mumia is great power, and the cures that have been performed by the use of the Mumia are natural, although they are very little understood by the vulgar, because they are the results of the action of invisible things, and that which is invisible does not exist for the comprehension of the ignorant."
"They therefore look upon such cures as having been produced by the 'black art,' or by the help of the devil, while in fact they are but natural, and have a natural cause; and even if the devil had caused them, the devil can have no power except that which is given to him by God, and so it would be the power of God after all." [11]
[11. This invisible Mumia, that may be transferred from one living being to another, is nothing else but the vehicle of life, or “animal magnetism.”]
"There is a twofold power active in man – an invisibly acting or vital power, and a visibly acting mechanical force. The visible body has its natural forces, and the invisible body has its natural forces, and the remedy of all diseases or injuries that may affect the visible form are contained in the invisible body, because the latter is the seat of the power that infuses life into the former, and without which the former would be dead and decaying. If we separate the vital force from the physical form, the body dies and putrefies; and by impregnating a dying body with vitality it can be made to live again."
"The invisible forces acting in the visible body are often very powerful, and may be guided by the imagination and be propelled by the will. As the odour of a lily passes from the flower into the surrounding air, so the vital force contained in the invisible body passes into the visible form and beyond it. The physical body has the capacity to produce visible organs – such as the eyes and the ears, the tongue and the nose – but they all take their origin from the invisible body, of which the external visible form is only the outward representation."
"But if the germs and the essences of all the organs of the physical body are contained in the invisible vehicle of life, it follows that this invisible microcosmic body contains certain definite qualities, which, if they are properly understood, may be used for some purpose; and the cures that have been performed by the use of this Mumia prove that this assertion is true."
"The pinks are beautiful flowers so long as they are not separated from the plant upon which they grow, and the chelidonium grows as long as it can draw its nutriment from the earth; but if the pinks are separated from the parent stem, and if the roots of the chelidonium are dead, these plants, being separated from the source out of which they drew their vitality, will decay. The life that made them live is not dead, but it is departed from the dead form; and if it could be restituted, the form could be made to live again."
"The Mumia, or vehicle of life, is invisible, and no one sees it depart; but nevertheless it is a spiritual substance containing the essence of life, and it can be brought again by art into contact with dying forms, and revive them, if the vital organs of the body are not destroyed. That which constitutes life is contained in the Mumia, and by imparting the Mumia we impart life."
"The visible body seems to see and to talk, and yet we do not see the powers that see and talk through it. Likewise the action of the Mumia upon the visible body cannot be perceived by the senses – only its effects can be seen. A visible form without vitality has no other power but its own weight; but if it contains the Mumia, it may perform a great deal."
"The Mumia is the arcanum, the 'flower of man,' and the true elixir of life. The Mumia acts from one living being directly upon another, or it may be connected with some material and visible vehicle, and be employed in that shape." [12] (De Origine Morbor. Invisibilium)
[12. Paracelsus, not Mesmer, is the original discoverer of so-called Mesmerism.]
Sympathetic Cures
"Man possesses a magnetic power by which he can attract certain effluvia of a good or evil quality in the same manner as a magnet will attract particles of iron. A magnet may be prepared from iron that will attract iron, and a magnet may be prepared out of some vital substance that will attract vitality."
"Such a magnet is called the 'magnes microcosmi,' and it is prepared out of substances that have remained for a time in the human body, and are penetrated by its vitality. Such substances are the hair, the excrements, urine, blood, &c. If it is desirable to use the excrements, they are to be dried in a shadowy, dry, and moderately warm place until they have lost their humidity and odour. By this process all the Mumia has gone out of them, and they are, so to say, hungry to attract vitality again."
"If such a magnet is applied to a part of the patient's body, it attracts and absorbs vitality from that part in the same manner as a sponge absorbs water, and it will thereby allay the inflammation existing in such a part, because it attracts the superabundance of magnetism carried to that place by the rush of the blood."
"The Mumia coming from the body of a person continues to remain for a while in sympathetic relationship (magnetic rapport) with the Mumia contained in such a person, and they act magnetically upon each other. If, therefore, the Mumia is extracted from a diseased part of a person by a microcosmic magnet, and the magnet mixed with earth, and an herb is planted into it, the Mumia in the magnet will be extracted by that plant, and lose its diseased matter, and react in a beneficial manner upon the Mumia contained in the body of the patient; but it is necessary that the selected plant should be one which bears the signature of the disease with which the patient is affected, so that it will attract the specific influence from the stars."
"In this way diseased elements may be magnetically extracted out of a person and inoculated into a plant. This is called the transplantation of diseases; and diseases may, in a similar manner, be transplanted into animals that are healthy and strong, or the virus* be transferred upon other persons; and many practices of sorcery are based upon that fact. [13] In this way diseases can be cured in one person and caused to appear in another; love between two persons of the opposite sex may thus be created, and magnetic links be established between persons living at distant places, because there is only one universal principle of life, and by it all beings are sympathetically connected together."
* The word virus = "poison", used in England as far back as 1392. [Wikipedia]
[13. It is nothing uncommon, especially in Mohammedan countries, to see packages lying in the road tied together with a string. On opening them, hair, bloody rags, excrements, &c., will be found. Such packages are laid there by some sick persons or their friends; they contain the Mumia of the sick, and it is intended that he who opens the package should get the disease of the patient, and the latter get well. Occasionally such a magnet is buried under the doorstep of an enemy, so as to cause him to walk over it and become sick. It is dangerous for sensitive persons to handle such things. The mode of curing diseases by transplanting the virus into trees has been used by the successors of Paracelsus, Tentzel, Helmont, Flood, Maxwell; and others practised them to a great extent, and acquired great reputations. They give some of the following instructions: – Many diseases may be cured by way of sympathy, by employing the warm blood of the patient as a magnet for the Mumia. The blood may be extracted by venesection or cupping, and made to run into lukewarm water or milk, and this is given to a hungry dog to eat. The process can be repeated several times, until the patient recovers.]
"The plants used for the transplantation of diseases bear the signatures of the diseases whose names are added. In cases of ulcers and wounds the Mumia may be planted with Polygonum persicaria, Symphytum officinal, Botanus europeus, &c. The plant is to be brought for a while in contact with the ulcer, and then to be buried in manure. As it rots, the ulcer heals." [14]
[14. The excrements of the patient may be dried as described above, and pulverised; they are tied up in a cloth and applied as a poultice, until they are penetrated with sweat from the patient, and the powder is then mixed with earth and inserted into a flower-pot, and a plant bearing the signature of the patient's disease is planted into it. After the plant has grown a while it is thrown into running water in cases of fevers and inflammations, but in cases of a humid character or in lymphatic affections it should be hung into smoke.]
"In toothache the gums should be rubbed with the root of Senecio vulgaris until they bleed, and the root is then to be replaced into the earth; or a splinter may be cut out of a blackthorn or willow after the bark has been lifted up. Pick the gums with that splinter until they bleed, and replace the splinter into the tree and tie the cut in the bark up so that it will heal."
"In menorrhagia uterina, [vaginal bleeding] the Mumia should be taken from the groins and planted with Polygonum persicaria. In menorrhoea difficilis, [problem with menstruation] Mentha pulegium is used. In phthisis pulmonalis [consumption of the lungs] the Mumia may be planted with an orchis in the vicinity of an oak or cherry tree, or the Mumia be planted directly into such trees. The (fresh) urine of a patient should be heated in a new pot over a fire, and an egg boiled in it. When the egg is hard boiled, some holes should be made into the egg, and the urine boiled down until the pot is dry. The egg is then to be put into an ant-hill; the ants will eat it, and the patient recovers."
"In atrophy of the limbs the Mumia is taken from the upper and lower joints of the diseased limb, and planted with an oak or cherry tree. Diseases can also be cured by transplantation, if the diseased part is covered for a while with a piece of fresh beef, until the sweat enters into it, and the beef is then given to a cat to eat." [15]
[15. An intelligent physician will neither accept nor reject the sympathetic cures to which the directions given above refer, although they may seem to be absurd and based upon superstition. The term "superstition" signifies a belief in something of which we have no knowledge, but if we understand the rationale of a thing the superstition ends.]
Occult Properties of Plants
An especially favourite remedy of Paracelsus is the Hypericum perforatum, [St John's wort, still prescribed as an antidepressant [Wikipedia] ] which is used especially against elementals, spirits, and larvae inimical to man. The veins upon its leaves are a signatum, and being perforated, they signify that this plant drives away all phantasmata existing in the sphere of man. The phantasmata produce spectra, in consequence of which a man will see and hear ghosts and spooks, and from these are induced diseases by which men are induced to kill themselves, or to fall into epilepsy, madness, insanity, &c. The hypericum is almost an universal medicine. [16] (De Naturalibus)
[16. Have those who ridicule this statement ever employed the hypericum in cases of hallucination?]
Another plant of great occult power is the Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), [Wikipedia] which also has the quality of keeping away evil influences, and is therefore a protection against witchcraft, obsession, vampirism, and the influence of evil thoughts.
The Herbarium of Paracelsus describes the occult properties of thirty-six plants, and also of minerals and precious stones; but it would make this book too voluminous to enter into details.
The Magnet
Paracelsus was better acquainted than our modern physicians with the therapeutic powers of the magnet, and used it in various diseases. He knew the powers of mineral, human, and astral magnetism, and his doctrines in regard to human magnetism have been confirmed to a great extent since the time of his death. More than a hundred years ago Mesmer [Wikipedia] created a sensation in the medical world by his discovery of animal magnetism and by his magnetic cures. His discovery was then believed to refer to something new and unheard of, but Lessing proved already in 1769 that the real discoverer of animal magnetism was Paracelsus.
In regard to the powers of the magnetism Paracelsus says:—
"That which constitutes a magnet is an attractive power, which is beyond our understanding, but which, nevertheless, causes the attraction of iron and other things. Our physicians have always had magnets at their disposal, but they did not pay much attention to them, because they did not know that they may be used for any other thing than to attract nails. Our doctors have ceased to learn anything from experience, and they make use of idle talk; and it is a pity and a shame that the representatives of our science should know so little. They have every day occasion to see magnets publicly and privately, and yet they continue to act as if no magnets were in existence." [17]
[17. The knowledge of the therapeutic use of the magnet has not advanced much since the days of Paracelsus. Baron Reichenbach [Wikipedia] [Odic Force] investigated the subject in a scientific manner, but the result of his experiments is still ignored by the medical profession as a whole.]
"They complain of me because I do not follow the methods prescribed by the ancients; but why should I follow the ancients in things in which I know they were wrong? They could not know things of which they had no experience, and it would be foolish to follow them in things in which they were mistaken. Whatever I know I have learned by my experience, and I therefore depend upon my own knowledge, and not upon the ignorance of another."
"Our doctors say that the magnet attracts iron, and verily it does not require a great deal of learning to be able to perceive a fact that may be seen by every ignorant boor; but there are qualities in a magnet not known to every ignoramus, and one of these qualities is that the magnet also attracts all martial humours that are in the human system."
"Martial diseases are such as are caused by auras coming and expanding from a centre outwards, and at the same time holding on to their centres; in other words, such as originate from a certain place, and extend their influence without leaving the place from where they originate. In such cases the magnet should be laid upon the centre, and it will then attract the diseased aura towards the centre, and circumscribe and localise the disease, until the latter disease becomes reabsorbed into its centre." [18]
[18. If we remember that the blood corpuscles, and consequently also the nerve aurae, contain iron, this statement appears very rational.]
"It is useless to try to suppress the external symptoms that are caused by a disease, if we at the same time allow the disease to spread. A poisonous tree cannot be kept from growing if we simply cut off some of its branches or leaves; but if we could cause the vital essence which it draws by its roots from the earth to descend again into the roots and re-enter the earth, the poisonous tree would die on its own account."
"By the attractive power of a magnet acting upon the diseased aura of the blood in an affected part, that aura may be made to return into the centre from which it originated, and be absorbed therein; and thereby we destroy the herd of the virus and cure the patient, and we need not wait idly to see what Nature will do. The magnet is therefore especially useful in all inflammations, in fluxes and ulcerations, in diseases of the bowels and uterus, in internal as well as in external disease."
"The magnet has a front (north pole) and a back (south pole); the former attracts and the latter repulses. In a case of hysteria the attracting part of the magnet is applied above the uterus, and the repulsing part of another magnet below. In this way the nervous force controlling the movements of the uterus will be propelled towards its proper place."
"In cases of epilepsy, where there is a great determination of nervous fluid towards the brain, the repulsing (negative) pole of a magnet is applied to the spine and to the head, and the attracting (positive) pole of other magnets upon the abdominal region."
"There are a great many other diseases that may be cured by the proper use of the magnet, but for those who are able to understand such things the hints already given will be sufficient, while those who have little understanding would not comprehend this system even if we were to write a book about it. It should, however, be remembered that the manner of employing a magnet changes according as to whether we wish to draw the diseased aura out of the body, or to cause it to be reabsorbed into its centre."
"The forces composing the Microcosm of man are identical with the forces composing the Macrocosm of the world. In the organism of man these forces may act in an abnormal manner, and diseases will be thereby created; in the great organism of the Cosmos they may act in an abnormal manner, and thereby abnormal conditions, or diseases in the earth and atmosphere, in the water and in the elements of fire (electricity), may be created. Man may be affected with spasms, or dropsy, or colic, or fevers, &c., and the Macrocosm of the earth may be affected with earthquakes, rainspouts, storms, and lightnings."
"The elements that constitute the life of the heart of man constitute the life of the sun; the quality of life found in the elements constituting his blood corresponds to the quality of the invisible influences radiating from Mars; if the soul-essences that characterise the influences of Venus did not exist, the instincts which cause men and animals to propagate their species would not exist, and thus every planet and every star contains certain magnetic elements that correspond with the identical magnetic elements existing in the constitution of Man."
"A physician who wishes to be rational must know the constitution of the universe as well as the constitution of man; he must be an anatomist, a physiologist, and an astronomist; and it will avail him little to learn these sciences from the books, but he should have an understanding of them by the power of interior perception, which cannot be taught in books, but must be acquired by practice."
Anatomy
Paracelsus regarded man as being not merely a compound of muscles and bones, tissues and nerves, but as representing on a smaller scale all that is contained in the great world. Therefore his soul and mind are as much parts of his true constitution as are the earthly elements of which his elementary body is made up. Thus the anatomy of Paracelsus takes in all the parts of man's constitution, which has already been described in a previous chapter.
There are two kinds of Anatomy of the Microcosm, one teaching the constitution of the external form of man, the other one that of the internal living man. To seek for the internal man by dissecting the external form is useless, for in doing so we do not find life, but we destroy the form in which it manifested itself.
"The Anatomy of the Microcosm is twofold: (1) The local anatomy, which teaches the constitution of the physical body, its bones, muscles, blood-vessels, &c.; and (2) The more important essential anatomy -- i.e., the anatomy of the living inner man. The latter is the kind of anatomy which it is most important for the physician to know, but it will be difficult to bring it to the understanding of those who merely judge by external appearances and refuse to follow the way of the truth."
"If we know the anatomy of the inner man, we know the Prima materia, and may see the nature of the disease as well as the remedy. That which we see with our external eyes is the Ultima materia. By dividing and dissecting the external body, we can learn nothing about the inner (astral) man; we merely destroy the unity of the whole." (Paramir., i. 6)
The life of a thing, being latent in the form, is set free when the form is destroyed; its entering into a new form is regeneration.
"The rose is beautiful and has a sweet odour as long as it remains in the form; but to manifest its medicinal qualities in the constitution of man, its form must be destroyed and its spirit enter the body of man. Only that which enters into regeneration is useful; the rest is useless. In this regeneration enters the true Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt (the ethereal essences contained within the gross particles)."
Physiology
"As each of the component parts has its own life, so it has its own death; there is a continual process of death and regeneration going on in man. As a tree or a plant grows out of its seed, so the new life grows out of the old one, and that which was heretofore invisible becomes visible. The physician should be able to see that which is not visible to everybody. He should see it in the light of Nature, and if this light is to be called a light, it must be visible and not dark."
"The physical body of man is grown from a physical germ, and requires physical nutriment for its support. There is something like a fire (energy) within ourselves which continually consumes our form, and if we were to add nothing to our body to supply the waste caused by that combustion, our form would soon die. We continually eat our own selves; we eat our fingers, our heart, our brain, &c.; but in each morsel of food which we eat, there is contained the material required to replace that which has been consumed by that internal fire."
"Each part of our organism selects what it needs, and that which is superfluous or useless is rejected. The Master in man, who superintends the building up of the organism, supplies every organ with that which it needs. We need not eat bones to cause our bones to grow, nor veins, ligaments, and brain, to have those things formed within us. Bread will produce blood, although there is no blood in the bread." (Paramir., i. 7)
"Besides the visible body, man has an invisible one. The former comes from the Limbus, the latter is made from the breath of God. As a breath is like nothing in our estimation, likewise this spiritual body is like nothing to our external senses. This invisible body is the one which is spoken of as constituting our corporeal form on the day of the resurrection." (Paramir., i. 8)
"Heaven and Earth, air and water, are scientifically considered a Man, and man is a world containing a heaven and an earth, air and water, and all the various principles which constitute the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, and the higher acts upon the lower. Thus the principle constituting Saturn in the Macrocosm acts upon the Saturn in man; the Melissa of the Macrocosm acts upon the Melissa in the Microcosm, &c."
"There are innumerable principles in the Macrocosm and in the Microcosm; they are not differing from each other in the number of things of which they are composed, but in the way they are composed; for they all consist only of three things -- i.e., Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt." *
* From Chapter 2, Explanation of Terms: Salt = substance, body, earth. Sulphur = energy, soul, water. Mercury = mind, consciousness, spirit, fire. See "ILECH CRUDUM" in chapter 2 here and "SALT, SULPHUR, AND MERCURY" lower on the same page here.
"As a million of figures are (potentially) contained in a rough piece of wood from which a woodcutter may cut one or many images or forms; so many hundred different diseases may be produced from the Corpus of man, and yet it is but a single Corpus; and as all the wooden images may be consumed by one fire, so there is one Fire in the universal storehouse of Nature which consumes that which is impure and separates it from that which is pure."
"A painter paints a picture upon a piece of wood, and you will then see the picture, but not the wood; but a wet rag may wipe out all that the painter has made. Thus we have been cut out by the hand of God, and He formed us in the three Substances and painted us all over with Life, but death wipes out the picture."
"Therefore we should not allow ourselves to be seduced by the temptations of life, seeing that they are nothing but illusions, resembling colours which in themselves are neither red, nor yellow, nor green, but merely appear to be so to the eye. Death too has its colours, and if the colour of death takes the place of the colour of life, death gets the mastery over life; these two colours the physician should know, but they do not explain the disease; they are merely outward signs, and as such they are illusive." (Paramir., i. 5)
"It is erroneous to speak of fever as if this were disease. The name 'fever' refers to the heat of the disease, and this heat is merely a symptom; it is neither the cause nor the substance of the disease; it would be more appropriate to call it Morbus Nitri or Morbus Sulphuris incensi. 'Apoplexy' is a misnomer; because it is caused by a sublimation of Mercury, and ought to be more properly called Mercurius Cachinialis Sublimatus." [19]
[19. This might perhaps be translated as a congestion of blood to the brain caused by overworking the brain, or overloading it with a bad nervous aura.]
"The same may be said in regard to many other diseases and their misnomers. Names ought to indicate the true nature and not merely the external effects of the diseases. If a physician cannot see deeper than a boor, then he is a boor and not a physician."
"What is there in the ocean, in the earth, in the air, or in the firmament – i.e., the 'fire' – which should not be known to a physician? Why is professional ignorance so great and success so little, but because the practitioners study only external effects and the anatomy of the external form, and are not able to look with the eye of the spirit into the mysterious part of Nature? We cannot see the life in things that are dead; the eyes of the soul must open, and we must become able to see not only the house of life, but its living inhabitant."