Paracelsus Opera (Huser Edition)

The Nineteenth Text

Just as the element of Air contains within it many kinds of procreations Procreationes: Natural births or generations produced within a specific element., these are all simply Air. Every philosopher In this context, a "philosopher" refers to a student of nature and alchemy. must know that no element procreates anything different from itself; like is always born from like. Since Air is invisible, it gives nothing visible; it cannot be grasped, and so it gives nothing tangible. Melusina-like beings original: "Melosinirt." Refers to spirits similar to the legendary Melusina, often described by Paracelsus as spirits who live in the elements but seek human contact., although they are of the Air and are nothing but Air, may undergo a conjunction original: "Conjunctio." A joining or union. with another element, namely Earth. Such a joining can happen between the Air and humankind, as is seen in all malefice original: "Maleficien." Harmful magic or witchcraft. and incantations original: "Incantationibus." Spells or ritual chanting. performed through spirits original: "Spiritus.". In the same way, one should understand the water-women original: "Wasserfrawen." Nymphs or undines., who belong solely to the element of Water original: "Aquæ." and no other; they may mingle among those of the Earth and bear children with them. Thus, a compaction A solidification or densification. also arises from the Air that is visible and tangible—not as a primary birth of the first division, but as a consequence original: "Consequentia." An after-effect or secondary result.. Just as a beetle arises from dung, so too can a "misgrowth" from the aerial elements take on a physical shape, with aerial speech, thoughts, and deeds, through mingling with the Earthly. Yet, such miracles and consequences turn back into Air, and the nymphs original: "Nymphen." back into water, just as a human—who comes from the Earth—rots and is consumed back into the Earth.

* Caterpillars.

The Twentieth Text

Thus the procreations have arisen, one from the other, through the great Separation. From these procreations follow other births, which have their Mystery original: "Mysterium." In Paracelsian thought, a hidden source or potentiality. within these very procreations. This is not a separation in the same form as mentioned before, but rather a "straying" or a "miscarriage," or an "overflow," or a "harvest." Thunder comes from the procreations of the Firmament original: "Firmamenti." The heavens or sky., which comes from the element of Fire. This is a "harvest" of the star original: "Sidus." Astral influence. at the time when the thunder is ripened to perform its nature. But magical storms arise from the Air and vanish again into the Air; not because the element of Air gives them, but the spirits of the Air. Some things are conceived physically from Fire, just as the gnomes Gnomi: Elemental spirits of the Earth who dwell within rocks and soil. are from the Earth. Similarly, waste original: "Stercora." Excrement or dregs. comes from humans and animals and not directly from the Earth. The Lorind A Paracelsian term for a specific meteor or spiritual emanation. comes from the "nativity" of the Water, yet it is not from the Water. From such overflow, error, and harvest, many other things are born: for from impressions original: "Impressionibus." Astral or spiritual influences that shape matter. come twisted humans, worms, and many such growths. From fateful storms original: "Fatalischen Gewittern." Storms or events dictated by fate/providence. grow the poisoning of lands, great mortality, and many hindrances to good years. From waste, the beetles and giants original: "Risen." and Dalni Likely another class of elemental spirits or specialized beings. take their origin. From the Lorind appears a prophet of that same region, serving as a sign of a great new history or a strange matter, as something unheard of in the future.

The Twenty-First Text

Now that three kinds of separation have occurred from the Mystery original: "Mysterio." in three forms, as has been understood, the fourth separation is now to be recognized. This is the last, and after it, none work anymore. The others will also break apart, and no Mystery will remain. For through this, all things return to their first beginning, and only that remains which existed before the Great Mystery original: "Mysterio Magno." The primordial state of all potentiality. and which is Eternal. This is not to be understood as if I "become" something, or that something becomes of me after the final separation, such as through death. For I become nothing; I am from nothing, according to the first beginning. And although all things return to their first state, it happens thus: when they come to nothing, they are at their first state, for the first is to be sought in the first beginning. But what it is that "comes to nothing" are the Secrets original: "Arcana.". The Soul in me has become out of Something, therefore it does not come to Nothing, for it comes from "Somewhere." But from such a "Nothing," nothing becomes, and nothing more is born from it. A picture painted on a tablet exists and is made of something. But we are not made into the ethers original: "Etheren." out of "something" in the way a picture is. Why? Because we come from the Great Mystery and not from the Procreated. But we become nothing, like a picture that is wiped away until nothing is there anymore; thus the tablet is back in its first form. So all creatures shall come to their first place, which is to Nothing. But know this: the reason all physical bodies must become nothing again is solely because of the Eternal which is found in the unreasoning bodies; and such a last separation is the Ultimate Matter original: "Vltima Materia." The final state of matter.. Then many procreations, mixtures original: "Permixtiones.", conversions original: "Conuersiones.", transmutations original: "Transmutationes.", alterations original: "Alterationes.", and many other such things will happen, which we do not consider humanly possible to know.

The Twenty-Second Text

And although a philosopher may recognize that everything which is helpful and at hand for the perishable is also itself perishable, so too that which is divided cannot come together again—just like curdled milk, which can never again become whole. Thus we must also philosophize that the Great Mystery does not return into that from which it came. Therefore, it is to be understood that all creatures are a "painting" of the highest Secret original: "Arcanen.", and a color cast upon the wall...