Three Books of Occult Philosophy

Walter Pagel was a German-British pathologist and a pioneer in the history of science. He was particularly interested in how "mystical" ideas like alchemy influenced the development of modern medicine.

This section describes a modern bookplate (an ownership label) pasted into the book. The image of the "pelican in her piety"—a bird feeding its young with its own blood—is a traditional Christian symbol of sacrifice, but in this context, it also carries alchemical significance, representing the "feeding" of a new substance during a chemical transformation.

original: "PHILOSOPHIA · HERMETICA". Hermeticism is a tradition of knowledge that explores the connection between the human spirit and the cosmos, often through the study of alchemy and ancient wisdom.