Bombast of Hohenheim (1493 – 1541), who called himself Paracelsus,
became into one of the main figures of alchemy of 16th century. Born in
the German Switzerland, he learned medicine and alchemy from his father,
and during his youth he worked in the Tyrol at the mines and the metallurgic
forges of Sigismund Fugger, an enthusiastic of the alchemy.
Later, Paracelsus traveled erratically by Germany, France, the Netherlands,
England, Scandinavian and Italy. He made conferences for multitudes of
enthusiastic students, he knew and impressed to the great men, he practiced
medicine and drove the local doctors crazy with his not orthodox methods
and his irritant critics to their obsolete practices. There was a rumor
telling that he discovered the philosophical stone, but his true alchemic
accomplishment was a pioneer in the usage of minerals in the medicine.
Paracelsus was influenced by the synthesis hermetic-cabalistic and he wrote
dark books about occultism. |