The wind of history brings the seeds of new life.
The time of the birth of a new culture, a new worldview always recalls the mythological battle between gods and titans. In pivotal moments of human history, in periods of epochal shifts, an ancient cosmic drama unfolds on the stage of history – dying forms and dogmas of the old world clash with newborn ideas and patterns of the new era. The philosophy of history teaches us that all historical revolutions have similar characteristics: instead of the old view of the world, old cultural, religious, and political forms, old sciences and arts, new ideas and models emerge, giving rise to a vibrant picture of chaos, paradox, and contrast. Calm and logical progress of history is replaced by chaos; what seemed solid and long-lasting crumbles like a house of cards, and confused people seem to have no solid ground, nothing foreseeable to believe in. Epidemics, catastrophes, religious and scientific dogmatism, wars, political struggles, lack of education Waste, cruelty, barbarism, and selfishness lead to savagery and the loss of moral-spiritual values, to a multitude of self-proclaimed “messiahs” and sects that exploit the trust of naive and helpless people who have lost their ground – this is just one side of the mysterious drama of changing eras, turning points. In the deepest chaos, amidst the circulation of dying forms that, in their dying convulsions, become increasingly brutal and dogmatic, the winds of history bring the freshness of a new time, the seed of new life. It finds refuge in the minds and hearts of idealists and enthusiasts, those who, amidst the surrounding noise, have not lost the ability to hear and see, who, amidst the general crisis, have not lost the ability to work, believe, and hope. In the deepest chaos, special people-genius are born, who live in the old era with their bodies but belong to the future, the new, upcoming time with their minds and hearts. They become bearers of new ideas, surprising discoveries, builders of magnificent works, and thereby cause a reversal not only in the consciousness of humanity. not only in turning the wheels of history. Thanks to their titanic efforts, new worldviews and models of life, new horizons they reveal, the history of humanity takes a different turn; currents and torrents of the great river of life are directed into a different course, a new era begins, and with it, the fate of the world is radically changed.
Paracelsus (1493 – 1541) – Renaissance physician, alchemist, astrologer, scientist, philosopher, and mystic
Paracelsus’s Life – The Journey of a Truth Seeker
When the epoch of the Renaissance arrived after the severity, rigidity, and conservatism of the Middle Ages, it was like a strong current of fresh air brought by the winds of history, which swept away everything that was petrified and customary, clearing the stage of the world from centuries of accumulated dogmatism and prejudice, creating the long-awaited conditions for the flight of the human spirit. Despite the persecution of every exceptional and liberating idea due to the outdated and petrified dogmas of the previous period, the Renaissance era continued to She brought us a collection of remarkable, great names such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Dürer in painting; Shakespeare and Cervantes in literature; Nicholas of Cusa, Marsilio Ficino, Giordano Bruno, Copernicus, and Galileo in philosophy and science. Among these individuals is the great Paracelsus.
The appearance of the mysterious figure Aurelius Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus, on the philosophical scene in the early 16th century caused a real shock, general confusion, similar to the impact of powerful hurricanes in nature. Only a person who carries something giant, unbounded by any frameworks and not subject to any interpretations, can shake and undermine the ossified philosophical, scientific, and moral-ethical concepts of his epoch, as Paracelsus did. Paracelsus was a genius of the mind, surpassing in his mental abilities and, more importantly, spiritual nature, most of his contemporaries. These qualities allowed him to make a revolution in science, s He lived in a world where Aristotle’s philosophy had ruled for almost two thousand years, a dry, closed, outdated system that was starting to fall apart, in which nothing was open to questioning or improvement, and any attempt to make changes, delve deeper, or deviate from its claims was seen as audacity and heresy. Independent research, inventive and creative spirit, original positions were expelled from scientific circles, and students in universities merely repeated the opinions of the ruling authorities. Nothing new was allowed. What already existed served as material for endless futile discussions and disputes between professors and doctors.
But clichés, dogmatism, and meaningless words – that cannot be the realm sought by minds like Paracelsus. He was a seeker of truth, not a juggler of scientific terms.
Filip Aurelius Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim was born in 1493 near the village of Maria-Einsiedeln in Switzerland, not far from Zurich.
In his early youth, Paracelsus was taught science by his father, a renowned physician and one of the descendants of the ancient and famous Bombastus family, whose ancestral property was Hohenheim Castle. His father provided him with instruction in the basics of alchemy, surgery, and therapy. Paracelsus always accepted his father’s opinions and spoke of him warmly, not only as a father but also as a friend and teacher.
His education continued at the St. Andrew’s Monastery in Levanthal, under the guidance and friendly patronage of Eberhard Baumgartner, who was considered one of the most famous alchemists of the time.
At the age of sixteen, he enrolled in studies at the University of Basel. It is assumed that after completing his studies, he became a pupil of the well-known abbot Johan Tritheim, a great alchemist and scholar in occult sciences, at the St. Jacob’s Monastery in Wurtsburg. Tritheim, who was knowledgeable in esoteric knowledge, spoke to the young seeker of wisdom about the deep. In the mysteries of the universe, nature, and man, Paracelsus is led by his quest for the hidden and the metaphysical in alchemy, to the laboratory of the wealthy Sigismund Fugger (in Tyrol), who, like Abbot Trithemius, was a renowned alchemist and able to impart many secrets to his disciple.
It is known that Paracelsus spent a part of his life in numerous and mysterious journeys, wandering and exploring. He stayed in Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. From 1513 to 1521, he was a captive of the Tatars, and after his release, following the son of the Tatar Khan, he traveled to Constantinople, where, according to his biographers, he stayed for some time “in search of the stone of wisdom.” It is also said that in this way he encountered many prominent philosophers, sages, and alchemists from the Middle East and India, thanks to whom he deepened his knowledge of hidden wisdom.
He traveled through the Balkan and Danube countries and once again visited Italy, where he worked as a military surgeon in the imperial army. He participated in numerous military expeditions of that time.
After wandering for ten years, either applying the skill of healing in practice, or teaching or studying the secret wisdom, at the age of 32 he returned to Germany where he soon became famous for several unusual cases of patient recovery.
His remaining life was a titanic struggle against ignorance, charlatanism, dogmatism, human stupidity, cruelty, and arrogance. In various cities, he taught physics, medicine, anatomy, and alchemy. He was the wisest and most famous physician of his time because he cured every disease, even the most severe, with the power of his great gift using self-prepared medicines and talismans. Paracelsus had no supporters, so he gained many enemies, attracting fierce hatred from pharmacists, doctors, charlatans, professors, and many others who envied his success. They also accused him of heresy and making a pact with the devil. Therefore, it was not It’s a wonder how his life ended tragically. He was attacked by robbers hired by a doctor, one of his enemies. When he fell, he hit his head on a stone, and thus extinguished an extraordinary, heroic life.
He died on September 24, 1541, at the age of 48. One of the greatest scholars and learned philosophers and mystics, a prominent alchemist and physicist, a prophet and a seer, he left behind a vast literary legacy. Philosophy, medicine, pneumatology, cosmology, anthropology, alchemy, astrology, magic – this is not even close to a complete list of disciplines that he masterfully presented in his works, reflecting a comprehensive and profound knowledge of various areas of the esoteric sciences.
Paracelsus was an unusual, mysterious, complex, and seemingly contradictory man. Like a true herald of the Renaissance, he was as great and incomprehensible to our understanding as the era he lived in. The absurd accusations brought by his opponents reveal that his talents were particularly exaggerated. No. Some considered him a drunkard and quarrelsome, others a womanizer, but all his enemies feared his brilliant mind, his honesty, and his sharp tongue, which was not always refined and polite. Only a kindred soul, who hates hypocrisy and lies as much as Paracelsus loved truth, can understand what this honest and great man said about himself: I know that I am not a man who tells people only what they want to hear, and I am not accustomed to giving humble answers to imaginary questions… I am a rough man, born in a rough world, I grew up in pine forests and perhaps inherited their needles. What seems civilized and friendly to me, may seem rough to someone else, and what is silk to me, may be just coarse cloth to someone else.
God’s works are revealed to us through wisdom, and it brings God – the one who lives within us – the most joy if we become like him.
He had many enemies among the ignorant and fanatics. He drove them to despair by exposing their ignorance and contradictions. By exposing and criticizing deeply ingrained prejudices and scientific fallacies, not only outdated and absurd ones, but also those rotten with age. At a time when everyone remained silent out of fear for their own lives, he feared no one and nothing. He unsettled the community with his bold manner of opposing, attacking, and demolishing old rules and misconceptions. He particularly condemned hypocrisy, excessive ceremonialism, idolatry, and narrow-mindedness. God only needs the heart, not ceremonies… I reproach your holy fathers for writing for the body, not for the soul; they wrote verses, not theology, they created illusion instead of revealing truth. They were teachers of customs and way of life, not teachers of eternal life.
Black clothing or a piece of paper, a confirmation from some earthly authority, does not make a person holy. The holy one is the one who acts wisely, because wisdom is God… A priest who acts unjustly does not know the truth and has no right to preach it. He can only say that A parrot will repeat words and phrases, the meaning of which will be inaccessible to its understanding because it knows nothing about their meaning.
Belief in opinions is not faith. Those who believe foolishly are foolish themselves… Those who believe blindly have no knowledge and possess neither faith nor strength… God does not rejoice in seeing fools, stubborn people, and naive ones ready to believe in anything, regardless of how senseless it may be; he does not even want there to be only one wise person in every country who understands, and for the rest to blindly follow him. God’s works are revealed to us through wisdom, and God – the one who lives within us – is most delighted when we become like him.
Love for God will ignite a fiery love for humanity in our hearts, love for humanity will be aroused by love for God.
But this titan of “rough and prickly appearance”, besides truly divine talent and deep wisdom, also had a great, fiery human heart filled with love and compassion. He performed many miraculous feats. the treatment of patients whom authorities declared incurable. He was the subject of admiration from the people and professional envy from his colleagues. He also provoked anger from the latter because, unlike other doctors, he treated many poor people for free. The most common reward for his efforts was ingratitude.
Throughout his life, Paracelsus remained a traveler, seeking deeper and deeper understanding of the great divine wisdom in nature and everything around him. He did not accept the peace of a small, ordinary, comfortable human life. His tireless soul, forever craving a fresh sip from the well of truth, demanded more and more effort and adventure. He was like a bird released from a cage, feeling the joy of freedom and soaring higher and higher, unable to stop. About this mystical enthusiasm that warms the heart of every seeker of wisdom, he himself said: Those who stay at home may live more peacefully and wealthier than those who travel, but I do not want peace or wealth… I have roamed in search of. With their skills, often exposing themselves to danger. To be able to travel a long distance to meet the beloved woman – that is certain, but how much stronger is the longing in the one who loves wisdom, which drives him to wander in search of his divine lover!
Macrocosm and man are one
Paracelsus’ teachings are versatile and profound. Like many exceptional philosophers and mystics, he did not draw this knowledge from books. It was not an abstract theory, but a result of his astonishing ability to penetrate the hidden essence of the universe, nature, and man, into the source of the universal wisdom of the cosmos that has no beginning or end. Paracelsus himself claimed that he didn’t read a single book in ten years, and his students said that he dictated entire volumes of his work to them without using any notes or records. His teachings are comprehensive, complex, and profound, making it practically impossible to mention everything in one article. For this reason, we will only mention a few prominent keypoints. There are ten points to his work.
Continuing the teachings of many ancient philosophers and mystics, Paracelsus perceives the universe as a great living organism, as a macrocosm, as a unique whole that has no beginning or end. He speaks of an infinite number of parallel worlds that are constantly transforming, and of an infinite number of forms of life and principles of evolution. All of this reflects traces of Iliaster, an occult divine principle, the original and true cause of everything that exists, the eternal creative force, the creator of the universe.
Nature is the universal teacher. Everything that we cannot know from external manifestations of nature, we can learn from its spirit. They are both one whole …
The nature of the life of the universe is one, and its source can only be one eternal Unity.
This is an organism in which everything that is natural lives in harmony and balance. This is the macrocosm. Everything is the result of one universal creative force. The macrocosm and the human being (microcosm) are one. They are one constellation, one in influence, one breath, one harmony, one time, one metal, one fruit.
Everything that exists and happens in the universe – macrocosm, exists and can happen in a human being – microcosm. All the principles, forces, plans, beings and energies that unitedly create the mysterious being we call a human, are the same forces and energies that, united in infinitely larger proportions, we call the universe. Everything that happens in the sphere of the macrocosm’s mind can be reflected in the soul and lead to the inner perception of a human being.
The harmony between the infinite and the finite, the immensely large and the infinitely small depends on this close connection between the universe and the human being.
Nature is the universal teacher. Everything we cannot comprehend from external manifestations of nature, we can learn from its spirit. They are both one whole. Nature will teach everything to its pupil if they ask the right question. Nature is the universe… The invisible nature can become visible if we acquire the ability to receive its invisible world… O A person can understand the meaning of symbols (forms) that surround them from the macrocosm (and from nature), just as they acquire language from their parents.
Life is a universal and omnipresent principle, and there is nothing in which there is no life… In nature, nothing is dead… There is nothing physical that does not have a hidden soul within it… In nature, there is no death; dying consists of the extinguishing of one form of existence and the birth of life in another. Life itself cannot die or disappear because it does not create forms… The death of a form is only the interruption of the eternal power of life in one manifestation, preceding its next manifestation. In nature, there is no death, there is only an eternal process of transformation and evolution.
All miracles of magic are achieved through will, imagination, and belief.
Magic or Magna Sciencia, according to Paracelsus, is superior to all natural sciences because it encompasses knowledge and understanding of both visible and invisible qualities of nature. This sublime wisdom directly encompasses the entirety of the universe. ano različiti magija i nauka. Magija nije samo nauka, nego i vještina koja se mora prakticirati i iskusiti da bi se razumjela. Istinski mag je onaj koji može uspostaviti vezu između tajanstvenog i vidljivog svijeta, koji može stvarati, mijenjati i transformirati, vođen inspiracijom iznad njega.
Paracelzus je govorio:
“…Vjerujemo u moć te mudrosti koja upravlja nebesima i koja otkriva sve tajne prirode… Čudesno se naziva magijom, ali magija je zapravo mudrost, a nema mudrosti u čudesima. Istinska znanost sve razumije… Vječna bit svega postoji izvan vremena, bez početka i kraja… Nema beskorisna nadanja. Sve što se čini nevjerojatnim, neprirodnim i nemogućim, može postati iznenađujuće istinito u vječnosti…”
Imaginacija je velika snaga, sposobnost kojom duh prepoznaje i tumači jezik prirode za dušu. Duh je gospodar, a imaginacija je alat, dok je tijelo poslušan materijal…
Magija i čarobnjaštvo su toliko različiti koliko i magija i znanost. In the realm of opposites, light and darkness, white and black. Magic is the manifestation of sublime wisdom and knowledge of supernatural forces (in the name of good, author’s note). Spiritual knowledge cannot be attained through logic or observation of external physical phenomena, it is only revealed to those who develop the ability to feel and see the spiritual within themselves.
…Magical power is not bestowed at a university, it is not obtained through a diploma, it comes from God… True magic does not require rituals, prayers, drawings of circles or symbols… It only requires a deep faith in the great power of universal good… True magical power consists of true faith, and true faith is based on knowledge…
All magical wonders are achieved through will, imagination and faith… Imagination – that is a great power, the ability through which the spirit translates the language of nature for the soul.
The spirit is the master, imagination – the instrument, the body – obedient material… Every person has their own inner world, created by the power of imagination. If that power is sufficient to illuminate every corner of this inner world. of the world, then everything that a person thinks will take shape in their soul…
Imagination is born out of a pure and powerful longing of the heart… Through imagination, a person collaborates with the invisible, with mysterious spirits, geniuses – protectors of nature. Through imagination, pure ideas manifest, and in the works of the human spirit, they take on forms and bodies. Comparing ideas to stars, Paracelsus says:
People do not invent and create ideas; ideas exist, and people can grasp them. Even if all music teachers were to suddenly die, the sky – the primordial teacher of music – will not disappear and will teach this art to other people. There are countless ideas that people have not yet reached, countless stars that are still too far away to form a solid connection with Earth. The realm of stars and ideas is infinite and therefore the source of inventions and discoveries (from which the power of imagination draws inspiration, note).
New stars appear in the sky, others disappear. New ideas emerge on the mental horizon, while old ideas fade away. they forget. When a new comet appears in the sky, it fills the hearts of the ignorant with horror; when a new magnificent idea appears on the mental horizon, it instills fear in those who are attached to old teachings and customary forms…
… What is will if not the hidden power in the thoughts (mind) of man that acts through his imagination?
The power of imagination is a great tool of medicine. It can cause illness in humans and animals, and it can heal them… Illness or healing originates from imagination guided by will…
… What is will if not the hidden power in the thoughts (mind) of man that acts through his imagination?
Imagination is strengthened and perfected by faith, and every doubt destroys the results of this work. Faith must support imagination because it manifests will.
One who is strong in their faith and full of confidence that the divine power within man can protect them from all evil – becomes invulnerable.
True faith can only arise from a source of common good in which evil cannot exist. And what is not good, is not the truth…