Chapter 2 Victor’s Early Studies

Albertus Magnus Paracelsus Cornelius Agrippa

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Saint Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne

1193/1206 - November 15, 1280

Dominican friar and bishop

Considered to be the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages

Achieved fame for his comprehensive knowledge of and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion

Roman Catholic Church honors him as a Doctor of the Church

one of only 33 persons with that honor

Writings collected in 1899 went to thirty-eight volumes

Logic Theology Botany Geography Astronomy Astrology

Mineralogy Chemistry Zoology Physiology Phrenology

Shape of the head reveals the shape of the brain; corresponds to specific faculties

Phillippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim

1493 – 24 Sept 1541

Unsure of birth date; either Nov 11 OR Dec 17

"Paracelsus,” meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus”

Refers to the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus from the first century known for his tract on medicine

Swiss alchemist, physician,

astrologer, and general occultist.

Trained Physician

Astrology was key to medical practices

Wrote Archidoxes of Magic

Sections on astrological talismans used for curing disease

▪ Also defined talismans for each sign of the zodiac

Created the “Alphabet of the Magi” for inscribing the names of Angels on talismans

Pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine

Hermetical views were that sickness and health health in the body relied on the harmony of man (the microcosm) and Nature (macrocosm)

humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them

Hermetical idea of harmony = the universe's macrocosm was represented in every person

Seven planets in the sky

Seven metals on Earth

Seven centers (or major organs) in Man

Everything was heavenly and closely interrelated

Planet Metal Organ

Sun Gold Heart

Moon Silver Brain

Jupiter Tin Liver

Venus Copper Kidneys

Saturn Lead Spleen

Mars Iron Gall Bladder

Mercury Quicksilver (Mercury)

Lungs

Diseases were caused by poisons brought here from the stars

‘Poisons' were not necessarily something negative

related substances interacted

▪ Evil could expel evil

only the dose determined if a substance was poisonous or not

Sometimes called the father of toxicology

"All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim

Sept 14 1486 – Feb 18 1535

German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist

Declamation Attacking the Uncertainty and Vanity of the Sciences and the Arts

Published 1526

Satire of the sad state of science

▪ Science needed to proceed and develop and not be held back by anything

Declamation on the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sax

Published 1529

Pronouncing the theological and moral superiority of women

Three Books Concerning Occult Philosophy

Published 1531-33

argued for a synthetic vision of magic whereby the natural world combined with the celestial and the divine through Neoplatonic participation

▪ natural magic was in fact validated by a kind of demonic magic sourced ultimately from God