22 PARACELSUS 



for instance, when he speaks of " Sulphur," he, like other 

 Alchemists of his times, refers to a certain active energy 

 or form of the will, for which even modern science has 

 not yet invented a name, and for which the term 

 " Sulphur " is a symbol, in the same sense as " Mercury " 

 is a symbol for intelligence, " Salt " for substance, 

 "Venus" for love, and so forth. One would therefore 

 vainly inquire at the chemist's shop for the "sulphur" 

 of Paracelsus, for he says : " If any one wanted to 

 thoroughly describe the sulphur, and if it were proper 

 to do so, which it is not, paper alone would not be 

 sufficient for that purpose. To the sulphur belongs a 

 good worker and artist, well experienced and capable to 

 think profoundly ; not a mere talker and theorist, who 

 is only great in preaching but does not act. He who 

 knows how to use the sulphur (his own power) will be 

 able to produce more miracles than I can describe. He 

 who does not know the sulphur knows nothing, and can 

 accomplish nothing, neither of medicine nor of philosophy, 

 nor about any of the secrets of Nature " ( Vom Schwefel, 

 vol. vii. p. 182). 



This is merely to show that the language of Paracelsus 

 has to be taken in an allegorical and mystical sense, 

 which was well understood by the Alchemists of his 

 time, but for which modern erudition has no comprehen- 

 sion ; because with the knowledge of spiritual mysteries 

 and secret powers of Nature, the meaning of the symbols 

 representing those things has also been lost. It is 

 therefore not surprising to see that Paracelsus is very 

 little understood even by his admirers, and that the 

 majority of his researchers seem to be far more concerned 

 about his person than about his philosophy. 



Moreover, Paracelsus uses a terminology of his own. 

 He deals in his writings with many subjects, for which 

 his language had no appropriate terms.^ He therefore 



^ Appropriate terms for the subjects referred to are only found in Eastern 

 languages, especially in Sanscrit. 



