701 PARACELSUS 



junction of the moon with certain other planets will 

 make her influence still more injurious.^ For instance, 

 a conjunction of the moon, Venus, and Mars may give 

 rise to the plague ; a conjunction with Saturn to certain 

 acute diseases, &c. ; but no evil influence can develop a 

 disease where the germ of that disease does not already 

 exist. The seat of the sun in the Microcosm is in the 

 heart, that of the moon is in the brain. The moon's 

 influence is cold ; and insane people have been called 

 'lunatics' because they are often injuriously affected by 

 the moon, whose influence acts upon the brain and stimu- 

 lates the sexual passions, and causes injurious dreams and 

 hallucinations." ^ 



"There are certain stars whose influence corresponds 

 to the medical qualities of certain metals, and others that 

 correspond to those of certain plants, and they will act for 

 good or for evil if they are attracted by corresponding ele- 

 ments in the sidereal body of man. A physician should 

 know the physiology and anatomy of heaven as well as 

 that of man to understand the cause and cure of astralic 

 diseases, because he will vainly try his remedies as long 

 as his patient is under the ascending influence of an evil 

 star ; but after that evil influence ceases, the disease will 

 also be changed or disappear. Every metal and every 

 plant possesses certain qualities that can attract corre- 

 sponding planetary influences, and if we know the 

 influence of the star, the conjunctions of the planets, 

 and the qualities of our drugs, we will know what 

 remedy to give to attract such influences as will act 

 beneficially upon the patient."' 



^ It is not the physical body of the planet that acts upon the physical 

 body of man, but the astral influence of the planet acting upon the astral 

 form. 



2 What the noxious influence of the moonlight is in the external world, 

 the same is the influence of a morbid imagination in man. 



8 Diseases often appear without any assignable cause. In acute diseases 

 the patient often grows siaddenly worse, or he may grow suddenly better, 

 and no cause can be assigned to it. Such changes are usually attributed to 

 ' ' catching cold " where no cold has been caught, to mistakes in the diet 



