The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelus, Vol. I: Hermetic Chemistry

Paracelsus is known primarily as an alchemist and as the father of modern medicine. His studies began when he was quite young and carried him throughout Europe and the Mediterranean to accumulate the knowledge and practices known to the world at that time. He was typical of the Renaissance: he embodied the contradictions inherent in that age - its fanatical faiths, its intellectual ferments, its struggles of ideologies. He revolutionized both medicine and alchemy by rejecting the prevailing Galenic four humour theory and substituting a chemical theory of humours as properties operating in the body. Paracelsus realized that the body is a chemical system: his entire concern with alchemy was medical. These two volumes represent his reworking of Medieval alchemical theory that gave birth to the chemical treatment of physical illness. Arthur Edward Waite (1867-1940) devoted his long life to the study and application of mysticism, magic and religion. He was one of the leaders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for many years, later belonged to several other secret brotherhoods, and founded at least one of his own. His written works cover a broad spectrum of the occult arts, including books on the Rosicrucians, Tarot, Kabbalah, magic and alchemy. Strongly opinionated, he is one of the most respected scholars of the nineteenth century in occult research.