Three primes
“Tria prima” defines three primes or principles, which Paracelsus believed to explain the nature of medicines:
- a combustible element (sulphur)
- a fluid and changeable element (mercury)
- a solid, permanent element (salt)
In his demonstration wherein he burned a piece of wood, Paracelsus taught that the fire was the work of sulphur, the smoke was mercury, and the residual ash was salt.
These map to metaphysical archetypes explaining the nature of creation:
- body (corpus), the material vessel or form - maps to the solid, permanent element, salt
- spirit (spiritus), the moral, imaginative and mental faculties - maps to the fluid and changeable element, mercury
- soul (anima), the seat of emotions and desire - maps to the combustible element, sulphur
Exploratory mapping
| Tria prima | Human identity | Personal principle [working] | Demonstration |
|---|---|---|---|
| salt | body (corpus), the material form, vessel or state | forms (materia) | ash |
| mercury | spirit (spiritus), the imagination, moral judgment, and the higher mental faculties | forces (pneuma) | smoke |
| sulphur | soul (animus), the emotions and desires | essences (psyche) | fire |
| quintessence (divina) |
Sulfur as soul is particularly interesting for meditating on: symbolisms and archetypes as the combustible, animating principle of things, the fire essentializing the smoke (forces and faculties) and ash (material forms).
Paracelsus
- Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim (1493 - 1541)
- Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, astrologer, and philosopher of the German Renaissance
- pioneer during the medical revolution of the Renaissance, “emphasizing the value of observation in combination with received wisdom.”
- “father of toxicology”
- prophet or diviner, his “Prognostications” were studied by “Rosicrucians”1 in the 17th century
- “Paracelsianism” is the early modern medical movement inspired by the study of his works (“Paracelsian”)
- Philosophies:
- the Hermetic, Neoplatonic, and Pythagorean philosophies central to the Renaissance
- astrology and religious beliefs: believed that science and religion were inseparable, and scientific discoveries were direct messages from God; believed it was mankind’s divine duty to uncover and understand all of His message; the purpose of science is not only to learn more about the world around us, but also to search for divine signs and potentially understand the nature of God
Footnotes
-
an early 17th century spiritual and cultural movement or secret society influenced by Esoteric Christianity and Hermeticism. Represented by the Rose Cross or Rosy Cross. ↩