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their wanderings and strivings, as recorded by their own pens and by contemporaneous
disciples of the Hermetic art, are as fascinating as any romance of fiction.

PARACELSUS OF HOHENHEIM

The most famous of alchemical and Hermetic philosophers was Philippus Aureolus
Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. This man, who called himself Paracelsus,
declared that some day all the doctors of Europe would turn from the other schools and,
following him, revere him above every other physician. The accepted date of the birth of
Paracelsus is December 17, 1493. He was an only child. Both his father and mother were
interested in medicine and chemistry. His father was a physician and his mother the
superintendent of a hospital. While still a youth, Paracelsus became greatly interested in
the writings of Isaac of Holland, and determined to reform the medical science of his day.

When twenty years old he began a series of travels which continued for about twelve
years. He visited many European countries, including Russia. It is possible that he
penetrated into Asia. It was in Constantinople that the great secret of the Hermetic arts
was bestowed upon him by Arabian adepts. His knowledge of the Nature spirits and the
inhabitants of the invisible worlds he probably secured from the Brahmins of India with
whom he came in contact either directly or through their disciples. He became an army
physician, and his understanding and skill brought him great success.

Upon his return to Germany, he began his long-dreamed-of reformation of the medical
arts and sciences. He was opposed on every hand and criticized unmercifully. His violent
temper and tremendously strong personality undoubtedly precipitated many storms upon
his head which might have been avoided had he been of a less caustic disposition. He
flayed the apothecaries, asserting that they did not use the proper ingredients in their
prescriptions and did not consider the needs of their patients, desiring only to collect
exorbitant fees for their concoctions.

The remarkable cures which Paracelsus effected only made his enemies hate him more
bitterly, for they could not duplicate the apparent miracles which he wrought. He not only
treated the more common diseases of his day but is said to have actually cured leprosy,
cholera, and cancer. His friends claimed for him that he all but raised the dead. His
systems of healing were so heterodox, however, that slowly but surely his enemies
overwhelmed him and again and again forced him to leave the fields of his labors and
seek refuge where he was not known.

There is much controversy concerning the personality of Paracelsus. That he had an
irascible disposition there is no doubt. His barred for physicians and for women
amounted to a mania; for them he had nothing but abuse. As far as can be learned, there
was never a love affair in his life. His peculiar appearance and immoderate system of
living were always held against him by his adversaries. It is believed that his physical
abnormalities may have been responsible for much of the bitterness against society which
he carried with him throughout all his intolerant and tempestuous life.