THE COELUM PHILOSOPHORUM, OR BOOK OF VEXATIONS By PHILIPPUS THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS. THE SCIENCE AND NATURE OF ALCHEMY, AND WHAT OPINION SHOULD BE FORMED THEREOF. Regulated by the Seven Rules or Fundamental Canons according to the seven commonly known Metals and containing a Preface with certain Treatises and Appendices.

YOU who are skilled in Alchemy, and as many others as promise yourselves great riches or chiefly desire to make gold and silver, which Alchemy in different ways promises and teaches equally, too, you who willingly undergo toil and vexations, and wish not to be freed from them, until you have attained your rewards, and the fulfilment of the promises made to you experience teaches this every day, that out of thousands of you not even one accomplishes his desire. Is this a failure of Nature or of Art? I say, no but it is rather the fault of fate, or of the unskilfulness of the operator. Since, therefore, the characters of the sign of the stars and planets of heaven, together with the other names, inverted words, receipts, materials, and instruments are thoroughly well known to such as are acquainted with this art, it would be altogether superfluous to recur to these same subjects in the present book, although the use of such signs, names, and characters at the proper time is by no means without advantage.

But herein will be noticed another way of treating Alchemy different from the previous method, and deduced by Seven Canons from the sevenfold series of the metals. This, indeed, will not give scope for a pompous parade of words, but, nevertheless, in the consideration of those Canons everything which should be separated from Alchemy will be treated at sufficient length, and, moreover, many secrets of other things are herein contained. Hence, too, result certain marvellous speculations and new operations which frequently differ from the writings and opinions of ancient operators and natural philosophers, but have been discovered and confirmed by full proof and experimentation.

About Author:

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim known as Paracelsus was born in 1493 at Maria Einsiedeln, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Descended from ancient Bombast family of Castle Hohenheim near Stuttgart, Wurtemberg. His father, a physician of repute, possessor of curious books and his mother, matron of a hospital.

Theophrastus, born a year after their marriage. Said to have been emasculated from infancy which accounts for his beardless face and feminine appearance and hatred of women. Studied Alchemy, surgery and medicine with his father. Stimulated to the higher studies by works of Isaac Holland. Continued his studies under monks in Convent of St. Andrew of Savon, later University of Basel. Finally devoted himself to occult science under illustrious Johann Trithemius, Abbott of Spanheim. Later studied under Sigismund Hagger. At age of twenty traveled through Germany, Hungary, Italy, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.

In Muscovy was made prisoner and taken to court of the "Great Cham." Acquiring favor was sent to embassy at Constantinople where he was given the sublime secret of Alchemy by a generous Arabian who gave him the universal dissolvent, the Azoth of Western Adepts, that Alcahest or Sophic fire. Thus initiated he traveled through India and Egypt. At age of thirty returned to Germany and performed many marvelous cures. In 1528 proceeded to Colmar. In 1530 he was denounced in Nuremberg as an impostor but confounded his critics by marvelous cures of elephantiasis, of which testimonials are extant in the archives of Nuremberg.

Died after many wanderings, on the 24th of September 1541. Traditions regarding his death differ. One states that he died on a bench of the kitchen fire at the Inn at Strasburg. Another states that "he went to Maehren, Kaernthen, Krain, and Hungary, and finally landed in Salzburg, to which place he was invited by the Prince Palatine, Duke Ernst of Bavaria, who was a lover of the secret arts. He died there after a short illness, at the age of forty eight years and three days, in a small room of the White Horse Inn near the quay, and was buried in the graveyard of St. Sebastian. His death is said to have been hastened by a scuffle with assassins in the pay of the orthodox medical faculty." He was one of the greatest and most illustrious of the long line of notable Alchemists and Initiates of the Order.