*Ø* Blogmanac November 12, 1493 | Happy birthday, Paracelsus

1493 (Sources vary as to date) Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Paracelsus (1493 - 1541), Switzerland, physician and one of history’s greatest alchemists. He called himself para-Celsus because he surpassed even first-century Roman physician Aulus Cornelius Celsus. He broke with tradition by teaching in German rather than Latin, burned Avicenna's Canon to mark his break with academic colleagues at Basel, and lambasted the Greek physician Galen (131 - 201 CE) at every opportunity.

He believed that “magic is a teacher of medicine preferable to all the written books”. He also believed that epileptics were ill, not possessed. Paracelsus was the first to use tincture of opium in medicine, and he correctly associated head injury with paralysis, and miners’ lung with the occupation. He claimed to have discovered the philosopher’s stone and that he was immortal.

On September 24, 1541 Paracelsus made his will, but there was no mention of gold or silver, the alchemists’ holy grail. His only legacy was a 125 grams (approx. 4 oz Troy/Apoth.) silver chalice. Paracelsus died in 1541, possibly from a fall (he was a heavy drinker).

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