Paracelsus's personality and medical philosophy are well described by Hall. The book is very readable and entertaining. Paracelsus was a character, but also considered one of the early real holistic physicians. We are still able to learn from him today. He seemed to appreciate that combining traditional and non-traditional medicine together is the best medicine. Body/mind/spirit the Paracelsus way.

Palacelsus and his ideas and philosophy are well written by Hall. The book is very readable and informative as well as entertaining. Paracelsus was definitely a character, but his philosophy in medicine is timeless. Like in modern times, an individual that goes against the grain is often ridiculed. But when he or she is later proven to be "right", then they are later idolized. Even though he was politically offensive at times, his medical philosophy ("holisticism")was respectful, practical, and in ways nonjudgemental. True holistic medicine is the ideal for the past, present, and future. It existed before Paracelsus, like traditional native healers, but he spells it out for us. It is the mind/body/spirit connection. Definitely thought provoking.

The Hermetic and Alccemical Writings of Paracelsus the Great is an AWESOME collection of Alchemical/Hermetic material. It was my first "Paracelsian" book, and probably not my last. If you have little or no Alchemical/Hermetic knowledge though, I think you should wait before buying this one.

Having read Jung's glowing praises of Paracelsus, as well as various accounts of his amazing life, I was very excited to read this book to get a better idea what his actual writings are like. This selection of excerpts is alternately enjoyable and baffling, since Paracelsus was a very complicated thinker with enormous ambitions, and it appears from these excerpts that his reach often exceeds his grasp. He takes an encyclopedic approach to explaining everything about the science of his day as he understood it, completely mingled with his personal theology. The Paracelsian universe is saturated with living and breathing forces, stars influencing everything but in very strange ways that seem to contradict each other, and the inner light of nature leaving signs strewn about everywhere for the enlightened person to interpret. It's rather daunting to read that you really can't just use a particular herb to cure something, because you have to choose the right herb at the right time to fit the current astrological environment as it relates to the person requiring healing. All very heady stuff, and it might be easy to dismiss Paracelsus as a wooly-headed dreamer except for the known historical facts about his rather heroic life, and his reputation for expending great amounts of energy helping the poor.

In summary, the book doesn't (and really couldn't) cover any of the many subjects that concerned Paracelsus in great depth, but it provides a wonderful survey and starting point for additional investigation into this great man's writings.

This is an excellent book on the above qualities, explaining why, in Paracelsus's eyes, God punishes certain deeds when He is interested in the eternal rather than the temporal. It also affirms that it is ultimately the actions felt in the heart, not the deeds done in the body, which are the main cruxes of the problem. I'd comment more but I'd give away too much on the book. Read it yourself!

Overall, this is a decent effort. The long introductory essay puts Paracelsus' life and works in perspective. And the many wood-block reprints from the general period are interesting--if a bit distracting, since they are interpolations not drawn by Paracelsus himself and not appearing in the original works. But certainly, after hearing so much about Paracelsus from various readings in alchemy (including Jung, who wrote the Preface here), I quite enjoyed reading Paracelsus himself. The downside is that this primer is composed of short paragraphs plucked from all of Paracelsus' published works, shorn of context, then thrust into juxtaposition with whatever else the editor thought fit into the same category. So the readings are jumpy, paragraph by paragraph leaping amongst all 13 or so of Paracelsus' collected works. Many of the most interesting subjects are not covered at all or only thinly, including Paracelsus views on astrology, alchemy, magic and medicine. And much of it is given over to his (largely Christian) theological speculations--even tho' no one reads Paracelsus for his theology. All in all, this primer will whet your appetite for something more substantial. Personally, I can't wait to get a copy of "Archicoxes of Magic" or the A.E. Waite collection. But this book will point you in the right direction.

The main thread of Paracelsus' theology is that man is the "Little Universe" while the Universe is the "Great Being." To Paracelsus, however, this is not just a passing thought or a nice philosophy, but one to be explored, understood, and lived every day.

This selction of works gives a basic overview of Paracelsus' writing and thought in a comprehensive, yet, fairly easy to digest compendium. Edited by Jolande Jocobi for the Princeton "Mythos Series" does a wonderful job splicing together many of Paracelsus' works together in a rather cohesive and streamlined format. The subjects range from the creation of the universe to the practice of the physician to alchemy and art in general. If one is looking for a specific aspect of Paracelsus, this may not be the book to get, however, if one just wants to read or get a trace of his writings, then there is no better book to buy.

The writing is somewhat archaic, however, if one takes the time to understand what is written in the first couple of pages, then one can appreciate the point of view Paracelsus is coming from. In another way of saying this, according to Paracelsus, God and Man are intricately united and there is nothing on this Earth or the Universe that can separate the two. From this understanding Paracelsus stems all his other experiences and revelations.

The introduction by Jacobi is a fairly extensive biography of Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hoenheim called Paracelsus (which means "beyond celsus"). Throughout the book are many engravings from various artists from his books or other various books that pertain to the topic at hand. As stated, the book offers a wide variety of subjects for the reader to chew from which may make this book limited in range as it is a book of "Selected Writings", however, I believe if one is beginning to look into the works of Paracelsus, this might be the best place to start.

this is an overview of everything paracelsus thought about. he thought a lot. that is what hes known for. so this antholgy probably spreads itself a little thin, right? yes, now that you mention it. it doesnt contain any of his alchelmical texts or his texts on magic or his texts on medicine...do you understand? i myself was expecting a few alchemical texts or something. instead, it takes exerpts from nearly all of his writings and weaves them together show you how morality relates to medicine, magic, cosmology, alchemy... and delivers it all in clear language along with 150 great medieval illustrations, wood cuts, engravings and whatnots all very nice. a good starting point. but just keep in mind that it lacks actual complete texts. have i made myself clear? barely huh? well pull yourself together. its a great book and it will leave you wanting more.

"The really important psychic facts can neither be measured, weighed, nor seen in a test tube or under a microscope. They are therefore supposedly indeterminable, in other words, they must be left to people who have an inner sense of them, just as colours must be shown to the seeing and not to the blind." (Jung p. 238) This sentence reflects much of what this book is about. It highlights the drive behind Jung's attempt to make the invisible visible through an analysis of alchemical thought; it shows his complicated sentence structure and presents some of the hurdles one will have to jump in order to comprehend Jung's work on Alchemy. The preceding volume 12, "Psychology and Alchemy," would serve as a good introduction to this volume, and volume 14, "Mysterium Coniunctionis," might make Jung's thesis easier to comprehend.

This volume of collected works contains his commentary to "The Secret of The Golden Flower" which is almost useless without the actual Golden Flower text. It also contains Jung's analysis and commentary on some of the major metaphors of Alchemy.

According to Jung, Alchemy was the precursor of Western psychology, and that alchemists projected their mental/spiritual states unto the inanimate objects and processes of Alchemy. This work examines these projections in the light of modern consciousness and with the process of individuation in mind. `

Stripped to its essence, Jung's psychological theory states that humans have an unknown meta-consciousness that some will discover through a process he called individuation. This is a recapitulation of the ideas found in all religions, but is here represented by Jung in the terms of modern Western Culture as a scientific analysis of the Soul through an analysis of Alchemy.

Several years ago I read through this text without a clue as to what Jung was talking about, but found some of his observations noteworthy. About two years ago I had some experiences that made the insights contained in this book valuable, and I found that my previous reading allowed me to understand what I had read retrospectively. It also helped me in understanding aspects of Chinese Alchemy as metaphor. It is not recommended to casual readers.

...into the world of alchemy made the world aware of how rich a symbol-system had been lost from time out of mind. It was Jung who discovered that alchemy, a "chymical" art compensatory to the Christian emphasis on spirit over matter, also represented a projected psychology of the unconscious; it was, in fact, a forerunner of depth psychology itself.

This book is one of those rare blends of biographical information,useful practical notes with an easy readable writing something that we find lacking from translations usualy.It contains all kinds of information both for persons that are now begining to read about the occult as well as information that experienced magicians will find usefull,like medical formulas that a MAGE will find interesting and will want to experiment with.I found it extremely interesting and readable i recomend it to anyone that is interested in reading an enjoyable book even if you don't beleive in occult you will find the stories very interesting.The onely flaw of the book is the first part of it with the difficult to comprehend magic figures.

The Alchymist's Journal, by Evan S. Connell, according to the inside cover is a fictional tour de force of rich historical re-creation and spectacular prose. A love for historical fiction, the description on the sleeve, and all of the great reviews on the back of the book convinced me to purchase this book. I need not have bothered. I found this book to be unreadable.

This book was most definitely not a rich historical re-creation. There was absolutely no historical atmosphere in this book. This alone would not make the book so terrible. I have read other historical novels that did not have a good medieval feel and still liked them. However, Connell seems to have gone out of his way to make this a hard to read book. The prose is not spectacular, it is incomprehensible. After attempting to read this book, I am convinced that all of the reviews on the back could in no way be about The Alchymist's Journal. They must be describing a different novel.

This is a short, challenging, brilliant book. It's not a traditional novel in the sense that it lacks a discernible plot. It is, rather, a series of journal entries each written by a different imagined character. The characters are developed only through the words they use in their journals. The characters are distinct personalities, what they have in common is that they are all practitioners of alchemy, or alchemical medecine, and as such, have world views quite different from that of any (well, most, at any rate) modern readers. Connell's writing perfectly captures the tone and spirit of arcane writings from the Renaissance and early modern period. Perhaps it helps to have studied the works of real historical alchemists to fully appreciate the feat of mimicry that Connell has achieved here. That he has crafted several distinct voices and characters in this fashion is nothing short of amazing.

3/4 through this i still periodically wanted to throw it at the wall. The author practices the mystification of old alchemists and contemporary language artists. While sometimes it seems to be a word salad gleaned from six obscure thesauruses, he really does unfold the world view of pre-scientific thought from superstition through rudimentary experiment to mysticism. Its Ken Wilbur's evolution of consciousness in antifiction form. Alchemy is not a material science; it is a qualitative knowledge all but lost to our time. In the tone of ecco and borges but more challenging. It wouldn't hurt to read a few histories of alchemy and medieval northern europe first. Check out What IS Painting for a much more accessible treatment.

This is a short book; A pamphlet, really, not even a book. Nonetheless it details the usage of certain substances in Alchemy to cure various ailments. It's quite fascinating and would be interesting to a person practicing the Secret Art today, and perhaps some scientists.

This book contains several prophecies of the great Alchemist Paracelsus, written all in symbolic form. Thus, to interpret the meaning of the prophecies one must unravel what the symbolism in his words represents. He describes certain times and events as being "like this" or "like that" and you must try to unravel what the likeness really represents. Kind of like trying to interpret who the Anti-Christ will be given the description in the Bible, or decided what the grasshoppers are supposed to be, if not actual grasshoppers. An interesting book that might be fun to ponder and comtemplate the meaning of.