Hahnemann and Paracelsus

Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever Gods may be, for my unconquerable soul!

In the clutch of circumstance, I have not winced or cried aloud,

Under the bludgeoning of chance my head is bloody; but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but, the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years finds, and shall find me unafraid

It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll,

I am the master of my fate; I am the CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL.

                                                                                                                - William Ernest Henley

These lines exactly depict the essence, character and core of the life of Swiss physician, chemist, alchemist, Phillipus Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541). Paracelsus was the pseudonym of Dr Theophrastus Bombastus Hohenheim, which meant 'beyond Celsius', implying that he was greater physician than the then-revered Roman physician Aulus Cornelius Celsius. A rebellious thinker, Paracelsus developed his own system of medicine and philosophy. He is often regarded as the "Luther of Medicine" who revolted against the 1300 years of domination of then prevalent system of medicine, the practice of "Contraria Contraris" advocated by Galen.

Theophrastus Bombastus Hohenheim (Paracelsus) was born as the only son of a poor German physician in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. His father was a country physician who married the matron of local pilgrim Hospital. Around 1509 Paracelsus started his studies of chemistry and medicine at the University of Basle. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1510, he learned about metals and minerals and mining diseases at the mines in the Tirol. His early life it seems was full of hardships and struggles which made him strong enough to face the adversities of life.

"By nature I am not subtly spun, nor is it the custom of my native land to accomplish anything by spinning silk. Nor are we raised on figs, nor on mead, nor on wheaten bread, but on cheese, milk and oatcakes, which cannot give one a subtle disposition. Moreover, a man clings all his days to what he received in his youth; and my youth was coarse as compared to that of the subtle, pampered, and over-refined. For those who are raised in soft clothes and in women's apartments and we who are brought up among the pine-cones have trouble in understanding one another well." (from Paracelsus: Selected Writings, ed. by Jolande Jacobi, 1951)

Paracelsus also earned a doctorate, perhaps from the University of Ferrara. At Erfurt he met and apprenticed himself to one Rufus Mutianus, a friend of Pico della Mirandola (1463-94), a Faustian scholar. At some point in the mid-1510s Paracelsus studied under the Hermetic philosopher Trithemius.

Between the years 1510 and 1524 he wandered through Europe, Russia and the Middle East, learning the practice of medicine as a military surgeon and acquired a considerable knowledge of alchemy. It is thought that he learned the Hermetic secrets from Arabian adepts in Constantinople. "The physician," he wrote, "is he who in the bodily diseases takes the place of God and administers for Him." In his wide travels, Paracelsus became acquainted with remedies not familiar to contemporary physicians, and which brought him a high prestige. After great success as an army physician, he set himself to reforming medicine. He opposed scholastic physicians and medical authorities and emphasized the importance of practical knowledge. He thought that the physician must be a chemist and was accused of using poisons, when he used inorganic, particularly metallic elements in internal remedies. Paracelsus defended himself that his opponents used poisons too, and did not know the proper dosages. "The preparations of Antimony vary with the diseases for which it is administered. That which is used for wounds differs from that which is applied in the case of leprosy. And so of the rest. To take the same preparation of Antimony both in wounds and in leprosy would be a serious error." (Paracelsus in Alchemical Medicine)

"Every experiment is like a weapon which must be used in its particular way - a spear to thrust, a club to strike," Paracelsus wrote in Surgeon's Book (1605). "Experimenting requires a man who knows when to thrust and when to strike, according to need and fashion." Paracelsus taught that wounds would heal naturally if kept clean and drained. He is credited with successfully treating syphilis, gout, leprosy, and ulcers with mercury.

In 1526, supported by Erasmus, he became professor of medicine in the University of Basel, lecturing in German, not Latin. . He heaped scorn on the conservative physicians of the University, and, at the St. John's Day bonfire, threw Avicenna's revered Canon of medicine to the blaze and declared that his cap had more learning in it than all the heads in the university.He drew about him a school known as the Paracelsists, and claimed among his discoveries that of indefinitely prolonging life. During all this time, Paracelsus continued to write prolifically but all his writings were published after his death. He himself predicted that his writings may be understood twenty years after his death. His writings, which he dictated to his disciples, comprise most of what is known about the ancient Hermetic system of medicine.

In Philosophia Occulta Paracelsus wrote that human beings have two kinds of spirits - one is from the heaven, one from the nature, but they should follow their heavenly spirit in life. Paracelsus was a great advocator of "Chemical view of Life". In his work which he called as Paramirum he wrote that all diseases originate from salt, sulfur, or mercury, which correspond respectively matter body, soul, and spirit. Sulphur burns, Mercury becomes smoke and Salt becomes ash. All diseases depend upon the result of maladjustments of these three.

 He had gathered a lot many followers and believers in his system of medicine, but unfortunately around 1528 his patient, Frobenius, died. This was followed by a disastrous lawsuit and he left Basel in haste, even leaving behind his manuscripts. Paracelsus spent a wandering life in Switzerland, Alsace, and southern Germany. He settled for a few years in the Austrian province of Carinthia, where he produced some of his most famous writings, among them The Seven Defensiones, On the Errors and Labyrinth of the Physiocians, and On the Origin and Cause of Sand and Stone. In 1541 the Arch-Bishop Duke Ernsty of Bavaria invited Paracelsus to Salzburg. It is believed that here he was killed by being thrown from a cliff by his enemies, late night when returning home from a banquet. Paracelsus died on September 23, 1541. After he was buried his bones were dug up several times, moved and reburied.

Selected works:

• DE MEDICINA, 1478
• WUNDARTZNEY, 1536
• AUSLEGUNG FER FIGUREN, SO ZU NÜERENBERG GEFUNDEN SEIND WORDEN, GEFÜRT IN GRUNT DER MAGISCHEN WEISSAGUNG, DURCH DOCTOREM THEOPHRATSUM VON HOHENHEIM, 1569
• AUREOLI PHILIPPI THEOPHRASTI BOMBAST VON HOHENHEIN PARACELSI... OPERA, BÜCHER UND SCHRIFTEN, 1589-91 (durch Joannem Huserum in Truck gegeben, 10 parts, reprinted 1603, 1616)
• THEATRUM CHEMICUM, 1602-61 (6 vols.)
• Hermetic and Alchemical Writings, 1894 (2 vols.)
• DAS BUCH PARAGRANUM, 1903 (ed. by Franz Strunz)
• THEOPHRAST VON HOHENHEIM GENANNT PARACELSUS SÄMTLICHE WERKE, 1922-33, (14 vols., translated into modern German by Bernhard Aschner)
• Selected Writings, 1951 (edited by Jolande Jacobi)
• Concerning the Spirits of the Planets, 1983
• Hermetic Astronomy, 1983
• The Tincture of the Philosophers, 1984
• Alchemical Medicine, 1986
• Alchemy: The Third Column of Medicine, 1988
• A Treatise Concerning the Medicinal Philosophic Stone, 1989
• Concerning the Alchemical Degrees, Grades & Compositions, 1990
• The Prophecies of Paracelsus, 1992
• Four Treatises of Theophrastus Von Hohenheim Called Paracelsus, 1996
• Archidoxes of Magic: Of the Supreme Mysteries of Nature, of the Spirits of Planets, Secrets of Alchemy, Occult Philosophy, Zodiac Sign, 1997
• The Seven Defenses of Paracelsus, 2001

Paracelsus and the Medical Renaissance

Paracelsus belonged to the period of medical rebirth of sixteenth century- The Medical Renaissance. He was a contemporary of Nicholas Copernicus, Martin Luther, Leonardo da Vinci and a host of other figures we associate with the shattering of medieval thought and the birth of the modern world.

In fact, Paracelsus played a part in this change no less than the others. During his lifetime he was called by some the "Luther of Medicine" and the scientific debates of the late sixteenth century were centered more frequently on the innovations of Paracelsus than they were on the heliocentric astronomy of Copernicus.

"Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided.....                                            

                                                            Paracelsus                                                             
He was among the first to write scientific books for the public. A complete edition of his works in Latin appeared in 1589. He described silicosis, and to connected goitre with minerals found in drinking water. By experimenting he improved pharmacy and therapeutics, developed techniques for the production of laudanum, and explored the effects of other opium derivatives as well. Two hundred years later laudanum became the fashionable way to escape from pain and boredom.

He was the first physician to make use of the magnet and to explore the phenomenon of magnetism in relation to the human organism. On the basis of Hermetic principle of interrelationship he recognized the connection between psyche and the physical organism, and paved way for the work of Mesmer and subsequently Freud. In his theories he emphasised the need of understanding the hidden meanings of dreams - a theory which was recognised long after him. Dreams are not without meaning wherever they may come from-from fantasy, from the elements, or from other inspiration. Dreams must be heeded and accepted. For a great many of them come true.  Paracelsus
 
The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung has described Paracelsus as "an ocean, or, to put it less kindly, a chaos, an alchemical melting-pot into which the human beings, gods, and demons of that tremendous age, the first half of the sixteenth century, poured their peculiar juices." According to Paracelsus the physician had to be not only an alchemist but also an astrologer, because the human beings have a firmament body, which is the corporeal equivalent of the astrological heaven. And since the astrological constellation makes a diagnosis possible, it also indicates the therapy.

Jung was fascinated of Paracelsus' writings about alchemy and the connection between the alchemical stone (the lapsis) and the mystical experience of God. He returned to Paracelsus' ideas in several writings, among which the most thorough was Psychology and Alchemy (1944). It explores the analogies between alchemy, Christian dogma and symbolism on the other hand, and the dreams and visions, the classical material of psychoanalysis. The character of Paracelsus has inspired several writes, among them Robert Browning, (1812-1889), Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931), and Jorge Luis Borges (1889-1986).

Medical profession is much indebted to him for the introduction of certain metals (iron, antimony), mineral salts and inorganic substances in the therapeutics. This was not received warmly by the then prevalent system and they called him quack. But it is today that we acknowledge his contribution.

He upheld Hippocratic teachings and conceived the chemical theory of diseases and drugs as against the then prevailing humoral and vitalistic theory.

He even emphasised on the need of "inner sight" in physicians.On True Physician Paracelsus wrote:

    "That which is perceptible to the senses may be seen by everybody who is not a physician; but a physician should be able to see things that not everybody can see.  There are   natural   physicians and there are   artificially   made physicians.  The former see things which the latter cannot see, but the others dispute the existence of such things because they cannot see them. They see the exterior of things, but the true physicians see the interior. The inner man is the substantial reality; while the outer one is only an apparition; and therefore the true physician sees the real man and the quack sees only an illusion."

Paracelsus and Homeopathy

Paracelsus was a visionary, a genius, a rebel who looked far beyond times. He paved the path for the future generations and especially the system of Homeopathy. "He rebelled so we exist".He not only refuted Galen's contraria contraries but also sowed the saplings of Homeopathy. Though the credit of bringing the system of Homeopathy to light goes to master Hahnemann but the contributions of Paracelsus must be duly acknowledged.  It was he who emphasised that "when similar is put to similar and used and applied with intelligence then nature is served well". He wrote, the similar cures the similar, the scorpion cures the scorpion, and mercury cures mercury. The poison is mortal for man except if in the organism there is another poison with which it may fight, in which case the patient regains health. This was the heralding of the concept of Homeopathy.

He thus laid down not only the Homeopathic law of  healing, 'similia similibus curentur", but also three other principles that are peculiar to Homeopathy-Individualization of patient, diagnosis in terms of like remedy and Minimum dose. He only lacked the "provings" of medicines to enable him to apply the law of Healing to the sick persons. He also had some perception of the vital force as evidenced from his expression of "Principium Vitae" .He wrote, Once a disease has entered the body, all parts which are healthy must fight it: not one alone, but all. Because a disease might mean their common death. Nature knows this; and Nature attacks the disease with whatever help she can muster. This statement itself shows his understanding of the concept of Nature's healing power.

Paracelsus was also a believer in Doctrine of Signature. He asserted that a cure is affected by the means which caused the illness- "as arsenic cureth arsenic, anthrax cured anthrax, as poison cureth poison, thus similar anatomy cures a similar one". He is known to recommend the Fell Tauris for the hepatic cirrhosis and the extract of the spleen for the "obstruction" of the spleen.  He mentions blood serum to stop haemorrhage and equally mentions about the use of the opotherapic products."
 The plant of Cyclamen was used by him for ear diseases because the leaf of cyclamen resembles the human ear. The lungs of Fox were used for lung diseases, and so on.

In some of his books he has also given the reason for the use of doctrine. For the use of St. John's Wort (Hypericum) he explained in terms of this belief...the holes in this leaf mean that this herb helps all inner and outer orifices of the skin.....the blooms in the form of blood, a sign that it is good for wounds and should be used where flesh has to be treated. (Griggs, 1981, pg50)

He also insisted that the names of diseases are mere abstractions; diagnosis should be made in terms of the qualities of individual or rather the names of their remedies.

 Hahnemannn and Grauvogl followed Paracelsus' lead. This later found recognition in the Individualization theory of Hahnemann.

Paraclsus' Views on the ideas which later turned out into major theories in Homeopathy:

On prescribing on morbid state and constitution: Therefore we should keep an eye on the outward characteristics which nature gives a man by shaping him in a certain way.
If we want to make a statement about a man's nature on the basis of his physiognomy, we must take everything into account; it is in his distress that a man is tested, for then his nature is revealed.

No knowledge is perfect unless it includes an understanding of the origin-i.e., the beginning: and as all man's diseases originate in his constitution, it is necessary that his constitution should be known if we wish to know his disease.

On importance of doses: Poison is in everything, and no thing is without poison.

The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy.

On Short prescriptions: "I write short prescriptions, not 40-60 ingredients. I prescribe little and seldom (Paracelsus, Sieben Defensiones)

On complete picture of patient: The physician must give heed to the region in which the patient lives, that is to say, to its type and peculiarities.

On symptoms and not diagnosis: What sense would it make or what would it benefit a physician if he discovered the origin of the diseases but could not cure or alleviate them?

On Organopathy: Organopathy is specific local action of drugs to particular parts or organs. The real father of Organopathy in essence and substance is Hohenheim, an eminent and learned physician commonly called as Paracelsus.( Burnett)

Hahnemann as a forerunner of Paracelsus?

Goethe refers to Hahnemann as "this new Theophrastus Paracelsus"

Hahnemann and Paracelsus were so much similar in their life and character. Both mercilessly derided their contemporaries, rejected the medicine in which they were trained, used small doses and emphasised the Law of Similars. Both extensively used minerals, acids and metals in their practice. Both also obtained brief University teaching posts but got sacked after abusing their posts in doctrinating their students, castigating the medical system of the days and teaching heretical forms of medicine. And both were thoroughly castigated by their orthodox brethren. Their biggest difference is that Hahnemann used purified medicines, while Paracelsus tended to use unrefined natural products. Paracelsus just gave the idea but Hahnemann gave the full scientific system of practice.

 Hahnemann's medical outlooks, like that of Paracelsus were shaped by his early life.......the parallels between their careers, as between their medical doctrines are striking, (Coulter II, 306)

 Generally speaking Hahnemann appears to me (Dr. Stemler)  as a  second  Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus,  who  treated  with contempt  and  rejected all previous  knowledge,  although  often using it only wishing to let his personality shine by exclaiming: Away  oh! thou Hippocrates, Galen, Rhazes, Avicenna and  so  on.

You must follow me, not I you; mine is the monarchy.

Both were similar to each other but yet so markedly different that nature might say that there existed two different geniuses at two different times.

As regards the Therapeutic Science of Homeopathy there are sufficient ideas to believe that Hahnemann conceived his idea of Homeopathy from Paracelsus. Homeopathy in real sense was not an example of serendipity, it was not just an accidental discovery- its roots were deep within. What Hahnemann saw in "Cinchona Experiment" was a chance discovery, but chance favours the prepared mind. He was a great scholar well versed in different languages and it is a surprise that he had not heard of Paracelsus. It is possible that he had an idea of law of similars but his logical mind was not able to accept it, but when he himself experimented and confirmed it, he believed in the idea. He conceived the idea of Law of Similars from Paracelsus was nothing unusual but, he denied having ever heard of Paracelsus that was unusual. None of his literatures ever mentioned the name of Paracelsus. In a letter to Dr Stapf, "Hahnemann refused very definitely and with some indignation to be associated with Paracelsus' fantastic and will-o-the-wisp (theories), having had no suspicion that Paracelsus had similar ideas (Hael I, 273).   5 March, 1831;

What   do   you say to "the homoeobiotic   medicine   of Theophrastus   Paracelsus," by  Professor  Schultz,  which   has appeared  in Berlin? (And was well advertised in the "vossische Zeitung, "No. 92). According to this book I am supposed to  have taken  my  ideas  from  this  man's  writings   (incomprehensible gibberish)  but  not  to have understood them  properly,  and  so bungled  them; and Prof. Schultz makes out that Theophrastus  had grasped them much better than I. (Hael)

In 1825, Trinks pointed out to Hahnemann that the principles of homeopathy are to be found in Paracelsus' writings. Hahnemann replied that until that moment, he had known nothing of it, (9Hael.I, 425) No one had yet undertaken to attack homoeopathy from  that side, and it is really the limit in criticism.

He strictly and evidently denied having ever heard of Paracelsus which was a rare possibility, maybe he doubted more criticism or maybe he was too protective about his "baby", Homeopathy. Though rare but there is always a possibility that he may not have heard about Paracelsus.  No one can ever think of what was going on in the genius' head when he denied any association with Paracelsus, The truth went away with him, and we can only suggest.

What ever is the fact but the credit for bringing the system of Homeopathy to the forefront goes to Hahnemann. Homeopathy got its due place as a rational and scientific art of healing his efforts. Paracelsus' efforts might more realistically be seen as 'a preparation for Hahnemann', a clearing of debris, levelling of ground and the building of basic foundations for homeopathy. But it never went any further than that. It was a foundation for a new house that was never actually built. There were no walls, no rooms and no roof. On a theoretical or ideological level it is perfectly true that Paracelsus predates Hahnemann and forms a sound basis of ideas upon which Hahnemann built his 'house of homeopathy', but it is misleading to then say that Hahnemann copied Paracelsus or that he derived homeopathy from Paracelsan medicine. In a sense he did do that. In another sense he just made parallel discoveries (mainly through direct insight and experiment) and built up a system with strong similarities to Paracelsus. Paracelsus' system was a crude form of Homeopathy but it was not equal in value to Hahnemann's system (Dudgeon, 1853, 14).  Hahnemann's system was built up chiefly through experiment based upon some ideas from Cullen and Paracelsus, amongst others, and from his critique of allopathy. But it will be simplistic and misleading to say that homeopathy was first produced by Paracelsus and then perfected by Hahnemann.

It probably is true that Hahnemann magicked the 'white dove' of homeopathy out of the 'black hat' of Paracelsan medicine, but it is very much Hahnemann's white dove and not that of Paracelsus. That he denied it repeatedly indicates that it was probably more of a coincidence. That he became angry at these accusations does show that he may have been denying something. Of course, to those who swim in the wider river of history of ideas it is difficult to deny some link between Paracelsus and Hahnemann - they are profoundly similar people - and Hahnemann knew about Paracelsus in depth.

James Krauss gave the four epochal figures in the history of practice of medicine. Hippocrates, the Observer, introduced the art of clinical observation as the necessary basis for pathologic diagnosis. Galen, the Disseminator, spread with powerful authority the teachings of Hippocrates over the medical world. Paracelsus, the Assailer, introduced chemical as well as physical analysis into the practice of medicine. Hahnemann, the Experimenter, discovered the symptomatic source of both pathologic and therapeutic diagnosis and thereby made the practice of medicine scientific.              

CONCLUSION

Thus   the medical world owes a lot to Paracelsus, but he still remains as the unsung hero in medical practice who did not receive the credit he so rightly earned and deserved. It is the fault on our part if we do not acknowledge the truth or deny it, but it always stands like a fog-horn and shows the path to the lost.

 In Borges' story 'The Rose of Paracelsus' the doctor prays to his God to send him a disciple. A young man (Johannes Grisebach) appears. He is ready to follow Paracelsus, if he can prove his skills as an alchemist by burning a rose to ashes and making it emerge again. Paracelsus says that the rose is eternal, and only its appearances may change. "The path is the Stone. The point of departure is the Stone. If these words are unclear to you, you have not yet begun to understand. Every step you take is the goal you seek." (From 'The Rose of Paracelsus' by Jorge Luis Borges) The man throws the rose into the flames. Paracelsus tells that all the other physicians call him a fraud - perhaps they are right. The young man says: "What I have done is unpardonable. I have lacked belief, which the Lord demands of all the faithful. Let me, then, continue to see ashes. I will come back again when I am stronger, and I will be your disciple, and at the end of the Path I will see the rose." He leaves, promising to come back, but they both know that they would not see each other again. Alone, Paracelsus whispers a single word and the rose appears again.