Pantheism and panpsychism in the Renaissance and the emergence of secularism
Intellectual History Review December 11, 2023 Elisabeth Blum, Paul Richard Blum, Tomáš Nejeschleba et al.
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Martin Žemla
2 papers in the library · publishing 2023
Papers
A balsamic mummy. The medical-alchemical panpsychism of Paracelsus
Intellectual History Review November 23, 2023 Martin Žemla
Paracelsus's concept of the universal ensoulment of nature underpins his view of the body's self-healing capacity, as detailed in his 1536 work Grosse Wundartzney. Rather than focusing on balancing bodily humours, his medicine aimed to strengthen the inner vital principle—termed the balsam, mummy, or astral spirit—through life-endowed essences of healing substances that act via inner sympathies. This approach links to medical alchemy, which produces subtle medicinal essences, and relies on natural magic and the microcosm-macrocosm analogy. The paper also examines Paracelsus's relationship to predecessors, notably Marsilio Ficino.