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SECRET TEACHINGS - 21. HERMETIC PHARMACOLOGY, CHEMISTRY & THERAPEUTICS: Paracelsus & Sacred Medicine of Hermeticists - Manly P. Hall
Published 2 years, 6 months ago
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Chapter 21: HERMETIC PHARMACOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, AND THERAPEUTICS:
The healing methods of Paracelsus - Palingenesis - Hermetic theories concerning the cause of disease - Medicinal properties of herbs - The use of drugs in the Mysteries - The sect of the Assassins.
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES - AN ENCYCLOPEDIC OUTLINE OF MASONIC, HERMETIC, QABBALISTIC AND ROSICRUCIAN SYMBOLICAL PHILOSOPHY - Being an Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories, and Mysteries of all Ages - By Manly P. Hall (1928)
In Chapter 21 of The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), Manly P. Hall revives the sacred Hermetic science of healing, portraying pharmacology, chemistry, and therapeutics as priestly arts rooted in ancient temple wisdom rather than mere material practices. True medicine, he argues, targets invisible causes of disease—astral, mental, karmic, and cosmic—beyond physical symptoms alone. Drawing from Hermes Trismegistus (whose *Emerald Tablet* he views as a supreme chemical formula), Hall laments modern medicine’s materialistic turn after Hippocrates separated healing from the Mysteries, fragmenting its holistic origins. Through Paracelsus—the “Second Hermes”—and mystery traditions, Hall explores herbs, minerals, talismans, and drugs used to cure the body while awakening the spirit and harmonizing the microcosm (man) with the macrocosm (universe). The chapter covers Paracelsus’ revolutionary methods, palingenesis (regeneration from ashes), seven Hermetic disease causes, planetary herb powers, sacramental drugs in the Mysteries, and the Assassins’ dark narcotic use. Hall’s luminous prose urges reclaiming these lost keys to bridge visible and invisible realms in divine healing.
The Healing Methods of Paracelsus
The chapter opens with a glowing portrait of Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim—Paracelsus—who Hall hails as the greatest physician of the Middle Ages and the true reviver of Hermetic medicine. Born in 1493, Paracelsus traveled Europe (and possibly the East), learning from gypsies, Arabs, and nature herself. He rejected the stagnant humoral theory of Galen and the university physicians of his day, declaring that “he who will investigate her ways must travel her books with his feet.” For Paracelsus, the physician must be a servant of Nature, not her enemy. He taught that all things contain a visible body and an invisible etheric double animated by the archæus—the universal vital force synonymous with astral light. Disease arises when this double is deranged; therefore, healing consists in reharmonizing the invisible man. Paracelsus employed seven principal methods: (1) spells and invocations to expel evil spirits; (2) vibration through music, color, and chant; (3) planetary talismans and amulets; (4) herbs and simples; (5) prayer and faith; (6) regulation of diet and habits; and (7) practical chemical medicine (including the cautious use of mercury and antimony). Hall quotes Paracelsus at length to show his contempt for physicians who poison patients with mercury or bleed them to death while ignoring the true causes. The mumia—the magnetic vehicle of the archæus—could be transferred from healthy to diseased bodies or even from plants and minerals, allowing the healer to divert morbid forces. This system, Hall explains, anticipated mesmerism and modern concepts of vital energy, positioning Paracelsus as the bridge between ancient temple medicine and the future of holistic healing.
Palingenesis
Hall presents palingenesis—the regeneration or rebirth of form from its ashes—as one of the most astonishing proofs of the invisible archetypal body. Drawing on the 17th-century scholar James Gaffarel and the chemist Du Chesne, he describes the alchemical experiment in which the ashes of a burned rose, when gently heated in a glass vessel, rise and reassemble into the perfect phanto
The healing methods of Paracelsus - Palingenesis - Hermetic theories concerning the cause of disease - Medicinal properties of herbs - The use of drugs in the Mysteries - The sect of the Assassins.
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES - AN ENCYCLOPEDIC OUTLINE OF MASONIC, HERMETIC, QABBALISTIC AND ROSICRUCIAN SYMBOLICAL PHILOSOPHY - Being an Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories, and Mysteries of all Ages - By Manly P. Hall (1928)
In Chapter 21 of The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), Manly P. Hall revives the sacred Hermetic science of healing, portraying pharmacology, chemistry, and therapeutics as priestly arts rooted in ancient temple wisdom rather than mere material practices. True medicine, he argues, targets invisible causes of disease—astral, mental, karmic, and cosmic—beyond physical symptoms alone. Drawing from Hermes Trismegistus (whose *Emerald Tablet* he views as a supreme chemical formula), Hall laments modern medicine’s materialistic turn after Hippocrates separated healing from the Mysteries, fragmenting its holistic origins. Through Paracelsus—the “Second Hermes”—and mystery traditions, Hall explores herbs, minerals, talismans, and drugs used to cure the body while awakening the spirit and harmonizing the microcosm (man) with the macrocosm (universe). The chapter covers Paracelsus’ revolutionary methods, palingenesis (regeneration from ashes), seven Hermetic disease causes, planetary herb powers, sacramental drugs in the Mysteries, and the Assassins’ dark narcotic use. Hall’s luminous prose urges reclaiming these lost keys to bridge visible and invisible realms in divine healing.
The Healing Methods of Paracelsus
The chapter opens with a glowing portrait of Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim—Paracelsus—who Hall hails as the greatest physician of the Middle Ages and the true reviver of Hermetic medicine. Born in 1493, Paracelsus traveled Europe (and possibly the East), learning from gypsies, Arabs, and nature herself. He rejected the stagnant humoral theory of Galen and the university physicians of his day, declaring that “he who will investigate her ways must travel her books with his feet.” For Paracelsus, the physician must be a servant of Nature, not her enemy. He taught that all things contain a visible body and an invisible etheric double animated by the archæus—the universal vital force synonymous with astral light. Disease arises when this double is deranged; therefore, healing consists in reharmonizing the invisible man. Paracelsus employed seven principal methods: (1) spells and invocations to expel evil spirits; (2) vibration through music, color, and chant; (3) planetary talismans and amulets; (4) herbs and simples; (5) prayer and faith; (6) regulation of diet and habits; and (7) practical chemical medicine (including the cautious use of mercury and antimony). Hall quotes Paracelsus at length to show his contempt for physicians who poison patients with mercury or bleed them to death while ignoring the true causes. The mumia—the magnetic vehicle of the archæus—could be transferred from healthy to diseased bodies or even from plants and minerals, allowing the healer to divert morbid forces. This system, Hall explains, anticipated mesmerism and modern concepts of vital energy, positioning Paracelsus as the bridge between ancient temple medicine and the future of holistic healing.
Palingenesis
Hall presents palingenesis—the regeneration or rebirth of form from its ashes—as one of the most astonishing proofs of the invisible archetypal body. Drawing on the 17th-century scholar James Gaffarel and the chemist Du Chesne, he describes the alchemical experiment in which the ashes of a burned rose, when gently heated in a glass vessel, rise and reassemble into the perfect phanto