What pneuma, spiritus, qi, prāṇa, the archeus and the élan vital meant, which ideas descend from which, what people did with them, and where the books in the Source Library use them.
108concepts, doctrines and practices
158relations between them
61relations stated in a linked passage
377quoted passages
The Atlas of Aliveness collects passages in which something is felt or said to be alive. This page is its vocabulary. Each entry gives a word in the scripts the sources use, the tradition and century it belongs to, a short account of what it meant, a strip showing how many pages in the library use it by the date of the work, and two or three passages to read, each linked to its page.
The entries are grouped by the five senses the atlas uses: feeling alive, the world as alive, made things as alive, the inhabited world, and prolonged life (more time in the life one has). Under each sense come the principles said to make things alive, the doctrines and schools that held them, the practices that cultivated them, the states they produced, and their opposites. An entry that belongs to more than one sense is listed under its first.
The library itself: pages of 42,344 readable books by century of the work, dated by when the work was written (55% sourced). Every strip below leans toward the 16th and 17th centuries partly because the library does.
Each relation names its source. A small p means a page in the library states it, and the passage is quoted in the data. Relations without the mark are standard scholarly background and have not yet been found stated in the library's own books.
Lines of descent
Some words were translated or reworked from one tradition into the next. Each line below follows one such path, oldest first.
“for it is called pneuma from pneo [I blow, I breathe], whence in Hebrew it is called Ruach [wind], on account of the similarity which Christ himself hints at (John 3:8), or "respiration": for as the life of a man consists and is refreshed by respiration, so also all things consist by the Spirit of God;” Steuber, Johannes, Steuber, Johannes: Exegesis dicti 1 Jo. V,7. Tres sunt, qui testimonium perhibent in coelo ... · work dated 1620 · open the page
“At a later date, Philistion of Syracuse, Plato's friend, substituted the ψυχικὸν πνεῦμα ("animal spirits") which circulated along with the blood.” John Burnet, Early Greek Philosophy · work dated 1899 · open the page
“This is therefore the Spirit of the World, which is the first instrument of the Soul of the World: the nearest, the most powerful, the simplest, the purest, the most moved and most moving, the most penetrating, the most life-giving, the most forming, the most similar to light, the most similar to life, the most similar to the Soul, and the most similar to God.” Ficino, Marsilio, Les trois livres de la vie · work dated 1489 · open the page
“The Stoics express God more commonly as a technical fire walking in a path for the generation of the world, containing all the seminal reasons [seeds of potentiality], according to which each thing comes to be according to fate, and a spirit pneuma[breath/spirit] passing through the whole world, receiving the names by the variation of the matter through which it has passed.” Plutarch, Moralia (Small Works) · work dated 128 · open the page
“But we, not making this dispute our own explicitly, think nevertheless that at least indirectly and by some reasoning, the defenders of Opliatria[weapon-salve] can be accused of magic: because we think that the sympathy and antipathy which they think has a place in opliatria cannot apply here. For where there is a certain hidden sympathy and antipathy, there is a common and equal experience, and no peculiar faith is …” Baumgart, Valentin, Baumgart, Valentin: Discursus polit. primus de magis, cingaris, haereticis ... e republica eliminandis · work dated 1675 · open the page
“803 many works already, in which there is a medical and surgical encyclopedia, and he was otherwise addicted to the Helmontian doctrine of the Archaeus [the vital governing principle].” Matthiae, Georg, Chronological Survey of the History of Physicians · work dated 1742 · open the page
“Let this be done until the aqua vitae[water of life] is converted into a fiery substance. This is tested by moistening a cloth with it; if it is set on fire, the cloth burns away instantly along with the water. Also, if you drop a single drop of olive oil into it, it will immediately sink to the bottom and never rise again, no matter how much the vessel is moved or shaken. Thus you have the Quinta Essentia[Fifth Essence or Quintessence] of the wine itself, …” Ulstad, Philip|Campesius, Joannes Antonius, Coelum philosophorum, seu liber de secretis naturae. Directorium summae summarum medicinae · work dated 1525 · open the page
“That which is metaphorically called the Respiration of the Embryo is truly called the Inner Elixir. It not only cures diseases, but confers immortality. He who continuously pursues this practice will have his name inscribed upon the Register of the Immortals.” Frederic Henry Balfour, Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political, and Speculative · work dated 1873 · open the page
“If that mind is made into non-mind, one will thereby attain unsurpassed enlightenment. By acting like the wise, the winds rlung[prana; vital energies] are completely bound.” བསྟན་འགྱུར། སྡེ་དགེ། རྒྱུད་འགྲེལ། ཝི (Derge Tengyur, vol. 51) · work dated 800 · open the page
Feeling alive
Principles
qi
principleChinese · 4th c. BCE onward · also the world as alive, prolonged life
Vapour, breath and the stuff of which all things condense. In Chinese medicine it circulates in the channels; in self-cultivation it is refined and conserved to prolong life.
Translators also write: Vital Energy Related, not the same: Prana
289,448 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 598 and 1770, most in the 17th c. 99% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (63% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Korean & Vietnamese, Japanese
2. Nourishing Qi Humans receive the Qi of Heaven and Earth to be born. There must be a portion of Original Vitality Yuanqi (元氣). The fundamental life force inherited from one's parents.
Various Taoist Masters, Essence of the Taoist Canon · work dated 1000 · page 111
The superior practitioner guards the spirit, which means guarding the excess or deficiency of the patient’s blood and Qi 氣 (qì): the vital life force or energy that flows through the body to determine whether to supplement or drain.
attributed to Huangdi, Commentary on the Yellow Emperor's Classic: Spiritual Pivot (Huangdi Neijing Lingshu), Vol 1 · work dated 1586 · page 89
Shen both mistake Qi[vital energy/matter] for Principle. To explain "the marvel of Principle through Principle" or "Principle containing Principle"—these theories are all incorrect.
principleLatin · 1st c. BCE onward · also the world as alive
spiritusLatinspiritEnglishGeistGermanespritFrench
The Latin rendering of pneuma: breath, the subtle vapour that carries life and sensation through the body, and in theology the Holy Spirit. Alchemists also used it for volatile distillates.
Also spelled: Spiritibus, Spirituum Translators also write: pneuma, πνεῦμα, ΠΝΑ Related, not the same: Spiritus Vitalis, Spiritus Vitales, Spiritus Sanctus, ܪܘܚܐ ܕܩܘܕܫܐ, Ruach Ha-Kodesh, Ruha d-Qudsha, animus
221,621 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 208 and 1710, most in the 17th c. (broad phrase) 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (64% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Early Christian & Monastic, Medieval Latin
and the sulphur is the spiritus[spirit] and the sal[salt] the corpus, the mercurius the anima[soul], and the spiritus is the vinculum[bond] that holds the anima and the corpus together, and the spiritus is the ignis[fire] of nature that drives the mercurium into the corpus, and the sal is the fixum[fixed part] of nature that retains the spiritum and the animam.
Morienus; Bernard Trevisanus; Arnaldus de Villanova, Alchemical Collection: Morienus, Bernard of Treviso, Arnaldus · work dated 1400 · page 322
The body is of the earth, the Spiritus[spirit] is from heaven and from God, etc. It is further to be known that there are many kinds of spirits, and each one is different from the other.
Paracelsus, Erster [- zehender] Theil der Bücher und Schrifften des edlen, hochgelehrten und bewehrten philosophi und medici Philippi Theophrasti Bombast von Hohenheim ... · work dated 1525 · page 3477
But when the phlegma is over, give it a stronger fire, and a great white spiritus[spirit] comes up into the flask, almost looking like the white spiritus vitrioli[spirit of vitriol], but it does not fall into the phlegma.
Basilius, Fratris Basilii Valentini ... chymische Schriften alle so viel derer verhanden · work dated 1602 · page 893
rlung (wind)
principleTibetan · 8th c. onward
རླུངTibetanrlungWylielungphonetic
Wind: the Tibetan rendering of Sanskrit prāṇa and vāyu. In Tibetan medicine it is one of three humours; in tantric yoga the winds carry mind through the channels.
Translators also write: Vata, Vayu, Prana, प्राण Related, not the same: Anila, Maruta
113,072 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 300 and 1750, most in the 9th c. 58% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (1% sourced) · mostly Tibetan
Furthermore, the nature of Wind rlung is fivefold. These are: the Life-Sustaining Wind srog 'dzin rlung, the Upward-Moving Wind stod du rgyu ba'i rlung, the Pervasive Wind khyab byed rlung, the Fire-Accompanying Wind me dang mnyam du gnas pa'i rlung, and the Downward-Clearing Wind thur du sel ba'i rlung.
Regarding those, applying warm oils to the head, bathing the body and rubbing it with sesame oil, performing oil massages, kneading the body, and consuming salt, sour flavors, meat, fish, liquor, and fatty foods, as well as applying oil-based compresses, sleeping in a place sheltered from wind, warming oneself, seeking heat, reducing mental stress, reducing activities, and relying on nourishing foods: these are the means to subdue rlung[wind or the vata humor].
principleGreek · Homer onward · also the world as alive
ψυχήGreekanimaLatinsoulEnglishנפשHebrewنفسArabic
The soul as the principle of life. In Aristotle's De anima it is what distinguishes a living body from a dead one, with nutritive, sensitive and rational powers.
Also spelled: Psyche, Psychen, psyches Translators also write: seele, animae, nefesh, nafs, ܢܦܫܐ, animam, հոգի, ame, ziele, nephesh Related, not the same: atman, jiva, neshamah, ruh, spiritus, spiritum, pneuma, ruach
46,235 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 378 BCE and 1650, most in the 3rd c. 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (78% sourced) · mostly Greek, Hellenistic & Late Antique, Byzantine & Orthodox
344 D: ἀθανάτὲ δὲ πεφασμένε, τῆς ὑφ' ἑαυτῦ κινμένε, ψυχῆς ἐσίαν τε καὶ λόγον τῦτο αὐτό τις λέγων οὐκ αἰχυνεται[When therefore it appears that what moves itself is immortal, the person who says that this itself is the substance and definition of the soul does not blush].
Lenz, Christian Friedrich, First Physical Dissertation on the Bond Connecting Soul and Body · work dated 1712 · page 32
That Hermes, truly thrice-greatest in these divine matters: Ὕλης μὲν τὸ λεπτομερέστερον, ἀὴρ. ἀέρος δὲ, ψυχή. ψυχῆς δὲ, νοῦς. νοῦ δὲ, ὁ Θεός.
Justus Lipsius, Six Books of Politics · work dated 1583 · page 234
It is sufficiently established that the use of the word ψυχή[soul/spirit] to express a living man’s true personality is Orphic in its origin, and came into philosophy from mysticism.
principleHebrew Bible · Genesis 2:7 onward · also made things as alive
נשמת חייםHebrewspiraculum vitaeLatinπνοὴ ζωῆςGreekbreath of lifeEnglish
The breath God blows into the nostrils of the man formed from earth, after which he becomes a living soul (nefesh chayah). It is the model scene for giving life to a made body.
Translators also write: Spiraculo Vitæ, Nischmat Chajim Related, not the same: Living Soul, spiraculum, Odem, Neschamah
10,780 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 26 and 1878, most in the 17th c. 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (56% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Kabbalistic & Hasidic, Indian
Whence that vivifying spirit is called in scripture נשמת חיים[Neschamah], the breath of life: from which that corporeal spirit becomes living, and thence it is denominated Nephesh, as if נפשה[diffused], namely from that vivifying spirit: According to that in Genesis 2, verse 7: "And he breathed into his face the נשמת חיים[breath of life]: then immediately it is subjoined: "And man became a Nephesh.
Yiśrā'ēl Ben-Moše, Kabbalistic Disputation on the Soul and the Rhythmic Work of Abraham Ibn Ezra · work dated 1635 · page 453
Hence, not without mystery, Scripture says that God, when he gave life to man, breathed into his face the breath, or soul of lives, which the Hebrews call נשמת חיים nif-mat haiim: it says "of lives," so that it may be intimated that in that breath, or soul, which was infused, every kind of life was contained, which pertains to the whole man himself.
Francesco Giorgi (Giorgio Veneto), Three songs on the harmony of the whole world. With a recently added index of them · work dated 1511 · page 812
breathed into his nostrils (spiraculum vitæ) the breath of life, and man was made a living soul. There the breath of life inspired by God, signifies no more, but that God gave him life;
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651 first edition) · work dated 1651 · page 227
animal magnetism
principleEuropean medicine & Mesmerism · 1770s – 1850s · also the world as alive
Franz Anton Mesmer's universal fluid (1779), which he held fills the universe and the nerves and can be directed by a practitioner's passes to cure illness.
Translators also write: MESMERISM, tierischer Magnetismus, Thier-Magnetismus Related, not the same: magnetism, magnétisme, Magnetismus
10,236 pages in 770 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1764 and 1892, most in the 19th c. 81% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (77% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
The whole soul and the whole body are contained in the hands as a medium of influence." Mesmerism or Animal Magnetism.—In the latter half of the eighteenth century a new era was inaugurated in connection with the doctrine of a magnetic fluid.
Lewis Spence, An Encyclopaedia of Occultism · work dated 1920 · page 256
DU MAGNÉTISME ANIMAL. the marvelous that this state presents can lead those who observe it to the most absurd consequences, if they do not look upon it as a simple nervous crisis, which is in the natural order, and which cannot lead to the discovery of knowledge foreign to that which we receive through the senses.
Joseph Philippe François Deleuze, Histoire critique du magnétisme animal · work dated 1791 · page 593
and this means is electricity and thierischer Magnetismus[animal magnetism]. That plus- and minus-electricity is the natural consequence of the disruption of the animal economy is most convincingly proven by the experiments made with electricity on those suffering from fever.
Eckartshausen, Karl von, Aufschlüsse zur Magie · work dated 1779 · page 181
animal spirits
principleGalenic medicine; Descartes · 2nd c. – 18th c.
The finest spirit, refined in the brain and carried through the nerves to give sensation and motion. Descartes kept the animal spirits as a purely mechanical fluid.
Translators also write: Spiritus Animales, Spiritibus animalibus, Thiergeist, animalis spiritus, dierlyke geeften, psychikon pneuma, Esprit animal, animalische geist, Animales spiritus Related, not the same: ruh haywani, spiritus animalium
7,856 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1016 and 1772, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (65% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Medieval Latin
Thus it happens that the body is carried aloft by the impulse of the animal spirit spiritus animalis; according to ancient and medieval medicine, a refined substance that resides in the brain and flows through the nerves to control movement and sensation, which contains and protects the strength of the nerves and muscles (that is, the duty of sensing and moving) within the brain.
Lemnius, Levinus, Hidden miracles of nature: and various documents of things, explained in two books with probable reason and skillful conjecture, which are not so much for the use as for the delight of the studious and eager reader · work dated 1540 · page 287
and for the fantaisie[imagination], which can variously change them, and compose new ones, and by the same means, distributing the esprits animaux[animal spirits] into the muscles, cause the limbs of this body to move, in as many different ways, and as appropriately to the objects that present themselves to its senses, and to the internal passions that are within it, as our own can move without the will directing them.
Rene Descartes, Discourse on the Method · work dated 1624 · page 60
Of the Truth Animals certainly lose life and action with their blood, for with it the esprits animaux[animal spirits, the vital essence believed to animate the body] depart.
Mornay, Philippe de, De la vérité de la religion chrestienne · work dated 1575 · page 264
vital spirits
principleGalenic medicine · 2nd c. – 18th c. · also prolonged life
In the Galenic scheme, the spirit made in the left ventricle of the heart from air and blood, which carries innate heat and life to the body through the arteries.
Translators also write: Spiritus Vitales, Spiritum Vitalem, Spiritu Vitali, Spirituum Vitalium, zotikon pneuma, Vitalis Spiritus, Spiritibus Vitalibus Related, not the same: pneuma, Spiritus, Archeus, Archaeus, Nefesh, Nephesch, Spiritus vitæ
7,604 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1016 and 1765, most in the 17th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (69% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Medieval Latin
The other pestis[plague] breaks out through the virtus expultrix[expulsive power], because either the poison is not so strong that nature and the spiritus vitales[vital spirits] can overcome the poison and drive it out from itself, or it is often driven out per medicamenta[through medicines] which come to the aid of the vital spirits.
Paracelsus, Paracelsus: De Peste Tractatus · work dated 1525 · page 12
And so it is likewise situated when the spiritus vitales[vital spirits] have no movement. Therefore, it behooves a conscientious physician to strive particularly for the one thing, how he may maintain the modum[mode] of the spiritum vitalium[vital spirits] at the natural digestive heat in a good state;
German Chemical Theater · work dated 1728 · page 581
The red globules are those particles that give the blood its red color, and in which, as many believe, the spiritus vitales[vital spirits] lie hidden.
Unknown, Defensions-Articul oder Eygentl. Bericht, was zu Beschützung des Gottesdienstes sub utraque von den Herrn Rittern ... deß Königreichs Böhmen, welche den Leib und das Blut unsers Herrn Jesu Christi unter beyderley gestalt empfangen bey großer Versamblung auff dem Prager Schloß anno 1618 beschlossen · work dated 1618 · page 41
prāṇa
principleIndian · Vedic onward · also prolonged life
Breath and the life-force. The Upaniṣads make prāṇa the support of the senses; yoga and Āyurveda divide it into five winds that move through the channels (nāḍī).
Also spelled: Pran Translators also write: Rlung, རླུང་, སྲོག་ Related, not the same: qi, pneuma, Bla, ojas, Lebenskraft, ཚེ་སྲོག་, Tshe srog, 氣
6,262 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 600 BCE and 1897, most in the 9th c. 85% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (23% sourced) · mostly Indian, Tibetan, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
|| Original Text || śarīrānta:saṃcārī vāyu:prāṇa: sacaiko'pyupādhibhedātprāṇāpānādisaṃjñāṃ labhate। || Translation || The air that circulates within the body is called breath (prāṇa).
Annambhatta (trans. James R. Ballantyne), Compendium of Logic (Tarka Sangraha) · work dated 1670 · page 44
"By relying on the middle breath madhyama-prāṇa which is between the path of inhalation prāṇa and exhalation apāna, and by supporting oneself on the power of knowledge jñāna-śakti, one attains the posture āsana situated there.
In that way, the vital breath[prāṇa] known as the "life-force" arising from the region of the navel is stirred by the intellect. Because of the desire to grasp external objects, the eight locations of articulation are touched, and the letters are produced.
principleArabic & Islamic · 7th c. onward · also the world as alive
روحArabicrūḥtransliterationruhtransliteration
Spirit in the Qur'an and in Arabic medicine. Physicians such as Avicenna used it for the vaporous spirit born in the heart; Sufis for the spirit God breathed into Adam.
Translators also write: pneuma, Spiritus Related, not the same: Anima, Psyche, ܢܦܫܐ, ψυχή, հոգի, Animam, Spiritus Vitalis, Psychen
5,467 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 800 and 1865, most in the 17th c. 79% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (53% sourced) · mostly Arabic, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Persian
Faint-related day fever may occur from the movement of the rūḥ[spirit] inward and its congestion therein due to excessive grief, until it causes fainting.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina), القانون في الطب (al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb / Canon of Medicine) · work dated 1016 · page 21
This requires an equilibrium of the animal spirit rūḥ ḥaywānī[a subtle vapor that carries life], which is generated from the vapors of the humors.
Jurjānī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad, al-Sayyid al-Sharīf, 1340-1413, Sharḥ al-Mawāqif · work dated 1400 · page 196
This belongs apparently to the rūḥ of man, for, in explanation, Qurʾān, xvii, 87, is again quoted: “Say, ‘The spirit (rūḥ) is of the affair of my Lord.
Duncan Black Macdonald, The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam · work dated 1895 · page 263
kuṇḍalinī
principleIndian tantra & haṭha yoga · 8th c. onward
The coiled power asleep at the base of the spine in tantric anatomy, which practice wakes and leads up the central channel.
Translators also write: serpent-fire Related, not the same: Kundali, कुंडली
1,182 pages in 227 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 900 and 1927, most in the 16th c. 73% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (34% sourced) · mostly Indian, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Modern European
The great goddess Kuṇḍalinī, the energy of Self, Ātma-śakti[spiritual force], sleeps in the Mūlādhāra[base center/rectum]; she has the form of a serpent having three coils and a half.
[120] Within that Root Lotus resides the Kundalini, the Creative Power of the Absolute (Brahma-shakti). When she is brought to straightness all the way to the Opening of the Absolute (Brahma-randhra), she bestows immortality.
Sarngadeva, Ocean of Music, Volume 1 · work dated 1236 · page 83
To explain: the supreme, subtle Kundalini power kuṇḍalinī śakti, having attained a state of friction and union saṃghaṭṭa with Shiva—a state characterized by mutual harmony and the condition of the "churning rod"—rises up.
Abhinavagupta, The Light of the Tantras · work dated 993 · page 459
Doctrines and schools
Galenic medicine
doctrineGreek → Arabic → Latin · 2nd – 18th c. · also prolonged life
GalenusLatinGalenistsEnglishجالينوسArabic
Medicine built on Galen's synthesis: four humours, innate heat, three spirits (natural, vital, animal) and the regimen of the six non-naturals, transmitted through Arabic and Latin schools.
Related, not the same: Galenici, Galenisten
11,461 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 208 and 1711, most in the 16th c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (79% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek, Medieval Latin
then the Methodists[methodici], who, setting experiments aside, looked to the indications of diseases: whom finally the Dogmatists[dogmatici] succeeded, who, joining reasons to experience, call themselves Galenists[galenici] after Galen.
Comenius, Jan Amos, Janua linguarum reserata · work dated 1637 · page 252
And this is also the consideration why the Galenists claim the bodies consist of four temperaments and fluids. For after a great deal of earth or water comes into the mixture, as if from the accidental origins, the body becomes either melancholic, cold, and dry;
Roth-Scholtz, Friedrich (1687-1736), Deutsches theatrum chemicum, auf welchem der berühmtesten Philosophen und Alchymisten Schrifften, die von dem Stein der Weisen, von Verwandlung der schlechten Metalle in bessere ... handeln ... vorgestellet werden / Zweyter Theil. · work dated 1715 · page 726
Pseudo-Galenists, who they are. Pseudo-Galenici[false Galenists] are that stubborn race of men who think that nothing is to be accepted unless it is found in Galen, and in judging truth and falsehood, they rely not so much on reason and experience as on the authority of Galen.
Daniel Sennert, On the Consensus and Dissensus of Chemists with Aristotelian and Galenic Scholars, Book I · work dated 1603 · page 793
haṭha yoga
doctrineIndian · 11th c. onward · also prolonged life
The yoga of force, codified in texts such as the Haṭhapradīpikā (15th c.): postures, breath retention, seals and locks to move prāṇa and bindu, with freedom from ageing among its promised fruits.
1,162 pages in 206 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1100 and 1911, most in the 15th c. 61% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (34% sourced) · mostly Indian, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Modern European
The union of these two, the Out-breath Prāṇa and the In-breath Apāna, is called Breath Control Prāṇāyāma, which is Hatha Yoga. The science that explains this is Hatha Yoga.
( 134 ) IN THE LIGHT ON HAṬHA YOGA Root Text: The man who brings these two—the breath and the mind—to dissolution, he attains liberation; no other does, by any means whatsoever.
Svatmarama, Light on the Yoga of Force with Commentaries · work dated 1450 · page 146
Gîtâ, VI, 19. 4. Hatha Yoga—an almost entirely physiological process, by which the body may be prepared for the higher forms of yoga,
E.T. Sturdy, Aphorisms of Narada: An Inquiry Into Love · work dated 1000 · page 26
Stahl's animism
doctrineGerman medicine · 1708 – 1780
StahliusLatinStahlianerGermanStahliansEnglish
Georg Ernst Stahl's Theoria medica vera (1708): the rational soul itself directs every vital motion and resists the body's tendency to rot. Against mechanism, which treated the body as a machine.
697 pages in 267 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1646 and 1796, most in the 18th c. 66% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (68% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Greek
Now, I beg, or rather I defy, the Stahlians to tell me—they who know so well everything our soul can do—how it would be possible for it to execute so quickly so many movements, movements that take place so far from it, and in so many
Julien Offray de La Mettrie, L'Homme machine (Man a Machine) · work dated 1738 · page 82
Montpellier vitalism
doctrineFrench medicine · 1750s – 1850s · also the world as alive
école de MontpellierFrenchMontpellier schoolEnglish
The medical school of Montpellier (Bordeu, Barthez, later Lordat), which explained health and illness by a vital principle and the sensibility of each organ, not by mechanics or a rational soul.
Related, not the same: Faculté de Montpellier
98 pages in 62 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 349 and 1907, most in the 18th c. 72% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (62% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Arabic
I grasp first a principal idea in the theory of Barthez on this subject. The state of sleep is characterized, according to this author, by a concentration of the principle of life and sensibility in each of the partial organs that this principle animates, and between which it also establishes a true solidarity, a reciprocal sympathy, more or less intimate in the state of waking.
Maine de Biran, Philosophical Works of Maine de Biran · work dated 1803 · page 228
The first of the Six Yogas of Nāropa: kindling a fire at the navel with breath and visualisation, melting the drops in the channels and producing bliss and bodily heat.
Also spelled: tummo Translators also write: Chandali Related, not the same: six dharmas of naropa, six dharmas, six yogas, six yogas of naropa, naropa’s khechari, tumo, wrathful tummo, e-drod
7,332 pages in 981 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 750 and 1782, most in the 9th c. 57% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (3% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European
Now, the internal explanation shall be given: Within the great hearth of the navel lotus, the wisdom-fire of caṇḍālī[the inner heat or tummo] blazes, fanned by the winds of karma.
Through experiencing joyful bliss together with her, the tummo[inner heat] is stirred by the downward-clearing wind at the navel. Burned by the light of the straight lines of the fierce fire of tummo, the moon-like bindu[vital essence] descends along with the indrawing wind.
From that red drop of the lotus, which is the tummo[inner heat] by nature, fire arises. It passes through the interior of the father's jewel-vajra, enters the central channel avadhuti, and causes the enlightened mind to descend from the syllable HAM.
Gangtey Monastery Collection, Zhal gdams nor bu'i phra bkod · work dated 1700 · page 36
prāṇāyāma
practiceIndian · c. 2nd c. BCE onward · also prolonged life
Control and lengthening of the breath, the fourth limb of Patañjali's yoga; in haṭha texts it holds prāṇa in the body and is said to delay death.
Also spelled: pranayamas, prandyama Translators also write: breath control, prana-nirodha Related, not the same: hatha yoga, kumbhaka, hatha yoga pradipika, taixi, embryonic breathing, kumbhakas, circulating qi, purna-kumbhaka
2,658 pages in 663 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 100 and 1893, most in the 9th c. 84% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (16% sourced) · mostly Indian, Tibetan, Chinese
|| 48 || After the mastery of posture, he speaks of prāṇāyāma[breath control]: 49. When that is accomplished, the regulation of the flow of inhalation and exhalation is prāṇāyāma When steadiness in posture is achieved, the specific limb of yoga known as prāṇāyāma, caused by that steadiness, is to be practiced.
Patañjali (with Vyāsa, Vācaspati Miśra, Bhojadeva), Yoga-Sūtra with Three Classical Commentaries (Sanskrit) · work dated 400 · page 247
37 Second Instruction Root Text: Now, when the posture is firm, the yogi—having mastered the senses and consuming wholesome, moderate food—should practice breath control prāṇāyāma according to the path instructed by the guru.
Svatmarama, Light on the Yoga of Force with Commentaries · work dated 1450 · page 49
States
vigour
stateGeneral · All periods · also prolonged life
vigorLatinvigourEnglishvitalityEnglish
The felt fullness of life: strength, warmth and readiness, the state the regimens, elixirs and breath practices promise to restore.
59,071 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 378 BCE and 1883, most in the 17th c. (broad phrase) 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (60% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Kabbalistic & Hasidic, Indian
If this preparation is drunk by an old man of even seventy years of age, he gets a large progeny, and enjoys the pleasure of sexual congress like a young man in full vigour of health.
’ He afterwards proves by several examples, that a small cause often produces great effects, and finally concludes, ‘is it then surprising that the testicles should furnish a liquor proper to circulate fresh vigour all over the body?
Samuel Auguste Tissot, Onanism: or, a Treatise upon the Disorders Produced by Masturbation · work dated 1755 · page 76
regeneration
stateGreek → Christian & alchemical · 1st c. onward · also made things as alive
Being born again: the Stoic palingenesia of the cosmos, the Hermetic and Christian rebirth of the person, and the alchemical revival of a dead matter.
Translators also write: NEW BIRTH, Palingenesia, rebirth, Palingenesis, Wedergeboorte, Wiedergebuhrt, Wiedergeburth, neue Geburt, palingenesian, widergeburt
33,254 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 367 and 1871, most in the 17th c. (broad phrase) 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (77% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
For from where corruption happens, thence happens life and regeneratio[regeneration]: because from where death arose, thence would life rise again, and death shall have no more dominion over it.
The Golden Art, Called Chemistry · work dated 1572 · page 159
" The Greek must have been either "regeneration" or "new birth." The writer assumes the term "the regeneration of the world" to be already familiar to his readers, and applies it to the restoration which is to follow on the ruin caused by the impiety of the Christians.
Walter Scott, The Hermetic Writings, Volume 1 · work dated 250 · page 196
Just as initially such a new nature is created or worked in a person through wiedergeburt[regeneration/new birth], so must the same always increase and grow, so that the Göttliche bild[Divine image], which was begun there, might be put on more fully and gloriously as time goes on.
Spener, Philipp Jacob, Die lautere Milch des Evangelii · work dated 1678 · page 145
acedia
stateEarly Christian & monastic · 4th c. onward
ἀκηδίαGreekacediaLatinaccidieEnglishslothEnglish
The listlessness of the monk at noon, described by Evagrius and Cassian: the cell feels dead, time drags, and nothing seems worth doing.
Also spelled: Accidia, akedia
1,809 pages in 637 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 390 and 1700, most in the 13th c. 82% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (65% sourced) · mostly Medieval Latin, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Byzantine & Orthodox
Other vices are each destroyed by a single virtue, but acedia brings a general death to the monk. A courageous soul brings a dead mind back to life, but acedia and laziness scatter all wealth.
John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent · work dated 625 · page 253
Question acedia[spiritual sloth] from other vices, and it is a special vice. I answer that it must be said that acedia is sadness regarding a spiritual good;
Thomas Aquinas, Summary of Theology: Second Part of the Second Part · work dated 1257 · page 124
Such manual work was the great protection of the hermit against the monastic sin of "accidie"; the restless misery and boredom which comes over the contemplative when his spiritual insight fails him,
Evelyn Underhill, Evelyn Underhill The Mystic Way · work dated 1902 · page 333
Opposites
death
oppositeGeneral · All periods · also prolonged life
For the physicians, the extinction of the innate heat or the departure of the spirits; for the Daoists, the dispersal of qi.
Translators also write: Thanatos, մահ, ܡܘܬܐ, Mrityu, Morte, འཆི་བ་, מות, Letum, Mavet, Miquiztli Related, not the same: Nex
763,228 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 60 BCE and 1850, most in the 16th c. (broad phrase) 95% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (62% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Early Christian & Monastic, Medieval Latin
Or is he perhaps in life and in death at the same time; in life, clearly, in which he lives until it is all withdrawn; but in death, because he is already dying as life is withdrawn?
Augustine, Saint Augustine: The City of God (De Civitate Dei) · work dated 400 · page 580
Discourse on Mindfulness of Death [167] Now, the time has come to explain the development of mindfulness of death, which follows the recollection of deities.
Buddhaghosa, Visuddhimagga (วิสุทธิมรรค, Path of Purification) in Thai · work dated 458 · page 447
principleGerman & French physiology · 1790s – 1850s · also prolonged life
vis vitalisLatinLebenskraftGermanforce vitaleFrenchvital forceEnglish
The Lebenskraft or vis vitalis of Romantic-era physiology (Reil, Hufeland): a force peculiar to organic matter that resists decay. Hufeland made its careful husbanding the basis of long life.
Translators also write: Life Force Related, not the same: 氣, Prana, Vital Energy, Srog, Qi, སྲོག་, Bla, Archeus
30,543 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 300 and 1880, most in the 17th c. 97% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (35% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European
Now, the cause which partly cancels and partly changes the chemical forces and laws of matter in the organism cannot itself be a material one, since every matter itself is subject to the chemical process—therefore, it is an immaterial principle, which is rightly called Lebenskraft[vital force].
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie · work dated 1795 · page 100
I believe that after such discoveries, it is no longer to be regarded as a fiction when one—like the defenders of the life force[Lebenskraft], who in this regard are far superior to the chemical physiologists—ascribes to the universally distributed principles of nature a completely different activity in living organization than they show in inorganic nature.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, Von der Weltseele · work dated 1798 · page 340
In postulating, however, a special "sensitive force or sensibility" for neural action, and a special "irritability" for muscular movement, Haller gave strong support to the erroneous idea of a specific "vital force" (vis vitalis).
Ernst Haeckel, The Riddle of the Universe · work dated 1875 · page 65
pneuma
principleGreek · 5th c. BCE onward · also feeling alive
Breath or warm air, which Greek physicians made the carrier of life in the body and the Stoics made the active, intelligent principle running through the whole cosmos.
Translators also write: spiritus Related, not the same: 氣, Spiritus Vitalis, ΠΝΑ, Vital Energy, प्राण, Spiritum Vitalem
27,813 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 406 BCE and 1859, most in the 3rd c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (62% sourced) · mostly Greek, Byzantine & Orthodox, Early Christian & Monastic
ASCLEPIUS In some passages of Aristotle, the term πνεῦμα is used in this way. The Stoics extended its meaning to signify also the vehicle of life in the Cosmos as a whole, which they regarded as a single living organism.
Walter Scott, The Hermetic Writings, Volume 1 · work dated 250 · page 50
Therefore, since the sensory power of the soul and the psychic pneuma[spirit] remain within it, this pneuma[spirit], whenever things fall upon the senses from the outside, makes them be what they are.
John Actuarius, Actuarius, On Urines (Byzantine diagnostic medicine) · work dated 1300 · page 276
" πνεῦμα (spirit/breath) is the vehicle of ψυχή (soul), and the vital element of πνεῦμα is fire. The heavenly bodies are no doubt considered to be composed of fire, as in the Stoic system, and the writer’s view seems to be that they send forth vitalizing fire, which coalesces with the upper air to form πνεῦμα.
Walter Scott, The Hermetic Writings, Volume 1 · work dated 250 · page 33
world soul
principlePlatonic · 4th c. BCE onward
ψυχὴ τοῦ κόσμουGreekanima mundiLatinworld soulEnglishWeltseeleGermanâme du mondeFrench
The soul Plato's Timaeus gives to the cosmos, which makes the universe one living animal. Plotinus, Ficino, Bruno and Schelling each restated it.
Translators also write: SOUL OF THE WORLD, Animam Mundi, ANIMÆ MUNDI, Mundi anima, Anima mundana, Anima del Mondo Related, not the same: Allseele, Universal Soul, Spirit of the World, World-Spirit, soul and spirit of the world
14,846 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 378 BCE and 1873, most in the 17th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (82% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Hellenistic & Late Antique, Greek
For what else do these verses seem to mean, than that the world not only has a spirit and a soul, but also participates in the divine mind? Philosophers on the soul of the world. And that the origin, power, and vigor of all lower things depend upon that very soul of the world?
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books on Occult Philosophy · work dated 1518 · page 242
Concerning the soul of the world and of worldly things according to the magic of the ancients. 73r It has been granted by the most noble poets and the wisest philosophers that the heaven and the world are animate—that is, possessed of a soul—as are the celestial bodies that we see.
Giordano Bruno, Latin Works Vol. III (On Magic, On Bonds) · work dated 1582 · page 565
World Soul (ψυχὴ τοῦ κόσμου[soul of the world], anima mundi[soul of the world], Weltseele[world soul]) is the unified inner nature of the world, thought of as a living being possessing aspirations, perceptions, and feelings.
Vladimir Solovyov, Collected Works, Vol. 9 · work dated 1884 · page 81
ruach
principleHebrew · Biblical onward · also feeling alive
רוחHebrewruachtransliterationruahtransliteration
Wind, breath and spirit in the Hebrew Bible, the breath God gives to living things. The Septuagint renders it pneuma, so it enters Greek and Latin as spirit.
Also spelled: rūᵃḥ Translators also write: pneuma, Spiritus, πνεῦμα, Spirit, to pneuma, spiritum, ruha, τὸ πνεῦμα, רוחא, umoya Related, not the same: pnoia, pnoe, Al-Ruh, neshamah, roûh
11,283 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 160 and 1851, most in the 17th c. 88% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (40% sourced) · mostly Kabbalistic & Hasidic, Hebrew & Jewish, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
,, ble Spirits, the Hebrew term רוח ruah ,, having these two meanings, that of Spirits & that of winds.) ,, The Angels, ,, being therefore immaterial, are essentially ,, distinguished among themselves in dignity, ,, as if by degrees, some being above ,, others, to which the Author makes application of these words: For a higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they.
Balthasar Bekker, The Enchanted World · work dated 1672 · page 301
Ruach Ha-Qodesh or Holy Spirit among the Jews is a certain gift of prophecy, or, to express it in the words of Vitringa g): "It is a divine thing or a certain breathing, which affected the Prophets, and the last degree of prophetic revelation.
Overbeck, Johann Daniel; Gläsener, Justus Martin, Dissertatio Philologico-Theologica De Trinitate In Scriptis Cabbalistarum Et Rabbinorum Non Christiana, Sed Mere Platonica · work dated 1741 · page 48
ורוח הקדש ve-Ruach ha-Qodesh, that is, and the Holy Spirit. Or even if we call it "the Holy Spirit," as they more frequently do: רוח הקדש Ruah ha-Qodesh, that is, the Spirit of Holiness, or of the Sanctuary.
Columna, Petrus (Galatinus), Work on the Secrets of Catholic Truth Against Jewish Obstinacy · work dated 1497 · page 111
spirit of the world
principleRenaissance Neoplatonism · 15th – 17th c. · also made things as alive
spiritus mundiLatinspirit of the worldEnglish
In Ficino's De vita (1489), the subtle body linking the world soul to the world's matter. Talismans, music, scents and sunlight were thought to draw it into human spirit.
Translators also write: Spiritu Mundi, Spiritum Mundi, Esprit du Monde, Geist der Welt, Spir. Mundi, Spiritui Mundi, World-Spirit Related, not the same: Welt-Geist, Soul of the World, World Soul, Spir. M, Universal Soul, soul and spirit of the world
6,201 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1489 and 1785, most in the 17th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (74% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Kabbalistic & Hasidic
The Arabs say that when we manufacture images well and properly, if our spirit is very attentive to the work through imagination and effect, it joins itself to the stars with the Spirit of the World[Spiritus Mundi], and with the rays of the stars, through which the spirit of the world acts.
Ficino, Marsilio, Les trois livres de la vie · work dated 1489 · page 357
In the Animal Kingdom: This moistening and bringing of this Spiritus Mundi[spirit of the world] to their nourishment occurs both through the Aura[breath of air] (in which such food of life is abundantly contained) as well as in the enjoyment of food and drink according to their nature, because in all things such Spiritus Mundi[spirit of the world] is contained.
anonymous, Mercurii zweyfacher Schlangen-Stab, das ist: I. Glücks-Ruthe. II. Menstruum seu solvens universale philosophicum · work dated 1679 · page 86
Here one must also keep in mind that some say one should and must catch the Spiritus Mundi secretissimum[most secret spirit of the world] for the Philosophical STONE from the air, or from the firmament of heaven, into certain materials which are specifically placed there for this purpose by the artificial arrangement of the artist.
Khunrath, Heinrich, Catholic Magnesia of the Philosophers · work dated 1587 · page 86
vegetative soul
principleGreek → Latin scholastic · 4th c. BCE – 17th c. · also prolonged life
Aristotle's lowest power of soul, shared by plants, animals and people: nutrition, growth and reproduction. Scholastic medicine kept it as the anima vegetativa.
Translators also write: Anima Vegetabilis, θρεπτική, threptiken, threptike, Anima Vegetatiua, Ame vegetale, animam vegetativam, anima vegetalis, ame vegetative, Treptice Related, not the same: threptic, nutritiva, vegetativam, vegetativa, threptikos
4,423 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 175 and 1700, most in the 17th c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (71% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Medieval Latin, Greek
On the Vegetative Soul Clearly, one must speak first of nourishment and generation. The vegetative soul is the first for other animate things, and it is the most common power of the soul, according to which living is present in all.
Aristoteles, On the Soul · work dated 344 BCE · page 16
… with greater equality, and with less excess of any of them, they not only have the forms of the mixture, but also receive more excellent forms, such as the animate ones, and first those of the anima vegetativa[vegetative soul], which cause in plants germination, nourishment, and growth on every side, and the generation of similar ones with the seed and branch of the generator.
Judah Leon Abravanel, Dialoghi di amore, composti per Leone medico, di natione hebreo, et dipoi fatto christiano. · work dated 1503 · page 101
In the same way, one and the same anima vegetabilis[vegetative soul] in number, which originally lay hidden in the seed and produced the individual body of the plant from moisture impregnated with attracted spirits, pushes out and restores new shoots, leaves, branches, flowers, and fruits from the root every year.
principleParacelsian · 16th – 17th c. · also feeling alive
archeusLatinarchaeusLatinArcheusGerman
Paracelsus's inner craftsman: an agent in each body (and in the earth) that separates the useful from the poisonous in food and shapes things into their kind. Van Helmont made it the governing spirit of every organ.
Related, not the same: Spiritus Vitalis, Spiritus Vitales, Spiritum Vitalem, Lebensgeister, Spiritu Vitali, Spirituum Vitalium, Mumia
4,141 pages in 857 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1525 and 1745, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (60% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
… the external Tartars our Tartars become, that is, that the external Tartars come into us through food and drink, afterwards becoming Tartara humana[human Tartars] in us: and because of the Archei humani[human internal alchemist], in whom there is transformation, it changes in another way in the transplantation.
Paracelsus (1493-1541), Erster [- zehender] Theil der Bücher und Schrifften des edlen, hochgelehrten und bewehrten philosophi und medici Philippi Theophrasti Bombast von Hohenheim ... / [Erster bis sechster Theil.] · work dated 1525 · page 536
The Archei[internal organizers] (certain masters of transformation) are partly like one another, and partly unlike; nevertheless, they do not receive nor replace one another except for their own benefit and love.
Jan Baptist van Helmont, Daybreak, or the New Rise of the Art of Medicine · work dated 1618 · page 158
But what we should know concerning Confortativis[strengthening medicines] is taught by the Explanation Archei[explanation of the internal alchemist/nature spirit], who is just like man and lies in the four elements.
Paracelsus (1493-1541), Erster [- zehender] Theil der Bücher und Schrifften des edlen, hochgelehrten und bewehrten philosophi und medici Philippi Theophrasti Bombast von Hohenheim ... / [Erster bis sechster Theil.] · work dated 1525 · page 640
vital principle
principleMontpellier medicine · 1770s – 1850s · also feeling alive
Paul-Joseph Barthez's principe vital (1778): the cause of the phenomena of life in the human body, distinct from both the thinking soul and the body's matter.
Translators also write: Lebensprincip, zotiken archen, vitale principium Related, not the same: Archaeus, Archeus
2,650 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 66 BCE and 1891, most in the 17th c. 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (73% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
… to light, when we tell them that he assumes, once and for all, a common driving force for all possible movements in the living body of man and for all functions of its parts, which he calls the principium vitale [vital principle], and with which he hopes to solve or burst all other physiological knots of doubt.
Gotha Scholarly Journals for the Year 1781 · work dated 1781 · page 273
One should never compare the effect of medicines to the effect of magnetic action, since the former act first on organs, while the latter always acts immediately on the principe vital[vital principle], to which it communicates the impression of a movement that is analogous to it, and which only serves to add to the efforts it is constantly making of its own accord to maintain equilibrium or health.
Marquis de Puysegur, On Animal Magnetism · work dated 1787 · page 169
… for the greatest possible acceleration of the cure, but with the caution that the degree of potency of each dose varies slightly from that of the previous and subsequent doses, so that the vital principle Lebensprincip[the animating force of the organism], which is to be tuned to the similar medicinal disease, can never feel itself excited and outraged toward adverse counter-effects, as always happens with unmodified repeated doses, especially when repeated …
Samuel Hahnemann, Organon of the Healing Art · work dated 1842 · page 199
entelechy
principleGreek; revived in German biology · 4th c. BCE; 1890s–1920s
Aristotle's word for a thing's being at work in its completed form; the soul is the first entelechy of a natural body. Hans Driesch borrowed it around 1905 for the non-mechanical factor he believed directs embryonic development.
Also spelled: entelecheia, ἐντελέχειαν, Entelecheian Related, not the same: Energeia, ἐνέργεια, Actu, Actuality, Actus, Actum, Acte, endelechia
2,576 pages in 916 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 344 BCE and 1808, most in the 17th c. 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (82% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek, Hellenistic & Late Antique
ἐντελέχεια [entelechy/actuality]: The perfection and the form of the underlying subject, that is, the form that arises in the matter from such a composition of elements.
Suidas, The Lexicon of Suidas · work dated 1000 · page 383
He said the soul is incorporeal: and the first entelechia[actuality/perfection], that is, the perfection of a natural and organic body having life in potentiality: which according to him is twofold.
Diogène Laërce, Diogenous Laertiou Peri biōn, dogmatōn kai apophthegmatōn tōn en philosophia eudokimēsantōn biblia 10 · work dated 201 · page 1128
The same Philosopher gave the soul the generic name of Entelechie[Entelechy] or act. This word Entelechy apparently draws its origin from the Greek word which means perfect, and it is for this reason that the famous Hermolaus Barbarus expressed it in Latin word for word by perfectihabia[the possession of perfection], for the Act is an accomplishment of power: and he had no need to consult the Devil, as they say he did, to learn only that.
Leibnitz, Gottfried Wilhelm von, Essais de theodicée sur la bonté de Dieu · work dated 1688 · page 197
seminal reasons
principleStoic → Augustine → Renaissance · 3rd c. BCE – 17th c.
The Stoic logoi spermatikoi: formative principles carried in the divine pneuma like seeds, from which each kind of thing grows. Augustine's rationes seminales and Paracelsian 'seeds' continue the idea.
2,249 pages in 712 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 200 and 1725, most in the 3rd c. 95% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (81% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Hellenistic & Late Antique, Medieval Latin
The first conclusion: although a seminal reason exists in matter, it is not the matter itself. I prove this thus: because Augustine, in the eighteenth book of De Genesi[On Genesis], says that Levi was in the loins of his fathers through seminal reasons;
Antonius Andreae; Thomas Aquinas, Questions on the Three Principles / On Being and Essence · work dated 1278 · page 65
That which to the senses and sensibility is a deceptive appearance contains for reason ‘a reflection of the Idea,’ according to Plato, or ‘the seed of Reason,’ according to the Stoics (λόγοι σπερματικοί).
Vladimir Solovyov, The Justification of the Good · work dated 1884 · page 304
Similarly, natural reasons and seminal reasons are the same in reality, but they differ in definition: for "seed" refers to that from which something comes, while "nature" refers to that by which it comes.
Karl von Reichenbach's Od (1845), a radiance he believed sensitive people could see around magnets, crystals and bodies.
Translators also write: ODYLE
1,835 pages in 180 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1835 and 1882, most in the 19th c. 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (14% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Medieval Latin
For the effluence assumed to produce these sensations he proposed the name odyle, or odic force. The sensations were broadly of two kinds—vague feelings of temperature, which were either pleasant or unpleasant, and quite definite perceptions of light and colour.
Frank Podmore, Modern Spiritualism: A History and a Criticism, Vol. I · work dated 1887 · page 142
It follows from all this that the odic[related to the Odic force] component of sunbeams can be polarized; that the transmitted light possesses predominantly od-negative[negative Odic force] properties, while the reflected light possesses predominantly od-positive[positive Odic force] properties;
Karl von Reichenbach, The Sensitive Man and His Relation to the Odic Force · work dated 1855 · page 723
for though experiments of recent date seem to supply concurrent evidence, and the phenomena of Mesmerism have helped to force again on the minds of the more observing portion of mankind the supposition of a "New Imponderable," or "Od-ic Force," yet, few believe;
Atwood, Mary Anne, A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery : with a Dissertation on the more Celebrated of the Alchemical Philosophers ... · work dated 1871 · page 184
astral light
principleModern esotericism · 1850s onward
lumière astraleFrenchastral lightEnglish
Éliphas Lévi's universal agent (1856), a living fluid joining all things through which imagination and will act at a distance; Theosophy took it over.
Related, not the same: Ether
1,682 pages in 290 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1742 and 1920, most in the 19th c. 79% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (72% sourced) · mostly Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
We have said that in the great magical agent, which is the lumière astrale[astral light], all imprints of things are preserved, all images formed either by rays or by reflections.
Eliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic: Doctrine and Ritual, Vol. 1 · work dated 1843 · page 273
¹ In the first esoteric sense, it is the Lumière astrale[Astral Light], that implacable fluid which governs the instincts; that universal dispenser of elementary life, the fatal agent of birth and death;
Guaita, Stanislas de, Le serpent de la Genèse. Première septaine (livre I). Le temple de Satan · work dated 1884 · page 37
The reader must not confuse it with the ASTRAL SOUL, another name for the lower Manas, or Kama-Manas so-called, the reflection of the HIGHER Ego. Astral Light (Occult.). The invisible region that surrounds our globe, as it does every other, …
natura plasticaLatinplastic natureEnglishvis plasticaLatinplastic powerEnglish
Ralph Cudworth's unconscious formative power (1678) through which God orders growth and generation without direct intervention, offered against both mechanism and atheism.
Related, not the same: virtus formativa, virtus formatrix, musawwira, القوة المصورة, vis formatrix, vis diaplastike, virtus formatiua, plastic force
578 pages in 248 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 400 and 1893, most in the 17th c. 87% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (80% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
> "Therefore, since neither all things are produced fortuitously, or by the unguided mechanism of matter, nor God himself may be reasonably thought to do all things immediately and miraculously, it may well be concluded that there is a Plastic Nature under him, which, as an inferior and subordinate instrument, doth grudgingly execute that part of his providence which consists in the regular and orderly motion of matter;
Magus Incognito (William Walker Atkinson), The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians · work dated 1905 · page 48
For just as fertile eggs are changed by their inherent vis plastica[formative force] into colliquamentum[embryonic liquid] (which later passes into blood), so subventanea[wind-eggs] are corrupted at the same time and putrefy.
William Harvey, Exercises on the Motion of the Heart · work dated 1628 · page 140
This is what the Academicians called Form, that is to say, the formative spirit, and many Ancients and others more modern have named Natura Plastica[Plastic Nature], or the industrious nature.
Colonne, François-Marie-Pompée, Les principes de la nature, ou de la generation des choses · work dated 1731 · page 132
élan vital
principleFrench philosophy · 1907 onward · also feeling alive
élan vitalFrenchvital impetusEnglish
Henri Bergson's term in L'Évolution créatrice (1907) for the impetus of life that pushes evolution into divergent, unforeseeable forms.
Related, not the same: Vital Impulse, élan originel, Lebenskraft, 氣, Prana, Archeus, Archaeus, Archäus
181 pages in 89 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 245 and 1932, most in the 20th c. 80% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (67% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
Bergson calls it by the words élan vital[vital impetus/life force]. Thanks to the unity of the "vital impetus," the entire organic world is a harmonious whole, though, admittedly, not at all perfect: unity is the starting point of organic life, it lies in its past, and in the process of development, due to resistances encountered on the path, especially from dead matter, the stream $^1$) Creative Evolution, 24—26;
Николай Лосский, Bergson's Intuitive Philosophy · work dated 1913 · page 89
According to the doctrine of the well-known modern philosopher Bergson, the foundation of being is not something unchanging, but is the very essence of change, time, effectiveness, or creativity—the very effort of doing, the creative impulse (élan vital) [vital impetus].
Semyon Lyudvigovich Frank, Introduction to Philosophy · work dated 1908 · page 114
In the organic world, there is a tendency toward individualization, where some individuals develop one side of the original vital impetus predominantly, others another.
Николай Лосский, Bergson's Intuitive Philosophy · work dated 1913 · page 91
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach's Bildungstrieb (1781): a drive in living matter to take and keep a specific shape, to regenerate and to reproduce. Kant cited it.
Translators also write: formative impulse
154 pages in 52 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1772 and 1877, most in the 18th c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (89% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
— The question arises: how does the general formative power of matter transition into a formative drive? The concept of the formative drive Bildungstrieb[the innate impulse in living organisms to develop and maintain their form] implies that formation does not occur blindly — that is, solely through forces inherent to matter as such — but that to the necessity inherent in these forces, the contingency of a foreign influence is added.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, Von der Weltseele · work dated 1798 · page 359
And so it would surely be time to point out that sequence of levels in inorganic nature as well, and to justify the thought that the organic forces—sensibility, irritability, and formative drive Bildungstrieb[the innate impulse in living things to take on a specific form]—are all only branches of One Force, just as, without doubt, in light, in electricity, and so on, only One Force emerges in its various appearances.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie · work dated 1795 · page 254
Blumenbach has been researching the formative drive, and only in this past February discovered an uncommonly simple method of reproduction in Haller’s Conferva cespitosa[tufted conferva (a type of algae)], a furry moss, on which Bonnet found his already-drawn earthworms 36 years ago.
Gotha Scholarly Journals for the Year 1781 · work dated 1781 · page 343
Doctrines and schools
Platonism and Neoplatonism
doctrineGreek; Renaissance · 4th c. BCE onward
NeoplatonismEnglishPlatoniciLatin
Plato's Timaeus gives the cosmos a soul. Plotinus and Proclus place soul between intellect and matter; Ficino's Florentine translations (1460s–1490s) carried this into Renaissance medicine and magic.
Also spelled: Platonists, Platonic, Platonics Translators also write: Platonicis, Platonicorum, Platonicos, Platoniker, Πλατωνικοί, PLATONISTEN, Platoniques Related, not the same: Academics
33,971 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 50 and 1771, most in the 3rd c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (85% sourced) · mostly Hellenistic & Late Antique, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek
4, 6 Sanctuary] The Neoplatonists like to compare the introduction to philosophy with the initiation into the mysteries. 4, 6 Veiled] The hieratic wisdom is figurative and, according to Iamblichos, represents merely a preliminary stage to dialectical knowledge;
Damaskios, The Life of the Philosopher Isidoros by Damaskios of Damascus · work dated 508 · page 162
" The Stoic theory of mixture, as we have just set it forth, is the natural introduction to the Neoplatonic theories of place. We shall see, in fact, that for most Neoplatonists, place is a true body.
Pierre Duhem, The System of the World: A History of Cosmological Doctrines from Plato to Copernicus, Vol. I · work dated 1895 · page 320
The Arabic philosophers learned this from their teachers, the Neoplatonists, and thus the true essence of Neoplatonism only becomes recognizable through the Arabic school.
al-Farabi, al-Farabi: The Virtuous City (Der Musterstaat, Dieterici) · work dated 918 · page 10
Stoic physics
doctrineGreek & Roman · 3rd c. BCE – 3rd c.
ΣτωικοίGreekStoiciLatinStoicsEnglish
Zeno, Chrysippus and their successors held that the cosmos is a living, rational animal pervaded by a fiery pneuma, the active principle that shapes passive matter.
Also spelled: Stoicos, Stoicis, Stoiciens, Stoyci, Stoiker, Stoicynen, Stoic, Stoyciene Related, not the same: Stoa
28,861 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 66 BCE and 1808, most in the 1st c. BCE 88% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (85% sourced) · mostly Roman, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek
As the stoici[Stoics] teach, the universe functions as a single city governed by divine reason. If we are parts of this greater whole, then the interests of the individual must be subordinate to the interests of the entire human family.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius, On Duties · work dated 66 BCE · page 4
The Stoici[Stoics] also write that all growth is created for all humans, so that one may please the other and come to their use. We should follow nature in this, that we seek and demonstrate the common utility with our duties, such as sharing one's property with others, one work for another, and one labor for another, so that the society and union of humans may be kept steady, firm, and undivided.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius, On Duties · work dated 66 BCE · page 18
The human being as a small world mirroring the great one, organ for planet and humour for element. Paracelsus and Fludd built medicine on the correspondence.
Also spelled: Microcosmi, Microcosmo, Microcosmum, Microcosme, μικρόκοσμος, mikros kosmos, Mikrokosmus, mikron kosmon Translators also write: Little World, kleine Welt, Olam Katan, Minor mundus, Small World, עולם קטן, Kleinen Welt, Parvus mundus, mundus minor, lesser world
22,361 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1469 and 1862, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (72% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Kabbalistic & Hasidic
Viewing man as a kind of small world mikrokosmos[microcosm] within the great world, we likewise refer the proportions within him to the proportions within the world.
The truth is such that Man is an image of the entire universe: and therefore the Greeks name him Microcosmos|original: "Microcosmos," from the Greek words for "small" and "world": which signifies a little world: but also Man, and even every other
Abrabanel, Jehuda, Philosophy of Love · work dated 1535 · page 190
To understand this correctly: man is the Microcosmus[little world], not in form and physical substance, but in all powers and virtues, just as the great world is.
Franz Kieser; Paracelsus; Albertus Magnus, Chemical Kabbalah — Kieser, Paracelsus & Albertus Magnus, post-1606 · work dated 1601 · page 6
Paracelsian medicine
doctrineGerman & Latin · 1530s – 1700 · also made things as alive, prolonged life
Paracelsus (1493–1541) and his followers replaced the humours with chemical principles (salt, sulphur, mercury), made the archeus the agent of life, and prepared medicines by chemical separation.
Also spelled: Paracelsici, Paracelsitae, Paracelsistæ, Paracelsist Translators also write: Theophrastini, Theophrastians Related, not the same: Theophrasteans
13,898 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1525 and 1739, most in the 16th c. 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (79% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
Both of which are Paracelsian. Now, indeed, mention is made more than once in ancient Hermetic writings of the humors of our body—blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile—which the Paracelsians nevertheless dare to pronounce as nothing but empty names;
Conring, Hermann, On the Ancient Hermetic Medicine of the Egyptians and the New Medicine of the Paracelsians · work dated 1635 · page 196
But truly, you Paracelsians, who damn Galen, ascribe fables to him, explode ancient antidotes—even if not of Galenic invention—wish for the lengthy canons of the ancients to be sent to the vinegar jar, and call the disciples of Hippocrates who do not agree with you Momuses [mockers] and incarnate devils—to all of which you have diabolically smeared your pages—must I cajole you with some pleasant and soft touch?
Andreas Libavius, Necessary Appendix to the Synthesis of Chemical Secrets · work dated 1593 · page 87
others, however, supposed that the Rosicrucian brothers were nothing but Paracelsists[followers of Paracelsus] who wanted to gain status for Paracelsus and his followers against the Aristotelians and Galenists[traditional university scholars and physicians] and draw them to their side.
Colberg, Ehregott Daniel, Das platonisch-hermetische Christenthum · work dated 1686 · page 295
antipathy
doctrineGreek → Renaissance natural philosophy · 1st c. onward
ἀντιπάθειαGreekantipathiaLatinantipathyEnglish
The natural enmity between things (the elephant and the ram, the vine and the cabbage), the counterpart of sympathy in Pliny, Plutarch and the Renaissance books of secrets.
Also spelled: antipatheia, Antipathiam, ἀντιπάθειαν, antipatheian
6,626 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 293 and 1859, most in the 17th c. 84% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (76% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Roman
A certain natural concord or discord, which the Greeks call sympathia[sympathy or affinity] and antipathia[antipathy or mutual aversion].
Cassius, Cassii iatrosophistae naturales et medicinales quaestiones LXXXIIII, circa hominis naturam & morbos aliquot · work dated 208 · page 157
Those things, however, that break and alter the seeds are those that have a material antipathia[antipathy/natural aversion], that is, they are contrary through known qualities.
Girolamo Fracastoro, Book on the Sympathy and Antipathy of Things; Three Books on Contagion and Contagious Diseases and Their Treatment · work dated 1520 · page 127
The scorpion itself which inflicted the strike, ground and applied to the struck place, is a remedy for its own wound, because of a certain blind discord of natures (as is established), which is called antipathia[antipathy].
Dioscorides; Jean Ruel (trans.), On Medical Matters (De Materia Medica) · work dated 50 · page 568
cosmic sympathy
doctrineStoic; Neoplatonic; Renaissance · 3rd c. BCE onward
The Stoic teaching that the cosmos is one body held together by pneuma, so that what happens in one part affects the others: the moon and the tides, the heavens and the body. Plotinus, Ficino and the natural magicians all built on it.
Also spelled: συμπάθειαν, Sympathiam, Sympatheian Translators also write: Universal Sympathy Related, not the same: Sympathy and Antipathy, Compassio, Affinitas
6,590 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 77 and 1772, most in the 17th c. 84% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (77% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Hellenistic & Late Antique, Greek
A certain natural concord or discord, which the Greeks call sympathia[sympathy or affinity] and antipathia[antipathy or mutual aversion].
Cassius, Cassii iatrosophistae naturales et medicinales quaestiones LXXXIIII, circa hominis naturam & morbos aliquot · work dated 208 · page 157
the Greek "sympatheia," or the invisible thread connecting all parts of the cosmos as if they were one living organism of things among themselves, 4.
Iamblichus / Hermes Trismegistus / Porphyry, On the Mysteries of the Egyptians - Pimander - Asclepius · work dated 300 · page 98
… the secret opposition of natures in the world, originally proceeding from the streams of those variable properties, which radically do spring from that one incomprehensible Fountain; Love and Hatred, and consequently Sympathy and Antipathy were created to justle, and as it were shoulder one another in this world, …
Fludd, Robert, Mosaicall philosophy: grounded upon the essentiall truth or eternal sapience. Written first in Latin, and afterwards thus rendred into English. By Robert Fludd, Esq; & Doctor of Physick. · work dated 1638 · page 212
Naturphilosophie
doctrineGerman Romanticism · 1797 – 1830s
NaturphilosophieGermanphilosophy of natureEnglish
Schelling's philosophy of nature (Von der Weltseele, 1798) and its school, which read nature as a self-organising whole and polarity as the law of life.
Related, not the same: Naturphilosophen
5,300 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1525 and 1889, most in the 18th c. 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (78% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Slavic & Finnic
Least of all should someone judge who does not even know what Naturphilosophie[Natural Philosophy] or speculative Physik[Speculative Physics] means to the author.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie · work dated 1795 · page 8
We can present it as a pure impression of the most general principles of that doctrine which, under the name of Naturphilosophie[Philosophy of Nature], has indeed received a very rapid expansion, but has truly been recognized very little in its essence.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, Von der Weltseele · work dated 1798 · page 20
place them in relation to the simultaneous expressions of Friedrich Schlegel, Schleiermacher, and Schelling. The years from Fichte’s activity in Jena to the formation of the Naturphilosophie[philosophy of nature] and then, a few years later, the philosophy of the moral world, represent a period of immense fermentation and the boldest designs to subject the positive sciences of nature and spirit to the principles of the Wissenschaftslehre[theory of science].
Wilhelm Dilthey, Poetry and Experience · work dated 1878 · page 300
spontaneous generation
doctrineGreek → early modern · 4th c. BCE – 1860s · also made things as alive
The birth of living things (insects, frogs, eels) from mud, dew or rotting matter without parents, accepted from Aristotle to the 17th century and tested by Redi (1668) and Pasteur (1862).
Translators also write: Génération spontanée, freywillige Erzeugung
4,163 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 300 BCE and 1783, most in the 17th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (82% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek, Medieval Latin
Note that in the sixth book of the Metaphysics, generation is divided thus: some is univocal|The "standard" way of reproduction where like produces like, such as a human giving birth to a human, and some is equivocal|Spontaneous generation, where the cause and the result are different species, such as earth producing a mouse.
Albertus Magnus, De Secretis Mulierum et Virtutibus Herbarum, Lapidum et Animalium · work dated 1280 · page 70
227 FF 2 ERASTUS: Generation is known by philosophers to be of two kinds: univocal[like producing like, as a human begetting a human] and equivocal[spontaneous generation from decaying matter].
Erastus, Thomas, Disputationum de nova medicina Philippi Paracelsi · work dated 1556 · page 543
Equivocal or spontaneous Generation, that is, a Production of Plants without Seeds, and of living Creatures without any other Parents but Accident and Putrefaction, however absurd it may seem to us, was an Opinion that prevailed, almost universally, till Microscopes overturn'd it; by demonstrating that all Plants have their Seeds, and all Animals their Eggs: whence other Plants and other Animals, exactly of the same Species, are perpetually and unalterably produced.
Henry Baker, The Microscope Made Easy · work dated 1728 · page 201
growth of metals
doctrineMining lore & alchemy · Antiquity – 18th c.
vegetatio metallorumLatingeneration of metalsEnglish
The belief that metals grow and ripen in the earth like fruit, so that mines regenerate when left to rest and alchemy can speed the ripening.
Translators also write: Vegetation of Metals, Generatio Metallorum, Generatione Metallorum, Génération des Métaux
4,110 pages in 912 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1300 and 1745, most in the 17th c. 95% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (54% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Medieval Latin
because nothing grows without a seed. Metals grow, as experience testifies. Therefore, metals have a seed. Now for the second: Whatever has a seed can be multiplied through it.
Potier, Michael, The Hermetic-Philosophical Messenger Bringing Joyful and Unheard-of News · work dated 1601 · page 101
There the tincture of the metals always wants to flee from the earthly part, especially when the evil constellation touches it, and wants to go out from the center[the core of its being]. From this it comes that the metals grow, for their tincture drives their
Böhme, Jakob, Böhme, Jakob: Trost-Schrift, von vier Complexionen · work dated 1606 · page 9
The generatio Metallorum[birth of metals] in the bowels of the earth happens by the action of a Mercuriali halitu[mercurial vapor or breath].
anonymous, Tractatus chymicus antiquissimus & vere aureus · work dated 1650 · page 18
Helmontian medicine
doctrineFlemish & Latin · 1648 – 1700
HelmontiusLatinHelmontiansEnglish
Jan Baptist van Helmont's system (Ortus medicinae, 1648): water as the one material element, seeds and archei as the agents of form, ferments as the means of change.
2,804 pages in 780 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1638 and 1750, most in the 17th c. 73% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (63% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Kabbalistic & Hasidic
This one is a Helmontian, that one a Cartesian, and so on. One has gas and blas[the formative force of the stars, according to van Helmont].
Kunckel von Löwenstern, Johann, Collegium physico-chymicum experimentale, oder Laboratorium chymicum · work dated 1716 · page 655
Not as the Helmontians claim, that here the Sulfur of Wine has associated itself with the alkaline salt: for in my experiments, the water seeks the salt as long as water is in the alcohol, and the alcohol is rejected.
Herman Boerhaave, Elements of Chemistry · work dated 1708 · page 527
Although it has come to pass by the immense mercy of our God that, in this century, a singular and clear light in Medicine has shone forth for us unworthy men for the comfort of the sick, through Johannes Baptista Helmontius, and that it has been recognized and held dear by very many physicians greedy for the truth, and for the sake of this Light have read and considered the Helmontian writings not unwillingly;
Chemical Theater, Volume Six · work dated 1602 · page 624
Cambridge Platonism
doctrineEnglish · 1640s – 1690s
Cambridge PlatonistsEnglishspirit of natureEnglishspiritus naturaeLatin
Henry More, Ralph Cudworth and their circle, who defended an active spiritual nature in the world against Hobbes and the mechanical philosophy. More called it the spirit of nature.
Related, not the same: Hylarchic
1,737 pages in 629 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1525 and 1871, most in the 17th c. 88% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (75% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Kabbalistic & Hasidic
From this place, I surmise that Metatron may correspond to what I call the Hylarchic Principle[the ruling principle of matter], or the Spirit of Nature, which is the immediate decorator and orderer of the material World.
Knorr von Rosenroth, Christian, Kabbala denudata, seu, doctrina Hebraeorum transcendentalis et metaphysica atque theologica : opus antiquissimae philosophiae barbaricae variis speciminibus refertissimum ... · work dated 1664 · page 2249
I hope that my demonstrations of the principle called Hylarchic[the ruling principle of matter], which I have elaborated with such care and effort, will not slacken human industry in searching out the mechanical reasons of nature that are truly present.
Knorr von Rosenroth, Christian (1636-1689), Kabbala denudata, seu, doctrina Hebraeorum transcendentalis et metaphysica atque theologica : opus antiquissimae philosophiae barbaricae variis speciminibus refertissimum ... / Tomus secundus. · work dated 1664 · page 1198
The Cambridge Platonists, who from a psychological point of view considered moral ideas to be "innate," saw the norm of morality in the reasonable nature of man given by God and his ever-higher perfection.
Wilhelm Windelband, A History of Modern Philosophy · work dated 1889 · page 297
vitalism
doctrineEuropean biology & medicine · 18th – 20th c. · also feeling alive
vitalismeFrenchVitalismusGermanvitalismEnglish
The view, under many names, that living things are governed by a principle not reducible to physics and chemistry. The word itself is 19th-century and was mostly used by opponents.
1,304 pages in 503 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1491 and 1892, most in the 17th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (73% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
562 According to this origin, vitalism forms a kind of middle link between animism and mechanism. With the former, it assumes purpose-acting forces in living beings;
Wilhelm Wundt, Logic: An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge · work dated 1877 · page 597
However, according to the first school mentioned (the Vitalists), nature is not something that appears after the body is formed; rather, it is much earlier and older than the body itself.
Galen, On the Natural Faculties · work dated 208 · page 104
THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE But the truth is that the position of vitalism is made very difficult by the fact that there is neither purely internal finality nor absolutely clear-cut individuality in nature.
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution · work dated 1891 · page 64
Bergson's account of life as duration and invention, driven by the élan vital, set against both mechanism and finalism.
Translators also write: Evolution Créatrice
854 pages in 204 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1670 and 1933, most in the 20th c. 57% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (56% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Slavic & Finnic
CREATIVE EVOLUTION 1 CHAPITRE PREMIER On the evolution of life. — Mechanism and finality. The existence of which we are most certain and which we know best is incontestably our own, for of all other objects we have notions that might be judged external and superficial, while we perceive ourselves internally, deeply.
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution · work dated 1891 · page 19
Bergson’s doctrine is in agreement with Schelling’s philosophy of nature, from which it has indirectly received strong and decisive stimuli¹, above all in one point: it opposes vitalism to mechanism;
Ernst Cassirer, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Part 3: The Phenomenology of Knowledge · work dated 1909 · page 55
It is the fundamental error of the mechanical theory of life—principally uncovered by Bergson—that the phenomena of life are to be grasped and explained with concepts and forms of perception that are peculiar to a "reason" that has itself only been formed in the service of the life activity peculiar to man and is completely dependent on its directions of activity¹.
Max Scheler, Ressentiment · work dated 1901 · page 99
panpsychism
doctrineEuropean philosophy · 16th c. (Patrizi) onward
The view that mind or soul is present in everything. Francesco Patrizi coined panpsychia (1591); Fechner and others revived it in the 19th century.
Translators also write: Allbeseeltheit
227 pages in 78 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 538 and 1898, most in the 19th c. 87% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (95% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
" This is fully compatible with spiritualism or panpsychism[the view that mind or spirit is the primary reality of all things] in ontology, which teaches that being consists of a complex, interacting hierarchy of concrete spiritual entities, spiritualized monads[indivisible, fundamental units of reality], united into a …
Н.А. Бердяев, Sub Specie Aeternitatis: Philosophical, Social, and Literary Essays · work dated 1898 · page 358
66, 27 Soul] The main topic of the Neoplatonists, whose pantheism was basically a panpsychism[the view that all things possess a soul]. Consequently, judging by the surviving remnants, our biography seems to have been more of a "psychography"—that is, a depiction of the souls of the people appearing in it—than an exact recording of their external life circumstances.
Damaskios, The Life of the Philosopher Isidoros by Damaskios of Damascus · work dated 508 · page 192
consciousness imprints the form of life upon everything it grasps, this mode of universal animation Allbelebung[enlivening of all] is by no means synonymous with universal ensoulment Allbeseelung[ensouling of all] from the beginning.
Ernst Cassirer, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Part 3: The Phenomenology of Knowledge · work dated 1909 · page 94
hylozoism
doctrineEuropean philosophy · 1678 coinage; applied to Ionians
hylozoismEnglishHylozoismusGermanhylozoïsmeFrench
The view that matter itself is alive. Cudworth coined the word (1678) for a position he rejected and pinned it on Strato and the early Ionians.
151 pages in 60 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 400 and 1903, most in the 17th c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (91% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Greek
The Hylozoists introduced another kind of Panhylism[the doctrine that all matter is alive]; to whom, as it seemed to most, Strato of Lampsacus, commonly called the Physicist, gave origin.
Raphson, Joseph, Universal Analysis of Equations · work dated 1683 · page 79
still, we do not meet a definite philosophical expression of it until the hylozoism of the Ionic philosophers, in the first half of the sixth century before Christ.
Ernst Haeckel, The Riddle of the Universe · work dated 1875 · page 312
In a form essentially different from this, philosophical hylozoism has taught the eternity of life at all times. Even if its primary concern was more to rescue life for all of nature than to explain it, the latter—or rather the possibility of being able to do without such an explanation—was usually considered a welcome byproduct.
Wilhelm Wundt, Logic: An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge · work dated 1877 · page 654
Practices
natural magic
practiceRenaissance · 13th – 17th c. · also made things as alive
The use of the hidden powers of things, which act through sympathy, to produce wonders without demons. Ficino, Agrippa and Della Porta's Magia naturalis (1558) are its main books.
Translators also write: Magiae Naturalis, Magia Naturali, Magiam Naturalem, Naturalis Magia, Magie naturelle, Magica Naturalis, Magia naturale Related, not the same: Magia, Magica, Occult Philosophy, Magic
9,886 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1486 and 1780, most in the 16th c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (82% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Medieval Latin
rather, I have considered natural magic (Magia naturalis), which seeks to obtain the benefits of heavenly means for physical well-being through natural methods.
Robert Fludd, Das höchste Gut (Summum Bonum) · work dated 1613 · page 13
Wolfgangi Hildebrandi MAGIA NATURALIS Magia Naturalis That is: A highly useful and proven Book of Arts, therein are contained many magnificent and secret arts, namely how one may perform all manner of miracles with the aid of natural things, which have never before been seen nor heard.
Hildebrand, Wolfgang, Hildebrand, Wolfgang: Wolffgangi Hildebrands new augirte, weitverbesserte und vielvermehrte Magia Naturalis: Das ist Künst und Wünderbüch. 1. (1650). - 50 Bl. : Ill. · work dated 1611 · page 2
Through its rays, the secrets of all celestial stars and the hidden things of lower matters are to be known, and their virtues joined in an artificial marriage, which Natural Magic[original: "Magia Naturalis"] extends even to angelic intelligence.
Roth-Scholtz, Friedrich (1687-1736), Deutsches theatrum chemicum, auf welchem der berühmtesten Philosophen und Alchymisten Schrifften, die von dem Stein der Weisen, von Verwandlung der schlechten Metalle in bessere ... handeln ... vorgestellet werden / Erster Theil. · work dated 1715 · page 453
weapon salve and powder of sympathy
practiceParacelsian & Rosicrucian · 1600 – 1700 · also made things as alive
unguentum armariumLatinweapon salveEnglishpowder of sympathyEnglishpoudre de sympathieFrench
Healing a wound by anointing the weapon that made it, or by treating a bloodied cloth with powder of vitriol, at a distance. Its defenders (Goclenius, Fludd, Digby) explained it by sympathy carried through the blood's spirit.
Translators also write: Sympathetic Powder, WaffenSalbe, Unguentum Sympatheticum, Poeder de Simpathie, Wapensalve
2,027 pages in 457 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1588 and 1780, most in the 17th c. 81% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (64% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Kabbalistic & Hasidic
No less pleasant and worthy of investigation is that most vexing question of the natural philosophers: > Whether the unguentum armarium[weapon salve], which is smeared only onto a cloth or a bloody sword and neatly applied to the wounds of a patient, whether they are present or many miles away, brings about a cure naturally.
Saltzmann, Johann Rudolph, Saltzmann, Johann Rudolph: Anaskeuē hopliatrias · work dated 1622 · page 7
On the Microcosmic Magnet, or the Hoplochrysma[Weapon-salve], or the Unguentum Armarium[Armary Ointment]. Not long ago, there emerged from the Stygian workshop, I think, a certain ointment which, from the action by which it is falsely believed to heal the wounded at a distance, is called Magnetic;
Kircher, Athanasius, Athanasii Kircheri Societatis Jesu Magnes sive de arte magnetica opus tripartium quo universa magnetis natura, eiusque in omnibus scientiis & artibus usus, nova medthodo explicatur, ac praeterae e viribus & prodigiosis effectibus magneticarum, aliarumque abditarum naturae motionum in elementis, lapidibus, plantis, animalibus, elucescentium, multa hucusque incognita natureae arcana, per physica, medica, chymica, & mathematica omnis generis experimenta recluduntur · work dated 1635 · page 563
… were saying, "Although Demetrius the Ephesian with his followers attributed all power to the fictitious goddess Diana, and Foster [attributes] the secret and wonderful power of healing through the Unguentum armarium[Weapon Salve] to the Devil, as the Prince of this world, without any consideration of this text: yet it is certain that there is God the Father, from whom are all things, and consequently this act in healing (and through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are …
The 17th-century programme (Descartes, Gassendi, Boyle, Hobbes) that explained nature by matter in motion, removing souls and inner powers from bodies.
Related, not the same: Mechanical Principles
2,880 pages in 708 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 507 and 1798, most in the 17th c. 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (85% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Greek
That other opinion of Descartes, which seems to savor less of piety, is this: namely, that all the Phenomena of the world—not even excepting Plants or the organic bodies of Animals—can arise from merely Mechanical principles (that is, solely from local Motion and Matter);
More, Henry, Ethical Handbook, Comprising the Principal Rudiments of Moral Philosophy · work dated 1658 · page 29
We are also occupied with composing a History of the Mechanical Arts, holding it as certain that the forms and qualities of things can best be explained from Mechanical Principles.
Benedictus de Spinoza, Posthumous Works · work dated 1662 · page 444
Our Mechanical Philosophers, seeing this impossibility in their Mechanics, have cleverly extricated themselves by saying that the animal was entirely formed within the sperm of the bird.
Colonne, François-Marie-Pompée, Les principes de la nature, ou de la generation des choses · work dated 1731 · page 196
dead matter
oppositeEuropean natural philosophy · 17th c. onward
Matter without any power of its own, moved only from outside: the premise of the mechanical philosophy that the vitalists and hylozoists denied.
Translators also write: Brute Matter, Senseless Matter, Stupid Matter
2,335 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 245 and 1903, most in the 17th c. 86% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (67% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
… to ſpeak more particularly, it is certain, notwithſtanding all the vain pretences of Lucretius and other Atheiſts, or Semi-Atheiſts, to the con- trary ; that Life and Senſe could never poſſibly ſpring, out of Dead and Senſleſs Matter, as its only Original, …
Ralph Cudworth, The true intellectual system of the universe: the first part; wherein, all the reason and philosophy of atheism is confuted; and its impossibility demonstrated. By R. Cudworth, D.D. · work dated 1655 · page 746
" These four degrees do indeed possess distinct characteristics, although their boundaries seem to blend: inert matter, which constitutes the mineral kingdom, possesses only mechanical force;
Allan Kardec, Le Livre des Esprits · work dated 1840 · page 299
And the Sage muni[practitioner] who is devoted to the Eightfold Bath attains non-duality abheda in due order. (62) An objection may be raised: "Earth and the other elements are inert matter; how can they produce such spiritual fruits?
Abhinavagupta, The Light of the Tantras · work dated 993 · page 2679
Luigi Galvani's electricity inherent in animal tissue (1791), shown by frog legs twitching under metal contact. Galvanic experiments on corpses followed, and the idea fed talk of reanimation.
Related, not the same: Galvanisme
804 pages in 194 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1772 and 1878, most in the 18th c. 87% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (83% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
What changes bodies produce in one another through mere contact, we do not see in most cases because we have neither instruments nor organs to indicate this to us: in this case, the most irritable of all organs indicates it to us. Galvanism[Galvanismus] is therefore something far more general than is usually imagined. — The analogies force themselves upon us.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, Von der Weltseele · work dated 1798 · page 345
The plant will be only negatively galvanizable. (Galvanism, it is said, does not extend over the plant kingdom. Why not? It becomes only the negative of animal galvanism in the plant.
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature · work dated 1795 · page 352
Doctrines and schools
Hermetism
doctrineGreco-Egyptian; Renaissance · 1st – 3rd c.; 1471 onward · also the world as alive
Ἑρμῆς ὁ ΤρισμέγιστοςGreekHermes TrismegistusLatin
The teaching of the Greek and Latin texts ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus. The Asclepius describes Egyptian priests drawing spirits into statues; the Corpus Hermeticum calls the cosmos a living being.
Related, not the same: CORPUS HERMETICUM, HERMETIC
57,156 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 200 and 1880, most in the 17th c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (58% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Hellenistic & Late Antique, Modern European
For to those who carefully weigh the Hermetic writings, it is clear that the world itself is called the "Son of God" by Hermes, and he is by no means speaking of the second person of the most holy Trinity whom we Christians worship.
Conring, Hermann, On the Ancient Hermetic Medicine of the Egyptians and the New Paracelsian Medicine · work dated 1635 · page 50
The reſult of our preſent Diſcourſe is this, that though ſome of the Triſmegiſtick Books, were either wholly counterfeited, or elſe had certain ſuppoſititious Paſſages inſerted into them by ſome Chriſtian hand, yet there being others of them originally Egyptian, or which as to the ſubſtance of them, do contain Hermaical or Egyptian Doctrines (in all which One Supreme Deity is …
Ralph Cudworth, The true intellectual system of the universe: the first part; wherein, all the reason and philosophy of atheism is confuted; and its impossibility demonstrated. By R. Cudworth, D.D. · work dated 1655 · page 351
The Poemandre of Hermes Trismegistus. When once I was reflecting upon the things that exist, and with my mind raised up, and the senses of my body greatly dulled—like those who are weighed down by sleep from a fullness of food or from the labor of the body—it seemed to me Nn 2
Lazarus Zetzner (ed.), The Chemical Theater, Containing the Principal Treatises of Selected Authors on the Antiquity, Truth, Right, Excellence & Operations of Chemistry and the Philosopher's Stone: Compiled for the Benefit of Students of True Chemistry and Chemical Medicine, and Digested into Three Parts or Volumes; With its Own Catalog of Authors and Books at the Beginning of Each Volume: And an Index of Things and Words Annexed at the End · work dated 1590 · page 580
Practices
talismans
practiceArabic astral magic → Latin · 10th c. onward · also the world as alive
Images cut or cast at an astrologically chosen hour so that a star's power enters them. The Picatrix (Ghāyat al-ḥakīm) and Ficino's De vita coelitus comparanda describe the making.
Related, not the same: amulet, pentacles, pentacle, sigil, amuleta, pantacle, pantacles, seal of solomon
13,103 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1050 and 1895, most in the 17th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (58% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Chinese, Arabic
74 THE TALISMANS sign of his operation; inasmuch as by thus forming for himself the image of the quality he intends to introduce into the Talisman, this image determines, by the same law, that this influence shall communicate itself particularly to the Talisman, and it is precisely and …
Anonymous, Treatise on Talismans and Astral Figures: Demonstrating Their Natural Effects and Virtuous Use · work dated 1658 · page 86
for scorpions flee from that talisman. The crafting of these members is a type of approximation, but the original work must be according to the reality of nature.
Maslama al-Majriti, The Goal of the Wise (Ghayat al-Hakim) · work dated 1050 · page 18
An inquirer. A term generally used for a student of divinity, is Ṭālibu ’l-‘ilm. TALISMAN. Arabic (طلسم) ṭilsam; pl. ṭalāsim. The English word is a corruption of the Arabic.
Thomas Patrick Hughes, A Dictionary of Islam · work dated 1869 · page 640
installing life in images
practiceIndian & Tibetan · 6th c. onward · also the inhabited world
Rites that make an image a living presence: Hindu prāṇapratiṣṭhā, the 'establishing of breath' in a temple image, and Tibetan rab gnas, the consecration that installs a deity in a statue or stūpa.
Translators also write: རབ་ཏུ་གནས་པ, Rab tu gnas pa, Pratishtha, རབ་ཏུ་གནས་པའི་ཆོ་ག་, Rabne Related, not the same: Abhisheka, Abhiṣeka, adhivasa, Consecration
12,242 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 300 and 1750, most in the 18th c. 52% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (0% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Indian
Regarding the first, the etymological definition: prakashananadi pratishtha means "consecration" [Tibetan: rab gnas] because it is an "excellent abiding.
Regarding the paintings of the sublime Dharma, the volumes of scripture, and those statues that are excellent in proportion, or even those of lesser quality, which possess the tantra of perfect bliss: by knowing their specific types and characteristics, it is appropriate to perform the consecration rab gnas[consecration/pratishtha] rituals.
practiceParacelsian · 16th – 18th c. · also prolonged life
spagyriaLatinspagyricEnglishSpagyrikGerman
Paracelsian pharmacy that separates a plant or mineral into its principles and recombines the purified parts, to free the medicinal virtue from the dead body of the matter.
Also spelled: Spagiric Related, not the same: ALCHYMIA, ALCHIMIA, ALCHEMIA, Alchymie, Alchimey, Alchymiam, Alchimie, Alchymi
8,092 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1525 and 1770, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (56% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
Spagyria, or the Spagyric Art, is that which teaches how to segregate the pure from the impure, so that once the dregs are cast aside, the remaining virtue may do its work;
Ruland sr., Martin, Lexicon Alchemiae Sive Dictionarium Alchemisticum: Containing a Clear Explanation of Obscure Words and Hermetic Matters, as well as Theophrastus-Paracelsian Phrases, by Martin Ruland, Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine, and Person of His Imperial Majesty · work dated 1612 · page 592
For everyone shall believe the other only as much as he has experienced in the fire: and whatever other sweat-work one may bring forward, be it in Spagyria[alchemy] or medicine, to that you shall give no belief at all, unless it is proven by the fire, which teaches how to separate the false from the righteous.
Paracelsus, The Works of Paracelsus, Volume 6: On Spagyric Preparations and Alchemical Transmutation · work dated 1590 · page 378
Whatever remedies are stripped of their poison by the spagyric art spagyria; from the Greek 'spao' (to tear apart) and 'ageiro' (to gather), the alchemical method of purifying substances by separating them into their elements and recombining them must be healthy and benign.
Ruland jr., Martin, Prolegomena of Alchemy, or Chemical Problems Clarified by Ninety-One Questions with the True Method of Preparing the Philosopher's Stone · work dated 1596 · page 89
homunculus
practiceParacelsian · 1530s onward
homunculusLatinhomunculiLatin
The little man that De natura rerum (attributed to Paracelsus, pub. 1572) says can be grown from human seed in horse dung and fed on blood.
Also spelled: Homunculum, Homunculis, Homunculos, HOMVNCVLVS Related, not the same: Homuncio
2,476 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 66 BCE and 1798, most in the 16th c. 88% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (75% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Roman, Modern European
But neither must we by any means forget the generation of homunculi. For there is some truth in this thing, although for a long time it was held in a most occult manner and with secrecy, while there was no little doubt and question among some of the old Philosophers, whether it was possible to Nature and Art, that a man should be begotten without the female body and the natural womb.
Paracelsus; ed. A.E. Waite, Hermetical and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus · work dated 1525 · page 143
On Homunculi. In book 1, On the Generation of Natural Things, he teaches, and also proposes the method by which a homunculus[a tiny, man-made human being] may be generated without father and mother, by the benefit of the Chemical art;
Daniel Sennert, On the Consensus and Dissensus of Chemists with Aristotelian and Galenic Scholars, Book I · work dated 1603 · page 130
Of almost the same kind of fable is the homuncio[homunculus or little man] of Theophrastus Paracelsus. Not only all sensible heathens, but also all Christians know that no herb has grown to ward off death, and that no one can escape death.
Becher, Johann Joachim, Psychosophia oder Seelen-Weissheit · work dated 1666 · page 308
palingenesis of plants
practiceEarly modern chemistry · 17th – 18th c. · also the world as alive
The experiment, reported by Quercetanus, Kircher and Digby, of making the ghostly form of a burnt plant rise again from its salts in a sealed glass.
Related, not the same: Palingenesie
1,537 pages in 761 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 26 and 1896, most in the 17th c. 82% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (68% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Hellenistic & Late Antique
Palingenesis and Resuscitation. By Palingenesie[palingenesis or rebirth] one understands the resuscitation of any destroyed natural body, either according to its external form or according to all its properties.
Eckartshausen, Karl von, Aufschlüsse zur Magie · work dated 1779 · page 279
Those who later bring forward things about the palingenesia of plants, as Quercetanus and Gaffarellus do in the Book titled Curiositez inouyes, that is, On Unheard-of Curiosities, [citing] a certain Polish physician;
Athanasius Kircher, The Subterranean World Volume Two · work dated 1665 · page 457
The resurrection of plants and animals from their ashes, or palingenesis, also found warm defenders in this age m), such as the famous physician Georg Friedr.
Gmelin, Johann Friedrich, History of Chemistry from the Revival of Science to the End of the Eighteenth Century · work dated 1781 · page 340
The Asclepius says Egyptian priests made gods by drawing spirits into statues with herbs, stones and songs. Iamblichus and Proclus called this the telestic art; Ficino quoted the passage.
Translators also write: Statuas animatas Related, not the same: Telestic, teletic
443 pages in 235 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 378 BCE and 1871, most in the 3rd c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (80% sourced) · mostly Hellenistic & Late Antique, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek
Augustine recounts that Hermes professes that just as God is the maker of the celestial gods, so man is the maker of the gods who are in temples, content with human proximity—I mean (he says) statues animated by sense and full of spirit, etc.
Silvestro Mazzolini (Prierias), Three Books on the Miraculous Things of Witches, Demons · work dated 1496 · page 98
Furthermore, that is also absurd: that the telestic[ritual/initiatory] art, and oracles, and statues of gods are established on the earth, and that things made from partial and perishable matter are made suitable through certain symbols to share in god, to be moved by him, and to foretell the future, while the creator of the wholes has not set divine souls, intellects, and gods over the whole, imperishable, and complete parts of the world?
Proclus, Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus, Vol. III · work dated 456 · page 174
Statues animated, full of sense and spirit, doing such great and many things; statues with foreknowledge of the future, predicting things which perhaps every prophet might be ignorant of in many and various matters;
St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei · work dated 400 · page 204
golem
practiceJewish · Talmud; 12th c. onward
גולםHebrewgolemtransliteration
A figure of clay animated by divine names, following instructions read into the Sefer Yetzirah by medieval commentators. Later legends tie it to Rabbi Loew of Prague.
196 pages in 100 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 400 and 1920, most in the 17th c. 86% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (40% sourced) · mostly Kabbalistic & Hasidic, Hebrew & Jewish, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
They have another sorcery called Hamor golim[likely a corruption of 'homer,' meaning clay, or referring to a Golem]; they make an image of clay like a human being, whisper or murmur some conjurations into its ears, and the image walks.
Allix, Pierre, Ausspruch der alten Jüdischen Kirchen · work dated 1681 · page 656
To what Brenz brought forward concerning the Hamor golim[clay golem], he answers: The Mumar[apostate] writes that among the Jews there are those who take a lump of clay, form it, and make it like a human being;
Allix, Pierre, Ausspruch der alten Jüdischen Kirchen · work dated 1681 · page 657
As the Midrash Rabbah says on the portion of Ki Tissa: when Adam was still an unformed mass (golem), the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him every righteous person destined to descend from him.
Horowitz, Isaiah ben Abraham Halevi, The Two Tablets of the Covenant · work dated 1623 · page 35
Opposites
automaton
oppositeGreek → early modern · 1st c. onward
αὐτόματονGreekautomatonEnglishAutomatGerman
A self-moving machine (Hero's theatres, Renaissance garden figures, Vaucanson's duck) that imitates life without having it; for Descartes, the model of an animal body.
Also spelled: Automatum, Automa, Automates, Automati Translators also write: αὐτόματα Related, not the same: Androide, Android
4,709 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 344 BCE and 1874, most in the 17th c. 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (87% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek, Modern European
It appears, therefore, that they were commonly called Automata: which mechanics constructed in such a way that they seemed to perform some action of their own accord, as if by an unknown cause.
Angelo Poliziano, First Century of Miscellanies · work dated 1479 · page 183
Art constructs αὐτόματα[automata/self-moving machines], by which it imitates the rotations and revolutions of the world with iron wheels and cogwheels, arranged and joined in a certain order, and with a weight attached by which they are pushed and pulled and turned around;
Peucer, Kaspar, Commentarius de praecipuis generibus divinationum, in quo a prophetiis autoritate divina traditis & a physicis coniecturis, discernuntur artes et imposturae diabolicae, atque observationes natae ex superstitione et cum hac coniunctae ... · work dated 1550 · page 359
THE AUTOMATON THEATERS OF HERO OF ALEXANDRIA. The two types of automata. I The display of automata (automaton theater) enjoyed great popularity among the ancients, first because a manifold skill is developed in it, and second because the spectacle (presented) is simply astonishing.
Hero of Alexandria; Wilhelm Schmidt (ed.), Complete Extant Works of Hero of Alexandria, Vol. 1 · work dated 50 · page 413
animal machine
oppositeCartesian · 1637 onward · also feeling alive
Descartes's claim that animals are machines without feeling, and La Mettrie's extension of it to humans in L'Homme machine (1747).
Translators also write: beast-machine Related, not the same: homme machine, MAN a Machine
415 pages in 97 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1646 and 1794, most in the 18th c. 97% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (80% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
His "l'homme machine" [man a machine] is an execution modeled on Descartes' animal-machine. In the Système de la nature[System of Nature] by Holbach, the physical part likewise consists of the combination of French and English materialism, just as the moral part essentially rests upon the morality of Helvetius.
Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, The Holy Family · work dated 1844 · page 216
A spirit between gods and humans: a person's guardian, a power in a place, or an intermediary carrying prayers up and gifts down, as in Plato's Symposium.
Also spelled: daimones, δαίμονες Translators also write: daemons, daemones, demon, demons, guardian spirit, Genius Related, not the same: daimonion, δαιμόνιον, daemonium, demonio, genii, genie, cacodaemon, kakodaimon
17,052 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 600 BCE and 1757, most in the 3rd c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (70% sourced) · mostly Greek, Hellenistic & Late Antique, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
For whatever you choose to bring forward as proof for your (opposing) claim—that there are many daemons set over different parts of the body, a daemon of health, of beauty, and of the other states of our limbs, and that finally a single daemon is placed as a common overseer over all these (part- and limb-)daemons—this you must only understand as an argument for the rule of a single (and unified) daemon over all that is in us.
Iamblichus; tr. Theodor Hopfner, On the Secret Teachings · work dated 293 · page 216
And it seems to me that Plato, having found this same god in Orpheus—who is called both Love and a great daimon—also loved such a hymn regarding Love himself.
Proclus, Diadochus, 412-485, Commentary on the First Alcibiades of Plato · work dated 456 · page 211
67 c 5 n. ὁ ἑκάστου δαίμων [each person's daemon]: cp. for the mystic doctrine of the guardian δαίμων[guardian spirit] Menander (fr. 550 Kock) A daemon stands by every man immediately upon his birth as a guide of life.
The lords of the soil (sa bdag), lords of the place (gzhi bdag) and serpent spirits (klu) of Tibetan religion, who own the ground and must be placated before building or farming.
Also spelled: Sa-dag, Sa-dak Translators also write: Earth Lords Related, not the same: Klu, Naga, नाग, Yakshas, Nagas, ནཱ་ག་, nyen, Gnyan
15,019 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 800 and 1750, most in the 18th c. 64% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (0% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Indian, Chinese
Identify the specific characteristics of where the earth lords and serpent spirits are lying within that ground to perform the ritual of taming the earth.
His beak is a vajra beak of meteoric iron. He eats the earth lords, nagas, and nyen spirits as food. He crushes the naga and nyen kings into pieces.
Drametse Monastery Collection, rNying ma rgyud 'bum Pi · work dated 1100 · page 111
mana
principlePolynesian & Melanesian, via anthropology · 1891 onward in European writing
manaPolynesian
A power residing in persons, places and objects in Melanesian and Polynesian usage, made a general category by R. H. Codrington (1891) and later by Marett and Mauss.
8,074 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 95 and 1887, most in the 19th c. (broad phrase) 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (45% sourced) · mostly Oceanian, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Medieval Latin
‘Mana.’ beyond the ordinary power of men, outside the common processes of nature; it is present in the atmosphere of life, attaches itself to persons and to things, and is manifested by results which can only be ascribed to its operation.
Robert Henry Codrington, The Melanesians · work dated 1868 · page 148
… the boundaries claimed, these names being frequently such as would make them sacred to the family, from being derived from names of persons or things to which some family sacredness was attached. MANA. The chief of any family who discovered and took possession of any unoccupied land obtained what was called the mana of the land.
Edward Shortland, Maori Religion and Mythology · work dated 1855 · page 103
These dragons had the mana, or magic power of appearing as men or as dragons according to their desire. This dragon was named Pii-ka-lalau, or Pii,
W.D. Westervelt, Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes · work dated 1916 · page 43
genius loci
principleRoman · 1st c. BCE onward
genius lociLatingenii locorumLatinlaresLatin
The guardian spirit of a place in Roman religion, honoured with altars and offerings; the lares and penates of the household belong to the same family.
Translators also write: Genius of the Place Related, not the same: Penates, Genii, Dii Penates, DI PENATES, Lares familiares, Laribus, deos penates, Dij penates
6,766 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 60 BCE and 1836, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (74% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Roman, Hellenistic & Late Antique
Virgil writes: Lest he think, ignorant, that the genius of the place or the servant of his parent is there. The same author: > Thus having spoken, he binds his temples with a leafy branch, > And prays to the genius of the place, and to Earth, the first of gods, > And the nymphs, and the rivers still unknown.
Manuzio, Paolo, Catullus, with the Commentary of Marc-Antoine Muret, Tibullus, and Propertius · work dated 20 BCE · page 89
They assigned a certain Tutelary Genius not only to individual men, but also to every kingdom, province, region, city, and people, whom they called the Genius of the place, who presided over it as a patron and protector, promoting good things for it and averting evils.
Wagner, Bernhard; Silberrad, Johann Paul, Dissertation on the Natural Knowledge of Angelic Existence · work dated 1688 · page 12
Furthermore, these Daemones presided over certain places and regions, and then were called Genii loci (Genii of the place); an inscription in Gruter, vol.
Gisbert Cuper, Three Books of Observations · work dated 1665 · page 373
elemental spirits
principleParacelsian · 16th c. onward · also the world as alive
The beings of Paracelsus's Liber de nymphis (pub. 1566): nymphs of water, sylphs of air, gnomes of earth and salamanders of fire, made of flesh but without a soul.
Related, not the same: Sylphs, Nymphs, sylphis, Silphes, Sylphides, Syphs, Sylphen
6,200 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 750 and 1895, most in the 17th c. 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (34% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
They are called "Screechers" or "Park-masters" by the common man, but they are to be called by their right names: Sylphes[sylphs, spirits of the air] or pygmenes[pygmies or gnomes, spirits of the earth].
Paracelsus, Paracelsus — On Occult Philosophy, 16th-Century German MS · work dated 1570 · page 29
It will not be so with the Sylphs, the Gnomes, and the Nymphs; For they living a less time, have more need of us: and so their familiarity is more easie to obtain.
[Villars, Nicolas de Montfaucon de], The Count of Gabalis: or, The extravagant mysteries of the Cabalists, exposed in five pleasant discourses on the secret sciences. Done into English by P.A. Gent. With short animadversions. · work dated 1670 · page 63
as incorrect to call even the lowest and worst of the Elementals “devils,” as to say that a Scorpion or an Adder was really a fiend. Another and more difficult matter to grasp, regarding the Elemental Spirits, is that they partake only of the nature of one Element respectively, and that in that Element they can live, breathe, and move ;
Arthur Edward Waite, The Occult Sciences · work dated 1882 · page 58
kami
principleJapanese · 8th c. onward
神Japanesekamiromaji
The gods, spirits and awe-inspiring presences of Shintō, residing in mountains, rivers, trees, ancestors and shrines.
Related, not the same: Spirit, Lha, ལྷ་, Deva, Devata
2,089 pages in 240 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 712 and 1905, most in the 17th c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (55% sourced) · mostly Japanese, Southeast Asian, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
Several of the Kami are protective deities of the soil: Uga no Mitama no Mikoto is the spirit of food. Sukuna hikona no Kami, the scarecrow god.
Henri L. Joly, Legend in Japanese Art · work dated 1908 · page 288
Shinatsuhiko-no-kami. Next, they gave birth to the Wood Deity, named Kukunochi-no-kami. Next, they gave birth to the Mountain Deity, named Ooyama-tsumi-no-kami.
Ō no Yasumaro, Kojiki (古事記), Vol. 1 · work dated 693 · page 12
Then, the blood from the blade dripped onto the rocky shoreline and deities were born. Their names are: Iwasaku-no-kami; next, Nesaku-no-kami;
Ō no Yasumaro, Kojiki (古事記), Vol. 1 · work dated 693 · page 14
manitou
principleAlgonquian · 17th c. onward in European writing
manitouAlgonquianmanitoAlgonquianmanituAlgonquian
The Algonquian word for the spirit power present in persons, animals and places, recorded by Jesuit missionaries and later anthropologists.
Related, not the same: Genius, Genie, daemon
354 pages in 86 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1556 and 1908, most in the 19th c. 77% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (91% sourced) · mostly Native American & Mesoamerican, Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
It resembles a war hammer quite well: the head is well polished, and the tube, two and a half feet long, is a fairly strong cane, decorated with feathers of all sorts of colors, with (a) Manitou[Spirit] is the name that all these Peoples give to a Genius whom they believe resides in everything that has life, and even in inanimate things.
Picart, Bernard (1673-1733), Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses des peuples idolatres : avec une explication historique, & quelques dissertations curieuses / Tome premier. · work dated 1706 · page 85
The Manitu[Manitou] of some American tribes seem to be nothing else, if the reports of travel writers are to be trusted. Judge for yourself: > "A savage, whose Manitou was a bull, once explained that it was not the bull itself he worshiped, but a Manitou of the bulls, who was under the earth and animated all bulls.
Vogel, Paul Joachim Siegmund, Versuch über die Religion der alten Ägypter und Griechen · work dated 1793 · page 35
give the name of Kitchi-Manitou to the Great Spirit. They attribute good to him, just as on the contrary they attribute evil to that bad spirit of whom we have already spoken under the name of Matchi-Manitou: but besides that, they establish well-meaning or ill-meaning intelligences in everything they find marvelous;
Picart, Bernard (1673-1733), Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses des peuples idolatres : avec une explication historique, & quelques dissertations curieuses / Tome premier. · work dated 1706 · page 96
Doctrines and schools
animism
doctrineAnthropology · 1871 onward
animismEnglishAnimismusGermananimismeFrench
E. B. Tylor's term (Primitive Culture, 1871) for belief in spiritual beings, which he took to be the root of religion; the label was later applied to many traditions that did not use it.
2,089 pages in 393 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1574 and 1920, most in the 19th c. 83% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (87% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Arabic, Chinese
Thus Animism, in its full development, includes the belief in controlling deities and subordinate spirits, in souls, and in a future state, these doctrines practically resulting in some kind of active worship.
Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom, Vol. I · work dated 1859 · page 402
"The vital question for the Animist," he says, "is how to place his own soul in relation to the souls surrounding him, and to their powers, which are partly injurious and and partly useful, with as little danger and as much advantage to himself as possible.
Henry Whitehead, The Village Gods of South India · work dated 1916 · page 159
Such a mark is the animistic belief that nearly everything is possessed of a soul; not only have plants their own souls, but particles of earth, cold water, fire, and wind also.
Hermann Jacobi (trans.), Jaina Sutras, Part 2 (SBE Vol. 45) · work dated 300 BCE · page 37
Practices
offerings to place spirits
practiceTibetan; Roman; Chinese · Antiquity onward
བསངTibetanbsangWylielarariumLatin土地神Chinese
Gifts that keep the owners of a place well disposed: the Tibetan smoke offering (bsang) and serpent-spirit rites, the Roman lararium, the Chinese earth-god shrine.
Translators also write: Smoke Offering, bsang mchod Related, not the same: Earth God
12,823 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 400 and 1800, most in the 18th c. 48% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (8% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Egyptian
He performed divine service in his own Lararium[shrine] early in the morning, whenever he had not slept with his wife. In this Lararium, he had statues placed of the best princes, as well as of the most holy men;
Giovanni Pontano, Complete Works (Opera Omnia) · work dated 1472 · page 525
a mystic term in alchemy, having quite a different meaning from that usually attributed to it. Lararium (Lat.). An apartment in the house of ancient Romans where the Lares or household gods were preserved, with other family relics.
In the ruins of a luxurious house from the time of Constantine or slightly earlier, a lararium was found with a statue of Isis-Fortuna and figurines of Serapis, Jupiter, Hecate, Venus, Mars, Hercules, etc.
Franz Cumont, Texts and Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra, Vol. 2 · work dated 1890 · page 215
The fifth essence, incorruptible like the heavens. John of Rupescissa (c. 1350) taught that it could be drawn from wine by repeated distillation and would keep the body from decay.
Also spelled: Essentia Quinta, Quintæ Essentiæ, Qu. Ess, quinte essentie, Quintessentia, Q. essentia, Quinteſſenz, quinte essence Translators also write: FIFTH ESSENCE, Quintum Esse, fünffte Wesen, fünfftes Wesen, fünfften Wesens Related, not the same: Elixir
22,609 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1300 and 1750, most in the 17th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (55% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Medieval Latin
this brandy per Balneum[by water bath], and the quinta Essentia remains at the bottom in the form of an oil, separated from all the like.
Paracelsus, The Works of Paracelsus, Volume 6: On Spagyric Preparations and Alchemical Transmutation · work dated 1590 · page 52
Then the quinta essentia[fifth essence] will remain for you at the bottom, prettier and more beautiful than all gold. The same is good for healing sores and the corrosive or gnawing pests, just as the quinta essentia[fifth essence] of the mercurii[mercury] can heal fistula and cancer, and many others more.
Reusner, Hieronymus, Pandora: The Noblest Gift of God · work dated 1586 · page 233
**The Second Canon of this First Book reveals the sanctity of this mastery of the fifth essence / how and in what manner our quintessence is adorned by the Sun and the stars / so that their wonderful influence and the flowing-in of life and health into our body may be increased / and first regarding the mastery of the action.
Faust, Johannes Michael, New Alchemical Compendium, or Pandora Explained · work dated 1692 · page 986
innate heat
principleGreek & Galenic medicine · 4th c. BCE – 18th c. · also feeling alive
The heat born with a living body, centred in the heart, which drives digestion and life. Aristotle and Galen held that life lasts as long as this heat is fed; old age is its waning.
Translators also write: Natural Heat, harara ghariziyya, emphyton thermon, Calidi Innati, ḥarārah gharīziyyah, calor nativus, al-ḥarārah al-gharīziyyah, حرارة غريزية, calido innato, emphytos thermasia Related, not the same: الحرارة العزيزية
21,686 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 175 and 1685, most in the 17th c. 97% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (65% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Medieval Latin, Greek
The need is twofold: the preservation of the innate heat, and the nourishment of the psychic spirit. The preservation of the natural heat consists of both inhalation and exhalation;
Nemesius of Emesa; Nicasius Ellebodius (trans.), On the Nature of Man, one book, now first published and translated into Latin · work dated 393 · page 121
Weakening of natural heat due to the course of nature (partly curable), Graying hair happens because of the weakening of the heat that leaves the body.
of the calor innatus[innate heat] is such that it also resists hot poisons, not in a complexional way, but in a formal way. This is because natural heat informs and is regulated by our soul, which moves toward life by means of natural heat as its own instrument.
Petrus de Abano, De venenis. Ed: Guilielmus Haldenhoff · work dated 1333 · page 19
The fatty, oily moisture laid down at conception which the innate heat slowly consumes, like oil in a lamp. Avicenna's teaching made it the measure of a lifespan; prolonging life meant sparing it.
6,789 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1274 and 1741, most in the 17th c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (55% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Medieval Latin, Modern European
, invented both with proof and with characterization, which strengthen and preserve the humidum radicale[radical moisture], heat, etc. The greater community these remedies have with the limbs with which they harmonize, the more powerfully will they strengthen them, just as in music, consonances are more perfect the closer they come to the unison.
Kircher, Athanasius, The Minor Art of Consonance and Dissonance · work dated 1639 · page 329
because all other things are consumed in fire and lose their humiditas radicalis[radical humidity]. The said stone, however, alone and entirely in the fire, is always improved and its goodness grows;
The Golden Art, Called Chemistry · work dated 1572 · page 527
The ancients call the Humidum radicale[radical moisture] the Universal Balsam[original: "Balsamum catholicum"], the most precious nature-elixir, the Panacea, and the Mercurium Vitae[Mercury of Life].
anonymous, Hermetisches Journal · work dated 1802 · page 101
mumia
principleParacelsian · 16th – 17th c. · also made things as alive
mumiaLatinmummyEnglishMumieGerman
In Paracelsian medicine, the vital balsam that keeps flesh from decay, and the life that stays in blood, hair or a fresh corpse after it leaves the body; the basis of sympathetic cures.
3,340 pages in 740 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1016 and 1700, most in the 16th c. 88% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (68% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Arabic, Modern European
Now, however, to speak further of the Mumia, you should know that yet another Mumia exists: namely, the Mumia that is separated and prepared from a living body.
[Dolhopff, Georg Andreas], Animal Microcosmic Stone. Or, the Highest Medicine, from the Little World of the Human Body: Together with a Little Treatise on the Urine of Man · work dated 1661 · page 56
For every Corpus[body] to which a living Mumia[vital corpse-essence] is brought from a human, that same Corpus immediately becomes like a magnet.
Paracelsus, Theophrastus, Opera. Bücher und Schrifften · work dated 1525 · page 1392
Sympathetic cure through the Mumia[mummy (a medicinal preparation)]. When a person has such cruel tearing in a limb that the flesh even wastes away, there is nothing better than to tie a white birch bark around the limb and leave it for 24 hours, thereafter remove it, and in the following evening and morning smear it with the following spirit of mummy, so the tearing will pass and the flesh will grow again.
Unknown, Hundert acht und dreyßig neu-entdeckte und vollkommen bewährte Geheimnüsse, Oder allerhand magische, spagyrische, sympathetische und antipathetische Kunst-Stücke ... · work dated 1720 · page 110
natural balsam
principleParacelsian · 16th – 17th c.
balsamum naturaleLatinnatural balsamEnglishbalsam of lifeEnglish
Paracelsus's inner preservative of the body, which heals wounds from within and keeps flesh from corruption; physicians tried to strengthen it with balsams of their own making.
Translators also write: Balsamum Vitae, Balsam Vitæ Related, not the same: Balsamus Vitæ, Lebens-Balsam
880 pages in 368 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1525 and 1745, most in the 17th c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (58% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
Indeed, "uncorrupted nature" here refers to the natural balsam[the inherent life-force or preservative fluid in living things] naturally implanted in all bodies.
Dorn, Gerhard, Chymisticum artificium naturae · work dated 1557 · page 287
It is truly nothing other than the failing of the balsami vitae naturalis[natural balsam of life], due to a lack or excess of its fuel. We say that the balsam of life is the balanced mixture of the calidi naturalis[natural heat] with its radicali humido[radical moisture].
Theatrum chemicum, praecipuos selectorum auctorum tractatus de chemiae et lapidis philosophici antiquitate, veritate, iure, praestantia, & operationibus, continens: in gratiam verae chemiae, et medicinae chemicae studiosorum ... congestum, et in sex partes seu volumina digestum; singulis voluminibus, suo auctorum et librorum catalogo primis pagellis: rerum vero & verborum indice postremis annexo. Volumen primum [- sextum] / Volumen primum. · work dated 1602 · page 462
But if they are to serve as nourishment, they must be presented with the body, for all parts of the body, both the thicker and the more subtle, must be nourished by things similar to themselves: namely, salt by salt, sulfur by sulfur, and natural balsam by balsam.
Dorn, Gerhard, Chymisticum artificium naturae · work dated 1557 · page 262
ojas
principleIndian (Āyurveda) · Vedic onward · also feeling alive
ओजस्Sanskritojastransliteration
Vigour: in Āyurveda the finest product of digestion, which sustains immunity and life. Its loss brings decline; rasāyana therapy is meant to increase it.
Related, not the same: Bindu, Thig-le, Prana
824 pages in 144 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1200 BCE and 1700, most in the 16th c. 86% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (20% sourced) · mostly Indian, Native American & Mesoamerican, Tibetan
Here are the verses: The nature of ojas. Ojas is soma-like [lunar/cooling], oily, white, cool, stable, and spreading; it is distinct, soft, and is considered the best seat of life.
The whole body with its limbs and members is permeated with Ojas, and a loss or diminution in its natural quantity leads to the gradual emaciation (and ultimate dissolution) of organism.
Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (trans.), An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, Based on Original Sanskrit Text · work dated 200 BCE · page 223
The quintessence of all the fundamental principles of the body, starting with lymph chyle and ending with semen, is called the Ojas, which is identical with what is termed "vital power.
Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (trans.), An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, Based on Original Sanskrit Text · work dated 200 BCE · page 222
jing (essence)
principleChinese · 4th c. BCE onward
精ChinesejingpinyinchingWade-Giles
Essence: the refined, generative substance stored in the kidneys and spent in sex and ageing. Daoist longevity practice aims to conserve it and refine it into qi and spirit.
Related, not the same: Jing Qi Shen, Bindu
229 pages in 118 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 598 and 1716, most in the 17th c. 98% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (58% sourced) · mostly Chinese
Therefore, the Sages and Worthies maintain the Jie Ding Hui[Precepts, Concentration, and Wisdom] to empty their hearts, and they refine the Jing Qi Shen[Essence, Vitality, and Spirit] to preserve their bodies.
However, terms like Kan and Li[Water and Fire], Lead and Mercury, or Essence, Qi, and Spirit[Jing, Qi, Shen] are all fully contained within the Heart and the Kidneys.
doctrineChinese · 4th c. BCE onward · also feeling alive
道家Chinese道教ChineseDaoistEnglishTaoistEnglish
The family of Daoist teachings (Zhuangzi, the Baopuzi, the Shangqing and Quanzhen schools) that treat the body as a store of essence, qi and spirit to be refined toward long life and transcendence.
Also spelled: Tâoism
22,759 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 839 and 1886, most in the 17th c. (broad phrase) 99% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (75% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Korean & Vietnamese, Japanese
The 'knowledge of long life' of the Caraka and Suśruta compendia: three doṣas, the tissues (dhātu) and ojas, with rasāyana as the branch devoted to rejuvenation.
10,841 pages in 499 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 200 BCE and 1700, most in the 2nd c. 87% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (29% sourced) · mostly Indian, Tibetan, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
The purpose of Ayurveda is the eradication of disease in those afflicted and the protection of the healthy." (27) Ayurveda Āyurveda[the science of life] is so named because life āyus[life/longevity] exists within it, or because it imparts knowledge of life.
With 32 teeth and 3 small bones in each ear, they total 238, and 8 sesamoid bones, making them 246. And according to the Ayurvedic view. There are 120 bones in the four limbs (hands and feet), 117 in the torso, and 63 above the neck.
PREFACE While anxious for the revival of Ayurvedic culture in India, let me sound a note of warning to the authorities of the different Ayurvedic institutions, which have been started during the present decade, that unless and until the greatest stress is laid upon the revival of Indian Chemistry of medicine, as outlined in the present work, there is not the slightest chance of recovering the glory which Ayurveda lost about a thousand years ago.
Bhūdeb Mukharjī (Mookerji), Rasa-Jala-Nidhi, or Ocean of Indian Chemistry & Alchemy, vol. 1 · work dated 1200 · page 19
Tibetan medicine
doctrineTibetan · 12th c. onward · also feeling alive
གསོ་བ་རིག་པTibetangso ba rig paWylieརྒྱུད་བཞིTibetanrgyud bzhiWylie
Sowa rigpa, the 'science of healing', codified in the Four Tantras (rgyud bzhi): three humours (wind, bile, phlegm) and a branch of rejuvenation (bcud len).
Also spelled: Gso-wa Rig-pa Related, not the same: Four Medical Tantras, བདུད་རྩི་སྙིང་པོ, Gso dpyad, Gyud-bzhi, Ayurveda
267 pages in 121 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 800 and 1750, most in the 9th c. 92% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (26% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Indian, Buddhist
Regarding the second field of knowledge, the Science of Healing Sowa Rigpa[the traditional Tibetan science of medicine], which accomplishes the well-being of longevity and freedom from disease: This section explains the necessity of entering into the Science of Healing and the nature of the treatises that teach it.
The Lord was also skilled in Sowa Rigpa[the science of healing]. Regarding the three primary living beings—humans, elephants, and horses—there are immeasurable methods of treatment.
Gangtey Monastery Collection, Jo bo rje'i rnam thar · work dated 1500 · page 38
Practices
water of life
practiceLatin alchemy; Persian & Arabic legend · 13th c. onward · also made things as alive
aqua vitaeLatinآب حیاتPersianāb-i ḥayāttransliterationwater of lifeEnglish
Aqua vitae, the distilled spirit of wine, which Arnald of Villanova and Rupescissa praised as a preserver of youth; in Persian and Arabic legend, the spring of life (āb-i ḥayāt) that Khiḍr found and Alexander missed.
Translators also write: Aquae Vitae, Aqua Vite, Aquam vitæ, Eau de Vie, Wasser des Lebens, Aqua Vita Related, not the same: Fountain of Life, Spiritu Vini, Spiritus Vini, Spiritum Vini, Spirit of Wine, burning water, Sp. Vini, brandy
14,518 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1000 and 1783, most in the 17th c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (52% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Persian
Āb-i ḥayāt[water of life] — the Fountain of Life in the Land of Darkness. Nizāmī tells how Alexander, guided by the prophet Khizr, sought it in vain (Clarke's Sikandar-nāma, p.
Jalal al-Din Rumi / R.A. Nicholson (ed. & trans.), Selected Poems from the Divan of Shams-i Tabriz · work dated 1260 · page 361
ON THE SECRETS OF NATURE On another composite water of life, the most precious of all. Chapter Fifty-Seven. Therefore, so that we may bring a good end to our work, we shall declare a most rare and secret water of life, which is in a certain way of celestial operation, and it is made in this manner: Take fresh sage with its …
Ulstad, Philip, The heaven of philosophers, or secrets of nature, that is, how not only from wine, but also from all metals, fruits, meat, eggs, roots, herbs, and many other things, the fifth essence, or aqua vitae, should be extracted for the preservation of the human body · work dated 1525 · page 216
was sold everywhere in Italy under the name Aqua vitis or Aqua vitae [water of life] *), and even in German pharmacies y) a distinction was already made between "Aquavit" or Spiritus vini rectificatus simplex [simple rectified spirit of wine], and "brandy" or Spiritus vini vulgo aqua ardens [spirit of wine commonly called burning water]: In Spain, too, the drinking of brandy was already very common among the common man z);
Gmelin, Johann Friedrich, History of Chemistry from the Revival of the Sciences to the End of the Eighteenth Century · work dated 1780 · page 374
universal medicine
practiceLatin alchemy · 14th – 18th c. · also made things as alive
The philosophers' stone taken as a medicine for every disease and for the restoration of youth: the panacea or medicina universalis.
Also spelled: Universal Medicin Translators also write: Catholicon, Panacæa, MEDICINA UNIVERSALI, Medecine Universelle, Universalis Medicina, Panaceam, Medicinam Universalem, Medicina Catholica, Universal-Artzney Related, not the same: Panakeia, Elixir
12,593 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1332 and 1785, most in the 17th c. 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (56% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
Indeed, the proof of a universal medicine medicina universalis, the legendary Panacea or Elixir of Life capable of curing all diseases has, throughout the entire memory of the world, remained thus far longed for.
Ruland jr., Martin, Prolegomena of Alchemy, or Chemical Problems Clarified by Ninety-One Questions with the True Method of Preparing the Philosopher's Stone · work dated 1596 · page 209
IT is generally doubted whether it is possible that a single medicine could help with everything: for if there were such a Universal Medicin[universal medicine], it would have to 1.
Maier, Michael, Particular from the Universal · work dated 1603 · page 80
And the Lapis Philosophorum is undoubtedly called Medicina universalis by many so that they may deflect the suspicion of greed from themselves.
Hellwig, Johann Otto von, Curious Physics · work dated 1684 · page 159
potable gold
practiceLatin alchemy · 13th – 18th c. · also made things as alive
Gold dissolved into a drinkable liquid, prescribed because gold does not decay and was thought to pass that quality to the body; Francis Anthony sold it in 1600s London.
Also spelled: Auro Potabili, Auri potabilis, Orum potabile, ☉ potabile, Gold potabile, Aurum potabili, auro potabile Translators also write: DRINKABLE GOLD, oro potabile, Aurum poculentum, Trinkgold, Trinckgold
7,769 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1494 and 1750, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (54% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Medieval Latin
For the making of this aurum potabile[potable or drinkable gold], some take leaves of the purest gold, ground upon marble with honey, until they appear to be reduced into water, or until they appear thin enough for writing.
Ulstad, Philip|Campesius, Joannes Antonius, Coelum philosophorum, seu liber de secretis naturae. Directorium summae summarum medicinae · work dated 1525 · page 283
Aurum potabile[potable gold] is nonsense, Caput. Aurum potabile, or drinkable Gold, from or out of common Gold, and [they] also believe that it is very good and the very best for healing all diseases.
Reusner, Hieronymus, Pandora: The Noblest Gift of God, or the Worthy and Healing Stone of the Sages · work dated 1581 · page 43
There are three degrees of Aurum potabile[drinkable gold]. The first degree is called Mineralis[mineral], the second Animalis[animal], and the third Vegetabilis[vegetable].
Rhumel, Johann Pharamund, Spagyric Medicine or the Spagyric Art of Healing · work dated 1648 · page 291
yangsheng (nourishing life)
practiceChinese · 4th c. BCE onward
養生Chineseyangshengpinyinnourishing lifeEnglish
Nourishing life: diet, breathing, gymnastics, sexual restraint and calm, practised to complete one's allotted span. Ji Kang's Yangsheng lun (3rd c.) and Sun Simiao's writings are central.
Also spelled: 养生 Translators also write: nurturing life, Cultivating Life Related, not the same: yojo, 養生法, 養生方, 養生之道, 攝生
4,742 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 162 and 1729, most in the 17th c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (54% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Therefore, practitioners of nourishing life yangsheng[nourishing life] say: "If one can guard the Yellow Court, one can attain longevity.
Shen Kuo, Dream Pool Essays · work dated 1071 · page 35
Methods of nourishing vitality and daoyin[guiding and pulling exercises] state: Sit upright, extend the waist and chest, and look up, raising the head. Place the fingers of both hands facing each other, pressing firmly forward against the mat so that the body is taut.
They refuse to seek out methods of yangsheng[nourishing life], choosing instead to whittle it down, torment it, exhaust it, and drain it dry.
Ge Hong, Baopuzi: Inner Chapters · work dated 332 · page 66
chülen (essence extraction)
practiceTibetan · 11th c. onward
བཅུད་ལེནTibetanbcud lenWyliechülenphonetic
Tibetan bcud len, 'taking the essence', the translation of rasāyana: pills of flowers, stones or minerals taken in retreat to live without ordinary food and restore the body.
Translators also write: Essence Extraction, Rasayana
3,919 pages in 835 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 750 and 1750, most in the 17th c. 62% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (2% sourced) · mostly Tibetan, Indian, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
Next, the chapter on the Tantra of Medicinal Rejuvenation Rasayana[essence extraction or alchemy] and Virility will be explained. In that regard, any medicine that prevents white hair and illness is called Chülen[taking the essence].
In particular, it becomes a supreme chülen[essence extraction or rejuvenation tonic] that clarifies the sensory organs. It increases and expands lifespan and physical vigor, improves the voice, and conquers diseases of the semen and blood.
This chulen[essence extraction or rejuvenation] medicine taken with a handful of milk, when prepared by smearing in an iron vessel, produces even greater qualities than previously described and doubles the lifespan.
practiceEuropean natural philosophy · 13th – 19th c.
prolongatio vitaeLatinprolongation of lifeEnglishVerlängerung des LebensGerman
The project, from Roger Bacon's De retardatione accidentium senectutis to Francis Bacon's Historia vitae et mortis (1623), of slowing old age by conserving the body's spirits and moisture.
Related, not the same: Retardatione senectutis, Historia Vitae et Mortis
3,213 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 280 and 1847, most in the 17th c. 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (69% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Medieval Latin, Modern European
It > "not only provides money for a state, but teaches the > "means of prolonging life, so far as nature will allow > "it to be prolonged; for we die sooner than we ought > "for want of a proper regimen in youth, and owing > "to diseased constitutions derived from our fathers.
Roger Bacon, Unpublished Works of Roger Bacon (Opus Tertium, Opus Minus, Compendium Studii) · work dated 1262 · page 94
For one working towards the Prolongation of Life, both kinds must be used (separated, they can do less), and the human body must be preserved, just as Inanimate things are preserved: And again, just as Flame is preserved;
Bacon, Francis, On the Advancement of Learning · work dated 1601 · page 288
Therefore, the precepts most necessary for prolonging life avoid equally—on this side, resolution; on that side, suffocation and putrefaction.
Marsilio Ficino, Ficino, Three Books on Life (talismanic magic & celestial medicine) · work dated 1450 · page 85
The Āyurvedic branch of rejuvenation: herbal and later mineral and mercurial preparations to restore youth, strengthen ojas and lengthen life. In tantric alchemy (rasaśāstra) it extends to bodily immortality.
Translators also write: བཅུད་ལེན, rejuvenation Related, not the same: Rasasastra, Rasashastra, Elyxir
3,196 pages in 462 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 101 and 1700, most in the 13th c. 86% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (10% sourced) · mostly Indian, Tibetan, Arabic
This rasayana[alchemy of rejuvenation] is the cause of long life on earth once the mercury is perfected. Take one hundred palas[a traditional unit of weight] of abhaya[the Chebulic Myrobalan fruit] and the same of amalaka[Indian Gooseberry].
Nāgārjuna, Rasaratnākara (manuscript) · work dated 1200 · page 67
The physician who knows the time should apply rasāyana[rejuvenating therapies] after the cleansing therapy. The word "time" is a pointer for place, strength, body type, diet, assimilation, and constitution.
Vagbhata, अष्टाङ्गहृदय (Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayam) · work dated 633 · page 122
elixir of life
practiceArabic → Latin alchemy · 9th c. onward · also made things as alive
الإكسيرArabical-iksīrtransliterationelixir vitaeLatinelixir of lifeEnglishLebenselixierGerman
From Arabic al-iksīr: the medicine that perfects metals and, taken by people, cures illness and lengthens life. The Latin West called it elixir vitae.
Translators also write: Elixir des Lebens, Elixyr vitæ, Elixir vite Related, not the same: Elixir of Immortality
2,969 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1262 and 1912, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (53% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
It takes away all the illnesses of old age, and therefore it is called the Elixir vitae[Elixir of Life]. This is the greatest secret in medicine.
Ulstad, Philip|Campesius, Joannes Antonius, Coelum philosophorum, seu liber de secretis naturae. Directorium summae summarum medicinae · work dated 1525 · page 221
Δ[Fire/Salt] of one barleycorn in weight is administered in wine, in such a way that it reaches the stomach through the throat, then it is refreshed again, and this goes to the heart, and destroys all previous humors, drives away poison, makes the natural heat alive again, and when old people use this Δ[Fire/Salt] in small quantity, then it takes away the sickness of age, so that they get a young heart and body, and therefore it is called Elixir Vitæ[Elixir of Life].
Barbarossa, Christoph, The Great Elucidator: Or Enlightenment on the Reformation of the Whole Wide World · work dated 1597 · page 32
The Virtue and Use of this Medicinal Universal Gold Tincture, or Elixir of Life. This tincture or Elixir vitae[elixir of life], which is red in color like the most beautiful blood, is our very pleasant and precious Universal Gold Medicine in
Michael Sendivogius, Sendivogius — Book of Saturn, 18th-Century German MS · work dated 1608 · page 184
external alchemy
practiceChinese · 2nd c. BCE – 10th c. · also made things as alive
Waidan: compounding elixirs of cinnabar, mercury and gold in the furnace to ingest for immortality, described in Ge Hong's Baopuzi (4th c.). Several Tang emperors died of such elixirs.
Translators also write: External Alchemy, External Elixir Related, not the same: cinnabar elixir, Jindan, 金液還丹, 長生藥
2,755 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1000 and 1750, most in the 18th c. 98% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (59% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Korean & Vietnamese
By preserving and being frugal with my essence, my spirit remains abundant. I do not wait for the transformation of lead and mercury [external alchemy]. I have already forgotten the constraints of my physical form.
regimen sanitatisLatinres non naturalesLatinsix non-naturalsEnglish
Management of the six non-naturals (air, food and drink, sleep and waking, exercise and rest, evacuation, passions of the soul) to keep innate heat and moisture in balance. The Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum is its best-known handbook.
Related, not the same: Non-Naturals, Regimen
2,534 pages in 802 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 897 and 1755, most in the 17th c. 89% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (64% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Medieval Latin, Arabic
For the art of medicine can do no more than provide a sufficient regimen of health suitable for all ages. Although famous authors have spoken insufficiently regarding the proper regimen for the elderly, such a regimen was nonetheless within the reach of the medicinal art.
Bacon, Roger, The Greater Work · work dated 1267 · page 515
¶ On the regimen of health. There is a triple mode for governing the healthy: those prepared to fall ill, those beginning to be ill, and the failing.
Various (Galen, Hippocrates, et al.), Articella · work dated 1100 · page 22
This can be achieved first through a refined lifestyle and a suitable regimen of the six non-naturals: a historical medical concept referring to factors within a person's control: air, food/drink, sleep/wakefulness, motion/rest, excretion/retention, and passions of the mind.
Horst, Gregorius, Four Later Books of Singular Medical Observations: I. On Diseases of Women. II. On contagious [and] malignant diseases. III. On pains of external parts. IV. On certain surgical cases. To these are Added · work dated 1611 · page 387
inner alchemy
practiceChinese · 8th c. onward · also feeling alive
內丹Chineseneidanpinyininternal alchemyEnglish
Neidan: the furnace, ingredients and firing of the elixir moved inside the body, where essence, qi and spirit are refined into an immortal embryo.
Translators also write: inner alchemy, inner elixir, internal elixir, dandao Related, not the same: golden elixir, jindan, internal alchemy timing, internal alchemy errors, internal alchemy metaphors, 金丹, 金液還丹, 金液大丹
2,154 pages in 602 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 800 and 1750, most in the 17th c. 99% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (49% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Tibetan, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
Later, he met an extraordinary being who transmitted to him a divine elixir, saying: "Vital breath is the inner elixir[nèidān], while medicinal compound is the outer elixir[wàidān].
王圻, 王思義, Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms, juan 30 · work dated 1609 · page 75
It is called Embryonic Breathing[Taixi] in name, but in reality it is the Inner Elixir[Neidan]. It does not only cure disease, it certainly extends one's years.
practiceChinese · 2nd c. BCE onward · also feeling alive
導引Chinesedaoyinpinyintao-yinWade-Giles
Physical exercises combined with breathing to guide qi through the body, illustrated in the Mawangdui chart (c. 168 BCE) and in later longevity manuals.
Also spelled: 導引法 Translators also write: guiding and pulling
1,770 pages in 926 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 400 and 1741, most in the 17th c. 98% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (68% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Korean & Vietnamese, Japanese
Therefore, the perfected persons zhenren[perfected beings] only instruct us to emulate their daoyin[guiding and pulling gymnastics] to extend years, and imitate their breath consumption to eliminate grain, not to learn their hibernating in the soil or flying through the heavens.
Ge Hong, Baopuzi: Inner Chapters · work dated 332 · page 44
The Prescriptions for Nourishing Life on daoyin[guiding and pulling exercises] state: Sit and straighten the waist. Raise the left hand with the palm facing upward. Draw back the right arm with the right hand facing downward.
This is what the scholars of daoyin[guiding and pulling breath], the people who nourish the physical form, and those who seek a lifespan like that of Pengzu, are fond of.
various (Daoist); incl. 譚峭 Tan Qiao, 道宗六書 :6種, 36卷. [China] : 黄世厚, 明萬曆丙子 [4年, 1576]. · work dated 950 · page 598
medical gymnastics
practiceGreek → Renaissance · 5th c. BCE – 19th c. · also feeling alive
Exercise as part of regimen, from Hippocratic and Galenic writings to Mercuriale's De arte gymnastica (1569), meant to warm the body, stir the spirits and preserve health.
Also spelled: gymnastica, gymnastic, gymnastike, gymnastic exercises, gymnastice, gymnastic art, gymnasticam, gymnastic training Translators also write: γυμναστικὴν Related, not the same: palaestra, palestra, παλαίστρα, gymnast, gymnastique, gymnastic contests, gymnasta, gymnastici
1,713 pages in 464 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 378 BCE and 1681, most in the 16th c. 93% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (92% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Greek, Hellenistic & Late Antique
DE ARTE GYMNASTICA Lib. I. N we have proposed to treat true gymnastics, which was already defined by us as a part of medicine, and since there are other types of gymnastics concerning almost the same things, I think it is necessary to hold a discussion about these very things, so that once this is done, the diversity of all may be distinguished most easily.
Girolamo Mercuriale, De arte gymnastica libri sex (Amsterdam ed.) · work dated 1576 · page 117
Felici's Dissertazioni Epistolari Teorico-Pratiche di Medicina [Theoretical-Practical Epistolary Dissertations on Medicine], wherein he proves that Ars Gymnastica[the art of gymnastics] is so necessary to man to keep his body healthy and strong.
Weekly News of Learned Matters, 1749 · work dated 1749 · page 58
Nor should the blame be cast upon us that, having the intention of speaking only about medical gymnastics, we have mixed in many things about athletics and very many about military matters, and we are going to do the same in the following pages.
Girolamo Mercuriale, De arte gymnastica libri sex · work dated 1559 · page 163
the sober life
practiceVenetian · 1558 onward
vita sobriaItaliansober lifeEnglishtemperate lifeEnglish
Alvise Cornaro's Discorsi della vita sobria (1558): after a dissolute youth he ate twelve ounces of food a day, lived past ninety by his own account, and wrote about it in old age.
810 pages in 434 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 50 and 1793, most in the 17th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (71% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Modern European, Greek
Finally, that diseases can be cured by diet, Cornaro proved by his own example, who, when departing from his usual diet in the eighty-seventh year of his age, had fallen into a very serious disease, recovered by returning to his usual diet, having used no other medicine.
Christian Wolff, Moral Philosophy or Ethics · work dated 1723 · page 329
Therefore, by reasons and examples, it is sufficiently clear what great commendation a sober life is worthy of; wherefore it is to be wondered how Spero Speronius wrote a letter to our author, in which he contends, with various arguments—ingenious ones, however—to disprove this sober life.
Bernardino Ramazzini, Complete Medical and Physiological Works · work dated 1681 · page 915
Berger also included in his Dissertation de commodis vitae sobriae[Dissertation on the benefits of the sober life] (1705) a description of the strictest diet, which does not exceed 14 ounces within 24 hours.
Böhmer, Georg Rudolph, Systematic Library of Writers on Natural History, Economics, and Related Arts and Sciences · work dated 1762 · page 440
grain avoidance
practiceChinese · 2nd c. BCE onward
辟穀Chinesebigupinyingrain avoidanceEnglish
Bigu, abstaining from the five grains, which were said to feed the 'three worms' that shorten life; the adept lives on herbs, mineral drugs and qi.
Translators also write: Abstaining from Grains, abstention from grains
554 pages in 387 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 544 and 1800, most in the 17th c. 98% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (65% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Korean & Vietnamese, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
In his youth he loved the Dao, entering Mount Tai to gather herbs and cultivate the arts of juegu[abstaining from grain], retreating from worldly affairs, and preserving his bodily integrity.
葛洪 Ge Hong (284–363), Biographies of Divine Immortals, vol.2 · work dated 332 · page 6
The Baopuzi states: The Daoist Dong Wei of Luoyang had a method for grain avoidance 辟穀[bìgǔ, abstaining from cereals for longevity]. It used about ten ingredients of the class of saposhnikovia seeds 防風子[seeds of Saposhnikovia divaricata] and licorice, prepared as a powder.
李時珍, Compendium of Materia Medica, Volume 10 · work dated 1563 · page 92
Same source as above Refining pine resin may be undertaken in spring and summer, but never in autumn or winter. It is the premier remedy for abstaining from grains and treating leprosy. If you wish to eat normal food again, simply cease taking it.
周守忠 Zhou Shouzhong, Classified Compendium on Nurturing Life, vol.4 · work dated 1010 · page 79
embryonic breathing
practiceChinese · 3rd c. onward · also feeling alive
胎息Chinesetaixipinyinembryonic breathingEnglish
Taixi: breathing so lightly and long that one breathes like a foetus in the womb, without nose or mouth, a Daoist method for restoring the vitality of birth.
Translators also write: embryonic respiration Related, not the same: taixian
411 pages in 235 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 639 and 1827, most in the 17th c. 98% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (64% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Korean & Vietnamese, Japanese
… holding the qi[breath] and swallowing it is called taixi[embryonic breathing]. Rinsing the mouth with the spring beneath the tongue and swallowing it is called taishi[embryonic feeding].
葛洪 Ge Hong (284–363), Biographies of Divine Immortals, vol.2 · work dated 332 · page 18
" The Method of Embryonic Breathing Lord Lao said: "The reason humans do not die lies within Embryonic Breathing Taixi (胎息). A deep, subtle form of internal breathing likened to a fetus in the womb, which does not rely on the nose and mouth.
Various Taoist Masters, Essence of the Taoist Canon · work dated 1000 · page 123
without medicine, they practice embryonic breathing taixi prematurely, forcibly retaining it in the abdomen. Some accumulate cold breath and turn it into illness;
張伯端 Zhang Boduan (987–1082) et al.; ed. 吳勉學 Wu Mianxue, 道言內外秘訣全書 · work dated 1550 · page 210
Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland's Die Kunst, das menschliche Leben zu verlängern (1796), retitled Makrobiotik from the 1805 edition: a long life comes from husbanding the vital force through moderation, fresh air and calm.
398 pages in 119 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1563 and 1898, most in the 19th c. 90% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (64% sourced) · mostly Modern European, Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
Whoever knows even to a small degree the excellence and the value of the book: The Art of Prolonging Human Life by Hufeland, must surely also be overcome by the wish that the principles contained therein might be spread everywhere for the general human welfare, which, however, at the somewhat high price of that book, will likely be difficult to happen.
Listen to the picture that the old, honest Hufeland paints of the masturbator in his Macrobiotics: "Terrible is the stamp that nature places upon such a sinner!
Antonio Beccadelli (Panormita), Hermaphroditus (Latin-German edition) · work dated 1440 · page 443
care of old age
practiceGreek → Renaissance medicine · 2nd – 18th c.
gerocomiaLatinγηροκομίαGreekgerontocomiaLatin
Gerocomia, the branch of regimen for the old, from Galen's book on hygiene to Zerbi's Gerontocomia (1489): warm moist foods, wine, rest and rubbing to slow the drying of age.
80 pages in 61 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 26 and 1742, most in the 17th c. 79% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (70% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Byzantine & Orthodox, Greek
which task pertains to gerocomice[the art of caring for the elderly]. This indeed proposes to itself, so far as it is possible, to resist and prohibit the body of the heart from drying out to such a degree that it is devoid of all work.
Galen, Epitome of the Complete Works of Galen · work dated 208 · page 268
Therefore, Galen mentions these in his books on preserving health and on therapeutics. Gerocomy, or the care of the elderly, may also rightly be assigned to both, that is, to Hygiene and Therapeutics.
Dubois, Jacques, Ordo et ordinis ratio in legendis Hippocratis & Galeni libris · work dated 1555 · page 10
Rejuvenation of the body by a long secluded course of fasting, herbal and mineral medicines, after which the patient is said to grow new teeth, hair and skin.
3 pages in 2 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 1300 and 1700, most in the 14th c. 100% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (0% sourced) · mostly Indian
A life lived to its natural end or beyond, the goal of regimen, yangsheng and rasāyana, distinct from immortality.
Translators also write: 壽, Tshe ring, VITA LONGA, Cheou, Longam Vitam, 壽考, Vitæ Longæ, Longa Vita, Longeuitas, 眉壽 Related, not the same: आयुर्दाय, Tshe, Ayurdaya, ཚེ་བསྲིང་, आयु
48,073 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 26 and 1850, most in the 17th c. (broad phrase) 95% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (44% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Chinese, Tibetan
Preface to the Collected Works of the Perfected Man Bai Qiongzhan Guangchengzi said to the Yellow Emperor: "Do not exhaust your body, do not shake your essence, and you can attain longevity.
Bai Yuchan (白玉蟾, 1194–?), Collected Works of Bai Yuchan · work dated 1218 · page 44
What is beyond that and makes up the third stage, to which no certain limits are set, he covers with the word Longaevitas[longevity]. He explains himself regarding this in the preface, and notes the following two points: firstly, that among a thousand Europeans there are hardly twenty who reach the 80th year;
Göttingen Notices of Scholarly Matters · work dated 1754 · page 587
… PEACHES CONFER LONGEVITY. “ Heaven having eaten his, put away the stones, saying he intended “ to sow them. But Wang-mu said: ‘Those peach trees bear fruit “ only once in three thousand years;
J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. 4: The Soul in Philosophy and Folk-Conception · work dated 1885 · page 324
transcendence (xian)
stateChinese · 3rd c. BCE onward
仙ChinesexianpinyinhsienWade-GilesimmortalEnglish
The condition of the xian, the transcendent or 'immortal', who has refined the body beyond death and roams mountains and heavens.
Translators also write: Transcendents Related, not the same: Immortals
28,050 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 793 BCE and 1856, most in the 17th c. (broad phrase) 98% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (65% sourced) · mostly Chinese, Greek, Indian
Why then find it strange that transcendent immortals xian[immortals or transcendents] are unique, simply because they do not die alongside ordinary mortals?
Ge Hong, Baopuzi: Inner Chapters · work dated 332 · page 18
Seek Immortality Qiu Xian Records of the Grand Historian: Treatise on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices: The First Emperor of Qin traveled east to the sea, performing rituals at famous mountains, great rivers, and to the Eight Spirits to seek immortals like Xianmen and his kind.
Take for one to two years, and you will return from old age to youth, your facial appearance becoming like a lotus flower, and all illnesses will be eliminated. This is fundamentally the method of the immortals. Believe in it, believe in it!
renovatio iuventutisLatinrejuvenationEnglishVerjüngungGermanfountain of youthEnglish
The return of youth to an aged body, promised by rasāyana, chülen, elixirs and the fountain of youth.
Translators also write: renewal of youth Related, not the same: रसायन
3,172 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 100 and 1890, most in the 16th c. 91% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (45% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Indian, Tibetan
Hence, they say that Medea and the Magi[wise men/magicians] were accustomed to restoring youth with certain herbs, which they do not so much restore as preserve, in the manner of myrobalani[myrobalan, a fruit used in medicine].
Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life; Apology; On the Necessity of Security for Life · work dated 1489 · page 247
Therefore, in this quintessence or spiritual medicine—which is of a celestial nature and heat, and not of our mortal and corruptible nature—one can find the true fountain of Medicine, the preservation of life, the restoration of health, along with the renewal of youth already lost.
Crollius, Oswaldus, The Royal Chemistry · work dated 1594 · page 242
… Gilgamesh Epic.123 In the Epic the story leads to another episode attached to Gilgamesh, namely, the search for a magic plant growing in deep water, which has the power of restoring old age to youth.
Anonymous (Mesopotamian), An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic · work dated 1750 BCE · page 61
Opposites
old age as drying
oppositeGreek & Galenic medicine · 4th c. BCE – 18th c.
senectusLatinγῆραςGreekold ageEnglish
Old age understood as the body cooling and drying as the innate heat consumes the radical moisture: the process that every regimen of long life tries to slow.
Translators also write: Senectutis, Senecta, Senium, Senectute, ծերութիւն, Jará, Senio, Ouderdom, eld, जरा Related, not the same: 桑榆
85,223 pages in more than 1,000 books; 90% of dated pages fall between 400 BCE and 1728, most in the 16th c. (broad phrase) 94% of pages dated · dated by when the work was written (67% sourced) · mostly Renaissance & Early Modern Europe, Roman, Greek
Concepts. 108 entries were chosen by hand to cover the five senses (41 principles, 24 doctrines, 6 opposites, 31 practices, 6 states). The account of each, its tradition and its era are scholarly background written by claude-opus-5-5, not findings from the corpus.
Words. The spellings in original scripts are checked against the terms translators tagged on 5.56 million pages (the page-terms harvest). Other spellings and translations come from the library's curated concept list where one exists, or from terms that share a translator's gloss, judged one by one: a variant is the same word, an equivalent is another language's word for it, and a related term is a neighbour that is never merged with it.
Counts. A page counts if its text or translation prints one of the entry's search phrases (listed in the data). Broad phrases (death, vigour, longevity, Daoist, spiritus) count every use, including ones that have nothing to do with aliveness, and are marked. Chinese phrases match single characters, so 氣 counts every page that prints it.
Dates. The strips place pages by when the WORK was written, not when the edition was printed: a 1950 edition of a Daoist classic counts in the century the classic was composed. Each book's work date carries its basis. It is sourced when it comes from Wikidata, from the author's documented lifespan (the work placed within the author's adult life), or from the book's title page or colophon; otherwise it is the dating model's own knowledge of the work, unsourced. Across all entries the dates come from: the author's lifespan 55%, the model's knowledge (unsourced) 41%, Wikidata 3%, the title page 1%. The edition year of every book is kept beside its work date in the data. Only the 1,000 books with the most matching pages are dated for each entry.
Passages. Candidate pages were drawn from live books, spread across centuries, and a reader chose the two to five that say what the concept is or what was done with it. Every quotation is word for word from the page's English translation; words in [brackets] are the translator's glosses.
Relations. 158 relations of six kinds (10 translates, 9 analogue, 45 belongs, 43 descends, 36 cultivates, 15 opposes). For each, the library was searched for pages naming both ends, and a judge read up to six such pages to decide whether one states the relation. 61 do; the remaining 97 rest on scholarly background, named as such in the data.
Data
Everything on this page is in ontology.json (in the Source Library repository at scripts/analysis/experience-map/ontology/, with the scripts that built it): each entry's search phrases, page counts by century and tradition with the basis of each date, the passages with their links, and every relation with its provenance.