Paracelsus . – författare

”Därmed anser jag mig ha försvarat mig så fullständigt jag förmått tills ni retar mig på nytt förstås, för då skall ni vara beredda att ta emot, så hjälpe mig Gud, nya hugg från min sida.” Paracelsus (1493-1541) levde i en förtrollad tid, då träden levde, stenarna talade och kosmos kryllade av gåtfulla varelser. Det fritänkande, obekväma geniet vandrade genom ett Europa i konvulsioner och botade sjuka med sina revolutionerande metoder, predikade sin nya filosofi och ställde till storgräl var han än befann sig. Boken om homunculus och andra texter presenterar de första svenska översättningarna av några av Paracelsus skrifter. Här får vi en fantastisk inblick i ett passionerat sinne som uttrycker sig med ett färgrikt språk. Översättaren Norbert Feusi föddes i Schweiz 1935 och är bosatt i Sverige sedan 1963. Han doktorerade i filmvetenskap med avhandlingen Fadersbilden i schweizisk film. Sedan 1993 är han ordförande för Svenska Paracelsus-sällskapet.

The enigmatic sixteenth-century Swiss physician and natural philosopher Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus, is known for the almost superhuman energy with which he produced his innumerable writings, for his remarkable achievements in the development of science, and for his reputation as a visionary (not to mention sorcerer) and alchemist. Little is known of his biography beyond his legendary achievements, and the details of his life have been filled in over the centuries by his admirers. This richly illustrated anthology presents in modernized language a selection of the moral thought of a man who was not only a self-willed genius charged with the dynamism of an impetuous and turbulent age but also in many ways a humble seeker after truth, who deeply influenced C. G. Jung and his followers.

Born near Einsiedeln in 1493, Philip Theophrastus von Hohenheim, who later called himself Paracelsus, was the son of a physician. His thirst for knowledge led him to study arts in Vienna, then medicine in Italy, but the instruction left him disillusioned. He had learned to see nature with his own eyes, undiluted by the teachings of books. He was a rebellious spirit, hard-headed and stubborn, who travelled all over Europe and the British Isles to practice medicine, study local diseases, and learn from any source he could, humble as it might be. In these years of wanderings, Paracelsus developed his own system of medicine and a philosophy of theology all his own. Though he wrote a great many books that covered a wide range of subjects, only a few of his works were ever published in his lifetime. When he died in Salzburg in 1541, one of the most forceful personalities of the Renaissance died with him. Here are collected four treatises which illustrate four different aspects of Paracelsus' work. The first gives a passionate justification of his character, activities, and views, and gives a picture of the man and his basic ideas.The second treatise is a study of the diseases of miners, with whom Paracelsus had spent a great deal of time. Then follows a treatise on the psychology and psychiatry of Paracelsus. Written at a time when mental diseases were beginning to be studied and treated by physicians, this pioneering essay anticipates a number of modern views. The last essay, entitled "A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits," is a fanciful and poetic treatment of paganism and Greek mythology, as well as a good sample of Paracelsus' philosophy and theology. Together these essays show one of the most original minds of the Renaissance at the height of his powers.