Editing Paracelsus (section)

=== Hermeticism ===
His [[Hermeticism|hermetic]] beliefs were that sickness and health in the body relied upon the harmony of humans ([[macrocosm and microcosm|microcosm]]) and nature ([[macrocosm]]). He took a different approach from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. As a result of this hermetical idea of harmony, the universe's macrocosm was represented in every person as a microcosm. An example of this correspondence is the [[doctrine of signatures]] used to identify curative powers of plants. If a plant looked like a part of the body, then this signified its ability to cure this given anatomy. Therefore, the root of the [[orchid]] looks like a testicle and can therefore heal any testicle-associated illness.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Western Medical Tradition|last = Wear|first = Andrew|publisher = Cambridge University Press|year = 1995|location = Cambridge|pages = 314}}</ref> Paracelsus mobilized the [[Macrocosm and microcosm|microcosm-macrocosm]] theory to demonstrate the analogy between the aspirations to salvation and health. As humans must ward off the influence of evil spirits with morality, they must also ward off diseases with good health.<ref name="Webster, Charles 2008" />

Paracelsus believed that true anatomy could only be understood once the nourishment for each part of the body was discovered. He believed that one must therefore know the influence of the stars on these particular body parts.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title = The Western Medical Tradition|last = Wear|first = Andrew|publisher = Cambridge University Press|year = 1995|location = Cambridge|pages = 315}}</ref> Diseases were caused by poisons brought from the stars. However, 'poisons' were not necessarily something negative, in part because related substances interacted, but also because only the dose determined if a substance was poisonous. Paracelsus claimed in contrast to Galen, that like cures like. If a star or poison caused a disease, then it must be countered by another star or poison.<ref name=":1" /> Because everything in the universe was interrelated, beneficial medical substances could be found in herbs, minerals, and various chemical combinations thereof. Paracelsus viewed the universe as one coherent organism that is pervaded by a uniting, life-giving spirit, and this in its entirety, humans included, was 'God'. His beliefs put him at odds with the Catholic Church, for which there necessarily had to be a difference between the creator and the created.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Alex Wittendorff |author2=Claus Bjørn |author3=Ole Peter Grell |author4=T. Morsing |author5=Per Barner Darnell |author6=Hans Bjørn |author7=Gerhardt Eriksen |author8=Palle Lauring |author9=Kristian Hvidt |title = Tyge Brahe |language=da | publisher = Gad  | year = 1994 |isbn=87-12-02272-1 }} p44-45</ref> Therefore, some have considered him to be a Protestant.<ref name="Helm Winkelmann 2001 p. 49">{{cite book | last1=Helm | first1=J. | last2=Winkelmann | first2=A. | title=''Religious Confessions and the Sciences in the Sixteenth Century'' | publisher=Brill | series=Studies in European Judaism, Volume 1 | year=2001 | isbn=978-90-04-12045-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZbx3O9cVHoC&pg=PA49 | access-date=4 February 2023 | page=49 | archive-date=4 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204173453/https://books.google.com/books?id=vZbx3O9cVHoC&pg=PA49 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dorner 2004 p. 1-PA179">{{cite book | last=Dorner | first=I.A. | title=History of Protestant Theology | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2004 | isbn=978-1-59244-610-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rglLAwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA179 | access-date=4 February 2023 | page=1-PA179 | archive-date=4 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204173452/https://books.google.com/books?id=rglLAwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA179 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hargrave 1951 p. ">{{cite book | last=Hargrave | first=J. | title=''The Life and Soul of Paracelsus'' | publisher=Gollancz | year=1951 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0mwwAAAAYAAJ | access-date=4 February 2023 | page= | archive-date=3 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103152005/https://books.google.com/books?id=0mwwAAAAYAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Brockliss Jones 1997 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Brockliss | first1=L.W.B. | last2=Jones | first2=C. | title=''The Medical World of Early Modern France'' | publisher=Clarendon Press | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-19-822750-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Th9rAAAAMAAJ | access-date=4 February 2023 | page= | archive-date=4 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204173448/https://books.google.com/books?id=Th9rAAAAMAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref>