pseudologue: a pathological liar
puissant: of great force or vigor
putrescent: becoming putrid
Quintum Esse (quintessence): the first principle of Paracelsus’s doctrine; involves the extraction of the quintessence, or philosophical mercury, from every material body; if the quintessence were drawn from each animal, plant, and mineral, the combined result would equal the universal spirit, or “astral body” in human beings, and a draught of the extract would renew youth
rachitic: relating to or affected by rickets
refulgence: the quality of shining with, or reflecting, a brilliant light; radiant, resplendent, gleaming
rennet: a mass of curdled milk found in the stomach of an unweaned calf or other animal and used to curdle milk for cheese making; anything used to curdle milk
Rhases, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, or Razi (c. 865–923 or 935 A.D.): Persian physician and philosopher considered the greatest physician of the Islamic world; chief physician of hospitals in Rayy and Baghdad; believed in atomist theory of nature; wrote numerous treatises in medicine, especially a survey of Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medicine and a treatise on smallpox and measles, on philosophy, and on alchemy; some of his works were translated into Latin and had great influence on medical science in the Middle Ages
roil: to roam or to agitate
rubefaction: the process of heating to redness
salammoniac: ammonium chloride
sapient (sapientia): wisdom; Paracelsus used the term to mean science and philosophy; he believed that knowledge is attained by experience, that wisdom lies hidden in all beings
scolopendra: a fabulous sea fish; a centipede or millipede
scrivener: professional penman; scribe, copyist
scrofulous: afflicted with swellings of the lymph glands of the neck
sectarian: an adherent of a particular religious sect; confined to the limits of one religious group; limited in character or scope
secundine: afterbirth; in botany, second of two coats or integuments of an ovule
selenite: a stone described by ancient writers, now considered a mineral; a moonstone supposed to wax or wane with the moon
seraphic: resembling a seraphim, which in biblical use is a six-winged living creature with hands and feet and a presumably human voice; seen in Isaiah’s vision as hovering above the throne of God; by Christian interpreters, the highest class of angels of the nine orders; from the Hebrew root word meaning “to burn,” seraphim are specially distinguished by their fervor of love and by the symbolic use of red as the color appropriate to them in artistic representations
sextile: astrologically, the aspect of two heavenly bodies that are 60 degrees (or one-sixth part of the zodiac) distant from each other
sidereal body: “astral body”; a part of the human body, consisting of fire and air, that receives the impressions of “the stars” and is responsible for the body’s vital motions
sigil: a sign, word, or device of supposed occult power in astrology or magic
simulacrum (pl., simulacra): an image (of a god, etc.) to which honor or worship is rendered
sophistry: reasoning that is deceptive
sophists: pseudoscientists who lead the public astray by many ingenious words, and especially physicians who deceive their patients
spagyri (adj., spagyric): alchemists
stibnite: native trisulfide of antimony; “gray antimony,” the most common ore of the metal
sublimation: the chemical action or process of converting a solid substance by means of heat into vapor, which resolidifies on cooling
sublunary: existing or situated beneath the moon; belonging to this world, earthly
succedaneum: a substitute; a drug frequently of inferior efficacy substituted for another
succubus (pl., succubi): a demon in female form supposed to have carnal intercourse with men in their sleep; a demon, an evil spirit
talisman: a stone, a ring, or another object engraved with figures or characters to which are attributed the occult powers of the planetary influences and celestial configurations under which it was made; usually worn as an amulet to avert evil from, or bring fortune to, the wearer; also used medicinally to impart healing virtue; hence, any object held to be endowed with magic virtue, a charm
tapster: one employed to dispatch liquors in a barroom
taradiddle: a colloquial euphemism for a lie or fib
telluric: of or relating to the earth; something containing tellurium, a semimetallic element related to sulfur and selenium
tenebrous: shut off from the light or hard to understand; dark, murky
terraqueous: consisting of, or formed of, land and water; living in land and water, as a plant
Thales (625–547 B.C.): Greek philosopher and scientist. One of the seven wise men of Greece; gained fame in his own day by predicting an eclipse of the sun for May 28, 585 B.C.; considered the father of Greek philosophy by Aristotle; taught that water, or moisture, was the one element from which the world was formed
thaumaturgic: performing miracles
theriac: an antidote to poison, especially to the bite of a venomous snake
tincture: a dye; any fluid that can bring about a transmutation; also, a fluid occult remedy
trine: threefold, triple; astrologically denoting the aspect of two heavenly bodies that are a third part of the zodiac (i.e., 120 degrees) distant from each other; figuratively: favorable or benign
turbith: a mineral, basic sulfate of mercury
turgid: swollen, distended, puffed out; in reference to language: inflated, grandiloquent, pompous, bombastic
Ultima Thule: ancient Greek or Latin name for a land six days’ sail north of Britain, which the Greek historian Polybius (c. 200–118 B.C.) supposed to be the most northerly region of the world; the extreme limit of travel and discovery; the highest or uttermost point or degree attained or attainable
umbratile: carried on in seclusion, or of an insubstantial nature
unction: the action of anointing with oil as a religious rite or symbol
unguent: an ointment or a salve
velleity: the fact or quality of merely willing, wishing, or desiring without any effort or advance toward action or realization
venery: pursuit of, or indulgence in, sexual pleasures
vermifuge: serving to destroy or expel parasitic worms, especially of the intestine
Villa Nova, Arnold di (c. 1235–1312): Catalan physician, astrologer, alchemist; taught at Barcelona, Montpellier, Paris; counselor to Pope Clement V; discovered poisonous property of carbon monoxide and of decayed meat
vitreous: related to or consisting of glass
vitriol: one or another of various native or artificial sulfates of metals used in the arts or medicinally, especially iron sulfate
Whitsunday: White Sunday, probably
