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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

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A Chymical DictionaryCorpora cœlestia Spagyrorum

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English Edition · Branch 608 of 740

Corpora cœlestia Spagyrorum

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 608

Corpora cœlestia Spagyrorum

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Celestial bodies of the spagyrists understood as astral virtues in matter.

In the book. Constellatio describes the impression of higher stars upon lower bodies.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346.

Historical Definition

Corpora cœlestia Spagyrorum are astral virtues present in their matter.

Meaning

The gloss explains a phrase containing “bodies” by speaking of virtues and matter. What is celestial in this usage is not simply a visible object in the sky. The term identifies astral efficacy as present within a material subject, according to the dictionary’s philosophical account.

That wording is especially useful when a passage seems to move abruptly between the heavens and a prepared substance. The definition allows the reader to ask whether a celestial name is being used for an attributed virtue within the matter under discussion.

Use in the Book

Constellatio describes the impression of higher stars upon lower bodies. Corpus names the subject in which virtues are hidden. The two entries supply the relationship condensed here: a material body can be described through powers that the author understands as celestial. Corpora supercœlestia introduces a different distinction, between what is known by sense and what is known by reason.

Places to Read

Constellatio. The influence of higher stars understood as an impression in lower things.

Corpora supercœlestia. Bodies distinguished by a rational mode of knowing.

Corpus. A body understood as the subject containing a thing’s hidden efficacy.

In This Edition

“Astral virtue” is retained to keep the historical explanation legible. It is not a substitute term for a specific modern physical property.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Corpora cœlestia Spagyrorum

See also. Constellatio; Corpora supercœlestia; Corpus

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About This Reading Edition

The complete 706 historical definitions of the 1650 English dictionary, modernised and accompanied by expanded Diotimos commentary, reading routes, 15 textual notes and complete linked indexes.

Historical Text

A Chymicall Dictionary, London 1650, English version associated with John French, based on Gerhard Dorn’s Dictionarium Theophrasti Paracelsi. The containing volume also prints Sendivogius and Paracelsus; neither neighboring work changes this dictionary’s attribution.

About This Edition

Complete 706 definition paragraphs with new introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes; Diotimos Editions, 2026.

Rights

The historical 1650 English text is in the public domain. New introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and published with the site owner’s authorization.