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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 DictionaryPrimales

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English Edition · Branch 645 of 740

Primales

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 645

Primales

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Bodies described as deceptive appearances caused by stars.

In the book. Visio is an apparition of spirits seen by people, while Similitudines names celestial appearances.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 38; facsimile PDF page 366.

Historical Definition

Primales are deceptive bodies placed before our eyes by the stars.

Meaning

The definition assigns a source to the apparent bodies and characterizes them as deceptive. The stars place them before human eyes within the historical account. Neither their material constitution nor their duration is specified.

Use in the Book

Visio is an apparition of spirits seen by people, while Similitudines names celestial appearances. The terms share a concern with appearing, but the present entry adds deception and stellar agency.

Aquaster also separates an appearance from what truly exists, sometimes describing a vision whose object is only apparent. The present entry adds stellar agency and expressly calls its bodies deceptive. These are related descriptions, not an equation of the two headwords.

Places to Read

Similitudines. Appearances described as celestial.

Visio. A visible apparition described as supernatural and spiritual.

Vmbratiles. Bodies qualified as astral.

In This Edition

The account is kept attributed to the dictionary. It does not serve as a diagnosis of a modern visual experience.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 38; facsimile PDF page 366 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Primales; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 366; compare Similitudines, Visio, Vmbratiles, Aquaster

See also. Similitudines; Visio; Vmbratiles; Aquaster

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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.