DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

Explore the Lexicon
A Chymical DictionaryBerillistica

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Edition · Branch 599 of 740

Berillistica

Book Mode

A Chymical Dictionary

p. 599

Berillistica

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A practice of viewing visions in the glasses described under Berillus.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 11; facsimile PDF page 339.

Historical Definition

Berillistica is the art of observing visions in such glasses.

Meaning

The phrase “such glasses” depends on the nearby apparatus term. Read with Berillus, the entry concerns a crystalline looking-glass used in divination. It names the practice of observation, not simply the material from which the glass is made. Keeping object and activity separate helps a reader follow a sentence in which both appear.

Augurista names a practitioner using looking-glasses, crystals and other media. Together the entries provide a small practical vocabulary of instrument, act and person. Their historical judgement of the practice should remain attributed to the dictionary.

Places to Read

Berillus. A divinatory looking-glass described with a critical judgement.

Augurista. A diviner defined by media, bird signs and a hostile evaluation.

Visio. A visible apparition described as supernatural and spiritual.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 11; facsimile PDF page 339 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Berillistica ; compare Berillus, Augurista, Visio

See also. Berillus; Augurista; Visio

599

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.