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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 DictionarySortilegium

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English Edition · Branch 655 of 740

Sortilegium

Book Mode

A Chymical Dictionary

p. 655

Sortilegium

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Foretelling mediated by spirits.

In the book. Compare Pyromancy, classified through fire, and Somnia, explained through the action of stars during sleep.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371.

Historical Definition

Sortilegium is a presage by spirits.

Meaning

The distinguishing feature is the agency attributed to spirits. The entry identifies a kind of presage, without saying what visible sign, instrument or verbal practice is involved.

Use in the Book

Compare Pyromancy, classified through fire, and Somnia, explained through the action of stars during sleep. The dictionary organizes these practices by different media or causes and does not reduce all of them to a single method.

Places to Read

Pyromancy. Divination through the signs of fire.

Somnia. Dreams explained through stellar operations in the sleeper.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Sortilegium; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 371; compare Pyromancy, Somnia

See also. Pyromancy; Somnia

655

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.