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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 DictionaryCœlum Philosophorum

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English Edition · Branch 17 of 740

Cœlum Philosophorum

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 17

Cœlum Philosophorum

Elements principles and the natural world · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The philosophers’ heaven explained through quintessence and universal medicine.

In the book. Compare Cœlum Spagiricum, which names a part of a vessel, and Cœli planetarum, which concerns planetary orbs.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 16; facsimile PDF page 344.

Historical Definition

Cœlum Philosophorum is any quintessence or universal medicine, especially the philosophers’ stone.

Meaning

The entry moves heaven-language into a philosophical and medicinal field. It expressly includes any quintessence or universal medicine, then gives special prominence to the philosophers’ stone. The emphasis does not cancel the broader opening category. A reader should preserve both the range and the preferred example.

The definition does not make the subject an ordinary region of the sky. Nor does it identify a complete preparation. Quintessence and universal medicine are explanatory terms within the historical account, carrying claims that need to be read in the particular work where they occur.

Use in the Book

Compare Cœlum Spagiricum, which names a part of a vessel, and Cœli planetarum, which concerns planetary orbs. The three entries show how similar heaven vocabulary can operate in different settings. Lapis Philosophorum and Quintessentia provide the most direct further reading for this entry’s material and philosophical senses.

Places to Read

Quintessentia. A purified spiritual matter obtained from living things.

Lapis Philosophorum. The philosophers’ stone defined through supreme terrestrial power and its imparting of tincture.

Cœlum Spagiricum. The upper region of a vessel named as a spagyrical heaven.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 16; facsimile PDF page 344 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Cœlum Philosophorum ; compare Quintessentia, Lapis Philosophorum, Cœlum Spagiricum, Cœli planetarum

See also. Quintessentia; Lapis Philosophorum; Cœlum Spagiricum; Cœli planetarum

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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.