A Chymical Dictionary

Magisterium

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. An extracted secret defined by a qualified kind of separation.

In the book. Menstruum names a liquid used in dissolution or digestion, while Liquor herbarum specifies pounding, pressing and digestion.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 31; facsimile PDF page 359.

Historical Definition

Magisterium in Paracelsus is any secret extracted from natural things without an elemental separation, with which other things are commonly prepared; only other things are added, from which what has been extracted is separated.

Meaning

This compact definition is syntactically difficult, but its principal distinction is clear enough to retain: the extraction is said to occur without an elemental separation. It also allows the addition of other things and the subsequent separation of the extracted subject from them. Those clauses prevent the first qualification from being mistaken for a prohibition of every act of separating.

The word secret names the extracted product or power in this usage. The entry does not give the complete preparation, identify an added material, or establish one universal formula for every magistery. It describes a category of extracted things and the relation of that category to other preparations.

Use in the Book

Menstruum names a liquid used in dissolution or digestion, while Liquor herbarum specifies pounding, pressing and digestion. These more particular definitions help readers ask which operation a passage describes, rather than assuming that every extraction must have the same meaning.

Places to Read

Liquor herbarum. An herbal liquor identified through three preparatory actions.

Menstruum. The liquid medium of dissolution or digestion.

In This Edition

The qualification in Paracelsus is preserved. The final clause remains explicit because omitting it would make the definition simpler at the cost of changing its account of addition and separation.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 31; facsimile PDF page 359 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 359, Magisterium

See also. Liquor herbarum; Menstruum