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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 DictionaryHelismidan

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English Edition · Branch 504 of 740

Helismidan

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 504

Helismidan

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A mummy preparation qualified through balsamic character.

In the book. Mumia is defined broadly as human flesh seasoned with balsam or other flesh so prepared.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353.

Historical Definition

Helismidan is a balsamic mummy.

Meaning

The adjective and noun belong together. The entry gives a balsamic mummy without naming the material’s origin or explaining a preparation. The unfamiliar phrase should not be reduced automatically to an embalmed human body.

Use in the Book

Mumia is defined broadly as human flesh seasoned with balsam or other flesh so prepared. Mumia Elementorum extends the vocabulary to a balsam of external elements. Those entries show why the material intended under a mummy term requires context. Helismidan itself supplies only the balsamic qualification.

Places to Read

Balsamum. A preservative substance described in both bodily and external forms.

Mumia. Balmed flesh, expressly extending beyond human flesh.

Mumia Elementorum. Mumia-language applied to a balm of external elements.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Helismidan

See also. Balsamum; Mumia; Mumia Elementorum

504

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.