From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordA sign interpreted as a thing’s inclination to return to its origin.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341.
Historical definition
Caleruth is a sign of desire for the first perpetuum, as when something desires to return to its first matter, from which it originally came.
Meaning
The definition explains desire through return to first matter. It gives a philosophical interpretation of a sign, not a description of conscious human wanting alone. A material process may therefore be discussed through an inclination attributed to the thing itself. The phrase “first perpetuum” is retained because the entry does not define it independently.
For reading, distinguish the sign from the return it is said to indicate. The word does not itself establish that the return has been completed. Compare first-matter vocabulary in the first Iliaster definition and Mysterium magnum, and the explicit metallic reduction described under Aquila Philosophorum.
Places to read
- CaleruthRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- IliasterFirst matter organised through three principles, four elements and a further human fourfold account.
- Mysterium magnumA universal first matter, rather than one particular prepared subject.
- Aquila PhilosophorumThe philosophers’ eagle explained as metallic first matter.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341 — Facsimile