From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe upper region of a vessel named as a spagyrical heaven.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 16; facsimile PDF page 344.
Historical definition
Cœlum Spagiricum is the upper part of a philosophical vessel.
Meaning
The definition locates the term in apparatus. The heaven is the vessel’s upper part, not necessarily the celestial sky or the universal medicine of Cœlum Philosophorum. This spatial gloss is particularly useful when a passage describes matter rising, condensing or returning within a vessel: the immediate setting may be the apparatus rather than the cosmos. Such an application must still be confirmed by the passage.
The entry gives no vessel shape or specified component. It identifies a region, leaving the particular arrangement open. Ovum Philosophicum and Cucurbita supply related vessel vocabulary, while the other Cœlum entries make the alternative uses of heaven-language visible.
Places to read
- Cœlum SpagiricumRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- Cœlum PhilosophorumThe philosophers’ heaven explained through quintessence and universal medicine.
- Cœli planetarumThe planets’ own orbs and spheres.
- Ovum PhilosophicumAn egg-shaped glass vessel for philosophical operations.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 16; facsimile PDF page 344 — Facsimile