From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordCelestial bodies of the spagyrists understood as astral virtues in matter.
- In the bookConstellatio describes the impression of higher stars upon lower bodies.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346.
Historical definition
Corpora cœlestia Spagyrorum are astral virtues present in their matter.
Meaning
The gloss explains a phrase containing “bodies” by speaking of virtues and matter. What is celestial in this usage is not simply a visible object in the sky. The term identifies astral efficacy as present within a material subject, according to the dictionary’s philosophical account.
That wording is especially useful when a passage seems to move abruptly between the heavens and a prepared substance. The definition allows the reader to ask whether a celestial name is being used for an attributed virtue within the matter under discussion.
Use in the book
Constellatio describes the impression of higher stars upon lower bodies. Corpus names the subject in which virtues are hidden. The two entries supply the relationship condensed here: a material body can be described through powers that the author understands as celestial. Corpora supercœlestia introduces a different distinction, between what is known by sense and what is known by reason.
Places to read
- Corpora cœlestia SpagyrorumRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- ConstellatioThe influence of higher stars understood as an impression in lower things.
- Corpora supercœlestiaBodies distinguished by a rational mode of knowing.
- CorpusA body understood as the subject containing a thing’s hidden efficacy.
In this edition
“Astral virtue” is retained to keep the historical explanation legible. It is not a substitute term for a specific modern physical property.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Corpora cœlestia Spagyrorum