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 prophetic agency associated with signs preceding events.
- In the bookErodinium gives the general sign of a future event.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 21; facsimile PDF page 349.
Historical definition
Evestrum is a prophetic spirit that presages through signs or through something that goes before.
Meaning
The entry names a spirit and describes how its prophetic character is expressed. Signs, or something preceding an event, provide the relation between what is present and what is to come. The definition supplies no appearance, dwelling place or means of calling the spirit.
“Something going before” is kept broadly. The compiler does not restrict it to a dream, an omen in a particular element or a visible apparition. A more specific reading would need to come from the passage using the word.
Use in the book
Erodinium gives the general sign of a future event. Essodinum concerns presaging by marks. Somnia describes operations made in a sleeping person by the stars. These entries provide several historical accounts of foretelling and signs, while Evestrum remains distinctive in naming a prophetic spirit as its subject.
Places to read
In this edition
The commentary reports the classification of the historical dictionary. It adds no practice for obtaining predictions and does not identify Evestrum with every other kind of spirit mentioned in the volume.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 21; facsimile PDF page 349 — Facsimile