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 fourth human Iliaster described through the translation of mind or soul.
- In the bookThe first Iliaster entry announces four human Iliastri concerning long life.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355.
Historical definition
Iliaster magnus, or quartus, concerns the mind or soul caught up into another world, as Enoch and Elijah were.
Meaning
The definition changes the focus of the sequence. The first three entries discuss life, balsam, elements and quintessence; the fourth concerns the mind or soul caught into another world. Enoch and Elijah are the examples supplied by the source, and their presence gives the account an explicitly scriptural register.
The alternative name quartus makes the entry’s position clear. Magnus should not be detached from that fourth-place role or treated simply as an adjective increasing the strength of one of the earlier forms.
Use in the book
The first Iliaster entry announces four human Iliastri concerning long life. The separate primus, secundus and tertius entries spell out other members of that account. The second general Iliaster definition concerns an occult virtue of Nature through which things grow and flourish. The fourth human branch should remain distinct from both that general activity and the four elemental chaoses.
Places to read
- Iliaster magnusRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- IliasterFirst matter organised through three principles, four elements and a further human fourfold account.
- IliasterNature’s hidden efficacy described through growth, nourishment and flourishing.
- Iliaster primusThe first human Iliaster described through life and its balsam.
In this edition
The modernised definition preserves the source’s mind-or-soul formulation. It does not expand the brief scriptural comparison into an additional esoteric practice or a process absent from the text.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355 — Facsimile