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 first human Iliaster described through life and its balsam.
- In the bookBalsamum is associated with preserving bodies from putrefaction.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355.
Historical definition
Iliaster primus is the term of life, life itself, or the balsam of life in a human being.
Meaning
The definition offers three related expressions rather than only one. The term of life, life itself, and its balsam describe the first Iliaster from different angles. “Term” is retained because the source does not explain whether a limit, duration or appointed course is intended in every use.
The human setting is explicit. This entry belongs with the four human Iliastri announced under the first Iliaster definition.
Use in the book
Balsamum is associated with preserving bodies from putrefaction. Iliaster secundus turns to life through elements, tertius to life through quintessence, and magnus or quartus to the mind or soul caught into another world. Those differences give the sequence its structure; primus should not be assigned the whole fourfold account by itself.
Places to read
- Iliaster primusRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- BalsamumA preservative substance described in both bodily and external forms.
- IliasterFirst matter organised through three principles, four elements and a further human fourfold account.
- Iliaster secundusThe second human Iliaster associated with elemental life.
In this edition
The modernised definition keeps all three expressions and leaves their relation open to the author’s fuller discussion.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355 — Facsimile