Paracelcus (1493-1541)

Paracelcus was born with the original name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, probably the longest name I have ever heard.  He was a German-Swiss physician and during his life he was linked to botany, alchemy, astrology and the occults.  He took the name of Paracelcus, which meant 'equal to or greater than Celsus', Celsus being the 1st century Roman Aulus Cornelius Celsus, possibly a man to which Paracelsus was inspired by.

Paracelcus made vast contributions to toxicology, psychotherapy, medicine and philosophy and inspired such people as Jacob Boehme.  He traveled widely across Europe, Africa and Asia Minor with the goal of finding hidden knowledge.  Many rumours circulated about his knowledge, and he was highlighted as possibly being the true identity of a major alchemist Christian Rosenkreutz.

He published a number of manuscripts during his lifetime, most notably for me, was the manuscript called Prognostications in 1536 which depicts prophecies and cryptic images. However Paracelcus had a reputation for being arrogant, inciting anger by publicly burning medical books.

If you would like to read more about Prognostications CLICK HERE

The Erythraean Sibyls (est1300-150 B.C.?)

The first Erythraean Sibyl is said to have been the daughter of a sheperd. She lived in Erythrae, Ionia (Asia Minor), on the Aegean Sea, and is often confused with the Cumaean Sibyl (St. Augustine, in his "City of God," speaks of this).

What makes this woman important to Christians is her prediction of Christ, given in the form of an acrostic poem which formed the words, 'Ihsous Xristos Qeou uios spthr, which means, "Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour." And in some ways she was remembered through her dipiction in a floor mosaic in the Cathedral of Siena and in a painting by Michelangelo. It is said that she also predicted the Trojan War (est1200 B.C.) saying that Troy would be destroyed and that Homer (est 850 B.C) would write falsely. It is also said that she prophesied Alexander the Great's(est 300 B.C.) divine parentage.

However it seems that Erthrae may have become a permanent base for a succession of Sibyls, as the daughter of Berossus (est 300 B.C.) became one, Berossus was a scholar and an astrologist who, according to Vitruvius de Architectura, is said to have moved in later like to the island of Kos to set up a school of Astrology. Further evidence to this idea is that Appollodorus (est180 B.C.) still references a Sibyl of Erthrae many years later. Therefore I am referencing to them here in the plural and to have existed from 1300-150 B.C.

Upon further examination of other documents(incl the Suidas), it appears that the Erythraean Sibyl (the original) spent the greater part of her life on the Greek Island of Samos and became known as the Samian Sibyl, or Phyto (meaning 'wandering'). It is possible that she originally settled in Erthrae and set up a base for other sibyls before moving to Samos to spend the rest of her life there, or maybe she originated from the island itself and just traveled to Erthrae at some point in her life. The Samian Sibyl is recorded as existing during the building of the city of Byzantium (around 600B.C.??)