Please let it be known that as a member of the Southern Californian group called The Paracelsian Order, TPO, a teaching – healing order, that my station is that of a “Life Professed Monk” in that order. It is named after Paracelsus AKA Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, (born November 11 1493, (or by some records December 17th) in Einsiedeln, Switzerland—died September 24, 1541, Salzburg, Archbishopric of Salzburg [now in Austria]), German-Swiss physician and alchemist who established the role of chemistry in medicine. He was a physician, alchemist, and astrologer of the German Renaissance. He was a pioneer in several aspects of the “medical revolution” of the Renaissance, emphasizing the value of observation in combination with received wisdom.
Not surprisingly, the teachings of Paracelsus influenced modern medicine for centuries. But as Western medicine evolved, it became increasingly reductionist and specialized. Because of Paracelsus, Germany and Switzerland retained a distinct medical tradition that remained stubbornly alternative and holistic. Today both countries offer therapies which are unavailable elsewhere. In fact, Switzerland is the only country in the world today which enshrines access to alternative medicine in its national constitution as a basic human right.
