Born Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim {He used some other names in conjunction with these such as Phillipus Aureolus.} in Switzerland, this courageous genius had the early opportunity to accompany his father, a physician, on his rounds. He learned the value of observation and became acquainted with herbs and medicinal plants. In his university years, Paracelsus appreciated the critical spirit which reigned in Ferrara, Italy, compared to the close-mindedness in universities in other European cities. He was not content to limit himself to academic knowledge. He learned what he could practically from professionals and anyone else who had something to teach him about how to use the latent forces in nature. Due to his healing successes, notably in treating the plague, he began to gather a large following.

After returning to Basle, Switzerland, Paracelsus saved the leg of the rich printer Frobenius from amputation by applying his knowledge of nature's inner healing power. Paracelsus became Basle's official physician and was offered a professorship at the University of Basle. He soon ran into trouble with the authorities due to his blatant criticism of modern medicine. In a dramatic gesture Paracelsus burned the books of the medical authorities. Within several months he was forced to flee the university and found himself wandering penniless. . For the next eight years he lived with friends 'and worked on his manuscripts. The publication of DIE GROSSE WUNDANTZNEY in 1536 restored his reputation, and his fortune turned once more. Paracelsus became wealthy and was sought after by noblemen and royalty."

His actions against the ‘sins and demons’ origins of disease and illness mirror the free medicine and knowledge of the Gnostic Cathars a couple of centuries earlier that led to their genocide in a crusade that was won by the new head of the Dominican Order of the Catholics. Man, Myth, and Magic promotes the MYTH that alchemy was dominated by hermits in pursuit of wealth and gold from lead. They say that Paracelsus was poor and proof that no Philosopher's Stone was ever created and that alchemists were greedy failures. This author says 'Paracelsus became wealthy' but that assuredly was not his purpose and when he died he had only one special goblet to give to someone who he knew understood its value. Continuing to quote Mr. Rona:

"Paracelsus attacked the dogmatic belief of modern doctors that the human body is controlled exclusively by the stars and the planets. He insisted upon the right to discover latent powers of nature by daring to use his faculties of observation and imagination. He stressed the healing power of nature, and raged against modern methods, such as wound treatment that prevented natural drainage of bodily fluids.

One of Paracelsus's most important medical discoveries concerned the treatment of syphilis. He maintained that syphilis could be treated with carefully measured doses of poison mercury compounds taken internally. This contradicted all medical opinion of the day, but he was proven right. Paracelsus was the first to show that, if given in small doses, the cause of an illness also cures it. This discovery was an anticipation of the modern practice of homeopathy. In the summer of 1534, Paracelsus cured many people in the plague-infested town of Stertzing by applying the same principle."

At the time of the Plague the Flagellants were part of the Catholic hierarchy; they were burning Jewish people in cities across Europe. Men, women and children were surrounded in their neighborhoods and burned. The genocide in Rwanda that was initiated by the hatred' fostered by the Roman Catholic Church' according to the July 2000 report released by the Organization of African Unity is little different than the holocaust. The Catholic fostered anti-Semitism that was politically useful to Hitler (or Mississippi Senator John Stennis of the House Un-American Activities Committee) who was a Catholic and never ex-communicated; has been used throughout recent history to empower the Empire-builders from the Holy Roman Emperor Constantine to this very day. Yes, I know the Pope has meekly apologized, but the behavior continues. The 'War on Women' founded in the 'original sin' of St. Augustine and formalized at the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D. has far reaching influence across sociological norms in the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic complex. Thus we can see this author correctly uses the word courageous when referring to Paracelsus.