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[[File:Paracelsus01.jpg|thumb|[[w:Theophrast von Hohenheim|Theophrast von Hohenheim]], called [[w:Paracelsus|Paracelsus]] first publicly presented the doctrine of the ''Tria Principia'' in mature form.]]
[[File:Paracelsus01.jpg|thumb|[[w:Theophrast von Hohenheim|Theophrast von Hohenheim]], called [[w:Paracelsus|Paracelsus]] first publicly presented the doctrine of the ''Tria Principia'' in mature form.]]


The '''Tria Principia''' ({{Latin}} for the '''''three principles'''''), occasionally also referred to as the '''three philosophical elements''', are an important basic concept of late medieval or early modern [[alchemy]], which was derived from the [[four-element doctrine]] in a complementary and expanding manner, and can only be found in a clear, mature form in [[w:Paracelsus|Paracelsus]] (1493 - 1541)<ref>R. Hooykaas: ''Chemical Trichotomy before Paracelsus?'', Arch. Internat. d’Hist. des Sciences, 1949, XXVIII, 1063 - 1074</ref><ref>"A further significant example is the ''Tria Prima'': Salt, Sulphur and Mercury which are supposed to be the principal constituents of all objects. This trichotomy is largely an original Paracelsian conception». At all events it was Paracelsus who inculcated and applied it in detail. His alchemist predecessors had preferred such dichotomic divisions as male-female, active-passive, Sulphur-Mercury. The ''Salia'' of metals had been discussed - but not in the Paracelsian sense of a third principle; they rather indicated a state of hardening which called for solution. It is also true that the ''Latin Geber'' speaks of the ''Tria Principia'' of metals, namely Sulphur, ''Argentum Vivum'' and Arsenic – but in this Arsenic occupied no position similar to that of ''Sal'' in the Paracelsian scheme.<br>
The '''tria principia''' or '''tria prima''' ({{Latin}} for the '''''three principles''''' or '''''three primes'''''), occasionally also referred to as the '''three philosophical elements''', are an important basic concept of late medieval or early modern [[alchemy]], which was derived from the [[four-element doctrine]] in a complementary and expanding manner, and can only be found in a clear, mature form in [[w:Paracelsus|Paracelsus]] (1493 - 1541)<ref>R. Hooykaas: ''Chemical Trichotomy before Paracelsus?'', Arch. Internat. d’Hist. des Sciences, 1949, XXVIII, 1063 - 1074</ref><ref>"A further significant example is the ''Tria Prima'': Salt, Sulphur and Mercury which are supposed to be the principal constituents of all objects. This trichotomy is largely an original Paracelsian conception». At all events it was Paracelsus who inculcated and applied it in detail. His alchemist predecessors had preferred such dichotomic divisions as male-female, active-passive, Sulphur-Mercury. The ''Salia'' of metals had been discussed - but not in the Paracelsian sense of a third principle; they rather indicated a state of hardening which called for solution. It is also true that the ''Latin Geber'' speaks of the ''Tria Principia'' of metals, namely Sulphur, ''Argentum Vivum'' and Arsenic – but in this Arsenic occupied no position similar to that of ''Sal'' in the Paracelsian scheme.<br>
No chemical or alchemical predecessor of the Paracelsian scheme is therefore readily demonstrable. There is no doubt, however, that it is in accordance with neo-Platonic and Hermetic tradition. Paracelsus himself referred to Hermes who called the soul the intermediary between Spirit and Body. This soul Paracelsus identified with Sulphur : "the soul is the sulphur which reconciles two opposites and joins them together into one". Hermes rightly said, Paracelsus adds, that all seven metals, and also the "tinctures" and the Philosophers' Stone derive from three substances which he calls spirit, soul and body. These are indeed the ''Three Principles''."<br>
No chemical or alchemical predecessor of the Paracelsian scheme is therefore readily demonstrable. There is no doubt, however, that it is in accordance with neo-Platonic and Hermetic tradition. Paracelsus himself referred to Hermes who called the soul the intermediary between Spirit and Body. This soul Paracelsus identified with Sulphur : "the soul is the sulphur which reconciles two opposites and joins them together into one". Hermes rightly said, Paracelsus adds, that all seven metals, and also the "tinctures" and the Philosophers' Stone derive from three substances which he calls spirit, soul and body. These are indeed the ''Three Principles''."<br>
Allen G. Debus:  ''Alchemy and early modern chemistry: papers from Ambix'', Jeremy Mills Publishing, 2004</ref>. The three philosophical principles or substances are: [[Sulphur]] (encompassing [[fire]] and [[air]] and therefore called "[[fire air]]" by the alchemists), [[Mercurius]] ([[water]]) and [[Sal]] ([[earth element]]). Sulphur stands for the combustible, Mercurius for the volatile-liquid and Sal for the solid, form-giving, stable principle. Strictly speaking, the Tria Principa are not substances but processes, i.e. the [[sulphur process]], the [[mercury process]] and the [[salt process]], whose material carriers can be different substances.
Allen G. Debus:  ''Alchemy and early modern chemistry: papers from Ambix'', Jeremy Mills Publishing, 2004</ref>. The three philosophical principles or substances are: [[Sulphur]] (encompassing [[fire]] and [[air]] and therefore called "[[fire air]]" by the alchemists), [[Mercurius]] ([[water]]) and [[Sal]] ([[earth element]]). Sulphur stands for the combustible, Mercurius for the volatile-liquid and Sal for the solid, form-giving, stable principle. Strictly speaking, the Tria Principa are not substances but processes, i.e. the [[sulphur process]], the [[mercury process]] and the [[salt process]], whose material carriers can be different substances.

Latest revision as of 08:49, 20 December 2021

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Theophrast von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus first publicly presented the doctrine of the Tria Principia in mature form.

The tria principia or tria prima (Latin for the three principles or three primes), occasionally also referred to as the three philosophical elements, are an important basic concept of late medieval or early modern alchemy, which was derived from the four-element doctrine in a complementary and expanding manner, and can only be found in a clear, mature form in Paracelsus (1493 - 1541)[1][2]. The three philosophical principles or substances are: Sulphur (encompassing fire and air and therefore called "fire air" by the alchemists), Mercurius (water) and Sal (earth element). Sulphur stands for the combustible, Mercurius for the volatile-liquid and Sal for the solid, form-giving, stable principle. Strictly speaking, the Tria Principa are not substances but processes, i.e. the sulphur process, the mercury process and the salt process, whose material carriers can be different substances.

„Now I want to go back to an example with wood. This wood is a body. When you burn it, what burns is sulphur, the smoke is mercury, and what becomes ashes is salt.“

– Paracelsus: Opus Paramirum, First Book, Ch. 2

Basic character of the three principles

The following is a tabular overview of the basic characteristics of the three principles, which is based - with some modifications and extensions - on the account of the chemists and historian of chemistry John Read (1884-1963)[3]:


Sulphur Mercurius Sal
fiery principle liquid principle solid principle
combustible, dissolving metallic, melting incombustible, resistant
oily, fatty alcoholic salty, earthy
fire, air water earth
spirit soul body
Metabolic-limb system Rhythmic system Nerve-sense system
Willing Feeling Thinking
Chaos Movement Form
Capital Labour Goods

However, such unambiguous classifications, namely the allocation of principles to body, soul and spirit, must be taken with great caution and do not do justice to their inherent dynamics. Depending on the context and the point of view, completely different classifications are also called for. Paracelsus, for example, assigns the spirit to Mercurius and the soul, which mediates between body and spirit, to Sulphur. The concept of the Tria Principia requires a very flexible handling, adapted to the respective situation.

On a purely physical level, the Tria Principia correspond to the three basic types of chemical bonds[4]: Sulphur corresponds to the covalent bond, Mercurius to the metallic bond and Sal to the ionic bond, just as the 4 elements are physically related to the classical and non-classical states of matter.

Alchemy and Spagyric

According to the alchemical view, all substances, especially all metals, are created by a specific interaction of these three principles. Through suitable interventions in these three substance-forming processes, it should be possible to prepare the philosopher's stone and transmute base metals into gold.

Spagyric plant alchemy

Paracelsus related the doctrine of the three principles primarily to the assessment of disease processes and to the correct preparation of spagyric remedies. In the plant, which in a certain sense is to be understood as an inverted human being, the sulphurising processes take effect in the blossoming and ripening of the fruits, the mercurial activity unfolds in the area of the green leaves, whereby here assimilation through photosynthesis comes to the fore instead of respiration, and the salt processes emanate from the roots protruding into the soil.

In spagyric plant alchemy, the essential oils are the main carriers of the sulphur principle, the alcohol serves as the carrier of the mercurial principle and the salts contained in the plant represent the sal principle. The volatile oils are separated by distillation, the remaining plant parts are fermented (fermentatio) and the resulting alcohol is distilled off. The residue is ashed (calcinatio) and the soluble salts are dissolved with water. Thus the three principles are cleanly separated from each other and are now reunited according to the basic alchemical principle of solve et coagula for greater effectiveness.

The "Tria Principia" in the course of the year

In the summer of St. John's Day, the sulphur process in man increases to its highest intensity and now also takes hold of the nervous system. To the imaginative eye, the human being now appears to be permeated by a phosphorescent phantom of sulphur. But the ahrimanic powers, which are tremendously related to these sulphurising substances, are also pushing their way in. Snakelike, dragon-like, they entwine themselves around man from bottom to top and try to pull his consciousness down into a dull unconscious state.

In summertime the salt, mercury and sulphur processes are more intermingled, whereas in deep winter they are largely separated. Then in the depths of the Earth the salty works, which is permeable to the spiritual and in which the remnants of the lunar forces are life-giving. Above this, the hydrosphere spreads out with a tendency towards the spherical; the Earth then appears, as it were, as a gigantic "drop of mercury" in space. In the air sphere with the solar and stellar effects a mild sulphuric process is stirring.

„If we now go more towards the Earth, into the interior of the Earth, then for what the Earth actually wants to be, the process of acid formation, and especially - from the acids again come the salts - of salt formation comes into consideration. So that when we look up into the universe, we really have to look up into the sulphurisation process, into the sulphurisation process. When we look at this tendency of the earth to form a cosmic drop, then we are actually looking into the Mercurial process. If we turn our gaze down to the earth's soil, which then sends up to us in spring all growing, sprouting, sprouting life, then we look at the salt process.“ (Lit.:GA 229, p. 27)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.

References

  1. ↑ R. Hooykaas: Chemical Trichotomy before Paracelsus?, Arch. Internat. d’Hist. des Sciences, 1949, XXVIII, 1063 - 1074
  2. ↑ "A further significant example is the Tria Prima: Salt, Sulphur and Mercury which are supposed to be the principal constituents of all objects. This trichotomy is largely an original Paracelsian conception». At all events it was Paracelsus who inculcated and applied it in detail. His alchemist predecessors had preferred such dichotomic divisions as male-female, active-passive, Sulphur-Mercury. The Salia of metals had been discussed - but not in the Paracelsian sense of a third principle; they rather indicated a state of hardening which called for solution. It is also true that the Latin Geber speaks of the Tria Principia of metals, namely Sulphur, Argentum Vivum and Arsenic – but in this Arsenic occupied no position similar to that of Sal in the Paracelsian scheme.
    No chemical or alchemical predecessor of the Paracelsian scheme is therefore readily demonstrable. There is no doubt, however, that it is in accordance with neo-Platonic and Hermetic tradition. Paracelsus himself referred to Hermes who called the soul the intermediary between Spirit and Body. This soul Paracelsus identified with Sulphur : "the soul is the sulphur which reconciles two opposites and joins them together into one". Hermes rightly said, Paracelsus adds, that all seven metals, and also the "tinctures" and the Philosophers' Stone derive from three substances which he calls spirit, soul and body. These are indeed the Three Principles."
    Allen G. Debus: Alchemy and early modern chemistry: papers from Ambix, Jeremy Mills Publishing, 2004
  3. ↑ Read gives the following assignment going back to Paracelsus, in which Mercurius stands for the spirit and Sulphur for the soul mediating between spirit and body (salt):
    Mercurius Sulphur Sal
    metallic, fusible, volatile

    Volatile and unchanged in fire
    Soul
    Water

    		combustible

    Volatile and changes in fire
    Spirit
    fire/air

    		Incombustible, persistent

    contained in ash
    Body
    Earth

    (Lit.: Read, p. 27)

  4. ↑ V. Gutmann, E. Hengge: Allgemeine und anorganische Chemie, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim 1975, p. 3
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