Encyclopedia

Porus

An Indian king who ruled the Pauravas and famously resisted Alexander the Great at the Battle of the Hydaspes, often praised for his nobility in defeat.

5 books · 28 mentions

Paramesvara

4 books · 232 mentions

Protarchus

A character in Plato's Philebus who takes over the defense of the hedonistic life of pleasure from Philebus.

4 books · 139 mentions

Pyramidal shadow

4 books · 138 mentions

Palimpsest

4 books · 135 mentions

Pierre de Fermat

4 books · 134 mentions

Paran

4 books · 127 mentions

Philebus

The titular character of a Platonic dialogue who maintains that pleasure is the ultimate good for all living beings.

4 books · 125 mentions

Perpetual virginity

The theological doctrine or moral ideal of lifelong celibacy, often discussed in the context of the Virgin Mary or the lives of female saints and martyrs.

4 books · 124 mentions

Pierre-Simon Laplace

4 books · 114 mentions

Peritoneum

4 books · 112 mentions

Paul Tannery

4 books · 110 mentions

Phanes

The Orphic primeval deity of procreation and the generation of new life, often depicted as emerging from a cosmic egg.

4 books · 103 mentions

Prosthaphæresis

An algorithm used in late 16th-century astronomy to simplify multiplication and division using trigonometric identities, crucial before the invention of logarithms.

4 books · 98 mentions

Polemarchus

A character in Plato's Republic and son of Cephalus, who initially defines justice as helping friends and harming enemies.

4 books · 97 mentions

Piero de' Medici

A member of the Medici family and patron of the arts in Renaissance Florence, notably supporting Marsilio Ficino's translations of Plato and the Neoplatonic corpus.

4 books · 95 mentions

Percussion of water

4 books · 93 mentions

Penotus

A 16th-century French alchemist and physician known for his extensive correspondence and his defense of alchemical practice against its detractors.

4 books · 92 mentions

Platonic Theology

The systematic synthesis of Platonic philosophy with religious doctrine, most notably exemplified by Marsilio Ficino's attempt to reconcile Platonism with Christianity.

4 books · 91 mentions

Proserpine

The Roman goddess of the underworld and spring, daughter of Ceres, whose myth was frequently allegorized in Renaissance Neoplatonism and alchemy.

4 books · 90 mentions

Psyche

The personification of the human soul in Greek myth, whose union with Eros was interpreted as an allegory for the soul's journey toward divine love.

4 books · 90 mentions

Prolegomena

A critical introductory treatise or formal preface to a book, intended to provide the necessary methodological framework for a scholarly work.

4 books · 88 mentions

Pansophy

A concept of universal wisdom or an all-encompassing system of knowledge, central to the educational reforms of Comenius and Rosicrucian philosophy.

4 books · 87 mentions

Pierio Valeriano

An Italian Renaissance humanist and author of Hieroglyphica, a massive influential study on the symbolic meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs and classical imagery. His work was a foundational text for Renaissance iconography and emblem books.

4 books · 87 mentions

Proteus

A Greek sea-god capable of changing his shape at will, frequently used in alchemical literature as an allegory for the mutability of the First Matter.

4 books · 86 mentions

Paronyms

In Aristotelian logic, terms derived from another with a change in termination, such as 'grammarian' from 'grammar'.

4 books · 84 mentions

Polyphony

A musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, which became highly sophisticated in Western liturgical music during the Renaissance.

4 books · 81 mentions

Poimandres

The 'Divine Pymander', the first treatise of the Corpus Hermeticum, representing the Mind of the Sovereignty or the revelation of Hermes Trismegistus.

4 books · 81 mentions

Planetary Aspects (Drishti)

4 books · 80 mentions

Pseudo-Dionysius

The shortened designation for the anonymous author of the 'Corpus Areopagiticum,' whose synthesis of Christian doctrine and Neoplatonism formed the basis of apophatic theology.

4 books · 79 mentions

Pneuma (Spirit)

A concept in ancient Greek philosophy and medicine referring to the 'breath of life' or a vital spirit that animates the body and connects it to the cosmos.

4 books · 78 mentions

Paralysis

A medical condition characterized by the loss of muscle function and sensation, often discussed in early modern texts as a result of humoral imbalance or the obstruction of 'animal spirits' in the nerves.

4 books · 76 mentions

Prolongation of Life

A central goal of alchemy and early modern natural philosophy, involving the search for the Elixir of Life or Universal Medicine to extend human longevity and restore health.

4 books · 76 mentions

Proba

A 4th-century Roman Christian poet known for her Virgilian cento, which adapted classical hexameters to narrate the history of the Old and New Testaments.

4 books · 73 mentions

Pelican (alchemical vessel)

A specialized circulatory distillation vessel with two side-arms that return condensed vapors to the body, symbolizing self-sacrifice.

4 books · 73 mentions

Prophetic spirit

The divine inspiration or charismatic gift attributed to individuals (prophets or sibyls) allowing them to perceive or communicate hidden truths and future events.

4 books · 72 mentions

Philip (Apostle)

One of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, frequently appearing in the Gospel of John and later associated with missionary work in Greece and Asia Minor.

4 books · 72 mentions

Prime Vertical

4 books · 70 mentions

Punjab

4 books · 69 mentions

Perfect Number

A positive integer that is equal to the sum of its proper divisors, a concept significant in both Euclidean mathematics and Pythagorean number mysticism.

4 books · 69 mentions

Paul Wittich

A 16th-century German mathematician and astronomer who worked with Tycho Brahe and played a key role in the development of the Tychonic system and prosthaphaeresis.

4 books · 67 mentions

Parallelepiped

A three-dimensional figure formed by six parallelograms, frequently discussed in early modern geometry and astronomy to describe the volume of celestial or terrestrial bodies.

4 books · 64 mentions

Primary qualities (Heat, Cold, Dryness, Moisture)

The four basic tactile properties in Aristotelian physics that combine to define the nature of the four classical elements.

4 books · 64 mentions

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

An anonymous Christian theologian and Neoplatonist of the late 5th century whose writings on celestial hierarchies profoundly influenced medieval mysticism.

4 books · 64 mentions

Peacock's Tail (Cauda Pavonis)

An alchemical stage characterized by the appearance of many colors in the flask, symbolizing the transition toward the Great Work's completion.

4 books · 63 mentions

Prince Christian of Anhalt

4 books · 63 mentions

Potency and Act

A fundamental Aristotelian and Scholastic distinction where 'potency' refers to the capacity for being or change, and 'act' refers to the fulfillment or realization of that capacity.

4 books · 62 mentions

Polity

4 books · 61 mentions

Potentiality and Actuality

A fundamental Aristotelian distinction used to explain the nature of change and being, where potentiality is the capacity for a state and actuality is its fulfillment.

4 books · 59 mentions

Paracelsians

Followers of the medical and alchemical doctrines of Paracelsus, who emphasized iatrochemistry and the rejection of traditional Galenic medicine.

4 books · 59 mentions

Potiphar's wife

An unnamed biblical figure who attempted to seduce Joseph and later falsely accused him; she serves as a recurring symbol of carnal temptation and the dangers of deceit in moral literature.

4 books · 59 mentions

Plagiarism

The practice of taking someone else's work and passing it off as one's own, a subject of increasing legal and ethical debate during the early modern period.

4 books · 58 mentions

Panchala

4 books · 58 mentions

Ptolemaic system

4 books · 57 mentions

Procreation

The act of generating offspring, often discussed in early modern natural philosophy in relation to the transmission of the soul and vital heat.

4 books · 56 mentions

Philoponus

An Alexandrian philosopher and theologian known for his critiques of Aristotelian physics, which influenced later medieval and early modern natural philosophy.

4 books · 56 mentions

Paeonia

4 books · 56 mentions

Prosody

The study of the rhythm, intonation, and stress of speech, often applied in early modern scholarship to Hebrew accents and musical theory.

4 books · 55 mentions