About This Item
Title
The serpent and the millstones
Subject
Snakes
Weapons
Occultism
Symbolism
Description
Artist unknown.
Paracelsus' 1st prophecy. A serpent is coiled around a sword and two millstones. The sword is held up by a hand. The serpent has a bundle of birch rods between its teeth.
Title taken from English translation: Prophecies of Paracelsus (London : William Rider & Son, 1915).
Creator
Paracelsus, 1493-1541
Source
Original image in: Paracelsus, 1493-1541. Prognosticatio eximii doctoris Theophrasti Paracelsi (S.l. : s.n., between 1560 and 1580). 1f 257 (Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia)
Prognosticatio eximii doctoris Theophrasti Paracelsi reveals the prophecies of Theophrastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus. Paracelsus was a revolutionary chemical physician also known for his occultist philosophy. This edition contains 32 prophesies and accompanying illustrations and may have been printed in France between 1560 and 1580.
Publisher
Digitized by the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Date
between 1560 and 1580
Language
lat
Type
StillImage
Identifier
1f_257.pl1a
1f_257.pl1b
Original Format
1 print : etching
Physical Dimensions
10 x 8 cm
Citation
Paracelsus, 1493-1541, “The serpent and the millstones,” The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library, accessed November 4, 2025, https://cppdigitallibrary.org/items/show/2125.