“The Monarchy of all the Arts has been conferred on me, Paracelsus, Prince of Philosophy and Medicine. For this purpose I have been chosen by God to blot out all the phantasies of elaborate and false works, of delusive and presumptuous words, be they the words of Aristotle, Galen, Avicenna or any among their followers.”

This was the manifesto of Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493-1541), otherwise known as Paracelsus. A big man with a bigger ego, his overbearing manner and foul mouth made him enemies everywhere. But beneath the bombast he was one of the most brilliant physicians, scientists and alchemists of the Renaissance.

Paracelsus was a true fortean.