nculus.

Generally Paracelsus is regarded as the author of the idea, which to the
somewhat uncritical, could not, in my opinion, help being in the air.
There are different views regarding the part played by Paracelsus. The
instructions that he gives for the production of the homunculus are found
in a work (De natura rerum) whose authorship is not settled. And supposing
that Paracelsus was the writer, it must be considered whether he does not
lay before the inquisitive friend to whom the work is dedicated merely a
medley of oddities from the variegated store that he had collected from
all sources on his travels among vagrant folk. We must accept the facts as
we find them; the question as to whether it was Paracelsus or not would be
idle. Enough that there is a book by some writer who describes the work
and describes it in such a way that naive scholarship could have thought
it quite consistent. The idea as such has appeared conceivable to us. Its
form in the book mentioned appears clearly determined by alchemistic
ideas. The reader will immediately perceive it himself as I give here some
passages from the book. (Cf. the Strassb. Folio Ausg. des Paracelsus, Vol.
I, pp. 881-884.) A consideration of the production of the homunculus
appears important to me because it shows the main content of alchemistic
ideas in enlarged form and complete development, a content that gives,
moreover, the very thing that psychoanalysis would here look for.

Paracelsus begins with the fact that putrefaction transforms all things
into their first shape and is the beginning of generation and
multiplication. The spagiric [One of the names for alchemy. From {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}
(separate), and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} (unite).] art is able to create men and monsters.
Such a monster is the Basilisk. "The Basilisk" grows and is born out of
and from the greatest impurity of women, namely from the menstrua and from
the blood of sperm that is put into a glass and cucurbit, and putrefied in
a horse's belly. In such putrefaction is the Basilisk born. Whoever is so
daring and so fortunate as to make it or to take it out or again to kill
it, who does not cl