homunculus
demonic earth European single tradition · 1
An artificial humanlike being created through alchemical processes, first appearing by name in writings attributed to Paracelsus (1493–1541). According to De natura rerum (1537), the homunculus is created by putrefying human sperm in sealed containers with horse dung for forty days until it comes to life, then feeding it with human blood for forty weeks until a living human child grows, transparent and much smaller than a normal child. The fully grown homunculus was supposedly greatly skilled in art and could create giants, dwarves, and other marvels, with art embodied and inborn in them.
When
- First attested
- 200 CE
- Attested period
- 200 – 1616
- Historical notes
- Concept first appeared in Visions of Zosimos (3rd century AD) as anthroparion; named homunculus in Paracelsus writings (1537); continued in Chymical Wedding (1616).
Relationships
- co occurs with
- mandragora, golem
- syncretized with
- Philosopher's Stone
Sources
wikipedia (1)