In 1993, when Sri Kumar on a journey to Switzerland came to know that it was the 500th anniversary of Paracelsus (1493-1541), he did a hike with two friends to the birthplace of this great alchemist initiate. At this birthplace next to a bridge across the Sihl river (known as Teufelsbrücke, Devil’s Bridge) near Einsiedeln, he had the vision of an eagle, symbol of an initiate and that it is a very sacred place.
During the May Call celebration 1999 on Mount Rigi he did an excursion with the entire group to this place and proposed that it would be good to have a center there to enable being in the presence of the energies of Paracelsus.
Some group members picked up the proposal and within two weeks they had rented a small apartment in the house at the site of the birthplace. In June, we visited the rooms and planted some trees on the meadow near the house (which a bit later goats used for their meal….). And then we furnished the apartment.
In December 1999 around the birthday of Paracelsus, Sri Kumar gave a seminar on Paracelsus in Einsiedeln and the entire group came for the inauguration of the Paracelsus Centre. And with Sri Kumar as editor-in-chief, an international team started to publish the “Paracelsus Health and Healing” magazine from 2003 on.
In the beginning, we did regular weekly meetings at the Paracelsus Centre to study the teachings of Paracelsus and other wisdom teachings. It was a lot of travelling, and about 10 years later, the frequency of these meetings got less. Since 2014, we have been meeting there during equinoxes and solstices. And also the team of the Paracelsus magazine does an annual retreat at this beautiful serene place.
On summer equinox morning, we met on the nearby mountain ridge for a fire ritual and later celebrated this cardinal point of the year in the Paracelsus center – with meditations, little rituals, study of the importance of summer solstice, cooking and eating together as well as a walk to experience the solstice energy. At summer solstice, there is a subtle change of energies in nature and in us – witnessing it is a good preparation for the transformations it brings.
Around the house at the birthplace of Paracelsus, there had been some changes: the Cultural Heritage and Historic Monuments office has recently renovated the place with the Paracelsus memorial plate and some civil service workers had built a new fountain at the roadside. Hikers now stop there to drink some fresh water.
