500 years ago, there lived a great doctor and healer, Paracelsus (1493 – 1541). He was born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland and died on 24th of September 1541 in Salzburg, Austria. He was a master of astrology, of alchemy, of symbols, numbers, signature, palmistry, physiognomy etc. He laid the foundation stone for many great, new medical and scientific developments, such as the homoeopathic teaching of Hahnemann.
Portrait by John Augustus Knapp, 1895, of Paracelsus performing chemical operations for the regeneration of life
When Dr K. Parvathi Kumar visited the birthplace of Paracelsus at Einsiedeln on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Paracelsus in 1993, he had a profound inner encounter with Paracelsus. In 1999, he inspired the foundation of the Paracelsus Center and later the PARACELSUS – HEALTH & HEALING journal.
Paracelsus medal at the Paracelsus Center of the World Teacher Trust near Einsiedeln
Since November 2003, a group of volunteers has been publishing the 52-page print periodical in German, English and Spanish every month. The editor-in-chief was Dr K. Parvathi Kumar. The purpose of the publication was to collect and synthesise new and old knowledge about medicine and the art of healing from East and West in order to make it available to people. The whole production – content production, 3 languages translation, printing, shipping, marketing, subscription management and accountancy – was run by group members.
It was an incredibly intense and dedicated team training – acquiring skills in many fields, learning transnational collaboration, mobilising will for overcoming many obstacles. A quotation from Paracelsus:
“He who is artistic in his work, will produce wonders, which will be great and indescribable.” (Paracelsus, Vol. III, p 653)
Paracelsus medal at the birth place of Paracelsus near Einsiedeln, Switzerland
A website for the journal was set up by a member containing general informations on the journal and on Paracelsus. In 2006, I took over running the site with the help of my youngest son. Later, others developed the site.
The Paracelsus Health & Healing Magazine was initially published in print for 13 years. It gradually developed in content and design to a remarkable level and achieved a high level of recognition among its readership.
Cover of the magazine, German November-December 2015 issue
From 2016 on, the magazine was published as an online publication free of charge. This allowed giving more comprehensive information about healing methods and traditional medical knowledge in the East and West. Within the limited framework of the resources, the team succeeded in inspiring a wider readership for the valuable articles. There was a continuous blessings of the project by Master Kumar, which was continued to be deeply felt even after his departure on 1 November 2022.
However, the decreasing willingness of authors to give their texts for free publication, the gradual stagnating use of the online magazine ‘Health & Healing’ by the readership and, above all, the rapid changes in Internet technology and user behavior were realities observed by the team. They did not have the financial, technical, and human resources to continue the work.
Entry page of the Paracelsus Health and Healing website
They decided that the last article will be published on 7 November 2024, 21 years after the foundation of the magazine. All previously published issues shall continue to be available online and the website shall be maintained until further notice.
A warm ‘Thank you!’ for the great and selfless work done over 21 years – a triple septennium – creating a valuable treasure of knowledge.
Master Kumar with a poster of Paracelsus during a seminar, 20 June 2016 in Kandersteg, Switzerland
