Planetary Organs & Alchemical Physiology: Medieval Medical Mysticism
BY NICOLE LAU
Introduction to Medieval Medical Mysticism
In medieval and Renaissance Europe, medicine was inseparable from astrology, alchemy, and mysticism. Physicians understood the body not as a mere biological machine but as a living cosmos governed by planetary forces, elemental qualities, and alchemical principles. Each organ corresponded to a planet, each illness reflected cosmic imbalance, and each remedy aligned with celestial timing. This sacred medicine—practiced by figures like Paracelsus, Agrippa, and countless physician-astrologers—integrated spiritual wisdom with practical healing, creating a holistic system that treated body, soul, and spirit as one.
This comprehensive guide explores planetary organs, alchemical physiology, the four humors, and medieval medical mysticism, revealing how our ancestors understood health as cosmic harmony and disease as spiritual imbalance.
The Foundations
The Great Chain of Being
Medieval cosmology saw reality as a hierarchy:
- God (the Absolute)
- Angels and celestial intelligences
- The celestial spheres (planets and stars)
- The sublunary world (earth)
- Minerals, plants, animals
- Humans (microcosm containing all levels)
Influence flowed downward: celestial forces shaped earthly reality, including the human body.
The Doctrine of Signatures
God marked all things with signs revealing their nature and use:
- Plants resembling organs cure those organs (walnuts for brain, etc.)
- Colors indicate properties (yellow for liver, red for blood)
- Planetary rulership determines medicinal use
- The visible reveals the invisible
The Seven Planetary Organs
Sun ☉ - The Heart
Rulership: Heart, vital force, circulation
Metal: Gold
Day: Sunday
Quality: Hot and dry
Function: Life force, vitality, consciousness
Medical Significance:
- The heart as the seat of life and soul
- Solar herbs strengthen the heart (rosemary, chamomile, saffron)
- Gold used in cardiac remedies
- Heart disease treated on Sundays
- Joy and vitality as solar qualities
Imbalance: Weak heart, low vitality, depression, circulatory issues
Moon ☽ - The Brain and Fluids
Rulership: Brain, stomach, womb, all fluids
Metal: Silver
Day: Monday
Quality: Cold and moist
Function: Memory, emotion, cycles, secretion
Medical Significance:
- The brain as the seat of imagination and memory
- Lunar herbs for mental health (mugwort, jasmine, poppy)
- Silver for purification and cooling
- Women's health governed by lunar cycles
- Fluids and secretions follow lunar rhythms
Imbalance: Mental illness, memory loss, fluid retention, menstrual disorders
Mercury ☿ - The Nervous System
Rulership: Nerves, lungs, hands, tongue
Metal: Mercury (quicksilver)
Day: Wednesday
Quality: Variable (adapts to other planets)
Function: Communication, coordination, respiration
Medical Significance:
- The nervous system as messenger network
- Mercurial herbs for mental clarity (lavender, fennel, dill)
- Mercury used in medicines (though toxic)
- Speech and breathing disorders
- Coordination and dexterity
Imbalance: Nervous disorders, respiratory issues, communication problems, tremors
Venus ♀ - The Kidneys
Rulership: Kidneys, throat, veins, skin
Metal: Copper
Day: Friday
Quality: Cold and moist
Function: Harmony, filtration, beauty, pleasure
Medical Significance:
- Kidneys as organs of balance and filtration
- Venusian herbs for beauty and harmony (rose, violet, apple)
- Copper for skin conditions
- Throat and voice governed by Venus
- Pleasure and sensuality as health indicators
Imbalance: Kidney disease, skin problems, throat issues, lack of pleasure
Mars ♂ - The Muscles and Blood
Rulership: Muscles, blood, gallbladder, genitals
Metal: Iron
Day: Tuesday
Quality: Hot and dry
Function: Action, energy, heat, aggression
Medical Significance:
- Muscles as organs of action and strength
- Martial herbs for energy and heat (ginger, garlic, nettle)
- Iron for blood disorders (anemia)
- Fevers and inflammation as excess Mars
- Courage and vitality
Imbalance: Inflammation, fevers, muscle weakness, anger, violence
Jupiter ♃ - The Liver
Rulership: Liver, arterial system, thighs
Metal: Tin
Day: Thursday
Quality: Hot and moist
Function: Growth, expansion, nourishment, optimism
Medical Significance:
- Liver as organ of growth and abundance
- Jovian herbs for expansion (sage, dandelion, borage)
- Tin in remedies (rarely)
- Liver disease from excess or deficiency
- Optimism and generosity as health signs
Imbalance: Liver disease, obesity, excess, greed, over-expansion
Saturn ♄ - The Bones and Skin
Rulership: Bones, skin, spleen, teeth
Metal: Lead
Day: Saturday
Quality: Cold and dry
Function: Structure, boundaries, limitation, aging
Medical Significance:
- Bones as structure and foundation
- Saturnine herbs for boundaries (comfrey, horsetail, mullein)
- Lead in remedies (toxic, rarely used)
- Aging and crystallization
- Melancholy and depression as Saturnine
Imbalance: Bone disease, skin conditions, depression, rigidity, premature aging
The Four Humors
Galenic Medicine
Health depends on balancing four bodily fluids (humors):
Blood (Sanguine)
- Element: Air
- Quality: Hot and moist
- Organ: Heart/liver
- Temperament: Optimistic, social, energetic
- Excess: Fever, inflammation, hyperactivity
- Treatment: Bloodletting, cooling foods
Yellow Bile (Choleric)
- Element: Fire
- Quality: Hot and dry
- Organ: Gallbladder
- Temperament: Ambitious, quick-tempered, passionate
- Excess: Anger, fevers, dryness
- Treatment: Cooling, moistening remedies
Phlegm (Phlegmatic)
- Element: Water
- Quality: Cold and moist
- Organ: Brain/lungs
- Temperament: Calm, slow, emotional
- Excess: Lethargy, mucus, coldness
- Treatment: Warming, drying remedies
Black Bile (Melancholic)
- Element: Earth
- Quality: Cold and dry
- Organ: Spleen
- Temperament: Serious, analytical, depressive
- Excess: Depression, constipation, dryness
- Treatment: Warming, moistening remedies
Paracelsian Medicine
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
Paracelsus revolutionized medicine by integrating alchemy:
The Three Principles:
- Sulfur: Soul, combustibility, consciousness
- Mercury: Spirit, volatility, life force
- Salt: Body, fixity, physical structure
Disease results from imbalance of these three principles.
Spagyric Medicine
Paracelsus developed spagyric (alchemical) pharmacy:
- Separation: Break down the plant into components
- Purification: Purify each component
- Recombination: Reunite the purified essences
This creates a more potent, spiritualized medicine.
Medical Astrology in Practice
Diagnosis
- Cast the patient's natal chart
- Note afflicted planets and houses
- Identify the decumbiture (chart of illness onset)
- Determine the critical days
Treatment Timing
- Administer remedies on the day of the ruling planet
- Avoid surgery when the Moon is in the sign ruling the body part
- Harvest herbs at astrologically auspicious times
- Use planetary hours for specific treatments
Herbal Correspondences
Each planet rules specific herbs:
- Sun: Chamomile, rosemary, saffron, St. John's wort
- Moon: Mugwort, jasmine, poppy, willow
- Mercury: Lavender, fennel, dill, parsley
- Venus: Rose, violet, apple, thyme
- Mars: Ginger, garlic, nettle, pepper
- Jupiter: Sage, dandelion, borage, oak
- Saturn: Comfrey, horsetail, mullein, cypress
The Zodiac Man
Melothesia
The zodiac man diagram shows which signs rule which body parts:
- Used to determine surgical timing
- Avoid operating on a body part when the Moon is in its ruling sign
- Harvest herbs when the Moon is in the appropriate sign
- Understand constitutional strengths and weaknesses
Modern Relevance
Holistic Medicine
- Treating the whole person, not just symptoms
- Recognizing emotional and spiritual factors in illness
- Using natural remedies aligned with nature's rhythms
- Timing treatments for maximum effectiveness
Psychosomatic Medicine
- Planetary correspondences as psychological patterns
- Organs as seats of specific emotions
- Disease as manifestation of spiritual imbalance
Further Study
Primary Texts:
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Agrippa
- The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus
- The English Physician by Nicholas Culpeper
Conclusion
Medieval medical mysticism reveals a sacred understanding of the body as a living cosmos governed by planetary forces, elemental qualities, and alchemical principles. Each organ corresponds to a planet, each illness reflects cosmic imbalance, and each remedy aligns with celestial timing. This holistic system—practiced by physician-astrologers and alchemists—integrated spiritual wisdom with practical healing, treating body, soul, and spirit as one. While modern medicine has abandoned much of this framework, the underlying truth remains: health is harmony, disease is imbalance, and true healing addresses the whole being in relationship with the cosmos.
May you understand your planetary organs. May you balance your humors. May you heal in harmony with the cosmos.
