SIBLY, Ebenezer.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

A Key to Physic, and the Occult Sciences. First edition of this fusion of astrology and medicine. Sibly, a physician and Freemason who straddled the worlds of magic and science, here demonstrates the equivalencies between the natural and supernatural worlds. It was issued with an illustrated appendix to Culpeper's British Herbal bound at the rear, which includes an early depiction of breadfruit.Sibly (1751-c.1799) regarded the findings of the Scientific Revolution as entirely compatible with the work of alchemists and astrologers, suggesting that the experimental discoveries of figures such as Newton and Lavoisier were merely refinements of the ancient theories of Paracelsus and Geber. The occult influences on Sibly's medical practice, such as his theory of the interconnection of a patient's celestial horoscope and their physical body, are evidenced through his nativity charts of patients with diseases such as scarlet and "putrid" fevers. He also includes a defence of animal magnetism, a similar unification of the occult and medicine. The guide was extremely popular, going through several editions in the 19th century, which made Sibly a key figure in the revival of astrology and natural magic.

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