The text
The High and Deep Searching Out
of
The Threefold Life of Man
through or according to
The Three Principles
Jacob Boehme - Teutonicus Philosophus
Translated by John Sparrow 1909
A SHORT CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK
By the Author
Being a high and deep searching out of the Threefold Life of Man, through the Three Principles.
Wherein is clearly shewn that which is eternal;
and also that which is mortal.
And wherefore God, who is the highest Good,
hath brought all things to light.
Also wherefore one thing is contrary to another,
and destroyeth it: and then what is right or true,
and what is evil or false, and how the one severeth
(distinguishes) itself from the other.
Wherein especially the Three Principles are
founded, which are the only original or fountain
whence all things flow and are generated.
Whereby the multitude of meanings and opinions
about faith and religion may be known: and what
is the cause of the multitudes of opinions among
men concerning the essence and will of God; also
what is best for man to do, that he may attain the
highest and eternal good.
And then concerning the end and issue of all
things; wherefore all things have appeared in such
a property and essence as they have had; for the
comfort of the poor wounded sick soul of man, and
for the rebuilding or edification of the true Christian
religion; wherein the Antichrist standeth quite
naked and revealed.
Set down for a remembrance to ourself, and for
a stay to uphold us in these distracted miserable
times.
[ Editorial matter of the 2009 electronic edition withheld. ]
[ Editorial matter of the 2009 electronic edition withheld. ] search-engines to index
Boehme's writings, in order to make his texts easily retrievable.
It is a complete text, including the valuable intro by the Rev. G. W. Allen,
all footnotes and non-trivial marginal notes. An extensive alphabetical list
of terms with chapter- verse indication follows at the end of the book. This
will be consulted frequently by the serious student and researcher alike.
The appendix contains a list of Boehme's publications. This was copied by
me from the electronic text of Four Tables of Divine Revelation. The
appendix containing information about Freher's manuscripts was deemed
non-relevant to this electronic edition and has been dropped.
Boehme's work deserves to be available freely, after about four hundred
years. It is still relevant today, because it is process oriented and process
philosophy (Whitehead, Peirce, etc.) is getting more attention now,
promising some solutions to philosophical problems, like ontological ones,
that have plagued science for a long time since quantum mechanics.
Lastly, I wish you an inspirative study of this great work.
Martin Euser
Many more valuable documents (Boehme and other theosophicalkabbalistic sources, my free e-book) can be found at my main site:
meuser.awardspace.com
An older site, but with a nice search facility and blog:
members. tripod.com/m euser
My writers corner can be found at scribd: www.scribd.com/meuser
My e-book on integrative spirituality and holistic science can be found
there too.
Threefold Life of Man
Jacob Boehme
CONTENTS
Introduction by George W. Allen
CHAP.
I. . Of the Original Matrix, or Genetrix
2.. Further of the Genetrix
3.. Concerning the Birth of Love
4.. Of the Wellspring of Light
5.. Of the Wisdom of God, and of the Angelical World
6.. Of the World, and also of Paradise
7.. Of the True Corner Stone
8.. Of the Transitory, and of the Eternal Life
9.. Of the Threefold Life
10. How Man may find himself
II. Of the True Knowledge, what man is
12. Of the True Christian Life and Conversation
13. Of Christ's most precious Testaments
14. Of the Broad Way, and of the Narrow Way
15. Of the Mixed World and its Wickedness
16. Of Praying and Fasting
17. Of God's blessing in this World
18. Of Death, and of Dying
Alphabetical index of terms (very elaborate; Chapter-Verse indicated)
Appendix: list of author's works
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
WE venture to hope that the increasing interest
in the study of Christian Mysticism will enable
us to reprint the English translation of the whole
of Jacob Boehme's Works * (see Appendix A) in
a complete edition, uniform with this first volume,
subscribers to which will receive, by post, in due
course, intimation of the next and all subsequent
issues. In any case, as many of Boehme's writings
will be published as the demand warrants. Every
issue will be complete in itself, and independent
of those that precede or follow it. Those who
may wish to be advised of the reduced subscription
price of future volumes are invited to write to
the undersigned for a prospectus.
Should the demand for the works of this great
Christian mystic prove a success, we hope also
to publish selections from the commentaries of
Dionysius Andreas Freher (Boehme's greatest,
though but little known, expositor), the MSS.
of which are, fortunately, preserved in the British
Museum, and in Dr Williams's Library.
* For a general survey of J. B.'s works we strongly recommend
to the reader Dr Alexander Whyte's booklet, Jacob
Behmen: An Appreciation (Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier).
For an example of Freher's genius, see the
figures "left by the Rev. William Law," appended
to the incomplete edition of Boehme's Works, in four
volumes, large quarto, published by Richardson, and
by Robinson, 1763 - 1781. Law was a close student
of Freher as well as of Boehme, and with, his own
hand made extensive copies of some of these
MSS. He also possessed reproductions of some
of Freher's symbolical figures and tables, which
after Law's death ( 1761 ) were found amongst his
papers by Mr George Ward, the editor of the
eighteenth-century reprint of Boehme, and by
him inserted in the said volumes.
An account of these MSS. is given in Walton's
Notes and Materials for an Adequate Biography
of William Law, pp. 141 - 142 and 679 - 688 (see
Appendix B). The MSS. therein referred to as
in Walton's possession were deposited by him in
1875 with the trustees of Dr Williams's Library,
together with his valuable collection of mystical
works, for the free use of students.
Examples of Freher's writings will also be
found in Memorial of William Law, pp. 258 - 491
and 581 - 587.
A reprint of a small privately printed volume of
collected essays on Boehme by that illuminative
writer the late Mrs A. J. Penny, is also
contemplated.
C. J. BARKER
HILL CROFT, RUSSELL HILL,
PURLEY, SURREY,
March 31, 1909.
Introduction to Boehme's Threefold Life of Man.
By George W. Allen
THERE was a time when the cry among philosophers
was, " Back to Kant !" This cry, " Back!" always
means that men are conscious that something is
wrong somewhere, and suspect that the mistake
may be as to first principles, rather than as to
methods. For philosophy exists not for its own
sake, but for the sake of producing a life of order
and harmony; and when, after long application,
men find that this result is not reached, they know
that something is wrong somewhere. The error,
then, may be as to first principles or as to methods.
In the latter case the purpose, the aim, is right,
but the means taken to achieve it may be wrong.
In the former case the aim is wrong: there has
been evidently some misapprehension as to what
human nature is, what its real wants and capacities
are; and where the aim is wrong, no means —
however wise and well calculated to attain the
aim — will produce satisfactory results. The task
of devising means belongs to the department of
practical politics, though philosophy may render
valuable assistance; but the task of enquiring
into and formulating first principles belongs to
philosophy alone.
Philosophy may concern itself only with the
seen, the surface of things, and refuse to enquire
whether man has any deeper nature than the
external of which he is immediately conscious.
But properly the enquiry cannot limit itself. It
must seek to penetrate to the whole of the data,
and if any Fact is left out of account the conclusion
arrived at will not stand: sooner or later evidence
that something has been overlooked will be forthcoming.
When philosophy admits that the data may have
to be sought beyond the limits of the seen, it is
sometimes then termed "Theosophy." Unfortunately
the term needs to be rescued from much
misapprehension both on the part of some who use
it illicitly, and of those who are (in consequence)
frightened by it. Briefly to indicate this misapprehension,
let us say, first, that the distinction
between the seen and the unseen is a purely
artificial one. The two are not two different
Orders, but the one and only Order cognised by
beings whose faculties vary: some more perfect,
and some so limited that they see but a part of
what is there to be seen. The (so-called) unseen
is as much a part of the order of nature, as truly
subject to orderly sequences, as is the seen, the
nature we know. As Emerson rightly said, " The
whole Fact is here"; but we of the fallen nature
see and know but in part. The Hindu philosophy
seems grounded on the idea that the outer is all
and only "Maya," and that it stands in no relation
to the inner; so that such as would learn anything
of the inner must turn their eyes away from the
outer altogether. The Christian philosophy believes
that the outer is only the veil over the inner,
placed there by man's limited faculty; and that a
wise and profound study of the outer will yield
hints and suggestions of inner truth. For even if
the outer were the direct contrary of the inner (as
in Scripture seems to be clearly hinted), this is
none the less an exact relationship; and from the
study of the contrary some notion of that of which
it is the contrary can be formed.
" Theosophy" may mean either " A wisdom
which is God's" or " A wisdom which man can
attain about God." For all practical purposes the
latter is to be preferred; for whatever view we
take of theosophical truth, we never can be certain
that it is the view of God. If Boehme has been
called the "Teutonic Theosopher," this is only
because he endeavours to penetrate into the depth
of man's nature, and seeks for facts which are not
to be found upon the surface thereof. Many view
such an attempt with feelings akin to those of the
hen who sees the ducklings she has hatched out
embark boldly upon the pond. They are sure
there is no foothold, and that disaster must ensue.
There has been, without doubt, in all ages of the
world much enquiry calling itself " theosophical"
which has been illicit and disastrous. Ducklings
that can safely cross a river might be lost in
attempting to cross the Atlantic. Everything
depends on the spirit in which the enquiry is
undertaken. If in a self-sufficient pride and confidence
in our own powers, or out of mere curiosity
and love of the wonderful and obscure, the enquiry
is illicit and likely to end in spiritual and moral
disaster. One sort of spirit alone can undertake
the enquiry with safety. It must be entered on
for the one and only purpose of learning what we
actually are, so that by this knowledge we may be
enabled to shape our life and form our personal
character in accordance with the eternal Fact.
Neither must we undertake to pursue the enquiry
by our own natural and unaided reason and
intellect. We must seek and expect guidance;
that guidance which is ever afforded to those who
seek it from a true motive, which is never a mere
desire to explore and talk about the recondite and
profound. So narrow is the gate that leads to the
real divine truth that no self-sufficiency can ever
enter in. Only the meek and lowly of heart, who
desire to be able better to serve, rather than to pose
as profound thinkers, can pass it and walk in the
straitened way that will be found within. Such
are known at once by this: that their whole interest
is centred on what can be turned to practical
account in life and conduct and character; and if,
as they study, they do not find themselves
becoming nearer to the divine character in love
and sympathy and service, they feel that something
is wrong. They are never so filled with
wonders discovered as to rest content with this
success; for they seek not truth for its own sake,
but only for the sake of its good. They watch
themselves closely, and turn aside from any knowledge
that does not bear fruit in a greater earnestness
in service, and in a character growing ever
more pure and sympathetic and set on things
above. All this Boehme is careful to say again
and again.
Understood in this sense, and fenced about by
these safeguards, theosophy loses all its dangers,
and the man who loves God, and is dissatisfied
with the mere notional apprehension of Him with
which most are content; who feels that he himself
is more than he as yet knows, and would understand
for what he was created, and to what end he
is meant to arrive; who regards this life as needing
to be interpreted rather than no more than it
seems; who wishes so to live here that, after
death, he may not find himself in a new and
"other" world with every fibre of habit, every
longing and liking, of a nature which, in that
world, is impossible and must prove a torment —
such an one need not despair. There is a way, a
wisdom, an operation which, taken, searched out
and attempted, will lead him, teach him and form
him so that he will not only reach the eternal
(which all must do), but reach it to find himself in
rightful relation to it, at home in it, conformed to
it. Harmony with environment is heaven: the
contrary is hell.
If, of human writers, Kant is the man of philosophical
first principles, Boehme is equally certainly
the man of theosophical first principles. And if
there appear signs (as surely is the case) that our
Christian religion is not producing that national
righteousness which its aim is to produce, and we
suspect that we have not got our first principles
right, there is no author (outside Holy Scripture)
to whom it will be more profitable to go back.
It will be impossible in a brief introduction to
enter on a full explication of Boehme's marvellous
system, for this would require a volume to itself.
All that can be attempted is to indicate the general
lines of that system, and to give some clue to the
reader, whereby first difficulties may be surmounted,
and the secret of Boehme indicated.
The Divine One; The Human Two.
Human apprehension is admittedly limited. The
nature of this limitation may be thus expressed:
What in God's comprehension is one is, to human
apprehension, two. "The darkness and the light
to Thee are both alike." But to man it is said,
"Woe to those who put darkness for light, and
light for darkness." As darkness and light are
contraries, so it follows that the two into which
(for man) the divine one or whole is broken up
are always contraries, and therefore the life of
man's apprehension is the contrary of God's life.
Hence it is said: " The wisdom of this world is
foolishness with God." What to us is wise, to
Him is folly; what to us is strong, to Him is
weak; what to us is life, to Him is death.
This is the mystic truth in its simplest expression:
there is really a great deal more to be
grasped. The reason why man's thought is the
contrary of God's is that God's concept is so vast
that before the human mind can apprehend it it
must be broken up into two. Thus the actual
one thing becomes, for man, two things, as darkness
and light, weakness and strength, wisdom and
folly. The truth is not that — of these two — God
holds one and man the other, but that God
apprehends both as one; and man, unable to do
this, has to hold God's one as a two, one of which
he clings to and rejects the other. One he calls
right, the other wrong; one truth, the other
falsehood; and so on. Thus in what man holds
as right, or true, there is an element, present in
God's comprehension of it, which man fails to
integrate. Both man's " right " and his " wrong"
are imperfect to God, for God's " right" is man's
"right" and " wrong" synthesised, or at-oned.
The Hegelian triad of "thesis, antithesis and
synthesis," is based on this philosophy. Of English
writers, no one has more clearly explicated it
than the late Prof. G. Boole, in his Laws of
Thought — a work now unhappily very rare.
Boole was a mathematician, and expressed his
philosophy in terms of mathematical notation.
Take (he says in effect) any one genus of things,
and you can divide it by dichotomy into two
classes. " Men " can be divided into " white men "
and "not white men," or "clever men" and "not
clever men." Qualities also can be thus dichotomised.
Whatever genus you take and divide
thus he calls " universe of thought"; and his
formula is: " Universe of thought equals unity."
And as (as has been shown) this universe can be
divided into contraries, he suggested the following
formula as a graphic picturing of the philosophy:
x + not x = 1. This will be plainer when we
show the practical application of it. As thus:
John Smith (we will say) is an orthodox Churchman,
and believes that what he holds is right and
what William Brown (who is a Nonconformist)
holds is wrong. He divides his " universe of
thought" (men) into " churchmen and not churchmen";
assuming that the former have all the
truth and the latter all the error. This he assumes
too easily; unaware that God's Truth is too vast
to be all included in the ideas of any single school
or party. There is something in the Nonconformist's
apprehension which is lacking in his, and
something in his which is lacking in the Nonconformist's. This means that in each apprehension
there is some truth and some error. Deduct the
error of each, and you get two truths, the Churchman's
and the Nonconformist's. But, according to
Boole's formula, these two equal one; if these two
can be united, harmonised, at-oned, then we have
the divine Truth. And what becomes of the two
errors? Really, that which John Smith regards
as William Brown's error is that complementary
truth to his own truth which he, not seeing as
truth, has to regard as error: for truth not rightly
understood, not seen in its right relation, is regarded
as error. Is there therefore no such thing
as error? Certainly. If William Brown asserts
that no Churchman can be right, that is an error.
If John Smith asserts that no Nonconformist
can be right, that is an error. And we may
safely generalise that in all our negations there
is error, and in our affirmations truth. Therefore
it is plain that x + not x = 1, means,
"The truth I see and hold, and the truth I yet
do not see nor hold, equals the whole, single
divine Truth. " The full following up of this idea
(which here I have not space to give) would lead
to this unexpected conclusion: that if I want to
find that complementary truth which I require to
make my apprehension approximate as closely as
may be to the divine, I must seek it in the opinions
of those whom I believe to be most mistaken and
wrong. This does not mean that I must abandon
my own views and adopt theirs; for that would
be to exchange the thesis for the antithesis — both
equally short of the full Truth. It means that I
must try to detect the idea at the bottom of their
tenets, find out what it is they are trying in those
tenets to express; and this will be the complementary
that I require to integrate with the idea
that, in my tenets, I am trying to express. Thus
I shall reach the synthesis, which alone is perfect
and complete.
The Hidden Base and the Manifested Quality.
If man as he is here is limited, it follows that
he cannot see the whole of God's One, and if he
cannot see the whole of God's One, it follows that
a part of it is hidden from him. This means that
when he tries to see God's One there will be a
moiety that he will see and a moiety that he will
not see.
In all creaturely seeing the sight is of the surface
alone. And herein it may be said that man is
doubly limited, for he does not see all even of what
is on the surface. A gazer on the shore of the
Atlantic cannot see all of even the surface of that
mighty ocean. So we must say that he sees only
that part of the surface that falls within the limit
of his vision. But he is much more disastrously
limited as to sight of the depths of the ocean, into
which he can only look to some very slight extent.
Translating this into its spiritual analogue, we say
that man can see phenomena but not the power
that causes phenomena. It is true that he can
sometimes see something of the way the power
works, and may even be able himself to set it to
work, and thereby produce certain effects; but the
knowledge whereby he does this is purely empirical.
He has first to watch nature's working, and then
try to imitate it: his work is a making, not a
creating.
It might be thought a presumptuous attempt to
seek to penetrate to the mystery of God's creating;
but Boehme undertakes to defend the reasonableness
of the attempt. Man is, he says, in his
spiritual nature the child of God; and, as our
Lord said, " The Father loveth the Son, and showeth
him all things that Himself doeth." Therefore
the whole question of our justification in attempting
this deep searching is whether we approach it as
children of God, relying on our Father's illumination
and guidance, or whether we undertake it in
our own fancied self-ability. If in the latter, the
presumption, the folly, the sin of the attempt
cannot be exaggerated. If in the former, then
the attempt, is right and no disaster will result.
God gives the Holy Spirit to all who earnestly
desire it, and " the spirit searcheth all things, yea,
the deep things of God." Boehme asserts that he
sought in this spirit; that the knowledge he thus
meekly sought came to him; and this is the
account he gives of it.
Before any created "thing" was, God (who is
" no-thing" because "everything" in one, immanent
in all, and yet also transcendent) existed in a state
which Boehme calls the "Still Rest." In the One
All-consciousness every " thing " which, after manifestation,
became an " each-consciousness" was,
but un-put-forth. One Will ruled alone, a Will to
abide still in the same state; and had not a contrary
will arisen, all would have remained as One.
God would have known His own infinite content,
but there had been no creatures, self-conscious,
and capable of knowing and rejoicing in their
Creator.
Since it is clear that manifestation has taken
place, we must say that the necessary, second and
contrary will did arise: how, we must not seek to
enquire. It is not revealed, because not necessary
for us to know. We may be sure that it does not
indicate any change in content in the Infinite, to
which nothing can be added; but only a change
in arrangement. The effect of this contrary will
was to produce conditions the contrary of what
had been before. Before, all had been light and
peace and joy; now, darkness, strife and wrath
arose. At once we must ask, How can these evil
things arise in God? The reply is, first, these
things very obviously are now; and if they have
not their origin in God, in whom have they their
origin? There is no other originating power but
God, who says of Himself, " I form the light and
Icreate darkness, I make peace and create evil, I am
the Lord that doeth all these things." *
* Isa. xlv. 7. Note that these words are addressed to Cyrus, who
as a follower of the Magian religion believed in two Gods — one who
made all things good, and the other all things evil. This fact adds
greatly to the significance of the words.
But, secondly, we can reply that what really
thus arose was not darkness, strife and wrath, but
a spiritual principle which, if allowed to take on
form, or quality, would then — but then only —
appear as these evil things. If this idea is clearly
grasped, most of the obscurity of Boehme's system
will disappear, and all will be lucid.
For, according to him, any quality is the surface
appearance of an unseen, hidden power or spirit
which, so long as it remains as invisible spirit, is
unknown, has no name, no consciously cognised
quality. But it is possible to bring it up out of
the hiddenness, and then it appears as a definite
quality; and then, for the first time, it gets a
name; and is either love or hate, darkness or
light, falsehood or truth, according to the nature
of the spirit of which it is the manifestation.
But why should God permit any spirit to be
which, when manifested, must appear as these
evil qualities? Boehme's reply is that contrariety
is the very condition and basis of manifestation;
and that, apart from the existence of a contrary,
manifestation could not be. For a single will does
nothing new; and had the will of the Still Rest
not been met and crossed by a contrary will, the
Still Rest had been the ceaseless condition, and
manifestation would not have taken place. And
there is very much to be said for this presentation
of the case. Contraries do exist for us; and we
must either suppose that they exist against the
will of God (which is hard to believe, for "Who
hath resisted His will?"), or that they exist by
His will, and subserve some necessary purpose, as
Boehme asserts. We know, too, that it is through
opposition that consciousness is effected. Where
there is no opposition, no work can be consciously
done. If things had no weight to resist our
strength, we should never know we possessed
strength. If we could never do wrong, we should
never know that we could do right. Abstract
terms are nothing to us, apart for some concrete
embodiment. Strength is unknown to us apart
from the strong thing, showing its strength in
what it does. Colours would be unknown were
there no " bodies " that were red or blue or green.
So "strong," "powerful," "good," "thick,"
"heavy," "light," "dark," " hard," "soft," "sweet,"
"bitter," etc., etc. are all adjectives — that is, they
are qualities of things which we only know through
the things of which they are the qualities. We
know that we cannot conceive of pure, abstract
spirit apart from some visible or cognisable thing
in and through which it manifests; but this is
part of the predication, for if we could know it,
it would be manifested and not hidden. We
know that God is Spirit, and that God is unknowable
and incognisable apart from His self-revelation
of Himself in His Son, who is His manifestation.
Therefore there can be no inherent impossibility
in the idea here suggested that every known quality
must have some unknown, hidden basis. Nor in
the further idea that the hidden and the manifested
will necessarily be (to us) contraries. Consider
such a quality as " love." It appears so weak that
it cannot threaten or use force to compel response;
it prefers to seem to yield, to give way; yet always,
in the end, it wins. It is the one invincible force.
Why is this? If Boehme is right, it is because in
everything there is a quality on the surface, and a
power in the hiddenness; and if the quality appears
weak, the power is strong; and if the quality appears
strong, the power is weak. The man who scoffs at
love, and prefers to compel and dominate in his
own power, in the end always fails to accomplish
his end. Strange, therefore, as the idea may seem
to us at first sight, and the reverse of all that we
should naturally be inclined to expect, yet deep
reflection will show that there is very much to be
said for it, and that it is well worthy of consideration;
especially as it affords such a splendid and
effective explanation of things as we find them.
Had the true, divine Order not been transgressed,
the fact of the second will arising had never produced
manifested evil. It stands in the very
nature of the case that — being, ex hypothesi, a
contrary will — if it should be manifested, it must
manifest as the contrary to the manifestations of
the first will. But the divine Order is that it
never should be manifested, but remain always in
the hiddenness, and so be the basal might and
secret power of what does manifest. And there is
a double sense in which this principle can be understood.
In heaven, where good alone manifests, all
that — if manifested — would manifest as evil is
always kept in the hiddenness. On earth, where
the conditions of heaven are reversed, the law is
that what we would be recognised as possessing in
heaven we must be content to seem not to possess
while on earth, and in the recognition of earthlyminded
people. If there we would wear the crown,
here we must be content to bear the cross. If
there we would possess the true riches, here we
must be poor in spirit: that is, if God gives us
wealth here, we must not boast of it and glory in
it, and use it as if it were our own, but hold it as
only a stewardship, and be — in the eyes of the
world — none the richer for it; not use it to
command luxuries and display, and all that the
world esteems money as able to procure. If in
heaven we would be wise, here we must be willing
to be thought fools. For what is manifested on
earth is hidden in heaven, and what is manifested
in heaven is hidden on earth. Which is why
all God's saints have to go the covered way, and
enter into the kingdom through much tribulation.
Knowing this they can well "glory in infirmities";
for they know that the high court of
heaven will reverse the verdict of earth, given
according to the earthly spirit, and from the
earthly point of view; and that the decision of
heaven will stand for ever, and the decision of
earth but for a " little while."
I have dealt at this length with Boehme's
doctrine of the Hidden and the Manifested because
I regard it as the main and preponderating element
in his teaching, and in an especial way his " secret."
Grasp this, and all the rest will follow easily. For
all the rest, the seven forms of Nature, the three
Principles, etc., which go to complete his philosophy
of origins, are but the details of this main principle;
as will be seen from what follows.
The Seven Forms of Nature.
These, present from the first in real but uncognised
fact, appear and become recognisable and
definable with the arising of the second, or contrary,
will. The first will, being a one will, was to remain
unchanged, to go on still as ever. Hence from it
arises the first form, which Boehme calls " Harshness,"
by which I think he means that hard and
strong resistance to change, which is the great
primal conservative force, tending to give permanence
to things, to resist new combinations, and
maintain the status quo.
The second arises from the contrary will, and is
necessarily the contrary to the first. Boehme calls
it "Attraction," meaning that restless flux, ever
seeking new combinations, which is the principle of
all variety, and the cause of differences and of
evolution.
These two being now face to face with each
other, at once the contrariety between them produces
the third form, which Boehme calls " Bitterness";
meaning thereby the strife of the two first,
the one to resist change, the other to produce it.
These first three will perhaps be better understood
if we call them (in modern terminology) homogeneity,
heterogeneity, and strain. These three,
he says, are the bases of all manifested things.
Apart from difference there had been no possibility
of different things coming into being; and difference
involves opposition, a conflict of forces, and
out of the conflict arises first the difference in
essence, then the difference in the particular
manifestation. For the essence is spiritual, and
spirit always at once puts on a form which is its
manifestation, and the smallest difference in. the
essence result is a corresponding difference in the
form.
Thus in the attainment of the third form of
Nature, the process reaches the point at which the
particular manifestation is practically determined
as to its first and earliest degree and quality.
This is the fourth form, which Boehme calls
Fire, and the term may stand; for all Being is
a fire; from God, the fire of love, down to the
most brutal and degraded creatures, a fire of hate
and malice.
Here, then, in the fourth form, arises the first
personality. Here begins the idea of "self," and
I am conscious that I am I. But in this stage of
the process — which is, ex hypothesi, incomplete —
the personality stands in this "fire," in its unmodified
aspect of a raging, consuming element.
For the basis of it is as yet the contrariety of the
two first forms, represented in the third and
personified in the fourth. "We can easily see the
fire in characters yet unregenerated; where the
whole spirit is to get; and lust, avarice and pride
rule unmodified by any light of true knowledge
of what real good is. Probably, no actual man
stands in the fire alone; in some the light is so
minute as to be practically darkness; but it is
the rarest thing to find any character with absolutely no smallest, faintest trace of some generous
emotion at odd times and in particular directions.
But Boehme uses Lucifer as an example of what
a character would be if it stood all and only in
the might of the fire. It does not concern us
practically to know whether there is actually such
a character. Boehme seems to assert that there
is, and that he will abide for ever in the fire,
as this is his sole and entire element, in which
only he can live. That is as it may be. Perceptions
have dawned on men since Boehme's time
which suggest to a different conclusion; and —
great and wonderful as is Boehme's illumination
— we need not suppose that he knew everything.
His knowledge was purely intuitive. He himself
often laments that he had not more learning. If
he had had this, he might have been able to
distinguish between "no evidence that it is not
so " and " evidence that it is so." It ought to be
easy for us now to distinguish between his positive
affirmations and what in his teaching is positively
asserted in form, but is (to logic) practically negative,
and based on what had not been revealed
rather than on what had.
But to proceed. That which can qualify the
fire and practically put it — in its immediate aspect
of raging, consuming — into the hiddenness, is Light.
This is Boehme's fifth form, and the term needs
no amendment. " Whatsoever doth make manifest
is light" (literally, " make to appear"). If man is
an evolution, gradually being perfected, then clearly
his first ideas and impressions are not in accordance
with actual fact, or no evolution would be needed.
What he takes himself as seeing is not what is
there, but what is there seen in a dimness of
greater or less extent. Boehme says — very rightly
— that in perfect light all darkness is in the
hiddenness. Correspondingly, in semi-light some
of the darkness is hidden and some manifested.
Our Lord spoke of the light that is in us being
darkness; and he who is in darkness, and yet
Ithinks he sees, is sure to see wrongly and
imperfectly.
But as the light increases, many things before
unseen come into view. It is as if, as the light
increases, the first three forms for the first time
see their true place and function, which is not to
emphasise and express themselves as themselves,
but to be basal powers to that which can come to
manifestation when they are hidden.
In reading Boehme, one has constantly to be on
the watch for what he is seeking to convey. He
had the rough idea, but not the training in
literary expression which would have enabled him
to convey it clearly and with no liability of
misapprehension.
For I take it that what he really means is this.
He says that the first three forms, the harshness,
the attraction, and the bitterness, should always
remain in the hiddenness, and never be manifested.
But what is in the hiddenness is utterly unknown
and can have no name at all, for we cannot name
(define) what we do not know. Hence the names
harshness, attraction, bitterness, only belong to
these when they are manifested. Not manifested,
they are basal forces of no known quality, and not
rightly regarded as hidden evil, but as hidden
bases which, if manifested, must manifest as evil,
but are not evil so long as they are not manifested.
The corollary of this is most interesting. If
Lucifer can be put into the hiddenness, he would
cease to be evil; for evil is only evil when brought
out of the hiddenness into manifestation. But
this is just what Boehme says will happen in the
end. The first principle and all contained in it
will be so shut up that no knowledge of it can
ever obtain in the second principle. If this is not
the equivalent of being put into the hiddenness,
I know not to what it is equivalent. Lucifer is
clearly (in Boehme's system) the external and open
manifestation of certain basal forces which should
never be explored, or known, or come to manifestation.
So long as they do not, they are necessary
and right, and are the very fountain powers to
manifestation which, apart from them, could not
be effected. I find here the most profound and
suggestive hint at the solution of the problem of
evil that has ever been given to the world. Here
it is impossible to do more than merely indicate
it roughly. Evil is not a positive "thing," but
a negative appearance: it is what seems to arise
when the right thing is in the wrong place; on
the surface when it should be underneath. To
cause it to appear needs no strong, positive " let
there be." Mighty and powerful for harm as it
appears, its power lies only in the power of a
false imagination. In a state where no false
imagination could arise, no evil could arise;
therefore there is a sense in which it cannot exist
for God: and yet there is a sense in which it can,
for God must deal with all that appears to be to
man. But He sees it only, so to speak, through
fallen human eyes; and not as a real thing, but
as a delusion of His creatures. We know it is not
in heaven; and — unless we can conceive that in
the infinite there can be anything real lacking —
we must allow that whatever is not in heaven is
not real in the absolute sense.
Boehme, it is true, does not himself develop
this philosophy. That he saw it, I am persuaded;
or he never could have spoken as complacently as
he does about the results of evil on Lucifer and
unrepentant men. But he feared to speak too
plainly, lest any should so sadly misunderstand
him as to suppose him to mean that evil did not
matter. It matters with an infiniteness of fatality
to the false imagination; that is, to you, my evil-loving
friend, who wish to feel free to indulge your
evil desires unrestrainedly. If you could distinguish
between yourself and your false imagination,
you would never wish to do any evil. But the
whole point is that you cannot, do not. And to
the false imagination, evil is real, and its consequences
end only with the ending of the false
imagination. The idea that you are in eternal
torment may be, will certainly be, only a false
imagination; but this will be no comfort to you
who are not only unaware that the imagination is
false, but are absolutely certain that it is not, but
real and actual.
The remaining forms of Nature are the sixth,
Sound, and the seventh, Figure. By Sound
Boehme means any particular expression to sense
of those qualities which arise after the creature has
determined whether the fire shall remain fire, or
pass into light; that is, whether it will stand in
the false imagination, or allow the light to enter
and change this into the true imagination by showing
things as they actually are instead of as they
are falsely imagined. "Whatever nature it elects
to stand in, this it sounds forth, by voice and
speech, by cries (in animals), by colour, scent,
taste, properties, and whatsoever conveys an idea
of its quality.
The seventh form is the Figure, the creature
definitely constituted and embodied in form and
material according to, answering to, the quality of
its spirit. The seventh is the crown and completion
of all the six: good, if the light has
modified the fire; evil, if it has not. If good,
the sound is pleasing and the embodiment beautiful.
If evil, the sound is displeasing and the
embodiment hideous.
The Three Principles.
By the first Principle Boehme means a state in
which the creatures stand in the false imagination,
in the might of the fire, and refuse to allow the
light to shine and show things as they really are.
In such a state, he says, the first three forms are
manifested in their own self-quality as Harshness,
Attraction, and Bitterness. The love of that state
is "self-love," which is hate; the light is "self-light,"
which is darkness. Every "self" is a
personified " love " ; but the love may be particular
or universal, the love of one (myself), or of all
(God). And love is a Fire; therefore every " self"
is a fire, but it may be a fire that seeks to consume
all else into itself, or a fire that — like light — gives
itself freely to all.
So he calls the first Principle the Principle of
Fire, and the second Principle the Principle of
Light. And these two, he says, are eternally distinct.
Whichever is manifested, the other remains
absolutely hidden; and neither can know the other.
There is absolutely nothing manifested as good in
the first Principle: there is absolutely nothing
manifested as evil in the second.
But the third Principle stands in both good and
evil; and by it he means our present state here on
earth. Here somewhat of good is manifested, and
somewhat of evil. Between these two, man has
here to make what is to him an eternal choice.
In every manifested creature the basal "real" is
hidden, and he knows only by and through imagination,
persuasion, sense of certitude. He only
directly contacts the real who is in fully realised
and conscious touch with the whole. We all therefore
" know in part," and such knowledge is but an
imagination, compared with the absolute knowledge
of God, who is the whole, yet transcends the whole.
There are times when one cannot but suspect
Boehme of being purposely obscure. He seems to
me to be thus when he speaks of the first Principle
being the Principle of the Father, and the
second of the Son: though he hastens to add that,
in the actual Fact, the Father can never be so much
as thought of as apart from the Son. What he
means I take to be somewhat as follows.
He regards the Father as being the hidden,
basal spirit, force, potency of the qualities which,
in the Son, come to manifestation. The Son is
the Father in manifestation: the Father is that
which the Son manifests. More than this we
cannot say, for the unmanifest has no name nor
qualities in itself and as apart from its manifestation.
So it is said, " God, whom no one hath
seen, or can see"; but the Son says, " He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father." But the
distinction is verbal and notional only; and is an
instance of that truth expressed above, that God's
One must become distinguished as an apparent
two before human apprehension can grasp it.
Boehme also says that it is only " according to
the first Principle that God is called a consuming
fire and a jealous God." If he had said that it
is only according to a false imagination that God
could so much as appear thus, he would have been
more easily understood. For " God according to
the first Principle " is God as He never is, for " the
Father cannot even be so much as thought of as
apart from the Son ": that is, in a true imagination.
The whole point is, that by a false imagination
He can be thus falsely thought of, but only
in imagination, never in reality. Our very surest
knowledge is but an image of the true: how true
or false an image we never can know till we know
all things. Thus we are (till then) shut up to
imagination; and when we say, " Thus it is," we
mean, " Thus it seems to me." We have absolutely
no right to say " I know it is so," save of truths
that stand in an agreement in definition, or of
things whose content we know exhaustively. Thus
we may say we know that all radii of a circle are
equal, for this pertains to the defiuition of a circle;
or, " I know that my friend was in town to-day,"
for this is a matter that we can know all about.
When Boehme says, " God is called a consuming
fire and a jealous God according to the first
Principle," he very evidently means, according to.
the first Principle as manifested, and by those
who stand in it and are of its nature: that is, are
of the false imagination. He says much that
merits deep reflection as to the danger of awaking
the fire in the Turba, that is, in the wrath. Instances
of this we find in the imprecatory Psalms, in the
command to slaughter the heathen inhabitants of
Canaan; in Elisha cursing the children who mocked
him, etc. The truly divine command is, " Overcome
evil with good." But sometimes the spirit of patience
gives way under great strain, and the wrath is
appealed to to vindicate the right. But this could
never be done by the true imagination, such as
was the Lord's. He says of those who would
awake the wrath, " Ye know not what manner of
spirit ye are of"; and He predicted, "They that
take the sword shall perish with the sword." In
the false imagination the sword is permitted; but
there is always a " more excellent way" for such
as have grace to find and take it. All that we can
know about God we know of Him as manifested
in His Son, as love and light and life. If we think
we know Him as to the first Principle (that is, as
apart from the Son) as manifested might and
compelling force showing itself ostensibly such,
this we only know in a false imagination. Yet in
that imagination it is real, and can only seem not
so, only be put into the hiddenness, after the true
imagination has arisen.
Regeneration.
There is much more that ought to be said, but
space forbids. I must conclude this very imperfect
Introduction by a few words of Boehme's teaching
as to Regeneration.
Put briefly, that process of regeneration consists
in finding out how to pass from the fire to the
light, from the false imagination to the true.
There is only one way, the way of death. We
must cease to think and act according to the false
imagination. By doing this we do actually put it
into death, that is, into the hiddenness. The
difficulty of doing this increases with every day
lived in the false imagination, for every day confirms
and strengthens the habit of the false. There
is a difficulty, of course, in awaking to the fact
that that which seems to us so real, so universally
admitted and practised, is a false imagination; but
the idea once seen is instantly grasped. As to
knowledge, we may pass from death to life in a
moment; but knowledge is not at once and
immediately power. We have now to face the
much longer and harder task of eradicating old
habit, and — with the best will in the world — this
is never done without long and very earnest effort;
and it might be said that the difficulty increases
as the square of the time we have remained in the
habit.
We have said that the process is " death."
Scripture calls it " birth": a new birth. But
death and birth are the two sides of a single act:
one, the leaving of the old; the other, entering
the new. The product of regeneration is a " new
creation." To the old, false imagination sin is
proper; that is, is its propriety, and so long as
we stand in the false imagination, no amount of
tinkering of it up, or attempts to put on the fruits
of the true upon the false, will be of any avail.
For a hope of heaven, or even to win a reputation
for respectability on earth, men will " do" many
things; not from a real love of the things, but
from a desire for what is believed will be their
reward. So the cup of cold water must be given
" because ye belong to Christ," which can only be
done by those who love Christ, and not because
Christ will reward the act. Every good act has
its reward; but the reward is always according to
the spirit which prompted the act, and not according
to the mere act itself.
Thus though men constantly try to simulate
regeneration, they can never succeed; because
God sees the heart, the motive at the root of the
act; and a right act may have a wrong motive.
Regeneration is therefore, as Boehme so constantly
says, a matter of very great and real
earnestness; far greater than is required to put
on the external appearance of the fruits of
regeneration. We must take our false imagination,
which will seem to us to be our very life,
to the Cross of Christ, and nail it thereon; which
means that we must with courage and endurance
do everything that is most distasteful to the false
imagination. Then, through lack of the nourishment
which comes of indulgence, it will gradually
weaken and at length die. Then the new birth
will take place and the new creation come to
conscious being.
Conclusion.
Some of Boehme's learned friends had put in
his hands the works of Paracelsus; and it was
Ifrom this author that he took much of his
alchemical terminology. The reader will at first
be perplexed by these terms. The three principal
ones which he uses most frequently are Sulphur,
Mercury, and Salt. I think that if the reader takes
these as indicating Spirit, Soul, and Body, he will
not be far wrong. Each has, says Boehme, a good
and a bad quality; for there is an evil spirit as
well as a holy; a blind as well as an enlightened
soul; and a gross four elemental matter as well as
the " One Pure Element."
The "Virgin," the "Pearl," the "Grain of
Mustard Seed," mean our heavenly, divine nature
which at the Fall went into the hiddenness and
are now lost to us. Yet only " lost," and it should
be the work of our lives to recover them. The
" Virgin" expresses that this lost something is no
abstract quality, but of human form, only far more
glorious than the body we now bear, made "like
the beasts that perish." Somewhat of this is in
me now; and it is because of this that I am
human and not animal. But the greater part is
in the hiddenness, and is of the contrary sex to
that manifested in me here. In the union of the
two, the two (as sex distinctions) disappear; just
as in the union of oxygen and hydrogen the
separate elements disappear and an entirely
different " body" comes out of the hiddenness, in
which they are, but not manifested.
By the " Pearl" and the idea of it in our Lord's
parable, Boehme seeks to express the transcending
preciousness and value of the " Virgin ": worth all
our external life and its possessions. By the
"Mustard Seed" he would express that though
to the earthly mind it may seem small and of
no value, it will, if cultivated, manifest an unexpected
fulness of content; and prove, in fact, the
basis and potency of every joy and delight.
Lastly, may I say this? You, my friend, who
are about to study an aspect of truth hidden from
the world, remember you cannot open this mystery
and yet remain in the same relation to the world
as you were before. The inexorable condition of
its opening to you is that, when opened, you shall
be resolved to live in the light of it. It is the lack
of these perceptions, grasped and acted on, that
makes this world a fallen world; that sets human
life in the power of the Fire, and makes civilisation
a real war of conflicting interests. The moment
you see the truth, you become bound to be a
witness to it, either in word or in deed (and the
latter is the more efficacious). For these are not
matters of intellectual interest merely; but eternal
verities that touch and colour every department of
life, and are endowed with the divine creative
force. So that they must and will, and cannot
but, be dynamic. That is, they must work something;
if not good, then harm. You cannot see
these truths, and yet be no different for the seeing.
" The whole creation," says St Paul, " is waiting
Ifor the manifesting of the sons of God." Boehme's
philosophy gives us some rough but practical idea
how to begin to operate towards this end in our
own case. He never thought of himself as a great
teacher; but only as a humble guide to the one
great Teacher, the Holy Spirit, by indicating how,
and in what attitude of heart and mind, He must
be approached: a meekness which is too strong to
be frightened or ashamed; a love which is too
mighty to say, "That I cannot do." The world
is not all and only evil: the good is in it, only
in a hiddenness, and needs not creating but only
developing. In some around you it may be so
near the surface that but a word, a faithful
example, may be all that is needed to bring it to
manifestation. Therefore if God opens in you
the knowledge, do not disappoint the "earnest
expectation of the creation." " Let your light
shine," and doubt not that some will catch the
glimpse of it. Then at once the fury of the Fire
in which they have been living will be quenched
and put into the hiddenness, and the light of
everlasting life spring up: a feeble spark perhaps
at first, but "shining more and more unto the
perfect day."
GEORGE W. ALLEN.
BRETBY VICARAGE, BURTON-ON-TRENT.
THE FIRST CHAPTER
1. WHEN we consider the beginning of our
life, and compare the same with the
eternal life, which we have in the promise, we cannot
say nor find that we are at home in this life. For
we see the beginning and the end of the outward life,
as also the total decay and final corruption of our
bodies; and besides, we see or know of no returning
into this [outward] life, neither have we any
promise of it from the high and eternal Good.
2. Seeing then there is a life in us which is
eternal and incorruptible, wherewith we strive
after the highest good; and a life (from this world)
which is finite and corruptible, and also a life in
which the source and original cause of life standeth,
wherein the highest danger of eternal perdition,
misery, and calamity doth consist; therefore it is
of necessity that we consider the beginning of life,
from whence all these things proceed and have
their original.
3. So now when we consider the life, what it is,
then we find that it is a burning fire, which consumeth,
and when it hath no more [fuel] to feed
upon, it goeth out; as may be seen in all fires.
For the life hath its nourishment from the body,
and the body from the food; for when the body
hath no more food, then it is consumed by the fire
of the life, so that it fadeth and perisheth, as a fair
flower, when it hath no water, withereth.
4. But seeing there is in man a life which is
eternal and incorruptible, which is the soul, which
is also a fire, and hath need of nutriment as well as
the elementary life hath, therefore we ought to
consider the property and food of that life, what
that is which continually feedeth it, so that it
never goeth out in eternity.
5. And thirdly we find in the life of our souls,
that there is in it a greater hunger after another
higher and better life, viz. after the highest good,
which is called the divine life; insomuch that the
soul is not contented with its own food, but it
desireth, with great longing and panting, the
highest and best good, not only for a pleasant
habitation, but in a hunger for a food.
6. And so now we perceive, in our very great
and true knowledge, that every life desireth its
[own] mother, (out of which the life is generated)
for a food; as the wood, which is the mother of
the fire, that the fire desireth to have, and if it be
severed from its mother it goeth out. In like
manner, the earth is the mother of all trees and
herbs, and they desire it; and the water (with the
other elements) is the mother of the earth, or else
it would be dead [or barren], and there would
grow neither metals, trees, herbs, nor grass out of
it.
7. We see especially, that the elementary life
consisteth in a boiling, and is a [kind of] seething,
and when it leaveth boiling it goeth out: also we
know that the constellations kindle the elements,
and the stars are the fire of the elements, and the
sun kindleth the stars, so that there is a boiling
and seething amongst them: but the elementary
life is finite and corruptible, and the life of the
soul is eternal.
8. Now seeing it is eternal, therefore it must
also be from the eternal; as the dear Moses hath
written very rightly of it, that God breathed into
man the living breath, and so man is become a
living soul.
9. Yet we cannot say, though indeed man
standeth in a Threefold Life, that each life is
apart in a several form; but we find that they are
in one another, and yet each life hath its own
working in its dominion, viz. in its mother: for as
God the Father is all, because all cometh from him,
and he is present every where, and is the fullness
of every thing, and the thing doth not comprehend
him; also the thing is not God, nor his spirit, nor
the true divine essence; so that it cannot be said
of any comprehensible thing, that it is God, or that
God is here present more than in other places, and
yet he is really present, he containeth the thing,
and the thing containeth not him; he comprehendeth
the thing, and the thing comprehendeth
not him; for he dwelleth not in the thing, but in
himself, in another Principle.
10. So also is the soul of man breathed in from
God; it dwelleth in the body, and is environed
with the spirit of the stars and elements, not only
as a garment covereth the body, but it is infected
with the spirit of the stars and elements, as the
pestilence or other [infectious] disease infecteth the
elementary spirit, so that it poisoneth its body, and
so it decayeth and dieth, and then the source [or
property] of the stars also breaketh itself off from
the soul, and consumeth itself: whereby the elementary
mother breaketh off, and so the spirit of
the stars hath no more food, and therefore consumeth
itself, but the soul remaineth naked [feeble,empty],
because it liveth by another food.
11. Understand us here in this manner; though
the soul be thus captivated with the spirit of the
stars and elements, so that the source [or property]
thereof dwelleth in the soul, yet the soul hath
another food, and liveth in another Principle, and
is another [thing or] being [substance].
12. For its essences [or the faculties or powers of
its substance] are not from the constellation, but
have their beginning and corporeal union out of
the Eternal Band, out of the eternal nature, which
is God's, the Father's, before the light of his love,
wherein he entereth into himself, and maketh to
himself the second Principle in his love, out of
which he continually generateth his eternal Word
and Heart, from eternity to eternity; where the
holy name of God continually ariseth [or discovered
itself] and holdeth its divine nature, as a
spirit in the second Principle, in itself, and dwelleth
in nothing else, but merely in itself
13. For although the band of the eternal nature
is in it, yet the divine spirit is not subjected under
that band; for the spirit kindleth that band, so
that it becometh enlightened and springing [sprouting] with
the virtue of the light in the love, in the life of the
Word and Heart of God, so that it is a holy habitation
and paradise of that spirit, which is called God.
14. So also the soul of man is out of the band of
the eternal original, eternally standing therein, and
desireth in itself, in the second Principle, to press
into God, and to satiate itself in the power of
God; but because it cannot with its whole being
(with its own essences) enter into the light and
power of God; as little as the eternal nature can
press into the light of God, so that it may have the
light for its own in its own power, but the light
shineth out of the love in its own Principle in the
eternal nature, so that the light remaineth Lord in
the eternal nature, because the eternal nature doth
not comprehend it, but rejoiceth in the light, and
bringeth forth its wonders in the power and understanding
of the light, where then they are revealed.
Thus also the soul cannot in its essences press into
the light of God, and over-master it, but must in
itself, in another Principle, press into God, into
his love.
15. For you must here understand another new
birth in the soul: For it must not only press forth
out of the life of the stars and elements, but also
out of its own source [or property] of life, and
incline its will into the life of God, endeavouring to
be therein: this [inclined or] created will is received
of God, and God dwelleth in that will; and so
cometh the divine life and light into the soul, and
so it is a child of God: for it standeth in its source
[or property] and life, as God the Father himself
[doth] in the source [or property] of the eternal
nature.
16. And here we understand, that without [beyond] the
divine light (which is the second Principle) in the
eternal nature there is an anguishing source [or
property]; for the band of life stands in the fire;
but when that fire is inspired and captivated by
the divine love, then the life in itself goeth forwards
forth into another source [or property] ; for
another Principle is broken open for it, wherein it
liveth; and that life is in God; even as God dwelleth
in himself, and yet is really all himself, all is come
from his nature: yet you must understand not as
from the eternal nature, only the souls and the
angelical spirits [are so] ; but from his created [creaturely]
will, which hath a beginning, viz. from the external;
and therefore every thing of this [outward] world
is transitory. And herein we find the great and
terrible Fall of our soul in our first parents, that it
is entered into the spirit of this world, into a
strange lodging, and hath forsaken the divine light,
wherein it was an angel and child of God; therefore
it must go forth again out of the spirit of the
stars and elements, and [pass] in a new birth, into
the life of God.
17. But because that was not possible for the
soul to do, therefore the life of God came to us,
out of love and grace, into the flesh, and took our
human soul again in it into the divine life in the
power of the light,' that we might here be able to
press into the same life to God in a new birth.
For, as we went wholly with the soul of Adam out
from the life of God (for the children of Adam
have inherited [all] from their parents' soul, being
sprung wholly [from them] as from a tree), so also
hath the life of God in Christ regenerated us again,
so that we can enter again, in the life of Christ,
into the life of God. And thus now our soul
standeth in the band of the eternal original, infected
with the spirit of this world, and captivated by the
wrath of the original, in the life of the eternal fire,
viz. in the eternal nature; therefore we must,
every one of us by ourselves, press with our soul in
the life of Christ, to God, into the New Regeneration
in the life and spirit of Christ: and here no
hypocrisy, appearing holiness, or any meritorious
works, will avail any thing, for the poor soul can
no other way be helped, except it enter into itself
(in a new created will) with steadfast earnest purpose
and resolution, into the life of Christ; and
then it will be received, with very great glory [honour] by
God and his children, in the second Principle; and
the noble precious treasure (viz. the light of the
eternal life) will be given to it, which enlighteneth
the source [or property] of the soul in the first
Principle, wherein it standeth substantially with
its essences for ever, and turneth the anguish into
love, and the rising and burning own property into
an humble lovely mirth in meek joy.
18. And thus the soul is a joyful habitation in
the divine life, as if I should liken it to a kindled
light, when the wick of the candle burneth, and
casteth a pleasant light, [or shineth bright] and
hath no pain in the shining, but at lightsome
pleasantness, and yet the wick continueth burning:
yet you must understand, that there is in the
burning wick no pain or woe, but that there is
only a cause of the glance of life; for no fire is
comparable to the divine [fire] .
19. For the divine nature, out of which the
divine fire of life burneth, is filled with the love
of God, so that the light of God maketh another
Principle in itself, wherein nature is not felt [or perceived],
for it is the end of nature; therefore the soul cannot
comprehend, in its own essences, the light of God
to possess it. For the soul is a fire in the eternal
nature, and doth not reach the end of nature; for
it continueth in nature as a creature created out of
the eternal nature, which yet hath no comprehensibility,
but is a spirit in a seven-fold form:
whereas yet in the originality there are not seven,
but only four forms known, which uphold the
eternal band, and those [four] are the source [or
property] in the anguish, wherein the eternal consisted; and thereout the other forms are wholly
generated, wherein God and the Kingdom of
heaven consist; and in the four forms the anguish
and torment consist, if they are singly alone, and
therein we understand hell-fire [to consist], and
the eternal wrath of God: and although we do not
know the originality of the essence of God, yet we
know the eternal birth [geniture], which never had any
beginning. And seeing it had no beginning,
therefore it is the same this day that ever it was
from eternity: and therefore we may well comprehend
what we see and know this day in the light
of God.
20. None ought to account us ignorant, because
God hath given us to know his own essence, which
we cannot and must not deny, upon pain of the
loss of the divine light, and of our eternal salvation;
for it is impossible for any man to have it, except
it be given him out of grace in the love of God: and
when that is given to a man, then that soul standeth
in the knowledge in the wonders of God; which
[soul] then speaketh not of things strange and
afar off, but of the things wherein it standeth, and
of itself; for it becometh seeing in the light of God,
so that it can know itself.
21. Now that this can be, consider, that the
essences of the soul stand in the original in the
first Principle, and that the divine light shineth
in itself, and maketh the second Principle, and so
there are two of them; and the soul seeth into the
high knowledge of the light of the second Principle,
which shineth in it: why then should it not speak
of its native country, wherein it liveth? And how
wilt thou, mad world (in the third Principle in the
spirit [or wisdom] of the stars and elements) forbid
that to it, whereas thou art blind as to God, and
liest captivated in the eternal wrath, in the source
[or property] of the original?
22. Now seeing it is so, we will therefore set down
the ground of the eternal band, to be a lookingglass for him that desireth to see; though it be
true indeed that he cannot learn it of us. Unless
he himself enter into the new birth into the life of
Christ, that the divine light itself may shine in
him, we are but as a history to him, and shall not
be understood by him.
23. But when we speak of the source [or
original] of the fire, and of its kindling (we mean
concerning the fire of life) we know for certain,
that in its original, before the kindling of the fire,
it consists only in two forms, and hath but one
mother, which is harsh [astringent or attractive],
and draweth to her; and yet there is nothing in herself
but a willing of the
eternal Father in the eternal nature which he hath
appointed in himself to reveal, and to declare his
wonders.
24. Now that will is eternal, and is not stirred
up by anything but by itself; and if that were not,
all were nothing, neither darkness nor light:
therefore seeing there is somewhat, it must needs
be the eternal will, and that is astringent, and
desirous of the wonders of the creation. Therefore
seeing there is a desire, the desire attracteth
to itself, and that which is attracted in the desire
maketh the will full, so that the desire is fulfilled;
for the will is as thin [or empty] as a nothing [vacuum],
and that which is attracted into the will maketh
the will thick [or gross and full] and that is its
darkness: and the eternal desire standeth in the
darkness.
25. Now when the will in the desire doth attract,
that attracting is a sting [ puncture or goad, pricking or
spurring to motion] of the stirring; for the will is thin as a nothing,
and is quiet and still, as [if it were] nothing: but the
will being an eternal desiring, therefore it attracteth
to itself eternally; and having nothing to attract
it attracteth itself, and impregnateth [or filleth]
itself, and so the nothing cometh to be a darkness;
and the attracting maketh the sting of the first
essences [spur to the beginning of the being of a thing],
so that there is a stirring and original of mobility.
26. Now the will cannot endure the attracting
and impregnation, for it would be free, and yet
cannot, because it is desirous; and seeing it cannot
be free, it entereth with the attracting into itself,
and taketh [or conceiveth] in itself another will,
which is, to go out from the darkness into itself,
and that other conceived will is the eternal mind,
and entereth into itself as a sudden flash [of lightning]
and dissipateth the darkness, and goeth forth
into itself, and dwelleth in itself, and maketh to
itself another [or second] Principle of another
quality [source or condition], for the sting of the
stirring remaineth in the darkness.
27. Therefore now we should speak of the forms
of the sour [or astringent] dark nature. For we
understand that the darkness hath a longing after
the light, which eternally standeth before it, but
in another Principle.
28. For the two forms, the sour and the bitter
stinging, are the original of all things; and the
eternal will is the mother [or matrix] wherein they
are generated: and we are to know that the
sourness [astringency or attraction] always attracteth
with the conception of
the will, and that attracting is the stinging of the
stirring, which the sourness [harshness] cannot well endure:
for the attracting sourness desireth the sour strong
shutting up in death, and the stinging bitterness
is the opener, and yet it were a nothing in itself
without the will.
29. Now when the sourness attracteth so strongly,
it cannot endure the stinging, viz. the sourness's
own attracting, but stirreth much more; and the
sourness may not endure the stirring either, for it
desireth the still death. And thus it is a Chain
and Band, which ever maketh itself, and hath no
[other] maker.
30. Now these entering into one another so
swiftly, like a sudden thought, the sting would fain
get out from the sourness, but cannot, for the sourness
generateth and maintaineth it; and not being
able to get the upper hand [or get loose] it turneth
round like a wheel, and so breaketh asunder the
attracted sourness, and maketh a continual
[or stirring up and down] hurlyburly
and mixture, in which the breaking [corrupting] or woe,
doth consist; yet there is no feeling here, but
[they are] only forms of nature: for it is no
material [materia], but [it is] the original of the spirit or
eternal nature in the eternal will.
31. For the sour desiring attracteth and maketh
penetration, and the bitterness breaketh it asunder
in the turning wheel, and so there ariseth multiplicity
of essences, and it is as it were a furiousness,
or as I may say in a similitude, a confusion of the
eternal mobility, a cause of the essences: And this
the eternal will must suffer [to be] in itself, and
therefore it conceiveth or taketh to itself another
will, to fly out from this wheel, and yet cannot do
it, for it is its own substance; and seeing it cannot,
and yet cannot leave its eternal desire and longing,
it holdeth and attracteth to itself; so that the
essences are continually generated, and yet (without
the desiring) they are nothing; and thus the
whole form standeth in the noise [or sound], and is called
MAR: and seeing the will cannot be free, it
falleth into a great anguish, to speak according
to man's understanding, that the Reader may
comprehend the sense and depth of it.
32. For the will is the conception, and that
which is conceived in the will is its darkness, and
the desiring is the essence, and the contrary will
is the wheel of the multiplicity of essences, so that
they are numberless; but the multitude is according
to the mobility. These two forms are the
eternal essences, and the eternal band, which
maketh itself, and cannot do otherwise.
33. For the vast infinite space desireth narrowness
and inclosure [or comprehension] wherein it
may manifest itself, for else in the wide stillness
there would be no manifestation; therefore there
must be an attraction and inclosing, out of which
the manifestation appeareth; and therefore also
there must be a contrary will; for a transparent
and quiet will is as nothing, and generateth
nothing: but if a will must generate, then it must
be in somewhat wherein it may form and may
generate in that thing; for Nothing is nothing
but a stillness without any stirring, where there
is neither darkness nor light, neither life nor death.
34. Now since we clearly perceive that there is
both light and darkness, and moreover an eternal
stirring and forming, which is not only in the place
of this world as far as our senses reach, but without
end and number, where the angelical world
shineth clearly (and yet not in the inclosure of the
darkness), therefore we should raise our thoughts [or senses]
towards the angelical world, which yet is not
without this place [of this world], but it is in
another property, and in the eternal light; and
yet there could be no light except there were a
genetrix [or matrix] to bring it forth.
35. Now if it shine out of the genetrix [or
matrix], then it must come forth out of the
genetrix. For the genetrix is a darkness, and
yet that were nothing either if the eteimal word
(which maketh [attract, frame, or create] the eternal will)
were not there.
And in the making or creating is the birth of the
eternal Being; of which John saith, In the beginning
was the Word, which was in the beginning
with God, all things were made by it (and without
it was nothing made that was made).
36. Consider here, my beloved mind, whence
light and darkness come, also joy and heaviness,
love and hate; as also the kingdom of heaven and
the kingdom of hell, good and evil, life, and the
shutting up in death.
37. Thou sayest, God hath created it; very
well: but? why art thou blind, and dost not
acknowledge it, whereas thou art indeed the
similitude of God? Why speakest thou more of
God than thou knowest, and is revealed or
manifested to thee? Wherefore dost thou make
laws [canons and ordinances] concerning the will of God,
of which thou knowest nothing, seeing thou dost not know Him?
Or why dost thou shut up thy life in death,
whereas thou mightest well live, and know God,
who dwelleth in thee? For thou hearest it also
from St. John, that all things are made by the
Word,
38. Seeing then God is the Word which hath
made all things, he must therefore be in all things:
for a spirit is not a made thing, but a generated
thing in itself, which hath the centre of its birth
in itself; or else it would be corruptible: therefore
now the centre must stand in the eternal maker,
or else it were transitory: for there is nothing
from eternity but the Word, and the Word was
God: and therefore it must needs be its own
eternal maker of itself; and. itself must express
itself as a Word out of itself, as out of its own
maker.
39. For where there is a word, there also is a
speaker to speak it. Now since it is the Father
that speaketh it, and the Word which is spoken
out of the centre of the Father is the Son thereof;
and seeing the Father in his centre calleth himself
a consuming fire, and yet the Son (the Word) is
a light of love, humility, meekness, purity, and
holiness, and that the Father of the Word is
so also called and acknowledged throughout the
holy Scripture, therefore we should consider the
source [quality or property] of the fire in the centre of the Father,
seeing the Father and the Word are one, and
yet in two [distinct] forms: and that also the
wrath and the anger, together with the abyss of
hell, stand in the centre of the Father.
40. For St. John saith, Of and through it are
all things, and without it was nothing made: for
when the Word desired to make [or create], and
the Father through the Word, then there was no
matter for him to make it of; for All was [as it
were] nothing, neither good nor evil, neither light
nor darkness, but the centre stood there: for the
will is his Heart, Son, and Word, which only is
the eternal Being, and the Band which maketh
itself; and yet the Deity may not thus be comprehended,
because a being affordeth a [distinct
difference or] divisibility, and appeareth in two
Principles.
41. Therefore we will lay before you the ground,
as we certainly know it: and our purpose in
writing is to the end that you might see how
blind you are; and how without knowledge you
meddle, when you make such large expositions
of the writings of the Saints, about the essence
and will of God, and yet know him not
42. You persecute, despise, and disgrace one
another; you raise wars, uproars, and tumults,
and make desolate countries and nations, about
[what is] the true knowledge of God and his
will, and yet you are as blind as a stone concerning
God: you do not know your own selves,
and yet you are so furiously mad, that you con
tend about [your knowing of] God, who is the
maker, preserver, and upholder of all things;
who is the centre in all things: so also you
strive about his light, which yet did never
appear in wrath and malice or wickedness,
but in friendly meek humility and in love his
centre springeth up: and you are so furious
and mad, and yet suppose that you have it
upon your tongue in your malicious contention:
you have it not; but you have merely the
history of the Saints, who have had the light
shining forth out of their centre; and therefore
they have spoken from the Holy Ghost, which
proceedeth out of the light. But you take their
words, and the centre of your heart is fast
shut, you run galloping in the four forms of
wickedness or malice, [viz. in pride, covetousness,
envy, and anger] .
43. Therefore I will shew you the ground of
the two eternal Principles [that spring] out of
one centre, that you might yet see how you run
on in the kingdom of the devil, to try whether
you will yet turn and leave off your pride, and
enter into yourself, and so you might attain the
highest eternal Good.
44. Therefore I will shew you what we are in soul
and body, also what God, heaven, and hell are;
do not take it to be a fiction [opinion or conceit],
for it demonstrates itself in all things, there is
nothing so small but it stands manifest therein,
and do not blindfold yourselves in your base
pride, in your conceitedness, but search the
ground of nature, and then you shall understand
[learn, or find all things experimentally]
all things; and do not run on so furiously upon
the bare letter of the history, do not make laws
according to your own conceits and opinions so
blindly, by which you persecute [vex and prosecute]
one another; in this you are blinder than
the heathen.
45. Search after the heart, and after the
spirit of the Scriptures, that it might be born in
you, and that you might open the centre of the
love of God; and so you might know God, and
rightly speak of him. For from the history none
should take upon him to be a master, or call
himself a knower of the essence of God, but from
the Holy Ghost, which appeareth in another
Principle (in the centre of man's life) unto those
that seek it in true earnestness, as we are commanded
by Christ to knock and seek for it of
his Father (viz. in the centre of the life) with
true earnest desirous humility, and we shall
find it.
46. For none can know or rightly seek or
find God his Lord without the Holy Ghost,
which springeth forth from the heart of the
humble seeker, and enlighteneth the mind, so
that the senses [inward senses or thoughts] are enlightened,
and the desire is turned to God; that person only findeth the
dear Virgin, the Wisdom of God, which leadeth
in the right way, and bringeth to the fresh
waters of eternal life, and quickeneth the soul,
and so the New Body groweth on the soul in
Christ; of which we will, hereafter following,
write according to its high and precious worth.
47. We advise the seeking Eeader, that loveth
God, to consider concerning God; and that he
do not collect in his mind and thoughts, and
seek for the pure Deity only aloft above the
stars, dwelling there only in heaven, thinking
that he doth rule and govern only by his spirit
and power in this world, as the sun standeth
aloft in the deep, and worketh by his beams all
over the whole world: no.
48. The pure Deity is in all places and all
corners, and present every where all over: the
birth of the holy Trinity in one essence is every
where: and the angelical world reacheth to every
part, wherever you can think, even in the midst
of the earth, stones, and rocks: as also hell and
the kingdom of God's wrath is every where
all over.
49. For the severe kingdom in the anger of
the darkness is in the centre, and keepeth its
source and dominion in the darkness; and the
Deity goeth forth (in the centre) in itself, and
maketh a habitation [of joy] in itself, but unsearchably
or incomprehensibly to the darkness,
because it openeth another Principle: for the
eternal Word is the eternal will, and a cause
of the eternal nature; and the eternal nature is
the eternal Father, wherein all things are created
by the Word, you must understand, in the eternal
nature. And if the eternal will did not create in
itself [another or] a second mill, to go forth, (as
a shining light flameth forth from a candle and
departeth not away from the candle) the Father
would be alone, and be only an austere darkness:
also this world (viz. the Third Principle) could
not have been created.
50. But the Father containeth in him the
eternal nature in his own essence, and is the
eternal will itself, and generateth out of himself
[another or] a second will, which, in the first
eternal will (which is the Father) openeth the
Principle of the light, in which the Father (with
the eternal essences, in his eternal original will)
becometh amiable, friendly, mild, pure, and gentle;
and so the Father is not in the source [or quality]
of darkness: for the recomprehended will (which
goeth forth out of the centre, and dispelleth the
darkness) is his Heart, and dwelleth in itself,
and enlighteneth the Father [or is the glance and
light or lustre of the Father], and that will is
the Word of the eternal Father, which is generated
out of the eternal essences, and is rightly another
Person; for he dwelleth in the Father's essences
[or essential powers] in himself, and is the light
of the Father; and this Word (or will) hath
created all things, (understand, out of the essences
of the Father) for it [the Word] is the eternal
omnipotency, because it cannot be comprehended
by the eternal essences; for it breaketh asunder
the eternal essences, and dwelleth in itself, and
shineth out of the essences, and yet it cannot
depart from the essences, as little as the glance
or light departeth from the fire.
THE SECOND CHAPTER
1. SEEING we have mentioned such a ground to
you, we will shew you farther the ground
of the genetrix [or matrix], begettress, pregnant mother or womb],
for we see it clearly in this world, in the dominion of the elements:
(and yet much more in ourselves, in our minds,
whence the senses [or thoughts] arise, whereby
they walk, converse, and direct all their actions)
that there is a genetrix, which doth afford so
much; and if there be a genetrix, then there
must be a centre or circle of life wherein the
genetrix hath its dominion: for the nothing doth
mot move nor stir; but if there be a stirring,
that moveth every life, that must not be a strange
[or heterogeneous] thing, because it is in every
thing that thing's own spirit and life, as well in
the vegetative and insensitive as in the sensitive
living [things].
2. And let not the dissemblers and hypocrites
mislead you, who are mere book-learned in the
history, and boast and vapour with strange
languages, and would be respected for it, whereas
they understand them not in the least: they
understand not their mother tongue; if they
understood that rightly (together with the spirits
of the letters) then they would know nature
therein.
3. It is mere pride that forbiddeth you to
search or seek, that you should not find, and
that (the pride) with her crowned [or cornered]
cap may domineer (like a proud woman) over the
wonders of God; for so the devil would have it,
that he might not be known: they are more
blind than the simple laity.
4. If you desire to seek, then knock, that the
right door may be opened for you, and seek in the
fear and the love of God, and you shall find well
enough; let not the calumnies of the proud divert
you: for if the right door be opened to you, then
you shall see how very blind they [the clergy] are: their pride
hath blinded the whole world, so that every one
looketh merely at their eloquence [fine language,
or good expressions], and upon their [several]
strange languages, and think they understand very
well. Thus they domineer over men's souls.
Whereas their knowing is altogether doubtful, as
may be seen by their disputations and contentions.
5. Therefore I say still, none should trust their
soul with such hypocrites and dissembling men:
for the soul standeth not in this world, but in the
original of the essence of all essences, and it is in
the centre of the eternal band, wherein God, and
the kingdom of heaven and hell standeth; and if
it [the soul] attaineth the love of God in the light,
(which dwelleth in the ground of the soul), it may
well see the eternal nature, as also God, and the
kingdom of heaven, and of hell: if it do not suffer
itself to be blinded: it is not hard or difficult: it
is but to go about the new birth, or Regeneration
out of the darkness into the light, without which
you cannot reach the depth in the centre.
6. And now if we will speak of the centre, or
the circle of the life, we must consider the genetrix
[or matrix] which is the centre, and the essence of
all essences. All things are generated out of the
centre, and out of that which is generated all
things are created which are in being. And we
have cleared to you the ground, how the eternal
Word was in the beginning (as in the centre) and
the Word is God's, and the eternal will is that
Word. For the eternal God hath that will in him,
and that is his Heart; and in that recomprehended
will (in the eternal Father of all things) the eternal
Deity hath its name GOD.
7. For we cannot say that God hath a maker, as
also the will hath no maker; for he maketh himself
from eternity to eternity continually; whereas it is
not a making but an eternal generation. The
Word in the Father, and the spirit which goeth
forth from the power, is the life of the Deity.
8. But now we see that the mark standeth in
the centre: for God is also an angry zealous or
jealous God, and a consuming fire; and in that
source [or quality] standeth the abyss of hell, the
anger and malice of all the devils, as also the
poison [corruption] of all creatures: and it is found that without
poison and eagerness [fierceness or stinging sharpness]
there is no life: and from
thence ariseth all contrariety and strife: and it
is found that the strongest and most eager is
the most useful and profitable: for it maketh all
tilings, and is the only cause of all mobility
and life.
9. For, as is mentioned before, the eternal Word
(viz. the eternal will of the Father) is the Creator
of all things; and the eternal Father is the being
of the will, out of which the Word hath created all
things. Now the essences are the being which
causeth the will: for here you must understand
that there are two wills in one being, and they
cause two Principles: One is the love and the
other is the anger or the source [or property] of
wrath. The first will is not called God, but
nature: the second will is called A and O, the
beginning and the end, from eternity to eternity:
and in the first will nature could not be manifest;
the second will [it is that] maketh nature
manifest; for the second will is the virtue in the
strength; and the one would be nothing without
the other.
10. Seeing then that the will of the Father in
the eternity is the first, therefore also he is the first
person in the ternary [trinity], viz. the centre itself. So
now the will or the centre is to desire to generate
the Word or Heart: for it is nothing else, and it
can be called nothing else, but the desiring in the
will.
11. Thus we search in a deep sense in the mind;
and find that the desiring is eager and attractive;
for it is the strong might: not in one point only,
but every where all over, contracting the wideness
into narrowness, to manifest itself [therein]. For
else there would be nothing in the whole deep, and
there would appear nothing, but all would be still
and quiet.
12. But now the desiring attracteth, and yet it
hath nothing there but itself: and that which is
attracted is the impregnation of the desiring, and
maketh the desire full, and yet is nothing but a
darkness, for that which is attracted is thicker than
the will, and therefore it is the darkness of the
thin will.
13. For the will is as thin [or empty] as [if it
were] nothing, and very still and quiet: but the
desiring maketh it full, and the going forth in the
desiring is the essences, viz. a sting of sensibility,
(which is against the sensibility), which the desiring
also cannot endure, but attracteth the more
vehemently to it; and so the sting or puncture is
the greater, and rageth against the attracting, and
yet cannot get out of it, for the desiring generateth
it, and yet cannot endure it, for it is such an
enmity as [is between] heat and cold.
14. And so the desiring, which in itself is an
earnest longing, by its longing doth awaken such
a raging (which doth so sting in that will) that the
longing becometh very sour and strongly attracting,
that it might hold the sting fast, whereby the
sting, as a stirring life, affordeth mobility, in which
the longing attaineth the first crack [or shriek] of
trembling, from whence ariseth a contrary anguish:
for in the anguish of the longing (in the hard
attracting) is caused a sharp coldness: and the
attraction is eager, bitter and stinging, so that it
affordeth a terrible strong power, which the sting
cannot endure, but would fain break away, and yet
it cannot: For its own mother that generateth it,
holdeth it, and so, seeing it cannot get away upwards, it runneth round like a wheel, and breaketh
asunder the contraction, from whence the essences
of multiplicity arise.
15. And this is the right centre: for in the
wheel existeth the nature of mobility and of the
essences: and it is a band of the spirit, though
without feeling [perception] or understanding: but in this
form only, is it called the centre: for it is the circle
of life, which the desiring hath shut up, out of the
still wideness, into narrowness: although it is not
comprehensible, but every where merely spirit and
form of nature.
16. Seeing then that the Raver maketh such a
stinging bitter wheel (in the sharp cold) therefore
the centre is so terrible, like a great anguish, where
the life is continually broken [or destroyed], and
by the essences is also built [again] in such a
manner, and is like to life and death.
17. The philosophers and high knowers [naturalists] of.
nature, write, that nature consisteth in three2
things, viz. in Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt, which
is very right: but the simple will understand
nothing therein: and although the apprehension of
it was open to the wise [so that they understood it]
yet at this present time very few understand the
centre, but they have it in the history, as also
[they have] the divinity or theology from the
mouth of the Apostles, which at present is also no
other than a history, without the power and the
living spirit (which was among the Apostles), as is
clearly testified by their contentious disputations,
lip-labour and dead letter [in their teachings].
18. Now seeing we have through the divine
grace attained the light, and are able to know the
centre, which is the birth of our life, we have power
to demonstrate it, and shew what is comprised and
understood in the three words, Sulphur, Mercury,
and Salt: not that we thereby despise the ignorant
blindness: but as a Christian we would willingly
afford and shew them the light. And although our
speech seemeth simple, yet our knowledge, meaning,
and apprehension is very deep: none should be
offended at the simple speech: as if we had not
the deep apprehension. Let him but read it with
a true earnestness, and consider seriously of it, in
the fear of God, and he shall find well enough
what spirit's child we are in this writing; but we
would have him faithfully warned, concerning the
scorners and hypocrites.
19. As is mentioned concerning the Sulphur,
the centre is and may very well be called PHUR:
but if the light be generated, the light that shineth
out of the PHUR is called SUL, for it is the soul
thereof. And as I say of the dark centre, wherein
the divine light is generated, the same I say also of
nature: though indeed they are one: but we must
so speak, that we might bring it into the thoughts
of the Reader, that he might incline his mind to
the light, and so attain it.
20. For the two forms, viz. sharp cold, and bitter
stinging, which are generated by the longing in
eternal will, they hold the centre, and make the
wheel of the essences, whence the senses [Or thoughts], as also
perception and mobility continually arise eternally.
21. Now these two forms are in very great and
terrible anguish, in themselves, without the other
forms that are generated out of them. For the
attracting sharp sourness is like to hard stones,
and the sting of the attracting is the breaker of
the astringency: and so it is like a wheel, and may
well be called PHUR: as the language of nature
in that syllable doth declare.
22. Therefore though the two forms enter so
terribly in themselves into the will, and hold the
will in the darkness, yet the will cannot be captivated,
for its own propriety is to be meek and quiet,
and that propriety it cannot lose in the two forms,
for it is incomprehensible; and yet it must be in
the two forms, and dwelleth in the sting, and is
the flash thereof; for the two forms are dark in
themselves, but the will is not [so], for it is free in
itself; but the two forms take it into their property,
for it is their father, and it sharpeneth itself in
their properties, so that it shineth as a flash [of
lightning] .
23. For the sour astringency maketh dark; and
the bitter sting (in the wheel) dissipateth the
darkness: and so the liberty of the still will shineth
in the wheel in the whirring as a flash [of lightning] :
for the will so sharpeneth itself from the sour
astringency, that it becometh very strong; for it
is as when steel and a stone are knocked one
against another to strike fire.
24. For there is understood to be in the fire,
two things; viz. the liberty without nature, and
the sour strongness of nature; as you have an'
example in a stone, out of which you strike fire.
For when you strike upon the sharp of the stone,
the bitter sting of nature sharpeneth itself, and
is stirred [vexed or angered] in the highest degree.
For nature is dissipated or broken asunder in the sharpness, so
that the liberty shineth as a flash [of lightning] :
and that you may here see to be true: for as soon
as the liberty shineth, it consumeth the darkness,
and thence it cometh that the sharpness of God
the Father is a consuming fire. For as soon as
the flash in the sharpness seizeth on any thing that
is essential, it consumeih it instantly, so that there
is no nature more left.
25. And the cause of the flash going out so
suddenly is that the sharpness cannot retain it:
for the flash is free from nature and is only seen
in the breaking.
26. And we give you to understand that this
liberty without the nature is God the Father: and
the nature is thus generated in him, so that he is
omnipotent over nature, even as the mind of man
is above the senses; for it hath all one original,
as we will shew you hereafter following.
27. Further concerning the birth of nature, we
give you to understand this by way of similitude:
When the flash shineth thus in the sour anguish,
then there is a very great crack, which the sourness
captivateth, and terrifieth much more, for its dark
propriety in the sour death is killed in a moment,
so that it loseth its sour propriety and sinketh
back, and can no more attract so strongly; and
then the flash goeth directly through the sting of
the raging of the whirring wheel: where the sting
must spread forth on each side, and the flash goeth
through the midst; and so the wheel cometh to be
a cross, and can no more whirl about, but standeth
shivering in the sharp might of the will of the
eternal liberty, which is God the Father.
28. And now when the strong sourness hath
captivated the flash of the liberty, that it loseth
its propriety, then the fourth form (viz. the saltspirit) is generated: for the stern harshness becometh
pliant from the fire and the crack; and
yet retaineth the sharpness: and so this form is
like a sharp water-spirit: and the flash (viz. the
crack) is the third form, and maketh in itself in
the sour killed anguish a brimstone- spirit.
29. For if the stern sourness loseth its first dry
propriety, it must be soft, and yet it cannot, for
it is terribly sharp: and here is the mark [goal, limit, butt]
of eternal death: for the desire out of the free will
cannot attract so any more: for it standeth in
the anguish of the crack, and yet retaineth its
propriety in the attracting.
30. For every anguish hath a desire to go forth
from the source [or pain] : and it is the natural
right of the anguish to expel from itself, and yet
it cannot, but the pain is thereby more stirred and
greater: as may be understood in a raging swelling
sore, where the member in the essences [humours] laboureth
to be rid of the pain, and by the labouring of the
essences the sore becometh bigger, and the source
(in the brimstone-spirit) is swelled up: and the
more the essences strive the greater is the wheel
of the anguish.
31. Thus I propose nature to you, to be considered
of, which if you consider it well, cannot
bespoken against: for it appeareth in all things,
and it hath its birth just so. And nature standeth
thus in four forms.
32. First, in a sour and strong attracting, which
is called harshness [sourness, tartness, astringency],
and maketh in itself sharp coldness.
33. And then, secondly, the attracting is its
sting [spur], which rageth in the sourness, and breaketh
the hardness, and maketh the wheel of the innumerable
essences, wherein the wonders are generated.
34. But the flash of the liberty of the eternal
will, which sharpeneth itself in the sourness, and
turneth to consuming fire, breaketh its wheel,
wherein as a flash it penetrateth through in a
moment, and terrifieth its mother, the sourness,
which loseth her hard propriety, and is changed
into a sharp nature like Salt; and in this sharpness,
the sting also loseth its own right and
becometh bitter: for it hath in it two forms, viz.
the raging, and also the flash of the fire, which
are like brimstone, and it is the might of the
kindling of the fire, for the source [or property]
of the fire standeth therein.
35. Understand us rightly thus: the flash of
fire out of the sharpness maketh the third form
in nature: for it maketh in the sourness, and out
of the Eager (the bitter sting in the tart anguish)
a brimstone- spirit, wherein the flash standeth, and
is the soul (or the eternal life) of the four forms.
For the anguish maketh in itself again a desire
to fly out from the anguish, and yet there is
nothing that can fly away, but so it is in the
centre, and is called the centre no more.
36. The fourth form is the changing of the hard
sourness, viz. the crack of the flash, the dark hardness
perceiving that it is feeble, and [as it were]
dead and overcome; and it is then turned into*
SAL, and yet retaineth the propriety of the sour
attracting.
37. Thus the four forms of nature are no more
called the centre, though indeed they have the
centre in them, and in their original, but [are
called] Sulphur, Mercurius, and Sal. For the
brimstone-spirit is the soul of the four forms: for
it hath the fire in it, and the anguish in it maketh
another will, so that the four forms have an eternal
will in them, which is their own: for that will is
to fly aloft out of the four forms, above nature, and
to kindle nature in the fire, and so to be in a
horrible might, as may be [discerned and] considered in the devils, who live in such a will as
this, as we shall shew afterward.
38. Thus understand us rightly what the wiseof old have understood by the three words,
Sulphur, Mercurius, and Sal: though they all
could not apprehend the high light, yet they
understood it well enough in the light of this
world, viz. in the third Principle; all which hath
one and the same understanding and meaning;
only they understood not the three Principles; or
else they had known God; and so they remained
in the light of this world as heathen with their
understanding. For they had found the soul of
the four forms in the light of the virtue of the
sun [only], and the second Principle was no further
revealed to them.
39. There the soul standeth in the eternal band,
and there, in the cross of nature, out of the
original eternal will, is the eternal Word generated,
which is the maker and creator in nature,
and this hath been hidden to them, even to this
very day: but the time discovereth it, where it
To be seen, standeth as a banner [to be seen] : of which
[shall be spoken] in its place.
40. And deep considerate reason hath it very
clearly in our description what Sulphur, Mercurius,
and Sal are: for SUL is the soul, and is a brimstonespirit, which hath the flash of fire with all
forms in it: but if the power and light of the sun
operate therein (seeing the soul standeth in flesh
and blood) the sun with its friendly beams maketh
out of the sour salt-spirit, an oil, and kindleth the
fire: and so the brimstone-spirit burneth, and is a
light in the essences: and out of the anxious will
cometh the mind: and out of the wheel of the
essences come the thoughts: for the virtue of the
sun hath also the mind, so that it doth not stand
in the anguish, but rejoiceth in the virtue of the
light.
41. Thus SUL is the soul, in an herb it is the
oil, and in man also according to the spirit of this
world in the third Principle, which is continually
generated out of the anguish of the will in the
mind, and the brimstone-worm is the spirit, which
hath the fire and burneth: PHUR is the sour
wheel in itself which causeth that.
42. Mercurius comprehendeth all the four forms,
even as the life springeth up, and yet hath not its
beginning in the centre as the PHUR hath; but
after the flash of fire, when the sour dark form
is terrified, where the hardness is turned into
pliant sharpness, and where the second will (viz.
the will of nature, which is called the anguish)
ariseth, there Mercurius hath its original. For
MER is the shivering wheel, very horrible, sharp,
venomous, and hostile; which assimilateth it
thus in the sourness in the flash of fire, where
the sour wrathful life ariseth. The syllable CU
is the pressing out, of the anxious will of the
mind, from nature; which is climbing up, and
willeth to be out aloft. RI is the comprehension
of the flash of fire, which in MER giveth a
clear sound and tune. For the flash maketh the
tune, and it is the salt-spirit which soundeth, and
its form [or quality] is gritty like sand, and herein
arise noises, sounds, and voices, and thus CU
comprehendeth the flash, and so the pressure is as a
wind that thrusteth upwards, and giveth a spirit
to the flash, so that it liveth and burneth. Thus
the syllable US is called the burning fire, which
with the spirit continually driveth itself forth:
and the syllable CU presseth continually upon
the flash.
43. And the third word SAL is the salt-spirit;
because the ancient wisemen saw how nature is
thus divided into many parts, and that every
form of nature hath a particular matter in this
world, as may be seen in the earth: and that the
salt-spirit especially is the greatest in corporeal
things (for it preserveth the body that it doth not
decay), therefore they have rightly set down this
gate only; which is the mother of nature. For
out of this form, in the creation, earth, stones,
water, and all sorts of minerals were made, yet
with the mixture of the other forms; as you shall
see hereafter: My beloved Reader, understand us
thus according to our own sense, meaning, and
apprehension.
44. The four forms in themselves are the anger
and the wrath of God in the eternal nature: and
they are in themselves nothing else but such a
source [or property] as standeth in the darkness,
and is not material, but an originality of the spirit,
without which there would be nothing.
45. For the four forms are the cause of all
things, as you may perceive that every life hath
poison, yea the poison itself is the life: and therefore
many creatures are so venomous, because they
proceed from a poisonous original. And you must
know, (though these be the chief causes of nature),
that nature consisteth in very many more other
forms: for this maketh the wheel of the essences,
which maketh innumerable essences: where every
essence is again a centre: so that a whole birth of
quite another form may appear.
46. Therefore the power of God is unsearchable:
and our writing is not to that end that we should
search out the ground of the Deity in the eternal
nature [and lay it before any]: no, that cannot be:
but we will direct the blind the way that himself
must go: we cannot go with his feet, but (as a
Christian) we would fain lead him, and impart to
him what we have; not out of boasting in ourselves,
but that we might help to plant the great
body [consisting] of the members in Christ; of
which we will make mention hereafter: to which
end these very high things are mentioned, that we
might shew you the right mark in the original:
that yourself might see, and learn to understand
the course of the world, and how blind all are
concerning God, and what the cause and end of
it is.
47. We tell you this that you might rightly
consider it; for these four forms are in all things:
yet in this world (as in the third Principle) they
are not understood [to be] in their very eager [Or their
utmost effect] essences. For the virtue of the sun, in the elements,
tempereth all things, so that the essences stand
not in such a wrathful source [or property], but
are as a pleasant friendly life: as the light out of
the second Principle (which is the light out of the
Word and Heart of God the Father) doth enlighten
the four forms in the centre of the angelical spirits,
so that they are in their own centre friendly, lovely,
and very pleasant.
48. And you should well consider the Fall of
the devils, who have lost the light of the Heart of
God, and must now stand in the four forms of the
original, in such an anxious source [or condition]
as was above mentioned.
49. Thus is the soul of man also together out of
this eternal band breathed into man, and enlightened
from the light of God: but in the fall of Adam it
is gone out from the eternal light of the Heart of
God, into the light of this world: and it hath now
to expect (if it have not entered again into the
light of God, when the light of this world doth
break off from it) that it must then remain in the
four forms (without the light) in the first birth of
the life, with the devils.
50. For the four forms (without the eternal light)
are the abyss, the anger of God, the hell, and the
horrible flash of fire in the wheel of corruption
[Or breaking ] in the flying up of Mercury
[or the terrible cracking noise].
Their light is in the brimstone- spirit,
which they must awaken in themselves: or else their
spirit standeth in eternal darkness, and its living
form of the abyss is a dominion of a severe [eager
property or] source, which climbeth up in the flash
of fire [willing to be] above God and the kingdom
of heaven, and yet cannot reach, nor feel, nor
see them: for it [ The eternal darkness]. is a Principle,
which comprehendeth neither this world nor the angelical world:
and yet is not severed, [but is] in [one and the same] place.
51. For we offer to your consideration: that as
we men with our [earthly] eyes which we have
from this world cannot see God and the angels,
which yet are every moment present to us; and
the Deity itself is in us, and yet we are not able to
comprehend it, except we put our imagination and
earnest will into God,
[Set all our thoughts and resolutions upon God and goodness]
and then God appeareth to us in the will, and filleth the mind;
where we feel a God and see him with our eyes
[viz. the eyes of our mind].
52. So also if we put our imagination and will
into evil [and wickedness], then we receive the
source of hell in the wrath: and the devil layeth
fast hold on our very heart in the anger of God,
yet we see him not with these eyes, only the mind
and poor soul in the eternal source of the original
understand it, and tremble at the wrath: so that
many a soul despaireth, and casteth itself into the
source of the original, and driveth the body to death,
by sword, the rope, or the water, that it may
thereby suddenly be rid of the torment, or source,
in this life, which is from the Third Principle.
For that soul standeth between the kingdom of
heaven and the kingdom of this world, in scorn,
and therefore maketh haste to the abyss.
53. Also we give you very earnestly to
consider: that God did not create a peculiar hell
and place of torment, on purpose to plague the
creatures, viz. angels and men; because he is a
God that willeth not evil, and doth himself forbid
it: and hath therefore suffered his heart to become
man, that he might redeem man out of the eternal
anguishing source [or torment] of the abyss, which
endureth for ever.
54. And therefore as soon as the devils went
away from the light of God, and would domineer
in the might of the fire, over the meekness of the
Heart of God, they were immediately, in the same
hour and moment, in the abyss of hell, and were
held by it: for there was no peculiar source [or
place of torment] made for them: but they
remained without God, in the four forms of the
eternal nature.
55. So also it is with the souls of men if they
do not attain the light of God; which yet with
great longing standeth before the soul, and it is
hidden in the very ground of the soul. And the
soul is to do no more but put its will (as a sprout
out of the four forms) again into the light of God,
where then it is regenerated anew in the will,
and in the life of God.
56. We give the courteous Reader to understand:
that the [hellish] creatures, which are the devils
and the damned souls, have not only four forms in
the band of their life; but their forms are infinite,
like the thoughts of men: and they can turn
themselves into the forms of all creatures: but
there are only four forms manifest to them, as
also in the abyss of hell: they may bring forth
every form out of the matrix, except the light,
the fire is their right life, and the sour astringency
of the darkness is their right food.
57. For one essence nourisheth another, so
that it is an eternal band: and so the devils and
damned souls are only living spirits in the essences
[Or essential powers] of the eternal original: out of which
they are also created: for the matrix is the original genetrix,
which continually generateth itself out of the eternal will.
58. And in that respect [or according to this
form or property] God calleth himself a zealous
[or jealous] angry God, and a consuming fire;
for the fire of this original is consuming, for it is
the centre of the eternal band. Therefore if it
be kindled in the sour sharpness, it consumeth all
whatsoever appeareth essentially in the four forms
(you must understand, all that which is not
generated out of their source [or property], for
the devils are from the same source or property,
it cannot consume them, for they are crude [that
is] without a body), as may be seen by the sacrifices
of Moses and the Children of Israel, which
the fire devoured; as also by Elias and the two
captains over fifties, in that the fire of God twice
devoured fifty, when Israel was led in the source
of the Father by the Word: [that is, when Israel
was disobedient to the light and Word, and thereby
were given up to the wrath of God].
59. And now I will farther shew you the form
of the Deity, that you may search through the
ground of the eternal life, and learn to understand
what the eternal good, and what the eternal evil
is; as also that which is mortal in this world:
and that you may learn to search and know the
Will of the highest good: as also what God,
heaven, hell, the devil, and this world are, and
what is to be done therein.
60. John the Evangelist writeth very well, also
deeply and clearly, that in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by it: for the Word revealeth the Deity,
and generateth the angelical world [which is] a
Principle in itself: which is to be understood as
followeth:
61. The first eternal will is God the Father, and
it is, to generate his Son, viz. his Word; not out
of anything else but out of himself: and we have
already informed you about the essences, which
are generated in the will, and also how the will
in the essences is set in darkness, and how the
darkness (in the wheel of the anxiety) is broken
asunder by the flash of fire, and how the will
cometh to be in four forms, whereas in the original
all four are but one, but in the flash of fire appear
in four forms: as also how the flash of fire doth
exist, in that the first will doth sharpen itself in
the eager hardness, so that the liberty of the will
shineth in the flash. Whereby we have given you
to understand, that the first will shineth in the
flash of the fire, and is consuming by reason of
the anxious sharpness, where the will continueth
in the sharpness, and comprehendeth the other
will in itself (understand in the centre of the
sharpness), which [other will] is, to go out from the sharpness
and to dwell in itself in the eternal liberty without
pain or source.
62. Therefore we now also give you to understand;
that the other re-comprehended will, to go
out from the sharpness, is free from nature, viz.
from its wrathfulness: for it stands in the centre,
in itself, and retaineth all the virtue and form of
the [first] centre, out of all essences, in itself: for
it is the virtue and power of the first will, and is
generated in the first will, and maketh (in the
liberty of the first will) a centre of an out-birth
[or procreation], incomprehensible by the four
forms in the first will And this other generated
will in the first will is the heart of the first will,
and is in the first will as a word, which moveth
in itself, and remaineth eternally in the birth of
the first will; for it is his Son or Heart: and is
severed [or distinct] from the first will in that it
hath a several centre in itself
63. Now the Father, viz. the first will, expresseth
all things by this Word (as out of the centre of
the liberty); and that which proceedeth from the
Father by the 'Word (viz. the spirit and power of
the Father in the Word) formeth that which is
expressed, after a spiritual manner, so that it
appeareth as a spirit.
64. For in the sour matrix (viz. in the Fiat)
all is comprehended, and the spirit of the Word
formeth it in the centre of that essence wherein
the Father moveth and expresseth by the Word,
so that it is, and remaineth to be, an essence.
For whatsoever is formed out of the eternal is
spirit, and is eternal; as the angels and souls of
men are.
65. But because it may happen that we should
be as one that is dumb to you, and hard to be
understood, in this description (for the understanding
and apprehension of it is not in the
subtle spirit of this outward world), we will therefore
shew how the other three heavenly forms are
generated [being together with the four forementioned forms, the seven forms or spirits of
nature] in which [three forms] especially, God,
the kingdom of heaven, paradise, and the angelical
world are understood; to try whether it might be
brought into the mind of the reader.
66. You must not understand it as if the Deity
had a beginning, or were subject to any alteration,
no; but I write in what manner it may be learnt
and understood what the divine essence is: for
we can bring no angelical words: and though we
could use them, yet they would appear in this
world no other than creaturely, and earthly to
the earthly mind. For we are but a part of the
whole and cannot speak the total, but in part,
which the Reader ought to consider.
67. For the divine mind in the Heart of God,
that alone is total [or perfect], but else there is
nothing total, for without that, all stand in the
essences, and God only is free, and nothing else;
and therefore we speak but in part, and comprehend
the total in the mind: for we have no
tongue to express it, we only bring the Reader to
a ladder (to heaven) [he must go up himself] .
68. If we will rightly speak or write of God,
we must speak of the light, and of the flame of
love; for therein is God rightly understood.
69. We cannot say that the source of the fire
is light, we see it only shine out of the fire. Thus
now we have informed you concerning the original
of the fire, how it is generated in the wheel of the
essences, in the hard anxious sharpness, and receiveth
its shining out of the eternal liberty, where
the liberty is driven on in nature, so that the
liberty becometh a source [or property], which is
fire.
70. So also we have mentioned how the flash
instantly presseth through the wheel of the essences,
and maketh a cross; and then the wheel of the
essences turneth round no more, but standeth
wavering in the sound [of the crack] ; and all
essences receive their virtue and strength in the
flash of the cross: for the flash presseth right
through, and divideth the essences of the wheel:
and the essences press through flatly [squarely] upon the
flash: for the flash is their spirit, which in the sour
astringency maketh a brimstony form.
71. Thus the birth standeth square like a cross,
and hath beneath the centre of the birth, which
driveth up the flash aloft, and so the whole birth is
as a sprout, where the fire driveth up, and the
essences hasten after the fire-spirit, as their own
spirit, which attracteth and desireth them, for they
are its food and nourishment, and it is their life,
and one is not without the other.
72. Now understand us concerning the crack of
the fire, for it is horrible and consuming, and overcometh
all the forms of all the essences: for as soon
as the twinkling beginneth, all the forms of the darkness
are consumed, and the dark sour astringency
(viz. the stern death) trembleth at the life, and
falleth back as dead and overcome, and of hard
becometh feeble and weak; and so becometh heavy,
as being impotent and not fixed [not able to subsist] in itself; and
thence cometh weight in nature. For the sour
astringent matrix becometh thin and light, and a
water-spirit, from whence the water is generated.
73. And now this crack of the sour astringency
in the dark death is a crack of great joy, for of
dark it becometh light: and now when the flash
twinkleth in the sour astringency of the sting, the
sting is terrified much more than its mother, the
sour astringency; and yet it is no hostile crack or
terrifying, but a very joyful crack or terror of
exulting that its mother is so thin, pliant, and
soft, whereby the sting loseth its fiery propriety,
and in the liberty of the eternal will (in the centre)
becometh white, clear, light, amiable, and joyful;
and herewith springeth up the fifth form of nature,
viz. the friendly love.
74. For there the flash desireth with great
longing to have its mother for its food, and here is
the true original of life; for it is the kindling of
the light in the sour astringent matrix, where the
severe tartness is turned into meekness: and you
should rightly understand it here, that it is not so,
wholly in the centre of its being; but (as I may
say in a similitude) it is as if oil were generated in
the meekness, out of which the light shineth constantly,
and remaineth for ever, in which the flash
loseth its propriety, and so out of its form a shining
and light is produced, wherein there is a
distinct centre, out of which the great joy springeth
up; and yet the first four forms keep their own
centre to themselves: for the darkness remaineth
as an enclosed thing, and the light shineth in the
darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.
75. Thus there are two Principles; which are
therefore two, because the meekness existeth out
of the first eternal will, which [will] is free from
the matrix [or nature] and is as thin as if it were
nothing, and is still and quiet. Now that which is
still and without a being in itself, that hath no
darkness in it, but is merely a still clear light joy,
without essence; and that is the eternity which is
without any thing, and is called God, above all
other things, for there is nothing evil in it, and it
is without a being.
76. Understand us thus; God the Father is so
in himself, but without a name, for he is in himself
the light clear bright eternity without a being, if
we speak merely of the light of God.
77. But since he will not be without a being,
therefore we consider his will, which he conceiveth
in himself, out of nothing, but merely out of and
in himself; and we understand the desire [is] in his
will, and [that] in the desire [there is] the centre
of the genetrix, wherein the being is generated.
78. Now the eternal genetrix desireth nothing
but the Word, which doth create in the genetrix:
for the eternal still and light joy createth nothing,
but is merely still and light; for where there is no
darkness, there is mere light without alteration;
but the genetrix in the desire maketh the attraction,
so that there is a darkness, which is eternal,
wherein nature is generated; as is mentioned
before.
79. And now the eternal genetrix, in the first
longing, desireth the liberty (viz. God), and not the
darkness, in itself: for he willeth not her, but the
Word which createth in the longing of the genetrix
: and yet there can be no genetrix without
the attracting, which impregnateth itself in the
will; in which impregnation the centre of the
nature doth consist: and there would be no Word,
if there were no nature.
80. For the Word taketh its original in nature:
and we here give you highly and dearly to understand
that two words are generated in nature: one
is the first centre of the genetrix, in the stern
wrath, to express the strong might of the mother
of the first sour wrathfulness in the fire: which is
here called the nature of God the Father, which he
thus generateth in his still joy, in the conception
of his will, without touching the liberty of the
light.
81. And the other Word, [is that] which he [God the Father]
generated out of nature, out of the meekness;
understand [that] wherein the eternal liberty of
the fight is, which is called God, which is [arises] out
of nature, and so the dark nature disappeareth,
[which is] still in the fire of the sharpness, as is
mentioned before, and yet the sour astringency (in
its own dark propriety) is terrified, and loseth its
eager propriety.
82. For the flash maketh the dark stern might
thin again, and so a sprout springeth up therein
out of the innumerable essences, and this is the
virtue or power of the second centre: for in this
springing up there is a love-desire, and the eternal
light catcheth hold of the liberty without nature;
so that the liberty without nature kindleth in this
love, and becometh a burning light, wherein the
glance or brightness ariseth.
83. For there is no glance without nature,
though indeed there is a light pleasant habitation:
but the glance ariseth first from the sharpness:
and yet in the springing up of love there is no
sharpness that is perceptible, though indeed it is
really; and so it is a birth of joy, and a right
fulfilling of the first will, which is God's, which he
putteth into desiring, and so generateth nature, and
out of nature [he generateth] the sprout [or word]
of love.
84. Thus the second sprout (or Word) of love
dwelleth in the first will, and is its right fulfilling
which it desireth: for it [the love] is meek, pleasant and
friendly, and is the virtue and heart of the first
will, from whence the eternal desire continually4 is
sprouting and subsisting.
85. And thus the light breaketh open the gates
of darkness, and the loving sprout [or second Word,
which is the Heart of God] springeth up out of the
dark nature, and dwelleth in the eternal stillness of
the Father, and is called his Son: for the Father
generateth him out of his eternal will; and herein
is the glance [lustre, glory, or majesty] of the
Father manifested, which otherwise (in the first
will in the dark nature) appeareth only in Fire;
but in the second centre, [it appeareth] in the
love in the light; and here love and enmity
ought to be considered, and how they oppose
one another.
86. For love is death to wrathfulness, and by
its shining taketh away the power of the wrathfulness.
And here the power of God in love and
anger is rightly to be considered.
87. But that the love may thus be generated is
caused by the first will from the still habitation;
for the still and clear habitation, which is without
a source, desireth no fierceness, and yet causeth
fierceness: and if the fierceness were not, there
would be no sharpness; and so the second centre
(of love) would not be generated, out of which the
supernatural light shineth, where then the name
of God the Father and of God the Son existeth.
88. For if the eternal liberty did not generate
the being of nature, there would be no Father, but
a mere nothing: but since it doth generate the
being of nature, therefore the generator, whence it
is generated, is called Father.
89. Thus the light shineth in the darkness, and
the darkness comprehendeth it not, as John saith;
and thus light and darkness are opposite one to the
other, and so the light is lord over the darkness:
and it is an eternal band, where one would not be
without the other: and here we are rightly to
consider the enmity against the virtue of the light
of God, how each of them taketh its original.
90. For the darkness holdeth in its centre sour
fierceness; stinging anguish in the brimstonespirit; woe in the flash of fire; great fire in the
breaking wheel; ascending of the essences in the
flash of the might of the fire: and yet there is no
flying out, but it causeth such a will [of flying out,
or flying away], and that is a spirit, and it is the
band of nature, which God the Father generateth
in his will, wherewith he manifesteth himself in
the eternal stillness: whereas otherwise there
would be nothing: and herein is God the Father
(with his might and fiery sharpness) an angry
zealous jealous God, and a consuming fire.
91. Let this be shewn you, O ye philosophers,
which (from the counsel of God) is opened to you
in the seventh seal, in Ternario Sancto.[Holy Ternary]
92. Thus the fountain of love is a clasping and
keeping in of the fierce wrathfulness, yea, an overcoming
of the fierce might: for the meekness
taketh away the property of the fierce sour hard
might of the fire; and the light of the meekness
holdeth the darkness captive, and dwelleth in the
darkness [without being comprehended by the
darkness].
93. And thus the fierce might willeth nothing
else but the fierceness, and the shutting in of
death; for the fierce sourness is the shutter up in
death: and the meekness presseth forth as a
sprout, and groweth out of death, and overcometh
it: and maketh the eternal life, and turneth
enmity into love.
94. Let this be a light unto you, O ye theologists
[or divines] : and consider better, the writings of
the saints, and behold the wonders of God with
other eyes. Consider what God is, in love and
anger: and observe how two Principles stand
open, where each is desiring; desist from the
natural wisdom of this world, and consider the
eternal nature, and so you shall find God and the
kingdom of heaven. Your laws will not do it: if
you would know God, another manner of earnestness
[or zeal] must be used [than to make conclusions
in counsels and synods] ; you must go out
from Babel disputations], that you may attain the centre of the
Son of God: and so you shall be bom [or generated]
in meekness and in love; and then you may
feed the sheep of Christ: otherwise you are thieves
and murderers, and step into the centre of the
fierce wrath, where you do nothing else but devour
the sheep of Christ, with your blowing up of
hellish fire. O how falsely do you deal against
love: how will you appear, when the sun riseth,
and when you shall stand in the light; it shall
hereafter be set before your eyes.
THE THIRD CHAPTER
1. AND now if we will dive into the blessed birth
of love, and search how it is generated, and
where it hath its original, we must search the centre
inwardly, and set the sixth form of nature before
us, viz. Mercury, wherein the sound [sound or
noise] is generated: and so we shall find (in the
generating of the love), the tune, sound and song,
as also the five senses, seeing, hearing, smelling,
tasting and feeling; wherein the life is understood;
as also pain and torment, joy and love; desire to
good, and desire to evil; though in itself in nature
nothing is to be rejected [or is in vain], both must
be, else God would not be manifested, and all
would be as a still nothing: and the whole Being is
together in the eternal God; none hath made or
generated any thing for him: he alone, in his eternal
will (which is himself) maketh the genetrix [womb of nature] ;
he only is the eternal beginning, and comprised
the centre to the genetrix, which maketh the
eternal mother of the genetrix of the essence of
all essences.
2. For God hath no beginning, and there is
nothing sooner than he [or before him], but his
Word hath an unsearchable [groundless] beginning in him,
and an eternal unsearchable end: which yet is
not called end rightly, but Person, viz. the Heart
of the Father: for it is generated in the eternal
centre, not as a form of the centre (which belongeth
to the centre) but as a sprout of another centre out
of the first eternal [centre] .
3. Therefore he is the Son of the First; and is
rightly the flame of love, and the glance of the
Father in the eternal will, and the second mother
[or matrix] of the genetrix, viz. the angelical
world out of himself, is a Principle, which is
called the Mercy of God: out of which centre
goeth forth the virgin of the eternal wisdom of
God, by which God hath created this world, viz.
the third Principle (with all creatures and things)
out of the first [Principle] .
4. And we would have the Reader faithfully
warned, that he should not seek our meaning in
the wisdom of this world; but in the light of the
eternal nature, whither we would have him directed
also, (viz. into the new Regeneration in the life of
Christ) else we are but dumb to him, and not to be
understood: and without that [New Birth] he
should leave these writings uncensured; or else he
eateth the food of the first centre; and his scorn
will gnaw him in the centre of his own life.
5. We will readily vouchsafe him the light;
and for that end this hand hath set down the deep
Mysteries, not for any advantage that can be
expected, but for the lillies [children of wisdom] sake,
and for the sake of the angelical world.
6. Here mark exactly: you will see that which
you have not seen since the heavy fall of Adam:
and thereby consider what it signifieth, and what
appeareth with it; and tread not in the footsteps
of the proud Pharisees, who crucified Christ, and
remained blind in the day-light, or else the same
will happen unto you.
7. And look not upon the hand of this pen, it
can do nothing; but upon the centre [ground or foundation],
out of which the light shineth; it shineth not only out of
this hand, but in the whole world, as an opened
seal in the eternal centre: every one may apprehend
it, it is not only without him, but in him:
and there is no more to be said, but to fly open,
and spring with Jesus Christ, and put forth a
flower out of this world into the angelical world:
of which we will here speak, and shew you the
eternal Being.
3. We have shewed you above, the birth of the
four forms of the eternal nature, and thereby have
signified how they are generated out of the eternal
unchangeable will of the liberty of God: where we
have declared to you also how the eternal liberty
without nature is a still light habitation, yet without
glance [or lustre] ; also how the eternal light
of liberty is sharpened in the sour hard fierceness,
so that it appeareth as a flash of fire, where then it
dissipateth the darkness, and taketh away the
power of the fierceness, and so getteth a consuming
glance, or fiery splendour, by reason of the terrible
sharpness; where then the sour matrix becometh
an anxious genetrix: and being feeble (by the
flash taking away its power), it becometh essential:
and the flash catcheth hold of its essential form in
the anguish (that is, the brimstone- spirit) which is
the body of the flash, out of which it burneth
and shineth.
9. And then [we have shewn also] how the
wheel of the essences, with the flash of the sour
overcoming, is upheld: and how the centre is
like that of a cross-wheel [wheel with four spokes across],
and how all standeth in the founding of the essences,
like a sprout: where then the wheel driveth only upwards:
and therefore it is that the source of the fire flieth upwards,
for all the forms of nature fly after the fire;
and the fire flieth from them; for it willeth to be
free, being it is originally proceeded out of the
eternal liberty, but yet it cannot [be free], because
nature withholdeth it by the sharpness which
subsisteth in nature.
10. And then also we have shewn you, how the
crack of the fire killeth the fierce property of the
sour matrix, whereby it is overcome, and falleth
back; from whence cometh weight in nature, and
matter of every thing. And then, how the
flash in the overcoming twinhleth [or loseth its
strength] where then (in the meekness) it is so
terrified, that it loseth its fiery property, and
becometh clear or bright, which is the shining of
its light, where the glance taketh its original. And
how the eternal still liberty taketh the glance as
its own; and how the first will is herein satisfied
(according to its desire) with that which it would
have in the original in its desire.
11. And so when the first desire (together with
the generated essences) is filled with the glance of
the light, then all the essences (which have laid
hold on the light) stand in the first desiring will,
and the will thereby becometh triumphant, and
full of joy, that the child of light is generated in
it: And here the second centre flieth open in the
joy, where the love is the fire of the centre; and
the love-desire of the first will attracteth the joy,
and the light shineth out of the joy: And so this
precious holy birth remaineth upon the crosswheel, where the wheel of the essences moveth in
the cross; and the joy (viz. the source of the fire)
flieth upward, and the centre retaineth it.
12. And so there the new-born will goeth forth
with power and wonders; and establisheth the first
will of the liberty of the Father, with the centre of
the love-birth of the Son: for this birth is the Word
of the Heart of the Father, which he speaketh out of
his essences [flowing essential powers or faculties]:
and that which goeth forth out of
the love, is the Holy Spirit of the Word, which
formeth the essences; and this is together the
Ternary in one essence [or Trinity in Unity].
13. And so now, when the centre in the Word
f lieth open in the virtue of the light out of the
love, then one form embraceth the other with very
friendly desire: for the first will is desiring, and
maketh the centre; as is declared before concerning
the wrath, so also it is here with the love; and
instead of the striving contrary will, there is
nothing herein but an embracing and acceptable
relish: For when the wheel of the essences is
sounding, the sixth form is generated.
14. For the sourness retaineth its fierce might
well enough in the sharpness of the love; but
indeed it is very soft; and in the sixth form
maketh voices, tunes and sounds, so that in the
sounding, the essences hear one another: and with
the essences of the wheel in the assimilation
[infection or mixture] they taste one another: and
in the desirous love they smell one another: and
with the breaking through of the source, they feel
one another: and in the light, they see one
another: and so there is a living form of the spirit,
which goeth forth as a life, in all forms, and it [the
spirit] is the stirring of the voices in the essences,
which make the senses [thoughts or constellations],
or stars.
15. Thus the true insuperable love - desire
springeth up in the first will, which is called
Father; for in the centre of the Son, out of the
Fathers sharpness, the glance is generated, which
is a very friendly desire, to turn the wrath of the
Father into love: For when the essences of the
Father taste the meekness in the light [or love], then they
are all stirred, and it is a mere lovely desire,
pleasing relish, and friendly well doing; and the
form Mercurius is indeed the Word: which in the
dark centre is a poisonous woe and anguish; but in
the virtue of the light it is the source of joy: and
affordeth voices, tunes, and sounds, but not like
the sound in the fire in the first centre.
16. Thus, my dear Mind that readest this,
understand, and take our meaning rightly; and
consider what we mean in this description. We
mean, not two Gods, that are one against the other,
but one only God in Ternary, or Trinity of subsistence,
in his eternal birth, or geniture.
17. In the word Ternarius is rightly to be
understood in the language of nature the divine
birth in the six forms in nature, which art the six
seals of God.
18. But when I say Ternarius Sanctus, then I
have therein the number Three in seven forms,
wherein the angelical world is comprehended, which
standeth in the seventh birth. Not according to the
[pronunciation of] the Latin tongue, but according
to the [pronunciation of] the language of nature
from whence all things have taken their names
which our philosophers, in the schools of the Third
Principle of this world, do not understand; [but
the theosophers of the school of Pentecost under
stand it well] .
19. For when I speak of the wrath and of the
anger of God, I mean not anything that is without
God; neither do I mean thereby the pure Deity
which is unchangeable, and in eternity is nothing
else but good; and is not nature: but the Word
is generated out of the nature of the Father, as
another or second sprout, which is not comprehended
in nature; and therefore it is even another
Person, and yet is generated out of the first.
20. Understand, that the first will, which is
without nature, is free from nature, but nature is
generated in its desire: and now therefore the
second will (which goeth forth out of the first, out
of nature as a proper centre of its own) is also free
from nature: for it dwelleth in the first will, which
is called Father, in the light eternity, and it is the
glance [or brightness], power, strength, and being
of the light eternity; or else there would be therein
no being, but a light still habitation, without being
or operation.
21. But since it would be manifested, it must
needs create a will which is desirous, and yet there
was nothing to be desired but the powerful Word:
and yet that was not in the still eternity either:
and therefore the seven forms of the eternal nature
must be generated; which are the seven seals of
the Son of God, as the Apocalypse witnesseth, and
thence from eternity the powerful Word is generated;
which is the power and virtue, the heart,
the life, and being of the still eternity.
22. And since it is generated out of the seven seals
or forms of nature, therefore it is the Maker and
Creator of all things out of the being of nature: for
there is nothing else that can overpower the nature,
but only the effectual powerful Word in the light;
that only can overcome the wrath. (He only hath
the key that can open and break the seven seals of
the wrathful nature of the Father, and open the
Book of life of him that sitteth upon the eternal
throne. Read Apocalypse 1, it is just so.) For
as soon as the wrath twinkleth, that is a dissipating
of the darkness, and taketh away the power of the
fierce wrathful anguish, and is rightly called the
mercy [the Barmhertzigkeit] of God.
23. For Barm is the light twinkling in the
centre, out of the light eternity; where the glimpse
captivateth the stern hard sour or harsh bitter
anguish, and terrifieth it with the glimpse, and
taketh away the power of the fierceness, and
tumeth it into meekness: Hertz is the flash, that
hath captivated the four forms, where the glimpse
of the eternity is sharpened, and thence forward
hath the four forms in it, which [glimpse] moveth
upon the cross in the centre, and maketh another
centre in itself: ig is the converting of the flash
into the light of the glance or brightness, wherein
the fifth and sixth forms are generated, viz. the
love, and the joy, wherein the potency of the whole
nature doth consist: and without these two forms,
nature would be a wrathful, harsh, and cruel death:
but the light maketh the love, and also the desire
of the sixth form; wherein consisteth the life, with
the understanding: Keit is the eternal entrance,
and the ascending over the nature of the four
forms; and an eternal inhabiting of the still
eternity; and a satiating or fulfilling of the first
will, which is called Father.
24. Thus the second birth is called the Son of
God, the word of God, the power of God, the
love of God, the life of God, the wonder of God:
and is itself the essence that manifesteth every
essence [or thing].
25. My beloved seeking Mind, I would willingly
write it in thy heart if I could. Behold! all is but
one only God. But you ask then, whence cometh
evil? Therefore you have an information concerning
that, in this high description: for you see in all
creatures, evil, poison, and bitterness; as also love,
and desire [or delight]: therefore consider now how nature is
such an earnest [or eager] thing.
26. But as the Heart of God allayeth the fierceness
of the Father in his nature, and maketh it
kind and friendly; so also doth the light of the
sun to all things in this world, which all have
their original out of the eternal nature.
27. For if the fierceness were not generated in
the eternal will, there would be no nature, also
there would not, in the eternity, be generated
any Heart and power of God, but it would be
an eternal stillness: But since the eternity doth
desire the life, it cannot be generated any other
way: and being it is thus generated, it is therefore
most beloved eternally: and therefore the earnest
strong birth may not, and cannot, cease in all
eternity, in respect of the life, which is the spirit
of God.
28. Therefore behold thy self and all creatures,
and consider thy self, consider also heaven and hell
in the anger and wrath of God: and thou shalt find
it thus, and no otherwise. Though indeed here we
need an angelical tongue, and thou an angelical light
in the mind, and then we should well understand
one another; this world apprehendeth it not.
Concerning the seventh Form of the Eternal
Nature.
The Revealed Gate of the Essence of all Essences.
29. My beloved Reader, if you would understand
the high Mysteries, you need not first put an
academy upon your nose, nor use any [such]
spectacles, nor read the books of many artists and
scholars: for the high Mysteries are not to be
sought after, searched out, and found, only in the
high schools or universities: whatsoever reason
seeketh in the art of this world, without the divine
understanding, is vain and fictitious; it findeth
nothing but this world, and not half of that either;
it always goeth round about in seeking, and findeth
in the end only pride and hypocrisy, in finding the
wisdom of the world.
30. Seek you nothing else but the Word and
Heart of God, (which is Incarnate, or become
man) in the crib among the oxen in the stable, in
the dark night: if you find it, you find Christ (viz.
the Word, in the Father) together with the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost: moreover, the eternal nature,
also the angelical world and paradise: and then
you will find your reason (which hath so long led
you reeling, as a drunken man) to be very blind.
You need not break your mind with high thoughts,
for with such high fancies and conceits you will not
find the ground: do but only incline your mind
and thoughts, with your whole reason, into the
love and mercy [the Barmhertzigkeit] of God, so
that you be born out of the Word and Heart of
God in the centre of your life, so that his light
shine in the light of your life, that you be one
with him.
31. For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
eternal Word in the Father (who is the glance, or
brightness, and the power of the light eternity)
must become man, and be born in you, if you will
know God: otherwise you are in the dark stable,
and go about groping and feeling, and look always
for Christ, at the right hand of God, supposing that
he is a great way off; you cast your mind aloft
above the stars and seek God, as the sophisters
teach you, who represent God as one afar off, in
heaven.
32. But as the devil would (in his fiery source
[or property]) fly up above the Heart of God, and
yet remaineth still in the four forms in the eternal
nature in the darkness, so it is also with blind
reason, which sitteth in the dark, and seeketh God
in the darkness.
33. If you would find him, seek him in his
source or property, which is everywhere; all is full
of God, and he shineth in the darkness; God is in
your dark heart, though in another Principle;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you; the Holy
Spirit of God is the key in the centre: go out from
the desire of the flesh, in a true earnest repentance,
and put all your will, reason, and thoughts into
the mercy [the Barmhertzigkeit] of God; and so
the Word of God (viz. his beloved Heart) will get
a form in you: and then you stand before the
crib where Jesus is born: and then incline yourself towards the Child, and offer him your heart,
and Christ will be born in you.
34. And then you must first into Jordan: and
the Holy Ghost will baptize you: and there the
heaven standeth open to you, and the Holy Ghost
hovereth over you: but you must into the wilderness,
and be tempted of the devil (understand it
rightly: the devil will make attempts upon you,
and will often lead you into the wilderness of the
world, and pass before thy soul into thy fleshly
heart, and bar it up). And then great earnestness
is required, to break asunder the centre of the
devil: you shall many times not see Christ, the
devil will deny him to you, [insinuating] that he is
not become man in you: for you stand thus, as a
light in the centre, begirt with darkness, and you
are a sprout in the light of God, [sprung] out of
the dark stern nature.
35. Therefore consider; look to it; and stand
fast; as Christ did: Do not as Adam did, who
suffered himself to be brought into lust, by the
spirit of this world, and brought us into the fleshly
darkness.
36. You must, with Christ, be persecuted,
scorned, and contemned, if you will move in the
wonders of God: and if you continue in him, he
continueth in you: and then you may seek what
you will, you will find whatsoever you desire: else
you seek in the Deity in vain; and when you have
brought things to the highest, you find only that
which is in this world. Take this, that is set
down, for a warning; and so you will seek, find
and know, that which is hereafter written, concerning
the seven seals of God and of the Lamb.
37. But because we may hardly be understood
by the Reader (though very easily understood by
those that are born of God) and our intention
being no other than to shew the way to the blind:
therefore we will shew you the Revelation of John
(which is the Revelation of Jesus Christ) with the
seven spirits, and seven seals of God: wherein the
whole Deity (in the humanity) hath revealed itself;
and together with the person of the wisdom,
hath shewn the essence of the Number Three in
Ternario Sancto: whereby the Deity is seen not
only in Ternario, but also in the angelical world.
38. And those that be born of God, will here
have their eyes rightly opened: therefore let none
be wilfully blind: for the time cometh, and is
already, wherein the seven seals are broken open,
and the Book of him that sitteth upon the throne is
opened, which the Lamb of the house of Israel hath
broken open, wrhich was slain, and liveth eternally.
39. And although, hitherto, the Revelation hath
continued sealed, and hath not been understood in
the ground, by any man; yet none should conceive
and think that such a thing hath been in the
power of man; for it is the Revelation of God, and
it hath seven seals, which were sealed up, till the
anger of God was accomplished: and they are the
seven spirits of God the Father, as is mentioned
before, concerning the forms of the birth of the
eternal nature, which is God's.
40. And now this world, with all that belongs to
it, as well as man, is created as an out-birth, out of
the eternal nature; understand, out of the seven
seals of the eternal nature: and God hath created
this world for no other cause, but that he would,
in his eternal wisdom, manifest the wonders, which
are in the eternal nature; for they must come to
essence, and appear in the light, to his joy, honour,
and glory, not only in this time of secrecy [or
hidden mysteriousness], but after this time also.
41. For this time [from the beginning of the
world to the end] is as the soil [or ground], and is
the seventh seal of the eternal nature, wherein the
six seals, with their powers and wonders, disclose
themselves, and pour forth their wrath: from
whence were generated and found out, in this
world, the natural wisdom, voices, thunders, and
strife: wherein men have always sought the Heart
of God, and yet found the wonders, out of which
have arisen strife and compulsion [of conscience],
where one seal hath been opened after another:
but human reason hath not understood the powers
of the seals.
42. For when, after the times of the Apostles,
men departed from the true love and humility
towards God, and sought after wisdom for their
own ends, and made of the kingdom of Christ a
kingdom of pomp, might, and the glory of this
world; then the candlesticks withdrew from these
men, that is, went (in the Father's nature) into the
seven seals of God, and forsook the seven golden
candlesticks, the seven seals of the Heart of God,
which are the seven seals of the Lamb, which shine
bright out of the Father's nature; for they [the seven seals]
were in the hand of the Son of God, who was become
man: as may be discerned by the Image in the
Revelation, that the man Jesus Christ hath seven
stars in his hand, and standeth between the seven
golden candlesticks.
43. The seven stars are the seven spirits of God
the Father, which are hidden seals; as I have
shewn you before, how one form is continually
generated from another; and that one form would
not be without the other; and yet one seal openeth
itself after another, and they have the seven
thunders, whose speech is sealed up, for they are
in the centre of the spirit, but the seven seals are
in the essence [or in the centre of the corporeity] :
for they are manifested through the humanity of
Christ, therefore the spirit of God demonstrated
them in the form of seven golden candlesticks, and
they give light in the Father out of the centre o
the Son.
44. For you see, that there is a Glassy Sea before
the throne of the Ancient [of Days], who is God
the Father, and the sea is the seventh seal, but
opened and not sealed; for therein standeth the
angelical world: but the six seals are the birth of
the eternal nature, which are generated in the
first will of the Father, out of which the Heart
or Word of God is from eternity continually
generated, as a peculiar centre of its own, in
the centre of the seven spirits of God; and
although the seventh seal also is in the Father,
and belongeth to the centre, yet it is brought
to essence [being or substance] by the Word,
for therein consisteth the angelical world.
45. Therefore, my beloved Reader, thou art to
know, that whatsoever is written or spoken of God,
is spirit; for God is Spirit, but in himself would
not be manifest, except the seven forms make him
manifest: and therein the creation of the angelical
world is brought to pass, and is called Ternarius
Sanctus: for the number Three [or Trinity] is
incomprehensible; but the Word maketh the glassy
sea, wherein the comprehensibility is understood:
and it is clearly represented to you, in the figure
of the Image, in the Revelations.
46. For you see, that the Image standeth in the
midst of the seven candlesticks, which are the seven
spirits of the Deity; and it hath seven stars in its
right hand, which are also the seven spirits of the
Deity, in the centre of the Father, and the Word
hath them in his power, in that it changeth the
fierceness and consuming nature into a meek
habitation in the glassy sea, wherein God's light
of the Word shineth out of the Word: and then
the seven spirits of God stand in the centre of the
Word, in form like unto seven burning torches:
and hereby the Deity is pourtrayed unto you, in
the Image in the Revelations.
47. And we give you also to understand further
(as is mentioned above) that the Word (or Heart of
the Father) in its seven shining spirits, is in the
Father (in the centre of the Father) as his Heart;
and hath the seven stars (viz. the seven forms of
the eternal nature) under its power, and therefore
the image hath them in its hand.
48. But since all things (that should come to
have an essence) must come forth out of the
Father's nature, and we know also that Moses
witnesseth as much, that God the Father made all
things by the Word Fiat, as by the Word spoken,
and the speaking stood in the Fiat; and the Fiat
is the sour matrix in the first will of the Father,
which comprehendeth and holdeth the nature,
which the spirit (that is generated ex Mercurio)
formeth, which is the spirit of God: And since all
creatures stand in the Father, and that he is therefore
called Father, being a father of everything; as
also we men are his children; and yet we with
Adam, being departed from the virtue of the
seventh spirit of the Word, and with our imagination are gone into the out-birth of the Father,
viz. into the spirit of this world, which clothes us
with corruptible flesh and blood, and holdeth us
captive; therefore we are now in the virtue or
power of the seven stars, or seven spirits, of the
Father's nature, which bring their wonders in us
to the light.
49. For we are the representation [image, similitude]
of the Deity, in which the spirit of God openeth his wonders:
and be you rightly informed, God the Father hath
begotten us again in Christ, that we should with
our imaginations enter again into the Word, viz.
into the centre of the light flaming Heart, that the
Holy Ghost might proceed from us again with
miracles, power and works of wonder, as may be seen by
the Apostles of Christ.
50. But since we have suffered ourselves to be
held, by the seven fierce spirits of the Father's
nature, out of his centre; and are not with our
Immanuel, gone forth from our own reason and
knowledge, and pressed into the life of Christ, that
the Word in us might become man; therefore
also all the six spirits of the wrathful nature, have
shewn their might and wonders in us, and have
let us go astray in Babel, so that we have not
walked in the love of the Word, in the life of
Christ, but after our own inventions in a forged
hypocritical seeming holy conceit about the Will of
God; and have not walked in the spirit of Christ,
but in pride.
51. And because the seekers (in the Father's
nature) have found out [black] arts, therefore they have
trodden simple humility under foot: and because,
in their own inventions, they have departed from
the Heart of God, and so have erected an earthly
kingdom for their voluptuousness, therefore all the
six spirits of wrath have justly produced their
effect upon them.
52. For though the Heart of God hath sounded
a trumpet with a spirit out of its centre, and called
upon people to repent, yet they had always rather
take delight in their tender flesh, [and delicate life],
and had rather follow the devil, who hath always,
from the anger of God, sounded a trumpet contrary
to it [viz. contrary to repentance], and hath stirred
up wars and blood-shedding, of which the Revelation
testifieth in a figure: And the spirit of God
hath therefore declared the Revelation, as a clear
glass.
53. And mark what the angel said; Seal what
the seven thunders have spoken. The voices of the
seven thunders out of the stern essences would be
well enough hidden from us, if we did not put our
imagination [thought, purpose, endeavour] into them,
and open them in us: for in the centre of the Son
(in the meek love) they are not manifested or revealed.
54. But seeing the Word, or Heart of God, is
become man, and that in him it hath assumed a
human soul, to bring us again out of the wrathful
nature into the glassy sea, viz. into the angelical
world, to the wonders of the seven golden candlesticks;
and because we yet lay hidden in the seven
seals of the Father, therefore the Word of God,
with its assumed humanity, must enter again into
the stern matrix, into the sharpness of death and
of the answer: And there the man Christ hath
broken the seven seals in the soul of man.
55. For the Word of God, or the Heart of God
which became man, and the human soul, which
out of the seven spirits of God was breathed into
man, from the spirit Mercurius, (that is, the spirit
of the seven seals, which in the Word is called
the Holy Ghost, and yet from the centre of the
Father [is called] the spirit Mercurius, viz. out
of the sharp essences, out of the fiery wheel,
is mentioned before; but in the out-birth of the
Father, through the meekness of the love in the
Word, in this world, viz. in the third centre, is
called air;) hath broken the fierce might in the
centre of the soul.
56. For, when the soul of Adam went forth
out of the Word, and entered into the third centre
(viz. into the spirit of this world), then the centre
of the soul was eternally sealed up in the matrix
of the wrath, in the seven forms of the wrathful
nature of the Father: and there was none in
heaven, in the glassy sea, nor in this world, that
was able to break open these seven seals: there
was nothing else in the soul, but the eternal death
in the horrible anguish, and in the darkness.
57. And there the mercy [or Barmhertzigkeit]
brake forth out of the Heart of the Father, and
entered into the human soul, and brake the seven
seals of the fierce wrath, and kindled the light
(which overcometh the death and the anger) in
the soul.
58. Not that the soul was rent out from the
Father's essences, as if it were no more in the
seven spirits of nature; no, that cannot be; all
standeth in the seven spirits of the Father's
nature; yea, even the Heart of God itself [standing
therein] ; only, the seals of death, in the fierce wrath,
are broke open, by the light of the
Heart of God, in the centre of the human soul.
59. For which, we thank God the Father in
Jesus Christ, who became man, and regenerated
us in him to the light, and redeemed us from the
fierce wrathful source [or torment] in the zeal of
the anger, in eternity.
60. But because we men did not acknowledge
such great grace and light, neither did esteem it,
but were pleased with the flesh of Adam and the
lust of this world, (and though indeed we saw, that
God, in the man Christ, as also in his disciples,
and in all those that earnestly clave to him, in
the New Regeneration, did great wonders and
miracles; yet we ourselves put away our candlestick,
and lived in hypocrisy, and in our own
seeming holiness, and in tyranny, and persecuted
Christ) therefore he left us also sealed up, so that
we knew his light no more; but we sought out
for ourselves ways to God, and would by our own
contrived opinions come to God. The kingdom of
this world was more acceptable to us than the
kingdom of God: we practised before him nothing
but hypocrisy, and our heart was far from him:
Therefore we must also, in the nature of the Father,
remain under the seals, till the spirit Mercurius
[that is, the wrathful spirit in the anger of God,
according to which God calleth himself a consuming
fire] hath manifested all its wonders in us.
61. And the Revelation sheweth very clearly
how the spirit Mercurius hath opened one seal
after another, and hath poured forth all plagues
and abominations in us, and hath brought forth
mere contention, wars and malice, mere cunning
crafty subtlety, deceit, and falsehood, with wonders
and powers in us; as indeed he very finely
portrayeth us, as an abominable beast, like a
dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and
upon his horns ten crowns, and our formal demure
spirituality [clergy, ministry] sitteth aloft upon the dragon,
finely and stately trimmed and adorned with a crown.
62. And there you may behold yourself, you
fair bride upon the dragon, do but see what you
ride upon: Is that Christ's ass in lowliness, or is
it the devil from the abyss? Your own authority,
and the climbing up of your tyrannical power
(which you yourself have erected), is your beast;
in that you have set up a wicked compulsion,
forcing and oppressing of poor people; and have
lived only in pomp, state and pride: your spiritual
heart is the beautiful glistering bride upon the
beast.
63. Behold, I must tell it you ! behold yourself,
you dainty bride, full of abominations and desolations
; since you account yourself so fair: behold,
what have you built? Great glistering houses of
stone, into which you enter, and there practise
whoredom, hypocrisy, and dissimulation: you give
God fine words, and your heart hangeth to the
dragon: you devour the fat of the earth, and your
hypocrites must fall down before your beast and
dragon, viz. your tyrannical power, and worship
you, or else your dragon will devour them; whatsoever
you set up [ordain, preach, teach] must be accounted divine.
64. O how finely are you deciphered: do but
behold yourself, it is high time: do you not see
how the angel throweth you, together with the
dragon, into the abyss, into the lake of [fire and]
brimstone? Or do you not know your self yet?
65. Do you not know, that we must be born of
God, in Christ, and live in the conversation of
Jesus Christ? Do you not know that the Word
is become man? We must be new-born in Christ,
that so the soul may be a member of Christ: we
must all be generated out of one body, which is
Christ; or else we cannot behold the seven
candlesticks [or lights] of God in us.
66. To what purpose do you so much play the
hypocrite with your seeming holiness? Why do
you usurp divine power in your seeming holiness?
You have it not. You have nothing else but the
power of the dragon, your antichristian idol: if
you desire to have divine power, you must be
(in the life of Christ) in God; and so you receive
divine power, to work in those who lift up their
heart to Christ in God; there you have the keys
of the kingdom of heaven in the angelical world.
67. Your laws, councils, decrees, canons, and
your singular articles or opinions, are but mere
deceit: the spirit of Christ in God will not be
bound to any laws. Whatsoever you teach concerning your own power in heaven, which you
appropriate and usurp to yourselves (without the
New Birth in Christ), is all false, and lies; and
the power thereof belongeth to the dragon [or
your own power consisteth in the tyranny of
rulers] .
68. None have any power in God, except he
be born of God in Christ Jesus; and such an one
can open the seven seals to the inclined heart,
(which inclineth itself to God in Christ Jesus),
by his voice and word (which soundeth from
God), and can sound the trumpet into the
desiring mind.
69. Therefore behold yourself in the Revelation,
in that representation or image of your riding
upon the dragon. How bravely ride you on earth,
as the dragon, the old devil, doth in the seven
seals, (which would always ride over the Heart of
God in the might of the fire, and yet remaineth
sealed up in the seven seals, in the dark abyss of
the eternity in the original of nature, in the
wrathful matrix); and so you ride also.
70. And though the seals in the soul of man
are broken in the death of Christ, yet the anger
of God, with the spirit of this world, hath sealed
you up, and driveth you on, that it may accomplish
all its wonders in you.
71. Behold, you proud whore upon the beast !
What have you sought after, since the times of
the Apostles, who walked in the life of Christ,
(and not according to the lust of the fierce spirit
in the original of nature, as you do)? Behold your
brave kingdom that you have erected in the world,
in which you go about to compel men to turn
away from God, and to reverence and worship
your laws !
72. Christ worshipped his Father; his soul
pressed, in verbum Domini, into the Word of the
Lord, in the seven golden candlesticks, which are
the burning love-spirit of the Heart of God, in the
Father, in the still eternity; there, in the source
of the Father, Christ wrought great wonders: for
he opened the seals of the hidden Mystery, and
did drive the unclean spirits out of the wrathful
source of the souls, and sounded with his Word in
the centre of the poor captive souls, so that they
stirred all seals, and in the life of Christ pressed
into God: and there the devil could not dwell, for
he is a spirit of darkness, as we will hereafter shew
him to be.
73. But you take and usurp the kingdom and
power of Christ, with fair hypocrisy and deceit:
Where are your wonders, while you make divine
laws, only for your worldly honour and deceit, only
that you might rule over silver and gold, and the
souls of men?
74. O you Babylonish whore ! you are she of
whom the prophets have spoken, who have
prophesied (in the hidden seals) of the wonders,
which were hidden in the eternal nature; in you
the wonders are brought to light: But you spoil
the Tree of Life, therefore you must go into the
lake which burneth with brimstone: and therefore
the spirit saith in the Revelation; Go out of her,
my people, that you be not partakers of her source
[plagues or torment] .
75. Now since you are grown forth of yourself,
in the fierce might of the anger of God, and are a
devourer, and have set up the wonders of God, in
pride, for the honour of your beast; therefore the
seals in you are sealed up, till the time that the
anger hath shewn its might upon you, and that
you devour yourself.
76. For you have despised the angel's sounding
of the trumpet, and persecuted those that were sent
from God: You esteem your belly God, and glory
most of all, and love flattery.
77. The bride of the beast saith: I am your God,
set me upon you, ride on how you will: I will cry
aloud and say, The fatness of the earth is yours,
and men shall worship you in me; fear and horror
be upon all those that disesteem us; thus I ride
over the bended knees, and over the souls of men.
Where can there be such a kingdom as we have?
[For we are exalted more than princes and kings,
and we are honoured and reverenced by them, and
placed above them.]
78. But the spirit Mercurius, which goeth forth
out of the burning torches, (which is the spirit of
God's bride), declareth in the Apocalypse, that
when the seventh seal shall be opened, then shall
the hidden Mystery of the kingdom of God be
accomplished.
79. For the Lamb which was slain, did (at the
time of the seven seals) take the Book out of the
right hand of him that sat upon the throne, and
opened the seals thereof: and the four and twenty
elders fell down before the Lamb, and said, Thou
hast opened the Book, and broken open the seals:
Praise and honour and glory to God and the
Lamb, which was worthy to take the Book, and
break open the seals thereof; and the whore,
together with the dragon, was cast into the lake of
fire. If you understand not this, you are under the seals.
80. Behold! when the seventh seal shall be
opened, then the Arch-Shepherd will feed his sheep
himself, in his green pasture: he leadeth them to
the springing waters, and refresheth their souls,
and bringeth them into his right path, and is a
good Shepherd, and the sheep follow him, and he
giveth them eternal life.
81. At that time, Babel, that great city on
earth, breaketh in the wonders; and all the souls
of those that are written in the Book of Life,
in the glassy sea [or angelical world], all those
that are born of God, go out from her: and
that is the tabernacle [habitation] of God with men; for he
that seduced them is sealed up, the light driveth
him away.
82. Therefore hearken, you that are drowsy,
and awake, the day breaketh, it is high time;
that you may not be captivated by the anger in
Babel; there is great earnestness [or severity] at
hand: leave off your contention about the Cup of
Christ, else you will be found to be but fools in
the presence of God: your decrees avail nothing,
when you assemble together, and make results
and conclusions, saying, Thus we will have it,
this is the Confession of Faith, thus we will
believe, and then the Church of God will be upheld. And another party gainsayeth; and they
call one another heretics, and so you lead the
blind laity captive in your devilish contention, in
your pride.
83. You bind the true meaning [of the Scriptures]
to your art: he that hath not been a student, or scholar,
in that, can have no understanding
in the hidden mysteries of God, you say.
O you proud blind men, how you suffer yourselves
to be seduced, by human traditions
[your own conventions and conceits], without the
spirit of God ! How will you stand in the Day of
the Judgment of God, with your confounded sheep,
which you have thus led along in blindness? You
have filled them full of reproach, and blasphemies;
and have ridden up and down upon the dragon, in
mere hypocrisy, covetousness, high-mindedness, and
false teaching: outwardly you have made a fair
show, and inwardly you have been full of the devil.
84. Where is your apostolical heart? Have you
Christ [in you]? Wherefore then do you dispute
and contend about him? And make the common
lay-people contend also, who know not what they
do; they play upon your music, [and dance after
your pipe], and would rather lose their lives,
than leave your follies, and enter into the life
of Christ.
85. O simple devotion! Wherefore do you not
take Christ (your true Shepherd) to be your
Shepherd, and let the wolves go? You need not be
contentious about the kingdom of Christ; neither
have the wolves any power to give it you, or take
it away from you: you need not ask, Where is
Christ, is he in the Baptism, or is he in the
Supper? Is he in the hearing of the preacher,
or ministry (as is so hard pressed upon people
nowadays)?
86. Do but mark, and incline your heart, mind
and thoughts unto Christ, that Christ may be
born in you; and then you have Christ, the
baptism, sacrament, and the Holy Ghost in
all places; you have him in the hearing of the
divine word.
87. The covenant and testaments [baptism and the Lord's supper]
of Christ have indeed been long used, without faith, and therefore
are but hidden seals: but if you be once born in
Christ, then they become opened seals in your
heart, in your soul, all is yours; Christ is in the
Father; and you in Christ are also in the Father;
and the Holy Ghost goeth forth from the Father
in Christ, and also in you: the word of life is
always in you. What do you then seek after for
salvation? When you hear teaching of God, then
the spirit also teacheth from your heart, and there
is one love, one Christ, one salvation in all places;
wheresoever you are, there is the gate of heaven;
it is not only in the churches of stone, where men
glister in pride, but where there are penitent
people together, in true sorrow, who, with earnest
desire, long after God's mercy [Barmhertzigkeit],
who willingly speak of love, and of the wonders of
God [there is the gate of heaven].
88. Hear, O thou blind Babel! Should the
Holy Ghost work powerfully in your words,
when you stand before the congregation, and
despise your forefathers or predecessors for their
blindness in their opened seal, whereas you yourself
are a false malicious adder, and teachest nothing but sedition,
contention, and scorn?
You do not pour the Holy Ghost into your hearers, as
you boast, but you drive into them the spirit of
contention: you teach scorn, and not love. What
doth the layman know of those that were dead a
thousand years ago? Are not they in the power
of the judgment of God, and not in your power?
You judge and condemn many that are in the
angelical world; should then the Holy Ghost, in
your false judging, be preached into the hearts of
men [by you] ? You preach not the spirit of
Christ, but the spirit of the devil, into their hearts,
insomuch that they rely and depend upon your
fables, and let go the highly precious word of
Christ.
89. Look into the acts of the Apostles, when
they were together very unanimously, with great
desire of the kingdom of God, and spake of the
works and wonders of God, and of his love toward
men, how the earth moved under them, and the
Holy Ghost also moved the earthly centre for great
joy. But had they sat together to deride the
Pharisees, and scorned and made a play-game of
them, the Holy Ghost would not have been so
powerful among them.
90. Therefore open your eyes (ye children of
God) and go into the temple of Christ; and hang
no more to the temple of dissimulation, to the
hypocrites and murderers. Yet I do not hereby
prohibit the stone churches, but I teach [that] the
temple of Christ [is] in all places: indeed, the
greatest pomp is exercised in the churches.
91. But if you desire to go into the temple of
Christ, you must bring a humble, contrite, and
broken heart with you, which earnestly longeth
after the kingdom of God; it must not consist in
hypocrisy, where they shew themselves in a holy
and devout posture, but the poor soul is left
without the temple of Christ, in the seven spirits
of darkness, where only the mouth is a Christian,
and the heart is in doubt, or else in mere
voluptuousness of the flesh.
92. O you blind sophisters ! What have I to do
with you, that I must thus write of your wonders[ doings]?
I have not sought your ways, but [I have sought]
the Heart of God, that I might hide myself in
Christ. I desired only, with the Virgin in the
Revelation, (which standeth upon the moon), to fly
into the wilderness from the dragon; and yet I
myself must now shew the dragon. LORD ! thou
doest whatsoever thou wilt, thy ways are mere wonders.
THE FOURTH CHAPTER
Of the Wellspring of Light
1. WHEN we thus shew you the way of the light, the
spirit is pleased, not to speak barely as in a history, but
to set forth the light in its deepest depth, in its
wellspring or fountain that you may look as through an
opened seal, Ternarium Sanctum, into the holy Ternary
[or the eternal essentiality] .
2. For seeing the hidden Mystery of the kingdom of
God shall be revealed in the seventh seal, the Lamb
himself shall be Shepherd over the sheep, therefore it
must not be sealed up: for we have known the voice of
the trumpet of the seventh seal in Ternario Sancto, in
the holy Ternary, therefore we may well speak of our
native country, to which our labour [or journey]
tendeth.
3. None should suppose us to be ignorant, in that we
write so very deeply; for if we did not see and know it,
we must be silent: it is a common saying, What the
heart is full of, that the mouth speaketh. This [which
we have written] was not sought by this hand: But it is
written, / am found of them that sought me not, neither
did they enquire after me.
4. 1 was as simple concerning the hidden Mysteries, as
the meanest of all; but my virgin of the wonders of God
taught me, so that I must write of his wonders: though
indeed my purpose is to write this for a Memorandum
for myself, and yet I shall speak as for many, which is
known to God.
5. And now being to speak of the seventh form of
nature, we see that the corporeity especially subsisteth
therein, for a spirit is void [or crude] without a body:
whereas there is no understanding without a body: and,
moreover, the spirit itself doth not subsist without a
body. For a form in the spirit is a hunger, and a longing
desire, of one form after another.
6. For all things stand in the will, and are driven on in
the will; for if I have [or conceive] no will to go, my
body standeth still; therefore my will carries me; and if
I have no desire towards a place, then there is also no
will in me; but if I desire anything, then that is the will
of the essences.
7. And yet the essences desire nothing but preservation
and sustenance of the body, for the body is
food: and the whole essence of all essences is a
continual hunger and satiating [or fulfilling], and a
regeneration, or propagation, from its fulness: as may
be seen, that each form of the spirit desireth the other in
its hunger, and when that is attained, another, or
second form, ariseth out of it; and yet the first doth not
vanish, but the other, or second, formeth itself in the
first, into another source or property: and yet both keep
one in the other, each in its own property: as we have
written concerning nature, in six forms, how one
proceedeth from the other, and how one causeth the
other, that it be generated, and yet each keepeth its
property in the other; and there now they stand in six
forms one in another.
8. And so there is no place of rest, but there is a
constant desire of all the six forms, as a hunger out of
which the will is continually generated: and yet there is
nothing wherein rest can be, but the still eternity: and
yet also this cannot be apprehended or found in the
wheel of the fiery essences: and therefore the hungry
nature seeketh in its mother ( viz. in the desire of the
sourness), and the sourness catcheth hold of the desire
of the essences, and holdeth it fast: and thus all
essences of the hunger are held in the sour mother for
she is their only rest, which they fill again with that
which is in them, that is, with themselves.
9. And herein consisteth the dominion of a spirit: for
nature doth consist not only in seven forms, but there
may (out of every desire) again a will be generated,
wherein the essences subsist again, but alterably,
according to the desire of that will, where there is no
number found, as you may see in the creation of the
world.
10. But seeing the eternal essence doth desire a certain
bound or limit, further and more than which, or to go
higher, or to be other, it desireth not, therefore the heart
generateth itself, which is the end of nature; and the
heart is the fulfilling of the eternal [being, essence, or
substance] .
11. And the heart is not comprehensible by nature, but
nature remaineth in the darkness in itself, and the heart
remaineth in itself in the light: and neither would be
manifest without the other; and yet there is a continual
hunger in them both, for both have wrought from
eternity, viz. light and darkness.
12. Now thus we see, in the angelical world, as also in
this world, that the seventh form of nature is a
substantial form, out of which is proceeded the being
of corporeity, per verbum Fiat, by the word Fiat; and
we have searched the ground, and find, that the same
standeth also in two forms, one in the darkness, the
other in the light; and yet they belong not to the birth of
the darkness and of the light, but they are the body, or
comprehensibility.
The most Mighty Gate in the Centre, highly to be
considered.
13. This we demonstrate to you in light and darkness;
for we cannot say that the darkness is the source [or
property], but the darkness encompasseth the source
[or property], and causeth that a source of anguish of
the longing and desiring, is [generated] in it; for the
darkness hath no desiring, but the desiring is generated
in it; and the darkness causeth the desiring, viz. that
there is conceived a desire to be free from the darkness;
and therefore the desiring laboureth so eagerly after the
liberty, till the anguish, in the sharp desiring,
discovereth the liberty in itself; and yet there it is not
[rightly called] the liberty, though] it be the liberty, but
it standeth in the sharpness] of the anguish, and is
called fire, where the desiring then can go no higher,
but must be stifled in itself, and must sink down into
the source.
14. And the sharpness of the flash of the fire, in the
liberty of the sharpness, holdeth its right, like a still
source [or property] standing in the sharpness of the
liberty: and the sinking of the anguish is as it were a
death, out of which the life is generated, which death
affordeth weight: for it is (being compared with the
fire of the liberty) like sinking down in itself, and in its
sinking, the anguish becometh material, so that in that
death the whole form of the source [or property] may
found, as I may say, palpably, or sensibly; an the
sensibility is the corporeity of the darkness) and the fire
of the liberty in the fierce flash, is its spirit and life.
15. And hereby you are advised to enter into
yourselves, and you may see, that the fire causet the
feeling [or sensibility] in the sharpness of the dead
corporeity: for without fire there is no body, that hath
any sensibility [or feeling], as you may see by the earth
and stones.
16. Now therefore it is here further declared to you,
that the body, or substantiality, is not so dead a thing
that it is altogether useless, and fit for nothing: for the
stifling driveth its property or source downwards, and
affordeth weight; and the fire driveth upwards, and
giveth spirit, life, and mobility. And now between,
these two, in the midst, is the centre of the desiring
anguish, which is a cause of that which is uppermost,
that is, the fire; and also of that which is nethermost,
that is, the substantiality: and if the centre cannot get
upwards nor downwards, and yet driveth with its
desiring, then it driveth forth sideways, and the whole
form or figure of it is as a growing tree; for it
appeareth in the centre like a cross, out of which the
essences of the desiring spring forth, like a tree or
sprout (as I may so say) and yet is not a sprout, but like
a driving forth in itself, like a kindling in the dead
essentiality.
17. And hereby we give you earnestly to understand,
that the source or property in the centre (out of which
the fire goeth forth upwards in the essentiality, and
where the death sinketh downwards, and the essence
sideways), generateth another will, which hath a desire
to put the death, as also the fire in the sharpness, with
the essences of the will, into the liberty, and the will
attaineth the liberty, in the fire; and maketh the fire
shine bright, and maketh the joy; and this second or
comprehended will is called the tincture.
18. For it is a glance or splendour in the darkness, and
hath the power of life, and sprouteth through the death
of the essentiality; and quieteth the anguish: yet it hath
no essences in itself, it is the ornament and virtue of the
essences, it the joy and habitation of the life, it cannot
depart from the anxious or painful sharpness, and yet
the sharpness retaineth it not; for it is free and blossom
of life, it is not soft nor sweet, but it like burning
brimstone, where the fire attaineth glance, which
otherwise, in the centre in anguish, is black and dark.
19. Thus we distinguish to you the substance in
the darkness; and though we are very hard to be
understood by you, and though also little belief
may be afforded to it, we yet have a very convincing
proof of it; not only in the created heaven
[constellations],
but also in the centre of the earth, as also in the
whole Principle of this world, which would be too
long to set down here; but we will discuss, and set
down a few things, to open the understanding of
the Reader.
20. Consider the centre of the earth, which God
hath created by his Word, even out of the centre
of the deep eternity, out of the darkness, out of
the centre of the desirous will; but not out of any
separate place, but out of the space and depth, so
far as the Word hath yielded itself unto the ether,
there hath the centre been every wJiere, and is so
now, and remaineth so in eternity; for it hath been
so from eternity.
21. And this is the beginning, that the Word
hath created [or conceived] a will in the darkness,
to manifest the darkness with all its forms, of the
wonders of God the Father, in his nature, which
he generateth in his eternal will: and we demonstrate
it to you thus: Behold the earth, stones, and
metals, which are all of them as it were dead and
afford weight; and also they are dark [opaque], and
yet have in them the light, viz. the noble tincture,
which is their light and life; wherein the ore [or
mineral] stone doth grow, in which the tincture is
strong.
22. Thus you see also, how the brimstone fire is
the overcomer of nature, in which the tincture doth
exist, and so through the death of nature springeth
up, in stones and metals; and in nature bringeth
forth the substantiality of the shining and glance,
or brightness, which may be seen in gold, silver,
and all glistering metals. Wherein also we see
the poisonous anguish of the darkness, as also the
sour death of the darkness, and the strong matter
of conjunction [mixture or copulation]; as they
understand who work and deal therein.
23. Also we see how the tincture can bring that
which is lowest in the death to its highest ornament
or glory, (viz. an inferior metal into gold);
and all that, in respect of the great power of the
eternity. And therefore also the tincture is hidden
from the alchemists, because it is originally out of
the eternity, and they seek only that which is
earthly; if they did rightly seek, they should well
find it, as we have found in the spirit.
24. But we have yet a greater knowledge of this,
in the many materials or kinds of earth, which we
know to be created out of the eternal essences, as
an outbirth,
and so are in substance as an image
of the essences; where we may see the altering of
the will in the essences, and the great wonders of
the omnipotence of God.
25. For all things, which are come to an essence,
proceeded out of the eternal genetrix, not at
several times, but all at once; yet stood [or were
manifested] in several times, in the forming of the
essence or substance (in the wrestling of the centre)
in the figure, and were seen by the Heart of God
in the light, which at length created it; where the
time took its beginning.
26. For the Deity hath had a longing to see the
wonders of the eternal nature, and of the innumerable
essences, in substance, and in corporeal things;
and we give you to understand this highly and
exactly: that God hath created all for the light,
and not the darkness.
27. For he hath awakened the tincture, to the
death in the centre (viz. to the body or corporeal
substance of the earth), and that is its lustre and
light, wherein its life doth consist. And, to the
deep above the centre, he hath given the sun,
which is a tincture of the fire, and reacheth with its
virtue into the liberty, beyond nature, wherein also
it retaineth its glance and lustre; and it [the sun]
is the life of the whole wheel of the stars, and an
opener of death, in the chamber of anguish [or in
the wrathful nature] . For all the stars are its
children, not that they have their essences from
it, but it is their life, and in the beginning, they
proceeded from its centre: it is the centre of the
uppermost in the liberty of the life, and the earth
is the centre of the nethermost in the death; and
yet there is no dying in either of them, but an
altering of one thing [being, essence, substance]
into another.
28. For this world dieth not, but it shall be
changed into such a substance as it was not before
(understand its essences): but the shadow of all
things remains standing for ever as a. figure, to the
honour, joy, [and manifestation] of God's works of
wonder.
29. And further we give you to understand,
that the spirits also were all created unto the light;
for they are the essences [or proceeding powers]
out of the life; not out of the corporeity of the
death, but out of the centre of the essences in
the original of the tincture, which reacheth the
liberty of God the Father, which is light, joy, or
a habitation of eternity, wherein the Word with
the angelical world hath its dominion. They all
are created out of the sharpness of the twinkling
in the wheel of the essences; and they stand in
the liberty before the Heart of God, and they are
the wonders in the divine delight, which are
discovered by the Heart, in the wonders of the
power, and therefore it set the will in the Fiat,
and created them.
30. And we understand by the word Schuff,
[which signifieth created], a separation of the
essences, in the centre, in the sour matrix: and
therefore there is also such great diversity in the
spirits, as there is great diversity in the will of
the essences; whereof we have an example and
similitude in the will [and purpose] of our mind,
out of which spring so many various thoughts,
where every thought hath again a centre to a
will: that so out of a conceived thought [imagination],
a substance may be [produced] . [For example, a
woman with child can with her thoughts set
a mark on, or make some monstrous alteration
in, the fruit of her womb, which is a substantial
thing.]
31. In such a manner are all spirits created out
of the eternal Mind, and therefore they are also
eternal; for all whatsoever is generated out of the
eternal mind, is eternal.
32. For before God had conceived the Fiat, the
wheel of the eternal essences went forth without
substance, into the wonders: but when God set
the will in the Fiat, then the wheel of the eternal
essences went forth into a substance, and there
the time had its beginning, which was not from
eternity.
33. And we give you highly to understand the
heavy fall of Lucifer; which [was that] he put
his will back again into the matrix of the fire, in
the centre, and turned away from the will of the
eternal Mind, which tendeth only to the Heart of
God, and would domineer in the tincture of the
root ( viz. in the matrix of the fire) over the Heart
of God: for the fierce power of the fire delighted
him more than the meekness in the still habitation;
and therefore he was thrust back also, (into the
dark matrix, into the anguishing mind), in the
sinking down of death.
34. But to satisfy the high enquiring mind, and
to fill its apprehension, concerning what moved
Lucifer to this, we offer the matrix of the genetrix
to be considered; and there you find all the forms,
which can be found in the whole nature.
35. For you find there the sour, bitter, dark,
tart, stinging, envious [properties or forms], which
stand all in the centre of the genetrix, before the
kindling of the light.
36. But when God set his will in the Fiat, and
desired to create spirits, it was no other than as
when God said to the matrix [or womb] of the
Third Principle, of this world; Bring forth all sorts
of beasts, fowls, fishes, and worms, every one after
its kind: understand, that their body is according
to the kind or quality of their essences, and so is
the substance or essence in the body, which is their
spirit; and so also it is with the high spirits: there
went forth out of the eternal matrix, spirits, out
of all essences, which are innumerable, to our
account.
37. And as we have shewn you already, concerning
the seven forms of the centre of the eternal
nature, where every form is a several wellspring of
nature; in like manner, out of every form, out of
every wellspring, go forth spirits, according to the
multiplicity of essences and properties, every one
according to its kind.
38. And the uppermost principal dominion
proceedeth from the headsource, which is the
cause of the multiplicity therein, as the mind is
a cause of the senses [or various thoughts] ; and
we entreat you to consider the matrix earnestly;
wherein you shall quickly know the conceived will
of Lucifer, what it is in its original, how the
creature hath imagined into the matrix, and
suffered itself to be withheld there; and yet God
created all spirits in the light.
39. For the tincture of the friendly habitation
shone out of them all, and the Heart of God shone
to them, [like the Lamb in the New Jerusalem],
and they should put their imagination into it,
and frame their will and power in verbo Domini,
in the Word of the Lord.
40. But as they saw that the Verbum Domini,
the Word of the Lord, in the centre, was as another
[or second] birth out of the centre; and that they
were generated out of the essences of the great
fountain, which is the nature of eternity; they
despised the humility, out of which the love and
light is generated, and would domineer (in the
fierce power, in the source of the fire) over the
humility: for the matrix of the fire desired to
have the dominion.
41. For we cannot know any otherwise, than
that Lucifer was created in the fourth form of the
matrix: for there stand the anger and love in
opposition, and this is the strife and overcoming,
where the light overcometh and holdeth the darkness
captive. [The fourth form is in the midst of
the seven forms, and may turn itself to the three
in the anger, or to the three in the love of God,
and is severally drawn and desired by each of the
three.]
42. Also the wrath and zeal of the eternal
nature of God, desired to be creaturely, and to
shew forth its wonders; and therefore they
[the spirits or fallen angels] were held in the fountain of
their own [original] nature; and they have kindled the
matrix of the fierceness of the anger and envy, so that
now it is their eternal habitation.
43. The tincture (in their conceived will) is
become false, because they would domineer (out
of their pride) over the humility of the Heart of
God: and therefore they were cast out of the
uppermost centre into the nethermost, viz. into
death, where is nothing but mere darkness, and
they cannot reach the light of God.
44. For, to the light of God, there belongeth a
comprehension of humility, wherein the desire of
love is generated, which apprehendeth the Heart
of God; and this Lucifer hath not, but mere
anger, envy, and highmindedness, and a continual
desire to fly up above the Heart of God, and to
domineer in the stern might: and therefore he
is thrust out from the divine Principle, into the
centre of darkness; and that is his eternal kingdom.
45. And here is clearly shewn to the theolo gists,
who undertake to preach of the will of
God, that their devices, about ways to God, are
mere fables, when they make laws, and set down
things, as the means whereby the light of God
may be attained: For it only consisteth in this,
and it lieth in our imagination [purpose or resolution],
that we frame our will into humility, wherein the love is
generated, which penetrateth to the Heart of God, as
into that which is its own, where the human soul is
then born in God, so that it embraceth the will
of God, to do that which is the will of God.
46. For all men's doings without the will of
God, are nothing else but graven images [foolery,
human tradition] of natural skill, which remain in the
anguish of the centre: and it is a seeking, where
nothing is to be found; like one that maketh a costly
piece of work, which himself taketh pleasure in.
47. So also such works stand before God, as a
figure, which yet remain in the figure eternally;
but, to the true regeneration, to the attaining of
the Heart of God, there belongeth only an earnest
will, and submission, where reason lets go all that
it hath invented and contrived, and dependeth
merely on the Word of the Lord, viz. on the Heart
of God; and so the spirit is conceived and born in
the love of God.
48. And we have already clearly shewn you,
that everything is generated out of the will, and
everything hath its propagation again in the will;
for the will is the master [artificer] of every work:
for it hath its first original to nature from God the
Father, and passeth through nature to his Heart,
which is the end of nature, which dwelleth there
in the still eternal liberty without nature, and is
in nature as a peculiar Principle of its own, in
itself.
49. Thus the original of nature hath the second
Principle, out of which proceed those things or
substances that may be altered; but the Principle
of the Heart of God doth not [alter or change].
50. Therefore I still say, and it is the very truth;
that whatsoever is built, invented, and taught,
concerning the way to God, (if it proceed not out
of the humility of love, and goeth on to the
comprehending [or purpose] of the will, to the Heart
of God) is only an 1 invented work, in the wonders
of God: whereby the wonders of God, which stand
in the hidden seals, are brought to light: and the
builders [or contrivers] are but labourers in the
wonders of God, in the great building, to the glory
of God, which [building] shall appear in the
wonders, at the change of time, when all things
shall enter into the ether [receptacle or devourer].
51. Yet we do not judge, nor condemn, the
desirous seeker, who seeketh in blindness, and
knoweth not what he doth; seeing he laboureth
in the building of the great wonders of God, [with
a blind zeal] . For he shall find his reward in the
end, inasmuch as he hath had a will to press into
God, and yet sticketh in the building.
52. And when the building shall appear before
God, at the end of time, then the artificer or
workmaster shall also appear before God. But do
we alone say this? Doth not the Scripture in the
Revelation of Jesus Christ say; That our works
shall follow us; where every one shall reap what
he hath sown?
53. Therefore leave off your calumnies and
blasphemies, and your fine contrived ways to God;
and forsake the covetousness and highmindedness
of the devil, and enter into the way of love, which
consisteth in humility (towards the Heart of God)
in Christ Jesus, who hath opened again the hidden
seals, wherewith we in Adam were sealed in the
eternal death; and then you are in Christ, born in
God, and attain the divine will.
54. We give you further to understand, according
to our apprehension and knowledge, in the
wonders of God, (because eveiything that liveth
and moveth is created for the honour [the
manifestation] of God's works of wonder), that there
are many spirits in shape and figure which have not
their original out of the eternal wellspring, but out
of the beginning [anxious] will; such as are in the
water, the air, the earth, and the fire; especially under
the firmament, those ascendants, of which there
are multitudes in great hosts, and have also their
government; yet they are mutable, but their
shadow remaineth; and there are several pure
spirits which do not propagate out of themselves,
but are generated at several times, by the working
of nature, by the tincture of heaven; understand,
the superior [spirits] .
55. But the terrestrial have their centre from
the inferior globe; and the watery, out of the
matrix of the water; and they have several
heavens for their government, yet they all pass
away at their time, and stand to the [manifestation
of the] wonders of God.
56. And we give you to understand, that before
the time of the angelical world, from eternity, there
hath been such a government; where the knowledge
and understanding was only in God; but by
the angelical world is also come into the creatures.
The Gate in Ternarium Sanctum, [into the Trinity]
57. Now having shewn this concerning the
corporeity and the spirits; (and indeed the spirits
are creaturely and substantial, though incomprehensible
to us), therefore we 'will further shew you
the kingdom of heaven, with its spirits and forms,
and after that, the human kingdom: whereby the
great wonders of God shall be brought to light.
Let none be wilfully blind, it may be demonstrated
in everything, in whatever you look upon; especially
in man, for he is the image and similitude of
everything, and therefore is called the similitude
of God.
58. There is no creature, either in heaven, or in
this world, wherein all the Three Principles stand
open, as in man: and if his soul be born in God,
he excelleth the angels, in the wonders, as I will
shew you hereafter.
59. But if this text [or matter] happen to be
difficult for the Reader to understand, we would
have him admonished to read it patiently and
diligently: and though he be not able to comprehend
it [presently], yet it will be very useful to
him hereafter, when the Threefold Life of Man
shall be written of, and then first rightly come into
his understanding, so that he himself will then
esteem it for a great jewel.
60. For the mind doth not leave off searching,
till it comes to the innermost ground, which is here
shewn. But if it reach not the ground, it sinketh
down in the ground, and cannot apprehend it; and
then cometh doubting, unbelief, and contempt, into
the mind, [as if this writing were not worth the
troubling one's head about it], therefore we would
have the Reader admonished not to jest with the
high hidden Mysteries; for thereby the spirit of
God is blasphemed.
61. And it is with the mind, as with Lucifer.
When he saw the greatest hidden Mysteries of the
Deity stand in such humility, he took offence at
it, and entered into the fierce might of the fire,
and would domineer with his own self, wit, and
reason, over [the Heart of] God; he would that
God should be in subjection under him, he would
be the framer and creator in nature, and therefore
he became a devil.
62. For in the meekness and lowliness consisteth
the kingdom of heaven, with the angelical world,
and the virtue of the Heart of God.
63. For the light consisteth in meekness: and
though it hath its original out of the centre of the
fire, viz. out of the sharpness of God, yet it placeth
its centre in very great meekness; for the liberty
without nature is the end of nature: and the light
dwelleth in the liberty, as a glance or brightness
of a still joy [habitation]; and the Word [proceeding]
out of the powers of nature is the fire of the light, out of
which the shining goeth forth, and enlighteneth
the whole deep of the Father; so that it is one
essence together, but with three distinctions, where
every distinction hath a centre, and may be called
a Person.
64. For, the Father generateth the nature out
of the eternal still liberty, which is himself, and
yet in the stillness is not called Father; but in
that he is desiring [or generating], and comprehendeth
a will in himself, to [have] the genetrix of
nature [to be] ; there he is known to be a Father,
from whom all things proceed, as out of his first
will through all wills.
65. Even as the mind of man is but one only
will, which is desiring, and yet conceiveth in it,
out of the eternal will, innumerable wills, and one
always goeth forth out of the other. Whereby we
see and find, that the first will is master, and the
other recomprehended wills lead to light and
darkness, to joy and sorrow; according as they
conceive anything good or evil in them, as reason
can discern. So it is also in the Father, in nature,
but not in the liberty; for there, there is nothing
in himself, but the light eternity.
66. Seeing then a twofold comprehension thus
proceedeth out of one will, as to joy and sorrow,
love and hatred, therefore each hath its birth to
will [or to a contrary will, out of one and the same
point] again, out of one into many: Nature hath its
will to the sharpness of its stern generating: and
the first will of the Father, (which ariseth out of
the light eternity), to the still meekness: even as the
still eternity is, in itself, a still soft joy, without
substance.
67. Thus there is a twofold driving in one
only substance, and therefore also two centres are
generated; the one tendeth to meekness, and the
other to fierceness, and yet are not separated: for
the fierceness in nature is the first, and out of
the fierceness is the meekness generated, which
is the other; and one without the other would be
only a still eternity.
68. Therefore now, the meekness is the Son
of God, which dwelleth in the still eternity, and
mitigateth the wrath, and is therefore called the
Son, because he is generated out of the Father's
nature; and is called the Word of the Father,
because he is, with the glance of the eternal liberty,
[proceeding] out of the eternal liberty (out of the
wheel of the essences, out of the forms of nature,
as the life of nature) expressed in the liberty of the
Father; and is called a Person, because he is a
self-subsisting essence, which doth not belong to the
birth of nature, but is the life and understanding
of nature; and is called the Heart of the Father,
because he is the virtue and power in the centre of
nature; and he is in nature, as the heart in the
body, which giveth strength and understanding
to its members; and is called the light of God,
because the light is kindled in him, and taketh its
original in him; and is called the glance [or brightness]
because, in the eternal still liberty, he maketh
a glance [or lustre] which taketh its original out of
the sharpness of the eternal nature, as is mentioned
before. And he is called the love of the Father,
because the first will of the Father, to the genetrix
of nature, desireth only this his most beloved
Heart, and this (in the will of the Father) is the
best beloved above nature, and yet is his essence:
And is called wonder, because he is the Creator of
all things, by whom all things, out of the centre of
the essences of the Father, are brought to light, and
being; so that the nature of the Father standeth
in great wonders.
69. And this is the diversity, [and the cause]
that the Father and the Son are called two Persons,
and yet are but one God in one only essence; that
is, the Father is the generator of nature, because it
is generated by his will, out of the desire; and
because his Heart separateth itself from nature,
and is not comprehended by nature, and exerciseth
a several centre, viz. the love; and the Father
exerciseth the centre of wrath. In the sharpness
of the Father is the fire, and in the sharpness
of the Son is the light, and yet they are in one
another, as fire and light.
70. But as the fire will be free (or else it is
smothered) and yet it burnetii out of the dark
sappy wood, so is the divine nature also free from
the inward wrathful darkness: and though the
fire burneth out of diversity of materials, yet it
affordeth but one kind of source or property,
viz. heat and light. And in the same manner also
you must understand us, concerning the Deity.
71. The Son is in the light eternity of the
Father, (and in his comprehended will) in his
nature, but one only source, which burneth in love
and light, and is the glance of the glory of the
Father, and cannot be separated or disunited from
the Father; for there is but one will in him, which
is called the desire of mercy [Barmhertzigkeit],
and that is attractive of whatsoever inclineth
towards it.
72. And the Holy Ghost is the Third Person,
which I formerly called the spirit Mercurius, in
the divine nature, in respect of its property: For you
see that every will in itself is still, and every light
is still, and the noise maketh the will manifest,
which then standeth before the will, and maketh
another centre. For the noise or sound is comprehended
and carried forth, but the will is not so;
which you may perceive by a word, how that is
comprehended and carried forth which is generated
in the noise. And you know also, how the noise
hath its beginning in the heart, and goeth forth
out of the essences of the will, and is comprised
in the mouth, and yet presseth forth out of the
heart, and soundeth out from the whole person,
and declareth what is in the will.
73. And we find also, that the noise is the
awakener of the life, also the framer [workmaster] of
the senses, reason, and understanding; for it is the
hearing, and bringeth one essence into another, from
whence the smell and taste arise: also it is the cause of
the feeling, by bringing one essence into another,
where then they feel one another: also it causeth
the senses: for the essences [or the outflowing
faculties] comprehend the noise, so that every
essence is a will, and again in the will is the
introduced centre, to a genetrix of many wills.
74. And secondly, we perceive, that the air
which presseth forth from the heart, comprehendeth
the noise [sound], and in the mouth maketh a centre,
where the will formeth the word; and the will,
which thrusteth forth from the heart, bringeth the
noise of the will, in the conceived centre, which
existeth in the mouth, out from the centre of the
mouth: and that noise is sharp, and penetrateth
through the heart, mind, and senses: for it is gone
forth out of the centre, into another [thing or]
essence, as into another mind, and bringeth with its
sharpness that [mind or essence] into its will: and
if that will [or the other mind] pleaseth it not, it
breaketh that will, and destroyeth it, viz. punisheth
that mind, which is not one [or agreeable] with its will.
75. Thus, my beloved seeking and desiring
mind, consider thyself, search thyself, and find
thyself; thou art the similitude, image, essence,
and proper portion of God; and as thou art, so
is the eternal birth in God; for God is a spirit,
and the government in thy body is also a spirit,
and that is proceeded and created out of God's
government.
76. For God hath manifested himself in the
spirit of man, both in love and in anger, both the
centres are in it; and the third [centre] with the
exit of the spirit is the omnipotence, if the spirit of
this world, ( viz. the Third Principle) had not set
its bar in Adam, which is broken by the birth
of Christ, and is made a wonder; being born as
a great wonder, and shewn in the presence of God.
77. Thus in like manner we acknowledge a third
Person in the Deity, which proceedeth from the
Father and the Son. For he is the spirit of the
mouth of God, and hath not his original in nature,
but is the spirit of the first will to nature; yet he
getteth his sharpness in nature: and therefore
he is the former and framer in nature, as most
powerful and omnipotent.
78. For he manageth the sword of omnipotence,
[as may be seen by the Image in the Revelation ],
he is the bringer forth, the conductor, and the
director; also the destroyer of malice and wickedness,
and the opener of the hidden Mysteries; he
existeth in the Father from eternity, without
beginning: for the Father, without him, would be
only an eternal stillness, without essence.
79. He is the essence of the will, as is mentioned
concerning the fire, out of which the air ariseth,
which goeth forth from the fire: and as you see
that the human life, and its understanding, consisteth
in the air, and that the air governeth the
life: so you must understand us concerning the
spirit of God; which is the outgoing
and flowing virtue out of the Heart and Word of God.
80. For the Heart is the Word; and the spirit
is the former of the Word; not that he maketh the
Word, but he is the self-subsisting essence: when
the wheel of the essences in the centre of the
Father goeth on in triumph as a genetrix, then he
is in the wheel, in the appearing [or shining] of the
liberty, and openeth the genetrix in the darkness,
and causeth the longing of the other [or second]
will, to the centre of the Word.
81. He is the key, in the shining of the will
in the essences, and openeth the matrix of the
genetrix. He is not comprehended by the essences,
nor by the centre of the Word; but he closeth
with the Word and Heart, and openeth the Heart
to the pressure or representation], that so the will of the
Father may impress in the Heart; and then he is in that
which is impressed, and formeth in his own centre,
in that which is impressed, and goeth forth with
the virtue of the Word, out from the Heart, and
[expresseth or] bringeth forth the thoughts of
the will.
82. For the thoughts are the hidden seals in
the seven forms: and they open the spirit, that
it may come to the will, that so out of one form
of the genetrix, many wills may come, and go
forth, without number infinitely, but yet in the
opening and driving of the spirit: and all wonders
without number stand in the opening of the spirit:
he it is that manifesteth the Deity in nature: he
spreadeth forth the glance of the majesty, so that
it is seen in the wonders of nature. He himself
is not the glauce, but the power of the glance,
and leadeth the glance of the Majesty of God in
triumph: he is the joy of the Deity, and maketh
the holy sport, with his opening, in the hidden
seals of the essences.
83. 1 give you a similitude of this, in the spirit
and life of man: you see the body, which is in
itself, a dark [or opaque] thing, void of understanding:
it hath indeed the essences, but from
the opening of the spirit, which openeth the
essences, and bringeth them to the will, or else
the body would be dead, still, and senseless.
84. So you see also, that the spirit is not the
body, but it hath a government of its own: and
when it departeth from the body, the body
perisheth, for the essences [or the flowing faculties]
remain in the dark death, and there is no understanding:
for it is the spirit which openeth the
thoughts, [and bringeth them forth] out of the
essences.
85. And you see moreover, that the spirit is
not the light itself, for the light hath its original
in the tincture, which is the blossom of the fire,
but the spirit is the blower up of the fire, as you
see by the air, which bloweth up the human fire:
and we may understand it well enough in our
selves, if we do but open and know our selves, by
our spirit, which shall here following be shewed us.
86. Understand us here rightly concerning the
number Three [or Trinity] of the Deity: we mean
but one God in three Persons, of one essence and
will. But we give you to understand concerning
the Ternary, that there are three centres therein,
which are known in the eternal nature, but are
not known without [or beyond] nature: for without
the nature, the Deity is called Majesty, But
in nature, it is called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
Wonder, Counsel, Power.
87. For whatsoever is without nature, could not
help me, I could not in eternity, either see, feel,
or find it, because I am in nature, and generated
from it.
88. But because the Majesty hath generated
the nature, and so hath manifested itself therein
in three Persons, therefore I rejoice in that
manifestation, as being a creature inhabiting
therein, in eternity.
89. And seeing then that I am generated out
of the nature of God, therefore is it my mother,
and the food of my soul; and my soul is the food
of God: for I am his praise [and glory] which he
receiveth from my spirit: for my soul openeth his
wonders, through his working, and so is a joy in
Ternario Sancto [holy Trinity].
90. 1 speak not only of myself, but of all men
and creatures, wherein his wonders stand open,
both in his love and anger. For the devils themselves
stand in the wonders of God: for they open the seals of
the anger: and all standeth to the joy and glory of God.
THE FIFTH CHAPTER
Of the precious and most Noble Virgin, the
Wisdom of God: and of the Angelical World.
The Two Gates in Ternarium Sanctum,
highly to be Considered.
1. THOU sophister, I know thou wilt accuse
me of pride, because I (being a mean
simple man in this world) soar so high into the
deep. But it is said, that you look only upon the
wisdom of this world; I do not esteem or care for it,
for it affordeth me no joy at all. But I rejoice at
this, that my soul moveth in the wonders, to the
praise of God, so that I know his wondrous works,
in which my soul delighteth as in its mother. Now
every spirit speaketh of its own mother, whose food
it eateth, and in whose source [or property] it liveth.
2. Now since I know the wonders, shall I be
silent? Am I not born to it, as also all the
creatures, that they should open the wonders of
God? Therefore now I labour in my [employment],
and another in his, and thou, proud sophister,
in thine.
3. We stand all in God's field, and we grow to
God's glory, and to his works of wonder, as well
the wicked as the virtuous; but every fruit
groweth in its own property: when the mower
shall cut it down, then every fruit shall come
into its own barn, and every property receiveth
that which is its own; and then the field in its
essences (out of which we are grown) shall be
manifested: for there are two centres in the
eternity, and each centre shall bring in its own
crop.
4. Therefore consider, O man, what you judge,
that you fall not upon the sword of the spirit of
God, and that your work be not blown up [kindled] in
the fire of wrath: for look upon the Image in the
Revelation, which beareth the sword in its mouth:
surely it signifieth the spirit of God, concerning
which Christ said, When he cometh he shall reprove
the world of sins, of righteousness, and of
judgment.
5. Of sins, because they live in hypocrisy, and
are not obedient to the spirit of God, nor believed
in him, that he might manifest heavenly wonder
in them, but they continue under the wrath in the
first centre, and will not be regenerated, and do
open [or manifest] no other wonders, but such as
are in the wrath in mere hypocrisy.
6. And of righteousness, Christ saith, Because I
go to the Father. He hath destroyed death, and
opened the heavenly gate for the soul, and is gone
again to his Father, and hath called us to him;
but the dissembling hypocrite will not come, he
taketh more delight in his pride: therefore the
spirit reproveth him, and rebuketh him to his face,
and layeth all his false ways open to the light,
that he might see, and beware.
7. But he striketh down the wonders of the
reproof to the ground, till the spirit reproveth him
of judgment, because the prince of this world (who
held men captive) is judged: And thou, sophister,
runnest on wittingly (for thy own profit, transitory
voluptuousness, and honour's sake) to the devil,
and canst not see the open gate, which the spirit
sheweth thee, therefore he reproveth thee, and
sheweth it to thy face.
8. And if you will not, for all that, then it is as
was said: We have piped unto you, but you have
not danced; we have called you, but you are not
come to us; I have been hungry after you, but
you have not fed me; you are not grown in my
garden of roses, therefore you are none of my food;
your heart hath not been found in my praise,
therefore you are not my food. And this bridegroom
passeth by; and then cometh the other,
and gathereth, what he findeth, into his barn; you
should consider that.
[Further Information touching the Holy Trinity.]
9. Now since we speak of the Holy Trinity, as of
one only God, in one only essence; therefore we say,
that the Holy Spirit goeth forth from the Father
and the Son. And seeing God is every where, and
himself filleth all things in the whole deep, therefore
the mind asketh, Whither doth the spirit go
forth, seeing it is in the mouth of God, and also
remaineth only in God, as a spirit in a body?
10. Here see Apocalypse the fourth, there
appeareth before the throne of the Ancient [of
Days] a glassy sea, wherein standeth the seats of
the twenty-four elders, with the Lamb, which was
slain and liveth eternally: and the Ancient [of
Days] sitting upon the throne, hath the book with
seven seals, which the Lamb that was slain took
out of his hand, and broke open the seals.
11. There you see the seventh spirit of the
divine nature, which is the joy of the Majesty of
God, wherein the Trinity manifesteth itself; and
you see the true angelical world: For the sea is the
water-spirit, which in the original of nature, is the
fierce sourness, but it getteth a shriek [or aspect]
from the light of God, where this form departeth:
and the crack or shriek, in the darkness, turneth
to be a sinking down into death; where yet the
captivated shriek in the light (which is now called
joy) is also a sinking down, and is turned into
meekness, wherein the light shineth: And it is like
unto a glassy sea.
12. But it is the corporeity [body or substance]of the divine
nature; and herein the seven spirits of God, viz.
the seven burning torches, are revealed, which the
angel in the Revelation biddeth to be written; but
the seven thunders in the dark matrix in the fierce
nature, he biddeth to be sealed, and not written:
for they would be opened one after another, and
pour forth their wonders, which none should know,
till they are past; till the seventh seal in Ternario
sancto is opened, and then shall the hidden Mystery
of the kingdom of God be finished, when the
seventh angel soundeth his trumpet.
13. And here we give you to understand what
Moses saith; God created the heaven out of the
midst of the waters. Behold, thou seeking mind !
this glassy sea (which is the water-spirit in the
presence of God) is the matrix, out of which the
word Fiat created the element of water: for the
element of water in this world is an out-birth out
of the matrix of the heaven.
14. For they use to say, God dwelleth in heaven,
and it is true; and that heaven is the comprehension
of God, wherein God hath manifested himself
through the creatures, viz. the angels and the souls
of men: for in this seventh form (viz. in the glassy
sea) the nature of the Father standeth revealed in
great holiness, not in the fire; but the word is the
fire of this source [or property], and the Holy
Spirit here goeth forth through the Word, in the
angelical world, and formeth everything that
groweth and liveth; for he is the spirit of life, in
this source [or property].
15. Behold, thou seeking mind ! I shew it to
you yet more deeply and clearly; thus nature is
generated out of the Father's first will, which is
in itself only a spirit, and a darkness, and yet is
driven so far by the will as into seven forms, and
out of seven infinitely: But the cause of nature
consisteth in the first four forms, viz. (I) in sour or
harsh desiring; (II) in the bitter sting; (III) in the flash of
fire, where the life taketh its original; and the
fourth (IV) in the crack or shriek of the matrix before
the fire; where the sinking of the heavy death
downwards, and the going of the fire-life upwards,
is generated, where the centre then standeth in the
midst, as a heart in the body; out of which the
tincture (V) (as the fifth form of fire) ariseth, which is
the love-desire: and that desire is a penetrating
noise [or sound] (VI) in the sixth form; and the life of
the tincture penetrateth through the sinking down
of death, where then we understand the meekness
of the tincture, which maketh the sinking down
corporeal (VII), which is the seventh form: out of which
corporeity, in the beginning of this world, the earth,
stones, metals, and the whole centre of the globe
of the earth, were generated; and in the six forms
of nature standeth the globe of the earth, with its
regimen, and the seventh form is the comprehensibility,
or palpability, as is in earth and stones, and
it is the body of the six forms, wherein they
perform their work, as a spirit in the body. And
the upper globe in the deep above the earth hath
just such a regimen, in seven forms, where then
the four elements keep the upper centre; and the
constellations [keep] the wheel of the essences of
the will; and the sun the tincture of fire, wherein
every life in this [outward] world consisteth.
16. And just so also is the inward regimen in
Ternario sancto, not separated from this world,
but this [world] is separated only by a Principle:
for there is no corner or place in this world, where
the inward regimen is not.
17. For this world is become corporeal out of the
Father's nature, out of the wrath, out of the seventh
form, where the tincture of the sun maketh it
lovely and pleasant again.
18. And therefore the devil is called a prince of
this world, for he is the prince in the wrath of the
Father's nature: and the angelical world is the
Son's nature, in great love, joy, pleasantness, and
humility, for the Word (or the Heart of God) is
the centre therein.
19. And the flash (where light and darkness
separate) maketh the Principle, and severeth it
into two kingdoms: where one centre burneth in
the fire [or anger], and the other in love, out of
which the clear light shineth. And you must
know, that the fierce flash is the mark or limit of
separation: for that is the crack or shriek to life
and to death, where wrath and love part; which I
will explain to you hereafter.
20. Thus we give you to understand concerning
the angelical world. The Father's property is no
darkness, but the darkness is generated in the stern
desire; and the Father's property is the light, clear,
free eternity, which hath a will to nature, and that
light will, in the nature, is the flash of the essences,
and sharpeneth itself, in the stern hard wrath, and
driveth itself on, to the fourth form, where the
flash of the liberty in the sharpness shineth like
fire: and there the flash of the liberty divideth
itself into two Principles: one forward from it,
with the strong might of the fire; the other in
itself, in the free light eternity, and it giveth the
glance [brightness] to the light liberty.
21. And in this separation the flash maketh
the cross [horizontal and vertical line crossing],
where it presseth so terribly through
the dark wrath. And so the fierceness, with its
centre, flieth upwards, for the fire driveth upwards:
and the matrix of the sourness sinketh (as
a thing that is killed, by the shriek) down into
death; and the flash upon the cross standeth still
essentially: for it hath discovered the matrix, and
the matrix hath infected it, and holdeth it captive:
and the fierce flash in the matrix turneth to meekness:
for the flash in the terrified and overcome
matrix getteth a terror or crack also, as when water
is cast upon fire: where yet there is no water, but
spirit [to be understood].
22. Thus the fierceness of the fire is quenched
upon the cross; and the blossom of the noble
tincture springeth up upon the cross, as is mentioned
before; and the blossom of the life in the
tincture (as a pleasing fire) springeth up like a
sprout; and the crack or shriek sinketh down as a
faintness and weakness, though there is no parting
asunder, but the forms of the divine nature are in
such a manner; and that sinking down, is as a joy,
and is not the spirit in the six forms, which are
incomprehensible; for the sinking is comprehensible
by the spirit: and the joy [or habitation] hath all the forms of
the spirit, and is the food and satiating of the
spirit; for it hath its original out of the sour
matrix, and so every life eateth of its own matrix
[or mother] .
23. And although we have no tongue here, that
can (according to our [outward] language) bring
these hidden Mysteries to the understanding, yet
we speak as a child of its mother. For the mother
hath taken up our mind, and our sense sinketh
down into her bosom; where then we see in the
light, and know our mother, and speak thus of
our mother's house, and of her food [which we
live upon].
24. And though we cannot well speak the
language, yet we know it in the sense, very well:
and the cause why we have not that language, is
because (according to the outward man) we are
altogether a stranger in our mother's house, for
the outward man doth not belong to that house,
and therefore it hath not the mother's tongue [or
language], but speaketh with the sense of the
inward man, which reacheth to the mother.
25. Therefore here we shall be as it were dumb,
to those which are not born of God; for (according
to the outward man) we are in this world, and
according to the inward man, we are in God:
therefore the sense of the mind speaketh of the
kingdom of heaven, and the outward spirit,
(which is generated from the Principle of this
world), speaketh of [or from] this world, and the inward
[Spirit] (born of God) speaketh of the inward
world.
26. Since then we are generated out of both
worlds, therefore we speak in two languages: and
so we must be understood also by two languages,
one whereof will despise this [work], and the other
will highly believe and love it, for every spirit
taketh its own, [the spider poison, the bee honey;
the corrupt Adam (in Ismael) loveth scorning;
the true man (in Christ) with Isaac, loveth
obedience].
27. But seeing we are with our soul (in this
world) in a strange lodging, and yet we certainly
know, that we must travel, either into heaven to
God, or into hell to the devil; and since we like
not the devil, we should do well to seek after the
kingdom of heaven, and to cast our mind and
thoughts upon it; for thereby we gain the precious
crown of pearls, instead of the crown of this world,
which the devil hath set upon us, through sin,
wherewith we go about in this world, with brave
shows, in hypocrisy, in high-mindedness, and in
our own authority and power: and therefore we
will let them go, and speak of our mothers crown
in our native country.
28. We have sufficient understanding of it, if
we know our selves aright: and we find it in our
body and soul, as also in the form and shape of
the body; but especially in the mind: but the
spirit of this world knoweth not itself, except
another light shine in it, wherein the mind can see
and know itself.
29. For the spirit born of God, (which goeth
forth from God in the divine sense [or understanding])
openeth to the mind the understanding
and knowledge, so that man seeth himself in the
bands of this world; yet he seeth not his glory,
but he looketh in Ternarium Sanctum, [into the
Holy Ternary], into the angelical world, which he
laboureth for, with great longing, and there is a
continual restlessness in him.
30. For he is attracted by two, viz. by the
spirit of God, and by the devil, in whose bands
also he is tied, according to the outward sinful man:
and his centre standeth directly upon the cross,
and he is in this world like a balance, whereof one
part goeth suddenly up, and then suddenly down
again: and we are here only in a valley of misery,
anguish, and perplexity.
31. Now seeing God is so near us, yea in our
selves, therefore let us seek him: and if we would
find him, we must turn away from this world, and
become like a little infant, that is without understanding, which only hangeth to the breasts of
its mother: and we must be new born in God,
with our mind and thoughts, or else we cannot
see him: and Christ himself teacheth us the same,
[saying] that his light shineth in us.
32. We must wholly reject our own reason, and
not regard the dissembling flattering art of this
world, it is not available to help us to that light;
but it is a mere leading astray, and keeping of
us back.
33. This we intimate to the Reader, that he
may know [what it is which] he readeth: [it is]
not the writing of a man of understanding, but of
a child; as a child [newly born] from the mother
is a stranger to this world, [and hath no understanding
of it].
34. Therefore we speak of our child-like birth
in God, for our beginning is upon the cross: we
are created upon the cross as to our soul, therefore
the body also is a cross: and the centre (viz.
the heart) is in the midst of the cross: and we
are with Adam, gone forth from the image of the
cross, into the image of the serpent: But the Son
of the virgin hath regenerated us again on the
cross to a heavenly image.
35. Therefore we will speak, what we see and
know in the ground, and not be silent; for a
cross-birth keepeth its centre in Ternario sancto
[in the Holy Ternary], understand it rightly, in
the holy number Three, but not in the Majesty,
which is without essence, but in the distinction of
the Trinity, where the Deity is called Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, where the two Principles part,
the holy and the wrathful; and there it is that
the flash maketh a cross, and upon the cross, the
Heart of God is generated [from eternity to eternity],
and standeth as a heart in the body, or as God
the Father's Word in his centre, and so maketh
another centre in itself, [as the light maketh another
centre than the fire, and yet they are not parted
asunder]. For it entereth into itself, into the
light of the liberty of the Father.
36. Therefore it is the Heart of God, for it is
the power of the Majesty, and affordeth the lustre,
power, and glory of the Majesty.
37. Out of this Word the Father speaketh forth
his spirit, [as the fire sendeth forth the air through
the light], which spirit goeth forth from the Word,
into the meekness of the Word, and bringeth with
him the glance of the Majesty; for the meekness
taketh its beginning with the flash [of lightning]
which is the separating mark of the two Principles:
where the wrath goeth upwards, and the meekness
downwards: and are both the substance of the
corporeity.
38. For although the wrath in the flash inclineth
upwards, and also side- ways [cross-wise or square],
yet the sinking
down of death is in it also: for the flash killeth
the hard strong might, as is seen how it dissipateth
the darkness, and yet the sting of the wrathfulness
remaineth in it, where no death is perceived, but
substantiality, without understanding: as also in
the sinking of the captivated meekness in the
light, there is no understanding either, but substantiality,
and yet it hath the tincture, which
springeth in the substantiality, and is like a
growing: and the understanding remaineth merely
in the centre on the cross in the Number Three [Trinity].
39. Thus we say the Holy Ghost goeth forth
from the Father and the Son [as the air from the
fire and the light]: But whither doth he go? Into
the substantiality, with the glance of the Majesty,
wherein the Deity standeth revealed. This gate
is called by me in all my writings, Ternarius
Sanctus [the holy Ternary or Trinity]:
for I mean the Number Three [or Trinity]
in the substantiality, ( viz. in the angelical
world) where the Three Persons have revealed
themselves.
40. Now therefore we say very rightly, that the
Son is the Word of the Father, which the Father
speaketh. But now the deep mind asketh,
Whither doth he speak it? [Or, into what doth
he speak it forth?] Behold! the Word is the
Heart, and soundeth in the essences [or working
powers] of the Father; and the Heart speaketh it
in the mouth of the Father, and in the mouth the
Holy Spirit of the Father comprehendeth it, in
his centre, and so goeth with it forth, from the
Father and the Son, into the Substantiality, where
it standeth with the glance of the Majesty, as a
virgin of the wisdom of God, in Ternario Sancto
[in the Holy Ternary] .
41. This which is spoken forth is an image of
the holy Number Three, and a virgin, but without
substance, yet a similitude of God. In this virgin,
the Holy Ghost openeth the great wonders of God
the Father, which are in his hidden seals.
42. Moreover the Holy Ghost manifesteth the
opened seals of the Heart of God in the glance of
the Majesty, which stand in the light, and are
called the seven spirits of God.
43. Thus the image of the wisdom of God
standeth in substance among the seven burning
spirits, which burn in the light of God, (for they
are the divine nature): and it hath the seven stars
(of the hidden seals, which stand in the anger of
the Father in his centre) in its hand: for the Heart
of God is the might of the Number Three, as the
Apocalypse sheweth you in the first chapter.
The highly precious Gate for Man to
Consider of.
44. This wisdom of God is an eternal virgin, not
a woman, but the chastity and purity without
blemish, and is an image of God: She is a representation
of the Number Three, which generateth
nothing; but in her stand the great wonders,
which the Holy Ghost discovereth, and the Word
of the Father createth, through the sour matrix,
viz. the Fiat; and she is the wonderful wisdom
without number; in her hath the Holy Ghost
discovered the image of angels, as also the image
of man, which the Verbum Fiat [the Word which gives being]
hath created.
45. She is the great secret mystery in the
counsel of God, and goeth into the first Principle,
viz. into the anger of the Father, and openeth the
wonders in the hidden seals or forms of nature in
the wrath, and is comprehended by nothing; for
she is an image without substance of generating:
the Holy Ghost hath, through her, discovered the
Third Principle, which the word Fiat hath made
corporeal, out of both the matrixes, (out of both
the mothers), of the substantiality: and he hath
discovered a limit to that substance in the centre
of the seven forms, where they shall go into their
ether with the corporeal substance: and yet both
the mothers [or matrixes] shall stand in the
substantiality, (before the virgin of the wisdom,
before the Number Three [or holy Trinity]) in
the eternal figure, to God's glory, and his works
of wonder.
46. Therefore consider, O ye philosophers, how
God created this world in Six Days: for each
day's work is a creation [or creature] of a spirit in
Ternario sancto: and the Seventh Day is the rest
of the Sabbath of God, in the seventh spirit of
God, wherein the virgin of the wisdom of God
standeth; and therein is no more any working of
anxiety, but the eternal perfection of rest.
47. For the six spirits must shed forth their
operations of what is in their seals; and are not
known before, till they have poured forth the virtue
[or power] of their vials in the Principle of this
world, which men and [the other] creatures bring
to substance and act [work], [or effect,] as a building to
[the manifestation of] God's works of wonder.
48. And when this shall be accomplished, then the
hidden spirits of God (under the seals) enter again into
the ether, viz. into their centre: and then the time
of the seventh seal beginneth, in the substantiality,
in the presence of God, and the hidden Mystery of
the kingdom of God is accomplished, as is mentioned
in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and as we have
known in Ternario sancto, [in the Holy Ternary].
49. This wisdom of God (which is the virgin of
glory and beauteous ornament, and an image of the
Number Three) is (in her figure) an image, like
angels and men, and she taketh her original in the
centre on the cross, like a blossom of a branch,
out of the spirit of God.
50. For she is the substantiality of the spirit,
which the spirit of God putteth on as a garment,
whereby he manifesteth himself, or else his form
would not be known: for she is the spirit's
corporeity, and though she is not a corporeal
palpable substance, like us men, yet she is
substantial and visible; but the spirit is not
substantial.
51. For we men can, in eternity, see no more
of the spirit of God, but only the glance of the
Majesty: and his glorious power we feel in us, for
it is our life, and conducteth us.
52. But we know the virgin in all her heavenly
similitudes or images; whereas she giveth a body
to all fruits, she is not the corporeity of the fruit,
but the ornament and lustre.
53. The corporeity goeth forth out of the substantiality,
which is not the spirit, but an impotency,
in comparison with the spirit, in which the Number
Three dwelleth; and that substantiality is the
element of God, for there is a life therein, (but
without understanding), in which the paradise of
God consisteth; for the seven spirits of God work
therein, and it is as a growing [or vegetation] ; and herein consist
the great wonders of God, according to all essences
infinitely.
54. For every form of the essences bringeth
forth its fruit, which by the wrestling of the wheel
attaineth its highest ornament and power, and yet
passeth away as being overcome, for all is herein
as a wrestling, where one is now uppermost and
mighty, and then is overcome again, and another
riseth up which hath other essences: and so it is a
holy sport, a joy or fruit of angels, a fulfilling of
the will of every life.
55. Here again we need an angel's tongue; for
the mind ever asketh; How and where 1 ? For when
the deep is spoken of, which is without comprehension
and number, [or measure], the mind always
understandeth some corporeal thing.
56. But when I speak of the virgin of the wisdom
of God, I mean not a thing, that is [confined, or
circumscribed] in a place; as also when I speak of
the Number Three; but I mean the whole deep of
the Deity without end and number [or measure] .
57. But every divine creature (as are the angels
and souls of men) hath the virgin of the wisdom of
God, as an image in the light of life; understand,
in the substantiality of the spirit, wherein is the
Number Three, dwelling in itself.
58. For we comprehend (before us) the Number
Three in the image, viz. in the virgin of the wisdom
of God; understand, without our person [externally], we see
only the Majesty of the Deity, for the creature
comprehendeth not the Number Three, in the
appearance to the eye; but the spirit of the soul
(which standeth in the divine centre) seeth it, but
not perfectly.
59. For the spirit of a soul is out of one form of
nature, and yet can bring forth in itself all forms of
nature. Seeing then there is nothing whole [total] and
perfect, but only the Number Three [or the Trinity],
therefore other [things] are several [various, distinct, different],
[or divided], as there are various sorts of angels
[of different qualities and properties].
60. And so the essences of the centre in God, [as
to, or] with the angelical spirits, stand all in the
wonder, and God is manifested in a creaturely form,
by the angelical world; for they are all out of the
Being of God.
61. We speak thus only concerning the distinction of the great wonders in God. The spirits of
angels are not generated out of the substantiality
which is without understanding; but out of the
centre of the seven forms (or spirits) of the eternal
nature; out of each form a throne [angel]: and out
of the throne [angel] his angels (or ministers): and
therefore a whole dominion [hierarchy] is fallen with Lucifer.
62. And the kingly and princely dominions [or
governments] of this world have their original here;
for seeing it [wordly dominion] hath a principle of its own,
therefore it hath all forms of the heavenly [government] :
and though the flattering hypocrites, the high
spirituality (as they call themselves, who lift up
themselves above kings and princes) will not
believe it, yet it is true.
63. For the fierce might of the principle [of this
world] driveth its order [ordinance of government]
according to the heavenly form. And although the fierce spirits
(of the hidden seals) do pour forth their vials of anger
herein, [in the dominions and governments of the
Principle of this world], and that the devil getteth
great prey in it, what is that to the [heavenly]
ordinance [of government]? Have we not life
and death before us, and may choose, and take
which we will? Who can blame God then?
Every one may go whither he will, To whom he
giveth himself a servant in obedience, his servant
he is: and in that kingdom he shall ever be,
whether he be prince or servant.
64. And though one be a superior leader and
ruler in this [worldly] Principle, yet he hath not
[therefore] divine authority [Jus divinum], but in that condition
he is a steward of the Principle, and is under the
seals, which under his government bring their
wonders to light.
65. A prince is as often a servant in obedience to
the devil, as a miserable herdsman is, and there is no
difference between them, but in the office they bear,
which he beareth for Go d, and not for himself.
66. For in the courts of kings and princes, the
vials of wrath, of the hidden seals (or spirits) are
poured forth; from whence cometh the thundering,
lightning, and wars, contention and strife upon
earth: which the flattering hypocrites of the great
whore in Babel (which ride, as a god, upon the
beast, the might of princes) do continually blow
up, by their sounding of their trumpets: which
princes should take heed of, if they will prevent
their going with the whore into the lake of brimstone,
of the wrath of God; as may be seen in the
Apocalypse.
The Gate of the Distinction between the Substantiality
and the [one pure] Element. Also between
Paradise and [the eternal] Heaven.
Every substance hath its form, which the Eeader
should understand to be one of these four, and we
will shew him the distinction.
67. The heaven standeth in the matrix of the
sourness, which in the meekness is called the
water-spirit; and is the outward enclosure [or
firmament] which parteth the Principles.
68. The substantiality is in the heaven, and is
the virtue or corporeity of the seven spirits of God,
and is called the body of God, which our hands
are not able to comprehend or feel, and yet it is in
substance, and comprehensible by the spirit, for it
is the body of the spirit; also the body of our soul
if we be new-born in God: for it is Christ's body,
which he giveth us in the faith, to eat, as is to be
seen in his Testaments: And the [one] element
leadeth the Principle therein as a moveable life,
which indeed is not the spirit of God itself, but the
spirit of God hath this life and substantiality in
him, as a body, and he is the first spirit of understanding
and of omnipotence.
69. For paradise is the springing up out of the
essences in the divine centre: which [paradise]
goeth through all forms, it goeth through the [one]
element, and through the substantiality, and also
through the heaven, as a springing of a pleasant
garden; therefore Adam, even in this world, was
in paradise.
70. O dear children, if ye understood this, how
would you tread under foot the contentions of the
sophisters ! Much consisteth herein, which shall
hereafter be shewn you, so far as we ought: let
none be wilfully blinded, nor be offended with the
simplicity of this hand.
71. For if we will enter into the kingdom of
heaven, we must be children, and not cunning, and
wise, in the understanding of this world; we must
depart from our own reason, and enter into
obedience to our [eternal] first mother, and so we
shall receive the spirit and life of our mother, and
then also we shall know her habitation.
72. No wit of our own attaineth the crown of
the Mystery of God, it is indeed revealed in the
Scriptures of the Saints, but the spirit of this
world apprehendeth it not. Herein no doctors
(though they have studied never so much) have
any ability in their own wit, to attain the crown of
God's secret Mysteries.
73. There is none can in his own power apprehend
any thing of the depths of God, and teach it
to another; but they are all children, and scholars
in their A. B. C. And though we write and
speak highly thereof, yet the understanding is
not our own, but is of the mother's spirit, which
speaketh out of its children, what it will; it
revealeth itself in many forms, in one otherwise
than in another, for its wondrous wisdom is a deep
without number, and you ought not to marvel
that the children of God have not one manner of
speech and word, for everyone speaketh out of the
wisdom of the mother, whose number is without
ground and infinite.
74. But the limit is the Heart of God, they all
run thither, and that is the trial [or touchstone ]
whereby you shall know, whether the spirit
speaketh from God, or from the devil: for the
devil hath also his matrix, and his children therein,
who also speak out of the spirit of their mother.
75. Here behold the flattering hypocrites, the
proud vain-glorious boasters, who account themselves
masters, and sufficient able expounders of the
Scriptures of the Saints, who say, We have studied in
the mysteries of the Scriptures of the Saints, and
we understand them sufficiently; and moreover [we
have studied and taken our degrees in the university
and] can make conclusions, and determine, Thus we
will believe, thus we will have the Scripture to be
understood. And they decree strict laws, and
severe punishment, against those that will not
stick to their laws, which they execute under the
shelter and protection of a worldly power.
76. Is not this lifting up of himself, in his own
lust and glory, above God, as the prophet Daniel
speaketh concerning the hypocritical Antichrist?
Take heed of those, ye children of God; they speak
from themselves, and not from the spirit of God;
they have not the children's filial spirit of humility
(in obedience and love) towards their mother, much
less towards her children: They devour the children's
bread, and get their living with deceit.
11. They are the true murderers and wolves,
who in their conceived opinions, and proud conceits,
stir up wars and bloodshed, and set up all
manner of wickedness and abominations: they are
the great proud whore of Babel, who ride in the
hearts of princes; through them is poured out the
vials of the wrath of God; and yet they call themselves
the lambs and sheep of Christ.
78. 0 ye wolves ! where is your child's
garment? If you have sufficiently learnt the
hidden Mysteries of God, you are no children and
scholars [that go to school] : but [if you have] then
live in the wonders of the mother, in her humility
and purity in God's works of wonder, and we will
believe you: Put off your proud robe and gown,
and receive us poor A. B. C. scholars into the
bosom of our mother, and teach us our mother
tongue, and then we shall live together in unity as
brethren. But what shall they say of you? The
Spirit of the mother declareth concerning you, that
you are the proud whore of Babel, riding upon
the dragon, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ; there
in your looking-glass.
The Gates of this World;
[Also concerning the Language of Nature.]
79. Reason always asketh, Out of what is the
earth and stones, also the elements and stars [constellations],
generated? We cannot know this in the reason
and art of this world, neither can the books of
the doctors teach it, we know it only in our dear
mother, we see it in the light of the mother: but
in this world we are blind concerning it, neither
can we learn it of any body.
80. The writings of the Saints and the children
of God tell us, that God created the world by his
wisdom, and by the spirit of his mouth; and it is
so. Neither have we any other knowledge, than
that God hath revealed himself in his wisdom.
81. But this world is not his wisdom: but it is
a figure [come] out of his wisdom: it hath not the
wisdom of God palpably, but the wonders [works] of the
wisdom: and this world is only a similitude of
the Deity, according to love and anger, in nature
and without nature [extra naturam].
82. For behold the wheel of the stars [starry sphere], and the
« seven planets; and also the four elements: (4) fire,
(5) air, (6) water, and (7) earth; and then you shall find
the ground, that it is all really an out-birth out of
the eternal nature, where the Deity hath revealed
itself comprehensibly [or palpably] .
T
83. For the spirit of God hath discovered the
image of God in the virgin of his wisdom, and
the Verbum Fiat hath created it: The form of
this world was from eternity in the nature of God,
but invisible and immaterial.
84. Then saith reason: What was God's creating?
The word Schuff [which signifieth created]
hath it in its own meaning, according to the
language of nature: and if you would understand
that language, observe in your mind, how each
word from the heart is framed in the mouth, and
what the mouth and the tongue do with it, before
the spirit sendeth it forth.
85. If you did apprehend this, you should
understand everything in its name, why each
thing is called as it is: it would be thus understood
in the language of every nation, every one
in their own mother-tongue. And in this place
lieth the heavy fall of Adam, in which we lost
what we had in the [state of] innocence; but in
the regeneration of Jesus Christ (according to the
inward man) we have attained it again.
86. You must have the understanding of the
Three Principles, for [the attaining of] the
language of nature: for there are Three of them,
that form the word [or frame the word, as in an image],
viz. soul, spirit, and body.
Behold! and observe whether it be so or no, as
I tell you, concerning the language of nature; Try
and consider of it; not only in the word Schuff,
[which signifieth created,] but in all words and
names that are in every language of every nation,
every one according to its own understanding [and
meaning] .
87. (Indeed it is not good that man should have
known it, but since he is gone out of the inward
into the outward, and standeth now in the seeking,
therefore he must enter again into the inward,
where, in this hidden Mystery, he beholdeth the
mystery of the creation.)
88. When you say Schuff, [which signifieth
created], the spirit [or breath] formeth itself in the mouth,
and shutteth the teeth together, and hisseth
through the teeth, as a kindled fire that burneth,
but openeth the lips, and keepeth them open, and
then goeth the pressure from the heart, and the
upper teeth lean upon the under lip, and the
tongue draweth back, and leaneth upon the nether
gums, and the spirit [or breath] thrusteth the
syllable Schuff forth through the teeth, and the
word of distinction, which the syllable Schuff
thrusteth forth, remaineth in its seat in the heart,
and doth not awaken the sour mother in the strong
might, so that it kindleth no fire. [The R is the
character of the fire- source, for every letter is a
spirit, and is a form of the centre, although by
the transposing and turning of the word they alter,
yet every letter hath a meaning or understanding
in the centre, but it is wonderful, and yet is
apprehended in the sense when the light is shining
in the centre] .
89. Behold! Man is the similitude of God: for
his soul is out of [from] the centre upon the cross, where
the eternal Word is generated, comprehended by
the spirit of God; there the spirit hath comprehended
all the Three Principles; and brought them into
a body; as we see, that the spirit liveth from the
inward and from the outward, viz. from the spirit
of the centre, as also from the spirit of this world,
viz. from the air.
90. Now as the spirit of eternity hath formed
and framed all things, so also the spirit of man
formeth them in his word, for all ariseth from his
centre: for the human spirit is a form, figure, and
similitude of the Number Three of the Deity;
whatsoever God is in his nature, that the spirit of
man is in itself: and therefore he giveth every
thing its name, according to the spirit and form
of every thing, for the inward speaketh forth the
outward.
91. And as this world was from eternity hidden
in the nature of God, and stood in the wisdom,
and, as may be said, hath a beginning and end
from the Word of the centre, spoken forth from
the outgoing spirit of the centre; (understand,
out of the substantiality of nature, into a comprehensible
substance, where this world appeareth as a
Principle, having its own source and government);
so also the name and similitude of God, viz. this
world, is in the spirit of man; and it speaketh them
forth with its word in the same manner as they
were spoken in the nature of God, from the spirit
of God in the wisdom, where then they were seen
in the light of God.
92. Observe it rightly, accurately, and deeply:
the human spirit in its threefold form hath all the
Three Principles in it, viz. the kingdom of God,
the kingdom of hell, and the kingdom of this
world; and it speaketh forth from itself, from the
source, and form, of every being, whether it be
heavenly, earthly, or hellish, as it hath been spoken
forth [or expressed] by the spirit of God from
eternity, in the invisible substance of the eternal
nature, as a figure or spirit of the Word of God;
and was without substance, till the A and O, and
in the A and O, in the beginning and end: so also
the spirit of man speaketh it forth in beginning
and end without substance, for the substance was
once created in the creature.
93. And observe us thus further, concerning the
language of nature, when we say: ImAnfang
S chuff Gott Himmel undErden [in the beginning
God created heaven and earth] : then we name [or
express] all that, out of which heaven and earth
was created, and this the mind [enlightened by God]
in the light of God understandeth.
94. For as the form of this world was seen in
the light of God, before the substance [was], so
also the mind in the light of God seeth it in the
creation, as it is brought into essence or substance;
for nature in the spirit of man, and nature in the
spirit of God, according to the Three Principles,
are of one [and the same] essence or substance; the
human spirit is a perfect sparkle from it.
95. But you must know; that as the eternal
nature hath not the glance and might of the
Majesty in its own power, so that it can comprehend
the Number Three in Ternario Sancto,
(although indeed the Number Three dwelleth in
nature, and yet there is a difference between the
seven forms of nature and the Number Three), so
there is also a distinction between the soul's spirit
of nature, and the Number Three of God; so that
the spirit of the soul, when it imagineth back into
nature, into the centre of the wrath, loseth the
Majesty, and in the wrath flieth out above the
Majesty; and then may be called a reprobate devil
[or cast-away].
96. The mind may understand the word, and
the forming of the word, thus: Observe, When the
three-fold spirit of man saith Schuff, [which
signifieth created,] then the mind may observe
the form of the generation of the word; first, the
spirit [or breath] frameth the word in the mouth,
and not in the heart, and closeth the teeth together,
and hisseth through the teeth, like a kindled fire,
which denoteth the comprehension: for the lips
open, and the hissing is the fire from whence goeth
the air: understand it thus.
97. Before time [was], the world was in God,
but without substance: Now Lucifer, the great
prince out of the centre of nature, awakened and
kindled the wrath and fire, which was not known
in the eternity; for he would domineer in the
might of the fire, above God, and therefore the
source of fire became his habitation.
98. And we mean here the stern Fiat, (viz. the
mother of nature), the sourness and hardness, which
was kindled in its stern might, and hath in the
centre of nature, attracted together the substantiality
of the stern matrix out of the numberless
essences, whence earth, stones, and metals, have
come to be.
99. For the centre was Sulphur, Mercurius, and Sal
[See Boehme's work Clavis on this site, vs. 82 for more explanation],
and it [the centre] was but a spirit, but in the
stern Fiat (in the stern fierce attraction) it came
to be such hard stones, metals, and earth; all
according to the forms of the essences: It is all
become material: that which [before the time] in
the nature of the dark wrathful substantiality, was
only as a raised dust, became in the attraction
wholly gross, dry, and hard; and God would not
have it so particularly before the Majesty (to speak
in a creaturely manner); and therefore it was
suddenly, in that instant, together created [concreted] to a
proper centre of its own.
100. And here ariseth the distinction of the
Three Principles, which before was not known: for
they were in one only being, and were only known
in the wisdom [or the light], before the Majesty, with their
distinction.
101. Observe the meaning rightly: as the
mouth formeth the word Schuff [which signifieth
created], just so was the creation formed: for the
lips open, and the upper gums with the teeth touch
the nether lip, and the spirit [or breath] hisseth
through the teeth: And it is thus, As the lips
(viz. the outward inclosure) open, so hath the
matrix of the genetrix opened itself, viz. in the
kindling: The hissing is the fire, and out of the
fire [goeth] the air, as a spirit of the matrix, which
was now awakened, and was not before in the
centre, but only in the wisdom of the Number
Three.
102. The air [wind or breath] is not the spirit
of the Number Three, but the awakened spirit out
of the matrix, viz. out of the centre of nature:
for the spirit of the Number Three is a cause of
nature, and hath in it the wisdom; but this
[spirit of the air] is without understanding, as
the substantiality is.
103. And as the fire hath its original from the
eternal liberty, wherein it attaineth the sharpness
of the wrathfulness, so also the air-spirit from the
Holy Spirit, which giveth life and mobility to
nature; so nature again sendeth forth the spirit,
viz. the air, out of its virtue, viz. out of the
inanimate [senseless] substantiality, and hath its original
in the fire.
104. And observe further, how in the word
Schuff, [which signifieth created], the spirit [or
breath] thrusteth the impression or pressure from
the heart, which overtaketh the kindled fire, and
holdeth it captive: and so the water-source overtaketh
the fire, and holdeth it captive.
105. For the water ariseth from the substantiality,
and from the being overcome; and the fire,
air, water, and earth, are all gone forth out of the
centre of nature, and before the kindling, were all
in one being, but with the kindling were known in
four forms, which are called four elements, and
yet are in one another as one, and there is no more
but one; there are not four elements in heaven,
but one: yet all the four forms lie hidden therein,
and with the kindling they become active, and now
they stand in the outward substance, comprehensible
to the creatures.
106. Observe also further, that as the nether lip
toucheth the upper teeth, and the spirit stayeth in
the mouth, and thrusteth the word Schuff through
the teeth, where the tongue draweth back towards
the nether gums, and will not frame the word
Schuff, but letteth the spirit thrust it through the
teeth: So, observe, the spirit of God hath driven
forth the four elements, which are the four forms,
which appeared in the substance, ex Ternario
sancto, out of the Holy Ternary, into the outward,
and made an enclosure therein, [or a. firmament],
which is called heaven: and the Holy Spirit stayeth
in heaven, and leaveth the four forms to their own
dominion, and then they appear as a Principle,
having power of their own.
107. For the tongue signifieth the spirit of
God, and the four elements [signify] the spirit
of the centre, together with the centre itself.
108. Thus we understand here in the word,
three Principles; whereas in the original there is
but one: for we understand by the kindling, the
centre of nature, in the centre of the globe of the
earth, and that in the matrix of the genetrix, there
is a very earnest stern dominion, out of which
earth and stones are proceeded, and therein one
Principle consisteth.
109. And then, secondly, we understand, that
there is a dominion of meekness, which overcometh the wrath, and holdeth it captive, as we
see in the source [or property] of water, that it
captivateth the fire, and yet the property of the
fire remaineth therein, with its whole dominion of
all forms of the dry hunger, wherein consisteth the
abyss of hell, in the anger of God. Also we understand,
that there is the firmament [or closure] (between these
two Principles) which is called heaven, by the
shut mouth, both in the word and in the outward
substance [essence, being, thing].
For the spirit, the air, giveth life to
the outward meek water, as it goeth forth with the
pressure from the heart through the teeth in the
word, and so there is a dominion and life externally,
which yet ariseth from the internal, and yet the
outward captivateth the inward.
110. And thus the spirits of the darkness lie in
the abyss, captivated in the [property, or] source
of the anger, and have no power of their own in
this world; and here the subtlety of the devil in
the might of the fire is cast down to the ground, in
the sinking.
111. Open the eyes of your minds, ye seekers,
and seek here the abyss, wherein the devils
dwell in the elements, and not afar off, as if
they were far absent, as ye have done hitherto.
Mark this.
112. And we understand, that there is the third
Principle in the word, and also in the power of
creating: for the tongue inclineth to the nether
gums, and letteth the two dominions go away
through the teeth, and holdeth its dominion
without any awakening of the heart.
113. Thus observe the ground [scope or meaning]; the second
Principle (viz. the kingdom of God), is in the
midst in both the Principles, that is, is not
awakened or enkindled with the kindling: for it
remaineth as it was from eternity, and is not
altered therein, neither increased nor diminished;
in the creation there is nothing added nor taken
away from it: and this [second] Principle hath the right
spirit of wisdom and of understanding; which hath
severed the fierce wrathful and the meek [Principles
asunder], and each of them hath its life awakened
in it.
114. And we give you to understand, that it is
neither captivated nor shut up by the inward or
the outward: it sprouteth in both, for it is the
might of both: In the inward it sprouteth in
angry zeal [Or jealousy], with great wonders and powers, where
all forms are working, and therefore in those
creatures stick all wit and cunning, craft and
subtlety, as in the devils, who bring to pass all
wonders in the wrathful matrix: as the histories
in the world, concerning the children of wrath, do
testify.
115. And in the outward it sprouteth through
the meekness, with the power [and virtue] of life,
which goeth forth from the Heart of God, through
the spirit of God; and that sprouting [or vegetation]
is called paradise, and is a sprout in the
children of God, together with which the soul also
sprouteth: for in this sprouting the new body of
the soul groweth in the [one] element, in the
substantiality, before the Number Three in Ternario
sancto.
116. And here we give you to understand in
a true ground, as we certainly know it, that the
paradise is in this world, and also without this
world; and that God dwelleth in this world, and
yet is every where; and the source [or property]
only maketh [or is] the difference.
117. For the angelical world is manifested in
the paradise, but it is apprehended only in the
paradisical source [or property] viz. in the [one]
element, and not in the going forth, in the
dominion of the four elements.
118. For the four elements are in a Principle of
another property [or source], also have another
light, viz. the sun. But in the pure element the
things of this world are only as a figure, which is
not palpable; and there the four distinctions are in
one, and that maketh no darkness. And there the
liberty of God without nature shineth in the glance
of the Majesty; but in the four out-births there is
a darkness, for the things [thereof] are gross and
palpable.
119. For the heaven, which is a distinction
between the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of
this world, is a. firmament with all forms of corporeity,
and is the veil on our eyes, for we have firmamental eyes,
and therefore we cannot see the kingdom of God.
120. And that is the heavy Fall of Adam, that
his eyes and spirit entered into the outward, into
the four elements, into the palpability, viz. into
death, and there they were blind as to the kingdom
of God.
121. For the outward, in the four out-births out
of the [pure] element ( viz. the substance of the
four elements), hath a beginning and end, and is
corruptible: and therefore all things that live in
it must corrupt.
122. For the Principle of the outward world
passeth away again; for it hath a limit, so that it
goeth into its ether again, and the four elements
into one again, and then God is manifested, and
the virtue and power of God springeth up, as a
paradise again in the [one, eternal] only element; and
there the multiplicity or variety of things come
into one again; but the figure of everything
remaineth standing in the [one] only element.
123. For all things are come to a corporeal
substance, (to [the manifestation of] God's works of
wonder), that they might be seen eternally by the
creatures, viz. angels and men: which, before the
time of the world, were manifested only in the
wisdom of God, and now shall stand in substantiality
in the presence of God.
124. Ye dear children of God (in Christ Jesus)
open the eyes of your mind: raise your mind up
out of this world into the element before God, [that
is, into the glassy sea, or angelical world] : and the
creation shall be rightly shewn to you here; and
let not the sophisters and jugglers befool you, and
lead you astray.
125. For the paradise, which the souls of the
holy children of God go into, (when the body
deceaseth), is in the very place where the body
deceaseth: it is also in the earth, it is in all the four
elements; not divided, but entirely every where.
126. For in the pure element (out of which the
four elements proceed) is the paradise: it is a
sprouting out from the substantiality before God:
its life and understanding is the Holy Spirit of
the Number Three of God; its light is the glance
of the Majesty of the Number Three; the matter
only is about the outward. When the four elements
in man break, then is the soul already in
the paradise, or in the abyss of the centre in the
dark matrix, all according to that wherein the soul
was grown in this [life] time upon earth.
127. If it have set its imagination [resolution and purpose]
upon God, then it is grown in paradise, and the stuffed dark
body hath but covered it, during this [life] time.
128. But if it be grown in the stern wrath, in
falsehood and in pride, to fly out above paradise,
then it flieth in high-mindedness in the stern
matrix aloft over paradise out, and cannot get
inwards into the meekness; and there it is in hell,
with the proud devil.
129. For after this life, there is no regeneration
more; for the four elements and the outward
principle (wherein the genetrix stood in the working
and creating) are gone; it hath no more to expect
after this time, but only (when at the end of this
time, this principle shall go into the ether, that
the substantiality which hath been from eternity,
shall be free again) that it shall get a body again
out of the property [and source] of its own mother,
where then all its works in its mother shall appear
before it.
130. For the Last Day is only to awaken again
that which slept, and to break the death which is
in the four elements: For the veil must be done
away, and all that which is generated out of the
eternal must spring up again and live.
131. But that which is generated out of the
death, viz. out of the four elements, as the beasts,
and every living thing of the four elements, attain
no body any more; and if the spirit of it be
with the four elements also, and the figure only
remaineth of the elementary substance, viz. of the
four out-births.
132. But that which is out of the eternal (out of
the centre of the eternal life) is and remaineth for
ever: even all words and works which are generated
out of the eternal, remain in the substance of the
figure: but they cannot remain for ever in the
spirit and power, for a word of a spirit [breath] doth
not proceed from the eternity, but hath its
beginning in the outward Principle.
133. And therefore every spirit will have joy
and sorrow in its works and words in eternity, all
according as it is in its place and source, or property.
For, when the spirit shall consider with itself its
source [or condition ], and why it is in the place
where it is, then the source or property of its
words and works ascend in it; and giveth it joy or
sorrow, according to the condition or source and
place that it is in, every one in [that which is] its
own duly.
134. But you must know, that the sins, evil
works and words of the new Regenerate in Christ,
sprout out from the death of Christ (into which the
children of Christ are again entered/rom their sins),
and shall receive another source [or property] : and
in the beholding and considering of them, the spirit
shall make a hymn of thanks to the praise of God's
works of wonder; as Isaiah saith, Though your
sins were red as blood (if you turn), they shall be
as wool, white as snow. And yet you must know,
that in the life to come they shall appear in the
figure, but in another source [or property] . Mark
this, ye children of God, for much is herein
contained.
135. From this ground we know, that Adam in
his innocency before his sleep, (which signifieth
death, when he had imagined into the spirit of the
four elements), was in this world in paradise; and
yet it might well be said, not in this world; he
was indeed in this world upon the face of the earth,
but in a paradisical source [or property] in the
dominion of the [one pure ] element, and not in the
four elements.
136. But when he entered into the four elements,
he entered into death, and his body became like a
beast; and the earth was cursed from the Lord, so
that it bare no more paradisical fruit: For Adam
was driven out, into the outward Principle: and
there he must eat earthly fruit, and open [or
manifest] the wonders of the outward Principle,
and so he instantly became earthly.
137. For his body was from the earth, and
created out of the earth, but it was not earth, [any
more than gold is earth, though it groweth in the
earth, and proceedeth from the earth], for it was
Ex Matrix, ex Massa; [from the matrix, out of
a mass] ; understand, out of the substantiality out
of which the earth was originally generated and
created. The pure element is also in the earth,
as also paradise: and it is only the source [or
property] that maketh the alteration, wherein the
light of God is detained.
138. Adam would be as God in all the three
principles; and the serpent also persuaded Eve to
it, that if she would eat of the fruit of the earth,
she should know good and evil: indeed evil enough;
care, misery, and sorrows; in the death of the
four elements.
139. And therefore, seeing the four elements
must break, thence it is that corruption
[perishableness, transitoriness] is in
man's body; and the soul (which is taken out of
the eternal) remaineth in the eternal: therefore
there must come a heavenly body out of the pure
element again, out of the substantiality [which is]
before God, out of the matrix of the earth, like the
first body which was in Adam, and must receive [or assume]
our human soul into it, and enter into death [suffer death],
and bring us out of death on the cross into
the element again, into the substantiality in the
presence of God, in Ternarium sanctum [into the
Holy Ternary]: For Adam's soul was taken on
the cross in the eternal centre, where the Heart of
God ariseth from eternity, and was breathed into
the created body of Adam from the spirit of God:
and therefore the Heart of God must become man [be incarnate].
140. And as Adam was entered into the earthly
cross, into the death of the four elements; so must
the New Adam ( Christ) suffer himself to be
hanged on the earthly cross, and enter into the
earthly elementary death; for death sticketh not
only in the earth, but also in the air, and Adam
desired also with his imagination, not [to enter]
into the earth, but into the air: he lusted after
the spirit of the Principle of this world; and
it laid hold on him: And so he fell also into
the earth.
141. For the four elements are altogether in one
another, and the ground [or foundation] upon which
they stand, is the fire of the fierce anger of God,
wherein the devils dwell, as is above mentioned.
142. And so the New Adam (Christ) must
enter into the abyss of the four elements, viz. into
the hellish fire of the wrath, and press through [or pass]
the hell of the wrath, through death, and bring
the human soul again into the paradise of God.
143. And therefore the New Adam ( Christ)
was [tempted or] tried forty days in the wilderness,
whether he could stand in the paradisical source
[or property], and so eat only paradisical fruit,
which groweth in the source [or property] from
the essences of the spirit of God; and there he did
eat, ex verbo Domini [of the Word of the Lord],
and not at all of the four elements.
144. For he did bear also the earthly image, and
there the new heavenly must overcome the earthly,
and the soul must enter again into the new
heavenly body, that the earthly may but only hang
to it: And thus also was Adam created in the
beginning.
145. He was to eat of paradise, whose property
should rule over the earthly; and though he was
in the four elements, yet he was to live in the
pure element; and then he might have continued
so eternally; though the outward Principle should
be broken, yet he would have remained.
146. For he was in paradise, and not in the four
elements; but when he entered into them, he
entered into death; and the anger of God, in the
abyss of hell, did captivate the soul, which Christ
brought forth from thence again.
147. O ye children of men ! Mark what is
revealed to you, do not account it a fiction and a
history. It is known in Ternario Sancto, in the
opened seal of the seventh form, in the centre,
therefore consider what it is.
148. Hereby is signified to you the final
breaking of the outward Principle: Trim your
lamps, the bridegroom is ready, his trumpet
soundeth, the seventh angel from the throne of
heaven soundeth: The Mysteries of the kingdom
of God shall be accomplished at the time of his
sounding; and then there is no time more in the
four elements; but then the eternal time in the
element in the life of God, and the time in the
abyss, goeth on.
149. Go out from the languages in Babel: for
we all speak but one only language in Jerusalem.
Babel burneth in the fire [or confounded Christendom
is kindled in wars, contention, and strife, in
famine, and pestilence, in the anger of God].
Amen.
THE SIXTH CHAPTER
The Two Gates: Of the World, and also of
Paradise: most highly to be considered.
1. WE have shewn you before, the ground of
the language of nature, how Adam
gave names to every thing, and out of what God
spake to Adam, viz. out of the life of the birth; as
we speak at this very day: and if we consider ourselves
therein, we find the whole ground in heaven
and in this world: and we see it well enough with
earthly bodily eyes, that it is true: we need no
other testimony than the Great Book, heaven and
earth, the stars and elements, together with the sun,
wherein we well know the similitude of the Deity.
2. And yet a thousand times better, in ourselves,
if we know and consider ourselves; for the spirit
giveth everything its name, as it standeth in
the birth in itself; and as it formed them in the
beginning, in the creation, so it also formeth our
mouth; and as they are generated out of the
eternal Being, and are come to a substance, so
the human word goeth also forth out from the
centre of the spirit, in shape, property, and form;
and it is no other, than that the spirit maketh
such a substance, as the creation itself is, when it
expresseth the form of the creation.
3. For it formeth the word of the name of a
thing, in the mouth; as the thing was in the
creation: And hereby we know that we are God's
children, and generated of God: for as God from
eternity hath had the substance of this world in
his Word, which he hath always spoken in his
wisdom, so we have it in our word also; and we
speak it forth in the wonders of his wisdom.
4. For God is himself the Being of all Beings,
and we are as gods in him, through whom he
revealeth himself. We see that a beast cannot
express, [viz. it cannot give any thing its name
according to its property], which is because it
cometh not out from the eternity, as man doth;
it bleateth and barketh, as the form of the outbirth
of the four elements is, and hath no higher
spirit than the elements are, though their flitting
senses [or perceptions] are from the constellations,
which yet are dumb [or inarticulate], and without
comprehension [or expression] of any substance.
5. Now, therefore, we will set before you the
ground of the heavens, the stars and elements,
fundamentally; that you may yet see what is
heavenly, and what is earthly; what is transitory
and mortal, and what is eternal and permanent.
To which end only we have purposed to ourselves
to write this book; not to boast of our high knowledge, which is in God, and is no worldly profit to
us, but out of love, in Christ, as a servant, and
minister of Christ; to seek the lost sheep of the
house of the Israel of God.
6. For the Lord hath both the willing and the
doing in his hands; we are able to do nothing;
also our earthly reason understandeth nothing:
we are yielded into our mother's bosom, and do
as the mother sheweth us. We know not of any
body else, we are not born with it, from the wisdom
of this world; neither do we understand it; but
what is bestowed upon us, that we bestow again;
and we have no other purpose herein, neither do
we know to what end [we must write these high
things], but merely what the spirit sheweth us,
that we set down.
7. And thus we labour in our vineyard, into
which the Master [Or Father] of the house hath put us;
hoping also to eat of the pleasant sweet grapes,
which indeed we have very often received out of
the paradise of God. We will so speak as for [the
use of] many, and yet we think we write it but
for ourselves; all which is hidden in God: for the
fiery driving will have it so, as if we did speak of
and for many; and yet I know nothing of it.
8. Therefore if it should happen to be read, let
none account it for a work of outward reason;
for it hath proceeded from the inward hidden man,
according to which this hand hath written without
respect of any person.
9. And therefore we exhort the Reader, that he
will enter into himself, and behold himself 'in the
inward man; and then we shall be very sweet and
acceptable to him; this we speak seriously and
faithfully.
10. When we consider ourselves rightly, in this
knowledge, we see clearly, that hitherto we have
been locked up, and led as it were blindfold; and
it is even the wise of this world, who have shut
and barred us up in their art and reason, so that
we must [be tied to] see with their eyes, both in
philosophy and theology.
11. And this spirit, which hath so long led us
captive, may well be called the Antichrist. I find
no other name, in the light of nature, by which I can
call it, but the Antichrist in Babel.
12. Observe it well, and you shall see it riding;
it shall rightly be shewn to you, you need no
spectacles, or academy [to see it withall]: It
rideth over the whole world, in all corners, cities,
towns and villages, over body and soul: and therefore
the angel in the Revelation biddeth us, Go
out from it.
13. It is so proud, that it rideth aloft over
heaven and earth; yea, over the Deity: it is [like]
a king [or queen] riding over the Principle of this world,
and over hell. But whither wilt thou ride, thou
proud woman? When this Principle breaketh, thou
art then without God, with all devils. Why dost
thou not stay here among the children?
14. O Adaml if thou hadst not mounted upon
the proud beast, thou hadst remained with the
children of God in paradise: "What doth it avail
thee, thou that ridest in a strange Principle, over
God? Were it not better for you to be in God?
What availeth your astral wit, that you ride as
your own god in pride? You ride merely in death:
Who will bring you out from thence, if you light
not off from your beast? There is none, neither
in heaven nor in this world, that can bring you
out from thence, but only a lowly simple slain
lamb, who hath not the wisdom of this world.
How will you get out, when you ride upon a
dragon! The lamb fleeth before thy beast, it will
not bring thee into its pasture.
15. If you light off, and pull off your dressing,
and go in the form of a child to the lamb, then
you may catch it, it goeth willingly with you, if
you play like a child with it in simplicity; you
must not ride upon it: But if you [offer to] ride
upon it, it fleeth from you, and you find not its
pasture. Neither can you light off your beast, it
will not let you, it holdeth you fast, unless you
hear the bleating [or voice] of the lamb; at which
the beast trembleth, and falleth to the ground;
and then you may flee [or go out from Babel].
If you understand not this, you are held fast by
the beast, and you ride in Babel in the confusion.
16. My dear seeking and hungry mind, if you
would fain be released from the beast, consider
what we here shall shew you; we will not push
with horns, and cast you with the dragon into the
abyss. Do but light off, and incline your ear to
the voice of the lamb; go forth from your outward
man, into the inward man, and so you shall come
to your true native country, into Paradise.
17. The desirous seekers have found out many
difficult things, and brought them to light, and
always thought to find the pearl of the creation
of this world; and it had been much nearer found,
but that the time of the seventh seal or angel was
not yet come; the six angels must first sound their
trumpets, and pour forth their vials: therefore
none should contemn another, for he knoweth
not under what voice every one hath been: only
that is come to pass, which should come to pass.
18. Yet every one hath been free [or at liberty]
to go out from the seal: for the Sun of Righteousness
hath shone, from the east to the west: If
any have immersed himself in the darkness, God
is not to be blamed for it.
19. The law of God, and also the way to life,
is written in our hearts: It lieth in no man's
supposition and knowing, nor in any historical
opinion, but in a good will and well-doing. The
will leadeth us to God, or to the devil; it availeth
not whether thou hast the name of a Christian,
salvation doth not consist therein.
20. A Heathen and a Turk is as near to God,
as thou, who art under the name of Christ: if
thou bringest forth a false ungodly will in thy
deeds [lead a wicked life], thou art as much without God,
as a Heathen that hath no desire nor will to God.
21. And if a Turk seek God with earnestness,
though he walk in blindness, yet he is of the
number of those that are children without understanding; and he reacheth to God with the children
which do not yet know what they speak: for it
lieth not in the knowing, but in the will [purpose and resolution].
22. We are all blind concerning God; but if
we put our earnest will into God [and goodness], and desire him,
then we receive him into our will; so that we
are born in him in our will. For by the will this
world was made, also our life and all our doing
stand in the will.
23. Or do you suppose we speak without knowledge,
and alone [by ourselves]? No; the Book
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ sheweth us that
the innermost court [choir] of the temple shall be cast
out, and given to the Heathen, who know not the
name of Christ, but press with earnestness into
God, and so they come to him ignorantly.
24. And this is that which Isaiah saith; / am
found of them that sought me not, neither did
they enquire after me. For my Name, the
LORD [Jehovah], was not revealed unto them: and thus
they are children not in name, but in will: But
when the driver goeth away to his own place, then
we live together as children, with our Father Adam
(in Christ), out of whose loins, life, and spirit, we
are all propagated, and begotten to life through
Christ.
25. Or dost thou boast of thy calling, that thou
art a Christian, or a Jew? Indeed, let thy conversation
be accordingly, or else thou art but a
Heathen in the will and in the deed. He that
knoweth his Master's Will and doth it not, must
receive many stripes.
26. Or dost thou not know what Christ said
concerning the two sons; when the father said to
one of them, go and do such a thing, and he said
he would; and the other said no. And the first
went away and did it not; but the other that said
no, went away and did it, and so performed the
will of his father; and the other that was under
the name of obedience, [or who in word was
obedient, or had the name to be so], did it not.
27. And we are all such, one and other, we bear
the name of Christ, and are called Christians,
and are within his covenant: we have said yes,
we will do it; but they that do it not, are
unprofitable servants, and live without the will
of the Father.
28. But if the Turks (as also the Jews) do the
Father's will, who say to Christ No, and know him
not, Who is now their Judge, to thrust them out
from the will of the Father? Is not the Son the
Heart of the Father? And then, if they honour
the Father, they lay hold also on his Heart: for
without, or beyond his Heart, there is no God.
29. Or dost thou suppose, that I confirm [encourage] them
in their blindness, that they should go on as they
do? No: I shew thee thy blindness, O thou that
bearest the. name of Christ! And thou judgest
others, and yet dost the same thing which thou
judgest in others, and so thou wilfully bringest
the judgment of God upon thyself.
30. HE that saith, Love your enemies, do well
to them that persecute you, doth not teach you to
judge and despise; but he teacheth you the way
of meekness: you should be a light to the world,
that Heathens might see by your works that you
are the children of God.
31. If we consider ourselves according to the
true man, who is a true similitude and image of
God, then we find God in us, and ourselves without
God. And the only remedy consisteth herein,
That we enter again into ourselves, and enter into
God, in our hidden man. If we incline our wills
in true earnest singleness to God, then we go with
Christ out of this world, out from the stars and
elements, and enter into God; for in the will of
reason we are children of the stars and elements,
and the spirit of this world ruleth over us.
32. But if we go out from the will of this world,
and enter into God, then the spirit of God ruleth
in us, and establisheth us for his children; and
then also the garland of paradise is set upon the
soul; and then it becometh a child without understanding
as to this world, for it loseth the master
[or ruler] of this world, who formerly ruled it and
led it in reason.
33. O Man! Consider who leadeth and driveth
thee; for eternally without end is very long:
temporal honour and goods are but dross and
dung in the sight of God: it all falleth into the
grave with thee, and cometh to nothing: But to
be in the will of God is eternal riches and honour:
there, there is no more care; but our mother
careth for us, in whose bosom we live as children.
34. Thy temporal honour is thy snare [pitfall], and
thy misery in divine hope [and confidence] is thy
garden of roses: Patience is a precious herb; 0
how gloriously wilt thou be crowned! What is
brighter than the sun? And yet thou shalt bo, far
brighter, thou wilt obtain a garland in Ternario
Sancto, [viz. in the angelical world, in the eternal
essentiality, before the Holy Trinity].
35. Or dost thou suppose again, that we speak
historically? No, we speak the very life, in our
own knowledge [or experience]; not in an opinion
from the mouth of another, but from our own
mouth: we see with our own eyes; which we
boast not of, for the power is the mother's; but
we exhort thee, to enter into the bosom of the
mother, and learn also to see with thy own eyes:
so long as you suffer yourselves to be rocked in a
cradle, and desire the eyes of others, [which are
strange eyes in respect of your own], you are blind.
But if you rise up from the cradle, and go to the
mother, then you shall see the mother and her
children.
36. O how good it is to see with one's own eyes.
One that is blind, and seeth not the light of this
world, is accounted as one that is asleep and
dreameth: for he heareth of the pomp of the
world, but he knoweth it not: he apprehendeth it
by hearsay, and many times thinketh it is better,
or worse, than it is, because he seeth it not, and so
imagineth it by that which is said; but he that
seeth the light, he speaketh according to the truth,
for he apprehendeth the thing as it is.
37. So also I say, we are all asleep in the outward
man; we lie in the cradle, and suffer ourselves
to be rocked asleep by reason; we see with
the eyes of the dissimulation of our hypocrites,
who hang bells and baubles about our ears and
cradles, that we may be lulled asleep, or at least
play with their baubles; that they may be lords
and masters in the house.
38. O blind reason ! Rise up from thy cradle:
art thou not a child of the mother, and an heir to
the goods; and, moreover, a child and lord of the
house: why sufferest thou thy servants thus to use
thee? Christ saith, / am the Light of the World,
he that followeth me, shall have the light of the
eternal life. He doth not direct us to the flattering
hypocrites, murderers, and contenders; but
only to himself: we should see (with the inward
eyes) in his light, and so we should see him, for he
is the light: when we see him, then we walk in th
light: He is the Morning Star, and is generated in
us, and riseth in us, and shineth in our Bodily
Darkness.
39. O how great a triumph is there in the soul,
when he ariseth! then a man seeth with his own
eyes, and knoweth that he is in a strange lodging.
Concerning which we will here write, what we see
and know in the light.
40. We are children of the eternity: But this
world is an out-birth out of the eternal; and its
palpability taketh its original in the anger, the
eternal nature is its root. But that which is an
out-birth is corruptible, because it hath not been
from eternity: and it must all return into the
eternal essences, [out of which it was born].
41. The stars are out of the centre of nature,
they are the essences of the seven forms of nature,
and from each form there goeth another [form],
all from [caused by] the wrestling wheel of nature;
and therefore they are so various and numberless, in our
account: Though indeed there is a certain number
of them, whereby we know that they must enter
again into the ether.
42. For in the eternal centre there is no number
[or measure], but it is the omnipotence in the
springing up without number; for that which can
be numbered or comprehended, is not eternal; it
hath a beginning and end: But we know that the
spirit and soul of man hath no beginning and end,
nor can it be numbered [or measured] : which we
understand by the constellations of the mind, from
whence so many thoughts arise, which are numberless;
for out of one thought, in a while, there may
go forth many more, as many as the stars in the
firmament, wherein we highly know our eternity,
and do most highly rejoice that we know it.
43. Understand us rightly, how this world is,
in the ground and foundation of it. The eternal
centre, and the birth of life, and the substantiality,
are every where. If you make a small circle, as
small as a little grain, [or kernel of seed], there
is the whole birth of the eternal nature, and also
the Number Three in Ternario sancto [contained]
therein: but you include not, nor comprise, the
eternal nature, much less the Number Three; but
you comprehend the out-birth of the centre: the
eternal nature is incomprehensible, as God also is.
44. When I take up any thing and carry it away,
I do not carry away the eternity, much less God:
and yet the eternity is in that very thing, but the
thing is out-born, and stirreth not the eternity;
and that which is out-born comprehendeth not
the eternity, but the eternity comprehendeth that
which is out-born, thoroughly, without stirring; for
the eternity, as also the Deity, is in one place as
well as in another, [every where] : for there is no
place [in the eternity], but the out-birth maketh a
place and room. Therefore God saith, I am A and
O, the Beginning and the End.
45. This word maketh a beginning, and God in
the Number Three [not without it] is the beginning,
and it also maketh an end, and that is the eternity,
and also God: For before [the time of] this world
there was nothing but God, from eternity; and
after this world, there will be nothing but God, in
eternity: but the cause why we comprehend not
this, is because there is no comprehensibility in
God. For where there is a comprehensibility [as
there is in the Trinity] there is beginning and end.
And therefore we are shut up in darkness, that
we might labour and manifest God; as we have
mentioned to you concerning the seven forms of
nature, what an eternal labour there is therein, so
that one form generateth another, till they are all
brought to light, and so the eternal is manifest in
a threefold form, which otherwise would not be
known.
46. And we declare unto you, that the eternal
Being, and also this world, is like man: The
eternity generateth nothing but that which is like
itself; for there is nothing in it but is like it, and
it is unchangeable, or else it would pass away, or
it would come to be some other thing, and that
cannot be.
47. And as you find man to be, just so is
the eternity: consider man in body and soul, in
good and evil, in joy and sorrow, in light and
darkness, in power and weakness, in life and death:
All is in man, both heaven and earth, stars, and
elements; and also the Number Three of the
Deity; neither can there be any thing named
that is not in man; all creatures (both in this
world, and in the angelical world) are in man.
All of us, together with the whole essence of all
essences, are but one body, having many members,
each member whereof is a total: and each member
hath but one several [peculiar, singular, individual
faculty or office] work.
48. O Man! seek thyself, and thou shalt find
thyself. Behold! thy whole man [consisteth of]
Three Principles, one whereof is not without the
other, one of them is not beside or above the other,
but they are in one another as one, and they are
but one thing; but according to the creation they
are three.
49. You will say, how can that be? Adam's
soul was out of the eternal will, out of the centre
of nature, upon the cross of the Number Three,
where light and darkness do part; understand, he
was not a divided sparkle, as a piece of the whole,
for he is no piece, but totally all, as there is a total
in every punctum [point or atom].
50. Now the eternal centre maketh the eternal
substantiality, ( viz. the sinking down and springing
up, whence the stirring of the elements doth arise,
as also penetration and multiplication, whereas
there is only such a kind of spirit), and the substantiality
is the body, and a weakness, for it is a
sinking down, and the spirit is the springing up.
51. Now the spirit created the substantiality
into an image, like the cross of the Number Three,
and breathed in the spirit of the Number Three,
viz. himself, and so the image existed: and then
instantly, out of the substantiality of the image,
sprang up the blossom of the essences, which is
called paradise: and thus stood the image in the
angelical world.
52. And so there is nothing less in the image,
than in the centre of nature, viz. the original of
sourness, wrathfulness, and of fire, also all the
forms of nature; whatsoever was seen from eternity
in the wisdom, that was all in this image; also the
power to light and darkness; and the wisdom
stood in the light of the image, wherein stand all
the eternal wonders, even the image of every
creature, in the sinking down of death, and in the
source [or property] of the paradisical life.
53. This we understand to be the matrix of the
genetrix in the darkness; viz. that out of which
angels and devils come to be; as is above mentioned.
This source [or property] was wholly in the image,
for it was a whole similitude of the eternal Being;
as Moses writeth concerning it, that God made
man [to be] his image: so that it may be said, (if one
did see man standing in paradise), here is the
whole eternity manifested in an image, to speak
in a creaturely manner of it; and yet it is so truly
and rightly in the understanding.
54. Now, as Lucifer, by his flying out, in the
source of the fire, imagined beyond the still meek
Number Three above the cross in the Majesty, and
so awakened to himself the matrix of the fire in
himself, and kindled the matrix of nature; which
kindling became corporeal, and was instantly
together created by the Verbum Fiat, where also
the second form of the matrix, viz. the meekness
of the substantiality, was kindled together with
it, out of which water came to be, which was
made an heaven, (by which the fire was captivated),
out of which the stars were generated; so
you must understand also, that [man,] the image of God
thus imagined [or lusted] after the awakened life, viz. after
the awakened spirit of the air; indeed the air was
together breathed into him, but the spirit [man's] of the
centre should over-rule it, as the Holy Spirit over
[ruleth] this world: for he should live in the
power [or virtue] of God, and be a lord over the four
elements, but in the fall they became his lord.
And now if he would live in God, he must enter
into himself again, and likewise leave the old body
to the four elements, and must, in himself, be
born in God. And so he was instantly also
captivated by the air of the out-birth, and then
the stars, elements, heaven, hell, death, and life,
wrought together in him.
55. But seeing there is a firmament created,
between God and the dominion of this world, by
the spirit of God, therefore man is composed of
three parts, (viz. Three Principles,) One is the
hidden Deity, which standeth in the firmament of
heaven, in itself, as a Principle of its own; the
Second is the dominion of this world, viz. the
stars and elements; and the Third is the abyss of
the image, and also the abyss of this world, viz.
the wrath, or the matrix of nature, out of which
all things are proceeded.
56. And now the image, viz. man, is in the
midst, viz. between the kingdom of God, and the
kingdom of hell; between love and anger: and to
which of these two spirits he yieldeth, its [servant]
he is.
57. And though man cast himself into the
anger, yet the Deity loseth nothing; for the first
breathing in, viz. the spirit of God itself, hath its
Principle to itself, and is not touched by the anger;
just as the Number Three dwelleth in the midst of
the anger, and yet the anger stirreth it not, nor
knoweth it, therein is neither feeling nor seeing.
58. For the image stirreth the source of the
anger: and the first in-breathed spirit springeth
up in the image, in the fierceness of pride; according
as it hath built up itself in this [life] time;
and yet the first in-breathed form loseth nothing.
For that source [or property] is not in the image;
but it goeth back again into its Principle, with the
beauteous Virgin of wisdom: and the image of
man cometh to be the image of the serpent.
59. For as the spirit is, so is the body, and in
what will the spirit flieth, in such a form and source
[or property] it figureth the body also.
60. So we know now, that all cometh out of one
only fountain, and that the palpable substance of
this world hath had a beginning, and therefore it
is also mortal; for whatsoever is not from eternity
is mortal.
61. But that the image of man might subsist,
(which also hath a beginning as to the body), therefore
God is become man, and dwelleth again in the
soul, and the soul attaineth again the first image
without this world; yet those only, who with the
spirit of the soul incline themselves to God: and
here it may be said, We must be born anew, or be
lost eternally in hell, and [thrust out] from God.
62. Thus we say with [good] ground, that the
starry heaven, viz. the Third Principle of this
world, was created also as a total body, having a
circumscription, and standeth just like the centre
of nature; whatsoever thou seest in this great circumference,
the same is also in the smallest circle [or point] :
and the whole Principle of this world outwardly, is
only a manifestation and discovery of the eternity
in God. It hath its rising, station [form or subsistence],
and generating,like the eternal nature; and as the eternal
nature doth always generate itself, and hath its original
from eternity to eternity, just so is this visible
dominion of this world generated and created.
63. For it hath a high round circumference, like
a circle, and there stand the constellations: and
after that, the great deep, which resembleth the
eternal liberty of God: now the seven planets are
in the deep, which resemble the seven spirits of
nature, and the stars [resemble the effects or] essences
proceeding out of the spirits of nature: and the
sun is the middlemost of the planets, which maketh
the four quarters of the world, and it standeth in
the point, as in a cross, +and resembleth the Heart
of God: Its lustre in the deep resembleth the
Majesty of God, where God dwelleth in himself,
and is comprehended by nothing: and there is
nothing of him seen but the Majesty, where the
centre of nature is known in all heavenly images
out of the eternal.
64. The earth resembleth the sinking down of
the eternal death in the dark matrix: and yet
there is no death therein, but a springing forth of
the fierce essences: and thus it resembleth a form in
the centre, and a peculiar self-dominion, and is a
figure [or type] of hell: as a hidden dominion in
the darkness.
65. And as the earth, in comparison of the
upper dominion, is counted as a death, so the fierce
matrix of the anger, is as a death in comparison
of God: and yet there is no death in either, but
an eternal life in a twofold source, [or property;
viz. the life in eternal joy, and the life in eternal
torment].
66. And now we see that the sun maketh the
great deep above the earth lovely, friendly, pleasant,
and delightful; or else there would be no other
[rule, influence, or] dominion in the deep, than is
in the earth: for if the sun should go out, there
would be an eternal darkness, and the fierce sour
astringency would make all hard, rough, and harsh,
and there would be an eternal coldness. And
although every thing did move together like a
wheel, yet there would be nothing seen but & flash
of fire.
67. Thus we give you to understand concerning
the abyss of hell, that it is in this world: and
the sun only is the cause of the waters, which
are the heaven in the deep. Moreover, by the
sun, the Heart of God may be understood, out of
which the light of the Majesty shineth: for the
whole centre of the eternity would be dark, if the
light from the Heart of God did not shine therein.
68. But it is not so with the Heart of God, as
with the sun, that it should be a globe, standing in
one place only: No, it hath no circumscription,
[circumference], or place; also it hath no beginning,
and yet is like a round globe, yet not a round
circle, but it is as it were parted [divided] or
open; for it is as a round cross wheel, like a
^==^whole rainbow, which yet appeareth as it were
69. For the whole cross is its parting, and yet it
is whole; but the centre of nature, ( viz. the Word
of the Lord, Verbum Domini, the Word of the
Father), is there the centre of the cross. The cross
every where signifieth the Number Three: where
then beneath blue appeareth, which signifieth the
substantiality; in the middle appeareth red, which
signifieth the Father in the glance of fire; next [under]
which appeareth yellow, which signifieth the light
and lustre of the Majesty of God the Son; and the
dusky brown [or purple], with the mixture of all forms,
signifieth the other kingdom of darkness in the
fire, in which Lucifer did soar aloft [fly out] above God,
and did not lay hold on the Majesty and Heart of
God.
70. And upon such a bow will Christ, the Son
of Man, appear at the last judgment; for so he
sitteth in the Majesty of the Number Three, in
Ternario Sancto: understand, the angelical world
[in the eternal substantiality] and paradise.
71. Thus know, that all this is not divided, nor
is it thus in one place alone; but this form [or
manner] appeareth in its Principle everywhere. If
thou conceivest a small, minute circle, as small as
a grain of mustard-seed, yet the Heart of God is
wholly and perfectly therein: and if thou art born
in God, then there is, in thyself, (in the circle of
thy life), the whole Heart of God undivided: and
the Son of Man (Christ) sitteth thus (in the circle
of thy life, upon the rainbow, in Ternario Sancto)
at the right hand of God: and thus thou art his
child, whom he hath regenerated in him [in Christ];
as also Christ's member and body, wherein he
dwelleth; his brother, his flesh, and spirit; and a
child of God the Father in him, God in thee, and
thou in God; power, might, majesty, heaven,
paradise, element, stars, and earth, all is thine.
Thou art in (Christ) over [or above] hell and devils.
72. But in this world, with thy earthly life,
thou art under heaven, stars, and elements, also
under hell and devils; all ruleth in thee, and
over thee.
73. Therefore consider thyself, and go forth
[from thyself] : it is of high concernment; we
speak what we know, and what we must speak, for
we ought not to speak otherwise of the eternity,
unless we should speak as if it had a beginning,
whereas there is none in the eternity.
74. And do not think that mankind hath such a
beginning, as we must say of ourselves, according to
the creation: no, the image hath appeared in God
from eternity in the virgin of wisdom; but not in
substance [or distinction] ; it was no woman, nor
man, but it was both; as Adam was both, before
Eve was, which [divided distinction] signifieth the
earthly, and also the bestial man; for nothing
subsisteth in eternity, unless it hath been from
eternity.
75. O ye children of God, open the eyes of your
inward man, and see rightly: If you be new born
in God, then you put on that very eternal image,
and the man Christ is become man in that very
image, viz. in the eternal virgin; for no mortal
virgin is pure; and he was conceived by the Holy
Spirit in a pure virgin, and in respect of our soul
which he should assume, he is also [become man]
in the mortal virgin: for Mary had all the Three
Principles in her: and the image of the eternal
virgin consisted in the divine and eternal substantiality;
it was indeed without substance, but in the
man Christ, it came to be a substance.
76. We do not say concerning the outward
Virgin Mary, that she was not the daughter of
Joachim and Anna; as the ancients have erred, to
whom the light of God hath not so shone, because
they sought their own profit therein.
77. For Mary was begotten of the seed of
Joachim and Anna, like other persons; but she
was the blessed among women: in her the eternal
virgin, in Ternario Sancto, which was from
eternity, discovered itself: not that it entered into
hex from without; no, it is quite otherwise. Here
God and man became one again: What Adam lost,
was here revived again; understand it rightly:
The Word of the Lord, Verbum Domini, the Word
of the Father on the cross, came into Mary, understand,
into the earthly Mary.
78. Now, where the Word is, there is [also] the
virgin [or wisdom of God] ; for the Word is in the
wisdom: and the one is not without the other, or
else the eternity would be divided.
79. And now when the Word in Mary, in her
flesh and blood, entered into her matrix, then the
Fiat was in the matrix, but it did not in one
moment create a complete earthly man, nor a
heavenly either; but it began the Incarnation [or
becoming man] ; for the divine nature is neither
augmented nor diminished, but is always complete.
80. But now this, that the eternal virgin,
that was without substance, gave in itself together
with the becoming man [or Incarnation], and the
true soul of Christ was out of Mary's essences,
conceived in the eternal virgin: and in the eternal
virgin, God became man, and so the eternal virgin
came into substantiality, for it gat the human soul
into it. Thus the human soul of Christ stood in
the earthly essences, as also in the virgin of the
eternal wisdom in Ternario Sancto, in the Trinity
of God: for the Word of the Lord was in it [or her, the virgin],
and God and man became one person.
81. In this person [which was God and man]
were all the Three Principles open, undivided; the
virgin, in Ternario Sancto, giveth the heavenly
body, and Mary the earthly [body] : and the Word
was in the centre upon the cross, in the Number
Three; whereas we say that the Word is become
flesh, and it is so.
82. Behold! the virgin of eternity hath no flesh,
nor hath had any from eternity, (except in Adam
before the Fall, which afterwards came to be
earthly), but it took human flesh upon it: understand
[it thus], the Word, together with the
whole Deity, was in the virgin: For without
the Word there were no understanding in the
eternal virgin.
83. For the spirit of God was in the Word, and
he was the understanding, but the Word was as a
heavenly figure, a figure of the Number Three; but
not in the working; as indeed the flesh worketh
not, but the spirit in the flesh [worketh] .
84. And the living Word, which dwelleth in the
eternal virgin, attracted to it the flesh of Mary;
understand it thus, the Word attracted the flesh,
(viz. the essences [or faculties] out of the body of
Mary) into the eternal virgin: and so in nine
months there was a complete man, with soul, spirit,
and flesh.
85. And thus the perished soul of Adam, in
the body of Mary, was again set in the eternal
humanity, for the Word dwelt in Christ's flesh,
and assumed the soul in him.
86. Not that the soul and the Word is one and
the same substance: No, the soul is out of the
centre of nature, generated out of the essences, and
it belongeth to the body: for it goeth forth from the
essences of the body, and it attracteth corporeity
to it: But the Word is out of the centre of the
Majesty, and attracteth Majesty to it.
87. The Word is without substance, and the
soul is out of the substance, it is the spirit of
the substance, out of the centre of the Father;
or else it could not in Adam have gone forth
from the Word; not that the word and the soul
stand one by another like two persons; No, the
Word penetrateth through the soul: and out of
the Word, the Majesty shineth, viz. the light
of life: And the soul is free of itself, for it is
a creature.
88. 1 give you an earthly similitude of this.
Behold a bright flaming piece of iron, which of
itself is dark and black, and the fire so penetrateth
and shineth through the iron, that it giveth light.
Now, the iron doth not cease to be; it is iron still:
and the source [or property] of the fire retaineth
its own propriety: it doth not take the iron into it,
but it penetrateth [and shineth] through the iron;
and it is iron then as well as before, free in itself:
and so also is the source [or property] of the fire:
in such a manner is the soul set in the Deity: the
Deity penetrateth through the soul, and dwelleth
in the soul, yet the soul doth not comprehend the
Deity, but the Deity comprehendeth the soul, but
doth not alter it [from being a soul], but only
giveth it the divine source [or property] of the
Majesty.
89. And so if the soul inclineth itself to the
divine source [or property,] then it stayeth in the
Majesty of God, for the source [or property]
betokeneth the Word, and the glance [betokeneth]
the Majesty: and that which proceedeth from the
source [or property], as heat out of the fire, that
betokeneth the Holy Spirit.
90. But now, if the flaming iron be cast, or fall,
into the water, then the property of the fire, the.
glance and the heat which proceedeth from it, are
all quenched together; thus it is also with Adam:
he cast himself out from the Majesty of God (with
his will) into the spirit of this world, and so he
went from God.
91. Not that God went out [was extinguished] in him,
like the flaming of the iron: No, that cannot be;
it [the glance or Majesty] shineth eternally:
God continueth in his Principle,
and Adam went out from it: If Adam 's will had
continued in God, he would have continued the
child of God, and God would have continued in his
will, and so the majesty would have shone through
the will.
92. But he went out from the will of God, into
this world, and so was captivated by the world,
death, devils, and hell, and they dwelt in Adam.
93. Adam was in this world, dwelling in the
elements, and God breathed the air also into his
nostrils: but he should not have put his will into
it, to eat of earthly fruit, which maketh earthly
flesh. That was his Fall, that he did eat earthly
fruit; and therefore his essences also became
earthly; and the soul became captivated by the
earthly dominion.
94. And there the Word of the Lord said to the
soul, Adam, where art thou? And his body did
hide itself; so very much ashamed was the poor
soul: and Adam said, I am naked; the precious
heavenly virgin (which he was clothed withal) was
lost, as also, the light of the Majesty; and Adam
was without the Word.
95. O how terrible is it to those that understand
it, the soul trembleth at it, and it may well be
afraid of this captivity, when the poor soul must
be captivated by the devil, and must swim in [the
lake of] God's anger. And this is the cause why
God became man, that he might bring us again, in
Ternarium Sanctum, into the angelical world.
96. And as we are all with Adam, gone out
from God, for we have all Adam's soul and flesh,
so God hath regenerated us all in Christ; and in
Christ the divine kingdom standeth open, every
one that will may enter in, whosoever putteth his
will away from himself, and putteth it into Christ,
and letteth all worldly reason go, though it have
never so fair a lustre, shall be regenerated in Christ:
and his soul attaineth the eternal flesh again, in
which God became man, an incomprehensible flesh,
of eternal substantiality.
97. The old Adamical [or mortal] flesh of death cometh
not to be heavenly flesh: No, it belongeth to the
earth, to death; but the eternal flesh is hidden in
the old earthly man, and it is in the old man, as
the fire in the iron, or as the gold in the [dark]
stone.
98. This is the noble precious stone, (Lapis
Philosophorum), the Philosopher's Stone, which
the Magi [or wise men] find, which tinctureth
nature, and generateth a new son in the old. He
who findeth that, esteemeth more highly of it
than of this [outward] world. For the Son is
many thousand times greater than the Father.
99. O thou bright Crown of Pearl, art thou not
brighter than the sun? There is nothing like thee;
thou art so very manifest, and yet so very secret,
that among many thousand in this world, thou art
scarcely rightly known of any one; and yet thou
art carried [about] in many that know thee not.
100. Christ saith, Seek, and thou shaltfind.
It [the noble stone] must be sought for, a lazy person
findeth it not, and though he carrieth it about with him, yet
he knoweth it not. To whomsoever it revealeth
itself, he hath all joy therein; for there is no end
of its virtue [or glory] : He that hath it doth not
give it away: and if he doth impart it to any, yet
it is not profitable to him that is lazy, for he diveth
not into its virtue, to learn that.
101. But the seeker findeth the Stone, and its
virtue and benefit together, and when he findeth
it, and knoweth that he is certain of it, there is
greater joy in him than the world is able to
apprehend, which no pen can describe, nor any
tongue express, in an Adamical manner.
102. It is accounted the meanest of all stones in
the Adamical eyes, and is trodden under foot, for
it affordeth no lustre to the sight; if a man lights
upon it, he casteth it away as an unprofitable
thing; none enquire after it, though it be so very
much sought for in this world. There is none on
earth but desireth it. All the great ones and the
wise seek it: Indeed they find one, and think it is
the right: but they miss of it: they ascribe power
and virtue to it: and think they have it, and will
keep it: but it is not that: It needeth no virtue to
be ascribed to it. All virtue lieth hidden in it.
103. He who hath it, and knoweth it, if he
seeketh, he may find all things whatsoever are in
heaven and in earth. It is the Stone which is
rejected of the builders, and is the chief corner
stone; upon whatsoever itfalleth, it grindeth to
powder, and kindleth a fire therein. All universities
seek it, but find it not by their seeking;
sometimes it is found by one that seeketh it rightly.
But others [that seek it in self, and for their own
gain] despise it, and cast it away, and so it
remaineth hidden still.
THE SEVENTH CHAPTER
OF THE TRUE CORNERSTONE
1. IT doth most of all concern us men, in this
world, to seek that which is lost. And therefore
if we would seek, we must not seek without
ourselves, we need no flattering hypocrites, nor such
as tickle our ears to comfort us, and promise us
many golden mountains if we will but run after
them, and make much of them, and reverence them.
2. If I should sit and hear sermons preached all
my life long, and did hear them always preach of
the kingdom of heaven and the New Birth, with
their singing and repetitions, and stay there, and
go no further, I should be never the nearer. If a
stone be cast into the water and then taken out
again, it is a hard stone as it was before, and
retaineth its quality [form, condition, or nature] :
But if it be cast into the
fire, then it getteth another quality in itself; so
also thou, 0 man, though thou runnest to church,
and wouldst seem to be a minister of Christ, that is
not enough; if you rest there, you are never the
better.
3. Also, it is not enough that you learn all books,
to rehearse them without book, and did yearly and
daily read all writings, and could say the whole
Bible without book, yet you are not a hair's
breadth the better in the sight of God, than a
keeper of swine, who all that while did nothing
but feed the swine; or than a poor prisoner in a
dark dungeon, who all that while hath not seen the
daylight.
4. Talking availeth nothing, nor that you know
how to speak much of God, and despise the
simple, as the flattering hypocrites upon the
Antichristian beast do, who forbid the light to them
that see, as hath been done to this hand. But it
is as Christ saith, Except you turn, and become as
one of these children; you shall not see the kingdom
of heaven in eternity: you must be bom anew, if
you would see the kingdom of God: that is the
right means.
5. There needs no art or eloquence about it, you
need neither books nor cunning: a shepherd is as
fit for it as a learned doctor, and very much fitter:
for he goeth forth from his own reason into the
mercy of God, he hath no great, wise [or deep]
reason, therefore he doth not go to that for counsel,
but he goeth simply with the poor publican, into
the temple of Christ: whereas, on the contrary,
the high and learned first set the university before
their eyes, and study first with what opinion they
will enter into the temple of Christ. They first
set men's opinions before them, and will seek God
in this or that opinion, one in the Pope's opinion,
another in Luther 's, a third in Calvin 's, a fourth
in Schwenckfeld's, &c. There is no end of opinions.
6. And thus the poor soul stayeth without the
temple of Christ, standing in doubt: it knocketh
and seeketh, and continually doubteth that it is
not in the right way.
7. O thou poor confounded soul in Babel, what
dost thou do? Leave off all opinions, by what
name soever they are called in this world, they are
all no other than the contention of reason: the
New-Birth and the Noble Stone is to be found in
no contention, neither in any wisdom of reason:
you must forsake all in this world (let it be as
glistering as it will) and enter into yourself, and
only gather all your sins (which have captivated
you) together on a heap, and cast them into the
mercy of God, and fly to God, and pray to him for
forgiveness, and the illumination of his spirit:
there needs no long disputing, but earnestness, and
then heaven must break asunder, and hell tremble;
it cometh just so to pass; you must set aside all
your sins, and reason, and whatsoever cometh in the
way, and resolve, that you will not let him go,
except he bless you; as Jacob wrestled with God
the whole night.
8. Though thy conscience should say, No, God
will have none of thee; yet do thou say, I will
have him, I will not leave him, till I am carried
to my grave: Let my will be as thy will, O Lord
I will as thou wilt: and though all the devils
encompassed thee round about, and should say,
Hold, it is enough at once; thou must say, No;
my mind [thought and purpose] and will shall not depart
from God, they shall be eternally in God:
his love is greater than all my sins: although thou devil,
and thou world, have the mortal body in your prison, yet I have
my Saviour and Regenerator in my soul: He will
give me a heavenly body, which will remain
eternally.
9. Try this, and thou shalt find wonders, thou
shalt soon get one in thee, who will help thee to
wrestle, fight and pray: And though thou canst
not use many words, it is no matter, though you
can say no more than the publican: O God, be
merciful to me, a sinner. When thy will and all
thy reason is once placed upon God, with a resolution
not to leave him, though body and soul should
be broken asunder, then thou holdest God [fast],
and breakest through death, hell, and heaven, and
goest into the temple of JESUS CHRIST, in spite
of all the opposition of the devil: The anger of God
cannot withhold thee, how great and powerful soever
it is in thee; and though body and soul did
burn in the anger, and stood in the midst of hell
with all the devils; yet thou wouldst break forth,
and come into the temple of Christ; and there
thou wouldst get the Garland of Pearl, adorned
with the noble and highly Precious Stone, that
Lapis Philo-Angularis, The Chief Corner Stone.
10. But you must know, that the kingdom of
heaven is thus sown in thee, and is small as a
grain of mustard- seed, yet thou hast great joy
with this angelical garland; but look to it, and
set it not upon the old Adam, else it will go with
thee as it did with Adam; keep what thou hast;
necessity or want is an evil guest.
11. At length a young plant groweth to be a
tree, if it standeth in good ground; but many a
rough and cold wind bloweth upon a young plant
before it cometh to be a tree; it is unsteady:
Thou must be brought before the tree of temptation,
and also into the wilderness of contempt and
scorn in this world; if thou dost not hold out,
thou hast nothing: If thou rootest up thy plant,
thou dost as Adam did, thou wilt more hardly
set it again than at first, and yet it groweth in
the valley of roses [paradisical essence], hidden
to the old Adam.
12. For it was a long time from Adam till the
humanity of Christ, in which [time] the tree of
pearl grew hidden under the veil of Moses, and yet
in its time it came forth as a tree with fair fruits.
13. Therefore, if thou hast fallen, and hast lost
the fair garland; do not despair, seek, knock, and
come again, do as thou didst at first, and then
thou wilt find by experience, from what spirit this
pen and hand hath written: thou wilt afterwards
get a tree instead of thy plant: And then thou
wilt say, Is my plant, during my sleep, become a
tree? Then you will begin to know the Philosopher's
Stone; observe it.
The Gates of the Firmamental Heaven, with the
Stars and Elements. Also of the Threefold
Life of Man. The Noble Stone rightly
brought forth into the Light, Spiritually, for
the Magi [or those that are wise].
14. If we will speak of the Noble Stone, and
bring it forth into the light to be known, we must
first shew the darkness and deformity of the stone,
which hinder that it is not known. For, since we
know that the noble stone lieth hidden in this
world, and may be had everywhere, and yet is
not known, we should therefore seek to know the
cause why it is so hidden.
15. Reason saith, If this [outward] world be so
dangerous for man, why hath God set him therein?
Or, Why hath he created it? And thus he judgeth
also concerning the devil; [saying], Why hath not
God turned the devil into nothing again since
his fall?
16. Yes, beloved reason, thou hast found the
stone, and with it thou buildest a house of stone
to dwell in. The noble stone lieth in the eternity:
that which is eternal breaketh not, but that which
hath a beginning breaketh. The devils are eternal,
and therefore they break not; they were not in
the form [or condition] of a spirit from eternity,
but their essences are eternal.
17. And they have put their will into their
essences, and their will is eternal: as the centre of
nature [viz.] of the stern matrix, is eternal, into
which their will is entered, so now they are eternal
spirits therein, [viz. in the stern matrix] : Also they
are as a looking-glass for the other angels, and for
the souls of men.
18. But that God should cast away the Third
Principle, [that is, the created world], for man's
sake, and put it into its ether, before the accomplishment
of its time, that cannot be; for the wonders that were foreseen
from eternity in the wisdom, without substance,
they must come to have a substance, and so in time
must the forms of nature also.
19. For God is Threefold in Persons, and would
also move himself three times, according to the
property of each Person, and no more at all in
eternity.
20. First, The centre of the Father's nature
moved itself to the creation of angels, and further,
of this world.
21. Secondly, The Son's nature moved itself;
where the Heart of God became man, which shall
never be more done in eternity: and where it is
now done, [viz. where men become united with the
Heart of God, as branches on their vine], it is done
by that only (man) who is God, through many,
and in many.
22. And, Thirdly, The Holy Ghost's nature will
move itself at the end of the world, when the world
shall enter into its ether again, and the dead shall
rise again: where the Holy Ghost will be the
mover, and will set the great wonders (which shall
have been done in this world) all in the eternal
substantiality, to the glory and manifestation of
God's deeds of wonder, and to the joy of the
creatures, [viz. angels and men]. He will be the
eternal mover of the creatures, (viz. angels and
men), for through him paradise springeth up again,
which we here have lost. Thus you must know,
that the great wonders of this world, which must
have been done, and must pass away, lie in our
way.
23. This world is a great wonder; but it would
not have been known in the wisdom of God by
the angels: and therefore the Father's nature
moved itself to the creation of a being, that the
great wonders might be manifested; and then,
[when they shall all once be manifested and become
substantial], it will be known in eternity, by
angels and men, what power and virtue every
thing hath had.
24. Also the image of the Number Three, [or
Trinity], (viz. the eternal virgin, which stood in
Ternario sancto, in the eternal wisdom, in the
substantiality, as a figure), would not have been
known in eternity by the angels, if the Heart of
God had not become man; there the angels saw
the glory of the Majesty in a living image,
wherein the whole trinity was included.
25. So also the centre of nature would not in
eternity have been manifested to the angels, much
less the government of the Holy Ghost, if this
world, with the stars and elements, had not been
created; but so [by this means] the angels and
we men (also) know the eternal being, and all
forms, by this [created] world; and therefore God
hath placed the image of the Number Three (viz.
man) in this world, that he should open all
wonders, and know the eternal God.
26. But the image doted on it, and put its
imagination into it, as Lucifer did into the wrathful
matrix of nature, and so it was also captivated:
for Adam was to be a lord over the stars and
elements, nothing should touch him, he had
power over them all, he could have removed
mountains with a word, he was lord over fire, air,
water and earth.
27. For there was no death in him, the light
shone in him, he was in paradise, paradisical fruit
grew for him, he was one [single] man, and not
two, he was the man, and also the woman, and he
should have propagated an angelical kingdom out
of himself, and that was possible. For he had no
such flesh and blood as after the Fall, whereof he
was ashamed before the Majesty of God: he had
flesh and blood that was heavenly, his essences
[or faculties] were holy: he could bring forth out
of himself (without rending of his body) an image
like himself.
28. For he was a virgin, without the feminine
form, after the form of the eternal [Sophia ], with
a pure modest mind, and chaste, without the least
desire of lust: his desire was only to have his like
out of himself; he placed his will upon himself,
and in him was God: so his will was in God, and
God in him, and he in paradise.
29. But he saw in himself two forms
[natures, conditions, or qualities] of the
divine Being: one without himself belonging to
this world, and the other within him belonging to
the paradisical world, which he also had with full
satisfaction to himself [as his own], and therefore
came the commandment and said; Eat not of the
mixed fruit, (Good and Evil), else ye shall die.
But he imagined so long, till he was captivated:
he still thought he would eat of both, [viz. of the
paradisical and of the forbidden fruit], and so live
for ever, and so he continued forty days, as the
second Adam in the wilderness was [so long]
tempted: and Moses was [so long] upon the
mount, where Israel was tempted, to try if it were
possible to live in the obedience and will of the
Father: and so long he went on till he sank down
into a sleep.
30. For Moses saith, God suffered a deep sleep
to fall on him; and then God saw that it was not
possible for him [to continue in perfect obedience],
(for the lust had captivated him), and so he
suffered him to fall into a sleep, (which signifieth
death), where the woman was made out of him;
and the spirit of this world formed Adam into a
man, (such an one as we are at this day), and Eve
into a woman: which, when they awoke, they saw
not: for they were yet in paradise, till they had
eaten the earthly fruit; and then the spirit of this
world took the soul captive, and its essences became
instantly earthly, and its flesh and blood bestial,
at which they were ashamed, and took notice of
their bestial form in their masculine and feminine
members.
31. And so they were driven out of paradise;
and the Word of the Lord, Verbum Domini, (with
a promise of a Treader upon the serpent), set
itself in the light of their life, (which before dwelt
and ruled in him [viz. in Adam]), that remained
now in its own principle, and the image remained
in the outward Principle, and was captivated by
the spirit of the stars and elements: the regimen
[or rule and dominion] of this world dwelt now in
these persons, and they became earthly.
32. Whereupon God cursed the earth also for
man 's sake, so that no paradisical fruit grew any
more. All was gone, save only the grace and
mercy of God, which was still left; for they now
stood (as to the ground of the world) in the abyss
of hell, with all devils; and they lived in weakness,
as we do now at this day.
33. They begat their children in two kingdoms,
[viz. in the kingdom of wrath, and in the kingdom
of love], for the anger of God had taken hold of
them, and desired to shew its wonders in them: so
also the Treader upon the serpent had taken hold
of them in the light of life, and desired also to
shew its wonders in them.
34. So there was strife and disquietness, as may
be discerned by their children: the first that was
born of woman, became a wicked murderer, and
strove to suppress the kingdom of God; and the
second, was a holy virtuous man: In brief, you
see this throughout the Holy Scripture, especially
by Cain and Abel, by Isaac and Ismael, also by
Esau and Jacob, who, while they were yet in
their mother's womb, strove for [or about] the kingdom of
God, and for the kingdom of hell: and therefore
said God, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have
I hated.
35. And from hence arose the Predestination or
Election of the children that cleave to him; the
others make but a mockery and scorn of that which
is spoken concerning the kingdom of God and the
kingdom of heaven, and they find not the Precious
Stone of the philosophers; for they seek it not
rightly. They are mere hypocrites, [such as make
a show of holiness], like the devil in the form of
an angel.
36. But Abel, Isaac, and Jacob, found it indeed.
Jacob wrestled for it a whole night; and Isaac
carried the fuel of the fire, [to burn] himself [with],
and readily yielded that the darkness and dross
of his Stone should be burnt away: for he had
attained the [noble] Stone in his mother's womb.
Look upon the king and prophet David, what he
did with that Stone, how dearly he loved it. For
he said, Though body and soul should be broken
asunder, yet thou art the desire of my heart, and
my portion [or salvation].
37. Look upon Solomon, in his great and wonderful
wisdom, who knew the [nature andjproperty
of all living creatures and plants, which he learnt
in no academy; he understood it only by the
Precious Stone which he had in his heart.
38. Look upon Moses, what miracles he did by
this Stone: Look upon the prophet Elijah, who
shut heaven for three years and six months: He
brought forth fire in the anger of God, so that it
devoured an hundred men.
39. Look upon all prophets, what miracles they
wrought with it; they knew things to come, in the
virtue of this stone; they healed the sick, and raised
the dead.
40. And this stone is CHRIST the Son of the
living God, which discovereth itself in all those
that seek and find it: What an admirable example
have we in the Apostles, (who were but simple
unlearned laymen), how they went about with this
Stone, in power, and doing miracles; and so did
all their successors.
41. O how eagerly have the rational wise men of
the schools of this world persecuted it at all times,
and at this very day: they have a glistering stone,
with a pleasant outside [or shell], or sound, and they think
it is the right [stone ]: they spread themselves
abroad upon it, and boast themselves of it, and
would be honoured for it as gods.
42. But their stone is only a stone belonging
to the wall of the great building of this world, in
which [building] the seven seals, accomplish their
wonders, and under which the seven spirits of the
anger of God pour forth their vials of wrath and
abominations.
43. For we are with Adam shut up in the
anger, which holdeth us captive: and yet the
grace also is presented to us, and that desireth to
have us also, and so there is a hard strife in us.
This you may see in the writings of Moses, in that
God commanded, that all the first-born of the
males should be offered to him.
44. But you see the vehement opposition of his
anger; how it hath penetrated [and prevailed],
and many times taken away the first birth; as
may be seen by Cain and Abel, by Esau and
Jacob, also by the children of Jacob, and throughout
the whole Scripture, that the Stone would rest,
not upon the first Adam, but upon the second.
45. We have a great example in the children of
Jesse; when the prophet [Samuel] thought the eldest
should be king, yet the election fell upon the
youngest, because he had that Stone.
46. This election was not thus from eternity in
God: for Adam was good and perfect, also pure;
but he yielded himself to be overcome. For the
anger stood in the abyss, and was covered with the
Principle of this world.
47. And know, that the tree of Adam's tempting
in paradise, (which yet stood only in the abyss),
grew out of the source of the anger: and Adam
was tempted, to try whether he would with his will
cleave to God.
48. Nothing compelled Eve to eat of it, but her
lust, which the devil in the anger brought [awakened] into
her: If she had turned away her eyes from the
devil and the serpent, she had continued in
paradise: Had she not a command [not to eat]?
But when she followed the devil, and would be
skilful, she became foolish.
49. And so it befalleth us at this day, we are
captivated by the abyss of the anger; and so the
devil sets before us the flattering hypocrisy and
bravery of this world, viz. stateliness, arts, and
riches, at which we bite, [as a fish at the bait which
the angle is covered with, and so is caught, and
pulled out from its livelihood] ; and so we also are
driven out of paradise, and lose the Noble Stone.
50. Christ hath instituted Baptism as a bath,
to wash away the anger, and hath put into us
the Noble Stone, viz. the water of eternal life, for
an earnest-penny, so that instantly in our childhood
we might be able to escape the wrath.
51. But the serpent presents itself to us, [as he
did to Eve], so that we imagine after [or set our
mind upon] the tree of temptation; as we see by
experience, that as soon as young children grow up
a little, they creep up in pride, and flattering
hypocritical arrogance, and set the paradisical
garland [viz. the blossom of their youth] upon the
head of the serpent; and thus the serpent playeth
with them, and teacheth them all manner of
wantonness, and leadeth them out of paradise into
this world, into finery and pride, which require
covetousness and deceit to maintain them.
52. And then the Noble Stone cometh to be contemned:
if they see a man who carrieth that Stone
in him, he must be a fool with them; which is,
because they have the wit, and subtlety of the
serpent; and they that have the Stone are simple,
without wit and cunning, like a child; their play [or part]
in this world they act in care, sorrow, want, contempt
and misery: but it is written; They pass
away, weeping and sorrowful, but they carry noble
seed with them, [or their employment is sowing in
tears, but they shall reap in joy]. Eternal joy is far
better than a momentary pleasure of the eye, and
after that, eternal lamentation.
53. Seeing then we know and fundamentally
understand, that we lie thus captivated in a close
prison, therefore we will reveal that ground and
the prison also, to try whether any will take
notice what condition they are in.
54. We will not relate a history, but speak what
we know in ourselves, in soul and body, also what
we see in the ground or foundation of the world,
from our own [eternal] light which we have from grace:
we will speak from that, and not from a supposition,
as doubting whether it be true or no.
55. They say, that which the eyes see, the heart
believeth. It is good to see with our own eyes:
but he that seeth with the eyes of another, [or he
that depends upon another's words], is always in
doubt whether the spirit be true or false.
56. Therefore it is good to have the Noble Stone,
[which Abraham, Moses, the prophets and apostles
had], that giveth assurance, and pointeth at the
false Magi, such as are Magi in the history only,
which they strut about withal, in state like a whore
that would be accounted a maid, and yet is big
with child.
57. And so they are big with darkness and
wrath, and yet they always cry out, Here is the
[true] Church, here is Christ, flock all hither!
Yes indeed, run after the whore of Babel, who is
big with stately pride; give something towards
her child-bed, that she may fatten her whorish
stomach, and satisfy her hypocritical stinking
pride.
58. They are like whores, who (when they are
said to be whores) will not endure it, but curse and
rail: and so also when the spirit of truth layeth
them open, then they cry, O heretic, O heretic,
fire and faggot! O run away, begone all of you,
the devil is in him. Thus they miscall the spirit
of God, because they do not know it.
59. We do not write this out of a desire to
contemn them, for we know the great misery of
our captivity; but we write it, to the end that the
simple (who cleave so very fast to their words, and
believe all that the devil poureth forth in wrath)
might every one of them enter into themselves,
and try whether it be truth or no; and that men
might not be so zealous in blindness, with anger
and envy, without knowledge whether it hath any
ground of truth.
60. We have too much experience of this, that
many times the Holy Ghost is called a devil, and
the devil called a good spirit; which happeneth
out of ignorance: for the flattering hypocrites do
so fill the ears of the laity with their eloquence in
their sermons, and drawing the Scriptures to their
desire [and meaning] .
61. 0 what horrible blasphemy it is, that the
spirit of God must be thus slandered by the image
of God; though we do not say that the image
itself doth it, but the serpent in the image: so
soon as the mind is turned away from God, the
serpent taketh hold of it, and then ruleth it, and
poureth forth blasphemies against God, and his
children. Therefore observe this following text.
[Here the Author again sheweth the
Eternal Being.]
62. As God the Father himself is All; he is the
Number Three of the Deity; he is the Majesty;
he is the still eternity; he is the nature, and in it
he is the love and the anger: the anger is a cause
of his strength and might; as also a cause of life,
and of all mobility, as the poison [or gall] in man
is: and the love is a cause of the Heart of his
Majesty, and a cause of the Number Three, and of
the Three Principles.
63. And as we know and have mentioned before,
that the fire is a cause of the light, for without fire
there would be no light, so there would be no love
without light; the light is love [or pleasantness],
for it is kind and amiable, and we see that the
light and the fire have two several [properties or]
sources; the fire is biting, wrathful, devouring and
consuming; and the light is pleasant, sweet, and
desirous of a body; the love desireth a body; and
the fire also desireth a body for its nourishment, but
devoureth it quite; and the light raiseth it up [vivivies it],
and desireth to fill it; it taketh nothing away from
the body, but quickeneth it, and maketh it friendly.
64. So you must understand us concerning the
eternal Being. The eternal Being is so, and if it
were not so, all would be as nothing, but an eternal
stillness without being; and that we find to be so
in every thing.
65. Thus we may consider with ourselves,
whence it ariseth that there is a wrathful and a
good will: For you see the fire hath two spirits,
one is that which proceedeth from the heat, and
the other that which proceedeth from the light:
Now the heat is nature, and the light is the eternal
liberty without [or beyond] nature: for nature
comprehendeth not the light.
66. And so you must understand us concerning
the two sorts of wills in God, the one is nature,
and is not called God, and yet is God's, for he is
angry, severe, sharp as a sting, consuming, attracting
all things to himself, and devouring them,
always striving, to fly up above the light, [which
is the other will], and yet cannot; as the fire doth,
which the higher it flieth, the higher goeth the
light, and so they may well be called two
Principles.
67. For the light desireth substantiality, and
preserveth the substantiality, and doth not consume
it: but the fire desireth to devour all things,
and turn them to nothing; and when it hath turned
all to nothing, it becometh a darkness.
68. And therefore God hath moved himself in
the light of meekness, and attracted the meekness,
so that the light hath a substantiality, and
that is water, or in Ternario sancto the water
spirit, which holdeth the fire captive; so that the
fire is a darkness, and is not known, except it be
kindled, and it standeth in itself in the hunger, in
the eternal darkness, and so is a continual desire.
69. Out of such an original came the devils, for
it is the fierce wrath of God, and whatsoever is
false and evil, hath its original thus out of this
matrix [Or womb], as also all the creatures of this world, let
it be heaven, the stars, the earth, or what it will;
they have all a twofold source, viz. the fire and the
water: in those two consist all bodies, heavenly
and earthly; the heavenly consist in the matrix of
the water, and they have the fire hidden in them.
70. For the watery matrix (which is only a
spirit of a soft property) holdeth the fire captive,
and so the Majesty shineth in the meekness,
transparently.
71. And the earthly [bodies] consist in the palpable
substance; for the water becometh material in
the kindling; which matter is drawn together by
the wrath in the Fiat, part to stones, and part to
earth, all according as nature is in its seven forms:
and the water hath quenched the fire, so that the
wrath is in the darkness, like a hidden fire.
72. And where the matrix continued, and was
not so quenched by the comprehensible water, there
it is created into stars; for a star is only fire and
water [concrete together] : but seeing the fire [in
them] burneth not, and that the water [in them]
doth not quench the fire, thereby we understand
that that water is not material, but is as an oil, in
which the light burneth, which is not [such] water
as putteth out the light, but preserveth a continual
burning light without any great source, [or fierce
consuming property].
73. Thus the stars are a Quinta Essentia, a
fifth form [distinct] from the elements, as the fat
in a creature is a cause that the fountain of life
burneth: So the Quinta Essentia is a cause that
the stars burn: yet the stars have in them also all
the causes of every thing that is in this world; all
that live and move, are stirred up from their
properties, and brought to life.
74. For they are not only fire and water,
(though the fire and the water be the chief in
them), but also they have in them hardness, softness,
darkness, bitterness, sourness, sweetness, and
all the powers [or virtues] of nature; they have whatsoever
the earth hath contained in it. For every star
hath a several property, all according to the
essences [effects, operations] of the eternal centre of nature.
75. All is comprehended in the creation, and
come to a being, so far as their properties at the
same time stood open in the wheel of nature, when
the eternity moved itself to the creation.
76. And the air is the spirit which is mixed with
all sorts of forms, and as the heat goeth forth from
the fire, so also the air goeth forth with all powers
continually from the fire, and therefore it is inconstant;
suddenly the air awakeneth one form
in the centre of nature, suddenly another; and so
there is continually a wrestling and overcoming,
suddenly a being above, and then a being under
again.
77. The whole deep between the earth and the
stars, is like the mind of a man, where the eyes
suddenly behold a thing, and conceive or frame a
will [or desire] therein, and bring it to substance [to be or to pass];
some things they behold only with cursory thoughts,
and some things in a perfectt being [resolution or purpose],
so that the mouth and hands go about it [to bring it to pass]:
Thus the deep also is like the mind, suddenly it is
intent upon one star, suddenly upon another, and
the sun is the king, and the heart of the deep,
which shineth and worketh in the deep; and the
other six planets make the senses and understanding
in the deep; so that all together is as a living
spirit.
78. Which you may understand by a beast,
which formeth its spirit herein, also in the fowls,
and also in us men, according to the Adamical
man: but this government [or dominion] and spirit
hath not divine wit and understanding: for it hath
beginning and end; and that which hath beginning
and end is not spiritual (or divine), but it is
natural and transitory; as you may see by the
wind, how suddenly it is raised in one place, and
suddenly laid again, and then suddenly raised in
another place, and so on.
79. So also the constellation is a cause of all
sorts [of outward worldly] wisdom [or wit], arts, and
policy; also a cause of the ordering of every
government [or dominion] of this world amongst
men after the Fall; also among the beasts and
fowls; also it is the cause and bringer forth of all
herbs, plants, and metals, and of trees, that they
grow.
80. For that which the constellation containeth
in it, lieth all in the earth; and the constellation
kindleth the earth: and it is all one spirit and one
dominion, which I call the third Principle. For
it is the third life in God, the awakened life, and
not an eternal life; for in this third life only shall
the great wonders (which lie in the centre of the
eternal nature) be brought into a visible substance,
whose figures remain for ever, but not in the
essences, they all return again into the ether; as
it was before the creation, so will it be again at
the end.
81. But all of this world remaineth standing in
the eternal nature, with its colours and figures,
like a picture, else the creatures, as angels and
men, which are eternal, would have no joy. Thus
they shall enjoy all; and yet there will be a
springing, blossoming, and growing, but without
feeling of any fierceness, or of the fire: for the
essences are no more a substance, and therefore
afford no fire; the fire is an eternal darkness and
gnawing in itself, and that is called the eternal
death, concerning which the Scripture witnesseth
throughout. Do not account this a fiction: for it
is true, we speak faithfully what we know [and
understand] in the bosom of our mother, [viz. in
the mercy and eternal wisdom of God] .
THE EIGHTH CHAPTER
OF THE TRANSITORY, AND ETERNAL, LIFE
1. NOW as there is a life, and spiritual government,
in the deep of the world in all places, so that all
creatures are included as it were in one body,
which affordeth them life, nourishment,
wit, wisdom and art, in all kinds of them,
in men, beasts, fowls, fishes, worms, trees, and
herbs, every one according to the kind of their
essences; so there is also a life in the eternity
within this world, which the spirit of this world
comprehendeth not, which hath all the properties
of this world in it, but in no such kindled essences.
2. For it hath no fire, though indeed it hath a
mighty fire, but it burneth in another source [or
property] viz. in the desiring: It is soft, delicate
or pleasant, without pain; also it consumeth
nothing; but its spirit is love and joy: its fire
maketh majesty and brightness; and that hath
always been from eternity; it hath no ground, it
hath its springing up and blossoming, but not out
of such earth as we walk upon; and yet it is earth,
which in my whole book I call Substantiality, for
it is the eternal body, without any defect: There
is no want in it, nor sorrow, nor misery; no such
thing is known there at all; there is no death,
devil, nor anger known in it; but such things
stand altogether in the darkness [or in eternal
oblivion] hidden in the first principle.
3. And this angelical world [or eternal substantiality]
we call Ternarius Sanctus; and that very rightly,
though the Latin tongue understandeth only the
Number Three [The Trinity] thereby; yet
the language of nature comprehendeth it together
as one only body.
4. For as this Principle of this [outward] world,
is together as one body; so God, the kingdom of
heaven, angels, men, paradise, with all heavenly
and divine things [beings] and properties, are all but one
body; and together are called God, Majesty, and
eternity.
5. For the Majesty is the light of that body, and
the Holy Ghost is its air and spirit of life; but the
Creatures [viz. angels and men] have their own
spirit of life from themselves.
6. For every angel and man is like the total
God, he hath in him the Number Three, and the
Holy Ghost proceedeth forth in him also; of which
you have a similitude in a flaming piece of iron [a red hot iron] :
The iron resembleth the creature, the fire resembleth
the Deity, the heat of the iron resembleth
the creature's own spirit, the air which goeth forth
from the heat, which hath no source [or painful
quality], resembleth the Holy Ghost.
7. In this manner we give you, in simplicity,
sufficiently to understand these high things. If
any will now be blind, God help them! And we
can thus with good ground set you down, what
man was before the Fall, and what he came to be
in the Fall: what he is in the New Birth again,
and what he shall be after this life. For we know
what he is in death, and what he is in life; we
know also what he is in hell; and that, not from,
our own wisdom, (as if that were greater than any
man's living), but [we understand it] in the bosom
of the mother, in the mother's spirit.
8. 1 am dead and as nothing [as to my own self]
when I speak and write thus, also I write not from
myself, but from the mother, out of her knowing
and seeing: and yet I live in anguish, cares, and
labour, in fear and trembling, and in affliction, like
all other men; for I am also clothed with Adam's
skin, and yet live also in the hope of Israel.
9. Know therefore, upon this description, that
our father Adam in paradise was in the divine
body, and is gone out from it into the body of
this world, into the dominion of the stars and
elements, which have now captivated the [Adamical]
body and spirit, so far as to the poor soul,
which is in the root of this world between heaven,
and hell: and hell and the anger have bound it
fast to the darkness, and to the source [or property]
of the anger, with a strong chain, which is
called Centrum Naturae, [the centre of nature].
10. And God is come to help it again, and is
become man, and hath received the human soul
again into his heavenly body, and hath bound it
fast to him (in [or to] Christ) again. Thus the soul
standeth in the midst, [being] beneath, in the
hellish fire, and above, in God in heaven: and so
whithersoever it casteth its will, and into what it
yieldeth it3elf, there it is, and is a servant to that;
there is no recalling out of hell.
11. Thou great whore of Babel, if thou hast
divine power [Jus Divinum], help us and thyself: Behold thyself
here with thy dreams; if thou canst, then break
this chain, viz. the centre of nature, asunder: But
we are told, we must be born anew: the divine
fire must be kindled in you, like a flaming iron;
for, as the workman will not touch it with his
bare hand, no more can the devil touch the soul;
for it burneth him, he is in darkness, and if he
should come to the light, his evil envious tricks
would be discerned, which he is ashamed of, and
slideth back into the darkness, as Adam and Eve
crept behind the trees; he doth not relish this bit
[of the New Birth,] he doth not love to smell such
[divine] fire: for it is poison to him: if he knew
but of one such spark of fire in his habitation, he
would not endure it there, but would run away
from it; as indeed he must fly away from man,
when the divine fire, with the New Birth, cometh
into him.
12. O how cowardly and faint is he when the
soul beginneth to storm his fort! How many
hundred thousand tricks doth he study to keep
the soul off from storming! O how he fawneth,
and streweth sugar before the soul, and ascribeth
great holiness to it, as if it had divine power, that
it is no sinner any more; that he might by any
means bring it to the top of the pinnacle of the
temple, that it might elevate itself: O how busy
is he! what good companions doth he bring to it!
till the good companions [or hypocrites] begin to
play with their own holiness and ability, as the
Antichristian church hath done for a long while.
13. All the while, [that the soul goeth on in its
own security], the devil is at quiet, none storm
his hell: and he gets good fat venison, which he
sendeth to St Peter with good passports [or
absolutions]; and if Peter be in the abyss, he will
read them well enough; but if he be not there,
then the great prince Lucifer will read them, they
will please him very well.
14. O dear children, see but in what misery we
lie captivated, in what lodging we are; for we are
captivated by the spirit of this [outward] world;
it is our life, for it nourisheth and bringeth us up,
it ruleth in our marrow and bones, in our flesh
and blood; it hath made our flesh earthly, so
that we lie captivated in death.
15. We swim in water up to our very lips, (as
the prophet and king, David, saith: The water
reacheth up to my soul: great bulls have compassed me round about; I dwell among serpents
and dragons: O thou lamentable, miserable, and
toilsome life; how dead art thou! thou swimmest
in the water in a handful of blood, and yet art so
proud and lofty.
16. What is thy beauty, thy state, honour, and
riches? Do but consider thyself, seek and find
thyself; go forth from this dangerous life of adders
and serpents, into the eternal: you have it fully
in your power.
17. Whosoever teacheth otherwise, teacheth
from the devil, who will not allow that it lieth in
man's power [or possibility] to turn to be a child of God, though
the Scripture saith: That God hath given man
power (in Christ) to become the children of God:
And, God willeth that all men should be saved:
Also, Thou art not a God that willeth evil, or
doth delight in wickedness. And in Ezekiel it is
written; As I live, I desire not the death of a
sinner, but that he turn and live.
18. For God hath no other will but to save that
which is lost: therefore must none despair: for if
the spirit of the soul lift up itself earnestly, it is
stronger than God, and overcometh God, (for the
anger belongeth unto God, and is God's greatest
might, which it overcometh): It is stronger than
the abyss of hell: It can remove mountains without
any stir [a storm], only with its will. For by the will
God created heaven and earth; and such a mighty
will is hidden also in the soul.
19. But now it swimmeth in misery and much
weakness, in the sinking down of death: it is tied
and drawn up and down, as a poor captive creature,
from one filthy puddle into another; and the
devil rolleth it presently in this mire, and presently
in that mire again, and so it is like a filthy rag,
all mire and dirt: All stars dart their poison into
the body, and defile the poor soul: It must
endure to be defiled by the beasts, for the body
feedeth upon the Jlesh of beasts, wherewith the
poor soul is clad. Dost thou know why God did
forbid the Jews to eat of some sort of flesh ?
Kindle their fat, and consider their property, and
thou shalt discern it.
20. The poor soul is a kindled fire, and so when
such a property cometh into the soul, dost thou
suppose that God will dwell therein? And therefore
Christ taught us, saying, Be sober and temperate
in eating and drinking; watch and pray;
for your adversary the devil goeth about like a
roaring lion, and seeketh whom he may devour.
21. Thus you see how we stand in a Threefold
Life: the soul standeth upon the abyss, between
two Principles, and is tied to them both; and the
body merely in the spirit of this world; and therefore
that seeketh only after eating and drinking,
power and honour, for it belongeth to the earth,
and careth little for the poor soul which cometh
out of the eternity, [and belongeth to the eternity] .
22. Therefore we ought to tame the body, and
not give way to it, but to damp [or kill] its desire,
and not satisfy it when it pleaseth, but for
necessity only; that it may not grow wanton,
and invite the devil to lodge in it.
23. The poor soul must watch and pray, and
continually put its will into God's will; it must
not give way to the body in any thing, except it
hath yielded itself to God first: the soul must not
please itself at all in its own power; but cast
itself merely upon God, as being itself weak and
able to do nothing, (though it be strong), and so
continually go out from itself from its natural
will, and so fall into the will of God, and then
the devil cannot meddle with it.
24. Indeed, it is irksome and troublesome to the
body to be broken of its will; but that is no matter,
eternity is very long: the body hath but a short
time of continuance, and then it returneth to its
mother [the earth] : and you know not in what
moment death will come, when the body must be
gone into its mother; and then it lets the poor
soul go whither it can: it is a very inconstant [untrusty]
neighbour to the soul.
A True Open Gate. [Shewing] How a Man may
seek and find himself [From whence he
hath his beginning: and what he shall be in
the end.]
25. Behold, O man! and consider thyself, what
thou art from thy beginning, and what thou shalt
be again in the end: and then thou wilt certainly
find what home thou art in, in what lodging thou
liest captive, and thou wilt find that thou art both
a man, and also a beast; thou wilt well see the
heavy Fall, if there be but a spark of God's light
in thee.
26. For no beast is able to apprehend it, because
a beast hath its original only from the life of this
world; and therefore we know that there is
another manner of life in us, in that we know the
ground of this world.
27. For if we were only from the clay and earth
of this world, we should be but clay and earth like
a beast which hath no understanding, we should
not be able to know the ground of this world. For
a pot knoweth not the potter; nor doth a piece of
work know its workmaster: and so a beast knoweth
not its master, it hath no desire after him, for it
knoweth nothing of him.
28. The desire of a beast is only to fill its belly,
to nourish and multiply itself, (as the centre of
nature in itself is [such a desire]), and hath no
understanding of any higher thing: for it hath its
own spirit, whereby it liveth and groweth, and
then again consumeth itself, and doth it as well
at one time as at another: for such a thing is the
band of eternity, which is called nature.
29. But we that are men have a higher apprehension
and knowledge, for we can see into the
heart of every thing, and see what manner of thing
it is, and what property it hath. So also we have
quite another longing and desire, after another
thing and life, which is not bestial [or animal], nor transitory,
nor desireth any elementary earthly food.
30. Thereby we know, that every life desireth
its own mother, whence it hath its original, and
wherein it subsisteth; as also we must understand,
that every life desireth the best [thing] that is in
its centre; viz. the heart or oil wherein the fire
burneth, and wherein the life is opened that it is
living.
31. For every living life is a fire: and yet the
proper source of the fire is not the right life, but
the tincture which proceedeth from the fire, is a
pleasant joy, and it is the liberty of nature, [which
is the right life] . For nature standeth in great
anguish, and reacheth with a strong desire after
the liberty till it attaineth it: and so nature is a
sharpness in the liberty, and desireth continually
to swallow it up into itself, that it might come
totally to be the liberty, and cannot; but the more
eager it is, and raised up after the liberty, the
greater is the tincture of the liberty.
32. Thus nature continueth to be a fire, and the
liberty continueth to be a light; what the tincture
buildeth up, the fire devoureth; for the tincture
maketh substantiality, its centre is meek, and is a
sinking down [of humility], as the fire is a rising
up [of pride] .
33. But as the light (viz. the tincture) maketh
substantiality in its sinking down, so that there is
in the light a substance like water, and yet is no
water, but such a spirit and property; so the fire
swalloweth up the same substantiality into itself,
and therewith quencheth its wrath, and ascendeth
in the substantiality, and burneth like kindled oil,
and this is the right natural life of all creatures,
and is called the tincture.
34. But this life is fragile [transitory, corruptible],
and consisteth only
in four forms; viz. in fire, air, water, and in substantiality
[or earth] which is its body. And we
shew you this one thing more in this tincture-life,
(as you see naturally) that out of every fire there
goeth forth a source [or virtue] viz. air, which is
after this manner: when the fire strongly attracteth
and swalloweth the substantiality into itself, then
the substantiality flieth strongly again out of the
source of the fire.
35. For it is so subtle, that the fire cannot hold
it, and so is an attracting and recoiling again.
For the fire willeth eagerly to have that again
which is flying forth, and so there is perpetual
strife.
36. Thus you see it very plainly and openly,
that the life of the fire letteth go the air: for it
will not stay in the source [or property] of the fire:
for it flieth eagerly, and the source [or property]
of the fire continually attracteth the same back
again into it: And so the fire is blown up, or else it
would be smothered, and become dark: and for that
cause it reacheth thus after the substantiality, viz.
after the air.
37. For no Source [virtue or life] desireth the shutting up
in death; and that is also called death, when
the life is shut up; besides that, there is no
death.
38. For in the eternity there was never any
death at all, nor shall be ever; but that which is
called the eternal death, is a shutting up of the
tincture, where the tincture goeth away like a
shadow [Or figure], and so the centre (viz. the source
[or, fountain] of the fire) remaineth in the darkness,
and floweth in mere wrath in itself; and would
very fain reach the tincture again, and yet it hath
no power to do so, for the tincture only is the
power, which bloweth up the fire.
39. Consider here what hell and the eternal
death is, for it is just so; and know, that the devils
have lost the tincture of meekness, who now are a
wrathful fire-source without substantiality, for they
have no body.
40. Secondly, consider also the element of water,
and as you know that it hath its original in the
spirit of the creature; so also it hath its original in
the deep of the world, which is also a spirit, and
hath such a life as other creatures have.
41. And, thirdly, consider, that there are two
sorts of fire, a hot and a cold: For, as the
heat contracteth [or concreteth] together, so doth the cold,
which turneth water into ice, and maketh a
strange [heterogeeous] body out of the substantiality [or water]
which is not its own.
42. By this we give you clearly to understand
the Fall of Lucifer, who thus reached into the
centre of nature, into the harsh matrix, and
awakened it, so that it concreted the substantiality,
and so earth and stones came to be.
43. You will say, Why did God suffer it? [The
answer is] : Lucifer was a prince and throne-angel,
and was created with the first creation: and therefore
since he was a cause of the Third Principle,
(understand, of the out-birth), therefore Christ called
him also a prince of this world; for he had also a
free will, like us men. We oftentimes do works
which are contrary to God, only for our state and
honour, as is seen in forts, castles, and sumptuous
great houses.
44. So Lucifer also would be as a god and
creator, all which might have been well enough, for
that was not his fall, [no more than it was Adam's
fall, that he imagined, whereupon God suffered the
tree of temptation to grow], but it was his fall that
he awakened the matrix of the fire, and would
domineer over the meekness of the Heart of God.
45. That [awakened matrix of the fire] is now
his hell: and God hath captivated that hell, with the
heaven, viz. the matrix of the water. For [Lucifer
would fain that] the place of this world should
burn in the fire for him [to domineer in] ; and
therefore God moved himself to the creation,
and did create; and so there was water, which
captivated his wrathful hell, [as the pleasant sun
shutteth up the astringent cold, and turneth ice
into water, whereby fishes and other creatures grow
and live].
46. And the cause of the sea and of the great
deep waters, whose bottom cannot be fathomed, is,
that the matrix of nature was in those places so
far enkindled in the fire.
47. And here we give you an example of this.
Consider Sodom and Gomorrah, when their sins
became great, and that the devil dwelt there, and
would have a kingdom there for himself; God
permitted that the prince of this world should burn
those five kingdoms (wherein the devil intended to
dwell) with fire and brimstone. But when the
devil thought to be lord, and to have his habitation
there, then God brake his pride and stoutness,
and caused water to come upon that place, and
allayed his pride.
48. And in this we have an excellent example
of God's care for his children which depend on him:
for when he saw the wrath [the kindled anger],
he brought forth Lot out of Sodom.
And further, you have herein a
full example, that when the wrath of God beginneth
to be kindled, he maketh it known to his
children before-hand, that they might flee from it;
as he told it to Abraham and Lot, and commanded
him to flee from it; and so he hath done from the
beginning of the world. For the prophets were for
no other end but to declare the anger of God, and
to command the children of God to flee from it;
as may be seen by what was done to Jerusalem
and the Jewish nation, and hath been always done
to all people, from the beginning of the world to
this time. [For when no punishments or judgments
more can be expected, then prophesying
shall cease.]
49. Therefore let none blindfold themselves, but
consider what such a warning and revelation
signifieth, which at present is propounded to the
world. This is the time of the overthrow of the
dragon, with the whore of Babel, which shall go
down into the abyss. Now, he that will not flee,
yet let him have warning of it. He that will
bring the whore's marks forth into the light, will
have great ignominy and reproach by it; we speak
what we ought: The day dawneth, the sun will
suddenly arise, account it not for a fiction, it is
concluded and known in Ternario Sancto: Look
into the Scripture in the Revelation, which the
sophisters had rather it were cast out of the Bible;
but the understanding of it will soon bud forth:
and then the pedlars of the beast and of the
whore will stand in great shame, and none will buy
their wares any more. No sword destroyeth the
whore, but her own mouth choketh her, for there
are nothing but lies and blasphemies in it; and
yet she seemeth as if she were God. Therefore
say we, let everyone look to his own doing: Lift
up your heads, as Christ saith, for the time of your
redemption draweth near, you are baptized with
water, but he that will baptize with the Holy
Ghost, and with the fire of his wrath, is already
on his way; be not wilfully blind.
50. Thus understand us rightly concerning the
life of man, as we have now mentioned: This last
forementioned life, is singly [solely, or alone] in the beasts,
for it hath its original only in the Principle of this world,
in the matrix of nature, which is everywhere such
a spirit, and such a life, in itself.
51. And in man the life is two-fold: for man
hath also the life of this [outward] Principle in
him: but he desireth also another life, which is
higher and better than this.
52. And now, where there is a desire, there is a
mother, which is the desire itself; for no desire can
make itself, it must arise out of a will; and the
will must come out of the tincture, which is the
life of the will.
53. Thus we know, and have searched out, that
in the tincture of the Principle of this world, viz.
in the life of this world, there is also another
tincture, which we have an apprehension of in
ourselves. If there were not another tincture, the
life would desire nothing more.
54. Yet we cannot say, that the outward life
desireth anything more: It desireth nothing else
but its own mother, viz. the Principle of this
world, for it is only a spirit therein; for no
Principle desireth another; a Principle is a
peculiar life, and hath its centre to nature;
and therefore we call it a Principle, because
there is a total dominion in it, as there is in
the eternity; which dominion desireth nothing
more nor higher, but only that which may be
generated in its own centre; as you may easily
perceive it by the kingdom of heaven, and the
kingdom of hell; for the kingdom of heaven
desireth nothing but the divine Being: but hell
[desireth] that which is wrathful, murderous, fiery,
sour, soaring, astringent; and whatsoever is in the
property of anger in the fire.
55. Now, there being in us a desire after the
highest good, and after the eternity, that desire
must needs proceed out of the eternal and highest
will, out of the highest Being; and its life is also
out of the highest tincture: for where there is a
desire, there is fire; for the fire desireth substantiality,
that it may have whereon to feed,
and yet itself can make no substantiality, but it
maketh the tincture, and the tincture maketh the
substantiality, as is above mentioned.
56. Now, the tincture is a creature, for it hath
a body [as may be seen in the tincture (or colour)
of gold] ; though it be not palpable, yet it is
substantial [essential]; and the understanding is in the
tincture, for it is a wrestling with the fire, and
flieth before the fire; and yet it cannot fly away,
because the fire generateth [desireth] it, and continually
attracteth it again into itself; and it still striveth
to get out from the fire with the substantiality,
and is after the manner, as a man fetcheth breath.
57. Therefore we give you now rightly to understand
it thus: you see that the tincture shineth,
and in the shining there is no stirring, but a
constant lustre; and yet in the lustre there is
all power, as in the tincture: and it is an eternal
stillness, and the tincture is the stirring, and also
the life. Understand us rightly and deeply, for it
is the deepest ground, and foundation in heaven.
58. The other desire in man, after the highest
good, is the soul, which standeth in the eternal
mother: for every desire hath its original out of
its own mother: therefore this is a desire of the
eternity; and not the eternity [itself], but the
tincture of the eternity, and the Majesty, viz. the
glance in the still habitation, as is now mentioned.
59. Now, if a spirit be in its own mother, it
desireth not to go out from her again; [as the air-spirit
doth not desire to go away from the body] ;
neither doth it desire anything more than what is
in its mother, and in its centre.
60. But yet we find and understand it in our
mind, that the soul willeth to be out of this
[earthly] mother, in which it standeth at present:
and not only so, [but] it desireth the house of its
own mother, viz. its own tincture, and the majesty;
also the eternal rest out of the tincture.
61. And so we search and find, and have it in
true knowledge, that the poor soul in the spirit
and in the tincture [or life] of this [outward] world,
lieth captive in a strange lodging, and hath not its
light of the Majesty, for if it had that, it would be
at rest, and desire nothing more.
62. Also we find, that it lieth captive in death
in much weakness: for if it had its [right] tincture,
then should the Majesty, wherein it is a child of
God, shine in it.
63. Therefore we say, that the poor soul of
Adam was captivated by the spirit and Principle
of this world, and received the tincture of this
world into it; and then instantly the Majesty and
brightness of God remained standing in its [own]
Principle: for the soul put its will and desire into
the spirit of this world, and itself entered into it.
64. Thus God shut up the heaven in the soul,
so that it knew its Majesty no more; and there
was perplexity and great misery, that an eternal
creature should come to be in another Principle
in another centre. Here the seven seals to the
Book of the eternal life were shut to the soul, for
the centre of its life was shut up and captivated
in the eternal death, it could no more stir any
form in the centre of its life, it lay in hell, like
dead bones, the dragon had it in his jaws.
65. For it was in the house of misery, there
was none that could help it; no angel, no throneprince,
no creature, neither could the centre of the
soul help it: for its fire was extinguished, the
spirit of this world had swallowed it up [as the
water devoureth the brightness of the flaming
iron] : For the will of the soul was entered into
the spirit [of this world], and had married [or
joined] itself thereto, it [The will] was in another mother,
as it is now at this day.
66. And so now, if the mother of this world had
been broken (as it doth break [indeed]) then the
soul would have stood in the eternal death in the
darkness. Here counsel [Or remedy] was at an end, the fair
creature was captivated by the kingdom of hell,
which triumphed over it.
The highly Precious Gate.
67. Here was no counsel in the whole Deity,
unless the eternal Word and Heart of God did
become man, and did enter into the Third Principle
into human flesh and blood, and assume a human
soul, and go into death to the poor soul, and did
take away the power of death (which held the
soul captive) and the wrathful sting of hell, which
it had stuck into the soul, and did lead the poor
soul out of death, and out of hell, in [by or through] himself.
68. And here we see, that after the Word
became man, that man suffered himself to be
hanged on the cross, and entered into death on
the cross: Understand here, the new living Man
born of God went into the abyss, and brake death
in the soul, and opened the centre of the soul:
He brake all the seven seals of the centre of nature,
so that the soul came to have its own powers again;
for he kindled the divine fire in the soul again, so
that the soul again reached the eternal tincture out
of its own fire.
69. And thus it came again into its first mother,
in power and Majesty: and the Old Adam hung
to the cross as a curse, to the scorn of all devils;
there they might do as far as they could with it,
as indeed they were busy with the sophisters and
Antichrists, the Pharisees.
70. There the devils ran with other subtlety
and tricks into holes [corners and secret places]
and hid [covered and concealed] the Resurrection,
through the ministers
of the dragon, the Pharisees, which yet pretended
to be the ministers of God; but they served the
devil in his lies, as is done nowadays, where the
death and power of Christ is closed up and denied.
71. This hanging on the cross is nothing else,
but that as the soul hath its original upon the
cross in the centre of nature, (out of the Word of
the Lord, ex verbo Domini), where the name of
the Number Three standeth, there hath the Word,
of the Father moved itself, and is entered into the
humanity, as is heretofore mentioned concerning
the virgin, and is become man on the cross, in the
eternal and in the earthly virgin; and hath been
made a spectacle on the cross, to the old Adamical
man and all devils, and their lofty pride; and hath
slain death on the cross, and thereby broke through
it, and so brought the Adamical man (with flesh
and blood) as a spectacle into death; and hath
cast away from him all earthliness, and brought
him powerfully through death into life.
72. Thus he is new born in God, and sitteth
upon the rainbow, on the substantiality and colours
of the eternity, in the power of the Majesty; and
is a Lord of heaven and of this world, and a judge
of hell, and a conquest [Or power] over death.
73. Of this you have a true ground, ye that are
regenerated in Christ, that as Christ brought his
body, both the heavenly and the earthly, (which
he received in his mother Mary), out from death
again, and cast away from him nothing else but
the earthly source [or property,] viz. the spirit of
this [outward] world.
74. So also must our bodies in the power of the
souls that are in him, (that is, in his Word and
Heart, which is every where), come forth again at
the Last [Judgment] Day, and cast away no more
from them, but this source and spirit [of the outward
world] ; for none rise again in the entire
corrupt body, but in the flesh and blood of Christ.
75. But the corrupted spirit (which remaineth
in the earthly matrix in its tincture) must appear
before the Judgment of God at the end of days;
and there shall the sentence and judgment of the
Judge Christ be pronounced; and then, after the
pronouncing, all goeth into the ether [receptacle or devourer] :
and then the spirit of God, which created the world, will
execute that sentence.
76. But that I may not meet with false interpreters,
that may mistake this text, as the spirit
sheweth me, therefore you must know, that when
the soul is born anew, in the Word and in the
spirit of Christ (in this [life] time), then also the
first substantiality (viz. the inward body of the
soul, which Adam had in Paradise) out of the
eternal virgin (wherein he was created man)
becometh new born, and getteth the flesh of Christ.
77. This new body, in which the new regenerate
soul sticketh, sticketh in the old corrupt flesh, and
is incomprehensible and immortal: But the Old
Man [which is] conceived from the spirit of this
world, must perish in the earth: It goeth into
its mother, who must bring it forth, and present it
at the Last [Judgment] Day: but after the sentence
of Christ, it goeth into the ether, and is only as a
figure to [for or before] the eternal New Man;
for in that figure all a man's works follow him.
78. So also they that be alive at the hour of the
last Judgment, the Old Man will fall away from
them, with the perishing of the world, and pass
into the ether: For all the bodies of the wicked
shall be presented there in the mother, viz. in the
spirit of this world; and the souls shall hear the
sentence: and then their bodies also pass away
with the mother, and stand as a. figure: and their
works follow them into the Abyss.
THE NINTH CHAPTER
Concerning the Threefold Life. Also of the Inclination [Driving or
impulsion ] and whole Government of Man in this World.
Highly to be Considered.
1. IT is shewn to me, what the devil's intention
is, how he will endeavour to smother these
high and precious writings: therefore be watchful,
ye children of God, believe not the sophisters too
much, who cry out, heretic! heretic! To the fire
with them. That is not the voice of the Holy Ghost,
but the voice of the Antichrist, and of the dragon:
for these writings will exceedingly discover the
devil's smoking pit; and not only so, but they
shew also the whore of Babel very plainly, like a
whore put to open shame.
2. But (because the men of the spirit of this
world take care only for their belly, and are loth
to lose their honour, credit, reputation and goods,
but had rather part with God and the kingdom
of heaven) we shall be persecuted by the whore
through the instigation of the devil: therefore be
watchful, ye children of God, and look not upon
that which is high, and hath great authority; but
regard the wellfare of your souls. This we leave
you for the last [farewell] .
3. Christ saith, No one kindleth a light, and
setteth it under a cover, or under a bushel, but
setteth it upon a table, that all that are in the
house may see by the light thereof. Thus must we
also do, and must not bury our talent (which is so
dearly bestowed upon us) in the earth; for we
must give an account thereof at the Day of the
Judgment of God, as the spirit of the mother
intimateth to us.
4. If this knowledge [or understanding] of this
spirit shall happen to fall upon any, they will be
then certain what it is. We need no letters of
commendation; Christ is our letter of commendation,
which is sufficient for us. None ought to
call themselves after my name: All of us that
know Christ, put on him, and are members of his
body: we call ourselves Christians and children of
God, and brethren and sisters one of another.
5. Therefore now, when we consider the
dominion [or course] of our life, we find a powerful
strife therein, which the devil hath with the soul,
and also which the spirit of this world hath with
the soul. For there is a knowledge in the spirit
of this world; indeed there is no divine understanding
in it, but there is an apprehension
planted in the matrix, viz. in the centre of nature.
6. For this world, before the creation, stood
from eternity in the eternal wisdom, as an invisible
figure, and is now created as a proper Principle
of its own, to the end that it might bring all
its wonders and works into essence, that they
may appear in their figure after the time [of
this world] .
7. And so there is a natural strife with man
therein, for no creature but man can bring the
wonders of the world to light; and therefore also
the spirit of this world hath so very much longed
after man, and hath drawn him to it, that it
might shew forth its wonders in him, that man
should produce all arts and languages in it;
moreover, the spirit and heart out of earths and
metals, viz. that Precious Stone, the Philosophers
Stone, which indeed, since Solomon 's time, hath
been found by few, but now at the end shall be
found more clearly, as we know and understand.
8. For he that rightly understandeth our writings
concerning the centre of nature, and its
progress to the Number Three upon the cross, and
to the glance of the Majesty, may well find it in
metals, it is not difficult; if he learn but the right
entrance, he hath the end at hand, of which we
shall not here make mention; for it belongeth to
the Magi, which are born magically, we speak
only of the ground of nature, and of the spirit of
this world.
9. And we declare unto you, that the spirit of
this world is created with such an inclination, and
that it hath a natural will to reveal itself and all
its mysteries, as we see before our eyes by what it
hath built or brought forth, how it hath erected a
dominion and kingdom upon earth.
10. Do but look upon the doings of man, from
the highest to the lowest: the spirit of this world
hath thus built the whole order of them, and God
hath permitted it. For God is not a destroyer,
but a preserver of that which his power buildeth
up, and accounteth it for his ordinance: for there
is nothing brought forth which hath not stood in
the eternity.
11. But you must understand it rightly; hell
and the anger are the abyss which mingleth its
wonders also therein, as we see where there is good
ground, and that the sower also soweth good
seed, yet thistles and thorns grow up amongst it;
according as Christ hath given us a similitude of
the sower: and as it is in the mind of man, so
it is also in the spirit of this world.
12. You are to know, that all weeds, as thistles
and thorns, also serpents, toads, evil beasts and
worms, have their original from the wrathful
matrix: For in the time of the creation, all, both
good and evil, came forth, every thing according to
its kind and property: there is good and evil in
every thing, and the kingdom of anger hath also
wholly imprinted itself therein [Or formed its image] ; and therefore
the fruit is good and evil, and Adam should not
have eaten thereof.
13. 1 give you to understand, by the fruits of
the earth, how good and evil are in one another,
and have each of them their usefulness, the evil
as well as the good: All serve to manifest God's
deeds of wonder; and each is serviceable to the
spirit of this world; what the one hurteth, the
other healeth, and that also is a wonder.
14. Furthermore, we see the Mysterium Magnum,
the Great Mystery, in the trees; though
indeed they are different and mixed, yet we discern
the paradisical form [or condition in them] ; for
they bear their fruit upon twigs, and the fruit is a
thing different from the tree: The tree is bitter,
and the fruit is sweet: And we give you to understand,
that the trees and fruit we have nowadays
were paradisical, if the curse did not stick in
them: the paradise is flown from them, and now
all fruit is but such as the apple was from which
Eve did eat death. And you are to know, that
the kingdom of anger did also press into the
Garden of Eden, which brought forth a tree that
did bear such fruit, as all the trees nowadays
which we feed upon.
15. Only we are to consider, that the fruits for
man do not grow of themselves, he must plant and
dress them, as you see in all trees, both in the
wood and stalks of them: and man desireth not
willingly [to eat of] the [first] essences of the
earth; except it be a very pleasant herb, but he
desireth the second birth out of the earth, viz. the
kernel [seed or fruit]; which is indeed the second
birth out of the earth, whereby we understand our
high descent; but before the Fall, paradise sprang
up through all trees, and through all the fruits
which God created for man.
16. But when the earth was cursed, the curse
entered into all fruits, and then all was evil and
good; death and corruption was in them all,
which before was but in that one tree only, which
was named [the Tree of] Good and Evil; and
therefore it is that we eat death in all the fruits,
and the spirit [ of] evil and good ruleth in us.
The spirit of this world ruleth in us, and so doth
the devil with the spirit of anger; and each of
them shew forth their wonders in and by man.
[Of the Great Strife about the Image of Man.]
17. There is a great strife about man's image,
each kingdom would have it: hell, in the anger
saith, It is mine by the right of nature, it is
generated out of my root. Also the spirit of the
world saith, I have it in my body, and I give it
life and nourishment, I bring it up, and give it all
my powers and wonders; it is mine. And the
kingdom of God saith also, I have set my heart
upon it, and have regenerated it, it is proceeded
out of my kingdom, I have sought and found it
again, it is mine, it must reveal my wonders.
18. Thus there is a vehement strife in and about
man: Look upon his conversation and doings; his
desire standeth especially in Three Things, and
they are Three Kingdoms which rule him: and
into which of them he falleth, there he lieth.
19. First, He desireth power, honour, and glory,
that all might fear and honour him. This is even
the poison of the devil, who hath also such an
intention, which he satisfieth by doing as much
as he can.
20. Secondly, He desireth riches, goods, and
money, much eating and drinking, and careth not
by what means he cometh by it; it is the spirit
of this world which desireth only shelter and
fullness as a beast doth.
21. And, Thirdly, he desireth the kingdom of
heaven also, he desireth and panteth after that,
but in much weakness, and is always in doubt
[thinking] he is a sinner, [and that] God desireth
not to have him: yet he sigheth and panteth after
it, and would fain be saved: he prayeth and yet
doubteth, he hopeth and yet feareth, he hopeth for
amendment and deliverance from one day to
another, and always supposeth it will be well
to-morrow, to-morrow thou wilt have power to
go from this [course of] life and enter into another:
thus it is always with him.
22. This we do not speak concerning the swinelike
men, who lie wallowing in the mire, who
never seek for any amendment: but we speak
concerning the poor sinners that are between heaven
and hell, who have incitements to both of them,
and yet are held back.
23. Yet observe what man doth: He followeth
all these three [desires] ; he continually seeketh
power and honour till his end; he continually
hunts after covetousness, money, and goods, to eat
and drink; and though he have superfluity, yet
in his covetousness he hath not enough; he doth
as if he were to live here for ever; and then,
thirdly, he hath also panted [after the kingdom
of heaven], for the poor soul is very much perplexed,
and is ever afraid of the devil, and the
anger of God, and would fain be released; but the
first two kingdoms do press it down, and bar it
up in their prison, insomuch that many a poor
soul casteth itself away into the abyss, and
despaireth of the kingdom of God.
[Of the Devil, who changeth himself into an
Angel of Light.]
24. They say, The devil cometh to man in the
form of an angel, and it is true: Observe what
he doth, that he is accounted an angel, and is
accounted good; when the poor soul is thus
disquieted, and many times presenteth to the
body, death and the anger of God, he hindereth
not that; he often lets the poor soul run with
the body to the houses of stone [to the churches],
or whither it will: He puts it on most willingly
of all to go to the stone churches, and there saith
to the soul, Now thou art godly and devout, thou
goest diligently to church.
25. But what doth he then? When any teach
of the temple of Christ, and of the New Birth,
then he soweth other thoughts into the spirit of
this world in man: Sometimes covetousness; sometimes
he sets the eyes upon pride, state, and
beauty; sometimes he catcheth the spirit with
the lust and imagination towards men or women,
according to their sex, and tickleth the heart with
wanton lust; sometimes they are lulled fast asleep.
26. But when the preacher is a sophister, and
a malicious slanderer or railer; or perhaps many
times in performance of his office, and from a
good meaning, he rebuketh men according to their
deserts; there the devil sets open every door and
gate, and tickleth the hearts [of the hearers] therewith;
and the heart wisheth still more and more
of that, that is very fine [to keep them from
falling asleep].
27. And when such people go from church, they
can repeat every word very readily, and that best
of all which tends to the disgrace of others: With
that they feast themselves the whole week long;
it is more acceptable to them than the Word
of God.
28. Behold, this is a devil in an angelical form;
when they suppose, that if they do but run to
church together, then such are very good Christians.
But if they have learnt no more but to scorn, mock,
and deride others, and bring it home to their
families, it had been better they had all that time
been wallowing in the mire, or that they had been
fast asleep, and then the devil would not have
defiled their souls in the church of stone with
wantonness and scorn: O how happy a sleep it
is in the church, when the preacher inviteth the
devil into the heart for a guest! It is better to
sleep than to imagine wantonness, or to fill the
heart with revilings and scorn.
29. O you sophisters! that fill your sermons with
reviling of your forefathers that are dead long ago;
you that out of envy often revile honest hearts
according to your own pleasure; how will you be
able to stand with your lambs? Whereas you
should have led them into fresh green pastures,
into the ways of Christ, viz. into love, chastity,
and humility, but you have filled them with
revilings; it were better you were in a stable or
hog's sty with your revilings, than in a pulpit,
and there you would seduce nobody.
30. 1 speak not this out of a desire [to reproach
anybody], but I do only what I ought to do, I
despise none, I only discover the smoky pit of the
devil, that it may be seen what is in man, as well
in one as in another, unless he be regenerated
anew, and then he resisteth the spirit of the devil,
and thrusteth it away from him.
31. The other devil is more crafty and cunning
than this, but is also a glistering angel with cloven
feet; when he seeth that the poor soul is afraid,
and desireth to repent and amend, then he saith,
Pray, and be devout; Repent for once and away;
but when the soul goeth about to pray, he slippeth
into its heart, and taketh away the understanding
of the heart, and putteth the heart into mere
doubting, as if God did not hear it: he represents
sin before the heart, and saith, To-morrow it will
be better, leave off, you will not now be heard.
32. Thus the heart standeth and repeateth over
the words of a prayer, as if it were learning somewhat
without book; and the devil taketh away
the virtue and efficacy of them out of the heart,
so that the soul cannot reach the centre of nature:
as Christ saith, The devil taketh the word out of
your hearts, that you may not believe and be saved.
33. Then again the soul standeth and saith, it
hath prayed. But it hath not prayed. It hath
only rehearsed words, not in the spirit of the soul
in the centre where the fire is to be struck [or
kindled], but in the mouth, in the spirit of this
world; and they vanish in the air, or else as words
wherewith God's name is taken in vain: But here
this should be observed, Thou shalt not use the
name of God in vain, and unprofitably in thy
mouth, for God will not leave him unpunished
that useth his Name in vain.
34. There belongeth great earnestness to prayer:
for praying is calling upon God: to entreat him, to
speak with him, and to go out of the house of sin,
and enter into the house of God: and if the devil
offers to hinder it, then storm his hell: Set thyself
against him, as he setteth himself against thee, and
then thou shalt find what it is which is here told
thee: if he opposes strongly, then oppose thou the
more strongly; thou hast, in Christ, far greater
power than he.
35. And if you doubt the grace of God, you sin
greatly, for he is always merciful, and there is no
other will in him at all but to be merciful: He
cannot do otherwise, his arms are spread abroad
day and night towards a poor sinner. And when
any cometh [with the lost son to the Father], and
so stormeth hell, then there is amongst the angels
of God, greater joy for such an one, than for
ninety-nine righteous that need not that; as Christ
himself teacheth us.
36. With such a devil as covereth the heart of
man, there is no better course to be taken with
him, than not to dispute with him at all about the
multitude of sins; but to wrap up all sins on a
heap ( though they were as many as the sand on
the sea-shore), and throw them on the devil's
shoulders, and to say in his heart, Behold, thou
devil, thou art the cause of all this evil, I leave my
sins to thee, but I take the mercy of God and the
death of Christ to myself, therein will I roll myself,
devour me if thou canst.
37. Do but fix thy trust and confidence upon
the promise of Christ: and let your storming be always
grounded in the death of Christ, in his
sufferings and wounds, and in the love of Christ:
Dispute no farther about your sins, for the devil
involves himself therein, and upbraideth thee for
thy sins, that thou mightest despair.
38. Make trial in this manner, and you will
quickly see and feel another man, with another
sense and will [in you] : We speak as we know,
and have found by experience: We speak not by
way of opinion, or as an historical relation, but
that which we have a ground for, for a soldier
knoweth how it is in the wars: but he that hath
not tried and been present, always thinketh otherwise
than it is. This we mention out of love, for
your learning and instruction, as a spirit which
speaketh how it hath gone with it, for an example
to others, to try if any would follow us, and then
they would find how true it is.
The Gates of the Deep Ground concerning Man.
39. Since the beginning of the world there hath
been a controversy about this: because these gates
were shut with Adam, and we have been held
captive in darkness: but seeing God hath favoured
us, and opened them to us, and also hath given us
an earnest will to write it down, we shall therefore
do it, and give thanks for it to God the Father in
Christ Jesus in eternity, who hath redeemed us out
of the darkness of death.
40. Therefore when we would know what man
is, and why there is so great difference and variety
amongst men, so that one doth not as another doth
and that one differeth in form and feature from
another; we must set before us the most inward
ground of his [incarnation or] becoming man, and
consider it, and then we shall find all.
41. For when a man that is regenerated in God,
so that he seeth the light, beginneth to search out
his original, then the spirit of the soul searcheth
in all the Three Principles, what he is in each of
them; for we know it, and cannot say otherwise,
than that we, in the image of the spirit, and also
of the body, in all the Three Principles, have but
one only rule [or dominion] in us; but that
dominion is in three sources [or qualities] : the
spirit and the body are driven according to each
Principle, and what Principle it is which getteth
the upper hand in man, so that man with his will
inclineth to it, according to that he performeth his
work, and the other [Principles] do but cleave to
it, not having sufficient power.
42. But when we will speak of the image, we
must see what it is in the ground thereof. For we
are sown as a seed in a field, into the matrix [womb] :
Now, consider what precedeth that: Nothing but
a longing will and desire of man and woman to
copulate, and yet the fruit is not always desired,
of which we have an example in whores and whoremongers,
also indeed in the state of marriage.
4 3. Now the question is, What is that which
provoketh [to copulation] in the male and female,
of all kinds, as also in man? Behold, in the
eternity all hath been in one being, viz. the
tincture, which is the centre and cause of life, as
hath been mentioned at large before; and also the
substantiality, which is generated out of the
tincture, which hath also all the forms of the
centre, yet without fire, for it [substantiality] is a sinking down,
and cannot kindle the life in it, it is corporeal, and
affordeth body, but not life; for the fire affordeth
life.
44. And we give you to understand, in the
copulation, that the man hath the tincture, and the
woman the substantiality, viz. the matrix, which is
generated out of the tincture: Now observe, in the
eternity they were in one another, and this world
stood therein as a figure; for the wisdom had
overshadowed the tincture, and received it into
itself as the body doth the spirit; and this could
not be brought to a substance visible to the angels,
unless God did move the eternity, for the angels
are in a substance.
45. Now when God, viz. the Number Three,
moved himself, there was moved therewith also
the centre of nature in the eternity, whereby all
became essential, substantial: The tincture became
substantial, and prevailed; and the substantiality
became material, and yet was not divided, for that
cannot be, it is one only substance.
46. And now when God placed the Fiat in the
material substantiality, or, as I may better say, did
awaken [the Fiat therein], so that the word in the
substantiality said, Let there come forth all sorts
of beasts, according to their hind; then there went
forth out of the material substantiality two kinds [male and female],
and that corporeally; for through the Word of the
Lord, the tincture took on it substantiality, and
the spirit of the substantiality took also to it a
body, and so there were two sexes or kinds. The
body of the tincture had in it the centre of the life;
and the body of the substantiality had not the
centre to the striking up of the fire; indeed it had
the life, but an impotent life.
47. This we demonstrate thus, that you may
rightly understand it: Look upon a flaming [red hot] iron,
which sendeth two spirits forth from itself, one
hot one, which hath the centre, and can kindle and
awaken another fire; and one airy one, from which
water proceedeth, which hath also all powers of the
fire; yet the tincture therein is not fire, but it is
an eternal bar that no fire can be therein, and yet
is the spirit of the fire, which hath its source out of
the fire, and its life like to the fire, for in the
eternity there is no death. Therefore, in the female
kind no life can proceed out of their tinctures, but
the matrix must get the tincture from the seed of
the male.
48. Thus we declare unto you also the ground
of the difference between the male and the female
kind: for when God created the material substance,
there went forth the kinds of all essences in the
centre of nature, according to all the properties:
for as you see the stars, that one hath a property
different from another, which all are created out of
the centre of nature, according to the material substantiality;
and so all essences stood in the material
substantiality, and the Fiat attracted all towards
the created earth.
49. And there hath every form of the tincture,
and of the spirit of the several kinds, figured
every one its own body, according to its properties,
as to be beasts, fowls, worms, fishes, trees and
herbs, also to be metals and earth, all according
as the life was in them. And this you may well
perceive by the difference of each day's work [of
the creation].
50. For on the first day, God created the material
water, (which hath an impotent life, and is a bar
upon the fire of the anger, and upon the devil's
smoky pit, where he thought in the burning fire to
domineer over God). Also [he then created] the
earth and the stones, and so the gross part [dross] was
separated, which consisted in mortal and fierce
essences, whereby Lucifer supposed to be king
and creator {therein).
51. When this was done, God said, Let there be
light, (let the light of the tincture open itself), and
there was light: then God separated the light
from the darkness. Understand this rightly. He
[God] shut up the fierce fire which Lucifer had
kindled (which taketh its source out of the darkness),
and let the tincture in the quintessence burn, as in
the fat of the water-spirit, as in a beast [the fire of
its life burneth] .
52. Thus the life did burn in the tincture, and
turned the fat, viz. the oil, into a quintessence, viz.
blood, and so that life did burn in the blood; for
therein standeth the noble tincture: and God hath
reserved in his own power the centre of the fire: for
he hath shut it up in the darkness, as it hath stood
from eternity in the darkness: and so every life
standeth in his hand: for if he let the fire come
into the tincture, then the spirit is in the hellish
fire.
53. Now when the light did shine out of the
tincture, he divided the tincture into two parts,
even as it divideth itself, viz. into the fire-life, and
into the light-life, as hath been mentioned before;
and created the two lives, the fire-life to be a
heaven and a firmament between the holy meekness,
viz. the Heart of God, and the impotent airspirit
: and yet the air goeth forth from its mother,
the tincture of the fire-spirit, and God dwelleth
between them both.
54. The fire- spirit of the tincture hath the
eternity in [or for] its root, and the air-spirit hath the
material life, which sourced forth with the awakened
substantiality, and ruleth the outward bestial life:
for it is the bestial life of every creature, also [it is
the life] of trees, herbs and grass; it hath also a
tincture, but not strong enough.
55. Thus you see how the life standeth in the
water, and hath two dominions, viz. fire and air;
and you see whence the blood hath its original,
which maketh a creature [that hath blood] more
noble than one that hath not blood in it; for that
creature hath a false tincture, and is proceeded
from the will of the devil, as you see in vipers
and venomous worms, they have not the noble
tincture [or the noble life].
56. But when the devil intended to be lord in
the tincture, and would create, he awakened such
a life in his will, which yet is not all his [life] : he
is indeed of the same essences, and the devils'
bodies are figured also in hell into such serpents,
venomous worms, and ugly beasts: for they
cannot in their own form be otherwise; although
indeed they have not a body from the divided
tincture from its substantiality, but [they have a
body] out of the centre of nature, out of the fierce
matrix, out of the eternal substantiality, out of the
darkness, which is a spiritual body.
57. Now when God had created the earth, the
water was over the whole earth, which God
separated, that the earth became dry, and called
the water sea, Meer, which in the language of nature
signifieth a covering and holding fast the fierceness
of the devil, a true reproach to the devil, that his
power was drowned: To expound this, very acute
writings are requisite, and man would hardly be
able to apprehend it.
58. Thus the earth sprang in its own essences
and tincture, which were also comprehended in
the first creation.
59. It shall also be rightly expounded to you
what Moses saith, God separated the water above
the firmament from the water under the firmament;
that is, into the water and blood of the [living]
creatures; for the water above the firmament is
blood, and therein standeth the tincture [or life], which
separateth the heaven from the water beneath the
firmament, viz. from the elementary water; as we
see that each of them hath its own habitation and
dominion: of which may be spoken more at large
in another place.
60. Only we understand therein two kingdoms,
viz. the soul dwelleth in the blood in the tincture,
and in the water dwelleth the air-spirit, which is
corruptible, for it had a beginning, but the soul
had none; for the tincture is from eternity, and
therefore the figures of all kinds must remain in
eternity; account it not for an opinion, it is
really so.
61. Now, when heaven, earth, and the elements
were thus formed, then the fiery tincture was as
shining light, and was a firmament, called heaven:
for this world had no other light: And then God
suffered the centre of nature to open itself in the
created substantiality, (for this whole Principle
became but one body), and there brake forth it
heart, [viz. the heart of this Principle] with its own
proper will and faculties out of the essences; that
is, the sun and the stars are its essences, and the
six planets are the spirits at the centre of the heart,
and the sun is their heart: all just as the Deity
hath been from eternity.
62. Thus there came a true life and understanding,
with reason and perception, yet a bestial one, into
the outward tincture and the air-spirit, and so the
great wonders stood there manifest; for God had
manifested himself in a figurative form: And you
see that it is true; do but consider what we have
written before concerning the centre of nature, and
so on, to the light of the Majesty, and concerning
the Number Three, and you will find here in this
world a figurative similitude [of Him].
Consider of the Planets.
63. Saturn, the first and highest, is astringent,
cold, dusky, and maketh the desiring and attracting:
for it is the sharpness. If you will have a right
understanding of this, you must transpose the
planets. (See figure on next page)
64. First, take the uppermost [planet] and unto it the nethermost, for in the
wheel everywhere is uppermost and undermost, understand in the Wheel of
Life, and it wheeleth the upper part undermost when it turneth round; which
is only to be understood concerning fond conceited men, and beasts, with
whom the wheel of nature falleth a turning; for the Cross stayeth it.
Therefore observe well: Saturn attracteth the Moon, which is beneath, and
causeth in the matrix of the creature the corporising, viz. that there be
flesh; for Saturn and the Moon make sulphur [or corporeity].
65. Now Saturn desireth only to shut up, it
seizeth upon and holdeth fast; as [in turning]
liquor into a sulphur. But Saturn hath not sul;
for sul is from the liberty,- but Saturn hath a
willing, and the will hath sul, for it originally
proceedeth out of the Majesty.
66. Consider now, beneath Saturn standeth
Jupiter, which is proceeded out of the virtue of
Sol [or the sun] as the heart of Saturn, (else there
would be no desiring, no Saturn); for nature
desireth only the heart and Sol [or the sun]; yet
Jupiter is not Sol, but is the brain.
67. And observe it, the wheel of nature windeth
itself from without inwards into itself; for the
Deity dwelleth innermost in itself, and hath such
a figure [as is here shown] . Not that it can be
delineated; it is only a natural similitude; Even
as God pourtrayeth [represented or revealeth]
himself in the figure of this world. For God is everywhere
total and perfect, and dwelleth thus in himself.
68. Observe; The outward wheel is the Zodiac,
with the constellations, and then the seven planets
follow to Sol, after Sol standeth Fire, after Fire
Tincture, after Tincture Majesty, after Majesty
the Number Three, with the Cross.
69. And observe it, the desiring goeth inwards
into itself towards the Heart, which is God, as you
may conceive by such a figure: for the Regeneration
goeth also into itself to the Heart of God.
70. Observe it also well, for it is the centre [or
the ground] of the outward birth. In the eighth
circumference [next] after the zodiac is the globe
of the earth; after that, right against it, about on
the wheel is Saturn, and going about the wheel,
there is the Moon, and again about on the wheel
is Jupiter, and again about on the wheel is
Mercury, and about again is Mars, and then
Venus, and Sol in the midst, and after Sol, the
Fire which Sol affordeth, and after- the fire the
other world, viz. the Heavenly Tincture, and after
the Heavenly Tincture the Number Three, viz.
the eternal Heart, and that is the eternal centre
of nature, and in the eternal centre is the whole
power of the Majesty of God throughout, held or
shut up by nothing, and is of no substance or
nature [imaginable], even as the shining of the
sun.
71. You may well perceive what we set before
you, thus: The zodiac, with the constellations,
belong to the mind, as well in the deep of the
world, as also in the creature, the twelve signs are
the twelve parts which the cross in the centre
maketh; from which the upper dominion is divided
into twelve parts, as also the mind is: For the
six forms in the centre, besides Sol, each of them
divide themselves into two parts, [Sol divideth not
itself but only into the Number Three, or into the
splendour-fire and Tincture], one according to the
tincture that hath life [in it], the other according
to the tincture of the air, which hath spirit [in it],
and yet maketh no life.
72. Thus the signs are twelve, which divide
themselves into two governments, viz. into a
heavenly, according to the Tincture, and into an
earthly according to the spirit of this world, viz.
the air; and the two kingdoms are also twofold,
viz. in the tincture of the fire there is an angelical
kingdom, and backwards [retrograde] a hellish; and the
kingdom in the spirit of the air is also twofold:
for the inward [kingdom] is the spirit of God, and
the outward is the spirit of the creatures; as
David saith, The LORD rideth upon the wings of
the wind; that is, the spirit of God which cometh
to succour and relieve his work.
73. So also the tincture kingdom in God maketh
also six forms; and that of the spirit, out of the
tincture, which is the Heart and life, and is the
spirit of God, maketh also six in number, and they
are together twelve in number: These the woman
in the Revelation, which the dragon would devour,
weareth upon her head, being twelve stars; for
one number six she received from the spirit of this
world, wherein the Holy Ghost keepeth the
eternal life; and the other number six she hath
from the eternal tincture, out of the eternal centre,
out of the Word: for she weareth the angelical
zodiac, and also the human.
74. And each centre hath six in number, which
make together the number twelve: the seventh
number of the centre is substantiality, and the
[dominion or] kingdom; for God became man, and
brought the two kingdoms into one: for men and
angels are in one kingdom in God.
75. And so the Image [of the woman] in the Revelation hath
twelve stars upon the crown: for the Image
representeth God; it is the similitude of God, in
which he revealeth himself, and wherein he dwelleth.
The crown signifieth the power of the Majesty of
God, as a king weareth a crown, which signifieth
dominion and majesty.
76. But that the Image weareth a crown, with
twelve stars upon the crown, it signifieth that the
Deity is above the humanity, and that Mary is
not God himself; but the crown signifieth God,
and the stars [signify] the spirits of God: six in
the Deity, and six in the humanity: for God and
man are become one person; Therefore Mary also
weareth all [the twelve stars], for we are God's
children.
77. Seeing then, that the number twelve containeth
two kingdoms in the doubled number [of
six], viz. an angelical and a human, each in the
number of six, which together make twelve, so
also the two kingdoms have other two numbers of
six in them, ( viz. the fire, the kingdom of the
abyss; and the air, the kingdom of living creatures
and all earthly things); and these have each of
them in the centre the number six, according to
the six planets earthy, and according to the
six planets fiery, which now together make the
number of four- and-twenty, which are the fourandtwenty letters in languages, whence they are
sprung; and we perceive that the tongue speaketh
that which is good, and that which is evil, that
which is heavenly, and that which is devilish,
according to the two sources [or properties] of the letters; as
proper names intimate, according to the
language of nature.
78. Now, when this number, according to the
Number Three [or Trinity], is numbered to thrice four- andtwenty, (as indeed the Number Three doth manifest
itself in three kingdoms and persons, and according
to the Number Three all is threefold, but according
to the creatures all is twofold), then the sum is
seventy-two in number, which signify, and are, the
seventy-two languages, which signify Babel, a confusion
and wonder.
79. If we should go on here, we should shew
you the whore and the beast, which the Revelation
speaketh of, and moreover all the wonders which
have been since the world began: The greatest
secret lieth herein, and is called Mysterium Magnum,
the Great Mystery, and all the controversies
in matters of religion and faith arise from hence,
and all willing, evil and good.
80. The Seven Spirits, wherein the Son of Man
consisteth, in the Revelation, are the seven spirits
of nature; one of them is the kingdom, and the
six are the centre of nature, / viz. the] heavenly: if
this be set down according to the human number,
it maketh the number twelve, and according to the
two kingdoms, viz. the kingdom of God, and the
kingdom of this world, out of which the faithful
are generated, then there are four-and-twenty
spirits, which are the Elders before the throne of
God, who worship God, and the slain Lamb:
consider it well.
81. We further intimate, concerning this world's
centre of nature, thus: The birth of life windeth
itself like a wheel inwards into itself, and when it
cometh to the innermost point, then it attaineth
the Liberty, yet not [the Liberty] of God, but only
the tincture out of which the life burneth.
82. For that which will catch hold of God must
pass through the fire; for no substantiality reacheth
God, unless it subsist in the fire: understand in
a peculiar fire: If that should kindle, the world
would melt away. We mean not the fire of the
out-birth, which is no fire, but only a sharp fierceness,
which consumeth the outward substantiality
which springeth from the water, viz. wood and
flesh, but doth not stir the inward fire in stone.
83. Therefore observe it; the Liberty, without
the nature of this world, is only the eternity without
substance. Now, as the eternal centre generateth
itself out of the desiring of the eternal willing, as
is mentioned before; so hath also the other centre
of the Third Principle, (through the Word Fiat
in the out-birth, out of the eternal,) generated
itself [in like manner] .
84. For from the first creation of the first day,
the outward centre of nature had wound itself
thrice about, (understand before the sun and stars
were corporeally created), and had attained six
forms, three superior, and three inferior; and there
are always twelve of them that belong to one form
of the centre, where there is always a sign; understand,
the signs [of the zodiac] in the eighth sphere (in the
crown).
85. Saturn, with his harsh, strong, attracting
and cold, is one form and spirit in the centre,
which shutteth up the abyss, and maketh darkness
in the deep, and attracteth the substantiality of
the outward power of this principle, and the centre
windeth about like a wheel; and that which is
concrete standeth over against Saturn, as in a
wheel, and is called Mond [the Moon] in respect
of its property, which would be too large to set
down in writing.
86. Then the wheel windeth further inwards
into itself, and maketh Jupiter: For Saturn, with
its attracting, desireth the Liberty of the divine
substance, but he maketh Him [the brain] ; for it
catcheth with its desire the power of the Liberty,
and not the Liberty of the divine Majesty itself
which is without substance.
87. But because there is understanding in the
power, and yet the power cannot in its own might
awaken the understanding, therefore Jupiter desireth
a life in the power, and that is about on the wheel
Mercury: for the wheel is always winding about,
and Mercury is a stirrer, a maker of a sound
and a noise, and yet hath not the life, for that
existeth in the fire; and therefore it desireth
the fierce stormy turbulency, which striketh up
the fire; and that about on the wheel is Mars,
which is a rager, stormer, and striker up of
the fire.
88. But now the four forms cannot subsist in
the fire: for they have substantiality, and the fire
desireth substantiality (for the fire itself subsisteth
not, if it have not fuel to feed upon), which substantiality
desireth meekness, and that about on the
wheel is Venus: for it is the meekness of the
outward nature, and maketh love; for it is that
which the other five forms desire: for every form
windeth itself inwards and desireth the Liberty of
God, which is meek stillness, and as nothing, and
yet is All: and if they have the meekness, which
also maketh water [to be], then the water is thick,
and is like a duskiness which desireth light, and
becometh pregnant with it, so that the meekness,
viz. Venus, hath a lustre of its own above all the
stars in the firmament; for the desiring catcheth
the light.
89. Now the light is without substance, and
only still and meek, which desireth life and spirit,
and yet can produce no life nor spirit out of the
water and meekness; therefore Venus desireth with
its meekness and light the heart; that is, the power
and virtue of all forms, and so it catcheth the heart,
which about on the wheel, in the point, is the
Sun, which is the heart of all the six forms, and
they are the forms of their heart, which together is
a life. Now, if that were unsteadfast, it would
pass away [or move about], so often as the wheel windeth once
about; and though it would be long, it would
endure but a seculum age, or term of twenty-nine
years.
90. Now the seven forms desire fire, [being the
eighth number, and the eighth number desireth a
life,] which may continue, for the heart is not alive
without fire, and [therefore] the heart catcheth
hold of the fire: and that fire is fierce and consuming,
and consumeth all the seven forms of the
centre, with their substantiality.
[The Heart standeth between two Worlds.]
91. Thus the heart is in anguish, vexed within
and without, for it hath nothing more in the
substantial life outwardly; though it seeketh, yet
it findeth nothing, and yet seeketh with anxious
longing, and penetrateth through all forms, and
seeketh mitigation of the fire, and yet cannot so
find it either.
92. Thus all the six forms of the heart receive
the virtue of the sun: for it penetrateth mightily
into all the six forms, and seeketh rest and ease,
and if it find not that, then it presseth in itself
forth from itself through the fire, and desireth
the eternal liberty, and attaineth the liberty
through desiring, and yet cannot be free, for the
sharpness of the fire is in its desiring. But
the liberty attracteth itself in the desiring in
the fire; for the desiring presseth into it [viz.
the liberty].
93. Thus the liberty sharpeneth itself in the
fire, and appeareth through the fire as a flash [of
lightning], that is, the glance and shining of the
sun, and that sharpened liberty desireth its eternal
delight, viz. its meek still virtue, and presseth
inwardly into itself into the virtue: and that eternal
virtue in the liberty is the eternal Word, and that
Word is generated out of the eternal Heart, and in
the Heart is the Cross of the Number Three, and
is the end of nature; and in the end is the virtue
and glance of the liberty, which is generated out
of the eternal centre, out of the Heart upon the
Cross, and is called the divine Majesty of the
eternal substance [or essence].
94. Now consider, as the outward desiring of the
outward nature goeth inwards into itself towards
the eternal Heart, which is God, (for the outward
nature longeth again after the substance of the
liberty, to be as it was before the creation, that
it might be delivered from the vanity, viz. the
fierce wrath), so also the inward heart longeth
after the outward nature, and would fain manifest
itself outwardly in figurative similitudes [resemblances],
thus the inward desireth the outward for a
figure, and the inward catcheth the outward in
its desiring.
95. For the similitude of the eternal centre was
indeed already before the creation of the sun and
stars in the outward substantiality: but it was
not figured and kindled. [As a limner, before he
draweth a picture, hath an image in his mind, but
not framed exactly.]
96. Thus God's Heart of the Number Three put
its will into the astringent Fiat, into the matrix of
nature, into the heart of the out-birth, into the
firmamental heart, viz. into the place of the sun,
and created with the spirit of his mouth [the spirit
of the soul] through the Fiat round about on the
wheel, the seven forms of the centre of nature;
for as the wheel turneth and windeth, so went the
Fiat also, magically, in the midst, in the willing
of the wheeling.
97. And seeing the out-birth of the earth was
a sinking down of death, therefore the life turned
away from that death upwards. And you see that
the three planets, viz. the forms of the centre of
nature, (which make the spirit of the centre and
the house of the spirit), stand upwards above the
sun, as the life in its beginning taketh its original:
and the three which belong to the body and to
mobility, beneath the sun, one under another, even
as the corporising taketh its original; and the
heart, viz. the sun in the midst; and the form
standeth right upwards toward the firmament, as
a man.
98. Which you are to understand thus: Observe;
above the heart, the sun, standeth Mars, which is
the striker up of the fire, and a kindler of the
heart, and a breaker in pieces of the essences,
that the thick substantiality may not remain
covered and stifled; it breaketh that, so that the
spirit can awaken the faculties [or senses], for it maketh the
tincture in the sun. Mars is poison and anger,
and denoteth the fierceness of the fire, as is mentioned
before concerning the centre; it is the
bitter raging form in the wheel, and causeth the
essences in the flash of the fire: It is a cause of
the life. The Sun and Mars have together the
tincture-life; and Venus with Mercury and the
Sun have the spirit-life, viz. the air; that is, the
feminine life; understand, the matrix, viz. a female
life of all kinds.
99. And above Mars standeth Jupiter, which is
the power and virtue of the heart, (to which Mars
giveth its fire-life, which it receiveth out of the
heart of the sun); that maketh the brain, wherein
Mars can dwell.
100. And above that, standeth Saturn, which
attracteth the virtue, and maketh for the spirit
a house, viz. the brainpan [skull], and maketh the substantiality,
as the skin upon the body; thus the
outward life upwards from the sun [or heart] is
the head, a house for the spirit, which taketh its
original in the heart in the fire, and dwelleth in
the head in the five senses in the air-life.
101. And under the sun, downwards, is Venus,
which taketh its original from the pressing forth
out of the fire, out of the tincture, and therefore
hath its peculiar lustre; it maketh water and love,
and is a sinking down, for it is a cause of the
sun's substantiality, and a beginner of the inferior
body; also it hath the tincture, and is a cause
and beginner of the seed to another centre to
propagation; for it strengthened itself with the
superior power and virtue, and receiveth therewith
the form of the spirit, both from the heart, and
from the brain: for all forms desire to have it, and
do mingle with it: for it is love and meekness.
Thus it hath the power and virtue of all forms, and
is a pleasant lutist: for it singeth a song that they
all love to hear and relish [feel], which ought to be well
considered.
102. And below Venus, is Mercury, to whom
Venus giveth its virtue, together with its sinking,
and therefore Mercury is so pleasant, and loveth
to talk of all the ingenuities of nature, it is a
nimble sudden awakener of the seed which Venus
giveth to it: for it will [needs] awaken the body
[or bring the body into being] : and because it
hath much skill, therefore it will wander into
every thing, and giveth speech to the body, and
awakeneth the body, and giveth it senses,
especially in the brain, and in the matrix of the
seed.
103. Under Mercury standeth the moon, and
there the sinking standeth still, and is a substance
mixed of all: it affordeth the carcass, and all that
belongeth thereto: it taketh all to it, and maketh
the whole image as a beast; it is the corporeity:
Venus congealeth in it; it retaineth all; for it
letteth nothing sink down, and it standeth always
in fear of falling, in respect of the earth, which
standeth under it; for it feeleth the anger in the
earth, and therefore is afraid, and doth not sink
down, but runneth and maketh haste about, as if
it were fugitive: It is a false thing, for it desireth
both that which is superior and that which is
inferior, and flattereth with the centre of the
earth, and with the centre of the sun.
104. And as this dominion or government is
in itself, so is the dominion in every creature, also
their life standeth thus: and you see how the
wheel turneth round, as [in] the centre, and the
body with the essences standeth still.
105. The six planets run round about the sun,
as about their heart, and afford virtue to it, and
draw virtue from the sun: so also the life windeth
itself thus about the heart, and penetrateth into
the heart; for the spirit-life penetrateth to the
soul, which burneth as a light out of the heart,
out of the tincture of the heart, and windeth itself
inwards thereinto, and they always drive forth one
another: and so this form is as a turning wheel:
for the life of the spirit is thus, in its original.
106. They who say, that the sun goeth forth,
speak as the blind do of colours, and have never
known the centre [of nature] ; yet they are not
to be blamed for that: for it was reserved [or
sealed] till the seal of the sun opened itself at the
seventh sounding of the trumpet. Observe this,
it is no fiction or boasting: It doth concern you
all, or else you will die in blindness, for which God
is not to be blamed.
107. The world, after the Fall, hath but one eye,
for it hath lived under the six seals; understand,
under the six planets, with its knowledge: but
you shall see the seventh seal with the eye of Sol;
we here speak what we know.
108. Understand us aright, thus we will give
light to those that hardly apprehend i t: Behold,
and observe: The whole government of this world,
in every life, cometh from the constellations, good
and evil; and they are also the cause that the four
elements, fire, air, water, and earth, were stirred
up: else all in this world would be still.
109. And so now you see the upper government,
especially in the seven planets: for they are
the government or dominion of the spirit, and that
is twofold: They have the tincture-government,
viz. the fire-life, and also the air-government, viz.
the water-life: The three planets above the sun,
together with the sun, manage the fire-life and
government: and the three beneath the sun, are
the going forth of the fire's tincture, and are a
sinking down, and together with the sun manage
the air-government, and have the female kind, for
they have the substantiality of the matrix, and the
tincture of the upper matrix; the tincture retaineth
the soul, and the nether matrix of Venus [retaineth]
the spirit.
110. Thus the upper desireth the lower, and the
lower desireth the upper, and is indeed but one
body: for Sol is the heart, and hath the lustre of
the Majesty of this [outward third] Principle.
111. Thus you understand the two kinds, the
male and the female: The [male or] man is the
head, and hath in him the upper government, with
the fire of the tincture, and he hath in his tincture
the soul, which is desirous of Venus, which is the
corporeal matrix: for the soul will have spirit, and
also body, and that hath the matrix of the [female
or] woman.
112. And the lower government is the [female
or] woman, and her government consisteth in the
Moon: for Sol affordeth it heart, and Venus
[affordeth it] tincture, and yet hath no fiery, but
a watery [tincture] : and therefore it [The Moon] affordeth the
air-spirit, and her tincture doth not stand in the
wisdom, and therefore the man must rule her:
for the tincture of the fire is the sharp trial of
every substance.
113. Mercury is the stirrer up of their [women's] tincture:
and therefore they are so talkative; and the moon
hath their matrix, which is out of all the planets,
and is afraid of the earth, and therefore maketh
such haste, and taketh virtue and power in the
wheel, from all the planets and stars, wherever it
can: It desireth Sol vehemently, and therefore
draweth also his lustre to itself; and, as the moon
longeth after the sun, (for itself is of an earthly
quality, and desireth the heavenly heart), so also
the feminine matrix longeth after the heart of the
man, and after his tincture, viz. after the soul; for
the soul is the eternal good.
114. Thus nature longeth after the eternal, and
would fain be delivered from the vanity. And
thus the vehement desire in the feminine and
masculine gender of all creatures doth arise, so
that one longeth after the other for copulation.
For the body understandeth it not, nor the spirit
of the air, only the two tinctures, the masculine
and the feminine understand it, for a beast knoweth
not what it doth, only the tinctures know it, which
drive it thus.
115. For the Fiat sticketh in them [the two tinctures], they must manifest
the great wonders of God: For the spirit
of God moveth upon the water of the matrix in
Venus, and in the matrix of Jupiter, (viz. in the
matrix of the brain), and leadeth the Fiat.
116. For the heart hath the matrix of Venus,
and the brain hath the matrix of Jupiter. Thus
the spirit of God rideth upon the wings of the
wind in his own Principle, and yet goeth forth
from the Father and the Son in the [continual]
creation, and openeth the wonders which were
seen from eternity in the wisdom: and therefore
he is the Workmaster of every being, and is sent
of God to that purpose.
THE TENTH CHAPTER
Further of the Creation of every Being: And
how a Man may seek and find himself: Also
how he may find all Mysteries, even to the
Ninth Number, and no Higher.
1. YOUR seeking in the stars and elements,
supposing to find the mysteries of nature,
is but labour in vain; you find no more but one
eye, and see with but one eye; and when you
suppose you have found Sol, you have scarce found
Luna, but only a glance of Sol, and are far from
the heart, and do but run with the moon about the
centre.
2. There is but one way which you must go, if
you will find the Great Mystery, Mysterium
Magnum; for if you should seek in Luna all your
life long, it would be wholly in vain; your desire
would remain to be but Luna: If you should
take great and hard labour and pains in Mercury,
and suppose the Stone lieth therein, your alchemy
would prove but dung and dross.
3. When you come into Venus, you suppose you
have Sol, and that it is gold, but is the woman [or
female], and hath only a watery tincture; her life
is air, and so you vainly labour in [or upon] the body:
But if you take the spirit of the tincture, then
indeed you go in a way in which many have found
Sol; but they have followed on the way to the
heart of Sol, where the spirit of the heavenly
tincture hath laid hold on them, and brought them
into the liberty, into the Majesty, where they have
known the Noble Stone, Lapis Philosophorum,
the Philosopher's Stone, and have stood amazed at
man's blindness, and seen his labouring in vain.
4. Would you fain find the Noble Stone?
Behold we will shew it you plain enough, if you
be a Magus, and worthy, else you shall remain
blind still: therefore fall to work thus; for it hath
no more but three numbers. First, tell from one
till you come to the Cross, which is ten, and is a
cross number, (from one to ten is one number):
but you have power only over the number nine,
you must stay at the tenth, for it is the end of
nature, which the creature ought not to search
into: If the creature stay under the cross, it
remaineth in the conceived will of God, and then
it hath ten times ten, that is a hundred, and ten
times a hundred is a thousand: and there lieth
the Stone without any great painstaking, for it is
pure, and is not defiled with any earthly nature:
Make it thus, as I have written above [in the ninth
Chapter] concerning the centre: Transpose the
planets that are about the wheel; and take always
one masculine, and then one feminine, one for the
spirit of the soul, and the other for the air-spirit;
you need not take care for the body, for each
planet maketh a body to itself well enough, according
as its desire is: Begin with Saturn, (for he
is the first to the fire-life to the noble tincture);
and then go about the wheel to Luna; for you
must always take one planet for the life of the
tincture, and then one for the spirit of the air, for
the one subsisteth not without the other, or else
you get a spirit without a body, a fire-spirit, which
burneth in a lantern like a kindled fire, but it
yieldeth nothing, it is only a mere pride, willing to
be without a body.
5. Go thus about in the wheel to Sol, which is
the seventh number in the first number [or
account] : and when you get into that, you suppose
you have the Stone: but it doth not prove
fixed, Mars destroyeth it: go on further through
the sun's fire, which is the eighth number, and when
you come through it, lay hold through the tincture,
on the eternity [which] is the ninth number, and;
bring that upon the cross upon the tenth number,
which is the end of nature; here handle the Stone,
and take as much of it as you will, no fire will
destroy i t: It is free from the wrath and out-birth:
Its splendour and light stand in the power of the
Majesty. Its body is out of the eternal substantiality,
its number upon the cross is a hundred, and
in the Majesty a thousand.
6. We give this to the seeker: for none findeth
the Stone in Luna, unless he come upon the cross
into the tenth number: and then, if he longs
further to seek this world, and would fain have the
splendour of this world, and desireth the Stone of
this world, viz. in metals, let him go thus from the
inward into the outward; let him go into Luna,
and divide or break it into a thousand parts, and
give it a little of Sol; but if its covetousness [hunger and thirst] be
great, then give it a seventh part of Sol, and then
it is complete.
7. For all the planets and stars run after the
heart, every one of them taketh strength and virtue
from the heart, and maketh to itself its own body;
for Luna is out of all the six planets, and hath even
Sol, but not the heart; for it hath Sol only in
desire: as you see that it shineth with Sol, and
not with a splendour of its own: and therefore the
spirit of the heart must be added to it, which was
pure before, and then all the planets resort to it,
each of them desireth the pure child, and each
buildeth its house therein: But look to it, have
a care of Venus, that it may not by tattling bring
its feminine tincture into it: for it appeareth
bright and fair: but it is a woman, and maketh
a dark body, and quickly devoureth Sol: Keep
black Saturn in Mars' s heat, and so at length
bounteous Jupiter will appear, who is courteous
and kind, and hath the superior house, the house
of the spirit of the tincture; when it is come out
from black Saturn, then that is the Metalline
Stone.
8. Trouble not yourself so very much and long
with fire, it affordeth no more than it is able; or
else you number back again into loss; indeed not
into perdition, but yet in Solem Hungariae, into
the Sol of Hungaria: Venus exulteth the more,
but your covetous hope and expectation is disappointed
and taken away; Although indeed
you ought justly to rest satisfied in the tenth
number: for the riches of this world are but
dung [and dross]; and if you attain to the
tenth number with your former preparation, you
need not take so great care about the number
thousand: It standeth upon the crown of the
virgin, in which are set twelve stars: six [of
them] divine, and six human: The crown hath
the number thousand, and the virgin the [number]
hundred.
9. Christ saith, Seek first the kingdom of God,
and all other things will be added to you. All
lieth in the willing, for the willing maketh the
desiring, and the desiring receiveth where nothing
is, though indeed there is something there; yet it
is hidden to us men, unless a man hath attained
the Stone upon the cross, and then he findeth,
where reason saith there is nothing; for that which
hath not been from eternity is not at all, and
thereof we know nothing, we know only of that
which is, and hath ever been, though indeed not
manifested to us men, but yet is of God in his
wisdom, from eternity to eternity.
10. Therefore, although we speak of two kingdoms,
viz. of the kingdom of God, and of the
kingdom of this world, in that manner as if we
saw them with bodily eyes, let it not seem a
wonder; if God reveals himself in man, then he
is in two kingdoms, and seeth with twofold eyes,
and yet this way is not so hard and difficult, as
reason's seeking in outward things: It lieth all in
the willing; the outward willing must enter into
the inward, it must deny itself, as if it were dead
to the outward, and had no life in the outward, and
yet liveth: As God liveth, and is in the outward,
and the outward is dead to him, so that it
cannot apprehend him; so also thou, O man, thou
art with thy soul in the inward; but thy soul's
will hath turned itself about with Adam into the
outward; therefore, if thou wilt behold God and
the eternity, turn thyself about with thy will into
the inward, and then thou art as God himself; for
thou wert thus created in the beginning; and thus
thou livest according to the inward will unto God,
and in God, and according to the outward [will
thou livest] in this world, and hast both kingdoms
thy own, and art indeed rightly an image and
similitude of God; thou searchest out all things,
and findest that which lay hidden in secret; for
thou findest that in the eternity, and beholdest it
standing backward in the out-birth, in the figure.
11. The ground of the creation of this world is
much easier to be known in the inward man, in
the Will of God, than visible things to the outward
[man]: The outward knoweth less, that
which he seeth with his eyes, and taketh hold of
with his hands, heareth with his ears, smelleth
with his nose, and tasteth with his mouth, than
the inward doth the ground and the existency of
the outward: The inward seeth indeed the creature
in the ground of it; but is as it were dead
to the outward, and yet liveth therein; and in
that he liveth to the outward he liveth to God, in
regard of his works of wonder, in that he manifesteth,
and bringeth into being, that which standeth hidden in the figure.
12. And yet we say still, that the eternal
standeth in the willing, and the will maketh
desiring, and in the desiring standeth the figure
of the willing. Thus it was before the time of
this world: But when God moved himself in his
willing, he so created the desiring, that it stood
in a being. And other than this very thing we
know nothing.
13. Therefore, now, the desiring is another
thing than the willing, for the willing is without
being [or substance], and the desiring maketh
being; and so out of the eternal nothing is come
whatsoever is: and before there was nothing, but
only a willing, which was a virgin, without image,
and yet was a figure of an image in the willing;
and this figure hath discovered the spirit, and
created it into a being [or substance], as we perceive
in the form of this world: The figure hath
caused the spirit, that it hath expressed the
wonders in figure, and that is the matrix of the
genetrix, and that is the spirit of this world: for
the spirit could express nothing but a similitude
of itself; for there was nothing else.
14. Therefore we demonstrate the creation to
you thus; for to create signifieth to comprehend
in the willing whatsoever standeth in the figure
in the willing: for when a carpenter will build
a house, he must first frame a model of it in his
willing, how he will build it, and then he buildeth
it according to the model of his willing.
15. Thus also hath the spirit of God framed in
his will a model after his likeness, and so created
that model; for you see in this world, that when
the spirit through the word Fiat (upon the First
Day) created the out-birth in the wrath, viz.
water and earth, he comprehended the figure in
the will; and that was the heaven which he
created on the Second Day, and tried the work
on the Third Day, and suffered to proceed out of
the earth forms and images out of the essences,
viz. trees, herbs, and grass, which were images of
the essences of the desiring; but the image of the
spirit remained still hidden, and yet was in being
even unto the Fourth Day. (Here understand)
a Day without the sun, is one turning about of the
wheel of nature in the desiring of the willing.
The inward will hath the number six, according to
the six spirits, and the outward [will] in the desiring
of the figure hath also the number six, according
to the similitude of the spirit; and the two kingdoms
[viz. the inward and the outward] make, with
their number sixes, four-and-twenty, which divide
themselves into four parts, viz. six before noon, and
six after noon, six before mid-night, and six after
mid-night, till the beginning or morning again.
16. And according to this, the spirit in the
desiring did set a sign, and a reckoning, whence
times and years proceed, which were not before;
for every number [of the] twelve, which is heavenly,
divine, and earthly, human or bestial, hath a sign
in the firmament, which the spirit created into a
visible being, together with the crown of the
centre, which is the circumference [or sphere] of the constellations. And
we give you notice, that the
creating of the spirit, is a going forth out of itself
into the outward. For in Loco Solis, in the place
of the sun, is the point where the spirit created
the similitude; for the word Fiat stood there,
and went forth from the inward number ten as a
body, and that is Luna, and in such a comprehension
was the manner and form of the deep
apprehended: and the spirit went forth, and
drave the essences of the centre even to the crown,
and there comprehended them with the signs
[or framed them into the signs], and all forms of the image,
which stood in the virgin in the figure in the willing,
and they are the stars,
and created them as a circumference [or sphere]
of the spirit, and they are all together a body
of that spirit, which is called Sol: for there the
eternal spirit hath comprehended or conceived the
similitude of the spirit [of this world] : and it
goeth thus forth out of the natural body of this
world, as a spirit; even as the eternal spirit [goeth
forth] out of the eternal centre of nature, out of
the number ten. And as they have ordered themselves
with their revolution in the three days,
understand, before the sun [was], so they also
remained standing in the Fiat in that order, and
are not material or palpable, though as to the
eternity it is a material being, but not as to us;
but they are powers; an out-birth out of the
eternal hidden and secret centre, and a similitude
of the eternal, and have power and strength to
shape and figure bodies and images, according to
all the properties of every star.
17. Understand us thus: Out of the place of
the sun, Ex loco solis, goeth forth the manifestation
of all the stars and elements, and all the
stars are the sun's children, even unto Saturn,
which is the house of the sixfold spirit: for the
planets are the spirit, and the crown, which is the
uppermost, [is] the body; and is in that manner
as we have mentioned before concerning the centre
of nature, and concerning the thrones of the angels.
Very great things are herein contained, which we
justly conceal, because of the wickedness of the
world, which if they knew them, they would misuse
the powers of nature to their covetousness and
falsehood.
18. Therefore we tell you, that those to whom
the number ten is opened, have it also given
them into their will to speak no more than
what is requisite and necessary for the world, and
that at all times as need requires, and is known
in God.
19. Thus we give you to understand, how God
on the Fourth Day created the sun, and with
that leading spirit the stars also; and what they
are, being together nothing else but a life according
to the similitude of God, wherein the eternity hath
manifested itself in a being.
20. On the Fifth Day God moved this being
and life, and set the Fiat therein, and created out
of the matrix all kinds of similitudes, according to
every form in the spirit; and in this creation now
hath the third kingdom, viz. the kingdom of
anger, pressed hard in with it, and there went
forth all manner of beasts, fowls, fishes, worms,
and whatsoever moveth and liveth; all went forth
out of the outward matrix, and stood upon the
earth: and in the deep went forth all sorts of
spirits of fire, (such as are the Ascendents and
Phoenix); and in the air also all sorts of spirits,
according to the substantiality of the air; and in
the water, and in the earth, all sorts of spirits,
every one according to the property of its mother [genetrix];
and the whole deep between the constellations, so
far as the Word gave itself in unto the creation, is
nothing but a life and stirring of spirits.
21. Now reason asketh, Seeing the devil dwelleth
in this world, and hath his princely dominion there,
whereabouts doth he then dwell? Behold, O
man! Consider this well. There are in the whole
deep no more than seven revolutions [or orbs], which roll
and turn about like a wheel, or as the life windeth
itself about the soul; and the heart, as the centre,
standeth still, in the midst, that is, the Sun; and
the revolutions about the Sun, are the six planets,
as spirits of the centre, and the seventh revolution
is the earth, which turneth itself once about in
four and twenty hours, and runneth along in the
course of the planets once a year, and besides,
carrieth the Moon with it about the Sun, as the
others do also, but some in shorter and some in
much longer time: as first Saturn in twenty-nine
years, in respect of his large course. But the
Moon, which runneth back, doth it every month,
twelve times in a year, and passeth somewhat on
yet further [in a thirteenth revolution] .
22. Now this together maketh the wheel of the
birth; wherein standeth the Verbum Fiat, which
hath driven the devil out from this circle, and so
he dwelleth without this circle, and there is a great
darkness about the crown of stars in the firmament,
so that many stars in the firmament are not
seen because of the darkness; and that otherwise
hath a great signification as to men, which we
would indeed make mention of, if the world were
not so mad, and suffered the devil to drive it, who
derideth all manner of revelations, that thereby
he may blindfold men: It shall in the Last Time
stand manifest to the children, which see with
both eyes, [viz. with the eye that seeth into the
eternity, and the eye that seeth into that which is
temporary].
23. Thus the devil dwelleth near us, and yet
hath a princely dominion much deeper, nearer
towards the constellations, in the midst [amongst
them], where it is darkest: for he may not come
[dares not, likes not] near the shining lustre of the stars:
and so is a prisoner, and dare not touch the seven governments
of the word Fiat, and hath no power therein, and
so is the poorest creature in the crown.
24. This cannot be described by a circle, for the
sun standeth innermost in the most inward circle,
and the other [planets] always further outwards,
even to the crown which includeth the outwardmost
heaven: and it cannot be understood [by
outward reason], but the spirit understandeth it
in itself; for, as it is, so is this circle also:
neither can it be set down in writing, for the life
windeth itself inwards to the sun: and so also
the spirit of life in man windeth itself inwards
into the soul, as you may consider concerning the
Three Principles, where the outermost is also the
innermost, which the outward spirit of our reason
cannot conceive, for it is but one and not three in
number. But the spirit of the soul, if it be turned
about, so that it looketh with its own eyes into the
innermost, and with the eyes of this world into the
outermost, understandeth it: for this is the vision
in Ezekiel, of the spirit with inward and outward
25. Although the wise Magi and mathematicians
have made a sphere, and described the wheel, yet
that is not enough: It is indeed a help to the
unskilful to consider of the Mysterium Magnum,
the Great Mystery: but the wheel hath a much
more subtle understanding, and cannot be made
in any circle after this manner: for it goeth into
itself towards the heart of the sun, and out from
itself towards the figure of the substantiality; it
driveth upwards and downwards; for the spirit of
the tincture, viz. the right fire-life, driveth upwards
inwards towards the liberty of God, and
yet desireth the spirit of the substantiality, which
driveth downwards, for without that the fire-life
doth not subsist: Thus the fire-spirit turneth itself
about, as it were side-ways, and always reacheth
after the spirit of the substantiality, and the
spirit of the substantiality flieth from the fire;
but since it is generated out of the fire-life, and
cannot be severed from it, therefore it is wheeled
about with the fire-spirit: For when the fire-spirit
wheeleth to the right-side, and reacheth after
the spirit of the substantiality, then the spirit of
the substantiality wheeleth also on the left-side
upwards, and that maketh a wheeling round, and
one maketh haste after the other; for the substantiality
flieth from the fire, and yet it cometh
out of the fire, as you see that out of the fire
goeth air, and out of the air water, which is the
substantiality.
26. Thus the fire, which is an anguish, desireth
meekness, and the liberty, which is without source
[or pain], and reacheth after the water-source: and
the meekness, viz. the water-source, desireth a
body, and that it may be free from the fire and
covered, and the fire runneth always after the
water, and the water flieth from the fire; for if
the fire should go away upwards, and the water go
away downwards, there would then be a great
separation between them, and each [both the fire
and the water] would die and come to nothing.
But seeing the fire inclineth towards the water,
and refresheth itself therein, it so preserveth itself,
and can send forth the spirit of the air again from
itself, so that the life subsisteth.
27. Thus we shew you the Great Mystery,
Mysterium Magnum, that you might learn to
understand how far you should go, and where your
number and end is; for the fire, (after the seven
spirits of nature), is the eighth number [or form], and is
a cause of the seven spirits. Now no creature
subsisteth in the fire, for the fire consumeth the
substantiality wherein the natural life standeth;
but yet the fire maketh tincture; and that twofold:
One reaching inward into itself after the
eternal liberty, after the still meekness [that is]
without being; and the other reaching forth out
from itself, after the outward substantiality, viz.
after the oil, which cometh out from the water,
28. Understand us rightly thus: The fire hath
the eighth number, and the inward tincture hath
the ninth number; and so far [only] we ought to
go; for the tenth number is the eternal fire of
God, and holdeth in the midst of, its birth the
cross, which severeth the centre of the eternal
nature into two kingdoms, of which we have made
mention formerly: and what creature soever will
go back through it, that creature cometh through
the kingdom of God back again into the outermost
out from God, and out from this world back into
the centre of the fire, as into an eternal darkness,
where the fire is black, and a perpetual hunger:
The kindling of the light of the fire standeth
only under the cross, in the meekness, in the ninth
number, which is a single number; the tenth
number is a twofold number, and belongeth to
angels and men but they ought not to reach
further into the centre of the cross, but must stand
there before the cross of the Number Three, and
cast their minds down into the tincture of humility
backwards into the ninth number, and look forward
into the tenth number, but with a timorous mind,
not desiring to create and have [any thing] in the
tenth number, viz. to go back into the centre of
the fire of God; but highly rejoice before the
tenth number eternally, and with their songs of
praise and Hallelujahs, sing, Holy! Holy! Holy!
is our God the Lord of Hosts; and that song is
a food to the divine fire, from whence goeth forth,
in the divine essences, the wonder, paradise, the
element and heavenly substantiality, and it
standeth before the Number Three as a virgin
of the eternal knowledge of God; and that is the
Wisdom of God; for in the wisdom appeareth the
substantiality of all divine essences, which to write
of here we have no more pen nor tongue.
29. Only, we shew you how far you should
search into such a revelation: for in the ninth
number you see all things, for it is the tincture
of the heavenly life; you see [in the ninth
number] the hundredth number of the virgin of
wisdom, and also the thousandth number of the,
crown of the Majesty.
30. But you must not search further into the
tenth number, there to search and dive into the
abyss, else you go out from God as Lucifer did,
who would fain be a creator in the tenth number,
and sought [to have] the fire of the eternal
original, and therein he must remain as in the
death, in the darkness, eternally.
31. Therefore let the Reader be warned, not to
dive further into these very deep writings, nor
plunge his will deeper, than [so far] as he apprehendeth:
he should always rest satisfied with his
apprehension: for in the apprehension he standeth
yet in the substantiality, and there he erreth
not, how deep soever the spirit leadeth him: for to
one more will be given than to another: And this
only is the mark [to be aimed at], that every one
continue steadfast in humility towards God, and
submit himself to God, that he may make the will
and the deed as he pleaseth. When you do that,
you are in yourself as dead: for you desire nothing
but God's will; and the will of God is your life,
which goeth inward even to the thousandth
number, and searcheth into the deep of the Deity
with all wonders: He leadeth your will, submitted
to him, into the virgin of his wisdom, so that you
may behold all wonders: But you must not leave
him, and imagine into the wonders; so soon as you
do so, you go quite out from God's will, which is
the eternal liberty, and are captivated in your
imagination: Mark this; for every imagination
maketh substantiality, and therein you stand, and
must go out from that again, or else you shall not
see God.
32. Therefore Christ teacheth us humility, love,
pureness of heart, and to be merciful; and calleth
upon us to seek after the will of God, and to submit
ourselves to it: For in God's will we are able
to do ALL; our own nature must not do it; but
God himself is zealous in us, and he is our doing
if we work any wonder: For no human soul
should say or think, I will do wonders: No, that
cannot be: for the wonders above the outward
nature go forth only from the centre of the eternal
nature, out of the tenth number, which the creature
cannot [do] : but if it be yielded up into the will
of God, then God in the creature doth the wonder:
for it is his delight to manifest himself in the
weak; for the strong is stiff in his own will, and
will not submit it unto God: He relieth upon his
own wit and reason. Thus his will is out from
God, and is able to do nothing; and then, if he
speaketh from himself concerning God's being and
will, he is an ignorant liar, he speaketh not from
God's spirit and will, but from himself, from his
own opinion, in which there is mere doubt; and
from thence ariseth the contention about [matters
of] faith [and religion], about divine knowledge, so
that men seek God in their own willing and knowing:
Men will think to find God in their own
willing, and he is not therein; for he dwelleth
merely and barely in that willing which yieldeth
itself with all its reason and knowing wholly to
him, and to that he giveth knowledge and power
to understand his being.
33. Therefore lift up your heads and observe
this: the will of God is not in any strife and contention,
but man's will and the devil's; it is the
will of the wrath of God; let not the flattering
hypocrites seduce you, who enter in, boasting of the
history, and say, We have the will of God by us,
we are his ministers, look upon us, we are God's
officers, and though we be wicked, yet we rightly
bear the office, and [dispense the] will [of God] .
O cursed generation of Cain and Judas, you are
neither born nor known in God: Why then boast
you of the will of God? How can you say that
you bear the Great Mystery of God, whereas you
are without God, in a strange will, and in yourself
you carry not the Mysterium Magnum? But a
poor sinner, who converteth, but is captivated by
the devil, and is in strife against the devil, he that
panteth, sigheth, and crieth after God, he runneth
in sorrow and abstinence to the office of the Great
Mystery, which Christ hath given to his disciples
and children, who are in the will of God, and they
have the true key to heaven and hell.
34. But you, sophister, bear not the office while
you are without the will of God; but the poor
repentant man bringeth the Mysterium Magnum,
the Great Mystery, with him to you, and rendereth
himself up to the apostolical power, which you
have not; but -the church or congregation of Christ,
which is in the will of God, [hath it] : and so one
faith receiveth the other, and the church, or congregation
of Christ, absolveth the repentant sinner,
and not you, sophister, who have neither virtue nor
power, nor knowledge of the kingdom of God, but
are yourself the devil's captive; and you sit in the
anger of God, and are only the proud whore of
Babel, and swim aloft upon the office of the Great
Mystery, and are incapable of it, unless you be in
the will of God, and then you are Christ's apostle,
and wear the garment of Aaron, and God openeth
and shutteth by your mouth; but your natural
will doth it not, that should always be dead, or
else you are not capable of the office; also in your
own will, you sit not in the office of Christ, upon
Peter's chair, but upon the stool of pestilence, and
are the Antichrist, as we have known you in the
number seventy-two, which you bear: for you are
in contention about the cup of Christ, and you
have it not in your power, but the church or
congregation of Christ, which is submitted to the
will of God, hath it: The Ark of the Covenant is
with them at Shilo, and not in your [contentious]
schismatical sectarian Jerusalem, which you have
made full of abominable blasphemies.
35. But what shall the spirit judge more concerning
you, seeing you are an adulterous woman,
and have lost your faith and fidelity? He hath
given you time to repent, and you do not repent,
but lie in whoredom day and night, and therefore
he will spew you out in the wine-press, and Babel
shall burn up itself. Thus Christ saith,
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered
thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not !
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. And
so he saith also to you now, you desolate Jerusalem
in Babel. The time cometh that the children of
Christ will go out from you, and it is already, and
you shall perish in your whoredom. Behold, your
merchants will stand afar off, and say, Behold!
Babel, in which we became rich and fat, is become
desolate.
THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER
Of the True Knowledge concerning Man
1. We have shewn you, what the essence of
all essences is, and what its life and
spirit is, and what the matrix of the genetrix is,
viz. that it standeth in the eternal willing, and in
that eternal willing is the centre of nature, and
therein is the Number Three, which is the heart,
which manifesteth the eternity in creatures, figures,
and similitudes; especially in three kingdoms; viz.
the heavenly angelical; and then the hellish fiery
diabolical; and thirdly, the substantial kingdom of
the out-birth, viz. this world.
2. Now you know very well that the dear man
Moses saith in his first book, [called Genesis], That
on the Fifth Day, God created all the living
creatures at once: which you are to understand
thus; that in one revolution of the earth, God
created (out of the earthly great mystery, out of
the matrix of the spirit of the earthly property, as
an out-birth out of the eternal property), all living
creatures, that they should be images and similitudes of the eternal being
[ essence or substance ].
3. Now they are indeed created out of the earthly
Mysterium Magnum, but yet the spirit there is not
so wholly earthly; for it is yet Luna, as we see
that the earth standeth next the moon, and [in the
circle about] from the moon, and as every circle is,
so also is the spirit in its own inclination, and the
property of the wheel in that circumference [orb] .
4. Thus the circle between the moon and the
earth, is both earthly and lunar; for the moon hath
the properties of all the stars, and is as a sack or
container of all the properties of the stars, which it
continually poureth forth in its circle: for the earth
longeth vehemently after the moon, and therefore
attracteth the shining and glance of the moon, as
also the shining and splendour of the sun: for all
things long after the heart, and desire the liberty,
that so they may bo, freed from the vanity.
5. Thus the earth, in its longing desire, hath
attracted the spirit of the sevenfold wheel, and
holdeth that in it as its peculiar matrix of nature,
and would always fain awaken in itself the wheel
of life; and therefore it wheeleth [turneth] itself about, for
it hath both fires, the hot and the cold; and the
nethermost always striveth upward towards the
sun, for it receiveth virtue and spirit from the sun:
and therefore it is so rolled about [turned]; for the fire
wheeleth it about: it would fain be kindled, that it
might have a life of its own, but though it must
remain in death, yet it hath a longing after the
upper life, and attracteth the upper life to it, and
continually openeth wide its centre, after the sun's
tincture and fire.
6. Thus from the longing after the sun, springeth
forth the budding and growing out of the earthly
matrix: for the essences of the earth climb forth
(with the captivated life of the upper centre)
always, upward out of the earth, and spread forth
themselves into a great tree and stalk: and you
see very well, that upon the tree and stalk there
groweth a mixed fruit, half earthly, and half according
to the upper centre: and the fruit never
cometh into a joy [or to perfection], unless it be
satiated with the upper [part], and then it is ripe,
for it hath attained Venus's body. But as Venus's
body is unfixed, and would soon fade, if the sun
did not stay it with the virtue of Saturn, so also
[it is with the ripe fruit], it is not durable, but
soon turns to rottenness: It cannot be preserved
[long], because the paradise is out of it.
7. And thus we give you to understand, that all
creatures have been created out of the nethermost
and uppermost life: The matrix of the earth
afforded body, and the constellations [afforded]
spirit, and their life reacheth not up into the sun;
for the earth hath attracted the sun's virtue into
its matrix, and so all the creatures that dwell upon
the earth have attained the virtue of the sun and
of the stars: but the body of the fowls is out of
the deep above the earth, and therefore they
delight most to fly in their own matrix; and you
see also how all beasts put their face and head
forwards and downwards, and look after their
matrix, and desire only the food thereof: for every
life desireth its own mother, as you may soon
perceive in the fowls, which are near of quality to
the earth, that they eat flesh and are birds of prey;
for they proceeded from two mothers in the creation,
viz. out of the upper [mother], and out of the
earth.
8. The earth is a peculiar centre, and therefore
was created severally [apart by itself] on the First Day, and is an
out-birth out of the eternal substantiality, a corrupted
matrix, [corrupted by the Fall of Lucifer] :
in the eternity was therein known the virgin of
God's wisdom, wherein all the wonders of God
are seen: And in the creation, and afterwards,
even till Adam's fall, paradise sprang up through
the earth, and so the upper centre of nature, viz.
the sun's heart, drew forth paradisical fruit out of
the earth, which indeed was not eaten after an
angelical manner by any creature, but only man,
though indeed he had not eaten thereof either, for
the longing of the twofold life caught hold of him
suddenly, and there he stood till his sleep in trial,
whether his will would continue in God, and
[whether] he [would] eat after an angelical manner:
But the beginning sheweth how he stood, which we
must chew upon, and must therefore eat earth, and
at last must become food for the earth.
9. Thus, if you consider it, you may see the
creation of God, and how God created the other
creatures before man, and you see how the life of
all creatures standeth only in the matrix, out of
which they were created.
10. Now you know what Moses saith, That God
consulted in himself to create a similitude of his
essence, an image of himself that should rule over
all the creatures of this world, over beasts, fishes,
and fowls, and over all that liveth and moveth,
and saith, God said, Let us make man according
to our image: and he created man to be his
image, yea to the image of God created he
him: But reason asketh, out of what? And
Moses saith, God made man's body of a piece
of clay.
11. Beloved reason, behold! open both your
eyes, and look not with one eye only into the
hidden Mystery of the humanity, as hath been used
for a long while hitherto. Do you hear what
Moses saith? God placed man in the Garden of
Eden, which he had made, that he should till and
keep it, and the paradise was therein. Do you
now understand the hidden mystery of man? He
was in paradise in the creation, and was created in
[and for] paradise; for paradise grew up through
the earth; and of that paradisical earth, wherein
the heavenly property [source or quality] was, the body of Adam
was created; for so it must be, seeing he was
to be a lord over the earth, and all that was
earthly, and was to open the wonders of the earth,
else God had instantly given him an angelical
body: But then the palpable substance, with its
wonders, would not have been manifested, therefore
he thus gave him a palpable body, but not
so dark a rugged and bestial one as ours are, but
a paradisical one.
12. You must understand it thus: The eternal
Virgin of Wisdom, stood in paradise as a figure,
in which all the wonders of God were known, and
was in its figure an image in itself, but without
substance like to man: and in that virgin God
created the matrix of the earth, so that it was a
visible palpable image in substance, wherein heaven,
earth, stars, and elements, stood in substance, and
all whatsoever liveth and moveth was in this one
image. The matrix of the earth could not overpower
it, [viz. the image man], much less could the
outward elements do it; because it was higher in
degree than them all: It had received the neverfading
substantiality with the virgin: The virgin
was not brought into the image; but the matrix
of the earth was brought into the virgin-like
image; for the virgin is eternally uncreated and
ungenerated: It is the wisdom of God and a
[reflection, antitype, and] image of the Deity in
Ternario Sancto, in the Holy Ternary, according
to the Number Three, and all the eternal wonders
of the eternal centre of nature, and is known in
the Majesty in the wonders of God; for it is that
which bringeth forth to light the hidden things of
the deep of the Deity: Thus, beloved man [mankind], you
see what you are.
13. Now, saith Moses, And God breathed into
him the living breath into his nostrils, and then
man became a living soul. This is the ground,
O ye universities, and high schools! dance about
this as much as you can, shew yourselves here
Doctors, Masters, or Batchelors [in Arts]: If ye be
what you please to conceit yourselves to be, why
then are you blind in this? Why will you be
called doctors, when in the ground you are yet
scarce school-boys? What do you understand by
that [inspiration or] breathing-in? Doth not
Moses tell you, that God breathed into man the
breath of life? What do you understand here?
Do you understand it to be only air? That is not
solely the breath of God: for he breathed the air
into his nostrils: but the breath of God cannot be
breathed in from without, for God himself is the
fullness of all things, and is present there already
before-hand, where any outward thing cometh
[to pass].
14. Now therefore, that you may rightly and
fundamentally, and also certainly come to understand it, look upon what we have before mentioned;
viz. How God longed after the visible substance of
his similitude and image; and the image of the
virgin, wherein his wonders stood, hath thus caused
it, so that the one imagination embraced and conceived
the other; though indeed God is without
substance and longing [lusting] ; [for his longing is only
Majesty and liberty]: But the centre of nature,
upon the cross of the wonders, longed [lusted] after the
image which was beheld in the virgin, where the
spirit of God goeth forth into the wisdom, so that
the wisdom causeth substantiality.
15. Behold! God's breathing-in was thus: The
spirit of God moveth on the waters, and rideth on
the wings of the wind, as the Scripture speaketh:
that [spirit] had then comprehended the dominion
of this world with the word Fiat, and breathed it
into Adam's nostrils: Now, the spirit breathed in
the air from without, and itself forth from within
into the centre of the heart; for it dwelleth not
outwardly, Tout in the centre of nature, and goeth
forth from within out of the Deity into the outward, and openeth [or discloseth] an image [manifested in a being]
according to itself; understand, according to the centre
of nature.
16. We have told you before, how the wheel of
the outward nature windeth itself inwards, even
to the sun, and further through the fire into the
liberty of God, where then it keepeth its station:
and the inward longing of the eternal centre
presseth with the spirit of God forth into the
heart of the sun, which is the great life and fire,
which melteth away stone and earth, wherein the
eternal tincture is known within, in the ninth
number.
17. You must also understand the breathing-in
thus: The outward dominion of the spirit of this
world, which reacheth even into the sun, was
breathed into him from without, as an outward
life; and the inward dominion out of the inward
fire in the eighth number was from within breathed
into the heart; for that was out of the eternal
fire, which reacheth into the ninth number, towards
the cross, after its own tincture which goeth
towards the Number Three, viz. into the eternal
liberty; and there man became a living soul, with
spirit and soul; for the soul hath its original a
degree deeper than the sun, out of the eternal
fire which burneth in the eternal willing, which
willing is, to generate the Heart of God, and to
exalt the Majesty in the wonders.
18. Understand us rightly, thus: God's Holy
Spirit hath awakened the living soul, out of the
centre of the eternal nature upon the cross, as a
peculiar centre of its own; not out of the Number
Three, but out of the eternal nature, out of the
fire of the centre of nature, in the fifth form of
the centre, where the two kingdoms, viz. God's
love and anger, part: There hath the spirit of God
awakened the soul, and brought it forth from
within, outwards into the tincture of the outward
spirit, into the blood of the heart, through himself,
and this is the soul: Master doctor, understand it
aright, and do not vaunt so proudly, stately, and
insultingly; for the soul is the child of God: Its
will should always be inclined into the will of God
in the tenth number, and then it is an angel, and
liveth in God, and eateth of the word of God, of
the virtue and life of God: It should not turn back
into the spirit of this world, into the fire of the
out-birth, but into the fire of the Number Three,
in Ternarium Sanctum, into the Holy Ternary.
19. And thus thou mayest understand what thou
art, and what thou wast before the Fall, for thou
couldst rule over the sun and the stars, all was in
thy power; the fire, the air, and the water, together
with the earth, could not compel thee: no
outward fire could burn thee, no water could drown
thee, no air could suffocate or stifle thee, every
living thing feared before thee, thou hadst thy
own food of the paradisical fruit to give to the
outward life, and the Verbum Domini to the
inward life of the soul: thou hadst lived eternally
without woe, or feeling of any sickness or disease,
in mere joy and delight, and besides, without care
and toil: Thy mind was as the mind of a child
that playeth with his father's wonders [or workmanship],
no knowledge of any evil will was in
thee: No covetousness, no pride, no envy, no
anger, but all a sport of love.
20. Now behold, that you may once apprehend
this: God took to himself a particular day's work
about man; if he would have had him to have
been earthly, bestial, and mortal, he would have
created him on the Fifth Day with the other
beasts: And that yet you may well apprehend
this, he created but one man, with the whole cross
in the brainpan, which signifieth the Number
Three: He was both man and woman, yet you are
not to understand any woman, but a virgin wholly
pure and chaste: he had in him the spirit of the
tincture of the fire, and also the spirit of the
tincture of the water, viz. of Venus: He loved
himself, and through himself [he loved] God: he
could generate virgin-like (out of his will), out of
his essences, without pain, without tearing or
dividing [his body] such a man as himself was;
for he had all three centres in him: and as the
centre of the eternal nature was not torn nor
divided, when the spirit of God conceived his soul
upon the cross, and brought it into the wisdom;
also as the spirit of this world was not torn nor
divided, when the spirit of God breathed into him
the spirit of this world, as an outward life, so he
also was not torn or divided: for he had a body
that could go through trees and stones: If he had
instantly gone on in the will of God, then had he
brought HIM [viz. God], with him into the great
wonders.
21. The noble Philosopher's Stone was as easy
to be found by him as any other stone, and then
he might have adorned the outward life with gold,
silver, and precious stones, jewels and pearls, all to
his own joy, and to [the manifestation of] God's
deeds of wonder: He had not needed bestial
clothing; for he went naked, yet clothed with the
heavenly tincture: He had no such members as he
might be ashamed of, as his Fall demonstrateth.
This was his Fall: His soul imagined after the
outward fire of the out-birth, after the spirit of
this world, and turned himself away from God, and
desired to live in his own property [or self], and
to be lord; his will turned itself out from God's
will, and was disobedient to God, and desired the
earthly fruit, out of the earthly essences, and
caused God to suffer the tree of temptation to grow,
that he might try what his image would do; and
he forbad him that tree.
22. But his lust was instantly gone after the
earthly essences, good and evil, which the devil
did eagerly help forward, (as he doeth still), till
Adam was overcome, and went forth from the will
of God, and suffered himself to be wholly captivated
by the spirit of this world; and then all was done
with him: The heavenly image became earthly:
The soul became captivated in the fire of God's
anger: It had the heavenly tincture no more, and
could not eat of the Verbum Domini any more; it
had turned itself away into the spirit of this world,
and was gone out from God's will into the lust of
this world; and so also, at the instant of the Fall,
the spirit of this world made the body wholly
earthly: The paradise, with all heavenly knowledge,
retired into itself [and so departed from
Adam], and the dear virgin of wisdom remained
standing in grief, till the Word of the Lord came
again, and looked upon her [the noble Sophia]
again with the promise
of the seed of the woman, and then she passed
into the light of life, and now warneth men of
their ungodly ways; concerning which we have
mentioned at large in our former writing, and also
concerning his wife; therefore we here forbear to
write any further of it, and only further shew you
our propagation as to body and soul.
23. We have formerly mentioned, how the
provocation between both kinds, masculine and
feminine, to copulate, existeth; viz. out of two
governments [or dominions] of one [only] substance
[being or essence]: for when Adam could not subsist, then
God let a sleep fall upon him, and took the one
dominion, viz. the tincture of the spirit, from him,
and left him [the other, viz.] the tincture of the
soul, and framed a woman out of him: But that
she might have a soul also, God took a rib from his
body, with his flesh and blood, and comprised the
soul therein, but without power of further propagation,
[of itself], for her soul remained in Venus,
being desirous of the man's soul, even as the lower
dominion of the three planets under the sun, which
make spirit and flesh, desire the three uppermost
for their life, as is before mentioned: so also is the
dominion in the man and the woman: for the
man hath the tincture of the fire wherein the soul
consisteth, in his seed; and the woman hath in her
the tincture of the spirit of this world, viz. of Venus,
naturally so called, in her seed and matrix. If it
were not for the scoffers, I could exactly demonstrate
it in the members of their copulation: You
would indeed wonder rightly why each is as it is:
It shall be set down in a paper by itself, for there
is nothing without cause. Nature hath its own
mouth, if it desireth to have any thing, it maketh
itself a mouth fit for it, and giveth a form to that
thing which it desireth, that it may fit the mouth,
according as nature liketh best. Observe this.
24. Now, when the seed is sown, then not only
the sower soweth, but the ground also affordeth its
essences [or virtue] to it: The man soweth soul,
and the woman soweth spirit, and both of them
afford body, and not the one without the other:
The tincture of the fire hath indeed a body, but it
became very small in this corruption: and therefore
the nature of the water (in Venus) must give
a soft spirit to it; for the man and the woman are
one body, and St Paul saith, If the man have an
unbelieving woman [to his wife], and the woman
have an unbelieving man [to her husband], let not
the one forsake the other: for the man knoweth
not whether he shall save the woman, or the
woman the man. Even as Adam saved his [wife]
Eve, who first ate the bit [of the forbidden fruit],
for she was a part of the life, out of his flesh and
blood: and the same spirit and the same soul
which Adam had, and which Eve got from Adam,
is now also in us, in both kinds [or sexes].
25. Therefore ground your judgment thus: When
the man soweth his seed, he soweth flesh and blood,
and the noble tincture of the soul; and the woman
receiveth that into her matrix, and instantly
affordeth to the man's seed her tincture of Venus,
wherein standeth the elementary spirit, and that
assumeth Saturn, and bringeth it round on the
wheel about to Sol, and there the natural life, with
the life of the soul, is disclosed; for Saturn giveth
it to the Moon, which breedeth it, and in a circuit
of all the stars, maketh essences therein: and then
the essences exist, and wind themselves about to
Mars, which striketh up the fire; and there count
the signs in the heavens, how many hours each
of them hath, and double that with two kingdoms,
and then you have the ground of the incarnation [or
becoming man], and what is done every hour with
the sulphur, [viz. with the substance which cometh
to be man], for man hath yielded himself over to
the spirit of this world, and is fallen home to it:
and so now that spirit maketh an earthly elementary
child, according to the stars and their dominion.
26. If God had not become man [or been
incarnate], we had remained beasts, according to
the body, and according to the soul, devils: and if
we go not forth out of the house of our sins, we
are such.
2 7. And therefore God hath made his covenant
with us in Christ, that we should be new born
again in Christ: for he hath given up his life into
death for us, and hath brought our soul again quite
through the eternal fire, and turned it about, that
so we may see into the tenth number again.
28. Christ saith [through the Apostle Paul], All
shall be tried by the Jire: let every one have a
care that his works burn not, for so he shall suffer
loss. And know this, that at the end, (when this
world shall pass again into the ether), God will
awaken the fire in the centre, which is the eternal
[fire], and will purge this floor: Understand, it is
the soul's fire: and so then if the soul have been
turned into the will of God, then the Holy Ghost,
with the divine tincture, shall burn forth from the
soul, and the tincture of the soul shall be taken
into the Majesty of God; which the soul attracteth
again into itself, and that will be its refreshing and
quenching, and so it will be able to subsist in the
fire: But that soul which is turned back into this
world, and that the substance of this world cometh
to be in the fire, then the soul will be without God,
for in the abyss of this world is the hellish fire,
and into that it must go, and there eat what it had
cooked here: for every one's works follow him.
29. And then they will say to the wise virgins;
O give us some of your oil: but the wise virgins
will say; O no, lest we should want as well as you,
and perish with you: Go to the merchants of this
world, to the sophisters, and buy oil for yourselves.
But before they shall bethink themselves how the
oil is to be bought, and where it is to be had, the
gates of heaven and hell shall be shut: and upon
that followeth the eternity, and this being [of this
created world] passeth away. Consider this, for
there is no dallying with the spirit of this revelation:
It concerneth body and soul: he that will
see, let him see, but he that will not, yet he is
warned.
The Gates of the Great Misery and Lamentation,
[shewing] How the Image in the Mother's
Womb, while it is yet a Sulphur, [viz. an
inanimate Lump or Mass], is destroyed: /infected or poisoned]
so that many an Image, according to the spirit,
is a Beast, also a Toad, and a Serpent; which
afterwards appeareth plain enough by its
Condition, Will, and Conversation; and if it
should not be helped again by God in Christ,
so that it is new-born again, it must remain
so Eternally in its Figure.
30. Dear children in Christ, our purpose in
revealing this, is not thereby to reproach mankind:
It is the very truth, we have highly known it:
Moreover, Christ, the mouth of truth itself, saith
so, who calleth Herod a fox, and the Pharisees a
generation of vipers and serpents: and the Scripture
here and there calleth the tyrants, lions, bears,
wolves, and cruel beasts; and the Revelation of
John, also Daniel, and the other Prophets, have
deciphered the potent rulers of this world, by evil,
fierce, and cruel beasts; truly they have not meant
thereby the image of God; for that were not right,
that God should compare his image, which is
angelical, to such abominable beasts: and yet he is
the truth itself, and out of his mouth proceedeth
no deceit or falsehood, nor any untruth: and seeing
he hath called the rulers of this world so, therefore
it is [spoken] concerning their governments; for
they raise wars, murders, and all mischief in their
dominions: and are those devouring wolves, lions,
bears, foxes, vipers, and serpents; for they appear
so in the presence of God: though outwardly they
have the image of man, yet the spirit of their soul
is such a beast: and upon that followeth God's
Predestination [Election] : although God willeth that all
men should be helped [or saved], yet he knoweth very well
who are desirous and capable of any help.
31. We do not here shut up the grace of God
from those that turn and become New-born out
of this bestial condition: for Christ is therefore
become man on purpose to help us, that we may
come again into the similitude of God: and HE
hath therefore brought our human soul into the
fire of the anger of God, as into the abyss of the
centre, into hell, and into death, where our souls
lay shut up, and out of death and hell again, into
the tenth number, into the eternal tincture of God,
upon the cross, from whence the soul existed from
eternity, which appeared before the time of this
world, in his wisdom.
32. And you are to know, that every soul, while
it is yet in the seed, is no [living] creature, but is in the
fire, or a fire of the tincture, and is a will of the
creature; and it standeth yet in the power of the
parents, either to quicken [enliven] or destroy the creature,
which [to destroy] runs opposite against the order
of the creation, and is an abomination in the sight
of God: and hereby is shewed you, that such as
the tree is, such is the fruit that groweth out from
it: yet the compulsion is not wholly perfect,
for the two kingdoms, viz. love and anger, stand
presently in the wrestling, one against another:
For God hath brought his love in Christ again into
the humanity: and so it standeth in strife against
the anger.
33. But you must know, that a false wicked
seed may well be forsaken: and if that come to be
so, then the nature of the fire often figureth the
spirit of the soul in a horrible form, which is not
known in the outward image, but only in the evil [or false]
conversation and will; as is seen that everyone's
conversation is from his abyss, and the spirit of his
soul is so in figure: for the inward goeth outward:
whatsoever the will in the abyss is, that the body
doth; and though he dare not do it openly,
because of disgraceful punishment, yet he doth it
secretly, and hath continually a will to it, neither
doth he account it any vice: for he knoweth not
himself, but he himself doth that which he judgeth
[to be evil in another].
34. And then, secondly, we give you to understand,
that the outward dominion ( viz. the spirit of
this world) is also in the seed, while it is yet a
sulphur, [that is, matter without form or life], and
in that [spirit] hath the constellation its dominion,
and it draweth also with it inwards the constellation
of the stars, as they have influence [aspects], and infect
or poison a thing, and also make it lovely, according
as the imagination is at all times: for every
star is a seeking; a desiring (viz. of the wonders),
according to its property: Each of them desireth
a life, and the elementary sulphur, which is also
desirous, longeth after the desiring of the stars,
and attracteth, or letteth that into it, and becometh
pregnant therewith.
35. Now, in the stars, there are all the properties
of this world, whatsoever all the creatures are, that
the stars are, every one of them helpeth towards
life, and to the revelation of the wonders of God:
for therefore they are brought into being, because
God would open all forms of nature: and many of
them make a property of a dog in the outward
spirit of this world; many of a wolf, a bear, a lion, a
fox, a hare, a bull, a peacock, a cock, also of a toad,
a serpent, and so forth, after the condition of all
sorts of creatures; and so, if such a star bo, fixed,
so that it hath received the virtue of the sun
through the introducing of the spirit; then it is
powerful, and its imagination presseth along in the
seed, whereby a creature getteth such a property
in the elementary life and spirit, as well in men
as in beasts.
36. And such an evil property many times
covereth the soul, and enticeth it from the will
of God, so that it goeth out from God's will; for it
often cometh to pass, that the image of God is in
the soul (which desireth [or longeth after] God),
and is captivated with such an outward spirit,
which plagueth and tormenteth it; this you see
and may know by such as many times fall into
foul and heinous sins and wickedness, (for the outward
spirit casteth them headlong thereinto), and
then suddenly they fall into such great sorrow and
repentance upon it, that they sigh and turn and go
on towards abstinence [or amendment] ; and that
is a strong combat of the soul against the spirit of
this world: for it often doth a thing that it never
had in its mind or thought, much less in the
purpose to do it, and yet is so suddenly entangled
[and overcome] .
37. For when a man is secure, and doth not
always stand in fear and trembling before the
anger of God, then the devil slippeth into the
spirit, and looketh narrowly when there is in a
man any evil constellation of his property and
stars, and so casteth a man headlong into an
unexpected fall, into wrath, murder, whoredom,
theft, poisoning, and death: This is his art, which
he is most diligent in.
38. For the outward life is fallen quite under
the power of the stars, and if thou wilt withstand
them, thou must enter into God's will, and then
they are but as a shadow, and cannot bring that to
effect which they have in their power: neither
do they desire it, but the devil only desireth it:
For the whole nature boweth itself before the will
of God: For the image of God in man is so
powerful and mighty, that when it wholly casteth
itself into the will of God, it overpowereth nature,
so that the stars are obedient to it, and do rejoice
themselves in the image: for their will is that
they may be freed from the vanity, and thus are
kindled in meekness in the image, at which
the heaven rejoiceth, and so the anger of God
in the government of this world is quenched;
for when that is burning, man's wickedness is
guilty of it, in that men kindle it in the spirit
of this world.
39. For a false wicked malicious man kindleth
the elements, for he casteth his evil power and
falsehood into them, which the wrath of the abyss
devoureth, and thereby groweth stirring and working;
which otherwise the love, in the meek life,
would keep back: But if the wrath of God be
strong, then it overpowereth this world, and then
saith the prophet from the spirit of God, / will
let my wrath come upon you, which will devour
and destroy you.
4 0. For God is nothing but goodness, and
willeth not the evil: He warneth man before-hand,
that he should still the wrath, by turning and
going out from the anger; but when this is not
done, then he suffereth that to come which man
hath awakened, viz. wars, famine, pestilence: Now
God doth not this, but man himself, which maketh
wars; and the heaven withdraweth its fruitfulness,
and the spirit of this world kindleth itself in the
hellish poison and wrath, and so diseases and
the pestilence come forth, which God is not guilty
of, but man hath awakened them, and they devour
him: for thereby the anger is sharpened, and
getteth a longing to devour: for men awaken it in
their wickedness and malice, and kindle it, whereas
otherwise it would be at rest.
41. You must understand it thus; Adam hath
left it us for an inheritance: If he had continued
in the will of God, the anger had not touched him
to eternity; and then the devil had been shut up
in the wrath; and therefore he hath wrestled with
man, and thrown him into sin, so that he hath
awakened the anger in the spirit of this world, in
which the devil is the Great Prince, and increaseth
his kingdom with the souls of men: and thus the
devil is a prince of this world, or else he could not
touch a fly, or move a leaf, if man had not kindled
the property [and working] of the anger; even as
he is altogether void of strength in a time when
men are virtuous and honest; and therefore he
driveth men so eagerly to unchastity, for he
knoweth well what he getteth by that, and what
ability it hath in the incarnation, [or man's coming
to be], and what fine spirit is begotten out of a
false will [and unchastity], to which [spirit] he
hath a great access and power.
42. And then, thirdly, we give you to understand,
from a true ground, what the great secret
mystery of the anger, and of the devil is; for we
demonstrate it to you thus: There are two sorts of
dominions in man, even while he lieth in the seed,
enclosed in the mother's womb, as in two tinctures;
one out of the eternal matrix, as the tincture of
the soul; and the other out of the centre of this
world, as from the spirit and life of this world; so
that often a whole false soul is figured (according
to the devil's will), and so is captivated by the
anger; and then also the spirit of this world, (if
it be in a good constellation at the time of the
spirit's awakening), oftentimes figureth a very
friendly, lovely, outward spirit, which can give
good words cheap enough, and yet its soul is a
devil: He giveth sweet words with his mouth, and
the spirit of his heart is poison, and he thinketh
only how to do evil or mischief, and that with a
pretence of fair carriage to hide it; and such an
one dwelleth in two kingdoms, viz. in this world,
and with the devil: He doth not believe in any
God at all, for he accounts himself a god; and
although he liveth in the history as an hypocrite,
as if he were the child of God, that he doth for a
show; and so the devil tickleth his heart, so that
he supposeth the kingdom of God consisteth in an
historical knowledge; if he can tell that there is one
God in three Persons, and that God became man,
and hath turned his grace and favour towards us,
then he is Christian, and the child of God
[enough].
43. Some ascribe to the sophister power and
authority to forgive sins: but he that is a
sophister, and attributeth such a power and
authority to himself without the will of God,
without entering with his will into God, he is the
devil's and Antichrist's priest, as well as the
hypocrite which hangeth on the history, and
accounteth the knowledge [of that] for faith: No,
righteousness and truth must follow faith; and
although the devil, in the outward spirit, (being
evil in respect of its constellation), assaulteth man,
and often overthroweth him, yet the heart suddenly
desireth righteousness and truth again, and
is at variance with the devil concerning the sin
committed.
44. But a false wicked soul careth not for
righteousness: If it can but cover its sin, then it is
well enough: It seeketh merely to deceive under
an outward appearance, which it carrieth about in
the hypocritical spirit of this world: Its holiness is
a mere outward show, and it knoweth not the will
of God at all; but it supposeth the will of God
consisteth in ceremonies; but the ceremonies are
of this world, and are but signs, that the simple
laity [or common people] might consider what God
hath to do with man.
45. The covenants of the most precious testament,
which the hypocrite useth for a show, are no
benefit to him: He doth but provoke God to
anger, in that he will go about to make God a
dissembler, to cover his own wickedness.
46. O thou Antichristian world, what mischief
hast thou done with thy ceremonies, in that thou
hast set them in the place of God? If thou hadst
declared to sinners God's anger and punishment,
and the devil's false lust, and how a sinner must
go forth from his sins into the will of God, and
with true sorrow and repentance, in a right trust
and confidence, be born again in God, and that
God only seeketh and would have the abyss of the
heart, viz. the soul, and that all false and wicked
lusts and desires must be removed out of the
heart, O how well hadst thou taught!
47. But the Councils [Nice, Trent, etc.] have been brought in,
only that thou mightest be lord over silver and
gold, and over the souls, minds, and consciences
of men; and so thou art indeed the Antichrist in
thy hypocrisy and appearing holiness: Thou hast
instituted ceremonies, and glisterest in imitation of
Aaron; but why do you not live in the obedience
of Aaron towards God? Every one looketh upon
the fine hypocritical performance of the work, and
his heart is carried away towards the hypocrisy,
and supposeth, that when it keepeth or celebrateth
the ceremonies, that it is an atonement of the
anger of God; but it is idolatry, and that which
entangleth the heart, and leadeth it captive in the
hypocrisy: It were better to use no ceremonies,
but barely to perform the express command of
God, which he hath left us in his covenant and
testament: The congregation of Christ can well
sound forth, and sing of God's deeds of wonder,
but best of all in the mother tongue, which every
one understandeth, and can lift up his heart and
soul therein, and so the whole church or congregation
of Christ, as one body, exulteth in God, and
singeth of the wonders of God, which doth stir up
attention and consideration, which in a strange,
or foreign language, is but hypocrisy and ostentation,
whereby pride will vaunt itself, for it
always appeareth very willingly in a seeming divine
posture in hypocrisy: for the devil is such an idol,
for he mocketh God, his Creator, therewith, and
so painteth forth the Antichrist before the face of
God, that God should see what a potent lord and
prince he is, who can shine as the Majesty of God
shineth, and so he maketh such a glistering in
mockery to God, and bringeth the souls of men
into the glistering [hypocritical show of holiness].
48. O thou proud and covetous Antichrist, what
hast thou done that thou hast thus brought thyself
and many thousand souls away from God to
thy own glistering pomp? How wilt thou be able
to subsist, when the bright countenance of God
appeareth ? Where will thy poor soul turn away,
in thy glistering hypocrisy, when the day of Judgment
shall come? Seeing all must pass through
the fire, where will your own appearing holiness
remain? Will it not remain in the fire? For no
soul can reach God, unless it be turned into the
will of God, and be regenerated in God, else there
is no subsisting in the fire.
49. For the soul must be tried through the fire,
and must not be turned in any whither, but into
great humility, unto the love and mercy of God,
in the humility of Jesus Christ; it must bring
Christ's body, and stand in the wisdom of God,
that must be its body, else it will not be acknowledged
for God's child: for it must be as pure as
it was when it was created upon the cross: It must
be regenerated upon the cross of Christ, and enter
with Christ in the flesh and blood of Christ,
through the death of Christ, through the anger of
God, into the ninth number, as into the tincture
of the eternal divine fire; and there it standeth as
a creature before the tenth number, as before the
holy Number Three, and humbleth itself before the
Number Three, and the Majesty of the Number
Three embraceth it as a dear child: So the humility
is the food and strength of the Majesty, out of
which the brightness goeth forth from eternity to
eternity.
50. Where wilt thou, hypocrite, remain with
thy glistering lustre, which is generated out of
covetousness and pride? O ye children of God,
Go out from this whore ! She standeth on the
devil's stage, and is carried in a show of triumph,
to God's disgrace and contempt.
The Great Open Gate of the Antichrist
51 Hearken and see, thou poor soul, we will
shew thee the very Antichrist who domineereth
over the whole world, whom God hath made known
to us that thou mightest see him: for thou hast
hitherto accounted him a god; but now his shame
must come to light: for he is so secret that none
know him, unless they be born of God, so that
they apprehend God's essence and will, otherwise
he remaineth hidden in every man; for there is
none but hath him, and carrieth him in his heart;
yea, if one be a child of God, and yet hath not the
deep knowledge of God, he hangeth still to him [depends on him] :
for the devil hath insinuated himself in the form
of an angel into him: Therefore mark what here
followeth, for it is the number of the Seventh Seal,
and declareth the eternal day.
52. Observe it, ye children of God, for I myself
formerly, before the time of my high knowledge,
did thus reverence and honour him, and supposed
it was [according to] God's will: for I was taught
no otherwise; and the whole world is in the same
conceit; though that doth not hurt the ignorant,
but that he may be saved in his simplicity well
enough, yet God will reveal him in this last time.
For here the devil will lose his sting in the children
of God, into whose hearts this knowledge
shall spring up: for it is the right steel wherewith
God's love-fire is struck, and whereby the soul
receiveth Christ's body, and is born in God: for
the soul needeth no other birth, but a returning
and entering into God.
53. Behold! thou poor wounded soul, thou
standest and prayest thus, O God, forgive me my
sins, let thy anger cease, and receive me into thy
grace; and it is very well done; but thou understandest
not how God receiveth a poor sinner:
Thou supposest it is as when thou comest before
the prince or judge of the land, and hast forfeited
thy life, and prayest him, and he of grace forgiveth
thee thy misdeed, and so thou art quit and
freed: But thy sins fly in thy face, and thy heart
accuseth thee, that thou art yet guilty of the
punishment: And just thus you come also before
God: and so many hypocrites are thereby generated:
You suppose God, in his essence and spirit,
taketh your sins away from you: Do you not
know what the Scripture saith, that all our works
shall follow us? And if it shall happen, as aforesaid,
then God must move himself upon every one's
will and purpose to call upon him, and cast away
his sins from him, and yet from eternity God hath
moved himself no more but twice; once with the
creation of the world and all creatures; and a
second time in Christ's becoming man, and there
the Heart of God moved itself. [Note, The third
time God will move himself in the power of the
Holy Ghost through the mouth of Christ at the
Last Judgment Day, when all shall return again
into the ether: The first moving is according to
the Father; the second according to the Son; and
the third according to the Holy Ghost; otherwise
he moveth himself no more in eternity.]
54. Behold! when God forgiveth thee thy sins,
when thou callest upon him, he taketh nothing
away from thee, neither doth he fly down from
heaven into thee, for he is from eternity in thy
soul, but in his own Principle; thy soul, as to
him, is only gone out from his Principle; understand,
out from the holy will in the Majesty, into
the anger. Now, in the anger, thou wert in the
eternal death, and the man Christ, who is God
and man, hath made a passage through the death
and anger to the Majesty of God; you need only
to turn, and go through that passage, through
the death of Christ, through the anger into the
Majesty, and so you will be embraced as the most
beloved angel, that never committed any sin: also
no sin will be known in thee, but God's deeds of
wonder only, which must be opened in the anger:
for the love hath nothing to do with that fire, [viz.
the love cannot open the wonders of the anger],
neither doth it mix itself with the fire [of wrath], but flieth
from it.
55. Now, therefore, when you pray thus, O
God ! forgive me; you always doubt, because of
your sins, whether God will hear you, and come
into your heart. Behold! do not doubt; for by
your doubting you despise and contemn the
Majesty: It is also a sin; but cast all your sins
in general upon a heap, and come confidently [or earnestly]
with your desiring soul, in humility, to God, and
enter into him: Do but turn your soul out from
the will of this world into the will of God: cast
yourself, with your whole reason, and all your
thoughts, into the will of God; and although
your heart and the devil say utterly, No, yet
make your outward reason dead, and enter in
with force, and continue steadfast: Look not back,
as Lot's wife did, who was turned again into
sulphur, and into a pillar of salt, but stand fast:
Let the devil, and the spirit of this world, and
also thy heart, with flesh and blood, struggle
[what they will], yet give no place to reason;
when it saith, thou art without God, then say,
No, / am in God, I am in heaven in him, I will
not in eternity depart from him: The devil may
keep my sins, and the world this body, yet I live
in the will of God; his life shall be also my life,
and his will shall be my will: I will be dead as
to my reason, that HE may live in me: All my
doing shall be his doing: Give thyself up to him,
in all thy purposes: Whatsoever thou takest in
hand, commit it to his pleasure and government,
that all may be done in [or according to] his will:
Behold ! if thou dost thus, all evil lusts will depart from thee; for
thou standest fast in the presence of God, and the
Virgin of his wisdom leadeth thee, and openeth
to thee the way to eternal life, she warneth thee
of the evil or false ways, she always driveth thee
on to abstinence or amendment, and submission
or resignation.
56. But, that you have so great obstacles and
hindrances of doubting in this way, is [caused by]
the strife of the soul against the devil, who layeth
himself in the way as a filthy swine; therefore
cast thy sins upon his neck, and do not doubt;
and if thou canst not leave that [doubting], then
reach with thy soul into God, for God is in thee:
Christ hath opened the gates into his Father; do
but enter in, let nothing keep thee back; and
though heaven and earth, and all the creatures,
should say thou canst not, believe them not, go
forward, and thou wilt suddenly get in; and as
soon as thou comest in, thou gettest a new body
on to the soul, that is, the body of Christ, which
is God and man; and thou wilt afterwards have
ease and refreshment in thy heart; thou wilt get
one that will draw thee, and set the falsehood of
the world before thy eyes, and warn thee of it.
57. Therefore, observe, there are many that
think with themselves, saying, I will pray to
God to take away my sins from me, that I may
be released of my old sins: and when it cometh
to pass that they attain the love of God, they
think the old sins are passed away and forgiven;
[saying], I may now sin anew, I will afterwards
repent once again, and cast the abomination away
from me: Indeed that were a good way, if the
purpose were at hand: But hear, when thou goest
out from the love of God, then thou hast all thy
sins, which thou hast committed all thy life long,
upon thy neck again: for thou turnest back again
into the house of sin, and forsakest God; thou
goest out from God into the kingdom of the devil,
and thy works follow thee whithersoever thou
goest: The purpose cannot help you, unless you
go on in your purpose.
58. Or do we alone say this? Doth not Christ
say, When the unclean spirit goeth out from a
man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest
and finding none; and then he returneth again
into his house, and when he cometh there, he
findeth it swept and trimmed; and then he goeth
and taketh with him seven other spirits, which are
worse than himself, and entereth in, and dwelleth
there, and so the last [condition] of that man is
worse than the first? Do you understand this
[similitude]? You have driven out Satan, and
have cleansed your heart, and have well swept
your house of sin, and trimmed it; and now,
when you are secure and careless, then cometh
the devil with all the seven forms of nature, and
slippeth in, and thrusteth the old worldly lusts
into thy heart again, out of which all wickedness
and blasphemies are generated; for he dwelleth
in those seven spirits, and tickleth thy heart
therewith, and deceiveth thee seven times more,
and so thou yieldest to him, and fallest from one
sin into another; and then he bindeth the poor
soul fast to the sin, and letteth it not run after
abstinence or amendment, but bringeth it into
fleshly lusts; and when the soul beginneth to stir
[or struggle], he saith, To-morrow, to-morrow: so
long till he get the venison.
59. Therefore it is said, We must stand still
and watch; for the devil goeth about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour: He
cometh at all hours before the door of thy heart,
to see whether he can get in or no: for it is his
beloved lodging: He hath no rest in hell, but in
the soul of man he hath joy and pleasure: he can
therein open his malicious wonders, wherewith
he may sport himself after this time also, wherein
he taketh his pleasure; for hell and the anger of
God desireth that.
60. Again, you see how the great whore of
Babel hath set herself up in this her play of
forgiving [sins]: She boasteth of the keys of
Absolution, that she can forgive sins, and boasteth
of the Apostolical Keys, and maketh sale of sins
for money, and usurpeth that from Christ's words,
Whose sins ye remit, &c.
61. Now I would fain know, how the sins of the
repentant sinner, who casteth himself into God's
will, and who goeth forth from this world's reason
into God's mercy, can have his sins retained?
And much more would I fain know, how one sinful
man can fetch another out of hell into the kingdom
of heaven, when he cannot get in himself, and
goeth about only to make the devil proud with his
covetousness, in that he selleth the forgiveness of
sins for money? Whereas all sins are drowned only
in Christ's New Body, in Christ's flesh and blood:
And Isaiah saith, in the person of Christ, / tread
the wine-press alone: and I alone blot out your
sins, and none besides me. But if it were true,
which Antichrist boasteth of, then one devil must
drive away another; and then, what would become
of the New Regeneration in Christ's flesh and blood,
whereby our souls are brought into God?
62. If it could possibly have been that God
might have taken away Adam's sin in such a
manner, God had not [needed to] become man, and
so have brought us into God again: He might
rather have forgiven Adam his sin, as a prince
pardoneth a murderer, and granteth him his life:
No, you yourself must go out from sin, and enter
into the will of God; for God doth not stand by
as a king, and forgive sins with words: It must
be power: You must go out from the fire into the
light; for God is no image for us to stand before,
and give good words to, but he is a spirit, and
penetrateth through the heart and reins, that is,
soul and spirit: He is the fire of love, and his centre
of nature is the fire of anger; and if you were
in hell among all the devils, yet then you are in
God, for the anger is also his, it is his abyss; and
therefore when you go out from that, you go into
the love of God, into the liberty that is without
source [or pain] .
63. There is no other forgiveness [to be] understood,
but that thou goest out from [the will
of] this world, and of thy flesh also, from the
devil's will, into God's will; and then God's will
receiveth thee, and so thou art freed from all sins,
for they remain in the fire, and thy will [remaineth]
in the tincture of God, which the Majesty enlighteneth:
All is near thee; thy sins are near
thee, but they touch thee not; for, as we have
mentioned to thee before, the still eternity is a
liberty; but yet do not think that it will take
away thy sins from thee into itself, as also thy
abominations and wickedness; but they belong to
the anger of God, there they must swim, and be
bestowed on the devil; but they stand beneath
thee in the centre, and thou art as a fair sprout
[and fruit] which springeth up forth through the
anger, to the love [fire], and to God's deeds of
wonder; and yet the anger is not in God, but in
the abyss; and when the devil lifted himself above
God, then he went into the abyss, and became
God's footstool.
64. The text in Matthew, Chap. 16. ver. 18, 19,
hath another understanding in it: The Temple of
Christ (viz. Christ's children) is Christ's Bride, he
hath adorned her with his fairest ornament; and,
as he hath loved us, and brought us through
himself into God, his Father, so we should love one
another: And when a sorrowful repentant man
cometh, which will yield himself into the congregation
of Christ, and desireth Christ, him the congregation
should receive, for Christ hath received him;
and so we are all one body in Christ: And as one
member preserveth and loveth another, so we
should receive the poor converted sinner into our
congregation, and in the place of God make known
to him the forgiveness of his sin, and lay our
hands upon him, and make him partaker of our
body and congregation; and so our spirit, and
virtue or power, will rest upon him, as is to be
seen by the Apostles of Christ.
65. And when we receive him into the congregation
of Christ, then he is [become] our brother:
When we say, thy sins are forgiven thee, then they
are drowned in the blood and death of Christ, and
he is a member of us: We take not away his sins
from him, but Christ, in us, drowneth them in his
blood, through our, and his, faith [earnest desire] : When we lay
our hands upon him, and pray over him, then we,
with our will, which is [given up] into God,
penetrate into his will; and bring him into our
will, as into one [and the same] body in Christ,
to the Father: His will becometh our will; for he
giveth up himself through Christ into the bride,
as into our will, which is also Gods will; and we
receive him with good cause into our love, into our
will, and sink ourselves down in him through
Christ into God: Thus we forgive him his sins;
for we are the congregation and bride of Christ,
whom he loveth, and what we do, that doth Christ
in us, and God in Christ: It is all one, Christ is
ours, and God is Christ's; and the converted sinner
is ours and Christ's, and also God's: We live in
one body, and have one spirit, and are one flesh;
and as we enter into the will of God, so we also
take our brother along with us: We cast the sins
away behind us into the fire of anger, but we live
and flourish in God: We have the key of heaven
and of hell: When we make known to a sinner his
sins, and he will not be converted, then we bind
him up in the abyss; for we pass through and shut
it up, and then he must swelter in his sins; and
then the devil buffeteth him: When we draw him
no longer with our word, which hath power, then
the devil draweth him, but if he turn at length,
then we have power to take him away from the
devil again, (and through our spirit) in Christ to
bring him into God.
66. Behold! such a power Christ's bride only
hath, and none else; and if it were so, that a man
were in a wilderness where he never could meet
or see any man, and turned himself away from
sin into Christ, and desired and longed after our
society, when he could not possibly come to us,
and though we did never know of him, yet nevertheless,
since he casteth himself into our society
[by his desire ], we take him along with us through
Christ to the Father, and thrust his sins quite
away behind him, and spring up with him out of
one and the same ground, for Christ's body is the
ground of our souls, wherein he groweth and
beareth fair fruit in Ternarium Sanctum.
The Highly Precious Gate.
67. Now, saith reason, How can Christ's body
be our body? Is he a creature? How can we
dwell in the body of Christ?
68. Behold, O man! Adam was our father, and
also our mother: Now, we have all of us Adam's
flesh, soul, and spirit; for we are all begotten out
of one and the same flesh, soul, and spirit, and are
all of us members of him, (as the branches are
members of the tree), and he brought us into
death.
69. He had the fair virgin of the wisdom of God
in him, which is every where, and is the fullness of
all things, as God himself is, which he lost: He
should have left it us as an inheritance, yet he
went out from it: But the second Adam, Christ,
came forth from God, and was the heart of God,
and had the fair virgin in him: He took our flesh
and soul into his virgin, and that became flesh,
soul, and spirit; flesh of our flesh, and soul of our
soul; and yet remained God: Our flesh stood in
Christ, in Ternario Sancto, he received from us,
in the virgin of God, the eternal, and also the
earthly flesh; though indeed it was only the
earthly source [and property], for nothing that is
corruptible entereth into God.
70. When the Word came into [became] the flesh, it
then became heavenly; as in Adam it was become
earthly; for the flesh of Christ was in the eternal
will brought into the Word, so that the flesh and
the Word was one undivided Person: Now, the
business is done in the eternal will, out of which
Adam was gone away, and God brought us, in the
soul of Christ, into that will again.
71. Now Christ's soul is our soul, for it is
Adam's soul; and Christ's flesh is our flesh, for he
took it on him from our humanity; and the fair
virgin of God in Christ is our virgin, for Christ
hath put the same into our souls; and so now, if
we give up ourselves wholly into Christ, then Christ
liveth in us, and we in him: though the outward
mortal body hangeth to us, yet Christ liveth in us,
and will at the end of the world present us wholly
pure, without blemish, in his flesh.
72. Thus we are one body in him, for he is our
body in God; and Adam is our body in this world:
There is no such gross untoward body in God, but
a body in power, with heavenly flesh and blood;
where our will is, there is our heart also: God is
in us, and when we enter into his will, then we
put his wisdom on to us, and in the wisdom Christ
is a man. Thus we enter into his humanity, and
are a New Man in the life of Christ, in the soul
of Christ, in Christ's flesh, in the tincture of Christ,
in the Majesty of Christ; and Christ is in his
Father, and his Father is the eternity, and the end
of nature.
73. And whither wilt thou go further, thou poor
man? Let not the devil and Antichrist befool
thee: No man hath any power in God, unless he
be in the will of God, in God's love in Christ, and
then he hath the soul and flesh of Christ; but if
he have that, then he is not a covetous wretch,
nor a flattering hypocrite, and one that selleth the
kingdom of heaven for money; as Simon Magus
offered to give money to St. Peter, that he would
give him the power, that on whomsoever he laid
hands, they should receive the Holy Ghost: Then,
saith Peter, Be thou accursed with thy money:
Dost thou suppose that the gifts of God will be
sold for money?
74. And where then have you your power and
authority, ye sophisters, to sell the kingdom of
heaven, and usurp it into your power? Ye are not
Christ's disciples, but the disciples of Antichrist,
the whore of Babel: No priest is capable of the
office, unless he be in the will of God, his absolution
is no absolution; but? the congregation of Christ,
to whom he giveth up himself, absolveth him:
The sophister is as useful to the church, as a fifth
wheel is to a waggon.
75. Thou sophister, how wilt thou impart the
Mysterium Magnum, which thou hast not? The
congregation or church hath it; and the repentant
sinner that cometh to thee hath it, and thou art
a sophister, and art fitter to be in a stall of oxen,
than in the church: How can the devil absolve a
sorrowful sinner? And thou only servest thy idol,
the belly.
76. O thou blind world, how art thou blinded?
Thou supposest thou oughtest not to dare to
meddle with the Mysterium Magnum, and that
thou art not capable of it, and that the priest
only is capable of it; but if thou art in Christ,
thou hast all free [unto thee], thou hast his
covenant, [together] with the Baptism and Sacrament,
and the body and blood of Christ therein;
but the covenant belongeth to the believers, and
not to the sophisters; Christ's disciples, and again
their disciples, and successors, have baptized; and
the believing church or congregation have broken
bread in houses, and where they could, and have
fed upon the body and blood of Christ: The
Temple of God was everywhere, wheresoever
Christians were met together.
77. We do not mention this for the pulling
down of churches, in which Christ's office is
exercised; but we shew you the hypocrites,
who bind you wholly to them, that you may
go out from them, and go to the congregation
of Christ, into the temple of Christ, and that
you may not rest satisfied merely with the
churches of stone walls, for they are only a heap
of stones, which is a dead thing; but Christ's
Temple is living.
78. You are all agreed about the church, and
go diligently thither, but none will enter into the
temple of Christ: But pray go into the temple of
Christ, and then of dead you will become living:
There is no other remedy, neither in heaven, nor
in this world: It must be so, or else you remain
in darkness.
79. Not that we judge so rigorously, for the will
of God standeth open for all men, by what name
soever they are called: A Heathen may be saved,
if he turn to the living God, and with true reliance
yield himself up to the will of God, for then he
cometh into the will of God, though he knoweth
not what the kingdom of Christ is; and in the
will of God, there is the Heart of God, and Christ
hath the Heart of God in him, for such an one doth
truly believe: Yea, one that is dumb and deaf is
saved, that never heard of God at all, if he incline
his imagination unto obedience, into the will and
righteousness of God.
80. Who will judge such an one ? Wilt thou,
sophister, do it? Thou who makest [Articles of]
Faith out of opinions? What need opinions?
Opinions are not the spirit of Christ, which is a
quickening spirit; but Christ's spirit testifieth to
our spirits, that we are the children of God: It is
in us; what need we then seek so long after
opinions? We say, that in all [sorts of] opinions
there is heresy, as also Antichrist. But if you
have the words of Christ, cleave to them sincerely,
not only to the letter, but to the living
Word, which is God and man. That is the Scripture
which you should read and preach out of
Christ's spirit, and not out of conjecture: but if
you cannot apprehend that, why then do you teach
so much, and contrive opinions? Do you suppose
God to be a liar, as you are, that he should hold
your invented opinions to be his Word, whereas
you are but dead to God? He that hath an
opinion whether a thing be or no, he is in doubt:
Now doubting is not believing, but is a dangerous
way to go.
81. But now the troubled soul, which is thus
tossed to and fro, from one conceit and opinion to
another, when it perceiveth every one to cry out,
Here is Christ, Here is Christ; follow me: the
other party are heretics, and speak from a false
spirit: The soul then asketh, To what party shall
I turn and apply myself? Whither shall I go,
that I may hear the right gospel preached?
Where shall I find Christ? They all curse and
judge one another, and yet I hear them all speak
from the Bible, and confirm their doctrine from
thence, and teach the way of God: What shall I
do? For I find them to be so spiteful and bitter
one against another, and they ride up and down in
the hearts of princes, and stir up wars and persecutions
for the cause of faith and religion, and
deliver one another up to the devil, and say one
of another, that the devil speaks out of this and
that man, he is a heretic, fly away from him.
The Gate o/TMMANUEL.
82. Behold, dear soul, how faithfully Christ
warneth us concerning these times, concerning
which we have been hitherto blind: For these false
self-erected priests will cry out and say, Christ is
in the wilderness: Another of them will say, He
is not in the wilderness, he is in the chamber,
or he is in the field; and another again will say,
No, he is here or there, or he is in the Supper, or
in the Baptism; and another will say he is not
in them, they are only signs and symbols: But
Christ saith, Believe them not, and go not forth;
for as the lightning shinethfrom the east to the
west, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man
be; for where the carcase is, thither the eagles
gather together.
83. Christ saith, / am the Way, the Truth, and
the Life, none cometh to the Father, but by me:
I am the Door to the Sheepfold, and am a
Good Shepherd; but all that came before me, in
their own name, of themselves, are thieves and
murderers, and seek only to rob and steal; for
they seek their own honour, but I seek not my own
honour, but my Father honoureth me, and they
dishonour me: I am the Light of the World,
whosoever followeth me, shall have the light of the
eternal life; my Father will give the Holy Ghost
to them that pray unto him for it; when he shall
come, he shall lead you into all truth, for he shall
receive of mine, and make it known unto you:
Take no care of your life, for my Father careth
for you: for where your heart is, there is your
treasure also. [Therefore let your heart and mind
be in the will of God, and then your treasure is
there also.]
84. Which is as much as to say: Run not after
the self-erected teachers, who teach from the
history, without the spirit of God: If they can
speak a little in a strange language, then they will
be teachers, and teach out of art and vain-glory,
to exercise their eloquence, wherein one flattering
hypocrite helpeth forward the other, especially
where much money and honour may be gotten in
the office. Christ said, / seek not my own honour;
my kingdom is not of this world: But they teach
that Christ's kingdom is in the history, [viz. in art,
in eloquence, in the universities, in synods and
councils]. But Christ said to his disciples, The
Holy Ghost will receive of mine, and make it
known unto you, and bring into your mind all
whatsoever I have spoken.
85. Thus, dear children of Christ, let none run
after contentions, controversies, and disputations,
they all say the truth one of another; for they are
all grown out of one and the same tree, and they,
are at variance about the booty and prey of
Antichrist, whose end is at hand: Turn away
your heart and mind from all contention, and go
in very simply and humbly at the door of Christ,
into Christ's sheepfold; seek that in your heart;
you need not much disputation: Pray to God the
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, upon his
promise, that he would open your heart through
his holy spirit, turn with all diligence into him, let
all go whatsoever maketh a fine glistering holy
show in the heaps of stone, and enter into the
temple of Christ, and there the Holy Ghost will
meet you: Yield yourself entirely up unto him, and
he will open your heart, and bring into your mind
all the merits and benefits of Christ; he will open
your understanding, and bring into your mind
whatsoever Christ hath spoken, for he shall receive
from Christ, and make it known unto you.
86. Neither trouble yourself with taking care
where the best place is for him to open it in,
[whether in a cloister, a college, a wilderness; in
this or that office, ministry, or opinion] for, as the
sun riseth in the east, and shineth to the west, so
Christ shineth in every corner and chink of his
Incarnation, or being man, even to eternity: seek
not after one place more than after another, he is
every where; for where the carcase is, thither the
eagles gather together: Christ is every where, and
his children can come to him every where, and
when we enter into Christ, then we are with our
carcase, and satiate ourselves with his flesh, and
drink of his blood; for he said, My flesh is the true
food, and my blood is the true drink, they that eat
of my flesh and drink of my blood continue in Me,
and I in them. Also, [he saith], Father, I will
that those whom thou hast given me, may be where
I am; they were thine, and thou hast given them
unto me, and I give them the eternal life; and I
will raise them up at the Last Day: if you continue
in me, then my words continue in you.
87. Now therefore, when you see that the world
contendeth about the kingdom of Christ, then
know that they have lost the keys, the Mysterium
Magnum, and are not in Christ, for there is no
contention in Christ, but love and humility, and a
desire to walk before his neighbour in righteousness;
wheresoever we are, there we are in Christ:
Whensoever we meet together, we should all bring
his will with us into the congregation, viz. the
desire of Christ; and when we desire him, we
receive him, and become one body in him: He
feedeth us with his body and blood: When we
use his testaments, with the Last Supper, then he
feedeth us with his flesh, and giveth us his blood
to drink, he baptizeth us with the baptism, to be
one body in him: Why then are we so long
a- searching? for as the sunshine filleth the whole
world, so doth the body and blood of Christ also:
His substance is the eternity, where there is no
space nor place: He is shut up in nothing, for he
is in the Father, and the Father is in him, and the
Holy Ghost goeth forth from the Father and the
Son: Now, every being [or all whatsoever is
brought into a being] is created out of the Father,
and the Father is in all [things], and upholdeth
and preserveth all [things], he giveth to all things
life and being: And the Son is in the Father, and
giveth to all things virtue and light: He is our
light; without him we know not God: How can
we then speak rightly of him? If we will speak
rightly of him, we must speak from his spirit, for
that testifieth of God; but if we speak from art
and history, we speak from ourselves, and not from
God, and so we are thieves and murderers, and
not shepherds of Christ: A thief cometh but to
rob and steal, and so the disputers come but in
their own name only, in that they desire to have
great respect, and many rich friends; and such cry
out, Here is Christ! and there are heretics !
88. Dear children of Christ, stop your ears from
these blaspheming wolves, for they scandalize not
only one another, but the congregation of Christ,
which is every where, in all countries where there
are repenting men, who turn from their sins unto
God: They are in Christ, though they be Turks:
There is no respect of persons or of names and
opinions with God: he seeketh the abyss [or bottom] of the
heart.
89. Antichrist is the cause of the Turks falling
into peculiar opinions of their own; for there was
no end in controversies and disputations, which
was a stumbling-block of ofFence to the Asians,
Assyrians, Egyptians, Moors, Grecians, and
Africans: The Indians lead a more divine life,
in their plain simplicity, than Antichrist; though
indeed not all of them; yet nevertheless there are
many customs among them that are more pious
than the pride of the whore.
90. The whore hindereth the kingdom of Christ,
so that all people are scandalized and stumble at it,
and say, How can those be God's people, who are
only tyrants, proud, covetous, obstinate, stubborn,
blood-thirsty people, which practise only how to
get away that which is another's, and seek after
power and honour? The very Heathen are not so
malicious: We will not make ourselves partakers
with them: God dwelleth every where, he is as
well with us as with them: We will lead an
honest, virtuous, and pious life, and call upon the
only true God, who hath created all things, and
go out from their contentious disputations: We
will continue in one sort of opinion, and then our
country will continue in peace; when we all believe
in one God, then there is no strife, but then we
have all one and the same will, and may live in
love one among another.
91. See here, beloved Christian, this is that
which hath so advanced the Turk, and brought
him to that great strength, so that their might is
climbed up into the number thousand: They rule
in one opinion and love towards [or over] the whole world;
for they are a tree of nature, which standeth also
in the presence of God; but it groweth no higher
than to the number thousand, for then its wild
heart gettefch a countenance, having eyes, [or he
will then come to see] .
92. Thou Antichrist shalt not devour him with
thy dragon's mouth, as may be seen in the Revelation:
He possesseth his kingdom to the end: but
when thou shalt be gone down into the pit, and
that Christ himself shall feed his lambs, then will
he come to be [of the fold] of the lambs, when thy
murdering sword is broken; thou shalt not be
broken with spears, or weapons of war, thou
hypocrite, but thy lies shall stifle thee.
93. He that goeth about to slay Antichrist, is
Antichrist's beast, upon which he rideth: he will
be but the more potent in contention; for the
hearts of people turn away from the truth, and go
out from God into contention: and there every one
looketh after the wonders of the contention, and
runneth after the eloquent sermons, and so cometh
out from Christ into opinions, and seeketh ways in
the darkness, wherein there is no light: thus the
devil ruleth in the Antichrist, and leadeth the
children astray into by-ways of human invention,
so that they see no more in the light of Christ.
94. Thus it happened also to the mighty countries
over which the Alcoran ruleth, where they departed
from Christ, and fell into opinions, and then there
grew to them a tree out of nature in their heart,
and they fell upon one opinion, and so lived in
that wild tree.
95. But the Antichristian kingdom liveth in
many trees; they run from one to another, and
know not which is the best; for they are gone
forth from the paradise of Christ, they boast of the
doctrine of Christ, and deny the power thereof, and
thereby they testify that Christ is not in them:
nay, they desire not to have him in them: they
thrust him, with his body and blood, with his
humanity, out of the congregation, they will have
a sign from him, whereby they may in their
pride possess his place, and so keep up their rich
fat bellies: Christ, in this outward life upon earth,
was poor, and had not whereon to lay his head:
But they in Christ's place will be rich and fat:
they say, He is in heaven, we will therefore erect a
stately glorious pompous kingdom to his honour,
that we may enjoy good times, and honour in his
office. We are the highest in this world, for we
are God's stewards, we manage the office of Christ,
and have the Mysterium Magnum: How dare
any speak against us? We will quickly make
them hold their peace.
96. O beloved children of Christ, open your
eyes, and see; do not run so after the devil; do
you not see? Pray learn to see ! Do you not see
how all is done for money? If one give them store
of money, they praise him for a gracious Christian,
who is beneficial and bountiful to the Church: If
one die, though all his life long he was an unjust
false usurer, whoremonger, thief, and murderer,
and they knew it very well, if he or his bestow
much upon the Church [colleges or learned men],
O how is he applauded for a blessed and glorious
man ! What great sermons do they make for him,
that other unrighteous men may hear and consider,
and follow their example to do the like? But stay,
doth the kingdom of Christ consist in such [giving
of] money, and in the mouth of the priest? No, it
shall not prosper; here the wine-press yieldeth
much blood, as the Revelation of John speaketh.
97. And thus the innocent are seduced, [or the
poor souls hereby fall into despair], for he that
giveth not to them much, or hath it not to give,
is no honest man with them: He is not beneficial
towards the ministry: but if the least mote is
found amiss in his life, O how they divulge it,
and make a great matter of it, how is he trodden
underfoot! However, at length, they devoutly send
a good wish after him, and say, God forgive him.
Open your eyes, ye children of Christ, this is the
Antichrist, go not a- whoring after him: Many
such have been sinners, and have turned from their
sins, and have entered into Christ, and their soul
is in Christ an angel of God; and therefore how
dare you, proud Antichrist, according to your own
pleasure, despise one that is the angel of God? O
thou blind man, dost thou not see this? Art thou
the shepherd and minister of Christ, and steward
of God? Hast thou the Mysterium Magnum
about thee? Is thy office the office of Christ, as
thou boastest? Why then art thou a liar, in
applauding the wicked for money? Have Christ
and his Apostles done so ?
98. Hearken, thou opposer of Christ, look into
the Acts of the Apostles; Where one sold his
possessions, and laid a part of the price of the
money at the Apostle's feet: And Peter asked him,
saying, Have you sold the. field for so much ?
And he said yea; and had a false, doubtful [and
deceitful] mind: then said Peter, thou hast lied
unto the Holy Ghost; behold the feet of them that
stand at the door, they shall carry you away out
of the congregation of truth. What think you
now of yourself? Seeing this has happened to the
hearers of Peter, what would have been done to
Peter himself if he had thus lied for greediness of
money, and so blasphemed the Holy Ghost? But
thou art he that dost so: thou applaudest the
unrighteous, that thou mayest but get money; but
thou regardest not his soul, neither dost thou
regard how thou broachest forth thy lies in the
congregation. How many times do some stand
and bewail the wickedness and deceit of those thou
praisest, wherewith they unjustly oppressed and
wronged the needy, and also bewail thy flattering
hypocrisy and lies?
99. Hearken! Is not the name of Christ
blasphemed thereby, and the congregation of
Christ scandalized? When they say, The priest
tells lies in the pulpit for money, if it were a sin,
he would not do i t: and so in like manner, when
any lie and deceive people to get money, goods,
and honour, if they can but cover it with a fine
pretence, what matter is it? For [they think] if
it were so great a sin, the priest would not do it;
they think they will once repent of it, and the
priest hath grace enough in store for them.
100. Behold, thou false and wicked Antichrist,
thus thou liest to the Holy Ghost (in Christ's office)
who trieth the heart; and thou liest to the congregation
of Christ, and dost scandalize it therewith:
it were a great deal better they had never heard
thy lies, and then their hearts would not have been
so filled with lies.
101. How canst thou say, that thou executest
the office of Christ, seeing thou art a liar and
mocker of Christ? Thou art not born of Christ,
but of lies; and when thou speakest lies, thou
speakest from thy beast, on which thou ridest, in
the Revelation; thou speakest of thy own, from
the spirit which is in thee, and yet wilt [take upon
thee] to feed the sheep of Christ; thou shouldst
feed them in a green meadow, in the fat pasture
of Jesus Christ, and tell them the truth; but
thou feedest them upon the devil's rocks, and the
mountains of the abyss, in his lustful grass.
102. If you be the minister of Christ, then
serve him in spirit and truth; reprove sins without
any respect of persons; spare not; lift up your
voice like a trumpet; reprove all wickedness of all
persons, both superior and inferior; teach the way
of Christ rightly; praise [or sooth] none for his
money and honour's sake: for Christ praised none
of the potentates for gain's sake; neither did he
reprove any of them out of envy of their greatness
and honour; for he commendeth order and saith,
Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and
to God the things that are God's: but he reproveth
the hypocrites, the Pharisees, in that they
made long prayers, and stood in the streets,
making a devout show, and would be seen of
people, and sought only after praise; and such an
one is the Antichrist also: and therefore the spirit
in the Revelation of Christ saith, Go out from her
my people, that you be not made partakers of her
sins; for he that alloweth of sin is one spirit with
the sin; he that for favour confirmeth [or consents to] the lie of
liar, he is guilty of that lie, and of the wickedness
thereof.
103. God the Father hath regenerated us in
Christ, out of the truth, therefore we should not
be the servants of lies; for when we enter into
lies, we go out from Christ, and are with the devil,
who is the father of lies; and so is the Antichrist
also, and all that depend on him, and serve him;
it were better to be far absent, and to have Christ
formed in the heart, than to hear lies in the
Antichristian office [of the ministry].
104. 1 know, thou evil beast wilt cry out upon
me for an envious person, as if I did grudge what
good people give thee; no, that is not my ground
[or meaning] ; for Christ saith, Whosoever ministereth
the Gospel, should live of the Gospel; you
must not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth
out the corn, it must feed: they cleave not all to
the Antichrist; we have only set forth the wicked
Antichrist, who rideth in the hearts of men; we
despise none for their good conscience: Only, the
Antichrist shall stand naked for a witness to all
people: He rideth over the face of the earth in
all countries and nations. [Note: wheresoever
pride, covetousness, envy, and wrath, are predominant
in falsehood, deceit, self-seeking, and an
hypocritical show of holiness, there is the greatest
Antichrist of all.]
105. People now suppose they have rooted him
out, and are now in strife and contention about
him; every one will slay him: O thou blind
simplicity, thou slayest him not; do but go out
from him, and enter into the temple of Christ,
and let Antichrist's houses stand [empty], and
then he will /a// of himself, and at length be
ashamed of his own abominations and whoredom:
only do not worship him; do not bow the knee
before him; but worship God.
106. Do but open your eyes, the whole world
is full of God, the whole matter [of conversion]
is about the outward life; in the inward God
dwelleth in himself; and the outward life is also
God's; but the abyss is in it, viz. the centre of
nature, in which the severe, stern life is, which is
the cause of this warning.
107. There are Three Principles, (three kingdoms),
two are eternal, and one hath a beginning,
and is transitory: Each of them is desirous of
man: for man is an image of all three: and the
Being of all Beings is a longing, seeking, and
desiring, which existeth out of the eternal will,
and the will is the eternity.
108. In God there is no dominion, but in the
Three Principles, in their creatures: There is in
God no more but one only spirit, which cometh
to succour his whole Being in the water and in
the fire, out of which everything existeth; he is
no destroyer, but preserver of a thing; and if any
thing perisheth, the fault lieth in the dominion [government]
of nature; but that which is out of the eternal
cannot perish, but only changeth into another
property; for which [cause] we give you warning:
and all the teaching and seeking in this world
is only that you may be warned of the severe
source or property of the fire; there is indeed
a life in it, and no creature can subsist without
it have that life: but we that are men are not
created for that life, and therefore God would
have every creature in that property wherein he
created it, that his eternal will may stand stedfast,
and not be broken.
109. Every thing hath free-will, and therein
its inclination to its property; the whole being
of this world, and of the angelical world, also of
the hellish world, is merely a wonder in the
presence of God: He hath set light and darkness
before every one, thou may est embrace which thou
wilt; thou wilt not thereby move God in his
Being; his spirit goeth forth from him, and
meeteth all those that seek him; it is God's
seeking, in which God desireth the humanity,
for it [the humanity] is his image, which he hath created according
to his whole Being, wherein he will see and
know himself: yea he dwelleth in man. Why
then are we so long a- seeking? Let us but seek
to know ourselves; and when we find ourselves,
we find all; we need run no whither to seek God,
for we can thereby do him no service; if we ourselves
did but seek and love one another, then we
love God; what we ourselves do to one another,
that we do to God; whosoever seeketh and findeth
his brother and sister, hath sought and found God:
In him we are all one body, of many members,
every one having its own office, government and
work; and that is the wonder of God.
110. Before the time of this world we were
known in his wisdom, and he created us into a
being that there might be a sport in him.
Children are our schoolmasters, (in all our wit
and cunning we are but fools to them); when
they are born, their first lesson is to learn to play
by themselves, and when they grow bigger, they
play one with another: thus hath God from
eternity (in his wisdom, in our hidden childhood)
played with us: but when he created us in
knowledge and skill, we should then have played
one with another, but the devil grudged us that,
and made us fall out at our sport; and therefore it
is that we are still at variance, in contention; but
we have nothing to contend about but our sport;
when that is at an end, we lie down to our rest,
and go to our own place; and then come others to
play, and strive and contend also, till the evening,
till they go to sleep into their own country, out
of which they are come: for we were in the land
of peace, but the devil persuaded us to go into
his unpeaceable country.
111. Dear children, what do we mean, that we
are so obedient to the devil? Why do we so
contend about a tabernacle which we have not
made? Nay, this country is not ours; nor this
government ours; it is our mother's, and the
devil hath defiled it; let us pull it off and go to
our mother, that she may put on us a fair, pure
garment again, and then we need not contend
about the defiled garment: here we contend about
a garment, because one brother hath a fairer
garment than another; and yet the mother
putteth every one's own garment upon him;
And why therefore do we contend with our mother,
who hath brought us forth? Are we not all her
children? Let us be obedient children, and then
she will purchase a new garment for every one
of us, and then we shall rejoice, we shall all
forget the defiled one.
112. We go into the garden of roses, and there
are lilies and flowers enough; we will make a
garland for our sister, and then she will rejoice
with us; we have a round to dance, and we will
all hold hands together; let us be very joyful;
there is no more might to hurt us, our mother
taketh care for us: we will go under the fig-tree;
how abundant is its fruit! How fair are the
pine-trees in Lebanon! Let us be glad and
rejoice, that our mother may have joy of us.
113. We will sing a song of the driver [or
oppressor] who hath set us at variance. How is
he captivatedl Where is his powerl He is not
here to be found; neither hath he gotten the
defiled garment, which we contended about, the
mother hath it in her keeping. How poor he is !
He domineered over us, but now he is bound!
O great power, how art thou thus brought to
scorn! thou that didst fly aloft above the cedars,
art now laid under foot, and so art void of power:
Rejoice, ye heavens, and ye children of God; for
he that was our driver [oppressor, and persecutor],
who plagued us. day and night, is captivated:
Rejoice, ye angels of God, for men are delivered,
and malice and wickedness taken captive.
THE TWELFTH CHAPTER
Of the [true] Christian Life and Conversation.
What Man is to do in this Valley of Misery,
that he may work the works of God, and so
attain the Eternal highest Good.
1. THERE is nothing more necessary and profitable to man in the valley of misery upon
earth, than for him to learn to know what he is,
from whence he is, and whither he tendeth, what
course he taketh, and whither he goeth when he
dieth: There is nothing more profitable than to
know these things; for the outward conversation
remaineth in this world, but what the heart conceiveth,
that a man taketh with him: The will
of the spirit of the soul is eternal, that which
is comprehended in the will of the spirit of the
soul, that the soul carrieth with it when the soul
and body part. Therefore it is necessary for us
to labour for something that is good, wherein the
soul may accomplish its eternal sport, and have
its joy therein; for the works of our soul follow
after us; and the works of our hands, and of the
outer spirit, remain in this world: for the soul
is in the eternity, whatsoever it maketh and
imagineth here, that standeth always before it;
unless it breaketh that again, and then it is as a
broken work, which it hath no more to do withall,
for it is gone out from that; for the eternal cutteth
an eternal model, and the corruptible and inceptive
cutteth a corruptible model; for after this
time every thing will stand in its own model; for
that which the eternal will conceiveth, that getteth
an incorruptible form, if itself doth not break it.
2. Therefore it is good for man to choose in this
life that which is best, in which he may have joy
eternally; for when thou choosest beauty, bravery,
and honour or riches, then thou art thereby made
unbeneficial [useless] to thy brother and sister, who are in
misery in this world; for the bravery of this world
despiseth the mean and simple; and riches wring
away the sweat from the poor, [or grind the faces
of the poor]; and great power and authority press
and oppress the low and miserable; great honour
despiseth the simple, and will not condescend to the
needy. Seeing therefore in the other life, the souls
of many that have been simple, miserable, and in
this world contemned; poor, oppressed, and dejected,
will appear; and seeing it is certain, that
in their form will not be comprehended much
highness, bravery, desire of might and honour;
for their souls have, in this valley of misery, only
shut up themselves into the meek love of God, and
yielded themselves into simplicity and lowliness,
and have not dared to have communion with
might, pomp, and great honour, for such things
have had no affinity with them.
3. And seeing it is so, that the souls in the other
life shall have joy one with another, and enjoy the
gifts and virtues one of another; and seeing then
the souls will have their substance which they have
here taken in and conceived, and appear in their
eternal will as a. figure, therefore we ought very
highly and heartily to consider it, that we do not
in this world conceive, and let into our hearts,
pride and stoutness, also covetousness and oppression
of the miserable; for with these we cannot
enter into the congregation of Christ, they receive
us not into their society, for it is a contrariety
to them.
4. For in the kingdom of heaven there is nothing
but love and concord: every one inclineth his love
and favour to the other, and every one rejoiceth in
the gifts, power, and beauty [lustre] of the other, which
they have obtained from the Majesty of God:
and they all give thanks to God the Father in
Christ Jesus, that he hath chosen and received
them to be children: for the mighty power of the
strong [who have been mighty in faith, and in
the wonders of God] rejoiceth for the weak, that
the spirit of God is in them, and that they also are
in the wonders in the eternal will.
5. Therefore, dear children and brethren in
Christ, let us, in this world, enclose our hearts,
minds and wills, in humility into one love, that we
may be one in Christ: If thou art highly advanced
to power, authority, and honour, then be humble,
despise not the simple and miserable, but consider
that in the other life they shall be in one highness
with thee; squeeze not the oppressed; afflict not
the afflicted; that they may not take it to heart,
and bar up the gates of heaven against thee: if thou
art fair, beautiful and comely of body, be not
proud; nor do thou despise those that are not like
thee, that thy simple brother's and sister's soul may
not loathe thee, and reject thee out of their mind:
Be humble, that thy brother and sister may rejoice
in thee, and present thy beauty to the praise of
God, who hath created so beautiful a chaste and
humble creature; be modest and friendly in words
and works.
6. Thou that art rich, let thy streams flow into
the houses of the miserable, that their soul may
bless thee: Thou that art in authority, bow not
the right [bend not the law] to please the mighty,
that the oppressed may bless thee in thy righteousness;
and then thou also art in the congregation of Christ:
If thou art exalted to high dignity, give not place to thy mind
to fly [aloft] ; humble thyself in the congregation
of Christ, and then the congregation will bless
thee, and will receive thee into their love.
7. O how well is it with the rich and potent,
when the mean and simple congregation of Christ
love and bless them: O how well is it with
a teacher and preacher, who is a right minister of
Christ, who giveth the meat and drink of Christ to
the lambs that are committed to his trust, and
refresheth them therewith, so that they yield their
souls into his obedience, and heartily love him,
and desire all welfare to him! O how happy and
shining is he in Christ I How glorious a shepherd
is he ! For his lambs follow him, and he bringeth
them to the chief shepherd.
8. O how ill a condition is he in whom they
curse according to his true deserts ! The bright
garment will be taken away from him, and he
putteth on the vizor of wickedness: But he that is
cursed for righteousness sake, he presseth forth as
the gold out of the ore, and putteth on Christ's
crown of martyrdom, wherein all the holy souls at
the Last Day will highly rejoice, in that he hath
continued the stedfast disciple of Christ, who hath
not looked upon honour, power, money or goods,
but hath rightly fed the sheep of Christ.
9. Dear brethren and sisters in the congregation
of Christ, bear with us: Let us a little rejoice one
with another: We bear a hearty love towards you,
and speak from the spirit of our mother, out of the
spirit of the eternal wisdom of God, [viz. from the
spirit of humility] .
10. We will speak friendly with you concerning
our mother, and concerning our native country.
We will speak of great wonders, how things go
with us all: and so we will comfort ourselves, for
we are in a strange country: We will persuade one
another, and agree, and will go home into our own
country, to our mother: O how will she rejoice
when she seeth her children [come to her into the
eternity] : We will tell her of the great afflictions
which we underwent in Jericho, we will speak of
the great danger we were in, among many evil
beasts: We will speak of the driver or oppressor,
who held us so long captive; and we will speak
how we were freed from him: Let us be unanimous,
that our mother be not grieved and offended
with us.
11. Rejoice ye heavens with us, and let the earth
be glad, for the praise of the LORD goeth over all
mountains and hills: He openeth the doors for us,
that we may go to our mother: Let us rejoice and
be glad, for we were born blind, and now we are
come to see: Open the gates of the LORD, ye
servants of God, that the virgins with their music
may go in; for that is the dance wherein we shall
rejoice and be glad with the virgin, saith the
spirit of the LORD of LORDS.
12. O beloved children of men, even all that
have proceeded and been generated from Adam,
in every island and country, wheresoever ye dwell,
by what name soever ye are called: Mark, The
God of heaven and earth, who hath created us all
and begotten us out of one body, who giveth us
life and breath, who preserveth our body and soul:
He calls us all into one love: Ye have gone astray
a long while, for ye have followed human inventions
and opinions, and the devil hath deceived you, so
that ye hate, persecute, and murder one another,
and are utter enemies one against another. Open
your eyes, and see: Have we not all one and the
same breath, and are generated from one and the
same soul? We have all of us one God, whom we
honour and worship; that very one God hath
created us all: Moreover, we have one and the
same heaven, which is God's, and God dwelleth
therein: We shall all meet together at the Last
Day who have trusted in God, why therefore do
we so long dispute about God and his will?
13. If we lift up our hearts into him, and yield
ourselves to him in obedience, then we are all in his
will: None can thrust us out of it. We all stand
in this life, in a field, and are growing: The stars
and the elements are the field wherein we grow:
God hath sown us therein: Adam is the first
grain that God himself did sow, and out of that
grain we all grow, we are all from one seed, we are
are all brothers and sisters, [of one body]
14. But the devil hath sown weeds amongst us;
he hath sown no man, (for that he cannot do in
eternity), but he hath blinded us, and hath sown
pride, envy, anger, covetousness, and evil will [or
malice'] into our mind, therewith to destroy us, for
he grudged us the prerogative to be children of God
in the place he was in: He is fallen away from
God, through anger, pride, and envy, and hath
turned himself away from God, and therefore he
will deceive us, that his own kingdom may be
great.
15. O dear children, trust him not; for where
God soweth his good seed, the devil followeth and
soweth weeds amongst it. This you see in the
doctrine of Moses, and the Prophets, also in
Christ's doctrine: They all preached the way of
God in one and the same love, and directed us unto
the living God, and that we should go out from our
evil fleshly lusts, (from lying and falsehood, from
unclcanliness, from covetousness, from murder and
theft), and enter into a pure chaste humble life
in the fear of God, and wholly put our trust in
him as his children, and acknowledge him for our
Father, and then he will give us rain and blessing
to our body and soul, and will after this life take
us to himself into his kingdom, where we shall
all be eternally freed from our afflictions. This,
and no other, is the doctrine of Moses, of the
Prophets, and of Christ, that we should love one
another, as one [and the same] life, and God
in us.
16. But observe what the Antichristian devil
hath sown into it: He hath sown pride and selfhonour,
with state and pomp into it: He hath set
himself in the chair of Moses, and of the Prophets,
as also upon the authority of Christ, and hath led
us astray, so that we have made a rent and
division [or sect] amongst us: He hath erected
a Predestination, and of the spirit of God, which hath often
shewn itself forth in man with wonders and mighty
works, hath gone about to make an envious malice,
as if he loved one people, and hated another, as if
he chose one generation, and not another; whereby
he (who is called the devil's Christ and Satan )
sitteth only in honour and voluptuousness. He
hath raised wars among the people, so that people
are at variance, and set up opinions, and have
stirred up the anger of God, for they are gone
away from God with their opinions, and so the
anger of God hath ruled over them, and oftentimes
destroyed them; for that which hath no good in it,
God will never endure it in his country, but giveth
it up to the anger, though indeed itself runneth
headlong into it, and whetteth the sword, so that
one people devoureth another: From the beginning
of the world to this time, all contentions, disputations
and wars, as also envy and malice, have risen
from Antichrist, who will be honoured as a god
in the form of an angel, and the devil dwelleth
in him.
17. Which Antichrist is plainly to be discerned
by Cain and Abel, in that Cain slew his brother
for faith [and religion's] sake, for Abel had set
his heart upon God, and had committed himself
to God, which [whom] God loved, and accepted his
sacrifice; and Cain had set his heart upon this
world, and would be a lord upon earth, and his
mouth gave God good words, but his heart stuck
fast in an earthly conceit [and opinion] : He
loved the spirit of the Mammon of this world,
and the devil slipt into it, and so his sacrifice
was not acceptable to God, but the smoke fell
down to the earth, and the devil accepted his
sacrifice, and so he slew his brother by the
devil's instigation, and in his false conceit and
opinion: He desired the glory, honour, and power
of this world, and Abel desired the love and
grace of God.
18. Thus, dear people, all over the earth, ye see
that ye are all of one flesh, but that you have
divided yourselves one from another, which the
devil in the Antichrist hath brought to pass:
Your fear of God hath many times been great, and
ye have done great honour and reverence to men,
even from a good meaning out of your love, as
thankful people towards the government of the
Holy Ghost: But because ye have given such
honour to men as belongeth to God, (though God
was contented, so long as they continued in the
love of God in humility), therefore they are fallen
off from what they were, into lust after temporal
honour, and have fallen into a lust to domineer
with cunning and deceit, over your goods and
souls, and are become a snare unto you; for the
Antichristian devil is slipt into them, and the
spirit of God is departed from them, and they
have no more spoken from the spirit of God, but
from their pride and art: Strange languages must
do the work, and must be the bringers forth of the
Mysterium Magnum.
19. But behold, dear brethren, how very
thievishly they have dealt with you, they have
set themselves up over the earth, and have drawn
to themselves all power, might, and honour, and
ascribe all authority to themselves, and have
blinded you with flattering hypocrisy, and have
led you from God into opinions, and there you go
astray; they have stirred you up to contention
and wars, so that you have murdered one another,
and wasted your native countries: They have
bereaved you of body and soul, also of your goods
and wits, and made you believe you did God good
service in it, when you became enemies to those
that are not of your opinion; and yet you are all
thus blind [even on both sides] .
20. Behold! these are the curates over your
souls, your spirituality, the clergy: Look upon
Popery, whence hath that sprung? From the devil
at Rome: He hath caused Asia, Africa, Assyria,
Persia, and Greece, to depart from his deceit; for
the Antichristian priest-devil hath blinded the
whole world, and brought them into vain traditions
and opinions, and turned them away from that
unanimous love: He hath placed more holiness
in one order and opinion than in another, and hath
sold the highest degree of [sacerdotal] orders for money:
That order which had much, and rich livings and
revenues, must give much to the Chief Devil, that
he might be fat, and a lord upon earth: The
simple lay-people were persuaded these orders
were holiness, and so worshipped before the
dragon in the Revelation, and sought for pardon,
absolution, and forgiveness of sins from thence:
O how the common people were tied to them!
Whomsoever spoke against it, was accounted a
heretic, and the people burnt them with fire: Thus
did the simple people do, and were persuaded they
did God good service in it.
21. O thou simple holiness [devotion]! Thou art not
guilty in so doing; neither shall it be imputed or
accounted to you at the Last Day, (for you went
on blindly in it); and though on that day the holy
Martyrs shall be set before your eyes, yet you have
been zealous for God in blindness: The Blessed
Martyrs (who have seen the light of God) will not
therefore cast you out of their congregation,
seeing you knew not [what you did], but were
blindly led on to do it.
22. Yet, behold and observe what a zealous will,
or earnest desire can do, if one enters into the will
of God with his whole desire; and although he
knoweth not what he doth, and is zealous in a
strange opinion, and yet his heart is directed into
God, and believeth in ignorance, very stedfastly,
that it is pleasing to God, in such an opinion many
great wonders and works have been done in the
midst of the Antichristian kingdom, for there is
not any thing impossible to a strong faith.
23. Into these wonders hath Antichrist insinuated
himself, and hath made almost as many
opinions [tenets and sects] as there are days in the year, among
which, in the believers, who have so in blindness
believed in their opinion, even wonders and
miracles have been done, and the Antichrist hath
ascribed it to the opinion: whereas the opinion
could not make a fly to stir, but the firm and strong
faith which went out of the opinion into God,
that hath awakened the wonders; for the spirit:
of God is in the faith, and not in the opinion; and
the faith is from God; for the soul inclineth itself
in the opinion into God, and layeth hold on the
spirit of God: The opinion is the fire, but the soul
stayeth not in the fire, but presseth out from
thence into God; it blossometh out of the fire, as
a fair flower [out of the earth] .
24. The opinions have been tolerable enough, in
God, and God rejected them not, so long as the
soul sought God through the opinion; and so long
also the church of Christ stood in a government;
but when the devil crept into it, and made a
stately glistering kingdom of it, when the priests
sought only honour, covetousness, and voluptuousness
in it, and did lead men away from God merely
into their works [ceremonies], and so the opinions became
altogether blind; for they themselves went out from
God into the works of their hands, in forged and
invented ways, therefore God let them go, seeing
they would not be directed by his spirit.
25. And Asia, Africa, and Greece, are to be
accounted happy, in that they are gone out from
the works of men into the one only God again:
Although indeed they have been blind concerning
the kingdom of Christ, yet their mind continued
in the one only God, and in concord one among
another; and have not so vehemently scandalised
and reproached one another about the dear name
of Christ, as these have done who have been led
blindfold in the darkness of their works; for these
have not only hated those that departed from them,
but they themselves have reproached and snarled
at one another in their opinions, as dogs about a
bone, and have led the laity astray, who go
groping in the dark, and know not which opinion
is the best.
26. Thus you hang to opinions, and are perfidious
to God, so that when a simple man cometh
to die, he knoweth not whither his soul shall enter:
He hangeth to his works and opinion, and forsaketh
the will of God, and so remaineth without
God: And where now do you suppose the poor
soul remaineth, when it is without God's will?
Behold, we will tell you, for we know certainly,
for the spirit of our mother openeth it to us, so
that we see with both eyes.
27. Behold, Christ saith, Where your treasure
is, there is your heart also. Behold, the soul is
involved in the opinion, and so runneth with it
to the patron [or author of it] who hath so taught
it, and seeketh him, and if it findeth him not,
then it becometh sorrowful, and hath no rest, and
so hovereth between heaven and hell, and would
fain escape the devil; therefore it happeneth that
many times the poor souls have appeared again
in the congregation, or else in houses, fields, and
churches, and have cried to the congregation for
help with their prayers, and have submitted
themselves to the orders, and supposed to find
ease; from whence Purgatory was framed; for
that soul hath the purgatory indeed, if it cannot
attain the will of God; and in such fervent
casting itself down in the opinion, it is sunk down
through the opinion, and at length come into the
still eternity. But we understand here those souls
which in their opinions have imagined [or sought]
after the kingdom of God; and not the souls of
the deceivers, who have sought their profit and
pleasure therein; those are quite gone a- whoring
with Antichrist, for they are bound to him with
an oath; and though they sit in hell-fire a- whoring
with him, yet they flatter him with their hypocrisy,
and reproach God as if ho, had dealt unjustly with
them; for what the soul doth here in this [life]
time, into which it involveth itself, and taketh
it into its will, that it taketh with it in its will,
and after the ending of the body cannot be freed
from it; for afterwards it hath nothing else but
that, and when it goeth into that and kindleth
it, and seeketh with diligence, that is but an
unfolding of the same thing [substance of the work
it has wrought in this life], and the poor soul
must content itself with that: Only in the time
of the body can it break off that thing which it
hath wrapped up in its will, and that standeth
afterwards as a broken wheel, which is broken and
useless, and no soul entereth into it any more,
neither doth it seek any more therein.
28. Thus we say unto you, that the Antichristian
souls, after the breaking of the body,
seek no more for the door of Christ, for they know
nothing of it; they know only of what they here
conceived or took in, and the souls sink down in
that opinion into the deepest ground, much deeper
than they here conceived; for that which was
known in many of them of the same opinion, what
any or all of them know in the same opinion, that
one soul alone knoweth, for it is one body with
all those that are of the same opinion, and they
have one heart in many members, wherein every
one manageth their business, which standeth so
till the judgment of God, which afterwards shall
make separation, where then all kindreds upon
earth shall howl and lament, when they shall know
that Judge whom they here so despised.
29. Hearken, you accursed Antichrist, What
answer will you give, in that you have led astray
the people from faith in God, and from the justification
of the passion and dying of Jesus Christ,
into thy deceitful hypocrisy in opinions, only for
thy pride, honour, and covetousness sake? You
have persuaded them so, that many of them in
their youth and ignorance have sworn and vowed
to you: What have you done? Even the same
that Christ said to the Pharisees, Woe unto you
Pharisees, who compass sea and land, till you
have made a Jew and Proselyte, and when you
have made him so, then you make him twofold
more the child of hell than yourselves; and this
also the Antichrist doth.
30. In Germany they suppose they are now
gone out from Antichrist with their contentions,
but it is not so yet: for they which now curse
Antichrist, and lay his shame open, are even
grown out from the tree of Antichrist, and are
the wolves and bears of Antichrist, which suck
from him, and devour him; for the spirit of this
principle hath commanded them so, they must do
it; for they are one trumpet among the seven
angels in the Revelation; but they all wind one
horn, and sound so that the earth shaketh with
it: But when the thunder of it shall follow, then
will the mystery of the Kingdom of God be revealed
again, and our door of grace in Christ be opened
again, which Antichrist hath sealed up, for he shall
be thrown down into the abyss: Observe this.
31. The opinions about the cup and person of
Christ, which are frequent now in Germany, are
also sprung from the Antichristian tree, and they
are the children of Antichrist, which he introduceth
very finely and subtly: O what a cunning artist
is the devil! If you will not open your eyes, it
will continue so to the end: It is told to the
simple, and they are directed to open their eyes,
and not to regard opinions: There stick mere
heresies in opinions: And though they be zealous
in their opinion, and in the opinion press into God,
and so attain God and the kingdom of heaven,
yet they have the tail of Antichrist hanging on
them, for they are zealous against others, and
reproach and persecute them, who are not of their
opinion.
32. Mark this, ye princes, rulers, and magistrates,
suffer not yourselves to be seduced; drive
the teachers into the churches, and command
them to teach the will of God in his love, give
them not lordly power; and do not put any
authority into their hands to make canons and
constitutions, else they will hang to covetousness,
and Antichrist sticketh in all covetousness, and so
do what you can, you will have him on your neck.
33. Look to it ye princes, and regard to hear
those men that are born of God, and not of art
only; for where there is great art [or learning], and not an
humble heart inclined to God, that seeketh not
its own honour and covetousness, there is Antichrist
most assuredly; for in art [or learning] sticketh pride
and self-honour, which would fain rule the world,
and desire to get much gain to themselves; trust
not these, they are not Christ's shepherds: If
you will not follow what is revealed to you, then
the last Antichrist will be worse than the first,
and it will come to that pass, that the world will
be constrained to cast them headlong together on
a heap into the abyss, which Daniel and the
Revelation sheweth them plain enough, and as
we have known it that it will so befall them; for
they are now a besom and rod upon the old
Antichrist their grandfather; but there is one
coming who will gird them also, and set the
truth before their face.
34. Observe it, ye children of God, this is a
sign of the last Antichrist: In his kingdom and
opinions, they deny the [spiritual] body and
blood [spirit] of Christ, [ see bread and wine symbolisml
in which we are born in God: Lift up your heads,
and behold, for your redemption draweth near:
Be not so led astray, and lulled asleep, look not
with strange eyes, but open your own eyes, and
fly from Antichrist into the spirit of Christ: There
are no more ways but one to enter into the
kingdom of Christ, which is set down thus, [as
followeth] .
A Gate, [shewing] which Way we must walk
through this world, into the Kingdom of God.
35. You must go out from your reason out of
the fleshly spirit, and bring your heart, mind, and
thoughts, wholly into the obedience of God, and
yield your will into God's will; and do not feign
ways of your own reason, or ask, Where is Christ?
Direct your way into Christ, and know for certain
that Christ is in your heart: Submit yourself to
him in great humility, cast all your purposes and
doings into his will and pleasure, and consider that
you always stand before the clear countenance of
God, and that Christ sitteth on the rainbow at the
right hand of God in you, and consider that you
stand every moment before the holy Number
Three, and that God, the holy Number Three,
always examineth, and seeth the abyss of your
heart; and take heed that you enter into no deep
thought or searching, but merely into his love and
mercy, and resolve never to go out from it any
more, but ever to continue therein.
36. And then, secondly, consider that you do
what is pleasing in the sight of God the most high,
when you seek with your love your brethren and
sisters in this world, whosoever they are, and by
what name soever they are called, and what opinion
soever they are of. Embrace them in your heart,
help to pray for them, and help them to wrestle
against the devil, and as far as is possible instruct
them with all humility; but if they will not
receive it, then put on the garment of Christ, and
be a good example unto them; be serviceable and
helpful to them, forgive them when they hurt and
wrong you: When they curse you, do you bless
them; when they do you injury, if you cannot
turn it into good and avoid, them, let it pass, and
consider you are but a pilgrim here: Withdraw
your love from none, for your God, in whom you
live, withdraweth himself from none that do but
seek him; be readily yielding to your adversary,
if he once offer to turn his mind: In all your
affairs and conversation love righteousness, and
always have a care that you do your work for God:
We must in this world, in this troublesome valley
of misery, compass our affairs with labour and
pains: We should not go into holes, cloisters, cells
and corners; for Christ saith, Let your light shine
before men, that your Father may have praise in
your works: Do all things from a sincere heart,
in a pure mind, and consider you do it to Christ,
and that the spirit of Christ doth it in you:
Be always ready, expecting the Bridegroom: Let
your heart have no leave to meditate and search
into any other opinion: It is not profitable for
you to know much: Let every one learn to do
his own work, wherewith he may have sustenance
for his body, whether he be magistrate, or
lay person.
37. Let the magistrate learn righteousness, and
to distinguish the false from the pure, for he is the
officer of God: What he doth and judgeth, that
he judgeth for God, and God through him. Let
the laity be humble and mannerly before t he
ordinance of God: If any wrong be done him with
a high hand, and that it cannot be otherwise, let
him consider that he suffereth wrong for the truth's
sake, and that it is a great honour for him in Christ,
in the presence of God.
38. In all your matters, conversation, dealing,
and actions, always set the judgment of Go d before
your eyes, and have a care that you live blameless
here, for this [life] time is short; and we stand
here in a field a-growing: Therefore see that you
be good fruit for God, at which all the angels and
hosts of heaven may be pleased, and rejoice: Bear
malice to none, for that inviteth the devil to a
lodging: Be sober and temperate: Let not the
desire of this world persuade you, and though it
happen sometimes, do not go on in it: Go every
hour out of death into life: Crucify yourselves in
true repentance and conversion from evil.
39. When you are reproached for your fearing
God, and evil spoken of, and it is false and untrue,
then rejoice most of all, that you are become
worthy to suffer reproach for the doctrine and
honour of Christ: When you are in affliction, be
not dismayed, consider you are in the will of God,
he will suffer no more to be laid upon you than
you shall be able to bear.
40. Turn away your eyes from covetousness,
from high-mindedness and state, and do not
readily look after such things, that you be not
captivated; for the devil catcheth his birds with
state and high-mindedness, but go not into his net:
Be always watchful, never be secure; for that
fowler goeth constantly about to see where he can
catch any one: Where honest people are mocked
and scorned, go not thither, make not yourselves
partakers of such wickedness, let it not enter into
your ears; that the devil may not tickle your heart
with that foolish laughter, and so you become
infected with it.
41. Summarily, commit yourselves to God in
Christ, and pray to God the Father in the Name
and upon the promise of Christ, for his holy spirit;
desire it upon the promise of Christ, and so you
will receive it; for he is faithful who hath promised
it: He will not deny you of it: You will
receive it most certainly; only give yourself
wholly up to him, that is the greatest and chiefest
[thing] : Commit all to his will, and when you
have it, that will teach you sufficiently what you
are to do: He teacheth you to speak: He giveth
you a mind and knowledge and understanding how
to behave yourselves: Be not careful after what
manner you should do a thing, when you are to
deal with men; but commit all your doings to him,
he will do that in you well enough which is well
pleasing to God; and though you should be in a
burning zeal, and should bring fire from heaven
from the Lord of Lords upon the wicked, yet it is
acceptable to him, for the wicked have awakened
and kindled it.
42. But go on in the power of God, and then
all your doing is well pleasing to God; for, that
any defendeth himself against his enemy, upon
necessity, without any other intent or desire, that
is not against God; for he who hath his house on
fire may quench, it; yea, God hath given leave to
Israel to defend themselves.
43. But he that causeth and beginneth a war, he
is the devil's officer; for all wars are driven on by
the anger of God, wherein the devil dwelleth: God
hath not been the author of wars, for he created
us in love, that we should dwell together in paradise
in friendly love, as loving children, but the
devil grudged us that, and led us into the spirit
of this world, which hath awakened all wars and
mischief in the anger of God, so that we hate and
murder ourselves.
44. Seeing then we are thus begirt with enemies
in this valley of misery, so that we grow among
thorns and thistles, therefore we ought to watch;
for we must watch also over the enemy which we
carry in out bosom, viz. our mind and thoughts,
for that is the worst enemy; also the devil hath
his den of thievery therein, and there is required
great labour and toil to cast out that devil: He
slips many times into our mind, and leadeth us on
in smooth delightful hypocritical ways, so that we
suppose we are in God, and that our ways are
right: There we should constantly have our touchstone
with us, which is the blessed love towards
God and man: We should not take pleasure in
ourselves, but we should be of such a conversation,
that God and man may take pleasure in us for
our virtue; [self-seeking must be quenched, and true
resignation and self-denial must grow and flourish].
45. And when we thus converse in the love and
the righteousness of God, and in the obedience of
faith, then we put on Christ, who setteth the fair
orient crown of pearls upon us, viz. the crown,
the Mysterium Magnum: He crowneth us with his
wisdom, so that we know his wonders, which we
were blind in before, as it hath happened to this
hand, which before the time of the tenth number,
when it was yet in the unit, was as simple in the
Mystery as the meanest of all; but, as the gold
must be tried in the fire, so also it happened to
this hand: corruption and putrefaction were not
wanting: Every one would needs tread the simple
child under foot; where was the first time that
a garland was set upon it: O what great labour
and toil did the devil take that he might sully it!
0 how busy was he, which, when I think upon,
1 very much wonder and thank God who hath preserved
me ! O how he bestirred himself, that he
might tear the garland in pieces! O how eager
was he with Antichrist, in putting him on to
persecute this hand, that every one might abominate
it! But it happened to the devil, as about
Christ, when he so set on the pharisaical Antichrist
that they crucified Christ; then thought the devil,
he is gone now, I shall be quiet enough, and not
be troubled with his doctrine, which destroyeth
my kingdom; so also here: but he thereby awaked
the first storm: Christ stormed his hell, and took
him captive in the anger, and so his den of robbery
was first opened by this hand, which he shall
never be able to shut up again, but it shall stand
open till his judgment: This we write for an
example to the Reader, that he may know what
he must expect in this way, even nothing else but
scorn and reproach.
46. But be of good courage, you dear children
of God, do but help to wrestle faithfully and
valourously, for we all wrestle in this life for an
angelical crown, which lord Lucifer had upon his
head. And how can he be but angry, who hath
lost his country and kingdom, when another cometh
and taketh his crown, and throweth him to the
ground, and holdeth him captive?
47. But wrestle courageously, you dear children
of God, it is but for a little while, and then we
shall get the sceptre and crown: It is better to
be a lord than a captive slave and servant: The
sufferings of this world, if they cannot be avoided,
are not worthy to be called sufferings in respect of
the great glory, which shall be manifested on us.
48. We stand here between heaven and hell, in
a field, and there groweth either an angel, or a
devil out of us: Now, therefore, if any one have
a love to the kingdom of heaven, and would fain
be an angel, he ought to look well to himself: It
is soon done with a man: Thou hast free will,
whithersoever thou inclinest, there thou art:
What thou sowest, that thou shalt also reap:
Let this be told thee [for a warning].
THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER
Of Christ's most precious Testaments *, that Fair
Garland of Pearls of the Noble Highly
Precious Stone ** o/The Great Mystery, and
Philosopher's Stone, which the Antichristian
Church danceth about, and is ever seeking it,
but not in the Right Ground and Place.
* Baptism and the Lord's Supper
** Mysterii Magni and Lapidis Philosophorum [philosopher's stone]
1. IN this Stone there lieth hidden, whatsoever
God and the eternity, also heaven, the stars,
and elements contain, and are able to do: There
never was from eternity any thing better or more
precious than this, and it is offered by God, and
bestowed upon man; every one may have it that
doth desire it; it is in a simple form, and hath
the power of the whole Deity in it.
2. Christ saith, I have the water of eternal life,
whosoever thirsteth, let him come to me and drink
of it for nothing, it shall flow in him into a
fountain of eternal life, and whosoever drinketh
thereof shall never thirst any more: Christ giveth
us his flesh for food, and his blood for drink:
We should eat his flesh and drink his blood, and then
he will continue in us, and we shall continue in
him; where he is, there shall we be also, both here
and there [in the other Life] ; for he will be with
us always, unto the end of the world: He will not
let us his children want; as a father careth for his
children, so he careth for us; and though a father
perhaps might forsake his children, yet he will
never forsake us: for he hath imprinted us in his
hands struck through with nails, and received us
into the wound [or hole] of his side, out of which did run
water and blood; we should believe and trust him,
as his precious Word hath told us, he is the mouth
of truth, and cannot lie.
3. Hear, thou dear Christianity, open thy mind,
and let not reason, which is without God, lead
thee astray: Consider this well: We will shew you
the right ground and scope, without conceits and
opinions: We will set it before you wholly pure,
without spot or blemish, and only shew you what
Christ is: We will bring no conceit of human
invention to please any man's opinion; neither
will we take it from that which the world sets
forth, as in their glosses; but we will speak that
which is revealed to us out of the mouth of Christ,
and what his Testaments are in reality [or substance] .
4. For this is the jewel, the noble stone, which
the Church of Babel danceth about, and about
which she raiseth wars and persecutions: How
very many scandalous and scurrilous books and
pamphlets have been written about it!
5. This is the true jewel of the congregation of
Christ; when the Church of Rome lost it, then it
became a Babel, and the spirit of God departed
from her, and the most potent countries towards
the east, south, and west, turned away from her:
For the Revelation told them, saying, If thou
continue not in my love, I will come unto thee,
and take away thy candlestick from thee; which
come to pass thus:
6. Europe kept the name of the jewel, and Asia
the colour of it; but the virtue of it remained
sealed to them both, for they were both departed
from it: they went groping in the dark: they
grew fat, proud, and stately, and would be lord
over the jewel: they only sought good [or frolic] days, great
honour and glory by it; they built them upon it
a brave glistering earthly kingdom, as is to be seen
by the Romish Babel, which they do as hypocrites,
that they may be honoured by the congregation,
and had in great esteem. That which Paul and
the Apostles left [behind them] viz. That the
congregation should abide in reverence and in
love, and that the elders which behaved themselves
well, should be accounted worthy of double honour,
(which was right in the congregation to do it to
them that behaved themselves well), this they usurp
to themselves, into their own power in [a way of]
compulsion: Men must perform it to them, though
they be no way worthy of it; and because they
could not handsomely use any other sword, therefore
they made to themselves a false sword, viz.
Curse [of Excommunication ], and that should
make men reverence their holiness, that they might
not seem to be bloody Executioners themselves;
just as the Pharisees did, who delivered Christ up
to Pilate; so these also, they are so devout in
show and appearance [they will shed no blood with
their own hands], but their heart is a devil: They
stir up the magistrates upon their devilish Curse
of Excommunication, who must be their executioners,
to execute what their devilish heart hath
concluded upon.
7. O dear princes, open your eyes; your office,
if you do that which is right, is indeed grounded
in nature; but their fictions and conceits are not;
therefore be not Executioners under them: See
with your own eyes; you shall, and must, at the
Last Day, give an account of your office; be not
led about without eyes, blindfold; you should
see with your own eyes: You are the true heads
of the congregation: The lambs of Christ are
committed to your trust; the priests are but elders
in the congregation; if they walk rightly before
them, and give good example to the congregation
by their good doctrine, life, and conversation, then
honour and respect should be given to them as
elders of the congregation of Christ; not that they
are lords over the congregation, but servants of
the congregation: They should have the spirit of
Christ, and bless the congregation, and the congregation
should give themselves up with them
into one love, into one will, and so pray and sing,
and speak together of God's love and wonders, that
so there may be one spirit, one heart, in one will,
and so the weak may be helped by the prayer and
faith of the strong.
8. The congregation should incline their ear to
the speech of the elders, who are strong and
powerful in the spirit, and should receive the word
of the spirit with earnest desire: The elders should
teach with meekness, and deal with the congregation
as with their own children, they should
instruct them in their teaching and reproving with
modest admonition: They should not bring bitter
hearts into the congregation, in sending forth
reproaches against the weak children, that the
feeble be not quite discouraged.
9. But he that despiseth the congregation of
Christ, and departeth from the Christian-way, they
should privately warn and admonish such an one: If
he will not regard, then they have the curse [or
Excommunication] of the spirit to bind him in hell
in the anger of God, that Satan may vex his
heart, till he turn and repent: for the congregation
hath in Christ great power, they have the key to
open and shut; but, as is mentioned before, the
priest alone hath not the power: No, he hath it
not alone, for he is but the servant of the congregation:
The meanest of them all, if he is faithful [loyal in Faith],
hath as much authority in the curse or Excommunication
as the greatest; for we are all members
of the body of Christ: If the meanest of all shut
any out of the congregation in the curse of Excommunication,
if the party is guilty, then he is in
[or under] the curse, or Excommunication; but if
the party has wrong done him, then he is in the
curse, or Excommunication, who hath done him the
wrong, who hath belied him: Therefore look to it,
ye elders, consider what you do, and do not make
the congregation of Christ, which Christ hath
dearly purchased with his blood, to scandalize [reproach,
or offend] one another, else you yourselves are in [or under] the
curse of Excommunication, and are without the
congregation of Christ. Search [try, and examine] and consider
beforehand, ere you judge what spirit's child he
is whom you judge: Try his spirit beforehand, for
many are zealous out of ignorance, whom you
should instruct and receive: you know not what
God's spirit giveth to every one; for he hath many
and sundry gifts: Judge all in the way of love;
be not rigid, be not furious, stern and obstinate:
Instruct the simple in meekness, that he may place
his delight in the congregation; for such were
Christ's Apostles, your predecessors: They taught
in such a manner, and instructed the congregation
by good example, doctrine, and life.
[Concerning the Lord's Supper.]
10. When they met together, and made known
the wonders of the LORD, and sat together with
a fervent spirit; then, after exhortation one of
another, they distributed the Lord's Last Supper,
as he had commanded them: They took bread and
brake it, and ate of it, and thereby, and therewith,
have commemorated the Lord's death; in like
manner also they took the cup, and drank of it,
and commemorated the shedding of his blood;
saying one to another, Take, and eat the Lord's
body, which was given for us on the cross.
11. So also they did with the cup; they took it
in their hand, and drank of it; for the uppermost
of the congregation began, and said to the other,
Take the cup and drink the blood of Christ our
Lord, which he hath shed for us on the cross for
the remission of sins, and commemorate his death,
and the shedding of his blood, until he come again
to judgment, and bring us into himself.
12. This, dear children, was the true Apostolical
practice, and the Last Supper of Christ was even
so; for, when Christ had instructed and taught his
disciples, he began (after supper, when they had
eaten the Paschal Lamb) the right eating of the
Paschal Lamb, and gave them that Paschal Lamb [Passover]
to eat, of which the first instituted by Moses was
but an image and a shadow [or type] ; for he gave them
his heavenly body to eat, and his heavenly blood to
drink, which he had introduced into Mary's womb
in the eternal beginningless heavenly Virgin of
God, in the pure chaste immaterial [virginity],
without spot or blemish, and had assumed it from
his earthly mother.
13. You ought highly [deeply] to understand this: He
gave not his disciples the earthly substance, which
did but hang to Christ's body, in which he suffered
death, which was despised, buffeted, spit upon,
scourged, and slain; for then had he given them
the mortal flesh; but he gave them his holy body,
his holy flesh, which hung also on the cross in the
mortal substance, and his holy blood, which was
shed together with the mortal, as an immortal
flesh and blood which the disciples received into
their body, which was put on to the soul as a new
body out of Christ's body, whereby the disciples
were capable of [receiving] Christ, and became
members of his body.
14. You must not understand it thus, that
Christ's disciples took a piece of the outward body
of Christ, viz. of his earthly body, and put it in
their mouths, and chewed it with their outward
earthly teeth, and so swallowed it down into their
bellies: No, this is apparent, in that he sat with
them at the table, and did not divide his outward
body.
15. But note, As the Deity had conceived in its
will the image which God created in his Virgin of
his wonders and wisdom, and brought the flesh
and blood together with the eternal tincture, in
which the soul liveth, ( viz. the eternal fire which
reacheth into the Deity after the substance of the
Majesty, and allayeth, filleth, and strengtheneth
itself therewith), out of Mary in the virgin into
the Holy Ternary, into which the Word gave itself,
(as a life in the tincture of the eternity), and
became the spirit, life, and virtue of that flesh,
which sprouteth out of the tincture of that fire of
the soul; for the spirit was in the Word, and the
Word was the power or virtue, and out of the
virtue shone the light of the Majesty, and the
kingdom, with the power of this world, hung to
it [the spirit] also as its proper own, which was generated
out of the Virgin of its wonders and wisdom out
of the eternal centre of nature, wherein also Mary
stood, with the outward virtue and life, with the
outward flesh and blood: So also in such a manner
as this hath Christ the true Son of God, [and] our
Brother, given to his disciples his body to eat, and
his blood to drink.
16. And as God, in his heavenly Virgin (out of
which the heavenly substantiality is espied, and
attaineth substance in the tincture of the fire) is a
substance; which substance, God (with the Word
and Heart, with the receiving in of the tincture
out of Mary's blood, in which the soul dwelt) did,
with the word Fiat, as with the eternal astringent
matrix, comprehend, and let them together become
flesh and blood after a human way and manner;
(understand, as the eternal substantiality, with the
wisdom, viz. the eternal virginity, hath given itself
into the perished tincture and matrix of Mary,
wherein was the promised Word, which gave itself
also in the eternal substantiality into the perished
tincture [or life], and so became a New Man, being
strange and unknown to the earthly man); so this
New Body of Christ, (understand the inward
Christ, which the outward man which was mortal
covered), gave itself under bread and wine, as an
outward [thing] into the tincture of the souls of
the Apostles, and became man in the Apostles, in
the tincture of the soul; and that is the New Body
which Christ hath brought us from heaven; [of
which he said, None goeth to heaven, but he that
is come from heaven]; so that when we wholly
yield up ourselves to him in obedience, and with
our old will go out from ourselves into his will,
and so come into Christ's congregation, and desire
his flesh and blood, with all his benefits, then he
giveth us this body and blood to eat and to drink,
which the inward man born of God receiveth: for
the body of Christ is everywhere present in substance:
it containeth the Second Principle: [that
is, the angelical world, according to which God is
called Merciful, and the eternal good] .
17. For, to say that Christ feedeth the soul with
spirit without body, is not true; the Holy Ghost
maketh not a Principle, but the eternal substantiality
in which the Holy Ghost dwelleth, and
goeth out from thence in a form of many thousand
innumerable essences, even that which is so
gone forth, is the virgin of chastity, viz. the
eternal wisdom, in which all the wonders of this
world were beheld from eternity.
18. Understand us rightly, according to its high
and precious worth; that substantiality, wherein
the virgin of God consisteth, Adam had on him:
for the spirit of this world was given him, and
breathed into him therein; but the essences were
paradisical, and sprung up through the [one pure]
element, which the substantiality containeth, and
that substantiality the spirit of this world, in
Adam, took into itself, into its power, [as the
water taketh the light (in a flaming red hot iron)
into it, and quencheth it] .
19. First the heavenly substantiality had the
power [or predominancy], but afterwards, when
Adam went back with his lust into the earthly
[substantiality], then the earthly [substantiality]
got the power and predominancy, and that is the
cause that our perished heavenly substantiality
is become earthly: and therefore must God,
with the heavenly substantiality, in us become
man, and in the heavenly virgin and in the
earthly, God is become man, and hath put on
upon our souls the heavenly substantiality again,
viz. his heavenly body: yet our earthly must
pass away, but the heavenly remaineth standing
for ever.
20. And yet, nevertheless, we are captivated
poor sinners with the old Adam, into which the
devil hath an entrance, and we go many times out
from the fair image, understand, the soul turneth
its will often into the outward man; and therefore God hath, appointed this Testament [The Lord's Supper],
so that when we turn again to him, he then giveth our
soul the new garment again, viz. the New Body,
and reneweth and feedeth it.
21. He that once getteth the body of Christ, it
departeth not from him, unless he spoil it as
Adam did; it is only covered with the old
Adam, and moreover passeth into the Mystery;
and it is very possible for the soul to go out
from it, therefore the soul should not be secure or
careless, but watchful.
22. Therefore know, that Christ gave his disciples
his true all-present eternal divine body to
eat, and his blood to drink, out of which the Holy
Ghost proceedeth; and the inward mouth which
received it was the desirous willing of their souls;
for the soul of man hungereth and thirsteth continually
since the heavy fall, after such flesh and
blood, and putteth the same on as the garment of
God; for the soul in itself is a spirit, and hath
need of a body, and there it attaineth a body,
a new eternal incorruptible body into the old
Adamical body.
23. Thus, you are to know, the bread which
Christ gave to his disciples, was that which the
outward mouth took, and gave to the belly; but
the word, whereof Christ said Eat, this is my body,
that same word was the eternal body of Christ,
and had heavenly flesh and blood in it, and that
the soul received, as a new body; and thus there
was at once, in the hand of Christ, two kingdoms,
viz. a heavenly and an earthly.
24. But you must know, that the heavenly
cannot be comprehended or carried forth by the
earthly; for the heavenly man, viz. the heavenly
body of Christ, which was in the outward
Christ, that all at once, and in eternity, also
filled the angelical world, viz. the second Principle
of God; so that without that same bodily substance
God is not known at all, for the power of
the Deity hath manifested itself therein, and
yet the outward image remaineth standing; so
that in heaven men see the human nature palpably
and apprehensively standing in that form
it was in here upon earth: Thou seest nothing
else in it but the Majesty of the clarity of
the brightness, which filleth the angelical world;
and wheresoever now the Majesty is, there is
the substantiality of Christ; for the Heart and
Word of God hath united it in the substantiality:
As we consider that the Word is every
where, so is the substantiality (the body of
the Word) [every where], though indeed without
image; for the creature hath only the [formation
or] image.
25. Behold, I give you a similitude: Consider,
all things are created out of the water, and in the
water was all power and virtue; for you find that
all things have water, though it be a very stone,
or flesh, or whatsoever it is; but the sulphur is
therein with the power of nature, which formeth
the substantiality.
26. Now, behold, in the whole deep, there is
nothing but water, air, and fire, out of which
there is the substance, viz. the body or the earth
[come to be].
27. Now, you see very well, that the sun (being
but one) causeth that, and is also the virtue
and majesty in this elementary substance: It
all belongeth to the sun, and all desireth the
sun, and the sun with its virtue affordeth the
dominion [or government of everything in the
universe].
28. See, and consider this in a similitude: God
is the eternal sun in the second Principle: understand
the Heart, splendour, virtue, and Majesty;
and the elements, fire, water, and earth, are (spoken
by way of similitude) [as it were] God the Father:
Now the sun standeth there as a body, as indeed it
is, which resembleth the creature Christ; and the
whole substance of the four elements resembleth
the substantiality of the creature, wherein the
splendour of the sun shineth: the sun resembleth
the Word and the Majesty; and the four elements
resemble the virtue of the body, and the Father,
out of which the Son shineth.
29. Therefore know, that in heaven, every where
all over, is the Father's virtue or power, and in the
virtue the Word; and the Word hath the substantiality,
which belongeth all to the person of
Christ; for Christ standeth in the Father [as] an
image, as the sun in the elements.
30. If God should once open himself, the whole
world would be mere sun; for the deep receiveth
the splendour of the sun; or else if there were no
such thing in the deep as the sun is, the deep
could not receive the light; but thus it desireth
its like: And thus it is also in heaven: The Son is
every where in the Father, and is become man:
The total holy Number Three without end and
substance, hath manifested itself in an image in
substance, and that is Christ, and we are his
members: We are God's, if we continue in him; he
is our fountain, our light, and we are his stars: He
giveth us his body and virtue, and his splendour
for [our] light.
31. Thus he feedeth us here upon earth in the
Supper, and when we desire it, with the virtue of
his body, and with the spirit which proceedeth
from that virtue, (for that is the spirit and life of
the virtue or power), then we receive the total holy
Number Three [or Trinity]: The substantiality hath sulphur,
understand the body of Christ, that is the Father,
and the sulphur hath the virtue or power; and in
the virtue is the light of life as another person, and
out of the virtue in the light goeth forth the smell
and spirit of the virtue, and is not comprisable or
detainable by the virtue, and yet it goeth forth
from the virtue, and is the Holy Ghost.
32. Understand us rightly, thus: We receive
not in the Supper another creature, with a new
soul; No, but we receive on to our soul, the body
of Christ, which filleth heaven, and is already
[before-hand] the eternal Creature: The soul
eateth Christ's flesh, and drinketh his blood, which
filleth heaven; and out of that which the soul
receiveth and eateth, there groweth a body to the
soul, and in that body it is in the hand of God,
and can at the end of the world go with that body
through the fire of the anger of God, without
feeling [of it ] ; and as the fire cannot lay hold on
Christ in the Number Three, so not of us either;
for the fire receiveth the meekness [or allay] from
God's meekness and ours, and becometh in us
changed into a rising up of the desire of love, so
that our fire and burning in us is a mere love-desire;
for it cometh to be a brightness of the
Majesty, and thus we are in God, and the children
of God, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
[Concerning the Baptism.]
33. And after such a manner is it with the
baptism of children, the soul consisting in two
things, viz. in fire and water, for the blood hath
two forms, viz. sulphur and water: Sulphur giveth
tincture and life, for it giveth light, which is the
burning out from the sulphur, and that is life.
The Phur is fire, and the Sul is light, and out of
the light goeth the meekness, which draweth the
Phur to it again, and quencheth its fierceness
therewith, and that attracting maketh the meekness
substantial, which is water; and Mercury maketh
therein the great life, viz. a life in the water, and
the heavenly Luna breedeth it, that it turneth to
a liquor and to blood, wherein is the centre of
nature with seven forms.
34. Now observe, When the seed to the child is
sown, then the tincture of the fire, viz. the man's
tincture, is sown into the tincture of Venus, out of
which proceedeth a Twofold Life, viz. a fire-life of
the soul, and in Venus a water-life of the spirit, [or
a water-spirit life], which spring up together, and
become a man. And thus now both tinctures in
Adam are corrupted.
35. The tincture of the soul was captivated by
the eternal anger of God, wherein the devil sat,
and the tincture of the spirit was captivated by
the Spiritus Majoris Mundi [of the macrocosmos],
the spirit of the
great world, the spirit of this world, and they had
both remained captivated by the devil, if the
Verbum Domini, the Word of the Lord, which at
length became flesh, had not interposed in the
midst [as a mediator] .
36. Therefore hath God, through Christ, instituted
Two Testaments, one [testament] (for little
children) in the Holy Ghost, who performeth the
office, who chiefly manageth the office in the
Baptism, and maketh in the water of the soul a
water of life in his virtue; and one [other
testament] (for poor sinners that are more in years,
to understand it) in the Word of life, as in flesh
and blood, where the Word, viz. the Heart of God
chiefly manageth the office, and feedeth with his
body, and giveth his blood for drink; which
testament with flesh and blood belongeth to the
tincture of the fire-life, to the soul; and the testament
of water belongeth to the spirit-life, viz. to
the other tincture, and yet is but one man: But
before the birth of Christ, the devil used great
treachery, and wrought much mischief with man,
in that he spiritually possessed them, [as may be
read concerning the idol oracles], and here [in the
Baptism] his trade and handicraft was laid aside;
for Christ erected for the children a laver of
Regeneration in the Holy Ghost, (for a child hath
not faith as yet, also there are very few that learn
[or are taught] what faith is), that there might be
one testament that might preserve poor ignorant
man.
37. Not that the Holy Ghost alone baptizeth,
indeed he chiefly manageth the office, and taketh
the virtue of the Number Three wherewith he
baptizeth; and so when the baptizer saith, /
baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost; then the Holy Ghost
taketh hold in the Number Three, and baptizeth in
the water of the soul, in the water of life, which
is in the blood of the tincture, which containeth
the spirit-life, viz. the second centre of nature;
and so the spirit of the soul receiveth the virtue
and office of the Holy Ghost, and here lieth the
Mysterium Magnum, [the Great Mystery] .
38. Dear brethren in Babel, do not so dance
about on the outside of the Mystery, enter in, or
else ye are not the ministers of Christ; if you
cannot apprehend this, yet continue in the faith on
the Word: But when you say Christ's testaments
are only signs and not substance, then you are
the Antichrist, and deny the Deity, and are not
capable of the office: You cannot baptize the
child, but the congregation of God, (which hath
the faith), baptizeth it: A keeper of sheep, or a
keeper of swine, that simply believeth that baptism
is a great hidden Mystery, wherein the holy
Number Three baptizeth, and that himself is but
the servant, minister, or instrument, which performeth
only the outward work, he in his simplicity
baptizeth much better than you do.
39. You great school rabbis and masters, that
sit aloft, let this be told you: There is one coming
who will baptize you with the fire of wrath, because
you deny his power and virtue: You have a hard
bit [to chew] of Christ's testaments: If you will
not go forth from your councils into the temple of
Jesus Christ you must be quite cast away.
40. In times of old you were very many of you;
for you propagated yourselves, and not the office
of Christ: But you are now become very thin in
Germany; where you were a thousand, you are
now scarce a hundred of you: If you will not
leave off your human wit and your own inventions,
God will so cast you away, that where you are now
a hundred, there shall not remain ten of you, nor a
less number. Awake from your sleep, lest you
thus go down into perdition into the abyss.
41. You say we laugh you to scorn: It may be
you think so, for there is one that laugheth you to
scorn whom we know, who sheweth it to us: He
will suddenly awake: be not so secure and careless:
Consider of it; for none taketh any thing to
himself, unless it be given him of God; neither
will this be spoken in vain.
42. O beloved and worthy Christendom, observe
it well: Do not say, If our teachers lead us
not aright, let them look to it: O no, it concerns
your very self, it will cost the loss of your body
and soul. Dear Christendom is departed from all
the apostolical ordinances, virtue, and power, into
human inventions and institutions; and instead of
Christ's kingdom, there is a pompous, stately,
hypocritical one set up, by Baptism and the
[Lord's] Supper.
43. Men set up ceremonies: O, if they had kept
the true faith, and had shewn people the divine
way into the new regeneration: If they had shewn
them the clear countenance of God, then people
had departed from their sins into a divine life.
44. But thy wit and subtlety, O thou whore,
hath blinded all: If my eyes had not been opened
by God, how should I have known thee? I should
indeed have still worshipped thee: The world
shall seek thee, and at length find thee; and then
Europe shall be a crown, and Asia the man [or husband], and
Africa the country, and a simple shepherd shall
lead us to pasture: If thou didst understand this,
thou wouldst enter into thyself; but thou wilt be
blind till thou art recompensed: As thou hast
poured forth affliction, so thou shalt drink up
misery and torment, for thou hast made it so very
great as it is, and art a wild tree, and shalt be
broken off: There is no remedy, thy own wrath
casteth thee to the ground; for thou art weighed
in a balance, and art found too light, saith the
spirit of the Great Wonders.
The Magia out of the Wonders.
45. A thing which groweth out of a beginning,
hath beginning and end, and groweth no higher
than that thing hath in its number out of which
it groweth; but that which in the one number [or unit number]
is incorruptible, for it is but one and no more, there
is nothing in it that can break it; for, not any
thing that is one is at enmity with itself; but
when there are two things in one, there is plain
contrariety and strife; for that which is one
striveth not against itself, but draweth into itself,
and out of itself, and remaineth one, and though
it seek more in itself, yet it findeth no more, and
that can never be at odds with itself; for it is one
thing, whithersoever it goeth, it goeth in one will;
for where there are two wills, there is division or
separation; for one will often goeth inward and
the other outward; and then, if that thing have a
body, then that kingdom or government in that
body is at odds: And so if one enter into the
other with enmity, there that is a contrary will
which goeth in against the other, and then therein
dwelleth the third number, and the third number
is a mixed essence out of the first two, and is
against them both, and will be its own, and yet
hath also two wills in itself from the first two, one
whereof tendeth to the right hand, and the other
to the left.
46. Thus the thing riseth up from two into
many, and every one hath its own will, and if it
be in one [only] body, then it is at odds with
itself, for it hath many wills, and needeth a judge
to part them, and keep the wills in awe; but if
the wills be strong, and will not be kept under in
awe by the judge, but go out aloft, then of one
government [or kingdom] there becometh two, for that which
is flown out judgeth or ruleth itself according to its
own will, and hateth the first, because that is not
in its will, and so there is a strife, one desiring to
keep down the other, and so to elevate itself alone
in one substance, and if it cannot keep down the
other, (though it maketh never so much opposition,)
then each of them increaseth in itself to its highest
number [ degree, or pitch of its strength or limit],
and is always in strife against the other:
And if it come to pass that it be grown to its
highest number, that it can go no farther, then it
entereth into itself, and vieweth itself to see why
it can grow no farther, and so it seeth the end of
the number, and setteth its will in the end of the
number, and desireth to break the band or limit
asunder, and in that will (which it puts into the
end of the number, wherewith it will break it) the
prophet is born, and he is its own prophet, and
prophesieth of the errors in the will, that they
cannot go further, and of the breaking of them,
for he is born in the highest number of the crown,
at the end of the limit, and speaketh of the
Turba [disturbance] in its kingdom, how it shall have an end,
and what the cause is that it cannot go beyond its
own number, and then he prophesieth of a new
[kingdom or government], which shall be again
generated out of the breaking; for he [the prophet]
is the mouth of that kingdom [or government],
and pointeth at the contrary will, how it is grown
from one will, and how with its own desire it is
gone out of itself into many wills, and discovereth
the pride of the kingdom [or government], and
the covetousness and envy of it, and in that the
kingdom had but one root, out of which it was
grown; therefore he sheweth the evil twigs or
branches which are grown out of the root, which
are the distraction and disturbance, or turba of
the kingdom, which destroy the old tree, and take
away its virtue and sap, so that it must wither
away.
47. And then he sheweth also the falsehood of
the twigs and branches, which have taken away
the virtue of the tree, and thrown it to the ground.
They say they are a new tree, and a good kingdom
[or government], and vaunt it, as if they were
strange guests, with great wit and seeming
devotion, and yet they are grown out of the old
tree, and are its children, and so devour their own
father: And therefore saith the prophet, They
are no children, but wolves, they are come to
murder and devour, and to set up themselves in
the stead of the old tree; which pride of theirs
thus also driveth on till the limit, and then it will
again be devoured by their children.
48. This is their own prophet, which is grown
upon their crown; for he declareth the evilness of
the root out of which the first tree was grown:
He sheweth the poison wherewith the root was
poisoned, so that out of one will many wills are
grown, out of which the strife and malice is
sprung.
49. And so then, if the turba in a thing be
grown up with it, which of one maketh many,
where the multiplicity is at enmity with itself,
then the turba also breaketh the multiplicity; for
the first will to a thing desireth only that one
thing which is its body and delight: But the
multiplicity in a thing maketh enmity: for the
one will always rise up above the other; and yet
the other will not endure it; and thence cometh
envy and falsehood, out of which grow anger and
strife, so that one desireth to break off, and throw
down the other; and although the first will be
judge, yet the turba is also sprung up in all the
twigs and branches, which destroyeth obedience;
and so each will go its own way, and will not be
judged or ruled, but taketh upon itself, and contemneth
the father, and all the [other] children,
which yet are its brothers and sisters; and saith
itself alone is the tree and the virtue of it, whereas
it is but a broken self-willed proud murderer, which
opposeth itself against the first will, viz. the root.
50. And now, when the father seeth his evil
disobedient child, he seeketh a remedy, to heal
that which is broken, and poureth oil into the
wounds: but he findeth that the oil is poison to
them, for they have turned away their will from
the first will, as from the root, out of which the
oil floweth, and the turba hath generated another
oil in them: so that there is no remedy to heal
this kingdom [government or dominion] :
it must be devoured in and by itself as an evil kingdom:
and yet it groweth to its highest number, as to the number thousand,
till the end: for the crown hath the number
thousand, and then there is no remedy more; for
then it will be wholly one with itself again, and
go into the first will again, and give itself into
obedience, and become one thing again; and then
it beginneth to number again; yet it is good at,
first, so long as it remaineth in paucity [a small or little thing] :
but that which hath a great deal of room is not easily
quashed; but that which is squeezed into a narrow
room, and shut up close, will always strive to get
out above its limit, and easily surmises that its
neighbour's dwelling doth also belong to it, and
will always break the reins and bounds. And
although, thus out of one thing there groweth
another, yet being not agreeable to the first will, out
of which it is grown originally, therefore it is not
its true son, but is a wild twig [or branch], which is opposite
to the mother, and loveth not the mother: for it
groweth up in its malice, and therefore the mother
taketh it not again into her first will, that it may
subsist eternally, but letteth it run on to its limit
[or end].
51. But when the mother seeth that all her
children thus break off from her, forsake her, and
become strange to her, she falleth into sorrow and
lamentation, she hopeth for amendment, and yet
it cometh not, and then she herself seeketh the
turba [or destruction], for she turneth her will
again into herself, and seeketh the genetrix: and
there she findeth a new child in the lily twig [the purity] and
giveth the apostate children to the turba, so that
they themselves devour and murder one another;
also she poureth forth their own turba and poison
upon them, that they may be divided and taken
out of the way; that she may bring up her young
son that may continue in her house, wherein she
may have joy.
52. Thus it is spoken to thee, thou great and
broad tree [of the generation of Adam], who in the
beginning wast a little branch; thou wast created
in one will only, all thy twigs should have that
will of thine, but the devil grudged thee that, and
strewed poison into thy will, out of which the
turba grew: and so thou hast spoiled all thy
children and twigs therewith, so that the turba is
grown up also into every little twig: Thou didst
enter into pride, and wentest forth from the first
will, which God gave thee, into the great wonders
of the great turba [or uproars, and commotions,
contention and destruction in the four elementary
worlds], wherewith all thy children were enamoured,
and left thee [thy first will] .
53. Therefore saith the mother of the genetrix [the eternal nature],
I am in anguish, I had planted me a little tree,
and desired to eat of its good fruit; but it hath
borne much wild fruit, which I have no mind to
eat of; I will conceive, and bring forth a young
son in my old age, which may continue in my
house, and do my will, that I may have joy at
last; since all my children leave me, I will take
comfort in my young son, and he shall remain in
my house while I live, and Satan shall not tempt
him. I will put a child's garment upon him, and
he shall dwell with me in a total childish simplicity:
behold! I will generate him out of the first root,
and will break the turba: for its number in the
crown is accomplished.
54. What seek you so much, you wild branches?
You say you are above the mother, [above the
spirit of God] ; you have art, knowledge, and
learning; what delight hath the mother in your
wit and art? She desireth no art and wit; for she
is altogether simple, and counteth but [the number]
one; if you would please the mother, you must go
from the multiplicity into one again; not through
art and wit, but you must go forth out of your
proud turba, out of self, into simple humility; you
must leave the bravery and hypocrisy of your own
wit that proceeds from the turba, and become as
children, else you are not acceptable to your first
mother, but the turba taketh you up; and then
consider where you shall remain, when God shall
judge the secrets of mankind, when all shall pass
through the fire of his wrath, saith the spirit of
the great wonders.
55. Mother Eve said, when she brought forth
the first child; Behold ! / have the man, the Lord;
he shall effect the breaking of the serpent's head,
and possess the kingdom: but it was Cain the
murderer.
56. And thus also you now say, We have found
the Lord: now we will possess the kingdom; for
we have found the true doctrine, we will teach thus
and thus, and then we are God's children. But
hearken! You have indeed foun d the true doctrine;
but you are Cain, you look after the kingdom, and
not the power and virtue of Abel's sacrifice: you
desire only to continue in fleshly pleasure, and
retain only the shell of God's word, which hath
no virtue or power: You retain the history, (and
contend about it, and so destroy your country and
people), but you deny the power of it: you say,
We are near to the kingdom of God; and are yet
far from it, which your end will testify.
57. What doth your knowledge avail? The
devil knoweth as much as you, but he doth it not,
no more do you: and therefore the kingdom of
God remains hidden from you both: your knowledge
is the snare that catcheth you: if you were
simple, you would not be so proud: what doth the
simple know concerning the false, subtle, cunning
deceit, if he learn it not from the wit of the
turba [contentious disputations]?
Do you say, that you have God's wilh
and teach it? Are you not Cain that murders ]
Abel every day? Consider yourself well, you are
he indeed: Abel lieth at your feet, and beseecheth
you, but you are that evil beast, that treadeth Abel
under foot; you ride over the bended knee, and
account the poor and simple to be but dirt and
dung, and yet devour his sweat and labour, and
fill yourself with deceit without measure: How
dare you then say, Here is the Church of Christ?
O you are Babel, that city of whoredom and
falsehood.
58. Thou knowest the will of God, and yet dost
only thine own will, and sayest moreover, We are
gone out from Babel: we have the true teaching
[or doctrine] amongst us: indeed if you had the
spirit of righteousness, and truth, and would
content yourself with a little, then the mother
would always give you enough, you should want
nothing: but your pride and haughtiness do not
trust God, therefore you trust only in covetousness,
and are greedy to devour the fat of the earth; you
take it by force and not of right; the right you
produce, claim, and plead, hath only been invented
by your covetous heart, you live only in deceit:
you persuade and deceive yourself to your own loss:
if you had wit and understanding, you would have
respect to your end, and what will follow hereafter:
but you blindfold yourself with pride, and say,
Behold ! here are golden times; many have desired
to see what we see, and to hear what we hear, and
have not seen or heard it: Hearken! indeed that
shall be a witness against you, and will make your
judgment the heavier; you have not hitherto been
the better for it, but the worse, therefore know
that what is declared to you [by the Reformation]
is by your own prophet, who hath called you back
again from your pride into your mother humility:
but you are become worse and worse; you have
broken the sword of the spirit, that you may do
what you list: but he hath left you, and given you
up to the turba, which shall devour you, as was
done of old to Israel: there is no counsel or
remedy to help: Your covenants are all nothing,
while you rely upon the arm of flesh; and so
God also is departed from you, and leaveth you
to devour yourself.
59. Or wherefore do you take the covenant of
God into your mouth, seeing you hate to be
reformed, and thirst after covetousness? Do you
suppose God to be a false hypocrite and liar, as
you are? Leave off your clamouring, you are
not acceptable to God, except you turn, and go
out from your falsehood.
60. It is with you now according to the turba's
driving, which taketh its recreation in accomplishing
the anger of God, and to devour what is grown
in its kingdom, and you are blind concerning it,
and see it not: Why are you so covetous? Go
but out from it. Do you not see how the noble
tincture [the blossom of life] hath raised up itself?
It is near its blossoming, and then you will have silver
and gold enough.
61. But what shall we say? You have committed
whoredom till you have fallen asleep: you go down
alive into the abyss, rather than you will forsake
the whore; and therefore it shall be unto you as
your own prophet testifieth, who hath very long
called you by his trumpet; you wait for [deliverance
by] the fiery sword, which will also cut you
in pieces.
62. Or do you suppose us to be mad, in that
we speak thus? Indeed we are born out of you;
we see and understand the complaint of our
mother, which reproveth her children; for she
declareth the wrath in the turba, which is grown
up into the fierce wrath of God.
63. We speak what is given to us, which we
know in the zeal of the Lord: What have we to
do with Babel [ confusion, strife, and jangling]?
We speak to ourself, and to the fellow-members
of our body, and those that dwell
in the courts of God, with those who at present
mourn with us, whose mourning shall be turned
into joy.
THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER
Of the Broad Way in this World, which leadeth
us into the Abyss. And of the Narrow Way
[that leadeth] into the Kingdom of God.
1. DEAR children of God, let us heartily and
seriously consider, from whence we are,
and whither we are to go, and what we do and
purpose, that we may not lose the eternal and
highest good; wherefore do we so very much labour
after temporary pleasure and voluptuousness, after
honour, money, and goods? Are we not in this world
strange guests, and pilgrims, which should continually
expect when this life shall end? We are not
created for the pleasure and lust of this life, but
for paradisical joy, and to lead a simple child-like
life; we should not know of any pomp, state, or
haughtiness, but live together as children in a
loving sport of joy: we are gone out from our
true, pure, paradisical mother, wherein we should
live in her as dear and loving children.
2. We are shut up in the mother, [the temporary
nature], which generateth the evil beast; and
we have received bestial properties; we do no
otherwise than as evil beasts, we have given up
ourselves to a strange mother, which educateth us
and leadeth us captive in her bands: and we must
at length leave the outward man to the earthly
mother, we cannot get away from her, for she hath
captivated us in flesh and blood; she breedeth us,
and bringeth us up in herself, and keepeth us for
her children: But yet we have a very precious
jewel hidden therein, with which we are God's
children: with that let us endeavour after the
highest good, that we may attain it.
3. Dear children, our strife about the highest
good consists not in the sword, in killing and
slaying, that we should make wars and fight for the
cause of God and his kingdom, and so persecute
and murder one another, neither doth it consist
in much knowing, but merely in a simple, childlike
obedience, that we should go out from the will
of our flesh, which is bestial, wherein the devil
dwelleth, and enter into the will of God: it lieth
in no man's opinion or knowledge, for the spirit
of God giveth knowledge to every one out of the
wonders, out of which he is born.
4. You see how we are put under subjection to
the spirit of this world: for when a child is sown
in [into] its mother's womb, that spirit is there ready,
and formeth it according to the wheel of the
outward nature, that giveth condition, will, and
disposition to it; that sheweth it the wonders of
its secret mystery, and openeth to it the way of
the will thereof, that leadeth it into the entrance
into its mother, and out of its mother through
this world: that giveth its body to the earth, and
its soul to hell.
5. Therefore, since we know this, we ought to
lift up the spirit of our soul, and make war only
against that evil earthly spirit, and oppose it with
our soul and body, and not against our brethren
and sisters; we cannot overcome the devil with
disputing and knowing much; neither can we
maintain God's word with wars and the sword, but
with the simple obedient life of God, that we be!
contented with that little which we have, and
depart from the evil lust after pride, into an
humble, child-like life, wherein every one should
with all diligence perform his work, for the benefit
and profit of his brethren and sisters, endeavouring
thereby to serve God his Creator, and to pleasure
his brother; not seeking his own honour, but with
a desire to do so well, that his brother and sister
may sincerely love him, and wish all happiness and
welfare to him.
6. If you will serve God, give offence to none,
that your good and benefit be not hindered; Let
not Satan have power over your heart to sift [or
prevail with] you; Put away all evil thoughts,
instigations, and influxes [of the mind]; for Satan
insinuateth himself in the influxes from the spirit
of this world, and possesseth your mind; be continually
watchful, and strive against him; cast
those false and evil influxes upon his head, and
send him away with them; and consider that you
walk upon a very narrow path between heaven and
hell, in very great danger; be at no time secure or
careless, for you know not when the spirit of this
world will take away from you its own, /or your
limit was set in your mother's womb, which you
cannot pass, neither do you know the day and hour
wherein the spirit of this world will leave you,
and then your poor soul will stand quite naked,
hungry, and empty, and then if it have not
Christ's body on it, it will be captivated by the
devil.
7. Dear children, it is a very strait, narrow
way that leadeth into God's kingdom; he that will
walk therein in this life must [submit and] prepare
himself for affliction; for every thing is against
him; the devil is altogether against him; his own
flesh and blood set themselves earnestly against
him; for the spirit of this world, in flesh and
blood, seeketh only the matters and dominion of
this world: the devil continually sets on his
children and servants against him: he [that walks
towards heaven] must be trampled upon and
despised: he is not in this world acknowledged to
be a child of God.
8. Dear children, look well to yourselves in this
world: at present men lead you on in hypocritical
ways: they boast much of faith, and lead people
on in an historical faith, which is but mere
notion [or opinion], they teach you the notion, and he that
doth not stick to that is accounted an heretic:
O how dead is the present faith! It stayeth at
the knowledge, or the notion; they suppose that
when people know how to speak much of God, of
Christ's merits, sufferings, and death for mankind,
and comfort themselves therewith, that it is the
way to eternal life.
9. O no, all that availeth nothing, that thou
knowest and ticklest thyself with it: true faith in
Christ is quite another thing; it lieth not barely
in the history, and in the letter: the [bare] letter
is not the Word, it is but a leader and director
to the word: the Word is living, and hath the
spirit; the right faith is the right will, which
entereth into the Living Word.
10. If you comfort yourself never so long with
the sufferings of Christ, and yet your will and
purpose remain in deceit and wickedness, then the
spirit which proceedeth out of your will, is a thief
and a murderer; you teach one thing, and do
another: God desireth no flattering hypocrisy,
but an earnest [sincere purpose and] will, which
entereth into him by obedience, and this is right
believing [or faith] in the Holy Ghost; and therein is the
word and death of Christ fruitful indeed.
11. Christ saith, You must turn and be as little
children, who are not yet conscious of any falsehood,
deceit, or wickedness, and in Christ, through
Christ's death, be born of his flesh and blood,
if you will see the kingdom of heaven; for he
that eateth not the flesh of the Son of Man, and
drinketh not his blood, hath no part in him.
12. Dear brethren, it consisteth not in the Host
[which the priest delivers for Holy Bread]
only, which you deliver to the people, and in the
cup or chalice [wherein they carry the Host] :
No, but when the soul converteth,
and bringeth the body under subjection, and giveth
itself up wholly in obedience unto God, and into
his will, and desireth to go in at Christ's entrance
to the Father; then it goeth out from the life of
this world, and goeth with Christ into the Father,
who giveth it Christ's flesh and blood; for it eateth
of the Word of the Lord at God's table, and getteth
Christ's flesh for its body, and Christ's blood for
its refreshment and habitation; for the soul dwelleth
in the heart, and burneth out of the heart-blood as
a kindled light; and hath its principal dominion
in the head, in the brains, and there it hath/zve
open gates [the five senses], in which it governeth
with the spirit of its life.
13. And therefore if the tincture in the soul,
in the heart-blood, be entered into Christ's will,
then that will governeth the spirit of the soul in
the head; and though it hath many obstacles and
hindrances from the earthly bestial spirit, as also
from the devil, who infecteth the earthly spirit, (so
often as the soul is secure or careless), and bringeth
it into fleshly lust; yet nevertheless, when the soul
doth but reject the earthly bestial thoughts and
influences, or instigations, then it remaineth in
Christ still; for the body of Christ, which the soul
hath, is too hard a bit for the devil to overcome;
and yet a harder bit it is for the soul to turn away
from the spirit of this world, and enter into the
obedience of God.
14. Dear brethren, it is not a handful of historical
faith that will do, for men to set the merits of
Christ aloft: it must be sincere and earnest: You
must earnestly enter through death and hell of
the devils into the merits of Christ: You must
overcome the spirit of this world: Your will must
press itself with all its reason and thoughts into
the will of God, and then you will see how little
the historical knowledge can do.
15. If you will not drive the devil out of your
heart, then he will not let you enter into God's
will: If you will keep the iniquity of falsehood in
your heart, and so fight with the merits and satisfaction
of Christ against him, then you will be
hindered; for the devil opposeth it strongly: He
striveth against the soul as long as he can: He
letteth not the soul go before it heaps all earthliness
upon his neck, and departs from it; when the
soul doth so, then it departeth out of his country,
and then he is overcome: But O, how doth he
continually lay that [as a net] before it, and goeth
always about like a fowler; and if he can possibly,
he will cast the earthly garment on to it again.
16. O how hard a combat must the poor soul hold
out against the devil; but therein the sufferings,
merit, satisfaction, and death of Christ, are available,
when the devil hath ensnared the poor soul
again, and will not let it go, but goeth down with
it into the abyss, into despair: There the soul
must take with it the sufferings and death of Christ,
and walk with the devil through hell, into the death
of Christ, and out of Christ's death spring up with
Christ into God again; and then it is the lily which
the devil doth not like to smell upon.
17. But for you to depend wholly on the history,
and so to apply the merit, suffering, and death
of Christ, and will still keep the devil lodging in
your soul, that is a reproach to Christ: What doth
it avail you to pray, that God would forgive you
for Christ's sake, when you forgive not all others?
Your heart sticketh full of revenge and robbery.
18. You go to church, into the congregation of
Christ, and you bring a false hypocrite, liar, a
covetous, angry, adulterous, proud person and soul
in with you; and the same you bring out with you
again. What benefit have you thereby? You go
into the congregation to the Supper of Christ, and
desire Christ's flesh and blood, and yet keep the
black devil in you for a guest: What mean you?
You receive nothing but the severe anger of God:
How would you feed upon Christ's flesh and blood,
if your soul be not inclined with all earnestness and
sincerity into God? Do you suppose that Christ's
body and blood dwell so in the earthly element
that you can chew it with your teeth? No, friend,
it is a more pure and subtle thing; the soul must
apprehend it, the mouth of the soul must receive it:
But how shall it receive Christ, if the devil be still
lodging in the soul? The soul must be in the will
of God, if it will feed upon God: Indeed it can
continually eat of Christ's flesh, if it live in the
flesh of Christ, for every spirit eateth of its own
body [is fed by its own substance which is its flesh and blood].
19. This testament is ordained to that end that
in the congregation we should there eat the flesh of
Christ, and drink his blood; that we should thereby
commemorate his death, and teach the same to
our children, and tell them what Christ hath done
for us, that we might be preserved in one mind
and will, and that we should be one body in Christ,
and walk together in one love; and therefore we
should eat of one and the same bread, and drink of
one and the same cup, and acknowledge that Christ
hath begotten us again to one body in himself, and
that he hath, through his death, brought us again,
through hell and the fire of God's wrath into his
Father in himself, that we might wholly put our
wills into his will, and love one another, and make
one another rejoice in him, and sing, speak of, and
declare his marvellous deeds and benefits, and
thereby renounce the old devil who hath held us
captive, and tread him under foot in our mind.
20. This is the right Catholic [or universal] way of true faith:
He that teacheth and liveth otherwise is not appointed
for a shepherd by Christ, but is a shepherd
sprung up of himself from his own art and reason,
which, in the kingdom of Christ, according to the
outward man, should be continually dead, that
Christ in us may live: None is a true shepherd
over Christ's sheep unless he hath the spirit of
Christ; if he hath not that, then he hath not
the true apostolical power and authority of
Excommunication: He mus t in Christ's spirit have
the key to heaven and to hell, else he is but a vizor
and image without life: How can such an one, who
is captivated by the devil, judge in the congregation
of Christ? Can the word and commandment
of such an one be the word of God, whereas he
speaketh but from a false spirit?
21. O you false bishops [come] from the universities,
how hath the devil of pride blinded you,
that you set shepherds over the lambs of Christ,
according to your own favour and respect! St.
Paul teacheth you, do but read it, what a heavy
account you are to give: Nothing availeth with
you but art; and in the kingdom of Christ art is
but dross and dung: God leadeth a pure heart by
his own spirit; if one incline towards him, and
submit unto his will, to such an one he teacheth
heavenly art.
22. The congregation of Christ should be in one
will, and the shepherds thereof should have the
spirit and will [or consent] of the congregation: It is not so
slight a matter to put on the garment of Christ,
as many suppose who seek only covetousness and
honour therein, and they find nothing but the
anger of God therein.
23. Or, what shall we say? The priest-devil
hath blindfolded the kingdom of Christ, so that
the congregation of Christ is stark blind, where
men suppose they are gods, and that they teach
from the Holy Ghost, whereas their own honour
and covetousness are merely sought after in deceit
and falsehood: Men see how great mischief they
have caused in the world: How many countries
have they caused to be laid waste, and murdered
many hundred thousand persons with their false
opinions, and have only served the devil in the
garment of Christ. If the congregation did but
discern it, they would presently consider it; but all
this cometh to pass, in that they afford not honour
to the spirit of Christ: Men will choose shepherds
themselves, whereas the devil is in all mere human
elections, when it concerneth the honour and
doctrine of God.
24. The bishops [or pastors] that are grown up of themselves, and chosen for favour, without the spirit of
God, are as profitable to the world as a fifth
wheel to a waggon: Indeed they do but little,
except it be to make the congregation go astray,
slander, jangle, and dispute; as their scandalous
pamphlets testify, in many of which there is as
much of the fear of God, and love to their
neighbour, as the devil in hell hath: Bloody
provocations are the devil's drums and trumpets,
by which he reproacheth the simple congregation
of Christ.
25. O dear children, open your eyes wide, go
out from the priest's contentions, and enter into
combat against the devil, against your voluptuous
flesh and blood: A Christian is not a wrathful
soldier or warrior, who desireth the kingdom of
this world: For Christ saith, My kingdom is not
of this world, else my servants would contend for
it. St. Paul saith, Seek that which is above, where
Christ is; we are called by Christ out of this
world, that so we might serve God with the soul,
and be in Christ; but with the body in this world,
that we may have maintenance and sustenance for
it: Therefore the earthly life ought to labour and
maintain its body, but the soul should be lord and
governor, and rule the body; it should not suffer
the starry-spirit to practise any falsehood, and
fill itself with lies and deceit, for such things are
so brought into the soul.
26. The poor soul is here in this life in very
great danger, where the jaws of hell continually
reach to its lips, for it is infected with the spirit of
the stars and elements, which fight against it day
and night: Consider thyself now, thou dear mind,
and think in what vessel thy soul, viz. thy best
treasure, lieth, and thou wilt surely awake out
of the sleep of the bestial life; and consider what
will follow hereafter, when the spirit of the stars
and elements will leave thee, where then, thy
best jewel (which thou thyself art) will remain, in
what condition thou wilt be for ever without end;
for we know that the soul dwelleth in the heart:
Its own substance is the centre of the seven spirits
of nature: The six spirits are the government of
the life, and the seventh is the tincture of the
substantiality, for its substantiality is blood and
flesh which maketh the tincture, though the
tincture is not blood and flesh, but a virgin without
generating; yet the six spirits in the tincture
continually generate one another, as is mentioned
before concerning the centre of nature; but the
brightness of the noble pearl of the soul is especially
known in the tincture, for therein it attaineth
God's power and spirit; and there getteth its
right name [Seel], SOUL; for, as God is above
nature, which cannot comprehend him, so the
virgin [Sophia, Wisdom] in the tincture is a spirit above the spirits
of nature, which belong to the centre: and yet
the virgin, without the spirits of nature, would
not be; even as the Number Three of God, without
the eternal nature, would not be known: so also
the soul.
27. The six spirits of nature contain the eternal
centre, with which the darkness and anger of God
is comprehended, for the original of mobility
consisteth therein; for the fire existeth therein,
though indeed it standeth but in four forms, and in
the fifth form springeth up the true life, and in the
sixth the understanding; and then first there is in
the seventh another spirit, which is not the centre
in the anguish source [or property] ; for in the
seventh form there is another source [or property] :
Indeed the first six forms rule therein, and are
the life of the source, and a cause of the life; but
they make together one spirit, which liveth in the
blood, water, and air.
28. And though it be so, that we are, through
the heavy fall of Adam, brought into the outward
dominion, so that the soul swimmeth in the
palpable [or visible water], yet the eternal water,
viz. the mother of the water, is hidden in the outward,
in which the soul is an angel: We give you
to understand that the soul is a spirit, as God the
Holy Ghost is, who goeth forth from the Father
and the Son, and is the mobility of the Deity; for
the Father standeth still, and hath moved himself
but once, viz. in the creation; but the spirit hath
the Word of the Father, and performeth all things
through the Word.
29. And thus, also, the soul is a spirit generated
out of the eternal centre of nature, out of its own
spirits of its own nature, not strange ones, which [soul]
hath the word, which compriseth itself in the six
forms of nature upon the wheel of the cross, and
performeth all things through the Word; for it is
the spirit and life of the Word, and moveth upon
the wings of the wind as a flash or blaze; it formeth
the Word, and produceth it, and the six spirits
are its counsellors; though there are but five, for
the sixth is the form of the Word itself, but the
five contain the five senses.
30. Where we woefully find, and have great
cause to lament it, how our father Adam hath
here introduced the evil, poisonous, earthly
dominion, so that the poor soul is thus wholly
captivated by the spirit of this world, which
f loweth forth, and worketh powerfully in the
soul; so that often and hourly there breaketh
forth out of the word of the soul the evil of the
abyss; in which the devil mingleth himself, and
possesseth our hearts outwardly, and then also
most inwardly, viz. in the first four forms of
nature, and turneth us away from the will of God,
into all abominations and wickedness which are
in him: And as he now observeth how man is
qualified, viz. what spirit is predominant according
to the dominion of his body, [whether it be
pride, covetousness, envy, wrath, unchastity,
wantonness, voluptuousness, and such like],
accordingly he assaulteth [or tempteth] him continually, and
effecteth such great wickedness with the soul,
as no tongue can express; for in the outward
dominion there are also seven forms, viz. the
seven planets, which rule the outward-man, and
reach into the bottom of the soul, if without ceasing
it do not resist, and reject the evil malignant
influences [influxes or instigations] :
In the same the devil hath a powerful access to the soul, but yet he hath not that
dominion, nor any complete power therein, unless
the Turba Magna in the anger of God be kindled
[as in judgments, pestilence, thunder, and the like
plagues and punishments], and there he is the
executioner; but he hath the inward dominion of
the four forms to the fire-life, these he can possess,
as often as the soul plungeth itself thereinto: If
he get it there, O how fast he holdeth it, and will
quite down with it, for that is his kingdom, [viz.
the abyss of the four forms] .
31. And observe it, according to its precious
depth: The four forms contain in them the original
of nature; where first (in the desiring willing,) the
darkness, with the attracting, entereth into a desire;
and so the desiring becometh strong, [sharp, astringent],
harsh, hard, and cold; and the desiring maketh an attraction
and stirring in the strong harshness, which are
two forms, and the third form is the great anguish,
in that the desiring would be free, which stirreth
the anxious wheel of nature, and in the end
[stirreth up] the flash of fire, which is the fourth
form, as is at large mentioned before.
32. And so that harsh attraction maketh in the
desiring of the will, in the outward nature of this
world, a great covetousness, so that the mind
would attract all to itself, and possess it alone; and
though it cannot devour it, yet will possess it, and
would not willingly afford any thing to any other;
and this is one root of the abyss of hell, wherein
the devil vehemently assaulteth the soul, that it
might not go out, and come to the light of God.
33. The second root is the bitterness of nature,
which in the harshness is an inimicitious sting,
and will not endure to be subdued: The more it
is resisted, the greater is its sting: This is the
second form, which maketh in the outward nature,
an inimicitious, stinging, envious, bitter mind,
whereinto also the devil windeth himself, and
kindleth the word of the soul, with a despiteful,
stinging, envious subject [matter or substance], so that the will
continually burneth in envy, and never speaketh any
good, but mere vanity and wantonness, which is
serviceable to the devil; whence proceed liars,
slanderers, backbiters, false hearts: God have mercy
upon us in our great misery, into which we are
plunged!
34. The third root is the anxious wheel of the
mind, whence the senses [or thoughts] arise and are generated,
which containeth in it especially the miserable
house of sadness, and yet is the house of the
springing up of life; this is chiefly the dwelling
place of the devil, within which he seateth himself:
It is his seat, and he continually raiseth up that
house of sadness, so that the soul groweth timorous
and doubteth of the grace of God, and of the light
of eternal life: He continually casteth in the two
first forms, viz. covetousness and envy, and with
that poison windeth the wheel of the mind about,
and maketh a hurlyburly in the essences of the
thoughts: He continually mixeth covetousness
and envy together, that he may retain his seat;
and so when the poor soul would go out aloft and
be gone, then he barreth it up into the chamber
of anguish, and straiteneth it, that it might and
should despair; for the chamber of anguish is
always in darkness, and there he casteth it down,
that it may not get aloft on the wheel, lest it
should discover the fire, and so he would be known.
35. The fourth root is the fire-flash; and when
the devil cannot detain the soul still in the house
of sadness, but that it reacheth after the flash of
the light of the liberty of God, then he slips into
the flash, and bringeth the thoughts in the word of
the soul out aloft above the cross in high-mindedness,
[as men that through learning strive after
the light of God, and having attained it, little
think how the devil slippeth into it, and bringeth
them into high-mindedness, to be proud of themselves,
esteeming themselves as clergymen to be
better than the laity], so that the soul thus flieth
out aloft, and elevateth itself above the meekness,
as the devil himself did.
36. For (as we have mentioned before) nature
getteth, in the kindling of the fire, two kingdoms,
[or two Principles, as may be seen in a candle,
out of which (in the kindling) ariseth the consuming
fire, and the pleasant refreshing light],
viz. one in the fierceness of the fire, which flieth
out aloft above the centre, with the four wrathful
severe forms; and the other in the light of the
meekness, which remaineth standing immoveably,
and hath also all the power of the centre, in which
power the spirit of the Deity and of the Majesty
is known; wherein standeth the [rain-] bow with
the cross of the Number Three; for the Majesty
is here the brightness of the Deity; and here the
eternal liberty without [or beyond] nature, (which
hath but one only will), getteth the strength,
power, majesty, and glory; for the eternity is thus
revealed [or manifested], which otherwise would be as it were
a still nothing, in the creature's esteem and account.
37. Above this still soft humility the devil
leadeth the soul of man in its will out aloft in
the fire-flash; for herein, according to the spirit
of this world, consisteth the dominion of the sun,
which giveth might and strength to the outward
man, and also the light and power of the outward
senses, so that reason cometh to see; and the outward
spirit getteth great outward skill and wisdom,
according to the dominion of this world.
38. Also herein all subtleties of the essences and
senses disclose themselves, which the devil very well
observeth: If any, in the upper dominion, according
to the spirit of this world, be a child of the sun,
then he [the devil], in the centre of nature without
ceasing, slippeth into the fire-flash of the soul,
where the fire and heat exist, and always bringeth
in with him the other three poisonous forms
in the original: He bringeth the soul out aloft
over the cross above the meekness of the Majesty,
in the wrathful fire-flash, so that it groweth
proud, lascivious, and fierce; he maketh it to contemn
meekness and humility, and so it flieth forth
in its own wit, in the fierceness of the flash, above
God and the kingdom of heaven, [and scorneth
all that belongeth to God and to eternal life] .
39. And all this, (dear brethren in Babel),
proceedeth from hence; that you are void of the
divine wit and understanding, so that you fly
above the wheel of nature in your own wit; you
should stay in the cross in humility, and your
soul should be inverted and inclined into the
meek Majesty of God; but now you fly upon the
wheel of the fire in your pride, aloft over the
Deity; and this the devil doth to you in subtle
craftiness, that he may thus lead you, that thereby
the kingdom of God might not be known; you
seek the kingdom of God in art; but art hath
the six forms of the wheel of nature; the Deity
hath another centre in the cross; for the divine
spirit separateth itself from the fire, and yet is
not quite asunder from it; but it maketh another
Principle, which consisteth in meekness, in mere
love and joy; the forms of nature are therein a
mere power of love; for it is an accomplishment
of the eternal will, out of which nature existeth,
and the wrathful kingdom is an accomplishment
of the eternal hunger and thirst, which cannot
be otherwise in eternity, for the essence of all
essences is thus.
40. For it is sufficiently known to us (seeing
God is merely good) that he created nothing
evil; for that which was not from eternity, was
not in the creation.
41. God created no hell, nor any devils, but
angels: Only Lucifer hath turned himself away
from the meekness, and is flown out above the cross
of the Number Three, and hath himself awakened
the fire of anger in the flash, which had from eternity
remained hidden in secret, which is now his hell
and habitation; he can now be no otherwise
than covetous, envious, anxious, and wrathful;
there is no other property [quality or living faculty]
or source in him; for his own mother, out of which
he was brought forth and created, holdeth him now,
so that he is a devil with all his legions.
42. Therefore, dear children, since we know that
we are thus environed with hell and the devils,
in the anger of God, it is very necessary for us
to fly into humility; and therefore Christ teacheth
us so very earnestly to study meekness, love, and
mercy, that we should love one another, and should
not so eagerly endeavour after the spirit of this
world; for the devil slippeth into it, and seduceth us:
We should watchfully take heed of pride, for the
devil flieth into it; and of anger, for that is the
devil's sword, wherewith he commiteth all murders.
43. O how lamentable a thing it is that the
soul is thus blinded that it knoweth not the heavy
shackles and bands wherein it lieth captive ! The
fire of hell riseth up to its very lips, the whole
world is full of snares which the devil hath laid
to catch the poor soul: If the eyes of the outward
man should be opened, he would be terribly
affrighted: All whatsoever man doth but touch or
look upon, there is a net and snare of the devil
in it; and if the Verbum Domini, the Word of
the Lord, which is become man, were not in the
middle, so that the hidden eternal substantiality
of the Word is a body, there would none be saved:
the devil would catch and devour all souls.
44. Therefore, dear children, Christ hath well
told us, That the kingdom of God in us is small
as a grain of mustard- seed; but he that endeavoureth
seriously, and striveth after it, to him
it groweth great as a tree, and the devil must
needs let it alone; and though he often breaketh
off a twig, yet the stock standeth still.
45. Christ warned the rich young man to beware
of covetousness, and told him, that a camel would
easier go through the eye of a needle, than a rich
man enter into the kingdom of heaven; and the
cause of all this is, that the soul entereth into lust,
and into the dominion of this world: for if the
soul wholly giveth up itself into the lust, pleasure,
and dominion of this world, then the devil doth
not sift [or tempt] it so strongly, but carrieth it in his
triumphant chariot, from one abomination and
wickedness to another: his chariot is Venus, viz.
the love of the flesh, wherein the soul continually
endeavoureth after temporary power, authority, and
honour, after riches, beauty, and the desires of the
flesh, after bestial inordinate copulation; though
indeed the soul doth not so eagerly desire it, unless
it be totally infected: but it is only from hence
that the soul in Adam hath lusted after it, and is
captivated therewith; and the devil continually
maketh it stirring, he continually tickleth the soul
therewith, that it might confidently and freely eat
of the forbidden fruit.
46. We find that the human life is Threefold,
with three spirits together in one, as if it were
but one spirit, and it is indeed but one life; but
it hath three dominions, each of which hath its
own mother, which afibrdeth or generateth it; the
centre of nature, with its forms [or properties], is
the eternal life; for it is the fire-life; and the
spirit, which is generated and goeth forth out of
the centre of nature, which dwelleth in the
tincture, is the eternal life of the soul; and the
air-spirit, with the qualities or properties of the
dominion of the stars, is the beginning, ending,
and transitory life, which is the bestial life, [the
animal life which we have in common with beasts] .
47. Now the soul is generated only out of the
first two, and the third is breathed into it; not
that it should enter into it, and give up itself
thereto, as Adam hath done; but that the soul
should mightily rule over it, and therein open
the great wonders of God, which from eternity
were beheld in the wisdom of God; for the third
dominion is generated and created out of the first;
and the second dominion should continue in its
own place (in the noble tincture) in paradise, and
should open the great wonders in the third: And
therefore man was made lord over all things; he
had the tincture [or life] of the earth in his own
hand [or power], and gold and silver were as easy
for him to find as any other visible thing: The
tincture of the earth was his ornament and
sport, altogether child-like, without covetousness;
he needed no other clothing; and as the gold
was pure without dross so was his child-like
mind also.
48. But the devil awakened unto him the
sulphur [or gross matter] therein, and hath set
the bestial spirit in the superior dominion in him;
that which man should have ruled over, ruleth
over him, and that is his Fall.
49. Thus now the devil hath gotten power,
inasmuch as the outward dominion is generated
out of the inward, [viz. the centre of nature], and
that he dwelleth in the most innermost, and so
he slideth out of the innermost into the outermost,
and kindleth the outermost in the mind;
from whence arise false lusts and inclinations, and
evil concupiscence, so that two dominions [viz.
the inward and the outward] strive against the
soul; and so the poor soul is in the midst between
the dominion of this world, and the dominion of
the hellish source [or quality], and there it standeth
before the gate of heaven, in a very great deep,
in great danger; its root is the anger of God and
hell-fire; and its superior or predominant spirit
is the dominion of this world; and there it standeth
in the tincture of the fire, in the midst; and
whithersoever it inclineth, thither it entereth; if
it goeth into the lust and pleasure of this world,
then it standeth therein, and is captivated by the
devil; but if it entereth into itself inwards into
God, then the devil will buffet it, for then it is
in his country.
50. But when it getteth the flesh of Christ for
a new body, then it is not in his country: that
is a tree before him, which is poison and death
to him: at which he is vexed, and loath to touch
it: But he stirreth up his servants and ministers
against the outward body, that must bear reproach and scorn, that thereby he may cover and
hide this tree, that it may not be known; else
it might bring forth more branches, whereupon
at last hell would be too narrow for him; therefore
he will prevent it as long as he can.
51. And so now, when the poor soul breaketh
away from him, and with its dear bridegroom
Christ turneth to the love of God, so that through
earnest Repentance and turning into God, it
entereth into the will of God; yet then the devil
hath seven cords still, with each of which he
holdeth it fast, before he will let it go; and
then it must get itself through all the seven, and
leave his cords wholly to himself. [These seven
bands are the seven spirits of nature hereafter
mentioned.]
52. And eighthly, it must go through the fire,
and there is the earnest severe proba, or hard
trial; and when it is come through, it getteth
the heavenly tincture in the ninth number, and
in the tenth number, upon the cross, it getteth
the body of Christ, and so is an angel in heaven,
and a stranger and pilgrim upon earth, in this
tabernacle.
53. The seven snares wherewith it is entangled,
are the seven spirits of the outward nature of
the dominion of this world: these it must wind
through, and press quite through them, and cast
them all behind it; and in the eighth number
standeth Moses, with his Law; and there is first
read to the soul, what a fine fowl it was; and
there cometh the devil with his register or
catalogue, and readeth what it is, and sheweth
his right to it: and there it is directed to bow
down and lay hold on the wounds and passion of
Christ: and here it is necessary that the poor
soul take hold on the merits and death of Christ,
and wrap itself fast therein, for out of these
swaddling bands the devil cannot pull the soul;
nay, he dare not touch them: and here the devil
must leave the soul, for Christ standeth in the
fire of the Father's anger, and is the accomplishment
of obedience; and there the soul is brought
into the ninth form, into the tincture of the eternal
life: and there it is surrounded with the Majesty
of God; and the fair blessed virgin (the wisdom
of God) meeteth it with her garland of pearls, and
crowneth the soul as a heavenly conqueror.
54. What joy is here to the angels of God,
and what joy the soul attaineth there, we have
no pen to describe it, nor in this world any tongue
to express i t; only we wish to the Reader, and
all men, that they might themselves have experience
of it, for which cause we set about this
writing with much toil and deep labour.
55. For we write what we ourselves have
known, and have seen with spiritual eyes; we
speak it not to our own boasting, but that the
Reader may know, that if he will follow us,
what he is to expect from it; seeing he perceiveth
how the world maketh a gazing stock of the
children of God: But we shall after this short life
have full recompense; and moreover, this garland
is more delicious than this whole world: and
though it be often covered and hidden from us,
yet it dieth not.
56. For as the rough winter hideth the budding
and flourishing of the earth, so that reason saith,
All is dead; but when the spring cometh, then
it beginneth to bud and blossom again; so also
it is with the noble and fair garland of Christ;
when that springeth again, then it produceth
lilies without number; and every spring, when
the mind is renewed in Christ, it multiplieth
tenfold.
Of the Company and Assistance of the
Holy Angels.
57. As we that are men in this world, if we be
the children of God, assist and help one another
in necessity and distress, and readily deliver one
another from misery and trouble; thus also it
is in heaven, concerning the children of God,
while the soul belongeth to the fellowship of
angels; they affect the company of honest,
virtuous, and chaste men, that fear God, and
stand by them in necessity: for the Scripture
saith, They are all ministering spirits, sent forth
for the service of those that are to inherit the
kingdom of God. They often avert the fiery
darts of wickedness: what mischief would the
devil often do, if he were not opposed and hindered
by the throne-princes of the legions ! How often
would he terrify and cast men down headlong to
the ground!
58. But the angels are our servants and keepers,
if we be Christians, and not beasts; though indeed
the devil setteth upon Christians most of all; how
very often would many be drowned and killed by
a fall, who yet receive wonderful deliverance from
angels: they are ready about people, who sing
and speak of God; they have great delight among
little infants, so that they many times manifest
themselves to an infant, and play with it, if it
be the child of God.
59. How many examples are there in the
Scripture, of the angels leading and conducting
the children of God; especially the example of
Tobiah: though our school-rabbis will rather have
it cast out of the Bible [than believe it] : but
consider of the three angels with Abraham, and
the two angels with Lot: also how they have
plainly foretold and declared the conception of
highly worthy men, [as of Isaac, Jacob, Samuel,
Samson, etc.] especially of John [the Baptist], and
of CHRIST: consider what was done at his birth,
[to the shepherds in the field] and to the wisemen [ Or Magi]
of the east: and at length to Joseph [how he was
directed] to go with Mary and the Babe into
Egypt: whereby we may sufficiently perceive their
great carefulness about us; for they are God's
ministers; he sendeth them to conduct us [through
this valley of misery, through this world of thistles
and thorns], and to defend us from the devil: O
how great joy they have for one poor soul, when it
is delivered from the snares of the devil, yea, more
than for ninety-nine righteous, as Christ saith.
60. Therefore we should not so suddenly despair
in adversity, when we are in necessity; when
often suppose that the whole world is against us,
yet the choir or host of angels, and the spirit of
God, are with us; it is often with us as with the
Canaanitish woman, so that we cannot find the
countenance of God; but we must wait for the
proof, and trial must pass over the soul; the more
gold is purified, the finer it is; so also the soul, the
more it is brought into trial, if it holds out, the
fairer and brighter it is: and God's aim is to have
fair and lovely children, and such as are of understanding,
and learn to discover [the deceits of] the
old devil.
61. But you must know that the angels are very
pure, chaste, modest spirits, also humble and
friendly, and are like to infants who know of no
deceit or iniquity, but what is innate in them.
62. Now, whosoever will enjoy the company and
assistance of angels must not be a lustful bull or
heifer, or a lascivious wanton Venus, or have a
false wicked mind, which day and night studieth
nothing but cunning tricks and deceit, how to get
money and wealth: neither must always dabble
and swim in the world's back-biting, scoffing jests
and conceits, and tickle and feed the soul with
them, in which the world useth to provoke one
another, and to take exceptions one at another:
No, no angel will stay with such men, but the black
devil, who possesseth the hearts of these men, so
that they take pleasure in wickedness.
63. Whosoever will have the assistance of angels
need not call upon them, or pray to them; for they
accept not of that honour, they give all honour to
God; but [he] ought only to turn away from
uncleanness of heart and enter through true Repentance
into God's will, and continually put away
evil thoughts and influences; he must continually
incline his will to God [and goodness], and pray to
God for the guidance of his holy Spirit.
64. And though the devil holdeth fast, and will
not let go, and layeth open his uncleanness before
him; there is no better course to be taken, than to
leave all his uncleanness and filthiness upon the
devil's neck, and wind himself out from it, in spite
of all [carnal] reason, and cast himself in humility
into God's will, and commit himself to it, and leave
all doubting to the devil (for that is his lodging),
and he must consider that it is a great sin to continue
in doubting; he should consider that doubting is
the devils band wherewith he holdeth the soul
fast: When any man's uncleanness meeteth him
and representeth itself before him, so that the soul
can receive no strength, that is not God's hardening
[of the heart], but the devil wrappeth himself about
the soul, and will not let the soul come to the light,
that it may receive strength and virtue; and there
the words and promises of Christ, with his bloodshedding,
suffering and death, are a sovereign
medicine; when the soul wrappeth itself up in
them, and leaveth all its uncleanness upon the
devil's neck, that is poison to the devil, which
maketh him faint and feeble; and so the soul then
presseth forth into the light of God, and receiveth
strength and virtue; and there it must earnestly
enter into humility, and then it treadeth upon the
devil's head, and destroyeth his hell; and then the
angels associate with that man, and have great joy
that the devil is overcome, who intended to be God
and creator in the soul.
65. But a soul in Christ must be a continual
warrior, and although the devil cannot get possession of the soul, yet he still holdeth it before the
unclean forbidden tree, that it should taste of
unchastity, iniquity, lies and deceit, of anger and
envy, and if he can bring it to pass that the soul
letteth the evil lust and desire kito itself, O how
doth he hide and cover it! how doth he strew
sugar upon it! And if he should once draw it
into Venus's heaven, he will spare no pains to get
his fortress again. For the devil is never better at
ease than in man, for there he can be lord of this
world, and perform his work, and accomplish his
will; which he cannot do in the spirit of this
world without man; for his kingdom is not in the
outward dominion of this world, but in the inward,
in the root in the abyss.
66. He can do nothing in this world, in the
external [part], unless the turba Magna in the
wrath of God be kindled, and there he is busy,
especially when the elements are kindled [or
inflamed] with tempestuous storms [of thunder and
lightning] ; and then if the anger of God burneth
therein, there he is a busy executioner; if he could
ruin the whole world he would do it; but he hath
no further room than the fierce wrath in the turba
affordeth him; The turba [plague, vengeance and destruction]
is his master, he is but a juggler and destroyer,
so far as the anger in the turba is kindled.
67. Know also, that the devil often striveth and
fighteth with the angels; and when the soul is
careless and secure, he setteth upon it strongly:
but he is held off, that he cannot do what he will;
but so soon as the soul imagineth, and is captivated
by the lust, [like Adam and Eve ], then the devil
overcometh; but then again so soon as the soul
casteth away that evil lust, [and entereth into
repentance], then he is driven away by the angels.
68. And there is a continual strife about the
soul of man; God desireth to have it; the devil
also would have it; and the cause of this is, that
the two kingdoms part in the cross: the one is the
love of God, the kingdom in Ternario Sancto, viz.
the angelical one: and the other is the fierce wrath
out of the centre of nature, which is the anger and
severity [or sharpness] of God.
69. And therefore it is that God manifesteth his
will to us, and setteth before man light and darkness;
he may endeavour after which he will: And
that we might know that God would have the soul
into his holy kingdom, he affordeth us teaching and
instruction, and sheweth us the way to life [or
light] ; he stirreth up by his spirit highly worthy
teachers, who are the light of the world, that men
might beware of his anger and fierce wrath, and not
awaken it in themselves.
70. For the anger must indeed be in every life,
[as the gall in living creatures] ; but where the love
and meekness prevail over it, it is not manifested
in eternity, but is only a cause of the life; for in
the love, the anger maketh great exulting joy and
paradise. The anger [or Mars] in the kingdom of
God is the great wondrous joy, where nothing of
the anger is perceived. As weeping and laughing
come from one place, and the weeping is turned
into joy; after such a manner is it with the love
and anger of God.
71. Therefore it is, that Christ so earnestly
teacheth us love, humility, and mercifulness; and
the cause why God is become man, is for our
salvation and happiness sake, that we should not
turn back from his love: God hath spent his heart
that we might be his children, and remain so
eternally; when there was no remedy, neither in
heaven nor in this world, then he moved himself
for man's sake, that he might be delivered from
the devil, and from his anger [into which he was
fallen in Adam ],
72. Therefore, dearly beloved children, do not so
reject and cast from you the love and grace of God,
else you will lament it in eternity; for after this
time [of the temporary life] there is no more
remedy or help. Pray learn divine wisdom; and
learn to know what God is; and do not imagine
or set any image of any thing before you, thinking
God to be an image any way but in Christ: We
live and are in God, we are of his [essence or]
substance [or being] : We have heaven and hell in
ourselves. What we make of ourselves, that we
are: If we make of ourselves an angel in the
light and love of God in Christ, we are so; but
if we make of ourselves a fierce, angry, false and
wicked, haughty, flying devil, which flieth aloft
above all love and meekness, in mere covetousness,
greedy hunger and thirst, then also we are so; for
after this life, it is otherwise with us there than
here; what the soul here embraceth, that it hath
there; and so, though the outward breaketh in
death, yet the will retaineth that embraced thing
in its source [or property,] and that is its sustenance; but how that will subsist before the
paradisical source and dominion of God, and before
his angels, you yourself may consider. We would
have it faithfully set before you [for a warning],
as it is given to us [for that purpose] .
THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER
Of the mixed World, and its wickedness, as it now
standeth, and as it exerciseth its Dominion
at present. A Glass wherein Every one may
see himself; and may try what Spirit's
Child he is; out of the Seal of the Wonders.
1. CHRIST saith, Matth. 23. O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem ! How often would I have
gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, and you would not:
O Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them that are sent unto thee, etc. Also, We
have piped unto you, and you have not danced, etc.
What should I do more to this stiff-necked people,
who will not suffer my spirit to reprove them?
Also, Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
the poison of adders is under their lips; they
speak mere deceit, and their hearts are never at
unity. O how fain would I eat of the best grapes;
but I am as a vine-dresser that gleaneth: I had
planted me a vineyard, but it bringeth forth
nothing but sour grapes: I am become strange
to my mother's children: They which eat at my
table, tread me underfoot.
2. Thus the mother then complained of the
wicked children of men; but what shall she now
do in these present times? She standeth yet in
great sorrow and lamentation, and hath turned away
her countenance from those wicked children, and
will not have any of them that are in that garment: [ Of filthy wickedness]
She crieth, and none heareth: She standeth in great
mourning and lamentation over the wickedness of
those false unruly and perverse children: Every
one runneth after the covetous whore, who is
full of blasphemies, and abominations; both the
shepherd [pastor] and the sheep [people] do so: It is a most
lamentable time, and if it should not be shortened,
no man should be saved.
3. It is a time which all the prophets have
prophesied of, and thou supposest it to be a
golden time; but consider thyself, thou blind
man, whither art thou gone? Dost thou suppose
that this wickedness and falsehood which thou
practisest is the ordinance of God? Wait but a
while, and you will soon see. It is the time of
the last seal, wherein the anger of God hath poured
forth its vials, so that the wonders of hell come to
light [that they may be known]. Let this be told
you, we have known it in Ternario Sancto; [or
understood it in the angelical world, in the heavenly
substantiality] .
4. For the mother hath rejected it, and will
have none of those abominations any more: She
is big with child, and bringeth forth a son in her
old age, which shorteneth the days of wickedness.
Let this be told you; whosoever persevereth and
goeth on in wickedness, shall have great shame
thereof.
5. Is not the little boy (which runneth up and
down in his childish sport) very full of the poison,
venom, and wickedness of the devil? And do not
all vices and abominations stick in him? He is a
scorner, and blasphemer of God, a swearer, curser,
liar and deceiver, very fit and apt to serve the
devil in all manner of shameful filthiness: Scurrility
and obsceneness are his best Latin and
eloquence, he knoweth how to mock, disgrace, and
lay all manner of aspersions upon the simple: All
manner of thievery, cheating tricks and cozenage,
are fine arts with him: Deceit, over-reaching, and
circumvention, are his glorious boasting: They
mock and deride poor people without any cause:
He that feareth God is by them accounted a
fool, and set as an owl to be wondered at. This,
parents and ancient people see, and take delight
and pleasure in it, that their children are so
dexterous and witty in their wantonness and
waggery. They are tickled at the heart with it
when they unhappily jest at honest people; that
which old folks dare not do for shame, that they
teach the children, that thereby the lust of their
hearts may be brought to pass: All this the devil
teacheth them, and so rideth in their hearts as
lord over body and soul.
6. If any can but cozen and cheat his neighbour,
despise, slander, and find fault with him, and
bereave him of his honour and goods, these are the
satisfying of their lusts: All immodest wanton
words and manners are held the best art and
courtship: He that can laugh and jeer his
neighbour out of countenance, is master upon the
place: All these are devil's pranks and tricks;
and thus he leadeth the poor soul in his string, and
man understandeth it not.
7. Youth, both of the male and female sex,
learn first the devil's trade before they take any
thing else in hand: Disdainful malicious wantonness
is the first work they learn; and the parents
encourage their children in it, and hold it for a
necessary worldly fashionable accomplishment.
8. When they are grown up a little, then the
desire of bestial unchastity is the second work they
learn, which they call a trick of youth, and allure
one another to it: Thus youths give room to the
devil, at the first blossoming, to enter into the heart,
so that the devil maketh his nest therein, and so
catcheth one with the abominations of another,
the male with the female, and the female with
the male.
9. If any one send a son to the university to
learn somewhat that is good, that he may be
serviceable to God, and useful in the world; then
he learneth wantonness, bravery, pride, subtlety,
how to deceive the simple of their own, and
bereave them of their sweat, and contrive a cloak
for it, saying, it is his right by law; but that
cloak is the devil's, and the false deceitful heart is
his minister. If he can speak a little Latin, or
foreign language, then no simple man is good
enough for his company: His high-mindedness
flies aloft, the stinking carcase [which is but meat
for worms] must be trimmed with ribands and
baubles; to go a- whoring, and deflowering maids,
is courtship: There are people that can behave
themselves so finely, till they awaken the gnawing
worm of conscience in the heart of many a
mother's daughter.
10. And such are advanced in the churches and
universities, and set up for shepherds [pastorsor ministers] of Christ,
and yet they have the devil lodging in their heart;
and so also they are promoted to worldly government
[or the civil magistracy], and then they
govern as their guest in their heart will have it:
Thus the superior, or magistrate, worketh the
greatest abominations, and the inferior learneth of
him: He inventeth tricks how he may, with the
appearance of law, justice, and equity, get the goods
or estate of the inferior to himself: He maketh
constitutions, orders, and statutes, and saith they
are for the public good: He constraineth the poor
and miserable to do hard service, that he may
satisfy his pride and state: He crusheth the simple
with harsh, cruel language, he taketh away his
sweat, and tormenteth his body: He maketh him
his very slave, and though he hath no more but
one soul of his own, [no more than others], and is
but a stranger and pilgrim in this world, [yet he
thinks] the needy must spend his sweat wholly in
his service; there is no pity nor release to be had
from him: his dog hath a better life than the poor
needy soul under his roof, and this he accounteth
his right and prerogative; whereas it is not at all
grounded in nature, but only in the abyss, where
one form or property plagueth, vexeth, and tormenteth
the other, where the life is its own enemy;
[and there it is grounded] .
11. This the inferior learneth from the superior,
and so getteth his living also with subtlety and
deceit, covetousness and knavery; for, if he doth
not use these things, he can hardly fill his belly
in righteousness; and therefore reason persuadeth
him that necessity forceth him, that he must
enhance his labour and commodities, and must
wrest from his neighbour his sweat again, without
love and righteousness, that he may but fill his
belly: He learneth from his superior to gormandize
and pamper his body, and live a bestial
life. What the superior spendeth in a courtly
stately fashion, that the inferior spendeth in a
beastly, swinish fashion, and manner of life:
Thus one wickedness effecteth another, and the
devil remaineth prince on earth over body and
soul.
12. How wilt thou be able to subsist, when God
in his zeal or jealousy shall judge the secrets of
mankind, when the cause of every thing will
appear, why that or the other thing came to be
evil? And there every soul will cry out of those
that lead it astray, and curse them: Every thing
will have its cause appear before it, and the soul
will feel it in its conscience: Where then will you,
superior, remain, when your inferior shall cry out
and say, Woe be to you, in that you have forced
him to such wicked courses, and that you have
bereaved him of his sweat, and consumed his goods
and labours in idleness and wantonness ? How will
you give an account of your office, into which you
are put, wherein you should stop unrighteousness,
and hold the wicked in awe by reproof and punishment?
And you have not regarded his wicked
courses, that you might prevent and hinder them,
but have only looked after your covetousness, how
you might bereave him of his sweat: You have
not sought his soul's good, but his sweat and
labour: He might else do what he would: And
besides, you have given an evil example to him, so
that he hath looked upon your courses, and
made them his pattern. Cursing, blaspheming,
threatening, daring surliness [provocations], have been your
fashion, and that he hath learnt of you, and hath
so constantly reproached the name of God, which
you have not regarded; you have only looked after,
his money, and not after his soul.
13. And now, when the severe judgment of God
shall appear, and that every work shall be manifested
in the fiery essences, where then all shall be
tried in the fire, what think you? Shall not all
such works remain in the eternal fire? And there
will the poor soul cry out upon your ungodly
cursed deeds, words and works: And one will
curse and wish all evil to the other, for being the
cause of such evil to him, and the source and
property of falsehood and wickedness will rise up
in the soul, and gnaw it, that, for so short and
empty vanity, voluptuousness and false lust, it
hath fooled away such great eternal glory.
14. All manner of reproaches, all slanders, all
scoflings, all covetousness, pride, and deceit shall
rise up in the soul, and one source [or property]
shall continually kindle and gnaw the other, which
hath given cause to the stirring up of the other,
and the soul will think, if these abominations were
not in thee, thou mightest attain grace; and when
it shall behold and consider itself, it will find how
one abomination hath generated another, and will
see that itself is a mere stinking abomination in
the presence of God; and there it will cast itself
down in the source of anguish, into the centre of
nature, and curse God, that he hath made it a
soul; and the deeper it desireth to plunge itself,
the deeper it falleth, and yet must continue in
the place of its abominations: It cannot go from
thence, for the hellish matrix holdeth it, and
it must thus feed itself with anguish, cursing,
abominations, and bitterness, and even with that
which its heart hath done here [in this life],
wherein at length it despaireth, and that is its
eternal food.
15. All earthly food and lust passeth away at
the end of days, and returneth again into the
ether; but the will remaineth standing eternally,
and the desire in the will.
16. Therefore, you parents and children, you
superiors and inferiors, observe, you have filled
the mother of nature full with abominations, the
fierce anger of God is at hand, the Last Judgment
is at the door, God will purge the earth with fire,
and give every one his wages: The harvest cometh,
this garment will remain no longer, every thing
will be gathered into its barn: He that will not
take counsel, let him take his course; he will find
by woeful experience what the seventh seal at the
centre bringeth with it.
17. When reason looketh all about and considered,
it saith, I see not yet that it is otherwise
than it was in former times: Moreover, the world
was always good and bad, as histories relate:
Also, a man must take such courses, else he will be
accounted a fool and an owl in the world, and
must starve and perish for hunger.
18. If I do not give my children leave to learn
the manners and fashions of the world, then they
would be despised and scorned of every body:
And if I myself did not carry it out with state,
loftiness, and stoutness, I should not be regarded:
And if I must have credit, I must use some
cunning to get it; for with truth, love, and
righteousness, I shall not attain it: I must therefore
do as other people do, and then I may
be able to live amongst them: Must I needs
be made the fool of all the world? Though
indeed I commit sin, yet God is gracious and
merciful; and hath not Christ slain sin and death
on the cross, and taken away the power of the
devil? I shall one day repent well enough, and
be saved.
19. This is the rule of the world which the
superior and inferior go by; also the shepherd [ pastor]
and the sheep: Christ's sufferings must be a cover
for their wickedness: Every one will be a Christian
under the cover of Christ, when the poor
soul sitteth a- whoring with the devil: If one do
but say with the mouth he is a Christian, and
yet cover his wickedness with the purple mantle
of Christ, all is well: Thus we are brave lipChristians under the mantle of Christ; but in the
heart we have the Antichristian whore sitting as
a guest.
20. O you false shepherds of Christ, who go
into the sheepfold at your thievish back-door, why
do you cover your wickedness with Christ's sufferings
and death? Do you think Christ was wicked?
Seek the centre of nature, and shew people the
abyss that is in their heart: Shew them the snares
of the devil, wherewith we lie bound, that they
may not esteem cursed worldly things; but that
they may learn to strive against flesh and blood,
against the devil, and against the hypocritical life
and conversation, that they may go forth from the
devil's high-mindedness into righteousness, into
love and humility.
21. The suffering of Christ is profitable to none,
unless they turn from their false evil purposes, and
repent, and enter into the covenant of God; and to
these it is very effectual. The hypocrites use this
for a show, and that they may be called Christians;
but thereby they take the name of God in vain,
and must give a strict account thereof.
22. O you Antichristian shepherds of the new
order [ordination], who use the suffering of Christ with false
hypocrisy to please men, for their favour, and for
your idol the belly's sake, to cover over the
hypocrite and false deceiver, who is but a showChristian: How will you be able to answer it,
when Christ will require his sheep at your hands,
and you have wittingly and willingly, under his
purple mantle, covered wolves, in whom the devil
dwelleth? Why do you not crack the nut-shell,
wherein the kernel and heart lieth, and tell the
superior as well as the inferior of his abominations?
Are you Christ's shepherds? Why do you not
then as Christ did, who set the truth before the
eyes of every one ? He reproved and healed, not
for man's favour and respect, but according to the
will of his Father; and so ought Christ's shepherds
to do also.
23. O dear reason, thou walkest wisely in the
paths of this world, in what concerneth the outward
body: But where lieth the poor soul? The soul
is not at home in this body, that is not its eternal
native country. What will it avail thee to enjoy
pleasure for a little while, with eternal shame and
torment? Or, why dost thou suffer thy children
to have their wills to follow fashions and finery,
for a little while in this world, and takest delight
therein when they scorn the miserable and the
needy, and shalt lose them hereafter eternally?
Thou thinkest thou lovest them, and dost well for
them: When the world commends their cunning
and bravery, falsehood and wickedness, that
commendation delighteth thee, but the devil
accepteth and receiveth it as belonging to him,
and thou art the murderer of thy children: Thou
art their greatest enemy; for children look upon
their parents, and when their untoward tricks
please their parents, then they follow them the
more, and grow the more audacious in them. At
the Last Judgment-day they will cry out of
their parents, that they have not rebuked their
wantonness and ungodly life, and brought them
up in modesty and in the fear of God.
24. If you love your life, and your children,
then lose them as to the wickedness of this world,
that they may not be nor converse therein; and
then you shall find them, together with your life,
in heaven again; as Christ teacheth us, saying,
He that loveth his life shall lose it; but he that
loseth his life, goods and honour, for my sake,
shall find it in the kingdom of heaven: Also,
When the world despiseth, persecuteth, and hateth
you for my sake, then rejoice, for your recompense
is great in the kingdom of heaven. Also, What
will it profit a man to have all temporal honour
and pleasure, and lose his own soul? Whereas
this life continueth but for a moment, in comparison
of the eternity.
25. Dear children in Christ, let every one have
a care in what soil he groweth: You must not
expect any better time of life to repent in;
but to-day, while the voice of God soundeth, let
every one enter into himself, and search himself,
let none regard the broad way of this world, for it
leadeth into the abyss to all devils; but the way
to the kingdom of heaven is very narrow and
strait: He that will set into it, must not defer
nor linger out the time till the devil barreth up
the door: He must not regard the course of the
world, he must go directly into himself, and seek
himself: The time will come that he will think
that he is alone in this way, but God hath always
his seven thousand with Elijah, whom he knoweth
not of.
26. For a sincere Christian doth not wholly
know himself, he seeth nothing but his vices, in
which the devil striveth against him, they are
continually before him; but in this world he
knoweth not his sanctity [or holiness]; for Christ hideth
such people under his cross, so that the devil
doth not see them. Therefore be watchful and
sober, and resist the subtle devil, that you may
live eternally.
THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER
Of Praying and Fasting, and due Preparation
to the Kingdom of God. What Praying is,
and bringeth to Effect: What the Power of it
is, and what the final use and benefit of it is.
1. FOR the instruction and comfort of the
sincere simple Christianity, and for a
constant awakening of ourselves, that we might
be found worthy to hear the voice of the noble
bridegroom, who calleth his bride, and will bring
her home !
A very lovely Gate.
2. A hungry spirit that is weary and faint, is
desirous of the still meekness and rest, that it may
go forth from the source [force or power] of the driver, and may
satiate itself with meekness and stillness, and so
with that which is the desire of its life, whereby it
may sustain its body.
3. Thus, my dearly beloved mind, thou art
generated out of the eternal still meekness, and
wert (before the time of this world) in the wisdom
of God, [in the eternal virgin]; the meekness of
the love of God was thy source [or property], and
thou wast a fruitful rain in thy still eternal
mother [the eternal nature], where thou wast not
yet created a spirit: Consider thyself, how great
unquietness thou art now in: Thou art immeasurably
hungry, thou always thirsteth after the food,
and source [or property] of thy mother: O that
the time of refreshment were come ! This doth
the poor soul wish and pant after: One day crieth
to another, the morning crieth to the evening, and
the night longeth after the day, and there is no
place nor rest (from the driver [persecutor, tormentor]) for the poor soul,
the driver taketh hold of its very throat; and
though it hideth itself, yet it findeth no place nor
rest free from the source [or property] of its driver:
He driveth it further and further, till it findeth the
bosom of its mother, where it layeth down itself,
and is as one that is escaped in a great battle,
who dareth not lift up his head for fear of the
enemy.
4. My dear children in Christ, and all you that
have given up yourselves in Christ, to the kingdom
of heaven, you elect in Christ; thus it is
with our souls: Our souls stick in such great
unquietness; and as it is with a soldier in a fight,
who is continually in expectation of death, where
the enemies press upon him on every side, and
strike at him, and continually desire his death; or,
as it is with one that is fallen into a deep sea, and
swimmeth there, and seeth no shore, and continually
expecteth death, where the water goeth into his
mouth, who sigheth and desireth help from above;
or, like one that is falling into a deep pit, where no
help is discerned, who also expecteth help from
above.
5. So it is also with the poor soul, it is fallen
into a dark dungeon, and swimmeth in a dangerous
and deep water, where it is encompassed
with enemies on every side, who all strike at it:
Every one would murder it, and it seeth no help
about it; if it searcheth through its body, through
its flesh and blood, also through marrow and bones,
it findeth they all are its enemies, which leadeth
it into the abyss.
6. The spirit of this world (in flesh and blood)
draweth it, and boweth it down to the ground, in
the deep of the waters, and continually desireth to
drown it; for it would only maintain and pamper
the bestial life.
7. So also the devil draweth it mightily down into
the abyss, and would fain throw it into the eternal
aching source [or torment] of hell; and if it
resist, he striketh at it with the anguish of hell,
that it should despair, and throw itself into the
abyss; and there it hath no helper with it, nor
about it, nor can it discover any to appear, till it
raise itself upwards into the love and mercy of
God, where then it must leave and forsake all
whatsoever is in its house, and must wind quite
through from it, as a spirit without substance;
that is, it must go forth with its will from all its
thoughts, and out from all its mind, into the mercy
of God, into the first original mother [eternal nature], where it
was only a seed before the creation of the world.
8. And when it cometh thither, it findeth that
the same Word which created it, is become man;
into which it casteth itself, and eateth of that
humanity, as of a pure and new body, in which
there is no source [or property] of enmity, but only
a meek, pure, desirous love; and there its will is
accepted [or received] of God, and the Holy Ghost entereth
into its will, and bringeth to the poor captive
soul heavenly refreshment and comfort, so that it
feedeth on the flesh of the eternal Word of its
original mother, and drinketh of the water of
eternal life, wherein, before the world, it was only
a seed.
9. There it findeth the place of its rest, and
cooleth its flames therewith, and resteth in the
bosom of its mother, for it entereth into the land
of the living, and the Holy Ghost leadeth it out of
prison, and it eateth at God's table, and sitteth
among the children of love [God's love]. O how humble it is,
that the Holy Ghost hath delivered it from the
strife of battle ! and then God hath a true, obedient,
and humble child of it. And thus it is with the
souls which press forth out of this sea of misery
into God, or which with the deliverance from the
earthly life enter into God, and so are released
from the driver [the devil] .
10. Since therefore it is certainly thus, and that
we have found out the way, we will speak what
we know, and testify the truth: For Christ saith;
My Father will [or desires to] give the Holy Ghost to them that
ask him for it: No son asketh the Father for
an egg, and he qffereth him a scorpion instead
of it: or for bread, and he giveth him a stone;
or for fish, and he giveth him a serpent: Ask
and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened
unto you, saith Christ.
11. When the heart and mind, and all the
senses or thoughts; resolve into a will and purpose,
that the soul will enter into the mercy of God, and
repent of its misdeeds, and is resolved to seek
after love and mercy, then it is said, Before they
call, I have heard them; as may be seen by
Daniel, when the angel said to him, When thou
chastisedst thyself, and didst intend to pray for
thine own sins, and the sins of the people, I
brought thy prayer before God, and this command
went forth. Read the history of Tobiah, what
praying and fasting, and due preparation for the
kingdom of God, are able to effect: briefly, the
whole scripture is full of such examples.
12. Consider the prayer of Christ; how his
human soul in God the Father called, and awakened
the Verbum Domini in him, when he would do
great wonders [or miracles] ; especially about
Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead: then he
sighed to his Father, and awakened the centre of
nature, and the Word in the centre of nature on
the cross of the Number Three: There the Holy
Ghost, and the Word which the Holy Ghost then
awakened, went forth in his soul: and then the
soul of Christ thanked his Father who had heard
him, and said in the power of the Word to dead
Lazarus, Lazarus, come forth; and there they
saw the power of the Word in the soul, that the
dead must arise; which power the soul of Christ
had opened and awakened with his knocking.
13. You must know that Lazarus was awakened
from within; and we shall all at the last day
hear the voice of God from within, in the centre of
the soul: for the Word, with the Number Three,
dwelleth within it, in the centre on the cross, and
that soundeth forth outwards, and raiseth up the
body of the essences: For the souls of men are all,
as it were, one soul; for they are all propagated
out of one only soul; and therefore they will all
hear the voice of the human soul in Christ, and
arise with their bodies.
14. So, then, when we pray to God, God heareth
our souls in the centre in ourselves; that is, the
soul presseth forth with its repenting will, out of
the centre of anguish, out of the abyss of hell, and
also out of the spirit of this world, into the second
Principle, into God, which is also in the soul; for
all the Three Principles are in the soul, viz. the
two eternal, and the corruptible, which maketh the
death of this world.
15. Understand us accurately, according to its
high worth, thus; God the Father moveth not
himself [when thou prayest], the Holy Ghost only
moveth himself: though that indeed availeth us
not either. But the Word which hath created our
soul is become man, and that hath the Holy Ghost
in it, and he goeth forth from the Father in the
Word, and meeteth the calling mind and will, and
openeth himself from within outwards into the
soul: For the outward bestial body is not worthy
of the Holy Ghost, that he should open himself in
it; though sometimes it happened so to the saints,
that he went forth of the soul into the outward
Principle; and then the body triumpheth, and for
very joy knoweth not what is happened to it: but
in the new body of the soul in Christ, when the
soul attaineth the body of Christ, in that the Holy
Ghost dwelleth.
16. And so when the devil cometh, and will set
upon the soul from beneath, in the first Principle,
in the centre of the first four forms to the source of
the fire, then the will of the soul presseth into the
flesh of Christ, into the second Principle, inwards
into itself, and there it is refreshed and released,
and the devil must go down; for that life doth
not relish with him: yet he is so furious, that
he setteth upon the soul, so often as he perceiveth
it to be secure and careless, or never so little
burdeneth itself with falsehood and wickedness:
he always seeketh an opportunity wherein he
might find his nest open [for him].
17. Therefore, dear children, when ye pray,
think not that God dwelleth afar off from you, and
so neither heareth you, nor seeth you; that is a
false conceit and opinion. Indeed those, who will
not enter into God, those that stick fast in their
malice and iniquity, and retain wickedness in their
soul, those indeed are not heard. He that crieth
to God, that he would outwardly accept his words
from him, and yet retaineth the evil one in his
soul, he mocketh God: God dwelleth not outwardly;
for the outward is the bestial starry spirit: he
dwelleth inwardly in himself; the outward substance
is only a figure and similitude of God:
Indeed it is of God, and generated out of the
inward centre, and expressed [or spoken forth]
through the Verbumfiat: but it is not the substance
of the Number Three, which is a substance
and spirit in the Trinity, above nature, and yet
dwelleth in nature in itself; incomprehensible to
nature, as the wind and the light are not comprehended
by the fire, and yet are the spirit,
brightness, and life of the fire.
18. Therefore, when you will pray, put away
the abominations out of your soul, and enter into
yourself; that is, you must loathe the abominations,
and frame a will and purpose in your soul, that you
will not let such abominations unto you any more;
also you must not suffer your will to stick in any
abomination and despair; for when you despair,
you sink yourself down into the abyss.
19. But consider, that it is the dear will and
pleasure of God, that you press earnestly and
strongly through, and leave the abominations to the
devil upon his neck, and come very humbly, praying
as a sinful child to God: he is the Father of
the lost son, you have vainly rioted and spent your
beauty and righteousness with the devil, and with
the Antichristian whore, you are amongst the
swine at Babel; and having lost your goods you
eat grains and husks with the swine; you are
naked and torn, and are not worthy to be called
his son: Consider and imagine this in yourself, for
it is true, and so come with true conversion out of
the filth and mire of the swine to our ancient loving
Father, and pray for his grace and favour, that
he would but make thee as one of his hired servants
in his court: acknowledge to him thy evil deeds,
and that thou art not worthy to be called his son.
Behold, dear soul, observe it, it is the very precious
truth.
20. When you thus enter into yourself, and
search out your abominations, and the husks of
the devil, and of the world, which you have so long
devoured, and consider of God and his mercy, then
turn not again into the hogsty; and say not, I
am ashamed to come before my good old Father;
I dare not come into his sight, for great shame and
abomination; for I was a glorious son, and now am
a naked swineherd; but consider that your Father
taketh more care about you who are his lost
prodigal son, than you do about his favour and
love, which you have wilfully trifled away.
21. Frame but a loving, humble, submissive,
obedient will and purpose, and come, come away
from the swine, leave the husks to the world, let
the swine devour them and feed themselves fat:
but enter you into yourself, and knock at your evil
heart: break in through the doors and gates: and
though all swine cry, and devils should howl for
their keeper, yet come you to your Father with
any humble demeanour and words, you need not
trouble yourself about the adorning of them with
accurate eloquence; for though you have no more
words than the poor publican, it is no matter, it
lieth not in them, but in an earnest constant
purpose without ceasing: and though hell should
break in pieces, and body and soul part asunder,
yet stand still, and go not forth again out of the
doors of the Father.
22. For as soon as you will open the door in
your soul, and will go out of the mire, towards the
ancient Father, that he doth but perceive that it is
you his son, and that you are returned to him, then
he saith; This is my son which was lost, for whom
my heart was troubled, and is entered into the
humanity, into this world, and hath sought him,
and now I have found him.
23. And there he sendeth the Holy Ghost to
meet him, and falleth kindly about his neck, and
receiveth him with joy, and for a token of his love,
he putteth the seal and the ring of the Holy Trinity,
in the suffering and death of Christ, on to the hand
of the soul: and there he bringeth the blessed
virgin of his wisdom, the new angelical garment
(viz. the flesh of Christ) and putteth it on to the
soul; and all the servants of God (viz. the holy
angels in the house of the Father) must rejoice and
be merry with the lost Son; and there the ancient
Father slayeth the fatted calf, and feedeth his son
at his table (of the heavenly substantiality), with
the power and with the flesh of his obedient Son
Christ, and giveth him to drink of the water of
eternal life, in the blood of Christ, in the first
mother, out of which the soul hath been created;
and there is joy in heaven among the ninety-nine
angels, or holy souls, which are with God, that a
dear brother is come into their society.
24. And although the own [invented] works of
holiness (viz. the elder son, who hath always
been busy at home in the Antichristian house)
murmur and grumble at it, (and boasteth of his
obedience, labour, and toil, which he had taken in
hypocrisy), the Father regardeth not that; the new
son pleaseth him better than he that had continued
in the house: He thought that he alone was heir,
that the kingdom of heaven belonged to him: he
had merited it, and hath not gone out of the house;
to him belongeth the keys of the treasure; the other
is but a swineherd: All this doth not divert the
Father, but he is merry with his servants the
angels and holy souls, and letteth him that was
angry (who would not rejoice with his brother)
go down into the wrathful pit of the devil; and
he is merry with his children. But seeing the
hypocrite is angry, and despiseth the supper of
the Father, therefore he doth not taste of the
heavenly joy.
25. Hearken, you Roman Pope, and you Roman
Emperor, Why are you angry with us poor lost
sons in Germany who go into our first true Father?
Would he not fain have us? Are you not our
brother? Wherefore then do you grumble? Are
you Pope in the house? Then have a care that
you be the Father's obedient son, and rejoice with
the lost son, when he goeth out from Antichrist,
to the Father: If you will not do so you must
eternally be angry, and shall have no joy with us
[once] lost, but [now] again living children, to
eternity.
26. O you Antichristian wolf, Why are you
angry, when the Father receiveth a swineherd for
a dear child, and giveth him the seal-ring, the
Mysterium Magnum? Do you think you do right
in it? Though indeed you are born of an academy
[or from an university], and the swineherds [are
born] in the field among the swine, as you account
them; yet in them the greatest wonders are
awakened [or manifested] above your hypocritical
reason: look to it, rule well in the house of your
academy; we heard a watchman say, Leave off;
The City Babel is fallen: see that you be not
taken in Babel: for it burneth in the fire: the
Turba Magna will spew it out; there is no other
remedy or counsel, but for all to go together with
the swineherd to the Father, and pray to him for
grace; else you will be fain to try, by woeful
experience, what this pen hath written, and out of
what spirit it flowed, and was revealed.
27. When Christ drave the devil out of the
lunatic that was possessed, his disciples said to
him, Master, why could we not drive him out?
Then said Christ, This kind doth not go out but by
fasting and prayer.
28. Dear children, brethren and sisters, be advised,
for the kind love of God the Father in his heart
(which for our sakes is become man), hath lifted up
himself in the crown of the spirit of this world,
and calleth us: It grieveth his mercy that we are
fallen home to the wrath of the Turba Magna; he
now sendeth you many messengers, and calleth you
in their voice, and he will send more unto you:
Why do you despise them and kill them? Try
them whether their spirit be born of God or no; or
whether they seek their own way of their belly in
Antichrist: Surely it is time to awake from sleep:
No jesting matter will follow: you should not
dare to jest so with the keys of the Holy Ghost,
and make conclusions of faith, according to your
own opinions, tenets and conceits: Faith will not
be begotten by conclusions and canons, but is
awakened by true sincerity, by being obedient
children of Christ.
29. Saint Paul did not say to his disciple,
Dispute of the Mysteries of God; but he said,
Awaken or stir up the gifts that are in thee:
No man's own wit can do it; much less the pride
of the high schools [or universities], which yet
they cloak with hypocrisy, and hide it under the
mantle of the Holy Ghost: Why do you make
conclusions about the body and the person of
Christ? Have you power and authority to do
so? Is it not a Mystery to you? And you
understand nothing in it unless you be new born
again in Christ; Doth he not say, Behold, I am
with you even to the end of the world? Is he
with you? Why then do you set yourselves upon
his throne, and deny his presence? Are you not
Pilate who sentenceth Christ? From whom have
you the might and authority to make conclusions
and articles? Are you his lords? Then
you are not children: have a care you prove not
the eldest son in the house, who striveth about the
inheritance, and about the power and authority,
and yet continueth to be a proud angry murmurer
against the Father. Dear children, it availeth
nothing to go such a way: Christ said to his
disciples, when he drave the devil out of the
lunatic that was possessed, which the disciples
could not do in their own reason, This kind goeth
not out but by fasting and prayer.
30. Dear brethren, you will not [be able to]
drive the devil out of us, if you have not Christ
with you; your art and conclusions of reason will
do nothing else but cause people to go out from
God into their own self-will: We must fast and
pray, that we fall not into temptation, and into
the nets and snares of the devil in our reason:
for the devil always holdeth his net before reason,
and he that falleth into it, supposeth he is caught
in Christ's fishing net: but he is taken in Antichrist's net: Reason comprehendeth nothing of
the kingdom of God but the husk; the virtue and
power of it remaineth hidden to reason, unless it
be born in God, and then reason goeth forth as a
burning fire in the spirit of God; but the spirit
letteth it not fly aloft, but boweth it to the earth
[in humility], for he knoweth the warrior [Satan] that
fighteth against reason.
31. A watchful life is requisite, which is
chastened and not overflown with the fleshly
voluptuous spirit of this world, and not a life
always drunken and full: for as soon as the
soul is inflamed with the vigour and power of
the earthly spirit, then God's spirit passeth into
its own Principle; and the soul is captivated by
the spirit of this world, and the devil gaineth an
access to it; and then its former wit and understanding
(known in God) is changed into outward
reason, and then man supposeth still that it is
God's spirit.
32. O no friend! the constellation [of the stars within us], which
should rest in the spirit of Christ, lusteth also
to possess such a heart and soul, where the spirit
of God hath been sitting; for every creature
longeth after the virtue and power of God:
but the constellation, though it come into the
temple of God, driveth on its own matters that
lie in its power, it knoweth nothing of divine
wisdom: it hath a wisdom, and constituteth the
spirit of this world: indeed it hath great art
and learning: for the earthly and elementary
Mysterium Magnum lieth therein: but it hath
not the key to the Principle of the liberty of God
without and beyond nature; for it hath a beginning
and end, and looketh no further; it maketh
and seeketh only a hypocritical bestial life.
33. Therefore let us not be proud [stout, surly] and
nor rely upon art and learning, much less upon
the letter: for the spirit thereof is hidden to us,
without the spirit of God: we have the will of
God in the Holy Scripture: yet without the
spirit of God we have but the husk and the dead
word (except God's spirit first awaken the living
word in us, that we may understand the letter
and the written word); which is plain enough, in
that the learned in arts are but learned in the
letter, and not learned in God, otherwise they
would not contend and wrangle about Christ's
honour and doctrine, nor so dispute about the cup
of Christ.
34. Though there were a thousand men learned
in God, who are born in the spirit of Christ, and
were together, and had each of them a special
gift and knowledge in God, yet they would all
be but one in the root of Christ, and would every
one desire only the love of God in Christ: What
disciple or scholar will exalt himself above his
master? We are one body in Christ, why then
should one member contend with the other about
the food? When the desirous mouth feedeth,
then all the members receive strength and
virtue; every member hath its own office or
work in opening the wonders of God: we do not
all bring one and the same words, but one spirit
in Christ, every one hath that which is his own
imparted to him, what he shall open in God, that
the great mysteries of God may be made manifest,
and the wonders which have been foreseen from
eternity in his wisdom might be revealed: to
which end the soul was created of God.
35. 1 know, and the spirit sheweth it to me,
that thou, Antichristian sophister, wilt object
against me, that even among the Apostles there
hath been strife and contention about the words
of Christ: It is true indeed, and it was Satan's
masterpiece to sift Christ's disciples, and the
disciples of those disciples, so soon as they
became secure: for they were men as well as
we, and one was stronger in spirit than another,
according as they did search [or examine] themselves, and
raise up themselves in God: for they lived among
evil men, and many times must apply themselves
to the world, and must give the weak milk to
drink, at which others many times stumbled in
their reason, and grew hot and zealous, and
reproved one another for it; as may be seen
about Cornelius, when Peter went in to the
heathens, and the other Apostles supposed that
the kingdom of God belonged only to Israel.
36. But you are to know, that the love of God
is so humble [pliable], that when it hath kindled the soul
itself, itself is subject to the soul; but no soul
will enjoy that, but those that are humbled in the
love of God, and constantly go forth from their
desires, that the spirit of God may live in them,
and that they may have an eye unto him: the
soul is permitted to be zealous, but it doth better
to live in meekness, in which it entereth into the
Majesty [of God], and is a totally beloved child;
what doth it avail me that I pour out fire upon
my brother, and so burn myself therein? It is
more blessed to continue under the cross in
patience and in meekness, than to bring fire
from heaven.
37. Christ is come to seek and to save that
which was lost; not to awaken his anger against
us, but that he might help us out of the jaws of
the devil; and hath regenerated us in himself to
be a living creature in God, and hath brought us
quite through the fire of his Father's anger. He
hath broken the bands, that we might follow him
in love and meekness, as children should follow
their parents: Therefore he teacheth us faithfully
what we should do, and how we should pray.
[Of the Lord's Prayer.]
38. The prayer which he hath taught us is an
instruction and teaching of all whatsoever we
should do and leave undone; and what we
should ask and expect from God: and is always
rightly to be understood according to the Three
Principles, which we will here make a short
introduction to, though it cannot be confined
or concluded, for the spirit in the prayer comprehendeth
in it the whole eternity, also nature
and every thing; so that no tongue can sufficiently
expound it. The more it is considered, the more
is found in it. Yet we will venture upon it, and
give the reader an introduction; not to tie or
limit the spirit: for it riseth up in every one's soul,
as virtue and power is given from the wonders of
God. And so it is also with the Gospel, that is
not tied to any exposition: The more any search
into it, the more they find therein: for the spirit
of God itself teacheth us to pray aright, and also
presenteth us to God. For we know not what we
should say; our whole business of praying and
conversion consisteth only in the will and purpose
that we give ourselves up into God; God the Holy
Ghost himself maketh the springing and growing
up through himself in God, he driveth forth the
blossom of the new body of the soul, out from the
divine centre forth through the soul, so that the
fruit of eternal life springeth forth out of the soul's
body, with many branches and fair fruit, and
standeth as a glorious tree in the kingdom of God;
so that when we pray our soul eateth of many
heavenly fruits, which are all grown out of the
body of the soul as out of a heavenly soil or
ground: and the soul eateth of them again in
prayer, and they are its food on the table of God:
Thus it eateth ex verbo Domini, of the Word of
the Lord; concerning which Christ saith; Man
liveth not by bread only, but by every word which
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
39. The Lord's Prayer affordeth a very high
and excellent understanding in the language of
nature: for it expresseth the eternal birth, also all
the three Principles, also the lamentable Fall of
man, and sheweth him the Regeneration in Christ:
it sheweth him what he should do, and how he
should behave himself, that he may come again
into the divine union; and sheweth him how
kindly the spirit of God meeteth him.
40. But because it is hard to be understood we
will set down a brief summary, contents andl
exposition; and commit the further work of the
Highest tongue to the spirit of God in every soul;
and it may well be handled at large in a treatise
by itself, if the Lord give us leave.
[Here followeth a summary exposition of the
LORD'S Prayer, how it is to be understood
in the language of nature from syllable to
syllable, as it is expressed in the words of the
High German tongue [German language], which was the author's
native language; but because the language of
nature is not yet clearly understood by me,
therefore I cannot transfer it to the English
tongue: but must set it down in the syllables
of the High German words, and interline the
English under it. "Whosoever desireth to see
more concerning the language of nature, let
him read in the fifth chapter of this Book,
verse the 85th, upon the word Schuff, and
elsewhere in his other writings [Aurora; Epistles; Mysterium Magnum;
etc.]]
[The Entrance.]
Unser Vater im Himmel.
(Our Father which art in Heaven)
41. When we say, Unser Vater im Himmel,
then the soul raiseth up itself in all the Three
Principles, and giveth itself up into that out of
which it is created; which we understand, in the
language of nature, very exactly and accurately.
For Un- is God's eternal will to nature, -ser comprehendeth
in it the first four forms of nature;
wherein the first Principle consists.
42. Voter giveth the two distinctions of the
two Principles; for va- is the matrix upon the
cross, -ter is Mercury in the centre of nature; and
they are the two mothers in the eternal will, out of
which all things are come to be; the one severeth
itself into fire, and the other into the light of
meekness, and into water: for va- is the mother of
the light, which affordeth substantiality, and -ter
is the mother of the fire's tincture, which affordeth
the great and strong life: and Voter is both
of them.
43. When we say im, we understand the innermost,
viz. the heart, from which the spirit goeth
forth: for the syllable im goeth forth from the
heart, and soundeth through the lips, and the lips
keep the heart in the innermost unawakened.
44. When we say Him-, we understand the
creation of the soul. The syllable -mel is the
angelical soul itself, which the heart on the cross
in the centre between the two mothers hath comprehended;
and with the word Him-, framed it
into a creature, viz. into -mel: for Him- is the
habitation of -mel: therefore the soul is created in
heaven, that is, in the loving matrix [or mother].
The First Petition.
Dein Name werde geheiliget.
Thy Name be hallowed [sanctified.]
45. When we say Dein, we understand how the
poor soul swimmeth in the water of this world;
and how it casteth itself with its will into the
Principle of God: it goeth with the syllable Dein
into the voice of God.
46. In the syllable Na- it inclineth inwards,
and in the syllable -me it comprehendeth the
heavenly substantiality: and this is done in the
will of the soul.
47. And when we say wer-, then the whole
creature goeth along in the will: for wer- hath the
whole centre, and with the syllable -de, it layeth
itself down in obedience in the meekness, and will
not kindle the wer- in the fire, as Lucifer had done.
48. And when we say ge-, then the soul goeth
into the heavenly substantiality, as a quiet child
without anger, and then -hei- is the powerful
entering upon the cross, into the Number Three,
where the soul's will presseth into the Majesty,
into the light of God; with the syllable the
soul's will hath comprehended the Holy Ghost.
[In the syllable] -get, there the soul's will goeth
forth with the Holy Ghost: for the brightness of
the Majesty shineth in the will, and the Holy Ghost
goeth along in the glance of the Majesty upon the
chariot of the soul; for the will is the soul's
wedding chariot, with which it rideth in Ternarium
Sanctum into the Holy Ternary, wherein the Holy
Ghost sitteth with the brightness of the Deity.
The Second Petition.
Dein Reich komme.
Thy Kingdom come.
49. Dein, there the poor soul giveth itself up
again into the will of God, as God's child.
50. Reich, here the soul giveth itself into the
virtue and power of the angelical world, and desireth
to come out of the deep of the waters into the
power of God.
51. Komme, in the syllable Kom-, it goeth into
the virtue and power, and apprehendeth it: and
with the syllable -me, it maketh the heaven be
open, and goeth forth with the apprehended power
into the kingdom, as a sprout: for the -me maketh
the lips be open, and letteth the sprout of the will
go forth, and lets it grow softly by degrees.
The Third Petition.
Dein Willen geschehe wie im Himmel also auch auf Erden.
Thy Will be done as in Heaven so also on Earth.
52. Dein, here the soul doth with its will, as in
the first and second petition: it casteth itself into
God's will.
53. Wil- is its desire to will the same with the
Holy Ghost: -len, with this syllable it taketh in
the spirit with the will into the centre, as into the
heart, and willeth that its will in the Holy Ghost
should flow up in the heart.
54. Ge-, with this syllable it goeth into the
will: -sche-, with this syllable it worketh the
work of God: for there it doth what the counsel
of the Father is, what the Heart of God wills:
as the soul of Christ suffered itself to be hanged
on the cross, and as we in misery bow down
under the cross: -he, in this syllable it taketh
patiently what God worketh; it boweth itself as
a child.
55. Wie, there it goeth again into the voice of
the high Majesty. Im, is the Heart of God, out
of which the spirit goeth forth: in which will it
would be. Him-, is again the creating of the
creatures; -mel, is the soul, that is, it willeth to
act in the will of God, like the angels, who do that
which God's will accepteth.
56. AI-, there it comprehendeth that will, and
driveth it on, with the syllable -so, out of its
centre into this world, into the outward Principle.
Auch, there it affordeth all whatsoever it hath in
itself out into the outward, out from itself into this
world.
57. Auf, with this syllable it apprehendeth the
same again, and desireth that its substance should
not be dissipated: for it only letteth the will of
the substance go forth through the closed lips to
the teeth, and desireth that the form of the will
should remain as a figured substance eternally.
58. Er-, with this syllable it bringeth its
substance into the spirit of this world upon the
earth, and there the will shall work wonders, as
in the kingdom of the angels in the power of God:
the will must manifest the hidden secrets of God:
-den, with this syllable it sheweth that they must
not be done in the fire of the anger, in which the
devil dwelleth: for this syllable doth not break up
the centre: they should be done in meek love,
and yet be taken out of the Er-. The soul shall
mightily rule in all hidden secrets: but it must
not let in the devil.
59. Here our want is very much, the heavy Fall
presseth us hard. O, there is very much herein
hidden, which would be too long to describe. For
the will of God should be done, and not the will of
the flesh, and of the devil. And therefore it is
that we are so doubtful in prayer, because the poor
soul runneth on in the will of the flesh, and of the
devil. If it did live in innocence we should have
this skill perfect, and there would be no doubting
in our prayers, but an acting and accomplishment
of them: [This the Apostles of Christ wanted,
when they asked why they could not cast out the
dumb devil] . We do really swim here in misery,
which the spirit of the wonders sheweth us.
The Fourth Petition.
Gib uns unser taglich Brot heute.
Give us our daily Bread today.
60. Gib, there the will sticketh in the heart,
and presseth outwards, and the mouth catcheth
it; that is, the soul would be fed: what the
word giveth forth, that the soul taketh; for that
belongeth to it, it will have that.
61. Uns, with this syllable the soul desireth
food for all its [fellow] members, viz. for all souls,
as if they were but one tree with many branches,
whereof every branch must have sap and virtue
from the stock: and so it desireth to have this in
common, out of the virtue of God, for the life of
all souls: for it attracteth that with all its desire
to it, and in all [others], as a loving brother; it
willeth to have it in common, and not alone to
itself in covetousness, as the devil did.
62. Un-, with this syllable the will of the soul
goeth into the eternal wisdom, wherein, before the
creation in the seed, it was discerned, in the eternal
will: -ser, with this syllable it taketh the original
of nature in the will, where one form in the original
generateth, filleth, and preserveth the other: and
that is the band of the soul, whereby it eternally
liveth and subsisteth: and that the will of the soul
desireth, else it would be dissolved. For a spirit
desireth no more than to retain its band, and to
fill it with virtue, that it may flow forth.
63. And here lieth the key of the greatest hidden
secret of the Being of all Beings. Beloved doctors,
if you were learned you would seek here; and if
you understand nothing here, nor will to understand,
then you are not learned, but are only tellers of
stories, which the simple, if he did use himself to
it, would perform as well as you: This is the true
doctorship in the Holy Ghost: the outward [in
the learning of the school of reason] is but a
foppery, and puffeth up into a high mind.
64. Tag-, with this syllable the heavenly number
is understood, as wherein the spirit on the cross
in the holy matrix comprehendeth the genetrix in
the multiplication, where the will of the spirit
recreateth, confirmeth, and strengtheneth itself:
-lich, in this syllable the soul's will quickeneth
itself in the light and virtue of the Majesty of
God; and strengtheneth the soul with the heavenly
number, which springeth up out of the Majesty
infinitely: and herein the soul is acknowledged for
an angel, and liveth in the hand of God.
65. Brot, here the corporeal substance springeth
up, and our misery: for Brot [bread] is generated
out of the centre of nature, although the last letter
in the syllable Brot expresseth that it is paradisical
bread: for the cross in its character [T]
in the language of nature, carrieth the severe name
of God [GOTTES]; which, if men will rightly
expound it, and understand it according to the
language of nature, may be understood powerfully,
and in its highest depth, in the word Tetragrammaton
[Jehovah ]; for that word comprehendeth
all the Three Principles; and in the word Adonai,
God is understood as in one Principle, viz. in the
angelical world; which may be expounded in a
treatise by itself. We set down this, that this
syllable might be considered of; for Brot [bread]
is the food of the body; and is to be understood
concerning the fierce wrath, that it hath mixed
itself in it, and signifieth the house of lamentation
and mourning: But since we must have this food,
therefore the soul reacheth after it for the maintenance
of its bestial body.
66. Heu-, this syllable signifieth the eternal
bread of the soul, the new body, viz. the heavenly
substantiality: for the will goeth forth out of the
bread into the Heu, that is, the eternal substantiality,
viz. the bread of God, Christ's flesh; -te, this
syllable confirmeth that it affordeth and frameth
the severe name [Gottes] of God; for the soul
desireth a twofold bread, one for the belly, and the
other for its holy heavenly body.
The Fifth Petition.
Und verlasse uns unser Schuld, als wir verlassen unser Schuldigern.
And forgive us our Debts [trespasses], as we forgive our Debtors.
67. Und, this syllable is that wherein the will
of the soul awakeneth the love of God; for the
will sticketh fast in the word und, as in the
meekness; it satiateth the ver-, viz. the anger,
and springeth with the und [or meekness] up, as
a budding, growing substance [vegetable], like a blossom out
of the ver-, and yet they remain one in another:
for ver- is the centre of the life, it hath the fire
of the wrath, and the und belongeth to the second
Principle: -lasse or -lass is the cleansing of that
which is generated out of the ver-, of which Isaiah
saith; Were your sins red as blood, if you turn,
they shall be as wool, white as snow. In the
syllable -lasse, is the bath or laver, wherein the
ver- must be washed, or else it cannot subsist in
the kingdom of God.
68. Uns is the union again, where the will of
the soul, viz. the communion or fraternity, that is
all souls, in one will, desire to be washed.
69. Un-, there the will yieldeth itself into the
love of God, and washeth [cleanseth] the evil child, -ser;
and thereby confesseth all evil and wickedness [for all
in common], as if they were but one only soul.
70. Schuld, this is the true catalogue or
register, which the anger hath brought into the
soul, which catalogue the will desireth to cast
away altogether: But the mouth catcheth the
syllable again as a flash, to signify that our works
shall stand eternally to the wonders of God; and
we need only wash them, that they might not
be comprised in the fierce wrath of God, and
inflamed; else they belong to the abyss, to the
dark Principle.
71. Als, in this syllable the will of the soul
compriseth together all whatsoever is called soul,
and speaketh of many, as if they were but one.
72. Wir, in this syllable the will complaineth
against the anguish of the source of disquietness in
the soul, where one soul often hurteth another,
and therefore the will compriseth together the
turba of all souls, and saith [as followeth]:
73. Ver-, that is, the will [of the soul] desireth
that the fierce wrath of all souls might be thrust
downward upon a heap into the abyss: -las-,
that is, to let it go, and not know it more in
the fierceness of the anger: for the syllable -sen
retaineth the form of the wonder: but it must be
washed in the Lassen [or letting it go], for Lassen
is the laver or bath [to wash it in] .
74. Un-, this syllable yet again presseth into
the love of God, and desireth to bring the washed
souls into the love: -ser, this syllable, in the
presence of God, sheweth the evil child, which is
now washed in the love, and there putteth it
among the wonders of God, for it setteth forth
whatsoever is come to be a wonder in the tincture
of the fire in the soul.
75. Schul-, this syllable sheweth the unprofitable
[or vain] works, which one soul hath wrought
towards another out of the tincture of the fire [fierce wrathful life],
and is a setting forth of the evil, which the soul in
the will itself hath washed and cleansed again:
-di-, this syllable putteth the union again into the
Majesty, and into the Holy Ghost, where there is
no contrary will any more: -gern, is the evil child,
which now standeth before God, to God's deeds of
wonder; from whence the will took its fall, and
desireth that the Holy Ghost will take it in as a
wonder into the Majesty.
The Sixth Petition.
Und fiihre uns nicht in Versuchung.
And lead us not into Temptation.
76. Und is once more an injection into the
loving meekness of God, where the will of the soul
in the Majesty humbleth itself before the Number
Three [or Trinity] .
77. Fuh-, there the will goeth along with the
Holy Ghost: -re, there the will would not go
through the fierce wrath; for it is afraid of the
prison of the fierce wrath; for the will should always
be stedfastly inclined into God, that it may pass
through the fire without molestation, and also
through the outward Principle, viz. through this
world, and yet should not catch at, or offer to lust
after, any thing: but seeing the soul knoweth that
it stood not out in the first temptation, when it
was brought into the spirit of this world, when the
Verbum Fiat breathed it into the image, therefore it
flieth now to the Holy Ghost, entreating that he
would not enter with its will into the temptation,
proba, or trial, for it trusteth not in itself that it
shall stand stedfastly against the devil; when he
shall sift it: as Christ said to Peter, The devil hath
desired to sift thee; but I have prayed for thee
that thy faith fail not: that is, I have enclosed
thee in the Word, and have not given the devil
any leave, but I have in my prayer brought thee
into the will of God, that thou shouldst be preserved
by the Holy Ghost; else thou shouldst have been
sifted by the devil, through the anger, and through
the spirit of this world.
78. Uns, this syllable once again compriseth the
brotherly union, as in one will in the Majesty, and
flieth into the spirit.
79. Nicht, in this syllable the will rendeth itself
quite out from the root of the anger, and retaineth a
peculiar government without the anger, and then
the soul burneth forth from the fire, and is the
true life without the fire, in the light flaming
tincture in air, and virtue or power.
80. In, there it standeth as a sound and substance
of its own, as if it were the centre itself: ver-,
there it must, with the will, go through the fierce
wrath, and mitigate or satiate it, and must cool
it, that it might not enflame its meek life: -such-,
with this syllable it presseth through the fierce
wrath with its love-tincture, viz. through the centre
of nature, and quencheth the fierce wrath after a
divine manner, and driveth the subtlety of the
devil out of the fire-source out of the original,
where otherwise he would have an access into the
soul: ung, there the soul taketh the virtue out of
the seven forms of its nature with it, as a spirit,
and setteth itself mightily over the centre, and
ruleth over it as a king over his kingdom; for now
it hath overcome [or cooled] the centre with its
love, and will now let in the tempter no more.
The Seventh Petition.
Sondern erlose uns vom libel.
But deliver us from Evil.
Son-, in this syllable it [the soul] appeareth in the
Majesty with its virtue, power and brightness
over the centre of the heart, and hath a principle
of its own in the Majesty: -dern, there it commandeth
the fierce wrath in the centre, and ruleth
over it, and tameth it with its will (as may be seen
by Moses, when the fierce wrath said; Let me
alone, that 1 may consume Israel).
82. Er-, there it bringeth a blossom and sprout
out of the centre, and openeth the wonders of
God; for it here goeth about with the centre,
as it will, for it hath overcome: -Id-, that is, the
sprout, which groweth out of the fierce wrath out
of nature, and is now lovely, good, and useful in
the kingdom of God: -se, there it continueth to
be fruit upon God's table, free from the anger.
83. Uns, there it once again taketh the union
of all souls with it, and layeth it open there, that
it was a root in the kingdom of God before its
creation, and hath now brought forth many, that
is, it is a tree, and hath put forth many branches,
and presenteth them there as in a tree.
84. Vom, that is the great wonder that God
hath made of one two, and yet it remaineth
but one: It sheweth this; for you see that the
root in the earth is another thing than the stalk
which groweth out of the root; so you must
understand it also concerning the true holy soul;
that groweth as a stalk out of the root, out of
the centre of nature, and is another thing than
the centre; and yet the centre generateth it,
and it moveth in full omnipotence over the
centre, and ruleth over it as God ruleth over
nature; and yet there the name of the Number
Three in the eternal nature ariseth: And as God
is free from nature, and yet nature is of his
essence or substance, and not separated from
God, so is the soul also; it is free from nature,
and is a lord of nature, for it is one spirit with
God, and yet blossometh or sprouteth out of
nature. Indeed God is not wholly to be likened
to the soul; for God's eternal will is a cause
and beginning of nature, but [the soul is to be
likened] to the Majesty of God, whose brightness
ariseth out of the sharpness of the eternal nature,
and yet ariseth before nature, like the flash of
the eternal liberty, from whence nature, in its
sharp generating, receiveth the lustre, and elevateth
it in the fire, to a triumphant high light:
for which cause sake, the eternal liberty without
nature longeth after nature, because it desireth
to be manifested in wonders, and will have majesty
in glory and power.
85. For, if there were no nature, there would
be no glory, nor power, much less Majesty; also
there would be no spirit, but only a stillness
without substance [essence or being] : But thus in
nature there appeareth power and virtue, might,
glory, Majesty, Number Three [Trinity], and Being
[essence or substance], and are the manifestation
of the eternal Being. Now, since the soul, as a
spirit, is discovered and taken out of this Being,
it hath therefore two forms, one is nature, and
the other is the divine blossom, or the sprout
out of nature, which is above nature, and is a
spirit in itself, as God is a spirit in himself, as
you may see this by the fire: The fire is the
nature, and the flame with the air [or vapour]
which goeth forth out of the fire, is a spirit with
all the power of the fire's nature, and yet is above
the fire's nature, for the fire's nature cannot comprehend it [or rule it]; and so also the fire 's nature could
not subsist, if the spirit of the air did not blow
up the fire again.
86. Thus the fire generateth the spirit with
the lustre, and longeth earnestly again after the
spirit, and attracteth it continually into itself,
and yet retaineth it not; for it is the life of the
fire, and the glance or lustre is out of the sharpness
of the fire, yet there is no feeling in the
glance or lustre, and yet the glance hath the
virtue or power, and not the fire; for, from the
virtue of the lustre there springeth up and groweth
a sprout, and not from the fire, as you may perceive
by the [sunshine or] lustre of the sun.
87. Now, seeing the poor soul, in the heavy
fall of Adam, was captivated by two fires, viz.
by that fire through which the spirit of this
world hath comprised it in itself, under which
lieth the fire of the original; therefore it would
be again free with its spirit-life, in which it is
an angel, and the image of God, and goeth with
its will vom [from], that is, as a sprout out from
nature, and also out from the spirit of this world,
out of the wonders of God, forth from them; and
standeth rightly quite vom, [from], that is, it
hath now the virtue of nature and Mercury, in
the virtue and power of the Majesty, which is
another Principle, and yet hath also the severe
fiery [Principle], but not manifested; for the
holy Principle in the Majesty changeth the fierce
wrath into love.
88. And if the severe Principle should be
awakened again, it would be fire, and the first
four forms of nature would flow forth; and
therefore God is become man, that the love-spirit
[might] have a body.
89. Therefore it flieth, (if it be yet unregenerated,
and so sticketh only in the earthly
body) and saith, Erlose uns vom Ubel, [deliver
us from evil] : It desireth to be released from
the anger; for U-, and -bel, are two wills in one
substance: u- is the fire-child, and -bel hath also
two Principles; for the first letter -b- hath the
outward dominion, and the other two, viz. -e- and
-/, that is, -el, hath the angel, the will to be
delivered from both, [viz. from the child of the
fire, and the spirit of the outward world], not
presently separated, (for it is the counsel of God
that they dwell in one another); but the angel's
will would be free from the falsehood; it would
rule over the Ubel or evil: He desireth to
be in the will of God, and the Ubel or evil
shall stand, the one [part] (according to the
spirit of this world) to the wonders of God,
and the other [part] (according to the source
of the fierce wrath) to the wonders of the anger
of God.
90. For both the mothers are stirring, and
desire to open their wonders; yet the will of
the soul would not go into the anger; for it
knoweth the devil, that he is haughty, and
flying aloft over the love and meekness of God,
at which the soul is amazed; so also it would
not willingly work in the spirit of this world,
for that hideth also God's light from it, and
therefore it goeth forth with its will from them
both, and would be free in its will: The spirit
of this world may awaken its wonders in the
flesh, but it casteth its will into God's spirit, he
shall govern it; and he will not let the Ubel
[or evil] enter into its will: It desireth [with
its will] to be dead in [or to] this world, that it may
live in the Holy Ghost; so also it will not
awaken the abyss, and therefore it hideth or
sheltereth itself under the cross, and letteth the
roaring devil pass by; also it letteth the spirit
of this world, viz. the fleshly life, pass by, it
doth as if it were dead: It suffereth, yet not
in God, but in the Ubel [or evil], which the soul
of Adam hath left it as an inheritance; it holdeth
not that Ubel [or evil] for its own, but for the
wonders of God.
91. Therefore it remaineth patient, as a sufferer
(and yet also not a sufferer), under the cross of
patience, till Christ shall settle it again upon the
cross, in the rainbow, [in the eternal substantiality,
or in the eternal covenant] : For he sitteth
on the rainbow, and his body, his substance, is
the fullness of heaven [or the heaven is full of
his substance].
92. The three colours in the rainbow are the
Three Principles, the fourth [colour] is his body
in Ternario Sancto; [or in the inward heavenly
working power in the angelical world, in the
eternal substantiality, wherein the divine Trinity
worketh] .
93. O how great are the wonders! he that
comprehendeth them hath great joy thereon,
there can nothing be named that is like these
hidden secret mysteries, no tongue can express
them: For what is better than to have God
for his spouse, to be in God with one 's will;
and after this [life] time to be wholly in substance
a heavenly body and a clarified or
glorified soul?
94. O great depth, why art thou so hidden to
men? It cometh from hence: because they love
the devil, and the haughty proud fierceness, more
than thee; and therefore they are not able thus
with fierceness to enter into thee. O mercy of
God! bring again the tree which thou hast
planted: Why should thy wrath boast that it
hath borne more fruit upon thy tree than thy
love? Build again the ruined city, Jerusalem,
that thy kingdom may come, and thy will be
done. Who will give thee thanks in hell? Draw
us yet in with thy spirit, into thy praise [or
temple, where they sing of thy praise] . How long
shall hell drop with fatness? Behold! it hath
opened its jaws, and would devour us all: Come
yet, and build the city of thy court, that we may
dwell near thee, that thy wonders may leap for joy,
when thy love-spirit judgeth: Tarry not, O Lord,
for thy tree is become old for sorrow; [that is, the
number of virtuous people is small] : Bring yet
forth the new green branches, which against the
devil's will spring up through his kingdom: Let
the day break forth: Wherefore shall the night of
the anger keep back the lily-twig ? O Lord, thy
tree groweth through the whole world; therefore
awaken us, O Lord, that we may eat of its fruit.
Of the Amen.
So be it.
And Close [of the Prayer in the Language of Nature].
95. A- is the first letter, and presseth forth out
of the heart, and hath no nature [or fierceness in
the pronunciation] ; but we clearly understand
herein, the seeking, longing, or attracting of the
eternal will without nature, wherein nature is
generated, which hath been from eternity. For
the will desireth the heart, and the heart desireth
the will, they are Father and Son; and the
virtue, which goeth forth from them, is the spirit
of the eternal life, of which we formerly made mention.
[in this book.]
96. Now, as the A- is generated out of the heart,
viz. out of the eternal will, and thrust forth out of
the will, so out of A- afterwards cometh the whole
alphabet with four and twenty numbers [letters]; for the
A- beginneth to number, and compriseth the whole
number in the [syllable] -men: These are the
wonders and works of God, which appear in the
spirit above nature, viz. in the brightness of the
Majesty; which you may understand thus: We
are with our soul in a strange inn, viz. in the spirit
of this world, which holdeth it captive, and so it
could not come into God, if God were not become
man, who hath brought our soul into the Word, as
into the living power of God, in himself; but now
we are branches on that tree, and must attract the
sap of the tree into us, if we would spring from the
tree; else, if we only imagine [and reach] after the
air and sun, then our branch withereth: Our will
must be put or grafted into the tree, and that is
[the ground of true] prayer.
97. When we pray, then the will goeth into
the tree, and attracteth the sap of the tree into
the hungry, thirsty and dry soul; and then there
groweth out of that sap a body, and then saith the
soul with great joy, -men, that is, it is mine; that
is to say, yes, it is done, take what thy will
desireth: This is faith, and not [the knowledge or]
the history which Babel makes a stir about; for
prayer hath two things in it; one is the earnest
will, which presseth forth out of the miserable
smoky house of the heart, out of the soul in
great humility, and giveth itself up into the
Heart of God, which became man, as into the
tree of life.
98. And that is called Glau- [Glauben], and then the
will eateth of the divine power, and that [is
the other, and] is called -ben, for the spirit
of the soul apprehendeth it, and holdeth it
with the tongue to the teeth; (understand it
according to the language of nature); and lets
the Holy Ghost go forth out of the virtue and
power which the will introduceth into the soul,
out of the virtue and power which the soul
hath apprehended; even as it mightily goeth
forth, out of the heart through the apprehended
virtue and power, through the teeth; for in the
virtue and power of God nothing consumeth:
The more the will apprehendeth, and the soul
eateth, the more is the virtue and power, and
the mightier and more joyful is the body of
God, that is, the body of Christ; not that it is
greater at one time than at another: No, for it
is always greater than all; only the virtue and
power in the great wonders of joy climb up
out of eternity into eternity [or from eternity
to eternity].
99. Understand us accurately, according to its
precious depth, thus; When we pray, we do not
only speak before God; indeed the will boweth
itself before God; but it entereth into God, and
there is filled with the power and virtue of God,
and bringeth that into the soul: The soul eateth
at the table of God, and that is it of which Christ
said, Man liveth by every word of God.
100. The Lord's Prayer is God's Word, and
hath seven petitions, and an entrance [introduction] and Amen,
or conclusion, which together are nine in number,
and the tenth is God himself: With the entrance
of the Lord's Prayer the will of the soul entereth
into the Father; and with the seven petitions it
receiveth whatsoever is the Father's, for thereby it
becometh an angel again; for in the seven petitions
it attaineth the heavenly and divine centre of
nature; and in the Amen it compriseth all together
and dwelleth therein; for it is the body of
the soul, it is the flesh of Christ, the body of God;
that is the ninth number in Ternario Sancto;
herein is the tincture, heavenly and divine; and
the tenth number holdeth the cross, into which no
creature can go: the will of the soul only goeth
thereinto: The will of the soul is as subtle as the
spirit of God, and God's spirit rideth also in the
will of the soul; it is his chariot which he loveth
to have.
101. Understand us thus: The mere Deity is
Spirit, and as thin as a will; but it is become
man, and the thin spirit of God dwelleth in the
humanity, so that our souls may well come to
God; and so when the soul thus eateth of the
body of God, then it getteth also the body of God
on to it, and is the child of God: God in Christ is
the tree; and our souls, in its holy body, are the
boughs and branches thereof.
102. Let us be revealed to you, O worthy
Christianity, [from the east to the west], from the
rising to the setting: The time is near wherein
the Bridegroom will fetch home his Bride: Be not
blind, but see: Buy you oil, O you foolish virgins:
Go forth from the whoredom of covetousness, and
of pride, or else you will not taste of this [Wedding-] Supper:
Whosoever shall not have the body of God on the
soul shall not be guests, neither can they enter
into the kingdom of God.
103. And so now, when we speak of the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, we find that he [God] is
the tenth number; for it is said, Dein ist das
Reich, und die Krafft, und die Herrligkeit in
Ewigheit: Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power,
and the Glory in Eternity. That is, God himself
in his Number Three [or Trinity]; for, understand
it rightly, thus: The kingdom is the Father's, he
is it all; and the virtue or power is the Son's who
is also all in the kingdom; and the Holy Ghost is
the glory, for he possesseth all in the kingdom, and
is the life in the kingdom.
104. And this Trinity is of the eternal liberty,
and remaineth eternally to be the liberty. There
is one God, one Will, one Spirit, one Lord, which
together is called Wonder, Counsel, Power, and is
become Man; who is called the Prince of Peace,
Saviour, and Conqueror; and it is done to the
end, that his dominion may be great, and that
peace may have no end, saith Isaiah the prophet
of God.
THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER
Concerning God's Blessing in this World. A
very good and necessary Revelation for
those that are weak in Faith.
1. DEAR children, if we be converted from our
reason, and give up [or submit] ourselves into the
will of God, that he may do with us, and make us,
what he will, then, when we put our trust in him,
we go in to our true Father, and are his children.
2. And now, as a father careth for his children,
so also God our Father doth for us, as Christ hath
faithfully taught us, saying, First endeavour after
the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof
anl then all other things shall be afforded [or added to you]
you. Also, Behold the fowls of heaven, they sow
not, neither do they spin, neither do they gather
into the barn; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them; and are you not more worth than these?
Oye of little faith !
3. The soul knoweth that this garment (of
earthly flesh and blood) is a strange garment,
wherein it is heartily and deeply ashamed before
the Majesty of God, and therefore it doth so
much doubt of God's grace, when it prayeth;
it always thinketh its sins are so many that it
cannot reach into the Majesty of God.
4. And such pain the devil putteth it to, who
always openeth his smoky pit, with the anger,
and draweth the smoke into the will of the soul,
that it keepeth back, and is afraid of God: The
devil always presenteth God as a severe judge.
5. Thus the poor soul keepeth back, and
entereth into the spirit of this world, and seeketh
a livelihood and maintenance: It thinketh God
lets things go as they will, and that things
prosper with those that build upon, and trust
in, themselves. For, when the soul thus sticketh
in reason without God, it supposeth that it must
use carking and caring to bring it to pass; it
thinketh there is no other way, it must be done
thus, the labour of the hands (or else cunning
and subtlety) must do it; from whence so many
[strong delusions] potent evils do arise.
6. Dear children, be rightly informed. The
outward earthly life is fallen home to the spirit
of this world, the belly needeth earthly food, and
the body earthly clothing, and a house to dwell
in; after these things the outward spirit must
endeavour: it should labour and take pains; for
in the sweat of thy face shalt thou (earthly man)
eat thy bread, till thou return to earth from
whence thou wast taken, saith God in Moses.
7. For the body was taken from the matrix of
the earth, and hath imagined [or put its mind]
into the earth, and the earth hath captivated
that again, so that it hath eaten earthly fruit;
and so is turned to earth, from whence it was
taken.
8. For God took it from the earth, that is [he
took] a Mesch, a mass or concretion of red earth,
[* Adam from Adamah], from the fire's centre,
and from the water's centre, viz. from both the
mothers of nature, and breathed into it the breath
from without by the spirit of the great world,
and the soul from within out of the second
Principle into the Heart.
9. The soul doth not dwell quite in the outward,
only it is captivated with the outward: Its will
is entered into the outward, and there is impregnated
with the outward dominion, and so the
outward dominion is come into the soul.
10. And that was it which God did forbid to
man, that he should not lust after earthly fruit,
power, and virtue; neither was there any necessity
that drave him to it, for he was in paradise, and
had paradisical food, without want and death;
and as God dwelleth in the earth, and yet the
earth knoweth him not, and apprehendeth him
not; so also man; he could have dwelt in the
matrix of the earth and yet have been with the
soul in God, and the will of the soul had brought
divine food to the soul: but now, being turned
away, the soul eateth of the centre of nature, and
the outward spirit eateth of the earth: but if the
soul turn, and go with its will into the love of God,
then it eateth of God's word, and the outward
body eateth of the blessing of God.
11. For when the soul is blessed, then God
blesseth the body also, for the soul carrieth an
heavenly body in the old Adamical one: And
so his meat and drink is blessed, and all that
the whole man doth and hath: he obtaineth
a wonderful blessing which his reason cannot
apprehend: he must labour and trade, for therefore
he is created into the outward world, that
he should manifest God's wonders with his skill
and trading [handicraft and business] .
12. All trades, businesses, and conditions, are
God's ordinance; every one worketh the wonders
of God: and so now, if the soul stand in the hand
of God in his love, then the body is in God's
works of wonder; and God hath no displeasure
at its business or doings, whatsoever it doth,
whereby it getteth its food and living.
13. The outward life consisteth in three parts:
one is the dominion of the stars; the second is
the [one] element divided into four parts, as into
the four forms, of fire; air, water, and earth; the
third is the dominion of God; for the spirit of God
moves upon the water, upon the capsula [surface], upon
the matrix. What man soever puts his trust in
God, and doth not wholly set his heart upon his
reason, hath the spirit of God for a creator;
which spirit of God hath the Verbum Fiat, and
createth continually: it blesseth him in body and
soul, in the house and in the field, in the work
of his hands, his business and trading; whatsoever
he doth, the spirit of God is continually in it,
and createth [or effecteth it] .
14. How should it be otherwise? The soul hath
the body of the spirit of God; How can the spirit
of God then forsake the outward body, which must
open its wonders?
15. Man doth well enough in every thing that
is not false or wicked, and if it be not contrary
to God and the love of mankind: If a man did
only cast stones into the sea (if his brother be
pleased with it, and that he get his living by it)
then he is as acceptable to God as a preacher in
a pulpit: for what careth God for the labour?
He hath not any need of that.
16. Man hath free will [choice or liberty]; he may recreate
himself upon earth, in what work he will; let
him do whatsoever he will, it all standeth in the
wonders of God. A swineherd is as acceptable
to God (as a doctor), if he be honest, and trusteth
only in God's will; the simple is as profitable to
him as the wise; for with the wise he ruleth and
governeth, and with the simple he buildeth and
tilleth the ground; they are all his labourers in
his works of wonder.
17. Every one hath an employment [or calling]
wherein he spendeth his time; all are alike to
him; only, the spirit of this world hath its pitch,
which it distributeth in its might, as the spirit
of God doth in heaven; there are great distinctions
and degrees there also; as the spirit or
soul is endued with divine power and virtue, so
accordingly is its degree of exaltation in heaven,
also its beauty and clarity, or glory, but all in
one love.
18. Every angel and soul hath joy in another's
power and beauty: as the flowers of the earth
do not grudge at one another, though one be
more beautiful and fuller of virtue than another;
but they stand kindly one by another, and enjoy
one another's virtue: and as a physician puts
many sorts of herbs together, and every one of
them affordeth its virtue, and all benefit the sick,
so we all please God, if we give up ourselves into
his will; we stand all in his field.
19. And as the thorns and thistles grow out of
the earth, and choke and spoil many a good herb
or flower; so also doth the wicked, who trusteth
not in God, but buildeth upon himself, and thinketh
with himself, I have my God in my chest: I will
covet, and leave my children great treasure behind
me, that they also may sit in my place of honour
and dignity, that is the best way. And thereby
he spoileth many a good heart, and maketh it take
base and wicked courses, and thinketh that to be
the only way to get happiness; and so, if they
have riches, honour and power, then they have
goods indeed; but if any consider it, it is no
better with these than others, and besides, the
poor soul is lost thereby.
20. For the dainties of the rich relish not so
well with them as a bit of bread doth to the
hungry: There is every where, care, sorrow,
vexation, fear, sickness; and at last death: All in
this world is but mere foppery: The mighty sit in
the dominion of the spirit of this world; and they
that fear God sit in the dominion of the divine
power and wisdom: The dominion of this world
taketh its end with the dying of the body; and
the dominion in the spirit of God continueth
standing eternally.
21. It is a very lamentable thing that man
runneth so eagerly after that which would run
after man if he were righteous and honest: he
runneth after cares and sorrows, and they run after
him; he is as if he were continually mad; he
maketh disquiet to himself; if he would be contented,
he would have rest and quiet enough. He
putteth an eating worm [or cancer] into his heart that a
plagueth and tormenteth him, and causeth an evil
conscience that gnaweth him, and he is a mere fool
with all this: for he leaveth his goods to others,
and taketh the gnawing worm in the evil conscience
with him from this world; and that which plagueth
him eternally, that he holdethfor his treasure.
There cannot be a greater folly found under the
sun than this, That man, who is the noblest and
most rational creature in this world, should, in
covetousness, be the greatest fool of all, to hunt
and press so eagerly after that which he hath no
need of; for every one hath his sufficient portion
given him from the spirit of this world, if he would
but be contented with it.
22. Thus one man is a devil to another; and
they torment one another; and all the business is
but about a handful of earth, or for a stone, of
which the earth hath enough; And must not that
be a wonder indeed? Doth not the fierce hellish
spirit accomplish its wonders according to its wish
in man? As the Book of the Revelation witnesseth;
where one seal of anger hath been opened after
another, and men are become the servants and
ministers of wrath; they have wilfully entered
upon it with their blood and goods [or estate],
and thought they did God good service in it.
23. O blind man! how art thou captivated in
the anger! What dost thou, or where art thou?
Why dost thou suffer the devil to befool thee?
Heaven and earth is wholly thine, God will give
it thee all: He hath given thee all: thou hast
a natural right and propriety in it; the sun
and the stars are thine, thou art lord of all; let
now thy foolish will go: Why dost thou give
thyself up into covetousness and haughtiness?
Doth not the kingdom of God consist in love
and humility?
24. Or dost thou suppose it is so good to dwell
in the wrath ? Behold, when the light of thy
eyes doth cease, then thou goest into darkness,
and takest thy folly, to which thou hast here
addicted thyself, along with thee: Is then the
darkness better than the eternal light? Ask the
night whether it is better than the day. Or dost
thou suppose that we are mad that we speak thus?
We speak what we see, and testify what we know,
and thou art blind.
25. Thus art thou blinded by the Babylonish
whore, which the covetous devil brought forth
when men were secure and careless, when they
loathed the word and spirit of God, as the Revelation
of John testifieth, saying; / will come and take
away thy candlestick from thee: And Paul saith;
God shall suffer powerful errors to fall among
them, that they shall believe the spirit of lying,
which speaketh lies in hypocrisy and deceit; [So
that] they will stick close [cleave] to the devils. But in
the Last Time (saith the prophet David) shall the
word of the Lord spring up like grass upon the
earth: open wide the gates in the world and set
open the doors, that the Lord may enter in: Who
is the Lord? He is the champion in the battle; all
swords and spears shall be turned into ploughshares
and sickles (saith the prophet of God), and
it shall be done: whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
26. Therefore, it is good to trust in God; and
though the earthly body should always lie in dung,
it is but for a little while, and no one knoweth
what hour his time in this world is out, and
then followeth the judgment, according to his
life: Therefore desist from covetousness; it is the
eternal root of all evil, and of all folly. A
covetous man is the greatest fool on earth, for
he devoureth himself, and causeth disquietness to
himself, and so bringeth evil upon himself by it:
He knoweth not what man it will be who shall
possess his covetousness; and many times it is
shamefully consumed in whoring: That wherewith
one hath destroyed his soul, with the same another
is frolic, in another foolery: For it must all come
to its effect. But he that trusteth in God hath
continually enough: whatsoever he hath he is
contented with it, and so he is much richer than
the foolish covetous [person], who oppresseth the
miserable for money, which cannot prolong his
life from death nor preserve him from hell.
27. The honest and virtuous gathereth treasure
in heaven, he getteth a new body, wherein there
is neither hunger nor thirst, nor frost nor heat,
and he hath rest in his conscience, and will
eternally rejoice in his treasure: And the covetous
fool gathereth an earthly treasure, which he must
leave to others; and an evil conscience, and a
treasure in the abyss, which will gnaw and eat
him eternally.
28. God's blessing never leaveth any that
sincerely trust in God, and letteth that go which
will not stay: God has wonderful ways, wherewith
he feedeth and nourisheth his children; as
Daniel in the lions' den; and Elijah under the
juniper tree; and the widow ofSarepta in the
famine. He that trusteth in God, hath built sure
in heaven and on earth.
THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER
Of Death, and of Dying. How Man is when
he Dieth; and how it is with him in Death.
A Great Gate of Wonders.
1. 1 KNOW that reason will say: Thou hast
never tried it [or undergone it], and thou art yet in this
world in the outward life, How then canst thou
know this? Indeed, dear reason, according to my
outward man I must say so too; and I say the
truth as to the outward man.
2. But seeing we can live both in God and in
this world together; and seeing the soul, if it
will know God, must with Christ press into God
through a narrow strait gate, through death and
hell; therefore we have power to write of the way,
and will set it down for a memorial, since we are
yet in this world: For God is wonderful, who
judgeth [or determineth] in a thing and yet the judgment is not
executed in the thing at that instant: and so,
though we are in the earthly life, we shall yet
speak of the life in death, which we well know
[and understand] .
3. For there is no knowledge incomprehensible
to the matrix of nature; if the spirit ride upon its
wings, it goeth through the three Principles, and
if it ride upon its triumphant chariot, may it not
then ride through death and hell? Who can hinder
it? And may not a soul thus behold the wonders
of God; especially when this is the time wherein
all wonders shall be revealed [or made manifest] ?
4. We speak not of ourselves alone: The star [of
the sixth seal]
is appeared which hath broken the seal: why dost
thou long stand gazing? Observe it, the time is
come, there is no preventing of it more.
5. All that hath a beginning hath an end, that
which is included in time goeth with time again
into the ether. If we had lived in this world without
necessity, and without death, in a pure body
without spot or blemish, yet the outward kingdom
at the end would have departed from us, and so
we should have remained in the heavenly substantiality,
after the manner of Enoch and Elijah,
as also Moses; yet Moses entered through death
into the paradisical life: But Enoch and Elijah
were taken up without dying; and there the outward
dominion with the spirit of this world was
taken from them without dying; which will also
be done at the last trumpet; upon which will
follow an eternal life, and an eternal death.
6. The true man in the heavenly image hath no
time; his time is like a round crown, or a whole
rainbow, which hath no beginning nor end: for the
image, which is the similitude of God, hath neither
beginning nor number: it hath stood from eternity
in the wisdom of God as a virgin without bringing
forth [generating], or without willing; for God's willing was the
willing in her; she hath appeared [shone forth] in the Holy
Ghost with all the wonders which we have brought
to essence and light in this world.
7. But she was without body, without substance,
without essences; the essences were out of the
eternal centre in her made stirring with their
creation, as in three mothers, according to the
Three Principles: That God would be manifested
in all the Three Principles was the creation; and
that the dominion of the image did not continue
in its order and appointment was the death, in
that the middle gave itself into the outward, and
the outward into the middle, which is not the
ordinance [order of law] of the eternity: and therefore there
happened a breaking: for the outward in the
middle hath a beginning, and a number, and
therefore it goeth to the end, and must break
itself off 'from the middle again, and this the
longing desire hath done, it hath set the middle
(wherein there is an eternal life) outward, and let
in the outward into the middle.
8. Thus the life consisteth in three parts; as
first, the inward, which is God's eternal hidden
Mystery in the fire, from whence the life existeth:
And secondly, the middle, which hath stood from
eternity as an image or similitude of God in the
wonders of God, without substance, in which God's
desire was to see himself in an image; and just as
a man seeth himself in a glass, so was this also:
And so thirdly, this image in the creation hath
again got a glass to see itself in, which was the
Spiritus Majoris Mundi, the spirit of the great
world, viz. the outward Principle, which is also a
figure of the eternal [Principle].
9. And on this [outward] figure the image hath
so gazed that it hath imagined and received in the
outward image; which must now break off again:
but seeing it is bound with its bond to the eternal
centre of nature, therefore it happeneth to be very
painful to break off as to that bond; for there one
life is broken off.
10. And when the air ceaseth, then the fire must
be smothered, and go into its ether, and that is
death: for the outward Principle and the inward
break off one from another; for the outward hath
a beginning, and the inward not; and therefore
the outward must break off.
11. The outward consisteth only in the sun's
tincture, and its dominion is the planets and stars,
who always drive on their dominion to the limit
[or period of their course], for every planet hath its
limit in that place it stood in at the creation, and
that is its period, and its seculum, or course: and
when it cometh to that place, or point, then all
whatsoever it was wholly lord over, breaketh: for
it beginneth a new course or seculum.
12. But you must understand it aright, [thus],
Every one [of the planets] hath not the tincture of
life: Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter have the great
life; Saturn separateth whatsoever he getteth in
his limit, he doth it not [actually], but he leaveth
the life, and then it hath no leader, but breaketh
of itself, and so it is with the other [planets] . But
its limit or period must reach to the crown of the
stars [or zodiac of signs], in that sign and point
in which the planet hath its limit and period.
13. And therefore many a young child, even in
its mother's womb, is old enough for death, for its
lord [The lord of its ascendant] is at his period,
and leaveth its child; and
the cause why we cannot [easily] search out our
end is, that we do not properly and exactly know
the limit of our leader [calculation of nativities] :
for we must know its number or period,
and the number or period of the sign, if we will hit
the point of our limit or end.
14. Behold now in what danger we are, according
to the outward life; neither are we at home in
this life, and yet we are quickened and awakened,
through the outward life, and so a soul comes to be
generated: though indeed the outward life cannot
generate a soul; for the seed is sown with [or
in ] all the three Principles, and there are three
mothers, each of which hatcheth its chicken.
15. This might was given to man: though
indeed the image of God did not stand thus: For
Adam, before his Eve [was made], was a chaste
virgin, not man nor woman: he had both the
tinctures, that in the fire, and that in the spirit
of meekness, and could of himself have brought
forth after a heavenly manner, without dividing or
rending of himself, if he had stood out the trial;
and then one man had been generated from another,
after that manner; as Adam in his virgin-like
manner was man, and the image of God.
16. For that which is out of the eternal hath also,
an eternal manner of generating, its substance must
go wholly out of the eternal, else it subsisteth not
in eternity. But having no tongue to bring to
light how one is in death, when he is dead, though
indeed we understand it, therefore we must shew it
in similitudes.
17. A dead man hath no breath, neither hath
he any fire in his body: the body hath no feeling,
for it breaketh [or corrupteth] altogether: its
essences go into the earth: its elementary spirit,
viz. the air, goeth into the air, and vanisheth in
a vapour: the water and blood is received by the
water and earth, and then there remaineth nothing
of the outward man: he is quite gone, for he hath
beginning and end, all his essences are gone.
18. Understand us after this manner: As the
image stood in a form from eternity, and yet it
had no certain form, but was a wonder, like one
that dreameth of a sight or image; and so it
hath been foreseen in the wisdom of God, with all
wonders.
19. Also observe this; when God the Father once
moved himself to the creation, then he awakened
(in the image) essences, which stood hidden in the
centre of nature; and these essences are out of the
eternal liberty, they should work their wonders in
or according to the will of God; they should frame
no other will, for that which they should do and
open should stand eternally, for it was out of the
eternal, and should work in the fragile or corruptible,
and bring its similitudes into the wonders.
20. For the fragile or corruptible hath in the
inward an eternal mother; and seeing now that
the eternal image hath let the corruptible into its
will, therefore hath the root of the corruptible
(which is also eternal) wrought in the image, and
put its wonders therein, which continue now
standing eternally as & figure, seeing they are
generated out of the eternal: and so they stand
in the will, in the desire of the soul, when it is
departed from the body.
21. And though it happen that the will (in the
time of this life, viz. in the time of the body) goeth
forth out of falsehood and wickedness, yet the
will [purpose and intention (The representation of the thought)]
remaineth as a figure, which followeth the will as a shadow, for
it is generated out of the eternal, the soul, in its
eternal essences, hath made that; for the soul
worketh by its will in the centre, and the starry
spirit worketh in the body, in the flesh and blood,
and hangeth on to the soul, and maketh the soul
to long and lust, that it also may do as the starry
spirit doth.
22. And so now what the soul doth, it doth in
its Principle, in the eternal, and all that followeth
the soul in the deceasing of the body; only in the
time of the body, it hath ability to draw its will
out from it: and when the will is renewed, then
also the substance [or subject matter], which the will
hath made in the centre, is renewed; and though it had been
evil, yet it becometh good, and so standeth in the
centre, to the manifestation of God's works of
wonder.
23. Thus also we give you to consider how
the condition of the wicked soul is, which thus
in covetousness, haughtiness, in tyranny, and mere
falsehood and wickedness, departeth from the body,
when all that still sticketh in the will of the soul
unconverted from it; in those very works the soul
must eternally swim [or swelter], for that is its substance
which it hath here made [to itself], neither doth it
desire any other: And though it offereth to hate
it, and seeketh in the centre for abstinence [to
avoid it], yet it awakeneth but the fire-root
thereby, which kindleth and increaseth this substance;
for the meekness [viz. the water of eternal
life] is not in its will, whereby it might quench.
the fire, and turn itself from the evil into the will
of God: and though it seek for that, yet there is
no finding of it.
24. Then cometh sorrow and lamentation upon
it, and kindleth the evil substance many hundred
times more, so that the soul desireth to cast itself
down headlong, and yet falleth continually deeper
into the centre of the abyss.
25. It is with that soul as with one that
dreameth that he is in great torment and anguish,
and seeketh help every where, and yet cannot find
it, and so in the end despaireth and giveth himself
over to the driver [or tormentor], when he seeth
no remedy, to do what he will with him: And
thus the poor soul falleth into the devil's arms,
and neither dare nor can go any further: but what
he doth, that it must do also.
26. It must be God's enemy, and in highmindedness,
in its falsehood and wickedness which
it committed here, fly out in the fire above the
princely thrones of angels; and that is its recreation
in its foolish sport; and being it hath
constantly [here on earth in the body] made itself
a fool, there also it remaineth to be a fool and a
juggler.
27. For every damned soul goeth forth (in its
here practised false wicked matters) in the anger
of God, as a stout, proud devil; that which it hath
here acted, that it doth there also; for that very
matter of folly is its treasure, and therein is its
will also, and its heart, as Christ saith.
28. But those souls which at the end narrowly
escape the devil, and but then first enter into the
will of God, when the body is deceasing, they are
as one that is escaped from a fight, for they are
quite naked, and have little of the body of the
heavenly substantiality; and they are very humble,
and love to lie down in rest, and so in the stillness
wait for the Last Judgment, hoping with the
clarification [transfiguration or renovation] of the
heavens to have joy with all the souls: and
although they have joy with them, yet they see
their substance under them, and are very humble
in the Majesty: for their dwelling and delight is
only paradise, viz. in the one element, but not
Majesty; for the clarification or glory is different,
all according as the holiness and love is.
29. But the zealous souls in the wonders of
God, which here under the cross wrought the
wonders of God in obedience to his will, which
are mighty in the power of God, which have put
on the body of God, that is, Christ's body, and
walked therein in righteousness, and truth, all
their doings [works, matters, or essences]
also follow them in their strong will
and desire; and they have unspeakable joy in the
love and mercifulness of God.
30. For the meek love of God embraceth them
continually: all the wonders of God are their food;
and they are continually in such glory, power,
might, majesty, and wonder, as no tongue can
express; for they are God's children, God's wonder,
God's power and virtue, God's strength, God's
honour and glory; they are his praise, they sing
his song of praise or Hallelujah in paradise, in the
element, and in the centre of nature; there is no
awakening of the wrath [there] in eternity; but
every spirit in nature is a love desire: they there
know no devil, anger, nor hell; there is eternal
perfection: whatsoever the will desireth, that is
there, and all in power.
31. It is written, The kingdom of God consisteth
in power, and not in the earthly substance, for
this earthly substance is not from eternity, therefore
also it will not be to eternity; if you will
conceive of the heavenly substance, you must have
a care that you bring a heavenly mind to it, and
then the spirit of God will well shew the heavenly
substance, it is much easier for the enlightened to
conceive of the heavenly substance, than of the
earthly: Let not the Reader imagine the thing so
difficult.
32. But in the thoughts of his own reason he
cannot reach to it; let him leave off, for thereby
he attaineth only a glimpse, even as Antichrist
hath but a glimpse of the Word of God, and of the
doctrine of Christ, and yet strongly supposeth that
he hath apprehended the Word; but it is a mere
foppery, their crying and roaring is mere juggling.
33. If you have not the right hammer you
cannot strike the clock that awakeneth the poor
captive soul; heaven and earth and every thing lie
in man, you need but to use the right hammer, if
you will strike his clock and awaken him out of
his sleep: your crying aloud will not do it, you
will not be able to beat the divine sound into him,
if you yourself have it not: But those that have
the right hammer, they awaken him indeed: therefore
all teachers without God's hammer are but
jugglers, hammers for the belly, hammers for the
ear, and no hammers for the soul.
34. The soul dwelleth not in the outward spirit;
indeed the outward spirit hath insinuated itself as
an evil companion into the soul, but hath not the
Principle in it wherein the soul dwelleth, but is
only a cover and hindrance to it.
35. And so also the Antichrist is but a hindrance
to the poor soul; for if the poor soul were not
so fast-tied and bound to the crying, which only
filleth people's ears in sermons, it would enter
into itself, and seek itself; it would endeavour
after amendment and abstinence from sin; but now
it supposeth that to be holiness which entereth
in at the ear, and yet many times there is nothing
but dross, filth, and reproach against love and
concord in it.
36. What shall a man say? Is not all quite
blindfolded and full of hypocrisy; every one
endeavoureth after nothing but for the belly;
both the shepherd, and the sheep, the superior
[or magistrate], and the inferior [or subject]; the
spirit of God is very scarce and rare among
them, and though they boast much of it, yet it
is but a show of holiness and hypocrisy, where
the heart knoweth little of the spirit of God,
it is a mere notional conjectural knowledge, and
matter [thing or confused medley] without spirit.
37. O thou worthy Christianity, behold thyself:
O Europe, Asia, and Africa, open your eyes and
look upon yourself; do but seek [or examine] yourself. Let
every one seek himself, or else it will not be well
with him: There is a strong bow bent: Fall into
the arms of the archer, and be converted, and
find thyself; or else thou wilt be shot away [as
an arrow out of a bow]. Be not rocked to sleep by
children, but rise and walk upon thy own feet: It
is high time, the sleep is at an end: The angel
hath sounded his trumpet, do not draw back: Consider
what the Revelation of Jesus Christ saith,
That those which hang to the whore of Babel [that
is, to the confusion], will go along with her into
the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone;
[viz. the lake of God's anger, which burneth with
judgment, famine, and pestilence, which will sweep
the whole earth].
38. For the whore will not be converted, she
must drink of the dregs of that cup which she
hath filled; therefore let every one himself open
his own eyes, for God is great, who will judge her:
She will continue, and go on in her sins, and at
length despair: She crieth, Mordio [Murder,
Murder], and yet none hurteth her, but it is her
own evil that plagueth and tormenteth her, viz.
the hypocrisy, supposed holiness, high-mindedness,
and covetousness: She hath wolves that bite and
tear her, yet they are but wolves that do so; and
are none of the sheep.
39. Therefore it is necessary to awake, not in
much searching after opinions and fooleries, but
in seeking thyself; for much searching, without
conversion from evil, is mere deceit, and seduction
from this way: And though thou shouldst read
this a thousand times without conversion of thy
will, thou wouldst understand as much of it, as
the ass doth of the Psalm-book and just thus it
is with the belly-priests, the Antichrist.
40. Do you suppose it a slight matter, to set an
ass upon a kingly throne? How then shall the
belly-ass stand before God, who setteth himself
with an ass's heart in the throne of Christ, which
is the dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost, only for
the sake of gain, honour, and esteem, and is merely
a teller of stories, or relater of a history, without
any knowledge; and besides, is full of blasphemy
and wickedness? Or, dost thou suppose thou art
fit enough to sit in the throne of Christ, when thou
hast studied some arts and foreign languages?
Pray consider! Look upon God's choice, upon
Abraham, and the patriarchs, also upon Moses
and the shepherds, also upon the prophets and
apostles, and thou wilt soon see whom God chooseth,
and whether he chooseth art or spirit.
41. Therefore be warned, let every one consider
the state and condition he is in: He that worketh,
worketh the wonders of God, and goeth in simplicity
with his will into God's will, and hangeth as a
child to God: He hath but two ways to go, one in
his work, wherewith he may sustain his body; the
other, in the will of God, and so putteth his trust
in God, let him make and do with him what he
will; and wheresoever he is, or whatsoever he is
going about, he saith, Lord, it is my employment,
or calling, thy will be done, give me what is good
for me; and such go on very rightly in God's
works of wonder.
42. But he that is chosen by nature to be a
ruler, governor, or leader, especially in a spiritual
state and condition, he ought well to have a care
of his doings, that he doth not go without his
weapons, or armour; for he leadeth the flock of
Christ: He is a shepherd [or pastor], the wolf is continually
about him.
43. If he be watchful, and consider that he hath
Christ's sheep under his keeping, and feed them
aright, as a faithful shepherd, then the shepherd's
crook shall be a great glory to him in the eternity:
But if he seek only the wool, viz. his own honour
and esteem, might, power, and authority, pomp,
state, glory, and voluptuousness, and spend or
consume the sheep's pasture, and do not give them
food and drink, but is a lazy sleeper, snoring in
fleshly lust and pleasure, while one sheep is going
astray here, and another there, being scattered, and
liable to be devoured by wolves; and such as will
not go in by the door of the sheepfold, but climb
up on the outside, and only contrive how they
may by cunning, subtlety, and crafty tricks, steal
away their food, and shear off their wool: All such
are of the number of wolves, and have not the
shepherd's crook of Christ; but they have and use
the devil's shears, and must hereafter howl with
the wolves eternally.
44. How may any call himself a. shepherd of
Christ, who is not chosen to be a shepherd by the
spirit of Christ? Or may a wolf make a shepherd
over the sheep? Are they not both wolves? Or
do we speak from conjecture? It is not so in
the order of nature, for an evil thing cannot produce
a good thing out of itself, but one evil thing
generateth another.
45. How then can one wrathful soldier appease
another furious soldier, who fully purposeth to kill,
slay, and murder? Or how wilt thou awaken the
Holy Ghost in man, seeing there is only the spirit
of this world in thy voice? That cannot be, unless
it were already awakened in the hearer, who heareth
the voice of the Holy Ghost in all words which
are spoken of the wonders [or works] of God.
46. And, if an ass could speak, and should speak
of God's word, the hammer of the awakener would
then strike in the soul which is in God: Whosoever
is of God, heareth God's word, saith Christ;
Ye therefore hear not, because you are not of God,
but of the devil, and of the spirit of this world.
47. In some there is no word or spirit of God at
all to be awakened; for the wrathful matrix hath
captivated them; which is plain and manifest in
some to whom Christ himself spake: He had the
hammer indeed, but his spirit entereth not into the
malicious obstinate soul, but into those who would
fain be virtuous, honest, and godly, if they could:
And when once the hammer thus awakeneth the
spirit of the soul, that the soul turneth and casteth
itself into God, then it can.
48. The old man [the old Adam] should not have the dominion,
but the spirit of God should have it; else there is
no ability, but a keeping back by the wrath; for
there is a twofold longing or seeking in the soul:
One is the fire's greedy covetous fierce longing,
which always seeketh after earthly matters; and
the other is from the spirit, which is brought forth
out of the fire, wherein the right life of the soul in
the image of God is understood, that is, God's
longing, which seeketh the kingdom of heaven.
49. And so, when the right hammer (viz. the
spirit of God) striketh in it. then that longing is
so strong, that it overcometh the fire-source and
longing, and maketh it meek, so that it desireth
the longing of love, viz. the longing of the soul's
spirit; and there is good to be done: Such a soul
is easy to be awakened, so as to subdue the outward
dominion, especially when the hammer of the Holy
Ghost soundeth through the ears into the heart,
then the tincture of the soul receiveth it instantly;
and there it goeth forth through the whole soul,
through both the longings, for it casteth itself into
one will; for two wills do not subsist in eternity,
there must be but one; one of them must beimpotent, or of no might; and the other omnipotent,
or almighty, or else there is disunion, and
no agreement.
50. For that is the right [or true property] of
eternity, and of the eternal subsistence, to have
but one only will: If it had two, one would break
or destroy the other, and so there would be strife:
Indeed the eternity consisteth in many powers and
wonders, but its life is merely and only the love,
out of which goeth forth light and majesty: All
creatures in heaven have but one will, and that is
inclined into the Heart of God, and goeth into
God's spirit, even into the centre of multiplicity in
the springing and blossoming: but God's spirit is
the life in every thing.
51. The centre of nature affordeth the substance,
and the Majesty affordeth power; and the Holy
Ghost is the bringer forth: He hath the predominancy;
and it hath been so from eternity, but
in an invisible substance before [or to] the creatures:
There is nothing new in heaven that was not
before, but only that the substance is become
palpable and comprehensible: God himself hath
shewn forth himself in similitudes and images, else
all had been but merely and only God: The devil
is God's; he is his wrath or fierceness in the most
inward centre, which is also the most outward, for
his kingdom is the darkness in nature, as is before
mentioned,
52. Therefore man should have a care of him
self, and endeavour to propagate or put forth
himself [ bring forth, or regenerate himself]
for he is a root in the soil of God, and hath
gotten the spirit of understanding: He must bring
forth fruit out of the spirit of the soul, in the
power of the Holy Ghost; not according to the
form and manner of darkness, but out of the power
of the light; for whatsoever groweth out of the
power of the light, that belongeth to God's table;
and whatsoever groweth out from the darkness,
which remaineth a fruit in darkness, belongeth to
the darkness in the abyss in the wrathful matrix
[or in the fierce genetrix].
53. After this [life] time there is no recalling;
for, as an herb is sprung up and grown, so it
remaineth, and so it relisheth, and is afterwards
desired for food only of those that are of the same
essences [or quality]; but those that have not the
same essences, desire it not for food; neither do
they gather it into their barns.
54. Therefore, let every soul try and examine
itself, and consider what kind of fruit it is: It is
good converting while we are here in this life, and
to prune off [the evil] branch, and to send forth a
better from its root: But when the Great Reaper
cometh, he cutteth off all, one and other; and then
the weeds and evil branches are bound in bundles,
and cast into the fire; but the good herbs are set
upon God's table.
55. We have very faithfully opened this
according to our gifts, and whosoever is hungry let
him eat, and whosoever thirsteth let him drink;
they may have it without money, that our joy in
God may be full, and that we also may have to eat
in the other world [the world to come] .
Hallelujah. Amen.
THE END OF THE BOOK OF
THE THREEFOLD LIFE
(next: alphabetical list of terms)
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE
OF THE MATERIAL CONTENTS OF THE
SEVERAL VERSES OF THIS BOOK OF THE
THREEFOLD LIFE OF MAN
CHAP. Abyss. VERSE
5. Wherein the abyss of the anger of God consisteth . 109
5. Admonition to the seekers that suppose the abyss
where the devils dwell, to be far off . . Ill
5. The abyss upon which the four elements stand, is the
anger of God, and the habitation of the devils . 141
6. The abyss of hell is in this world .... 67
9. How the abyss mixeth its wonders among the wonders
of God 11
14. Whence the great covetousness (which is the first root
of the abyss) ariseth, which affordeth nothing to any
willingly 32
14. Of the envy in the word of the soul, the second root
of the abyss, from whence liars and slanderers arise.
The author lamenteth the great misery ... 33
14. The third root of the abyss, which is the seat of the
devil, viz. the anguish: Of the wonderful working
of the devil in this property 34
14. The working of the devil in the fourth root or form
of the abyss, viz. the flash, the springing up of the
light in the understanding 35
Adam.
5. How Adam was in paradise before his sleep . .135
5. How Adam is become bestial and earthly . . . 136
5. Out of what Adam is created 137
CHAP. Adam. Verse
5. How Adam would be like God, and how Eve was
misled . . 138
5. How Adam was created in the beginning . . 144
5. How Adam should have remained for ever . . 145
6. Out of what it was that God spake to Adam . . 1
6. A lamentation that Adam and his generation hath not
continued to be children of God in paradise . . 14
6. How the perished soul of Adam was again set in the
eternal humanity 85
6. The Fall of Adam is likened to the quenching of
a flaming piece of iron 90
6. The Deity was not extinguished in the Fall of Adam.
The condition of Adam, if his will had continued
in God .. 91
6. How Adam was captivated by the world, by death, by
the devil, and hell 92
6. What the Fall of Adam was 93
6. How the poor soul of Adam was ashamed; and what
his clothing was before the Fall .... 94
7. From Adam to Christ, the tree of pearl grew hidden
under the veil of Moses 12
7. The power and condition of Adam before his Fall 26, 27
7. The will of Adam before his Fall was in God, and
God in him, and he in paradise .... 28
7. Why the commandment not to eat of the forbidden
fruit came: Also how long Adam was in paradise
before he fell asleep 29
7. How Adam in his sleep became male or man, and so
Eve was formed into a woman .... 30
7. The miserable condition of Adam after the Fall, and
of ours also 31
7. How we are shut up in the anger with Adam . . 43
8. Adam was in paradise in the divine body, and now is
between heaven and hell 9
11. Reason should open both eyes. The creation of Adam
explained: Also the cause why God did not at first
create Adam an Angel 11
12. A speech to all that are proceeded from Adam . . 12
18. How Adam was before his Eve 15
Air.
7. Of the instability and wrestling of the air. . . 76
7. Of the spirit of the air in the creatures, and its transitoriuess
78
Almighty.
CHAP. All. All things. Almightiness. VERSE
3. Men should search their own property. All is full of
God 33
3. Men must he scorned: Also how all may be found
that is desired 3 6
4. All consisteth in the will. The will carrieth and
leadeth us 6
4. The essence of all essences is a continual hunger and
satiating: Also how all changeth, and yet remaineth
still 7
4. Whence all that is come to be hath proceeded: Also
where time began 25
9. How all is become substantial 45
15. All shall be tried in the fire 13
5. Why all things are come to a corporeal substance . 123
17. God hath given all to us 23
10. How in the will of God we are able to do all things . 32
2 . How God i s almighty 26
4. Nature consisteth of endless forms: No number is found
i n the almightiness 9
Amen.
16. How in the Amen is understood the seeking of the
eternal nature 95
16. How the whole alphabet proceedeth out of the A:
Also of the syllable men: If God were not become
man, we could not attain him .... 96
Angels.
14. How the angels often assist the virtuous in necessity . 58
14. How the angels often deliver Christians ... 57
14. What the condition of the holy angels is . . 61
14. What condition they are of that want the assistance
and society of angels 62
14. The angels accept of no honour nor worship from us . 63
14. The angels strive with the devils about the soul of
man 67
Anger.
3. The anger of God is not a thing without God, neither
i s i t the mere Deity 19
CHAP. Anguish. Verse
2. What the desire of the anguish is ... 30
3. That which maketh anguish in the dark centre, maketh
joy in the light 15
Antichrist. Antichristian.
6. The spirit which hath blinded us in the Antichrist . 11
6. How Antichrist rideth over heaven, earth, and God . 13
11. Here the proud covetous Antichrist is told where its
poor soul shall remain 48
11. Of the very Antichrist: his mysticalness: every man
carrieth him in his heart 51
11. The Antichrist hurteth not the ignorant: God will
manifest him, and he shall lose his sting in the
children o f God .52
11. The Antichrist is a cause of the falling away of the
Asians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Moors, Grecians and
Africans: The Indians are better than the Antichrist 89
11. They that will slay the Antichrist, are the very beast
whereupon he rideth: Also what contention effecteth 93
11. How the Antichrist pronounceth people happy for money 96
11. A speech to Antichrist concerning the business between
Peter and Ananias 98
11. It were often better not to be hearers of the lies of
Antichrist 100
11. Antichrist is born of lies: Also where he feedeth his
sheep 101
11. How Antichrist is to be slain and pulled down . .105
12. How by the business of Cain and Abel, Antichrist
may b e discerned .17
12. A speech to the Antichrist concerning his leading
people astray .29
12. Who are the bears and wolves of Antichrist: Also
when the Mystery of the kingdom of God shall be
manifest . 30
12. Advice to princes: Antichrist sticketh in all covetousness 32
12. The marks of the last Antichrist: Admonition to the
children of God .34
6. How the Antichristian spirit shall be rightly shewn to us 12
Art.
3. How men bind true understanding to art and study . 83
4. Without the will of God all that is done in natural
art is but a graven image 46
7. Art, eloquence, aud an university avail nothing . . 5
CHAP. Asia. VERSE
12. Why Asia, Africa, and Greece, are to be accounted
happy 25
Author.
1. Who those are that can understand the author . . 22
1 . The end of the author's writing 41
1. The author will shew what we are in body and soul:
Also what God, heaven, and hell are; and saith we
are blinder than the heathen .... 44
2. The author speaketh of his knowledge . . 18
2. The Deity subject to no alteration. The author
speaketh but in part 66
3. The author will shew that which hath been hidden
since the Fall o f Adam 6
3. Advice to the children of Christ. The author doth
not forbid going to the churches of stone . . 90
3. The author hath not sought after the sophisters, but
after the Heart of God 92
4. If the author did not see and understand, he would
hold his peace 3
4. The author writes these things down for a Memorial
to himself 4
5. The author speaketh as a child speaketh of its mother 23
5. To those that are not born of God, the author is dumb 25
5. The author speaketh from two languages ... 26
5. The author admonishes the wolves to embrace the
poor ABC scholars 78
6. Why the author hath undertaken to write this book . 5
6. The author writeth as for many 7
6. The author speaketh by living experience ... 35
6. The author speaketh what he knoweth, and must
speak 73
7. The author will shew the hard prison of our blindness 53
7. The author bewaileth our blindness .... 59
8. The author is clothed with Adam's skin, and also
liveth i n the hope o f Israel 8
9. The author speaketh what he must speak, and despiseth
none 30
9. The author speaketh what he himself hath tried . 38
10. The author sheweth how far we ought to search . . 29
11. The author desireth not to reproach mankind by his
wonderful discovery in his writings ... 30
13. The author speaketh what is given to him, and known
to him . 63
CHAP. Author. VERSE
14. The author writeth that which he hath seen with
spiritual eyes 55
16. The author hath experimented what he mentioneth
concerning the soul 10
18. The author hath ability to write these Mysteries . 2
Babel.
3. When Babel breaketh, then there is the tabernacle of
God with men 81
3. Babel reproved forjudging those that are in the
angelical world 88
7. What the poor soul in Babel must do to be happy . 7
8. A wonderful description of the Fall of Babel, and the
dragon, that is, the contentious disputation and
tyrannical government 49
10. Vengeance denounced over Babel .... 35
14. An admonition to Babel. Also concerning the eternal
satisfaction and atonement 39
Band.
1. Sourness and bitterness together are the band that
maketh itself .29
1. Of the eternal band, out of which all things are made 40
Baptize. Baptizer. Baptism.
13. They that say the Testaments or Sacraments are but
mere signs or symbols, are the Antichrist. Also
how a simple person is able to baptize ... 38
13. The school rabbis will be baptized by One that is
coming, who will baptize with the fire of anger . 39
7. Wherefore Christ hath instituted the baptism for us. 50
13. A wonderful description of baptism .... 33
13. Why God by Christ instituted two Testaments or
Sacraments. How the devil's oracles ceased at
the coming of Christ. An explanation how the
baptism is for the ignorant and such as have
not faith yet 3 6
13. The Holy Ghost chiefly manage th the office in baptism 37
Beast. Beasts.
3. The spirit resembleth us to an abominable beast, upon
which he setteth the fine spirituality, or clergy . 61
3. What beast the dainty woman rideth upon, not
Christ's ass, but the devil 62
CHAP. Beast. Beasts. VERSE
5. In the courts of princes the vials of anger are poured
forth through the instigation of the hypocrites, the
clergy: the might of princes is the beast of the
whore 66
6. Advice to the seeking mind that would be rid of the
beast .16
8. A beast understandeth not its beginning, but there is
another life in us 26
8. We are not merely out of the earth as a beast is . .27
8. How the flesh of beasts which we eat sullieth the soul, 19
8. We are both men and beasts 25
8. Of the desire which beasts have .... 28
9. Whence the weeds and evil beasts have their original. 12
9. The evil beasts have proceeded according to the devil's
desire 55
Beginning.
4. What the beginning is .... 21
Birth.
1. How we may enter into the New Birth ... 17
1. No nature is felt in the divine life: The soul is a fire
in the eternal nature: The soul is a spirit having
seven forms, wherein heaven and hell consist: The
author here understandeth the eternal birth . . 19
2. Of the birth of nature in a similitude . .27
2. How the birth i s; also of the essences and of the
fire-spirit 71
3. Of the birth of the four forms of the eternal nature . 8
3. The names of the second birth or Word ... 24
3. Without the sour birth there would be no nature nor
life: The life is the most delectable: the sour birth
is eternal . 27
3. A thanksgiving for the New-Birth out of darkness into
the light 59
4. A warning to the mind to consider itself: for the
eternal birth is like the mind .... 75
5. The author will speak and not be silent concerning
the eternal birth of the heart of God ... 35
6. How the whole birth of the eternal nature is included
in a small circle or point 43
9. What the eternal Word is, and its birth: The end of
nature 93
CHAP. Bishops. Verse
14. How profitable the bishops chosen for art sake are to
the world. Many of their writings have as much
love to their neighbour in them as the devil in
hell hath ... 24
Blessed.
17. How the body also is blessed 11
Body.
5. Why the body is like a cross. Our Fall and Redemption 34
8. How we should tame the body, and not pamper it as
a wanton ass 22
8. The body will not readily break off its will: also it is
a very unfaithful neighbour to the soul. . . 24
9. How every form or creature hath figured its body . 49
11. Out of what the body, and also the spirit of the
creatures, is created 7
11. What kind of body we have in God .... 72
13. What body it was that Christ gave to his disciples . 22
13. Of the heavenly body of Christ that filleth the
angelical world, and yet the creature [Christ] may
well be seen standing palpably .... 24
14. How the anger of God is received instead of the body
and blood of Christ 18
17. Whence the body is, and what it will be again . . 7
17. The body is a mixed mass or lump of two centres . 8
Breath.
11. Of the breathing in of the living breath: Advice to
the high schools or universities .... 13
Bridegroom.
16. Advice to Christendom. Of the coming of the
bridegroom 102
Brightness.
2. Whence the brightness existeth .... 82
Candlesticks.
3. Why the candlesticks were taken away after the time
of the Apostles. The seven seals are the Father's
nature: aud the seven candlesticks are the Son's . 42
CHAP. Candlesticks. VERSE
3. Of the image in the midst of the seven candlesticks or
seven spirits of God 46
3. What we must do to behold the seven candlesticks in
ourselves 65
Care.
17. How God taketh care for us 2
17. How man relieth upon his own labour and care-taking 5
Centre.
9. How before the creation of the sun the outward centre
of nature wheeled itself thrice about 84
9. The similitude of the eternal centre was not figured
before the creation 95
9. How the heart of God created the seven forms of the
centre of nature 96
Ceremonies.
11. A speech to the Antichristian world, with its ceremonies;
shewing what it should have taught men 46
13. It is better to shew the way of the Lord, than to set
up ceremonies 43
Children.
11. How children are our school-masters . . . .110
15. If our children did not as others do, they would be the
scorn of the world; as some parents allege . . 18
Christ.
3. The author's meaning is to be sought and found in the
life of Christ 4
3. How Jesus Christ must become man in us, if we will
find God 31
3. What man must do to have Christ, the Supper, the
Baptism, and the Holy Ghost .... 86
3. Men must go with earnestness into the temple of
Christ, as well as into the churches of stone . . 91
5. What body Christ giveth us to eat: also of the one
element 68
5. Why the New- Adam Christ must hang on the cross . 140
5. Why the New- Adam Christ must go through hell . 142
CHAP. Christ. VERSE
5. The New- Adam Christ must he tempted forty days in
the wilderness 143
6. How the innermost court shall be given to those that
know not the name o f Christ .... 23
6. A wonderful exposition how Christ sitteth at the right
hand of God upon the circle of our life ... 71
6. How the Three Principles were manifested in the
person of Christ 81
8. Of our power in Christ to become the children of
God 17
8. How the ministers or servants of the dragon would
have smothered the Resurrection of Christ . . 70
8. How Christ is new-born in God, and sitteth on the
rainbow 72
8. How Christ cast away nothing from him at his Resurrection,
but the spirit of this world ... 73
8. How the soul attaineth the flesh of Christ even in this
life-time 76
11. The author shutteth not up the grace from any, but
writes why Christ is born 31
11. Reason asketh how we can be in the body of Christ . 67
11. Men must enter into the temple of Christ, else they
stay i n darkness .78
11. How Christ warneth us, his appearing is as the
lightning .82
11. Christ is the Way, the Door, and a good Shepherd . 83
11. It is not necessary to choose any place to find Christ
in, he is everywhere. Christ is our carcase, to
whom we fly as eagles .86
13. How Christ will be with us, and take care for us . 2
13. Christ gave his disciples no earthly transitory thing . 13
13. The apostles did not eat the outward flesh of Christ . 14
13. A plain (though to reason a high) similitude of eating
the body of Christ 15
13. Another similitude of eating that body of Christ which
is every where 16
13. Christ feedeth not the soul with spirit, but with body 17
13. How the once received body of Christ departeth not
from us, except we ourselves like Adam spoil it . 21
13. How there were in the hand of Christ two kingdoms
at once 23
13. How Christ standeth in the Father, as the sun in the
elements 2 9
14. How Christ is reproached 17
14. It is no slight matter to put on the garment of Christ. 22
CHAP. Christ. VERSE
15. The lamentation of Christ at the disobedience of the
world 1
15. To whom the sufferings of Christ are profitable . . 21
16. What profit Chrisfs Incarnation is to us . . 88
18. He that sitteth in the throne of Christ with an ass's
heart, is but a teller of stories, and no preacher . 40
Christendom. Christian. Christians.
13. How Christendom hath fallen asleep by her whoredom 61
13. The author asketh whether Christendom thinketh him
mad or no 62
6. The vain boasting of the name Christian or Jew . 25
15. How a sincere Christian knoweth not himself . . 26
6. The Christians say yea, in the parable of the two sons 27
6. The Christians judge and condemn that in others,
which they themselves do 29
6. Christians should not be judges, but lights to the
world 30
Church. Churches.
7. He that resteth contented with mere going to church,
is as well before as after he comes there . . 2
7. The false Magus crieth, here is the church of Christ;
but it is the whore 57
9. For whom it is best to stay from church ... 28
11. How one may be alone in a wilderness, and yet in the
congregation or cfiurch of Christ at the same time . 66
11. The church of Christ is every where. A repentant
Turk is in Christ 88
11. What it is the Antichrist scandaliseth the church of
Christ with 99
12. The author declareth his hearty love to the church or
congregation of Christ 9
13. When the Romish church lost the jewel, it became
Babel 5
14. How the priest-devil hath made the church and
congregation of Christ stark blind .... 23
9. The devil most readily driveth the distressed soul into
the stone churches 24
11. The author would not have the stone churches destroyed
; but he sheweth the hypocrites; and
sheweth also the living Temple of Christ . . 77
CHAP. Circle. Verse
11. How each circle in the wheel of nature giveth its own
inclination to its creature 3
11. Of the circle between the moon and the earth: also of
the property of the moon and of the earth . . 4
Clergy.
5. The worldly governments have their original from the
heavenly, which the spirituality or clergy believe
not .62
12. The clergy have thievishly dealt with the congregation
of Christ 19
15. How the appearing holy clergy have the predominancy
in the world 19
16. By the elder son in the parable, the appearing holy
clergy are deciphered 24
Conceits.
4. All conceits are graven images in the wonders of God . 50
Contrariety.
2. Whence contrariety, anguish, and cold ariseth . . 14
Conversion. Convert.
18. Beading without conversion is as beneficial as a Psalter
to an ass 39
18. It is good to convert in this life-time .... 54
Corporeity.
4. The seventh form is a substantial form, out of which
corporeity proceedeth, which consisteth also of two
forms, light and darkness 12
Corruptibility. Corruptible. Corruption.
18. Of the corruptibility 10
18. How that which is corruptible, hath an eternal
mother; also wherefore the wonders shall continue
eternally 20
I. Whence corruption and torment arise. ... 30
Covenant.
II. Why God made his covenant with us in Christ .. 27
CHAP. Covetous. Covetousness. VERSE
17. The wicked covetous person hath his God in his chest 19
17. An admonition to depart from covetousness ... 26
Councils.
11. Why the councils are instituted: How the Antichrist
glistereth in the form of Aaron .... 47
Create. Created. Creation. Creatures.
10. What it is to create 14
14. Admonition to consider whence we are, and to what
end w e were created 1
5. The author will rightly shew the creation to the
children of God 124
6. As all things were formed in -the creation, so our
mouth formeth them 2
6. Why the seekers have not found the pearl of the
creation 17
7. Without the creation of the world, the wonders of this
world had not been known to the angels . . 23
7. How the eternity hath moved itself to creation . . 75
10. The ground of the creation is clearly to be understood
by the inward man 11
10. Of the creation of the Fifth Day; also the creation of
the elementary spirits 20
11. How God on the Fifth Day created all living creatures 2
11. The life of the creatures consisteth in the matrix out
of which they are created 9
Cross.
8. What the hanging on the cross was .... 71
Damned.
2. The several kinds of conditions of the damned are not
only four, but infinite: they have all forms but the
light 56
18. The here acted fopperies are the treasure of the
damned soul 27
Darkness.
1. Of the forms in the dark nature: the darkness longeth
after the light 27
2. Of darkness: according to which God is said to be a
consuming fire 90
CHAP. Darkness. VERSE
5. Out of what darkness is generated; also of the Father's
property 20
5. How the flash dissipateth the darkness ... 38
6. God is not guilty of any one's remaining in darkness . 18
Day.
17. It is asked whether the night or the day be best . 24
Death.
2. How death trembleth at the life .... 72
8. What is, and is called, death 37
8. There is no death in the eternity; also what is called
the eternal death 38
9. After the curse death was in all fruits, whence we eat
death 16
14. How men must go through death and hell of the
devils into the merits of Christ .... 14
Deity.
1. The pure Deity, the birth of the Trinity, and the
angelical world, are every where present . . 48
2. The author will shew the form of the Deity . . 59
2. The Deity is subject to no alteration .... 66
4. Without and beyond nature the Deity is called
Majesty; and in nature it is called Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, Wonder, Counsel, Power . . 86
16. Of the pure Deity; also how the soul attaineth the
body of God, and becometh the child of God . .101
Deliverance.
3. Of the deliverance of the soul 57
3. In what manner the soul hath deliverance ... 58
Departeth.
18. How the soul is that departeth from the body without
conversion 23
Desire.
2. What the desire is, and what it worketh ... 11
2. What the impregnation of the desire is, whereby it
generateth ... 12
7. Of the desire of the light, and of the desire of the
Fire 67
8. How the desire maketh not itself, but is made .. 52
8. Whence our desire after the highest good proceedeth,
and whence it hath its sustenance ..55
9. The first desire of man is for power, honour, and glory .. 19
The second desire is for riches, plenty, and voluptuousness
... 20
9. The third desire is for the kingdom of heaven . . 21
9. How the desire goeth inwards into itself to God . 69
10. All lieth in the will: the desire assume th where
nothing is 9
10. The desire and the will are two distinct things . . 13
Despair.
14. Advice not to despair i n distress 60
Devil. Devils.
5. Why the devil is called a prince of this world . . 18
5. A prince doth as readily serve the devil, as a poor
shepherd doth; yet each of them heareth his office
for God 65
8. When it is that the devil standeth in fear ... 12
9. The devil and this world strive with the soul . . 5
9. The tricks of the devil when the soul heareth any thing
taught concerning the New Birth .... 25
9. The tricks of the devil when the teacher slandereth,
and when he reproveth fully according to his duty 26
9. The devil hath kindled the life of the evil beasts in
himself: Also in what forms the devils shape their
bodies in hell 56
10. The devil dwelleth near us: He hateth the light, and
is the poorest creature in the crown ... 23
11. Of the great mystery of the anger, and of the devil:
Also of the two dominions in man: Also of the
totally false soul's figuration, outwardly courteous,
and inwardly a devil, which so betrayeth itself . 42
14. Of our misery; of the great assaults of Satan against
man: Also where it is that the devil hath power . 30
14. How the devil hath gotten power in the outward
dominion: Also how the poor soul is between two
dominions in the deep 49
14. How the soul is released from the devil ... 50
14. Of the seven cords of the devil, with which he holdeth
the soul fast withal 51
CHAP. Devil. Devils. VERSE
14. How those must do, (to whom the devil sets all the
sins they have committed before their eyes), that
the devil may be faint and weak .... 64
14. How the devil betrayeth the soul. Man is the devil's
best beloved lodging 65
14. Where is it that the devil hath power outwardly . 66
16. How the devil overwhelmeth the soul terribly . . 7
16. In what manner the devil assaulteth the soul in its
security 16
17. One man is a devil to another 22
2. How the devils lost the light of God, and now are in
the four forms 48
2. How the devils came into the abyss of hell in a
moment 54
4. The devils stand in the wonders of God ... 90
7. Why the devils are not transitory .... 16
7. How the devils are eternal spirits in the fierce matrix,
and are a looking-glass for angels and men . . 17
7. Whence the original of the devils is, wherein all
corporeity doth consist 69
8. How the devils have lost the tincture of meeknetjs:
They have no palpable body 39
10. Where the devils dwell: How the world scorneth all
revelation 22
Divines.
2. Physicians now understand not the centre of Sulphur,
Mercury, and Sal; nor do the divines understand
the spirit of the Holy Scriptures .... 17
Doctrine.
12. Of the seed which the Antichristian devil hath sown
into the doctrine of Christ 16
Doings.
17. All our doings are acceptable to God, if they be not
false or wicked 15
Doubt. Doubtful. Doubting.
7. How the soul is kept in doubt by leaning to opinions . 6
7. It is good to see with our own eyes, others' eyes make
us but doubt 55
CHAP. Doubt. Doubtful. Doubting. VERSE
9. It is a great sin to doubt of the grace of God . . 35
11. That men should not doubt in prayer: plain instruction 55
11. How poor souls fall into distrust and doubt . . 97
17. Why the soul i s doubtful in prayer .... 3
4. The mind searchetb after the most inward ground,
which is here shewn: Also how doubting cometh . 60
11. Whence doubting in prayer ariseth: fair instruction . 56
16. In the word Erden, which signifieth earth, lie many
hidden mysteries: Also concerning our doubting
i n prayer; and our misery .... 58, 5 9
17. How the devil, bringeth doubting into the soul, and
maketh a severe judge of God .... 4
Driver.
11. A song concerning the fall of the Driver, who hath
set us at odds 113
Die. Dieth. Dying.
18. How a child in the mother's womb is at first old
enough to die. Our limit is hidden in us . . 13
18. The author must speak by way of similitude, how one
is when he dieth 16
12. How the simple dying man knoweth not whither his
soul shall go 26
12. Where the simple dying man's soul remaineth; whence
purgatory is framed; where the souls of the
deceivers remain. Note, it is wonderful . . 27
Earth.
5. Out of what the earth, stones, and metals come . . 98
6. What the earth signifieth 64
9. How the earth springeth in its own life ... 58
10. Where the devil dwells; also of the wheeling of the
globe of the earth, and of the other planets . 21-26
11. Of the longing of the earth, why it wheeleth, or is
wheeled about 5
11. How the budding forth of the earth springeth towards
the sun; also of the indurability of the fruits of
the earth 6
11. Of the matrix of the earth, being a corrupted matrix;
what it was before the Fall 8
12. Whence the divisions among all people of the earth
have arisen 18
CHAP. Eat. VERSE
13. He that hungereth, let him eat; and he that thirsteth,
let him drink, without money .... 55
Elders.
5. Of the Glassy Sea before the seats of the elders . . 10
9. What the seven spirits are, (where the Son of Man
standeth), and also the four-and-twenty elders
before the throne of God 80
Election.
7. Whence the election of the children of God cometh . 35
7. Of the election among the children of Jesse . . 45
7. The election is not ordained from eternity in God . 46
Element. Elements.
5. Out of what the element of water is created . . 13
5. How the fruit getteth its ornament, and how all is like
a wrestling, viz. in the pure element .... 54
5. Out of what the four elements have proceeded . . 105
5. How God's spirit drave forth the four Elements that
have appeared as a peculiar Principle . . .106
5. How the four elements are in one pure element . .118
5. Why all that live in the four elements must corrupt . 121
6. Whence the stirring of the elements ariseth . . 50
11. How evil men kindle the elements: Also how the
anger willeth to devour; which the prophets
foretold 39
13. How the substantiality of the earth proceedeth from
the other three elements 26
Employment.
17. Man may use what innocent employment he will to
get his living with 16
Enemies.
12. Our worst enemy is in our bosom: Also direction how
we ought to walk .. 44
12. How men may defend themselves against their enemies,
and not displease God 42
16. How the soul is begirt with enemies .... 5
CHAP. Essences. VERSE
1. Whence multiplicity of essences or faculties ariseth . 31
2. How the wheel of the essences standeth trembling . 70
3. Of the wheel of the essences, whence the fire proceedeth 9
3. How all essences which have laid hold of the light,
stand in the first generating will .... 11
Eternal. Eternity.
6. What is eternal, and what is not eternal ... 42
18. That which is proceeded out of the eternity, is of an
eternal kind 16
14. How the eternity is revealed 36
Eve.
7. What moved Eve to eat of the fruit .... 48
13. How mother Eve was deceived in her opinion . . 55
Evil.
3. In these writings may be found, whence evil proceedeth 25
9. The evil as well as the good is useful. ... 13
13. How the good oil is poison to the evil ... 50
14. God created nothing evil .... 40
15. Delight in evil is the devil's chain and fetters . . 6
18. How by the striking of the right hammer the good
overcometh the evil 49
Excommunication.
12. Of those that are cursed with excommunication deservedly
: Also of those that are cursed for the
truth's sake 8
13. Of the Church's reproof and excommunication: He
that reproveth and excommunieatetk in the wrong
is himself excommunicate 9
Exposition.
2. The exposition of the word Sulphur .... 19
2. The exposition of the words Sulphur, Mercurius, and
Sal 41, 42, 43
2. An exposition of these words: In the beginning was
the Word 60
5. An exposition of that text: We have piped to you, and
you have not danced 8
CHAP. Exposition. VERSE
11. A plain exposition of these words of Christ: When
the unclean spirit goeth out of a man he wandereth
through dry places, etc 58
14. An exposition of those words of Christ: A camel may
sooner go through the eye of a needle, than a rich
man enter into the kingdom of heaven: Also what
the devil's triumphant chariot is .... 45
16. To what this exposition tendeth .... 1
16. The author's exposition of these words: Before they
called, I heard them 11
16. An exposition of the word vom, or from. How the
soul groweth as a stalk out of the root: A wonderful
description o f the soul 84
16. Further exposition of nature and of the soul, by the
similitude of fire 85, 86
Faith.
10. Concerning the lies of those that speak from their own
conceit: Also whence the strife about faith and
religion proceedeth 3 2
11. A saying to the sophisters, who of opinions make
articles of faith: There is heresy in every opinion:
Men must cleave to the living Word ... 80
14. Of the dead faith, and of the true faith . . .8,9
16. What -we attain in prayer: What the syllable men in
Amen signifieth: What faith i s: How prayer comprehendeth
two things 97
Fall.
5. What the heavy fall of Adam was . . . .120
11. Of Adam's wisdom, ornament, clothing, and members
before his fall: How he went out from God, and
caused the creation of the Tree of Good and Evil . 21
11. How the devil stirred up Adam's lust. Adam's condition
after the fall 22
Father.
1. The speaker is the Father of the Word. The abyss
of hell standeth in the centre of the Father . . 39
2. Of the Father's will to generate his Son or Word . 61
2. How God the Father is without name ... 76
2. How God the Father comprehendeth his will out of
nothing, but only out of himself. How the genetrix
is to be understood, wherein the essence is generated 77
CHAP. Father. VERSE
4. Whence the Father hath the name Father . . 64
4. The mind in the Father in nature, but not in the
liberty, is like the mind of man .... 65
5. Whither the Father speaketh or generateth the Word 40
7. How God the Father is all in nature, both love and
wrath 62
16. How we should go with earnestness to the Father of
the lost Prodigal Son .... 19
16. How the Father rejoiceth at the finding of the lost son 22
16. How the Father entertaineth the lost son ... 23
17. How we go to our true Father, and become his
children 1
Fiat.
7. How the water is become material. The working of
the Fiat 71
9. How the spirit of God driveth the Fiat . . .115
Figure.
5. When God shall be manifested, the figure of every
thing remaineth eternally 122
5. The beasts after the Last Day get no bodies more, but
the figure of the elementary substance remaineth .131
9. Why the figure of all kinds of creatures must remain
in eternity 6 0
9. How God hath manifested himself in a figurative form
i n the great wonders o f God 62
10. How the figure of the will standeth in the desire:
Also of the creation 12
18. The image hath stood from eternity, as a figure in a
dream 18
Fire.
2. A recital of the original of the fire .... 69
4. Of the fire of the liberty: How death affordeth weight:
How the anguish becometh material ... 14
4. Without fire there is no body that hath any feeling . 15
5. Of the original of the fire, and of the air or wind . 103
5. How the property of the water holdeth the fire captive 104
7. The eternal nature, and the eternal liberty, are represented
by fire 65
7. How the matrix of the water holdeth the fire captive 70
8. How the fire devoureth the substantiality ... 33
CHAP. Fire. VERSE
8. How the substantiality flieth out from the fire again . 34
8. Of the twofold/ire 41
9. A description of the eighth number, viz. the fire . 90
10. The author sheweth us the Mysterium Magnum. The
fire is the eighth number. Also a description of
the fire 27
10. The most inward tincture is the ninth number; the
tenth number is the eternal fire of God; with a
wonderful description of it 28
11. What fire that is which will melt away the stones
and earth 16
11. How all must pass through the fire, and the floor must
be purged 28
14. How the soul must pass through the fire, viz. the
eighth form, or the law of Moses .... 52
Flash.
2. The flash is free from nature 25
2 . The, flash i s the third form 28
Flesh.
11. We are all one flesh, soul, and spirit .... 68
11. How the flesh that in Adam became earth, became
heaven again .70
11. How Christ's soul and flesh is our soul and flesh:
Also how we live in Christ . . . . 71
Form. Forms.
2. Harsh, sour, tart, stern, fierce attraction, is the first
form 32
2 . Bitter sting is the second form 33
2. The flash of liberty is the third form .... 34
2. What maketh the third form in nature ... 35
2. What is called the fourth form in nature ... 36
2. How the fifth form riseth up 73
2. How the fifth form is the true original of life . . 74
3. How the sixth form in nature is generated. . . 13
3. Of the seventh form of the eternal nature . . 41, 44
1. The two first forms, sour and bitter, are the original
of every thing, and the eternal will is the mother
of them 28
2. How the two first forms hold the centre ... 20
2. How the two forms without the other are in great
anguish . 21
CHAP. Form. Forms. VERSE
2. Further of the working of the four forms ... 47
2. The author will shew the three other heavenly forms
that are generated out of the first four forms . . 65
5 . A mention of the seven forms 15
14. A mention of the four forms that contain the original
of nature 31
Forsaken.
17. He that letteth go what will not willingly stay, will
not b e forsaken o f God 28
Fruit.
18. Man is a root in the field of God: What fruit belongeth
to God's table, and what to the wrathful
mother 52
18. As a. fruit groweth, so it tasteth .... 53
Furious.
18. How can one, furious person appease another furious
person? 45
Garden.
11. How we walk under the fig-tree in the garden of roses 112
Generator. Genetrix.
2. Wherefore the generator of the Word is called Father 88
1. The genetrix is a darkness: The birth of the eternal
being 35
2. The ground of the genetrix, and circle of life . . 1
2. How all is generated out of the genetrix. Of the
eternal Word, and of the name God ... 6
4. Of the properties in the genetrix, or the eternal mother 35
11. Mention concerning the Being of all Beings. Of the
genetrix, and o f the three kingdoms ... 1
13. How the mother, the genetrix, desireth to generate a
young son in her old age 53
16. How the genetrix of the anger of God, and the genetrix
of the outward nature, are working in this outward
life 90
Gifts.
12. How one soul shall rejoice in the gifts of another . 3
CHAP. God. VERSE
1. None can know God rightly without the spirit of
God 46
1. A warning not to seek God only above the stars . 47
2. How Go d is a consuming fire 58
2. How men shall speak rightly of God .... 68
3. God is without beginning: His Word hath an eternal
unsearchable beginning, and is rightly called a
Person 2
3. The author telleth the reader, that he meaneth not
two, but one God 16
5. We must lodge in heaven with God, or in hell with
the devil 27
5. A direction how to find and see God .... 31
5. How we are not able to know any thing of God . . 51
5. How God is manifested in a creaturely form by the
angelical world 60
5. The A. B. C. scholars reach the deep of God: Their
speech is various 73
5. What is truly called lifting one's self above God . 76
5. Why we cannot see the kingdom of God . . .119
6. By what we may know that we are the children of
God 3
6. We are gods in God: Also why a beast cannot speak . 4
6. How God is found of them that sought him not. . 24
6. How God is in us, and we without God, and how we
enter into God 31
6. Nothing is from eternity, and in eternity, but God . 45
6. Why God became man. Without the New Birth all
is lost 61
7. What are the right means to see the kingdom of
God 4
7. God moveth himself no more but thrice ... 19
7. The first, second, and third moving of God . 20-22
8. God, and all heavenly properties, are but one body . 4
Govern. Government.
18. The spirit of God, and not the old man, should govern:
There is a twofold seeking in the soul: Also of the
true life of the soul 48
4. What government there was before the time of the
angelical world 56
4. The spirits are incomprehensible to us. The author
will shew us the government of heaven further, and
then the government of man 57
CHAP. Govern. Government. VERSE
13. A wonderful discourse concerning the rise and fall of
a kingdom, government, dominion, or religion. 45-47
17. All in this world is but mere foppery: Also of the
government of the potentates, and the government
of such as fear God 20
Heart.
4. The eternal essence desireth a number or limit: The
Heart of God is the end of nature. ... 10
4. What is necessary to the attaining of the Heart of
God 47
4. The Principle of the Heart of God change th not . 49
5. Wherefore the Word is the Heart of God ... 36
5. Why the body must pass away, and the soul not; and
why the Heart of God must become man . .139
6. The form of the Heart of God described by the similitude
of a rainbow 68
7. If the Heart of God had not become man, the image
of the Number Three, or the eternal Virgin, had not
been known to the angels 24
9. How the Heart is in anxiety 91
Heathen.
6. A false Christian is without God, as well as a wicked
heathen 20
11. God's will standeth open to all men: Also how a
heathen may be saved 79
Heaven. Heavens.
4. Wherein the kingdom of heaven and the angelical
world consists 62
5. Of the outward heaven 67
5. How we ought to be, that we may come into the
kingdom of heaven 71
7. The strife about the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom
of hell 34
12. What there i s i n the kingdom of heaven ... 4
12. We stand between heaven and hell, and shall become
either an angel or a devil 48
14. What men must do to see the kingdom of heaven . 11
18. In heaven there is nothing new 51
12. He biddeth the heavens rejoice: The praise of the
Lord goeth over all mountains .... 11
CHAP. Hell. VERSE
2. The ground of hell, and of evil 8
2. The condition of hell, and of the damned, in the four
forms . . 48-49
2. How hell is not limited, nor circumscribed by place . 50
2. God made no hell, or peculiar several place to torment
the angels and men in 53
8. What is Lucifer's hell 45
14. God hath created no hell, nor devil: what is the devil's
hell, and the property of it 41
Heresy. Heretic.
11. There is heresy in every opinion: Men must cleave to
the living Word 80
3. How one calleth another a heretic in their devilish
disputation 82
Hidden.
2. That which was hidden to the heathen, and is still
hidden, shall be revealed 39
Holy Ghost.
3. How the Apostles received the Holy Ghost in love,
but not in contention and scorn .... 89
4. Of the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit Mercurius in
the divine nature, which is the sound that maketh
the will manifest 72
4. A comparison between the Holy Ghost and the spirit
and life of man . 83
5. God filleth all; and seeing the Holy Ghost goeth out
from the Father, the mind asketh, Whither doth
it go? 9
5, How God dwelleth in heaven; also how the Holy
Ghost proceedeth. 14
12. How men may get the Holy Ghost .... 41
16. It is not the Father but the Holy Ghost that meeteth
the crying soul . 15
Hypocrites.
2. A warning to the hypocrites, and those that are learned
in the letter 2
11. Of the generation of the false hypocrite, and of his
behaviour 33
CHAP. Image. VERSE
3. We are the express image of God; wherefore the
Father hath regenerated us in Christ ... 49
6. How the spirit created the substantiality into an image,
and how the image stood in the angelical world . 51
6. What properties were in the image .... 52
6. How the image was a whole similitude of the eternal
substance 53
6. A comparison of the Fall of Lucifer with the Fall of
the image or Adam 54
6. How the image awakened the property of anger, and
became the image of a serpent .... 58
6. How the regenerate put on the eternal image . . 75
7. How the image doted on this world, as Lucifer did on
the matrix of nature. Adam's power before the Fall 26
7. The horrible blasphemy whereby the serpent by the
image blasphemeth the spirit of God ... 61
9. What the image in the Revelation, and the Crown
signifieth 7 5
11. What caused God to create his image ... 14
18. How the image attained essence or substance in the
moving of the Father 19
Incomprehensible.
18. Nothing is incomprehensible to the mother of nature . 3
Joy.
1. Of the joy in the divine life 18
5. How every one shall have joy or sorrow of that which
i s his 133
12. What we must choose, that we may have eternal joy
therein 2
14. The anger in the kingdom of God is the great wondrous
joy 70
17. How the angels and souls have joy of one another's
clarity, brightness, or lustre 18
18. Of the joy of the soul that feareth God . . 29-30
Judgeth. Judgment.
6. He that seeth not, judgeth amiss .... 36
5 . What the last Judgment-Day is .... 130
8. How our bodies at the Last Day of Judgment must
come forth again 74
8. The judgment of the spirits of perdition; also who
shall execute the judgment 75
CHAP. Judgeth. Judgment. VERSE
8. Of those that shall be alive at the last hour of the
judgment 78
11. The discourse between the wise and foolish virgins in
the judgment 29
12. Clear advice to have the judgment of God before our
eyes 38
15. How it shall be with the superior and inferior in
judgment 12
Kingdom.
14. How we must be prepared, if we will walk in the
narrow way t o the kingdom of God ... 7
Know. Knowers. Knowing. Knowledge.
18. The author telleth how he can know these things . 1-4
13. How the kingdom of heaven remaineth hidden to the
knowers that are not doers 57
14. The devil is not overcome by much knowing and
disputing 5
1. None can come to the knowledge of the essence of God,
but by grace 20
3. Every one may find in himself the author's knowledge 1
5. The author having this knowledge, cannot be silent . 2
6. This knowledge is not born of the wisdom of this world 6
7. The author will speak from his knowledge, not opinion 54
14. Wherein our striving for the highest good consistefch,
not in the sword, nor in much knowledge . . 3
16. What is requisite and necessary for us that we may
attain the knowledge of the kingdom of God: Also
how we are deceived in the outward reason . . 31
Lamb.
3. How the Lamb took the Book. He who understandeth
not this, is under the seals 79
6. How men must go to the Lamb, and fly from the beast 15
13. How Christ gave the true Paschal Lamb to his Apostles,
viz. his heavenly flesh and blood .... 12
Language.
3. What is understood in the word Ternarius in the
language of nature 17
3. What is understood in the word Ternarius Sanctus in
the language of nature .18
CHAP. Language. VERSE
4. What is meant by the word Schuff, or created, in the
language of nature: A substance may proceed out
o f a thought 3 0
5. By the language of nature he sheweth what the
creation of God was 84
5. In the languages of all nations the language of nature
may be understood: Adam in innocence understood
the language of nature, in his Fall we lost it, and
attain it again in Christ 85
5. It is not good that the unregenerate man should know
the language of nature, which containeth the secrets
of the creation 87
5. A discourse according to the language of nature upon
the word Schuff, which signifieth created . . 88
5. Further of the language of nature .... 93
5. As the mouth formeth the word Schuff, according to
the language of nature, so was the creation formed. 101
8. Of the word Ternarius Sanctus, in the language of
nature 3
9. How God separated the water and the earth. The
word Meer [or Sea ] in the language of nature, is a
scorn to devils 57
9. Out of what the seventy-two languages proceed, which
signify Babel 78
16. Of the most excellent understanding which the Lord's
Prayer hath in the language of nature ... 39
16. An exposition of the word Glauben [or Believing"] in
the language of nature. In the power of God there
is no consuming property 98
Lazarus.
16. Of Christ's prayer when he raised Lazarus . . 12
16. How Lazarus was raised; and how we shall hear the
voice at the Last Judgment-Day: All souls are as
it were one soul 13
Learned. Learning.
1. The learned have only the history of the saints . . 42
3. Why the learned contemn simple lowliness . . 51
3. Why the learned in reason contemn the commandments
of God, and have gainsaid them .... 52
3. How laymen, or the vulgar, dance after the pipe of
the learned 84
CHAP. Learned. Learning. VERSE
5. Of those who boast themselves to be masters and
learned 75
13. How the conceits that are built upon the doctrine of
the learned are deceitful 56
16. The doctor is admonished to seek what the true
doctorship in the Holy Ghost is. Outward learning
is but a shadow 63
Letters.
9. Of the four-and-twenty letters, their twofold property,
evil and good 77
Liberty.
2. How both the liberty and the fierce strength are in the
fire 24
2. The liberty without and beyond nature is God the
Father. Also how God i s Almighty ... 26
9. What the liberty without nature i s: Also how the
centre of the third Principle hath generated itself . 83
Lie.
11. They that go into a lie, go out from Christ into the
devil 103
Life.
1. Life is a burning fire that goeth out if it have no fuel 3
1 . The divine life o f the soul needeth food ... 5
1 . Every life desireth its mother for food ... 6
1. Wherein the transitory life consisteth: The soul's life
eternal .7
1 . Whence the life o f the soul proceedeth ... 8
1. The Threefold Life is not divided: How God the Father
is all.. 9
1. A consideration whence life and death come, offered to
the mind 36
2. Of the breaking and raising up of life ... 16
5. How the blossom of life springeth up in the tincture:
Also how every life eateth of its own mother . 22
5. How the fierce mightmanageth its order after an
heavenly manner. We have life and death before
us 63
5. After this life there is no alteration till the end of this
world's time .129
CHAP. Life. VERSE
5. That which proceedeth out of the centre of the eternal
life continueth: Also how all words and works
continue 132
6. Of a twofold property in the eternal life, joy and pain 65
6. How all ruleth in and over our earthly life . . 72
8. Of the temporary spirit's life, and of the eternal Spirit's
life, and government i n this world ... 1
8. Of the fire of the life of eternity. Of the eternal
earth, or substantiality 2
8. Of our ability to go out of this dangerous life into the
eternal life 16
8. Of our longing after an incorruptible life ... 29
8. Every life desireth its mother, or the best that is in its
own centre 30
8. What is the right life in every life: How nature
reacheth after the liberty 31
8. The deep of the world hath such a life as the other
creatures have 40
8. How the light or elementary life in beasts is simple . 50
8. How the elementary life in man is twofold . . 51
8. How there is another tincture or life in the life of this
world 53
8. What the outward life desireth .... 54
8. Of the second motion or life in man .... 58
9. Whence every government in every life in this world
proceedeth . 108
13. Of a twofold life that a child getteth in the conception,
viz. the two tinctures corrupted in Adam . . 34
14. What we must do if we desire to serve God. The
limit of our life is set in the mother's womb . . 6
14. A short exposition of the Threefold Life in man . 46
14. How the three lives in Adam were pleasing to God . 47
14. How the third life, through the subtility of the devil,
did get the predominancy 48
14. After this lifetime there is no remedy: If we make
ourselves either an angel, or a devil, that we are, and
remain 72
15. They that will find their own life and their children
in heaven, must lose them in this world . . 24
17. How the outward life consisteth of three parts . . 13
18. How Enoch, Elijah, and Moses, are entered into the
paradisical life 5
18. How Saturn leaveth the life 12
18. The danger in the outward life. The seed is hatched
and brought forth out of three mothers ... 14
CHAP. Light. - VERSE
1. How the light and life of God cometh into the soul . 15
2. How the fifth form is the true original of life. How
the light shineth in the darkness, and yet the darkness
remaineth 74
2. How the light standeth opposite to the darkness, hut
the light is chief 89
4. The longing of God hath created all things to the light,
and not to the darkness 26
4. The light consisteth in the meekness, and dwelleth in
the liberty 63
7. How the light is the love, and how the fire is a cause
of the light . 63
8. Of the light of the Majesty, and of the light of the life
of the creatures 5
9. We should not bury our received talent in the earth,
but set our light upon a table .... 3
9. Of the creation of the light 51
14. Whence the outward light or wisdom ariseth . 37
Lily.
14. What lily it is the devil is not willing to smell of . 16
Limit.
2. The limit of the eternal death 29
Love.
2. How love is the death of the fierce wrath ... 86
2. The fountain of love is the overcoming of the fierce
might 92
3. Of the birth of the kind love, and of the sixth form of
nature, wherein the five senses are to be found.
God maketh the genetrix ... 1
3. How the sourness sharpeneth itself in the love . . 14
12. A friendly invitation to love and concord ... 10
12. Wherewith we are well-pleasing to the Most High, by
seiking every one with our love. Much knowledge
is not profitable 36
Lucifer.
4. Of the heavy Fall of Lucifer 33
4. The mind asketh what moved Lucifer to fall . . 34
4. Whence the superior principal dominion cometh. In
the matrix the purpose and imagination of Lucifer
is to be understood 38
CHAP. Lucifer. VERSE
4. The cause of the pride of Lucifer, and his angels . 40
4. Lucifer was created in the fourth form of the matrix,
where love and anger stand opposite ... 41
4. The desire of love is generated in humility, which was
not in Lucifer 44
4. The mind is warned of that whereby Lucifer became a
devil 61
5. Why Lucifer, with his whole dominion, is fallen . 61
8. The Fall of Lucifer is compared to the cold fire that
maketh ice 42
8. Lucifer, being a throne-prince, had free will like us men 43
8. What was Lucifer's Fall, and what was not his Fall . 44
9. Of the creation: Also how Lucifer lost his supposed
kingdom 5 0
10. Lucifer would be creator in the tenth number, he
sought the eternal original fire, which is now his
hell 30
12. We wrestle for the crown which Lucifer once had . 46
Luna.
10. How Luna shineth not of itself, but from Sol . . 7
Lust.
9. Out of what the provocation or lust to copulate in all
kinds ariseth 4 3
15. The second lesson youth learn is the bestial lust . 8
Magistrate.
12. Of the office of the magistrate. Advice to subjects . 37
13. The office of princes, but not Sabel's tricks, are founded
in nature. Babel maketh the magistrate blindfold.
The princes are the true head of the Church . 7
18. All hunt for the belly, both the shepherd and the
sheep, magistrate and people; so that there is very
little of the spirit of God amongst men ... 36
Majesty.
4. The Majesty hath generated nature .... 88
11. What the food o f the Majesty is 49
Maker.
2. God and the will have no maker 1
CHAP. Man. Men. VERSE
1 . Man belongeth not to the outward world ... 1
1. Man hath a Threefold Life 2
1. How man may know God, and rightly speak of
him . 45
4. The Three Principles stand open in no creature but in
man 58
4. How God in love and anger hath manifested himself in
man, and how the omnipotence of man was barred
up through Adam 76
5. According to the outward man we are strangers in our
mother's house, and therefore understand not the
mother tongue 24
5. How man is drawn by two, and is in this world as a
balance 3 0
5. When the four elements in man break, then the soul
is either in paradise or in the abyss . . .126
6. We wholly sleep in the outward man . 37
6. When it is that man seeth with his own eyes . . 39
6. Man cannot carry the eternity up and down, much less
the Deity; what.that is that maketh locality, and
why God is A and 0 44
6. All whatsoever can be named is in man ... 47
6. The whole man consisteth of Three Principles, and
how that can be 48, 49
6. How man was constituted of Three Principles, and
what they are 55
6. How man standeth between the kingdom of God, and
the kingdom of hell, and is the servant of that to
which he yields 56
6. The fall of man toucheth not God. How the Number
Three dwelleth i n the anger 57
6. How mankind is without beginning .... 74
6. How the eternal flesh is hidden in the earthly man
which must perish 97
7. The soul must not set the garland of pearls upon the
old man 10
7. How children are begotten in two kingdoms: Also of
the strife about man . 33
8. The author understands what man was before the Fall,
in the Fall, in the Regeneration, and after this life 7
9. Hell in the anger, the spirit of this world, and the
kingdom of God; all three strive about man . . 17
9. The desire of man standeth in three things or
dominions 18
9. How man followeth all three desires .... 23
CHAP. Man. Men. VERSE
9. The gate of the deep ground of man was barred up by
Adam, and opened to the author .... 39
9. What we must do to know what man is . . 40
9. The author beginneth to handle the image of man,
how man cometh to be, or is incarnate ... 42
10. How man seeth in two kingdoms with a twofold eye;
the inward will should be lord: What man must do
to be like God, and to find all things ... 10
11. How God created man to his image; and out of what
he is created 10
11. Man's ability before the Fall, and his condition . 19
11. Why God created man in a sixth day by himself, and
not on that day that the beasts were created: Also
why he created but one man .... 20
11. How the man soweth souls and the woman spirit:
How Adam saved Eve, and Eve Adam . . 24
11. Of the devil's practice in man's carelessness and evil
constellation 37
18. How heaven and earth and all things lie in man; also
of the true heaven 33
7. What concerneth us men most of all ... .1
9. Men can better remember the slanders than that which
concerneth the soul 27
Mary.
6. The error of the ancients that supposed Mary was one
come from heaven, and not of earthly parent? . 76
6. Of the blessing of Mary, and how God and man became
one 77
6. How the Word became man in Mary. ... 79
Meekness.
4. Of the two centres, the one thirsting after meekness,
the other after fierceness. The meekness is generated
out of the fierceness 67
5. How the fierceness is changed into meekness . . 21
7. How the meekness of God holdeth the anger captive . 68
Mercy. Mercifulness.
3. The Word only can overcome the wrath, and is rightly
called God's mercy or mercifulness ... 22
3. An exposition of the word Barmhertzigkeit, mercifulness
23
16. How at present the mercy of God is grieved for us . 28
CHAP. Mind. Minds. VERSE
1. A question to the mind why it speaketh more of God
than it understandeth 37
2. How the mind and the poor souls see the devil, and
the anger of God; and how it cometh that many
fall into despair, and make away with themselves . 52
4. The mind searcheth after the most hidden ground,
which is here shewn; also how doubting cometh . 60
5. Here we need an angelical tongue: the mind understandeth
a corporeal thing 55
7. The whole deep likened to the mind of man . . 77
9. What the mind in the deep is, and in the creatures . 71
12. The devil hath sown an evil will into our mind . . 14
16. What the desire of the hungry and thirsty mind is . 2
16. A description of the state of our souls or minds before
the creation of the world, and in this time and
valley of misery 3
Ministers.
11. A discourse about the ministers of Antichrist, who will
be rich, and have fat bellies or livings ... 96
Miracles.
12. A wonderful exposition what the zealous will can do
in the wonders or miracles 22
12. How the Antichrist hath ascribed the miracles that
have been wrought to the opinion of those that
wrought them 23
Moon.
9. Why women are talkative; how the moon governeth
their matrix; also why the moon runneth her course
so soon 113
Mystery. Mysteries. Mysterium.
1. Of his labour in vain who seeketh for the mystery in
the stars 47
2 . Pride forbiddeth searching after mysteries ... 3
3. Why these deep hidden mysteries are written down . 5
3. Of the seventh form of the eternal nature. We need
not read many books or go to the universities to
understand the Mysteries 29
3. When the seventh seal is opened, the great mysteries
of God shall be revealed 78
CHAP. Mystery. Mysteries. Mysterium. VERSE
4. That in the seventh seal the Mysteries might stand
open, nothing should here be omitted ... 2
10. It is a narrow way that the Mysterium Magnum is
found in 2
11. By disputation and debate men may perceive that the
world hath lost the Mysterium Magnum . . 87
12. How we shall be crowned with the crown, Mysterium
Magnum; of the author's simplicity in the Mystery
before the tenth number: Here he mentioneth his
struggling in the attaining of this knowledge . . 45
16. A complaint of the great depth of the Mystery: A
petition to the mercy of God, with a lamentation . 94
Nature.
1. In the eternal nature without the light of God is the
pain and torment. Only the angels and souls proceed
from the eternal nature; why outward things
are transitory; the cause of the Fall of our souls . 16
2. Nature consisteth of four forms .... 31
2. Without nature there would be no Word to create in
the genetrix 79
2. Without nature there is no brightness. How the sprout
[or word] of love is born out of nature ... 83
3. Whence kindness in the father's nature and in this
world cometh 26
4. What the vanquisher of nature is ... 22
4. How the fierceness of the nature of God would also be
creaturely. The fallen angels have kindled the
matrix, which is now their eternal habitation . 42
4. How the divine nature is free from the fierce darkness 70
4. That which is without nature cannot help us, because
we are in nature 87
4. The eternal divine nature is our mother and food; our
soul is God's food 89
5. Nature in the spirit of man, and in the spirit of God,
i s one substance 94
9. The description of the wheel of nature; how God is
totally every where 67
9. A portraiture of the wheel of nature .... 68
9. A further exposition of the centre of nature . . 81
9. How the outward nature longeth to be delivered from
vanity 9 4
9. How nature vehemently longeth to be freed from
vanity. . 114
CHAP. Nature. VERSE
13. How the mother, the eternal nature, lamenteth for
the evil children whom she hath given up to be
devoured, and chooseth a new son . 51
13. How the eternal nature desireth not art, but obedience 54
14. How we lie captive in the outward nature, and of our
precious jewel hidden therein .... 2
15. The mother of nature beareth a young son, who will
shorten the days o f wickedness .... 4
Opinion. Opinions.
11. Of the distressed soul that knoweth not what opinion
to choose 82
12. How far opinions are tolerable that are held in God,
and not t o b e rejected 24
12. Of the opinions about the Cup and Person of Christ
in Germany. Those that are zealous in an opinion
hang to the tail of Antichrist .... 31
Paradise.
5. Of paradise. Adam was in this world in paradise . 69
5. Paradise is both within and without this world. God
i s every where 116
5. Where paradise is, into which the souls of the holy
children of God enter 125
5. What souls go into paradise, and what into hell 127, 128
7. How long Adam was in paradise before he fell asleep. 29
7. How young people set the garland of paradise upon
the serpent 51
Pardon.
11. Of praying. Also of the wrong meaning of pardon
of sins . 53
Patience.
16. How the soul in patience remaineth under the cross . 91
Perfection.
2. The divine mind in the Heart of God is only perfection,
and how we comprehend that which is perfect in
our mind 67
CHAP. Person. Persons. VERSE
1. Of the second Person, the brightness of the Father . 50
2. Why the Father is the first Person. The desire in
the will is the first 10
2. The working of the three Persons . . . 61-63
4. The light consisteth in meekness, and dwelleth in the
liberty. Also of the three Persons ... 63
4. Why the Father and Son are called two Persons . 69
4. How the third Person is the imager and former in
nature 77
4. How the third Person manage th the sword of omnipotency
78
Petition.
16. An exposition of the first petition of the Lord's Prayer:
The will is the soul's wedding chariot . . 45-48
16. An exposition of the second petition of the Lord's
Prayer . 49-51
16. An exposition of the third petition of the Lord's
Prayer 52-58
16. An exposition of the beginning of the fourth petition
o f the Lord's Prayer 60-62
16. An exposition of the latter part of the fourth petition
of the Lord's Prayer, also what lieth hid in the
word Tetragrammaton and Adonai . . 64-66
16. An exposition of the fifth petition of the Lord's
prayer 67-75
16. An exposition of the sixth petition of the Lord's
Prayer 76-80
16. The beginning of the seventh petition of the Lord's
Prayer 81-84
16. An exposition concerning the soul; also Of the seventh
petition of the Lord's Prayer .... 89
Philosophers.
2. An admonition to the philosophers .... 91
5. The author tells the philosophers of the creating the
world in six days 46
Physicians.
2. Physicians now understand not the centre of sulphur,
Mercury and Sal, nor the divines the spirit of the
Holy Scriptures 17
CHAP. Planet. Planets. VERSE
9. Of the property of the planet Saturn. ... 63
9. What the desire of the planet Saturn is . . 65
9. A description of the planet Jupiter .... 66
9. How the planet Saturn and the Moon stand opposite
one to another 85
9. Of the operation of the planet Jupiter ... 86
9. Of the operation of the planet Mercury, where life
taketh beginning; also of Mars .... 87
9. The description of the planet Venus, which hath a
peculiar lustre of its own 88
9. The planet Mars standeth above the Sun, he is poison
and anger, and betokeneth the fierceness of the fire 98
9. The planet Jupiter standeth above Mars, and maketh
the brain .99
9. The planet Saturn standeth above Jupiter, and maketh
the brainpan 100
9. The planet Venus standeth under the Sun; also what
Venus maketh and causeth 101
9. The planet Mercury standeth under Venus; also what
he causeth 102
9. The Moon standeth under the planet Mercury: The
operation and fear of the Moon; the Moon flattereth
with the centre of the earth, and centre of the Sun 103
9. How the planets are to be transposed, the Moon and
Saturn make the body 64
9. Of the operation of the three planets above the Sun,
and the three under the Sun, which is in the midst 97
9. The dominion of all creatures is like the dominion of
the planets 104
9. As the planets draw virtue from the Sun, so doth the
life from the heart 105
9. Of the rule of the three planets above the Sun, and of
the three planets under the Sun . . . .109
10. Outward reason cannot understand the course of the
planets 2 4
11. How the mixture is made; also of the working of the
planets with the seed 25
18. Wherein the outward life consisteth; also of the
spirit of the planets 11
Pope. Popery.
16. Admonition to the Roman Pope and Emperor . . 25
12. Whence Popery is grown. The Antichristian priestdevil
hath led the people astray .... 20
CHAP. Portion. VERSE
17. Man runneth after that which would run after him if
he were virtuous and honest: Every one hath his
sufficient portion 21
Power.
11. He that hath power in God is no Simon Magus . . 73
18. How the reason- spirit of the stars also longeth after
the divine power . . 32
16. How the soul in the Fall of Adam was captivated by
two fires; also how the soul hath the power of
nature. 87
Pray. Prayer.
16. How we must root the abomination out of the soul,
when w e desire t o pray 18
16. Why Christ came in the flesh; also what he hath
taught us t o pray 37
16. How we enter into God when we pray: and how the
soul eateth at God's table 99
9. How the devil taketh away the earnestness and virtue
of the prayer out of the heart .... 32
9. What prayer it is which is no prayer, whereby the
name of God is misused 33
9. What prayer is, and how men must strive against the
devil . 34
16. How God heareth our soul in prayer: There are
Three Principles in the soul 14
16. God dwelleth not afar off: A warning against false
thoughts in prayer 17
16. Concerning prayer 27
16. What that prayer is which Christ hath taught us: No
tongue can sufficiently express the contents of that
prayer, nor of the Gospel 38
16. The author sets down but brief contents of the Lord's
Prayer 40
16. An exposition of the Lord's Prayer . . . 41-104
16. The Lord's Prayer containeth seven petitions, with
an entrance and conclusion; also what the soul
attaineth therein. What the Amen is. Also of
the subtleness of the will of the soul . . .100
16. Of the three Persons of the Trinity in the conclusion
of the Lord's Prayer 103
CHAP. Priest. Priests. VERSE
11. A word to the blind world that supposeth that the
Mystery of God should not be touched but by
the priest alone 76
14. Admonition to go out from the priest's contentions.
Who is a right Christian. Also our duty in the
maintenance of the earthly body .... 25
Principle. Principles.
5. How the Principle is divided into two dominions, as
into love and anger 19
5. Wherein a Principle doth consist . . . .108
5. How the second Principle is in the midst of both the
Principles 113
5. How the second, or divine Principle is the power of
the first 114
5. How the second Principle worketh in the outward
Principle 115
6. How the third Principle was created, and what
it is 62
6. A description of the third Principle .... 63
6. How this third Principle would be if the Sun were
extinguished . 66
7. What the third Principle is, as also the third life
in God 80
I. The author will shew the ground of the Principles . 43
5. Where the distinction in the three Principles beginneth 100
II. How all the three Principles desire man . . .107
11. In God there is no dominion, but in the three
Principles; also whence the fault cometh that any
thing perisheth 108
Rabbis.
13. How thin the Rabbis in Germany are, of a thousand
scarce a hundred left 40
14. The school Rabbis hate the example of young Tobiah 59
Rainbow.
6. A description of the rainbow and its colours . . 69
6. How Christ shall appear upon such a rainbow at his
coming 7 0
16. What the rainbow, and the body of Christ, is, which
Mystery no tongue can express ... 92, 93
CHAP. Reason. VERSE
3. Blind reason will go above the Heart of God like the
devil ... 32
5. The glistering art in reason is a hindrance to the light 32
5. Of reason's blindness as to what the earth, stones,
and elements are generated of .... 79
6 . This writing is no word of outward reason ... 8
6. Admonition to blind reason to see with inward eyes . 38
7. What reason judgeth concerning the danger of being
overcome by the world 15
15. Reason thinketh it will be no otherwise now than in
former times 17
15. How reason walketh wisely in outward things, but
the soul is forgotten 23
16. How the devil captivateth us in reason, and deceiveth
us by it 30
Rest.
4. In the six forms there is no place of rest. The sour
mother i s the rest of the hungry nature ... 8
Regenerate.
9. The spirit of the regenerate soul searcheth through all
the three Principles 41
Rejoice.
12. They should rejoice who are despised for their fearing
of God 39
Revelation.
3. The cause why the Revelation hath not hitherto been
fundamentally understood, is because it hath not
been in man's ability 39
Riches.
6. What transitory riches, and what eternal riches are . 33
10. How the riches of this world are but dross and dung . 8
Rule.
17. The rule of the spirit of this world, and of the spirit
of God . 17
CHAP. Renewing. VERSE
18. How in the renewing of the will the formed substance
i s renewed 2 2
Scriptures.
5. The author hath no other knowledge of the creation,
than that of the Holy Scriptures .... 80
7. To be able to repeat all the Holy Scriptures without
book bringeth no salvation 3
Sea.
5. The Glassy Sea is the water spirit .... 11
8. The cause of the great sea 46
Seeker.
4. The author judgeth not the blind seeker, he shall find
his reward 51
Seal. Sealed. Seals.
3. The time from the beginning to the end is the seventh
seal, wherein the six seals accomplish their work: .
Where (in the Heart of God) men have found
wonders 41
3. After the opening of the seventh seal, the Archshepherd
will feed his sheep himself ... 80
9. The world since the Fall of Adam hath but one eye;
but by the seventh seal it hath two eyes . .107
15. Now is the time of the last seal, wherein the hellish
wonders come to light 3
18. The star which hath broken the seal is appeared. . 4
3. Wherefore God hath sealed us, and left us blind . 60
3. The seven forms are the seven seals of God, out of
which the powerful Word is generated ... 21
3. The time is that the seven seals are broken open . 38
3. Of the glassy sea. The six seals are the birth of the
eternal nature . 44
3. Wherefore the Word of God must enter into the
sharpness of death, where he broke the seven
seals in the soul .54
3. How any in God have power to open the seven seals
in the desirous mind 68
3. The seals are hidden from the whore till she hath devoured
herself .... 75
CHAP. Seal. Sealed. Seals. VERSE
4. The spirit openeth the seals in the thoughts: He
manifesteth the Deity in nature: He is the power
of the brightness . 82
5. The seals bring their wonders to light under the
worldly government 64
Search.
2 . How w e may search aright and find .... 4
Seventh. Seventy-two.
9. What the seventh number in the centre is ... 74
9. In the number seventy -two lieth the greatest secret,
the original of contention 79
Selves.
3. Admonition to consider our selves: Also of heaven
and the anger of God 28
Senses.
3. Of the birth of the kind love, and of the sixth form of
nature, wherein the five senses are to be found;
God maketh the genetrix 1
Sermons.
18. The Antichrist is a hindrance to the soul with filling
people's ears with sermons 35
Sex. Sexes.
9. By a flaming iron the two properties in male and
female sex are deciphered 47
9. Of the two kinds or sexes, masculine and feminine.
Why the man is the head 111
Shepherd. Shepherds.
13. A reproof against the whore; also of a simple shepherd
that shall feed us 44
14. The true catholic way; also who is a true shepherd
of Christ 20
18. How can a wolf make a shepherd over sheep . . 44
14. The false bishops appoint shepherds according to
favour, and in respect of their a r t .... 21
CHAP. Shepherd. Shepherds. VERSE
15. A speech to the false shepherds of Christ ... 20
15. A speech to the Antichristian shepherds of the new
order 22
18. The ways of the good and of the bad shepherds . . 43
Signs.
9. How the twelve signs, part themselves into two
governments 72
Simple.
3. Advice to the simple holiness 85
Sin. Sinners. Sins.
11. The false soul seeketh after uo righteousness, but only
that it may cover its sin 44
11. How the sinner should have his forgiveness pronounced 64
11. How God forgiveth our sins when we pray to him . 54
11. How he is mistaken who supposeth he is delivered
from his old sins, when he sinneth anew . . 57
Snare. Snares.
6. Of our snare, and the excellence of patience . . 34
12. Men should not look after pomp and pride; also
which are the snares and nets of the devil . . 40
14. The world is full of snares to entangle the poor soul;
also what that is which hindereth that the devil do
not devour every soul 43
14. An exposition of the seven cords or snares; also an
exposition of what the soul uhdergoeth in the trial
before it getteth through 53
Sodom.
8. How the devil's purpose concerning Sodom was nullified 47
Son. Sons.
3. Of the Son, the brightness of the Father, what proceedeth
from, and i s created by it ... .3
3. How we must seek the Son of God in the manger, if
we will find all 30
4. The Son is one with the Father; also what his sole
will is called 71
6. Of the two sons, the one saying yes, the other, no . 26
CHAP. Sophister. Sophisters. VERSE
5. The sophister looketh upon the wisdom of the world;
but this author not; he mentioneth his joy in the
wonders of God 1
10. The author speaketh to the sophister, and the stubborn
whore that sitteth upon the stool of pestilence . 34
11. Of the sophister, who is the devil's priest; also of
those that fall into sins against their will . . 43
11. The sophister is as profitable to the Church as a fifth
wheel to a waggon 74
11. The sophister were better in a hogsty than in a pulpit 75
5. Admonition to the children of God concerning the
contention o f the sophisters 70
9. A reproof against the slanderings and blasphemings of
the sophisters i n the pulpit .... 29
Soul. Souls.
1 . The soul is a fire and needeth food .... 4
1. How the soul dwelleth in the body, and is captivated
by the human spirit 10
1. The soul liveth in another substance besides the spirit
o f the elements 11
1. Of the original of the faculties of the soul, out of the
eternal nature; and how God dwelleth merely in
himself 12
1. How the soul desireth to press out from the band of
nature into God 14
1. No nature felt in the divine life: The soul is fire in
the eternal nature: The soul is a spirit, having
seven forms, wherein heaven and hell consist.
The author here understandeth the eternal birth . 19
1. How the soul cometh to see, and to be able to speak
of its native country 21
2. Of the light of the soul; also of its fall, and how it
must enter into the light again .... 49
2. How it is with the soul that attaineth not the light
of God; and how it is regenerated anew . . 55
3. The condition of the soul, when Adam was gone out
from the Word, it was in the seven seals of the
Father. . . 56
5. How the soul loseth the Majesty of God, and is called
a castaway devil 95
5. How Adam's soul was captivated by the anger of God 146
6. The difference between the soul and the Word . . 86
6. How the Word and the soul stand not as two persons 87
CHAP. Soul Souls. VERSE
6. An earthly similitude of the iron and fire, shewing
how the soul dwelleth in the Deity, and the Deity
in the soul 88
6. How the soul trembleth at the prison of this flesh; .
and why God became man 95
6. How our soul getteth incomprehensible flesh . . 96
7. What resolution the soul must take against the striving
mind and the devil 8
8. The soul beneath is in hell, and above is in God in
. heaven . 10
8. Of the fainting of the devil before the earnest soul . 12
8. How the soul is a fire that receiveth the property of its
food ... 20
8. How the soul standeth between two Principles: Also
of the desire of the body 21
8. How the soul must watch; how it must forsake its
own power 23
8. How the soul desireth to be out of this earthly mother,
and desireth the eternal rest 60
8. How the poor soul lieth captive in the spirit and
tincture of this world 61
8. How the soul hath not its own tincture, but lieth in
impotency 62
8. How the soul of Adam is gone out from the lustre of
God into the spirit of this world .... 63
8. The miserable condition of the soul after the fall of
Adam: The closing of the seven seals ... 64
8. How the centre of the soul cannot help itself . . 65
8. How the kingdom of hell would have triumphed over
this fair creature, the soul 66
8. How the soul came again into its first mother . . 69
9. How the poor soul is between heaven and hell . . 22
9. The soul must not dispute with the devil ... 37
11. The soul standeth a degree deeper than the sun . . 17
11. Out of what the soul is roused and awakened: The
soul is God's child: Also, of the food of the soul . 18
11. A description of the soul, how it is whilst it is in the
seed 32
11. How the soul hath a hard combat against the evil
innate properties 36
11. How the soul must be, that it may be acknowledged
for a child of God 49
11. The soul is the devil's most beloved lodging . . 59
12. What is most profitable for man to do: Also what the
soul taketh with it when it departeth from the body 1
CHAP. Soul Souls. VERSE
14. Not in the Host only, but in the Verbum Domini, the
soul eateth at the table of God: Also where the
soul with the spirit of the soul dwelleth . . 12
14. How the soul is freed from the devil's assaults, which
the soul hath a hard task of 13
14. How the soul must fight against the devil, and overcome
him 15
14. Of the great danger a soul is in, in this life: What
the centre of the soul i s: What the tincture i s:
Also of the true name SOUL .... 26
14. In the eternal water the soul is an angel: Also concerning
the Father's standing still. ... 28
15. How all committed abominations shall flow up in the
soul 14
16. A similitude of the fear and disquietness of our soul
i n this body .4
16. How the spirit of this world (in flesh and blood)
overwhelmeth the soul 6
16. How the poor soul receiveth heavenly refreshment . 8
16. Of the great humility of the redeemed soul . . 9
17. Where the soul dwelleth 9
18. How the soul is that departeth from the body without
conversion 23
18. How the sorrow and lamentation of the soul goeth on;
and how the soul giveth up itself .... 24
18. A similitude of the state of the soul after its departure
25
18. What joy or recreation the wicked soul hath . . 26
18. Of the condition of the soul, that converteth at the
very last 2 8
18. Of the condition of the earnest zealous soul that feareth
God 29
1. In the eternal nature without the light of God is the
pain and torment: Only the angels and souls proceed
from the eternal nature. Why outward things
are transitory; also the cause of the fall of our
souls 16
2. Men should not trust their souls with the dissemblers
and hypocrites 5
2. Angels and souls are eternal 64
12. How the Antichristian souls are after death till
judgment 28
18. How the spirit of God cannot be awakened in some
souls: Also what soul can, and what cannot, be
converted 47
CHAP. Sound. VERSE
4. Further description of the sound and its operation . 73
4. How the will which thrusteth forth from the heart
produceth and formeth the sound ... 74
Space.
1. How the vast space desireth contraction, and that
there must be a contrary will, or else nothing would
be, neither darkness nor light, life nor death . . 33
2. What hath shut the vast space into a narrow room . 15
Sphere.
10. The sphere of the wise magists and mathematicians is
not perfect: of the wonderful turning of the wheel
o f nature 25
Spirit. Spirits.
1. The spirit of God is not subject to the band of the
eternal nature 13
2. The brimstone- spirit is the will in the four forms,
wherein the devils dwell 37
4. The spirit desireth to bring the light forth in its
deepest depth 1
4. Of the seventh form: Also~how a spirit is, and how it
subsisteth 5
4. A similitude describing the out-flown air and spirit of
God . . . 79
4. Of the further working of the spirit .... 81
4. How the spirit differeth from the body ... 84
4. The spirit is not the light, but the blower up of the
light . 85
5. Men should not judge, lest they fall on the sword of
the spirit, which will reprove the world for sin,
righteousness, and judgment 4-7
5. How the spirit of this world may know itself . . 28
5. How the spirit that proceedeth from God, openeth the
understanding of the mind ... 29
5. How the spirit proceedeth from the Father and the
Word 37
5. Whither the spirit goeth when it goeth forth from the
Father and Son 39
5. How the Holy Spirit revealeth the opened seals . . 42
5. The aim of the different wisdom. The touch-stone to
try whether the spirit of God, or the spirit of the
devil speaketh . . 74
CHAP. Spirit. Spirits. VERSE
5. How the spirit hath brought all the three Principles
into a body . 89
5. The comparing of the spirit of man with the eternal
spirit, and the Number Three .... 90
5. As the world is spoken forth from the spirit, so it is
also in man's spirit 91
5. The spirit of man hath in itself the kingdom of God,
of hell, and of this world: Also how all was
without being till the A and O ... 92
5. The centre was but one spirit: How all came to be
thick, gross, and hard, as it were opposite to the
Majesty of God 99
5. How the air or wind is not the spirit of the Number
Three 102
6. How the spirit of God ruleth in us; and how the soul
attaineth the paradisical garland .... 32
6. As the spirit is, so is the body of it .... 59
7. How often unwillingly the Holy Ghost is called a
devil, and the devil accounted a good spirit . . 60
8. A similitude of the going forth of the spirit in a redhot
iron 6
8. How no spirit desireth to come out from its mother
again 5 9
9. He on whom the understanding of this spirit falleth,
he understandeth it 4
9. Of the root of the fire- spirit, and of the impotent airspirit
..54
10. How the spirit of God hath planted and created a
model in his will 15
11. Of the breathing in of the air-spirit, and of the spirit
of the soul .15
11. How the spirit of this world introduceth its government
also in the seed 34
14. How we are subjected to the sj/irit of this world from
our entrance into the womh of our mother . . 4
17. How the outward spirit should look after outward
things 6
18. How the outward spirit hath insinuated itself into the
soul 3 4
3. How the six spirits have executed their fierce might
in us 50
4. Wherefore, and of what the spirits are created . . 29
4. The spirits are created out of the centre of the eternal
mind .31
4. How the creation of the spirits was .... 36
CHAP. Spirit. Spirits. VERSE
4. The spirits are created every one according to its kind 37
4. Of the spirits that have their original out of the inceptive
will 54
4. Out of what the earthly and watery spirits are . . 55
4. The spirits are incomprehensible to us. The author
will shew us the government of heaven further,
and then the government of man .... 57
5. When it is that the six spirits shall be known . . 47
5. When the hidden spirits go into the ether: Also of
the time when the seventh seal taketh its beginning,
known by the author 48
5. How the spirits of darkness He captive . . .110
10. How the creating of the spirits was .... 16
14. Of the six spirits of nature: Also of the original of
mobility 27
Star. Stars.
7. How every star hath a several property ... 74
3. The Word is in the Father, and hath the seven stars
or forms in its power 47
3. We are under the power of the seven stars, or seven
spirits of the Father's nature .... 48
5. How the image of the Wisdom of God hath the seven
stars 43
6. Out of what the stars are: Also why they are to us
innumerable 41
7. If the stars and elements had not been created, the
ground of nature had not been manifested to the
angels 25
7. Out of what the stars are, and their property . . 72
7. The cause of the burning of the stars: Also how they
awaken all creatures 73
9. Of the tincture's number six, and of the spirit's number
six; which together make twelve in number; or
the stars which the Woman in the Revelation
weareth 73
10. How the stars are children of the sun: Very great
things are to be concealed here .... 17
10. How God on the Fourth Day created the sun and the
stars 19
11. Of the working of the stars in the creatures, to the
manifestation of the wonders of God ... 35
11. How the soul can subdue the power of the stars,
which indeed would fain be delivered from vanity . 38
CHAP. Sting. VERSE
2. The sour harshness is the mother of the sting or goad:
Also how in the liberty it becometh joyful, and
how the fifth form riseth up 73
Stone.
6. The eternal flesh is the noble Philosopher's Stone,
which the Magi find 98
6. There is nothing like the Philosopher's Stone: It is
manifest, and also hidden 99
6. Of the excellence of the Stone 100
6. The great joy which he hath that findeth the
Stone 101
6. This Stone is the slightest and most contemptible . 102
6. The power of those that have this Stone: They who
rightly seek it, find it; others scorn it . . 1 03
7. What help the soul getteth in its earnestness: Also
how little knowledge is necessary for the attaining
o f the Corner-Stone 9
7. The Noble Stone is to be found every where . . 14
7. How Isaac, Jacob, and David, found the Noble Stone,
Christ 36
7. How Moses and Elijah had the Noble Stone . . 38
7. How all the prophets prophesied and wrought miracles
by the power of this Stone 39
7. The Stone of the wise men is Christ the Son of the
living God 40
7. The worldly-wise schools have always persecuted the
Stone . . 41
7. What the Stone of the worldly-wise is ... 42
7. How we are led astray at this day by the devil, and
lose the Noble Stone 49
7. The distinction between those that have the Stone, and
those that have the subtlety of the serpent . . 52
7. They that have the Stone, know the false Magi or
whore 56
9. How the world longed after man. The Stone was
known in Solomon's time 7
9. In what way it is not hard to find the Stone . . 8
10. How the true Magi shall find the Noble Stone . . 4
10. At the end of nature lieth the incorruptible
Stone 5
10. How the Stone is to be sought i n metals ... 6
13. What lieth hid in this Stone, which is the eternal Son
of God 1
CHAP. Strife. VERSE
2. Of the strife between the fierceness and meekness . 93
7. Of the vehement strife of the anger of God . . 44
8. Of the strife of the tincture against the fire . . 32
8. The strife between the fire and the substantiality . 35
13. One will alone is without strife: in two wills there is
discord 45
13. Whence strife ariseth, one seeking to subdue another;
also of a thing's own prophet, that is born in the
highest number of the crown .... 46
13. How the prophet sheweth the crown out of which the
strife and malice ariseth 48
14. The cause of strife about the soul of man is because
there are two dominions in man .... 68
16. Amoog a thousand that have a several gift and knowledge
taught of God, there is no strife about the
food of the soul 34
16. Whence the strife amongst the Apostles arose . . 35
Subsistence. Substance. Substantiality.
2. Of the eternal subsistence of the hellish creatures . 57
4. A description of the substance in darkness, and of the
desire which hath generated it: Also what is called
fire .13
4. A substance may proceed out of a thought ... 30
6. Why that which is palpable is a dead substance . . 60
7. How the eternal substance is 64
7. In what manner every substance remaineth standing in
the eternal nature 81
18. How men may be able to understand the heavenly
substance 31
18. Own reason cannot attain the heavenly substance . 32
8. What is called air: Also what is called substantiality . 36
9. How out of the material substantiality two kinds are
come 46
9. How all essences went forth: They all stood in the
material substantiality 48
Sun.
9. What light was before the sun: How the sun and all
stars came to be: The sun is the heart ... 61
9. How the zodiac, the earth, and the planets stand in
order, and the sun in the midst .... 70
9. A description of light, and of the sun ... 89
CHAP. Sun. VERSE
9. How the sun penetrateth powerfully into all the six
forms 92
9. How long the sun's standing still was to hare remained
hidden 106
10. In what way many have found Sol, or the sun . . 3
13. How the sun hath the dominion in the four elements . 27
13. A resemblance of the elements and the sun to the
Father and the Son 28
13. Of the sun's being every where in this world; and how
it is a similitude of the Son's being every where . 30
Superior.
15. How the superior provoketh the inferior to wickedness 11
Supper.
13. How the Apostles and their successors have broken
bread, and celebrated the Lord's Supper . . 10
13. How they have drunk of the Cup in the Supper . 11
13. How we receive the Holy Trinity in the Lord's Supper 31
13. How in the Lord's Supper we assume into our soul
the body of Christ, which filleth the heaven, whereby
at the judgment it will pass through the fire . 32
14. To what end the Testament of the Lord's Supper was
instituted 19
Swine.
16. That men must not turn back to the husks of the
swine 20
16. How we may powerfully cast away all swine and devils 21
Tabernacle.
11. How the present tabernacle, about which we strive, is
none of ours, the devil hath defiled it: Our mother
will purchase a new garment for us .. .111
Teachers. Teaching.
11. Of the teachers grown up of themselves, who teach for
money to shew their eloquence and foreign language 85
11. The author envieth not what good people give to their
teachers: The ox that treadeth out the corn should
not be muzzled: Antichrist is laid quite naked . 104
CHAP. Teachers. Teaching. VERSE
12. The blessedness of the potentates and teachers, who
govern and teach well those that are under them . 7
12. What teachers the princes should choose. Who is
certainly the Antichrist. Also of one that cometh
who will teach the truth 33
13. What the congregation's and the teacher's behaviour
should be 8
3. The spirit of Christ in God is without law: The
teaching from self-authority is false ... 67
Temptation.
3. Men ought to hold out in the temptation ... 35
Testament. Testaments.
13. How our soul often goeth out from the fair image;
and how God giveth it the new garment again
through the Testament, or Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper 20
3. Without faith the Testaments are shut seals. Also
how the Trinity i s ours 87
11. The hypocrites anger God with their use of the
Testaments 45
13. The author will shew what the Testaments of Christ
are 3
13. The Church in Babel danceth about the jewel of
Christ's Testaments 4
13. How the virtue of the jewel remaineth sealed to Europe
and Asia. The great misuse of this jewel (the
Testaments) by Babel 6
Tetragrammaton.
16. Of what lieth hid in the words Tetragrammaton and
Adonai 65
Theologists.
2. An admonition to the theologists or divines, with a
reproof 94
4. A hint to the theologists, who preach of God's will . 45
Thoughts.
2. Whence the mind and thoughts proceed ... 40
CHAP. Thunders. VERSE
3. Of the seven stars, and of the seven thunders . . 43
3. Of the voice of the seven thunders: They are not
manifested in the centre of the son ... 53
5. What the corporeity of the divine nature is: Also how
the seven thunders shall he opened one after
another 12
Time.
4. How the wheel of the eternal essences moved before
the time of the Fiat: Also of the beginning of time 32
15. The mother of nature complaineth of her children, and
the time shall be shortened .... 2
15. Admonition that the present day is the time of
repenting 25
Tincture. Tinctures.
4. That there is another will born that attaineth the
liberty in the fire, and is called the tincture . . 17
4. The second will, or the tincture, is the lustre in the
darkness, and the ornament of the essences, and
blossom o f life 18
4. Why the power of the tincture is hidden from the
alchemists 23
4. The tincture is the light of the earth: The sun is the
life of the whole wheel 27
4. The tincture of the kind joy shone also out of the
fallen angels . 39
4. The tincture in the will of the devils is become false;
they would domineer over the Son of God . . 43
8. How the tincture is a creature, and wrestleth with the
fire 56
8. How the lustre is still, and the tincture moveable and
living, and the deepest ground of heaven . . 57
9. Wherein the noble tincture consisteth: How every life
standeth in the hand of God: How the spirit would
be in hell-fire 52
9. Of the separation of the two tinctures, of the fire-life,
and the air-life 53
13. How without the Verbum Domini both the tinctures
had remained captivated by the devil, in the anger
of God, and in the spirit of this world ... 35
Tongue.
5. What the tongue signifieth or denoteth . . . 107
CHAP. Trade. VERSE
17. Every trade and business is in the ordinance of God . 12
Treasure.
17. What treasure the virtuous gather, and what treasure
the covetous gather 27
17. Every trade and business is in the ordinance of God . 12
Treasure.
17. What treasure the virtuous gather, and what treasure
the covetous gather 27
Tree. Trees.
7. Out of what the tree of Good and Evil in paradise
grew 47
13. A speech to the great and wide tree, the generation of
Adam 52
14. How the small grain of mustard seed becometh a great
tree 44
17. Why God did forbid man to eat of the tree; also of
his state before and after the Fall .... 10
9. How the paradisical forms were known on the trees.
All our fruits are good and evil 14
9. Our fruits upon the trees grow not of themselves . 15
Trial.
14. The author cannot write nor express what joy the soul
hath, after it hath passed through the trial . . 54
Trinity.
3. What the Number Three or Trinity is ... 12
5. How that which is spoken forth is an image of the
Holy Trinity 41
5. Where the Number Three or Trinity dwelleth . . 57
5. The spirit of the soul, but not the light of the eyes,
comprehendeth the Trinity 58
5. There is nothing perfect, but the Number Three, or
Trinity 59
16. What the Trinity is from eternity to eternity . . 104
Turba.
13. How the turba destroyeth the multiplicity, from
whence it is that envy and falsehood proceed . 49
13. How the turba exerciseth itself in the anger; also of
the springing up of the blossom of life ... 60
Turk. Turks.
6. How a Turk attaineth God, together with the children
that are without understanding .... 21
CHAP. Turk. Turks. VERSE
6. The Turks say, no. He that honoureth the Father,
honoureth the Son 28
11. The cause of the Turks' potency; also how long their
blindness shall continue 91
11. The Antichrist shall not devour the tree of the Turks
with his dragon's mouth, or tyrannous policy; also
what it is the Antichrist shall be destroyed by . 92
11. How the Turks are become a wild tree ... 94
Vanity.
15. Vanity and wantonness is the first lesson youths learn 7
Vials.
5. In the courts of princes the vials of anger are poured
forth through the instigation of the hypocrites . 66
Virgin.
6. How the eternal Virgin came into substance . . 80
6. The Word is the understanding in the eternal Virgin . 82
6. Neither the Virgin nor the flesh do operate, but the
spirit 83
11. Of the eternal Virgin, out of which the matrix of the
earth became an image 12
13. How our corrupted substance became earthly; and how
God in the heavenly Virgin, and also in the earthly
Virgin, became man 19
Understand.
3. They that are born of God, shall understand this . 37
4. Advice to them that are able to understand this text . 59
18. If an ass should speak the Word of God, that soul
which feareth God would understand it . 46
Universities.
15. What our children learn at the universities . . 9
15. How students in the universities are advanced to govern
in Church and State; and how they rule then . 10
16. The Person of Christ is a Mystery, hidden from the
pride of the high schools or universities ... 29
Uppermost.
9. How the uppermost desireth the nethermost, and the
nethermost the uppermost 110
CHAP. Warning. VERSE
5. A warning not to account these things fictions . .147
5. A warning to go out from contention, a reproof to
Babel ... 149
7. A warning to him that is fallen to rise again . . 13
8. Of God's care in warning of his children ... 48
11. A toarning to the children of God to go out from the
whore of seeming holiness 50
11. A warning not to run after disputation and contention 85
12. A warning to those that are here advanced to honour 5
12. A. warning to the rich to be meek and gentle . . 6
12. A warning against the devil who soweth weeds. What
the doctrine of Moses and of Christ was . . 15
12. A warning to wrestle in patience .... 47
13. The author's warning will not be in vain ... 41
13. Warning to those that say, If our teachers teach us not
rightly, let them look to i t: Also of the misuse of
the Baptism and Supper 42
14. Warning concerning the way of seeming holiness . 8
14. How God warneth man of his wrath .... 69
15. A teaming concerning the punishment that shall be
over the face of the earth 16
16. Afore-warning of the Antichristian wolf born of an
academy 26
16. A warning not to trust in the skill of the letter, but
in the spirit of God 33
18. A warning to Europe, Asia, and Africa, concerning the
strong bow that is bent; advice to arise from sleep,
and to see with our own eyes .... 37
Wars.
5. Of the right murderers that provoke princes to wars . 11
12. Of him that is the cause of wars. What war is, and
whence it springeth 43
Watchful.
14. What we are to be watchful against .... 42
18. Everyone should be watchful, both in a spiritual and
temporal state and condition 42
Water.
8. How the water reacheth up to our lips ... 15
9. Of the water above the firmament, and of the water
beneath 59
CHAP. Water. VERSE
10. How the water flieth from the fire, and the fire runneth
after the water 26
13. A similitude, shewing how all things have water, and
the substantiality from it . ... 25
Ways.
18. We have but two ways to go, one outwardly in working
for necessity, and the other inwardly in the will
of God 41
Weight.
2. How death trembleth at the life; and whence weight
in nature proceedeth 72
3. Whence the weight, matter, lustre, and satiating the
hunger of the first will proceed .... 10
Whore.
3. How the obstinate whore hath caused her laws to be
reverenced and worshipped 71
3. How the whore possesseth the kingdom of Christ with
deceit 73
3. The prophets have prophesied of the Babylonish whore,
who must go into the lake 74
3. The whore scometh the angel's sounding of his trumpet,
and flattereth herself 76
7. The false teachers compared to the whore ... 58
8. An admonition to the whore of Babel ... 11
11. All people are scandalised and kept back by the whore 90
13. Mention of the conceitedly wise whore who is no better,
but worse, by the Reformation: Also of her punishment
58
17. When men were careless, the Babylonish whore brought
forth the covetous devil: Also concerning the Last
Time 25
18. How it is that the whore will not be converted . . 38
Wicked.
5. The wicked as well as the good grow to the wonders of
God 3
Wilderness.
3. How men must go into the wilderness, and be tempted
of the devil 34
CHAP. Will. VERSE
1. The eternal will of the Father is the original of the fire
of life. 23
1. Of the eternal will and the eternal desire . «. . 24
1. How the will impregnated itself .... 25
1. How the will desireth to be free: Also what the second
will, or the eternal mind is 26
1. Why the first will generateth a second will, and falleth
into anguish 31
1. What the will, the contrary will, and the desire are . 32
2. Of the eternal will, Word, Father* of the two wills:
What is called nature, and A and 0. Nature is
manifested in the second will, as fire in light . . 9
2. Of the will, and of the desire in the will ... 13
2. That the will cannot be captivated by the two forms . 22
2. How the will is sharpened by the two forms . . 23
2. How the second will is free from nature, and consumeth
not 62
2. A description of the first eternal will that is called
God 75
2. The first will causeth the birth of the love: Also of
the original of the names, Fattier and Son . . 87
3. Of the first and second will, and of the birth of nature 20
4. A clearer demonstration of the alteration in the will,
or of the second will 24
4. The will is the master of every work, its first original
is out of God 48
4. How men shall attain a divine will .... 53
4. Of the twofold acceptability from one will. . . 66
4. Why the second will is called Son, Word, Person,
Heart light, lustre, love, and wonder ... 68
6. It lieth not in the opinion or knowledge of any, but in
the good will and well doing: The will bringeth us
either to God, or to the devil .... 19
6. How we are all blind: Our life and all our doings
consist i n the will 22
8. What will is in God. The great power of the will
hidden in the spirit of the soul .... 18
10. The will of God is not contention and strife; also concerning
the hypocrites 33
12. We must go out from reason into the will of God;
also what our continual purpose should be .35
14. God desireth to have no hypocrites, but a sincere
earnest will 10
15. Earthly food passeth away, but the will and the desire
in the will remaineth 15
CHAP. Wisdom. Wise men. VERSE
5. The wisdom of God is a virgin, and no woman or
wife 44
5. Of the operation of the wisdom of God in both matrixes 45
5. The wisdom of God is an image of the Trinity . . 49
5. How the wisdom is the body of the spirit, through
which we know his form 50
5. How we know the virgin of wisdom; she is the ornament
of the heavenly fruit 52
5. The virgin of wisdom or the Trinity is no local thing,
but without end 56
5. Our own wisdom attaineth not the crown of God's
secrets 72
6. The eternal virgin, the eternal wisdom, and the eternal
Word are not divided . 78
7. Solomon learnt his wisdom in no university . . 37
7. The constellation is a cause of wisdom, art, and
subtlety, and of all worldly government amongst
men, beasts, and fruits 79
11. How the first Adam lost the virgin of wisdom, and
how the second Adam had it .... 69
13. How the light of the eternal wisdom of God in Adam
was extinguished . . 18
14. The devil's practice is the wisdom of those that .are
advanced to high places 38
14. How the divine wisdom is often covered in the
children of God 56
2. What the wise men understood by Sulphur, Mercury,
and Sal 38
Woman.
3. The Woman of the dragon is told what she hath
built 63
3. A warning to the fair Woman, as, she accounts
herself 6 4
3. The Woman hath no authority but from the dragon . 66
3. How the Woman upon the Dragon rideth in pride,
pomp, and state 69
3. The anger of God accomplisheth all its wonders on the
Woman of the Dragon - 70
3. How the Woman is said to be the God of the Beast;
viz. how the spirituality or clergy are said to be the
God of the magistrates, or worldly power . . 77
9. How man hath the tincture, and woman the substantiality,
and how that was in eternity ... 44
CHAP. Woman. VERSE
9. Why the woman must be under the government of
man 112
9. Why women are talkative; how the moon governeth
their matrix; why the moon runneth her course so
soon 113
11. How God divided Adam, and made woman out of him 23
Wonders.
3. How Christ prayed to his Father and wrought great
wonders 72
9. How the spirit of God openeth the wonders which wereforeseen
in the eternity in the wisdom . . .116
17. The outward body should manifest the wonders of God 14.
Word.
1. How the Word is God, that eternally maketh itself . 38
2. The Word createth in the genetrix. What the
eternal still joy is. Also in what nature is generated
78
2. The Word taketh its original in-nature: Two Words
are generated in nature: The first expresseth the
fierce power, which is the Father's nature . . 80
2. A description of the Second Word, which is called
God 81
2. How the Second Word dwelleth in the first will . 84
2. How the Second Word is the Son, and the brightness
of the Father: Also how love and hate stand in
opposition 85
3. The Word of God hath broken the fierce might in the
soul ... 55
4. How the Heart is the Word; and the spirit is the
former of the Word 80
5. The soul, the spirit, and the body, form a, word . . 86
5. How the meaning, the word, and the forming of words
is to be understood 96
5. How the Third Principle also may be understood in
the word 111
6. How the Word in nine months became a perfect man 84
6.- What in the iron represented the Word, the Majesty,
and the Holy Ghost 89
8. How it is that the eternal Word was to become man . 67
8. How the Word which became man entered into death
on the cross, and broke the seven seals ... 68
14. How the soul formeth the word .... 29
CHAP. World. VERSE
1. The angelical world is not without the place of this
world 34
3. Of what and wherefore this world hath been created . 40
3. God is a spirit: The seventh form manifesteth him;
wherein the creation of this world is effected . . 45
4. This world shall not die, but be changed: The shadow
of every thing therein remaineth eternally as a
figure to the glory of God 28
5. The inward government is not separated from this
world 16
5. Whence this world is become corporeal ... 17
5. This world is a similitude of the Deity in love and
anger 8 1
5. This world is a sprout out of the eternal nature . . 82
5. The form of this world was from eternity in God's
immaterial nature 83
5. How before time the world was without substance.
Lucifer hath stirred up the fire in his
habitation 97
5. Where the angelical world is manifest . .117
6. How we are yet blind concerning the substance of this
world 10
6. What we are; also what the world, and the original
thereof is 40
6. The eternal substance and this world are like a man,
they each generate their hike .... 46
7. Why God rejecteth not the world before the end of
time 18
8. Of our own hard prison in the spirit of this
world 14
9. Why this world was created, which before the creation
stood in the eternal wisdom as an invisible
figure 6
9. Of the inclination of the spirit of this world . . 9
9. Of that which the spirit of this world hath built . 10
9. That which desireth to reach God must pass through
the fire: Also what fire that is which must dissolve
the world 8 2
11. The world is full of God: Where God is, and where
the abyss is 106
11. What the substance of this world, the angelical world,
and the hellish world, are in the sight of God: Also
where God is to be sought 109
14. The world maketh the children of God but a gazing
stock 55
CHAP. Works. VERSE
4. As the building shall appear, so shall the builder: our
works follow us 52
5. How the evil works of the regenerate in Christ shall
appear 134
8. The description of the New Body, and of the Old
Man; and how our works shall follow us .77
18. How all works follow after the will; also how lust in
the soul is awakened 21
Wrath.
I. The severe kingdom of wrath is in the centre; how
the Father is but one; how the third Principle
could not have been created .... 49
II. How God warneth men of his wrath; and how he
letteth that come which man himself hath awakened,
as wars, famine, pestilence, etc. ... 40
11. What we have inherited from Adam: How the anger
should have rested eternally; without the awakened
wrath no devil can move a fly .... 41
Writings.
4. Though the author's writings be hard and incredible,
yet they have an infallible certainty of assurance . 19
4. His writings have an assurance in the centre of the
earth 20
5. This is the writing of a child 33
6. How people may be benefited by these writings . . 9
9. What the devil intendeth to do with these writings . 1
9. The world's servants had rather lose God, and the
kingdom of heaven, than their honour and goods.
The whore by the instigation of the devil will
persecute these writings 2
10. Advice in these writings, to rest contented with the
present apprehension of them .... 31
Youth.
15. Of the wickedness and unruliness of youth, if they
perceive their parents give way to it . . 5
Zeal.
12. The innocence of the blind simple zeal against the
Martyrs . 21
16. Of the great submission of the love of God. Patience
is better than zeal 36
Appendix
A CATALOGUE of the Books
Written by JACOB BEHMEN, The Teutonic Theosopher.
1. ANNO 1612, he wrote the Aurora, or the Dawning of the Day; or
Morning-Redness in the Rising of the Sun: Containing the Root of
Theology, Philosophy, and Astral Science from the true Ground. Dated
June 2, Anno Aetatis 37. It had Notes added, with his own Hand, in 1620.
Having been summoned, on Account of the Aspersions of the
Superintendent of Gorlitz, and accused as Author of this Book, it was laid
up by the Magistrates of that Place; and he was commanded (as being a
simple Layman) to desist from writing of Books. Upon this, he refrained
for seven Years. But being afterwards stirred up by the Instigation of the
Divine Light, he proceeded to write the rest, as follows.
2. Anno 1619. The Three Principles of the Divine Essence: Of the Eternal
Dark, Light, and Temporary World. With an Appendix of the Threefold
Life of Man.
3. Anno 1620. The High and Deep Searching of the Threefold Life of Man,
through, or according to the Three Principles.
4. An answer to the Forty Questions concerning the Soul, proposed by
Doctor Balthasar Walter. In the Answer to the First Question, is the
Philosophic Globe, or Wonder-Eye of Eternity, or Looking-Glass of
Wisdom, (which in itself contains all Mysteries) with an Explanation of it.
5. The Treatise of the Incarnation. In Three Parts. Dated in May.
Part the First, Of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
The Second, Of the Suffering, Dying, Death, and Resurrection of Christ.
The Third, Of the Tree of Faith.
6. The Great Six Points, containing the Deep Ground of the Great Mystery,
and of the Three Worlds; and a brief Explanation of six others, or the small
six Points.
7. Of the Heavenly and Earthly Mystery. Dated May 8.
8. Of the last Times; being two Letters; The First, to Paul Keym, dated
August 14; and the Second, to the same, dated November 23; both
concerning the Thousand Years Sabbath, and of the End of the World.
They are in the Collection of his Letters.
9. Anno 1621. Signatura Rerum; or, The Signature of all Things: Showing
the Sign and Signification of the several Forms, Figures, and Shape of
Things in the Creation; and what the Beginning, Ruin, and Cure of every
Thing is; comprising all Mysteries
lO.Of the Four Complexions: A Treatise of Consolation, or Instruction, in
Time of Temptation. Dated in March.
11. Two Apologies to Balthasar Tylcken,
The First, in Two Parts, concerning the Aurora.
The Second, in Two Parts. Dated July 3.
Part the First, concerning Predestination.
The Second, concerning the Person of Christ, and the Virgin Mary; which
he had wrote of in the Treatise of the Incarnation.
12. Considerations upon Isaiah Stiefel's Book, dated April 8, concerning
the Threefold State of Man, and the New Birth; and of the last Sion, or
New Jerusalem.
13. Anno 1622. Of the Errors of the Sects of Ezekiel Meths, or an Apology
to Isaiah Stiefel concerning Perfection.Dated April 6.
14.0f True Repentance.
15. Of True Resignation.
16. Of Regeneration. Dated June 24.
17. Anno 1623. Of Predestination, and the Election of God. Dated February
8. There is an Appendix to it, intitled as follows:
18. A Short Compendium of Repentance. Dated February 9.
19. The Mysterium Magnum: An Explanation of Genesis; treating of the
Manifestation, or Revelation of the Divine Word through the Three
Principles of the Divine Essence: also of the Origin of the World and the
Creation, wherein the Kingdom of Nature and Grace are explained, for the
better understanding of the Old and New Testament; and what Adam and
Christ are. Dated September 11.
20. A Table of the Divine Manifestation; or, An Explanation of the
Threefold World: In a Letter of the True and False Light, to G. F. and J. H.
Dated November 11. It is in the Collection of his Letters.
21. Anno 1624. Of the Supersensual Life.
22. (22.) Of Divine Contemplation, or Vision. It proceeds to the sixth Verse
of the fourth Chapter.
23. Of Christ's Testaments. In Two Books. Dated May 7.
The First, Of Holy Baptism.
The Second, Of the Holy Supper of the Lord Christ.
24.0f Illumination. A Dialogue between the Enlightened and
Unenlightened Soul.
25. An Apology for the Book of True Repentance, and of True Resignation.
Dated April 10; occasioned by a Libel published by Gregory Rickter, the
Primate of Gorlitz.
26. (26.) An Hundred and Seventy-seven Theosophic Questions, with
answers to Thirteen of them; and to the Fifteenth, as far as to the Fifth
Verse.
27. An Epitome of the Mysterium Magnum.
28. (28.) The Holy Week, or Prayer-Book. With Prayers to the End of
Tuesday.
29. A Table of the Three Principles, or, An Illustration of his Writings. To J.
S. V. S and A.V.S. Dated in February.
30.Of the last Judgment: Said to be consumed at the Burning of Great
Glogau in Silesia; and no other Copy of it is yet found.
31. The Clavis, or an Explanation of some principal Points and Expressions
in his Writings.
32. A Collection of his Letters on several Occasions.
Note, The Books which the Author did not finish, are distinguished by this
Mark ().
No.s 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24 were published in one Volume, titled "The Way
to Christ".