Concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence
or flying up.
strengtheneth itself in the strong might of the terror, and createth again the uppermost [part] of the body, viz. the head : And from the hard terror (which is continually departing and yet cannot) cometh the skull, which encloseth the uppermost centre : And from the departing out of the essences of the tincture with the terror into the uppermost centre, come the veins and the neck to be, going thus from the body into the head, into the uppermost centre.
52. So also all the veins in the whole body come
4 choking, from the terror of the 4 stifling, where the terror goeth forth from all the essences, and would be gone ; and the Fiat withhdldeth it with his great strong might. And therefore one vein hath always
Ch. 13] OF THE CREATING OP THE WOMAN 251 a diverse essence from another, caused by the first departing, where then the essences of the stars and elements do also mingle [or figure themselves] therein, and the Fiat holdeth it all, and createth it, and it supposeth that the Verbum Domini [the Word of the Lord] with the strong mighty power of God is there, where the Fiat must create heaven and earth.
The Gate of the great Necessity and Misery.
0 man, consider thyself, how hardly thou art beset here, and how thou gettest thy misery in thy mother's body :
Observe it 0 ye * lawyers, from what spirit you J jurist*,
'[come to] 3 know [what is] right; consider this2 can go to
well, for it is deep.
53. The spirit of the virgin sheweth us the mystery again, and the great secrecy ; for the stifling [or stopping] of the blood in the matrix (especially in the fruit) is the first dying of the essences, where they are severed from the heaven, so that the virgin cannot be generated there, which should [have been] generated in Adam, from the heavenly virtue [or power] without woman, also without rending of his body. And here the kingdom [or dominion] of the stars and elements beginneth in man, where they take hold of man and mingle [or qualify] with him, make and fit him, also nourish and nurture him, of which you may read more about Cain.
p. 252
Further in the Incarnation.
54. And so when the Fiat thus holdeth the terror in itself, so that the elements fill it, then that filling becometh hard bones ; and there the Fiat figureth the whole man with his bodily form, all according to the first wrestling of the two tinctures, when they wrestle [or strive] together in the sport of love, when the seed is sown ; and that tincture which there getteth the upperhand (whether the masculine or the feminine) according to that sex the man is figured. And the figuring [or shaping] is done very suddenly in the storm of the anguishing terror, where the blood is stifled [or stopped] ; and there the elementary man getteth up, and the heavenly [man] goeth down. For in the terror, the
1 Or pricking, bitter l sting is generated, which rageth and raveth in the hard terrified [sourness or] harshness in the great anxiety of the stifled [or stopped] blood.
55. Women have sufficient experience of this, in the third month, (when this is done in the fruit), [and feel] how the raging and pricking cometh into their teeth, loins, back, and the like. This cometh upon them from the stifled [choked, or stopped] tincture in the fruit, and from their stifled [or stopped] blood in the matrix, because the evil tincture qualifieth [or mingleth] with the good [tincture] of their bodies. Therefore in the same manner as the tincture in the matrix sufiereth pain, after the same manner also the good [tincture]
Ch. 13] OF THE CREATING OF THE WOMAN 253
suffereth in the members [limbs or parts] of the mother, as in the hard bones, teeth, and ribs, as such people know very well.
56. So now when the bitter sting [or prickle] (which is generated in the anxious terror in the stifling [or stopping] and in the entering in of death), doth thus rage and rave, and shew forth itself in the terror, and flieth upwards, then it is caught and withheld by the [sour] harshness, so that it cannot get up aloft. For the [sour] harshness draweth it continually the more eagerly and vehemently, because of l its raging, and cannot endure it, from * the raging whence the pricking often becometh more terrible, °
or flying up.
strengthens itself in the strong might of the terror, and creates again the uppermost [part] of the body, viz. the head : And from the hard terror (which is continually departing and yet cannot) comes the skull, which encloses the uppermost centre : And from the departing out of the essences of the tincture with the terror into the uppermost centre, come the veins and the neck to be, going thus from the body into the head, into the uppermost centre.
52. So also all the veins in the whole body come
4 choking, from the terror of the 4 stifling, where the terror goes forth from all the essences, and would be gone ; and the Fiat withhdlds it with his great strong might. And therefore one vein has always
Ch. 13] OF THE CREATING OP THE WOMAN 251 a diverse essence from another, caused by the first departing, where then the essences of the stars and elements do also mingle [or figure themselves] therein, and the Fiat holds it all, and creates it, and it supposes that the Verbum Domini [the Word of the Lord] with the strong mighty power of God is there, where the Fiat must create heaven and earth.
The Gate of the great Necessity and Misery.
0 man, consider yourself, how hardly you are beset here, and how you gettest your misery in your mother's body :
Observe it 0 you * lawyers, from what spirit you J jurist*,
'[come to] 3 know [what is] right; consider this2 can go to
well, for it is deep.
53. The spirit of the virgin shows us the mystery again, and the great secrecy ; for the stifling [or stopping] of the blood in the matrix (especially in the fruit) is the first dying of the essences, where they are severed from the heaven, so that the virgin cannot be generated there, which should [have been] generated in Adam, from the heavenly virtue [or power] without woman, also without rending of his body. And here the kingdom [or dominion] of the stars and elements beginns in man, where they take hold of man and mingle [or qualify] with him, make and fit him, also nourish and nurture him, of which you may read more about Cain.
252 THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 13
Further in the Incarnation.
54. And so when the Fiat thus holds the terror in itself, so that the elements fill it, then that filling becomes hard bones ; and there the Fiat figures the whole man with his bodily form, all according to the first wrestling of the two tinctures, when they wrestle [or strive] together in the sport of love, when the seed is sown ; and that tincture which there getts the upperhand (whether the masculine or the feminine) according to that sex the man is figured. And the figuring [or shaping] is done very suddenly in the storm of the anguishing terror, where the blood is stifled [or stopped] ; and there the elementary man getts up, and the heavenly [man] goes down. For in the terror, the
1 Or pricking, bitter l sting is generated, which rags and ravs in the hard terrified [sourness or] harshness in the great anxiety of the stifled [or stopped] blood.
55. Women have sufficient experience of this, in the third month, (when this is done in the fruit), [and feel] how the raging and pricking comes into their teeth, loins, back, and the like. This comes upon them from the stifled [choked, or stopped] tincture in the fruit, and from their stifled [or stopped] blood in the matrix, because the evil tincture qualifies [or mingls] with the good [tincture] of their bodies. Therefore in the same manner as the tincture in the matrix sufiers pain, after the same manner also the good [tincture]
Ch. 13] OF THE CREATING OF THE WOMAN 253 suffers in the members [limbs or parts] of the mother, as in the hard bones, teeth, and ribs, as such people know very well.
56. So now when the bitter sting [or prickle] (which is generated in the anxious terror in the stifling [or stopping] and in the entering in of death), does thus rage and rave, and show forth itself in the terror, and flies upwards, then it is caught and withheld by the [sour] harshness, so that it cannot get up aloft. For the [sour] harshness draws it continually the more eagerly and vehemently, because of l its raging, and cannot endure it, from * the raging whence the pricking often becomes more terrible, °