166. Thus it is with those angels that continued
in the kingdom of heaven in the true paradise, they
stand in the first Principle in the indissoluble band,
and their food is the divine power, in their
imagination (or imagining) [in their thoughts and
mind] is the will of the Holy Trinity in the Deity ;
the confirmation [or establishing] of their life,
will, and doings, is the power of the Holy Ghost ;
whatsoever that doth in the generating of paradise,
the angels rejoice at, and they sing the x joyful
songs of paradise, concerning the pleasant saving
fruit, and eternal birth. All they do is an increasing
of the heavenly joy, and a delight and pleasure
to the Heart of God, a holy sport in paradise, a
[satisfying of the desire or] will of the eternal
Father ; to this end their God created them, that
he might be manifested, and rejoice in his creatures,
and the creatures in him, so that there might be
an eternal sport of love, in the centre of the
multiplying (or eternal Nature) in the indissoluble
eternal band.
60 THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 4
267. This [sport of love] was spoiled by Lucifer
himself (who is so called, because of the extinguishment of his light, and of being cast out of his
throne), who was a prince and king over many
legions, but is become a devil, and hath lost his
beautiful [fair, bright] and glorious image. For
he, as well as other angels, was created out of the
eternal nature, out of the eternal indissoluble
band, and [hath also] stood in paradise, also felt
1 Or working, and seen the l birth of the holy Deity, the birth of
the second Principle, of the Heart of God, and the
confirmation of the Holy Ghost ; his food should
have been of the Word of the Lord, and therein he
should have continued an angel.
68. But he saw that he was a prince, standing
in the first Principle, and so despised the birth of
the Heart of God, and the soft and very lovely
2 working, or 2 qualification thereof, and meant to be a very
influence. -iii-i. i^. T-» • • i i
potent and terrible lord in the first Principle, and
would qualify [or work] in the strength of the
fire ; he despised the meekness of the Heart of
God. He would not set his imagination therein
[or his thoughts upon it], and therefore he could
not be fed from the Word of the Lord, and so his
light went out ; whereupon presently he became a
loathsomeness in paradise, and was spewed out of
his princely throne, with all his legions that stuck
to him [or depended on him].
369. And now when the Heart of God departed
from him, the second Principle was shut up to
Ch. 4] OP THE TRUE ETERNAL NATURE 61
him, and so he lost God, the kingdom of heaven,
and all paradisical knowledge, pleasure and joy ;
he also presently lost the image of God, and the
confirmation of the Holy Ghost, because he despised
the second Principle, wherein he was an angel and
image of God. Thus all things departed from him,
and he remained in the l dark valley, and could no l Or vaiiay of
• • • • /-. darkness.
more raise ins imagination up into God ; but he
continued in the four anguishes of the originalness.
70. And when he raised up his imagination, then
he kindled to himself the source or root of the fire,
and then when the root of the fire sought for the
water (viz. the true mother of the eternal nature),
it found the stern [or tart astringent] harshness,
and the mother in the aching death ; and the bitter
sting [or prickle] formed the birth to be a fierce
raging serpent, very terrible in itself, rising up
in the indissoluble band, an eternal enmity, a will
striving against itself, an eternal despair of all
good ; [the bitter sting also formed] the mind to
be [as] a breaking striking wheel, having its will
continually aspiring to the strength of the fire,
and to destroy the Heart of God, and yet could
never at all be able to reach it.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.