The Forty Questions of the Soul

162. THOSE circles should be like round globes through which a cross should go, for it is the Eye of eternity, which cannot be portrayed; it representeth the Eye of the essence of all essences; the Eye of God, which is the glass of wisdom, wherein all wonders have been seen from eternity; and hereby is described how it is entered into an essence, for the Reader of this book to consider of

163. Not as if it could be described or portrayed, for the mind only apprehendeth it, and only 3 that which can walk in the divine Mystery; not by art or reason, but by that understanding which the spirit of God openeth to the human spirit of the soul in the great Mystery, otherwise it cannot be apprehended.

1 Or semicircles.

2 third Principle.

3 that mind.

164. The Reader should observe the numbers, and also what standeth within or without a circle, and where every word in a circle beginneth and endeth; all of it hath its peculiar signification and meaning, for every word standeth in its due place.

165. That which is without the circle and wheel, signifieth the liberty of the abyss 1 without the Principle.

Number 1. Abyss.

166. The great Mystery of the abyss, wherein the eternal divine essence, in the glass of wisdom, doth bring itself forth in the 2 ground, is marked with the Number 1, and the Number 2 standeth close by it; which is so to be understood round about that whole circle.

Of the Three Circles.

167. The three circles drawn about one another, signify the eternal birth of the divine essence; and all eternal Mysteries, both within nature and without, viz. the original of all essences, as it is here described.

Note of the editor: the left dark half circle has the following numbers and text, from top to bottom:

37 Proud Devil

24 Darkness 25 Magic Fire 26 Anguish

23 Will

11 The Soul's Will

(horizontal bar)

18 Wrath

20 Devil

22 Art

Of that half of the Threefold Circle at the Left Hand, and of Number 2.

168. The threefold circle at the left hand (where also there standeth without the circle, at Number 2, the Mystery 3 without nature) signifieth how the abyss bringeth itself into a ground; that is, how the Eye of eternity, viz. the First will (which is called the Father of eternity and of all beginnings) bringeth itself in the wisdom into Trinity, into an eternal ground, and dwelleth in itself, and possesseth itself; and how it bringeth itself into nature; also how essence ariseth, as also * perceptibility and perception.

1 extra Principium.

2 Or centre.

3 extra naturam.

* "perceptibility and perception" (Empfindlichkeit und Findlichkeit). The idea is that of sensation, consciousness and experience in both passive and active modes. According to some German commentators, the first word, "Empfindlichkeit," may be rendered "awareness," and the second, "Findlichkeit," which is of Bohme's own coining, denotes a grasping in and holding, a retention of that which is perceived.

Of that half of the Threefold Circle at the Right Hand.

169. The other threefold circle at the right hand, signifieth the divine essence of the Holy Trinity, and the angelical world, which ariseth from the great Mystery of eternity, and is manifested by the Principle of fire.

What the Cross signifieth.

170. The Cross [whose arms go] through both the threefold Circles, signifieth the

Persons of the Deity; and how they part themselves in the eternal unigeniture, as is further mentioned hereafter, according to the numbers.

1 Or semicircles, or half globes.

Of the Eye in the Circle.

171. The Eye in the circle through which the Cross goeth with an 1 angle, each [half of the Eye] signifieth a world, both that at the left, and that at the right: That at the left signifieth the great Mystery of the dark world, where the Eye of the wonders bringeth itself into nature; that at the right signifieth the hght world, where the divine Mystery, having brought itself forth through the fire, dwelleth in the majestic hght, with the first Mystery of the wonders.