The Forty Questions of the Soul

Of the C^ in the Angle of the -J" .

172. The Heart in the angle of the Cross, signifieth the ground or centre of the Deity: Not as if it were separate, and did possess a place (for itself is the place or ground of the Deity, and is the midst everywhere), but that men might learn to distinguish God from nature; and that Christians may learn to understand the regeneration, viz. how God hath regenerated us in Christ, out of his heart upon the Cross: Therefore this Figure is thus delineated, that the Reader might further consider it; for this Figure comprehendeth all whatsoever God and the eternity is.

1 Or two arms.

The Exposition of the Circle at the Left Hand, Numbers 3, 4, 5.

173. The three 1 characters, A, O, V, marked with 3, 4, 5, signify the Mystery of the holy Deity: 2 without nature, and how it manifesteth itself in nature.

Of the A, Number 3; and of the Tincture, Number 6.

174. A signifieth the first eternal 3 unsearchable Will; which is called Father; go round that circle to the nether point, there Tincture standeth at Number 6, which is the Ens of the Will, and the first beginning of nature: for the divine Mystery of the Trinity standeth above, and the Mystery of nature beneath; each circle signifieth a Person of the Deity in the first Mystery.

Of the O, Number 4; and of Principle and of Fire, Number 7.

175. The O at Number 4, signifieth the ground of the Mystery, viz. the birth of the Heart or Word of God, which the first Will (viz. the A) in the glass of wisdom receiveth and holdeth in itself as a ground of its essence: For the O signifieth also the Eye of the glass of wisdom; for the eternal Word is 4 comprehended in the wisdom, and manifesteth itself in the hght world by the Principle of fire: go round from the O, and you will find Principle and Fire beneath, at Number 7.

1 Or letters.

2 Or beyond.

3 Or abyssal.

4 conceived, or formed.

O/V, Number 5; and of Essence, Number 8.

176. The V at Number 5, signifieth the spirit of the Mystery 1 without nature, viz. the spirit of the first eternal 2 unsearchable will; it ariseth out of the will in the power of the Word in the great Mystery, and proceedeth from the Will and Word, and its exit maketh essence, viz. wonders of the power, colours and virtue; where yet in the Mystery of the abyss without nature no colours are 3 discerned; for they lie all hid in one, which is a glimpse of a great wonder, and it is called an essence of the wonders: Go about in the circle from V, and you shall find beneath, near Number 8, Essence; which signifieth that the essence of all things is under the spirit of the

4 Ternary, and that we must always distinguish essence from Deity.

177. For in the essence, nature with its seven forms ariseth; for the Ternary is but a spirit in the essence, and yet there is no essence 5 without the Ternary: for the desire of the Ternary is the eternal 6 magia, and it maketh essence; it bringeth [things] into a ground, according to the 7 model which the spirit openeth in the wisdom; out of it the creation came forth, according to the model in the glass of the

8 virgin-like wisdom.

1 Or beyond.

2 Or abyssal.

3 Or known.

4 Or Number Three.

5 absque.

6 magic.

7 Or idea.

8 virginalis sapientia.

A further Exposition of the first Principle, and of the Mystery of the Beginning in the Creation, also of the Dark World; and how the Angle or Line of the Cross, and Number 9, at the Left Hand, with its upper and nether Space, must be understood.

Of FATHER; Number 9.

178. AT Number 9, Father standeth before the 1 point of the Cross, and Abyss before that; which signifieth the Mystery of the Father without nature: For nature beginneth at the point of the cross. The first and greatest Mystery is the abyss; wherein the nothing bringeth itself into a will, which is called Father, or the original to something: The creation is arisen out of the Mystery of the Father, through nature; hereby this Mystery, the eternal nature, with its seven forms, is

2 understood.

Soul; Number 10.