Concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence

Holy Ghost Ghost and the light of God is the glance of the buddeth forth . . . e in the place spirit, from whence he seeth ; which went out ; elements. for the spirit of the soul went into the Principle « man. of this world. 3. You must not so understand it, as if it were extinguished in itself : No ; but the soul of Adam went out from the Principle of God, into the Principle of this world ; and therein now the spirit of every soul is thus generated again by human propagation, as is mentioned before, and it cannot be otherwise. And therefore if we would be fit for the kingdom of heaven, we must be regenerated anew in the spirit of God, or else none can inherit the kingdom of God, as Christ taught us faithfully ; of which I will write hereafter, that it may be a fountain for the thirsty, and a light to the noble way, in the blossom of the lily. 4. And we must here know, that our life, which we get in our mother's body [or womb,] standeth merely and only in the power of the sun, stars, and elements ; so that they not only figure [or fashion] a child in the mother's body, and give it life, but also bring it into this world, and nourish it the whole time of its life, and bring it up, also cause fortune and misfortune to it, and, at last, death and corruption ; and if our essences (out of which our life is generated) were not higher, in their first degree out of Adam, [than the beasts], then we should be wholly like the beasts.

5. But our l essences are generated much higher l active, essen- ,,.. f i t-f • 7 i tial virtues, in the beginning or the lite in Adam than the or faculties. beasts, which have their essences but merely from the spirit of this world, and it must also, with the spirit of this world in a corruptible substance, go into its eternal ether : Whereas, on the contrary, the essences of man are proceeded out of the unchangeable eternal mind of God, which cannot in eternity corrupt. 6. For we have a certain ground of this, in that our mind can find and conceive all whatsoever is in the spirit of this world, which no beast can do: For no creature can 2 conceive [further or] higher 2 think or than [what is] in its own Principle, out of which its l" own essences are proceeded in the beginning : But we (that are men) can certainly 3 conceive [of that 3 meditate, which is] in the Principle of God, and also [of that think of! which is] in the anguishing kingdom of hell, where the worm of our soul in the beginning in Adam originally is, and this no other creature can do.

7. But they think [consider or imagine] only how to fill themselves and multiply, that their life may subsist ; and we also receive * no more from * than the the spirit of the stars and elements. And 6 therefore . ! also our children are naked and bare, with great inability, and without understanding ; and now if Dn,g than the spirit of this world had full [perfect and absolute] power over the essences of the child, then he would easily put his rough garment upon it also (viz. a rough hide), but he must let that alone : And he must leave the essences in the first and second Principles to man's own choosing, to bind and yield himself to which [Principle] he will ; which man hath (undeniably) in his full power, which I will expound in its own place according to its worth, and deeply demonstrate it, in spite of all the gates of the devil, and this world, which strive much against it. 8. Our life in the mother's body hath its beginning wholly, as is above mentioned, and standeth there now in the quality of the sun and stars, where then, with the kindling of the light, a centre springeth up again, where instantly the noble tincture thus generateth itself (out of the light, out of the joyful essences of the [sour] harsh, bitter, and fiery kind [or quality]) and setteth the spirit of the soul in a great pleasant

1 beings or habitation : And the three * essences (viz. harshness, substances. . . i/>\ • i i ' IT /» i vr bitterness, and fire) are in the kindling 01 the lite so very fast bound one to another, that they cannot (in eternity) be separated one from another, and the tincture is their eternal house, wherein they dwell, which [house] they themselves generate from the beginning unto eternity, which again giveth them life, joy, and lust [or delight]. The strong Gate of the indissoluble Band of the Soul. 9. Behold, the three essences, (viz. [sourness or] harshness, bitterness and fire) are the worm or spirit [that dieth not]. l Harshness is one essence, J Or sourness. und it is in the Fiat of God, out of God's eternal will ; and the attracting of the [sour] harshness is the sting [or prickle] of the bitterness, which the [sour] harshness cannot endure, but attracteth continually the more forcibly to it, from whence the prickle continually groweth greater, which yet the [sour] harshness holdeth 2 prisoner; and this 2 captive. together is the great anxiety, which was there in the dark mind of God the Father, when the darkness was anxious [or longed] after the light ; from whence in the anxiety (from the glance of the light) it attained the twinkling flash : Out of which the angels were created, which afterward were enlightened from the light of God (3 by their 3 by their imagination into the Heart of God) ; and the other

(like Lucifer) for their haughtiness [or pride's] sake, God in their remained in the flash of fire and anxiety. 10. This birth [or active property] with the indissoluble band, is generated in every soul ; and there is no soul before the kindling of the light in the child in the mother's body. For with the kindling the eternal band is knit [or tied], so that it standeth eternally, and this worm of the three essences doth not die, nor sever itself ; for it is not possible, [because] they are all three generated out of one [only] fountain, and have three qualities, and yet are but one being [or substance] ; as the Holy Trinity is but in one only essence [or substance] ; and yet they have three originalities in one mother, and they are one [only] being [or substance] in one another. Thus also (and not a whit less) is the soul of man, but only one degree in the first going forth ; for it is generated out of the father's eternal will (and not out of the heart of God), yet the heart is the nearest to it of all. 11. And now it may very exactly be understood by the essences and property of the soul, that in this house of flesh (where it is as it were generated) it is not at home ; and its horrible fall may be also understood [thereby]. For it hath no light in itself of its own, it must borrow its light from the sun ; which indeed springeth up along with it in its birth, but that is corruptible, and the worm of the soul is not so ; and it is seen that when a man

1 the light of dieth lit goeth out. And if then the divine light man's faculty be not again generated in the centre, then the soul thateiightmg remaineth in the eternal darkness, in the eternal anguishing [source or] quality of the birth, where nothing is to be found in the kindled fire, but a horrible flash of fire, in which [source, property, or] quality, also the devils dwell ; for it is the first Principle. 12. And the soul here in this world useth the light of the third Principle, after which the soul of Adam lusted, and thereupon was captivated by the spirit of the great world. But if the soul be regenerated in the Holy Ghost, so that its centre 2 in true to the regeneration springeth 2 forth, then it seeth with two lights, and liveth in two Principles. And the most inward [Principle] (viz. the first) is shut up fast, and hangeth but to it, in which the soul is tempted and afflicted by the devil ; and on the contrary, the l virgin (which belongeth to [and is » the virtue or .-,,". .,, . 1-1 power of God. mj the tincture of the regeneration, and in the departure of the body from the soul, shall dwell [in the same tincture]) is in continual strife and combat with the devil, and trampleth upon his head in the virtue [and power] of the [soul's] Prince and 2 Champion (viz. the Son of the Virgin), when 8 Saviour or

n r -i f i Conqueror. a new body (out of the virtue [or power] 01 the soul) shall 3 spring forth in the tincture of the soul. 30rbe 13. And that (when the soul is4 departed from f the body) it might no more possibly be tempted ated< by the devil and the spirit of this world ; there is a quiet rest for the soul included in its centre in its own tincture, which standeth in paradise, betwixt the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of hell, to continue until God shall put this world into its 6 ether, when the number of men, and * or reoep- figures (according to the depth of the eternal mind of God) shall be finished. 14. And now when we consider how the temporary and transitory life is generated, we find that the soul is a cause of all the 6 members [or • organs or faculties] of [or to] the life of man, and without it there would not be one member [to, or] of the life of man generated. For when we search [into] the beginning and kindling of life, we find strongly with clear evidences all manner of [faculties or]

members ; so that when the clear light of the soul kindleth, then the Fiat standeth in very great joy, and in the twinkling of an eye doth in the matrix sever the pure from the impure, of which the which there reneweth it, but the Fiat createth it. 15. And now when the [sour] harsh matrix is [made] so very humble, thin, and sweet, by the light, the [stern or] strong horror (which was so very poisonous before the light [kindled]) flieth upward ; for it is terrified at the meekness of the matrix ; and it is a terror of great joy, yet it retaineth its strong [or stern] right [or property], and cannot be changed ; neither can it get far from thence (for it is withheld by the Fiat) but it raiseth itself suddenly aloft, and the terror maketh it a film from the [sour or] harsh Fiat which holdeth the 8 about, or terror fast, and that is now the gall2 of the heart. 16. But when the matrix (from which the terror was gone forth) was thus loosed from the terror of the anxiety, and became so very sweet, like sweet water, then the spirit of the great world figured [or imprinted itself] instantly, in the matrix, and filleth the four elements also within it, and thinketh with itself, now I have the sweet virgin ; and the

» that which Fiat createth 3 it, and severeth the elements, which was brought . . in. also are in strife : And each 01 them would have the virgin, and are in a wrestling, till they overcome one another, and that the fire (being the mightiest and most strong) stayeth above, and the water sinketh down ; and the earth, being a hard gross thing, must stay below: But the fire will have a * region of its own. J kingdom or 17. For it saith, I am the spirit, and the life, I will dwell in the virgin ; and the [sour] harsh Fiat attracteth all to it, and maketh it a Mesch [massa, 2 concretion], and moreover [it maketh it] flesh ; 2 Or snband the fire keepeth the uppermost region, viz. the heart : For the four elements sever themselves by their strife, and every one of them maketh itself a several 3 region ; and the Fiat maketh all to be 3 Or dominflesh : Only the air would have no flesh ; for it said, I dwell in no house ; and the Fiat said, I have created thee, thou art mine, and closed it in with an enclosure, that is, the bladder.

18. Now the other regions set themselves in order ; first the stern flash, that is, the gall ; and beneath the flash, the fire, whose region is the heart ; and beneath the fire, the water, whose region is the liver ; and beneath the water, the earth, whose region is [in] the lungs. 19. And so every element qualifieth [or acteth] in its own source [or manner of operation], and one could do nothing without the other, neither could one have any mobility without the other. For one generateth the other, and they go all four out of one original, and it is in its birth but one only [thing or] substance, as I have mentioned before at large about the creation, concerning the 4 birth of * Or generthe four elements. 20. The [sour, strong, or] bitter gall (viz. the terrible poisonous flash of fire) kindleth the warmth in the heart, or the fire, and is itself the cause, from whence all else take their original. 21. Here we find again, in our consideration, the lamentable and horrible fall in the incarnation, because when the light of life riseth up, and when the Fiat in the tincture of the spirit of the soul reneweth the matrix, then the Fiat thrusteth the death of the stifling [choking, checking, or stopping] and perishing, in the sternness (viz. the impurity of the stifled [or checked] blood) from itself, out of its essences, and casteth it away, and will not

1 corpus. endure it in the l body, but as a 2 superfluity ; the "excrement f>jat fa^f driveth it Out, and of its tOUgh [glutinous] sourness maketh an inclosure round about it, viz. a film, or gut, that it may touch neither the flesh nor the spirit, and leaveth the 8 condemneth. nethermost port open for it, and 3banisheth it eternally, because that impurity doth not belong to this kingdom ; as it happened also to the earth, 4 At the when the 4 Fiat thrust it out of the matrix in the creation. • i • i r i midst in the centre, upon a neap [as a luinpj, » in the incar- being it was unfit for heaven, so also 5here. nation. A , ., , 22. And we find greater mysteries yet in 6 testimony. 6 evidence of the horrible fall ; for after that the four elements had thus set themselves every one in a several region, then they made themselves lords over the spirit of the soul, which was generated out of the essences, and they have taken it into their power, and qualify with it. The fire, viz. the mightiest of them, hath taken it into its l region [or jurisdiction]

in the heart ; and there it must 2 keep, and the a The spirit blossom and light thereof goeth out of the heart, and moveth upon the heart, as the kindled light of a candle, where the candle resembleth the fleshly heart, with the essences out of which the light shineth. And the fire hath set itself over the essences, and continually reacheth after the light, and it supposeth that it hath the virgin, viz. the divine virtue [or power]. 23. And there the holy tincture is generated out of the essences, which regardeth not the fire, but setteth the essences (viz. the soul) in its pleasant 3joy. Then come the other three elements 3 refreshment, out of their regions, and fill themselves also by force therein, each of them would taste of the virgin, receive her and qualify [or mingle] with her : viz. the water, that filleth itself by force also therein, and it tasteth the sweet tincture of the soul. And the fire saith, I would willingly keep the water, for I can quench my thirst therewith, and refresh myself therein. And the air saith, I am indeed the spirit, I will blow up thy heat and fire, that the water do not choke thee. And the fire saith to the air, I will keep thee, for thou upholdest my quality for me, that I also go not out. And then coraeth the element [of] (earth) and saith, What will you three do alone ? You will starve and consume one another ; for you depend all

three OD one another, and devour yourselves, and when you shall have consumed the water, then you extinguish ; for the air cannot move, unless it have some water ; for the water is the mother of the air, which generateth the air : Moreover, the fire becometh much too fierce [violent and eager] if the water be consumed, and consumeth the body, and then our l region is out, and none of us can subsist. 24. Then thus say the three elements (the fire, the air, and the water) to the earth, Thou art indeed too dark, too rough, and too cold, and thou art rejected by the Fiat : We cannot take thee in ; thou destroyest our dwelling, and makest it dark and stinking, and thou afflictest our virgin, which is our only delight and treasure wherein we live. And the earth saith, Yet pray take my 2 children in ; they are lovely, and of good esteem ; they afford you meat and drink, and cherish you, that you never suffer want. 25. Hereupon thus say the three elements : But so they may afterwards get a dwelling in us, and may come to be strong and great, and then we must depart, or be in subjection to them, and therefore we will not take them in either, for they may come to be as rough and cold as thou art : Yet this we will do, thou mayest let thy

stonuuh and children dwell 3 in our courts and porches, and we ^ta- will come and be their guest, and eat of * their 4 the virtue of. ii«i • i i • v their fruit, fruit, and drink of their drink, else the water which is contained in the element would be too little for us. 26. Now thus say the three elements (fire, water, and air) to the spirit, Fetch us children of the earth, that they may dwell in our courts, we will eat of their l essences, and make thee strong. l Orsubstance. Here the spirit of the soul (like a captive) must be obedient, and must reach with his essences, and fetch them forth. And then cometh the Fiat, and saith, No : thou 2 mightest [so] outrun me ; 2 Or mayest and [the Fiat] created the reaching forth, and** there came forth from thence, hands, and all other essences and forms, as it is before our eyes, and the astronomicus [astronomer] knoweth it well, yet he knoweth not the secrecy of it, although he can explain the 3 signs according to the constellation 3 marks or and elements, which qualify [and mingle] together in the essences of the spirit of the soul.

27. And now when the hands (in the will) reach after the children of the earth (which [reaching forth] yet is no other than a will in the spirit of the child in the mother's body) then the Fiat is there, and maketh a great room in the courts of the three elements, and a tough firm enclosure round about it, that they may not touch the flesh : For the flesh is afraid of the children of the earth, because the earth is thrown away (for its rough stinking darkness) and it trembleth for great fear ; and it looketh still about after the best [means] (lest the children of the earth should be too rough for it, and might cause a stink) that so it might 1 outlet. have an l opening, and might cast away the stink and the filth, and [so] it maketh out of the court (which is the maw [or stomach]) an outlet and gate, and environeth the same with its tough [sour] harshness, and so there is a gut. 2 the stink. 28. But because the2 enemy is not yet in sub- stance, but only in the will of the spirit, therefore it goeth away very slowly downwards, and seeketh for the port, where it will make an outlet and gate, that it may cast away the stink and filth, from whence the guts are so very long and

8 winding and 3 Crooked. folds. 29. Now when this conference (which is spiritual, between the three elements, fire, air, and water) was perceived by the spirit of the earth (viz. the * the spirit of essences in the region of the lungs) then 4it cometh at last (when the habitation or the court was already built for the children of the earth) and saith to the three elements, Wherefore will you take the body for the spirit ? Will you take the children of the earth, and feed upon them ? I am their spirit, and am pure ; I can strengthen the essences of the soul with my virtue and essences, and uphold them well, take me in. 30. And they say, Yes, we will take thee in, for thou art a member of our spirit ; thou shalt dwell in us, and strengthen the essences of our spirit, that it may not faint ; yet we must also have the children of the earth (for they have our quality also in them) that we may rejoice. And the spirit of the lungs saith, Then 1 will live in you wholly, and rejoice myself with you. The Gate of the Sidereal, or l Starry Spirit. l Astral spirit

31. Thus now when the light of the sun, which had discovered and imprinted itself in the fire-flash of the essences of the spirit, and was shining in the fire-flash (as in a strange virtue, and not in the sun's own virtue), [when he] seeth that he hath gotten the 2 region, and that the 3 essences of the 2 rule, ..... . . ... . . ment, or pre soul (which are the worm or the spirit) as also the elements will rejoice in his virtue and splendour, and that the elements have made their four regions [or dominions] and habitations, for an everlasting possession, and that * he should be a king, and that 4 the sun. 5 they should serve at court (in the spirit of the6 the elements. essences) in the heart, and so exceedingly love him, and rejoice in their service, and have besides brought the 6 children of the earth, that the spirit 6 the fruits L of the earth. might present them (where then they will first be frolic and potent, and eat and drink of the 7 essences of the children of the earth), then 8 he 7 Or virtues. thinketh with himself, it is good to dwell here,

thou art a king, thou wilt bring *thy kindred 9 the woridiy- J . wise, or the offspring, or generation] hither, and raise them children of up above the elements, and make thyself a region [or dominion]. Art not thou the king? Here is the gate where the children of this world are wiser than the children of light. 0 man ! consider thyself ! And he draweth the constellations to him, and bringeth them into the essences, and sets them over the elements, with their wonderful and unsearchable various essences, (whose number is infinite), and maketh himself a region and kingdom of his generation in a strange country. 32. For the essences of the soul are not this king's own, he hath not generated them, nor they him ; but he hath, by lust, imprinted himself also in its essences, and kindled himself in its fire-flash, on purpose to find its virgin, and live in her; which is the amiable divine virtue [or power] : Because the spirit of the soul is out of the eternal and had the virgin, before the fall, and therefore now the spirit of the great world continually seeketh the virgin in the spirit of the soul, and supposeth that she is there still, as before the fall, where the spirit of the great world appeared in Adam's virgin with very great joy, and desired also to live in the virgin, and to be eternal. Because he felt his corruptibility, and that he was so rough in himself, therefore he would fain partake of the loving kindness and sweetness of the virgin, and live in her, that so he might live eternally, and not break [corrupt or perish] again.

33. For by the great longing of the darkness after the light and virtue of God, this world hath been generated out of the darkness, where the holy virtue of God [shone, or] beheld itself in the darkness ; and therefore this great desiring and longing after the divine virtue, continueth in the spirit of the sun, stars, and elements, and in all things. All groan and pant after the divine virtue, and would fain be delivered from the vanity of the devil : But seeing that cannot be, therefore all creatures must wait till their l dissolution, when they [shall go] * corruption. into their ether, and get a place in paradise, yet only in the figure and shadow, and the spirit [must] be dissolved, which here hath had such lust [or 34. But now this lust [or longing] must be thus, or else no good creature could be, and this world would be a mere hell and wrathfulness. And now seeing the virgin standeth in the second Principle, so that the spirit of this world cannot possibly reach to her, and yet that the virgin doth continually behold herself [or appear] in the spirit of this world, to [satisfy] the lust and longing in the fruit and growing of every thing, therefore 2 he is 2 the spirit of so very longing, and seeketh the virgin continually, worid^ He exalteth many a creature in great skill and cunning subtlety, and he bringeth it into the highest degree that he can ; and continually supposeth that so the virgin shall again be generated for him, which he saw in Adam before his fall ; which also brought Adam to fall, in that 2 he would dwell in his virgin, and with his great lust so 3 pressed Adam, that he fell asleep ; that is, he set 3 See more of

A -i t 1 tf"8 strife in himself by force in Adam s tincture close to the chap. 12 v. virgin, and would fain have qualified in her, and [mingled] with her, and so live eternally, whereby the tincture grew weary, and the virgin withdrew. 35. And then Adam fell, and was feeble, which 1 Adam's in- is called sleep : This was the l Tree of Temptation, Temptadon. [to try] whether it were possible for Adam to live eternally in the virgin, and to generate the virgin again out of himself, and so generate an angelical kingdom. 36. But seeing it could not so be (because of the spirit of this world) therefore was the outward temptation first taken in hand by the tree of the fruit of this world. And there Adam became 2 Or at length. 2 perfectly a man of this world, and did eat and drink of the earthly essences, and infected [or mingled] himself with the spirit of this world, and became that [spirit's] own ; as we now see by woeful experience, how that [spirit] possesseth a child in the mother's body in the incarnation : For he knoweth not any where else to seek the virgin, but in man, where he first of all espied her.

37. Therefore he doth wrestle in many a man (that is of a strong complexion, in whom the virgin doth often behold herself) so very hard, continually supposing he shall get the virgin, and that she shall be generated for him : And the more the soul resisteth him, and draweth near to the Heart of God, and panteth to yield itself over thereto (where the amiable virgin not only freely looketh upon it, but dareth even for a long time even to sit in its nest [viz. in] the tincture of the soul), the more strong and [eciger or] desirous doth the spirit of this world come to be. 38. Where then the king (viz, the light of the sun) is so very joyful in the spirit, and doth so highly triumph, exult, and rejoice, that he moveth all the essences of the stars, and bringeth them into their highest degree, to generate her ; where then all centres of the stars fly open, and the loving virgin beholdeth herself in them. Where then the essences of the soul (in the light of the virgin) can see in the centres of the stars, what is Mn its » in the onoriginal and source. gbaiand

39. Of which my soul knoweth full well, andtbesou1' hath also received its knowledge thus, which 2 the learned master in the 8hood of his degree » the great cannot believe, because he cannot apprehend it ; iSflhet™60 therefore he holdeth it to be impossible, and SSJghtb? the ascribeth it to the devil (as the Jews did by the Holy Ghost' Son of the Virgin, when he in [the virtue of] the virgin shewed signs and wrought miracles) which my soul regardeth not, neither esteemeth their pride, it hath enough in the Pearl; and it hath a longing to shew the thirsty [where] the Pearl [lieth] : The crowned hood [or cornered cap] may play merrily behind the curtain of Antichrist, 4 till « They that the lily groweth, and then the smell of the lily will [cause some to] throw away the hood [or cap], saith the virgin; and the thirsty shall drink of the water of life ; and [at that time] the Son of the Virgin will rule in the valley of Jehosaphat. 40. Therefore seeing the mystery in the light of the virgin thus wonderfully meeteth us, we will here, for the seeking mind (which in earnest hope seeketh that it might find the Pearl) open yet one gate, as the same is opened to us in the virgin. For the mind asketh, Seeing that the sun, stars, and elements were never yet in the second Principle (where the virgin generateth herself out of the light) therefore how could they be able to know the virgin in Adam, so that they labour thus eagerly with longing after the virgin ?

The Depth in the Centre. 41. Behold, thou seeking mind, that which thou seest before thy eyes, that is not the * element, neither in the fire, air, water, nor earth ; neither are there four, but one only, and that is fixed and invisible, also imperceptible : For the fire which burneth is no element, but [it is] the fierce [stern wrath], which cometh to be such in the kindling of the anger, when the devils fell out of the l element : The element is neither hot nor cold, but it is the inclination [to be] in God, for the Heart of God rising up. is Barm [that is, warmth] and its 2 ascension is attractive and always finding ; and then the hertz [that is, the heart] is the holding the thing before itself, and not in itself ; and then the ig [the last syllable of the German word Barm-hertz-ig (that is, warm-hearted, or merciful) expounded according to the language of nature] is the continual dis- pure, holy, eternal element. covering of the thing, and this is altogether ewig [eternal] ; and that is the ground of the inward element, which maketh the anger substantial, so that it was visible and palpable, which [anger] Lucifer with his legions did awaken ; and thereupon he now remaineth to be prince in the anger [or wrath] (in the kindled element) as Christ (according to this form) calleth him a prince of this world.

42. And the element remaineth hidden to the anger and l fierceness [or wrath], and standeth in l paradise ; and the l fierce wrath goeth still out from the element; and therefore God hath captivated the devils with the element in the x fierce wrath, and he keepeth them [in] with the element; and the l fierce wrath cannot [touch or] comprehend 2it, like the fire and the light; for the 2 the element, light is neither hot nor cold, but the x fierce wrath is hot ; and the one holdeth the other, and the one generateth the other. 43. Here observe ; Adam was created out of the element, out of the attracting of the heart of God, which is the will of the Father, and therein is the virgin of the divine virtue [or power], and the outward regimen (which in the kindling parted itself into four parts) would fain have had the same [virgin] in itself; that is, the fierceness of the devil would fain have dwelt in the Heart of God, and have domineered over it, and have opened a centre there, which the fierceness without the light cannot do; for every centre was generated

and opened with the kindling of the light. Thus the fierceness would fain be over the meekness, and therefore hath God caused the sun to come forth, so that it hath thus opened four centres, viz. the going forth out of the element. 44. And when the light of the sun appeared in the fierce [sourness or] harshness, then the harshness became thin and l sweet, even water, and the fierceness in the fire-flash was extinguished by the water, so that the anger stood still, yet the will could not rest, but went forth in the mother, out of the water, and moved itself, which is the air: 2 coagulated. And that which the fierce sourness had 2 attracted to it, that was thrust out of the element, in the water, as you see that earth swimmeth in the water. 45. Thus the evil child panteth after the mother, and would get to be in the mother in the element, and yet cannot reach her. But in Adam that [child] did perceive the element ; and thereupon the four elements have drawn Adam to them, and supposed then that they had the mother ; because the virgin there shewed herself in the living spirit of Adam.

46. Hereupon now the spirit of the stars and elements would continually [get] again into the element ; for in the element there is meekness and 8 Viz. in the rest ; and in the 8 kindling thereof there is mere ' enmity and contrary will, and the devil ruleth also therein ; and they would fain be released from that abominable and naughty guest, and they seek with great anxiety after l deliverance, as Paul saith, All 1 creatures groan together with us, to be freed from vanity. 47. Then saith the mind, Wherefore doth God let it move so long in the anxiety ? Alas ! when will it be that I shall see the virgin? Hearken, thou noble and highly worthy mind, it must all enter in, [and serve] to the glory of God, and praise God ; as it is written, All tongues shall praise God ; let it pass till the number to the praise of God be full, according to the eternal mind. 48. Thou wilt say, How great is that [number] then ? Behold, tell the stars in the firmament ; tell the trees, the herbs, and every [spire of] grass, if thou canst ; so great is the number that shall enter in, to the glory and honour of God. For in the end all stars pass again into the element, into the mother ; and there it shall appear, how much good they haVe brought forth here by their working.

For the shadow and the image of every [thing or] substance shall appear before God, in the element, and stand eternally ; in the same thou shalt have great joy, thou shalt see all thy works therein ; also all the afflictions thou hast suffered, they shall be altogether changed into great joy, and shall refresh thee indeed ; wait but upon the LORD ; the spirit intimateth, that when the time of the lily is 2expired, a Orcome then this shall be done.

49. Therefore it is that God keepeth it hidden so long (as to our sight) that the number of the glory of his kingdom may be great ; but before him it is but as the twinkling of an eye. Have but patience, this world will most certainly be dissolved, together with the fierceness which must abide in the first Principle ; therefore do thou beware of that. 1 figures or 50. My beloved Reader, I bring in my Hypes of parables. • « 5 > the essences of the incarnation in the mother s body, in a [colloquy or] conference of the spirit with the 2 Note. essences and elements. 2I cannot bring it to be understood in any easier way : Only you must know, that there is no conference, but it is done most certainly so in the essences, and in the spirit. Here you will say to me, thou dost not dwell in the 3 Wast incar- incarnation, and see it ; thou 3 didst once indeed nate in thy 111 mother's become man, but thou knewest not how, nor what womb. r . . [was done then] ; neither canst thou go again into thy mother's body [or womb] and see how it came to pass there. Such a doctor was I also ; and in my own reason I should be able to judge no otherwise, if I should stick still in my blindness. But thanks be to God, who hath regenerated me, by water and the Holy Ghost, to [be] a living creature, so that I can (in this light) see my great in-bred [native] vices, which are in my flesh.

51. Thus now I live in the spirit of this world in my flesh, and my flesh serveth the spirit of this world, and my mind [serveth] God : My flesh 4 kingdom or is generated in this world, and hath its 4 region [or government] from the stars and elements, which dwell in it, and are the master of the [outward] 1 life ; and my mind is 2 regenerated in God, and 1 Or body. loveth God. And although I cannot comprehend of°G0gde"eratod and hold the virgin (because my mind falleth into sins) yet the spirit of this world shall not always hold the mind captive. 52. For the virgin hath given me her promise, not to leave me in any misery, she will come to help me in the Son of the Virgin. I must but hold to him again, and he will bring me well enough again to her into paradise ; I will give the venture, and go through the thistles and thorns, as well as I can, till I find my native country again, out of which my soul is wandered, where my dearest virgin dwelleth. i rely upon her faithful promise, when she appeared to me, that she would turn all my mournings into great joy ; and when I laid upon

the mountain towards the 3 north, so that all the 3 Or midnight trees fell upon me, and all the storms and winds beat upon me, and Antichrist gaped at me with his open jaws to devour me, then she came and comforted me, and married herself to me. 53. Therefore I am but the more cheerful, and care not for him ; he ruleth [and domineereth] over me no further than over the * house of sin, whose patron he * transitory himself is; he may take that quite away, and so I shall come into my native country. But yet he is not absolutely lord over it, he is but God's ape ; for as an ape (when its belly is full) imitateth all manner of tricks and pranks to make itself sport, and would fain seem to be the finest and the nimblest beast [it can], so also 1Note, i desire doth he. l His power hanoreth on the great tree of not to write ° . the exposition this world, and a storm of wind can blow it away. of this yet. . 54. JNow seeing I have shewn the Reader, how the true element sticketh wholly hidden in the outward kindled [elements], for a comfort to him, that he may know what he [himself] is, and that he may not despair in such an earnest manifestation [or revelation as this is], therefore now I will go on with my conference between the elements, sun, and stars, where there is a continual wrestling and overcoming, in which the child in the mother's body [or womb] is figured ; and I freely give the Reader to know, ^hat indeed the true element Heth hidden in the outward man, which is the chest of the treasure [or cabinet of the precious gem and jewel] of the

8 in. soul, if it be faithful, and yield itself up 2to God. 55. So now when the heart, liver, lungs, bladder, stomach, and spirit, together with the other parts [or members] of the child, are figured in the mother's body, by the constellation and elements, then the region or regimen riseth up, which at length figureth [fashioneth or formeth] all whatsoever was wanting : And now it exceedingly concerneth us to consider » Or senses, of the originality of speech, mind, and 3 thoughts, wherein man is an image and similitude of God, and wherein the noble knowledge of all the three Principles doth consist. 56. For every beast also standeth in the springing up of the life (formerly mentioned) in the mother's body, and taketh its beginning after the same manner in the [dam's or] mother's body, and its spirit liveth also in the stars and elements, and they have their [faculty of] seeing from the glance of the sun : And in the same [beginning of the life] there is no difference between man and beast. For a beast eateth and drinketb, sinelleth, heareth, seeth, and feeleth, as well as man ; and yet they have no understanding in them, but only to feed

and multiply. We must go higher, and see what the image of God is, which God so dearly loved, that he spent his Heart and Son upon it, and gave him to become man, so that he came to help man * be incarnate. again after the fall, and freed and redeemed him again from the bestial birth, and brought him again into paradise, into the heavenly 2 region. 2 kingdom or 57. Therefore we must look after the ground [of it], how not only a bestial man, with bestial qualifications [or condition] is figured [or formed], but also a heavenly, and an image of God, to the honour of God and [the magnifying of] his deeds of wonder ; to which end he so very highly graduated man, that he had an eternal similitude and image of his own substance. For to that end he hath manifested himself by heaven and earth, and created some creatures to [be] eternal, understanding, and rational spirits, to live in his virtue and glory, and some to [be] figures ; so that (when their spirit goeth into the ether and dissolveth) the spirits which are eternal might have their joy and recreation 3with them. »in.

58. Therefore we must search and see, what kind of image that is, and how it taketh its beginning so, that man beareth an earthly, elementary, and also an heavenly image. And not only so, but he beareth also a hellish [image] on him, which is inclined [or prone] to all sins and wickedness ; and all this taketh beginning together with the beginning of the life. 59. And further, we must look, where then the own will sticketh, [whereby] man can in [his] own power yield up himself how he will, [either] to the kingdom of heaven, or to the kingdom of hell. To this looking-glass we will invite them that hunger and thirst after the noble knowledge, and shew them the ground, whereby they may in their minds be freed from the errors and contentious controversies in the antichristian kingdom. Whosoever now shall rightly apprehend this gate, 1 being of ail he shall understand the 1 essence of all essences; substance of and if he rightly consider it, [he shall so] learn all substances. n , . i « .i -i> i to understand what Moses, and all the rropnets, and also what the holy Apostles have written, and in [or from] what kind of spirit every one hath spoken ; also what hath ever been, and what shall or can be afterwards.

The most precious Gate in the Root of the Lily. 60. Now if we consider the three Principles, and how they are in their original, and how they generate themselves thus, then we [shall] find the essence of all essences, how the one goeth out of the other thus, and how the one is higher graduated than the other, how the one is eternal, and the other corruptible, and how the one is fairer and better than the other : Also thus we [shall] find wherefore the one willeth [to go] * forward, and the other 2 backward : 1 in Also, [thus we shall] find the love and desire, and2in'self the hate [and enmity] of every thing. 61. But' now we cannot say of the originalness of the essence of all essences otherwise, than that in the original there is but one only essence, out of which now goeth forth the essence of all essences ; and that one essence is the eternal mind of God, that standeth [hidden] in the darkness, and that same essence hath longed from eternity, and had it in the will to generate the light : And that longing is the source [or eternal working property], and that will is the springing up. Now the springing up maketh the stirring and the mobility, and the mobility maketh the attracting in the will, and the will maketh again the longingness, so that the will always longeth after light : And this is an eternal band, that is without beginning and without end ; for where there is a willing, there is also desiring, and where there is a desiring, there is also, in the will's desiring, an attracting of that which the will desireth. Now the desiring is sour, hard, and cold, for it draweth to it, and holdeth it ; for where there is nothing, there the desiring can hold nothing ; and therefore if the will desireth to

hold anything, the desiring must be hard, that the will may comprehend it ; and being there was nothing from eternity, therefore the will also could comprehend and hold nothing. 62. Thus we find now that the three from eternity are an unbeginning and indissoluble band ; attracting, viz. * longing, willing, and desiring ; and the one always generateth the other, and if one were not, then the other also would not be, of which none know what it is ; for it is in itself nothing but a spirit, which is in itself in the darkness ; and yet there is no darkness, but a nothing, neither darkness nor light. Now then the * longing is an hunger [seeking], or an infecting of the desiring, and the will is a retention in the desiring ; and now if the [desiring] must retain the will, then it must be comprehensible, and there must not be one [only] thing alone in the will, but two ; now then seeing they are the two, therefore the attracting must be the third, which draweth that [which is] comprehensible into the will. Now this being thus from eternity, therefore it is found of itself, that from eternity there is a springing and moving ; for that [which is] comprehended must spring and be somewhat, that the will may comprehend somewhat; and seeing that it is somewhat, therefore it must be sour and attractive, that it [may] come to be somewhat. And then seeing it is sour and attractive, therefore the attracting maketh the comprehensibility, that so the will [may] have

Cll. 14] BIRTH AND PROPAGATION OF MAN 287 somewhat to comprehend and to hold ; and then it being thus comprehensible, therefore it is thicker [grosser or darker] than the will, and it shadoweth the will, and covereth xthat [which is attracted] » which is and the will is in l that, and the longing maketh them both ; and seeing now that the will is in that [which is] comprehensible, therefore that [which is] comprehensible is the darkness of the will ; for it hath with its comprehensibility enclosed the will; now the will not being 2out of that 2 gotten out [which is] comprehensible, it longeth continually after the light, that it might be delivered from the darkness, which yet itself maketh with the 63. From whence now cometh the anxiety, because the will is shut up in the darkness ; and the attracting of the will maketh the mobility; and that [which is] movable maketh the will's rising up out of the darkness. Now therefore the rising up is the first 3 essence ; for it generateth 3 itself in the attracting, and is itself the attracting. And yet now the will cannot endure the attracting either, for it maketh that dark with the attracted essence [being or substance], which the will comprehendeth, and resisteth it, and the resisting is the stirring, and the stirring maketh a parting or breaking in that [which is] attracted, for it severeth [it] ; and this also the sourness in the attracting cannot endure, and the anguish in the will is [thereby] the greater, and the attracting to hold

the stirring [is] also the greater. So when the stirring is thus very hard knit together, and held by the sour attracting, then it eateth [gnaweth, presseth, or nippeth] itself, and becometh prickly, and stingeth in the sour anguish. And when the sourness attracteth the more vehemently [or strongly] to it, then the ppickle becometh so very great in anxiety, that the will springeth up horribly, and setteth its purpose to fly away out of the darkness. 64. And here the eternal mind hath its original, 1 property, or in that the will will [go] out of that l source, into 2 flowing or another 2 source of meekness, and from thence the working. eternal l source in the anguish hath also its original, and it is the eternal worm which generateth and eateth itself, and in its own fierceness in itself liveth in the darkness which itself maketh ; and there also the eternal infection [or mixture] hath its original, back from which there is no further to be searched into, for there is nothing 3 Than the deeper, or 3 sooner ; the same always maketh itself eternal pro- ., . 111 i perty of hell, from eternity, and hath no maker or creator. And

4 grim stem- it is not God, but God's original * fierceness [or ness. • , r \ • • i -i wrath], an anxiety, [or aching anguish], generating in itself, and gnawing [eating or devouring] in it, and yet consuming nothing, neither multiplying nor lessening. 65. Seeing then the eternal will, which is thus generated, getteth in the anxiety a mind after somewhat else, that it might escape the sourness Cll. 14] BIRTH AND PROPAGATION OF MAN. 289 [or fierceness], and exult in the meekness, and yet it cannot otherwise be done than out of itself, therefore the mind generateth again a will to live in the meekness ; and the originality of this will ariseth out of the first will, out of the anguishing mind, out of the dark sourness, which in the stirring maketh a breaking wheel ; where the recomprehended will discovereth itself in the breaking wheel in the great anxiety, in the eternal mind, where somewhat [must] be which stood in the meekness. And this appearing [or discovery] in the anxious breaking wheel, is a flash of a great swiftness, which the anguish sharpeneth thus in the sourness, so that the sharpness of the flash is consuming, and that is the fire-flash, as it is to be seen in nature, when one x hard substance striketh * A flint and against another, how it [grindeth or] sharpeneth stee1' itself, and generateth a flash of fire, which was not before. And the re-comprehended mind 2 compre- « Or conhendeth the flash, and discovereth itself now in the °eiveth' sourness; and the flash with its strong [or fierce] sharpness consumeth the comprehended sourness, which holdeth it [viz. the will in the mind] captive in the darkness ; and now it is free from the darkness.

66. Thus the sourness receiveth the flash, and goeth in the terror [shriek or crack] backwards, as it were overcome, and from the terror [shriek or crack] becometh soft ; in which meekness the flash discovereth itself, as in its own mother. And from * centre or Principle. the meekness it becometh l white and clear : And in the flash there is great joy, that the will therein is delivered from the darkness. 67. Thus now the eternal mind 2uniteth itself in the re- comprehended [or re-conceived] will, in [or unto] the meekness of the deliverance out of the darkness of the anxiety ; ancT the sharpness of the consuming of the eternal darkness stayeth in the flash of the meekness ; and the flash 3 discovereth itself in the anxious mind in many thousand thousands, yea, 4 without end and number. And in that discovery the will and the inclination [or yielding up itself] discover themselves always again in a great desire to go forth out of the darkness ; where then in every will the flash standeth again to [make an] opening, which I call the centrum [the centre] in my writings all over in this book.

68. Thus then the first longing and desiring (viz. the fierce [or stern] generating in the first will) with the dark mind, continueth 6in itself, and [hath] therein the discovering of the always enduring fire-flash in the dark mind ; and the same dark mind standeth eternally in anguish, and in the flash, in the breaking, attracting, rising up, and desiring without intermission [to be] over the meekness, when as in the breaking, with the fireflash, (in the sharpness of the flash), in the essence, the attracting springeth up like a 6 centrum or Principium. The Gate of God the Father. 69. And thus now in the sharpness of the fireflash, the light in the eternal mind springeth up out of the re-comprehended will to meekness and light, that it might be freed from the darkness; and so this freedom from the darkness is a meekness and l satisfaction of the mind, in that it is free i well-doing, from the anxiety, and standeth in the sharpness of the fire-flash, which breaketh the sour darkness, and maketh it clear and light in its [first glimpse, shining, or] appearing. 70. And in this [shining or] appearing of the sharpness, standeth the all-mightiness [or omnipotency] ; for 2it breaketh the darkness in itself, and . the appearmaketh the joy and great meekness, like that when ing or flash> a man is come out of an anguishing [or scorching]

fire to sit in a temperate place of refreshment ; and tli us the flash in itself is so fierce and sudden, yea fiercer and more sudden than a thought, and out of the darkness in itself (in its kindling) seeth into the light ; and then is so very much terrified, that it lets its power (which it had in the fire) sink down. And this terror [or shriek or crack] is made in the sharpness of the flash ; and this now is the terror [shriek or crack] of great joy ; and there the re-comprehended will desireth the crack or joy in the meekness ; and the desiring is the attracting of the joy, and the attracting is the infecting [or mingling] in the will; and that [which is] attracted maketh the will swell [or be impregnated], for it is therein, and the will holdeth it [fast]. 71. Now here is nothing which the will with the sharpness or essence could draw to it, but the meekness, the deliverance from the darkness ; this is the desire of the willing, and therein then standeth the pleasant joy, which the will draweth to itself; and the attracting in the will impregnateth the will, that it becometh full.

72. And thus the comprehended will is swelled [or impregnated] by the joy in the meekness, which it desireth (without intermission) to generate out of itself, for its own joy again, and for its sweet taste [or relish] in the joy. And the same will to generate, comprehendeth the meekness in the joy (which standeth in the swelled [or impregnated] will) and it bringeth the essences (or the attracting) of the willing again out of the will, before the will ; for the desiring draweth forth the swelling [or impregnation] out of the swelled [or impregnated] will, before the will ; and that [which habitation, is] drawn forth is the pleasant virtue, xjoy, and meekness. And this now is the desiring of the eternal will (and no more) but to eat and to draw again this virtue into it, and to be satiated therewith, and [it can] desire nothing higher or more 1 refreshing : for therein is the perfection [or fulness] of the highest *joy and meekness. 73. And so in this virtue (which is in God the Father, as is before mentioned) standeth the omniscience [or all knowledge] of what is in the originality in the eternity; where the flash then

1 discovereth itself in many thousand thousands 1 Or sparkieth 2 without number. For this virtue of joy in the 2^^ [refreshment or] habitation, is proceeded from the sharpness of the flash, and (in the sharpness of the al] -mightiness over the darkness) seeth [or looketh] again in the eternal sharpness in the dark mind ; and that mind inclineth itself to the virtue and desireth the virtue, and the virtue goeth not back again in the darkness, but 3beholdeth itself 3 As the sun therein, from whence [it is] that the eternal mind water!" the is continually longing [panting or lusting] after the virtue [or power] ; and the virtue is the sharpness, and the sharpness is the attracting. This is called the 4 eternal Fiat, which there createth and 4 Note, corporizeth what the eternal will in the almighty meekness (which there is the might and the breaking [or destroyer] of the darkness, and the building of the Principle), and what the will in the eternal [skill or] knowledge discovereth, and in itself conceiveth [apprehendeth, or purposeth], to do. And whatsoever giveth itself up to the meekness, that will the will create by the sharp Fiat which is the eternal essence. And this now is the will of God, whatsoever inclineth itself to him, and desireth him, that same he will create in the meekness; even all whatsoever (out of the many thousand

8 enter into resignation. thousands, out of the infiniteness) inclineth itself in l its virtue to him. 74. Now thus the infiniteness hath the possibility, while it is yet in the first essence [or substance], that it can 2 incline itself to him ; but here you must not understand it any more concerning the whole, for God only is the whole [totum universale], the great deep all over ; but this [which is] in the infiniteness is divided ; and it is in the appearing [flash or sparkling] of the plurality [or multiplicity], where the whole, in and through himself in the eternal impregnated darkness, [sparkleth, or] discovereth itself in infinitum [or infinitely]. This discovery, [or 3 these sparklings], stand altogether in the originality of the fire-flash, and may again, in the impregnated darkness (viz. in the 4cold sourness, and in the flash of the fire), discover [flash or sparkle] and 5 give up themselves, or again conceive a will out of the darkness, to go out of the anxiety of the mind (through the sharpness in the flash) 6in the meekness, to God. 75. For the sharpness in the flash is always the centrum [or centre] to the regeneration in the second Principle ; to which now the worm in the spark inclineth [or uniteth] to generate itself [in], whether it be in the eternal cold out of the sharp essence through the flash in the fierceness [or sternness] of the fire, or. out of the sharpness in the regeneration of the meekness to God ; therein it standeth, and there is no 7 recovery [back from

thence]. For, the meekness goeth not back again into the dark, fierce, and cold essence, in the first attracting, which from eternity is before the recomprehended [or re-conceived] will ; but it cometh to help that [darkness], and enlighteneth whatsoever cometh to it out of the strong might of God, and this liveth in the virtue, and in the light eternity with God. 76. And the deep of the darkness is as great as the habitation of the light ; and they stand not one distant from the other, but together in one another, and neither of them hath beginning or end ; there is no limit or place, but the sharp regeneration is the mark [stroke, bounds] or limitation between these two Principles. 77. Neither of them is above or beneath, only the regeneration out of the darkness in the meekness is said to be above ; and there is such a [bar or] l firma- l clift, door, ment between them, that neither of them both doth comprehend the one the other ; for the [bar or] mark of limitation is a whole birth or Principle, and a firm centre, so that none of them both can go into the other, but [only] the sharp fire-flash, the strong might of God, that standeth in the midst in the centre of the regeneration, and that only looketh into the worm of the darkness ; and with its terror in the darkness maketh the eternal anguishing source, the rising-up in the fire, which yet can reach nothing but only the anguish, and in the anguish the fierce [stern] flash. And so now

whatsoever becometh corporized there, in the stern [fierce or strong] mind, in the sparkling [or shining] of the infiniteriess, and doth not put its will (in the corporizmg) forward, into the centre of the regeneration, in the meekness of God, that remaineth in the dark mind, in the fire-flash. 78. And so that creature hath -no other will in itself, neither can it ever make any other will from anything ; for there is no more in it, but [a will] to fly up in its own un -regenerated might above the centre, and to rule [or domineer] in the might of the fire over the meekness of God, and yet it cannot reach it. 79. And here is the original [cause] that the creature of the darkness willeth to be above the Deity, as the devil did ; and here is the original 2 Or fountain, of self-pride ; for such as the * source in the creature is, such also is the creature. For the creature is [proceeded] out of the essence ; and on the other side, the 2 source (viz. its worm) is [proceeded] out of the eternal will of the dark mind. 80. And this will is not the will of God, neither 8 re-purposed, is it God ; but the 3 re-conceived will 4 to meek-

ness in the mind, is God's regenerated will, which standeth there in the centre of the birth in the sharpness of the breaking [or destroying] of the » Or well-do- darkness, and in the pleasant 5 loving kindness of the fulness of the joy and springing up of the light in the re-impregnating of the will, and to generate the virtue of the eternal omniscience and wisdom in the love, that is God ; and the outgoing from him is his willing [or desiring], which the essence (viz. the sharp Fiat) createth ; and God dwelleth in the second Principle, which is eternally generated out of the eternal centre out of the eternal will, [and this] is the kingdom of God without number and end, as it further followeth. The Gate of the Son of God, the pleasant Lily in the Wonders. 81. Therefore as the will doth thus impregnate itself from eternity, so also it hath an eternal willing [or desiring] to * bring forth the child with i generate, which it is big [impregnated, or conceived]. And that eternal will to * bring forth, doth bring forth eternally the child which the will is conceived withal ; and this child is the eternal virtue [or power] of meekness, which the will conceiveth again in itself, and expresseth [or speaketh forth] the depth of the Deity, with the eternal wonders of the wisdom of God.

82. For the will [is it] that expresseth ; and the child of the [eternal] virtue, and the eternal meekness, is the Word which the will speaketh ; and the going forth out of the spoken Word, is the spirit, which in the sharp might of God, in the centre of the regeneration, out of the eternal mind, out of the anxiety in the fire-flash in the sharpness of the [destroying or] breaking of the 1 opening or darkness, and l breaking forth of the light in the meekness, out of the eternal will from eternity, goeth forth out of the Word of God, with the sharp Fiat of the great might of God ; and it is the Holy Ghost [or Spirit] of God, which is in the virtue [or power] of the Father, and goeth eternally forth from the Father through the Word, out of the mouth of God. The Gate of God's Wonders in the Rose of the Lily. 83. Now reason asketh, Whither goeth the Holy Ghost, when he goeth forth out of the Father and Son, through the Word of God? Behold, thou sick Adam, here the gate of heaven standeth open, and very well to be understood, by those that will [or have a mind to it]. For the bride saith, Come, and whosoever thirsteth, let him come, and whosoever cometh, drinketh of the fountain of the knowledge of the eternal life in the smell and virtue of the lily of God in paradise.

84. As is mentioned above, so the ground of the Holy Trinity is in one only divine and undivided essence [being, or substance], God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; from eternity arising from nothing, always generated from and out of itself from eternity ; not beginning nor ending, but dwelling in itself; comprehended by nothing, having neither beginning nor end ; subject to no locality, nor limit [number], nor place. It hath no place of its Cl). 14] BIRTH AND PROPAGATION OF MAN 299 rest, but the deep is greater than we [can perceive or] think, and yet it is no deep, but it is the unsearchable eternity ; and if any here will think [to find] an end or limit, they will be confounded [or disturbed] by the Deity, for there is none ; it is the end of nature. And whosoever [goeth about to] think [or dive with his thoughts] l deeper, doth 1 Or further. like Lucifer, who in [high-mindedness or] pride, would fly out above the Deity, and yet there was no place, but he went on himself, into the fiery fierceness, and so he perished [withered, or became dry as] to the fountain of the kingdom of God.

85. Now see the lily, thou noble mind, full of anguish and afflictions of this world ; behold, the Holy Trinity hath an eternal will in itself, and the will is the desiring, and the desiring is the eternal essences, wherein then standeth the sharpness (viz. the Fiat) which goeth forth out of the heart, and out of the mouth of God by the Holy Ghost [or Spirit] of God. And the will [that is] gone forth out of the spirit, [that] is the divine virtue, which conceiveth [or comprehendeth] the will, and holdeth it, and the Fiat createth it [viz. that virtue], so that in it, as in God himself, all essences are, and [so that] the blossom of the light in it may spring up [and blossom] out of the Heart of God ; and yet this is not God, but [it is] the chaste virgin of the eternal wisdom and understanding, of which I treat often in this book. 86. Now the virgin is [present] before God, and Mnclineth herself to the spirit from which the virtue proceedeth, out of which she (viz. the chaste virgin) is ; this is now God's companion to the honour and joy of God ; the same appeareth or discovereth herself in the eternal wonders of God. In the discovery, she becometh longing after the wonders in the eternal wisdom, which yet is herself, and thus she longeth in herself, and her longing is the eternal essences, which attract the holy virtue to her, and the Fiat createth them, so that they stand in [or become] a substance ; and she is a virgin, and never generateth any thing, neither taketh any thing into her ; her inclination standeth in the Holy Ghost, who goeth forth from God, and attracteth nothing to him, but 2 moveth before God, and is the 3 blossom [or branch] of the growth.

87. And so the virgin hath no will to conceive [or be impregnated with] anything ; her will is [only] to open the wonders of God ; and therefore she is in the will in the wonders, to discover [or make] the wonders [appear] in the eternal essences ; and that virgin-like will createth the sour Fiat in the essences, so that it is [become] a substance, and standeth eternally before God, wherein the eternal wonders of the virgin of the wisdom of God are revealed. 88. And this substance is the eternal element, wherein all essences in the divine virtue stand open, and are visible : and wherein the fair and chaste virgin of the divine wisdom always discovereth herself according to the number of the infiniteness, out of the many thousand thousands without end and number. And in this discovering there go forth out of the eternal element, colours, arts, and virtues, and the Sprouts of the lily of bruits. God ; at which the Deity continually rejoiceth itself in the virgin of the wisdom ; and that joy goeth forth out of the eternal essences, and is called paradise, in regard of the sharpness of the generating [or bringing forth] of the pleasant fruit of the lily [in infinitum or] infinitely ; where then the essences of the lily spring up in wonders in many thousand thousands without number, of which you have a similitude in the [springing or blossoming earth.

89. Beloved mind, behold, consider this, this now is God and his heavenly kingdom, even the eternal element and paradise, and it standeth thus in the eternal original from eternity to eternity. Now what joy, delight, and pleasantness is therein, I have no pen that can describe it, neither can I express it ; for the earthly tongue is too much insufficient to do it ; [all that men can say of it] is like dross compared with gold, and much more inferior ; yea, although the virgin 2 bringeth it into 2 discovereth the mind, yet all is too dark and too cold in the ' whole man, so that he cannot express so much as one spark [or glimpse] thereof sufficiently. We will defer it till [we come] into the bosom of the virgin ; we have here only given a short hint of it, that the author of this book may be understood ; for we are but a very little drop out of the fountain of the wisdom of God ; and we speak as a little sparkle [or glimpse], but [high] enough for our Or in respect, earthly [understanding], and1 for our weak knowledge here upon earth ; for in this life we have no need of any higher knowledge of the eternal substance [being or essence] ; if we do but barely and nakedly speak of what hath been from eternity, it is enough.

Of the l Knowledge of the Eternity in the l Or UnderCorruptibility of the Essence of all Essences. 1. ~^TOW ^ we consider of the eternal will A.^1 of God, [and] of the 2 essence of all2 being of all essences; then we find in the originalness but substance of one [only being, substance or] essence, as is*1 mentioned above. Out of this [only] essence is generated from eternity the other [being, substance, or] essence, viz. the divine essence, and we find that both the [beings, substances or] essences stand in divine omnipotence, but not in one 3 source, 8 Or working neither do they mix together, nor can either ofpl them both be [destroyed, dissolved, corrupted, 2. But yet they have two sorts of inclinations [or desires], each in itself for its own. Yet because the divine [being or] essence from eternity is generated out of itself, therefore it is inclined to help the weak, and is rightly called Barmhertzig-keit [mercifulness]. 3. And now seeing the virgin of the eternal wisdom hath 4 discovered herself in the eternal « Or shone. original, and in the eternal mind in the sharp essence of the breaking of the darkness in the fireflash [hath found] the depth of the f1 very] image of God, and that the similitude of God is there in the eternal original, therefore she hath longed after the similitude, and that longing maketh the

2 Or presented attracting in the will, and the will stood [2 right] against the similitude ; and the Fiat in the attracting of the willing, created the will in the similitude, out of which came the angels all together. But now the eternal essences were in the similitude, and the wisdom discovered [or manifested] herself in the essences in many thousand thousands, that the eternal wonders might be revealed [or made manifest] ; and thereupon there went forth (according to every essence, as out of a fountain) many thousand thousands. 4. And from thence came the names of the thrones and principalities, as according to the 3 Or fountain, essences of the first and great 3 source, which in the discovering of the eternal wisdom of God goeth forth again into many thousand thousands, yet there is a certain number [of them], and in the centre of God none [or no number, but infiniteness] ; and thus out of the fountain of every essence are 4 Or throne- gone forth, first the * thrones, and in the throne 5. These the Fiat created to a similitude and image of God, and overshadowed the same in the Fiat with the overflowing virtue of God ; and the

will of God l set itself [right] against the image and x Or presented 1-1 11 1-1 -IT -n itself before. similitude, and they now which received the will, they became angels, for they set their imagination, in the will, in the heart of God, and they did eat of the Verbum Domini [of the Word of the Lord] ; but they that set their imagination in the dark mind, as Lucifer [did, that he might] fly out above the Deity and meekness in the might of the fire in the flash, in the sharp might of God, and be lord alone, they became devils, and they have that name from their being thrust [or driven] out of the light ; for they were in the light when the Fiat created them, for the Fiat which created them stood in the light. 6. Thus the devil is the fault, and guilty of his own fall, for he suffered himself to be moved by the matrix of the 2 sternness [fierceness, sourness, or 2 Or gnmness. wrath], whereas he yet had his own will to take hold of light or darkness. And Lucifer was a throne (that is, a 3 source [or fountain] of a great 3 a fountain essence) from whence went forth all his servants many veins, [or ministers], and they did like him ; and so they with many were thrust back into the darkness, for the light of God goeth not into the [grimness, wrath or] fierceness.

7. And there the Fiat (which created the fierce [wrathful or grim] devils, in hope that they would of devils become angels, who set their imagination therein, that thereby they might domineer over God and the kingdom of heaven) was infected in the figuring of the similitudes ; and so instantly kindled the element in the similitude, viz. in the out-birth [or procreation], in the speculating [or beholding], so that the essence hath generated to the highest essences, from whence go forth the four elements of this world, of the third Principle ; and the sharp Fiat of God (which" stood in the outbirth [or procreation]) hath created the out-birth, out of which the earth and stones are proceeded. 8. For when the Fiat kindled the element in the out-birth, then the kindled materia [or matter] became palpable [or comprehensible], this was not now fit for paradise, but it was ex-created, [or made external]. Yet that the element with its out-birth might no more generate thus, therefore 1 the one pure God created the heaven out of the 1 element, and [caused or] suffered out of the element (which is the heavenly limbus), the third Principle to spring up ; where the spirit of God again discovered [or revealed] itself in the virgin, viz. in the eternal wisdom, and found out, in the out-birth, in the corruptible substance, the similitude again. And the discovering stood in the sharp attraction of the Fiat, and the Fiat created it so that it became essential [or substantial] ; and the same are the stars, a mere quinta essentia, an extract of the Fiat's, out of the limbus of God, wherein the hidden element standeth.

9. But that the sharp and severe essence with the attraction might cease, therefore God generated a similitude according to the fountain of the Heart of God, viz. the sun ; and herewith sprang up the third Principle of this world, and that [viz. the sun] put all things into meekness and 1 well-fare. 1 well-doing, 10. Seeing then that the eternal wisdom of God °r kindne88' (viz. in the chaste virgin of the divine virtue) had discovered itself in the Principle of this world, in which place the great prince Lucifer stood in the heaven, in the second Principle, therefore the same discovering was eternal, and God desired to shed forth the similitude out of the essences, which the Fiat created according to the kind of every essence, that they should (after the breaking [or dissolution] of the outward substance) be a figure and image in paradise, and a shadow of this substance. 11. And that there should go nothing in vain out of the substances of God, therefore God created beasts, fowls, fishes, worms, trees and herbs out of all essences; and besides [created] also figured spirits out of the quinta essentia, in the elements, that so, after the fulfilling of the time (when the out-birth [shall] go into the ether) they should appear before him, and that his eternal wisdom in his works of wonder might be known.

12. But seeing it was his will also in this throne, in the eternal element, to have creatures that should be instead of the fallen devils, and possess the place [of them] in the heaven in paradise, therefore he created man out of the 2 element. •O»«nn| 13. Arid as this place was now twofold, and one element- 1 Or in. l with the eternal originality threefold (viz. [having] the first principle in the great anxiety, and the second Principle in the divine habitation in paradise, and then the third Principle in the light of the sun, in the quality of the stars and elements), so must man also be created out of all three, if he must be an angel in" this place, and receive all knowledge and understanding, whereby he might have eternal joy also with [or in] the figures and images, which stand not in the eternal spirit, but in the eternal figure, as all things in this world are [or do]. 14. And there God manifesteth himself according to his eternal will, in his eternal wisdom of the noble virgin, in the element, which in paradise standeth in the sharpness of the divine virtue [or power]. And the Fiat created man out of the element in paradise, for it attracted to it out of the quintessence of the sun, stars, and elements in paradise, in the element of the originality (from whence the four elements proceed) and created man to the image of God (that is, to the similitude of God) and breathed into him into the element of the body (which yet was nothing else but paradisical virtue) the spirit of the eternal essences out of the eternal originality ; and there man became a living soul, and an image of God in paradise.

15. And the wisdom of God, the pleasant 2 shone forth, virgin, did 2 discover herself in him, and with the discovering opened Adam's centre, in [or to] many Ch. ]5] KNOWLEDGE OF THE ETERNITY 309 thousand thousands, which should proceed out of this fountain of this image ; and the noble virgin of the wisdom and virtue [or power] of God was espoused [or contracted] to him, that he should be modest and wholly chaste to his virgin, and set no desire in the first, nor in the third Principles, to qualify [mix with] or live therein, but his inclination or longing must be to get into the Heart of God, and to eat of the l Verbum Domini [of the1 The Word Word of the Lord] in all the fruits of this world. LedetiTout 16. For the fruits were also good, and their of God™0 inclination [or that which made them to be desired] proceeded out of the inward element, out of the 2 paradise. Now Adam could eat of every fruit • the divine in the mouth, but not 8in the corruptibility, that 3^^ must not be, for his body must subsist eternally, rtom«'1> OT J ' maw, where

and continue in paradise, and generate a chaste the meat virgin out of himself, like himself, without rending corrupt dung, of his body ; for this could be, seeing his body was [proceeded] out of the heavenly element, out of the virtue of God. 17. But when the chaste virgin found herself thus in Adam with great wisdom, meekness, and humility, then the outward elements became lusting after the eternal, that they might * raise them- * discover OP selves up in the chaste virgin, and 6 qualify in her ; Tofn^with seeing that Adam was extracted out of them [viz. her» or work the tour elements], out of the quinta essentia, therefore they desired their own, and would qualify therein, which yet God did forbid to Adam, [saying] that he should not eat of the knowledge of good and evil, but live in [the] one [only element], and be contented with paradise. 18. But the spirit of the great world overcame Adam, and put itself in with force, in quintam essentiam [into the quintessence], which there is the fifth form, the extract out of the four elements and stars ; and there must God create a woman [or wife] for Adam out of his essences, if he must be to fill the kingdom, according to the appearing [discovering, shining, or sparkling] of the noble virgin, [with many thousand thousands], and build [or propagate] the same. And thus man 'became earthly, and the virgin departed from him in paradise ; and there she warned [called and told] him that he should lay off the earthliness, and then she would be his bride and loving spouse. And now it cannot be otherwise in this world with 1 begotten, man, he must be * generated in the virtue of the m! nourish- outward constellation and elements, and live

Lrved. pre therein till the earth li ness falleth away. 19. And thus he is in this life threefold, and the threefold spirit hangeth on him, and he is generated therein, neither can he be rid of it, except he [corrupt or] break to pieces ; yet he can be rid of paradise, whensoever his spirit imagineth in the fierceness [or wrath] and falsehood, and giveth up himself thereto, that so he might be above meekness and righteousness in himself, as a lord, like Lucifer, [and] live in pride [and stateliness] ; and then paradise l falleth [away], and is shut up ; ' ceaseth, and he loseth his first image which standeth in the disappeared. hidden element in Paradise. 20. For the Adamical 2 however (according to the 2 though he it_ • -L • j \ tne inward element which standeth open in the mind) four elements. can live in paradise, if he striveth against evil, and wholly with all his strength give himself up to the Heart of God, then the virgin dwelleth with him, (in the inward element in paradise), and enlighteneth his mind, so that he can tame the Adamical body. 21. For these 3 three births are [inbred or]3 Or these

, , three propergenerated together with every one in the mother s ties, darkness, -i i -I i i T lights an£l th® [womb or] body, and none ought to say, 1 am foar elements. not elected ; for it is a lie, [and he] belieth the element, (wherein man also liveth) ; and besides [he] belieth the virgin of wisdom, which God giveth to every one which seeketh her with earnest- ness and humility. So [likewise] the possibility of seeking is also in every one, and it is inbred [or generated] in him with the all -possible hidden element [to which all things are possible] ; and there is no other cause of perdition in man, than [was in or] with Lucifer, whose will stood free ; he must either reach into God in humility, chastity, and meekness, or into the dark mind, in the climb- ing up of malice and fierceness [or grimness], which yet (*in its flowing forth) desireth not to lift itself 4 the fierceness up above God, but it inclineth itself only above the would not lift meekness, in the fire-flash, in the stern [or fierce] God.8* regeneration : But the devils would (as creatures)

be above all, and be lords wholly [of themselves], 1 Note, the and l so it is also with man here. evil of nature . is not in fault, 22. The pride of nature indeed mclmeth one but the crea- . tureisin fault, man more strongly than another, but it forceth [or compelleth] none that they must be proud ; and if there be a force [or strong compulsion upon any], then it is when man willingly, for temporal honour and pleasure sake, lets the devil into his eternal essences ; and then he [the devil] seeth presently how that man is inclined [or led] by the spirit of this world, and in that way tempteth him accordingly ; if man letteth him but in, he is then a guest very hardly to be driven out again ; yet it is very possible, if that man entirely and sincerely purposeth to turn, and to live according to the will of God, then the virgin is always ready [before-hand] in the way to help him. 23. It goeth very hard, when the [grain of] mustard-seed is sown, (for the devil oppose th strongly), but whosoever persevereth, findeth by experience what is written in this book. And although he cannot be rid of the unto ward ness of the incitements of the four elements, yet nevertheless the 8 in the pure noble seed in the *limbus of God continueth with element. him, which seed springeth and groweth, and at last becometh a tree, which the devil favoureth [or relisheth] not ; but he goeth about the tree like a fawning cur which pisseth against the tree ; and then by his servants he casteth all mishaps upon him ; and by his crew [of followers and con-

federates] he thrusteth many out of l his house, l out of this ,v,i j L- j-l T> ± ., earthly rotten that he may do him no more displeasure. But it tabernacle, goeth well with him [that feareth God], and he cometh into the land of the living. 24. Therefore we say now (according to our high knowledge), that the source [or active desire] of all the three Principles doth imprint itself together 2 with the child's incarnation [or becoming man], in 2 Or in. the mother's body. For after that man is figured [or shaped] from the stars and elements, by the Fiat, so that the elements have taken possession of their regions [kingdoms, or dominions] (viz. the heart, liver, lungs, bladder, and stomach, wherein they have their regions), then must the 3 artificer 3 Or work- i • fi-ir • r- master, the in his twofold form rise up out of all essences ; Fiat. for there standeth now the image of God, and the image of this world, and there also is the image of the devil. Now there must be wrestling and overcoming, and there is need of the Treader upon the Serpent, even in the mother's [womb or] body.

25. Therefore, ye fathers and mothers, be honest and live in the fear of God, that the Treader upon the Serpent may also be in your fruit. For Christ saith, A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, and an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. And although this indeed is meant of the mind that is * brought up; which hath its own under- * Or cometh to ,. r act of itself. standing [or meaning], thus, that no false mind bringeth forth good fruit, nor any good mind evil fruit ; yet it is effectually necessary for the children [that the parents be honest aud virtuous], because the child is generated from the essences of the parents. 26. And though it be clear that the stars in the outward birth [geuiture or operation] do alter the 1 operation, essences in every one according to their l source [quality, influence, or property], yet the element is still there, and they cannot alter that with their power, except man himself do it ; they have only the outward region ; and besides, the devil dare not 2 Or give Mm- 2 image [or imprint] himself, before the time of the

self into the .. ,. ,~ .,.,. imagination, understanding, when man can incline himself to the evil or to the good. Yet none must presume upon this [impotency of the devil, and four elements], for if the parents be wicked, God can well forsake a wicked seed. For he willeth not that the Pearl should be cast before swine ; although he is very inclined to help all men, yet it is [effectual] but for those that turn to him ; and although the child is in innocency, yet the seed is not in innocency ; and therefore it hath need of the Treader upon the Serpent [or Saviour]. Therefore, ye parents, consider what ye do ; especially ye knaves and whores ; ye have a hard lesson [to learn] here, consider it well, it is no jesting matter, it shall be shewn you 3 in the book 3 in its place, that the heaven thundereth [and of Election , ... .. rn , , . f and Predtsti- passeth away with a noise]. Iruly the time ot the rose bringeth it forth, and it is high time to awake, for the sleep is at an end, there shall a great

1 rent be before the lily ; therefore let every one ' cleaving a- sunder, shaktake heed tO hlS Ways. ingandaltera- 27. If we now search into the life of man in the earthquake, mother's [womb or] body, concerning his virtue [or power], speech, and 2 senses, and the noble and 2 Or thoughts, most precious mind ; then we find the cause whereof we have made such a long 'register con- * catalogue or cernmg the eternal birth ; for the speech, senses, and mind, have also such an original, as is abovementioned concerning the eternal birth of God, and it is a very precious gate [or exposition]. 28. For behold, when the gate of this world in the child is made ready, so that the child is [become] a living soul out of the essences, and now [henceforth] seeth only [by or] in the light of the sun, and not in the light of God, then cometh the true 4 artificer, instantly in the twinkling of an eye, 4 the master, (when the light of the life kindleth), and figureth [that which is] his ; for the centre breaketh forth in all the three Principles. First, there are the four essences in the Fiat in the stern might of God, which there are the child's own, the worm of its soul, which standeth there in the house of the great anxiety, as in the originality. For the seed is sown in the will, and the will receiveth the Fiat in the tincture, and the Fiat draweth the will to it inwardly, and outwardly [draweth] the seed to a 6 mass ; for the • concretion, inward and outward 6 artificer is there. body.

29. When the will thus draweth to it, then it 6 Or m*8terbecometh inwardly and outwardly impregnated, and is darkened ; the will cannot endure this, viz. to be set in the dark, and therefore falls into great anxiety for the light ; for the outward materia [or matter] is filled with the elements, and the blood is choked [checked or stopped] ; and there then the tincture withdraweth, and there is then the right abyss of death, and so the inward [materia or matter] is filled from the essences of the virtue [or power], and in the inward there riseth up another will, out of the stern virtue of the essences, [that it might] lift itself up into the light of the meekness ; and in the outward standeth the desire to be severed, the impure from the pure, for that the outward Fiat doth. 30. We must consider, in the virtue [or power] of the virgin, that the will first is threefold, and each in its centre is fixed [stedfast or perfect] and pure, for it proceedeth out of the tincture. In the first centre there springeth up between the parents of the child the inclination [or lust], and the bestial desire to copulate ; this is the outward elementary centre, and it is fixed in itself. Secondly, there springeth up, in the second centre, the inclinable love to the copulating ; and although they were at the first sight angry and odious one to another, yet in the copulating the centre of love springeth up, and that only in the copulating ; for the one pure tincture receiveth [or catcheth] the other, and in

or the copulating the l mass receiveth them both. 31. Now thus the love qualifieth [or mixeth] with the inward [one] element, and the element with the paradise, and the paradise is before [or in the presence of] God. And the outward seed hath its essences, which qualify first with the outward elements, and the outward elements qualify with the outward stars, and the outward stars qualify with the outward sternness [grimness, fierceness, frowardness], wrath and malice, and the wrath and malice in the fierceness [severity, or austereness] qualifieth with the original of the first fierceness of the abyss of hell; and the abyss qualifieth with the devils. 32. Therefore, 0 man ! consider what thou hast received with thy bestial body, to eat and to drink of evil and good, which God did forbid. Look here into the ground of the essences, and say not with reason, It was merely for disobedience, which God was so very angry at, that his anger could not be quenched. Thou art deceived, for if the clear Deity were angry, it would not have become man for thy sake to help thee ; look but upon the l mark, in the eternity, and then thou wilt 1 Or aim. find all.

33. Thus also the kingdom of darkness and of the devil is sown together in the copulating, and the third centre of the 2 great desire springeth up * Or hot zeal, along with it, out of which the fierceness [grimness, or wrath], and the house of flesh, are generated. For the pure love, which reacheth the element, and consequently the paradise, hath a wholly modest 1 perfect or complete. 4 mixeth or uniteth. ' Or brand, or last burnt to ashes, as it were a firebrand. and chaste centre, and it is * fixed in itself, of which I here give you a true example. Diligently and deeply to be considered. 34. Behold two young 2people, who have attained unto the 3 blossom of the noble tincture in the matrix and limbus, so that it be kindled, how very hearty, faithful, and pure love they bear one towards another, where one is ready to impart the very heart within them to the other, if it could be done without death ; this now is the true paradisical blossom, and this blossom * qualifieth, with the [one] element and paradise. But as soon as ever they 6 take one another, and copulate, they infect one another with their e inflammation [or burning lust] which is generated out of the outward elements and stars, and that reacheth the abyss ; and so they are many times at deadly enmity [or have venomous spiteful hatred] one against another. And though it happen that their complexions were noble, so that still some love remaineth, yet it is not so pure and faithful as the first before copulation, which is

7 fiery, and that in the burning [or burnt] lust, [is] earthly and cold, for that must indeed keep faithful while it cannot be otherwise ; as it is seen by experience in many, how afterward in wedlock they hunt after whoredom, and seek after the devil's 8 sugar, which he stroweth in the noble tincture, if man will let him. 35. Whereby then you see here, that God hath not willed the earthly copulation. Man should have continued in the fiery love which was in paradise, and generated out of himself. But the 1 woman was in this world in the outward elementary l the divided kingdom, in the inflammation of the forbidden fruit, and wanton- of which Adam should not have eaten. And now he hath eaten and thus destroyed us ; therefore it is now with him [the Adamical man] as with a thief that hath been in a pleasant garden, and went out of it to steal, and cometh again and would fain go into the garden, and the gardener will not let him in, he must reach into the garden with his hand for the fruit, and then cometh the gardener and snatcheth the fruit out of his hand, and he

must go away in his burning lust and anger, and come no more into the garden, and instead of the fruit there remaineth his desirous burning lust with him ; and that he hath gotten, instead of the paradisical fruit, of that we must now eat, and live in the 2 Woman. 2 in the divid- 36. Thus I give you accurately to understand in the earthly what man is, and what man soweth, and what and feed and groweth in the seed, viz. three kingdoms, as is above-mentioned ; and seeing the three kingdoms are thus sown, so are they in like manner before the tree of temptation ; and there beginneth the struggling and great strife ; there stand the three kingdoms in one another. The element in paradise will keep the pure mind and will, which standeth in the love in the tincture of the seed ; and the outward elements, (viz. that which went forth from the element), will have the element, and mix itself therewith ; and then cometh the outward fierceness Or by. of the stars, and draweth it together * with the outward Fiat, and setteth itself [in the rule or dominion], whereby the inward will in the love together with the element and the paradise becometh darkened ; and the love in the paradise goetih into its ether, and is extinguished in the tincture of the seed ; and the heavenly centre goeth under, for it passeth into its Princip e.

37. And then cometh the woman with her stopped [or congealed] blood, with the stars and elements, and setteth herself in [the dominion]. And here is the paradisical death, where Adam in the living body died ; that is, he died [as] to paradise and the element, and lived to the sun, stars, and the outward elements ; concerning which, God said to him, That day thou eatest of good and evil, thou shalt die the death ; and this is the gate of the first death in the paradise, in which now man liveth in the elementary woman of this world in the corruptibility. 38. And it highly concerneth us to know and apprehend, that when the seed is sown in the matrix, and that it is drawn together by the Fiat (when the stars and the outward elements set themselves in [the dominion], and that the love and meekness is extinguished ; for there cometh to be a fierce substance in the stopping [or congeal- ing] of the tincture) that before the kindling of the light of life, in the child, there is no heavenly creature. And although l it be figured [or shaped] 1 the creature. with all the forms [or parts] of the body, yet for

all that the heavenly image is not therein, but the bestial. And if that body perish [corrupt, or break] before the kindling of the spirit of the soul in the springing up of the life, then nothing of this figure appeareth before God on the day of the restitution, but its shadow and shape ; for it hath yet had no spirit. 39. This figure doth not (as many judge) go into the 2 abyss, but as the parents were, so is also their 2 Or hell. figure ; for this figure is the parents', till the kindling of its life, and then it is no more the parents', but its own. The mother affordeth but a lodging, and the nutriment ; and therefore if she destroyeth it willingly in her body, she is a murderess, and the divine law judgeth her to the temporal death. 40. Thus now the stars and the elements (after the withdrawing of the love in the tincture) take the house into possession, and fill it in the first 3 month. And in the second, they sever the 30r moon, members [or parts] by the sour Fiat, as is mentioned before. And in the third, the strife beginneth about the regions of the stars and elements, where then they separate, and every element maketh its own house and region for

itself; viz. the heart, liver, lungs, bladder, and 1 a dwelling stomach ; as also the head to be the l house for the senses . i i • • and thoughts, of the stars, where they have their region [or dominion], and their princely throne, as it followeth further : 41. And now after that the stars and elements (as is mentioned before) have gotten their region and the house to dwell in, then beginneth the mighty strife in great anxiety about the king of the life. For the chamber of the building [or fabric] standeth in very great anguish, and [here] we must consider the original of the essence of all essences, the eternal birth and the root of all things ; as that there is in the house of the anguish, first one only essence [or being], 2 being. and that 2 essence is the mixing of all 8 essences, » or beings. and ft ^th first a will to 4 generate the forth. light, and that will is attractive [astringent 42. For the desiring is the attracting of whatsoever the will desireth ; and that will is first pure, neither darkness nor light, for it dwelleth in itself, and it is even the gate of the divine virtue that filleth all things. And thus the attracting filleth the will with the things which the will desireth ; and although it be pure, and desireth nothing but the light, yet there is no light in the dark anxiety that it can attract, but it draweth the spirit of the essences of the stars and elements into itself, and therewith the will of the divine virtue is filled, and the same is all rough and dark. And thus the will

is set in the darkness, and this is done also in the heart. 43. The will now standing thus in the dark anxiety, it l getteth another will to fly out of the l Or conanxiety again, and to generate the light ; and this other will is the mind, out of which proceed the senses [or thoughts] not to continue in the anxiety : And the will [appeareth] discovereth itself in the essences of the sourness, as in the fierce hardness of death ; and the glimpse [or glance] breaketh through the essences of the sour hardness, as a swift [or sudden] flash, and sharpeneth itself in the sour hardness, that it becometh [pale, white, or] 2 glimmering, like a flash of fire, and in its sudden 2 Text, flight breaketh the sour darkness ; and there standeth the hardness, and the harsh sourness of death like a broken turning wheel, which with the flash of the breaking flieth swiftly as a thought; as also then the re-conceived will (which is the mind) appeareth so very suddenly. And seeing it cannot fly forward out of the essences, it must go into the turning wheel, (for it cannot get from that

place), and so it breaketh the darkness. And when the darkness is thus 3 broken, [then] the ' or dispelled. sharp glance discovereth itself in the pleasant joy without [or beyond] the darkness in the sharpness of the will, viz. in the mind, and findeth itself habitable therein, from whence the flash (or glance) is terrified, and flieth up with strong might through the broken essences out of the heart, and would out at the mouth, and raiseth itself far from the heart, and yet is held by the sour [or harsh] Fiat, and it then maketh itself a several region (viz. the tongue) wherein then standeth the shriek [or the crack] of the broken essences. And seeing then it reflecteth [or recoileth] back again into the heart, as into its first dwelling-house, and findeth itself so very habitable and pleasant (because the gates of the darkness are broken), then it kindleth itself so highly in the loving will, by reason of the meekness, and goeth no more like a stern [or fierce] flash through all essences, but [it] goeth trembling with great joy ; and the might of the joy is now many hundred times stronger, than first the flash [or glance] was, which yielded [or discovered] itself through the sour harsh essences of the death, and goeth with strong might out of the heart into the head, in the will [or purpose] to possess the heavenly region.

1 the will. 44. For l it is paradisical, and it hath its most in- ward root therein. When Adam in sin died the first death, then said God, The seed of the woman shall * break with 2 break the serpent's head. The same word 3 im- ^e* ing upon prm^e(j itself m Adam, in the centre of the spring- 3 imagined, ing-up of his life, and so in like manner with the formed itself, creation of Eve in the springing up of her life, and so in like manner in all men, so that we can, in our first mind, through the word and virtue of God in the Treader upon the Serpent, who in the time became man [or was incarnate], trample upon [or break] the head and will of the devil, and if this might [or power] were not xin this place, then we » viz. in the were in the eternal death. Thus the mind is its iJJiS^Jp own, in the free will, and moveth in the virtue [of ** power] of God, and in his promise, in the free substance [or being]. 45. Seeing then that the shriek of joy in the virtue of God (which breaketh the doors of the deep darkness) thus springe th up in the heart, and flieth with its glimpse [or sparkling] into the head, then the virtue of the joy setteth itself above, as being the strongest, and the flash [or glance] beneath, as being the weakest;

and so when the flash [or glance] corneth into the head into its seat, then it maketh itself two open gates. For it hath broken the' doors of the deep darkness, and therefore it continueth no more in the darkness, but it must be free as a victorious prince [or conqueror], and will not be held captive. And this signifieth to us the resurrection of Christ from the dead, who is now free, and will not be held [therein], which in its due place shall be very deeply described. And those gates which the glance holdeth open, they are the eyes, and the spirit of joy is their root, which [spirit] springeth up at first in the kindling of the life.

46. Thus then the strong re-conceived will (to fly out from the darkness and to be in the light in the heart) generateth itself; and therefore we cannot know [or apprehend] it to be any other than the noble virgin, the wisdom of God ; which thus springeth up in joy, and in the beginning marrieth herself with the spirit of the soul, and helpeth it to the light, which after the springing up of the soul (viz. after the kindling of the virtue of the sun in the essences) putteth herself into its paradisical centre, and continually warneth the 1 of the ways soul, l of the ungodly ways, which are held before of the un- . . n , .. .. .. godly. it by the stars and elements, and brought into its essences. Therefore the virgin keepeth her throne thus in the heart, and also in the head, that she may defend and keep them off from the soul, all over. 3 think, or 47. And we must further 2 consider, that when the shriek [or crack] maketh its dwelling-house, in its strong breaking-through, out of the gate of the anxious darkness, viz. the tongue, that the shriek [or crack] hath not then yet seen the virgin ; but when it reflected [or shone] back again into the heart, into the opened darkness, and found her so habitable, there then first sprang up its joy, habitableness, and pleasantness, and it became paradisical, and desired not [to go] into the tongue again, but into the head, and [desired] there to have its region out of the source of the heart. Therefore the tongue ought not in all [or altogether] to be believed, for it sitteth not in the heavenly region, as the friendly pleasant virtue [doth] ; but it hath its region in the crack and flash, and the flash is as near the hellish region as the crack is, for they are

both generated in the Sharpness of the stars, in1 Or stem the essences, and the tongue speaketh both lies and ness. truth ; in which of the two the spirit armeth itself, according to that it speaketh : Also it many times soeaketh lies in 2 great men; when it is armed 2 Such as have from the essences, then it speaketh in the crack, rity, and like a rider in his [haughty, surly, vaunting state as are high or] high mindedness. stout, and hare the world at The Life of the Soul The Gate. wm- 48. Thus now when the virtue of the life and the spirit of the second Principle, 3 is generated in 3 Or was. the first originality of the first Principle (viz. in the gate of the deep darkness, which the will of the virtue of the virgin, in the fierce earnest flash of the fierce might of God, did break, and set itself in the pleasant habitation) then instantly the essences of the stars and elements, in the flash of the springing-up of the life, pressed in also, yet after the building of the pleasant habitation first [made]. 49. For the habitation is the element, and the virtue of the inward element is the paradisical love, which the outward elements (being generated out of the element) will have for their mother, and the sharp Fiat bringeth them into the habitation. And there the light of the life becometh rightly kindled, and all essences live in the habitation. For in the beginning of the life each Principle *taketh its light. «0rcatcheth.

50. The first Principle (viz. the darkness) taketh the fierce and sudden fire-flash ; and so when the 1 re-conceived, l re-comprehended will, in the first will of the first or re-purposed, attracted darkness of the harshness, discovereth itself, and breaketh the darkness in the flash, then the harsh dark fire-flash remain eth in the first will, and standeth over the heart, m the gall, and kindleth the fire in the essences of the heart. 51. And the second Principle retaineth its light 2 Or joy. for itself, which is the pleasant 2 habitation, which shineth there, where the darkness is broken [or dispelled], wherein the courteous loving virtue, and the pleasantness ariseth, from whence the shriek [or crack] in the strong might becometh so very joyful, 30raiiayeth and 3 turneth its forcible rushing into a joyful biingforjoy. trembling; where then the fire-flash of the first 4 the shriek Principle sticketh to 4 it, which causeth its trembling. or crack. . . .but its source [or active propertyj is pleasantness and joy, that cannot sufficiently be described; happy are they that find it [by experience]. 52. And the third Principle retaineth its light wholly for itself, which (as soon as the light of life springeth up) presseth into the tincture of the soul,

8 the inward to the 5 element, and reacheth after the element ; but it attaineth no more than to the light of the sun, which is proceeded out of the quinta essentia, out of the element. And thus the stars and elements rule in their light and virtue, which is the sun's, and qualify with the soul, and bring many distempers, and also diseases into the essences, from whence come stitches, agues, swellings and [other] sicknesses, [as] the plague, etc. into those [essences], and at last their corruption and death. 53. And now when the light of all the three Principles shineth, then the tincture goeth forth from all the three Principles, and it is highly [worthy] to be observed, that the middlemost Principle receiveth no light from nature; but as soon as the darkness is broken up [or dispelled], it shineth in most joyful habitableness, and [hath] the noble virgin dwelling in the joy, viz. in that tincture ; and the Deity appeareth so very highly and powerfully in man, that we cannot find it so in any other thing, let us take what else we will into our consideration. 54. In the first Principle is the fire-flash; and

in the tincture thereof is the l terrible light of the i the dazzling sun, which hath its original very sharply out ofS?° the eternal originalness, out of the first Principle, with its root out of the fifth essence, through the element, which may be expounded in another place, it would be too long to do it here. And besides, it should be hidden ; he that knoweth it, will conceal it, as he would also [conceal] the springing-up of the stars and planets. For the cornered cap will needs have it under the jurisdiction of his schoollearning, though indeed he apprehendeth little or nothing at all in the light of nature. Let it remain [hidden] till the time of the lily, there it standeth 1 free, discovered, or known. 2 appropriated), or yieldeth itself up to it. all * open : And the tincture is [then] the light of the world. 55. And it is here very exactly seen how the third Principle 2uniteth itself with the first, and how they have one [only] will, for they proceed from one another ; and if the second Principle were not in the midst [between them] then they were but one [and the same] thing. But speaking here of the tincture in the life, we will therefore shew, in the light of nature, the true ground of all the three births.

56. The noble tincture is the dwelling-house of the spirit, and hath three forms ; one is eternal, and incorruptible ; the other is mutable [or transitory], and yet with the holy [or saints] continueth eternally ; but with the wicked it is mutable [or transitory], and flieth into the ether ; the third is corruptible 3in death. 57. The first tincture of the first Principle is properly the 4 habitation in the fire-flash, which is the source [life, or active property] in the gall, which maketh the brimstone-spirit (viz. the indissoluble worm of the soul, which ruleth powerfully in the sharp essences, and moveth and carrieth the body whithersoever the mind, in the second centre, will) to be its dwelling-house ; its tincture is like the fierce [austere or grim] and sharp might of God; it kindleth the whole body, so that it is warm, and that it grow not 6 stiff [or congealed with cold], and upholdeth the wheel in the crack in the essences, out of which the hearing ariseth. It is sharp, and proveth the smell of every thing in the essences; it maketh the hearing, though itself is neither the hearing nor smelling ; but it is the gate that letteth in good and evil, as the tongue and also the ear [doth]. All which cometh from hence, because that l its tincture hath its l the active

ground in the first Principle ; and the kindling of gall, the life happeneth in the sharpness, in the breaking through the gate of the eternal darkness. 58. Therefore are the essences of the spirit of the soul so very sharp and fiery, and [therefore] the essences go forth out of such a sharp fiery tincture, wherein now stand the five senses, viz. seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling ; for the fierce sharpness of the tincture of the first Principle, proveth in its own essences [in or] of the soul, or [in the essences] of the worm of the soul, in this place rightly so called, [it proveth, I say] the stars, and elements, viz. the out-birth out of the first Principle, and whatsoever uniteth [or yieldeth] itself to it, it taketh that into the essences of the worm of the soul ; viz. all whatsoever is harsh [or sour,] bitter, stern, [or fierce,] and fiery, all whatsoever generateth itself in the fierceness, and all whatsoever is of the same property with the essences ; all that which riseth up. along there in the fiery source, and elevateth itself in the breaking of the gate of the darkness, and boileth [springeth, or floweth up] above the meekness;

and all whatsoever is like the sharp austere eternity, and qualifieth [or mixeth] with the sharpness of the fierce anger of the God of the eternity, wherein he holdeth the kingdom of the devils captive. 0 man ! consider thyself here, it is the sure ground, known by the author, in the light of nature, in the will of God. 59. And in this tincture of the first Principle, the devil tempteth man ; for it is his source [wellspring, or property], wherein he also liveth. Herein he reacheth into the heart of man, into his soul's essences, and leadeth him away from God, into the desire to live in the sharp (viz. in the fiery) essences, that it might be elevated above the humility and the meekness of the heart of God, and above the love and meekness of the creatures, [on purpose to seem] to be the only fair and glistering worm in the fire-flash, and to domineer over the second Principle. And [thus] he maketh the soul of man so extreme proud, as not to vouchsafe himself to be in the least like any meekness, but to be like all whatsoever liveth in a quality [or property] contrary to it.

1 the devil. 60. And in the bitter essences * he maketh the worm of the soul prickly, spiteful, envious, and malicious, grudging every thing to any; as the bitterness indeed is friends with nothing, but it stingeth and grindeth, raveth and rageth like the abyss of hell, and it is the true house of death as to the pleasant life. II. And in the sour [or harsh] essence of the tincture of the worm of the soul, he infecteth the sour l harsh essence, whereby it becometh sharply J or astnnattractive, and getteth a will to draw all to itself, ftancT and yet is not able to do it ; for the conceived will is not easily filled, but is a dry hellish thirsty hunger to have all ; and if it did get all, yet the hunger would not be the less, but it is the eternal hunger and thirst of the abyss, the will of hell-fire and of all devils, who continually hunger and thirst, and yet eat nothing ; but it is their satiating that they [suck or] draw into themselves the strong source of the essences of the harsh, bitter might of the fire, wherein consisteth their life and satiating ; and the abyss of the wrath and of hell is also such [a thing].

62. And this is the source of the first Principle, which (without the light of God) cannot be otherwise, neither can it change or alter itself; for it hath been so from eternity. And out of this source, the essences of the worm of the soul, in the time of its creating, were extracted by the Fiat of God, and created in paradise, [and set] 2 before the2 Or for. light of God, which enlightened the fire-flash, and put it into very high meekness and humility. 63. For because man was to be eternal, therefore he must also come to be out of the eternal ; for nothing is created out of the fountain of the Heart of God. For that is the end of nature, and hath no such essences ; no comprehensible [or palpable] thing entereth therein ; otherwise it would be a filling and darkness, and that cannot be : Also from eternity, there hath been nothing else but only the source [or working property] where the Deity continually riseth up, as is mentioned before. 64. And this source of the spirit' of the soul is eternal, and its tincture is also eternal ; and as »0rin. the source is [in it] at all times xof this world, (while it sticketh in the elementary house of flesh), so is the tincture also, and the dwelling-house of the soul ; and in which source the mind inclineth itself, whether it be in the divine, or hellish, in that [source] the worm liveth, and of that Principle it eateth, and is either an angel or a devil ; although its judgment is not in this [life's] time, for it standeth in both the gates, so long as it liveth in the flesh, except it dive [or plunge itself] wholly into the abyss, whereof (when I write of the sin of man) I shall treat deeply and exactly. Read of it concerning Cain.

65. The mind (which knoweth [or understandeth] nothing in the light of nature) will marvel at such writings, and will suppose that it is not true, that God hath extracted and created man out of such an original. Behold, thou beloved reason and precious mind, bring thy five senses hither, and I will shew thee whether it be true [or not]. I will shew thee [plainly] that thou hast not the least spark [of cause] to allow any other ground [to build upon], except that thou wilt let thy heart be embittered by the devil in bestial reason, and except that thou wilt wilfully contemn the light of nature, which standeth in the presence of God. And indeed, if thou art in such a bestial way, leave my writings, and read them not, they are not written for such swine, but for the children [of wisdom] that are to possess the kingdom of God. But I have written them for myself, and for those that seek, and not for the wise and prudent of this world. 66. Behold, what are thy five senses ? In what virtue do they consist? Or how come they in the life of man ? Whence cometh thy seeing, that thou canst see by the light of the sun, and not otherwise ? Consider thyself deeply, if thou wilt be a searcher into nature, and wilt boast of the light of nature. Thou canst not say that thou seest only by the light of the sun, for there must be somewhat which can receive the light of the sun, and which doth mix with the light of the sun (as the star doth which is in thine eyes) which is not the sun, but consisteth of fire and water ;

and its glance, which receiveth the light of the sun, is a flash, that ariseth from the fiery, sour and bitter gall, and the water maketh it soft [or pleasant]. Here you take the meaning to be only concerning the outward, viz. the third Principle, wherein the sun, stars, and elements are ; but the same is also true in every one of the creatures in this world.

67. Now what is it that maketh the hearing, that you can hear that which stirreth and maketh a noise ? Wilt thou say that it is caused by the noise of that outward thing which giveth the sound ? No ! there must also be somewhat that must receive the sound, and qualify or mix with the sound, and distinguish the sound of what is played or sung ; the outward cannot do that alone, the inward must receive and distinguish the noise. Behold, here you find the beginning of the life, and the tincture wherein the life consisteth ; for the tincture of the crack in the springing up of the life, in the breaking-open of the dark gate, standeth in the sounding, and hath its gate open (next the fire-flash near the eyes) and receiveth the noise of whatsoever soundeth. 68. For the outward sounding qualifieth with the inward, and is severed [or distinguished] by the essences ; and the tincture receiveth all, be it evil or good, and thereby testifieth that itself, with its essences that generate it, is not generated out of the Deity, else the tincture would not let in the evil, and [that which is] false into the essences of the soul.

69. Therefore we must consider, that the noise in the tincture of man is [of a] higher [nature] than [that] in the beasts ; for man searcheth and distinguisheth all things which give a sound, and knoweth from whence it cometh, and how it doth exist, which the beasts cannot do, but stare at it, and know not what it is ; whereby it may be understood, that the original of man is out of the eternal, because he can distinguish all things that in the out-birth came out of the eternal. And hence it is, that the body (being all things out of the eternal nothing are caused to be something which is comprehensible [or palpable], and yet there, that nothing is not a mere nothing, but it is a l source) after the corrupting shall stand in the > Or active eternal figure, and not in the spirit, because it is property> not out of the eternal spirit ; for otherwise, if it were out of the [eternal] spirit, then it should also search out the beginning of every thing, as [well as] man, who in his sound receiveth and distinguisheth all things. 70. Thus now the habitation of man's sound, wherein the understanding is, must be from eternity, although indeed, in the fall of Adam, man hath set himself in the corruptibility, and in great want of understanding, as shall follow here. In like manner also we find concerning the smelling ;

for if the spirit did not stand in the sound, then no smell of any thing would press [or pierce] into the essences ; for the spirit would be whole and swelled. But it standing thus in the gate of the 2 broken » disrupted, darkness in the crack and in the sound, therefore all virtues of all things press in into that gate, and try themselves by one another, and what the essences of the spirit love, that it desireth, and draweth the same into the tincture ; and then hands and mouth fall to it, and stuff it into the stomach,

Or atrium, into the 1 outward court of the four elements, from whence the earthly essences of the stars and elements feed. 71. And the taste also is a trying and attracting of the tincture in the essences of the spirit. And so the feeling also, if the spirit of man with its essences did not stand in the sound, there would be no feeling ; for when the sour essences draw to them, then they awaken the bitter prickle [or sting] in the fire-flash, which stirreth itself, either by gripping, thrusting, or striking, and thereupon in all 2 driving the bitter prickle in the fire-flash is awakened ; and therein standeth the moving ; [and] all in the tincture. rilhren [C. J. B.].

Of the noble Mind of the Understanding, Senses and Thoughts. Of the threefold Spirit and Will, and of the Tincture of the Inclination, and what is inbred in a Child in the Mothers Body [or Womb]. Of the Image of God, and of the bestial Image, and of the Image of the Abyss of Hell, and Similitude of the Devil, to be searched for, and found out in J [any] » Or in one Man. one- The nolle Gate of the noble Virgin. And also the Gate of the Woman of this World, highly to be considered. I~F we consider ourselves in the noble know- -L ledge, which is opened to us in the love of God, in the noble virgin of the wisdom of God, (not for our merit, honesty [virtue], or worthiness, but merely of his own will, and original eternal purpose) even in those things which appear to us in his love, then we must needs acknowledge ourselves to be unworthy of such a revelation ; and being we are sinners, we are deficient in the glory that we should have before him. 2. But seeing it is his eternal will and purpose to do us good, and to open his secrets to us according to his counsel, therefore we ought not to withstand, nor to bury the bestowed talent in the earth, for we must give account of it in the appearing of his coming. Therefore we will thus labour in our vineyard, and commend the fruit to him, and will set down in writing a Memorial for ourselves, and leave it to him. For we can search or conceive no further, than only what we apprehend in the light

biiity. according to the measure of our purpose, when and how we will, but according to his gift, when and how he will. We are not able to comprehend the least sparkle of him, unless the gates of the deep be "• opened to us in our mind ; where then the zealous 20rgoeth. [earnest] and highly desirous kindled spirit 2 is as a fire, to which the earthly body ought to be subject, and will grudge no pains to serve the desirous fiery mind. And although it hath nothing to expect for its labour but scorn and contempt from the world, yet it must be obedient to its lord, for its lord is mighty, and itself is feeble, and its lord leadeth, [driveth], and preserveth it, and yet in its [ignorance, or want of] understanding, it knoweth nothing of what it doth, but it liveth like all the beasts. And yet its will is [not] to live thus, but it must follow the worthy mind, which searcheth after the wisdom of God ; and the mind must follow the light of nature; for God manifesteth [or revealeth] himself in that light, or else we should know nothing of him.

3. And now when we consider our mind, in the light of nature, and what that is, which maketh us zealous [or earnest], which burneth there [in] as a light, and is desirous [thirsty or covetous] like fire, which desireth to receive from that place where it hath not sown, and would reap in that country where the body is not at home [or dwelleth not], then the precious virgin of the wisdom of God meeteth us, in the middlemost seat in the centre of the light of life, and saith, The light is mine, and the [power or] virtue and glory is mine, also the gate of knowledge is mine, I live in the light of nature, and without me you can neither see, know, nor understand anything of my virtue [or power]. I am thy bridegroom in the light ; and thy desire [or longing] after my virtue [or power] is my attracting in myself ; I sit in my throne, but thou knowest me not ; I am in thee, and thy body is not in me. I distinguish [or separate], and thou seest it not. I am the light of the senses, and the root of the senses is not in me, but near me. I am the bridegroom of the root, but she hath put on a rough coat. I [will] not lay myself in her arms till she putteth that off, and then I will rest eternally in her arms, and adorn the root with my virtue [and power], and give her my beautiful form, and will espouse myself to her with my Pearl.

4. There are three things which the mind hath in it, and which rule it, yet the mind in itself is the desirous will. And those three things are three kingdoms, or Principles ; one is eternal, and the second is eternal, but the third is corruptible ; the one hath no beginning ; the second is without beginning, eternally generated ; and the third hath a beginning and end, and corrupteth again [or perisheth]. 5. And, as the eternal mind in the great unsearchable depth, is from eternity, so is the indis- perty. continually generateth itself, never decay eth, and therein, in the centre of the deep, is the reconceived will to the light ; and the will is the desiring, and the desiring attracteth to it, and that which is attracted maketh the darkness in the will, so that in the first will, the second will generateth itself again, that it might fly out of the darkness ; and the second will is the mind, which discovereth itself in the darkness, and the [discovery or] glance breaketh [or dispelleth] the darkness, so that it standeth in the sound and in the crack ; where then the flash sharpeneth itself, and so standeth eternally in the broken darkness, so that the darkness thus standeth in the sound of the stars. And in the breaking of the darkness, the re-conceived will is free, and dwelleth without the darkness, in itself; and the flash which there is the separation and the sharpness, and the noise [or sound] is the dwelling of the will, or of the continually conceived mind ; and the noise and the sharpness of the flash are in the dwelling of the will free from the darkness. And the flash

elevateth the will, and the will triurnpheth in the sharpness of the flash, and the will discovereth itself in the sharpness of the sound in the flash of the light, l without the darkness in the breaking, in the 1 extra. infiniteness. And in that infiniteness of the flash, there is in every discovery of the whole 2in the20rintoa * /. . particular. particular (in every reflection) again a centre of such a birth as is in the whole. And those particulars are the senses, and the whole is the mind out of which the senses proceed ; and therefore the senses are mutable [or transitory], and not in the 3 substance; but the mind is whole, and in3 whole or the substance. 6. My beloved Reader, just thus is our mind also. It is the indissoluble band, which God by the Fiat in the moving spirit breathed into Adam out of the eternal mind, [from whence] the essences are a particular, or a sparkle out of the eternal mind, which hath the centre of the breaking, and in the breaking hath the sharpness in itself; and that will driveth [forth] the flash [or glimpse] in the breaking, and the sharpness of the consuming of the darkness is in the glimpse [or flash] of the willing, and the will is our mind. The glimpse is the eyes in the fire-flash, which discovereth itself in our essences Mn us, and without us, for it is4 The glance free, and hath both the gates open, that [gate] in can look upon the darkness, and that gate in the light. For good^oth" although it continueth in the darkness, yet it without* us. breaketh the darkness, and maketh all light in