in which the Life in Mercury doth burn and shine of which thou hast a Similitude If in a Creature there be a strong poysonful Mercury of a dry quality that Creature is strong bold couragious and potent which hath also a clear Oyl in it for the fiery property of the Mercury consumeth the waterish but if its fat be enkindled it yeeldeth a clear Light much more would it be if the watery property were severed from the oleous CHAP. VII How Adam in Paradise and Lucifer was a fair Angel and how they were corrupted and spoiled through Imagination and Pride Process 1. WE will give an occasion of Consideration unto the earnest Searcher and Seeker and if he apprehends our meaning he shall indeed be able to find the Noble Philosophers Stone but so that he be chosen thereto by God and his Life also standeth in the Heavenly Mercury otherwise we are a Mystery unto him and we will represent it unto him in Similitudes in the most manifest and yet Mystical manner 2. When Adam was created in Paradise the Heavenly Mercury did then lead him his Life burned in a Pure Oyl therefore his Eyes were Heavenly and his Understanding did excel Nature for his Light shone in the Oyl of the Divine Essentiality the external waterish Property was not manifest in his Oyl he was Iliastrish that is Angelical and became in the Fall Cogastrish that is the waterishness in the mortal Property was manifest in his Oyl and penetrated so that the Mercury in him became an Anxious Poyson which before in his Oyl was an exaltation of Joyfulness 3. For the Salnitral Flagrat in the Impression in the Coldness viz. according to the Saturnine Property was thereby elevated and got the Dominion as a cold Poyson which ariseth in the Impression of Death whence the Darkness was generated in the Oyl and Adam dyed to the Divine Light to which the Devil perswaded him by the Serpent that is by the Essence and Property of the Serpent for the Kingdom of Wrath and also the outward Kingdom was manifest in the Serpent for it was more subtle then any Beast of the field and this subtlety Eve desired for the Serpent perswaded her that her eyes should be opened and she should be as God and know good and evil 4. Which also was the Will of the Devil that he would know Evil and in the Enkindling to the Knowledg in Mercury he became corrupt and dark for he entered with the Imagination according to his Condition Knowledg and Desire into the fiery Byss and Adam according to his Knowledg and Desire went into the cold Byss into the Impression into the procreated waterish Property in the Salniter where both Kingdoms stand severed He desired to prove and taste the watery Mercury in which is the Mortal Poyson and Lucifer desired the fiery Mercury which giveth Strength and Might whence his Pride arose viz. out of the fiery Mercury But both viz. Lucifer and also Adam lost the Oyl of the Meekness of the Divine Essentiality 5. Now we are to consider of the Serpent which deceived Adam with its craft How it was and what its subtlety was after which Adam Eve did Imagine wherefore they did eat of the forbiden Tree which was Evil and Good and how they did eat Death thereby and what their Salvation and Restoration is naturally and properly what Evil and Good is what the Property of the eternal Life and then the Property of eternal Death is what the Cure is whereby the Sickness introduced by Adam and its death may be healed and restored both to the Temporal and Eternal Life 6. Let the Reader attend unto the sence and meaning for we have not the Ability to give this into his hands that onely belongeth unto God but the Gates shall stand open for him if he will enter in if not flattery avails him not 7. The Devil was a fair Angel and the Serpent the subtle Beast and Man the likeness of the Deity now all three were corrupted by Imagination and Pride and got the Curse of God for their false Lust or cunning 8. All whatsoever is Eternal proceedeth originally from one Ground as Angels and Souls but the Serpent is not out of the Eternal Ground but out of the Beginning as we have before given you to understand how with the Enkindling of the fire in the Salnitral Flagrat two Kingdoms SeVer viz. Eternity and Time and how the Eternity dwelleth in the Time but yet onely in it self but yet so nigh unto the Time as Fire and Light which are in one another and yet make two Kingdoms or as Darkness and Light dwell in each other and the one is not the other The like we are to consider of the inchoative poysonful Mercury in the Devil and in Man and in the Serpent also how an Oyl corrupteth and yet the Essence or Being of God is not hereby at all corrupted but entereth into it self viz. into the Nothing and the Creatural Mercury which Ariseth or is begotten with the Beginning of the Creature in the Creature goeth out of it self that is out of the Eternal into Time viz. into the Beginning of the Creature It desireth its own self that is the Beginning and will be its own or a Selfist and forsaketh the Eternity into which it should be wholly confined and resigned with its Desire and bring its Hunger thereinto and then its Poyson-Source would not be manifest 9. For whatsoever doth hunger after the eternal Nothing viz. after the quiet meek Liberty of God that is not manifest to it self but it is manifest in the Still Liberty viz. in God for as the Hunger is such is also the Essence in the Hunger each Hunger or Desire maketh it self an Essence according to the Property of the Hunger or Desire 10. Thus the Devil maketh or causeth in himself his Darkness for he went with his Desire into himself into the Property of the Center to the Desire and forsook the Eternity viz. the Nothing that is the Lubet of Love so that he enkindled himself in his Poysonful Mercury that is in the Forms unto Life in himself and became an anxious Fire-source in the Darkness as wood that is burnt to a coal which onely gloweth and hath no more any true light in it also no oyl or water so it went with him Now in his own Property viz. in his Lifes-Forms there springeth forth nothing but a stinging envious Property where one Form doth hate and annoy the other and yet do so beget each other 11. And so was the Serpent likewise yet not by its own Aspiring Haughtiness but when God said Let all sorts of Beasts come forth each according to his property or kinde then came forth Beasts out of every Property of Nature as it was manifest in the Se Veration when God moved himself to the Creation for the Devil would domineer over the Love and Meekness of God and put
another and in the Sound the Spirit imprinteth his own similitude which it hath conceived in the Essence and brought to form in the Principle 3. So that in the word may be understood wherein the Spirit hath conceived either in good or evil and with this Signature he entreth into another mans form and awakeneth also in the other such a form in the Signature so that both forms do mutually assimulate together in one form and then there is one Comprehension one Will one Spirit and also one Understanding 4. And then secondly we understand that the Signature or Form is no Spirit but the Recoptacle Container or Cabinet of the Spirit wherein it lieth for the Signature standeth in the Essence and is as a Lute that lieth still and is indeed a dumb thing that is neither heard or understood but if it be played upon then its Form is understood in what form and tune it standeth and according to what note it is set Thus likewise the Signature of Nature in its form is a dumb Essence it 's as a prepared Instrument of Musick upon which the Wills-spirit playeth what strings he toucheth they sound according to their property 5. In the humane mind the Signature lieth most artificially composed according to the Essence of all Essences and man wants nothing but the wise Master that can strike his Instrument which is the true Spirit of the high Might of Eternity if that be quickned in man that it stir and acts in the centre of the mind then it playeth on the Instrument of the humane Form and even then the form is uttered with the sound in the word As his Instrument was set in the time of his Incarnation so it soundeth and so is his knowledg the inward manifesteth it self in the sound of the word for that is the Mindes natural knowledge of it self 6. Man hath indeed all the forms of all the three Worlds lying in him for he is a compleat Image of God or of the Being of all Beings only the order is placed in him at his Incarnation for there are three Work-masters in him which prepare his Form or Signature viz. the three-fold Fiat according to the three Worlds and they are in Contest about the Form and the Form is figurized according to the Contest which of the Masters holds the predominant Rule and obtains it in the Essence according to that his Instrument is tuned and the other lie hid and come behind with their sound as it plainly shews it self 7. So soon as man is born into this world his spirit playeth upon his instrument so that his innate genuine Form or Signature in good or evil is seen by his words and Conversation for as his Instrument soundeth accordingly the senses and thoughts proceed from the essence of the mind and so the external spirit of the will is carried in its behaviour as is to be seen both in men and beasts That there is a great difference in the Procreation that one Brother and Sister doth not as the other 8. Further we are to know that albeit one Fiat doth thus keep the upper hand and figurizeth the form according to it self that yet the other two do give their sound if their Instrument be but played upon as it is seen that many a man and also many a beast albeit it is very much inclined either to good or evil yet it is moved either to evil or good by a Contra-tune and doth often let its inbred Signature or Figure fall when the Contra-tune is played upon his hidden Lute or Form As we see that an evil man is often moved by a good man to repent of and cease from his iniquity when the good man doth touch and strike his hidden Instrument with his meek and loving spirit 9. And thus also it hapneth unto the good man that when the wicked man strikes his hidden Instrument with the spirit of his wrath that then the form of Anger is stirred up also in the good man and the one is set against the other that so one might be the Cure and Healer of the other For as the Vital Signature that is as the form of life is figurized in the time of the Fiat at the Conception even so is its natural spirit for it taketh its rise out of the Essence of all the three Principles and such a will it doth act and manifest out of its property 10. But now the will may be broken for when a stronger cometh and araiseth his inward Signature with his introduced Sound and Wills-spirit then its upper Dominion loseth the Power Right and Authority which we see in the powerful influence of the Sun how that by its strength it qualifieth a bitter and sowr fruit turning it into a sweetness and pleasantness in like manner how a good man corrupteth among evil company and also how that a good herb cannot sufficiently shew its real genuine vertue in a bad soil for in the good man the hidden evil Instrument is awakened and in the herb a contrary Essence is received from the earth so that oft-times the Good is changed into an Evil and the Evil into a Good 11. And now look as it standeth in the power and predominancy of the Quality so it is signed and marked externally in its outward Form Signature or Figure Man in his speech will and behaviour also with the form of the members which he hath and must use to that Signature his inward form is noted in the form of his face and thus also is a beast an herb and the trees every thing as it is inwardly in its innate vertue and quality so it is outwardly signed and albeit it fall out that oft-times a thing is changed from evil into good and from good into evil yet it hath its external Character that the good or evil that is the change may be known 12. For man is known herein by his dayly practise also by his course and discourse for the upper Instrument which is most strongly drawn is always played upon Thus also it 's with a beast that is wilde but when it is over-awed and tamed and brought to another property it doth not easily shew its first innate form unless it be stirred up and then it breaks forth and appears above all other forms 13. Thus it is likewise with the herbs of the Earth if an herb be transplanted out of a bad soil into a good then it getteth soon a stronger body and a more pleasant smell and power and sheweth the inward Essence Essence externally and there is nothing that is created or born in Nature but it also manifesteth its internal form externally for the internal doth continually labour or work it self forth to manifestation As we know it in the power and form of this world how the one only Essence hath manifested it self with the Extern Birth in the desire in a Similitude how it hath manifested it self in so many forms and shapes
and melted yet a man shall have nothing save a contemptible matter devoyd of any form of Vertue until the Artist taketh it in hand and useth the right Process about it and then it is manifest what was therein 44. So likewise God dwelleth in all things and the thing knoweth nothing of God he likewise is not manifest to the thing and yet it receiveth Power from him but it receiveth the Power according to its property from him either from his Love or from his Wrath and from which it receiveth so it hath its Signature externally and the Good is also in it but as it were wholly shut up or hidden to the Iniquity or Evil an example whereof you have on Bushes and other thorny and pricking Bryars out of which notwithstanding a fair well smelling Blossom groweth and there lie two Properties therein viz. a pleasant and unpleasant which overcometh that shapeth formeth or marketh the fruit 45. Thus also it is with man he was created a fair Blossom and Fruit of Paradise but the Devil raised up in him his thorny property by the Serpent understand the Centre the property of the wrathful Nature which in his Paradisical Source was not manifest in him but when his Hunger entered into the thorny false property of the Serpent viz into Death then the property of Death and the false Serpent in the Devils Desire pressed into his Hunger and filled Soul and Body so that the Hunger of the false Serpent began effectually to work in him and Death awaked in him and then Paradise hid it self in him for Paradise entered into it self and the poyson of the Serpent in Deaths property dwelt also in it self here was now the Enmity then said God to him The seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpeats head and thou shalt sting the Heel with Deaths poyson 46. Understand the Paradisical Image shut up and captivated in the wrathful Death in which the Word of the Deity viz. the divine Mercury ruled and wrought did disappear as the Gold is disappeared in Saturn so that nothing is seen but a contemptible matter until the right Artist sets upon it and again awaken the Mercury in the enclosed Gold and then the dead enclosed Body of the Gold doth again revive in Saturn for Mercury is its Life who must be introduced into it again and then the dead Body of the Gold appeareth and overcometh the gross Saturn wherein it lay shut up and changeth its mean contemptible old Body into a fair glorious golden Body 47. Thus likewise it is with Man He lieth now shut up after his Fall in a gross deformed beastial dead Image He is not like an Angel much less like unto Paradise He is as the gross Oar in Saturn wherein the Gold is coucht and shut up His Paradisical Image is in him as if it were not and it is also not manifest the outward Body is a stinking Carkass while it yet liveth in the Poyson He is a bad thorny Bush whence notwithstanding fair Rose-buds may bloom forth and grow out of the Thorns and manifest that which lieth hidden and shut up in the wrathful poysonful Mercury so long till the Artist who hath made him take him in hand and bringeth the living Mercury into his Gold or Paradisical Image disappeared and shut up in Death so that the Enclosed Image which was created out of the divine Meekness and Love-essentiality may again bud and spring forth in the divine Mercury viz. in the Word of the Deity which entered into the Humanity shut up and closed in the Death and Curse 48. And then the divine Mercury changeth the wrathful Mercury into its property and Christ is born who bruiseth the Head of the Serpent viz. of the Poyson and Death in the Anger of God understand the might of wrathful Death and a new Man ariseth in Holiness and Righteousness which liveth before God and his divine Image appeareth and puts forth its Lustre as the hidden Gold out of the earthly property and hereby it is clearly signified to the Artist chosen of God how he shall seek no otherwise then as he hath sought and found himself in the property of the pure Gold and so likewise is this Process and not a whit otherwise for Man and the Earth with its Secrets lie shut up in the like or same Curse and Death and need one and the same Restitution 49. But we tell the Seeker and sincerely and faithfully warn him as he loveth his Temporal and Eternal Welfare That he do not first set upon this way to try the Earth and restore that which is shut up in Death unless he himself be afore born again through the Divine Mercury out of the Curse and Death and have the full knowledg of the Divine Regeneration else all what he doth is to no purpose no learning or studying availeth for that which he seeketh lieth shut in the Curse in Death in the Anger of God if he will make it alive and bring it into its First Life then that Life must be afore manifest in him and then he may say to the Mountain Get thee hence and be cast into the Sea and to the Fig-tree No fruit grow on thee henceforth and it shall come to pass for if the divine Mercury liveth and is manifest in the Spirit then when the Spirit of the Souls Will imagineth into any thing Mercury also goeth along with it in the Imagination and enkindleth the Mercury fast apprehended in Death viz. the Similitude of God or the Manifestation wherewith the living God hath made himself manifest 50. I know and see that the Mocker in the Devils Vizard will yet bring my writing into a misapprehension and make me more dark and doubtful because I write of the inward and outward Mercury and understand by the inward the Word of God or the Divine Voyce viz. the Manifestation of the Eternity of the Abyss and by the outward Mercury I understand the Officer in Nature viz. the Instrument which the inward living powerful Word or divine Voyce useth wherewith it formeth and worketh Now the Sophister will falsely interpret it and say That I mix them both together making no difference and hold Nature for God as Babel hath already done unto me But I bid him view my words well and learn to understand them aright for I speak sometimes from the Heavenly Mercury and see that only and then presently I name the Instrument of the Heavenly therefore let him have regard unto the sence I write not Heathenishly but Theosophically from a higher Ground then the outward Faber is and then also from the same CHAP. IX Of the Signature shewing how the Internal doth Sign the External 1. THe whole outward visible World with all its Being is a Signature or Figure of the inward spiritual World whatsoever is Internally and howsoever its operation is so likewise it hath its Character externally like as the Spirit of each Creature doth set
forth and manifest the internal Form of its Birth by its Body so doth the Eternal Being also 2. The Being of all Beings is a wrestling Power for the Kingdom of God consists in Power and also the outward World and it standeth especially in seven Properties or Forms where the one doth cause and make the other and none of them is the first or last but it is the Eternal Band therefore God hath appointed six days for man to work and the seventh Day is the Perfection wherein the six do rest it is the Centre unto which the Desire of the fix Days do tend therefore God calleth it the Sabbath or Resting Day for therein the six Forms of the working Power do rest it is the Divine Sound in the Power or the Kingdom of Joy wherein all the other Forms are manifest for it is the formed Word or divine Corporality by which all things are generated and come forth to a Being 3. This formed Word hath manifested it self with the motion of all Forms with this visible World as with a visible likeness so that the spiritual Being might be manifest in a Corporeal Comprehensive Essence as the Desire of the inward Forms hath made it self external and the internal Being is in the external the internal holdeth the external before it as Glass wherein it beholdeth it self in the property of the generation of all Forms the external is its Signature 4. Thus every thing which is generated out of the internal hath its Signature the Superior Form which is chief in the Spirit of the working in the Power doth most especially sign the Body and the other Forms hang unto it as is to be seen in all living Creatures in the shape and form of the Body and in the behaviour and deportment also in the sound voyce and speech and likewise in Trees and Herbs in Stones and Metals all according as the wrestling is in the power of the Spirit so is the Figure of the Body represented and so likewise is its Will so long as it so boyleth in the Life-spirit 5. But if the Artist taketh it in hand with the true Mercury then he may Turn the weakest Form to be uppermost and the strongest nethermost and then the Spirit obtaineth another Will according to the most Superior Form that which before must be Servant becometh now Lord and Master in the seven Forms as Christ said unto the sick Arise thy faith hath made thee whole and they arose And thus likewise it is here each Form hungereth after the Centre and the Centre is the Voyce of Life viz. the Mercury the same is the Faber or Former of the Power if this Voyce gives it self in to the Hunger of the meanest Form in the strong Combate then it doth lift up its property understand the property of that Form and thus its Desire or Faith hath saved it for in the Desire Mercury doth lift up or sublime it self and thus it was in Christs Patients 7. Sickness had taken possession of them and the Poyson of Death had gotten the upper-hand in Mercury but now the Form of Life in the Centre did set its Hunger as a famished and mean property after the Liberty to be freed from the Abomination but being the Mercury was revived in Christ in the divine Property therefore the weak Hunger entered into Christs strong Hunger after the Salvation of Man and so the weak Hunger received the strong in the Power and then the divine Voyce in Christ said Arise lift up thy self thy Faith that is thy Desire which thou hast introduced into me hath saved thee 8. Thus the Life prevaileth over the Death the Good over the Evil and on the contrary the Evil over the Good as came to pass in Lucifer and Adam and still dayly cometh to pass and thus every thing is Signed that Form which is chief receiveth the Taste and also the Sound in Mercury and figureth the Body after its property the other Forms do hang unto it as cohelpers and do also give their Signature thereto but very weakly 9. There are especially seven Forms in Nature both in the eternal and external Nature for the External proceed from the Eternal The ancient Philosophers have given Names unto the seven Planets according to the seven Forms of Nature but they have understood thereby for another thing not only the seven Stars but the seven-fold Properties in the Generation of all Essences there is not any thing in the Being of all Beings but it hath the seven Properties in it for they are the Wheel of the Centre the cause of Sulphur in which Mercury maketh the boyling in the Anguish-Source 10. The seven Forms are these viz. the Desire of the Impression is called Saturn into which the free Lubet of Eternity gives it self this in the Impression is called Jupiter by reason of its pleasant commendable Vertue for the Saturnine Power doth enclose and maketh hard cold and dark and causeth the Sulphur viz. the vital Spirit understand the moving vital Spirit viz. the natural and the Free Lubet maketh the Impression Long to be freed from the dark astringent Hardness and it is very rightly called Jupiter being a desire of the Understanding which openeth the Darkness and manifests another Will therein 11. In these two Properties is pourtrayed and exactly deciphered Gods Kingdom viz. the Original and also the Kingdom of Gods Anger viz. the dark Abyss which is a cause of the motion in Saturn viz. in the Impression the Impression viz. Saturn maketh the Nothing viz. the free Lubet moveable and sensible and also opposite for it causeth it to be Essence and Jupiter is the sensible Power proceeding from the free Lubet to manifestation out of the Nothing into Something in the Impression of Saturn and they are two Properties in the manifestation of God according to Love and Anger viz. a model of the Eternal Form and are as a wrestling Combate viz. an opposite Desire against each other one maketh Good the other Evil and yet it is all Good only if we will speak of the Anguish-Source and then also of the joyful Source then we must distinguish that the cause of each Source may be understood 12. The third Form is called Mars which is the fiery property in the Impression of Saturn where the Impression introduceth it self into great Anguish viz. into a great Hunger it is the Painfulness or the cause of feeling also the cause of the fire and consuming also of Enmity and Malignity but in Jupiter viz. in the free Lubet in the Nothing it causeth the fiery Love desire that the Liberty viz. the Nothing is desirous and introduceth it self into Sensibility viz. into the Kingdom of Joy in the Darkness it is a Devil viz. Gods Wrath and in the Light it is an Angel of Joy understand such a property for when this Source became dark in Lucifer he was called a Devil but while he was
the Expressed Word must have a Tincturation from the outward expressed Love and Light unless the Will-spirit of the Soul doth wholly re-enter into the inward hidden Man and be again transmuted and then the Cure may be again introduced into the outward Man being the through-shining Love of God in the Light which is exceeding precious 71. But now this Herb is rarely to be found upon the Earth for men do eat only of the forbidden Tree therefore the Poyson of the Serpent doth so spring up in them in the Wrath of the eternal and external Nature so that they must also have an external Cure for their Serpents Poyson in the outward Mercury 72. It is indeed Possible for a man to live without sickness but he must bring the divine Tincturation from the inward Man through the outward which is very difficult to do in the World for the outward Man liveth amongst the thorns of Gods Wrath which gall and sting him on every side and blow up the Wrath of God so that it burneth in the outward Man and then the Tincturation of Gods Love may not continue there it is indeed there but not in the outward enkindled Abominations but it dwelleth in it self like as the Light dwelleth in the Darkness and the Darkness comprehends it not also knoweth nothing thereof but when the Light is manifest in the Darkness then is the Night changed into Day 73. Thus it is likewise with Man of what Light Man liveth of that also cometh his Cure if he liveth in the outward World then the outward Goodness and Love viz. the outward Jupiter and Venus with the Sun must be his Cure or he remaineth in the Angry Mars and in the poysonful Mercury in the earthly Moon captived in the Impression of Saturn viz. in the earthly Sulphur which however is made manifest and awakened in the outward Man by Adam for whose sake the outward Man must dye putrifie and so enter again into the Nothing viz. into the End or as I might better say and signifie it into the beginning of the Creation into the Essence out of which it went and departed with Adam CHAP. X. Of the inward and outward Cure of Man 1. LEt the Lover of God understand us aright We do not go upon an Historical Heathenish Conjecture but only and alone upon the Light of the outward Nature both Suns shine unto us Understand us aright and see how God hath Cured Man when the Poyson of the Serpent and Devil held him imprisoned in Death and how he yet still cureth the poor Soul captivated in Gods Anger the like Process also must the Physician keep in curing the outward body 2. The divine Light and Love was extinguished in Adam because he Imagined into the Serpents property viz. into Evil and Good so that the Poyson of Death began effectually to work in Mercury and the Source of Anger was inflamed in the eternal Mars and the dark Impression of the eternal Natures property took possession of him his body became Earth in the dark Impression in the Poyson of the enkindled Mercury and was an enmity against God he was utterly undone and there was no remedy for him by any Creature neither in Heaven nor in this World the wrathful Death captivated him in Soul and Body 3. Now how did God do to Cure him and Tincture him again did he take a strange thing thereunto No! He took the Likeness and cured him with that what was corrupted in him viz. with the divine Mercury and with the divine Venus and with the divine Jupiter understand in Man was the Expressed Word which I call the Eternal Mercury in Man for it the true ruling acting Life it was inspired or in-spoken into Mans Image which God created out of his Essence into an Image according to God as into a Creatural Image which was the Soul with the Property of all the Three Worlds viz. with the World of Light and Understanding which is God and with the Fire World which is the Eternal Nature of the Father of all Beings and with the Light Love-World which is Heavenly Corporality for in the Love-desire is the Essence viz. the Corporality 4. The Desire of Love is Spirit and is the Heart of God viz. the right divine Understanding In the Love-Essence Mercury is Gods Word and in the fiery Nature he is the Wrath of God the Original of all Mobility and Enmity also of Strength and Omnipotence the fiery Property maketh the Light viz. the Liberty desirous so that the Nothing is a Desire and this Desire is the Love of God which Adam did extinguish in him for he Imagined after Evil and God that is after Earthliness the Earthliness came forth into a Being both out of the Wrath and out of the Love-Being and that through Gods Motion that the Wonders of the Abyss and Byss might be made manifest that Good and Evil might be made known and manifest and this Adam being the Image of God should not do for God had created him unto his Image He should have Tinctured the Fire-World and outward World with the Word of Love that so none of them should be manifest in him like as the day holdeth the night avalled in it self 5. But by false Imagination he hath awakened and manifested the dark and poysonful Mercurial Fire-World in him so that his bodily Essence of the dark Impression is fallen unto the evil Part in the poysonful Mercurial Property and the Soul is become manifest in the Eternal Nature in the Fathers Fire-property viz. in the poysonful hateful Mercury according to which God calleth himself an angry zealous God and a consuming fire 6. Now to help and restore this again viz. the Image of God God must take the right Cure and even the same which Man was in his innocency But how did he effect it Behold O Man behold and see open thy Understanding thou art called 7. He introduced the holy Mercury in the Love-flame viz. in the fiery Love with the Desire of the divine Essentiality or after the divine Essentiality which Desire maketh divine Corporality in it self again into the Expressed Word viz. into the Mercurial Fire-Soul understand into the Souls Essence in the Womb of Mary and became again that same Image of God He Tinctured the Poyson viz. the Wrath of the Father of all Essences with the Love-fire He took only even that same Mercury which he had breathed into Adam for an Image and formed into a Creature He took only that same property yet not in the Fires property but in the burning Love He did with the Love introduce again the Light of the Eternal Sun into the humane property that he might Tincture the Wrath of the enkindled Mercury in the humane property and inflame it with Love that the humane Jupiter viz. the divine Understanding might again appear and be manifest 8. Ye Physicians if ye here understand nothing then ye are captivated in the Poyson of
forms of Life in their Enmity do become unanimous and then the hunger of the Disease ceaseth and the process to the Universal is as hath been already mentioned It is not my intent to mention a clear Declaration thereof it is clear enough he that will not seek thereby a new man born in God and apply himself diligently thereto let him not meddle with my Writings 37. I have not written any thing for such a Seeker and also he shall not be able to apprehend our meaning fundamentally albeit he strive never so much about it unless he entreth into the Resignation in Christ even there he may apprehend the Spirit of the Universal otherwise all is to no purpose and we do faithfully warn the Curious Critick not to amuse himself for he will not effect any thing in this way unless he himself doth enter thereinto and then it will be shewn him without much seeking for the way is child-like plain and easie CHAP. XIII Of the Enmity of the Spirit and of the Body and of their C U R E and R E M E D Y. 1. EVery Body is in it self a senceless and as a dead thing or being it is only a manifestation of the Spirit which is in the body the Spirit is signed with the Body whatsoever the Spirit is in it self in an incomprehensible unperceivable operation the same is the body in the Comprehensible and Visible working There is one form of the Seven forms of Nature Superiour and Chief the other do hang unto it and give their Signs also according as each of them is strong in the Essence and as the Forms do stand in their order in each thing even so they do sign the Body of every Thing and Creature in its Generation or kind this is the manifestation of the Divine Wisdom in the Expressed Word of Love and Anger 2. There is not any thing but it hath its Soul in it according to its property and the Soul is a kernel to another body whatsoever liveth and groweth hath its Seed in it God hath comprehended all things in his Word and spoken them forth into a Form as the Will had formed it self in the Desire the expressed or Spoken is a Plat-form of the Speaking and hath again the Speaking in it this same Speaking is a Seed to another Image according to the first for both work viz. the Speaking and the Spoken Word 3. The Speaking worketh in it self viz. in the Eternity and the spoken also in it self viz. in the Time the Speaking is the Master and the Spoken is the Instrument the Speaking maketh the Nature of Eternity and the Spoken maketh the Nature of Time each maketh in its Comprehension two properties viz. Light and Darkness wherein the Element of all Beings doth consist which in the Expressed Word doth sever it self into four Elements but in the Speaking Word there is but One the Element in it self is neither hot nor cold also neither dry nor moist but it is a Lubet viz. a desiring Will wherein the Divine Wisdom maketh the different and various Colours all according to the Desires property in which there is neither number nor end but in the four Elements there is number and End For with the Expressing in that they are become Self-full they have taken a beginning and have formed themselves into a Model or Plat-form of a time which runneth as a Watch-work it formeth frameth and destroyeth 4. This Watch-work consists of Seven forms or properties as is before mentioned which make in themselves a three-fold Spirit viz. a Vegetative Sensitive and Rational the Vegetative consists in the four Elements the Sensitive in the Seven forms of Nature and the Rationative in the Constellation but the Understanding proceeds only from God for it ariseth out of the Eternal Nature all life whatsoever which hath its limit in the Expressed Word doth consist in Sal Sulphur and Mercury for therein consist the Seven properties of Every life of this World and also the spirit of Vegetation Sensation and Reason 5. Sulphur is the Mother of all Spirituality and Corporality Mercury manageth the Dominion therein and Sal is the house of its habitation which Mercury it self maketh in Sulphur Reason ariseth in the Oyl of the Sulphur whereinto the Constellation giveth its desire viz. the essence of its property whence forth-with the senses and thoughts do arise but the Understanding proceedeth forth from the Oyl of the Element viz. in the free Lubet in the Speaking Mercury 6. Now then seeing it is very necessary for us poor children of Eve to know whence the Disease and Enmity of our life doth arise and what that is in us which maketh us our own Enemies and doth vex perplex and plague us in our selves Much more necessary then it is to know the Cure whereby we may cure our selves in our Self-hood and bring ourselves into the limit of Rest. 7. This we will delineate and declare if there be any one that hath a mind to enter upon it and truly prove and try it and we will set forth whence Evil and Good do arise originally and how they arise and give occasion to the understanding Searcher to seek and we will shew how the will to Evill and Good doth arise and how the Evil is the death of the Good and contrariwise the Good the death of the Evil. 8. When we consider what the Mercurial life is then we find that it consists in Sulphur for Sulphur is a dry hunger after Matter which maketh an austere Impression and in its austere Impression it hath the Fire and also in its Impression the Oyle whence the life burneth Now the Impression maketh coldness and its Compunction or Intraction maketh heat so that now there is a cold Fire and an hot Fire in one thing the cold maketh in it self Hardness and Darkness and the Heat maketh in it self the Light and yet there could be no Light if the Oyl in the Sulphur did not dye in servent hot anguish as the Candle in the Fire 9. Now there is a two-fold dying in Sulphur whence also a two-fold Life is Generated as first the Impression or Desire doth intract contract enclose maketh hard cold thick and the hardness viz. the Enclosed causeth a death in the Enclosed Being and yet in that spirit there is no death but a pricking raging and anxious cold Fire-life which is generated with the Impression and is the life of the darkness 10. Secondly in the same Anguish in the austere desire the hot Fire is generated which consumeth the Substance which the coldness viz. the Impression of the desire to Nature doth make Thus there remaineth in the Fire the contention betwixt the Cold and Heat the cold will have its life according to its property and in that it doth strive for life it doth enkindle the Heat in its Impression and forth-with the Heat depriveth the Cold of its Might and consumeth the Colds
in the Will and New-birth as a new fiery Generation Knowledg apprehends it not only the earnest Desire and breaking of the sinful Will that apprehends it 36. Thus there is no sufficient ground in the Election of Grace as Reason holds it forth Adam is chosen in Christ but that many a Twig withereth on the Tree is not the Trees fault for it withdraweth its sap from no Twig only the Twig giveth forth it self too eagerly with the Desire it runneth on in self-will viz. it is taken by the Inflammation of the Sun and the Fire before it can draw sap again in its Mother and refresh it self 37. Thus also man perisheth amongst the evil Company in evil vain ways God offereth him his Grace that he should repent but evil Company and the Devil leadeth him in wicked ways until he be even too hard captivated in the Anger and then it goeth very hardly with him he indeed was called but he is Evil God chuseth only Children being he is evil the choyce paffeth over him but if he again reforms and amends the eternal Choyce or Election doth again receive him 38. Thus saith the Scripture Many are called but when the Choyce in Christs Suffering and Death cometh upon them then they are not capable of the same by reason of the self-ful forestalled evil Will and so they are not the Elected but evil Children and here it is then rightly said we have piped unto you but you have not danced we have mourned unto you and ye have not lamented unto us O Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thy Children together as a clock-hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings and thou wouldst not It is not said thou couldst not but thou wouldst not and while they remain in the Iniquity of Sin they also cannot God will not cast his Pearl before Swine but to the Children which draw near to him he giveth the Pearl and his Bread 39. Therefore whosoever blameth God despiseth his Mercy which he hath introduced into the Humanity and bringeth the Judgment headlong upon his Body and Soul 40. Thus I have truly warned the Reader and set before his eyes what the Lord of all Beings hath given me He may behold himself in this Looking-Glass both within and without and find what and who he is Every Reader shall find his profit therein be he either good or evil It is a very clear Gate of the Mystery of all Beings with glosses and self-wit none shall apprehend it in its own ground but it may well embrace the Real Seeker and create him much profit and joy yea be helpful to him in all natural things provided that he apply himself thereunto aright and Seek in the fear of God being it is now a time of Seeking for a Lilly blossometh upon the Mountains and Valleys in all the ends of the Earth He that Seeketh Findeth Amen HALLELUIAH The brief Heads of what the several Chapters do treat Chap. I. HOw that all whatsoever is spoken of God without the knowledge of the Signature is dumb and without understanding and that in the mind of man the Signature lieth very exactly composed according to the Being of all Beings Chap. II. Of the Opposition and Combate in the Essence of all Essences whereby the ground of the Sympathy and antipathy in Nature may be seen and also the Corruption and Cure of each thing Chap. III. Of the great mystery of all Beings Chap. IV. Of the Birth of the four Elements and Stars in the Metaline and creatural Property Chap. V. Of the Sulphurean Death and how the dead body is revived and replaced into its first glory or holiness Chap. VI. How a Water and Oylis generated and of the difference of the Water and Oyl and of the vegitable Life and Growth Chap. VII How Adam while he was in Paradise and also Lucifer were glorious Angels and how they were corrupted and spoiled through Imagination and Pride Chap. VIII Of the Sulphurean Sude of the Earth how the Vegetation proceeds from the Earth and also the difference of Sex various kinds of creatures an open gate for the Searching Philosopher Chap. IX Of the Signature shewing how the inward Ens signeth the outward Chap. X. Of the inward and outward Cure of Man Chap. XI Of the process of Christ in his Suffering Dying and Rising again Of the wonder of the sixth Kingdom in the Mother of all Beings how the Consummatum Est was finished and how likewise by way of Simility it is accomplished and effected in the Grand Philosophick Work or Universal Tincture Chap. XII Of the Seventh Form in the Kingdom of the Mother shewing how the Seventh Kingdom viz. the Solar Kingdom is again opened and revived set forth in the similitude of Christs Resurrection Chap. XIII Of the Enmity contrary Will or annoying distemper of the Spirit and Body and of their Cure and Restoration Chap. XIV Of the Wheel of Sulphur Mercury and Salt of the generation of Good and Evil how the one is changed into the other and how the one doth manifest its property in the other and yet remain in the first Creation in the Wonder of God to his own manifestation and glory Chap. XV. Of the will of the Great mystery in Good and Evil how a good evil Will doth originally arise and how the one doth introduce it self into the other Chap. XVI Of the Eternal Signature and Heavenly joy wherefore all things were brought into Evil and Good wherein the real ground of Election and Reprobation may be rightly understood The Postscript Reader IT would be too tedious and even neeedless for to give thee a brief Summary of the particular Heads of the Book for it self is but a short hidden Signature or Character of natural Divine Knowledg and therfore an observant and an understanding through-reading of the same will be thy best Index For this Author is not to be read here there by Peece-meals for he makes not a controversial bookish Rapsode of divers Authors but there is one continued Breath and Sound of his own experimental Science running an harmonious division through all the Three Principles of Divine manifestation and with sweet Accord playing interchangeably upon all the three clifts of Philosophy Divinity and Theosophy even from the deepest Base to the smallest or Highest Note that can be sounded or reached by the Spirit of Man and therefore none will understand him but the Nurslings of Sophia in whose Souls the ayr of the One Pure Element of Paradise breaths which doth ATONE the strife of the four Elements and revives the Souls true magick Fire whereby it is able to prove all things and hold fast that which is good In a word it brings the Souls true Faith working in Love into the Nothing where it loseth its own Selfish Something and findeth all things I know this Book will seem strange and simple to the proud Self-conceited Sophisters the Wiselings of Pedantick Reason who will