is evident that the beams of his affection did in the absence of his Master not forsake his Master's beams which guided him unto the unknown place so directly that he found him out Is it not also a wonderfull Sympatheticall Emanation that the Pigeon called the Carrier doth make unto the place or dove-coat wherein he was bred and fostered Which for that reason it doth so dearely affect and love that though he be conveied 500 miles from his noursery in an enclosed basket yet he will fly directly back again with a letter about his neck Which is an evident Argument that it is justly and straightly guided by the emitted beam of his affection which is contiued after a spirituall manner with the place it doth most delight in What shall we say in two persons whereof the one doth love and affect without all reason and therefore prosecureth with the beam of his affection his beloved though she or he altogether either abhorring or neglecting and not corresponding with the like beams of affection doth not reciprocally embrace but rather refuse and avert the beams of his or her Love But where two do joyntly affect by a Sympatheticall Union there the action will spiritually be furthered at a far greater distance as when two starrs of heaven send out their beams semidiametrally and concur in one harmonious point of affections Nay verily as we behold being taught by experience that there will be a great Antipathy between the slain bodie 's contracted spirit and the murtherer insomuch that the lively spirit of the dead being contracted after death by cold into its Center doth through an angry Antipatheticall passion move again from the Center unto the Circumference as it were to resist the deadly enemy and doth cause the congealed blood to flow and move as if it would meet with and assault afresh the murtherer's emitted spirit So we must surely confess that where one spirit concurreth in Sympathy with another of the like nature the power must be the greater and the action performed at a larger distance as is evidently expressed in the abstruse operation which is in the Magnetick cure effected between the weapon or ointment and the wounded person of which I have spoken so much in that hot encounter which hath been between Mr. Foster and my self in the Book where I was provoked to squeeze his Sponge and farther do purpose in this present Treatise to enlarge my self a little better touching that point by way of a comparison made between the Magneticall virtue in Man and that of the Load-stone The Argument of Mr. Foster consisteth upon the impossibility of that operating virtue at so large a distance as is propounded by some to be effected by the Ointment or rather of the lively blood's Emanation and emitting forth of his exciting spirituall beames or influences unto the dead or congealed blood which impossibility if it were true indeed in the Animal kingdom which is the most dilative and less bound with bodily bonds I wonder that it should not be far more impossible and unfezible in the mineral bodies by reason of the firm and close solidity of them which are therefore apter to retain their influentiall beams then the bodies which are made lax and porous Besides all this the Animal body is hot and fiery and consequently the readier to dilate and send forth his virtue the further but the minerall is cold and therefore the less active and powerfull in sending forth his beams And yet for all this experience teacheth us that the Loadstone looketh towards the North-star sendeth forth his spirituall aspect unto it as also the star doth at the like distance send out his beams unto his Northern minerall mark at an unmeasurable distance as is said before which being so why should not I beseech you the Animall star derived from his celestiall Fountain send out also his beams unto the frozen and chill blood in his unctuous earth I mean the Weapon-salve or unto the blood 's invisible spirit sucked into the Iron by his attractive Sulphureous nature For experience teacheth us that though no corporall blood be found on the Iron yet if the place of the weapon that wounded the person be anointed it cureth by a like Sympatheticall aspect For country-Chirurgions have made tryall when they durst not search the wound with the Probe and found by experience namely by putting the weapon into the fire that the part of the sword or weapon will discover it self which wounded the party being that it will change colour from the rest whereby they perceive how deep the wound is by the observation of that part of the weapon which did penetrate And therefore this is an evident argument of the ingression of the bloody spirits into the wounding instrument and consequently it argueth that there are essentiall spirits which emanate or issue forth of the blood quite forsaking the body whereby also it is expressed against Mr. Foster that if the grosser spirits of the blood are able to pierce the close-grained steel it s finer and more subtil spirits are able to penetrate without any resistance all other things in manner of an influence But wee 'l approach a little nearer to our purpose and will remove ouâ— argument from the minerall demonstration unto the vegetable that thereby we may express like by like in our animal subject I will therefore insist upon the Grain of Wheat which being dead and putrified in the earth is suscitated by the beamy influences of the Sun For like doth draw his like by a magnetick power and like rejoyceth in his like and like is suscitated and revived and quickened or evoked from his rest or center by his evoking and alluring or embracing like and by this means the beamy spark or atom of sunny influence in the grain being idle and doing nothing in the center thereof is stirred up by his externall like to act and operate his own delivery out of the elementall mire or the slimy band of the elementary compound And therefore as it was before contracted from the externall cold into the center it is now by the presence of fresh solary irradiation from above exsuscitated as is were from death unto life and so by the assistance of those celestiall beams it passeth beyond the limits of the corrupted grain and soareth above the earth and seeketh by all means to ascend unto his native region from whence it descended but being cumbered in his ascent by the sublunary substance of the importunate elements which enclose it on every side it is beset with the volatil salt of the aire and insteed of mounting into his desired place it is contented to multiply in his kind and to have companions namely other graines procreated like it self In like manner the microcosmical Sun of life raigning as Scriptures do teach us in the blood doth emanate and send out his spirituall beams which are inseparable by continuity joyned unto and continued with the spirit of the congealed
out of order and in a destructive war with one another were it not for the presence of this Lord of misrule Thus as you see will Dyscracy and Antipathy reigne by their turnes in the neather region of the world when the tye of the elements are loose Thus will friendship be quickly changed into hatred when JEHOVA is pleased to send forth his altering winds and to corroborate and animate by his influence from above the ministers of his wrath here below against the sublunary creature Now come I to prove that all sympatheticall and antipatheticall effects do proceed from the secret and occult actions of the ministring spirits of this world That there is a mighty difference amongst the Angels no man of wisdom can deny for though all Angels were at the first united unto the divine Unity yet by reason of the rebellion and ambition of Lucifer that knot of union was broke and then the waters were divided from the waters that the good Angels might be separated and distinguished from the bad by the interposition of the firmament as a Diaphragma or middle bar between each of their habitations So that the dark Angels were enclosed in the lower or dark fecall and dreggy waters and the light Angels were lodged in the higher waters which were illuminated and dignified by a super-celestiall light and glory Thus you may see that the very Angells of heaven forasmuch as they are created of aire or the humid spirit of the world which is their externall and the bright emanation from Unity which is their internall are subject by reason of their materiall subâ—tance which participates of both extreams unto affections or passions as well sympatheticall as antipatheticall and consequently they aâ—e able by reason of their contrary pâ—operties to produce both sympatheticall and antipatheticall accidents in the spirits of the elementary creatures As for examples sake we will compare the catholick sympathy and antipathy which is in the soul of the great world unto that peculiar soul or spirit which is in man being that every particular was framed out of the universall We ought therefore to understand that the whole essenâ—e of the soul or spirit of man though it be invisible extendeth and manifesteth it self by her vertues and faculties for by her irascibility it contemneth and hateth and by her concupiscibility it doth covet and desire and by her rationability she distinguisheth and discerneth between them both And verily the whole effect of the souls essence consisteth in these three powers whereof the first is compared to the action of the lower waters which is apt to jar and disagree and is the region of Lâ—tigâ—um or the Prince of darkness The second is referred unto the nature of the firmament which is the region of life and salutary love and the last unto the angelicall and intellectuall heaven which doth discern between things that belong unto the lower heavens or regions of the world Whereupon it appeareth that from her rationall property every sense belonging unto the soul of man doth proceed as from the other two every affection motion or passion of the minde doth arise and spring Now there are known to be four affections of the soul whereof two do proceed from her concupiscible power namely Joy and Hope for at that which we love we rejoyce and are glad or we hope for and expect that which shall rejoyce us or make us glad and the two other issue from her irascible faculty or vertue namely Grief or Dolour and Fear for now we grieve at that which we hate or we fear that which would make us grieve or be dolorously affected And verily we shall after a due inquisition find that these four affections of the Microcosmicall soul are not onely the beginnings and common matter or subject of all morall vices or vertues but also the originalls of Metaphysicall or occult and Physicall or elementary and apparent sympathy and antipathy as well in the little as in the great world and every creature thereof For I would not have you ignorant that being the soul in man is derived from the vivifying emanation dwelling in the words spirituall vehicle it must follow that that soul in the great world must needs have in it the faculties which the little worlds soul hath for Quod facit tale est magis tale But these faculties in the soul of man were derived from the great world and the eternal soul that vivified it Wherefore it followeth that there is a rationability a concupiscibility and an irascibility in the soul of the great world though not made manifest unto us First because that it hath attributes of irascibility and displeasure for from his Attribute ELOHIM Gibbor he sendeth down by the port Geburah the fiery beams of his displeasure by his Archangell Samael into the globe or sphear of Mars who is for that cause President of the irascible faculty of the greater world wherefore his influences do cause wrath and angry effects in the aire and earth as thunder lightnings comets and other wrangling accidents which as Scriptures tell us are the arguments of Gods wrath and vengeance also war famine and pestilence and augmenteth the angry nature and spirit of men and beasts And again Gods Attribute IEHOVA Sabaoth poureth down the beams of concupiscibility by the Arch-angell Anael upon the globe of Venus according to Philosophers and Astronomers who for that reason being moved thereto by experience and observation have made this star the president and rectrix of the concupiscible faculty As the Attribute EL doth pour out the beams of reason justice and religion yea and naturall vegetation and life into the sphear of Jupiter But principally this naturall faculty is rained into the soul of the world by the Attribute IAH through his port Sapientia or Wisdom The second reason is because the great world hath an intellectuall or rationall heaven and a concupiscible property manifested in every creature and an irascible which is apparent also by reason of hatred and horrour which appeareth between one thing and another Also that there is an irascible quality in the elements that deadly hatred which is betwixt the fire and water and the aire and earth doth manifest That also there is a love and concupiscence between things it is evident because one nature rejoyceth in his like and therefore by a naturall inclination every thing doth move and convert it self unto his like by all possibility but especially it is most inclinable unto it self So we see that fire doth naturally affect and move unto fire water unto water and earth unto earth But above all the vivifying spirit of every living thing which is celestiall and therefore exceedeth the place of the elements doth with fervency affect and thirst after his like and is rejoyced at the presence and concurrency thereof And for this cause this passion of what creature soever will be the more truly sympatheticall and the sympathy between things will be so much the
the mysty and ambiguous clouds of that cavilling brabling heathenish Philosophy which they so adore and follow with their Master Aristotle as if he were another Jesus rained down from heaven to open unto mankind the treasures of the true wisdome But maâ—k a while I beseech you how the Apostle doth describe these wrangling Philosophers with their Sophisticall Philosophy and with what characters and colours he doth justly describe them Si quis aliter docet non acquiescit sanis sermonibus Domini nostri Jesu Christi saith he ei quae secundum pietatem est Doctrinae superbus est nihil sciens sed languens circa quaestiones pugnas verborum ex quibus oriuntur iuvidiae contentiones blasphemiae suspiciones mala conflictationes hominum mente corruptorum qui veritate privati sunt existimantium quaestum esse pietatem If any man teach otherwise and consenteth not unto the wholsome words of our Lord Jesus Christ and unto the doctrine which is according unto Godlinesse he is puffed up and knoweth nothing but doteth about questions and contention of words whereof cometh envy strife rayling evil surmises froward disputations of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth which think that gaine is Godlinesse From such saith St. Paul unto Timothy Seperate thy self I could hartily wish that each Christian Peripatetick who spendeth his time in disputes and cavills after the Aristotelian manner and attempteth to draw out the endless bottome of truth or dive into the bowells or labyrinths of verity by subtle evasions I meane by an infinity of distinctions which doe rather distract then attract man unto the true wisdome which is but plaine and simple unity I could wish them I say to ponder this with patience and seriously to call to mind that in the Church of God and habitations or kingdoms of the true Sophia or if they please Philosophia there is no such custome as the Apostle teacheth us for this mixtion of multiform humane wisdome with the wisdome of God hath been the occasion of so many dissentions and discords as have sprung up among the Philosophers of this world whereupon every kind of this false Philosophy hath by stiffe cavillations and disputations maintained her Sect. This also hath been the occasion of errours in the Church of God as well among Christians as Turkes and Jewes For amongst us Christians it hath been the root of many Schisms and Heresies which have risen up in the re-search of one onely true God which is the eternall Unity And hereupon Convenientibus vobis in Ecclesia saith St. Paul si quis videtur esse contentiosus nos talem consuetudinem in Ecclesia non habemus If any man seem to be contentious we have no such custome in the Church of God To conclude there are so many waies of deception in this our Christian world by reason of these Aristotelicall evasions and Protean Peripateticall distinctions and sophistications that the self-same thing may by them like a nose of waxe be turned and changed or altered in outward appearance which way a man list and so plain simple truth is abused and the silly man seduced The Apostle doth notably decypher or paint forth this kind of Aenigmaticall Philosophers of our Age which like glorious Thrasoes are puffed up in their own conceipts and think very well of themselves though they approach not neare the mark or Summum bonum which wise men do ayme at in these colours In novissinis diebus saith he instabunt tempora periculosa c. Erunt homines seipsos amantes cupidi elati superbâ— c. Semper dâ—scentes nunquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes quemadmodum autem Jamnes Mambres restiterunt Moysi ita hi resistuunt veritati homines corrupti mente reprobi circa fidem ultra non proficient insipientia enim eorum erit manifesta omnibus sicut illorum fuit Tu autem assequuntus es meam Doctrinam In the last daies shall come perilous times for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters high-minded and proud c. alwaies learning and never attaining unto the knowledge of the truth And as Jamnes and Mambres did resist Moses so do these withstand the truth being men corrupt in minde and reprobate concerning the faith But these shall prevail no longer for their foolishnesse shall be made manifest unto all men as theirs also was But thou hast fully known my doctrine c. Now his doctrine was concerning the true Philosophy whose foundation was Jesus Christ or the true wisdom and corner-stone which sustaineth all and is all in all and filleth all and acteth or operateth all in all which is contrary unto the tenour of the Ethnick doctrine seeing that it maketh an infinity of essentiall Agents in this world as Daemons Stars Elements Meteors Fire Water Cold Heat Man Beast Plant Minerall and such like the which they will have as subalternate essentiall Agents to act and operate of themselves not understanding that there is but one catholick and indivisible Agent in many mansions which doth operate by and in an infinity of organicall vehicles all in all and over all And this doctrine of theirs hath so infected our Christian Philosophers which are of their sect that they distinguish of Gods Beeing saying That he is present vertualiter and not substantialiter or essentialiter As who should say that Gods vertue can be without his essence or divided from his divinity which is indivisible and so they dream of some accidents to be in God which are distinguished from his essence Or else they distinguish and say that he operateth all principaliter and mediate as he is the first cause But say they there are an infinity of secundary causes which act and operate of themselves But I wonder if that were true how God can be said to fill all things and operate all in all if he be onely the first efficient cause and not the generall cause of all action in this world by his blessed Spirit which he sent out into the world to do the will of him that sent it as well in heaven as in earth What needs more words when the Apostle in plain tearms decideth this controversie in the Text before mentioned Etsi sunt saith he qui dicuntur Dij sive in coelo sive in terra siquidem sunt dij multi domini multi nobis tamen est unus Deus Pater ex quo omnia nos in â—llo unus Dominus Jesus Christus per quem omnia nos per ipsum Sed non in omnibus est haec scientia Though there be that are called Gods as well in heaven as on earth as there are many gods and many lords yet unto us there is but one God which is the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him But every man hath not that knowledge By
coldness of the middle region of the Aire as thou seemest to averre Canst thou restrain the sweet influences of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his time canst thou also guide Arcturus with his sons Knowest thou the course of heaven or canst thou set the rule thereof upon the earth And why not For thou professest by thy Peripatetick Philosophy to understand the causes of everything and he that truly knoweth the mysteries of things can do wonders For by that means my servant Josuah made the Sun to stand still And for the religious Hezekias his sake my Spirit did cause the Sun to move backward Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds that the abundance of water may cover thee Canst thou send the Lightnings that they may walk and say unto thee Lo here we are If the grounds and principles which thou hast invented be essentiall and substantiall all this and more maist thou effect For such of the Elect into whom my Spirit of Wisdome who hath assigned true principles unto the essentially wise hath inspired this knowledg are able to effect all these things as my servant Elias after a long drought caused the clouds to moisten the dry earth and my Prophets Moses and Samuel dâ—d by the power which I did assigne them produce Thunder and Lightnings unto the terror of their enemies Dost thou know who hath put wâ—sdome in the reins or who hath given the heart understanding And darest thou being led by the frivolous effects of thy inventions which are grounded on the Elements of this world and not upon my Spirit which is the true Wisdome ascribe my works who am the sole Creator of all things unto the creatures Is this to learn to strive with the Almighty he that reproveth God let him answer unto it Thus seemeth our great God to speak unto Aristotle and such like Philosophers of this world who being too much elated in their own conceits presume thus over-boldly on their terrene and animal wisdom and would check and contradict the vertuous actions of God by their phantasticall surmises I could wish therefore that these mundane Philosophers would turn from this their worldly wisdom and humiliate themselves before the onely Creator of heaven and earth and answer with the patient Job in this manner Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand upon my mouth I know that thou canst do all things I have spoken the things I understood not even things too wonderfull for me I have heard of thee by report but now mine eyes behold thee in thy creatures And for this cause I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes acknowledging that there is no true wisdom but that which is from thee who art the Father of light by the vertue whereof thou workest all these wonders And therefore we confesse that the wisâ—om of this world is meer foolishnesse and such as wholly addict themselves unto it are deceived forasmuch as they do neglect the divine wisdom Christ Jesus in whom all the treasures of science and sapience are hid Thus have you briefly understood the duplicity of wisdom and by consequence the bi-forked or contrary nature of philosophy that is in this world and how all good Christians contrary unto the custom of this our age ought to leave and forsake the one and with fervency and zeal to love and embrace the other And now in this Book following I purpose to set down those Mosaicall principles on which our sacred Philosophy hath erected the whole bulk or substance of her fabrick The third Book of the first Section touching the essentiall Principles of the Mosaicall Philosophy The Argument of this third Book IN this present Book the Author teacheth in a generality the true and essentiall principles of the divine Philosophy and in particular he expresseth how various and differing the Ethnick Philosophers have been in their opinions concerning the beginnings of all things where he proveth that the wisest amongst those Pagan Naturalists did steal and derive their main grounds or principles from the true and sacred Philosopher Moses whose Philosophy was originally delineated by the finger of God forasmuch as the fiery characters thereof were stamped out or engraven in the dark Hyle by the eternall Wisdom or divine Word And sheweth that although the foresaid pagan philosophers did usurp the Mosaicall principles unâ—o themselves and the better to maske their theft did assigne unto them new Titles yet because they were not able to dive into the centrall understanding of them nor conceive or apprehend rightly the mystery of the everlasting Word they erected upon their principles or foundations but a vain and worldly wisdom carved out not from the essentiall Rock of truth nor relying on Christ the onely corner-stone but framed after a human invention and shaped out according unto the elements of this world much like a Castle of straw or stubble which though it be planted on a Rock yet it is subject to mutation and is easily shaken and tottered at every blast of winde In conclusion here our Author doth set down what the true Mosaicall principles are namely Darknesse Water and Light Then that all plenitude and vacuity in the world doth consist in the presence or absence of the formall principle which is Light And lastly he sheweth how the two apparent active properties namely Cold and Heat do issue from the two fore-said fountaines of Darknesse and Light as the two passive natures Moysture and Drought do challenge their originall from the said active CHAP. I. Wherein is set down the uncertainty of the antient Grecian and Arabian Philosophers in their opinions touching the principles or beginnings of all things IT is an evident Argument that the Ethnick philosophers were not well setled upon the grounds of their philosophy but did waver in their imaginations touching the true principles of nature being that among each sect of them there was maintained and upheld a variety yea and sometimes a plaine contrariety of opinions concerning them as for example Thales Milesius who was inrowled amongst the number of the wise men of Greece had his opinion that Water was the beginning of all things But Anaximenes and his disciples affirmed that an infinite aire was the first cause or originall of every existence And for this reason also Anaximander did esteem this catholick aire to be God Again on the other side Zoroaster will have all things to take their beginning from Fire and light as also the Pythagoreans say that there is one universall Fire in and over all things in this world And verily each of these opinions if they be duely considered will be found to approach and have a near relation unto the Mosaicall truth for a divine fire or light issuing forth of darknesse or the dark abysse did suddainly by its bright presence reveal and make manifest the hidden and
gunpowders force raised in the aire to a certain height moving neither lower nor higher then the form all vigor affordeth it vertue and there remaineth untill the force of the corruptible and wasting fire be spent and then it falleth down againe But the Light of the star carrieth and raiseth up the spirituall body according unto the proportion of the mounting Light which soreth as high as its power and the ponderosity of the body will permit and so it hangeth perpetually at a certain distance from the center because the fire is of an eternall and incorruptible nature and will not fade as that artificiall fire of the squib doth Now as all the illuminating vigors and animating forces or flames that are imparted unto the universall waters was bestowed on them by that bâ—ight catholick Spirit or emanation which was sent forth by God to be carried on the waters which as Scripture doth averre is brighter then the Sun or Starrs So there is none of all those Lights which are separated or divided in essence from that glorious and glittering Spirit whose beams were dispersed over all the waters in the abysse in giving of them life and being For this reason therefore because each Light had a diversity in proportion of formall brightness and measure of corpulency it is that one celestiall body doth vary in his manner of vertue motion and influence from another but because the extracted quintessence or purer materiall essence of all the Chaos with the purity of Light that issued from the creating Spirit were united into an Angelicall alterity both of those natures in the figure of one masse sored up out of the dark abysse into the heaven's center where they challenged the Royall Phoebaean Throne and that Sphaericall masse is to this hour termed the Sun of Heaven which as from the created Fountain of Light enflameth and formally enlightneth all the rest of the Starrs in the heavens above and the Element and elementated creatures below So that after the universall contracted Light was effected the fourth day of the Creation it was ordained to be that capitall Organ of life and vegetation in the starry world which did send and showre down his influences and fiery spiracles of life conservation vegetation and multiplication upon the sublunary earth and waters Thus therefore in few words you have the reason of that Condensation and Rarefaction whereby both the invisible heavenly Substance and visible celestiall bodies were made And it seemeth not to disagree from the opinions of the learned Theologians Basil and Damascene touching the causes of the divine Spirit 's action in Condensation and Rarefaction before the apparition of the Sun in the heavens Forasmuch as they will have the daie's Rarefaction or cleare heaven to be occasioned by an emission of Light ordained by the divine will or act of this Omnipotent Spirit But they think that the night's Condensation and the opake or condensed bodie in the heavens are effected by a contraction of Light which was also caused by the sacred Spirit 's volunty Thus therefore we see out of the confession of certain of the prime Fathers of the Church what was the cause of the cold condensing Night and the hot rarifying Day before the Spirit was congregated into the Tabernacle or quintessentiall substance of the Sun which was extracted by the Spageâ—ick or separative action of the divine Spirit out of the huge deformed waters of the abysse And therefore this also must be the reason of Condensation and Rarefaction unto this day For as the Spirit in the Sun being far from us and as it were contracting his beames in regard of us unto himself or absenting himself from our Hemisphere so that the cold waters do incline unto the nature of their mother Chaos by reason whereof the night and darkness are long and the light and day but short and faint in heat So also in that season the common sublunary Element is subject to Condensation and Incrâ—ssation and therefore is constrained or contracted into the consistence of Frosts Snows Hail Ice and Cold showers c. Again when it is neare unto us it dilateth it self and by his heat and presence the cold waters become hot and the daies are augmented and fortified or made strong in heat and then the common sublunary Element is apt for dilatation and subtiliation being easy to be inflamed and set on fire with Lightnings coruscations and such like But I leave the history of the Condensation and Subtiliation of the aethereall Spirit to descend unto the like acts or conditions in the sublunary Element CHAP. V. How the lower waters or catholick sublunary element were distinguished ordered and shaped out into sundry distinct sphears which are called particular Elements and that by the foresaid all-working Spirit or dâ—vine Word SInce that it is most certainly proved already that the universall substance of the world's machin was made but of one onely thing namely of a matter that was produced out of the potentiall bowells of the dark chaos or abyss by the spagerick vertue of the divine Word the which matter Moses tearmed Waters and Hermes the humid nature of the which in generall as both Moses and St. Peter aver the heavens and the earth were made of old it must needs follow that out of this catholick masse of waters the universall sublunary element was derived which is commonly termed by the name of Aer as all that humid substance in the celestiall orbe is called Aether Now this generall element is by the breath of the divine Spirit Râ—ach Elohim altered and changed from one shape unto another for that which is the visible waters was made first of the aire which is an invisible water as again the visible water by condensation is made earth And this is proved first by the words of St. Paul who saith Per fidem agnovimus quod semper ita actum sit cum mundo per Verbum ut ex iis quae videri non poterant fierent ea quae possunt videri We know by faith that it hath been ever acted with the world by the word that those things which can be seen were effected or made of those things which could not be seen And again Solomon saith that the world was made of a matter that was not seen But besides these proofs we are taught by chymicall experience that earth is nothing else but coagulated water nor visible water any thing else but invisible air reduced by condensation to a visibility nor fire any thing else but ratified aire And in conclusion all the sublunary waters were in the beginning but an invisible humid or watry spirit which we call by a common name Aire and consequently the catholick sublunary element was in its originall nothing else but one aire being that heaven was made before the seas or the earth as Moses teacheth us And therefore by faith we must believe according unto St. Paul's doctrine that all
time when these secrets shall be discovered which will come to pass when the seventh Seal shall be opened for then that high mystery which is the finall cause why and for what end Gods Providence will by these two opposits reveal it self and clean extinguish all enmity out of the world shall be discovered As touching nevertheless the end of this dissonancy the Apostle saith that it will be when the Son hath delivered the Kingdom unto God the Father and when he hath evacuated every Principality and Potentate and Virtue he must raign untill he hath made his enemies his foot-stool and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death So that as two contrarieties or discords proceeded from one Unity or unison namely Light and Darkness from one Divine Essence So also these two dissonant branches or confusion of Unities will at the last be reduced or return again into one harmonious Unity in which there will be found no dissonancy namely when these words of the Revelation are accomplished Ecce omnia nova facio vetera enim transurunt Behold I make all things new for the old heaven and earth have passed away But leaving this allaterall discourse we will proceed directly in our Sympatheticall and Antipatheticall Argument or inquiâ—ition into the which that we may penetrate with the greater celerity and facility and dive the deeper into the research of their actions it will be fit that we should describe in the first place the manner how the world doth live by the participation of these two namely of the Light and Darkness and that I will expresse unto you in few words what the Ancient Philosophers have determined about the soul of the world and lastly I will shew that their Opinions do not erre or vary much from the Testimony of the sacred Bible CHAP. IV. Wherein it is evidently proved as well by the ancienâ— Ethnick Philosophers as by the authority of Holy Scriptures that there is a soul of the world Herein also is expressed what this catholick Soul is and whereof it is composed or made I Purpose in the first rank of my discourse touching the soul of the world to expresse what the opinions as well of the ancient Cabalists and mysticall Rabbi's as Ethnick Philosophers are concerning this Subject so much condemned by some self-conceited and little skillfull persons in so profound a mystery and so highly prised and esteemed by others who have with the Lyncean eye-sight of their understanding dived and penetrated into the secret bowells of Nature with due reverence contemplated her Centrall and eternall Agent And afterwards my meaning is to set down the concordance which is observed betwixt them and Holy-Writ The Cabalist's tenent is that the great Angell whom they term Mitattron which by interpretation is Donum Dei the gift of God is that very same catholick Spirit which doth animate the whole world and thereupon Rabbi Moses doth averre it to be Intellectus a ens or the generall intellectuall agent from which all particular forms do flow And they say that from this universall angelicall Spirit all singular vertues as well animall as vitall and naturall do proceed which also they call Angells whereof there are an infinite number in respect of our capacity And the Philosopher Democritus Orpheus with divers of the Pythagoreans do not much differ from this opinion of these Rabbi's but in variety of name onely for they imagine that all things are full of gods and therefore they offered divine Honours Praiers and Sacrifices unto them in the creatures and did worship each of them with a divers fashion of ceremony But they had evermore that regard unto JEHOVA the eternall Unity and Father of all things that they referred all these gods unto one Jupiter This point nevertheless being ill understood by the ignorant was an especiall cause of Idolatry being that hereupon the simple fell unto the worshipping of the creature in stead of the Divinity which was in the creature And for this reason Solomon Vani sunt homines omnes naturà in quibus est ignorantia Dei qui ex iis quae spectantur bonis eum qui est intellig ere non potuerunt neque ex operibus consideratis ipsum opificem agnoverunt All men are naturally vain in whom is the want of the knowledg of God and cannot conceive him that truly is by such good creatures as they sensibly do discern nor yet have scanned and discovered the Workman by the consideration of his works In like manner the Platonists did call the generall vertue which did engender and preserve all things the Animam mundi or the soul of the world And to this their opinions the Arabick Astrologians do seem to adhere forasmuch as they did maintain that every particular thing in the world hath his distinct and peculiar soul from this vivifying Spirit To this opinion also Mercurius Trismegistus Theophrastus Avicenna Algazel and as well all the Stoicks and Peripateticks do seem wholly to consent or agree Again Zoroaster and Heraclitus the Ephesian conclude that the soul of the world is that catholick invisible fire of which and by the action whereof all things are generated and brought forth from puissance unto act Virgil that excellent Latine Poet calleth it that mentall Spirit which is infused through every joint and member of the world whereby the whole Mass of it namely the heaven and the earth or spirit and body are after an abstruse manner agitated and moved His words are these Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per arâ—us Mens agitat molem c. A Spirit saith he doth nourish within and being infused over all the joints or members of the world it doth move the whole substance of the same Marcus Manâ—ius as also Boetius and Augurel being later Poets are of Virgil's opinion For Manlius saith Hoc opus immensi constructum corpore mundi Vis animae divina regit The divine power of the â—oul doth govern this work which is erected in the body of the vast world And Boetius Tu triplicis mediam naturae cuncta moventem Connectis animam Thou dost frame or tye together a mean soul of a triple nature which movâ—th all things And Augurel saith Nonnulli quicquid diffunditur undique coeli Aëraque terras lati marmoris aequor Intus agi referunt animà quà vivere mundi Cuncta putant ipsumque hà e mundum ducere vitam Ast animae quoniam nil non est corporis expers Mundus at mundi partes quoque corpore constant Spiritus hic intermedius fit quem neque corpus Aut animum dicunt sed eum qui solus utroque Participans in idem simul haec exâ—rema redâ—cat Some say that whatsoever filleth the Heaven the Aire the Earth and wide Seas is stirred up by a soul through the vertue whereof all things in the world do live and also that the world it self doth exist by it But because
are reasonable namely Man as unreasonable to wit the Stars of heaven and earthly creatures both animals vegetables and minerals And therefore Archangelus the Cabalist maketh many degrees in the offices of Angels For some saith he do stand before the divine tribunall of God still praising him some administer unto him and unto us also some have the custody of the watches of the night of which CHRIST maketh mention If he came in the second or thâ—â—d watch of the nâ—ght c. Some have the government of the four quarters of the year and these are Presidents over the four stations of the Sun others are ordained rulers over the seven Planets and some do dispose of the influences and vertues of the fixed Stars and twelve Signes of which St. Joâ—â— doth seem to make mention saying That in the twelve gates that is the twelve Signes which as Plato saith are the ports of heaven are the twelve Angels Some are tuâ—elar Angels and are ordained for the creatures safeguard some have the custody of beasts others of plants others of pretious stones and mineralls All these the secret Theologians and wisemen do affirm averring withall that God worketh all in this inferiouâ— world by the administration of Angells And therefore St. Paul saith That all are administring spiâ—â—ts sent to effect that office Thus far Archangelus And again Reuclin argueth That the influxion of angelicall beams from the stars must be divers and of sundry natures because that the Angells do not by their voluntary action move the celestiall Orbe alwaies after one manner though by reason of the violent motion it doth move daily by a diurnall motion from East to West But what needs many words when the progression of the foresaid Cabalisticall work doth open and discover all the myâ—ticall operation and variety of action in the Angells For if once the ten names of God which produce ten divers emanations of different conditions which are sent by the ten foresaid numerations or sephiroticall ports or channells do breed contrary effects both in heaven above and in earth beneath it followeth by the foresaid testimony of the Prophet David that there must be so many angelicall vehicles to conduct them into the lower world as there are Cabalisticall ports and channells and consequently as many diversities of the divine properties proceeding from the variety of his will as also varieties of vehicles to conduct them For I would have each judicious Reader to conceive that the Hebrew Doctors did judge of the nature and property of each Name or attribute ascribed unto God in holy Writ by that self-same effect which it produced after the uttering or expressing of it therein no otherwise than the Philosopher useth to judge of the nature and property of the complexion by the aspect of the Physiognomy or as by the signes whiâ—h he beholdeth in the heavens he determineth of their effects to wit of rain winds thunder c. namely because such presages in the heavens do use to bring forth such and such effects Now as I have proved before if it be the divine influence of light which animateth and informeth each angelicall spirit it must needs follow that every one of these angelicall conductions or vehicles of these influences must have also a divers property because the formall influences which do animate these intelligences which carry them are different and therefore they will be naturally prone and enclined to operate the will of the Creator according unto the nature of emanation or beams of that property which it receiveth from his proper port As concerning therefore those angelicall receptacles or organs which are ordained to receive the divers kinds of divine influences or irradiations I purpose briefly to expresse them in the first place for the better understanding of the Reader with the channell they do belong unto and then the order of Angels which doth first receive them After this I will set down the celestiall Orbes or Stars into the which as unto their particular store-houses they are conveyed And lastly I will speak somewhat of the effects that these influences which are conveyed down from their starry treasury into the elementary world do effect both in the aire seas or water and earth Touching therefore the Names or attributes of God as also their emanations or streaming forth of beams with their peculiar properties I have in few words written them in the precedent Chapter as for the rest I would have the Reader to know that those ten severall divine emissions of ten severall lights out of so many Sephiroticall or Cabalisticall spouts or channells into the vast cavity of the world to accomplish the will of the Creator have their particular angelicall waggoners or conductors for in this the best Theosophers agree that as the upper Order of the Angels do receive their light and bright emanations immediately from God so do they emit them and manifest them unto the inferiour Orders and for this reason they are called Mirrours because they receive their light from the face of God or his eternall catholick emanation which as I have proved before is the head and fountain of all these Angelicall lights And again as the secret Theologians have by their serious observation of the holy Bible espied ten distinct properties as also ten divers cognominations or Names of God appropriated unto them so they perceived that there was a singular Angel appointed to receive each of these emissions of beams endued with the self-same property or condition as the lights which they receive do possesse forasmuch as these Spirits do live and are animated by them being that as the externall of the Angell is a spirituall aire so the internall of it is the formall irradiation or emanation which is according unto Gods will emitted into it And this is a generall note amongst all the secret Theologians unto whom Bartholomaeus and St. Dennis do adhere touching this point that no Angell can intermeddle with anothers businesse or take upon him the work that belongeth unto another except it be such inferiour Angels as are destinated to serve under their Arch-angels in the same function or property as shall be said more at large We must therefore understand that the office of the great and catholick Angell Mitattron was so universall that it was employed first about the information of the whole world and the division of light from darknesse as also for the vivifying of the watry spirit of the world and the diurnall rouling about of the heavens And therefore it is said and not without a good cause That it was the divine and generall Emanation that is the eternall Sapience which for this reason is said to be created before all things by whom afterward all things were made or created And for this reason it is said That this Angel doth contain in it all the angelicall perfection no otherwise than the universall beams of the Sun are comprehended in the body of the Sun Wherefore we
do with the Hebrew Rabbies justly apply the essence of the first emanation unto Mitattron which emanation is said to enter by the royall port or gate Cheter or Corona For know that this catholick Angell is said to be the first creature because it importeth the spirit of the world which did first receive the first-born son or the Emperiall emanation from the Attribute of God called EHIAH which is a name of eternity for that it containeth and doth respect the time past the time present and the time to come For this cause therefore doth this great Angel style it self Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end The first influence therefore which was of universall life and essence is received by the Angel Mitattron which is for this reason called Donum Dei after it was shouted down from the port Cheter into the highest order of the Angells called Seraphin which by reason of their propinquity unto the throne of God are said to burn or be set on fire with divine love And hereupon these have their excellent beauty and clearnesse by reason of this sacred influence which is so full of the loving benignity of the Father of light From thence this potent angelicall nature conducts the beams of this light into the convexity of the aetheriall heaven and there bestowes it as in a generall magazin or store-house which place it afterwards informs or vivifieth insomuch that by the admirable action and motion thereof it is called Primum mobile or that sphear which moveth first in the heavens and by his motion it turneth the naturall or temporall world round about from the East unto the West in twenty four houres The mover is this catholick Angel of the world full of this eternall emanation by which it animates the world Therefore also is Sapientia said to be omnium rerum priùs creata the first of all creatures and Fluxus virtutis Dei emanaâ—io claritatis ejus omni re mobilior penetrans ubique propter suam munditiam permanens in se omnia innovans It is an influence of the vertue of God and the shining forth of his brightnesse which is the most movable of all things penetrating all things by his purenesse and being one in essence reneweth all things that is it reviveth every thing By which it is plain that this catholick emanation is the soul of the world having endued or put on the universall angelicall spirit and therefore is called by the holy Text a Creature so that the catholick created spirit of the world is the Primum mobile for by this first-born emanation from God it is animated and moved as by the swiftest mover in the world and the mover is tearmed Primus motor both together or called Mundi anima which therefore is defined to be in respect of the created spirit thus animated Primum mobile spoâ—te per se mobile The first thing moved which is moved voluntarily and by it self And for this reason also the animal faculty in man which is sedes animae intellectulis is said to move voluntarily when the action â—f the vitall and naturall faculty compared unto the etheriall and elementary heaven do move unvoluntarily that is at the will of the first mover And this work is therefore assigned unto this sphear with the legions of intelligences that are derived from and created there by their catholick head which is the said grand Arch-angell as beams from one Sun partly to hinder the starry lights which were after created from burning the elementary world or working by their long continued impression too violent and unnaturall alterations as also to make a proportionable day and night unto the earth To conclude by this angelicall act the whole spirit of the world was generally inacted The divine emanation which issued from the second Sephiret or port called Hochma which is sent out by the Attribute IAH passeth into the order of the Cherubins which signifieth the plenitude of Science and abundance of the gifts of Wisdom and is received of the Arch-angel Zophiel which by the etymology of his name argueth pulchritude as being replenished with an infinity of particular beams of life But another calleth this keeper and conductor of these beams Ruziel who immediately doth direct them into the firmament or heaven of the fixt starrs and principally into the broad girdle of the starry heaven which is called the Zodiack arguing by the etymology of his name that the beams of this emanation do chiefly work and fashion out ideally the liniments of an infinity of particularities in the elementary world as shall be demonstrated hereafter The third effluxion which is made from the port Binah under the protection of the name ELOHIM descendeth immediately into the order of the Thrones arguing thereby Gods severe property full of â—udgment and is received by the Arch-angel Zabkiel or as others will have it of Kaspiel which is as much to say as Genius Cholerae magnae and this effluxion is conducted down into the next sphear below the firmament which it informeth according unto the naturall property of the divine influx and it procreateth the globe of Saturn which it replenisheth with spirits or inferiour intelligences called by the name of Saturnine Intelligences which send down these influences into the elementary world to produce effects according unto their nature as well in the aire and water as in and upon the earth The fourth emanation which is derived from the conduit-pipe of Chesed over which the word EL hath dominion is received of the angelicall order of Dominations which import power against evill spirits and the benefit of life and breath and then is committed unto the Arch-angel Zadkiel which is by interpretation Genius justitiae and this Angel according unto the nature of the influence which it carrieth is a friend unto the true Justice in the proportion of the elements and a friend unto the creature's life wherefore it conducteth the beams of this property into the next or be below Saturn which they make a dwelling place for an infinity of spirits that are created out of the same informing influence and therefore are of its property This Terra Angelica Olympi is tearmed the Star of Jupiter and these kinds of Olympick spirits are tearmed Jovial Intelligences which do poure forth the streams of their influence into the elementary regions and animateth the spirits of its nature which work effects appropriated unto the property of this influence The fifth eradiation or emission of divine beams is out of the Sephiroticall numeration or port called Geburah whose President is the divine Attribute ELOHIM GIBBOR and these beams are said to passe directly into the order of Potestats and the Arch-angell unto the which these beams are committed is called Samaâ—l or as others will Hamael and it is a Genius which importeth horrour and this Intelligence doth conduct the beams of its Emanation into the Sphere which is below that of Jupiter and informeth the spirits
upon them but are preserved by assiâ—ual succession of their beamy influence and consequently all things that are so made by the celestiall influxion is the type or image of those celestiall spirits whose beams did make them wherefore it must needs follow by Alkindus his rule that if they are the types or images of the celestiall shapes which did fashion them they must in like manner emit their beams though invisibly no otherwise then the starrs do from which they draw the influence of their beeing For we must know as I proved in my Radicall Inquisition that the essentiall beams descending from God to the Angels and from the Angels unto the Starrs and from the Starrs unto the creatures are continuall because indivisible For there is no formed Virtue issuing from God that can be separated from its Fountain which being so it must needs follow that they shine forth out of the body in which they are unto other lights which are sent out from other creatures no otherwise then one star of heaven doth behold another in this or that aspect Wherefore mark me well what I now say I told you that each star in heaven hath his friend and he â—hath his enemy I told you that the reason of this opposition as well among the Angells as starrs of heaven was the diversity of the Volunty of God which was the cause of such opposite Attributes as are by the Hebrew Text which the Cabalisticall Rabbies do approve of expressed and avouched I proceed therefore thus and say That if in the heavenly harmony it happeneth that there is a potent aspect or streaming forth of beams which concurreth with the irradiation of the aethereall or starry Lord of life of the thing generated or produced being animal vegetable or minarell And that if by Emanation the star so partaking with the Lord of Life be an utter enimy unto the Lord of Life then will the spirit of that creature so generated or made be subject to discordant passions as fear anger sadness and suspition and that especially when the enemy unto the Lord of Life being more potent in the celestiall Scheme or Horoscop doth apply unto the Lord of Life being any way debilitated by an evill aspect So that this way happeneth a kind of insensible antipatheticall perturbation unto the spirit of the thing so generated or produced Also if the thing produced or generated do begin his nativity when the enemy was most potent in heaven then when his proper Lord and he be joyned with the first Lord in any bad aspect if at that time that creature be brought into the presence of that other creature which was first mentioned there must needs be an antipatheticall distast in the spirit of the first because the Genius of the last is timorous and affraid of the Genius of the first which is his enemy being more powerfull and therefore the two earthly subjects of these different starrs being present and emitting the beams of their nature those beams must of necessity work antipathetically with one another and the strongest must prevail no otherwise than the two starrs of heaven which made the mixtion of beams were enemies But you must note and observe that though the stronger beams be antipatheticall unto the weaker it followeth not that the weaker beams be antipatheticall unto the stronger being alwaies that the stronger passion is in the weaker as the action remaineth in the stronger But if the Subject of a star in heaven be brought in on earth unto the subject of his enemy in heaven if there was not in the nativity any aspect between them they operate not antipathetically with their beams being present and yet their natures or beams will be by so much the more inclined to actuall opposition if at the time of their meeting the enemies aspect on one another with an evill aspect in heaven As for example If that Jupiter be Lord of the nativity or production of the thing and Mars do aspect him in a quadrat or opposit aspect and this creature suppose it be a Man doth meet with a Cat the Lord of whose nativity is Mars most powerfull in heaven aspecting Jupiter with a malevolent irradiation then will the sight of this Cat be unpleasant unto that Man But the truth is that there may be some fixt star which is the assigned originall or protector of the cat or animal of what nature soever which may be antipatheticall unto the fixt star with the Planet in it that have dominion over the cat But contrariwise if the beams of two Planets or signs or more do meet or concurre in one and the same generation or production of a thing where the star which hath most dominion is Lord of the thing be it animal or vegetable or mineral and these Planets are friends to one another then if any other Subject present it self which is fashioned by the beams of the other Planet these two Subjects emitting their beams upon the earth will love each other and sympathetically agree with one another and so much the greater will their Sympathy be unto one another by how much they accord unto one another in nature property and benevolence of aspect in the instant of their nativities or beginnings As for example If Jupiter be Lord of a man's nativity and aspect Venus and Venus him in a Sextil or Trine aspect and again Venus is the most powerfull in the nativity of a cat or dog and hath a relation by his beams unto Jupiter in a good aspect then I say that there will be a reciprocall affection in Sympathy betwixt both creatures Also if the like friendship be made in heaven at the bringing forth of any vegetable the man or beast will be well pleased at the presence view and tast of that vegetable and if he eate of it it will well agree with his nature And all this is to be understood in things which from their Creation were not ordained quite opposit and antipatheticall unto the creature as are vermin and such like the which nevertheless are made by these concordant irradiations of heaven more amiable and less harmfull yea and more convenient for the use of mans or beasts bodies Also there is since the fall of Adam enmity set between the Serpent and Man and yet by the like confluence in heaven some affect Serpents or Snakes some by the concurrence of contrary beams do loth and fly from them with an exceeding detestation and do abhorre them beyond all measure But to return again unto the root of this business the evident cause of Sympathy and Antipathy of things proceedeth from the radical Mystery of the opposite Attributes or properties in God which have the originall of their Emanation from the secret and hidden Volunty of Eternity as I have told you here before And yet these Astrologians have such reasons from their starry experiences that they all take their Originall of Sympathy or Antipathy from them And hereupon did the
Philosohers in generall conclude that Inferiora à superioribus reguntur that Mundus inferior sit corporibus superioribus contiguus Inferior things aâ—e governed and directed by the superior and the inferior world is contiguous unto the superior bodies And Ptolomy Vultus hujus saeculi subjecti sâ—nt vultibus coeli The effigiesses or shapes of this world are subject unto the images of heaven And Aristotle Est mundus iste supernis lationibus fere continuus ut inde vis ejus universa regatur This world is almost continuall with the supernall lations that thereby his universall power may be governed And Hippocrates De coelestibus autem rebus sublimibus mihi nihil dâ—cendum videtur nisi quatenus homines animaliaque caetera quae in terris degunt gignuntur nataque sunt principia originem inde habere demonstrabo quod anima de coelo est quod dolere languere mori denique quicquid boni malive est in homine de coelo proficiscitur Touching celestiall and Divine matters it seemeth to me that there is nothing to be said save onely that I will demonstrate that men and beasts which live upon the earth and are begotten and born have their beginning and Originall from thence and that the Soul is from heaven and to be dolorous to languish and to die And finally whatsoever is good or bad in man doth proceed from above And for this cause Haly saith Medicus qui Astronomiam ignorat est tanquaem caecus viam baculo examinans huc atque illuc miserabiliter cespitans pro qualibet boni malive-apparentia The Physitian which is ignorant in Astronomy is like a blind man which examineth and searcheth out his way with a staffe miserably reeling this way and that way according to every appearance of good or evil But to come nearer the point Cichus Eschulamus saith That every one of the twelve Signes receiveth his particular and speciall name from the nature or property of some beast because the nature of the one doth seem to symbolize with that of the other And Moses Arabicus saith That every animated thing hath a peculiar star which sendeth down his influence to defend and preserve his like upon earth and that by the divine will and command As for example The Stars which are in Aries govern and send down their influence upon the terrestriall Ram and on sheep and the celestiall Scorpion upon the terrestriall one And Reuclin saith Non est tibi ulla planta aut herba inferiùs cui non est stella in firmamento quae non percutiat eam There is not a herb or plant here below which hath not a star in the firmament to beat on it by his influence To conclude you may discern by this the Astronomers and Philosophers intention namely to take the visible bodies action for that angelicall spirit or vertue which ruleth and vivifieth all things that are beneath and breatheth forth influences out of the starry organs and not the starry sphear as the worldly Ethnicks did imagine who went no deeper into the mysteries of God and his nature than their corporall eyes and ocular experience did guide them But they which have dived more profoundly into these secrets have evidently discerned a more hidden principle in these occult influences Hereupon Hermes saith Dii in astrorum ideis cum signis ecrum conspiciebantur dinumeratae sunt stellae secundum eos qui inhabitant illas Deos The gods were discerned in the idea's of the stars with their signes and the stars are numbered according unto those gods which do inhabit them Where by the gods he meaneth the variety of angelicall emanations which proceed from one unity or he may take the Arch-angels which are the conductors of those severall emanations for gods at which the Apostle doth rightly except when he saith Dii quidem sunt qui dicuntur in coelo in terra nobis tamen unus Deus Pater ex quo omnia unus Dominus Jesus Christus per quem omnia There are such creatures as are called gods in heaven and in earth but unto us there is but one God the Father from whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things As if he had said God the Father or the radicall Unity is the fountain from whence all things spring and his catholick emanation the immediate act by which all vertues actions and vivifications are diversly effected according unto his will which sent it out both in heaven and earth So that it is not the Angel but God in the Angel Wherefore Picus Mirandulanuâ— Ad coelum non est referendum si quid à nobis sit quod nostras vires videtur excedere sed potiùs vel ad angelosvel ad Deum If there be any thing from us that exceedeth our power it is not to be referred unto the heavens but rather either to the Angells or to God For this reason therefore Rabbi Moses Angeli non movent semper orbes coelestes eodem modo quo fit ut non semper eodem modo fiant mutationes horum inferiorum maximam namque vim atque potestatem angelica exercet conditio in res corporeas quapropter intellectus agens à quo influunt formae nominatur Angelus appellatur praefectus universitati ut dixerunt Sapientes nostri vocaturque Mitattron a quo quidem gubernantur omnes Virtutes singulares quae pariter Angeli dicuntur quorum est multitudo quoad nos infinita sed quo ad Creatorem determinata finita The Angels do not alwaies move the celestiall orbes after one manner And thereupon it commeth to passe that the mutations of inferiour things are not made after one fashion for the Angelicall condition hath a great force and power over corporall things and therefore the intellectuall agent from which the forms of things do issue or stream forth is tearmed that Angel which is the President of all the world as our wise men have testified and it is called Mitattron of whom all singular vertues are governed the which are likewise called Angels of which kind there is an infinite multitude in regard of us though unto the Creator they are limited and finite And Rabbi Bresitts doth seem to confirm thus much in these words Creator quotidie creat coetum Angelorum quos alii vocant For mas quod sint substantiae formales quibus tota sphaera generabilium corruptibilium absque numero plena est The Creator doth daily create a company of Angels which other men do call Formes because they are formall substances of the which kinde the whole sphear of generable and corruptible things are replenished without number Now by this Intellectus agens or Mitattron forasmuch as it is the President over the whole world which I said before to be that Anima mundi of the Platonists which did animate every particular thing by sending out of an
vegetation multiplication and preservation and hath made his seat in the Center of the heavens that by one most perfect Consonant namely a spirituall Diapason he might illuminate the Angels above and the stars round about him and that by a more material Diapason he might penetrate into the Center of the elementary world to communicate his perfection to each creature thereof that they might be beautified by his bright presence and vivified by the penetrating beams of his essence and consequently that the imps or spirits of darkness may be debilitated by the appearance of his Glory as if one chord were extended betwixt the Fountain of Light and the abysse of darkness which being struck made an unison but being pressed down and divided directly in the middle of it each part will render being struck a double diapason unto that unison importing a double perfection proceeding from the bright catholick Emanation whereof the one respecteth the adorning of the lower waters with life and virtue and the other maketh an accord of friendship among the higher Now as the body of the Sun and substance of the Aether is of a middle or mean spirituall matter or consistence of the waters it is evident that it also is subject to be altered by passion as well Antipatheticall as Sympatheticall For else it would not be the immediate receptacle of those opposit and contrary Emanations which descend from the differing Attributes But by effect we find the contrarâ— For some starrs are friends and Sympathise in nature with some creatures below Some again do hate one another deadly and consequently send down into this lower world contrary influences which move contrary passions or impressions in the vitall spirits or souls of certain Elementary creatures Again we find that the life of the Animal doth consist of opposit actions namely of Systole and Diastole that is of contraction by the property of matter and dilatation by the Act of the formall Light So that the nature of matter is to draw by contraction from the Circumference unto the Center but the condition of the formall essence is quite contrary unto it For it doth dilate or emit his beams from the Center to â—he Circumference Also the Philosophers testify that in sleep and rest the spirits are contracted from the Circumference to the Center after the manner of the dark Chaos or cold North wind which bringeth by that contraction the agill and volatil spirit or aire of the lower world to rest and fixation by condensation But contrariwise in wachfulness or waking they conclude that there is an emission or emanation of spirits from the Center unto the Circumferentce which is an Argument of two contrary effects of the firmaments vivifying operation in the souls or spirits of the creatures below and yet by reason of the equality of each action and passion they have a compound-disposition according and agreeing in the naturall operation of life which descendeth from above Thus therefore you see that even from the starry heaven there descendeth Sympathy and Antipathy As for the Elementary world it aboundeth manifestly with the effects of these two contrarieties and therefore lest there should follow any continuall unnaturall perturbation which may deprave this great formall workman of his expectation which was to put concord and peace in the machine whiâ—h he had ordered and framed he divided each region in this lower world that there might be interposed an indifferent friend between two extream enemies which he effected by weight number and measure So that unto the weightiest portion of the lower waters is imparted the least proportion of form that by its grossnesse and weight it might fall unto the Center and remain fixt in it and it was called earth then unto another portion he bestowed a double measure of Light to make it reside in a higher region and thereby the matter which was next the earth became more thin light and movable And therefore this augmentation of Light melted the frozen waters a little and did make them fluxible and transparent So that he partly by reason of the continuity of his matter with that of the earth and partly because of its cold nature it is a temperate friend of the earth and taketh his place next unto him So that it is not so cold as the earth nor so moist as the aire For it is not enough subtiliated till the bright Agent of the world bestoweth on the dark watery abysse above the water three portions of his Light So that it converted part of the gross lower waters into a thinner and more light shape than was the watery Element and it was the aire which by reason of the triple proportion of formall light was hotter and more dilated then was the water wherefore as the water was cold but not so cold as the earth and moist but not so moist as the aire So the aire is hot but not so hot as the fire and moister then the water By reason therefore of his moisture this portion of the catholick Element is friendly to the water on the one side and on the other side unto the fire because of his heat Lastly that in-created Spirit of life did yet multiply a part of those waters by an other or higher degree of subtility and purity So that it became the most subtil and highest portion of the generall Elements and is consequently hot and dry wherefore by reason of its drouth it agreeth on the one side with the earth which in circulation is next unto him and on the other side with the aire in respect of his heat but it is hotter then the aire and not so dry as the earth Lo here you see the effect of that Sympathy which the Peace and Love of God did put among the discordant enemies of this world For thereby the water as a friend to both the aire and earth becometh a stickler and mediator of peace between them The aire as a friend unto the two enemies fire and water is made an indifferent judge betwixt them both So that the one contrary is kept from strugling and tugging with the other by the super-celestiall and golden tie of peace Thus you see that this Spirituall Christ doth as the Apostle saith bear and sustain all things by the word of his Virtue And as Hermes said the humid nature by the assistance of the world is ordered and disposed harmoniously into Elements So that by this Virtue all Sympatheticall action was effected in the Sublunary world of which the Wiseman speaketh thus In se Elementa dum convertebantur sicut in organo qualita is sonus immutatur omnia suum locum custodiunt But when this harmonicall ranck and Symphoniacall proportion is violated then the enemies come together and rage against one another unto the disturbance of the whole Sublunary fabrick For aire and earth do struggle against one another as also the water doth cruelly invade the limits of the fire and all will be
Light flieth from darkness and being delighted at the presence of more light and life avoideth and hateth the presence of his contrary namely of death and evill Hence therefore it cometh that the children of Light which are grafted unto this catholick illuminated spirit do flie as from a pestilence the children of darknesse and their works And the reason is because this humid created spirit finding now the pleasure volunty and felicity of its illuminated estate is affraid least the privative beams of darkness or the dismall Emanations of God's wrath should dimm their light and obscure the brightness of life that is to say lest they should turn their Sympathizing passions of joy and gladness into the Antipathizing storms of sadness and mourning by sucking or contracting the beauteous Emanations of joy love and gladness from the Circumference into the Center of the Spirit and so deprive it of that salutary and sprightfull irradiation of love and life by hiding of God's face which he did emit from the Center to the Circumference of the creature to recreate and rejoyce it According unto that of Moses God forsakes the wicked and hideth his face from them that much evill may befall them Or unto that of David God hiding his face from the wicked they are troubâ—ed receiving their spirit they expire That is vexation and privative passions befall them which may also be understood of the catholick Microcosmicall wordl's spirit as of the Microcosmicall and other creatures all which have their beeing from the Macrocosmicall Spirit For when the Divine nature which animateth the Sun of heaven was displeased at the Passion of our Saviour it did Centrally withdraw his beamâ—s from it and it lost its beauty and became dark against the common course of nature So that the pleasant Sympathy which it produced by its presence unto the creatures beneath and in the heavens above was quite changed into Antipathy for a while This therefore was a privative passion in the heart of the great world or as a man may say a Syncope or swooning of the world when ELOAH did abstain for that season to pour forth his influence of beauty by the port of TIPHERETH Also that palpable darkness which happened in Egypt was a privative passion caused by the hiding away of God's face or by the contracting the beams of light within himself Such privative passions also are menaced unto the Sun Moon and Starrs towards the latter end of the world For if the world was made by the sending forth of God's bright Emanation for by the Spirit of the Lord the heavens were adorned as Job telleth us it followeth that by taking it away all will return again unto darkness and plain nothing or deformity even as it was before But this producing of good and Sympatheticall passions by emitting of light from the Center to the Circumference and again the effects of Antipatheticall passions which do oppose the concord and Sympathy of life is excellently described and painted forth by the due examination of the vital action in man For as there are noted to be in generall two severall active Virtues in man's spirit whereof the one is voluntary which is the Prince over the other and commandeth and moveth the inferior actions even as the Divine Angell Mitattron doth in the Primum mobile of the great world which is referred unto the Volunty and moveth by it the celestiall orbs and Elementary world so in the Microcosmicall Fabrick the first mover is that Divine mentall beam which is the head of man's soul and the other kind is involuntary because it is commanded and ruleth after the will of the intellectuall or rationall beam no otherwise then all the lower Orbs are constrained to move after the will of the mover in the Primum mobile So the vitall action in man is one of those branches which is involuntary and no otherwise subject unto the Volunty of the mental beam then the starry heaven which is the seat of life forasmuch as the Sun which is the heart of the world hath his residence there is commanded by the Emperyall Spirit Now as we find that according unto the will of the Divine essence poured out into the heavens and consequently here below as well joyfull and compassionate effects do spring from the positive and dilative property of Unity to recreate and stir up volupty and pleasure in the creature as also trist and sad effluxions proceeding from the contractive Virtue whereby God hideth the face of his benignity from the creatures and thereupon as well concupiscible as odible or irascible passions are caused in the world Even so we find it manifested as well by experience as by the observation of the learnedest in Physick and Philosophy that the vitall action which is over-ruled according unto the mind of the superior Volunty either is opened or enlarged by the dilative property of the first movers will and thereby openeth the cabinet of the heart to produce in the vitall spirit those good passions which Sympathize with life and light namely gladness hope confidence love miserecord and affability or it is contracted and thereby gathereth together also the spirits in the heart whereby is engendred in the vitall spirit such bad privative passions as do antipathise with those good ones which rejoyce and comfort the life and these passions are termed Antipatheticall because they are wholly contrary unto the nature of those which are good of which number proceeding from the hearts contraction are sadness care dispaire fear hatred anger furor bashfullness and so forth So that as by the former the spirit by dilatation did look up unto the Fountain of Light and did rejoyce to see the volupties and pleasure thereof So by the later the spirit was forced by contraction to be deprived from the vision of light and to look pâ—onely downward into the abysse of darkness and to participate with the dark passions thereof And by this decifering and opening therefore of the two opposit passions in the little world we may easily collect the reason and manner of them in the great world being that as eadem sit ratio parcis totius so also the passions of the great world may easily be considered by those of the little world As for example The Load-stone is in comparison of its mother earth even as man is to the whole world wherefore Man is called the Son of the world by Heâ—mes as Cardanus Bap. Porta D. Gilbert and others have made the Load-stone the child or son of the earth We find I say in the Load-stone all the passions as well sympatheticall as antipatheticall which do affect his mother earth for it hath his Poles with the earth and it escheweth all in conformity with the earth it flyeth from that which is contrary unto its nature And again doth sympathise with that which is its like it hath its Aequinoctialls Colures Meridians and Tropiâ—ks as the earth hath and in conclusion it argueth not onely
travelled in their studies and learning many years floating through the wide seas of vain and scarce probable imaginations have returned home now in their old age unto the port of their infancy having their wit or understanding onely laded and charged with the poor fragments or merchandise of Ipse dixit or other mens opinions but are able to say nothing centrally upon their own knowledge So that we Christians after we have travelled and made our peregrination of life and studies in the world think it sufficient in the end to say Aristotle Plato Galen Hippocrates and in conclusion this man or that man said so Ergo it is so When Scriptures do teach us a truer Philosophy which is quite contrary unto theirs This kind of students therefore are rightly pointed at by the Apostle and numbered amongst those which are semper discentes sed ad scientiam veritatis nunquam pervenientes ever learning but never attaining unto the truth For how is it possible that the blind should rightly lead or conduct the blind Others having long steered the Helm of their Bark this way or that way for to find out the abstruse seat or habitation of this Stones vertues have scarce dashed their vessell against her rocky Island but have thereupon returned with wondrous relations of what they have by that means collected and in fine have proved their new imaginations but as superficiall as the effects of their search have been and in conclusion all have proved but conjecturall Others have so far been guided and directed in their search by the Pole-star allurements that they have stuck fast in the frozen seas and have gone no further but at the resolution of the ice they have returned with imaginary wonders conceived of magneticall Mountaines and iron Castles even by eight degrees above the Moon that is in the eighth Sphear yea and others soar above that place also Whereby we may conceive how every man according unto his chimerian-fancy imagines variety of Castles in the aire yea and above the stars also for the magneticall soul's habitation Some bâ—gle not a jot from the continent of the earth but imagine it to be numbered amongst those stars which have the Sun for their fixt center about the which they move perpetually so that they feigne the earth to have the form of a star which is far different from the Peripateticall form In conclusion every one hath his opinion somewhat differing from another and that you may know all this to be true I will express and recite some of their newes touching this enquiry which after their long voyage they have made in the suddy seas of their serious contemplations and registred them in their written monuments as in the Chronicles or Histories of their studious adventures or speculative and spirituall travells Amongst the which some foar upwards and call the heavens for witness to confirm their assertions some sail unto the hyperboreall mountains others unto strange northern Islands to find out the grounds of this miracle others send their spirits of enquiry down unto the bowells of the earth and find it to be the universall starry form thereof some will make the originall to spring atomically out of the stone and subject to be attracted But amongst all these rationall persons I dare scarce rank one of another kind forasmuch as this man surely is to be numbered among those Elders which have travelled in the ship of fools being that he much like an other Gryllus or as the eighth wise Master of Greece will have this vertue to be Cacomagical or the act of the devill Now amongst such as have travelled in their spirits unto heaven to find out this mystery one will have the reason for the direction of the Load-stone to be sought for out of the Tail of the celestiall Bear-star affirming that the vertue of this starry Bear doth prevail and hath dominion over this Stone and is transferred from it into the Iron and that is Marsilius Fic nus But I reply That this is not so because experience teacheth us that Iron of it self hath his Poles as well as the Load-stone and will by a due adaption seek out and by its own naturall instinct turn and direct it self unto the station of his proper Poles Of this opinion also is Petrus Peregrinus who following the rules of Frier Bacon have sought the arguments of the magneticall directions out from the Poles of the heaven Also Cardanus will have the immediate cause of the variation of this Stones vertue to spring from the rising of the star in the Bear 's Tail Lucas Gauricus is also of their opinion but he joyneth also the vertue of Saturn and Mars in this negotiation confessing withall that the main constellation in the Zodiack unto which this Stone is subject is Virgo Albertus Magnus saith that the Load-stone and Iron are directed unto the Northern starrs and followeth them no otherwise then a Plant called the Heliâ—ropion followeth the Sun Bessardus will have his opinion apart and maketh the pole of the Zodiack the fountain of the Load-stone's Virtue Again the Conimbricensian Colledge derive the cause hereof from a part of the heaven not far from the Pole But Martin Corâ—esius will have this attractive Virtue to descend from a place beyond the Poles or movable heavens On the other side Gaudentius Merula tells us that the Load-stone doth draw Iron with an intent to direct it unto the North because it is an order superior unto the Iron with the constellation of the Beare I must confess that beams which are dilated are prompt to deliver their brethten which are impâ—isoned and to direct them to their native home But I cannot understand Meâ—ula's mind in this sense Others make the heavens in generall the fountain of this Stone 's virtue For Paracelsus saith that it is the starrs which being full of the Load-stone's power draweth the Iron unto them c. And this should seem probable because the Iron moveth to it poles even in the absence of the Load-stone Fernelius staggers for somtimes he confesseth the cause of this Action to be abstruse and in another place he maketh the heavens to be the Author Scaliger soring nearer unto the point of verity assigneth to it also a celestiall cause unknown to himself averring that the terrestiall Load-stones are derived not from the Globes or mountaines of the starrs but from that essentiall power or essence which was their Fabricator which raigneth in that part of heaven which hangeth over the Septentrionall point And unto this opiniâ—n doth Pâ—ato seem to adhere where he confesseth the Magneticall essence to be a Divine power And verily they speak well but in so large a sense that this their assertion appeareth unto their disciples being rightly scanned as I saidâ— ignoâ—â—m per ignoâ—ius For so in the generall terms we may say that all things are from God We will come down from our celestiall speculations and look on the humility of such as
of the salt in the ashes and saffron conquered and tamâ—â—d so that as it dieth the insulting humour and his venomous spirit decayeth and fadeth by little and little in his strength till it be finally quite extinguished Whereby it is evident that by one and the same medicine the spirit in the urin's salt and that in the sick-man's blood are both sympathetically refreshed and purified and the flame of the evill infecting spirit of the disease as well as in the urine as sick body is antipathetically quenched and annihilated In this respect therefore we compare the composition of urine ashes and saffron in this cure unto the weapon-salve in the consolidating of wounds and the urine carried from the sick unto the mass so compounded unto the blood or spirit on and in the weapon and the exsuscitating of the congealed spirit in the salt of the urine unto the revivifying and exagitating of the spirit in the dead blood or sucked up by the poâ—y substance of the weapon so that we see here all one consent For as the dead blood came from the lively fountain of blood so the urine was the whey or serous substance of the same well-spring not left destitute of the bloody spirits What shall we say unto the admirable effects in the transplantation of the bloody spirits in man into other animals or vegetables Veâ—ily it is a thing well known unto such as are well seen in the mysteries of naturall microâ—osâ—iâ—all and macroâ—osâ—icall Magick that the spirituall Mummy whose seâ—t is in the microcosmicall blood may be suâ—ked or drawn out of mans â—ody by a Magneâ— extracted out of the same subject and transplanted into a beast tree oâ— herb so that the disease also of the sick man may be conveyed from the sick person into them by means of this microcosmicall Magnes the practise whereof shall be expressed more at large in the next Book Also Johannes Râ—melius Pharamundâ—s doth profess that he hath cured divers of the Gout by cutting off the haires of the feet and thighes and paring off the nailes and thrusting of them into a hole which he bored unto the very pith of an Oke and closing or ramming up the hoâ—e again with a peg or pin made of the same tree and afterward daubing it up and covering it over with cow-dung Then saith he if the Gowte come not again within the space of three months the Oke will be sufficient to draw magnetically unto it the disease but if the Gowt come again within three months space it noteth the insufficiency of the Okes magneticall vertue Wherefore then he proceedeth after this manner He boreth a hole in another Oke as before and keepeth those pieces which in the boring came out of the Oke and bruiseth them and quilts or stitcheth them up in a bag and applyeth them to the member grieved and this he doth just three daies before the new Moon Then in the very hour of the new Moon he taketh away the bag and taketh out the bruised wood and putteth it into the hole of the tree and rammeth it in with a peg or pin of the same Oke And if for all this the Gowt shall be perceived within three three months after then he cutteth off the hair and nails of the feet and tyeth them unto the back of a Crab-fish and casteth it into the running water and the gowty person will be cured This Doctor of Physick doth professe in a certain Book of his set forth by him in the German Tongue that he hath cured many by the first experiment and many other by the first and second one after another and lastly many desperate ones by the first second and third And he saith that this manner of cure is commonly found certain in those Gowts which happen of a sulphureous cause but in those Gowts which rise from a Mercuriall and salt nature it often faileth And therefore leaving this magnetick manner of cure he betaketh himself unto a more externall kind of remedy I have also in my Squeezing of Mr. Foster's Spunge related unto you the strange sympathy which is betwixt the Vegetable called Rosa-solis and the matrix of a woman and how it being laid in Plantain water it closeth it self and if a part of that water be drunk by a woman that is in Travell and the herb in the water be removed into another house yet at that very instant that the woman is upon delivery the flower or herb will by little and little open it self even as the matrix of the woman doth An evident argument that those beams which issue from these two do sympathize with one another To conclude it is most evident that seeing the spirituall Astralicall vertues in each inferiour creature do descend from celestiall stars and are of one continued nature with them as the Sun-beams which are here below are not divided or separated from their fountain of light it followeth that they emit their beamy influences unto one another even as the two stars do in heaven from whence they are animated so that if the two stars in heaven be friends they both do sympathize in the occurrences of their emanations with one another but if they be enemies to one another in heaven they will in their applications of beams antipathize and decline from one another And as touching the distance which they observe in their mutuall action with one another we must imagine it to extend it self so far as their beams are able to apply to one another And I would have such men as are onely conversant about sensâ—ble affairs know that the action of these creatures by aspect unto one another do operate occultly though the effect doth nor alwaies manifest it self unto ouâ— sense but withall they ought to conceive that the nearer in naturall affinity the stars in heaven and consequently the things beneath which are subject unto those spirits are unto one another the more efficacious will the sympathising effects prove by reason that then their beams will meet directly that is without any swerving or declination CHAP. VI. That the devill doth make use of naturall things to operate his stratagems amongst men without the which he can effect nothing truly but onely prestigiously or by delusion And whether those Naturall things are therefore Cacomagicall and to be eschewed of Mankind because their secret effects do sometimes conform themselves unto the voluâ—ty of the devill WE read in many places in Scripture that the devill maketh use of Gods creatures to bring to pass his secret devices and stratagems against mankind as for example Satan to impoverish and ruinate the fortune of patient Job did make use of the winds and did call as the Text saith the fire of God from heaven to consume his cattle God forbid that we should esteem for this reason these creatures of God to be cacomagicall and diabolicall because God made them act to accomplish the will of the devill He made him also a Prince of the
aire insomuch as he hath power to stir up tempests in the seas and storms in the elementary heavens and therefore the aire by some is called The Synagogue of Satan What! must we therefore abhor the aire and winds because the devill doth at sometimes act by and in them his mischievous feats when as the aire is cleared and purified from all corruption as Aristotle saith rightly by agitation of the winds for if it were not excited and moved by the winds it would putrifie as the standing waters doth Again if we should fly from and loath the aire how should we live when the airy spirit is the spirituall seed of our life We read also in Scriptures that God causeth the Sun indifferently to rise upon the good and bad and that the Sun and Moon do harm or hurt some as again they are comfortable and propitious unto others and therefore David saith The Sun shall not harm thee by day nor the moon by night The Moon which is termed by the Poets Hâ—ccate is the goddess of witches for unto her did the famous Enchantress Medaea make her orisons for the furthering of her purposes and yet the aire the water and the earth are seasoned with her humid or madid vertues and the plants yea and animals do acknowledge her the Patroness of vegetation the maketh the seas to swell and again by another kind of her position or aspect the seas are abated in their pride and humours are more scanty in every living or vegetating thing Yea we finde that all the malignant watry spirits are subject unto her influences and that Satan also taketh his advantage on the diverse positions of her or conjunctions and applications with other as well fixt as erratik starrs to work his feats for he is an old beaten Souldier in Astrology and knoweth the effects of every situation of the heavens and therefore can take the advantage of their strongest influences upon animal vegetable or minerall creatures which are subject unto them he knoweth the due times when they are poured down upon them and is expert in their virtues which are then onely of greatest efficacy and force when the powerfull point of their proper constellation striketh upon them and stirreth up their Centrall spirits to shew forth the uttermost of their occult or arcane natures and conditions and then at the very instant he collecteth the herb or stone or maketh use of the Animal's members or teacheth such as are Sorcerers to do it without knowing the mystery of the constellation 's concurrence or application at that time of the collection with the naturall creatures so collected So that when they attempt to make use of the same Simples at another time they find them weak and of none effect because the spirits of every herb animal or minerall are weakest when the starre which is their nursing celestiall mother hath least power or dominion in heaven All which the true Astrologicall Philosopher knoweth right well by experience to be true For gathering of a Simple at the point when the constellation as well fixt as erratick which hath the essentiall dominion over it is in his greatest dignity and power in heaven he findeth an admirable efficacy in it as well in his occult as evident property when contrariwise if it be collected at a season wherein the heavenly Patron is weak and feeble they will appear as it were faint and almost dead in their power Whereby it is most apparent that it is the naturall creature 's which by their own essentiall natures work even as well those sympatheticall as antipatheticall effects which the devill doth make use of to perform his devices even as the Physitian Philosopher or naturall Magitian doth to effect their own ends What shall we say then what that whosoever shall use or operate by the same creatures be they animals vegetabls or minerals are Cacomagicians and their work diabolicall because the devill at some times maketh use of their subtil and abstruse action to build himself a name amongst fools Is it not God that worketh such effects in these his creatures Did he not by his Word bestow such virtues on them in their Creation and continued it in their sucession by generation Why then is it not as possible unto Man who is framed after God's Image to know the true time of the collection of these creatures with the uses and virtues thereof as well as the devill What because forsooth he since the fall Adam is blinded with ignorance and cannot see or distinguish light from dakness That Adam knew the virtues of the starrs and of every particular earthly creature subject unto every one of these starrs we partly gather out of Scripture For else could he not have assigned a proper name unto each of them agreeing to his nature But if the sucession of Adam is blind and cannot distinguish of colours and therfore is ignorant also in these hidden treasures of God How I pray you came the devill to have so deep an insight in them being that he fell for his rebellion farre deeper than Man and is clogged with a darker vayl than he and therefore is called the Prince of darkness Oh you reply the devill is a spirit without body and therefore is able to discern the hidden things of God in nature sooner and beter then Man who is a gross bodily creature And again Man dieth every Age but the devill by reason of his long continuance is of great experience I answer That though Man die and continueth not long and though he be obscured in his understanding by reason of his Fore-fathers fall and though he be clad or indued with a dark and combersom body yet hath he the revelation of the Truth and a discovery of the abstruce mysteries of Naturall things first from God bequeathed and left unto him by succession that is by a Cabalisticall tradition even from our Fore-father Adam and by the revelation of God's Wisdom or the good Spirit which he hath bestowed upon the Elect For by it as Solomon himself doth restifie he came to know the disposition of the Earth the virtue of the Elements the beginning end and middle of times the change of manners the division of times the course of the year the disposition of the staâ—rs the natures of living creatures the condition of beasts the force of the winds the differences of Plants the virtues of roots yea saith he and I discovered all hidden and abstruce things For Wisdom who is the worker of all things taught it me c. And again it is said that he knew and was instructed in the mysteries of all Plants even from the lowly Hysop unto the lofty Cedar of Libanon Was it then a diabolicall action in Solomon to look after and to practise upon the abstruce natures of Plants and Animals and to find out by his skill in Astrology the proper starrs which are their true Patrons and charitable Mothers in heaven and to make