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
nostrills the waters were gathered together thou dâ—dst blow with thy winde and the sea covered them And Job Glaciem edit Deus vento suo flante Deo concrescit gelu God doth bring forth the ice with his breath when he doth blow the frost and ice ice is ingendered Deus facit pondus vento God giveth proportion unto the aire or winde And the Prophet David Qui facit angelos ventos minâ—stros suos ignem urenâ—em Who maketh his angels winds and his ministers flames of fire And hereupon such learned personages and Doctors as are profoundly seen and dived into the mysteries of the true nature do averre that the externall of the Angels is aire or the subtle humid nature of the world and that their internall or formall portion is a hidden divine fire And for this cause St. Denis doth tearm the Angels Algamatha that is to say clear Mirrours or looking-Glasses which do receive the splendour or light of God and do represent his image And therefore the Prophet in the place above mentioned doth describe both the hidden and invisible winde and that which is fiery and doth manifestly appear in the form of lightning to be an angelicall spirit animated by the divine fire or bright emanation from God All which being rightly considered we must either confesse that the Spirit of the nostrills or mouth of IEHOVA is a hot and dry exhalation subject unto preternaturall passions and arising out of the earth which would appear too profanely uttered out of a Christian's mouth or that this member of the Peripateticall definition is most false and erroneous But this shall be discovered more plainly in my enquiry and laying open of the other members The second member of this definition doth intimate unto us that the place wherein that exhalation which is the materiall cause of the winde is ingendred and from the which it is derived is the earth but the place or seat unto the which it tendeth saith it is the middle region of the aire and the medium and space in which that moveth as well upward and downward as laterally is the lower region of the aire In the which assertion of this Ethnick Philosopher I will make plain and prove evidently that there will be found divers grosse errours and palpable absurdities But that we may the better effect our enquiry and hunt after the truth of the businesse that is to say for the exacter examinations cause it will be necessary for us to divide this member or clause into three parts in the first whereof we ought seriously to consider whether the matter of the winds be extracted out of the earth or no. In the second if that substance do onely soar up and make his way unto the concave superficies of the middle region of the aire onely In the third whether the place in which the wind moveth be onely the lower region of the aire To the former question or doubt we say That either the sacred Bible which is the fountain of truth is false or this particle of the second member must be most erroneous for saith St. John Spiritus ubi vult spirat vocem ejus audis sed nescis unde veniat aut quò vadat The wind or spirit bloweth where it will and thou hearest his voice but thou knowest not from whence it commeth or whither it goeth Which being rightly pondered by wise-men they must conclude that either Aristotle saw further into the mysteries of God and nature than the Evangelist who was a true and sincere Christian Philosopher and Theosopher and then St. John must be proved a lyar in his doctrine which were a great impiety in any Christian to imagine or else the assertion of Aristotle must clearly be found false and in all things contradictory unto the truth Aristotle saith that the matter of the winde doth move from the earth and ascendeth into the middle region of the aire and from thence is repelled downward But St. John saith that the winde moveth not constrainedly that is to say by coaction nor any accidentall compulsion but voluntarily and according unto its own pleasure and appetite for his words are Spiritus spirat ubi vult It bloweth where it will and that although the voice and noise of it be familiar unto the ears yet neverthelesse it is not known from whence it commeth or whither it will This doctrine of the Evangelist which so mainly differeth from that of Aristotle is maintained out of divers places of holy Writ for the royall Psalmist with the Prophet Jeremy saith Depromit ventos è the sauris suis He draweth forth the winds out of his treasuries But the Scriptures prove that the earth is not the seat or place of Gods treasure where it speaketh thus Aperiet tibi IEHOVAH thesaurum suum optimum coelos dando pluviam terrae suo tempore IEHOVA will open unto thee his best treasure the heavens giving rain unto the earth in his due time He doth not say the earth but the heavens so that between these two there is a great difference as between night and day Wherefore it is evident that the heaven or catholick element of air is the secret cabinet of these meteorologica Dei magnalia or meteorologick wonders Hereupon it is said in another place Januas coelorum aperuit pluens Manna c. He opened the gates of heaven raining down Manna Again it is so hard a thing for a mortall man that is not illuminated with the spirit of wisdom to find out or discover this arcane treasury of God that JEHOVAH himself speaketh unto Job though he were a just man and one that feated God much more he pointeth at the wise-man or Philosopher of this world who never was acquainted with the divine Word in this manner Pervenisti nè in the sauros nivis et in the sauros grandinis inspectionem habes Camest thou ever into the treasury of the snow or hast thou any insight into the treasury of the hail Arguing that without his Spirit had shewed or revealed his treasury it was impossible to know it And for this cause Solomon saith Corpus infectum corruptione aggravat animam vix conjicimus ea quae in terra sunt quae autem in coelis sunt quis investigavit nisi tu dederis sapientiam The body which is subject unto corruption doth aggravate and depress the soul and we scarcely conjecture or guesse at those things which are upon the earth Who hath found out or discovered the things which are in heaven unlesse thou give and bestow upon him wisdom Now Soâ—omon confesseth that he knew the force of the elements and power of the winds and consequently of their reall originall or beginning for Sapientia saith he omnium artifex me docuit Wisdom the worker of all things taught him Now Aristotles false Philosophy and his Ethnick and worldly wisdom sheweth that he never attained unto the wisdom which
words Quis hominum cognoscit consilium Dei nam ratiocinationes mortalium sunt timidae instabiles cogitationes eorum Infestum enim corruptioni corpus aggravat animam deprimit terrena habitatio mentem plenam curis multis vix conjicimus ea quae in terra sunt quae autem in coelis sunt quis investigavit consilium tuum quis noverit nisi tu dederis sapientiam miseris sanctum Spiritum tuum è locis altissimis sie enim correctae sunt eorum quae in terris sunt semitae itaque sapientiâ fuerint salvati What man doth know the counsell of God for the reasonings of mortall men are doubtfull and unstable are their cogitations For the body being subject unto corruption doth aggravate the soul and an earthly habitation doth depresse the mind which is full of cares And we do scarcely guesse at the things which are upon the earth who is then able to find out the things which are in heaven Or who can know thy counsell unlesse thou shalt give wisdom and send thy holy Spirit from above for by that means were the waies of such men as were upon the earth corrected and amended and therefore were they saved or preserved by wisdom c. Out of which golden words I gather first That the heathen men were ignorant in the mysteries and abstruse operations of God because they wanted the true spirit of wisdom which God revealeth unto his Elect by the vertuous infusion and influxion of his holy Spirit Next that for this reason the subject of true Philosophy is not to be found in Aristotle's works but in the Book of truth and wisdom forasmuch as it is a copy of the revealed Word Thirdly that it is a great folly for Christians to seek for the truth where it is not to be found I mean in the works of the pagan Philosophers and that is made manifest forasmuch as it contradicteth altogether the verity of Scriptures and therefore it is pronounced by St. James to be terrene animal and diabolicall Verbum saepienti CHAP. XIII A conclusion of this work including an admonition unto all good Christians to beware of the Ethnick Philosophy and to stick and cleave fast unto that which is taught us by the Scriptures and that for reasons herein set down LEt it now be lawfull for me in the concluding of this Section O ye Europaeans who seem so seriously and zealously to spend your daies in the Christian Religion to turn the sharp edge of my pen and the rougher file of my speech unto you who being too too much seduced by the fals doctrin of Aristotle do think and imagine the meteors but especially lightning and thunder to be a common natural thing of little or no estimation at all as being onely produced of nature by reason of a hot distemper of the air I would request you as a true Christian ought unto his brethren to observe well and attend with diligence this admonition which I will for a Farewell bestow upon you beseeching you not to scorn or reject my precedent assertion whith hath told and sufficiently proved unto you that the lightnings and thunders yea and all other meteors are the immediate works of Gods hand being that by this endeavour of mine you may not onely bring a comfort and consolation unto your soules when you hear the terrible voice of the Lord and make you to call to mind your passed sins and iniquities and to pray him heartily to pardon you and not to call your offences unto an account in his anger but also give the honour and glory unto him who thundering from above worketh marvellously I would have you therefore to know that the worldly wise-men of this our Christian world who are as it were pages or followers of the Ethnick Philosophers have hitherto blindly or after the manner of lunatick persons erred in their imaginations forasmuch as they being instructed in the blind wisdom of this world by their Ethnick tutors and doctors will not be brought to believe that God doth work immediately all things in heaven and in earth onely by his word but mediately namely by other necessary natural or supernatural means as essential efficient causes when as the holy Text doth in plain terms instruct us that it is one the self-same essence which doth act and operate all in all by his word using each creature onely as his organ or instrument wherein and by the which he moveth and worketh his will Is not this their tenet or assertion I beseech you altogether opposite and contradictory unto the divine authority which saith Though there be that are called gods whether in heaven or in earth as there be many gods and many lords yet unto us there is but one God which is that 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 c Out of which words we may gather that though we worldlings attribute this or that work unto angels or stars or winds or a created nature according unto the doctrine of the Ethnick wisdom yet such true Christian Philosophers as St. Paul was dâ—d acknowledge but one God of whom proceed all actions in this world and one Word by which onely and not by any creature in the world each thing is immediately effected in this world All which although unto reall Christians it seemeth verity and truth yet unto the Philosophers and wise men of this world this kind of doctrine issuing from the heavenly wisdom is rejected and derided And why Forsooth because as the Text doth teach us every man hath not this knowledge and the reason is because they respect more the wisdom of this world which is terrene and animal and as St. Paul saith meer foolishness before God then that which is from above namely from the Father of light Et sic evanuerunt in imaginationibus suis And so they did vanish in their imaginations I heartily wish you therefore which are brought up and made familiar in the holy Bible and nourished spiritually and guided by the law of our Lord Jesus Christ to conceive seriously and perpetually to revolve with your selves that God created the first consistence of things namely the humid and fluid waters by his word and they remain in the word and by the word in the self-same humid or moist estate as they did even unto this very day Also he framed out of this catholick water the heaven and the earth by his word as St. Peter saith Again he did produce by his said word the light in heaven the Sun the Moon the Starrs the day the night and all other creatures and did ordain them to serve for divers Organs by the which he might variously act or operate his volunty as well in heaven above as in the earth and waters beneath All which do move and work in and by the Word
without it was nothing made and preserved So that if it were not for the present action of this formall spirit the watry matter of the world would return unto the deformed estate of her mother Chaos for being in this world it is inclined unto the disposition of her mother being that it is passive feminine and serveth in place of the mother of all things and in another respect the vivifying and bright emanation of the eternal Unity is become the masculine actor or father of all things being that it doth vivify every thing in this world as the Apostle teacheth us and as the before-said Poets do seem to intimate unto us under the name of Apollo or the father of light This therefore being well observed we may by the detection of these two abstruce and mysticall principles I mean of Light and Darknesse attain unto the radicall knowledge and originall of the true sympathy and antipathy being that it is evident that the first proceedeth from that concording and vivifying love which ariseth from the benigne emanation of the Creator which desireth to be joyned with his like and seeketh to preserve his like by union and the other issueth from that discording privative and hatefull affection which darknesse and deformity doth afford unto the children of light and life and to all the beautious offsprings thereof By this therefore it appeareth that as before the separation of these different properties or effects of one unity namely of light from darknesse which was brought to passe by the divine word all things were one and the same without distinction and difference and that unity or one was no way to be numbered among those things which were created so that light was darknesse and darknesse light and neither of these discernable nothing was really distinguished but all were one in the first matter of all things which was in the eternall unity So that then there was neither light nor darkness nor day nor night nor heaven nor earth nor spirit nor body nor good nor evill nor pure nor impure nor generable nor corruptible nor this nor that and yet nevertheless all these as well spirituall as corporall proceeded from that potentiall subject which remained complicitely in that infinite Unity which both was and is and ever shall be all in all and over or without all O admirable wisdom of God in all his works All things I say proceeded from one matter the which nevertheless was nothing of these things which were made All things were abstrucely hidden and in secret but according unto our Saviours words nothing was so occult and obscure but was to be revealed and made to appear unto sighr by the penetrating operation of the admirable word Fiat by whose divine spagericall action or vertue that one thing was divided into two contraries upon the which names well befitting their natures were imposed for the one as I have told you was called Light and the other Darkness the first also was tearmed Day the last Night and thus was the pure separated from the impure Hence therefore it commeth that all the world was originally divided into two contrary Kingdoms that correspond unto these two radicall branches of one unity by the which relation it is easie to express what in verity is light and darkness what day and night what goodness and what badness what is heaven and what is hell what is truth and what is falshood what is humility and what is pride what justice and what injustice what is gladnesse and what is sorrow what is sweet and what is bitter what is action and what passion what is life and what is death what is generation and what corruption what is pure and what impure what is wholsom and what pernicious what is a medicine and what a poison and to conclude what is amiable and what is odious what is concord and what is discord and by consequence what is sympathy and what antipathy in an infinity of creatures in this world That the whole world and every creature thereof is composed of these two contrarieties or opposite natures we find it justified as well by the sacred authority as testimony of Ethnick Philosophy for the son of Syrach saith in the place before specified Gemina sunt omnia quorum alterum contrarium est alteri nec quicquam factum est quod mancum est All things are of a two-fold nature whereof the one is contrary unto the other and yet there is not any thing which is defective And thereupon the Philosopher Heraclitus concludeth that all things in the world are made by strife and concord and Empedocles will have the soul to be composed of the elements and of friendship and enmity To conclude lest some scrupulous Reader should condemn me for making so long a discourse upon these two contrary principles proceeding from one Root I thought it most fit to certifie each judicious person that the true knowledg thereof is of an especiall importance because that the two foresaid principles are observed to be the reall and onely foundation both of universall Philosophy and Theology For that the root and bases of them both doth consist on the true understanding of these two contrarieties And therefore if they be not first of all well opened and conceived how is it possible afterwards that they should be rightly handled either in true Philosophy or understood in those places of Holy-Writ wherein they are so often mentioned Touching the explication of this most profound Sphyngian Riddâ—e or abstruse question namely Why God in his secret sense or mentall intent did raise up and ordain out of the informed matter or Ideally delineated in himself these two contrarieties to cause thereby that all things in the world should be put into a mutuall dissonance or fight and conflict with one another so that there is found nothing which participateth of goodness which hath not his contrary that is to say which doth not communicate with badness insomuch that God himself is not without an adversary verily it is too occult a Caball to be explained by mortall capacity being that it may well be esteemed the profoundest secret of all the divine mysteries wherefore there is required a mentall aspect well purged and mundified from each misty cloud of ignorance and error to search into the bowells of this question and therefore it is impossible to be revealed unto any but to such as God doth immediatly bestow his grace and holy Spirit which is the searcher out of all mysteries the which Spirit is in us and breatheth and blows when and where it listeth and it is called in Scriptures the Spirit of Truth the Spirit of Sanctification the Spirit of Illumination the Spirit of Revelation which is the best interpreter of the Divine Secrets mentioned in holy-Writ neither verily doth it become us of our selves to enquire why God made this or that or thus or after this fashion But it behoveth the zealous to refer all this unto the
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
there is not any bodily substance that is viod of a soul and that the world and every part thereof doth consist of a body therefore there is an intermediate spirit betwixt this soul and body which they neither call a soul or a body but a mean substance participating of them both to reduce both extreams together into one The wiser sort of Alchymists do make the Soul a certain infinite nature or power in all things which doth procreate like things of their like for this nature doth engender all things yea and multiplieth and nourisheth or sustaineth them and they also style it the Ligament or bond of the elements since by it they are fastned together with the Symphoniacal accords of peaceable harmony although of themselves that is in regard of their matter they are dissonant Also it is termed the true virtue that mingleth and proportionateth every thing in this sublunary world allotting unto each specifick creature a convenient and well agreeing form that thereby one thing might be distinguished and made to vary from another and in conclusion the mysticall Rabbies do averre that this occult fire is that Spirit of the Lord or fiery love which when it moved upon the waters did impart unto them a certain harmonious and hidden fiery vertue without whose lovely assistance and favorable heat nothing could be generated of them or multiplied in them Thus you may discern the manifold opinions as well of Christian as Heathen Philosophers touching this Anima mundi or soul of the world which will appear to vary little or nothing at all from the tenent of Holy Scripture in sense but in words onely Neither are these their opinions so hainous or abominable as some more superstitiously zealous than truly understanding Christians of this our Age will make them if they will scan the matter wisely and with moderation for then they shall really perceive that it doth concurre with the Bible of Truth And to confirm what I now say my purpose is in the first place to expresse unto each learned and well minded Reader the harmony of the Scriptures touching this point and then I will compare every one of the foresaid opinions with the sense and grounds of the said harmony that each wise man may thereby the better conjecture and guesse at the truth of the business before he shall rashly enter into the censuring of that deep and profound mystery which concerneth the Divine action in naturall effects I told you in my precedent discourse that the Eternall Unity which is the God of gods and Beginning of beginnings did cause by a double property in one essence two divers principles to issue out of himself whereof the one was potentiall and no way as yet inacted by the brightnesse of his emanation and in that respect is termed Darkness privation Nolunty opposit to Light and a friend unto death and rest The other was actuall and nothing else but a pure catholick form and brightness which is tearmed Light Position Volunty and in nature opposit to Darknesse and a friend unto life and action or motion And then I signified unto you that by the bright appearance of Eternity or the Eternall Spirit of Wisdom which I termed with the Scriptures the radiant emanation or effluxion from the Almighty which is all one with him in essence the deformed waters were inacted and made manifest out of this dark Principle or Chaos that is reduced from Potentia Divina or the Divine Puissance without form in which they abode into Actum Divinum the Divine Act and because all the humid and passive catholick nature of which both the heavens and the earth were framed did issue from this Mass of watery matter which the Poets call Pana or the second birth of Chaos we must imagine it to be that spirituall matter of the world which was made fertill and multiplicable by reason of that hidden active and formall Light or invisible fire which this increated emanation imparted unto it immediatly before the creation of the heavens and the earth Whereupon the holy Text hath it Spiritus Domini serebatur super aquas The Spirit of the Lord moved or was carried upon the waters And as St. Aâ—gustin addeth to it igneum illis vigorem impâ—râ—ieâ—s Bestowâ—ng upon thâ—m a fiery vigor or formall and actâ—ve vertue Now as we see that Man which is called the little-world is composed of soul and body whereof the soul is his heaven or spirituall part or as we may say the superiour and higher waters and the body with the humours thereof as it were the lower waters is the earth and gâ—osser humouâ—s and each of these two are informed united and vivified by the Spirit of life which God inspired into it even so we may observe that the heaven or spirituall humid nature of the great world is animated by the eternall emanation or spirit of the supernaturall wisdom of God to give life and figure unto the world And forasmuâ—h as it is eaâ—ie to discern that the macro cosmicall heavens are of two sorts namely composed of upper spirituall waters which are called Aeâ—her or heavenly and of the lower spirituall waters which are called Aer or elementary no otherwise than in the lesser world or man the receptacle of the heavenly spirit is known to be Aer so that Physitians distinguish by reason of this difference between the vitall or aetheriall spirits and the naturall or elementary body So we ought to consider that this materiall humid spirit of the heavens in both worlds which are the subtlety of the waters are in themselves dead but in respect of the super-celestiall emanation into them which informeth and vivifieth them they live move and are thinner or thicker according unto that more or less formall grace which the all-informing Spirit doth allot them for the more the sacred Spirit of life doth abound or really act in this or that region of the universall aire the more that sphear is thin subtle active worthy and noble Doth not Scripture seem to verifie that Deus sapientia sua aptet pondus aeri appendat aquas in mensura fecerit terram in fortitudine sua preparaverit orbem in sapientia sua prudentia sua extenderit coelos appenderit aquilonem super inane suspenderit terram super nihilum In coelorum structura cum Deus stabiliret fundâ—menta terrae ipsa aderat cuncta componens And again Wisdom saith Ex ore altissimi prodii primogenita ante omnem creaturam in initio ante seculum creata sum usque ad futurum seculum non desinam habitatione sancta coram ipsum ministravi In coelis â—eci ut oriretur lumeninde ficiens sicut nebula texâ— omnem terram In altissimis habitavi thronus meus in columna nubis coeli gyrum circuivi sola profundum abyssi penetravi in fluctibus maris ambulavi in omni terra sâ—eti Feci Arcturum Orionem converti in
of his nature is tearmed by the Hebrews Mulchut that is Regnum or Imperium And this numeration importeth severity and servility unto the creatures through Gods anger and wrath and his influxion is directly into the Elementary world By which collections and observations of the wisest Rabbies we find that in these Ten generall properties of God signified by the ten attributes unto the Divine Essence all things in the world be they esteemed good or evill or positive and primitive or concordant and aimeable or discordant or odious or in a word either occultly or manifestly opposit or else concurring in nature or quality unto an other do originally descend from this fountâ—â—â— of Unity which though it be one in essence is nevertheless manifold in property and that property is therefore divers and altering according to the multiplicity of Volunty in the Father or fountain that sent it out according unto whose mind all things as well concordant as disagreeing are ordained both in heaven and in earth and that by a multiplicity of speciall emanations of different qualities from that eternall generall catholick effluxion and every of those specifick emanations do branch themselves again into an infinity of individuals even as ten may be multiplied in infinitum So that every one of those specifick properties do shine forth from the Star in heaven as well fix as erratick which is their receptacle or store-house unto an infinity of earthly and watery creatures which are generated or do grow upon the earth and under the earth according unto the influences of those Planets and fixed Starrs over creatures be they animal vegetable or minerall And the reason why the Divinity created or sent forth one specifick eradiation so contrary unto another was as well for the preservation as destruction of the creatures For as the last effect of each of these contrary emanations or radious eâ—fluences is the Creation or generation and preservation of creatures of their own nature and condition So also are they to be applyed either for the preservation or restauration of the decaying creatures namely when we apply any venomouse simple either animal vegetable or minerall to expell a dangerous disease or to poyson a nature which is sound as in the animal kingdom is the venomouse Viver Scorpion Toad Spider or blistering Cantharides and in the vegetable Kingdom the Somniferous and stupifying Poppy or Opium the searching and inflaming or burning Flammula and Euphorbium the fretting Scamony the vomiting Groundsell Dâ—ffodâ—ll Assera Bacca Bears-foot Titimall and the venomouse Aconite In the minerall ranck the corroding Asnick the quick peircing and infecting Quick-silver and Subâ—imary the destroying Resalgar the vomiting Antimony and such like which have all as well the property to take away dangerous diseases as to bring them For in some cases they take away dolorous maladies and in other some they bring them quickly and hasten on destruction upon the creature So that all things in some cases both wound and destroy and in othersome they heal and cure yet unto him that sent them the beams and irradiations of their form from some of his particular properties they appeared all good being they were ordained not onely to heal in his benignity but also to destroy in his severity and to conclude to effect his will one way or another even as it pleaseth him who onely worketh essentially all in all And therefore Solomon saith Could any thing exist which thou wouldest not have to be So that all is good unto God although unto wicked men which suffer them they may appear bad Oper a Domini universa saith the Wiseman bona valde All the works of God are very good Bona bonis crea a sunt ab iâ—itio sic nequissimis bona mala Good things were created originally for good men but to evill men they were in effect good and evill There are Spirits created for vengeance and in their fury they execute their torments in the time appointed they poure out their virtue and effect his furie that made them namely water hail the teeth of beasts as of the Scorpion and Serpent c. All these rejoyce to execute his Commandements upon the Earth c. Even for this cause therefore namely for the secret opposition of natures in the world originally proceeding from the streams of those variable properties which radically do spring from that one incomprehensible Fountain Love and Hatred and consequently Sympathy and Antipathy were created to justle and as it were shoulder one another in this world as well generally under the titles of Light and Dark as particularly in that friendship and hatred which is observed and testified in Scriptures to be first between the very Angells themselves then amongst the Starrs which receive these opposit natures from the Angells and thirdly amongst the winds and Elements which have their spirit of contention from the Starrs and lastly amongst those compound creatures which are composed of those Elements by the active spirits of the winds But because amongst all other opposite qualities in the world this Sympathy and Antipathy are most occult and hidden For whereas we can produce the reason of contrariety of Elements from their manifest qualities namely cold heat moisture or drought in and for this occult opposition we find not distinctly any such elementary ground we will dive so farre as our steril capacity will give us leave into the bowells of this Mystery CHAP. III. Here it is demonstrated that the occult action as well of Sympathy as Antipathy in creatures proceedeth from Angelicall irradiâ—tions or shinings forth that is by the emission or ejaculation of their secret beams the one against the other out of such creatures as are created or generated under their Dominions SUch as are well seen in the Mysticall Theology affirm that Angells are all of one kind in respect of their own creation though the one is more or less illuminated according to the importance of the office whereunto they are called or the Creator's will and mind is to employ them For we must consider that the Angels are the immediate organs by which and through which the Eternity effecteth his will and pronounceth his word Fiat after that his will is decreed in himself For that very reason David saith Angeli Dei validissimi robore efficientes verbum ejus a scultantes voci ejus ministri ejus facientes pâ—acitum ejâ—s The angells of God are most strong in power and do or effect his word and lâ—sâ—en unto his voice they are his minâ—sters to perform his will aâ—d leasure So that it is evident that nothing is effected in the world be it in heaven or in earth but it is performed by one of these organicall spirits And therefore Reucâ—â—ne saith That all bodies as well celestiall as terrene have by the ordinance of God allotted them certain spirituall directors and rulers of their vertues and presidents of their operations namely as well they which
the root and originall foundation or point from the which all Antipathy and Sympathy do spring namely the first from the privative property or its Nolunty the second from its positive or Volunty I told you next that from this one root or Unity in essence a two-sold branch or member did spring forth expressing typically and explicitly the effects and conditions of these two contrary properties or dispositions which were contained complicitely in the Ideall root namely darkness which is the privative fruit of his Nolunty and light the true character or badge of his Volunty And then I proved unto you that these two were the beginnings of all things Lo here the two Principles of Antipathy and Sympathy extracted out of one root Thirdly I demonstrated unto you that by the separation of the pure from the impure from the dark Chaos which act was effected by the spagerick vertue of the bright emanation or word of the eternall Unity the humid or watry nature of the world was created that is to say essentially informed by the lively presence of the said all-informing Spirit so that through that union of two contrary natures in one namely the informing essence or naturating nature and the informed substance or the nature naturated the spirit of the world was animated and afterwards by the wisest Philosophers termed the Anima mundi which is that angelicall composition of two called therefore by the Sages Alteritas as God in his simple nature is called Identitas Now the passive portion of which alterity was made is said to be the humid created nature oâ— naturated matter of the world whose active essence is the ever-living emanation from eternity which as the Apostle teacheth us doth vivifie all things and filleth all things and is all in all The union of these two maketh the catholick soul of the world called in respect of the simple creating and vivifying emanation Mens in regard onely of the spirit informed Spiritus and as these two are united in one Anima Lo here the third degree of the sympatheticall and antipatheticall progression from the simple root of eternity namely the created matter or spirit in the soul of the world being the child or off-spring of darknesse or the dark Chaos which is therefore naturally prone unto the negative or privative effects of darknesse and consequently apt in its own condition to receive any discordant and antipatheticall impression which the angelicall spirits of darknesse shall imprint upon it For as the sacred light which animates the humid spirit of the world and consequently the whole masse of the waters whereof the heaven and the earth was made as St. Peter doth justifie is the most movable agill and active of all things so on the contrary party the matter that is informed and therefore the created body and spirit is most degenerate from it in that it is no way enclined of its own nature unto motion or life For the Philosophers words are Materia est per se ad motum inefficax ab ipsa anima seu luce degenerans Wherefore of its selfe it endueth its mother Chaos or Hyles her condition and is enclined to rest immobility darknesse cold spissitude and congelation For this cause therefore it suffereth the impressions and characters of both oppositions to wit sometimes it enclineth unto darknesse and then it groweth spisse opak cold immobil thick and ponderous and tendeth in that his property downwards to the cold center or the seat of darknesse which is its mother and then it is in rebellion and opposition with light motion and heat and so it is antipatheticall unto the actions of light and life as we see the airy spirit of the world which is clear light diaphan thin movable and soaring upward by the operating power of the descending light becommeth by the Northern cold congealed opak spisse and immobil or fixed into snow hail ice frost and such like So that by this antipatheticall accession of the cold characters of the dark abysse it is discordant from the loving union and symphoniacall accesse which it had unto the region of light Contrariwise the bright form of the soul which is the essence of that eternall emanation doth give the matter or spirit of the soul's life action motion hear tenuity and diaphanity and that more or lesse according as it hath power and dominion over it And we must note that the more the spirit approacheth unto the nature of light the firmer are the bonds of its sympatheticall accords For as sympathy doth consist of things of a like nature so the nearer the spirit approacheth unto form the greater is the sympathy and accord the surer the tie and the more virtuous the effect for the more that the created spirit is illuminated the lesse it remembers that naturall inclination and love that it had unto its dark originall insomuch that by such an extream purified exaltation it becommeth as it were deified And therefore Plato's opinion is that if the middle spirit which is between the mentall beam and the dark bodily substance doth more adhere unto the divine or mentall beam than the dark body then it will become a good Demon or Angel but if it respect the body more than the divine beam it will descend unto the nature of a Cacodemon or spirit of darknesse Also by Scripture we are taught that by adhering unto this divine light namely unto Christ we shall be transformed into the same image to wit if we forsake this dark world and the lusts of the obscure body or flesh But to return unto the soul of the great world If the airy spirit be given over unto the power of darknesse it becommeth bodily and turnes into the same image namely frost snow hail c. but if the hot effect or the formall act of light prevail a degree over the stupid cold of darknesse it leaveth his opake quality and becommeth diaphan and returneth from an earthly fixt and obscure nature unto a clear transparent and fluxible substance and by another degree of the divine act it is made more subtle more dilated more invisible and pure and it is called Aire by a third it is purified unto fire by a fourth unto aether when it loseth all the appetite of mutation and forgetteth the privative stock from whence it came by a fifth it becommeth angelicall or emperiall and so it is exalted more and more in dignity according as it is more and more obedient unto the actions of the eternall and catholick influence of form which shineth forth from the fountain of infinity For we must understand that the whole inclination of the eternall emanation is to reduce this child of darknesse unto eternall light unity and life as contrariwise the endeavours of the potentiall darknesse which is the stamp of Gods Nolunty or privative nature are clean contrary So that all the end of the creating light 's action is to unite all by the symphoniacall band of love and
you say and there may be a microcosmicall Magnes or Load-stone which may be selected and gathered out of the living man without any detriment or prejudice unto his life whose vertues both in regard of its monstrous and unnaturall generation being composed of unlike parents and being compacted of two substances different in kinde as the Mule is namely of an earthly Mercury and cholerick sulphureous human spirits as also in his manner of attraction of the spirituall Mummy out of the living man yea and what is far more admirable by the transplantation of it either to the animal or vegetable kinds it worketh after a strange fashion either sympathetically or antipathetically I know that these newes will streight way be esteemed by some who are apter to judge amiss than rightly to scan to be diabolicall And why Marry because they passe the sphear of their capacities And yet I know this to be true and know them which have put it in execution not without the wonderment of many yea I know this Microcosmicall Magnet and the use thereof the which when it is tryed by wise-men and well pondered by them will appear as naturall as the effects thereof will seem strange and the reason abstruse But if that which I have said before be well understood and seriously pondered the cause hereof will not seem so hidden as that it should exceed the limits of nature Of this kind of magneticall action as well sympatheticall as antipatheticall I purpose by Gods grace to discourse more at large in the third or last Book of this Treatise or History CHAP. V. In this Chapter is expressed the secret cause why and manner how as well the Microcosmicall as Macrocosmicall Load-stone doth operate ad distans and thâ—â— unto an unknown dimension or unlimited intervall MR. Foster hath sufficiently expressed the shallowness of his Philosophy where he averreth That because the light of the Sun and Stars cannot penetrate the thick clowds and opake bodies Ergo the formall essence of a man is not able to pierce and penetrate directly in his course without being stopped or hindred by Castles Hills Woods and such like But had he been a little more profoundly seen or immersed in the bowels of true Philosophy he would have known that the Etheriall sperm or Astralicall influences are of a far subtiler condition than is the vehicle of visible light Yea verily they are so thin so mobile so penetrating and so lively that they are able and also do continually penetrate and that without any manifest obstacle or resistance even unto the center or inward bosom of the earth where they generate mettals of sundry kinds according unto the condition of the influence as the antient Philosophers do justifie The subtlety therefore of this spirit Plotinus according unto Plato's minde doth fully expresse in these words Tanta est Aetheris tenuitas ut omnia corpora penetret universi tam supera quam infera cum ipsis conjunctus aut implicitus ea major a minime reddat quia spiritus iste interior cuncta opera eorum mole minima nullum prorsus augmentum recipiente alit atque conservat The tenuity of the Aether is such that it doth penetrate all the bodies of the world as well above in heaven as below on earth and this heavenly substance being joyned and mixed with them it maketh them not a jot the bigger for all that because this inward spirit doth nourish and preserve all bodies without adding any thing unto their weight or encreasing of their substance And by reason of this heavenly natures purity or subtlety the heaven or coelum is called by the wiser Philosophers and mysticall Poets the Husband unto the earth which they tearm Vesta yea and the very stars of heaven among the which the Copernicans ranck the earth are likened unto his wife being that they are extracted out of the aetheriall substance no otherwise than Eve was out of the side of Adam for they are defined to be the thickest portions of their orbs by reason whereof they are accounted as the members of heaven and consequently there is nothing so thin subtle and piercing as is that spirit from whence by condensation they are derived This is the cause that the true Alchymists do tell such wonders of their Coelum which they call their Quintessence arguing that by reason of its purity and subtlety it is able to penetrate all things And the Philosophers say that it is their nature which they define to be Vis quaedam rebus infinita omnia permeans entia cunctas generans res easque augens alensque ex similibus similia procreans A certain infinite power in things which penetrateth and passeth through all things ingendring every thing and augmenting and nourishing them and procreating like things of their like And verily if you will be pleased to consider really what I have spoken before you will remember how I told you that the angelicall vertue proceeded from the archetypicall emanations and are the types of the divine Idea Again that the aetheriall spirit was filled with the angelicall influences which had their essentiall root from God So that in verity it is not the starry light which penetrateth so deeply or operateth so universally but that eternall centrall spirit with which his divine and unresistable essence penetrateth all things both in heaven above and in the earth and waters beneath And all this the mysticall Philosophers seemed to verifie though darkly when they called Saturn which was the father also of Jupiter or the head of the catholick emanation the father of Coelum or Heaven arguing thereby that in the emission of the spirit of wisdom he produced created or informed the heavens according to that of Job Coelum ornasti Spiritu tuo Thou didst adorn the heavens by thy Spirit And David Verbo Domini fimati sunt coeli Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by his Spirit each vertue thereof And St. Peter Coeli erant prius terra ex aquis per aquas existentes verbo Dei The heavens were first and the earth of water and by the waters existing by the word of God It is certain therefore that the whole essentiall act of the aetheriall spirit is the divine emanation or the bright incorruptible Spirit of the Lord and therefore of necessity that spirit which is worthy to be the immediate vehicle of so unresistible and emanating influence must be conformable to it in purity and subtility which is the informer who is said by the wise Solomon to be Omni re mobilior subtilior attingere ubique propter suam munditiam innovare omnia implere orbem terrarum To be the most active and moveable and subtill of all things and to penetrate and pass everywhere by reason of his purity in essence and to renew and refresh all things and to fill the
spirits forcibly because vis unita est fortior But when the Iron is planted at a further distance namely in C the greatest portion of the basis of the spirituall triangular-emission passeth by the Iron without any streight encounter and so his effect or vertue is made too weak to draw so ponderous a thing at so far a distance But because his celestiall star doth meet and embrace his emissions and doth fortifie them therefore it is evident that the pole-star doth act in the Load-stone to stir up and animate his like vigour in it and the Load-stone being so vivified doth correspond unto the action of the star penetrating by all one sympatheticall and symphoniacall consent even to the center of his fountain which is easily effected being they are all of one essence Do we not perceive this by an externall apprehension to be true when we observe the northern pole of the Load-stone in a kind of naturall duty to regard and behold with a stedfast constancy the pole-star which is so far off from the body of the Load-stone though near and conjoyned in the beamy affection of one essentiall spirit That this is so we may perceive by the needle touched Do we not gather by Astronomicall practise that the distance of these two bodies I mean the celestiall star and the terrestriall stone is so great as there cannot be esteemed a greater extension in our regard namely seeing that the space is between the starry heaven or eighth sphear in which the pole-star is and the earth And yet we find them to concur and meet in aspect and to operate and sympathize with each other What! and must this abstruse spirits action be limited by any phantasticall and imaginary sphear of activity figured out by persons little skilled and too too superficiall in the occult treasure and arcane or centrall actions of God in nature In like manner there must needs be a sympatheticall concurrence of occult beamy light betwixt the Iron and the Load-stone because they have both centrall stars or beamy influences of one nature and from one and the same fountaine whose occult emanations pass God knoweth at how far a distance although the effects do accidentally appear unto our sense no more than the celestiall influences which descend from heaven upon the Minerals Vegetables and Animals Nevertheless if we will believe the relations of History we are told by Serapio O aus Magnus and the Moors that as well in the Indies as towards the northern pole there are Rocks of this Stone which suck and draw ships unto them at a far distance and pull the iron nailes out of them which is a cause as they say that they fasten together the plancks and boards of their boats and ships with wooden pins And again what shall we say unto the opinion of Fracastoâ—ius a learned Physitian and a well grounded Philosopher who blusheth not after a tedious enquiry made by him in the Load-stones secret disposition to conclude that the reason why the Load-stone directeth his pole unto the north is because that in that angle of the terrestriall world there are mountaines of Load-stone which do draw Iron unto it Verily it is a great distance that this magnetick Rock is able to operate upon the Iron if that were true namely from the Aequinoctiall unto the frozen point of the North-pole for unto the Aequinoctiall line the Mariners make use of the Needle to find out what altitude they are in And although some do think this strange yet for all that many learned men seen as well in Geography and composing of Sea-Maps as delineating the description of the world do firmly adhere unto this opinion Whereby we see that wise and learned men do confirm that the limited sphear of activity ascribed unto the Load-stone by the Peripatetick Philosophers and Christian School-men of his sect is vain and frivolous But to come and ascend from the Minerall unto the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms we observe that there is an admirable relation between the fixed stars and the planets and by the same reason also between plant and plant yea and between the plant and the mineral and between the animal and the plant As for example Touching thâ— sympatheticall relation we find in the first place that the beams of the herb and flower Heliotropium and that of Succory do sympathetically meet and joyne themselves and embrace lovingly the beams and influences of the Sun for they are observed to turn and winde about even in the most clowdy day at the diurnall motion of him And contrariwise in the night time by reason of his absence they contract their flowers as being enemies unto the dark and cold night as Mizaldus affirmeth Also the Oynion as Plutarch doth testifie waxeth green and groweth when the Moon decreaseth and again it withereth when she encreaseth There is also a great sympatheticall reference between the Crab and Oyster and the Moon for when the Moon encreaseth they encrease in their succe or juice again when she decreaseth they also do decrease in their substance Moreover touching the eradiation of one plant unto another it is noted that the Rue otherwise tearmed Herbâ—gâ—ace doth entertain with exceeding great friendship the Fig-tree insomuch that it never groweth or prospereth better than under that tree and that there is a notable sympathy betwixt their natures it is evident because they smell and taste much alike Also if the Myrtle be planted near the Pomgranat-tree it maketh him more fertill and fruitfull and it self more odoriferous and each of them rejoyce at one anothers presence and society and indeed both of them agree in a nature being cold dry and astringent Moreover to express the exceeding sympatheticall relation which is between the Vegetable nature and the Mineral let us but mark diligently the occult property of the Hazel-tree For if at certain times there be forked twigs cut from it and each twig of the forked branch be held in each hand so that the forked place where they joyne stand directly upward and as it were perpendicularly And with this kind of posture of the stick the party that holdeth it pass over a mountain that hath in its bowells some riâ—h minerall or mettalline veine when as the man walketh right over the place of the mine the perpendicular twist will forcibly and that whether the bearer will or no bow downward towards the earth but if there be no mine or veine it will not move That this is true my self can witness and more than a thousand which have seen the effect and will justifie thus much for even among us certain Germaines performed the like fear in the Silver-mines at Wales and in Germany it is a thing commonly exercsied in those mountains of Saxony and Hungary where there are mines of Silver and Gold Besides lest my assertion should be of little faith among the incredulous I would have them know that George Agricola and Munster do avow
essentiall perfect and only reall one forasmuch as it is from the father of lights acccording unto the Tenent of the forementioned Apostle and divine philosopher Now we proceed to shew you briefly what this wisdome is and how it was produced and that according unto the mind of the wise Solomon Sapientia saith he est vapor virtutis Dei emanaâ—io quaedam claritatis omnipotentis dei sincera et candor lucis aeternae et speculum sine macula Dei maâ—estatis et imago bonitatis illius Wisdome is the vapor of the vertue of God and a certaine sincere emanation of the brightness of the omnipotent God and the beauty of the eternall light and the immaculated or unspotted mirror of the majesty of God and the image of his goodness And the Apostle Christ is the brightness of the glory and the ingraved forme of his person which beareth up all things by his mighty word Whereby it is an easie thing for wisemen to discern what a main difference there is between the false Ethnick and mundane wisdome which is terrene and that true and essentiall one which is from above and hath his originall from the Father of light forasmuch as the fountain thereof is the Word or voice of the Lord. Sapientiae fons saith the Text verbum Dei in excelsis ingressus illius mandata aeterna The fountain or beginning of wisdom is the word of God from above and her entrance the eternall Commandements Having then expressed unto you what this onely true wisdom is I will endeavour to open and discover also her catholick vertues in the which she acteth and operateth as well in generall as in particular over all the world Nay verily what can she not do and effect when she is all in all and operateth all in everything as the Apostle teacheth us For this reason also is Christ the true wisdom said in the forementioned Text to sustain and bear up all things by the word of his vertue This omnipotent power of hers in and over all things in this world is most excellently explained and set down thus by the divine Philosopher Paul Christus est imago Dei invisibilis prâ—mogenitus omnis creaturae quoniam in ipso condita sunt universa in coelis terra visibilia invisibilia sive thront sive dominationes sive principatus sive potestates omnia per ipsum in ipso creat a sunt ipse est ante omnes omnia in ipso constant Christ is the image of the invisible God the first begotten of every creature because that in him all things visible and invisible in the heavens and in the earth were made whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or potestates all were created by him and in him and he is before all creatures and all things consist in him This may seem very strange doctrine unto such Academick persons as are too confident in the Ethnick Philosophy forasmuch as it doth acknowledge no such wisdom from above no such a Christ or sacred Word which was the Creator of heaven and earth and who made the Angelicall Intelligences and in whom and by whom all things were and do yet exist But it telleth us of subalternat efficient natures namely of Intelligences of Stars of Elements and such like things which operate or effect of themselves all things above and beneath and will have the world to be eternall and without all beginning when contrariwise this true Philosophy telleth us that God created all things in and by his word and wisdom that he operateth all in all and that he is all and in all For the plain words of the precedent Text is Omnia in ipso constant All consist in him But to the purpose The foresaid Text seemeth to confirm this of the wise Solomon Sapientiam possidebat in principio viae suae ante opera sua ante ullum tempus ante seculum cum nullae essent abyssi edita erat ipsa cum nulli essent fontes abundantes aquis ante montes fundati essent cum nondum fecerat terram cum aptaret coelos ibi erat cum slatueret ambitum in superficie abyssi cum fortificaret superiores nubes superne quando roborabat fontes abyssi quando ponebat mari statutum suum cum statueret fundamenta terrae erat sapientia apud ipsum cuncta componens Jehovah did possesse wisdom in the beginning of his waies before any of his works and before there was any time before the world was made she was brought forth before there was any abysse and before there was any fountains that did abound with water before the mountains had their foundations when as yet he had made no earth When he did adapt and make fit the heavens she was there when he did ordain a compasse or appoint margins for the surface of the abysse When he did fortifie the highest clouds above when he did corroborate the fountains of the deep when he did set bounds unto the sea when he did establish the foundations of the earth then was wisdom with him composing or making all things Whereby he argueth first the antiquity of the eternall wisdom and then he proveth that she was the composer and maker of Heaven and Earth and consequently of every thing as well invisible as visible therein And this agreeth in all things with that of our sacred and essentiall Philosopher Moses where he acknowledgeth first an abysse without form then that the informed matter of the abysse was by the presence of Gods emanating Spirit universally informed and called waters Then how by the acting of the divine or essential voice or word Fiat which was uttered by the mouth of the Omnipotent the light or created form was produced in the waters and afterwards by the will of the Creator the word was pronounced the second time and the waters above were divided from the waters beneath by the firmament and so the heavens were made by the second fiat as by the third the division of the lower waters into elements was effected by the assistance of this one and the self-same word or the Spagerick operation of this divine and catholick Spirit Elohim but in a various property Doth not David in few words affirm so much saying Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the spirit of his mouth each vertue thereof Again In sapientia omnia secisti Thou hast created all things in wisdom And St. Peter Coeli erant prius terra de aqua per aquam existentes verbo Dei The heavens were first and the earth of water and by water consisting by the word of God And doth not St. John say By it all things were made and without it nothing was made The world was fashioned by this word or essentiall spirit which
was pure light but the world did not know it And Solomon Sapientia Deus fundavit coelos stabilivit terram in prudentia By wisdom God made the heavens and by his prudency he laid the foundations of the earth In conclusion the whole harmony of holy Writ which is too long for me punctually in this place to rehearse doth testifie thus much that all things of what nature or condition soever were made disposed and effected in by and through this divine vertue or emanation which is God himself forasmuch as it is the divine act whose root is the word Ex ipso saith St. Paul per ipsum in ipso sunt omnia Of him by him and in him are all things But because some of the learned of this world may reply that though it is true that God by his divine Spirit or Word did create all things yet it followeth not that he doth act immediately and exist essentially in every thing But after that this eternall Spirit of wisdom had bestowed on each creature a peculiar vertue in its creation then the creature can act of it self by a free-will which is absolutely and distinguished and divided from the immediate act of God I answer that by our founded rules in Divinity the true essence of the Deitie is individuall and therefore God doth impart no essentiall act or vertue unto any creature which can be discontinued or seperated from Himself And for this reason Christ who is the eternall spirit of wisdome is said to fill all I marry will our learned say that is vertually but not substantially or essentially I would fain know laying all such school distinctions apart of which St. Paul biddeth Timothy to beware if the vertue of God be not his essence or whether the one can be divided from the other If they reply and say that this vertue of God is no essence but an accident Verily they must needs erre in saying so being that it is most certainly known unto the very Jewes and Gentiles themselves that God hath not any accidents in him seeing that he is absolutely essentiall and reall of himself for where his divine act is there is also his vertue and where his vertue is there is he truly said to be essentiall for else the word or divine act which doth vivifie and quicken every creature should seem to be but an Accident and that divided from the divine essence which how absurd it is the immortality and root of it doth argue For David in his forsaid text sayeth spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum from the spirit of his mouth doth issue every vertue of the heavens I imagine that there is no man of an upright sense that will esteem this vertue to be an Accident which being so then must it needs be essentiall and consequently in God and of God and therefore not divisible from his spirit But what needs more words when Scriptures do confirme this every where St. Paul sayeth in the text before mentioned Quoniam in ipso condâ—ta sunt universa in coelis et in terra tam visibilia quam invisibilia omnia in ipso et per ipsum creata sunt et omnia in ipso constant Because all things in heaven and earth are made in him as well visible as invisible all things are created in him and by him all consist in him Ergo nothing without him Again St. John saith In verbo erat vita Life was in the Word And therefore the creature is annexed unto him by a continuated tye of one and the self-same spirit of life which is in the creature without the which it cannot exist one minute And for this cause the Psalmist saith O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom thou hast made them all The earth is full of thy riches so is the wide sea and the innumerable creeping things therein both great and small Thou givest unto them and they gather it thou openest thine hand and they are filled with good things but if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou takest away their breath they die and return unto dust Again if thou sendest out thy Spirit they are re-created and revive and thou renewest the face of the earth Whereby we see that it is the immediate act of the Spirit of wisdom that worketh these things by which God is said to vivifie all things and that by him we breathe and live and have our being And not onely we but also all other flesh whatsoever as it appeareth by the foresaid Text as also by this testimony of Job Si Deus apponens ad hominem animum suum spiritum seu flatum ejus ad se reciperet deficeret exspiraret omnis caro simul homo in câ—nerem reverteretur If God setting his heart or mind upon man should receive or draw unto himself his spirit or breath of life all flesh would die together and man would return unto dust And the Prophet Deus dat flatum populo qui est super terram spiritum calcantibus eam God giveth breath unto the people which is on the earth and a spirit unto the creatures which tread on it Now I beseech you How is it possible that this spirit of life should be present with and in all things and therefore essentially in every thing and yet it should cease to act immediately that is in persona sua when it is the most swift and mobil ' in his active nature and agility of all things as the wise man telleth us That he is present in all things it is apparent because all things do act and live in him and by him for St. Paul's Text before mentioned saith Omnia in ipso constant All consist in him And again Ipse operatur omnia in omnibus He worketh all in all And St. Peter The heavens and the earth which were of water exist by the word And Solomon Incorruptibilis Dei spiritus inest omni rei The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things And again Spiritus disciplinae sanctus implet orbem terrarum The spirit of wisdom filleth the earth And the Prophet David Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend into heaven thou art there if I lie down in hell thou art there Let me take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea yet thither shall thine hand lead me and thy right hand hold me If I say yet the darknesse shall hide me even the night shall be light about me yea the darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and night are both alike Therefore it is his reall Spirit that filleth all things and not any accidentall vertue as is falsly imagined by some And the Prophet Isaias Coelum est sedes mea terra scabellum pedum meorum saith the Lord The heavens
are my seat and the earth my foot stool And Jeremy Coelum terram nunquid impleo Do not I fill the heaven and the earth Now that you may know more particularly how this is done hearken unto David In sapientia saith he omnia fecisti repleta est terra possessione tua Thou madest all things in wisdom and the earth is full of thy possession or riches he meaneth with his Spirit which replenisheth inacteth and informeth all things And therefore saith the son of Syrach Sapientiam effudit Deus super omnia opera sua super omnem carnem secundum datum suum God powred out his wisdom upon all his creatures and upon all flesh according unto the measure that he bestoweth it That is to say The Spirit of wisdom is more or lesse in all things according as it pleased God to impart it unto this or that creature And for this reason Solomon in another place Sapientia operatur omnia Wisdom worketh or acteth all things Which agreeth with this Text of the Apostle Deus operatur omnia in omnibus Why should we not infer then that this spirit is essentially and presentially in every thing To conclude therefore this general discourse of the true Philosophy Moses teacheth us that after the foundation of the Heavens and Elements every creature that was framed or composed of them and lived and moved in them did exist and was preserved by the self-same spirit namely the Sun Moon and other Starrs in heaven the seeds trees herbs and such like vegetables and the creeping and four-footed beasts of the earth and fishes of the seas And lastly Man was created by one and the self-same spirit but God imparted unto him a greater proportion of his Spirit that thereby he might excell in perfection all other creatures It were too infinite to expresse and set down the main scope of this businesse in writing as Scriptures do at large recite it for look into the works of Moses the books of Joshua and Judges the history of Kings or Chronicles the reports of Job the Psalms of David the Proverbs Ecclesiastes Cantiques and Wisdom of Solomon the monuments of the Prophets the subject of Ecclesiasticus and Maccabees and lastly the relations or stories of Christ and his Apostles and we shall find that this sacred wisdom with her essentiall vertues and acts in the vast cavity of this world both above and beneath is the ground and firm foundation of all their doctrine and science as well concerning naturall as supernaturall businesses or rather touching the acts of God in his naturall Tabernacles or watry and humid mantles which he assumeth or putteth off at his pleasure as Scriptures do testifie And yet I would have no man so far to mistake me as not to think that as God is not excluded from the creatures so he is not included by any of them I will now descend unto particularities and shew you how this eternall wisdom is the fountain or corner-stone first of the higher Arts namely of Theology Physick or the art of Curing Astronomy Musick Arithmetick Geometry Rhetorick and after that how the Meteoro-logicall Science onely dependeth on his act then how true Morall learning and Politick government is derived from the instructions and directions of this onely wise Spirit And lastly how all mysticall and miraculous Arts and discoveries are effected and brought to light by it confirming that place in Scripture where it is said Caeterae sunt ancillae hujus All sciences are but the handmaids unto this wisdom Of each of these therefore in order CHAP. III. In this Chapter it is proved that the true Sophia or wisdom is the ground of all Arts and therefore it being revealed or discovered unto man he may be taught and instructed by it as by the onely wise and essentiall School-mistress in all science and knowledge IN Christo saith the Apostle sunt omnes the sauri sapientiae scientiae absconditi All the treasures of wisdom and science are hid in Christ. And Solomon Sapientiam dat Dominus ex ore ejus prudentia scientia The Lord giveth wisdom and from his mouth is prudency and knowledge And Ecclesiasticus Thesaurabit super virum scientiam intellectum justitiae Wisdom will treasure up in man science and the understanding of justice And again Ego doctrinam quasi prophetiam effundam relinquam illam quaerentibus sapientiam I will powre forth doctrine or learning as prophesie and I will leav it upon such as seek wisdom And the incarnated Word or Christ Jesus said Spiritus sanctus vos docebit omnia The holy Spirit will teach you all things And again Cum venerit ille Spiritus veritatis docebit vos omnem veritatem When that Spirit of truth shall come it will teach you all truth Esdras tasted of that materiall wisdom in the form of a fiery drink and he was so full of sapience that he indited books of science and wisdom for the space of forty daies together which his Scribes did register as he uttered it by word of mouth And Solomon saith Sapientiam optavi data est mihi invocavi venit in me spiritus sapientis I wished for wisdom and understanding was given me I invocated and the spirit of wisdom came into me But lest the captious of this world should say that these words of Solomon were meant in another sense than in the conceiving of such sciences as are comprehended under Philosophy called Naturall I wish them for their better direction to listen unto Solomon who doth in this case sufficiently interpret himself and that to the simplest mans capacity in this sense Spiritus sapientis mihi datus est ut cognoscerem constitutionem mundi vim elementorum principium finem mediumque temporum solstitiorum mutationes varietates temporum seu tempestaium anni circuitus stellarum situs naturas animantium animos seu iras bestiarum ventorum seu spirituum vim cogitationes hominum differentias plantarum radicum facultates etiam cognovi quaecunque sunt occulta manifesta omnium enim artifex me docuit Sapientia By the spirit of wisdom I came to know certainly how the world was made and the power of the elements and the beginning end and middle of times the changing of the Solstices the variety of times and tempests the compasse or revolution of the year the scituation of the Starrs the natures of living creatures the dispositions and angry conditions of beasts the strength of the winds or spirits the cogitations of men the differences of plants and the faculties of roots Also I knew both what was hid and manifest for wisdom the work-mistresse of all things did teach me Out of which words we gather that by the revelation of this divine spirit he attained to the knowledge of all things For since wisdom is the center root or corner-stone of all things how should
In this respect also the Prophet Baruch hath it Stellae dederunt lumen in custodiis suis laetatae sunt ad jussum Dei The stars gave light in their watches and dâ—d rejoice at the Commandement of God Hereupon it came to pass that when this Spirit did fight for Josuah he made the Sun stand still at his pleasure He turned the Sun from light unto darkness at the passion of Christ By it the stars in troops were stirred up to fight in their order by theâ—r influences against Sisera So that it is easy to discern that as the heavens and stars were first framed and animated by this Spirit to serve as Organs to administer unto the natural Fabrick of this world so also beyond the common course of the macrocosmicall nature they may by the self-same Spirit that commandeth them and acteth in them as the soul doth within the body operate what when and how it lists and be diverted from the usual order to effect his will as well by altering the motion of his body as action of his light and influentiall Spirit Again touching the fixt stars Job speaketh thus in the person of this Spirit Canst thou restrain the sweet influences of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion Canst thou bring forth Mazaroth in their time Canst thou guide Arcturus with his Sons Knowest thou the course of the heavens or canst thou set the rule thereof upon the Earth c. As who should say that no man is able to know the courses of the stars or to discern the powers or vertue of their influences save only this divine Spirit and that man unto whom it shall reveal the true Art and rules of Astronomy or Astrology And therefore Salomon doth glory in that he knew the course of the year and dispositions of the stars and the change of the Solstices by wisdome Per Sapientiam saith he novi Solstitiorum mutationes anni cursum dispositiones stellarum c. If therefore the Astronomer wanteth this true Astrologicall foundation all will be faulty and fabulous as by the vulgar Astronomy which is for the most part erronious and uncertain it appeareth I proceed now downwards unto the Meteorologicall region to see how this Omnipotent Spirit worketh in the catholick sublunary Element for the producing of Meteors in divers shapes and natures As for the Act of this Eternal Actor or Operator in the ayre water and earth for the production of Meteors it is most evidently expressed in plain terms by holy Writ Saith Job Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aëri appendit aquas in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum God by his Wisdome doth adapt a waight or pondero sity unto the ayre and hangeth up the waters in measure and giveth bounds or maketh a Law for the rain and prepareth a way for the lighting 's of the Thunders In which words he sheweth that this one Spirit of Wisdome in whom is the power as well of contraction or condensation as of dilatation or ratifaction can at his pleasure make the aire more thick and ponderous by condensation and so reduce it into a cloud or by rarifying it into a more thin and subtile consistence render it in the form of lightning and evermore the aire so altered receiveth his shape or figure from the Alterer according to the will of him who ordaineth all things And thus the clouds the lightenings the thunder the comets the frost hayl snow and ice are created daily by this operating Spirit But we have all this confirmed and acknowledged by many places of Scriptures Sapientiâ Dei eruperunt abyssi nubes rore concrescunt saith Salomon By the Wisdome of God the Abysse was broke open and the clouds were turned into dew or raine Again Ego sapientia sicut nebula texi omnem terram I Wisdome like a mist did cover the whose earth saith the son of Syrach in the person of this Spirit And again Ego in altissimis habitavi Thronus meus est columna nubis I saith Wisdome did dwell in the highest places and my throne was a pillar of clouds Deus nubes effecit sapientia saith Job God made the clouds by his Wisdome This Spirit maketh the clouds to asscend it causeth the lightnings with the raâ—n and it bringeth forth the wind out of his Treasury saith David And again Verbo suo quam celerrimè excurrente sermone suo in terra emisso edit Deus nivem sicut lanam pruinam sicut cineres dispergit coram frigore ejus quis consistat God by his Word passing most swiftly and by his Voice being sent out upon the Earth doth bring forth snow like wool and spreadeth abroad the frost like ashes Who is able to consist before his cold There are many thousands of other places which I can produce out of the book of Verity to prove that all Meteorology is founded on this Spirit But because I will speak of this point more at large in my last Book of this present Treatise where I do express the true History of the Meteors and open the errors and falsities of the Aristotelian Meteorology I will only conclude with this confession of the wisest Philosopher Salomon Novi saith he virtutes elementorum varietates temporum sive tempestatum ventorum seu spirituum vires nam omnium artifex me docuit sapientia I know the power of the Elements and the varieties of times and tempests and strength of the winds for Wisdome the work-mistress of all things taught them me Whereby it is evident that shee who was the maker of the Meteors and was by Consequence the most skilfull and best acquainted with their natures did instruct him in them I will now speak a word or two of Physick Concerning the excellent Art of Phyâ—â—ck or Medecine the Wiseman saith A Deo est omnis medela From God cometh every kind of healing or curing which being so it is certaine that the only Actor in healing and curing is immediatly from this all-working Spirit and therefore the Kingly Prophet hath it He sendeth his Word and healeth them and delivereth them from their graves And Salomon But the teeth of the venemous dragons could not overcome thy children for thy Word came to help them and healed them even thy Word O Lord which healeth all things for thou hast the power of life and death c. Mark well Even thy Word saith the Text which healeth all things Now this divine Word is the root and fountain of this eternal Spirit of Wisdome and therefore the Basis or foundation of healing is in him and consequently from him all the mystery of healing doth proceed which also agreeth with this of the Apostle There are divers gifts but one and the same Spirit there are divers operations but God is the same which worketh all in all but unto
that sacred Philosophy is nothing else but the ground-work of Divinity or an expression of God and his acts in his creatures or if you will have it so in things as well supernaturall as naturall Neither can any man finde that God was ever mentioned or specified in Scriptures but as he was considered in this world which he framed and the creatures thereof So is he said to be endued with light as with a vestment To be a consuming fire To fill the heavens and to make the earth his foot-stool To put his tabernacle in the sun To make the dark clouds his dwelling or tabernacle To speak in thunder from heaven To parley with Job out of the whirle-wind To blow out of the north and south To be everywhere Also his Spirit is said to descend from heaven like a dove and in the form of cloven tongues of fire and to fill the earth and to make man his temple and to be in all things To conclude all Scriptures are full of nothing else but of his essentiall operation in all created things by his infinite organs Wherefore I may justly say that true Philosophy forasmuch as the foundation thereof is the Spirit of wisdom which descendeth from the Father of light is nothing else in effect but Theology onely we may for fashions-sake make this distinction that essentiall Philosophy passeth or maketh his enquiry after the summum bonum moving from the creatures circumference or externall unto his center or internall for the finding out or describing of that eternall essence who is onely good and is the sole actour in all things and so proceedeth as it were demonstraâ—â—â—ne a posteriori that is from the visible creature unto the invisible Creator according unto St. Pauls rules and Solomons precepts in the places above cited And the Theologian or Divine seemeth to move another way to wit from the radicall center or invisibility of God and so proceedeth quasi demonstratione a priori that is moving from the divine internall act or center unto the visible circumference or externall creature whereby we may perceive in the conclusion that both Sciences do attain unto one point in the end that is to say unto one and the self-same thing or highest goodnesse in effect And yet it so falleth out that many an Academist in this world is so extracted beyond the limits of the creature in their researches that they forsooth seek him out beyond the Moon nay beyond the margins of the vaulted world and so divide him absolutely from his creatures in which proceedings they do but attempt or presume to clamber up a ladder without steps or degrees They will I say soar up unto the highest pitch without any consideration had unto the lower degrees in that they attempt to find out God without any respect had unto his creatures when as the Scriptures warrant us that he is not far off from any of us And therefore it will be but needlesse to seek or expect him beyond the sphear of the fire or above the starry heavens when he is neerer unto us than we are aware of But it is no marvell for some of them being altogether addicted for the first seven years unto the Peripatetick philosophy are so corrupted thereby and understand by that doctrine so little newes of Gods being in his creatures that when they come unto their higher function they are flat enemies to such as shall tell them any such thing and though they find Scriptures in plain tearms to verifie that the Word and Spiâ—it is in all and over all yet by those sophisticall School-distinctions which they have learned or gathered out of their Ethnick-master's documents or his obsequious Commentators they do so involve and bewrap the plainly-meaning places of Scriptures in the equivocating clouds of obscurity that they make them ambiguous or of little or no effect As when it is said and by the whole harmony of the sacred Text affirmed that God is in all and over all and that the holy Spirit is in all things they streight-waies distinguish and say It is true that he is virtualiter or vertually but not substantialiter or essentially over all as who should say his vertue can be divided or separated from his essence And again when the Text saith that God operateth all in all Verum est say they quatenus est causa principalis as he is the prime or principall cause but there are many secondary or subalternate Agents say they which do act in Nature by themselves as the Intelligences the Starrs the Elements the Meteors the compounded creatures as well animal as vegetable and mineral and so they would by these Aristotelicall sophistications disgrace the truth of him who saith in plain tearms Deus operatur omnia in omnibus God worketh all â—n all For if we look rightly into the matter we shall find that as God filleth all by his essentiall Spirit of wisdom so that Spirit worketh all in every thing which it filleth and that without any helper For how can the created organ by any act of his own help the Creator which filleth it to operate when what it hath it receiveth from that eternall Act which bestoweth it Ego saith Jehovah sum Dominus faciens omnia solus nullus mecum I am the Lord who make and do all things alone and not any one with me Neither should it seem strange being that the Scriptures do verifie that he is all in all And again The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things And again the Apostle as is said before In Christo omnia sunt condita per Christum in Christo omnia sunt creata omnia in ipso constant ipse est in omnibus primatum tenens In Christ all things are made by Christ and in Christ all things are created all things consist in him and he is in all things bearing in them the principality Which being so it followeth that the distinction must needs be false which is that Deus doth agere mediate and not immediate and consequently that the creature can act per se sine actu immediato Deâ— As who should say that the divine essence or vertue is divisible or that Gods essence must therefore be partible or separable because it is in divers organs I may therefore boldly conclude and say that if Christian Schollars would bestow that seven years which they employ in their Aristotelian study in the true essentiall and sacred Philosophy they would not so erre after the manner of the Gentiles but embrace without any rebellion or contradiction the precepts of the true wisdom so firmly that they would at the end of the said time be compleat in that essentiall doctrine and made fit members to proceed in the streight way of enquiry into and acquiry of the mysticall wisdom which God hath ordained to be revealed unto his Elect and so after the example of the Apostles they might as well become potent in vertue
unto each thing its name and being And therefore it consequently followeth that because this first matter was without form it was justly tearmed Nothing as having neither name or essentiall being seeing it was onely something in puissance and nothing in act Therefore Hermes tearmeth it potentia divina the divine puissance And again he saith that in the instance of the apparition of light it seemed unto him to be a fearfull shaddow saying Umbra horrenda obliqua revolutione subterlabebatur A horrible or fearfull shaddow did glide downwards by an oblique revolution c. Again in another place as Moses said Darknâ—sse was upon the face of the abysse Hermes hath it Infinita in abysso aqua in super spiritus tenuis intellectualis per divinam potentiam in chaos inerant There was saith he an infinite shaddow upon the abysse also water and a thin intellectuall spirit were in the chaos by the divine puissance In which words he exactly agreeth with Moses who said that darknesse was upon the face of the abysse Now that there was contained water and a fiery spirit complicitely within the dark chaos or abysse it appeareth by the revolution of the waters upon the which Elohim or the Spirit of the Lord was carried as shall be shewed you hereafter So that by these authorities you may discern what the first principle or potentiall being or beginning was namely the dark abysse or terra vacua inanis of Moses the nihilum inane vacuum umbra lethalis of Job the materia informis or invisa of Solomon the potentia divina of Esdras ante omnia creata quae erat fons initium omnium the divine puissance which was created before all things for such was the eternall wisdom before it did act in this world The umbra horrenda infinita in abysso potentia divina in the chaos of Heâ—mes And to conclude it was the mysticall and complicite number which is said to be principale in animo conditoris condendorum exemplar the principall pattern in the minde of the builder or creator of things which were to be created So that all things were complicitely in the divine puissance before that by the emission of his inacting Spirit they were reduced into an explicite Being And for this reason Hermes most properly saith in another place Cantabóne laudes tuas in iis quae in lucem è tenebris eru isti an in iis quae latent adhuc arcano sinu recondita Shall I sing thy praises in those things which thou hast made to appear out of darknesse or in those things which do lie hid as yet in thy secret bosome Whereby he argueth that as well the things that are hid in darkness and appear not as those which are made manifest are all one in the sight of the abstruse unity who is the God as well of those things which are not in respect of our capacity as of those which are or appear unto our sense And therefore the kingly Prophet saith Tenebrae sunt ei sicut ipsa lux Darknesse is to God as light as if he had said All things are but one thing before God who is one and the same in whom are all things arcano quasi sinu recondita as Hermes saith in the Text before mentioned which is also most excellently described thus by him in another place Ex uno principâ—o cuncta dependent principium ex uno solo Et principium movetur ut rursus extet principium ipsum tamen unum praestat nec recedit ab imitate Of one beginning all things do depend this principle or beginning is from onely one And again this principle is moved that it may again become a principle and notwithstanding onely one doth perform this and yet it recedeth not from the nature of an unity I will say no more touching this principle because I have uttered my minde more fully concerning it in the first Book of my sympatheticall Treatise or History I will now therefore proceed unto the description of the second namely unto the revealed matter which is mentioned and expressed by the Prophet Moses and the Apostle Peter to be the subject or materiall mass out of which the heavens and the earth and consequently the whole world was framed or made CHAP. III. Of the mateâ—iall fruit or principle which issued and was revealed by the Spirit of God out of the dark Abysse and how the substantiall Machine of the world was framed of it ALL things were complicitely contained or comprehended in the divine puissances as is already shewed which in the regard of human capacity was without form forasmuch as it was contained within one deformed or invisible water which was therefore called the Mother of the Elements and Seed of all things for as the whole plant or tree is contained in a small kernell or little mis-shapen seed and is no way subject unto mans apprehension before it sprouteth forth even so all things were in the beginning in the water potentially as also the water was an invisible thing without form or shape vailed over with deformity for darknesse was upon the face of the abysse which was termed the first matter that had no formall act that man could imagine and therefore was said to be onely in puissance A wise Philosopher therefore and deeply seen in the mysticall works of the Creation speaketh in this manner The first matter out of which the water did issue was nihil or nothing and out of it was created the matter of the waters and this ought not to be understood after an human manner namely that God did create the waters of Nothing and yet it was spoken rightly because that in the beginning nothing was visible But if wise men would elevate their thoughts above the vulgar capacities to find out by speculation the originall of the waters then would they not deny but that before the creation of the waters there was a certain matter in the highest mystery that is to say in the divine puissance or dark and informed abyss which was the catholick treasury or store-house as we may say out of which the waters did flow in the creation and this is partly confirmed by Scripture in divers places for the Apostle Paul teacheth us in the place before mentioned saying Fide intelligimus aptata esse secula verbo Dei ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent We understand by faith that the world was made or ordained by the word so that things which are visible were made of things which were invisible Whereby it is evident that the things which fall under mans sense and kenning were not at the first subject unto mans sense and therefore were esteemed as if they were not St. Paul also in like manner saith Deus eligit ea quae non sunt ut ea quae sunt destrueret God maketh election of the things which are not 〈◊〉 destroy the things
aeri appendit aquas in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum Coelos creabat extendebat eos firmabat terram quae germinant ex ea sapientia creavit Deus terram stabilivit coelos prudentia facit ut oriatur lumen in coelis indeficiens sicut nebula tegit omnem terram Facit anni cursus constituit dispositiones stellarum fecit Arcturum Oâ—ionem Convertit in mane tenebras diem in noctem mutat vocat aquas maris effundit eas super faciem terrae Praeparavit terram in aeterno tempore replevit eam bipedâ—bus quadrupedibus ipsam effudit Deus super omnia opera ejus super omnem carnem secundum datum Ipsa denique operatur omnia Deus per ipsam operatur omnia in omnibus ipse vivificat animat omnia ut Apostolus Quare Propheta recte In sapientia omnia fecisti repleta est terra possessione tua c. Wisdom created the world of a matter without form She revealeth the foundations of the deep and discovereth the things that are hid in darknesse and light is with her She maketh the foundations appear out of darknesse and converteth the deadly shaddow into light She spreadeth forth the North upon the void or empty face of the abysse and hangeth the earth upon nothing For God made all things by the wisdom which came out of his mouth and compassed about the circuit of the heavens and walked in the profundity of the abysse She was present when he prepared the heavens when he covered by a certain law or compasse the abysse When he established the heavens or etheriall region above then was she with him as the composer of all those things She laid the foundations of the earth and fastned the heavens and broke up the Abysse and made the clouds to gather in a dew She giveth waight unto the Aire She hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clouds by measure She giveth unto the raine its laws and ordaineth a way unto the Lightning of the Thunder She created the heavens and did spread them abroad She fastned the earth and made the things which grow upon it God created the earth by her and established the heavens by his Providence and she causeth an indeficient Light to rise and appeare in the heavens and she covereth as it were with a cloud the whole earth She maketh the courses of the year and instituteth the dispositions or natures of the Stars She made the Pole-star and Orion and turned the darkness into the morning and changed the day into night She calleth the waters of the Sea and poureth them upon the face of the Earth She hath prepared the Earth from eterniâ—y and filled it with two-footed and four-footed Creatures God effused or poured her forth upon all his Works and upon all flesh in a divers measure To conclude â—â—e operateth all things as Solomon saith and therefore God by her doth operate all and in all things And again she vivifieth and animateth all things as the Apostle telleth us whereupon the Royall Prophet David doth rightly conclude in these words Oh Lord how glorious are thy works in Wisdome thou hast made them all the Earth is full of thy riches So is the wide Seas and innumerable creeping things therein both great and small Thou givest unto them and they gather it thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good things But if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou dost take away their breath they die and return unto dust Aâ—ain if thou dost send out thy Spiâ—it they are re-created or re-vive and thou renewest the face of the Earth c. In which Speech the Prophet confirmeth that it is the Spirit of the Lord who by his presence reviveth that it createth and generateth and by his absence or vacancy mortifieth or corrupteth it And lastly by his returning or restoring of it again causeth both revivification and resurrection from the dead The which three mysticall operations of one Spirit in this world the whole Scriptures do handle at full and therefore we will conclude the last Chapter of this Book namely that which succedeth with this very Subject which shall truly correspond unto that defective treatise which Aristotle maketh of generation and corruption But before we come to speak of it we must proceed a little further in the opening of this present Principle By this therefore that is already said we may easily perceive that the Catholick Act or formall Principle with his infinity of dilatations or emanations are in the hands and volunty of the Creator who for that cause is said to operate by his Wisdome all in all as is already declared And therefore the Schoole distinction de operatione mediata immediata principali seu primaria minus principali seu secundaria with many other such like evasions forged out by the Ethnick Philosophers being necessary instruments of the Prince of this world forasmuch as they by their worldly discipline do distract even Christians themselves from Truth and Unity by a multiplicity of confused distinctions ought to be quite abolished being that the only act and Catholick agent in all things is immediatly from God and is all one in essence with God and is essentially in all things For the text saith that God hath poured out his Spirit on all his works and the incorruptible Spirit of God is in aâ—l things and the heavens and earth are full of it Again this Spirit is the most active and mobil of all things which being so what I beseech you should hinder it to work immediatly and absolutely in all things Being that it is the immediate vertue and vivifying emanation from God and consequently there can be no difference between the immediate act of God and the act of this Spirit which must needs be immediate in the creature because as it is present in it so also it is most mobil and all-sufficient in it selfe to operate Now therefore seeing it is evident that this Spirit is God and that the essence divine is indivisible it must needs follow that where it acteth immediatly there God also must act and operate immediatly and therefore all distinctions framed out after the inventions of men being laid aside these words of the Apostle and Solomon God worketh all in all doth generally hold over all and every particular and consequently we ought to acknowledg no subalternate acting or efficient cause in this world but onely one identity or divine essence and that is he who worketh all in all and vivifieth informeth and animateth immediatly all things alone without any assistance as Scripture tells us in divers places Ego IEHOVAH saith the Text faciens omnia solus nullus mecum I am IEHOVAH who work all things alone and have none to help or aid me Ego Sapientiaciâ—cumivi rotunditaâ—em coelorum sola I wisdome compassed the heaven alone c. For
this cause St. Paul saith in excluding all other essentiall acts or operations out of this world saving onely this which is from God Dii sunt qui dicuntur in coelo in terra nos tamen agnoscimus unum Deum Patrem a quo omnia unum Domâ—num Jesum Christum per quem omnâ—a Though there are which are termed Gods in heaven and earth yet we acknowâ—edg but one God the Father of whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things As if he had said however the world speaketh of the actions of the Angels Stars Elements Winds Meteors Waters Animals Vegetables or Mineralls we do not acknowledg them to act essentially and by themselves but by the Spirit of God who onely acteth and operateth in the creatures and by the creatures what he pleaseth To conclude of this spirituall Corner-stone or sacred Wisdome and Vertue of God as is said before the Scripture speaketh thus Christus implet omnia Christ filleth all things In ipso condita sunt universa in coelis in terra visibilia invisibâ—lia omnia in ipso per ipsum sunt creata Ipse est ante omnes omnia in ipso constant Ipse in omnibus primatum tenens nam in â—pso omnis plenitudo divinitatis inhabitat In principio terram fundavit opera manuum ejus sunt coeli Nam ipse est verbum De aqua per aquam mediante hoc verbo coeâ—i eâ—ant prius terra creata Denique est splenâ—or gâ—oriae figura substantiae Dei portans omnia verbo virtutis suae In Christ all things in heaven and earth are madâ— as well visible as invisible By him and in him are all things created He is before all and aâ—l consist in him He holdeth the Principalâ—ty in aâ—l things for in him all the pâ—enitâ—de of divinity dweâ—leth In the beginning he established the earth and the heavens were the works of his hands for he is the word But the heavens were made first and the earth of the wâ—ters and by the waters by the activity of the Word To conclude this divine Spirit is the splendor of Gods glory and the figure of his sâ—bstance which beareth up and sustaâ—neth all thâ—ngs by the word of his vertue By which it appeareth that it is this Spirit of Wisdome which operateth woâ—keth guideth informeth viâ—â—teth maintaineth sustaineth feedeth and illuminateth all thingâ— with life and being And again by his absence darkneth depâ—iveth and causeth death and â—orruption to all things in this world as shall be delivered more at large in the sixt Chapter of the Book which followeth CHAP. V. Of Plenâ—tude and Vacuity and what true fulness and voidness or inanity is NOw that we have in few lines discussed and set down the nature both of the two constituting or compoâ—ing Principles and also of the privative and decomposing nature It is necessary for us to know the property and sense of Pâ—enitude and Vacuiy according unto the true Wisdome or Christian Philosophy And first I will speak a word or two of that Vacuity or Emptiness which is so detestable and odious in the works which the Creator hath made As well the Fathers of the Philosophers as such as have been expert in Theology have termed it by the name of Nihil or Nothing Moses doth call it a deformed darkness or a dark abysse Hermes a fearfull or horrible shadow void of shape or form The Cabalists a potentiall being which is as yet nothing in act Plato maketh it a thing scarcely credible and therefore hardly to be imagined and likneth it to a mere dream which when a man is awake proveth nothing St. Augustin saith Cum aliquid informe concipâ—o prius nihil intelligo quam intelligebam quemadmodum nâ—hil videndo videntur tenebâ—ae nihil audiendo auditur silentium When I conceive any deformed thing I do first understand nothing else then I understood before as when I behold nothing Darkness is seen when I heare nothing Sâ—lence is heard Whereby it appeareth that he compareth this Nothing unto darknesse and silence Job therefore saith Aquilonem Deus extendit super mane vacuum suspendit terram super Nihilum God did extend the North upon Inanity and Vacuity and he hanged the Earth upon Nothing And again elsewhere Revelat fundamentaâ—e tenebris educit in lucem umbram Lâ—thalem God revealeth the Foundations out of Darknesse and maketh the deadly shadow to appear into Light By all which he argueth that Vacuity Inanity Nothing and Darkness are one and the same thing to wit Vanity Inanity or Voidness because that all fulness and plenitude is from God in his actuall property But God did not as yet shine forth unto the world and therefore as the first deformed matter of the world was void and destitute of all inacting grace and formall goodness it was said to be Vain Empty and Darkness For this reason Moses said before the act of Creation Terra erat inanis vacua The earth was void and empty because it was not as yet indued with the beames of Light Life and Form Tenebrae fuerunt super faciem Abyssi Darkness was upon the face of the Abysse before the all-informing and creating Spirit of the Lord was caried on the waters but after the Spirits apparition it is said that God calleth that which appeared dry out of the water Earth and God saw that it was good and it produced the tender herbs and seeds of every kind c. Wherefore the Earth that was before the revelation of Gods Spirit inane and void is now become full of divine Light and multiplying Grace Whereupon it was no more void and empty that is to say destitute of essentiall being but became fertill and fruitfull being now replenished with divine fire and the incorruptible Spirit of God according unto that of Solomon Spiritus Disciplinae sanctus implet orbem terrarum The spirit of Wisdome filleth the Earth And again Incorruptibilis Spiritus inest omni rei The incorruptible Spirit of God is in every thing Per hanc lucem saith St. John mundus est factus By this light the world was made And the Apostle Christus implet omnia Christ filleth all things Whereby we may perceive that all plenitude is from the divine Act as contrariwise Vacuity is when that formall life is absent from the waters and this is the reason that Vacuum or Inane is held so horrible a thing in Nature Forasmuch as the utter absence of the eternall emanation is intolerable to the creature because that every thing desireth fervently to be informed and that by a naturall appetite and affection and therefore it is abominable unto each naturall thing to be utterly deprived of being For this reason it followeth that unless God had filled all things in this world with his Spirit Vacuity and empty deformity would have possessed the world but because he by his presence did
and positive nature are proved to be the immediate causes of both those alterations in the generall Element of Waters I Have made it as I imagine most plain and evident unto your understandings as well by the testimony of the antique Philosophy and infallible wisdom of holy Writ as by ocular demonstration that the common or universall matter and subject of all things was the Waters which were inacted and created by the bright Spirit of the Lord before all things Which being so and for that all Condensation and Rarefaction do regard a subject or materiall substance wherein it should be performed or effected it followeth therefore that the onely matter which doth endure or suffer the act of either of them must be water or a humid and moist nature being it is the onely substantiall stuff which filleth all the vast cavity of the world and consequently the materiall existence of which both Heaven and Earth and all things therein are framed and were originally shaped out This is therefore that main subject of Condensation and Rarefaction by the means whereof all things in this world are made to differ from one another and are disposed and ordered by God according to weight number and measure in their proper rancks and places that is they are placed in a higher or lower region according unto that dignity which the catholick or eternall Actor hath bestowed upon them in their creation The common matter therefore of incrassation and subtiliation being thus made manifest we are to finde out the universall actor or operator in this work And I did signifie unto you before that it was the sacred emanation of that divine splendour which did operate from all beginnings and doth at this present operate and shall hereafter work all that which hereafter shall be effected in the heavens above and the earth beneath which assertion of mine accordeth well with this axiom of the Apostle oftentimes and that not without a just occasion repeated by me Deus operatur omnia in omnibus God worketh all in all And David In sapientia omnia fecisti Thou hast made all things in thy wisdom And Solomon Sapientia operatur omnia Wisdom worketh all things And the Apostle in another place Christus portat omnia verbo virtutis suae Christ beareth all things by the word of his vertue And St. Peter The heavens were of old and the earth of waters and by waters consisting by the word Again St. Paul saith that Christ is in all and filleth all And in another place Christus omnia est in omnibus Christ is all and in all Now this holy spirit of wisdom is said to be omnibus mobilibus mobilior more swift and movable than any movable thing And therefore he must needs act all in all according unto his will and pleasure Again when he is pleased to withdraw his actuall beams within himself he seems to rest and the act of the creature doth cease and then death doth ensue namely cessation from the activity of life Now being he is the most agil and moovable of all things the vertue of heat doth evermore accompany the motions of his light yea and are essentially united unto the actor even as we see in the Sun which Sydrach the wise-man compareth with Divinity saying that the body is likened unto the Father the the beams or emanation unto the Sun and the active heat which issueth from them both unto the Spirit that the beam is continuate unto the body of the Sun as the emanation from the divine fountain is one individuall essence with the fountain of eternall light and the virtue issuing from the Sun and his beams is in like manner unseparable in essence from the other two even as we find that the holy Spirit which is emitted from Father and Son is one in essence with them both For this reason therefore the divine Philosopher Hermes saith Mens ab essentia Dei nequaquam divisa sed illi potius eo modo connexa quo solis corpori lumen The mentall beam is not at all divided from the essence of God but rather joyned and knit unto him after the same manner that the light is continuated unto the Sun Whereupon it is evident that the vertue of heat is essentiall unto light as the act of motion is never absent from the emanating brightnesse I conclude therefore that Rarefaction is nothing else but the dilating of water by heat which was first contracted by cold and Condensation on the other side is a contraction or sucking and drawing together of those watry parts which were dilated or dispersed by heat So that the subject of both these actions is water and the fountain as well of the privative as positive agent is the Nolunty or Volunty that is to say the negative or affirmative will of that one eternall Unity who is that all-informing and operating Spirit which acteth and accomplisheth his pleasure in all and over all by his divers organs as well angelicall as celestiall and elementary which according unto their diversity in disposition are moved by this internall act to operate in this world the will of the Creator both positively and privatively as shall be told you in the Chapter following CHAP. II. How this Divine spirit or Ruach Elohim being but one in Essence worketh both by his Angelicall and Astrall organs in this sublunary world after a four-fold manner THe Eternall spirit of wisdome who is the initiall principle of all things and in whom and by whom as the Apostle teacheth us the Angels Thrones potestates and dominations were Created doth operate by his Angelicall Organs of a contrary fortitude in the Catholick Element of the lower waters both the effect of Condensation and that of Rarefaction And to verifie this out of the holy Bible's testimony we read first that this one spirit is the arch Lord and Prince of the 4. winds or else the Prophet by the commandement of God would not have said Come O spirit from the 4. winds and make these dead Carcasses to live againe Now that this one spirit worketh in and by spirituall and Angelicall Organs in the execution which is effected by the property of the 4. winds it is proved out of the Apocalyps where we find these words I saw 4. Angels stand on the 4. Corners of the Earth holding the 4. winds of the Earth that they should not blow on the Earth neither on the Sea c. By which it is evident that these Angelicall Presidents over the 4. winds were the Ministers and Organs by and in the which the spirits or blasts of the winds were emitted or retained according unto the will of that eternall spirit which guideth them when and where he list But we find by daily observation that the essentiall vertue in the Northern spirit is cold and therefore contractive or attractive from the circumference unto the centre and by consequence a causer of congelation and condensation By
a divine emanation which made 2. and had the self-same regard unto unity as the diapason or perfection hath unto an unison Now this bright emanation by the which all things were created and framed in true harmony elected in this world the perfect seat of its royall regard unto all creatures in the point of diapason which is ever in the middle of the unison and therefore in the center of the heavens But it appeareth unto the eyes that the Sun is ranked in the middle of the seven Planets and again it appeareth by the divine glory which shineth from it that it is a seat of divine perfection and therefore the Platonists have imagined that the Solar orbe or sphear is the seat of their anima mundi or soul of the world Now as this royall and most consonant Diapason doth comprehend in his capacity the other two inferior accords in Musick namely Diapente and Diatessaron for of these two united is the Diapason composed it is likely that the whole harmony of the heavens and consequently of the world are put in practise in this created organ the actor or player whereon is the eternall Spirit which soundeth out every minute from this his glorious Instrument straines of life vivification multiplication pacification or preservation unto the creatures for this is the office of the eternall Christ in this world I mean the divine Word in the which as the Evangelist John testifieth is life But of this in the next Eightly it is proved by a physicall or naturall regard For we observe and not we onely but the beasts themselves nay the very herbs and vegetable plants of the earth do feel and as it were confesse that the Sun is the chiefest treasury of vivification and multiplication in this world Whereupon it is apparent that when the Sun approacheth near us the herbs and trees which seemed as dead before do now revive put on their green coats and flourish with their blossoms and flowers But contrariwise when it departs on the other side of the Aequinoctiall they put off their flowers and green apparell and begin to mourn as it were for his departure But saith St. Paul Deus vivificat omnia God doth vivifie all things And therefore if the Sun by his presence bringeth unto the world the vertue of vivification it is apparent that it hath this gift from the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of life and being abundantly poured on it by God into this heavenly vessell it doth effect these vivifying acts in the world no otherwise than the same spirit being affluently infused on Christ Moses Elijah and other Saints upon earth did effect wonders upon the earth in healing reviving from death c. Doth not the sacred Text also aver that Sapientiam Deus effudit supra omnia opera sua secundum datum suum God hath poured out his spirit upon all his works more or lesse Why then should any man make any scruple or question touching the Spirit 's habitation in the Sun in abundance This therefore is the chiefe subject of this Psalme of David to expresse that the glory of God doth palpably appear out of the creatures of heaven yea out of every creature the eternall Spirit doth shine or expresse his glory more or lesse and is according to the gift which is given unto him to be discerned out of it And thereupon Job saith Coelos ornavit Deus Spiritu suo God hath adorned or beautified the heavens with his Spirit By which words it is manifest that it is the essentiall spirit of God which giveth by the abundance of his presence the lustre and glory unto the Sunne which for that reason is termed and that not erroneously by the Platonists who therein have imitated the divine Poet Orpheus Oculus mundi because that in and by it as in a certain clear and smooth looking glasse or mirrour all things are seen and discovered And again the philosopher Heraclitus Si solem è mundo sustuleris quid est nostrum Corpusculum s◠desit anima Nulla ibi contractatur vena pulsatilis sentiendum nullum inest judiciuns Nullus in eo vitalis halitus aut respiratio If thou takest away the Sonne out of the world what is our little body if the soul be wanting There is no beating veine or pulse to be discerned in it there is no judgment to be perceived in it there is neither breath nor respiration in it For this reason also it is termed Co◠caeli the heart of heaven because that as in the heart doth exist the lively fountaine of blood which doth water and humect the other members of the body So also it appeareth by effect that the vertue vegetation and conservation of all things both inferiour and superiour doth issue and spring from the Sun forasmuch as it imparteth and inspireth by his light life and heat unto inferiour things and bestoweth formall light unto the superiour Now this light is a certain simple act which converteth unto it self all things by a vivificall or lively heat which penetrateth all things and conducteth their vertues over all and withall disperseth and expelleth away all darknesse and obscurity Whereby it is apparent that if the life in generall be in the word as St. John saith and if this catholick spirit of life vivifieth all things as St. Paul and Judith affirm and if the spirit of wisdom be brighter than the sun and a simple and pure spirit which is more movable and active than all things and therefore operateth all in all and if it penetrateth all things by reason of his purity as Solomon saith and all these properties are found in the solar vertue What should disswade man from thinking that the Hebrew Text was not rightly understood of Jerom when he interpreted it Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole He put his tabernacle in the sun Verily this was necessary for man to understand being that unto this very hour there are but few that will acknowledge that the Spirit of God doth immediately operate and work in his organ the Sun and by the Sun but being rather seduced by the Ethnick learning they will admit many subalternate agents or efficient causes per se that is of themselves distinguished from the essentiall act of God which is the reason of Idolatry and worshipping of the creature for the Creator and neglect or ignorance of the Creator in the creature For although it be said by Solomon Quod solem praevenire oportet ad benedictionem Dei We ought to prevent the sun-rising to give thanks unto thee And again we read that when we pray we should conver our faces unto the east or rising sun Yet ought we to imagine that he teacheth this doctrine for the Creator's cause which dwelleth in that bright tabernacle and not for the tabernacle's or creature's sake For it was into this errour that the Aegyptians fell who adoring this illuminated creature in lieu of the Illuminator
the Sun hath his seat or place in heaven Alass what child knoweth not this by an ocular direction without any such precept of the Prophet And what is this pertinent unto the Text going before The heavens declare the glory of God c. Why should he mention the Sun immediatly afterward What To tell us that the Sun was in heaven A thing known unto every man No but that the heaven's beauty was derived from that glorious Spirit of God which had chiefly his abiding or dwelling in the sunny Tabernacle that thereby blind worldly men might discern that it was God in that beauteous creature and not the creature which sent down so affluently those vertuous influences and lights which were effused out of the vessell of the Sun being that by the mistaking of that knowledg so many of Gods creatures which he framed out after his own Image have been seduced into errour and allured ignorantly to adore the Sun and other Starrs for Gods Which in verity are nothing of themselves Spiritu suo ornavit coelos saith Job He doth not say Sole but Spiritu suo which made the Sun its Tabernacle And now to our last Argument wherein I will shew you how by the assertion of certain wise Philosophers that exposition of Jerom seemeth to be confirmed Saith one unto whose opinion also St. Austin doth adhere Quaelibet res tantum sibi Dei vindicat quantum capax est luminis Every thing doth challenge unto it self so much of divinity as it is capable of Light But the Sun is the brightest creature in the world Ergo it possesseth abundantly the Spirit of divinity Many Philosophers therefore consent in this not erring from the tenent of Scriptures namely that In lumine numen in numine lumen In Light is divinity and in divinity is Light And Plato Ne loquaris de Deo sine Lumine Speak not of God without Light Doth not Scriptures confirm all this in saying that God is Light and that vestitur seu â—miâ—tuâ— est Lumine quasi vestimento He is clothed with Light as with a garment Yea verily he is said to be a consuming fire I conclude therefore that Jerom hath translated that place according unto the true sense and consequently we may gather the reason of Rarefaction and Condensation from the presence or absence of the the Sun and confess after the due examination of the case that the onely Agent of these two operations in the waters or catholick Element is the Eternall Spirit 's presence action and emanation or his absence and rest And this is easily demonstrated by our experimentall glass for the nearer the Sun is unto us and the deeper we are in Summer the more will the aire in the glass be dilated which is manifested therefore because that in summer-time the water is beaten down and precipitated lowest Again the further the Sun is from us and the deeper we are in winter the more is the aire condensed in the glass and that is made evident by the elevation or exaltation of water in the neck of the mattrass or glass Neither do we say that the whole reason of Condensation and Rarefaction doth proceed from the Spirit in the Sun onely being that the same Spirit is as well present in this Elementary region as aethereall and hath the power and life of the winds in his rule by which both in the winter and summer he exalteth or depresseth the waters in the glass and consequently causeth Condensation and Rarefaction of the aire as well included in the Instrument as excluded and by that means causeth a diuturnall change in the generall Sublunary Waters or catholick Element of aire after a four-fold nature from one condition unto another Which mutation or alteration of the inferiour humid nature out of one form into an other is commonly called Elements as shall be expressed hereafter But first we will come unto the Fabrick of the heavens and shew how they were framed out by Condensation and Rarefaction Effected by this one Eternall Ruach Elohim or Spirit of God CHAP. IV. After what manner this Eternall Spirit or Ruach Elohim did frame out the Heavens and shaped or made the Starrs thereof by his Act of Condensation and Rarefaction IT is the Apostle Peter's assertion that the Heavens and the Earth were of the Wateâ— and by the Waters by the Word of God So that the Word we see is the Agent as wâ—ll in the Condensation of the invisible waters into waters that are visible and then of these visible waters into a visible earth Thus was the world in generall distinguished into thicker and thinner regions by that divine Spirit Ruach Elohim which was carried on the waters And this is well argued by Hermes in these words Distinctis libratisque rebus quae igneo Spiritu vehebantur emicuit coelum septem in circulos Things being distinguished and ballanced the which were sustained by a fiery Spirit the heaven did shine forth into seven circles Where he signifieth that it was a fiery Spirit and a little before he calleth it Splendorem Sanctum the holy Splendor which sustained and bore up every circle or Sphere of the heavens in his due place And hereupon the Wiseman Omnia mensura numeroque pondere disposuisti seu temperâsti Thou hast disposed all things in measure and number and weight that is to say in a distinct measure and proportion in ponderosity and levity and in a due and convenient number namely into seven distinct Spheres and an infinity of condensed bodies For although all the heavens be composed of aire and fire and therfore it is called Aether quasigneus aer yet by the rule of St. Paul who teacheth us that things visible were first of things invisible we are instructed that both the visible bodies in heaven and also all visible lights were first of invisible waters and invisible formall Light which hath its root in God the bright eternall Unity of all created numbers and therefore as Aristotle saith that Stellae are densiores partes sui orbis So I say that as the Substance of the heavens is invisible by reason of its rarity in like manner are the starrs visible by reason of their density For it was Condensation that caused visibility and Rarefafaction which is the occasion of invisibility And yet for all this it is not concluded with Aristotle that the starrs are the denser parts of their orbs but rather Lights which were included in the spirit of the dark shadow of the abysse which spirit in separating of Light from Darkness sored upward by vertue of the included Light and so according unto the proportion of that eternall formall fire which it retaineth unto this day as his corner-stone it is sustained and elevated in its proper place no otherwise then we see that the artificiall squib according unto the proportion of its artificiall and fading fire with the ponderosity of its body is during the time of the
maketh the fire mild and gentle lest it should burn and now again he maketh it to burn between the waters yea and in the clouds of hail and snow without melting of them Again He maketh the fire to forget his destroying property that the righteous may be nourished by it It was also an evident argument that God worketh not of necessity in or upon this creature of fire when the three servants of the living Lord were untouched by the fire of the Chaldean furnace although it was heated three times This also is confirmed by that History where it is said that in the time of Joshua the Sun stood still for a whole daies space as also that in the daies of Hezekiah the Sun was made to go backward fifteen degrees in the Horologe or Diall without any evident reason in nature Moreover it is proved and verified in that wonderful Eclipse of the Sun which happened at the death and passion of our Saviour wherein the Sun of heaven was totally obscured which also chanced beyond the expectation or capacity of the Astrologians Naturalists of this world forasmuch as at the instant of that Eclipse or passion of the Sun the Moon was neither in the head or tail of the Dragon as Firmicus that great artist in Astronomy doth witnesse and therefore it was effected against the common course of nature all which events could never have fallen out if God had acted of necessity in this world It followeth therefore plainly that God doth operate in this world of his own free will not of necessity to effect the ordinary or annuall course of things according to the lawes and necessities of nature all which also he effecteth voluntarily and of his own free-will namely as well for their creation and preservation as finall corruption But come hither and hearken O ye vain Philosophers who would have God which is the actor and ordinator of all things to be bound up by the lawes of necessity What honour and glory can any man justly attribute to God for his wisdom justice and clemency if he were constrained of necessity not onely to create all things after this or that manner but also to nourish and sustain them and afterward to bring them to corruption What thanks or service or adoration should we owe him if what he did for us were of necessity Wherefore O Aristotle is it according unto thine assertion that we should offer sacrifice unto the roots of nature or what availed it for us mortall men to pray and pour forth our supplications unto God the which duty neverthelesse Plato Porphyry Jamblâ—cus and Proclus do teach us to be most necessary if that he could not be propitiated or appeased by praying since that he worketh of necessity Or wherefore did Socrates and Pythagoras the which by the testimony of the Oracle were esteemed the most sage persons of their time use accustomarily to pour out their prayers unto God if God were onely constrained to act and operate whatsoever he did in the world Or why doth the Prophet proclaim it Quod Deus sit solus inclamandus deprecandus That God was onely to be called upon and prayed unto if there were any necessity in God to act in the generation and conservation of things Yea verily it is evidently to be demonstrated by this which is already said that God by the means of prayer is accustomarily inclined to misericord and pitty and that it is in his free-will to deal either in severity or clemency with the world and the creatures thereof and consequently that he is not urged of necessity to operate or bring forth effects as certain vain Ethnick Philosophers have averred amongst the which I must nominate a remarkable personage and a follower of Aristotles doctrine namely Gaâ—en that Prince of the Ethnick Physitians who speaketh Atheistically in these words Moses arbitratur omnia Deum posse facere etiamsi ex cineribus equum aut bovem facere velit Nos autem non ità sentimus sed confirmamus quaedam naturam facere non posse eaque Deum nè aggredi omnino sed ex his quae facere potest quod melius est eligere Jam vero cum pilos in palpebris satius esset equales semper esse maâ—nitudine unme o non ipsum quidem hoc voluisse affirmamus illos mox factos fuisse neque enim id facere potuisset affirmamusque si eos etiam millies voluâ—sset nunquam tamen tales futurâ—s si ex cute molli producti fuissent Moses did imagine that God can do all things yea although he would make a Horse or an Oxe of ashes But I am of another opinion For I say that Nature cannot do some things and that God doth not attempt those things at all but doth elect and make choice of the best of such things as he is able to effect Now since that it would be better that the hair in the eie-brows should be alwaies equall in magnitude and numbers I affirm that it is not he that would have it so and they were forthwith made neither could he do it and I say that if he would a thousand times have them so yet would they never be such if they had been produced out of the soft skin Lo how Atheistically he speaketh and how he would restrain the Omnipotency of God and limit his actions with the main clog of necessity yea and impotency in Power But there are certain other Philosophers which do behave themselves more modestly in the beforesaid doubt For Avicenna affirmeth that these actions are neither of necessity nor violent but do consist in a mediocrity betwixt them both and thereupon he concludeth that it is in the volunty or will of the Agent In the which resolution he seemeth not much to vary from Scriptures which say Deus castigavit nos propter iniquitates nostras ipse salvabit nos propter misericordiam suam God hath chastised us for our iniquities he will save us for his mercy's sake By which this elected vessell doth intimate that there is a free volunty in God to punish and to have mercy But this is expressed in plain words after this manner Deus juxta voluntatem suam facit tam in coeli virtutibus quam in habitatoribus terrae God operateth according to his Will as well with the vertues of heaven as with the Inhabitants of the earth In which words the Prophet doth evidently show that every operation in this world is effected by the Will and in or by the Word or Spirit of the Almighty and therefore not of Necessity as Aristotle Galen and many other of the Ethnick Philosophers have averred to the derogation from God and blemishing of his Omnipotency But that there is an undoubted necessity in the Organicall causes and in the effects which issue from God's Acts in them it appeareth most evidently Wherefore the Prophet Baruch saith Deo obediunt per omnia Sol Luna Sydera Fulgur
which is that God doth draw or call his angelicall winds out of his treasury to effect his will we have it confirmed from the pens of the Prophets David and Jeremy Depromit say they ventos è the sauris suis. Lastly touching the use of the winds or the finall cause why they were created or sent forth Scriptures do largely inform us Ventus facit mandatum Dei saith Baruch The wind doth the commandement of God And the Psalmist Spiritus procellarum facit verbum ejus The spirit of the storms effect his word And again Angeli Dei valid ssimi robore efficientes verbum placitum suum The angels of the Lord which are strong in power do effect his word and will And again He maketh the angels lightnings or coruscations his ministers And Job saith Fulgura nunquid mittes ibunt revertentia tibi dicent Adsumus Wilt thou not send forth thy lightnings and they will go their waies and returning back again they will say We are here Where he meaneth of those Angels which reveal their occult beauty for in this regard God is also termed a consuming fire Moreover he affirmeth in another place that the wind the whirlwind the ice frost clouds and the lightnings are ready at his command whatsoever the will of the Creator is that they shall do they are prepared to perform either upon the superficies of the earth or for to punish and afflict the wicked or to shew mercy unto the righteous To conclude I have expressed in the precedent definition first what is the materiall cause of the winde namely an airy substance of a mean consistency Then I told you that the eternall form or essentiall act thereof was the bright aspiration or spiracle of the Almighty which did by his presence animate agitate and move the materiall aire Thirdly that the place wherein the winds are kept and reserved untill it pleaseth the Creator of them to employ and make use of them was the heavens or aire which is the cabinet of his treasures And lastly that the use and end of them was to accomplish the will of their Creator when he did command them and that either in their outward and airly estate without revealing their centrall and formall fire namely when the winds do blow but are invisible or else by emitting of their internall and essentiall light as when they appeare and move in the form of Lightnings or coruscations and this is proved evidently by the above-mentioned place of the royall David For these reasons therefore and upon these grounds we have framed out these Definitions of the wind which follow The Wind is an invisible aire or spirit which is vivified and animated by the divine Light which issueth from the face of JEHOVA as a breath out of his nostrills to perform and accomplish his will and pleasure as well in Heaven above as on the earth and waters beneath Or after this manner The Wind is a certain Angelicall Spirit or subtill aire which is inspired or animated by the fiery Spirit of JEHOVA appearing sometimes visibly in the form of Lightning and sometimes being invisible and occult as when it is onely heard and not seen and is ordained and sent forth by him from some corner of the earth to effect and accomplish his will either in his positive and benign property or privative and destructive disposition Or thus The Wind is an invisible or occult Spirit indued with a siery soul or form from above and inspired by God in an Angelicall manner the which is carried this way and that way according unto the pleasure of him which inspired it being moved or wafted on invisible wings and carrying sometime their Creator on their airy plumes to effect his will and pleasure For it is said IEHOVA ascendit super Cherubin volavit seu lapsus est super pennas venti God ascended upon the Cherubin and did flie or glide upon the wings of the wind Now the Cherubin is an airy Angell as the Seraphin is a fiery Spirit or Intelligence Or else in this form The Wind is a certain Angelicall creature being made and produced by JEHOVA of aire as being his matter agitated and Light being his internall and essentiall form the which being derived or extracted out of his heavenly Treasury is sent out this way or that way either to plague and punish or to solace and recreate the creature Or thus The Wind is an Angelicall Spirit cloathed with aire which moveth occultly and invisibly this way and that way according unto the secret will of him that created it whose voice although it be heard yet is the place from whence it came or the mark whither it tendeth unknown of mortall men Spiritus saith St. John ubi vult spirat vocemejus audit homo sed nescit unde veniat aut quo vadat The Spirit or wind bloweth where it will and man heareth the voice of it but knoweth not from whence it commeth or whither it will Again Scriptures do affirm elsewhere that the way of God and the place whither he intendeth is unknown unto mortall men Or after this manner more briefly and that according unto the mind of our Saviouâ— The Wind is a Spirit that bloweth where it will whose voice although it be heard yet is the mark at which it aimeth unknown and the place uncertain from whence it cometh Or thus according unto the words of David above mentioned the Angelicall winds as well apparent as occult are described after this manner The Winds are the Angels of the Lord strong in power which effect the Word of God and listen unto his voice and his flaming Ministers which accomplish his pleasure Angeli Dei validissimi robore saith David efficientes Verbum ejus ausculâ—antes vociejus efficientes placitum ejus The Angels of the Lord strong in power effecting his word listning unto his voice accomplishing of his pleasure And in the Psalm following Qui facis Angelos tuos ventos ministros tuos flammam urenâ—em Who dost make thy Angels winds and thy Ministers flaming fires By this therefore each wise man may observe how opposit the false Ethnick Philosophy and doctrine which is grounded upon the wisdome of this world is unto this true Philosophy or wisdome which is extracted out from the Fountain of Truth Hereupon therefore it may appeare unto wise men how impossible it is for a Christian Philosopher who doth firmly adhere unto Aristotle's documents to be radicaâ—ly conversant in the true Catholick Faith ye cannot saith our Saviviour faithfully serve two Masters And for this reason St. Paul as is shewed before doth admonish us to beware of Philosophy and vain Fallacie which is grounded upon the traditions of men and Elements of this world and not upon Christ in whom is all the plenitude of Divinity corporally who is the head of dominations and potestates and consequently the life and animator of all Angelicall Spirits
for the words following importeth so much which are Appendit aquas seu nubes in mensura He hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clowds by measure or attenuateth it into lightnings as the words following do witnesse So that he seemeth to aver that the invisible aire is altered according to weight and measure into the bodies or substances of the visible clowds which afterwards are resolved into rain and fiery lightnings which by compression do appear Again that it is neither the earth nor waters from which the existence or substance of a clowd is made but onely the aire we plainly do gather out of these words in Deuteronomy Aperiet tibi IEHOVA the saurum suum optimum â—oelos dando pluviam terrae tuae suo tempore IEHOVA will open his best treasury the heavens giving rain unto thy earth in due season Out of which words observe first that by the heavens is meant the Aire for in the aire the clowds are procreated and again the aire is called heaven in many places of Scripture as volatilia coeli the fouls or birds of heaven And therefore this is the sacrarium divinum the divine treasury or treasure-house out of the which God at his pleasure produceth and fashioneth the clowds Secondly that the aire is called his best treasury and therefore it is out of it that not onely he doth extract his meteorologicall creatures but also that wise-men do enquire after their mysticall summum bonum and Christian Philosophers that are well grounded the character of the divine wisdom Again it is said in another place Propterea aperti sunt thesauri evolarunt nubes nebulae sicut aves Therefore his treasuries are opened and the clowds did fly out like birds But this is made yet more evident by these plain words of Job Subitò aer condensabitur in nubes ventus transiens fugabit eas The aire will suddenly be condensed or thickned into clowds and the moving winde will drive them before it By which words it is apparent that the aire is the subject out of the which the clowds are compacted and framed and that the heavens are the onely treasury out of the which they are collected and therefore neither the earth nor the water as Aristotle would have it which if it were true indeed mark what an absurd impossibility must follow For then whereas the Sun doth attenuate the aire in the summer-season it would contrary unto reason condense it by the continuall raising of vapours and then a greater absurdity would follow on the neck of this to destroy Aristotles tenent touching the generation of the clowds for then we should have more clowds and rain in the summer than winter being that there are made more vapours at that season by the Suns heat and emptying of ponds and rivers then in the winter which experience proveth false And lastly it is neither the heat of the Sun nor Stars but the eternall Spirit of JEHOVA whose dominion is over the angelicall winds by which he moveth and operateth all these alterations in the air and by the aire as shall be told you hereafter And therefore it was said By his wisdom he giveth weight unto the aire and hangeth the clowds in measure and assigneth rules unto the rain and proportioneth a way or passage unto the lightnings and thunders c. But I come unto the second Doubt To the resolution of the second doubt I say that there is another manner of reason for the incrassation and condensation of an invisible vapour or the aire into a cloud than that which Aristotle and his followers have assigned and set down for whereas he saith that this feat is performed by the contractive cold of the middle region of the aire it may be wondered at why this effect is not wrought as well at other times as when the winds do blow from their certain quarters of the earth for when the southerly winds have dominion then do we see clouds to multiply and the rain to poure down in the greatest abundance I would fain know of these Peripateticks why the vapours should be raised so thick just at that time when the wind bloweth from the south to make a greater abundance of clowds in the aire then at another season namely when they have no dominion Or why should the cold of the middle region of the aire be apter to coagulate or curdle vapours at that time than at other times being that the warm clouds or dense aire which is driven from the Aequinoctiall do moderate the middle region's cold through which they glide by reason of their hot temper Verily I know that they are ignorant what to answer touching this point and therefore I will presse them no further But I will tell you of an experiment of mine own whereby I was induced unto the truth concerning the generation of the mists and clouds When in my travells I went or journeyed from Venice unto Augusta or Ausburg in Germany as I travelled between the high mountains and rocks of the Alps upon a certain day when the heavens were passing clear and without any cloud to be seen in the Horizon the Sun also as in these times it must needs being passing bright I espied on the top of a steepy mountain on the which the Sun-beams did strongly beat a certain fogg or mist by little and little to arise and ever it thickned more and more untill it grew from a sleight vapour unto a mist and from a foggy mist at the last unto a thick cloud and all this while the aire was every where clear except only on that side the hill from the top unto the bottom which we beheld It made me a little to marvell and therefore alighting from our Coach I took some grasse and flung it into the aire to try which way the wind did blow and I found it to be full upon or against that eminent hlll which was advanced towards the heavens above his fellows Whereupon I did streight-way gather that the degrees of progression from a vapour unto a mist and from a mist unto a fogg and so forward unto the consistence of a clowd was by compression of the common aire which was chased before the winde by little and little against the lofty rock or mountain which hindering of it in its passage or flight was the cause that the consequent-aire was added unto the precedent and so by adding and compressing of parts of the aire unto other parts a perfect clowd onely conformable unto that part of the mountain was made which forthwith when it became ponderous and apt to endure the reflexion of the Sun did resolve it self for four miles space on this side the rock into rain all the rest of the aire remaining still clear and without any clowd Whereby I did forthwith conceive that clowds were not ingendered after the manner described by the Peripateticks that is by the vapours rising out of the earth and waters but by
and windy Angels as the Seraphins are fiery Spirits and so moveth upon the wings of the wind or aire which his Angelicall Cherubin doth animate So that in and by the windy Organ he is said to blow when and where he list It is I say the Eternall Spirit of Wisdome which is in brightness and vertue more noble then the Sun of Heaven as Solomon testifieth For as much as it also giveth life and splendor unto the Sun And therefore it is said to excell the Sun in brightness which is the onely efficient cause or formall and essentiall Agent in this business and consequently neither the Sun or any other of the created host of Heaven It is I say again the all-creating Spirit and not the created which is the generall act and onely formall mover in the Meteors whom his Angelicall Ministers which do ever stand before this Lord of all the earth that I may speak with the Prophet Zachary are ready to assist as Organs or instrumentall causes to execute his will It is I say the essentiall wind or Spirit which bloweth from the center of the cloud and moveth or inciteth his spirituall created Organs according unto his will For by it his Spirit also moveth in the Angels and winds causing them to effect his Command according unto David's assertion Wherefore we may see by this which is said how incongruous is this opinion of the Ethnick Peripatetick unto the Truth and how far it derogateth from the right of God's Word and consequently what an errour it is in our Christian Philosophers to follow and imitate his learning with such a devotion and fervency as if they were Theodidacti taught by God himself when in verity his doctrine doth rather disswade Christians from the knowledg of him in his works then instruct them therein being it perswadeth them that things are effected both in heaven above and in the earth and in the waters beneath by vain waies and accidentally that is to say meerly by naturall causes onely and so would blemish the honour and reputation of Him who in verity is all in all and operateth all in all and that not by constraint as the vain Peripatetick imagineth but according unto his Will as it is proved before CHAP. VI. The true and essentiall Definition or rather description of a Cloud is set forth in this Chapter WEll then will they reply Let us understand how you can better define or describe the nature of a clowd according unto that holy Philosophy and true Wisdom which you seem to profess To the which I answer that I am willing and that after a divers manner though agreeing in one unity of Essence A clowd is the revealing and making manifest of the invisible mundan spirit which is hidden in the treasury of God namely the heavens by the centrall operation of the divine wisdom and his windy ministers being incited thereunto by the will of God into a vaporous heap or clowdy substance which the said spirit of wisdom erecteth for his secret place or vehicle to move in and for the effecting of his will as well in heaven above as in the earth and waters beneath Or after this manner A clowd is the reducing of the invisible aire into a visible thick and gloomy consistence which is by the will of God effected through the concurrence or meeting together of opposite or transversall winds for the accomplishment of his secret will and pleasure Or else thus A clowd is a certain visible condensed heap of aire the which the Spirit of wisdom being expansed every wheâ—e doth make and compose as it were of nothing that is to say of an airy invisible somewhat which it extracteth out of his mysticall treasury to do and effect the will of God as well in heaven as in earth In which definitions or rather descriptions the materiall substance seemeth to be a coagulated mist or condensed masse or heap of aire the formall cause is set out in the shape and form of the clowd the efficient cause or centrall agent is the essentiall act of the divine wisdom who employeth and exciteth his windy ministers to work externally by the way of compression We have also the magazine or treasury out of which the substance of the winds is produced namely the heavens or aire which is termed Arca Dei thesauraria The chist or cabinet of Gods treasures To conclude the finall cause is manifested in this that the clowd is ordained to bring forth the effects as well of Gods clemency and benignity as of his severity and anger Now for the defence of the first part of these descriptions we find it thus written Deus sapientia suâ apt at pondus aeri appendit aquas in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum c. God doth by his wisdom proportionate the weight of the aire and hangeth the waters or clowds in measure assigneth lawes unto the rain and maketh a way unto the lightnings of the thunder That is to say according unto the will and ordination of the divine Spirit the aire or substance of heaven is changed from a lighter or thinner estate or weight unto a heavier or thicker the degrees of which mutation are expressed in the words following for first it was aire then clowds then rain or vulgar water Also the Text doth seem to make the lightnings internall or formall light of the clowd which is not revealed but by the violation or ruption of the compound and ablation of darkness Again it is said by Job as is already related Aer condensabitur in nubes ventus transiens fugabit eas The aire will be thickned into clowds And touching the clowds of snow Congregatio spiritus aspergit nivem The aire being gathered together doth scatter the snow on the earth Touching the efficient cause it appeareth to be God or the eternall Wisdom and therefore in the precedent Text it is said Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aeri appendit aquas vel nubes in mensura God by his wisdom hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clowds in measure And again Nubibus densis obtegit Deus coelos God covereth the heavens with thick clowds But all this is sufficiently expressed before As for the finall cause set down in the foresaid definitions it is confirmed by Scriptures in this fashion Pro irrigatione fatigat Deus den sam nubem dispergit lucem nubis suae quodcunque praecipit illis faciendum in terra sive ad flagellum sive ad faciendam beneficentiam efficiet ut presiò sit God wearieth the thick clowd for the watering of the earth and he disperseth every where the light of his clowd whatsoever he commandeth them to be done upon the earth whether it be for a scourge or else in favour and benignity he maketh them to be ready to accomplish it And Baruch saith When God commandeth the clowds that they passe over the whole earth they
perform what is commanded them So that we see these creatures are drawn out of their secret dwellings to do the will of him that created them CHAP. VII How by our experimentall Instrument the reasâ—n of the composition of clowds is ocularly demonstrated A so in this the Snow is defined falsly and truly NOw I think it most fit to demonstrate unto you how the clowds are procreated by the opposite blast of two winds of a contrary nature namely of the Southerly wind in eminency and dominion and a Northerly spirit which also bloweth but insensibly I told you in the Chapter where I did demonstrate by our experimentall Instrument the reason of the Southerly winds which happen in winter that as the aire included in the Weather-glasse did by the onely touch of a warm hand dilate it self and in dilatation fly from the hand of the toucher unto the cold region of the water which was evidently proved and maintained because the water did suddainly thereupon move downward So also the grosse winter aire in the southern hemisphear did at the approach of the Sun unto the parts beyond the Line dilate it self by vertue of that ever-acting and subtiliating spirit which put his tabernacle in the Sun so that the southern dilated aire posted apace or flew hastily away to seek a larger place but comming into the northern hemisphear which by reason of the Sun's absence became brumall or wintry the constant aire of that region being now contracted by the northern cold and the north-wind by reason of the colds dominion blowing more or lesse though insensibly it meeting with the warm southerly spirit condenseth it with the rest into clowds and this is the reason that alwaies almost and that is where no northern blasts are discerned that the southerly winds do bring abundance of clowds and rain with them for that the hot southerly vertue of the divine agent doth more and more subtiliate and rarifie the winter aire which it found there till it had by rarefaction purified it and reduced it unto the nature of a true Summer aire so that the superfluous parts of the aire after rarefaction were chased away as is said into the northern region where it is condensed again partly by the privative act of the divine puissance and partly by the spissitude of the northern aire which denyeth it free passage into the form of clowds For the cold spisse aire of the northern hemisphear agitated and animated by the northern blast or property resisteth the hot vaporous aire and so it condenseth by little and little To conclude I could here set down the Aristotelian definitions of the snow frost hail ice and such like other meteors and then check and contradict them mainly by other true descriptions of them proved by the testimony of holy writ As for example Aristotle seemeth to aver that the snow is a clowd congealed by the great cold which before it be perfectly dissolved into water by a vaporous disposition it is changed into a snowy substance In which definition because he is ignorant as hath been proved already in the fabrick of a clowd we ought in no case believe him Again he digresseth from the tenour of Scriptures according unto the mind whereof we have defined the snow thus The Snow is a meteor which God draweth forth of his hidden treasury in the form of wool to effect his will upon the earth either by way of punishment or clemency Or thus The Snow is a creature produced out of the air or heavenly treasury of God by the cold breath or blast of the divine spirit in the form of wool to perform his will on the earth Where the fountain of his originall substance is made the aire or the matter of the heavens and therefore the Text hath it Congregatio speritus aspergit nivem The gathering together or condensation of the spirit ingendereth and sprinkleth the snow upon the earth And Job Pervenistine in the sauris nivis Camest thou into the treasury of the snow Also the form and efficient cause is expressed thus Deus verbo suo nives emittit sicut lanam coram frigore ejus quis consistat God by his word sendeth out the snow like wool who is able to resist his cold So that God by his Word which doth operate in his privative property by his cold is the essentiall efficient and omnipotent actor in the production of the snow I could I say effect all this at large but because my minde is not to dwell upon on these particulars forasmuch as in the description of the clowd I have sufficiently pointed at the rest I will proceed unto my enquiry touching Aristotle's opinion concerning the beginning of fountains that we may perceive thereby whether he have erred as far in that mystery as he hath done in the rest CHAP. VIII What Aristotle's opinion is touching the generation of Fountains and Rivers and whether he in his opinion doth jump with the verity of the true wisdom SInce therefore it is apparent that Aristotles doctrine is erroneous and deceiptfull touching the generation and essence of the winds and clowds we purpose in the third place to bring his judgment and opinion concerning the beginning and originall of fountaines and rivers unto the touch-stone of truth that thereby we may perceive whether it will endure the tryall and not shrink as the proverb is in the wetting The Peripateticks as well Christians as Gentiles are as much deceived in their meteorologicall grounds concerning the generation of fountains and rivers as in the rest of which we have spoken before and therefore their Master Aristotle all things being well pondered in the ballance of justice ought to be accounted of all true Christians for a seducer and deceiver of the world and consequently his doctrine touching this point ought of right to be repudiated and rejected Aristotle with his peripateticall sect or faction are of opinion that being the belly or bowells of the earth is full of cavities and hollow passages vapours to avoid vacuity must needs ascend from the center or bottom of it the which cleaving in their ascent unto the sides of the hollow vaults and streighter passages or veines of the earth do resolve into water which distilling down by drops do ingender fountaines and rivers In the which opinion of theirs they conclude that the matter of fountains is nothing else but a vapour arising from the bottom of the earth and resolved liquefied or condensed into water through cold and heat together within the earth no otherwise then after their saying the clowd rain snow and hail do arise and are generated in the aire of a vapour first condensed and afterwards liquefied But if we shall duely examine every member of this their description we shall perceive that they require as well a double matter as formall agent in this generation of fountaines for they faign that the remote matter is a vapour and then the near and immediate
matter they imagine to be drops of water which are caused by the concretion or condensation of that vapour Also they make their two efficient causes cold and heat for say they it is the office of cold to condense and congeal the included vapour into water and that it is the heat and cold together which maketh the water fluxible and moovable Let it therefore be lawfull for me judicious Reader to answer these Peripatetick Philosophers with an over-worn axiom of their own and consequently to fight with them at their own weapons Their axiom is Erustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora That is vainly done or effected by many which may be effected by lesse Now if that this originall work in the producing of fountains may be performed most conveniently by one and the self-same subject of water without the altering of it first into vapour by subtiliation and afterward by condensing again that subtle vapour into water Then I make no doubt but you will conclude with me that this Peripatetick definition is vain imaginary and sophisticall by their own rules But I will make it apparent hereafter by an ocular demonstration that it is possible by a course in nature onely that water without any alteration of his consistence may by the secret veines and close passages or conduits of the earth be drawn or sucked up out of the huge seas unto the top or summity of the mountains after by his soaking through the sands and pory substance of the earth it hath left his salt nature behind it which appearing evidently to every mans sense the vanity of Aristotles invention will soon be discovered unto wise men Besides all this the sterility of his reason or invention which would faign that these vapours cleaving unto the sides of the caverns or hollow places and that there forsooth they must be converted into drops of water which from thence must issue forth into rivers will be palpable and manifest if we consider that these drops so made are apter to circulate and readier to fall down again into the bowells of the earth from whence they came by those self-same vaulty passages or hollow veines through which they ascended than to issue forth of the ground allaterally because that every heavy thing is more prone to descend then to move sidelong And therefore it is likely that either all the waters so made or the greater part must needs return downward by the way it came or ascended in the form of vapour But omitting these reasons for a while we must see if the Text which is conteined in the Book of Verity do consent in this Opinion with Aristotle and his faction yea or no. We find in the first place that it is not an accidentall and imaginary heat or cold that acteth in this Meteor's Generation but God who operateth by his Angelicall Spirits and solar act in the accomplishment of this business And although that in his action as well privative as positive cold and heat do expresse themselves as his Ministers For the Text saith Coram frigore ejus quis consistat Who can stand against his cold Yet it is his catholick positive act which he extendeth out of his sunny Tabernacle and hotter winds and privative vertue which he manifesteth in the longinquity and absence of his bright Tabernacle from the region pointed at and the propinquity of the polar seat of the colder winds to alter annually the created Element And therefore it is God which by his Spirituall Organs as well in Heaven above as Earth and Water beneath that operateth all things and amongst the rest produceth the Fountains of which the rivers are made And consequently we ought to esteem it the Act of God's Spirit which filleth the earth as Solomon saith and operateth all the naturall effects therein Which also David doth testify in these words Qui emittis fontes per valles ut inter montes ambulent potum praebeant omnibus animantibus agri frangant onagri sitim suam Qui irrig at montes è caenaculis suis faciens ut germinet foenum adjumenti herbam ad hominis usum Who sendeth forth the fountains through the valleys that they may run between the mountains and give drink unto every living creature of the field that the Asse may quench his thirst and that they may water the mountains from their cells causing the grass to grow for the use of the Oxe and the herb for the benefit of man c. So that here we have the sole catholick Agent and therefore the Operator of fountains as is proved by this Text. Again here we have the finall cause set down for the which they were created and continued in succession by God namely to water the earth for the giving drink unto all cattell and living creatures and for the multiplying of grasse herbs trees and fruit for the use as well of man as beast But will our Peripateticks say we hear no news out of Scripture for the contradicting of our matter assigned for the composition or consistence of Fountains which we say to be a vapour and not water in its naturall substance Neverthelesse to qualify this their imagination and to make them behold the Truth without Spectacles I counsell them to give eare unto this assertion of Solomon Omnia flumina saith he intrant in mare mare non redundat ad locum unde exeunt revertuntur ut iterum fluant All rivers enter into the Sea and it is never the bigger they return unto the place from whence they came that they might flow again By the which Speech of the wise-man expressing the materiall cause of Fountains the foresaid definition of Aristotle is utterly othrown for this doth evidently prove that it is one and the self-same water and that in the plain form of water without any transmutation of it out of water into vapour and then from vapour into water again as he doth erroneously alledge which moveth from the Sea unto the Mountains and from the Mountains unto the Sea again Insomuch that for this onely errour some of his earnest disciples have become Apostates or renegado's unto his doctrine For Joannes Velcurius a learned man in the worldly Philosophy and one who hath sweat and taken great pains in the Aristotelian doctrine insomuch that he wrote a Comment on his Physicks when he cometh to speak of the Generation of Fountains he seemeth to confess and publish his Master's folly in these words Non conveniunt plane Sacrae Scripturae cum Physicis de ortu fluminum fontium quae ex mari per varios alveos meatusque fluere ac ad suos fontes refluere Eccles. 1. testatur dicens Omnia flumina intrant in mare mare non redundat aâ— locum unde exeunt flumina reveâ—tuntur ut iterum fluant Caeterum Physici dicunt materiam esse vaporem resolutum in aquam liquefactum à frigore et
this mysticall kind of progression which do express it in this manner In Dâ—o omnâ—o eranâ— nihil nisi mere Deâ—s Ex Deo omnia veniebant in principium tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere principium manâ—â—te tamen Deo Ex principio omni procedebant in verbum tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere Verbum manente tamen principio Ex verbo omnia procedebant in spiritum Dâ—mini tum nihil erant nisi Spiritus Domini manente tamen verbo Ex spiritu Domini omnia procedebant in aquas scilicet sâ—periores tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere aquae superiores manente tamen Spiritu Domini Ex aquis superioribus omnia descenderunt in aquas inferiores tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere aquae inferiores manentibus tamen superioribus Ex aquis inferioribus hoc est ex elementis astris invisibilibus omnia procedâ—bant in corpora visibilia tunc omnia erant nihil nisi mere corpora visibilia manentibus tamen elementis astris invisibiâ—ibus c. In God all things were nothing but meerly God Of God all things were made a beginning and then all things were nâ—thing else but a mâ—â—r beginning God remaining neverthelesse in his entire existence Of the beginning all became the Word and then were all things nothing else but the word meerly and that not without the permanency of the beginning From the word all did proceed into the Spirit of the Lord and then they were nothing but the Spirit of the Lord and that without any diminution of the Words existence From the Spirit of the Lord all became waâ—ers namely the upper waters and then all things were nothing else but the upper waters meerly and that without any diminution of the Spirit of the Lords existence From the upper waters all did descend into the lower waters or elementary region and then all were nothing else but meerly the lower waters and yet the upper waters lost not their permanency Of the lower waters that is of the elements and invisible stars or starry influences all became visible bodies and then all things were nothing else but visible bodies without any derogation neverthelesse unto any existency of the elements and starry influences c. All which I could also prove to be true as well by the Scriptures as expert Cabalists and divinest Philosophers assertions For by Scriptures we are taught That God the fountain of all beeing did first create darkness and that this darkness was that deformed principle or primary matter without shape which did complicitely contain all things And that the Word was in that beginning or principle And again that this word issued out of darknesse And that the spirit was carried on these waters which appeared out of the bowelâ—s of the dark abysse And that all were waters at the first the bright Spirit of the Lord being not in any thing extinguished And that these waters were divided â—nto the higher and lower namely heaven and earth As also St. Peter teacheth us that of the lower waters the elements were framed by the distinguishing Spirit of the Lord. Which Job saith doth aptare pondus aeri appendere aquas in mensura facere pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum that is giveth a portion unto the weight of â—he aire and hangeth the waters or clowds in measure and maketh statutes or giveth lawes unto the rain and a passage unto the lightning of the thunder c. And Racanat that excellent Master in Cabal upon the beginning of Genesis saith as is already told you Et â—orte quaeres Cum sap entia sit numeratio secunda qâ—are dicatur principium Scriptum est in libro Bahir Nihil est princâ—pium nisi sapientia Cui equidem â—ecte mihi videar respondere quod infinitudo ipsa trium sammarum Cabalisticae arboris numerationum quas vos â—res in diviâ—â—s persoâ—as appellare consuevistis absolâ—tâ—ssima essentâ—a quum sit in abyâ—sso tenâ—brarum retracta immaneâ—s ociosa vel ut aâ—unt ad nihil respiciens idcirco dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Nâ—hil sive non-ens ac non-sints quâ—a nos tam tenui erga res divâ—nas ingenâ—i paupertate 〈◊〉 de â—is quae non apparent haud secus atque de iis quae non sunt judicamus At ubi se ostendâ—rit ut sit a iquid revera subsistat tunc Aleph tenebrosum in Aleph lucidum convertitur Scriptum est enim Sicut tenebrae ejus ita lux ejus appellaâ—ur 〈◊〉 Aleph magnum quando exire cupit apparere omnium rerum causa per Beth proxime sequentem literam nominaturque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. pater omnis geneâ—ationis pâ—oductionis facâ—t enim res omnes c. And per chance you will demand Since sapience is the second Cabalisticall numeration wherefore it is called Principium or the beginning It is written in the book of Bahir that nothing is principium or the beginning but Wisdom Unto whom me-thinks I may rightly answer That the infinity it self of the three highest numerations of the Cabalisticall tree which ye are accustomed to call the three Persons in Divinity of one absolute essence when it is retracted in the abysse of darknesse and remaining idle or vacant and as it were having respect unto nothing is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Nothing or non-entity because that we being endued with such poverty of understanding in divine matters do â—udge of such things which appear not no otherwise than of those which are not at all but when it doth so reveal it self that it existeth in our senses somewhat indeed then is dark Aleph converted into light Aleph For it is writ As his darknesse is so is his light namely when it desireth to issue out of darknesse and to appear to be the cause of all things by Beth which is the next ensuing letter and it is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ab that is to say the father of all generation and production of things for it effecteth all things Moreover Mercury Trismegist whom others term Hermes doth more expresly seem to mention this progression from unity in darkness down to the creation of the elements in this very form of speech Pimander mens divinae potentiae mutaviâ— formam universa subâ—to revelavit cernebam enim omnia in â—umen conversa suave nimium atque jucundum quod intuentem me mirifice obâ—ectabat Paulo post umbra quaedam horrenda obliqua revolutione subterlabebatur in hum damque naturam migrabat ineffabili tum vu tu exagitabam inde fumus magnus in sonitum erumpebat ex sonitu vox egâ—edâ—ebatur quam ego luminis vocem existimabam ex luminis voce verbum factum prodiit verum hoc naturae humidae astans eam fovebat ex humâ—dae autem naturae viscerâ—bus sincerus ac levis ignis
mane tenebras diem in noctem mutavi vocavi aquas maris effudi eas super terrae faciem Coelos den que mediante Spiritu meo ornavit Deus converti coelum in gyro in locum suum uno die omniaque numero pondâ—re meâ—sura disposuit temperavit God by his wisdom giveth proportion of weight unto the aire hangeth the waters in measure He made the earth in his strength prepared the world in his wisdome and extended the heavens by his prudency He hanged the North upon emptinesse and inâ—nity and ballanced the earth upon nothing For she was present at the building of the heavenâ— and it was â—he that did compasse and fashion out all things When God did establish the foundations of the earth she was present and composed all things And in another plaâ—e this Spirit of wisdom saith I came out of the mouth of the most high being first-born or brought forth before any creature I was created in the beginning before all ages neither shall my beeing cease in the latter age of the world and I do administer before him in his holy habitation I caused a never failing light to rise in the heavens and I covered the earth after the manner of a mist. I dwelled in the highest places and my throne was in a câ—owdy pillar I alone did compasse round about the heavens and did penetrate into the profundâ—â— of the abysse and I walked in the waves of the seas and I stood upon every earth I made the North or pole-star and Orion and I turned the darknesse into day and the day unto night I called the waters of the seas and poured them out upon the face of the earth I turned the heavens about unto his place in one daies space To conclude God adorned the heavens by my spirit and did proportionate and temper all things in number weight and measure c. By which testimonyes it is most apparent that all changes alterations actions ornaments of beauty motions numbers weights measures and consequently all diversities that are made in the generall homogeniall mass of the waters are effected by this vivifying emanation of the benigne and bright spirit of the eternall Unity whose root is the Word for in verity according unto St. Paul it is onely this Spirit that doth operate all in all And therefore I must needs conclude with the kingly Prophet and say Opera Dei mirabilia ampla sunt quae omnia fecisti in sapientia The works of God are marvellous and ample which thou hast effected in thy wisdom And again Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli Spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum By the word of the Lord the heavens were fashioned and fastned and by the Spirit of his mouth each vertue thereof Which words do seem to infer not onely the materiall substance of the world which is intimated by that word Heavens but also the inacting form that is the vivifying beginning of all things which hath no beginning and this is signified by the Word and his off-spring the Spirit from the which the waters first received their beeing and then of these catholick waters were the heavens the earth and elements made in number weight and measure that is to say were effected by a subdivision through the spagerick act of the self-same word or spirit And therefore St. Peter hath it Coeli erunt priùs terra de aquis per aquas consistentes verbo Dei The heavens and the earth were of old of waters and by waters consisting by the word of God As who should say after the Spirit of the Lord had issued out of the dark abyss for it is said Verbum erat in principio The Word was in the beginning and had given act and form and consequently a name unto the waters for it was said that the Spirit of the Lord was carried upon the waters the same Spirit did operate to reveal explicitely and particularly that which the Chaos did at the first contain in it self complicitely and confusedly and that in a generality wherefore when it had revealed the universall matter of all things which was water it did by little and little anatomise it and open the secret closets thereof to shew forth and make manifest that which from all eternity lay hid in it and was without form or beeing and therefore esteemed rightly for Nothing And first the substance of the world was made of it in generall as it appeareth by this Text Manus omnipotentis mundunt ex informi materia effecit The hand of the Omnipotent did make the world of a matter without form or shape And as St. Jerom interpreteth it Ex materia invisa Of an unseen or invisible thing Then that watry and humid substance was divided into the heaven and earth in distinguishing the waters from the waters by the same Spirit which is the ministring hand of the Almighty for the Text hath it In habitatione sancta coram ipso ministravi I did administer before him in the holy habitacle And again Sapientia apud ipsum fuit cuncta componens Wisdom was she that composed all things with God And this was the second daies work Then the lower waters were divided into elements namely earth water aire c. and that was the third daies separation as Moses doth methodically demonstrate All which Hermes expresseth thus as is said before Ex luminis voce verbum factum prodit verum hoc naturae humidae astans eam fovebat Ex humidae autem naturae visceribus sincerus ac levis ignis protenus evolans alta petit aer quoque levis spiritûs parens in mediam regionem inter aquam ignem sortiebatur terra verò aqua sic invicem commixta jacebant ut terrae facies obruta nusquam pateret The word which was made did issue out of the Light 's voice and this Word being present and assistant unto the humid nature did foster and preserve it Then the light fire proceeding out of the bowells of the humid nature soared or mounted aloft The thin air aâ—sâ— which is the father of the spirit did elect the middle region which is between the fire and the water for his abode The earth and water did lie so intermingled together that the face of the earth was no where overflowed or drowned by the waters Whereby it is evidently proved that this thin spirituall water or humid nature in it self is no more than mans spirit without the vivifying act of life for as in the soul of every creature that liveth there are two things chiefly to be required namely an Agent and a Patient so where the one of these are wanting there can be no created soul for if that the world's life was onely the essentiall breath of God without the vehicle of the created humid spirit which is the matter of heaven then that life would be simple identity and of one and the same property
and consequently there would be neither variety of action neither any contraction or dilatation of systole and diastole in things and therefore no action or passion in the soul for without a passive nature there can be no action and also without an active nature there can be no passion Now matter which proceedeth from water is the subject of all passion as here mother Chaos was the female or passive unto the action of Demogorgon or God Also act or form which proceedeth from light is the subject of all action as its father Eternity or the bright emanation of the spirit of wisdom from the fountain of light was the male or agent From hence therefore it is an easie thing to gather first what the soul of the world is and therefore of what parts it doth consist for we must consider that as every creature hath his interior and exterior so also we must exquisitely search after an internall and an externall in the soul being it is a creature and again that it is a creature it is most certain because it is not Identity but Alterity for if it were Identity it would be the divine unity or essence and consequently it would not be created Now that it is Alteritas it is plain because it is compounded of two after the consistence of Angells forasmuch as his internall is a vivifying flame issuing or proceeding from the eternall emanation of life and his externall is an aeviall spirit which is created inacted and animated by this eternall emanation from God And forasmuch as the nature of that most essentiall and never-dying fire is said to be all and in every part of the world and therefore Scriptures say Christus adimplet omnia Christ filleth all things Christus est omnia in omnibus Christ is all and in all Dei Spiritus est in coelo in inferno in extremis maris in nocte in tenebris c. The Spirit of God is in heaven in hell in the extreamest parts of the seas in the night and in darkness Sapientiam effudit Deus super omnia opera sua God hath powred out the spirit of wisdom upon all his works Spiritus Dei incorruptibilis inest omni rei The incorruptible Spirit of God is in every â—hing Coelum est ei sedes terra autem scabellum pedum ejus The heaven is his seat and the earth is his footstool Spiritus sapientiae implet orbem The spirit of wisdom filleth all the world c. Forasmuch I say as it is in every particle of this humid spirit the which by his presence is now full of dignity that before was vile and deformed it is certain that it maketh this catholick spirit to live And therefore this angelicall spirit thus composed of alterity or of two is called Anima mundi because it is that catholick or generall spirit divinely animated from the beginning which doth vivifie afterwards each particular creature of the world proceeding from the generality to the speciality and from the speciality unto the individuality So that the mighty question so often revolved by the Peripatetick Philosophers and so slenderly by them resolved may hereby be fully determined and enucleated if it please the wise and impartiall Reader rightly to consider things as indeed they do stand for by this it is easie to express and distinguish mentem divinam or the divine emanation from anima or the soul and again the anima from spiritus or the spirit being that it is evident that the mentall radication is the eternall and formall emanation which is given or sent out by the Creator in her positive property to create the world and consequently the earthly body and heavenly spirit thereof of nothing or non-actuall existence The spirit is that inward created spirit of the world or subtle substance of the waters or humid nature simply considered in its self which is animated and illuminated by that Archetypicall emanation and the soul or anima is that union which is made between this humid created spirit and the increated formall emanation which doth inform or create So that by this we may discern first what the forma informans or natura naturans is then what the forma informata or the natura naturata is The forma formans or natura naturans is God or the divine emanation which created all things the forma informata or natura naturata is the created light or the spirit informed or illuminated by the presence of the bright increased Spirit and the increated Spirit clothed with or enduing that created spirit is said to be vestitus or amictus lumine quasi vestimento cloathed with light that is with an illuminated spirit as with a garment We shall find also in Exodus that in the same Chapter the spirituall creature in which the divine Spirit acteth and resideth is tearmed an Angell in regard of his externall spirit in composition but again in the same Chapter it is tearmed JEHOVA in regard of the eternall form that acteth in it Also the Angell is said to go before the Israelites in a pillar of clowd by day and a pillar of fire by night And again it is said in the same history that JEHOVA went before them in the said order And the wise man said Fuit sapientia iis tegumentum interdiu lux stellaris noctu Wisdom was a cover to them in the day time and a starry-light in the night And the reason of all this is expressed elsewhere thus Noli exacerbare eum quia non feret defectionem vestram quoniam nomen meum est in eo Do not anger this my angel for he will not endure your defections because my name is in him c. Where by his name he signifieth his word which is God as if he had said I do essentially animate him and I am within him c. That the soul of the world or Mens divina in mundo simply taken is the divine mentall emanation absolutely in it self being distinguished from the created spirit this Text in Scriptures doth warrant Animam Spiritum dividit discernit sermo Dei vivus The Word of God doth devide the soul and the spirit c. Where by the word is ment the mentall beam by the Spirit the humid nature that existeth by the presence of the mentall beam which God by his Word can withdraw unto himself or emit according unto his will and pleasure Whereupon David said Deo recipiente Spiritum suum à creatuâ—is eâ—spi aâ—t â—miâ— erte spiritum recreantur bono God receiving or withdrawing his Spirit from 〈…〉 they exspire but sending out his Spirit they are recreated with life and goodness Aâ—d â—ow I will prove all this out of such definitions or descriptions which as well the Faâ—heâ—s of the Church as the Philosophers both Christian and Gentile have made upon the soul in generall both as it hath a relation unto a body and also as it is
Unities of 2. for the beginning and another for the middle then there wants an end If you put an Unity for the beginning and an other for the end then you have two extreams but no mean or middle and therefore it is this way also imperfect Or if you place one Unity for a mean and the other for an end here also you have imperfection because there wants a beginning In like manner if Unity had not emitted his actuall emanatiom as a bright Unity of life the 2. or deformed matter of the Chaos had stood in his duall confused or imperfect estate that is without the form or shape of any perfect thing I mean a plain Nihil or Aliquid in potentia non actu Something in puissance and not in act So that matter I say before it was informed by the Unity of Light which maketh the third Unity was Vacuum inane Vacuity and inanity because it wanted the presence of the informing Unity or actuall emanation to endue it with the title of goodnesse for after the bright emanation was made then vacuity was changed into plenitude puissance into act darkness into light and a deformed matter into well formed and vivified waters and in a word imperfection into perfection And thereupon it was said that God saw that it was good that is it was replenished with his virtuous Essence who was all good and onely goodnesse By this reason therefore namely by the addition of the formall Unity the manner of confusion and of imperfection which is the materiall duality that doth Symbolize with the Chaos which is the mother of matter perfection is brought into the world which by animating the purest and subtiler waters doth unite the mentall Light with the heavenly Spirit in an Angelicall essence which doth afterwards animate and inform all things And this formall Union is Symbolically expressed by the figure 3. which for this cause is termed the first number of perfection and the number of the Soul or the radicall number of form in the course of nature henceforth therefore it cometh that the Platonists and Pythagoreans do expresse matter which is imperfect in it self by eaven or imperfect numbers and according as in the Achetypicall world defigned by 1 2 3. in form of the sacred Trinity there appeareth to be three Ideall dimensions in one divine nature or eternall essence which present in their manner of progression a Root a Square and a Cube which import a supream soul a spirit and body of the world Ideally painted out in the Archetype and that these three seem to be raised out of one 1. or Unity for multiplying 1. by the root 1. doth produce 1. and its self which makes 2. or a simple Ideal square and multiplying it again by 1. there riseth but 2. and 1. which make 3. or a Cube which argueth the perfection of the Ideal world which was in God if we take the two radical compounded numbers for roots we shall produce after this pattern the created or exemplar world namely we shall find out three dimensions to wit longitude latitude and profundity of the matter by the inquiry or searching out of the Root Square and Cube of matter the root of matter therefore was 2. for though the supream unity had multiplied or dilated it self in 2. arguing its first-born issue yet because the holy Spirit of Illumination shined not forth all was dark quoad nos wherefore we must imagin that the multiplication of matter in the world is nothing but variety of penetration of formall light into the watery abysse or materiall multitude For the thicker matter is the nearer she appeareth unto her root 2. or the dark Chaos Again the thinner it is made by the opulency of the formall emanation's bright presence the nearer it appeareth unto the root of formall Unity This mystery I say being rightly understood all science even in the abstrusest Philosophy may easily be decyphered The root of matter therefore which is 2. imports the dark Chaos the root of form which is 3. imports that the root 2. or the dark waters is animated by the formall or bright emanation of Unity or 1. and so the first 2. was accomplished and the soul of the world created namely by the Angelicall emanation And thus was the Cabalists Mâ—tuâ—tron oâ— Anâ—ma mundi first produced which according unto their traditions is said to be the first creature that was created agreeing with that of Ecclesiasticus Prior omnium creata est Sap entia Dâ—us 〈…〉 Sancâ—o Wisdom was created before all things God created her in the Holy Spirit c. And in and by this Angelical creation all other Angels were also made and therefore it is said Christus est Imago Dei invisibilis Primogenitus emnis â—â—caâ—â—rae in quo edâ—ta sunt unâ—vâ— saâ— coelis in â—â—â—ra visibilia inviâ—â—bilia sive Thâ—â—ni sive Dominat ones sive Potestaâ—es omnia per ipsum in ipso â—mnia sunt ipse ante omnes omnia in ipso constant Christ is the Image of the invisible God being bâ—ough◠〈◊〉 before any creature in whom all things as well visible as invisible are maâ—e both in heaven and earth whether they be Thrones or Dominations or Potestats all are made by him and in him and he was before any thing and all consist in him Loe here is evidently described the true vivifying Spirit which not onely made all and is all that he made being that all are in him doing the will of his Father in all that he hath made whom the Hebrew Rabbies call Mitattroâ— or Donum Dei and the Prophet Magniconcilii Angelum the Angel of the great councell Et vocabitur nâ—mâ—n ejus saith the Prophet magni concilii Angeâ—us And his name shall be called The Angel of the great councel c. Thus by the multiplying of 3 in it self we have the created formall square which imports the nine Orders of the Angels which vary according to the multiplicity of properties by which the effluxion or emanation that is sent out from this infinite fountain of light doth operate diversly in the world according unto the will of the Father of lights which sent it forth And the formall square 9 being joyned with the materiall square 4 doth animate the heavens which by inspissation or multiplication are made corporall or cubicall so that all bodies are made of those thin substances by multiplying of each square in his root whereupon the cubicall form wil be 27 and that of matter 8 which argue every elementated or compound matter and as the more the matter is multiplied in it self the darker and thicker will it be so the more that light is multiplied in it the lighter thinner and more spirituall will the creature be Insomuch that the formall root and square and cube import the essence and souls of creatures as well super-celestiall as celestiall and elementall which are more or less dignified with form for
according unto these multiplications in form the more will the creatures be exalted in excellency You see now how far and by what proportions as well spirituall as materiall the Platonick harmony of the world extends it self and may observe that where this harmonious proportion between form and matter is not there must needs be as well spirituall as corporall dissention or discord and consequently antipathy We see also that the root of life is fixed in the angelicall composition which is of simple light pure spiritual matter so that the eternal sapience or essential soul is the act of the Angels the aevial angelicall spirit is the act or essential life of the starrs or heavenly influence and the starry influence is the soul and life of the winds the spirituall emanation from the winds do fourfoldly inform the catholick sublunary element or lower waters the element doth animate the meteorologicall impressions and of these are the compound creatures compacted which draw from the divine fountain of them all being one spirit in essence but multiform in regard of the variety of organs by which it worketh variously in the world So that it appeareth that God animated immediately the Emperiall heaven or the intellectuall spirit which is the seat of Angells and this we compare to the root the emperiall heaven animates the stars or aetheâ—iall region which we refer to the square and the starry heaven is as it were the male or multiplyer and vivifier of the elementary region and his creatures which we compare unto the cube Verily not onely the abstruse Cabalists but also the profoundest Philosophers have made an everlasting memory of this perfect and formall root or ternary number with his triple dimension I mean not that which is taken for a mercatory number or such an one as the vulgar Arithmeticians do use in their Algorism but as it is a spirituall and essentiall character of numeration proceeding from a certain circular revolution and square and cubick multiplication And therefore the Learned have founded on this subject their formall and mysticall Arithmetâ—ck and Geometry which are not exercised about common and vulgar subjects but wholly employed about the profound meditations of the true Cabâ—le naturall Magick and essentiall Alchimy which because the ignorant vulgar people do rashly condemn under those titles are otherwise tearmed by the mysticall with the name of the science Elementary Celestiall and Supermundane as well because it entreateth of separated Intelligences and substances as some do style them as also because it is the worthiest of all others to be understood as being conversant about the knowledge of the Creator for the greatest perfection in which man may most glory is to artain unto the true knowledge of God which also the Prophet doth testifie in these words Let not the wise glory in his wisdom noâ— the strong man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches but let him that will glory vaunt and glory in that he knoweth and understandeth me And verily these are the three mysticall sciences which are by wise men appropriated unto the knowledge of the three worlds I mean the Intelligible the Celestiall and Elementary represented according unto the Cabalists by these three Letters of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adam Also the three parts of man termed the little world to wit the Intellect the Soul and Body which is subject to alteration and corruption as also the elementary part Upon this foundation also the Rabbi Zoar said That there are three things which correspond unto one another in this ternary dimension forasmuch as they are framed or formed after the pattern of the Archetype and radicall Idea namely the Tabernacle of God which Moses erected the Temple of Solomon and mans Body according unto the three manner of numbers which were applyed unto them namely the vocall or operative which is the extract of the measure unto the elementary world the formall which is extract from the vocall unto the celestiall and the rationall or divine which is extracted out of the formall unto the intellectuall I will make all this plain by the reall description of the Tabernacle This Tabernacle did symbolize with the three worlds in his parts for the former of them was uncovered and was exposed unto the winde rain hail snow and all other impressions which are ingendered in the sublunary world with perpetuall alterations and changes and unto this part the common sort of people as also the beasts in an assiduall vicissitude of life and death did resort by reason of the continuall sacrifices which were slain and offered in this place And therefore this region importing the cube of matter is rightly referred unto the elementary world which is composed of the grosser waters as of a substance fluid and unstable and for this reason it is properly called the world of darkness wherefore the Evangelist in one place styleth the devill the Prince of darknesse and in another place the Prince of this world This region also hath his relation unto the body of man The second part of the Tabernacle which was burnished over with gold and illuminated with a Candlestick of seven lights doth decypher out the starry heaven and his seven erratick lights of Planets and this heaven as it is in the middle betwixt two extreams namely between the bright fountain of the formall or emperiall heaven and the obscure and dark abysse of matter or elementary world so also it doth participate of the two extreams namely of water and fire And for this reason the heaven is called of the Hebrewes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aâ—â—amaiim of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esch fire and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 maym water in Greek Aether quasi igneus aer But the warry body or matter of it is therefore incorruptible because her appetite is so fulfilled by the affluence of the formall nectar from above that it desireth not any alteration and touching her activity and motion it hath it from that eternall emanation which is said by Solomon to be the most movabâ—e of all things and in verity it is the first catholick mover who is said to be the President of the primum mobile at whose act all the inferiour intelligences do move about their rouling and twinckling fires no otherwise than at the motion of a centrall wheel many externall wheels do move and have their life Thus we may see first why this region of the world is tearmed Heaven or sphear of equality namely by reason of his mixtion in equall proportions of form and matter also why it is called the sphear of the soul of the world by reason that it is composed of the pure spirit of the waters which is female and passive and the bright fire or act of eternity for the mentall divinity doth by and through this humid nature which is his vehicle act and shew forth his vivifying and emanating property in and by this spirituall organ and
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
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
heaven and earth were made of water and by water by the Word as Sacred Philosophy teacheth us then they would have known also that the common substantiall Subject of them all was but one created watery spirit also that this spirits four-fold information was effected by one increating formall essence or Divine Word acting and informing that universall Element by a four-fold emanation so that the will of one creating Spirit effected by and working in four Angells of an opposit nature maketh disposeth or changeth every day this one spirituall watery Subject into this or that Element according unto the Will of the Creator All which is evidently demonstrated by the wether-glass For the aire therein inclosed doth by contraction or dilatation convert it self into the form of any of the Elements and is altered therein according as the nature of the Macrocosmicall blast or wind that bloweth Now whereas it may be objectively demanded From whence then came the earth and waters that are resident perpetually here beneath I answer That they are the effects which the winds by the Will of God or ELOHIM RUACH did originally produce and these were framed first out of the aire namely by thickning it by one degree into water and ingrossing it by another into solid and fixt earth as it appeared by the third daies Creation where it was said that Aridum apparuerit ex aquis Dry-land did appear out of the waters But the Divine Philosopher St. Paul doth confirm all this where he affirmeth that we ought to believe by Faith that those things which are visible were first of things invisible and unseen And again if that the two lower bodies did not resolve themselves by little and little though insensibly into aire it would not be possible that the earth or the water could hold that abundance of Water Stones Brimstone caused of Lightnings and such like which falleth from the aire and yet we see that neither the aire nor water nor earth are at any time found bigger then their naturall accustomed proportions By this therefore I have sufficiently expressed unto you the attractive and contractive property of the Northern Pole in the aire which inferreth thus much that as the Northern blasts are enemies unto life because they contract from the circumference to the Center which is contrary unto the act of man's life therefore all things that are reduced into a chill cold and Northern property be they airy watery or earthy they draw strongly unto them as it is proved by the weather-glass For the included aire being animated by the effects of a strong and obstinate Northern wind sucketh and draweth the waters on high namely from the Aequinoctiall point of the glass unto the Center of the North Pole which is assigned by the head of the mattras and also by the same reason congealed spirits in any earthly substance do suck or draw from the exteriour to the interior as we observe that Bole Armoniack sucketh moysture unto it and also all other earth when it is throughly dry and that in his own naturall condition namely because it being of the quality of the North it sucketh and draweth strongly a watery moysture but this is by reason of his drought the attraction therefore in the Load-stone is otherwise For it having the essentiall nature of its mother Earth and the virtue of the North in his Pole draweth the masculine Sulphureous spirits out of Iron greedily and that with a feminine appetite by reason of the propinquity and likeness of one nature unto another The like regard also hath the Pole star unto the Load-stone as the Load-stone hath unto the Iron which is his like For Natura Natura suá gaudet laetatur Nature is glad and rejoyceth in her like nature as Empedocles doth truly testifie But both the Iron and the Load-stone are of one myne one vein and one nature seeing that both of them are of an earthly and boreall disposition and therefore the Load-stone and his formall included spirits being more encombred with superfluities then the refined Iron doth as it were either for their assistance namely to be delivered from that incombrance draw unto them their like out of the purified Iron or Steel by a wonderfull appetite and in this action suck unto it the Iron who as unwilling to leave its formall spirit doth follow by a naturall continuity the motion of its formall beams or else for comfort and consolation yea and formal refection's cause no otherwise then the cold materiall female doth the more formall male to be refreshed by the masculine seed or sulphureous Form which they both received from that generall Agent 's ideal Northern nature that sustaineth and animateth the earth I will prove it by a similitude but in a vegetable substance We observe that the grain of wheat not participating with the nature of the earth that is so long as it is above ground and not sown attracteth not his like from heaven but when it is committed unto the earth and the earth by corruption hath unloosed his bands his spirits suck down from above the Sun-beams and celestiall influences of his fixt constellation and erratick Planet in quantity that thereby it may be delivered and rise again by the celestiall beams of his own nature that descend from heaven and principally from the Sun so that like being added to his like becommeth the stronger in ascention For experience teacheth us that the celestiall included form or vitall beam creepeth out of the earth upwards tending by all his appetite unto its ethereal native home from whence it came but because the Element of fire is contiguous unto the aethereal spirit therefore it will not permit these aethereall or sunny-beams to ascend without it and because the aire is a near-cleaving and continued neighbour unto the fire therefore it will not permit the fire to ascend without his presence and again the water challengeth the self-same priviledge namely to ascend with the aire and lastly the earth will not let the water move upwards without her company as being next of her race and therefore will have the self-same prerogative with the other three But because the earth is ponderous and cannot ascend she holdeth it fast below and will not permit the spirit to sore higher and so those beamy spirits which seemed to descend for the freedom of their brethren are by these Elementary ties or rather the four-fold disposition of one Element detained and made to hover and hang in the aire where insteed of flying upwards to heaven they do multiply into many graines And I have noted by mine own experience namely by anatomising of corn with the fiery knife of distillation that the female in corn which sucketh down the celestiall influences of the like nature is a pure volatil Salt of a refined or aereall terrestrial condition but rich in celelestiall fire and therefore made volatil and airy by the union of both extreames so that it is this female
are arguments of the resistance and expulsive faculty of contagious antipathy suddenly appear and this is effected sometimes by the sound spirits conquest and sometimes by the vain attempt thereof 1. A Problematicall Demonstration derived from the Load-stone When a small piece of Iron is put into a small Boat with materialls of another loading to float upon the water and a Load-stone be placed in another vessell on the same water near one another the coition which will be made betwixt these two magneticall bodies will be depraved weak and unnaturall because the Magnet affecteth and draweth unto it most strongly his like or best-beloved when she is not laded or mixed with materialls of a contrary nature and consequently not agreeing in sympathy with it An Application To conclude A Mummy which hath an antipatheticall infection joyned unto it and applieth in conjunction unto a sound or strong and wholsome Mummy is like as if a portion of the stone called Theamides which is antipatheticall unto that of the Magnet foâ— it â—â—pelleth Iron or the Magnet it self as the Magnet doth attract them unto it were joyned in a little bark unto the Magnet or a piece of Iron also placed in it and that bark or boat so burthened were applyed unto a stronger Magnet in another bark in a bason of water the strong Magnet or Load-stone would partly attract his like namely the Magnet or Iron and partly resist and expell his enemy and so by reason of his attraction his expulsion would be the flower Therefore also the magneticall Philosophers hold this for a Maxim 2 Problem The coition or union betwixt two magneticall bodies is more quick and nimble than the flight or divorce from one another for experience teacheth that magneticall bodies are more sluggishly repelled then they are allured or drawn unto one another and the reason is because there is some antipatheticall invasion which causeth that hatred and maketh that irascible resistance between the homogeneall spirit of the Mummy and the heterogeniall poyson or infection in it for we ought to consider that magnetick bodies do covet sympatheticall union 5 Proposition Two Mummies of divers bodies whereof the one is sound and the other infected though in their first coition they seem to agree by reason of that homogeniall respect which is between them being in their purity but of one and the same essence yet for that the one is infected and for that cause hath endued a heterogeniall disposition contrary unto the essence of them both for that reason I say the second Mummy endeavoureth to be divorced from them both And this is proved thus by this problematicall Demonstration drawn out of the Load-stone's property 3 Problem If you shall set two small wiers on the poles of a Load-stone these wiers will be observed to adhere at the lower ends together upon the point of the pole but at their tops they will be at discord and averse unto one another at their upper ends so that they will be observed to make a fork as if one end did eschew and fly from the company and society of the other THE CONCLUSION I Could judicious Reader have made a whole Volume of experimentall Propositions with their problematicall proofs touching the infinite abyss of Symâ—heticall and Antipatheticall effects in the three Kingdoms namely Animal â—â—getable and Mineral both mutually between each species or kind as from the â—â—dividualls of one kind unto another But it is not my intention to express my â—ore bold and setled opinions touching the true Philosophy and his appendixes 〈◊〉 a larger English phrase considering the roughness and harshnesse of my pen 〈◊〉 reason of my defect and the insufficiency in the polished nature thereof Again know that filed words and phrases are but superficiall flashes and flying shaâ—owes of a wealthy and rich subject the which as they are Proteus-like changable â—nto an infinity of colours so also are mens fancies and judgments as variable beâ—ng the Proverb is So many men so many minds I do imagine and my minde giveth â—â—e that although I be never so curious in my inditing or laborious in the phrase â—f mine expression yet will my best endeavours appear faulty in the curious eyeâ—â—ght of some men though perchance acceptable enough unto others I esteem it â—ufficient therefore that I dare be hardy and bold in the fundamentall subject of the essentiall Philosophy being that it hath Truth it self to maintain and defend it without any adornation made by the gilded tresses of superficiall speeches or verball explication and therefore as veritas non quaerit angulos so also she needeth not the expression of eloquent words and refined sentences or phrases to illustrate it and make it more perspicuous in the eyes of wise and learned men being that it is not unknown unto them that she doth conquer all for she is the bright splendour or emanation which springeth from the omnipotent and eternall fountain she enlighteneth all she acteth essentially in all and over all and revealeth her self in effect to all and therefore she is so manifest in all her works that she needeth not any golden-tongued Oratour nor smooth and methodicall Rhetorician or lip-learned Philosopher to do her honour in the expression of her excellency and recording the perfection of her graces revealed unto all the world though the unworthy worldlings will not acknowledge or receive her with reverence as they ought to do but rather hide her perpetually by their best endeavours with the vail of obscure ignorance and thereby do not desist to persecute and crucifie daily that spirituall Christ which is the onely verity true wisdom corner-stone and essentiall subject of the true Philosophy whose Name be blessed for ever and ever who onely hath made the heavens and the earth and every thing therein and sustaineth and preserveth them by the vivification of his Spirit which operateth all in all and reigneth in power and glory with the Father for ever and ever Who will defend his servants from the oppression of evill-minded men and stand as a shield of defence to preserve the proclaimer of his truth from the Serpentine tongues of malitious back-biters and the venomous carpings of the Cynicall and Satyricall Momus It is he that saith unto the adorer of his truth Ego dabo vobis os sapientiam cui non poterant resistere contradicere omnes adversarii vestri And therefore I will say as the Prophet David did In alarum tuarum umbra canam I will sing the truth under the shadow of thy wings O Lord in thee do I put my trust keep and preserve me from mine enemies for thy mercie 's sake AMEN FINIS Wisd. 13.1 Rom. 1.20 Gen. 28.12 Ezek. 1.16 1 Cor. 12.11 1 Tim. 6.13 Ephes. 4.10 Wisd. 12.1 Joh. 1. Acts 17.25 Ephes. 4.6 Rom. 11.36 Judith 16.17 Isa. 42.5 Psal. 104.25 Colos. 1.16 Colos. 3.11 Heb. 1.3 Colos. 2.3 Job 28.25 Psal. 17 18. Job 38.1 Psal. 147.4 Job 37.10 1 Cor. 1.22
MOSAICALL PHILOSOPHY Grounded upon the ESSENTIALL TRUTH OR ETERNAL SAPIENCE Written first in Latin and afterwards thus rendred into English By ROBERT FLUDD Esq Doctor of Physick The Lord giveth Wisdom and out of his Mouth commeth Knowledg and Understanding Prov. 2.6 The Wisdom of the world is foolishness with God The Lord knoweth that the thoughts of the wise be vain 1 Cor. 3.19 20. Psal. 94.11 Beware lest there be any man that spoil you by Philosophy or vain fallacy through the Traditions of men according unto the rudiments of the world and not after Christ For in him dwelleth the fulness of the God-head bodily Colos. 2.8 9. LONDON Printed for Humphrey Moseley at the Prince's Armes in St. Paul's Church-yard 1659. To the Judicious and Discreet READER MY desire is Judicious and Learned Reader that it may not prove offensive unto any if in the imitation of my Physicall and Theo-philosophicall Patron St. Luke I mention and cite the testimony of Holy-Writ to prove and maintaine the true and essentiall Philosophy with the virtuous properties of that eternall Wisdom which is the Foundation and Corner-stone whereon it is grounded Was not this the radicall Subject of my foresaid Patron who was as well a Divine Philosopher as a Physitian If the office of of Jacob's Ladder was for Souls and Angels to ascend from the Earth unto Heaven and to descend from Heaven unto Earth and that by many steps or degrees corresponding-to both the Elementary and ethereall or Heavenly nature Or as the Poet speaking mystically If the chain of Nature hath its highest and last linck fastned unto the foot of Jupiter's chair in Heaven as the lower is fixed on Earth how is it possible for us earthly creatures or rather divine Images howsed and obscured in clayie tabernacles to wade of our selves through the confused Labyrinth of the creature unto the bright Essence of the Creator that is to search out the mysteries of the true Wisdom in this world and the creatures thereof but by penetrating with a mentall speculation and operative perfection into the earthly Circumference or mansion thereof and so to dive or attain by little and little unto the heavenly Pallace I mean the middle point or Center thereof where onely her abiding place is to be found who is the Center of all things whose Circumference is no where rationally to be imagined or thought of If God therefore in and by his Eternal Word or Divine Wisdom hath first made the creatures and sustained the same unto this present How can a reall Philosopher enucleate the mysteries of the Creator in the creature or judiciously behold or express the creature in the Creator for in him are all things but by such rules or directions as the onely store-house of Wisdom namely the holy Scriptures have registred and the finger of that sacred Spirit indited for our instructions Shall we with the Agarens and those which were of Theman forsake the Fountain of Virtue to search after true Wisdom where it is not to be found And yet nevertheless lest mine intention should by the misprision of any be ill interpreted or misunderstood I think it convenient to certify you that my pâ—â—â—pose in the progress of this Sacred or Mosaicall Philosophy is farre from any presumption to trench upon or derogate from the deep and mysticall Laws of Theology in her pure and simple essence or to oppose the current of her Argument against those usuall Tenents and Authentick rules in Divinity which have been long since decreed and ordained by the Ancient Fathers of the Church But as it is certain that one and the self-same place in Scriptures hath a two-fold meaning to wit an internall or spirituall and an externall or literall and either of these two senses are true and certain though they seem to vary or differ by a diverse respect no otherwise than under the name of one and the same man a double nature namely a spirituall Soul and a materiall Body are really to be understood So also besides such mysticall interpretations as the Texts of Scripture do internally contain it may also express and delineate externally such created realities as belong unto the true Subject of the most essentiall Philosophy And again we ought co consider that the Subject or method in proceeding or handling of both these progressions are in some sort different being that the one I mean Theology pointeth directly at the sincere and simple nature with the virtuous extentions and powerfull operations of the Divine Essence making her demonstration à Priori as if for the proof of a Circle's existence one should begin his inquisition from the formal Center or middle-point and so proceed unto the Circumference The other to wit Philosophy moveth by a clean opposit action or method from the externall of the creature or organ quasi demonstratione à posteriori to dive and search into its internall Center that it might there find out or attain unto the knowledg of the eternall Actor to wit of that all-working Wisdome which doth manifestly act or operate in it being warranted in this her manner of research by the wise Physiologist Solomon who teacheth us to search after and to discover the unknown Work-man by his known or visible works that is to apprehend the Divine or eternall cause by the created or temporall effect Or as the sacred Philosopher St. Paul hath it to see and consider the visible things of God that is his eternal Power and Godhead by his works No otherwise than the hidden centrall Monady or punctuall Unity of a Globe is after diligent inquiry found out by moveing first from the Circumference by the semidiameters and then attaining by degrees unto the middle and secret point which serveth as a formall prop or essentiall Corner-stone to sustain the whole Spherical Fabrick Which being so and seeing that the holy Bible doth fully handle and set down the Subject of both these Sciences by the way of the two foresaid Demonstrations namely as well after a Physicall as Metaphysicall manner My hope is that this my Philosophicall Discourse will not be therefore sinisterly judged of by the truly wise and unpartiall Reader because it chiefly relieth on the axioms or testimonies of Scriptures Now That the sacred Text doth every where specify the manner of these two proceedings it is made apparent in that it doth certify the mysticall acts or operations as well of the aeviall and temporall as of the eternall world But it is clear that the eternall world which hath neither beginning nor end being onely replenished with the glorious Majesty of God is the main Foundation on which Theology is grounded as on the other side the temporall or lowest world having both beginning and end and being divided into a visible heaven and earth with the creatures thereof is the main plat-form of the true Philosophy As for the aeviall world which hath a beginning but no end and was ordained by God to be
the center be known and not the circumference being the circumference of all things is nothing else but what it pleaseth the center to make it And for this reason this divine spirit is termed rightly of the wise Philosopher Hermes The center of every thing whose circumference is no where but yet it comprehendeth all circumferences that are We may therefore collect out of the foresaid speech of Solomon that wisdom discovered unto him First all the abstruse mysteries which do concern the making of the world as she did unto Moses Secondly the nature and power of the Elements with the hidden act and miraculous generation of the Meteors framed out of an elementary stuffe and of their wondrous properties Thirdly the reason and manner how the winds are produced with the Astronomicall division of the year the scituation of the starrs in heaven and their Astrologicall natures Fourthly the necessaries belonging unto the art of Physick for he saith that wisdom taught him the nature of all living creatures the conditions of beasts the differences of plants and the faculties of roots c. Fifthly the secrets of all things occult and therefore of the Angels yea and of God himself by consequence and in this is the mystery of Theology comprehended But I wil prove this progression more particularly beginning with Theology Touching Theology which is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deus or God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is sermo or speech quasi sermo de Deo the speech or teaching of God Solomon saith that Spiritus sapientiae transsert se ipsum in animas sanctas amicos Dei prophetas constituit Neminem enim diligit Deus nisi eum qui cum sapientia habitat The spirit of wisdom doth transfer it self into holy mens spirits and maketh them friends of God and prophets For God loveth no man that dwelâ—eth not with wisdom And again Sapientiam suis emittit Deus è sanctis coeâ—is à throno inquam gloriae suae mittit illam homini ut praesens versetur secum in labore ut cognoscat quid gratum sit apud ipsum illa enim novit omnia Gâ—d sendeth wisdom out of his holy heavens from the throne I say of his glory doth he send her unto man that it may be conversant and present with him in his labour that he may know what is acceptable unto him for she understandeth all things And in another place Except God had given wisdom and had sent his holy Spirit from the highest places what man could have known the counsell of God After this manner were the waies of such as lived on the earth corrected and men were taught the things which were pleasing unto God For this reason therefore Wisdom saith Ego illuminabo omnes sperantes in Domino I will illuminate all that trust in the Lord. Ego sum liber vitae testamentum altâ—ssimi agnitio veritatis I am the book of life the testament of the most high and the acknowledgment of the truth And Solomon Sapientiae concupiscentia conducit ad regnum perpetuum The desire of wisdom doth conduct unto the eternall Kingdom And again Sapientia doctrix est disciplinae Dei electrix operum illius Wisdom is the misiress of the discipline of God and she that maketh choice of his works And in another place he saith Per sapientiam habebo immortalitatem I shall obtain immortality by wisdom It would be tedious to reckon up the confirmation of the Theologicall doctrine which is declared and made manifest by this Spirit for verily it was this very Spirit in the fleshly Christ and his Apostles which made their corporall or bodily organs I mean their tongues to speak and their hands and pens to indite all that Theologicall wisdom and doctrine which the new Testment hath registred And it was this Spirit that spake in the old Testament by the mouths of the Patriarks and Prophets the essentiall marrow of Divinity and therefore let us look back upon them as being the literall fountain of Theology under whose typicall or graphicall instruction the hidden spirit doth lurk and may by the mysticall Theology easily be extracted I will proceed unto the next which belongeth unto the Aeviall world In ipso saith the forementioned place of St. Paul condita sunt universa in coelis sive Throni sive Dominationes sive principatus sive potestates In him are all things in heaven made whether they be Thrones Dominations or Principalities or Potestates And again elsewhere In Christo inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter qui est caput omnis Principatus Potestatis In Christ doth inhabit all the plenitude of the divinity coâ—porally who is the head of all Principalities and Potestates and in another place Châ—istus constituitur ad dextram Dei in coelestibus supra omnem Principatum Potestatem Virtutem Dominationem c. Christ is placed at the right hand of God in heaven above all Principality Potestates Virtues and Dominations c. By which places and many other authorities out of holy Writ which for brevity sake we omit at this time it is proved that there is no secret mystery comprehended among the Society of Angels either touching their creation essence properties or denominations but will be lively expressed by this superexcellent Spirit which only is able to disclose all in all because he is all in all and that in every thing I descend unto the next Step which is Astronomy Touching the essential nature of Astronomy it seemeth to consist on the Basis or Foundation of this eternal Spirit and therefore the wise son of Syrach said Sapientia in coelis fecit ut oriretur lumen indeficiens Wisdome made a never-failing light to arise in the heavens And it should appear according unto this Kingly Prophet's phrase that this Spirit did put his Tabernacle in the Sun howsoever some men are pleased by the corruption of the Text to interpret that place in another sense and that little to the purpose for the said Spirit speaking in her own person saith Ego sapientia gyrum coeli circuivi sola I wisdome did compass about the heavens alone that is in her sunny-Tabernacle and again David saith God in his wisdome doth number and count the stars and calleth them by their names whose wisdome is innumerable Whereby it is apparent that if in his wisdome or by this Spirit the stars were numbred and had their proper names it followeth that their vertues courses and properties must be best known unto him who hath created ordained and doth maintain them in the estate they are in For David affirmeth that every vertue of heaven doth proceed from the Spirit of the Lord and Esdras Stellae fundatae sunt in Verbo Dei qui novit numerum stellarum The stars have their foundation in the Word of God who knoweth the number of them
the Originall or primary womb from whence the waters were extracted which were the materiall stuff whereof all things were framed was this dark and deformed Abysse or Chaos and therefore had the beginning of their formall being from the Father of all-informing and vivifying light and essence But that we may directly shew unto you the egregious theft of the foresaid Philosophers from Moses his Principles That Principle which Moses termed darknesse the darke Abysse or potentiall Principle Aristotle doth call his Materia prima or first matter which he averreth to be something in puissance or potentially only because it is not as yet reduced into act Again he seemeth to term it privation but falsly being that no position did precede it On the other side Plato calleth it Hyle which is esteemed to be nothing forasmuch as it is invisible and without form Also he compareth it to a dark body in respect of the soul and spirit As for Hermes he intitleth it by the name of umbra horrenda or fearfull shadow Pythagoras maketh it his Symbolicall Unity From in this its estate it hath relation unto nothing else but it self which is mere Unity and consequently it acquireth not so much as the name of a Father because it doth not by an emanation respect or attempt the production of a Son Hippocrates will have it named a deformed Chaos or an universally troubled mass without form or shape Again as touching the first inacted passive Principle or the primary passive matter out of which all things were carved That which Moses called waters Aristotle doth intitle by the name of Second matter forasmuch as it was begotten and derived out of the bowels of the first-matter or Chaos or dark abysse which also Plato termeth the Spirit and Hermes the humid nature Hippocrates with Anaximenes the vast and universall aire of this world Pythagoras pointeth at it Symbolically by the number of duality which is the mark of imperfection for it argueth thereby the imperfect estate of matter being destitute of the formall character of Unity which maketh three and therefore the ternary number is esteemed amongst the wisest Philosophers for the root of all perfect numbers To conclude that vivifying and animating Principle which Moses called light proceeding from the Spirit of the Lord Aristotle maketh his formall beginning Plato the act or soul of the world Pythagoras delineates it by the number of three and Hippocrates calleth it that immortall heat the which when all things were troubled in the beginning by contention did sore up unto that upper region which the Ancients do call the Aether or Heaven Is not this therefore a notable kind of Robbery amongst the choisest Ethnick Philophers thus fasly to ascribe and attribute the Principles and Doctrine unto themselves which were revealed by God's Spirit unto the wise Prophet Moses and that of pupose to make themselves great and eminent not only in the eies of the Gentiles but also by subtill allurements or false and fading suggestions laid on those foundations to distract Christian men from the Truth And yet as for Plato and Hermes I must excuse them being that they do both of them acknowledg in express terms with Moses that the matter or substance wherof the heavens and the earth were made was a humid nature and the internall form or act which did dispose of it into diversity of figures or forms was the divine Word as you may find most plainly expressed in Plato's works and in the Pimander of Hermes or Mercurius Trismegistus But amongst all the rest Aristotle hath sored highest upon the wings of his own conceited imaginations and built the structure of his worldly wisdome upon the typicall form of the Mosaicall grounds thinking thereby to assume and purchase unto himself in the regard of this world the name of an absolutely wiseman though in the conclusion he appeareth far otherwise in the eyes of God for as much as he doth assigne particular essentiall actions which appertain really unto God unto the creatures with more obstinacy then the rest affirming that they operate essentially of and by themselves when in Verity it is only God that operateth all and in all and that immediatly as the Apostle Paul doth intimate unto us And this is the reason that they give not unto God the only Creator the glory of every action in this world as they ought to do but rather to a created nature and unto Angels and Stars and Elements and compounded creatures which were made and are still sustained and maintained by the all-creating Spirit or word of the Almighty And this is the originall occasion of the multiplicity of Idolatry which hath and doth hitherto raigne in this world namely of the worshipping of the Sun Moon and starres of sacrifices offered unto Idols or false Gods and deceiving Devils of the Veneration of Isis and Osiris of the adoration of Saturne Jupiter Mars Venus and Mercury of the immolations or offerings unto Caelum Vesta Ceres Proserpina Vulcan Pluto and Neptune with many other errours and absurdities whereby ignorant men are rather seduced from the knowledg of the true God than any way induced unto the understanding of him rightly And this very same Doctrine relying on the invention of man hath been the occasion that the world hath erred concerning the divine Word and through blindness have not perceived the operations and properties of the holy Spirit in the creatures yea verily it hath been the occasion why some of our Christian Philosophers themselves have neglected the research of Gods Actions in his creatures as well visible as invisible they are I say so wedded unto the Aristotelian Philosophy that they do voluntarily avert their eies from the true and certain Science of the Meteorologicall Science revealed by the Scriptures which are the fountains of Wisdome to follow the uncertain and scarce-probable doctrine of their Ethnick-Master touching that admirable subject And this is the reason that they will not acknowledg any true Meteorologicall Philosophy to be taught by the Spirit of Wisdome in the said holy Book but only matters belonging to the health and salvation of man when indeed it is most evident that whole pages or leaves as well of the books of Moses Job Psalms and the Prophets as many places of the New Testament are full of that subject All which is expressed in the book of the true Wisdome that thereby we may admire the wonderous works which the Creator hath from the beginning effected and daily doth produce in this lower world to witness his eternall power in his creatures But leaving all allaterall discourses I will proceed now unto our main Subject which concerneth the true Mosaicall Principles with their effect CHAP. II. What were the Mosaicall Principles or beginnings in generall How they were produced and extracted out of Nothing Then what is meant by that word Nothing And lastly the first Principle which is the dark Abysse or Chaos without form is particulaerly described THe
I come now unto my description of that universall principle which giveth life and being unto all the waters and every thing which is framed of the waters and consequently of the whole world CHAP. IV. How the catholick formall Principle by which the waters in generall and consequently the heavens and elements and every thing else in particular were fashioned informed and reduced into a specifick act or essentiall being and are hitherto preserved in that estate did proceed and was immediately derived from God I Told you that according unto the Rabbies or Cabalisticall Doctors opinion the eternall Sapience which is the radicall beginning or unity of all things when it remained as it were quiet and at rest as being retracted in the dark abyss was in regard of our weak capacities esteemed as Ain that is to say nihiâ— or nothing or non ens non finis and yet out of this nihil was revealed unto us infinity forasmuch as the emanation which issued from it is all in all and yet without all as it is that fountain out of which the universall waters are drawn which is the existence of all things as I said before and that catholick and bright-shining-forth or fiery and formall vertue is sent out which doth impart an essence unto every thing and in conclusion both the externall or passive and internall or active of all creatures in the world do issue out of this eternall which is nihil in regard of us but omnia in omnibus extra omnia in respect of it self in whose eyes darkness and light invisibility and visibility and therefore all potentiall Nothing or first matter and actuall Something are one and the same thing in essence without any difference For this cause this eternall infinitude this all in all and without all is rightly described first by the Apostle and then by the divine Philosopher Hermes after this manner Unus Deus Pater omnium saith Paul qui super omnes per omnia in omnibus One God is the Father of all who is above all and over all and in all Ex ipso per ipsum in ipso sunt omnia Of him by him and in him are all things And Hermes Deus est circulus intellectualis cujus centrum est omne illud quod est circumferentia verò extra omnia God is an intellectuall circle whose center is all that which existeth and whose circumference is without and beyond all things Hereupon in another place he calleth him Locum in quo mundus continetur The place in which the world is contained inferring thereby according unto that of the Scriptures that he filleth all the world and yet remains in himself without all in the very self-same nature of a unity as he was For as he seemed in the eyes of mans weak and fragil capacity to be Ain or Nihil before he would create any thing yet was he both unity and infinity unto himself and therefore was complicite all in all in himself namely as he to our blinded fancy appeareth Aleph tenebrosum or dark and deformed Aleph Also though he shined forth of darkness and by the revelation of his hidden wisdom or essence made all things as well visible as invisible to exist formally and so made dark Aleph to be changed into light Aleph yet nevertheless he remaineth all one in himself and passeth not beyond the limits of his uniformity for as it is already said His darknesse unto him is as his light Even no otherwise than we see in the mind or divine mentall beam of man that it is all one without alteration when it willeth and when it nilleth namely when it granteth or giveth and when it denyeth In like manner whether the divine infinity doth shine forth from its center towards its circumference or centrally contracteth his acting beams within it self yet it is all one and the same in its self without any alteration of the essentiall identity I come to the purpose The Apostle speaking of the eternall Christ saith Christus est Dei virtus sapientia Dei Christ is the vertue of God and the wisdom of God Now I will tell you here as I have done before by the mouth of Solomon what this divine wisdom is Sapientia saith Solomon est spiritus intelligentiae sanctus qui est vapor viâ—tutis seu potentiae Dei fluxus seu emanatio quaedam claritatis omnipotentis Dei sincera candor seu splendor lucis aeternae speculum sive macula Dei majestatis imago bonitatis illius Wisdom is the holy spirit of discipline which is the vapour of the vertue or power of God and a certain flowing forth or emanation of the brightnesse of the Almighty the beauty or clearnesse of his eternall light and an immaculate mirrour of the majesty of God So that we may discern by this description of the wise-man what is the spirituall Christ who is the wisdom vertue and word of God and how by his apparition out of darkness that is by the mutation or change of the first principle which was in darknesse quasi â—â—rbum in principio from dark Aleph to light Aleph the waters which were contained in the profound bowells of the abysse were revealed and were animated that is to say by the emanation or emission of this self-same spirit of eternall fire or light and afterward by his admirable activity and restless motion and penetration for by Solomon it is said to be omnibus mobilibus mobilior attingere ubique propter suam munditiam The swiftest and most agile of all movable things and to attain and pierce every where by reason of its purenesse and subtlety it first distinguisheth and separateth the darkness from the light the obscure and gross waters from the subtle or pure and then it disposeth the heavens into sphears lastly it divideth the grosser waters into sublunary elements as by the words of the first Chapter of Genesis each man may plainly discern But that I may particularize more at large on this point to express unto you the glorious and immortall works which this spirit did first by creation and still doth by preservation effect and operate in this world Mark well these places in Scriptures Mundum ex materia informi creavit Revelat fundamenta abscondita novit in tenebris constituta lux est cum eo Revelavit fundamenta è tenebris educit in lucem umbram lethalâ—m Aquilonem extendit super inane vacuum suspendit terram super Nihilum nam sapientia ab ore ejus prodeunte rotunditatem caelorum circumeunte soâ—a in profundo abyssi ambulante omnia fecâ—t Deus Aderat ipsa quando praeparavit coelum quando certa lege gyro velavit abyssos quando aethera firmabat sursum erat ipsa cum eo cuncta componens Ipsa fundavit terram stabilivit coelos erupit abyssos nubes rore concrescere facit Aptat pondus
of holy conversation the title of Sainct which is attributed unto him doth confirm and argue Besides all this that he had by many degrees a deeper insight into the mystery of the Bible and a profounder reach into the nature of the divine wisdom then any Interpretour of the Bible which ever was and much more then those of later daies John Reucline in his third Book of the Cabalistcall Art seemeth to verify in these words Cum Hieronymias librum Jetzira multum saepe nocturna versaret manu atque diurna venisse ad eum filia vocis dicitur qua juberet illum tribus annis volumini eidem insudare c. Quo facto se ab ipso Deo virtutes potestates Alphabetorum et Elementariarum commutationum asserebat reperisse Nam dispositionem conjugationis de libro creationis ante noverat Inde ad posteros Alphabeticaria haec cabula id est receptio transmigravit per quam Arcana divinorum maxima panduntur When Jerom had often turned over the Book of Jetzira or of the Creation with a nocturnall and diurnall hand It is reported that the daughter of the voice came unto him which commanded him to take paines in the said Volume for three years space which when he had effected he said that he was taught by God the vertues and powers of the Alphabets and Elementary commutations For he had known the disposition of the conjugation out of the book of Creation before And hereupon did this Alphabetary caball or reception spring by the which he did bewray or disclose the great mystery of divine things c. Which if he meant of this Jerom as by many of the learned it is imagined you will not deny but he was deeply seen in the profound and arcane meaning of the Scriptures and therefore he was a man who should not lightly be so deceived or deluded in his Interpretation Again no man can deny but that the Pope and whole Christian Clergy did assist him in this business with all the antique books or manuscripts which might direct him into the true way or sense of interpretation so that he wanted not the consent of antique Authority but could discern between the true and corrupt Text in his interpretation and therefore that we may neither accuse the later interpreters for their exposition nor derogate from St. Jerom's labours which deserve an everlasting monument we must rather impute the errour unto the corruption or alteration of the Hebrew Text being that the whole harmony of the Scriptures and main subject of the Psalm in which it is recited do tend and incline rather unto the construction of St. Jerom as I will particularly prove and expresse unto you by these Arguments following Whereof the first is taken from the main Subject of the Chapter wherein these words Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole are mentioned as also from other Testimonies of holy Scriptures Next from the mysticall and cabalisticall exposition of the Hebrew word of the Sun Then from the resolution of the ancient Theologians with other circumstances belonging unto them Fourthly from an Astonomicall observation and the dignity and excellency of the solar creature Fifthly from an Arithmeticall consideration Sixtly from the point and circle in Geometry Seventhly from the consonant of the greatest perfection in Musick or harmony Eighthly from a Physicall or naturall regard And lastly by the asseverations of the wisest and divinest Philosophers which accord exactly with the Symphony of Scriptures Of each of those therefore in their order As for the first Argument it is evident that the main Subject of this Psalm doth touch the revelation of Divinity or God in his celestiall creatures and therefore it must as well be in this Psalm intended that the divine Spirit doth plentifully and that essentially inhabit this illustrious palace of the heavenly Sun as there it is related that the heavens are full of his presence But the same Psalm beginneth thus The heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament the works of his hands c. Where he expresseth that the glory of the Creator which is in the creature doth reveal the Creator in the creature but where the glory is present the essence is not absent And thereupon it followeth justly that this Creator which hath filled the Sun of Heaven with his glory and beauteous influence of essentiall vertue and light hath revealed himself unto all the world out of his Sunny tabernacle egregiously and perspicuously as by the Physicall and naturall effects it shall be declared hereafter in the eighth rank Again the Son of Syrach confirms this more plainly where he saith Sol illuminans per omnia respexit gloria Domini plenum est opus ejus The Sun shining forth looketh over all and it is a work that is full of the glory of the Lord that is to say of essentiall Divinity not that it is included in it but that also it is exclusively in and over all no otherwise then the Spirit of mans blood is said to have his principall tabernacle in the Heart and yet is in all and every part of the Spirit and body Again it appeareth by these words that the Eternall Spirit of Wisdome did elect the celestiall Sun as a pure vessell or Subject to operate and act in for the vivification and animation of every creature And therefore she in her own person saith Ex ore Altissimi prodii primogenita in coelis feci ut oriretur lumen indeficiens I came out of the mouth of the Almighty being the first bâ—gotten I made or caused a never-fading light to rise in the heavens Whereby this catholick Agent doth shew that the Sun doth move in and by it The great Lord saith the text in another place made the Sun and by his Commandements he causeth it to run hastily c. As if he had said by the Divine Word the Sun did move But this will be better proved hereafter Touching the second which dependeth on the cabalisticall enucleation of the Hebrew word for the Latin word Sol or the Sun in English is written thus in Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where we have two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Shins which the Cabalists do make the Symbolicall character of fire and light and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mem in the middle which importeth a watry corpulency for Mem is the SYmbolicall expression of the waters as if we should say that the humid nature of the heavens being contracted in their center is illuminated with a double proportion of the divine emanation streaming down or flowing from the Sephiroth or Cabalisticall numeration called Tiphereth or pulchritude and beauty Whereby it is argued that this heavenly mass is made a Tabernacle for the Spirituall Sun or beauteous and divine Spirit of Light not that it includeth it as is said before but as the Scriptures say that the holy Spirit was in the carnall Christ abundantly and yet it was
not denied for all that to fill the earth and heavens Concerning the third The Theologians do affirm that the Light which was expansed over all the heavens and did operate in place of the Sun for the first three daies space was at the fourth day congregated into the body of the Sun But this Light which was so dispersed was the immediate act of that Eternall Spirit which was carried on the waters and therefore that Light which is in the Sun doth participate with divinity as shall be more evidently expressed in the eighth and last Argument By the fourth which is proved out of the Celestiall or Astronomicall dignity which the Sun representeth it is most evident that it comprehendeth in his mansion divinity being that by how much the more perfection any thing hath in it self and excelleth the rest in glory by so much the more it approacheth unto divinity For as much as Hermes doth rightly tell us not disagreeing in that from our Saviour Christ his doctrine that Bonum and perfectum is onely God Now the Macrocosmicall Sun's dignity and perfection is easily to be discerned in that this Royall Phoebus doth sit in his chariot even in the center or middle of the heavens glittering with his golden hair as the sole visible Emperour holding the royall Scepter and government of the world in whom all the vertue of the celestiall bodies do consist as Jamblicus and many other learned personages have confirmed And Proclus averreth that all the powers of the starrs are congregated and collected into one at the aspect of the Sun the which are afterward disseminated by the fiery spiracle of the said Sun upon the Earth Doth not the Wiseman also by reason of the glory of this heavenly vessell or organ compare the brightness of the in-created Spirit or fiery emanation of divinity with it by reason of his excellency in brightness And again is it not proved before by the Son of Syrach that the Fabrick of the Sun is full of the glory of the Lord But I will say more unto this point in the eighth and last Argument The fifth sheweth how by an Arithmeticall regard Divinity must needs dwell in the Sun namely as it is onely one unity from which all the multitude of the starrs in heaven do derive and draw their formall essence no otherwise than from the Arithmeticall unity all numbers whatsoever are produced for the number two hath but the form of one and the same unity twice conceived and then one unity more maketh three and so in infinitum In the very like manner as one candle lighteth another and a third and so proceedeth in infinitum Even so this one heavenly Candle informeth with light and beauty all the starry candles in heaven and yet it reserveth still without any detriment his wonted unity in perfection power and glory By the sixt Argument which is Geometricall in regard that the Sun is a most bright circular body it must needs be that it hath a centrall point unto his circumference in the which all his illuminating power doth consist being that the circumference is nothing else but a semi-diametrall dilatation of a punctuall and essentiall vertue from the center unto the circumference And this is the meaning of that Axiom in Philosophy In medio consistit virtus veritas Now if that wonderfull beauty and clear brightnesse which is in the Sun were not extended from the center it would not proceed à principio interno and then it must like as the Moon doth require some other externall corporall illuminator but that is proved to be otherwise being that there is not any body found in the world that is equall in brightnesse unto it And this is an argument that it hath a centrall divinity or divine vertue in it which like unto the soul in the center of the creature vivifieth or acteth from the center unto the circumference thereof and so making the superficies of the body a fiery and bright coloratum causeth it according unto the infinity of its centrall agent to extend his beamy emanation to all the limits of the vast world Hence is it that God is said to be the center of all whose circumference is no where that is to say in and over all and beyond or without all Neither let it seem strange unto any that I say the in-created light is visible in regard of his tabernacle which it endueth being that Scriptures do testifie that he is a consuming fire And again that the spirit of wisdom excelleth the sun and starrs in brightnesse And again it is said He is attired with light as with a vestment To conclude he is fons pater luminis and therefore there can be no light either visible or invisible in this world which is not from it Doth not St. Paul seem to aver that all visible things were first from things that were not visible whereby is argued that all visible light was first from the invisible whose fountain is God the which invisible light is continued in essence unto his like in the creatures as shall be shewed anone The seventh is confirmed by an observation in Musick namely that the divine Spirit hath elected the Sun for his tabernacle to wit by reason of his position in heaven For if we consider that God as he is said to exist in himself is reputed by Scripture to be seated in the heaven of heavens and in another place in the highest heavens and yet he respecteth and looketh down unto the earth In that regard we may compare him si sacra cum mundanis componere fas sit unto an unison in Harmony for if a string of a musicall Instrument be struck open it soundeth a unity from the bridge of the Instrument unto the nut or head So we imagine that a chord may be extended from the worlds circumference or highest heavens unto the center or earth Again if we presse the chord of the Instrument just in the middle then each half chord being struck will sound in a diapason unto the whole and will prove the center or perfection unto each end of the chord which will then point out as it were the circumference Now the consonant diapason is the most perfect accord of all others and therefore noteth that the middle betwixt the light or heaven and the earth is the seat of the greatest perfection which doth correspond unto the unison as 1 doth to 2 which is in proportione dupla in a double proportion It followeth therefore and by effect it appeareth that the Sun is placed in this centrall seat which correspondeth unto the whole as 2 doth unto 1. because it is the opinion of all Astronomers that the Sun is placed in the middle or center of the heaven Now how this perfect accord was mystically shaped out of the divine and radicall unity or unison which said Fiat and it was done I beseech you observe Unity said Fiat and so this unison caused
did build a temple and city in the honour of the Sun Wherefore the chariot and horses of the sun which the ignorant Jewes had set up before thâ—â— gate of Gods temple were justly puâ—led down which distinguished not the Creator from the creature This errour which to this hour cleaveth it self unto the Aristotelically learned of this world is delineated in its true characters by that Evangelist who did assure us that all life is in the Word This word or lighâ— saith he is in the world and the world was made by it and the world did not know him But as many as did receive or acknowledge him namely that he made all and was all and in all were numbred among the children of God Wherefore all true Christians ought to understand that he filleth all vivifieth all sustaineth all operateth all in all for without it they cannot be esteemed the legitimate children of God they ought not to be so ignorant of the Creator in the creature being that his glory shineth forth of them and may be perceived by them more of lesse thinking that he is absent even from the most beautifull creature of the world who is present with all for it is said that he filleth all and that not virtually or accidentally as some worldly wisemen by their Ethnick distinction distorting by that means the truth of the Scripture will have it but in essence being in plain tearms it is said in one place Christ is in all and over all in him are all things But Christ which is the true wisdom is the vertuous or essentiall emanation from the Father and therefore no accident In another place The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things but that Spirit which hath no corruption in it and preserveth from corruption and giveth really life is no accident but a perfect essence In another place Of him by him and in him are all things therefore this is meant essentially and not accidentally In another place God is all in all And again the Apostle Of God the Father are all things by our Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things All which cannot be meant otherwise than by Gods essence which is in and over all because that in himself he is onely essentiall and therefore no accidents can be attributed unto him and consequently we may conclude that Gods Spirit is essentially in the creatures and for that reason we ought simply to consider him and acknowledge him in his works For that person which professeth himself a Christian and doth not know this is but a Christian in name and consequently vain and miserable And this is partly confirmed by the words of St. Paul and partly out of those of Solomon before mentioned The anger of God saith St. Paul is revealed from heaven upon the impiety and iniustice of those men which do detaâ—n the verity of God in unrighteousnesse because what is known of God is made mâ—nifest unto them for God hath revealed it unto them For the invisible things of him are discerned of the creature of this world by those things which are understood by creation as also his everlasting vertue and divinity So that they are inexcusable because that when they knew God they did not glorifie him or give him thanks but did fade away or vanish in their own imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned and therefoâ—e in saying that they were wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the similitude of a corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed beasts and of serpents c. Whereby he argueth first that God ought to be pondered and known in his creatures and that we ought to acknowledg and ascribe all the glory and vertue of them unto his Spirit or divinity in them and not to mistake the Creator for the creature For he seemeth expresly to argue and signifie that his everlasting vertue and divinity is in the creatures and that it appeareth out of them For his words import that the invisible things of him are discerned by the things that are created as also his everlasting vertue and divinity And why not being that in the Word is and was from the beginning life or the vivifying Spirit but life is in the creatures Ergo the Word and by consequence the incorruptible Spirit But Solomon confirmeth the above mentioned place in this All men are vain by nature who are ignorant of God and cannot understand him that truly is by such good creatures of his which they behold nor acknowledg the workman by the consideration of his works Wherby he argueth that divinity in the creature may be perceived in and by the aspect of the creature Wherefore it is evident that the Prophet said rightly when he did affirm that the heavens did declare the Glory and Majesty of God by the beauteous apparition of that glorious Spirit which did inact them and adorn their beauteous Eie I mean the Sun with such divine vivifying and illuminating vertue which in aboundance doth possesse and inhabit it And therefore I conclude that the Prophet said rightly and instructingly unto the ignorant world that the bright Spirit of God did dwell in the Sun of heaven as in a Tabernacle and did impart and distribute his gifts of form life vegetation and multiplication unto every creature out of it And yet I will not acknowledg with Aristotle that Sol homo generant hominem That the Sun and man do begeâ—â— man but rather that the vivifying Spirit which is potent in the Sun and not weak in every specifick creature is onely he that vivifieth all things sending his spiracle of natural Heat and life by an ordinary course out of the Sun to help and assist the creatures to live and multiply and yet he is not inclusively in the Sun but worketh also all in all as well within as without it being that it filleth all things And this is good doctrine which arrogateth all vivifying actions as well immediate as mediate soly unto him who wholly acteth and effecteth all things and consequently not unto the created organ in which and by which he operateth for in doing the contrary we shall derogate from the Creator to ascribe that which indeed is not unto the creature As for the later interpretation which saith Soli posuit tentorium in coelis He made the Sun a pavillion or tabernacle in the heavens What profit I beseech you can that doctrine bring unto man The first Interpretation teacheth man that the Spirit of God is in this bright creature of heaven and therefore teacheth us to adore the Lord and not the palace being that the ignorance of the divine Spirit 's being in the beauteous creatures hath been the occasion of infinite errours in the world And therefore it is an interpretation of especiall moment and instruction The Second is a thing so triviall that it needed no such curiosity of expression to signify that
of the north and so by their mutuall action a middle nature of a westerly condition will be produced namely water which is between aire and earth as the western position is betwixt the south and north But the southern blast of its own nature is hot and moist as is the disposition of the catholick element of aire or else the word being sent from that quaâ—ter would not have melted and undone the cold and drie effects of the north as is said Again that the breath of the Lord which commeth out of the South affecteth the catholick element of aire diversly but spiritually this Text of Abakkuk doth testifie God comming from the south his glory covered the heavens and the pestilence went before his face c. whereby he argueth the invisible effects namely the corruption and infection of the aire which this divine Spirit in his displeasure breatheth forth from the southern quarter of the world But when he worketh or operateth in his windy organs of the East then they imprint upon the generall element a fiery character and dilateth his substance into the nature and disposition of the fire and then may it passe under the title of the Element of fire as we have it confirmed out of many places of the holy Text Praecepit Dominus saith Jerom vento calido urenti or as Tremellius hath it Paravit Eurum silentem ut percuteret sol caput Jonae adeò ut aestuaret petiit animae suae ut moreretur The Lord commanded a hot and burning wind or a still easterly wind to go out that the sun might strike upon Jonas his head that he might be enflamed with heat insomuch as he did desire in his heart to die And again Ventus urens seu Eurus desiccabit fructus ejus rami ejus erant marcore contracti A burning or Easterly wind shall dry up his fruits and his boughs shall be consumed and wasted And again Ventus Eurus aduret spicas And JEHOVAH saith in his anger Percussi vos in vento urenti in aurigine multitudinem hortorum vestrorum Misi in vos pestem pro ratione Aegypti I have struck you with a burning winde and have blasted the multitude of your gardens I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of that of Aegypt Again Postquam veniente Euro vento IEHOV Ae à deserto ascendente exaruerit scaturigo ejus siccatus fuerit fons ejus After that by Eurus the wind of IEHOVAH comming and arising out of the desert his spring and fountain was dryed up And Haggaj Percussi vos vento urente grandine omniae opera manuum vestrarum I have struck you with a burning winde with hail even all the works of your hands c. Whereby it appeareth that at the blast of these easterly winds the aire or catholick element becommeth burning and fiery so that it heateth and enflameth the bodies of the creatures On the other side the occidentall winds are found by experience to be opposite in nature and condition unto these for they convert the hot aire or generall element into cold and naturall visible water being that they are the procurers of cold raines So that we may see by this that the formall act in each Angell of the four corners of the earth of which the Apocalyps doth make mention hath an essentiall vertue imparted unto it from God according unto his volunty at the instant of the Angels information and therefore in that very property doth the angelicall creature act in the common element or lower waters in the which the creating Spirit properly was when he made it so that the common element is daily informed anew and altered by the formall or essentiall act of the angelicall winde which bloweth with dominion insomuch as if the easterly angelicall wind informeth it then it becommeth a fiery element for it heateth and drieth by super-excellency If a southerly it is changed into that element's nature which is called aire and if a westerly spirit hath dominion it is converted into the temper and proportion of water Lastly the Northern blast transmuteth it unto the consistence and disposition of earth By this therefore that maine doubt which hath so long troubled the Peripateticks and hammered in their brains and yet hath never been rightly resolved by them unto this day may easily be undone and taken away namely to find out the essentiall form of the Elements For by this true Philosophy we find it to be an Angelicall Spiracle or essentiall blast of wind infused by the Spirit of God diversly into the aiery or spirituall vessell to alter and change according unto his will the humid passive nature out of one condition into an other Moreover the Catholick air being diversly so animated bringeth forth and informeth a new after the condition of his variety of animations a multiplicity and multiformity of Meteors As for example the Easterly element brings forth children like it self As are the fiery and light Meteors namely Coruscations Lightnings Comets and such like according unto the nature of such Seminary influences as shall descend from heaven at that instant The Southerly Vapours Clouds Lightning with Thunders The Westerly Cold raines and as it were Snowy resolutions The Northenly Frost Snow Ice Hail But I know that this wil be objected against me What then will you make of the Earth and Seas Are not these distinct Elements which have been from the beginning I answer that if they listen unto St Peters doctrine he teacheth that the Earth was of waters and therefore the waters were before the Earth and again the heavens were made before the Earth as Moses sheweth and therefore the Earth appeareth to be the Foeces or the grosser part of the lower waters and the visible water the grosser part of the Ayre For doth not the Apostle Paul tell us in the Text before mentioned that things visible were first of things invisibâ—e The change therefore of all things visible or invisible are effected by the Condensing or contracting faculty and property in the all-acting spirit And the reducing of them againe from a visible estate unto an invisible is caused by the Rarifying or dilating act of the self same Spirit in essence but differing in property And therefore as air was changed into water and water into Earth by the degrees of Cold so also is Earth changed insensibly into water and water into Ayre by the severall degrees of heat for if this were not how is it possible that so many waters falling from the Clouds should not more and more augment the Seas and diminish the Ayre or why should so much Earthen Coals and whole mountaines of wood that are burnt not make the earth lesse in Consistence if there were not an hourly supply and transmutation of Ayre into water and from water into Earth which though this divine nature doth effect secretly and insensibly yet by effect it
flourish the which did reduce the Elements under the heaven and humid nature and as they were undistinguished afterward that portion which was light did fly and sore up unto the highest region the weightier part did reside and take its place under the moist heaven These things being thus distinguished and ballanced which were susteined by a fiery spirit the heavens did shine forth in seaven circles c. This I say is the manner of the world's Fabrick as also of the rotation of one Elementary nature into another caused partly by the absence or presence of the Spirit riding in his chariot or Tabernacle which is the Sun Hence therefore proceedeth that alteration by Condensation or Rarefaction which is observed annually in the world but especially by the four windy Organs or Angelicall instruments of this aeriall region and is effected assidually by changes all the year long as is justified by the weather-glasse's observation And we must with diligence-observe that these members of the worlds Fabrick do endure with incorruptibility alwaies and shall never alter untill the last PEREAT But the creatures which are compounded of this generall Element and are diversly altered or informed shall pass or begin their generation from the simple Elementary estate which is in four quasi à Termino à quo unto the complement of generation or compleat composition namely 8. tanquam ad Terminum ad quem And again the corruption or resolution of that generated compound shall have its Terminum à quo or beginning from the degree of compleat composition 8. and his Terminus ad quem that is the complement of resolution shall be in the common or catholick Element which is aire four-foldly altered in his simple nature as shall appeare in this which followeth CHAP. VI. The true Mystery of Generation and Corruption also a touch of Re-generation or Resurrection is afer the doctrine of holy Scripture herein Expressed AS we have plainly though in few words expressed unto you a dark privative Principle namely that which seemed before all beginnings to be without form and therefore mortifieth and depriveth of life and is as it were out of all existence in regard of our capacity by reason that the active vivifying light doth not shine forth but is hidden in the center So also have we manifested unto you another Spirituall Principle which is Light now shining forth of Darkness and this is that only which informeth vivifieth and animateth all things with life I told you that all was but one essentiall Unity For the three Divine Person was but one and the same in essence and therefore that Light was unto him as Darkness and consequently that he was the beginning of all beginnings that is to say he is as well the principle of Privation and Corruption as of Position and Generation whereof the one is the Act unto life namely the in-created Light and the other is the passive of life or death and that is the waters forasmuch as they were derived out of Darkness and therefore by reason of their Darkness they participate in their passion as well of the privative as of the positive principle and for that reason the Actor in both extreames is God which is Unity who by the withdrawing of his vivifying Spirit from the creature causeth death and privation and consequently leaveth nothing in it but the characters of corruption and ruine Contrariwise by continuing his incorruptible Spirit in the creature it remaineth by the presence thereof without corruption Also after that God doth withdraw his Spirit from the creature then the creature dieth if he sendeth again his Spirit of life into the creature it reviveth and riseth again This was the reason in one sense of the Resurrection of our Saviour who for that cause was termed Primaevus resurrectionis à mortuis The first that risse again from death unto eternall life And in another sense it was the cause that Elias raised from the dead the child of the widdow and that the bones of Elizeus caused the murthered Amalikite to rise again as also that Christ caused Lazarus to revive when he was dead as shall be shewed hereafter I will therefore express unto you out of Scriptures first that God to whom the act of privation is as familiar as that of position if we only consider the watery or passive composition forasmuch as it participateth of both extreames is the only Actor as well unto death and corruption as to life and generation And then secondly I will briefly prove unto you the manner how the self-same Unity in essence operateth thus contrarily in the watry or bodily Subject of all things Touching the first Scriptures say It is God that woundeth and striketh and it is he that cureth And again they say in the Person of God I kill and I make alive again In another place Thou hast power of life and death in thine hand Thou bringest unto the grave and reducest back again And the Son of Syrath Vita Mors bonum malum à Deo sunt Life and death good and evilâ— a e from God Now for the second namely to shew how the Lord operateth by one and the same Spirit to life death and resurrection we may easily gather it if we will consider with our selves that it was the all-inaâ—ting Spirit of wisdom which first did inform the world with life and being and did give life unto each creature and doth preserve it from death and corruption so long as it abideth and operateth vivifyingly in the said creatures And therefore it is said Deo serviat omnis creatura quia dâ—xisti jaâ—â—ae sunt mâ—â—sti spiritum creatae sunt Let every creature serve God for thou spakest and they were made thou didst send thy Spirit and they were created Again Deus non aâ—quo indigens that â—mnibus viâ—am inspirationem omnia God not wanting the aid of any giveth or bestoweth on al creatures life and inspiration or breath and all things In another place Deus dat flatum populo qâ—i est super terram spiritum calcanâ—bus eam And it was for this reason that the Psalmist saith Vita adest benevolenti IEHOVAE Life is present through the benignity of God Vitae restaurator est IEHOVA God is the restorer of life Vitae meae fontes omnes à Deo All the fountaines of my life are from God Vitae proâ—ongatâ—o est benignitas IEHOVAE The prolonging of lifâ—â—s through the benignity of IEHOVA Whereupon it is apparent that the presence of the vivifying Spirit of God is the cause of life multiplication and preservation And therefore Job said Viâ—tatio tua conservaâ— spiritum meum â—hy visitation pâ—â—serveth my spirit As contrariwise the absence of the same spirit lesse or more is the occasion of sicknesse death destruction or corruption And therefore it is said Deâ—s malos reliâ—quit abscondit faciem suam ab impiis ut obveniant
would mount and soar upward towards the heaven were it not that the spirit so set at liberty is detained by the elementary stuffe which hinders it in its ascent and yet neverthelesse it is so dignified after its corruption that its vertue is augmented by many degrees as it appeareth in the abundant multiplication which its dilated spirit doth produce through the abundance of that incorruptible spirit which it endueth As touching the other resurrection which is unto a temporall life it is by reason that the body is not corrupted neither is there a loosning of elementary ligaments by dissolution whereby the spirituall body may be purified and clean separated from and have no commerce with the elementary dreggs which do issue out of the lower waters so that the occult spirituall body cannot be at liberty to embrace the spirit of life with eternall tyes Of this kind of resurrection was that which Christ effected on the widow's son which was carried to be buried when he said Young man I say to thee Arise and he that was dead sat up Also he caused resurrection in the like manner to the dead daughter of one of the Rulers of the Synagogues crying and saying Maid arise and her spirit came again and she rose up straight-way Unto such a temporall life also Lazarus was raised up Again by the prayer of Elijah the widow's son was raised again for the Text saith that at the voice of Elijah the soul of the child came into him again and he revived Whereby we ought to note two things first that these bodies were not wholly corrupted I mean the Elements of the composition were not devided by resolution and therefore though the Spirit returned into them yet it brought their bodies but to a temporall life And although it might be alledged that Christ's body was not corrupted and yet it had Resurrection from death unto eternall life I answer that the Text saith that he would not suffer his Holy one to see corruption and by that reason he had Resurrection the third day after he died being that his body was without sin and therefore void of corruption But I leave this mysticall doctrine to the research of the learned Theosophists Secondly we are to note that it is the presence of the vivifying Spirit of God which causeth Generation and Resurrection from the death And again it is the absence thereof which induceth death and corruption For the Scriptures say that it was the soul of the child which came again into the child to make it alive again And the other Text saith her spirit came again and she revived And therefore Job said in the place above mentioned If God should draw his Spirit or Spiracle of life from the creature all flesh would expire And David If thou takest away their breath they die If thou sendest forth thy Spirit they revive or are re-created Now if we shall compare this our principle of Generation and Corruption with that of the Peripateticks we shall find as great a confusion in the one as there is a plain explication of the other for they define Generation to be mutatio materiae à forma substantiali pristina in aliam formam substantialem A change or mutation of matter from its wonted substantiall form into another form Also they will have Corruption to be mutatio amissio formae substantialis quae prius inerat materiae sed nunc non inest eidem The mutation or loss of a substantiall form which was first in the matter but now hath forsaken it Thus you see how they nominate a substantiall form but what it is and how it commeth into the body to cause Generation or after what manner it departeth from it again to cause death and corruption they relate not and therefore we have ignotum per ignotius when in verity it is the Spirit of God which informeth and vivifieth all things causing by its presence as well Generation which Aristotle observed and Resurrection which he never knew or could discern by his worldly Philosophy as corruption privation and death by its absence So that in this change or passage of the creature from one estate unto another we shall find that as it was made and all things else out of one dark and deformed potentiall principle by the shining forth of actuall Light which informed and by information created all things of Nothing making them to live and exist so also by the absence of that all-informing Light each thing becommeth dark dead and destitute of their essentiall form untill a new Light do manifest it self after a manner which doth alienate the watery Subject from the form and shape it had at the first So the body or carkasse of a dead man is in the state of a deformed chaos in regard it hath lost its wonted human substantiall form or act no otherwise then if the Lord did take away his Spirit from the world all things would return again to Nothing or a deformed chaos or dark abysse as it was at first But when the effectuall act of a new form doth break forth out of the dead carcasse causing the whole Mass thereof to become verminous or full of worms then may we say that the Corruption of the one is the Generation of the other which evermore holdeth good when the Elementary stuff is still present So that Privation is the mean between them both and as it were a vacuity a Nihâ—l or non entity between two formalities But I will demonstrate the mystery of Generation and Corruption after this Manner Now therefore that the progression or ranks of the worlds Creation and his simple Members is shewed you which consisteth of four ranks in which estate the world must as I said indure till it be refined with fire I will make my progression from these simple members of the world's existence and proceed unto the order of degrees in composition which have their beginning and foundation from them namely from the first degree or rank in Generation or Composition unto the Complement thereof And as between the beginning of mixtion and the perfection thereof there must intercede a medium or mean which must be imperfectè mixtum or an imperfect mixtion so betwixt a simple Element and a perfect body an imperfect composition must needs intercede namely such a one as is that of a Meteorologick nature As for example in the generation of a man the beginning which is founded on the catholick watery Element and taketh his place in the first rank is Sperm for it is a watery or fluid Substance but little altered and as in the water the whole Fabrick of the world and seeds of all things was complicitly conteined and yet nothing did appear externally but water So in the seed or Sperm though nothing do appear in the first degree explicitly but Sperm yet the whole man namely the bones flesh blood sinews and such like are complicitly conteined and will
Ventus Nubes c. The Sun Moon Starrs Lightnings Winds Clouds c. do obey the Will and Command of God that is they are incited by his Word and of necessity provoked to effect his pleasure It followeth not therefore that he that commandeth must be constrained to do or act in that imperious manner being that he doth it as a first mover who hath not any other actor before it or co-eternall with it and consequently doth operate of a free will which is radically grounded in himself And hereupon the Apostle Voluntati Dei quis resistat Who is able to resist the will of God And the Prophet Consilium meum stabit omnis voluntas mea fiet My counsell shaâ—l stand and my will shall be accomplished And Job Deus quodcunque voluit hoc facit What God would have done that he effecteth And therefore he doth not act involuntarily or of necessity but voluntarily and according unto his free Will We conclude therefore that seeing what is Necessarium or necessary is that which cannot happen otherwise but must of necessity be so So that which is contingent may happen or be effected otherwise as is that thing which is either fortuit or voluntary Now that the Acts of God in this world are voluntary and therefore cannot be tied up with the bands of Necessity it is proved in this namely because it may happen otherwise then it is accustomed to be by the laws or rules of nature As when the will of God was that the Sun should stand still or move retrogradingly or that it should be eclipsed when the Moon was in none of the points of the animall intersection that is neither in the head or tayl of the Dragon c. The fifth BOOK of this present Section The Argument of this Book AFter that the Author had expressed the Originall nature of the two essentiall properties namely of Heat and Cold and had proved the main effects thereof to be Rarefaction and Condensation whereby the Heavens and Elements were framed He proceedeth now in this Book unto the mystery of Meteorologicall impressions being the first degree of Composition shewing that their Fabrick is the act of the Divine Spirit effected in the catholick Element of the world's lower region and consequently do not proceed from such accidentall and externall grounds or beginnings as the Peripateticks do fasly surmise For this reason therefore he hath compared the Meteorologicall doctrine of Aristotle with that of the holy Scripture And finally by producing the Pagan Philosophy touching these aiery impressions unto the Lidian tryall or touch-stone of Truth he findeth them to prove false spurious metal yea and meer dross in respect of the golden Truth CHAP. I. Herein you shall find in few words a Repetition of the precedent Discourse Also an Exposition upon the word Meteoron or Meteor And lastly the Method which the Author intendeth to observe in this Book is expressed IN my precedent discourse I have briefly pointed at first the Principles of things namely the Root of every thing that was viz. the Dark or potentiall unity from which sprung forth the Light or actuall unity And I told you that both of them were but one thing in essence forasmuch as Light was unto the eternall unity all one with darkness though unto our weak capacities they are opposite in property Then I signified that out of the first obscure unity by his other manifest property waters did appeare arguing thereby that of or from this unity by this unity and in this unity are all things After that I shewed how waters were the materiall or passive Principle of all things as the illuminating and formall Spirit was the actuall and informing beginning of every being both which issued as I said before out of one Root which for that cause is rightly said to be all in all Then I expressed unto you how that Cold was an essentiall adherent unto privative rest and the stout of-spring and Champion unto darkness As contrariwise Heat was the immediate issue and companion unto essentiall action or motion and the inseparable Champion or Assistant of Light And then I told you how Humidity and Siccity had their Originall from the mutuall presence or absence of the foresaid two active vertues or essentiall properties Cold and Heat Lastly I declared unto you the reason and manner of Condensation and Rarefaction and that the main matter or Subject thereof was the waters but the catholick Actor was and is the Word or Spirit of God who acteth first in his Angelicall Organs by the Starrs and especially the Sun in Heaven above and winds beneath upon the generall sublunary Waters or Elements according unto his volunty altering of it after a four-fold manner through the formall properties of the four Winds and that either by Condensation or Subtiliation into divers shapes and dispositions Now in this Book I will open unto you after a true and infallible manner forasmuch as it shall in all points agree with the contents of the holy History how the blessed Word or sacred Spirit of the Lord doth by Condensation and Rarefaction produce and bring forth in this our catholick sublunary Element all Meteorologicall bodies But before I enter into this my discourse it is fit for me to tell you what the Antients do mean by this word Meteor Those Apparitions which are seen in the aire are by the Greeks called Meteora not in regard of their naturall essences but by reason of their sublimity in position Others tearm them more naturally Impressions forasmuch as they are shaped and imprinted above in the catholick element called Air. But in respect of their essentiall consistence they are properly called Corpora imperfectè mixta aut composita Bodies that are imperfectly mixed or compounded and that either because of their unexpected generation being that they are procreated and appear suddainly and at a short warning or else because their composition appeareth not to be according unto the mutation or change of substance or alteration of quality or else in regard they are not so exactly composed as other animated bodies which are perfectly mixed Or lastly these impressions are so called forasmuch as they have not attained unto any perfect form neither seems there to be in this kind of composition any great alteration of parts seeing that the members of the element so altered are confused with one another Howsoever it appeareth that such names are assigned unto this kind of impression after the fancy or conceit of this or that Philosopher when in verity they are magnalia Dei a mysticall body I say framed and fashioned by the finger of God out of the bowels of the catholick sublunary element to effect his will upon the earth either to judgment or mercy as shall be more at large expressed hereafter So that in this sense they may rightly be tearmed the characters or signes of Gods benignity and misericord or vengeance and severity upon the earth
clouds be onely Superficially moved by externall winds and the heat of the Sun as Aristotle's imagination is and not by any centrall agent which ruleth it as it pleaseth and at whose Command the winds themselves are obedient Verily I answer that contrary unto the intention of the Peripateticks the clowds have their inward agenâ— the which calleth the winds to effect his will and push and move forward hiâ— clowdy vehicle or Chariot when where and which way he pleaseth For as this Agent is catholick so is he not absent from the Spirit of the winds though centrally present in the cloud For he being present with and in the spirit of the winds doth in and by the Angelicall Spirits of the winds operate centrally in the aire and by the contracting act in himself gathering the aire together into a clowd which he maketh his vehicle or Chariot Therefore it is said in one place Nubibus densis obtegit Deus coelos quae comparent terrae pluviam qui facit ut proferant montes foenum dent jumentis cibum God filleth the heavens with clowds that they might bring forth rain unto the earth that thereby hay or grass may spring forth for the nourishment of Cattle Out of which speech we may gather First that God by his windy Ministers doth condense and shape out the aire into clowds For the stormy winds are said to effect the Will and Word of God Then that this was no miraculous work but a common work in nature being that it is daily effected to produce grass herbs and plants for the sustenance of living creatures And Job Densae nubes tugurium ejus The thick clowds are his dwelling place And David Nubem expandit Deus pro tegumento God spreadeth abroad the clowd for a covering And Moses Descendit Dominus in nube loquutus est ad eum The Lord descended in a clowd and spake unto him But all this which is said touching this point is notably expressed in these words of Samuel Inclinavit IEHOVA coelos descendit caligo sub pedibus ejus ascendit super Cherubin volavit lapsus est super pennes venti Posuit tenebras in circuitu suo laâ—ibulum cribrans aquas de nubibus coelorum prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes accensae sunt IEHOVA did bow down or incline the heavens and ascended and darknesse was under his feet and he ascended upon a Cherubin and did fly and glide upon the wings of the wind He made darknesse his hiding place sifting out waters from the clowds of heaven and the clowds are set on fire at the sight of him c. In which relation of holy Writ what I have spoken before is notably set forth For first it is said that God ascended or mounted on the Cherubin which is an airy Angell then that he did glide upon the wings of the wind arguing thereby that the aire being animated by the Angelicall Spirit was made a wind in the which the Word or Spirit of God did move and then after this he in and by the wind did shape out his dark Tabernacle For it is said He made darkness his hiding place that is he made the dark clowds his Chariot For David hath it thus Nubes densae vehiculum seu currus Dei qui itat super alas venti The thick clowds are a vehicle or Chariot of God who rideth or walketh upon the wings of the winds In another place it is called Mons Dei coagulatus in quo bene placitum est Deo inhabitare The condensed curdled or coagulated Mountain of God in which it is pleasing unto him to dwel So that it is evident that the Spirit of God moveth the Angelicall Spirit the Angelicall Spirit exciteth and informeth the aire with a windy nature Forasmuch as by his moving in it the aire is made a windy spirit and therefore the Prophet said Qui facis Angelos ventos then that animated aire by opposit Angelicall Spirits incited by one and the same Divinity doth reduce the common aire into clowds which are the Chariots of him who essentially doth act and operate all these things by divers Organs one within another which vary in dignity from one another For by how much the more internall a thing is the more worthy and noble or veruous it is esteemed because they approach nearest unto that essence in Divinity which acteth and operateth centrally all in all That God doth move in the Thunders speaketh out of the whirl-wind and clowds and is at his pleasure a consuming fire and that he operateth centrally in the winds clowds Snow and Tempests and that all these are effected by his Spirit of Wisdome the Scriptures do here and there in most places express And therefore it is vainly said that the clowds only move by the Sun-beams or the externall pushing winds caused of so vain impossible Principles as Aristotle telleth us when it is the Tabernacle in which that Eternall Spirit is pleased to abide or a Chariot in which he is delighted to ride whose horses as Zachary saith are the winds or rather the Cherubinicall Spirits which he doth animate So that the volunty or centrall principle of the motion is in the clowd but the Angells and winds are the Ministers or organicall Agents which move according unto the willer wherefore though we proved before that the aire was thickned into clowds and that the following wind did drive them before it yet the willer and commander of this Generation of clowds by the winds was the onely and essentiall internall principle or centrall mover in the clowds which by his will made his Ministers to move him where or to what purpose he pleased And therefore Solomon Sapientia ejus abyssi ruperunt sese coeli distillant rorem By his Wisdome the abysse brake forth and did rain down the dew And Flante Deo concrescit gelu God blowing the Ice is gathered together Again Sapientia aptat pondus aeâ—i appendit aquas in mensura Wisdome doth proportion the weight of the aire and hangeth the waters in measure c. We may therefore boldy conclude against both Aristotle and all other doctrine of the Ethnicks that neither the earth nor the water are the immediate fountains of the clowds but the heavens or aire which is the Treasure-house of God neither is it the cold of the middle region of the aire which condenseth any imaginary surging or ascending vapours arising from beneath but that centrall animating Spirit born or gliding on the wings of the wind residing but not inclusively in the cloud who according unto his pleasure by the means of his organicall Ministers the Angelicall winds fashioneth forth the clouds to serve as a cover or tabernacle unto it And therefore the cloud acteth not by the heat of the Sun but by the Divine Light that is centrally in it which as an Emperour sitteth upon the Cherubins which are airy
afterward it was inclosed and saith that this light skipping and gliding out of the clowds is called the Lightning the effect of whose breaking forth is the Thunder Others will have these flashes of fire to proceed from the dry winds which being compassed about compressed or coarctated within the clowds these clowds are by them are set on fire thereupon cometh that noise which followeth that turmoile in the clowds And again many others have otherwise determined of it So that we may justly say touching this point and that rightly Quot homines tot sententiae And now concerning the Opinion of Aristotle it is in it self so contrary and contradictory unto the authority of the true Wisdome that some of his learned Christian Disciples have in the plain field of the Peripateticall Combat against the Truth turned tayl as the commâ—n phrase is and become Apostats or Renegado's or relinquishers of their Faith which they had in their Master's sincerity touching this Doctrine For we find it thus written by Margarita Philosophiae as is before said Qu dam Philosophorum considerantes mirabilem fulminis operationem ipsum non opus Naturae sed summi Dei effectum immediatum arbitrati sunt Some of the Philosophers considering the admirable operation of the Lightnings have assuredly held or thought it not to be a work of nature but the immediate effect of the most high God But to â—ome unto the particulars of his Definition He saith that the material cause of the Lightning is taken from the Earth the Agent in â—he elevation is the Astrall vertue the externall accidentall or adventitious efficient is the collision concussion or knocking together of opposit clouds by reason of the antiperistasis that is made between the heat of the Exhalation and the cold of the aire 's midle region whereby the accension or setting on fire the Exhalation is made And lastly He sheweth the reason that the Lightning moveth downwards namely because the Substance or matter thereof is terrestiall and of an earthly compaction I will therefore confute every one of these particles in order and that first by Philosophicall or naturall reasons and lastly by the Authority of the holy Scripture As concerning the materiall Substance of the Lightnings which he saith is a hot and dry exhalation and terrestially-compacted Substance which is derived from the earth First it seemeth to be but a figment because it is proved that the Starrs have no attractive vertue or force as is pâ—oved before Then for that if the windy exhalation which is light and more apt to arise and penetrate by reason of its subtility be denied passage into the middle region of the aire much more must this kind of exhalation have his passage barred or hindered into that cold place being it is as he confesseth grosser more terrestiall and apter to be inflamed But this impossibility will also be demonstrated by the authority of holy Writ Fulgura procedunt à Throno Lightning pâ—oceedeth from the Throne of God Again he is said Fulgur are lumine suo desuper cardinesque maris operire To enlighten with his light from above and to cover with it the compasse of the Sea And again ignis ab ore ejus evolavit Fire came from his mouth And again Flamma ex ore ejus prodiit A flame came fâ—om his mouth Again Illuxerunt coruscationes tuae orbi terrae Thy coruscations or Lightnings did shine over the earth Again Fumus in ira ejus ignis à facie ejus exarsit Smoak issued from him in his anger and fire did flame forth from his face What Shall we imagine that this flaming matter was as Aristotle faineth drawn or elected from the earth by the Starrs which God so familiarly sendeth forth or dare any true Christian imagine that so base and triviall an excrement of the earth would by the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles with such a boldness be ascribed unto God's essentiall power and to be derived from his presence Nay had it not been an impudency in them to say in regard of the divineness of the thing that God is a consuming fire as we finde it written both in the old and new Testament or would the Prophet testifie that he made his angels winds and his ministers flaming fires How basely might a true speculator into the divine mysteries judge of the beginning of the Angells and spirituall lights if their materiall substance were accidentall exhalation Again we are taught that the heaven or aire is the treasure-house from out whose bowells the winds the clowds the snow the hail and lightnings and rainbow is extracted and proportioned by the Spirit of God to do his will And therefore as before Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aeri appendit nubes in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum God by his wisdom doth proportionate the weight of the aire and hangeth the clowds or waters in measure maketh lawes unto the rain and a way unto the lightnings of the thunders So that it is evident that the matter of all meteors be they watry or fiery is hewen by the word or wisdom of God out of the catholick aire consequently not out of the earth neither is there any such need of the starrs attraction or elevation in the business being the pure matter of the lightnings is evermore in the divine puissance and reserved in his secret treasure-house to be called or chosen out at his will who hath created all things to work how and which way he pleaseth for were it not I beseech you a wonderous thing that at an instant so great a quantity of exhalations could be drawn out of the earth and elevated by the stars as did suddainly and unlooked for rain down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah But our Aristotelians will say according unto custom that it was miraculous I answer that for all that the meteor was materiall for it was fire and brimstone Now I would fain know of them out of what magazine or store-house it came and whether the stars drew it up from the earth and whether God did not collect it immediately out of his own aiery or invisible treasury or store-house For St. Paul saith that all visible things were first of things that were not seen Secondly touching the agent he is more deceived in it then in the matter for first he maketh the agent which draweth up the exhalation the attractive vertue of the stars then he surmiseth that the efficient cause which enlighteneth it must be partly the dashing together of two clowds and partly the contrariety which is between the heat of the exhalation and coldness of the place which meeting together do cause the accension of the exhalation Good God what a Gallimofry he would make and what a confusion of externall actions or efficient causes doth he fain when there is but onely one indeed which is most internall or essentiall that moveth which way
lively expressed thus Ascendit fumus in ira ejus ignis à facie ejus exarsit carbones accensi sunt abeo c. Prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt grando carbones ignis intonuit de coelo Dominus altissimus dedit vocem suam A smoak did ascend in his anger and fire did flame out from his face coales of fire were kindled by him c. By the Lightning in his sight the clowds did move hail and coales of fire the Lord did thunder from heaven the most High did utter forth his voice By the which speech it appeareth evidently that it is onely God which doth essentially effect all these things and although we say in our common phrase of speech that the Lightnings do cause the Thunder or in speaking more mystically that the Angells inflame the aire by their fiery presence yet in verity it is God in his fiery Angells or flaming Ministers as also in the thick clowds and watry spirits who produceth all these things to accomplish his will and pleasure And therefore the Apostle Deus operatur omnia in omnibus God operateth all in all And elsewhere Deus omnium Pater à quo omnia God is the Father of all from whom are all things And again Ex eo per eum in eo sunt omnia Of him by him and in him are all things But all this in our Meteorologicall business is more plainly expressed in the precedent words continued thus at large in another place Ascendit fumus de naribus IEHOVAE ignis de ore ejus vâ—ravit carbones sâ—ccensi sunt ab eo inclinavit coelos descendit caligo sub pedibus ejus ascendit super Cherubin volavit seu lapsus est super alas venti posuit tenebras in ciâ—cuâ—tu suo latibulum cribrans aquas de nubibus coelorum prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes succensi sunt carbones ignis volabant tonabat de coelo Dominus excelsus dabat vocem suam misit sagittas suas disparuit eos fulgur Smoak ascended out of the nostrils of IEHOVA and fire flew out of his mouth coles of fire were kindled from him and he inclined or bowed down the heavens and did descend and darkness was under his feet and he mounted upon a Cherubin and flew or glided upon the wings of the wind made darkness round about him his hiding place sifting forth rain from the clowds of heaven The clowds were kindled at the brightness of his face coles of fire did flie the Lord did thunder from heaven and the most high did utter forth his voice he sent forth his arrows and the Lightning did disperse them By all which it is made evident that there is no essentiall efficient cause which is naturall but onely God in nature and beyond nature operateth all in all For in the precedent description it is not said that the clowds or winds sent out coruscations or that fire came from the Sun or other heavenly bodies but smoke went out of the nostrills of JEHOVA and fire out of his mouth neither that vapours and Exhalations did gather clowds in the middle region of the aire but JEHOVA bowed down the heavens or aire and collected them at his pleasure neither the coldnesse of the middle region did accumulate them into a dark mass or heap by condensation But JEHOVA collected and gathered together by his privative and condensing property that dark chaos or confused abysse neither was it any Angelicall efficient but JEHOVA mounting upon the Cherubin did animate it to move according to his pleasure Nor was it the winds that moved of themselves but the spirituall Cherubin being first animated by JEHOVA did excite the winds to move neither was that exceeding darknesse made for a secret Tabernacle unto JEHOVA meerly by the act of the Angelicall wind But JEHOVA moving on the Cherubin incited the Cherubin to cause the winds to collect and gather together the clowds neither was it the resolutive faculty of the Sun that melted the clowds into rain but JEHOVA that did sift or cribrate forth water or rain out of them neither was it the collision or dashing together of the clowds or antiperistasis which was between the hot exhalation and the coldness of the place which caused the actuall Lightnings or inflammation of the clowds but the brightnesse and inexplicable light of his presence did set the clowds on fire neither was it the contentious strivings which was made between the fire and water in the cleaving of the clowd which maketh the fearfull sound from heaven but it was JEHOVA that did thunder from heaven it was the most high I say that did utter his voice from heaven and sent forth his Lightning as arrows to destroy the wicked Which being so what have we Christians to do to look after any naturall efficient cause with the acute eies of Aristotle which forsooth must act and operate per se of themselves without any consideration when by the precedent Text it appeareth that St. Paul was no liar when he said that God operateth all in all And as for that Peripateticall distinction of causa principalis and secundaria or subalterna you see here that it is utterly disannulled by the Text before mentioned For the onely efficient cause as well in the first second third and fourth Organ or Instrument was God For it was he that inspired the Cherubin it was he in and upon the Cherubin which did animate the winds it was he in and upon the Cherubin by the winds that gathered the clowds together it was he that in and upon the Cherubin by the winds did sift out water and rain out of the clowds and did set them on fire by sending forth Lightnings from his Throne And in conclusion though he use many Organs yet the essentiall act which operateth in and by them all doth issue forth from one simple and sincere identity which comprehendeth no otherwise all things in himself then unity in Arithmetick is assuredly reckoned for the father of multitude Thus we see that the foresaid young-man was lost by his too too much presuming on the vain and prestigious doctrine of his Peripateticall Master For whereas he taught unto the honest Christians which were his Companions the false doctrine of his Ethnick Master in their greatest need namely when the angry hand of the Almighty was in the heavens ready to menace them if they called not out for grace from him who spake out of the clowds in time and did wish them to abolish all feare making them believe that the Lightnings were contingent things in nature and made as it were by hap-hazard and not indued with sense or reason as being framed and shaped out yea and informed by externall and superficiall Principles he with his companions should have remembred that saying so often repeated by the Wiseman Timor Domini est principium Sapientiae The feare of the
suae God doth weary the thick clowds and disperseth abroad the light of his clowds for the watering of the earth Whereby it appeareth that God doth ordinarily gather together the clowds and maketh them his organicall instruments to utter his voice unto mortall men for the prospering of the annuall fruits upon the earth And therefore thus in another place Si consideraret homo extensiones densarum nubium fragores in tugurio illius exteâ—dâ—t super illud lucem suam cum his judicaturus est populum daturus cibum abunde Also in another place all this is more plainly expressed where it is said Vide arcum benedic eum qui fecit illum valde specio sus est in splendore suo gyravit coelum in circuiâ—u gloriae ejus manus Excelsi aptaverunt illum imperio suo accelerat nivem accelerat coruscationes emittere judicii sui Propterea aperti sunt thesauri evolarunt nebulae sicut aves in magnitudine sua posuit nubes confracti sunt lapides grandinis in conspectu ejus movebantur montes in voluntate sua spiravit Notus Vox tonitruum ejus reverberavit terram tempestas Aquilonis congregatio spiritus aspergit nivem c. Behold the rainbow and blesse him that made it it is wondrous beautifull in his brightnesse it did compasse the heaven in the circle of his glory the hands of him that is on high made it By his command he hastens the snow and maketh speed to send foâ—th the lightnings of his judgment Therefore are the treasurâ—es opened and the clowds fly forth like birds He placed the clowds in his greatnesse and the stones of the hail are broken In his sight the mountains did move and according to his will the south-winde hath blown and the voice of his thunder have reverberated the earth The tempest of the north and the congregation of spirits doth spread abroad or besprinkle the snow c. In this speech of the son of Syrach the Lord of lords is proved to be the sole essentiall and efficient cause of all meteors namely of the rainbow the snow the lightnings the clowds the hail the thunder the winds and tempests as also it sheweth that the matter of them is the aire Wherefore he saith in the conclusion The congregation of spirit doth spread abroad the snow Lastly it telleth us that the hands or Spirit of God are not idle in the effecting of such works as Aristotle termeth natural and therefore operateth not only primarily but also secundarily yea and catholically in and over all things as well in their generation as preservation and corruption To the last clause of his definition wherein he seemeth to aver that the lightnings move downward because the stuff of it is of a terrestriall compacted nature I answer that this reason is over weak considering the Gigantean author that alledged it for it may in the self-same manner be inferred that the Gun-powder which is of a far grosser stuff then is that of the lightnings must therefore strike downwards and yet we see by experience it riseth in spight of a mean resistance by its naturall inclination upward as we may perceive by places that are undermined and squibs which are violently carried upward I come therefore unto such true definitions of lightning and thunder as are maintained and allowed by the Book of Verity CHAP. XII How the lightning and the thunder oughtrightly to be described by the true Philosopher and that seriously according unto the tenour of holy Writ SInce therefore it hath been made manifest in the precedent Chapter that Aristotle hath utterly erred in his conceit touching as well the materiall as essentiall and formall cause of the lightnings let me gather as near as my weak capacity will give me leave what should be the true nature and originall essentiall cause of the lightnings according unto the harmonicall consent of holy Scriptures Lightning is a certain fiery aire or spirit animated by the brightness of JEHOVA and extracted out of his treasury which is the heavens or catholick aire to do and execute his will for the good or detriment of the creature Or else in this manner Lightning is a shining brightnesse proceeding out of the clowds being the pavilion of JEHOVA and is sent from the throne of God even down unto the earth covering the surface of the seas But if we would describe the lightning with all his accidents and consequently expresse the whole essence of the thunder which is a mixed nature we may effect it thus out of the testimony of the holy Bible Lightning is a fire burning from the face or presence of JEHOVA at the sight or contact of whose brightnesse the clowds do pass away and the Almighty doth thunder and utter his voice from heaven and sendeth forth his arrowes for the destruction of the wicked Or thus Lightning is a fire proceeding from JEHOVA being sent out of his dark tabernacle from above at the sight whereof the waters or clowds as being terrified and the abysse as it were troubled do haste away in which turmoil the voice of his thunder moveth circularly and the fiery or kindled coals are sent forth as arrowes sent out from a well bent bow to effect his will as well for benediction as for vengeance both in heaven and earth Or in this sort Lightning or coruscation is a clear and pure light in the clowds above the which the winde that passeth by doth purifie c. By the first of these descriptions the manifest materiall cause of the lightning is expressed to be a fiery aire the place out of which it is drawn is the treasure-house of God or the heavens Also the formall cause is expressed in that it is set down to be a fiery spirit or aire the efficient cause I said according unto the truths testimony to be the will or word of God on which dependeth that spirit of wisdom by which God operateth all things Lastly the finall cause is also noted forasmuch as it is said That it was created to do the will of him that ordained it either for the pain or pleasure of mortall men All which is evidently confirmed out of the places of Scripture mentioned before The second definition is confirmed out of the Revelation which saith Fulgura procedunt à throno Lightnings proceed from the throne Again he is said Fulgurare lumine suo desuper cardâ—nâ—sque maâ—is operire To lighten with his brightness from above and to cover with it the corners of the Sea And again prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt The clowds did move by reason of the Lightning and brightness which was in his sight or presence And again ignis ab ore ejus evolavit Fire flew out of his mouth And again Ab ore ejus velut taedae praeeuntes quasi halitus ejus carbones accenderent flamma â—x ore ejus prodicret From
consideration that the etymology of the word by interpretation may import donum Dei or the gift of God for what greater gift could God impart unto his potentiall creatures and in generall unto the great world then his eternall Spirit of wisdom or his onely Begotten to make them of somewhat nothing and to take away all deformity and nullity from the water and to shape out of them a Heaven and an Earth and to figure out in them all the creatures thereof and to preserve them in existence essence and lively being This was therefore indeed the true catholick donum Dei or gift of God whose incorruptible nature is in all things and filleth all things and as it is the most movable of all things so it operateth all in all according to the will of him that sent him And therefore in regard of the office and as he was an emissive Spirit so was he not unworthily named by them the great or catholick Angell had not Scriptures in plain tearms seemed to intimate so much I could also demonstrate that the world and his soul or life was shaped after the image of the Archetype in this manner From 1 which was all light in whom is no darknesse did 2 issue which was quoad nos darknesse or the dark Chaos so called because unity did not as yet shine forth to inform them Betwixt these two extreams is 3 interposed as a peaceable or charitable unity between meer light and darknesse or the Spirit of divine love who resting in the midst between these two principles uniteth the divine formall fire with the humid materiall nature or spirit of darknesse making a union of two opposite natures so that both natures do remain in one sympatheticall concordance and therefore this formall ternary is called Ligamentum elementorum litem amicitiam concoâ—diae vinculis connectâ—ns The ligament of the elements tying together hatred and love with the bands of concord I expresse them thus Deus 1 Lux. Coelum 3 Sphaera aequalitatis Terra 2 Tenebrae This excellent harmony of the soul of the world is else-where most fitly expressed by me by two equall Piramidicall shapes whereof the one is formall the other materiall the basis of the formall is the immediate act of God or the infinite and onely bright Unity and it importeth the emanation of the creating and informing Spirit so that his Cone doth penetrate unto the very center of the dark earth or abysse And contrariwise the basis of the materiall or watry Pyramis is in the earth or center of darknesse and the Cone ascendeth unto the center of the basis of the formal Pyramis in this manner Now where the intersection is made between the two principal concurrences I have framed a piece of a circle which circle because the portions of the formall Pyramis and materiall are there equall we therefore with the Platonists do call Sphaeram aequalitatis or the Sphear of equality or as they in another respect tearm it the orbe or sphear of the soul of the world which is just in the midst of the starry heaven called for that reason Aether quasi igneus aer a fiery aire as who should say an equall portion of the spirit of the waters and of the formall fire descending from God or Unity as I have expressed before And therefore as we placed in the precedent demonstration the 3 in the center or middle of the line between the divine illuminating unity 1 and the dark Chaos or deformed duality 2 so in the world was the spirituall body of the visible Sun of this typicall world placed in which the invisible and increated Sun of the Archetypicall world did put his Tabernacle and for this cause it is rightly tearmed of the Platonists the sphear of the soul. And verily by effect we find that all vivification doth potently spring from the solar or Sunny influence and as for the excellent beauty of the creature as also in respect of the vivifying act thereof it is an evident argument that it aboundeth with the blessed sparks or vivifying beams of divinity Again that it is the bright organ by which he that vivifieth all things doth impart and pour forth the showre of his benignity or divine Nectar of life continuall experience teacheth even the meanest plowman Now that this most excellent and perfect concord of life doth remain principally in the midst of the line drawn from unity or the fountain of form to the earth or duality which is the fountain of matter I prove it thus by the accords of Musick The perfectest consonance in Musick is Diapason and of all the other symphoniacall accords it approacheth nearest unto the sacred Unity in Divinity for it is half unison and therefore it is rightly compared unto the blessed emanation of life which came from unity and for that reason it is rightly tearmed the Idea or image of a unison And as the unison like one essence in Divinity doth comprehend three Persons importing the three accords in the Archetypicall harmony So also the Diapason comprehendeth in it the two other accords besides it self namely Diapente and Dâ—atessaron Now that this most perfect consonant of Diapason is planted in the midst of a unison and doth as it were beget in it self two perfect chords or Diapasons which be contained within it self I prove it thus Take a Lute or Bandora and strike any of the strings open and then stop that same string exactly in the middle of it and each half will sound a Diapason unto that open unison so that the unison which is made by the striking of the whole string open will be divided into two Diapasons or most perfect consonants unto the whole which is an evident argument that the perfection of the Diapason is in the seat of the Sun and consequently that the formall and lively accord of all the world is no otherwise in that centrall or middle place then the heart which is the seat of life is in man And yet by the beams of the Sun this life of the world is made catholick and filleth all no otherwise than the vitall blood doth universally expanse it self in the Microcosm by the channells of the arteries But I fear I have followed this point too far to prove and maintain the soul of this world wherefore I leave it to come directly unto the point being that in my Mosaicall Philosophy to wit in the fourth book thereof I have fully proved and maintained that Translation of Jerom to be right namely Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole he put his tabernacle in the Sun I will proceed therefore unto the second opinion of the Philosophers The ancient Philosopher Democritus Orpheus with the Pythagoreans do judge that all things are full of gods and again all these gods they referre unto one Jupiter where by gods they â—ntend the divine virtues infused into things which Zoroaster called divinos illices Synesius the Bishop Symbolicas illecebras others tearm
them lines others sorts on which the virtue of things do depend They erre not much in this saying onely in appearing to divide the Godhead into diversities of gods but they seem to excuse themselves of that error in saying that all those gods had relation unto one Jupiter and so by that word relation they preserve the continuity and indivisibility in the Soul They agree therefore with Scriptures in that their meaning is that this divine essence is in all things For as Scriptures acknowledg that the catholick Spirit of Wisdome is one simple Spirit and yet it is tearmed by Solomon multiplex or manifold in respect of his multiplicity of action or property in creatures which it animateth for it is said to fill the universe And the incorruptible Spirit of God to be in all things and to give life and motion unto all forasmuch as it is omni re mobilior more movabâ—e and sprightfull then any thing and being but one thing it is able to do all things it being permanent in it felf and therefore doth animate all being that it is in all and every where For this reason also the Poets say Omnia Jovis plena that all are full of Jupiter That is to say the essentiall beams of this Eternall Jupiter or JEHOVA are in every particular place of the world making things to live and exist by a different property And for this reason they conclude that omnia diis plena as is said all things are full of gods I come unto the third The Platonists and all those Philosophers which partake with them differ in nothing from Orpheus Democritus and the rest saving that those call that the Soul of the world which the other tearm Jupiter and the Gods which possesse all things they nominate peculiar souls or mentall beames which depend and have a continuated relation unto the Anima mundi as the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord that filleth each particuler is not discontinued from that humid fountain which filleth the universe It is evident therefore by this which is already said that all the subsequent opinions of the Philosophers touching the Anima mundâ— may be fully confirmed and maintained by the self same reasons and therefore I will say no more touching this point at this instant I conclude therefore thus that seeing the Soul of the world hath for his internall act the bright emanation of the eternall Unity and the subtile catholick created Spirit for its humid Vehicle or materiall Organ which is its externall in which and by which it operareth in all and over all We must acknowledg that there is a kind of contrariety in the very catholick Soul for else would not action and passion be in the created Soul which is so called because it is made of alterity that is of two namely of a creared passive which is an off-spring of the dark Chaos and therefore apt to move unto darknesse by a naturall inclination and of an increated active which seeketh to Deify this Spirit if it do adhere or incline unto it and to exalt its light Hence cometh it that by reason of this Spirit 's divers inclination there are good or bad passions ingendred not onely in the heavens and earth of the great world and their creatures as well celestiall and elementary as animall vegetable and minerall but also in the little world which is man as shall be expressed in the first Chapter of the next Book But first I deem it most fit to open unto you the true mystery how the peculiar Soul of the little world and then how all other Souls as well animal vegetable and mineral do proceed and spring from and afterwards are preserved and multiplied by this catholick Soul of the world which is a doubt not fully decided by the best Philosophers even unto this very day And therefore ought this discourse of ours not to be slighted or lightly regarded even of the learnedest of this our Age. CHAP. V. How all particular Souls are said to spring forth or proceed and then afterwards to have their preservation and multiplication from this generall Anima mundi or Soul of the world and first to begin with that of the moâ—â— noble which is of the little world or Man HErmes called also for another reason Mercurius Trismegistus said rightly that the world was made after the similitude or Type of God and therefore as the one is tearmed Archetypus so also the other is said to be Typus For this reason therefore in another place he saith Scio mundum à Deo atque in Deo hominem vero a mundo in mundo consistere principium autem comprehensioque omnium Deus I know saith he that the world is from God and in God and that man is of the world and in the world But God is the beginning and the comprehension of all things And again he speaketh thus else where in a generality Deus est Cosmi Pater cosmus vero eorum quae in Cosmo cosmus quidem Dei filius jure Cosmus appellatus est quia omnia veritate generationis exornat necnon indesinenti vitae operatione perpetua necessitatis celeritate elementorum commistione ordine genitorum Cosmus quaecunque ab ipsa origine suscepit à Deo perpetuò servat God is the Father of the world the world is the father of them that are in the world and the world is the off-spring of God and it is rightly called Cosmus because it adorneth with verity every kind of generation and also with a never ceasing operation of life and a perpetuall celerity of necessity in the commixtion of the Elements which by order are brought forth c. In all this he varieth not from Scriptures For that in the beginning God is said to have made the world of a matter without a form and to have adorned his humid nature or the heavens with his vivifying Spirit which filleth and operateth all in all as I have told you before and that from the breath of the self-same Spirit of life all the creatures of the world are animated and from the substantiall Elements in the world they receive their matter So that as God by the pouring forth of his bright vivifying and all-acting Spirit did make the humid and passive nature of the world to operate and that so animated Spirit which is mixed secundum totum in qualibet ejus parte in all and every part with his increated Animatour is rightly called the Soul of all the Universe So we ought to make no question at all but that every particular Soul in this vaulted machin of the world doth depend and is procreated preserved and multiplied from that catholick Soul because it is an axiom infallible among Philosophers that the whole doth comprehend each part and again each particular hath his existence and being from the whole But the world's catholick materiall Spirit is inacted and preserved by the catholick Eternall Spirit
sent out from the Fountain of life to inact and vivify all things Which increated Spirit of life is indivisible in essence and therefore as it doth actually from his immense fountain of life send down or breathe forth the influences of life after the manner of an infinity of beams from one Sun unto an infinite sort of creatures to inform them and make them live So are those beams of life thus sent out no less continuated and indivisible from that fountain or spiritual and indivisible Son of life then the visible beams can be divided from the visible Sun Neither was it sufficient for Adam to have indued a Microcosmicall body namely a masse of earth for his materiall had not this exalted formall essence sent by God into the world as not divided from divinity added a lively force and activity by breathing his Spirit of life into him And therefore Hermes spake not amiss when he said that the world was the Image of God and man the image of the world being that as God created and vivifyed the watery Spirit of the world by adding unto it his creating Spirit of life so that Spirit of life which is all one in essence with the Father being sent into the world and filling the Spirit of the world doth vivify multiply and preserve not onely man but also every other animal vegetable and minerall that is in the world This being therefore in the first place to be considered I proceed thus The variety of the Species upon the earth did radically proceed from the very act of creation when the word Fiat was spoken and immediatly the will of the speaker was accomplished by his Son which by the way of emanation was sent into the world to do the will of his Father And there are some that will not shrink to say that all the Species or kinds of creatures were expressed in and by the 22. Hebrew letters not those externall ones which are vulgarly painted out with Ink or Art which are but shadows but the fiery formall and bright spirituall letters which were ingraven on the face or superficies of the dark hyles by the fiery word of the eternall Speaker in the beginning and therefore they are tearmed originally Elementa quasi Hylementa or Elements as engraven in the forehead of the dark abysse or Hyle and by reason of the essence of that divine Word which received the mystery of the Typicall creation and did trace it out after the Archetypicall patern and delineated it in characters of formall fire the language which was framed out of it was called Lingua Sancta a language I say much spoken of by the learned Rabbies of our age but little known or understood by them and yet of an infinite importance for the true enucleation as well of sacred Mysteries as of all true Cabalisticall abstrusities But to proceed According to the tenor of the divine Word and his formall characters the effects whereof passed unalterable into the world each species or kind was framed and again every individuall of each kind was made divers and distinct from others as well in shape and proportion as condition and and property Now as I said that this Spirit of the Lord did effect the will of his Father in creating every thing thus differently being in it self but one and the same essence So also did it and doth still continue and keep every one of these Species or kinds by multiplication or generation in their successive estates and preserveth every individuall during the time of his being as well by an elementary as aethereall kind of nutriment which according to his spirituality doth descend as it were from heaven to nourish the spirits of each individuall according unto his kind For you must understand that as the catholick soul of the world is generall unto all So is the aire made the chest or closet of his golden treasury or spiritual food which while it swimmeth occultly like a golden vapour showred down from heaven in the aire filling and replenishing all So whilst it is yet in the open aire it is as apt to sustain and multiply the life of a serpent a sheep a fish or a foul an oake a herb or such like as of a man For so soon as the magnetick power or virtue of the creature which causeth every minute a refection from this heavanly Nectar hath drawn in a portion of this catholick Spirit or nature it leaveth his catholick or generall nature and worketh specifically that is to say according unto the individuall nature of that kind which receiveth it that is to say it converteth it self being in a dog into his nature in a whale into his nature in a man into his in an oake or myrtill into his in wheat into the proper nature of wheat and so in all other kinds and consequently it is the cause that every creatures spirit is nourished and sustained it it self For this was the Creator's Ordinance that by what spirit the creature was first created in his kind by the same it should be maintained preserved and multiplied Hence it was that the Philosopher breaketh forth into this speech Est in aere occulius vitae cibus The hidden aliment of life is in the aire Whereby he means that quint essentiall food which we receive from the generall Spirit of life in the world which by the appointment of God hangeth ready and in every part of the aire to strive for the spirituall food of life unto every elementary creature the main virtue whereof consisteth in the eternall vivifying Word and Spirit of all things and therefore the Text saith Deus dat vitam inspirationem omnia God giveth life and inspiration and all things And again Visitatio tua conservat spiritum meum Thy visitation doth preserve my spirit Vita adest benevolentiâ IEHOVAE Life is present by the benevolence of IEHOVA Vitae fons penes Deum est The fountain of life is with God Vitae prolongatio benignitas ejus The prolonging of life is the benignity of God Quem visitavit Deus salute sua fruetur bono Whom God doth visit with his salutiserous nature he shall be partaker of goodnesse Deo dante creaturis colligunt aperiente manum suam saâ—iantur bono abscondente faciem suam conturbantur recipiente spiritum corrum exspirant emittente spiritum suum recreantur God giving unto the creatures food they receive it when he openeth his hand they are filled with all goodnesse If he hide away his face or abstain from giving them their daily spirituall bread they are troubled and wiâ—l be sick if he take away from them their spirit they exspire and die but if he send forth again his Spirit they are recreated and refreshed again We are taught also by Christ in our Pater-noster to pray for our daily bread and it is called there Panem super-substantialem the super-substantiall bread as Jerom interpreteth it And our Saviour meaning of
doth proceed from one eternall Essence as from the root of al things IT is most certain that as there are an infinity of creatures of divers natures in the universall machin So also every one of them was variously first created and then generated and maintained after generation even untill the day of their corruption by sundry celestiall influences or many thousand of varieties of beams descending from above And therefore the wisest amongst the Cabalisticall Rabbies affirm Quod non sit ulla planta aut herba inferiùs cui non sit stella in firmamento quae percutiat eam dicat ei Cresce That there is not any plant or herb here beneath which hath not a Star in the firmament to beat on it with his influence and as it were to say unto it Increase or muliply Neither do the Scriptures appear to be repugnant unto this their opinion as hereafter shall plainly in his convenient place be expressed But because the radicall indication of this matter requireth a more profound speculation it will be most necessary for the Reader 's better edification or instruction to make a diligent inquisition after the depth of this Mystery namely first to discover how all Creation was effected by the sending forth of the beams of God's eternall Light and whether that Emanation be of one or divers and manifold in property I told you and prooved manifestly before that all things were in the beginning created by one eternall Spirit of Wisdom which was sent forth from the infinite Fountain of Light in the shape of an emanation eradiation or effluxion to inform and inact all things explicitly which before were contained complicitly in the divine puissance of that everlasting Unity which in it self is all in all I prooved it by these expresse places in Scripture Solomon calleth this holy Spirit of discipline the vapour of God's Virtue and the sincere emanation and effluxion of his brightness and the splendor or beams of his Divine Light and the mirrour without all spot of his goodness And St. John saith that in the Word is the life of all things and that this Spirit was Light in which was no darkness and that by it all things were made and without it nothing was made And the son of Syrach That it came forth of the mouth of the Most High And Solomon That it was with IEHOVA in the beginning of all his waies in the creation and was that holy Spirit whereby be composed or made all things in the Creation and therefore it is apparent that it was by the emanation or sending forth of the catholick or universall beam of divine Light that all particular things were diversly framed shaped and animated and that by a many of streamings forth of more particular beames of light proceeding by multiplication from the root unto the trunck or body namely from the Unity fountain or head unto the generall emanation which may rightly be compared unto the body of a tree forasmuch as from it all boughs twigs leaves and fruit do spring and as in this progression the trunck of the tree doth immediatly issue from the root and yet is continued with the root which is the beginning so the divine emanation in like manner proceedeth directly from Ensoph or the fountain or root of infinity by the way of emanation not divided or separated from his eternall Originall and by reason of this his emanation the Spirit is said to be the first created before all things as the trunck before the boughs twigs leaves or fruit So that in respect of his essentiall existence he is eternall but in regard of his emanation into the world he is said to be aeviall that is to have a beginning without end and therefore becometh the head and Prince of all the aeviall world I mean the Angelicall creaâ—ures We proceed therefore in the progression and multiplication of this universall emanation thus From the trunck of the tree issueth the generall speciall and individuall branches whereof the most strongest after the trunck are all armes of the body the next boughs then twigs and lastly the leavs c. To this we compare in our Angelicall or aeviall world the divers stations of the Angels assigned unto them according unto their dignity and riches in the divine influences which they receive from the root or fountain of Light by the mediation of their body Christ Jesus And for this reason it is said that He is the Image of the invâ—sible God the first begotten of all creatures for in hâ—m are maâ—e all things both in heaven and earth as well visible as invisible whether they are Thrones or Dominations or Potestates all by him and in him are made and he is before all and all consist in him So that all Angells do no otherwise proceed immediately from him and are continuate with him than the branches of a Tree proceed from the body thereof but as we see that the greater armes of the Tree are neerer in distance unto the trunck and therefore are more substantiall and strong and beautifull than the rest so are these Angels of the Emperiall or supercelestiall heaven nearer to the body to wit the eveâ—lasting stream of light and therefore more rich and abundant in divine light and that by degrees and order according as they are nearer the face of the divine essentiall inâ—â—uence that bestoweth that most excellent light and glory on them to deck and adorn them with so perfect a formall beauty and existence And as we see that each main arme of the tree hath a dimension in longitude in the which as it depaâ—teth from the body of the tree it waxeth lesser and lesser so each of the nine Orders of Angels are of a lesse proportion of light than other and their preheminence in light is ever more diminished by little as it is remote from the body that giveth it that light and life Then as we see the lesser boughes which by a subdivision do proceed from those armes of the tree do immediately spring out of them but have a place diâ—â—inguished from them although they are continued and no way disjoynted or seperated fâ—om them either in substance or essence So also the Olympick or Aetheriall Angells have their lights and souls poured out from the Emperiall diversly and that according unto severall measures and againâ— they send forth their beams or bâ—ight effluâ—nces from the starry Orbes which they possesse and illuminate unto the elementary spirits which have dominion over the winds with their legionâ— which we compare unto the many twigs which spring out of the said boughes for as the twigs are small in substance in regard of the bough and yet are continuate unto the bough and have all one naturall life so those Angels are not so illuminated as the Olympick Spirits as also the Olympick Spirits are not so bright and affluent in divine riches as those angelical Intelligences which approach the
of the Israelites through the Desart Ne exacerbes eum quia non feret defectionem vestram quoniam nomen meum est in eo Do not displease him for he will not endure your defections or errours for my name is in him Whereby it is evident that this princely Angell which is taken for this Emanation from Jah elsewhere hath a double property but his greatest inclination is to preserve the creature which it made The third cognomination is Elohim and the bright port through which the reflecting beames of his property do stream forth is called in Hebrew Binah in Latine Prudentia in English Prudency And this name Elohim according to the Cabalisticall interpretation doth signifie fear and terror because they have observed that by this property or attribute of God there happeneth unto each world punishments and stratagems for under this denomination JEHOVA doth exercise his power as well for the sudden alteration of the world as unto the punishment of the wicked And therefore the Spirits which do receive this divine influence are called Been Elohim the sons of Elohim which are his instruments in the Elementary world for the effecting of his will in this property By virtue whereof also the commotions of the waters were made in the first creation and the production of them out of the dark Chaos which was not effected but by the extream contradiction and oppugnancy which happened between the fire and the water and consequently not without the dreadfull dissention and warre of the Elements causing terror and many thundering commotions in the dark abysse or deformed waters when each word Fiat was divinely uttered For it was by the Spagericall or high Chymicall virtue of the word and working of the Spirit that the separation of one region from another and of the distinction of one formal virtue from another was effected or made of the which business the Psalmist meaneth where he saith By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the Spirit from his mouth each virtue thereof Ye may therefore perceive that the whole power of the Cabalisticall Tree is comprehended in these three first branches no otherwise then the typicall world is comprehended in the Archetype which consisteth in a triple property most aptly referred unto the Trinity of Persons For therein the intelligible world doth import that which seaven doth in this materiall and watery world For 2 is the root of Matter as 3 is the root of Form As therefore 1 is the formall root unto three and the materiall root unto 2 So verily is 2 the materiall root unto 4 and therefore 4 which is the Symbole or character of matter and 3 the figure of form being added together produce the universall substance of the world consisting of form and matter we must therefore with diligence observe that those three first denominations do belong unto these properties whereby JEHOVA did create the three first daies work wherein the whole world with his heavens and elements were crâ—â—â—ed and received their due positions The seaven following branches of the Sephiroticall Tree do appertain unto those various alterations or mutations as well propitious as unfortunate unto the creatures which do befall them in this world being thus compleated and finished by the virtuous properties of the three precedent emanations or streamings forth of the divine beames Wherefore the fourth branch of this Tree hath for his President the gentle and mercifull attribute of God or JEHOVA called EL whose bright port numeration or channell by which it poureth forth its beames into the world is for that cause styled Chesed in Hebrew which in Latine is Clementia in English Clemency because the divine influence which shineth out of it is full of grace benignity life and goodness as by the consequence it shall appear For it is the fountain from the which the good and fortunate Planet Jupiter receiveth his benevolent Emanantion or beams of life this name therefore Moses used for the healing of Miriam when she was made leprous for her disobedience saying El na rapha na la Deus gratiae quaeso sana illam The fifth name which is assigned unto the first branch of the Cabalisticall Tree is called Elohim Gibbor and it is an attribute which sendeth malevolent and unwholsome influence down unto the creatures making disturbances and troubles in the world by Thunders Lightnings Comets Warrs Contentions Anger Pestilence and hot diseases c. And the celestiall magazine of this influence is the Planet Mars for this reason therfore the port or channell through which this fiery influx doth immediatly stream forth is called in Hebrew Gehurah which importeth power force violence The next branch or numeration being the sixth hath for its Lord the name Eloach whose influxion or emanations are full of life and golden beauty and therefore the trunck or port by which it passeth is tearmed Tiphereth in Hebrew which noteth Grace ornament beauty and delight By the golden emanation which floweth from this channell the visible Sun of this world receiveth his bright beauty and is adorned with that admirable vivifying virtue which by effect doth manifest and testifie it self unto the whole world And this is that Grace and ornament of which Job meaneth when he saith Spiritu suo ornavit coelos He adorneth the heavens with the beauty of his Spirit The seventh divine cognomination or attribute is JEHOVA Seboath which is as much as to say the God of Armies the God of jubilation rest and perfection therefore the port or channell by which his beames or irradiations do pass is called Netzeth which signifieth triumph and victory as also Justice Charity and Love and therefore the influence of generation and multiplication and delight issueth from this emanation which maketh the rowling Globe of the celestiall Venus his store-house The eighth name is Elohim Saboth or Deus exercituum the God of Armies and his port or channell by the which he sendeth forth the influxes or beames of this his property into his celestiall treasury which is the Globe of Mercury is called by them Hod or praise honour and formosity by which afterwards he operateth in this property by his will on the earth by changeable and mutable effects The ninth Elohai that is the Living God or Sadal that is the Omnipotent God and his numeration or the gate or channell by which he sendeth down his bright influences is called Jesod that is to say the basis or foundation Redemption or rest and these are received by the Sphere of the Moon which is as were the celestiall earth unto the which all the influences in generall do fall and this is the reason that it is subject to so many and divers mutations The effects whereof as well to generation as corruption is observed on the Earth and in the Sea The last name or attribute is Adonai or Dominus and his port or gate by which he sendeth forth his illuminations or the active beames
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
thereof with the burning fire of this nature or property making the starry Globe of Mars their residence from whence they poure out their influences unto the Elementary spirits which are of that nature The next emission of divine beams is out of the gate or channell Tipherith over which the Divine Attribute ELOAH hath dominion and these are infused immediatly into the Angelicall order of the Virtues so called because the divine Virtue doth shine forth of it For as Isidorus saith The Angells of this order do receive illumination purgation and perfection from God And this order doth send them down by the Archangell Michael which signifieth Quis tanquam Deus into the next region below the Sphere of Mars and there these golden and vivifying beams do inform and animate such bright intelligences with their like property as do dwell-in and Illuminate the visible Sun in heaven and therefore are termed Solar spirits from whence this mighty Archangell which is called Câ—stos animarum the keeper or preserver of living souls doth order that they be hourly poured out into the Elementary region to vivify and refresh those spirits which are formed out after their own image and nature The seventh effluxion or irradiation is out of the Sephiroticall port of Netzeth over which the Attribute of God JEHOVA ZEBAOTH is Lord and they pass immediatly into the Angelicall order of Principalities And this influence is committed to the Archangell Anaol's custody who conducteth them down into the next Sphere below the Sun where it animates according unto his good property all such Olympick spirits which do inhabit the Globe and Sphere of Venus which are therefore tearmed Venerian Spirits from whence the like vigour and force is sent out unto the Creation of Elementary spirits of the nature of these formal influences which are radically sent down from the divine influence The next flux of divine beams issue from the spout or channell called HOD over which the Attribute Elohim Zebaoth is Preâ—ident and descendeth immediatly down unto the order of Archangells and from thence is conducted downward by the Archangell Raphael into the next Sphere below Venus and there it createth and continually vivifieth those Olympick spirits which possesse and adorn the Orbe or Globe of Mercury and are therefore termed Mercuriall spirits which send down such mutable and changeable influences to animate those Elementary spirits which were created first by this Attribute and therefore do Sympathise with the nature of such beams as are sent down from this Sephiroticall gate The ninth effluxion or irradiation springeth out from the eternall fountain by the bright port Jesod whose Rector or President is the Attribute Sadai and passeth down unto the order of Angels and is committed unto the custody and conveyance of the Archangell Gabriel who directeth it downward unto the lowest aethereal or starry Orbe where it animateth those spirits which inhabit the Globe of the Moon and are thereupon styled Lunary spirits from whence they rain down showers of these influences upon such spirits or demons in the Elementary world as have received their Creation from the influences of this Property in God The last effluxion or flowing and streaming forth of the Divine beams is effected by the channell or gate Malchut whose President is the divine Attribute Adonai and this descendeth immediatly according unto the Cabalists opinion into the order of the blessed Souls from whence they deem them to be conducted directly into the Elementary world By the continuity therefore of thse severall and opposite irradiations or emanations of beams from God unto the Imperiall Angells and from them unto the Olympick spirits and so continuated from these unto the Elementary spirituall shapes or demons we may gather thus much namely first that God doth onely operate essentially all in all in and over all next that according unto the variety of his Volunty he worketh diversly in this world and therefore we must know that his Volunty is manifold in property because that thinge are effected as well in heaven as in earth after a manifold operation wherefore if God operateth all and in all the diversity of his work must proceed from the multiplicity of his Volunty And for this reason Hermes saith Voluntas Dei summa est rerum perfectio quam necessitas sequitur necessitatem verò concom tatur effectus The Volunty of God is the highest perfection of things which necessity doth follow and the effect doth accompany the necessity So that what God doth will must be perfect and consequently the effect must follow of neâ—essity And therefore he concludeth that God accomplisheth at an instant of time both his will and the effect thereof But what he would not have that cannot be and therefore what existeth in rerum natura of what property soever it be it is effected according unto the will or Volunty of one of these Divine Attributes Neque saith he credibâ—le est Deo displic â—urum esse quod placuit cum futurum id placâ—turum mulio ante sciverit Neither is it credible that that should displease God which did please him bâ—ing that he did know long before both the thing that was to come and what should be pleasant unto him And therefore Solomon Could any thing exist which thou wouldâ—st not have to be Thirdly That according unto the variety of his divine Volunty things were created the one either Sympathising spiritually in affection with another or Antipathysing among themselves by reason of beams of a contrary disposition according unto the concordant or opposit nature of the Angelicall irradiation or shining out of the beams of one spirituall creature another which contrariety of conditions did proceed from the varieties of properties which is in the Volunty or will of one and the same radicall and eternall Essence Thus therefore were all creatures in the world as well spirituall as corporall composed and thus were they vivified and animated by beams the one either contrarie unto the other or else by reason of their concordance and likeness of nature rejoycing greatly when they meet together by irradiation of all one influence And we must know and understand that although each creature had his radicall information by these Emanations yet in their generations and multiplications they may vary from the condition of their created or generated Parents by the uniting together of two different irradiations at the hour of their birth So therefore cometh it to pass that a man both in shape and condition may be unlike unto his Parents a horse more fierce or sluggish then his sire a plant or fruit more lax waterish or unwholsome then the stock from whence the seed or sap came and consequently by the application of Angelicall beams of an opposite nature in the birth of a man it may happen that the radiation of a plant or flower or beast or such like thing may for ever Antipathise with this man which did aptly agree and Sympathise
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
we see that as well there are good beams or benigne spirits which by a secret and hidden Emanation do stream forth from the fountain of the winds namely those which are poured out by JEHOVA's benigne Attributes as are El by Jupiter Eloach by the Sun Sadai by Venus and then Michael Raphael Gabriel c. do by their Legions execute God's Will And there are bad and corrupt or privative emission of spirits of a contrary fortitude from the winds which have their Originall from Elohim Elohim Gibbor and Adonaia which make Saturn Mars and the Moon their store-house neither would I have any one to wonder that I should derive the multiplicity of the good and the bad properties which are effected by the winds from one Divine essence which imparteth his Will by the diversity of his lively properties unto the 4 Archangells since the Prophet saith Vem spiritus à quatuor ventis insuffla interfectos istos ut revivi scant Come O Spirit from the four winds and breathe on these slain persons that they may live again Here the Prophet acknowledgeth that it is but one essentiall vivifying Spirit that effecteth all this and consequently that the four opposite properties in the four Angells which are the Governors of the winds are the influences or essentiall beams of one and the same Spirit of life in essence By reason of these spirits of a contrary fortitude in the aire sometimes good and propitious events befall the creatures of this lower world namely when the good spirits raigne and wholsome winds do blow which happen when the benign starrs and Planets have dominion in heaven and consequently their influences below and again somtimes bad and dysastrous accidents armed with privative and destructive effects befall the creatures of this Elementary region by reason of severe emissions of beams from the winds which animate those evill spirits that in infinite multitudes do hover though invisible in the aire who are rejoyced and revived at the blasts which issue from the stations of their cruell Princes and are as it were summons and all-arms to stir and excite them unto wrath and to blow the coles of their sleeping malice All this we may gather from this speech extracted out of Joseph Castaliensis A terra usque ad firmamentum non est locus vacuus sed omne plenum formis ex illis purae ex illis capaces gratiae ac mâ—serationum sunt infernis multae effigies foedae noxiae tentatrices omnes commorantes volantes in aëâ—e Et non a terra usque in coelum locus vacuus quin totum sunt species ex iis ad pacem ex iis ad bellum ex iis ad bonum ex iis ad malum ex iis ad vitam ex iis ad mortem omne id in habitatione inferiori in qua nos sumus From the earth unto the firmament there is not a void place but all is full of forms Of the which some are pure and some are capable of grace and mercy and there are beneath many foul hurtfull and tempting shapes and of all these do abide and flie up and down in the aire And from the earth unto the heaven there is not one sparâ— place but all is full of forms whereof some are enclined to peace some to war some of them are given to goodness some to naughtiness and some of them are Agents to life and some unto death and all this chanceth in the lower habitation in the which we are c. Whereby he signifieth that the whole air is replenished as well with spirits of darknesse as with spirits of light And therefore there is a continuall conflict made here below betwixt these spirits of opposit conditions Whereof the one do attend upon their Prince of darknesse being alwaies ready to accomplish his behests and consequently are very familiar unto the humid nature or matter of the world which is the child of the dark Chaos and for that cause have naturally a great dominion and power over it which by reason of its inclination unto darkness is easy to be tempted and allured from the Society of formal Light And hereupon the materiall world the flesh and the Devill are joyned together as also Satan is termed by the Apostle the Prince of the aire which is the off-spring of the waters from whence the materiall substance of the world was taken The other do wait on the Prince of Light their Master who is the eternall Wisdom which springeth from the bright word of eternity And these two dignify the world with life and do employ their greatest care to animate vivify and preserve it with such salutary beams as they receive immediatly from the eternall Emanation or fiery Word in which is the essence of life and being By this means therefore namely from the opposition of these two spirits of a contrary fortitude all the passions in the spirit and consequently of the Soul yea and body as well of the great world and all the creatures therein as of the little world have their immediate beginning namely the good passions as are joy charity hope confidence misericord humanity in the little world which are caused by dilatation of the heart and concord appetite Sympathy desire or concupiscence delight audaâ—ity jucundity caused by dilatation from the Center unto the circumference and by consequence Anâ—ipathy in the great world And again the bad passions in the little world's spirit as are sadness hatred desperatness timidity anger furor and bashfulness which arise from the contraction of the heart and in the great world and his creatures as are stupidity or congelation discord hatred irascibility fear c. and in conclusion Antipathy which comes by contracting from the circumference unto the Center All which are certain passions either well affecting and reviving the vital spirits with comfort by dilatation of those spirits with the beams of a kind of joy and delight or else choaking or suffocating them with the gloomy fog of darkness by contracting of those spirits with the mist of grief or privative sadness CHAP. V. What Actions in the Spirit or Soul in generall do produce Sympathy and what Antipathy How Sympathy or Compassion proceedeth from a certain dilatation of spirits in two or more particulars or an emitting of their internall beams of life or essence positively and benignly from the Center unto the Circumference attempting thereby to make a concord or union betweâ—â—â—wo or more like or homogenial natures and contrariwise Antipathy by contracting the said beams from the Circumference unto the Center moveth after an opposite manner namely by division or discord that is quite contrary unto the beams of the other which are emitted I Have signified unto you first in my precedent discourse that two properties were Archetypically or Ideally and after a complicite manner comprehended in one radicall Unity or Essence namely the one effected by its Nolunty the other by its Volunty Lo here
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
greater and of more force by how much the nearer the spirits of the things either present or dispersed are in nature and consanguinity to one another As for example If that both be of one minier or thing in number also like specifick individualls though they differ in number as the Uznea fat or blood of one man do sympathise with another ad distans the Load-stone of one Mine may affect harmonically the Iron of another ad distans And I told you before the true reason thereof as well radicall as immediate namely because both the natures belong unto one divine influence or proceed from angelicall beams or an emanation sent forth from one and the same star as well fixed namely of the firmament or eighth sphear as erratick and planetary For I told you that there is not one animal or vegetable or mineral upon the earth or in the seas which hath not a peculiar star that poureth out upon him his proper influence as well to produce and generate its like and to continue it in succession as to preserve and maintain it in essence Now each angelicall nature hath his appropriated beams from the radicall emanation of some divine Attribute which conveyeth it to his destinated or starry store-house and from the Olympick spirits of that star it is sent down unto such spirits in the elements as are their inferiour ministers which operate according unto the self-same nature in each specifick and every individuall there As for example The stars in the Ram or Aries of the Zodiack have chiefest influence over such like cattle on the earth and the Scorpion over the like creeping things thereof the Crab over such like creatures of the sea for we finde by experience that if the Crab be taken when the Sun and Moon do joyne together according unto the Longitude or degree of the Aequinoctiall in which the great star of the celestiall Crab's claw is found it is of mighty vertue and power against poyson and if it be collected or taken at another time it will have but small effect Again we must note that each fixt star or constellation of the Zodiack hath his proper Planet whose peculiar House he is which concurreth in the fortification and alteration of that influence For the diversity of application of other Planets unto it doth cause a variety of operation even in the same animals sperm or plants seed and mettles secret spirit And yet howsoever they do more or less agree and sympathize in nature as the beams of each Planet so applying unto one another will give them leave for if the concurrence be between friendly Planets and of one and the same triplicity namely where their Houses are of friendly elements then the sympathy will be the stronger And thus much Agrippa doth seem to intimate in these words In rebus proprietates occultas non ab elementali natura sed caelitus in sitas sensibus nostris occultas rationi vix denique notas quae quidem à vita spirituque mundi per ipsos stellarum radios proficiscuntur quae à nobis non aliter quam experientia conjecturis indagarâ— possunâ— Scire ergo debes quod unaquaeqâ—e res movet ad suum simile incâ—inat aa seipsum secundum totum posse suum The occult properties in things which are not grafted in them by an Elementary nature but descend from heaven are hidden from our sâ—nses and scarcely known unto our reason Forasmuch as they are derived from the life and spirit of the world by the beams of â—he starrs the which cannot be otherwise scanned and found out by us than by experience and that conjecturally or by ghesse You must therefore know that every thing doth move unto his like and by all the means possible dâ—th incâ—ine unto it self c. Whereby he argueth that the catholick Angelicall spirit which vivifieth the world in whose Diviner part cosisteth the Sephiroticall power or Virtue of all the Divine Attributes in which also as Ezekiel testifieth is contained the virtues of the four wind is the main actor who by his severall subdivided emissions of diversly conditioned beams doth operate in and by his starry Organs all these occult and hidden effects below which cannot fall into the Sphere or capacity of a common man's understanding though by effect we find it to be thus and thus So that there is not a particular beam that is emitted from it which hath not a secret disposed act no otherwise varying from one another than by ocular experience we find the effects of them to differ For whatsoever was originally decreed in the secret Counsell of the Archetype is effected from a generality unto many Specialities and from each Speciality unto an infinit number of individuall particularities So that the aeviall or Angelicall effect is the image of the eternall Idea and the temporall world is the similitude of the aeviall and again in the temporall or typicall world every stellar shape is the likenesse or paterne of the Angelicall Idea and again the Elementary things are the shadows of the spirituall shapes or Images in heaven Wherefore as God sendeth out his Emanation which is his Image unto the Angelicall world in a diversity of fashions and multiplicity of respects So the Angelicall spirits do send out their severall different Lights unto each other namely every order unto his inferior and every upper Sphere unto the Spheres which are below them and so from the starrs whiâ—h also apply their lights unto one another by severall aspects infusing them in and upon the creatures by degrees downward even unto the very Center of the earth which creatures after the manner of their pattern do also shine forth unto one another by beams which are either Sympathetical and harmonious or Antipathetical and discordant to each other neither ought we to doubt that there are such agreeing and disagreeing beams here below seeing that in the fountain of Unity from whence all things do flow we observe an opposition of properties namely a privative Nolunty and a positive Volunty Nor yet ought we to deem otherwise then that the passive spirituall matter of the world's soul is the substject by which the Divine Virtue worketh and in which it stirreth up as well loving and positive or good and Sympatheticall passions by pouring out plentifully his positive and vivifying beams of life adding delight and joyes with a completion of the spirituall created matter 's appetite So that it forgetteth the rooted nature which its dark Parents or Mother Chaos and the Divine Puissance did in her nativity bestow upon it and is converted into a child of Light by adoption and therefore in this case it doth Sympathize with those golden showers of charitable and vivifying Light which are sent down from the benigne attributes of God and begins to hate and dread and lothe or eschew all such privative influences as are poured down from the severe insalutary and destructive attributes no otherwise then
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
being too wary and listning overmuch unto the Proverb Noli alium sâ—perâ— Câ—imbe not too 〈◊〉 have their regard more pronely namely upon the earth and her effects onely and of this ranck is Fracastorius who searching after the reason and beginning of this attracting faculty doth imagine that the Hyperboreall mountaines which abound with rocks of this nature do draw these Iron-natured subâ—â—cts unto them And this his figment seemeth so plausible unto divers persons of learning that they follow it as well in their Astronomicall writings as Geographicall tables or descriptions of the world and Sea-cards or maps which if it were tâ—ue they would easily draw unto them all such Ships as pass in the Northern Seas Olaus Magnus and some other that follow his traditions say that the attâ—active force cometh from some northern Islands which abound in that Magnetick subject But leaving their fancy unto the empty wind I pâ—oceed unto others Lucretius Caâ—us a poet of the Epicurean Sect dreameth that the attraction of Iron is caused of an effluxion of atoms For saith he according unto the Epicures opinions as most subtill atoms do emanate and â—â—ow out from every thing even so do atoms â—lie out of the Iron as Magneticall seeds by a certain coition of it with the Load stone into the interposed place or space that is between them and that by the union or complication of both bodies the iron is drawn c. Unto this sense also do Aphrodiseus Joannes Costâ—us Plutarch yea and Thomas Aquinas incline when indeed they ought to know that no attraction is made by emission from the Center unto the Circumference that is by dilatation but rather by sucking in and contracting from the Circumference unto the Center and therefore the emission of atomicall seeds out of the Iron can be no reason of its Union with or moving to the stone But it must be the Load-stone that must draw the beams or spirits out of the Iron For it appeareth that the Iron doth not draw it self unto the Load-stone but is drawn unto it Thales and Anaxagoras think that the Load-stone hath life in it because it attracteth a substance like it self as lively creatures do Lucâ—etiuâ— and Orpheus think there is that Sympathy between the Magnet and the Iron which is between the male and female and in this they erre not much Averroes Scaliger and the Cardinal Cusanus would have Iron to move unto the Load-stone as unto his originall Mattix Galen thinketh that it draweth by his substantiall form And now I must come unto the opinion of my renowned Fellow or Collegue D. William Gilbert for his Magnetick skill and deep search as well contemplative as experimentall touching this Subject His mind is that this attractive virtue in the Load-stone doth spring from formall actions or originall and primary Virtues or vigours For he concludeth that the Magnetick force proceedeth from a particular or singular form differing from that formall and specifick cause in mixt bodies mentioned by the Peripateticks but saith he it is a certain form which is the proper entity and existence of the starry Globes and their homogeniall incorrupted parts which he calleth the Primarie radicall and astreall Form namely such a one as is in the Sun the Moon and other celestiall Stars And he averreth that after a like manner there is one in the earth which is that true Magneticall Puissance which is called the first act or vigor And this he saith is not derived from the whole heaven affirming that it is procreated by Sympathy through influence or occult qualities neither is it from any peculiar starre For it hath its Magneticall virtue from the earth c. This is my learned quondam Fellow-Collegue his opinion whose pains and industry in the research of this Subject's practicall conclusions as I cannot but commend and extol So on the contrary side reason will not permit me to consent unto this his speculative foundation or root of the Load-stone's virtue in all For who can believe that the earth it self much less the particulars thereof can have any Virtue radically from it self when it is evident that as well the earth as the heavens came radically out of the waters And therefore as the heaven was before the earth it must needs follow that the formall Virtue of the earth did totally descend from heaven and consequently the earth had no such property from it self But of this hereafter more at large Among the Ethnick Philosophers Plato and of the Christians Scaliger and Fernelius do think that the cause of this Attraction is Divine and from above but how and after what manner they express not And therefore though in a generality they have spoken the truth yet in these common words they seem to expresse they know not what In particular I will conclude with the last opinion which is the most idle and insufficient of all the rest and therefore is worthy to be made the last and most unworthy part namely the tayl or excrement of them Franciscus Rucus maketh a great doubt concerning the wonderfull property in the Load-stone and because forsooth the pitch of his capacity can attain no higher then unto Superficiall things and such as are subject unto sense therefore he judgeth all effects beyond his reach to be Cacomagicall and consequently he maketh a doubt whether the cause of these actions in the Load-stone be not an impostury or subtill slight of the Cacodemons or evill spirits And yet this man is more to be born withall then such as do boldly averre that the act and wonderfull effects of the Weapon Salve is cacomagicall For he speaketh not absolutely as they do who without any farther doubting do seem to attribute all hidden effects unto the Divell and so deprive God of his due but onely this man maketh a doubt whether it be so or no. CHAP. II. In this Chapter the Author's Opinion touching the originall intermediate and immediate Action or Virtue of the Load-stone is enucleated and set down at large I Am sure you do remember how in my precedent discourse I have demonstrated that God in a generality doth operate all and in all and then after what manner the self-same Unity in the Divine essence is manifested in its property according unto the multiplicity of his sacred Volunty which is therefore proved to be manifold because the particular effects of his actions which are not put in execution but by his Volunty are infinite in Variety And for this cause I shewed unto you that there are attributed unto one and the same sacred essence Ten severall denominations or Attributes whereof some send out emanations of dilatation and extension by the which the waters were expansed and spread abroad by subtiliation and shaped into bright clear and transparent heavens and of such kind of influences are those which are emitted and infused into the world by HOCHMA through JAH or by the Spirit of Wisdome and those which spring forth from ELOAH
after an Astrologicall manner seemeth to aver so much in these words Si alâ—cu datum esset totam conditionem coelestis harmoniae comprehendere mundum elementorum cum suis singulis contentis in quocunque loco quocunque tempore plene cognosceret tanquam causatum per causas si etâ—am aliquam rem hujus mundi in tota sua conditione cognosceret coelestis harmoniae conditio ipsum non lateret sed etiam causam tanquam per effectum suum comprehenderet omnis enâ—mâ—res quanâ—umcunque modica in mundo elementorum agens totius coelestis harmoniae est effectus Whosoever doth comprehend the whole condition of the celestiall harmony he may fully know the whole elementary world with every content of the same in every place and at all times as the effect by the cause Also if he understand any thing of this world in his totall nature and condition the celestiall disposition and condition will not be hidden from him but will be discovered unto him as the cause is by the effect For every thing in this world how little soever it be that acteth is the effect of the whole harmony of the heaven By which words Alkindus being deeply seen in the mystery of nature seemeth to aver that as there is a descent from unity unto multitude so all that multitude is in that unity as also that unity filleth all the multitude so is 1 in 2 and 2 in 3 and 3 in 4 and 4 in 5 c. and yet that unity which is the beginning is the end and all in all So light enforms the angelicall creature the angelicall the starry creature the starry creature the elements and the elements the compound creature Wherefore open the compound creature and look upon the elements divide the Elements and you shall find the starry and quintessentiall nature open these and you shall conceive the subtill alterity of the Angelicall spirit in which is the Divine act or immediate beam from God In this work therefore there concurreth in the separation of the first a sensible aspect in the other we must behold with intellectuall eies So that you may observe how all is in every thing and every thing in all Hereupon it was also that Hermes said speaking mystically and not after the common sense Qui fornacem cum vase nostro construit novum mundum conflat He which maketh our furnace with the glass to it he maketh a new world But what needs more words when we find all this confirmed by demonstration For we know that the Load-stone is but a part of the Earth and yet it hath all his Circles and both his Poles yea and that very nature in all respects between each Pole and Circle that the whole Earth hath and thereupon it is termed Terrella or a little Earth and so may the whole earth be tearmed parvus mundus being it containeth the Poles circles and astrall yea and Elementall natures of the great world no otherwise then the great world doth in all those respects represent the Archetype which is carved out intellectually in the all-working Spirit of Wisdom or sacred Emanation yea and we go yet deeper into our diminutives For if a piece of Iron rod which naturally aspecteth the North and South be brok off that small piece will have also as exactly his North and South Pole and consequently his circles as the whole rod and nevertheless the rod keepeth still his North and South point as before The like in the Load-stone will happen as experience shall hereafter make it appeare more plainly That we may come a little nearer to the explication of this Mystery ye must understand that this eternall catholick Emanation is the essentiall and spirituall rock out of which first the great world in generall and then all particular things therein were carved or framed by generalities first according unto the Ten generall Emanations and their properties which the Ethnicks in some sort referred unto their Ten generall Predicaments and this again had their specialities or subalternate degrees of many ranks and orders of dignities all which were at last made apparent by the infinity of individualls which they did in their kinds produce according unto those divers beams of the multiplicite Will or Volunty of God which this eternall Emanation poured out into them All which particular beams more or lesse being not divided in essence from the universall Emanation or the Spirit of Wisdome which made all things are the spirituall Corner-stone on which every creature as well particular as universall doth formally or essentially consist and this Corner-stone is that internall essence in every thing which as it giveth life so also it is all and over all the things that it inacteth with life and therefore also the soul whose Center this Corner-stone is is said to be in all and every part I will leave to speak of its action in other creatures and will onely insist on our main Subject in hand which is the earth and her off-spring or progenie amongst the which the feminine Load-stone and his ferruginous mass are chiefly reckoned Divine Philosophy teacheth us that the Globe of the Earth is sustained by this Corner-stone and consequently hath her manifold Virtues from it Ubinam eras saith JEHOVAH quando fundebam terram quis disposuit mensuras ejus aut quis extendit super eam lineam Super quo bases ejus defixae sunt Aut quis jecit lapidem ejus Angularem Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth Who disposed of the measures thereof and who did extend over it a line upon what basis or foundation was it sustained or who laid the corner-stone thereof In the Weather-glass which I have described in my precedent Philosophicall discourse you may discerne two points corresponding unto the two Poles namely the mattras head above resembling the Northern Pole and the water below compared to the Southern Pole the aire interposed betwixt them unto the spatious heaven or sublunary spirit which is betwixt these two Poles the middle of which in the figure 1. the Aequinoctiall doth â—ut as being in the mid-way betwixt the two Poles We find evermore that when the aire included in the top of the Mattras or bolts-head is cold namely when the northern blasts are sent forth it will be contracted and consequently will suck or draw up the water and thereupon we are taught the reason of the attractive nature not onely in the northern or septentrionall winds but also in the Load-stone and all other things which by contraction of the aire do draw and suck unto them namely that they have that property from the power of Gods Spirit which by his angelicall organs doth blow from the north By this also it is made evident why one Pole doth suck and attract from the other in the Load stone namely by the continuity of the spirituall axle-tree which is made and animated by one corner-stone or essentiall and centrall spirit
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
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
that lives not far off from Aâ—x in Prâ—vence is fresh yet in every mouth of that place that with the like philtre did infect the whole City with so desperate a plague that it did destroy moâ—t of the people theâ—eof onely they were preserved and cured when this Hermit pleased who for that cause was styled by thâ— name of Holy Hermit for as he pâ—ysoned the hammers of each of the dores so that whosoever knocked with them was foâ—thwith infected he that poysoned had his counter-poyson to cure This devillish peâ—son was at the last discovered and burnt alive as he well deserved By the like stratagem a little before my comming into Provâ—nce the plague was brought into Tu in in Piamont by certain lewd persons who suffered for it their flesh being torn from them by hot fiery pincers Also lately by the strewing of a venoâ—ous powder the plague was multiplyed in Millan the conspirators disâ—overed and executed And thus by these wicked inventions the internall spirits of men were infected and the externall aire polluted Neither can this to the true Naturalist apppear strange since it is proved by experience that a wholsome aire is oftentimes converted by a venomous blast of the southern winde â—nto a corrupted and contagious disposition and the aire that was pure and unpolluted is now by the pestiferous breath of a plaguy person or the infectiâ—â— carbuncle or both inquinated and made venomous and that aire so corrupted will also corrupt his next aery neighbour which was â—ound and healthfull before Let us but observe how the infected spirit of the plaguy person or one possessed with the small Pox or Measels Ptisick or Ophthalmy or blear eyes doth infect the spirit of a sound man at a good distance and the Leprosy Epilepsy French-Pox by an immediate contact and we shall find how that which was created wholsom and salutary in man is become contaminating and venomous by disorder What therefore shall I say must we conclude that we must abandon our own nature because it may be made infectious and deadly unto us Nay must we therefore esteem human nature to be therefore abhominable and abhorred of man because the witches and sorcerers do by the devills doctrine and instructions make use of mans flesh hair nailes excrements blood yea and of both his spirituall and corporall Mummy to bâ—ing their wicked purposes and inchantments to pass That this is so we find it as well maintained by History as daily practise observed amongst the witches for Apuleius who for his magicall relations was censured by some to be a witch telleth how his sweet-heart â—otis was by her mistress being a notorious witch sent into a Barbers shop secretly for mens hair to employ it about her witchcraft Also he sheweth that it was a thing so frequent in those daies by reason of the abundance of sorceresses which abode in Thessaâ—y to have watch-men with store of lights to attend upon the dead corses or corps immediately after their death to hinder and prevent the witches which used to come in secretly by night in the form of Weasels and such like shapes to steal away some part of the carcase to serve their turns about their wicked art Moreover it is a common thing amongst them and the Necromancers to frequent the Church-yards and to visit the graves of such as are dead either for some part of them or else for a piece of their winding-sheet or of the coffin wherein they were buried by reason of the spirituall Mummy which sticketh unto them to effect their ceremonies and naughty devices It hath been confessed by a witch that destroyed a Noblemans children of this Land that she could have no power over one of them till she had recovered an old glove that it wore and afterward she had power over it the reason was because of the relation which the spirituall Mummy of the child that entered by sweat into the glove had with that of the body no otherwise than that spirit upon the weapon hath unto the spirit of the wounded body so that as that fareth either in hot or cold distempers so also it fared with the spirit in the wound as it appeared when the ax or weapon was uncovered by chance the wound would be dolorous and distempered with cold and when of purpose part of the oyntment was pared off from the weapon that part of the wound which corresponded unto it would ake and be troubled so also the witches applying their naughty venom unto the Mummy in the glove shooe or other part of the worn-shirt smock sock or such like do produce their venomous effect afar off We read also in cacomagicall books in what esteem the members of young children were among enchanters and especially their skin of which after many diabolicall and necromanticall consecrations they create their virgin parchment on which they write the names of god of the angels they invoke and the character of the planet or star unto which they do belong Must therefore the magnetick effect of mans nature or spirituall Mummy with his like be esteemed damnâ—ble and diabolicall because the mystery thereof is by the devill revealed unto witches and the secret pâ—operty thereof converted unto an evill sense and unchristian-like use Must aire be refused and banished from man because it may be by bad means corrupted and so be made to kil or is fire to be excluded as condemnable for that it being ill applyed proveth now destructive which being rightly applyed doth cherish and comfort If by contaminating or changing our spirituall Mummy into a contagious and venomous disposition we infect another as one plaguy person poysoneth anoâ—her ad distans and one house on fire setteth fire unto another though it be not contiguous or touching must therefore the use of the aire and fire be condemned and banished from mans use Or must Gods fire from heaven be abhorred because Satan made use of it in a destructive sense and for the ruine of Job's possession Shall I say the occult property of the spirituall Mummy and the admirable efficacy of mans spirit in wholsome and salutary uses be therefore eschewed and abhorred because by infection it may be converted to a poysonsome disposition Shall a good sword which is ordained for the defence and safeguard of its master bâ—â—herefore broke and cast away because a bad man killeth another with it A good thing being ill applyed may do harm The influence and light of the heavenly Sun in the which is the spiracle of life being ill received doth sometime breed unnaturall effects yea the devill himself maketh use of it to serve his use at severall seasons and yet neither it nor his vertues can for all that be esteemed diabolicall In like manner if we descend from the animal sphear unto the vegetable and mineral we find that the notorious Enchantress Medaea made speciall use in her enchantments as also the same is related of other sorcerers and witches of herbs
that soul in man extend it self far beyond the capacity of flesh and blood and therefore is onely intellectually to be understood By the fifth that each particle of mans blood or spirituall Mummy being divided from the whole hath all the parts or proportions in it ideally described that the whole hath and therefore doth operate as well with a northern as southern aspect and consequently draweth down from the heavens a like property as occasion is given For so this one Spirit is said to come from the four winds and yet it is but one spirit in essence though four-fold in property for it was by the vertue of it that the dead mentioned by the Prophet did rise again And therefore so far as the north wind or south winds extension may be so far is this spirit in man able to send forth his spirituall beam I will come now unto the proof of the second Touching the second Article which sheweth the acute penetration of this spirit and that it is effected without any impediment contrary unto some ignorant persons opinion who think that castles stones woods hills and such like may hinder the penetration of this subtle and all-penetrating spirit The proof is made by these problematicall demonstrations Demonstrations confirming this Member's second Article 1 Problem Neither fire nor water nor earth can hinder the ingressive action or piercing vertue of the Load-stone upon the Iron being it is proved by experience that it sucketh and draweth it unto him quite through them as for example If a candle or flame of fire be interposed between the Load-stone and a small piece of wyer you shall find the piece of Iron will leap quite through the flame unto the Load-stone In like manner the Needle on his turn-pin will for all the interposition of a flame turn unto the Load-stone and that with the same celerity that it would do in the open aire So that you may see by this experiment that the coition of these magneticall bodies are not hindred by fire Also if water or earth be interposed between them it will do the like There is another Problem which expresseth the unresistable penetrative vertue of this more effectually in these terms 2 Problem Iron is allured onely by an immateriall act or an incorporeall process which doth operate and is conceived in an Iron subject as in a continuated homogeniall body and therefore it hath no need of large or wide passages And for this reason the Iron is moved and drawn by the Load-stone it self and again the Iron doth draw the Load-stone it self and a concourse or a meeting together in a unity is made by their beams although that thiâ—k bodies be interposed as sticklers between them So that you see that the putting or applying of thiâ—k subâ—tances between the Iron and the Load-stone cannot hinder the coition of spirits which is a token that the influentiall or formall spirit cannot be impedited in hiâ—â—otion And therefore â—his subtle spirit whiâ—h hath his beginning from the soul of the world is said by the wisest Philosopher Omnia permeare entia â—o pass or travers all things But yet more plainly 3 Problem The Load-stone without any frication or rubbing or being exsiccated by heat or perfused with moysture in the aire in the water doth provoke and allure unto it magneticall subjects and also solid as well-compacted bodies as thick boards or tables of stone or grosse plates of mettle as silver gold or brass being put between And Ridley saith That although such substances as be not magneticall be placed between the Needle and the Load-stone yet they cannot hinder the orbe and proceeding of the magnetick vigour As for example If a Load-stone should be placed in a box of wood stone tinne silver or brass yet the Loadstone will extend his magneticall orbe Application I conclude therefore by this typicall expression that the emissions of mans vitall spirits are so subtle and so piercing that no interposed bodies are able to hinder it in its motion to his pretended mark nor yet the magneticall blood in the oyntment being excited can be hindred in his concouâ—â—e oâ— union with the same southern â—r vivifying spirit and that especially because the formall spirits of the one is continued and homogeneal unto the other I proceed now unto the sixt Member of the foresaid Proposition The sixt Member of the Proposition with the Proofs Sixtly that after a Body be it Animal Vegetable or Mineral is made by a transplantation of another bodies spirits magneticall or a magnet unto that other body it doth by attracting of its beloved's spirits unto it impart unto them of that vertue and property which appertaineth unto it self insomuâ—h that as the lover doth participate with the nature of the beloved so also the beloved doth partake and share with the lover's condition especially if they be homogeneall in kind and reciprocall in affection Certain Problematicall Demonstrations to confirm this member of the fore-said Proposition 1 Problem Quodlibet corpus cui Mummia viva in alio homine propinatur illicò fit magnes Every body to whom the lively Mummy from a man is given or administred is forthwith made a Magnet Application This Problem is animal and not mineral but it inferreth that by the transplanting of mans bloody spirits into the oyntment the oyntment is forthwith become magneticall and attractive even as before I told you that the hair and nails being planted or grafted on the Oke make it forthwith by communicating of the spirits of the one with the spirits of the other attractive and magnetick 2 Problema Magneticum The Load-stone hath nothing neither can do any thing which the Iron being excited cannot do and that not onely by contact but at a reasonable distance Application Neither can the live man's spirit perform any action that the dead blood transplanted in the Salve by the Magneticall assistance of the Salve cannot perform yea verily it goeth yet further for it inspireth into the wound a Sanative influence 3. Problem Iron being touched doth recreate another Iron and instructeth it unto Magneticall motions so that it draweth unto it a third As for example The Load-stone being applied unto A it draweth unto it the piece of wier B and also after B it draweth C and after C it draweth D. Application The Iron B is compared unto the spirits that are first animated by the lively spirits in man and that animates the Oyntment's spirits which are of a Microcosmicall nature by reason of Uzneas volatil salt which is the receptacle of such vegetating and vivifying Spirits as give life unto man save onely they are of a Northern property and as it were dead These spirits in Oyntment are referred unto C which work and operate being so excited in D which importeth the emitted spirits of the wounded man so that we see that it is but one and the same continuated Spirit which putteth into action the three severall Subjects
a receptacle for the Angelicall Spirits and blessed Souls as it hath its position betwixt both the extream worlds namely that of Eternity and the other of Temporality for it hath an immediate relation or commerce with them both For first it receiveth its immediate light life or formall existence from Eternity and then it poureth it out or communicateth it with the temporall or inferiour mansion to create and vivify it with the creatures thereof insomuch that as the formall act of the temporall world is Angelicall so the vivifying soul or spirit of the aeviall is divine or eternall Wherefore it followeth that the nature and property of Angells is neither to be excluded from the Subject of Theology forasmuch as they participate with the Divine Light or bright presence of Eternity neither can they be exempted from the body of Philosophy being that the Angelicall light is the soul and life of the Temporal nature and consequently the true Philosopher must acknowledg his essentiall science or Philosophicall grounds to proceed radically from the Eternall God by his aeviall or Angelicall Spirits into his temporall creatures I mean the Stars Winds Elements Meteors and perfect mixed bodies and therefore in respect that the Philosophicall Subject is animated by Angelicall influences it must needs pierce with a mentall regard into the eternall Light which doth centrally vivifie both the aeviall and temporall creatures beyond the which there is nothing to be found or imagined This therefore is the perfect tri-partite measure of that Ladder which Jacob dreamed of when he laid his head upon the stone which in its longitude latitude and profundity contained the images or characters of these three worlds and for that reason it was termed by the Patriarch himself Domus Dei The tabernacle of God Whereupon as that stone had his externall and internall so in his divine dream he observed Angells to ascend by it namely from earth which is the Creator's soot-stool unto the Eternall world where his Throne is by the aeviall mansion and also to descend again by the same degrees Thus may the sacred Philosopher with the Prophet not onely perceive by a more externall spirituall vision Rotam in Rota or the aeviall essence in the temporall beeing but also by a most internall or mentall aspect he may contemplate Rotam in medio Rotarum to wit a centrall mover and Eternall Spirit in the aeviall by the which the temporall or corporeall creature is immediatly vivified and agitated whereby we may boldly infer with the Scriptures that God is essentially one and all And therefore I may lawfully conclude with these axioms of the divine Theo-Philosophists which appertain as well unto the formal act in the Creature which is the true life of Philosophy as the essentiall virtue of Divinity that God operateth all in all He vivifieth all things He filleth all things His incorruptible Spirit is in all things By the Word all things were made In the Word was life and that life was the light of men He giveth life and inspiration and all things In him we live move and have our beeing He is the Father of all who is above all and through all and in all of us From him by him and in him are all things He sent his Spirit and created all things He giveth breath unto the people and spirit unto the creatures that tread on the earth O Lord how manifold are thy works in Wisdom thou hast made them all the earth is full of thy riches c. If thou hidest thy face the creatures are troubled if thou takest a way their breath they die if thou sendest forth thy Spirit they are re-created or revived By him were all things created which are in heaven and which are in earth things visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominations or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist Note here how the Apostle doth livelily set forth in these words the foresaid three worlds Again Christ is all and in all things He sustaineth all things by the word of his Virtue In him are all the treasures of Wisom hid God by his Wisdom giveth or proportioneth a weight unto the aire and hangeth the waters or clouds in measure and maketh a decree for the rain and ordereth a way for the lightnings of the Thunders He speaketh in Thunder and answereth Job out of a Whirl-wind He by his Word giveth Snow like wool and scattereth the hoary Frost like ashes he casteth forth his Ice like morsels who can resist against his cold He sendeth out his Word and melteth them so soon as he sendeth forth his breath the waters do flow again By his breath the Frost is engendered and the breadth of the waters is made narrow I could produce an infinity of other places out of Scriptures to manifest the universall acts and virtuous operations which are effected in the Elementary creatures by that most essentiall and eternall Wisdom which is the main ground and true Corner-stone whereon the purest Mosaicall Philosophy doth rely but I esteem it needless being that they are copiously expressed already by me in this my Philosophicall Discourse and therefore I imagine that these which are already produced will be sufficient to content and satisfy all such as are unpartially judicious unto whose better wisdom and favourable constructions I recommend these mine indeavours and finally both them and my self unto God's blessed protection Your Friend Robert Fludd MOSAICALL PHILOSOPHY The First Book Section 1. The Argument of the First Book THis first Book sheweth that whereas the minds of worldly men are at this very day erected and soared up even unto the highest pitch of infidelity insomuch as they require and demand after signes and ocular demonstrations as the Jewes did For it is said The Greeks hunt after wisdom the Jewes demand for signes c. or else they will in no case be drawn to believe our Author did esteem it the greatest means of conquest in this Herculean-combat which is to be effected betwixt the two deadly enemies and strong champions Truth and Falshood that is to say the wisdom of God and that of the World if he could find out some vulgar and well known Experiment or practicall Insâ—rument which might serve our celestiall Champion Truth instead of an Herculean-Club to tame and exanimate that foul monster Infidelity who standeth so stifly in the maintenance and defence of his Lord and Master I mean the Prince of darknesse and errour his privileges being that such persons as will not be conducted and directed unto the center of Veritie by reall practise and ocular demonstration may rightly be adjudged more irregular and extravagant from the square and polished rules of reason than the brute beast who warned by experience which in that respect may rightly be esteemed for the mistresse of fools doth make his
iis mala muâ—â—â— angustiae God for saketh the wicked and hideth his face from such as are impious thaâ— evill and necessiâ—y may encumber them But the speciall causes of life death and resurrection are expressed in these words of the Prophet David before mentioned O Lord how glorious are thy works in wisdom thou hast made them all the earth is full of thy riches so is the wide sea and innumerable creeping things therein Thou givâ—st unto them and they gather it thou openest thine hand and they are filled with good things but if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou takest away their breath they die and return unto dust Again if thou sendest out thy Spirit they are re-created and revive and thou renewest the face of the earth c. Psa. 104.20 Lo here the essentiall reason and centrall manner of Generation and Corruption is exactly described and set forth by the Psalmise namely that by the presence and benigne action of the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord life is continued and contrariwise by the absence or departing or by taking of it away from the creature it dieth and corrupteth for so long as the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord acteth and worketh in the creature it is not possible it should die or corrupt but when it departeth death and corruption must needs follow also when it abideth in the body but resteth from his action or as it were withdraweth his active beams from the circumference unto the center which the Prophet tearmeth The hiding of God's face then is the creature troubled which is as much to say as it is sick but if it be totally taken away then the creature is forced for want of it to expire and die To conclude if it return and shineth forth again unto the creature then it reviveth again as it did unto Lazarâ—s and unto the Widow's child which the Prophet raised Whereby it is apparent how death is nothing else but the absence of the essentiall form and consequently it is made evident that the vivificating form is immediately from God and not that imaginary one which the Peripateticks have groped after and I prove it evidently out of these places though the precedent Text doth expresse it plainly enough Non permanebit saith the Lord Spiritus meus in homine in aeternum quia caro est eruntque Dies ejus centum viginti annorum My Spirit shall not remain perpetually in man because he is flesh and his daies shall be a hundred years and twenty Whereby is argued that it is the Spirit of God which maketh man to live and that by the absence thereof death must needs ensue But because the curious will scarce approve of this translation of Jerom saying that the nature of the Hebrew Text is otherwise taken I will maintain and confirm it by the like and of the same condition in Job Si Deus apponens ad hominem animam suam Spiritum aut flatum ejus ad se reciperet vel traheret deficeret expiraret omnis care simul homo in cinerem râ—verteretur If God setting his minde upon man should receive or draw unto himself his spirit or breath of lifâ— all flesh would fail and die and man also together with him would return unto ashes So that we see it is the Spirit of God which giveth life not onely unto man but also to every other creature And that it is meant by the reall vivifying Spirit of God which giveth life unto man expresly we have it confirmed thus by Job in another place Spiritus Dei saith Job fecit me inspiratio Omnipotentis vivificavit me The Spirit of God made me and the inspiration of the Almighty hath vivified me or given me life And therefore it followeth that if the presence of this Spirit doth cause generation life and preservation of necessity the absence of it must cause corruption death and destruction for when the Spirit of the Lord is removed from the bodily masse of the creature it leaveth it deformed and as it were another chaos or terra inanis vacua being that it is destitute of the Spirit of life which did make it to act and exist in its specifick nature And forasmuch as this incorruptible Spirit doth preserve the corporeall masse from corruption by his incorruptible vertue and power it followeth therefore that when the Spirit is departed or absolutely contracted in it self without any externall act the masse must of necessity forthwith die and return unto a privative nothing Now the difference between the resurrection from death or rather deadly sleep unto a temporall life for the words of Christ were touching Lazarus that he was not dead but slept and that which is an eternall life is this for as there is nothing that hindereth death more than the presence of the incorruptible Spirit so also is there nothing which hindereth the perpetuity of living more then a corruptible body or a body subject unto death or corruption and therefore that body must die that it may put off corruption and endue incorruption namely by purification and separation of the corruptible additaments which is effected by a loosning of the tie of the alterable elements and a freeing of the spirituall part of the corporall composition from its long captivity that it may become pure and clean which being done then by the union of the incorruptible Spirit with it all will be made spirituall so that according unto the doctrine of St. Paul That which is sowed will not be quickened except it die And that which thou sowest is not the body that shall be but God giveth it a body at his pleasure And therefore as the body is sown in corruption so it riseth in incorruption as it is sown a naturall or elementary body so it is raised a heavenly and spirituall body So that the body must die that it may put off corruption that is the corruptible portion of the impure element that it being made spirituall may abide with the Spirit of life for evermore For this reason he affirmeth that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God because in their elementary nature they are subject unto corruption and therefore cannot inherit the land of incorruption but it is the pure spirit of the blood and flesh which rise after they have deposed their grosse tabernacle unto incorruption being animated by the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord which onely causeth a temporall life in the naturall or compacted elementary masse and an eternall one unto the spirituall and refined body which is contrary in condition unto the naturall body as the Apostle doth justifie for by purification it is changed from an elementary body unto a heavenly and spirituall one Do we not see after the same example how the very grain of wheat is so exalted in vertue after it hath endured corruption and hath been freed from the grosse elementary tie that it