Lady Polia shut up in the rich Temple of Vesta This I can assert for in dubitable that the way he held is open to all but all have not that Ariadne's Clew that he had to extricate himself out of this labyrinth neither is every one a Theseus that he can overcome the Minotaure It is certain that Nature like a loving Mother proposes and offers this precious Treasure of life to all and that God our Universal Father keeps open the Gate of this fatall Cavern for the commodity of all men for the descent to Hell is easie but then again to ascend to Heaven hic labor hoc opus est Stay coach-man here 's a straw First then that splendent Branch Dedicated to the infernal Juno must be found out of which Virgil writes Accipe que peragenda prius latet arbore opacae Aureua foliis lento vim ine ramus Junoni inferne dictus sacer hunc tegit omnis Lucus obscuris claudunt convallibus umbrae Sed non ante datur tellures operta subire Auricomos quam quis decerpserit arbore faetus Hoc sibi pulchra suum ferri Proserpina munus Instituit primo acculso non deficit alter Aureus simili frondescit virga metallo Ergo alte vestiga oculis rite repertum Carpe manu namque ille volens facilisque sequetur Si te fata vocant aliter non viribus ullis Vincere nec duro poteris convellere ferro First see what you must do the golden tree Which to th' infernal Juno we decree Lies hid under a grove in a deep vale And now you may not pass within the pale Of th' Earths deep Cabinet until you have Snatch'd from this tree her off-spring which to grave Proserpina you must present the tree That gave this fruit will not long fruitless be For loe another golden off-spring follows Fix your eyes here and in your hand retain then What you do finde if th' fates do favour now You vanquish but if not no force will do If therefore Nature be sollicitous in hiding these things lest they should be indifferently prostrated to all or Hogs get to the honey-pots no wonder if Ancient and Modern Philosophers have invented so many aenigmatical Figures and hidden Fables to cover and cloath this Science with For they know well enough that ceremonious Nature would never have hid her self under so many different Forms and Species but have appeared naked but that her Venerable Secrets would thereby incur that contempt which alway accompanies common things For which cause I also in this Treatise use the same Solennity and Taciturnity lest I should undergo the same peril that he did who published the Mysteries of the Elysian Goddesses which should have been kept Secret and Chaste and not like common Harlots exposed to publike abuse And whether I have spoken conveniently to my own purpose or no such as have made progress in this search may better judge for experience is the best Dame In the mean time I hope none will give a hard interpretation or pass a bad sentence on me because I have compared Natural and Chymical operations with Divine and Christian Mysteries wherewith they have some conformity For by this application I have no way profaned them but rather Celebrated their Excellences and pointed at that great care and testimony of our Creatour in ratifying the safety both of Body and Soul together Which reason moved one Author so that he wrote that the true Chymistry which Paracelsus calls Spagiry follows the Gospel foot by foot because by the help of this and fire Nature exerts her most potent faculties which Antient Philosophers as Brachmannus Gymnosophisters and all the Egyptians insinuate in their Theology For all the Magick of Paganism and all the fables of Poets signifie no more then what this Book Treats of which the most Learned and subtile Bracescus diligently examined though envious Toladanus writes the contrary after he was deceived in an experiment in this Art which he thought he had wrested from him by his importunity believing that the spume of Iron was the Philosophers Mercury because he asserted that it was extracted out of a vile Matter of small price which was cast into the streets not observing that the discreet Masters of this Art cloath their Matter with strange Vestments calling them by all the names of Metals indiscriminately and yet without the least fraud for he that knows this matter knows also that it contains the seven Metals in it And I would gladly know whether they think Cosmopolita meant of the vulgar Steel when he sayes That Neptune shewed him under one Rock two Mynes the one of Gold the other of Steel The Man was too plain to harbour such frivolous conceits but he named his matter thus because of the conformity with polished Steel And Bracescus had played the part of a Fool and not a Philosopher if he had in one moment opened the whole mystery of his Secret in the acquiring whereof he had doubtlessly spent two thirds of his life But that I may add something to the explication of these Mythologies do we not plainly see That that ancient Demogorgon the Parent of all the gods or rather of all the Members of the World which they say inhabits the Centre of the Earth covered with a green and ferruginous Coat nourishing all kindes of Animals is nothing else but the universal Spirit which by God's command produced the Heaven out of the Chaos with the Elements and all things therein which it always hitherto sustains and enlivens for it truely took up its Habitation in the middle of the Earth as we have declared in the beginning of this Book where it sits as it were in its Throne and thence as from the Heart of some great Body and Seat of Life universal animates and nourishes all things and that green and ferruginous Coat is nothing but the surface of the Earth which is of a blackish and Iron-colour decked and variegated with divers coloured Herbs and Flowers Virgil perfectly skilled in all these mystical Secrets called this Spirit or Soul of the World Jupiter whom his Pastorer Damaeta invokes in his third Eclogue because as he saith all things are full of him And Pan that god of the Woods worshipped by Shepherds is taken for the same for besides that this word Pan signifies All he is also made the God of the Woods because the Greeks for the Governour thereof worshipped the Chaos which they otherwise call Hyle that is a Wood. Orpheus bespeaks Pan thus Paule sort le subtile l'entier l'universel Tout air tout eau tout terre tout feu immortel Qui sieds avec le temps dedans un throne mesme Au regne inferieur au moyen au supreme Concevant engendrant produisant gardant tout Principe en tout de tout qui de tout viens a bout Germe du feu de l'air de la terre de l'onde Grand esprit avivant tous les
then created wholly good by him that is Goodness it self is not corporal solely but participates of spirituality and intelligence for it is full of all manner of forms and as I said before hath neither part nor member but that 's vital and therefore wise-men have called it a Masculine and Feminine or Hermaphroditical Animal one part holding a certain Matrimonial Alligation with another And hence by a certain Translation arises the diversity of Sexes in Plants and Animals which in imitation of the World copulate together and generate a third like themselves for the World produces an infinity of little Worlds for every Body in the World that is generated is a Microcosm having distinct parts vertues and qualities belonging to a little World So that every thing hath an inclination to generate a thing like it self by the right ordering of Action and Passion which could not be if all things were not full of Life for what Generation can proceed from a dead subject seeing it is neither probable nor possible that that can communicate Life to another that wants Life it self We see indeed sometimes many things are generated without the congress of Male and Female yea without the production of either whereinto the Universal Spirit infuses Life by means of Fomentation as many by Artifice who exclude Eggs and Chickins without the sitting of a Hen and others who by preparing certain matters and putrefying them produce wonderful Animals as the Basilisk of a Cocks Egg or of the menstruous matter of a red Hen Scorpions of the Herb BASIL Bees of Neatâ— bowels a kinde of Ducks of the Leaveâ— of a certain Tree falling into the Sea a with many things of the like Natureâ— that merit admiration rather then credit because they are made out of thâ— ordinary course of Nature certaiâ— matters in certain seasons and places attracting Life from the Universal Spirit wherewith the World so abounds that all its actions are vital insomuch that nothing dies perishes or ceases from action and consequently from Life but immediately some other living thing results out of it and upon this account no Body perishes or is totally annihilated for if it should all the parts of the World would by little and little vanish one after another before ouâ— eyes especially considering how many mutations and Ages have gone before us insomuch that he that perpends might admire that there are any reliques left in Nature at this time which 〈◊〉 French Poet and no little conversant in this secret Philosophy hints at to his Friend thus Vostre aspect inegal qui mea fortune change Est comme le soliel contraire en ses effects Qui amollit la cire indurcit la fange Et fait des corps nonveaux de ceux qu'il a defaicts Your aspect in my fortunes changes sways As Phoebus in his effects whose bright rays Waxes do modifie but harden Clayes And from corruption do sound bodies raise a Our Author seems here to embrace the vulgar Opinion of the Generation of the Northern Ducks which the Scots call Claikis Claiks or Claik-geese and the English Bernacles which many other Writers say are generated of the Nuts of a certain Maritimous Tree falling into the prolifical Sea or of some Shells adhering to putrid pieces of Ships which thing the learned Lobellius makes mention of in Advers Stirp pag. 456. where first he seems to assent to afterwards to doubt of and last to conclude That Fabius Columna had justly refuted this Opinion Lobellius in the second part of his Work pag. 259. describes the figure of this Duck or Goose as also of the Tree and Shells Olaus Magnus also mentions this kinde of Ducks Lib. 19. Hist. Sextent cap. 9. But Carolus Clusius seems to have explained the generation of them more rationally Canctario Exoticorum pag. 368. where he sayes That the Hollanders sayling towards Waygatz saw some of these Ducks sitting upon their Eggs. Fabius Columna repeats his words but Ulysses Aldronaldus Lib. 19. Antithog cap. 23. towards the end embraceth the middle sentence saying He had rather erre with the multitude then contradict so many famous writers and therefore he sayes These Ducks may be generated of corruption and afterwards multiply by copulation and incubation like Mice and other Animals The generation of Palmer-worms from Plants may also be well referred to this place which whether they be generated naturally or artificially feed onely upon the Herb whereof they are generated or to which they are related as also the Generation of Caterpillars and then of Butterflies which afterwards multiply their species by copulation I saw at Rome in Henricus Corvinus an eximious Apothechary and Botanist his Shop a Butterflie which they said was made of the corruption of Cypress-Leaves so elegant and great that its Wings equalized my little Finger in length and were all over as it were eyed whereof as of the Palmer-Worm you may read Fabius Columna his Observations Part 2. Stirp minus Cog. pag. 85. CHAP. 2. That the World because it lives hath a Spirit a Soul and a Body THe Body of the World lies open to our senses but its Spirit lies hid and in the Spirit its Soul which cannot be united to its Body but by the mediation of its Spirit for the Body is gross and the Soul subtil far removed from all corporal qualities For the unition then of these two we must finde some third participating of both Natures which must be as it were a corporeal Spirit because the extreams cannot be conjoyned without an intervenient Ligament that hath affinity with both The Heaven we see is high the Earth low the one pure the other corrupt How then shall we exalt this impure corruption and conjoyn it with that active purity without a mean God we know is infinitely pure and clean Man exreamly impure and defiled with â—ns Now these could never have been â—onjoyned and reconciled but by the mediation of Christ Jesus God-Man â—hat true attractive Glue of both Naâ—ures In like manner this Spirit corâ—oreal or Body spiritual we speak of 〈◊〉 the active Glue of Body and Soul which Soul sits in the Spirit of the World â—s a spark from and of God's infinite â—ntelligence for these effective elevaâ—ions renovations mutations variations â—nd multiplications of forms must neâ—essarily arise from intelligence and â—ot from matter which participates of â—o reason and therefore cannot cause â—ch formations and specifications The World then is nourished by this Spirit â—nd agitated by this Soul which is infus'd â—nto it by mediation of this Spirit which Virgil following divine Plato's Doctrine expresses elegantly Lib. 6. Aeneid Principio Caelum ac Terras composque liquentes Lucentemque Globum Lunae Titaniaque Astra Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per Artus Mens agitat molem magno se corpore miscet The nourishment of th' earth mountains and skarâ— Of th' heaven of planets of glistring stars We attribute to th' Spirit but to th'
alive and can encrease the other are dead and if this could not be effected the matter would never be brought to itâ— perfection which this Art promises 〈◊〉 which is indeed so efficacious as to perfect imperfect Metals But this same invisible Gold or Silver which by this Magistery is exalted to so sublime aâ— degree cannot communicate its perfection to imperfect Metals without the help and service of vulgar Gold and Silver Wherefore Alchymists alwayâ— adjoyn the one or the other and so make Gold the Father of the Elixir But such as would be further informed in this verity should diligently evolve good Authors for it is not my purpose to speak more of it For it is enough for me to shew that divine Hermes with one and the same finger touches both strings or under one and the same sentence locks a twofold meaning which himself declares when he asserts That he was called Hermes Trismegistus because he possessed three parts of the Worlds knowledge for having given the Anatomy of this Universal Spirit which is the material Author and principle of all the three chief kindes comprehending the whole of the world he had attained so much of knowledge and wisdom that nothing could lie hid from his eyes and this principle he makes one So that all things are produced from one by mediation of one and adaptation to one This One then of which he speaks is that general Spirit whereof I treat and that One by which he sayes Miracles may be wrought is the true Mineral matter of the Stone whereof we spoke even now which is produced from the first general matter or universal Spirit in the Earth by Nature which Spirit potentially containing all Celestial vertues in it self communicates so much to this Mineral matter as is requisite for the obtaining of its perfection But omitting Chymical Doctrines as much as we may in this Treatise we say That this general Spirit is a Stone or Elixir composed by Nature by mediation whereof she works all her Miracles which is much more admirable then the Alchymists Stone which is onely a grant of this universal Spirit that it may act and perfeâ—â— things like it self for being truely Mâ—tallical purified and compleated 〈◊〉 Art it purifies and digests Metals leâ—â— in their impurity for want of digestioâ— But this Physical or natural Stone peâ—petually restores such things as are produced by Nature and hourly prâ—creates new things as well in the kinde of Animals as of Vegetables and Mâ—nerals which yet it could not do without the help and influence of thâ— heavenly Bodies especially of the Suâ— which is the origine and principle of aâ— faculties and generations It hath theâ— the Sun for its Father and contains iâ— it self spiritual Gold and Silver because it is the first matter of Gold and Silveâ— corporal And because Air is the medium through which it receives these superiour influences Hermes saith Thaâ— the winde carries it in its belly foâ— which cause Raymundus Lullius calls iâ— Aereal Mercury but the Earth like at universal Parent nourishes it in her fruitful womb which appears by the production of all things proceeding from the Earth for if this Spirit were not included therein she would have no power nor vertue in generation and production seeing she is properly no more then the common vessel or matrix of these many and different generations for the general matter or Mercury of them being as Philosophers denote invisible and almost incorporeal cannot be made visible and corporeal but by some subtile artifice which matter if it can be extracted out of the Arms of its Nurse and purged from all accidental superfluities may notwithstanding any Reason I can see to the contrary in the things whereto it is applied separate things corruptive and heterogeneous and conserve and multiply things homogeneous and conformable to it It is without doubt That Authors are misunderstood when they seem to assert that Metals onely should be usurped to the production of Metals saying That the Seeds of Gold are in Gold for besides that which we have spoken of common Metals and of those which Philosophers assume to the confection of their Magistery we dare yet affirm That without this general Spirit which is in all things the sole cause oâ— vegetation the faculty innate in aâ— Metals of becoming Gold and Silveâ— can never be deduced to vegetation oâ— from potency to act because Nature produces not it self but in every operation there must be some agent and some matter subjacent to the action And this doubless is that fire which Pontanus speaks of which all Philosophers have concealed and kept under Lock and Key as the sole Stearn of their actions for want of which Fire Pontanus as himself confesses erred two hundred times in his practise though he had to do with the right matter This threefold Mercury then or sum total is the first Seed of all Metals as also of the other two kindes or Genus 's which is by little and little coagulated and by the continual action of heat lying in the Myne hardened and tincted when it is perfectly pure but it makes up several species and acquires divers forms and colours according to the variety of the place and adjacent matter producing Metals Minerals and Stones in the bowels Trees and Plants in the surface of the Earth as she is animated by the Solar Rayes without which she would be barren for Nature at first established this for a Law That the Sun should perpetually nourish and calefie the matter alwayes moving its threefold faculty Animal Vegetable and Mineral to its effect And this is the Cause why Hermes wrote the Sun its Father CHAP. 5. How the Moon is the Mother of the Spirit of the World and the Universal Matter LEst any might here be deceived he must consider That as one of us a Microcosm hath a Body a Spirit and a Soul even so hath the Macrocosm and seeing nothing exists that wants these three there must needs be great affinity amongst them so that no one of them can be found without the other and though two of them may seem sometimes to be separated from the subject yet they are onely hidden in the third that remains as a subtile and profound Artist may easily experience by the examination of Fire What therefore is Matter the same is Spirit and what is Spirit may and that not impertinently be called a Body If we consider That they are indivisible and by Natures Laws so generated that they are one and the same thing by which account it appears that the matter is not onely Matter or Soul or Spirit but refers and represents all because one is always generated and nourished with the other so that in the propagation and action of one the two other are always present When therefore we say That the Moon â—s the Mother of the Spirit and univerâ—al matter we speak not irrationally â—or assert any absurdity but here we must more intimously
enquire whence his Maternity proceeds Heat and Moisture then are the two Keyes of Geâ—eration and Heat performs the office of the Male but Moisture of the â—emale Corruption arises upon the â—ction of Heat over Moisture and Generation follows upon Corruption â—s we may see in the small Body of an â—gg wherein by the heat of Fomenâ—â—tion and Incubation the Sperm puâ—â—efies and afterwards the Chicken is â—agulated and formed The same is so apparent in the Generation of â—an who by the help of the natural Heat of the Woman acting upon thâ— Masculine and Feminine Sperm united in her matrix is deduced tâ— a compleat Body perfect in all iâ— parts By Corruption here we understanâ— Mutation and passage of one form inâ—â— another which cannot be effecteâ— without the mediation of putrefactioâ— which is the sole medium and way 〈◊〉 Generation which is also promoted 〈◊〉 the help of some Mercury or Quicâ— silver which is the special Conductâ— of the vegetative faculty and thâ— Sperms of all Bodies are aqueous anâ— as it were full of Mercurial humouâ— and if their innate Heat be brougâ— from potency to act by the externâ—â— heat of the Sun then may their Generation be procured by decoction Hence the ancient Philosophers â—â—sert That the Sun and Man generaâ—â— the Sun the terrestrial Sun which Gold and Man Man And it is mâ—nifest That without the heat of tâ—â— Sun the heat of the Elementary Fire dead and barren Whence the Sun also called the Master of Life and Generation Heat then in all Generations comes from the Sun but radical moisture by the influence of the Moon which influence all sublunaries receive and feel when this Planet is in its encrease or wane And thus you have an account how and why Hermes called the Sun Father and the Moon Mother to this universal matter for the heat of the Sun and moisture of the Moon generate all things because heat and moisture in a due temperament cause conception and upon conception Life and Generation And though Fire and Water be contraries yet one can do no good without the congress of the other but by their diverse actions all things conceive and are conceived Ainsi dans l'univers discordante concorde Aux Generations devient apte s' accorde If Generation in the world be had Then what erst discord is in concord made Yet I would not have my Reader suspect That by too hasty judgement I would abstract Hermes his prime intention from the broad way of all Alchymists into the by-paths wherein I tread because I know That all good Philosophers according to his minde and will say That the Sun and Moon should bâ— in conjunction that they may absolvâ— perfect Generation for as Arnoldus dâ— villa nova in Flore florum says The Philosophers Sperm is not joyned to their Body but by the mediation of their Mooâ— which Moon is not common Silver buâ— the true matter of their Stone whicâ— congregates and inseparably retainâ— in its belly Body which is the Sun and Sperm which is Mercury And hâ— speaks of this Moon in his novum Lumeâ— where he says That excepting his Mastâ—â— of whom he learned his work he kneâ— none that ever operated in the truâ— matter but all were extravagant anâ— erroneous in the election of their maâ—ter as if they would generate a man 〈◊〉 a dog CHAP. 6. That the Root of the Spirit of the World must be sought in the Air. WInde is nothing but Air moved and agitated as we may learn from the respiration of Animals which blow Winde when they breath Air. Winde then is Air and Air is wholly vital and the breath of Life for without Air nothing can live or subsist for whatsoever is deprived thereof â—is suffocated and dies yea Plants themselves that are destituted of free Air wither and are in respect of others dry and dead We therefore have some Reason to say That Air is a vital Spirit penetrating all things communicating Life and consistence to all binding moving and filling all By this Air then the Universal Spirit that lies hid and shut in all things is generated and manifested by this it is ingrossed formed and made more apt for Generation whereoâ— Calid the Philosopher treating sayes not without Reason That Mineral have their Roots in the Air theiâ— Heads and Tops in the Earth As iâ— he should have said The Air causes thiâ— Spirit to enliven augment and multiply Minerals in the Earth though those that have some experience it preparing the Philosophers Stones may say That this place should bâ— otherwise understood for according to their Doctrine in their Philosophical Works there are two parts onâ— volatile which is elevated in form of a vapour and then condenseâ— and resolved into Water and thiâ— they call the Spirit the other more fiâ—ed residing in the bottom of the Vesseâ— which they call the Body Rosinus explaine this sentence by another of thâ— same Authors for he saith Take thâ— things off their souls and exalt them oâ— high and reap them in the tops of theiâ— Mountains and reduce them to theiâ— Roots where the Glosser sayes These words are true and cleer without envy and ambiguity though he declares not what he understands by things whereof he speaks But by Mountains saith Rosinus the Philosopher means Cucurbites by the tops of their Mountains Alembicks by reaping he means we must receive the Water of the aforesaid things through the Alembick into the Receptacle by reducing them to their Roots he means That we should reduce the said Water to the Earth whence it arose This is also confirmed by Morienus who saith That the Philosophers operations consist onely in extracting Water from the Earth and reducing it to the Earth till the Earth putrefie for the Earth putrefies when this Water is purified which being once pure will by God's help direct and perfect the whole Magistry Some have exploded Air out of the order of the Elements thinking it as glue or lime to conjoyn divers Natures judging it the Spirit or Instrument of the World because it is the Chariot of the Universal Spirit for it first receives the influences of all Celestial Bodies and communicates them to other Elements and mix'd Bodies In the mean while like some divine Looking-glass receiving and retaining the species and forms of all natural things which it carries along with it and insinuating it self into the pores of Animals impresses those forms on them whether they sleep or wake We learn from Animals and Vegetables That every Spirit neer the Earth receives its vertue and vigor from the Air for we see such things encrease and extol themselves the Spirit which gives them Life doth so much delight in Air as the place where it had its origine Hermes also saith That the Air carries it in its belly Whereunto Aristotle subscribes saying That moist things proceed from the Air and Terrene things from the moist ones for Air being next the Earth humectares it on every side
needs no proof but appears sufficiently manifest from the natural and sometimes the immature end of Animals Vegetables and Minerals which we see every day by their corruption when the Body being dead the Spirit must undergo the same fortune that is the vertue that enlivened it is annihilated but because the prime Opificer would be admirable in all his works of his meer goodness and love to Mankinde who from the beginning he predestinated to be the Instrument of his Glory and to whom he subjected whatever was admirable in the Creation for his Commodity I say he gave certain expedient Remedies whereby he might not onely purifie and perfect the things created but also preserve and arm himself against the assaults of mortal corruption Knowing then that the two parts of Man were one created in another to wit the Spirit in the Body and that the Body would be continually infected by corruption and by sensuality drawn and allured to intemperance which infers the true corruption and weakning of all the members he foresaw that the Spirit inhabiting like a Guest in the Body could not be exempted from its contagious depravation and we ordinarily see That Men given to excess of intemperance and sensuality accustom themselves to ill manners and take liberty in all corruption both of Minde and Spirit neither regarding Love nor Fear to God Honor or Respect to the World nor Piety to themselves nor Charity towards their Neighbours So that it is impossible if they be thus bound to inquinations in death but their Spirits must undergo punishment as they have participated of pleasure Seeing moreover all mankinde by the fall of our first Parent obnoxious to death and thence every Man inevitably to incur total destruction and perdition he mitigated or rather redintegrated this Misery by an admirable Remedy far exceeding our capacity for knowing Man by his Spirit and his Body to participate of Heaven and of Earth the Remedy also he made to partake of Heaven and Earth which is competible solely to our onely Lord Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ who descended from Heaven into the Earth and by a mystery incomprehensible by us and common sense was miraculously made Man without the abdication of his God-head because our health could not come from Earth alone corruption reigning there but it was necessary that the Water should come from above where the Fountain of purity is he therefore came down that he might dwell in us and with us and conclude us within the terms of justice and temperance regenerating us to newness of life by the mutation of our Spirit and Body and mortifying in us our corruptions and sins and restoring us to the study of purity of vertue which could not have been effected save by him alone the extream of both Natures for he is God-Man that he might conjoyn superiour with inferiour things which were dis-joyned by the incomparable distance of life and death purity and corruption The Earth doubtlesly received this inestimable treasure far exceeding its merit by a medium that cannot be comprehended from which he again ascended into Heaven by the Water of purification and Fire of the Spirit without accidents and corporal passions though he deposed not his Body but retained it incorruptible and glorious having acquired immortality by death who shall again descend from his Fathers right-Hand into the Earth after the Universal conflagration to renew the World and make a Separation betwixt the good destined to life and the evil condemned to death See now how well the Omnipotent Father the Father of all compassions consulted for Mans good to whose Body joyned with his Soul he gave an equal Preserver whom he sent from Heaven that he might be born on Earth and whom by the light of Nature we ought to seek Seeing Man was therefore endued with Reason and Judgement that he might acknowledge and comprehend his great gifts but Man created heavenly for the indagation of this benefit as too forgetful of his birth lays out that noble and divine Light within him in searching out frivolous and transitory vanities and not in the pursuit of solid wisdom and verity Briefly he had rather follow the inclination of his Terrestrial Geniture then Divine and Celestial Wisdom which he neglects as a thing indifferent and casually sent to him from above Wherefore the Root of Mankinde is as it were extinguished before it grow out except some few who have had better Stars and more favourable Aspects in their Nativity they desiring the possession of transitory goods more then the attainment of Divine and precious Gifts which our fecund Mother Nature hath publickly and in all places fixed for the conservation of life hurt rather then helped by their abundance immerged in mortal corruption And it is apparent That those that are of a higher Spirit though they look upon the fulgour and splendor of those Mundane Riches as no way despicable yet they will not rest in this surface but seek to Divine Vertue occluded in the Centre which hath indeed been cause of great errors both in Medicine and Philosophy to such as destitute of true light groape at and in the dark pass by both Recalling then my mind to the clear light by whose guidance we may attain that salutary and best remedy which God ordained particularly for the conservation of mankinde and for the obtaining of Celestial benediction I shall endeavor with all humility and requisite sincerity not as a Divine but as a Disciple of Wisdoms followers to adumbrate my conceptions in a rude style which the lovers of verity may accept gratefully if they finde them rational and pleasing I say then that all understanding communicated to any man from man alone is uncertain and confused because man is ordinarily loaden with ignorance and slow resolutions but that which he receives from the univerial Light is clear and immoveable For to know absolutely is to understand a thing by its first causes and there is no certitude in second causes till we come to their original wherefore we cannot know the Nature of a Species unless we foreknow its Genus neither can we know the Nature of Microcosmes which are almost infinite unless we first find out the Nature of the Macrocosme that gives them being Man likewise cannot be known without the precedent cognition of the world whose effigies he is nor yet the great world unless we know whence and how it was made For how shall one know a man whose principle is nothing but a small deformed mucilage or how shall a man know him that is born unless he know those that begot him and here I mean not the second but the first Parents to wit heaven and earth and unless a man understand the first creation of these how shall he know them as an Embryo in a womb which is nothing but the congregation of a certain humour which is afterwards formed to the example of its parents and so in progress till it become perfect so
in dispensing of specifical forms and Archeus in exciting vital heat which Iliastus and Archeus are as it were two Instruments whereby â—he informs conserves and augments all things Here note That by Iliastus we mean a general Steward that affords matter for all generation and by Archeus natural or radical heat which digests this matter and acts upon it This Demogorgon then is he by whom as by his Instrument God produces all things in and under Heaven so that he containing his Iliastus and Archeus does with singular providence unknown to vulgar Philosophers and therefore masked under the supplement of occult causes form and generate then nourish and preserve all things exercising the office of a good Housholder or Steward who hath his Cellar in the bowels of the Earth and thence draws Life and vigour for his Family The Earth therefore which is the Receptacle of Celestial Influences and Vertues contains iâ— it the Fountain of this vital Spirit froâ— whose Rivulets Animals Minerals anâ— Vegetables derive Life which communicates to them sense essence anâ— vegetation as it findes their matter disposed for motion and hence such things as are compounded of a more ducible Mass and fit for such motion become sensitive and vegetable and able to generate things like themselves because they are indued with Life for Plants and the like whose Spirits are not cohibited in too crass and hard matter encrease and multiply grenerating things like themselves by seed and plantation but not like Animals but Minerals whose Life is neither sensitive nor vegetive but onely essential because their composition being too hard and gross too straightly captivates their Spirit that they cannot produce any thing like themselves unless they be first purged from their gross impurity and reduced to the subtilty of their first matter about which Aurelius Augurellus that excellent Poet and Philosopher writes thus Lib. 1. Chrysop Haec inter variant quae nec primordia rerum Exlant quaeque frui vitali sorte negantur Ut media quaecunque sedent lellure metella Quique latent miro grati fulgore lapilla Nullo namque genus sobolemve auger putantur Semine sed cunctos aevi torpere per annos Verum haec ipsa etiam secreto vivere quivis Sentiat vitae divino munere fungi Haec oriri eadem si contemplabitur etsi Augeri ex sese penitus increscere cernet Vt mox e rariis patefactis nosse licebit Quod si non sobolem educunt non caetera vertunt In semet causa est quod multa spiritus illic Materie abstrusus vitam qui porrigit omnem Explicat aegre ex se vires in vivida promat Has hominum virtus densa sub mole latentes But those that neither Life enjoy nor yet First matter are but in the Earth do sit As Metals rich and Stones that precious be Differ from these for no off-spring we see They generate nor kinde augment but lie Resting themselves yet he that shall espie Their secret acts and with himself compute Their augmentation cannot sure conclude That th' are quite void of life for though they do No off-spring generate nor turn into Themselvs nor other things yet life they have Which is so chained in the closer cave Of their dense solid matter that they can't Exert such actions as a brute or Plant. Yet if mans skill do quit them of these bonds Their vertue 's such as will make them amends For when these Minerals are pure they will by their specifical form though not generate something like themselves yet work such an alteration and perfection in things like themselves that they shall equalize the Philosophical Elixir whose divine vertues wise-men so much admire fools so much contemn because their blinde eyes cannot penetrate to the Centre of this Mystery If therefore Animals Minerals and Vegetables which constitute the greatest part of this visible World be full of Life what Reason have we to think That the whole is more imperfect then part thereof But let us sink further into Sublunaries if the Celestial Bodies give Life to the Inferious they must certainly and necessarily be enlivened by the Universal Spirit for nothing can give that it hath not of which let us hear Augurellus Hoc etenim quic quid diffunditur uadiqueâ—aeli Aeraque Terras laâ—i marmoris aequo Intus agi referunt anima qua vivere mundi Cuncta putant ipsumque hac mundum ducere vitam All that 's contain'd under Heavens Canopy Both fire air earth eke the boundless sea Are mov'd they say by a most ample Spirit That th' world enlivens all that it inherit But natural motion is alwayes conjoyned with Life how then can that produce Life and motion in another that hath them not in it self Motion never forsakes that which hath Life and that which either moves or is moved alwayes cannot want Life The Soul of the Universe moving it self spontaneously is the fountain and original of all corporal motion for the most subtile part of this Mundane Soul soaring high and inhabiting the Heavens is continually wheeled about with the Celestial Bodies which it self circumduces with its proper and continual motion and for this Reason the superiour Bodies are more lively and perfect then the inferiours because they are continually moved orbicularly and that which is moved continually must needs be immortal And thus it appears that the whole World is full of Life and that the Life of every species and individual is but a participation of this Universal Life of the World which alone may be properly called an Animal in whose corporal Elements the seeds of all visible and corporal thing are hidden and included for we see many Plants grow without precedent seeds and many Animals produced without copulation of Male with Female The visible seed of Plants lies in their Grains of Animals in their Genitors Metals also have their seed but such as is not visible but by true Philosophers who know how with great industry to extract it from its proper subject And unless there be a certain procreative faculty in the Elements wherein Generation is potentially included many Herbs would scarce germinate on the Earth much less on high Walls where no seed was ever sown nor Herb planted neither would so many kindes of Animals be generated in the Earth or Water without copulation of Sexes as there are which do by copulation afterwards perpetuate their species though themselves were not generated by the commixion of any Parents as we see in Snakes generated of Mud and Flies and other little Animals of Excrements Again How do Oysters Sea-Spunges and other Aquatical Creatures live which rather merit the name of Plant-animals then of Fishes These do not so much live by any particular Life proper to themselves as by that Universal one general and common to all which is more vigorous in subtile Bodies as more neer to it then in grosser ones which are more remote from it The World
Soul That these do move stir without controul To which Augurellus also attests in his first Book saying Ast Animae quoniam nil non est corporis expers Mundus at mundi partes quoque corpore constan Spiritus haec inter medius fit quem neque corpus Aut Animam dicas sed eum qui solus utroque Participans in idem simul haec extrema reducat Hic igitur Maria ac Terras atque Aera Ignem Vivereque augerique atque in se cuncta referre Semper Aves semper Stirpes Animantia semper Gignere perpetuamque sequi per secula prolem c But since a Soul is incorporeal And all the parts o' th' world we meet withaâ— Are bodies these two cannot be combin'd Without a mean betwixt Body and Mind Which is a Spirit wherewith the raging seas Fire air earth all plants fruitful tree With animals are acted so that they Do generate their like and live for aye c CHAP. 3. That all things which have Essence and Life are made by the Spirit of the World and of the first Matter ALL things are nourished by the same by which they were produced Now that all things breathe live augment and grow by this Mundane Spirit resolve and die without it is plain Whatsoever therefore subsists is made by it and this Spirit is nothing else but a simple and subtile essence which the Philosophers call a Quintessence because it may be separated from gross corporeity and the superfluities of the four Elements and so made of wonderful activity in its operations and it is now diffused over all the parts of the World and through it the Soul is dilated with all its vertues which vertues are communicated most to such Bodies as participate most of this Spirit for the Soul is infused by and transmitted from the superiour Bodies as from the Sun which acts most powerfully in this case for this Spirit being calefied by the heat of the Sun acquires abundance of Life which multiplies and enlivens the seeds of all things which thereby encrease and grow to a determinate magnitude according to the species and form of each thing upon which account Virgil saith Igneus est ill is vigor caelestis origo But fiery vigour and heat celestial Are to these Bodies their original Now this Spirit is by Philosopherâ— called Mercurius because it is of many or all forms producing all kindes oâ— Bodies giving to some things a faireâ— and more lasting to others a weakeâ— and more corruptible Life accordinâ— to the pre-disposition of the matter upon which account this fiery vigor proceeding from the Solar beams is nâ— alike in all subjects but diversified as there is more or less of it in the seeds All matters of purer pre-dispositions have a purer and more durable Life and Spirit for every thing delighting in that that 's likest to it it is more then Reason that this pure Celestial vigour should penetrate and sink deeper into purer Bodies and make them more durable and vital For the proof of which we need go no further then Gold which being purer then all other Terrestrial Bodies participates more of that Celestial Fire which penetrating the bowels of the Earth findes in Minerals the pre-disposed matter to wit the Mercury and Sulphur which Esdras calls The Earth of Gold prepared by the action and diligence of Nature and purged and separated from all inquinations of Terrestrial and adust Dregs which matter in the beginning is onely some Sperm or Water mix'd with that Sperm Powder or pure Sulphur which acted by the coagulative faculty thickens by little and little and in time by long and continued action of the heat hardens and so comes to its perfection which is naturally simple tincted with the colour of Fire for heat is the Progenitor and Parent of Tinctures If therefore it be certain that this heat comes from the Sun as it must needs be indubitable who can so much contradict Truth and Reason as to deny the Sun to be the Author and Parent of this perfection Let us then look higher and seek more accurately how this perfection may be caused by this mean CHAP. 4. How the Sun is by Hermes called The Father of the Mundane Spirit and of the Universal Matter BUt some may here say If all things proceed from one and the same matter how can the Sun be called the Parent of this matter when it self is procreated or produced out of this matter For answer whereunto we must consider That if we speak of the primaeve prejacent matter of all things it is altogether invisible and cannot be comprehended but by strong imagination out of whose vital light and natural heat this Celestial Sun was produced with equal light and fiery vigour which afterwards strengthening this internal and essential heat with natural displayed the beams of his Fire over the whole Universe illuminating the Stars above him and vivifying thâ— things below him But because the Earth is as it were the common Mother of all things the Sun acts most vigorously upon her she being the common Receptacle of all Influences in whose bowels the seeds of all things are absconded which being agitated and moved by the Suns heat come to light and for this cause in Winter when the Sun is furthest absent from us the Earth being destituted of that vigorous heat which his perpendicular Rayes brought with them she is we see barren and produces nothing Whereas in the Spring when the Sun again reviews our Climate then she rises from her sleep or death and receives Life and vigour The cause of which mutation must needs be the Universal Spirit full of Life inhabiting the Earth principally which before it can generate any thing must take up its Inn in some Body as in the Earth which is the Body of Bodies and because all things are nourished and sustained by that which produces them there must be great affinity and harmony betwixt this Spirit and the Sun And for this cause ancient Philosophers say That the Sun in the Spring-time calefies and enlivens his Parent loaden with old age and almost killed with Winter-cold Seeing then she is by the Sun fortified enlivened and impregnated Hermes had reason to say That the Sun was the Father of this matter for being otherwise barren and without off-spring she now conceives generates and multiplies her spirituous matter leading it from incorporality to corporality The Philosopher Hortulanus commenting on Hermes his Table leaves and omits the radical principles of Nature and taking his rise by the principles of Chymistry by the Sun understands the Philosophers Gold which he truely calls the Parent of the Philosophers Stone For all that are conversant in this Art learn from Experience and all good Authors That the true matter and subject of this Stone hath Gold and Silver in potency and Quicksilver naturally which Gold and Silver are much better then those men commonly see and handle because these are
and the humour thereof being condensed by innate heat is turned into a certain kinde of Earth which contains Mercury and Sulphur in due proportions CHAP. 7. How the Earth nourishes this Universal Spirit THough this Spirit be infused into and dwells in superiour as well as inferiour Bodies yet it may be best known and discerned in Bodies most evident and neer to our view of which the Earth is neerest and most vegetable in it therefore is this Spirit generated and manifested more copiously for the Earth is a certain mark whereto all the Influences Rayes and Vertues of the superiour Bodies tend It is moreover the Fundament and Basis of the other Elements containing in it self the seeds and seminal vertues of all things for which cause it is rightly called the common Mother of all Animals Vegetables and Minerals It is therefore impregnated by the Heavens and produces all things out of its womb and though this Spirit were expelled washed away or separated from it by what way you please yet the Earth thus void of Spirit if left a while in the Air would again be impregnated by the Celestial vertues and influences so as to produce some Chystalline stones and lucent sparks and by this means the Spirit which was taken for separated would again regerminate in the Earth Impregnation then made by the action of the Heavens and of the first qualities doth continually render her generative for out of her womb come all things sublunary She produces all things endued with life preserves nourishes and at last resolves them into their own Nature When she is agitated by these actions she causes a twofold expiration one without her another within her which expirations egrede from this Terrene Spirit when moved and calefied by the Celestial heat The expiration elevated without or above the Earth if it be humid causes and produces dew and frost if dry winde thunder and other dry Aereal impressions but the expiration included in the Earth if it be humid generates liquable Metals and Minerals if dry stones and the like that are not liquable All things vegetable proceed from and are nourished by this Spirit whereof the Earth is Nurse for which cause the ancient Poets call the Earth the common Mother and Nurse of all Creatures CHAP. 8. That the Spirit of the World is the cause of perfection in all THe Universal Spirit is the general Genus and common to every Genus for if we cast our eyes into the inferiour or elementary World we see it divided into three subalternals to wit animal vegetable and mineral kindes and yet the same in all onely operating diversly according to the diversity of its forms And hence the infinite variety of Creatures arises for else there would be only one species in the Universe but if we perpend the superiour and Celestial World we shall also finde That the Spirit is one equal in all and differing in nothing but purity and subtilty for the Celestial Spirits are procreated of its pure igneous substance and differ from Terrene ones in corporal grosness and the Celestial Globes and Luminaries are made of its middle and Aereal substance it constitutes therefore all things because it hath in it both the faculties of superior and inferior Bodies and because it is of an exquisite temper for this Body is in all the beginning and end of perfection and if it were destituted of its faculties it could never perfect any thing and here we understand simple and natural perfection and although it be perfect onely according to the intent of Nature containing in it self the rule line action and power of perfection yet it acquires vertues and faculties above the sphere of natural things and can deduce things from potency to act This Spirit alters and penetrates all things though never so gross mollifies hard things hardens soft things and augments nourishes and conserves all things This Spirit also being in all Bodies the Author of Generation and Corruption hath necessarily a threefold operation for by its driness it must enliven and by its coldness congeal and by its moisture congregate and unite for which it hath a threefold name imposed on it desumed from the three kindes of Earth for they call it vitrifying salsuginous and Mercurial because of Salt Glass and Mercury all things are made though Paracelsuâ— reckons these principles otherwise to wit Salt Sulphur and Mercury adding Glass as a fourth As if he should say All things are made of these three first principles and reduced at last to the fourth as though neither Nature nor Art could produce any thing beyond Glass But I shall prove my own sentence by Examples and Reason The Bones of Animals are consolidated and hardened by vitrification the Fâ—â—â—h and Nerves concreted by Salt and united and congregated into one mâ—â—â— by the â—â—curial humour In Vegetables also the shells of Almonds Pine-Nuts Wall-Nuts and the like as also of Oysters and Snails in Land and Sea may be made by vitrification and the taste demonstrates That these Bodies are saltish for nothing wants Salt but what is insipid yea those things are very saltish whereof Glass is made as Fem Kali and the like Some may here object That it is not Glass but Salt that causes the induration of Bones Shells and the like which I have mentioned Whereunto I answer That Experience and Reason speak the contrary for Salt is resolved and melted by the least moisture of Air or Water but the Bones and Shells before mentioned resist liquefaction as they are more or less hardened by this Glass-making faculty for the ultimate confirmation of which my assertion I may adduce precious Stones Adamant and Chrystal which are nothing but Glass elaborated to perfection in the Furnace of Nature And now that all things are condensed by Mercury is so manifest that it needs no other Testimony but common Experience Minerals have enough of Salt Sulphur and Mercury in them Stones and such effoded things as acquire not extention and fusion by the Hammer and Fire have some Salt in them but this is superated by the adustion of corruptive Sulphur which comes upon their induration and vitrification Metals and all ductile things are concreted and condensed by Salt and Mercury and so much hardened by vitrification that they bid some râ—sistence to the Hammer which is indeeâ— more or less according to their implâ—cation with more or less impurity aâ— adust Earth which comes upon the câ—agulation of their Mercury And thâ—â— we may affirm that all things are madâ— of the ternal number of Glass Salt anâ— Mercury or Water where Glass is thâ— cause of hardness Salt affords matteâ— and Water causes unition and condeâ—sation CHAP. 9. Of the specification of the Universal Spirit to Bodies THe Soul of the World and its Action and Vertue is represented in 〈◊〉 things in which it is this bindes and â—njoyns the superiour things with the â—feriour for as many Idea's as the â—eaven contains so many seminal â—uses it
obtains whence by the Meâ—â—ation of the Spirit it forms so many â—ecies in the matter When therefore â—falls out that any one of these speâ—es degenerate it may by the Soul â—ithin it and the mediation of the â—â—iversal Spirit be reformed and reâ—â—ced to its former state for the Spirit alwayes at hand and ready for all â—otions In the mean while we must â—â—t imagine that the intellectual Idea attracted but rather that the Soul indued with such a vertue and allured by the material forms whiâ—â— cannot seem absurd to any one for prepares every one his meat and nutâ—ment because it is transmutable into 〈◊〉 things by which it is sollicited and wâ—lingly remains and resides therein Zâ—roaster calls the Agreement and Hâ—â—mony of the Forms with the Soul of thâ— World Allurements Whence it aâ—pears That all things and kindes draâ— their powers and faculties from thâ— Soul of the World not all totally bâ— such as respect the seed or propagâ—tion and the like whereby they germâ—nate or encrease An example here we have in Man who feeding onely 〈◊〉 Man's meat acquires not the Nature 〈◊〉 Birds Fishes or the like which 〈◊〉 cats Many other Animals also feâ— upon the same victuals and yet eveâ— one attracts that which is proper to hâ— species so that it is worthy our admiration that out of the same Meat Mâ— can attract what is proper to Man anâ— a Bird what is proper to a Bird. Anâ— this is not because there are many anâ— diverse Aliments in one and the samâ— dish but because of the species nourishâ—d which attracts and changes the nuâ—iment proper to and convenient for 〈◊〉 self by mediation whereof it geneâ—tes its like by vertue of this Soul â—nd seed which is in it according to its â—ality But we muâ—â— not think That in the â—achine of the Worid the Spirit Soul â—nd Body are things separated for â—â—ese three are alwayes united and â—â—njoyned as is apparent and by this â—â—ion the whole Spirit and corporal â—bstance become vital The universal Soul then feigns and â—â—agines divers forms which the Spiâ—â—t receiving into the bowels of the â—ements makes corporeal and proâ—ces Hence Animals generate onely â—nimals Plants Plants and Mineâ—â—ls Minerals though not all alike 〈◊〉 Minerals as I said before generate â—ot their like after the same manner 〈◊〉 Plants because their Spirit is coâ—â—ited by too gross matter which â—â—irit if it could be conveniently exâ—cted and conjoyned with Mineral â—atterâ— would generate its like beâ—â—use by its exquisite penetration into imperfect Bodies through the subtiliâ—ation of Art and artificious Graduation of Fire it brings with it proper and Mineral seeds onely not animal because repugnanâ—â—o its Natureâ— yet I will not say 〈◊〉 it wants thâ— action of other faculties but that 〈◊〉 doth not demonstrate them but aâ—cording to the species whereto it 〈◊〉 accommodated for else every thiâ— would produce its unlike a Tree wouâ—â— generate a Man a Plant a Bull a Mâ—â—tal an Herb which I speak onely 〈◊〉 respect of the diverse specifications 〈◊〉 things For if we consider the most genâ—ral Genus it produces in all thinâ— its like because being Mercurâ— it assumes the Nature of all thinâ—â— wherewith it is mixed But humaâ—â— Art cannot effect that that is soleâ— granted to Nature which alone 〈◊〉 procreate a species Art may dilâ—â— and multiply it if it begin its opeâ—â—tion at the root of the species â—â—prudent Philosophers do who exâ—â—cting the Spirit from Minerals specâ—cated decently purified and reduced 〈◊〉 perfection render it apt to perfect imperfect things And an expert and industrious Artist perpending these things aright may easily institute admirable Adaptations Finis Libri primi A TREATISE OF The Philosophers truâ— Salt and Secret And Of the universal Soul or Spirit of the World BOOK II. CHAP. 1. That the Spirit of the World assumes Body and how it is incorporated WE have I hope sufficiently eâ—plicated in the former Booâ—â—hat all things were not oâ—ly produced but also made corporâ— by the universal Spirit We now come to declare what kinde of Body this Spirit assumes and how it self both is and makes all things corporeal for that must needs be corporeal which makes all other things such seeing nothing can give what it self hath not Let us therefore see with what and how it is vested with a Body not that we will here dispute of the incorporation of celestial and supernatural beings but onely of Physical and Sublunary Generations and of the body of the Earth which is the sole vessel and true matrix where the prime and most general Incorporator of things is it self incorporated I say then That no body can be made without a precedent Mover that may diduce potency to act that which exists not in save potency may be produced into light and according to Natures intent reach its final term which is to make that a body which it would produce Now this mover can be no other then fire or heat which moves it self first in the Air for all Generations begin there because fire is the most active Element and consequently moâ— subtile and light whence it is morâ— prompt for motion Fire therefore whose propriety iâ— through its levity to ascend and makâ— unknown things visible doth requâ—sitely receive the beginning of its motâ—on and action from inferiour Bodies that is from the centre of the Earth where as we said before the olâ— Demogorgon and Progenitor of alâ— things inhabits sitting there in hiâ— Throne and midst of his Empire thaâ— thence he may govern command preserve and divide the essence of Life tâ— all the parts of that great Spherical Body expanded about him and that hâ— may more easily and from equal distance receive from every Member whaâ— he wants The root of Fire is implanted in the fruitful bowels of thiâ— old Parent which thence emits a vaporous breath which Hermes calls thâ— humid Nature for vapour is the primâ— and next action of fire with which it is so conjoyned that it cannot be imagineâ— without it But some may say If vapour come from fire how can it be moist seeing fire is hot and dry whence acquires it this contrary quality And here we finde nothing absurd if we do but consider That fire cannot live and subsist without moisture which is its aliment support and subject without which fire cannot be conceived for being by Nature active and its action indefatigable it must needs have something to act upon and never be destitute of this thing Fire then and co-essential moisture are like Male and Female in all Generations and are the first Parents of corporification of the Spirit of the World as hereafter we shall make appear But Fire is the first Operator because action precedes passion though the Patient be inseparably co-existent with the Agent as the old Stoick Zenon asserts who thought that the substance of Fire was by Air turned into Water and there conserved as the general Sperm and first universal matter
be by somewhat stayed But seeing it tends infallibly to the Centre and there is stopped because there is no lower place whereto it may descend there it is compelled to subsist and collect it self Hence some have said That the Centre of the Earth is most precious because in it all the influences are united which meeting there have an infinite potency not onely because they continually flow thither but because they proceed from Bodies infinite incorruptible and indeficient in vertue The ancient Poets who involved their Conceits in Fables divide the Earth into three parts assigning the Heaven to Jupiter as first-born of Saturn though some attribute the primogeniture 's right to Neptune and the election of the superiour Kingdom to Jupiter for certain Sophistical Reasons impertinent to my purpose Neptune they make the Lord of the Sea and that by lot To Pluto as the youngest Son they assign the Earth for Heritage who is yet thought the richest of the three Brethren because in his Dominion all the Treasures of the World are contained yea he seems to make his two Brothers Tributaries in those things they possess as best This Son they call The King of Hell and to him they give the Elysian Fields as a delightful place where the blessed Souls shall follow his Court after death Divines also assert That Hell and the torture of Souls is in this place adduced by this Argument That seeing the Nature of the Stars is fiery and all their influences concur there must needs be incredible burnings there Again That place is infernal because none is more inferiour But that Souls should be here tormented and that the heat of this place should be so vehement as they say is a Solaecism in Reason and a Contradiction to Philosophical Axionis for besides that Souls possesse no place according to their own confessions and that being devested of the earthy part and corporeal prison they would naturally elevate themselves and ascend by vertue of their spiritual levity which participates more of a fiery then any other quality they cannot but with violence be detained in this subterraneous place seeing they are light nor yet being simple suffer under the action of Fire which cannot act on its like Why therefore they should assert That they descend to this place to be tormented I see no reason unless that the burthen of their sins wherewith they are implicated should detrude and depress them compelling and forcing them to the Centre of the Earth or else that sin hath got them under its Dominion and hath incorporated it self therewith by some unknown kinde of composition and so make them passible and subject not to the simple and natural action of Fire but to some other violent created one destined by God to that effect and perhaps the vertue of the Fire we speak of is by divine Power doubled for this action which may be proved by Holy Writ But I will not rashly cherish any particular Opinion or separate my self from the Orthodox Faith in the defence whereof I will not onely spend my Life but Industry by God's assistance yet I say in my Transient that I may further recede from my intended Discourse That they conclude strangely that say Vehement burnings arise in this place because the influences of the Stars concur there whereunto I would yet yield if they can evince That the heaâ—of the Stars burns and consumes like ouâ— Culinary Fire and doth not enlivenâ— conserve and nourish for if it were such as they imagine not onely the Earth but the whole Universe had been long since burnt to ashes Those influence indeed in old Demogorgon's bowels calefie but not with a mortal and destructive but with a vital heat which there implants an uniform Vertue which by mediation of heat dilates it self through the whole Body of the Earth being the first moving cause of Generations But we must not here conceive That it is onely the external heat that comes from the Sun which calefies the Earth and causes Generation for in Winter-time when the Sun is furthest distant the Earth hath abundance of heat in it as experience shews in Fountains Cisterns and profound Cells so that in the coldest Winter-Season Metals are cocted and indurated yea it is credible that they are then most of all ingrossed because the heat of the Centre is kept in and retained because of the frigidity of the ambient Air. The Suns approach and more perpendicular Aspect is not the sole cause of vegetation in the Spring for if so then doubtless as its Ascent were more sublime Vegetations would augment more proportionably to the encrease of the heat of the Rayes but the contrary is observed But because every like attracts its like and the recess of the one causes the recess of the other The Sun by the magnetical Vertue of its Rayes attracts and revokes the heat of the Central Sun detruded by the rigid cold of the ambient into the interiour parts of the Earth which returning to the surface thereof affects all things with a vegetative faculty It is not therefore the external heat of the Celestial Sun but rather the innate heat of the Central Sun that calefies the profundity of the Earth for heat is twofold the one acts by reverberation which is external the other by influx and penetration which is internal whereof I now speak whose Nature is to enliven augment and conserve by the sustentation of radical moisture contained in this Fire which I made mention of in the precedent Chapter But that now we may prove this Central Fire not to be so intense as to torment and burn let us consider how the Stars do not by their influences cause heat solely but work other effects for Saturn is cold and dry Jupiter hot and moist the Sun hot and dry Mars hot and dry Venus cold and moist the Moon moist and cold and Mercury all in all participating of all qualities alike Whence we may gather That all the influences are temperate equally consisting of heat cold moisture and siccity which thus meeting in moderation cannot make the place where they meet immoderate The Vapour then or Spirit that comes from the Centre participates of these four and hence all the qualities of simples have their origine whereof some calefie because in them heat is predominant others dry because siccity superabounds others moisten or refrigerate according to the degree of their moisture or cold but on the other side Stars project many other qualities besides these into the Centre for they give Beings to those sapours colours and odours which we taste see and feel in sublunary things I say therefore That the Stars calefie the Centre of the Earth and that the Universal Spirit dwelling there participates of this heat and because it is natural to heat to separate that separative vertue which divides the pure from the impure the subtile from the gross and the light from the heavy and the sweet from the bitter descends with