Jakob Böhme

“ Namely, how the Abyss, or the Deity, manifests itself with this eternal Generation, for God is a Spirit, and as subtle as a Thought or Will, and Nature is his corporeal Essence, understand, the Eternal Nature, and the outward Nature of this visible comprehensible World is a Manifestation or external Birth of the inward Spirit and Essence in Evil and Good, that is a Representation, Resemblance, and typical Similitude of the dark Fire, and Light World. ”

“ Mercury has in the Beginning of his Birth three Properties, viz. the Trembling in the Austereness, and Anguish from the hard impressing of the astringent hard Desire, and the Expulsion of the Multiplicity, viz. the essential Life; for the Desire attracts very hard to itself, and the Attraction makes the Motion, or Sting of Trembling, [or horrible Compunction] and that which is impressed is the Anguish; but if the Liberty be therein comprehended, it refuses it, and there arises the Original of Enmity, and the Severing, that one Form separates from another, and a twofold Will arises. ”

“ For that which dies to the Fire, or sinks through Death, that is divine Essence; and it is effected likewise through the Salnitral Flagrat of the divine Joyfulness, where the Property trembles in the Joy of Meekness, and immerses itself through the Death of the Fire, which is called God's Anger, and quenches it, so that God dwells in a meek Light; and the first Property to the Enkindling of the Light is Fire, and Wrath of the eternal Nature, and makes the dark World. ”

“ And, we understand in the Mystery without Nature in the first Will two Forms; one to Nature, to the Manifestation of the Wonder-eye; and the second Form is produced out of the first, which is a Desire after Virtue and Power, and is the first Will's Son, its Desire of Joyfulness. And understand us thus: the Desire is egressive, and that which proceeds is the Spirit of the Will and Desire, for it is a Moving, and the Desire makes a Form in the Spirit, viz. ”

“ And therefore they are of so great Power, Efficacy, and Virtue, in that they are so nigh to the Deity, and bear the incorporated Names of the divine Power in them; as also Gold is nigh to the divine Essentiality, or heavenly Corporality: If Man could open [or disclose] the dead Body, and reduce it to a flying moving Spirit, which only can be effected through the divine Motion, then it should be seen what it could be, which no Reason believes or understands without divine Sight [or Vision.] ”

“ The highest Metal, as Gold, arises from the Liberty, which is comprised- all along in the Flagrat in the astringent Impression; and it is not free from the Materia of the Rest, for all is comprised or wrapt up together ”

“ But seeing Christ calls the Devil a Prince of this World, and we also are able to declare how far, and in what he is a Prince, and that this World is not his own, but he is the poorest Creature in this World, and also not at all in this World ”

“ Therefore we will set down the Generation of all Essences out of all Mothers and Beginnings, how one Generation proceeds from another, and how one is the Cause of another, and this we will do from the Eyesight of all the three Mothers. ”

“ Now if the Wrath enters so vehemently into itself as to raise up the Salnitral Flagrat, then it apprehends the Essentiality of the free Lubet in itself, from, whence arises the Flagrat; for the Wrath there apprehends the Meekness, which is even as if Water were poured into Fire, which gives a Flagrat; and then the Wrath of the great Anguish dies, and with the Flagrat the Joy ascends, and the Flagrat is out of Mercury, or out of the Anguish of Death, and becomes also Material, but by Reason of the Liberty it changes itself into white, which is Salniter: Now if the Fire, viz. ”

“ We see that the Metals have another Manner of Body than the living Creatures, or are otherwise than the Earth and Stones are: Now Reason asks, How is the Original of every Thing, seeing that in the Beginning all arose out of one Mother, and yet the Eternity has no temporal Beginning? Here we must again consider the Mother of the first Pregnatrix, where, and how one Essence separates itself from another, viz. ”

“ Sul in the Internal is God, and Phur is the Nature, for it makes a Spirit of the Nature of Brimstone, as is to be seen externally in the Property of Brimstone; for its Substance is a dry constringent Matter, and is of a painful anxious fiery Property, forcing itself forth; it attracts eagerly and hardly into itself, and parches up as a dry Hunger, and its painful Property does eagerly and anxiously force itself forth: The Cause and Original is this: because it stands in two Beginnings, viz. ”

“ We have made mention before how the external Birth, viz. the Essence of this World consists in three Things, viz. in Sulphur, Mercury, and Sal: Now we must set down and declare what it is, seeing that all Things arise from one Original, and then how its inward Separation is effected, that out of one Beginning many Beginnings are produced ”