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
existence reserved onely in its self and consisting of it self not having any principle root or beginning to spring from and exist by but onely from and of it self in whose Divine Puissance as in a place without end or limits all things which are now explicitly apparent were then complicitly contained although in regard of our capacity they were esteemed nothing And for this cause such persons as were conversant in the Laws of the true Wisdome have inacted in their never dying Registers that this mysticall infinity when it was thus bewrapped in the gloomy clew or profound abysse of darknesse and remained as it were vacant or resting in its self without any action or as they say having regard or respect unto nothing was therefore termed in Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Nihil Non finis Non Ens and in plain English Nothing at all in our imagination because the tenuity and poverty of man's capacity and ingeny in the regard of Divine things is such that it is accustomed to judge and imagine that not to be or exist at all which appeareth not manifestly unto the sight For this reason therefore the wisest persons in the abstruse and hidden Caball have termed this originall Unity in his secret disposition Aleph tenebrosum or the obscure and dark Aleph the which Hebrew letter is received among the Jews and Cabalisticall Rabbi's for the figure of one in Arithmetick and by consequence it is Hieroglyphically taken for God as he is understood to be that absolute Monady or Unity which onely was in it self and did abide and rest in it self without any action of emanation which afterward he did use when he was pleased to operate in Creation and therefore the wise Philosopher Hermes not disagreeing in this from the Holy Scripture saith Monas ante mundi exordium sibi ipsi non aliis reluxit Unity or Identity dâ—d shine onely to it self and in it self and not to any thing else And in another place Erat umbra infinita in abysso agua insuper Spiritus tenuis intellectualis per divinam potentiam in Chaos inerant There was an infinite shadow upon the face of the abysse and moreover water and a thin intellectuall spirit were in the Chaos through the divine puissance And Moses to confirm this saying of that wise Philosopher Tâ—nebrae erant super faciem abyssi By this therefore may wise men discern and contemplate though a far off what the Potentia or puissance divâ—ne was before any creature did explicitly appeare out of darkness as also they may easily gather what is the true principle and foundation of Darkness namely the enclosing or retaining of the actuall beams or light of immortall life and being in this bright fundamentall unity in the which is no darkness so that the Originall darkness can be reputed for nothing else but the absence of the radicall Unitie's bright emanation which is the fountain of all action neither can that Divine vivifying and creating Light be present when the will of that simple and absolute essence in Unity is not minded to send forth unto deformity the treasure of its informing beams And hereupon it followeth of necessity that darkness was upon the face of the abysse and that the earth was void and without form before the Divine Essence did shine forth and that darkness was made the tabernacle of rest and repose because where the Divine act or sacred emanation is absent all things are onely potentiall and consequently without actuall verity being as it were stark dead and without life or motion and that the property of coldness and stupidity had dominion during that privative estate because that heat is ingendred by motion onely and motion hath its beginning from Light and all brightness doth flow from this Unity which is termed the Father and Fountain of all Light wherefore it followeth that if this Divine Essence retain it self in it self then the dark Chaos reserved onely in the Divine Puissance or Potentia Divina must be deprived of motion and that it is inclined to inspissation and condensation by reason of his congealing and cold property which doth thicken and make gross by contraction and that it is the fountain of all privation and an enemy unto the creatures life and being because it is contrary to act motion and heat which are the hand-maids of the Divine emanation and consequently it is the fountain of death deformity and non-entity To conclude as Light is the originall of life position act motion and in a word of the Volunty of God in his revealed Nature so also is this primordiall darkness the head and well-spring of death privation rest or vacancy and in brief of the Divine essence's Nolunty And hereupon the Scriptures do justify that when God doth send forth his salutiferous beams and manifest unto his creatures the light of his countenance they are refreshed with goodness and life when he in part doth hide his face and withdraweth his lively and vivifying beams from them they grow sick and their spirits are troubled but if he totally withdraw his aspect of life from them they do immediatly expire and breath their last Whereupon also Moses Deus malos relinquit abscondit faciem suam ab iis ut obveniant iis mala multa God forsaketh the wicked an â—hideth his face from them that much mischief may befall them And David Quousque abscondis vultum tuum a me Exhilara me vultu tuo visitatio tua conservat Spiritum meum How long wilt thou hide thy face from me make me glad with thy countenance thy visitation doth conserve my spirit c. Whereby it appeareth that this Divine Essence observeth as well after his creation of the world as before it both the action of his Nolunty and his Volunty in the first whereof he withdraweth or withholdeth that vertue of life from the creature which is the act of privation in the last he giveth life and preservation to it For by this his dilatative property he created the world and all things therein CHAP. II. Wherein it is proved that all things were complicitly and ideally in God and of God before they were made THus have I expressed and made manifest according unto the small validity of mine understanding the estate and being of this radicall and eternall Unity before any thing was by it created with the effects that it did produce in the potentiall and deformed Mass or materiall subject of all things which was complicitly or hiddenly detained and comprehended in that Omnipotent and incomprehensible point of Divine perfection in which increated condition it remained as Nothing quoad nos forasmuch as it was without form unto the which it appertaineth onely to give a name and essence and therefore in the estate of its non-actuall being wise men have termed it Potenâ—iam Divinam or the Divine Puissance To confirm and verify all this we find these
protinus evolans alta petit Aer quoque levis spiritu parens mediam regionem inter ignem aquam sortiebatur â—erra vero aqua sâ—c invicem commixta â—acebant ut terrae facies aquis obrutâ— nusquam pateret Tunc Pimander ait Lumen illud ego sum mens Deus tuus antiquâ—or quanâ— humida natura quae ex umbra effulsit mentis vero geâ—men lucens Dei Fâ—lius c. Pimander being the mentall exceâ—lency of the divine puâ—ssance did change his form or shape and on the suddain revealed the universe for I did discern that all things were converted into a pleasant and delectable light which did rejoyce me to behold A little after a feaâ—full shaddow or darknesse did glide downwards by an oblique revolution and was converted into a humid or moist nature which was exagitated or stirred up by an unspeakable aspect thereupon a gâ—eat fume or smoak made a noise out â—f that noâ—se proceeded a voice which I did imagine to be the voice of the light out of this voice of the light the word which was made was utteâ—ed but this word joyning it self with the humâ—d naâ—uâ—e did nourish and animaâ—e it Out of the bowells of this humid nature the light element of fire doth fâ—y and soareth on high also the thin aire possesseth the middle region between the fire and water bâ—t the earth and the water were intermingled after such a fashion that the face of the earth was no where over-flowed by the waters Then Pimander said I am that light the mentall spirit that is thy God of a greater antiquity then is the humid nature which did shine out of the dark shaddow but the brightsome germe of the mentall spirit is the Son of God c. Whereby it is evident that by the mentall unity is meant the absolute divine Monady in it self without any respect had unto creation By the Divine Puissance is understood the dark principle beginning or Chaos out of the which light or the divine emanation did spring At the issuing of Light the word was made manifest out of the dark and deformed Chaos from which also the humid nature or the Abysse of waters did spring or proceed into action by the creating emanation this humid Mass was nourished and vivified by the word and framed in the Elements as is said before And therefore it is apparent that the darkness the light the word the waters and Elements were complicitly contained all in the mentall puissance and abstruce reservation of the sincere Identity of Pimander or God in himself before they were created But I will yet pass a little further and confirm all this more rationally and demonstratively by the authority of Holy-Writ Job saith Revelat Deus fundamenta è tenebris educit in lucem umbram lethalem God revealeth the foundations of the world out of darknesse and he discovereth or bringeth forth into light the deadly shadow c. Where by the foundations he understandeth the waters which were secretly contained in the dark and misshapen abyss of the which afterward the heavens and the earth and consequently the whole world was framed by the Word according unto the Archetypicall pattern So that we here perceive that two principles of a clean contrary nature do issue or proceed from and out of one and the same Identity or Unity in Essence namely a deadly darkness and as it were the shadow of death and an admirable vivifying light whereof the one was the matrix or receptacle of form And the deformed bowells of the other contained that matter without form whereof afterward the world was framed and therefore the wiseman saith Manus omnipotentis mundum ex informi materia effecit The hand of the Almighty hath made the world of a matter without form And according unto this tenent also Job in an other place Aquilonem extendit Deus super inane vacuum suspendit terram super nihilum God stretcheth forth or spreadeth the North upon emtpyness and inanity that is to say on a thing that was void and destitute of shape and hanged the earth upon nothing In which speech by inane or vacuum and nihilum he meaneth misshapen darknesse and deadly shadow of which he spake in the before-specified place or that matter without form mentioned by Solomon the which whilst it was in Potemia Dâ—vina or the Divine Puissance was meerly nothing in man's weak capacity being that it was not as yet actually created or informed for it is form onely that giveth name and essence as all Philosophers do confesse By this therefore we may discern how all things are essentially comprehended in this eternall and radicall Unity Forasmuch as being one he is infinite and being infinite as well in his dimension and essence as power he must of necessity comprehend in himself all finite things whatsoever He is in all and filleth all and yet he is beyond all as he that surpassing and compassing all is onely in himseâ—f and yet neither absent from his creatures which he hath framed out by his Word according to his Will For first from his Volunty did proceed his Word Fiat and it was done Now that we have the privative principle namely deadly darknesse and deformity drawn from the infinite center of all things whose circumference is no where to be found We will dive into the nature of that formall and lively Light which did also issue from the self-same Originall Root and most antique beginning of all things that thereby we may with the best colours of our understanding paint out and describe that excellent formall Essence which redeemed the humid matter or watery substance out of the captivity of the deadly and misshapen darkness or shadow of death that I may speak in Job's language by which all things have their being and beauteous existence CHAP. III. How that amiable and bright emanation of vivifying Love shone forth from the Fountain of all goodness and displaced Litigious and odious darknesse from the Throne of the obscure Chaos or dark Abysse that thereby a World might be made of nothing that was actuall and beautified by the formall presence thereof IT is a wondrous thing and passing all humane understanding that out of one Unity in essence and nature two branches of such an opposite nature should arise and sprout forth as are Darknesse which is the seat of error deformity contention privation or death and Light which is the vehicle of truth beauty love position and life It is not for nought that the Sect of the Manichaeans did so stifly hold that there were two coeternall principles whereof they made one to be God whom they termed the Prince of Light and the beginner and Author of life health and all goodnesse the other they attributed unto the Devill whom thy entitled the Prince of Darknesse and the originall and principle of opposition death sicknesse and all evill And they esteemed the Devill or Prince of Darkness
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
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
cupidi elati superbi c. semper discentes nunquam ad veritaâ—em pervenientes Quemadmodum autem Jamnes Mambres restiterunt Mâ—yâ—â— ita hi resistunt veritati homines corrupti mente reprobi circa fidem ultrà non proficient In the last daies shall come perilous times for men will be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud c. ever learning and never attaining unto the truth And as IJamnes and Mambâ—es withstoâ—d Moses so do these resist the verity men of a corrupt mind and reprobates concerning the faith Out of which words we gather first That some men in these latter daies will be so wedded unto their own learning and conceipted in the worldly philosophy or science which they have been brought up in that whatsoeveâ— truâ—h it self shall proffer unto them that is opposite unto their intentions it will be scornfully rejected Secondly he seemeth to expresse the insufficiency of that learning or philosophy which they embrace in saying that they are semper discenteâ— sed nunquam ad veritatem vel perfectionem pervenientes Ever learning but never attainâ—â—g unto that high vertue and power at which the truly wise have aimed by Ethnick philosophy Thirdly it appeareth that he meaneth the mundane philosophists by the example which he maketh of Jamnes and Mambres who being worldly Sages or bred up in the human wisdom did resist that truth which Moses being instructed in the divine Philosophy did so stoutly maintain And lastly he seemeth to intimate that such as adhere so much unto the spurious wisdom are thereby corrupted in their imaginations and allured to erre concerning the faith and profit nothing And therefore it will be no marvell though I shall find this mine admonition rejected and repined at by many though perchance more acceptable unto such as are vertuously inclined unto the truth and are apt yea and sufficient in their purer discretions to distinguish and separate the errours of Aristotle from the infallible verity of sacred Writ and to carry their judgments so justly and sincerely that the All-hallowed honour of the one do not suffer any detriment or indignity by the paganish and unsanctified axioms or assertions of the other CHAP. VI. Here One great God IEHOVAH seemeth to call the false wisdome or Wisemen and Philosophers of this world unto an Account for their erroneous Doctrine touching the causes and manner of the Creation of the world and the Generation of the Meteors thereof I Have expressed unto you in the precedent Chapter that the great Master of the Peripatetick doctrine is not for nought termed by the Greeks themselves Cacodaemon or an evill spirit being that by his inventions he hath deceived the world and seduced it from the right path of Wisdome and directed it unto that way which leadeth and guideth unto assured error and ignorance and that by the painted mask of sophisticated reasons besmeared over with a false and outward shew of probability only faining those things to be accidentall and caused at hap-hazzard which in verity are from above that is to say essentially produced by the increated Spirit 's power which operateth all in all For according unto his doctrine the Earth the Stats the Elements were eternall and not created and he covereth this his false assertion with appearing naturall inventions framed out of his own brain saying ex 〈◊〉 nihil fit Of nothing nothing is made He giveth also a humane reason of life motion and limits or borders the Seas and faineth causes after his fancie of the generation and corruption of things And speaketh of a first matter and a form after his manner though he knoweth not essentially what they are He telleth us unreasonably the reason of the snow frost and ice hail rain clouds and mists saying that they are adventitiously caused of vapours which are drawn up by the heat of the Sun and Stars out of the earth and waters into the middle region of the Aire and are there condensed into those substances by the accidentall coldness of the place He inventeth and bringeth forth some sleight proofs to maintain his imaginations averring that the wind is made or caused by chance namely through the exalting or subliming of hot and dry exhalations out of the earth by vertue of the forementioned Agents the which exhalations after they approach the middle region of the Aire are repercussed and beaten down again And then in their motions downward they meeting with other exhalations which ascend are forced to move collaterally He presumeth to know the hidden causes of the Lightnings and Thunders making them to proceed also accidentally namely from a concourse of vapours mixed with exhalations and an infinite of such like frivolous inventions he hath erected All which he hath vailed over with his smooth words and subtill shews of externall or superficiall probabilities only instead of the reall and centrall visage of Truth But the God of Heaven and Earth which is the Author of all these things and doth mystically fashion them by his eternall power and calleth them out of his Treasury when and where he list seemeth to deride this inventor of lies with his obsequious followers in these very words which he spake unto Job Who is this saith JEHOVA out of the whirl-wind unto this bold abuser of his Works that darkneth the counsell of my Words without knowledg Gird up now thy loines like a man I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth declare if thou hast understanding Who hath laid the measures thereof or who hath stretched the line over it whereupon are the foundations of them set or who layed the corner-stone thereof What were they eternall and without all beginning as thou vainly surmisest Who shut up the Sea with doores when it issued and came foorth as out of a wombe Have the gates of death been opened unto thee And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death that thou assignest a reason so confidently of corruption and generation according unto thine imagination Hast thou entred into the Treasury of the Snow or hast thou seen the Treasuries of the Hail which I have hid against the time of trouble that thou after thy fancy darest to forge fain or assigne unto them such accidentall principles By what way is the Light parted which scattereth the East wind upon the Earth what is it by a hot and dry exhalation attracted on high by the Son and Stars and afterward repelled downward laterally as thou hast published Who hath divided the spouts of the raine or the way for the lightnings of the Thunders And who is the father of the raine or who hath begotten the drops of dew must the created Sun and Stars be the Actors and Authors in this business as thou dost erroniously imagine Out of whose wombe came the Ice who hath engendred the frost of the heaven Is it the
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
create all things of Nought through the illuminating presence of his ematating Spirit and by this his Spirituall Word he doth maintain and sustain them all Therefore it followeth that there is nothing in this world which is Inane in vain or void and empty This is maintained by this assertion of the Wiseman mentioned before Manus Omnipotentis saith he mundum ex informi materia creavit The hand of the Almighty created the world of a matter without form that is of an inane and void matter and consequently of Nothing or Nihil Forasmuch as it had no denomination being it is form that giveth the name and essence By this therefore it may appear how vain the Vacuum or Vacuity of the Peripatetick is in regard of that which by the true Wiseman is held Inane and Vacuum For they esteem their Vacuum to be a mere imaginary place in the aire not filled by any bodily existence no not by aire it self But although it be apt to receive some watery existence namely aire water or earth in it And so they dream of an imaginary Chimera which in verity is of it self absolute Nothing being that it is impossible that any place should be formed in the Universe which can be after that manner void and consequently not worth the dreaming after But our Vacuum and Inane is a potentiall matter or earth or Abysse without form namely that which is only in potentia ad actum In puissance to be reduced into Act by the presence of Divine Light It is no marvail though Aristotle did not think of this kind of Inanity and Plenitude being that in one place he saith Ex nihilo nihil fit Of nothing nothing is made and in another place he affirmeth Light to be an Accident and therefore it appeared not unto his sense that such an accident could take away Inanity or Vacuity and fill all things essentially by his presence But I will combate our Christian Peripateticks at their own weapons who hold it for a Maxim that accidentis esse sit inesse I will therefore assail them with this Syllogism If Light be an Accident then the existence of it is to adhere or to be in some Subject but the existence of true Light is to exist without any adhesion unto matter or Subject therefore it is no accident The Major is proved by Aristotle's own Axiom which is Accidentis esse est inesse aut adhaerere subjecto alicui The existence of an Accident is to be in or to adhere unto some materiall Subject or else it cannot be The Minor is maintained by the words of Moses Light was created the first day before any creature and therefore it had not any precedent actuall matter or Subject to be in or adhere unto Besides it is beyond imagination that God should create Accidents before any Essentiall or Substantiall creature Again God who is the Fountain of Light is said to be Light in whom is no darkness And again the word is defined in another place to be Light and the Spirit of Wisdome is said to be the bright splendor and shining forth of the Almighty And therefore it was most absurd in Aristotle yea and in some of his disciples as Damascen and others to conâ—lude that eternall light to be an accident which did emane from the essentiall fountain of light to vivifie and illuminate the whole water Wherefore it is evident that the true mystery of plenitude and vacuity was utterly unknown unto the sect of the Peripateticks because they were altogether ignorant of the true wisdom which did as the Apostle James saith descend from the Father of light and this doth evidently appear when he will have the essentiall light and formall act and splendor of all things to be an Accidentall quality CHAP. VI. How first the two essentiall but opposite active properties and afterward so many passive natures did spring and issue from the foresaid principles by the vertue whereof all mutations and alterations were and are effected in this sublunary world I Will in this place relate unto you the births and beginnings first of the two opposite active natures or essentiall vertues which proceed from the two radicall or main principles aforesaid and then I will expresse unto you the conditions of those two passive ones which are derived from the effects of those two mutuall actions You must know therefore that as the potentiall or dark principle is contrary and opposite in his essentiall property unto the actuall emanation of light beginning so also have each of them manifested or brought forth into this world two offsprings or essentiall properties which are oppugnant in condition and flat adversaries in their nature unto one another and these two active vertues are Cold and Heat Of the manner of production and the severall conditions of each I purpose to speak in this present Chapter and first touching the Cold. It is evident by that which is already said and shall be more amply expâ—essed in the first Book of my sympatheticall History that darknesse is the immediate effect of the divine Nolunty or latent Divinity and consequently of Gods privative property or the divine puissance and by consequence it is the mother of privation death vacuity inanity deformation and so forth For the property of the dark Nothing or deformed abysse is naturally to rest and not to act or operate and the reason is because that all its appetite is to be conversant in and about the center beyond the which there is no motion or action and not to dilate it self towards the circumference as the Spirit of light or God in his volunty or patent nature is accustomed to do For this reason the dark principle doth challenge unto it self by a naturall instinct rest and quietness and this property begetteth or produceth one essentiall vertue of its own condition namely Cold the which as it is elected for a champion to resist the assaults of her opposite namely of Heat whose companions are motion or action for the restless antagonist and provoker of Cold is Heat So unless it be roused or stirred up by the assaults of Heat it moveth not but seemeth to wait upon its drousie mother Darkness and privation whose children are fixation and rest which sleep in and cleave fast unto the center and therefore are unwilling to look forth towards the circumferenâ—e And in verity cold is an essentiall act pâ—oceeding from and attending on the divine puissance which in this property doth contract its beams from the circumference into its self according unto that of the Philosopher Hermes Monas generaâ— monadem in se reflexit ardorem One begetteth one and reflected his beam or heat into it sâ—lf that is to say It would not shine forth but retained its activity centrally in it self and so did seem to rest in it self which was all one with that of the Cabalist Bahir Sapeutâ—acum esset in abysso tenebrarum retracta immanens
center of all his creatures whose circumference is not to be found in this regard his essential name Tetragrammaton is the common agent in every bough or branch of the Sephiroticall or Cabalisticall Tree and hath the dominion or preheminence over all the trunck or body of that Tree and consequently all the other ten names are assigned unto it as having relation unto the properties or the effects of his multiplicity of vertues or actions in one individuall essence and therefore all the rest are subject unto it and are wholly comprehended within it for it containes the property as well of Nolunty as Volunty of privation as position of death as life of cursing as blessing of evill in regard of the creatures as good though nothing is ideally bad in him of hatred and discord of love and concord and consequently of Sympathy and Antipathy All these opposite effects are testified by Scriptures to spring from one essentiall fountain forasmuch as it comprehendeth the power of life and death and induceth unto the brinck of the grave and reduceth or bringeth back again unto life It is IEHOVA that is light life and healâ—h and it is he that â—fflicteâ—h with darknesse death and sicknesse It is IEHOVA that is gratious full of misericord and that extendeth his benignity and mercy unto all his creatures And it â—s he that is angry and severe against nations and dâ—th destroy the wicked It is he that reprehendeth in his anger and chastiseth in his displeasure And it is he that is gracious and the onely Saviour It is he that woundeth and healeth again It was IEHOVA that â—â—reaâ—neâ— to send vengeance vexation and death on the disâ—bâ—dient It is he that causeth the plague the consumption the burning feavour the leprosy sâ—abs and boâ—ches â—meâ—odâ— and uâ—cers of Egypt It is IEHOVA that striketh with madnesse and blindnesse It is he which caâ—seth fear a trembling heart yea showereth down sorrow vexation timidity sad melanchoâ—ly as in Deuteronomy we read of consequently produceth antipathy and discord And contrariwise It is IEHOVA that bestoweth benedâ—ctions or bâ—â—ssings on his creatures He blesseth the bread and drink that the creature tasteth for refections cause so that they preserve and do not destroy And it is he that removeth and taketh away all diseases banisheth sterility from the earth and multiplies the daies of his creatures and by consequence is the cause of loving Sympathy and concord To conclude it is IEHOVA the great God of gods that formed light and created darknesse made peace or love and concord and produced evilâ— and contention or trouble as the Prophet teacheth us Now forasmuch as this essentiall Unity did bring to light these contrary effects by opposite properties therefore did the secret Theologians ascribe unto him divers generall names which they gather out of the holy Writ and are appropâ—iated unto him according unto the effects which follow them whereof some encline to darknesse and privation others to light and position some to severity and others argue the fruits of his benignity Some by a deprivation of his act which happeneth by a reflection of his beams in himself produce the effects of darknesse namely an essentiall frigidity and stupidity immobility congelation contraction â— Others by an actuall emanation from the center unto the circumference do generate the effects of light as are motion heat dilatation subtiliation c. I will therefore rehearse or reckon up unto you those divine Attributes whiâ—h are ascribed unto the sacred Essence in order as they are numbered in the Cabalisticall Tree from the which the divine beams of different natures do descend to accomplish the various will or volunty of him that sendeth them forth into the world to act and produce a multiplicity of effects The first name therefore of the Divine Attribute is Ehieh and this Attribute importeth the fountain or originall of all creatures and the foundation of misericord and clemency because the effluxion or eradiation that springeth from this head is full of grace and spareth all for it argueth the Father of pitty and misericord and the God of all consolation unto whom our Saviour bids us pray in this form Our Father which art in heaven c. And hereupon it is else-where said that the Father â—udgeth no man Again it is the part of a Father to deal favourably and mercifully with his children so God under this Attribute is esteemed to be the Father of all and is therefore benigne and mercifull unto his creatures according to that of Solomon Thy creatures might fall and perish by the persecution of thy justice and be ventilated or blasted by the spirit of â—hy puissance But thou hast disposed all in number weight and measure for that thou canst do much was ever present with thee But thou hast therefore pitty on all because thou canst do all things And thou dissemblest the sins of men that they might wax wise and amend for thou lovâ—st all things that are and thou dost abhor nothing that thou hast made neither dâ—dst thou ordain any thing to hate it Could any thing exist which thou wouldst not have to be or could it be preserved if thou didst not send it the means of its being But thou sparest all things because they are thine O God which art the lover of souls Lo this is the fruit of the name Ehieh namely to create and beget all things as a Father and to have a care of their preservation in his paternall affection For this reason therefore it is the President of the Capitall or radicall bright port gate branch or numeration called Cheter or Corona which is the root of the whole Tree by which and through which the clear beams or lucid and sacred emanation of JEHOVA in his creating effability or positive volunty doth descend unto the creation of all things For Ehieh signifieth the father and root of all creation The second cognomination of JEHOVA in the divine numeration or sphericall Tree is IAH which imports the blessed and gratious emanation of the world and extraction of the humid or created nature namely the waters out of the womb or bowells of the dark and deformed Chaos and therefore the Cabalisticall port by which these active and all-operating beams do descend into the world is called Hochma in Hebrew Sapientia in Latin Wisdom in English And Solomon meaning of this Divine Emanation speaketh thus When JEHOVA did frame and fashion the heavens when he did establish the fountains of the Abyss when he gave limits unto the Sea and did appoint a foundation unto the Earth I Wisdom was with him as a helper to compass all things And we must note that this name Jah whose influence or emanation is Sapientia or Wisdom appeareth sometime to be conversant as well about the effects of severity as clemency although it happen but seldom And therefore JEHOVA said of the Angell which was appointed for the conducting