Now if this Impregnation is to be performed which is nothing else but the spiritual Union of both their spiritual Natures and Essences in order to the birth of a third Being or Body which resembleth them they the Parents must needs according to Nature be of the same specifical nature or of kin and symbolize together so as the Father must be partaker of the Mother's and the Mother of the Father's nature Now forasmuch as naturally they are of kin and both of them work together in one in order to the bringing forth of one onely third Being it must needs follow that before the said Impregnation they both proceeded from the same Unity and were once united together and that this Union of both was in the man as he that hath the pre-eminence above his Wife and doth not come from the woman but the woman from the man as shall be shewn hereafter when we shall in particular treat of Man From whence then it is evident that the Mother the Moon must of necessity lie hid in the Father the Sun and be one with the same and that in a far more high and noble degree than she is in her self viz. according to the nature and property of the Father viz. the Sun Forasmuch then as we may suppose it evident from what hath been said that the Sun impregnates the Moon and that he dwells in her and not that the Moon impregnates the Sun or that she should dwell in him Neither can it in like manner be demonstrated that as the Sun which is a Fire and the Day-light becomes corporified in the Water which is an out-working and out-birth of the Night-light viz. the Moon and Stars so the Moon and Stars cannot become corporeal in the Sun which if it were so would cause a great confusion in Nature 15 Q. What kind of Essence or Being is that which the Night-lights the Moon and Stars after that they are impregnated by the Sun their Male do work out and bring forth R. The Night-light viz. the Moon and Stars do by day with great desire and longing draw in for their life increase and melioration the Sun as the Day-light Now every Star as well as the Moon have each of them their own distinct substantial Life Essence and Nature and every one of them draws in the power of the Sun according to the kind and property of their own Essence and in it self changeth the same into its own property and afterward by night gives forth again in part this attracted virtue of the Sun together with some part of its own Essence viz. the Night And thus the out-birth or working and efflux of the Stars downwards into the Moon as the Center of the Night-light happens according to the kind and property of the distinct Essence of each Star And in this manner the universal distinct efflux or out-birth of all and every Star becomes concentred in the Moon into an upper aethereal water which in comparison of the lower and grosser is a spiritual water which also is cool and more subtile than that in and upon which the Birds flie viz. the Air even as the Fish swim in the lower grosser waters which last water is made or produced under the Quick-sand in the Center of the Earth concerning which we shall speak more when we come to treat of a Vacuum improperly so called This foresaid living essential virtue of all and every Star which at first proceeded from the Sun in the which they in and with the Moon as an Army under their General were all hid as their Seed which was sowed above in the Heavens these virtues of the Stars I say after that by their entring into the Moon they are united and concentred in the same as the universal Night-light do work and bring forth out off or from themselves by means of an universal co-operation of all and every one these lower waters which forasmuch as they be the universal common effect and outworking of all and every Star it follows that every part of the same even the very least and most imperceptible drop must comprehend and contain in it self the innumerable multiplicity of powers essences and out-births of all and every Star that is of all together and each in particular all which are comprehended together in one onely indivisible Being which is the very body and essential out-birth of the Stars who therein have conjoyned themselves into a body And as the outward water is produced out of the universal Night-light viz. the cooling refrigerating virtue which is a spiritual Essence so can likewise this coolness as being the Spirit of this water-body pierce through the said water and all bodies proceeding from the same nourish support and work in them altogether in the same manner as the heat of the Sun goes through all Bodies From hence therefore we may plainly see and acknowledge that as the Out-birth of the Sun in these lower waters as before-mentioned is an Oyl Balsome and sulphurous Essence into which the heat or light of the Sun is changed in the water so likewise the Out-working or Out-birth of the Moon and Stars is this lower and material water which is without form and therefore susceptive of all as being the Mother of all sublunary Creatures that are produced from the spiritual Union of all Stars and the Moon and that the coolness of the Night-lights is as well a true spiritual Being from whence all sublunary Creatures do in part receive their support and nourishment as the heat of the Sun 16 Q. According to what hath been said hitherto doth it not appear as if in the Out-working as well of the Sun when he brings forth out of himself the Moon and Stars as well as of the Moon and Stars in their producing the lower material water all and every part of the Out-birth as the circumference did perfectly contain in it self the whole and the center which at this rate seems to run out into a kind of infinity R. It is so indeed and may be clearly enough demonstrated by an example from Quicksilver which is like a Looking-glass being a round or globular metalline water If we take a quantity of this Mercury and lay it in some place under the open Heaven we can see the whole Horizon with all its parts or objects very plainly represented in the same and when this Mercury is reduced into sublimate and by means of sublimation divided into an innumerable multiplicity of little globular bodies which by reason of their smalness must be distinguished by a Microscope we shall find that the whole Horizon as was said before will appear in every one of them altogether in the same manner as they appeared in the said greater quantity of Quicksilver And in case the said division should be yet further carried on into more minute parts than these of the sublimate yet the same Phaenomena would still appear in them also 17 Q. From what hath been said it is
it takes a liking to it so as to set his love upon it and put a trust in it we shall find that such a man who is a great lover of his Ship shall effect more with this his Ship than any other shall do with theirs In like manner also a Horse-man that hath a good Horse upon which he relies and loves him so that it hath been known that some have escaped and saved their lives by riding eighteen German miles in one day with one Horse for to get out of the Empire into Switzerland by which means they have escaped the Gallows and that without any prejudice to their Horse too In like manner it is matter of experience that persons who have been in love have performed so great Journeys in one day on Horse-back as was impossible for another to do the like From whence we may take notice that the Spirit and Confidence of Man is operative in union with Vegetables and Animals By this also we may guess at the reason how it came to pass that when a certain person had bought some young Trees of another who assured him that if any of them happened to wither he would stand to the damage and make it good again that all of them prov'd well But at another time buying othersome without any such assurance from the Seller they all died viz. for that the Buyer being covetous had no fear concerning the former-mentioned Trees because of the inâ—rance but wanting that for the latter he became doubting and fearful and communicated his fear to the Trees and thereby killed them 5 Q. It hath been declared before that the Water and Quick-sand do generate and produce all other sorts of Sand and Water but before we proceed further it will not be improper here to inquire forasmuch as it is notorious that in Pits we can dig no deeper than till we come to the Quick-sand and that this is but an inconsiderable depth compared to the whole Globe of the Earth from the Circumference to its Center whether I say this immense Bulk from the Quick-sand to the Center be nothing else but meer Quick-sand and Water R. That cannot be because the Quick-sand always and continually gives forth water and that not salt but sweet and fresh in all places yet with several continued alterations from the beginning until it hath transmuted it self in every little grain of other sort of Sand which hath its own essence and property as hath been shewed neither can the Quick-sand receive or take in water from without as will be made plain from what here follows 1. In Fish-ponds that are dugg in some places where the Quick-sand lieth but shallow and a little below the surface of the Earth until they come to the Quick-sand the water doth not rise to above half a foot high or thereabouts so that they are forced to convey Rain or other water into the same for to fill it up Now we find that the water thus added and conveyed doth always keep its own heighth and doth not sink into the Quick-sand as it doth into other moist sand which is at some good distance above the Quick-sand for such Sand as is known will according to a certain proportion drink up a vast quantity of water 2. Some Diggers of Wells are not unacquainted with this who oft deceive people that have bargained with them to dig a Well unto the Quick-sand and so cause that the water may stand three or four foot high in the same who when they see that the Spring cannot rise so high they privately fill it up to that heighth with other water which continues so and doth not sink into the sand but when the Owners come afterwards and fetch water from thence they then perceive they have been deceived forasmuch as the water still decreaseth and doth not fill up again which the Undertakers had promised to perform 3. Forasmuch as the watery Quick-sand is the foundation of the whole building of the Earth therefore it lets no water into it self for it is impossible that two bodies of one and the same nature should enter into each other and consequently that water should enter into water without increasing of its bulk c. that is to say should so corporally unite it self with the other water as that the other water and this new-added water should be numerically one and the same water without all increase of its quantity From all which it is most clear and evident seeing the Quick-sand hath continually from the very beginning of the World given forth water from it self and that it can do no other as having been created for this end and that the circumference of this water is not lessened nor its quantity diminished therefore it must of necessity follow that what the Quick-sand gives out must be made good and restored to it again from within as the following Query with its Answer will more fully demonstrate 6 Q. Seeing then that this is the nature of the Quick-sand how is it possible that it should subsist or how can it be that since it continually gives out water and yet can take in no water externally from above but that thus at last it must be left emptied and destitute of all water which cannot be allowed neither from whence is it then that it receives the water which it gives forth continually R. Here remains no other cause to be assigned than this natural one viz. that as hath been said the waters are continually made by the Sun Moon and Stars for that they as spiritual Beings are onely able to penetrate the water and sand But forasmuch as the Sun Moon and Stars can make no water in the water and yet continually do bring forth water both below as well as above we must therefore conclude that there must be a great space and place of abode for the Air in the Centre of the Earth in which the Sun Moon and Stars do perform their operation and where afterwards their spiritual and continually descending Rays as they mount from thence upwards again do change themselves into water that so all may proceed in a beautiful order forasmuch as the beginning and the end with their whole circumference according to all parts not the least excepted do continually circulate until their full age maturity and perfection And is it not worth our enquiry whether this space below before-mentioned be not spoke of in Scripture under the name of Abyss as Psal. 42. v. 8. and elsewhere as that above is in Scripture-phrase called the Sling 1 Sam. 25. v. 29. For the lower waters must in like manner be generated of a grosser Air and comporting with their property as the upper waters viz. the Air are born of a more subtile and spiritual Air. And this water that is here below forasmuch as it continually comes down from above for to be wrought out cannot be dead but must mount upwards again towards its original and beginning because it cannot
when one works with it in Iron is the fittest part to ingrave with because that there it is most hard and tough Also observe that when we make the smaller ingraving Tools and quench them in cold Quick-silver instead of cold water they prove very good But when Steel is quenched whilst it is yet of a blue colour then it is fit to work with in wood 8 Q. But what may be the reason why Steel when it comes into the cold grows harder but when it is in warmth or heat it grows softer R. Take a Gad of Steel of a foot long and make it red hot and thou wilt find that it is grown a quarter of an inch longer in the fire than it was before for the fire hath expanded or dilated it But when Steel comes into the cold as into cold water it contracts it self and becomes closer because the volatile Sulphur and the fire it self also is by this means shut up in it which is the reason that it grows harder 9 Q. But how are these two parts of the Iron viz. it s combustible and fix Sulphur naturally and mechanically woven and united together R. The word Weaving will somewhat instruct and inform thee of this for in things that are mechanically woven together thou wilt find two sorts viz. long and short Filaments which are twisted into thread and some short threads so they be not too short we see may be mixed together and spun into a long sort of thread of which Linnen Cotton Silk and Woollen Stuffs are made which serve for making of Cloath And secondly as for the shorter Materials as Hair and the like which cannot be spun into a thread without the addition of other longer Hairs yet may by reason of their shortness be artificially and conveniently intangled so together as by means of hot water they are fulled into Felts to make Hats of And this is the second way of weaving The third sort of weaving is this When Linnen-cloath which is woven of long threads as also that which is made of Hemp Nettles Cotton Silk c. being first worn out are made to Paper viz. by beating them very well upon an Anvil in the water with Hammers until they become like fine flocks of Wool or the down of Feathers and then these small Linnen-filaments are put into a Copper Sieve with water and after the water is run through the Sieve it leaves those little Flocks intangled and as it were woven together as was mentioned before concerning Felts made of Hair and when the water is quite pressed away from them being put between Woollen-cloath the Paper is made which hangs together and may be bended and folded at pleasure without breaking for that it is compacted and made up of many subtile Hairs of Filaments This Paper when dipped in Glue-water wherein Allome hath been dissolved that it might not cleave together and be too stiff and afterwards dried becomes thereby better and fitter for use But when too much Glue is put into the water the Paper is made too stiff and brittle and will sooner break than bend and that because the little Filaments cannot move themselves at liberty as before Moreover when the Linnen Rags are beaten over-much so that they be reduced into little round Pellets then no good Paper can be made of them but it will be apt to break because these round Pellets cannot so well be intangled and woven together as the foresaid thin Flocks And this is the onely reason why no fine Paper can be made of coarse Linnen These various Textures may be exactly observed and perceived by the help of a Microscope It will not be amiss on this occasion to speak something concerning Flax and the way and manner of well preparing the same which is as follows When we take Line-seed and sow it in the same place where it grew before notwithstanding that the Earth be well plowed roled raked harrowed and broken so that it is very fine as if it had been sifted through a coarse Sieve for in this manner the ground is to be prepared and the seed sowed therein very thick together to the end that the stalks may grow up slender and long as having but little nourishment as also that the stalks be several times broken down by sitting upon them viz. once when the Flax is weeded and again secondly when they find that it grows up too fast and that the stalks grow too gross or thick But yet notwithstanding all this we shall find that the Flax will still grow coarser and coarser as long as it is sowed in the same ground for that the Line-seed in that place doth unite it self too soon with that Earth and consequently grows up too fast But when this seed is sowed about fifty German miles from thence in another far distant and strange soil and by that means comes as it were into a suffering then it grows and becomes good and fine again as before For the thin stalks have as many hairs or strings in them as the thick and every hair or string hath again all its hairs or due members parts or smaller filaments as well as the grosser and coarser have But if any should try to make the coarse hairs or filaments of Flax thinner and finer than they aâ— naturally by artificially dividing of them theâ— the Linnen made thereof will prove thin and aâ— to tare because by this means they are put out â— their due nature and strength And as we find it happens to Flax that as abovesaid by suffering as by breaking and traâ—splantations is meliorated the same also we sâ— in Trees by means of Grafting in Oculation â— Yea and in Man also for all suffering is like a consuming fire which purifies exalts and works 〈◊〉 change for the better And here by the way 〈◊〉 may take notice that where in Holy Writ menâ—tion is made of fine Linnen there it admits of 〈◊〉 singular and wise signification 10 Q. Hitherto hath been spoken concerning Mechanical or Artificial Weavings but now to return from whence we digressed what is thâ— Natural Weaving and how may we come to know and understand the same in Metals R. Metals consist universally of a hot and cold Sulphur as of Male and Female both which thâ— more intimately they be united or naturally interwoven the nearer those Metals approach to the nature of Gold And from the difference of this union according to every ones proportion and quantity ariseth the distinction of all Metals and Minerals viz. according as the said Sulphurs are more or less united in them 11 Q. If Metals be produced and consist by the union of these two where then is there room for a third Principle of Metals which is vulgarâ—y called Salt according to the Chymists who make Salt Sulphur and Mercury the Principles of â—ll Metals R. This indeed is onely an aenigmatical Speech of theirs For when we see that the superfluous combustible Sulphur which is found
quantity to give it the weight of Gold or to advance it to the colour of Gold which notwithstanding it must have before that it can become Gold and a grain of Tincture seems too little to give a yellow colour to so great a quantity R. The whole body of common Gold is nothing else and cannot consist of any thing else but Silver which is a perfect body and wants nothing of being Gold but the fiery male Tincture If now it should happen that a certain quantity of Silver should be tinged into Gold with one grain of Tincture and that the said grain should be only sufficient to turn it into Gold without giving it the true colour to supply this we have already shewed that the Gold-beaters and Guilders know how to give it a fixed yellow Gold-colour 25 Q. It may be further queried how it comes to pass that Antimony and Copper can give to pale Gold its perfect colour and so can help others whereas they cannot help themselves As also whence it is that they can communicate this colour to Gold and not to Silver or any other Metal and not to themselves R. Forasmuch as Gold doth want this colour and must have it as its due and property which it hath either had before and now lost it or hath not yet attained to it but must attain it for the future wherefore the Gold to satiate it self takes in this Gold-colour in order to its perfection and can naturally take no more than it ought to have 26 Q. There remains yet one considerable Question to be asked viz. forasmuch as it hath been said that Gold naturally takes in no more of a Golden colour than it stands in need of for it self and that a tincture which must first turn the imperfect Metals into Silver as being the body of Gold and afterwards tinge them into Gold must consist and proceed from Gold and Silver for no third or strange thing can be here admitted and yet the said Tincture must not be Gold or Silver but the very first principle and beginning of Gold and Silver and so be partaker of the end and perfection of Gold and Silver and have the sulphur of Gold and Silver in it for that bodies of one nature as before mentioned cannot mechanically enter into each other as being both of them equally hard to be melted The Tincture therefore must needs be and consist of just such a sulphurous nature viz. which is easily fusible as the sulphur of Gold and Silver is of which hath given them their form and as it was before it entred into the composition of Gold and Silver at the beginning of their being made such And forasmuch as the said Tincture is to tinge the other Metals through and through not mechanically but vitally and naturally it must of necessity abound with the said perfect metallick yellow and white Tincture Now Silver and Gold according to what hath been said cannot mechanically take in more than they stand in need of themselves the Question therefore is From whence such a Tincture as this must be taken R. Ask Nature of what she makes Gold and Silver in the Gold and Siver-Mines and she will answer thee out of red and white Arsenick but she will tell thee withal that indeed Gold and Silver are made of the same but that thou wilt not be able to find any Tincture there for the Gold which is there in its vital place where it is wrought and made is killed by the abundance of Arsenick and afterwards made alive again and volatized for to bring forth other Creatures as Vegetables and Animals and to give unto them their Being and Life From whence we may conclude that Gold is not onely in the Earth for to be digged thence and made into Coin and Plate for should we suppose this it would follow that an incomprehensible great quantity of Gold must have been created in vain and be of no use at all there being vast quantities of Gold which never are nor ever can be digg'd up It is here also to be considered that seeing as was mentioned Gold and Silver are made volatile and mortified by the Arsenick in order to their entring upon another and a new life viz. into a vegetable nature whether the Gold and Silver must not before be united with the Arsenick as with their Original from whence they proceeded before they can be changed into a vegetable nature because it is the Arsenick which effects this new Birth in Gold and Silver And whether this Essence whilst it is yet of a mineral nature and not come so far as to be changed into a vegetable nature would not be a Tincture by means of which the imperfect Metals might be brought to perfection Since it is probable that the Gold or Silver which by means of the Arsenick are now made spiritual volatile and fusible may have ingress into imperfect Bodies pierce through them and being thus united with them change them into their perfect nature and make them more glorious But these are onely curious thoughts for if this should be true yet how could we be assured of it forasmuch as all this is done in the Mountains and consequently hid from our eyes and senses And here for a conclusion that we may lend an helping hand to deliver men from many Diseases Poverty and much Toil and Labour we recommend to their serious consideration what follows viz. That seeing as hath been declared to Tincture of Gold or Silver of which we have here treated at large was ever found in any Gold or Silver-Mine in any part of the whole World nor can be found as is very aparent what ground then is there of that old and great â—ry spread throughout the whole World concerning suchâ— Tincture whereby so many thousand of high and low degree have been deceived led aside bewitched and precipitated into utter 〈◊〉 AN APPENDIX WE will here briefly set down what is most considerable about the Tincture of Vegetables viz. what Dyers do ordinarily make use of for to extract their colours and to prepare the things they do intend to dye or colour Now therefore all sour liquors out of Fruits and Vegetables as Tartar Vinegars and all sorts of Salts as Alloms Vitriols Salt Armoniack Salt-petre Sea Salt or Sal Gemme and finally Urines also are useful to this purpose Onely Alkalies are not ordinarily to be used with the Materials forementioned for that when they are mixed with Acid. Salts they cause a praecipitation and consequently a change and therefore they are to be used alone and by themselves All the Colours or Dyes which we make use of in Europe are onely Mechanical and have no natural union with the things themselves which they colour or tinge but are onely borrowed and strange to them and therefore may be separated from them again as at first they were introduced into them But if Dyers and Distillers would look about them and consider what some other
fell to be the Portion â—d Propriety of their fore-Fathers and which â—as as it were the foundation-root of their â—hole stock and all the boughs and branches â—owing on the same and from whence not oneâ— they derived their nourishment and increase but â—eir very Bodies themselves I say that they might â—gain as it were be planted into the same and â—ecome united with it and that so by means of their â—oprietary enjoyment of it the said Land might â—evolve in them according to the Divine Ordiâ—nce and Appointment in order to its further â—erfection and glorification And this Inheritance â—hus divided by Lot not onely Sons but Daughters â—lso with some restrictions had a share according 〈◊〉 Gods Laws given by Moses And so it was adâ—dged and determined by God himself in the case 〈◊〉 the Daughters of Zelophehad Num. 27. 36. viz. 〈◊〉 to them should be granted the free possession 〈◊〉 their Fathers Inheritance for their Father had â—st never a Son behind him yet with this caution â—â—at they must marry into the Family of the Tribe of their Father And may not we with â—round conclude that this was thus appointed to â—he end the deceased fore-Fathers Predecessours â—nd Fathers of these Daughters might by revolâ—ing through them be restored again to their own â—heritance as also for to shew that in case of the want of Sons the Souls may revolve through Daughters May not we likewise here be informed of the reason why the Children of Israel were commanded that the surviving Brother should raise up the seed of his Brother deceased without leaving any Heirs And will it not follow that the Husbands which the Daughters of Zelophehad married being of their Tribe by their Wives raised up seed to Zelophehad deceased without leaving an Heir Male that might perform the same 17 Q. Moreover do not we meet with another proof of this Doctrine of Revolutions in Lev. 18. where certain Rules and Limitations are given by God himself about Marriages with those that are near of kin determining what is lawful and what unlawful in that matter and when we narrowly inquire into the ground of the said Rules and Restrictions must not we conclude that though it be wholly natural for men to cohabite with women yet that God himself set these bounds to the end that the order and way of Nature which is appointed for mankind might not be neglected perverted broken or removed And is not this the greatest and most universaâ— Law and Ordinance which the Creator once for all hath established in Nature viz. that in all natural propagations there might be a continuaâ— processions or going forwards Now that in Nature it is so ordered that Life goes always forwards and that Parents do live in their Children doth not daily experience teach us this Thus we see that when a Mother finds her sick Child drawing near to death she is so highly afflicted and anguished that she oft wisheth to die for her Child Of which we have examples that Fathers have offer'd themselves to be hang'd for their Sons whereby they gave sufficient evidence that their own lives were sensible of and did suffer what ever happened to their Children Now this Law of Nature could never be broken in whatsoever degree of affinity or consanguinity Man and Wife might be related together if according to the common opinion God should for every Birth create a new Soul and put it into the Body for so no such confusion or perverting of the order of Nature could happen Whereas on the contrary according to our Hypothesis which supposeth many Souls concentred and united together every one of which in a due order and procession must manifest and display it self in many different births and propagations would it not sollow that from such a promiscuous and disorderly commixture a great confusion would arise to the subversion of the order of Nature For was it not therefore thus ordained by God because he is a God of Order And must not his will incontestably take place 18 Q We will here omit many passages and examples relating to this matter which might be alledged out of the five Books of Moses and onely make reflection on some passages in the Ten Commandments When we read Exod. 20. 5 6. That God will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him but shew mercy to thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments May it not bear this Sense That forasmuch as formerly hath been hinted concerning the Conception and Birth of Man every Child is generated and formed of the Seed of his Parents and that each of these Seeds is twofold viz. Male and Female so as the Child is as it were made up of four Is it not therefore worth our enquiry whether or no all out-working must not happen in four Generations For do not we observe that when a Father begins to grow covetous the said vitious disposition increaseth in his Child and in his Grand-child arrives to extreme covetousness And then when this Vice hath attained to its full growth and maturity the great Grand-child proves a Prodigal and Spend-thrift because he hath had nothing of the said covetous inclination transmitted to him but rather is possessed with an hatred against it forasmuch as by means thereof he hath been oft pressed and forced against his will and thus being made sensible of the evil of it he takes up an hatred against it and consequently falls into the opposite extreme so that he lavishly spends all what his Forefathers in their Covetousness had scraped together and leaves nothing but Poverty to his Child which Poverty then occasions that his Child 's great Grand-child becomes disposed to grow up from this humble reduction to a new propagation And the same may be said of any other Vices whatsoever For ought we not always to keep in mind this great and fundamental Maxim That God never punisheth for sin but with this aim that his creature thereby may be amended and his Salvation promoted forasmuch as Sin which is finite cannot come in any competition with the infinite Emanation of the Grace of the Creatour in his Creature He being in the highest degree Righteous and Good and gives to man the fruits of his own doing For man himself works his own suffering and punishment but God in and by the same works out and manifests His own Glory Would it not therefore prove a very false imagination for any one to think that God for every Birth doth create a new Soul and afterwards eternally punish the same for sin which according to the meaning of some it could not avoid nor was once guilty of For this can never comport with the infinite Righteousness and Mercy of God Nor according to this Supposition can it be true which is said in Scripture that we all sinned in Adam for how could we sin in him except we had lived and been in him
evident that as well the spiritual life and the spiritual living operation of the Sun as of the Moon and Stars are in themselves a true spiritual Essence and can by means of an Out-working be reduced to a true essential comprehensible body which then is a true Out-birth of their spiritual contexture joyn'd together in one united Seed Now it is further queried whether the Sun as well as the Moon and Stars do grow less or are diminished by parting with that which they continually give forth from themselves as their Out-working or Out-birth and so finally may be brought to nothing Or whether they receive again what they give out from other Heavens and consequently may continue the same without any change in their own Beings R. Neither of these can be admitted for if the first should be allowed viz. that they should still give forth before they had attained to their due perfection then by means of this their giving forth the heavenly Lights would at last be brought to nothing and this World on the contrary would grow to an immense confused and monstrous bigness which would be contrary to Nature who as was said before conducts all things from an Unity into an innumerable and incomprehensible multiplication or increase and melioration whereas in this case the quite contrary would happen because all particular Out-workings would go to nothing and perish and all of them without the glorification and melioration of all and every natural Essence or being be reduced into an unripe unseasonable and confused Mass like an Abortion And in case we should admit of the other Hypothesis then by reason of this never-ceasing and ever-renewed Influx this World with all its parts and members would never arise to its destinated and appointed age perfection and glorification because still new Essences and Bodies would be produced by which means the bulk or mass of matter would be continually increased and at last mount to such an height that it would reach beyond Sun Moon and Stars and swallow up the same in it self from whence necessarily a total confusion would over-spread Nature 18 Q. Forasmuch then as neither of these Hypotheses can stand as drawing impossibilities after them and that this World and all Beings of the same did receive a beginning from their Creator from a Being that never had a beginning and therefore can have no end who placed and bounded them in a measured and exactly-determined time in which they must work out themselves to their due perfection and glorification in all parts what way or means is then left by which the heavenly Lights may so work out themselves in their several set-times in a right beautiful order and harmony that without losing their own proper Beings and without hindring the due perfection of Nature every one of them according to their measure might work together to the glorification as well of themselves as of this lower World R. This way is no other nor can there be any other than that which is represented by Jacob's Ladder for even as upon the same the Angels of God ascended and descended so likewise the essential living Powers or spiritual Bodies of the heavenly Lights do continually descend from above through the aethereal Air to this lower World as from the head to the feet and afterward when they have finished their Out-working there to their own improvement and melioration they mount upwards again from below to the head for to be united again with the same and by means of the said Union to be more and more advanced bettered and glorified until after the consummation of the destinated and set-time all the particular imperfect parts and beings may gradually be conducted to obtain their perfection And this Ascension and Descension of the heavenly Powers and the continual melioration and glorification of the same which depend thereon and proceed from thence endures and continues still without intermission and must needs do so Now Descension and Ascension is performed with a twofold difference viz. as is fore-mentioned according to Day and Night Sun Moon and Stars or a male and female property and that in all and every Creature after one and the same manner as shall be declared more amply hereafter when we shall come to speak of Man and his Revolution and how the same is likewise done in his body The descension of the Sun as the male is chiefly in the day-time and that of the Moon and Stars as the female-part mostly by night The Sun by his descension or influence generates a fire in the Creatures which in Man is to be likened to his bloud but the influential descent of the Moon and Stars generates a water both of which are driven about with the self-same circulation in Man the Microcosm as they are in the Macrocosm or greater World 19 Q. It is evident then that there must be a never-ceasing Revolution by means of which as well the fiâ—ry and male virtue of the Sun as the cool watry and female influx of the Moon are first darted from above and afterwards must mount up again without ceasing if ever they shall obtain a perfect spiritual body and consequently thereby arrive to their full perfection according to the kind and property of a perfect World And because the Ascendings and Descendings are twofold and of two different kinds and properties as also that the same are become a spiritual body it will follow that there must needs be a third as an Uniter of both the said Essences of which the said spiritual Body or Birth doth consist as before hath been shewed and that the said Uniter must be more subtile than they both and therefore in comparison of them a Spirit or right true spiritual Being much more spiritual than either of them and that to the end it may be able to pierce through them work in them and rule them in a wise order and harmony being united with and dwelling in them that so by means of this Spirit both these may attain to their due melioration and perfection by continually approaching nearer to the same and becoming more like unto it until finally they be perfectly united with the same Now the Question is whether this Spirit be â—he same in all and every Creature or whether it â—t is different in every Creature according to the Creatures particular kind and property And whether it admits of a particular exaltation and melioration in it self R. Many Questions are here joyned together which may be answered in two parts for first as â—o what belongs to the first Question the same brings its answer along with it and as for the other Questions which are Whether the said Spirit be one and the same in all Creatures or different â—s also whether it admitteth of its particular exalâ—ation The Answer to these may be best held forth in this Example A Stone is a part of the Great World as of the whole and is a right true living member in
again R. Forasmuch as according to Scripture-indication Psal. 90. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 8. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day and whereas the World was created in seven days whereof each consists of a thousand years it follows clearly that the whole Age of this World doth reach to seven thousand years of which six thousand are the six work-days but the seventh thousand of years is the day of Rest or Sabbath of this World which is the reason why God commanded the day of Rest to be observed and the seventh day to be sanctified to the end that in the six days we might end all our works and offer them up to God for to enjoy a Rest the seventh day in order to a new week 23 Q. Forasmuch as heretofore mention hath been made of the continual Revolution of the Sun Moon and Stars and that without ceasing they give out and take in again the Query is Whether this might not somewhat more clearly be represented and held forth to the Reader R. That this indeed is so may be further cleared by this Example that man perceives and experienceth in all visible and living Creatures not one excepted and particularly in himself a natural hunger he hath continually to draw something into him as to take in the Air and Food for his support and maintenance and to restore and fill up what continually he gives forth from him And in like manner it happens also in the Great World for Man who is the Little World must have the self-same Life and Being in him as hath the Great World because he hath all the parts of it in him and is united with the same CHAP. II. Concerning the Air. 1 Q. COncerning the Lights of Heaven their Working and Revolution some Propositions have already been laid down as also that the Great and Little World do relate to each other and stand in harmony and agreement Now we see that Man the Little World hath a body which in all its parts is perfectly united the Query therefore is How we may come to see and know the like perfect Union in all and every part of the Great World which there is between the members of one body For seeing that the heavenly Lights do onely touch one another with their Rays by means of which they work with and upon one another and are no otherwise united with the lower parts of the Great World their fellow-members than by the influence and darting down of their Rays how can they be said to make up one onely Body together with the other parts of the Macrocosm And what a strange kind of body must that be in which we find so great a distance between the upper parts of it and this Earth R. We do see indeed that the Air interposeth between the upper and these lower parts of the World in which Air the Birds do flie who likewise are a part of the body of this Great World And this Air is not a Nothing nor an empty space but it is likewise a member of and in the body of this World and hath an essential body of its own which admits of being weighed as may be seen in my Alphabet of Nature printed at Sultzbach 1657. pag. 49. where the same is demonstrated 2 Q. When therefore in manner as is there expressed we by force separate a part of the Air from the rest of its body and so weigh it being shut up in a Glass what then is that other Essence which stays behind and from which the part we weigh is separated is that a vacuum or empty thing in which neither life nor activity is left R. No it is not an empty Being or without any virtue or power but rather the most powerful and virtuous of all for whereas the force of other things is earthly and tends downwards this continually tends and carries upwards and consequently is more spiritual and heavenly For we â—ee that when an ounce of Air is with violence drawn out of the Glass Vessel and separated from the other remaining Air it then endeavours with greater force and strength to make up again the defect of this separation and division of its parts forasmuch as it hath been found by experience that the remaining Air hath attracted twenty two measures of Water instead of the Air which was drawn out from it so as it hath left no room or void space remaining in the Glass From whence we find that this subtile spiritual Essence can unite it self to the Water and dwell in it without increasing the bulk of it Of this spiritual Being the Weather-glasses are made which represent to us the changes of the Weather and Air. So that we may perceive even by the eye what a great Regiment there is in this spiritual Being or Essence of the Air which is indeed the vigour and strength of the Macrocosm 3 Q. What doth this spiritual Being which is called the spiritual vigour and strength of the Macrocosm work or effect in the Air R. Even as in the Microcosm there be many continual Revolutions of various sorts of water and bloud and that according to what shall be shewed hereafter when we shall treat concerning the Microcosm the flesh and sinews take their original from the bones as also several living humours and winds salt and sulphurous essences c. In like manner in the Great World this vigour and strength in the Air which are as the spiritual strength of the Macrocosm do cause many and various Revolutions in the Air streams and drivings of the Clouds and Winds and several sorts of Thunder and Lightning c. 4 Q. What kind of operation doth this spiritual Being in the Air perform in Thunder and Lightning R. The Thunder and Lightning which smell like Brimstone and Gunpowder have their own proper and peculiar nature and working Thus in the month of May we have little kind of Thunders which in Hebrew are called Ramses which promote the fruitfulness of the Earth so that not onely by the Rain which follows upon the said Thunder but also by the change of the Air which then happens the Earth is made fruitful And therefore we read Gen. 47. v. 11. that the best part of the Land of Egypt where Joseph placed his Father and Brethren was called Ramses Now that the Thunder hath its peculiar working may be partly perceived from hence that at the time when it thunders Beer Milk c. turn sower in the Cellars and some that are troubled with the Gout fell their pains much increased So that we find that the Thunder doth everywhere introduce corruption and putrefaction yea and in the Earth also in order to a new Life or Generation And as hath been before said concerning this spiritual Essence in the Air that it can pierce through the water and unite it self through the same so we may likewise perceive the same in other Bodies how that it pierceth them
the cause thereof be given R. That there is in the Air an inflammable sulphurous spiritual Being hath in part been made out before where we treated concerning the Sun viz. how by means of the Air and the Sun 's shining into the Water such a Being is generated and the same may also in the Air it self be wrought out into a corporal Pitch and Brimstone such as was rained down at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah That likewise a subtile spiritual Salt-petre and Salt is in the Air some Salt-petre-men know very well who when they have digged so much Earth out of Stables as will employ them a whole year to elixiviate or draw out the Salt from it never after need to dig up any more fresh Earth for to extract their Salt-petre therefrom For at the years end they find their elixiviated Earth after it is again exposed to be stored with Salt-petre anew as being impregnated by the Air which they afterwards again boyl out of the same Earth and in refining the said Salt-petre they separate a great quantity of common Salt From whence it is most clear and evident that there inflammable Materials viz. Brimstone Salt-petre and Salt are spiritually in the Air from whence the Thunder and Lightning are produced CHAP. III. SECT I. Concerning the Water and Quick-sand 1 Q. HItherto hath been treated concerning the Air its Essence Operation and Properties as also that the same hath a spiritual ruling essential body which is united with the Sun Moon and Stars and by means of its spiritual essential powers and firmness is fit and proper to unite the Earth as being the Out-working of the said heavenly Lights with them and so to compleat as it were Jacob's Ladder before-mentioned Now we see that this lower part of the Great World viz. the Earth is made up and doth consist of several Waters Seas and Rivers and of different sorts of Sand Stones and Metals c. The Query therefore is how we may come to understand all these things with the Natures and Properties of them R. In order to this a brief Introduction shall be here set down from proper experience that there by an occasion may be presented to others to search out and advance further in the knowledge of these things We find everywhere in the World in digging whether it be in Vallies for Springs or in Mountains for to get out Metals that though the same be never so high yet at the bottom is always a Quick-sand found beyond which there is no digging any further for this Quick-sand drives with the water and is therefore called in High-dutch Triebsands that is Drift or Drive-sand and in English Quick-sand from its continual motion and is always mingled with the same Now this water with which the Quick-sand is mingled and this Sand which is continually made in the water is the foundation of the whole Earth and of the highest and vastest Mountains as being that on which they rest and are supported and is indeed the very Root from whence the whole Earth all Mountains and other visible Bodies do arise and have their original as is expressed Gen. 1. v. 25. and from whence they likewise receive and enjoy their nourishment as from their Mother all which may be made out visibly to the eye 2 Q. How can it be made out first that the water and the Quick-sand are the foundation of the Earth and the Creatures that are in it And in the next place how are the same the Root and Original of all Terrestrial Bodies R. As to what concerns the first Question the same may be cleared in part from this instance viz. we find in plain and low grounds as in Brabant near Boisleduc that we cannot dig above four or five foot deep in the Earth without coming to the Quick-sand so that when in these parts they go about to build a high weighty and square Church-steeple of Bricks or the like they first lay a row of Oaken or other boards that will not rot in the water but continue always sound and undamag'd in the same upon the Quick-sand and upon the said Boards they begin to build the Church-steeple about three hundred feet high which proves a most strong and lasting foundation as appears from several Steeples that have been in this manner built upon the Quick-sand and have continued firm and unmovable for many hundreds of years Adde to this that when in those parts any one digs a Pond for water and that he digs up more Sand than is fitting thinking thereby to make his Pond Pit or Well the deeper he soon after perceives he is in a mistake for that the Sand flows and falls in again continually so that the Well or Pond continues still of the same depth Moreover he will find by experience that if there be built such a Steeple as was just now mentioned within three or four thousand foot from the said Pit Pond or Well the same will begin to sink and incline toward that side where the Pit is digged forasmuch as its foundation viz. the Quick-sand is drawn away from that side From all which it incontestably follows that seeing such great and massie Buildings do for so many years continue firm and stedfast upon this watery Quick-sand without giving way or sinking and that on the contrary by the fleeting away of the said Quick sand those Buildings are endangered that the said watery Quick-sand is the foundation of all material Bodies as deriving its original from above viz. from the Sun Moon and Stars and mounteth again from beneath upwards through several and multifarious alterations and meliorations in a â—â—â—â—tinual Revolution by means of which the 〈◊〉 World is kept firm and unmoveable on its center Now the reason why this makes such a stedfast and unmovable foundation is because neither the Water nor the Quick-sand both which are very nigh of kin to one another for that the Sand is produced by the Water and continually renewed by the same of which more in its due place will suffer themselves to be thrust down or pressed together but always preserve their wonted station and measure as shall be more fully made out in what follows And as to what respects the second Question viz. Whether this Water and the watery Quick-sand are the Root of all other sublunary Bodies this is evident from the Testimony of Nature it self For first that the Quick-sand is produced by the Water hath been found by true and proper experience viz. in a certain place in the Province of Brabant some of this Quick-sand-water hath been taken and being distilled hath always left some sand in the bottom of the Glass and when in order to a more certain knowledge of this matter the Water hath been before filtred through several Papers that so it might be evident that no sand could remain in the water yet notwithstanding when distilled it hath left sand at the bottom of the Glass as before And as
be separated from the nature of its Origine And this drawing or Magnetisme is the cause of its continual Revolution and wheeling about unto Perfection CHAP. IV. Concerning the Earth Stones Minerals and Metals SECT I. Concerning Stones 1 Q. FOrasmuch as the Revolution and Propagation of the Quick-sand and Water hath in part been already declared it will not be amiss to make inquiry how and in what manner this Revolution proceeds and is carried on further And seeing that everywhere we meet with so ma-many stones in the water as well as in and upon the Earth how the same are generated and to what end and use they be R. The Lord and Creator of this beautiful living World had and hath the Idea of the same in his mind and therefore it is impossible there should be the least failure or oversight in the order of it but all even from the highest Star to the very Center of the Earth and again backwards from the Center to above must work joyntly in one harmony to the end that the whole may work together in a continual Revolution to perfection and old age and that so as not the least atome or grain of sand forasmuch as it is a Creature by it self though it belongs to the whole can be forgotten â—r shut out for it is a part of the whole and â—herefore no body can say that he doth not enjoy â—he same or that he hath no need of it no more than we can say that the least point or particle which God hath created in man should be in vain â—nd not concordant and agreeing with the whole Body Because Man is the Little World and the Center of the Great and therefore cannot be separated from it which if we speak with understanding and any ground of truth cannot be denied by us as hath already in part been made â—ut and shall be more largely insisted on when we shall speak of Man as being a Compendium and an Abstract of all this World Thus we see as oft hath been mentioned that the Quick-sand is as the second Universal Mother that brings forth and maintains an innumerable and incomprehensible multitude of sands many sorts of Stones Metals and Minerals of different and seemingly to the ignorant of contrary kinds and properties all which notwithstanding in one Union work to one good end and are changed into an Earth which is the more immediate Mother of Herbs Trees Beasts and Men which have their Seed in themselves as is said Gen. 1. v. 11 12. But at present for brevities sake we shall onely make mention of the chief and most remarkable Stones from whence others hereafter may take occasion from their own experience to search out this point further All stones are by a constant and continual râ—â—volution generated and maintained by the sand For when we consider the several heads in every particular member of the world we find that every sand to the very least grain doth according tâ— its kind and nature continually and without ceasing give forth food and nourishment to the stone as a Mother doth her Milk to her Children which are born of her and who from thence must have their growth and increase In like manner alâ—â— these stones produce other stones and feed anâ— maintain the same even up to the very surface 〈◊〉 the earth where also many and different sorts 〈◊〉 stone grow as well of the common as precious forâ— or kind Now the life or milk and moisture 〈◊〉 this incomprehensible multitude of different stones contributes much to the fruitfulness of the earth from whence as hath been mentioned Herbs and Trees in every Country according to their kind are brought forth from which afterwards Beasts and men do take their nourishment Our Saviour himself bears witness to this that there is a life in stones Luke 19 v. 40. where he faith If these should hold their peace the stones would cry out And John the Baptist hath a very remarkable saying Matth. 3. v. 9. That God is able of stones to raise up children to Abraham Now that stones conduce to the fruitfulness of the earth experience teacheth us for when some Country-men have carried away from off their ground some sorts of Pebble-stones that their â—and hath not proved so fruitful as before conâ—rning which a larger account shall be given in â—hat follows 2 Q. But what way is there to reduce all stones 〈◊〉 some general heads to the end we may distinâ—uish them the better and learn to know them R. The Stones and Rocks which grow in the â—and Metals and Minerals excepted are 1. Such as cannot endure the fire but when put â—nto it are burnt to Lime 2. Another sort is of such stones which without the addition of any thing else are by fire melâ—ed into Glass 3. A third sort is of those that do of themselves endure the fire but with Salts and other additions suffer themselves to be run down or melted into Glass Now all these stones are not wholly devoid of Metal for they are operative and living as well as all other stones in general whether great or small the high Mountains and Rocks not excepted and every one of them in the measure and order wherein they are placed are parts of the great body of the world 3 Q. What is properly the Nature and Essence of the first of these three sorts of stones viz. of those which do not abide the fire but are burnt to Lime R. These stones are partly of a Sulphurous nature as we may perceive by several of them that when they are rub'd together a sulphurous smell comes from them In these stones the fire continues after calcination so that afterwards they may in part be reduced to a fixed Salt and forasmuch as some part of the fire is entred into them and together with them turned to Salt as before hath been shewed that Heat being a Spiritual Essence pierceth into Bodies and dwells in them and forasmuch as by reason of the violence of the fire the said stone hath lost its stony nature it endeavours to return to its own nature again as to its rest and therefore it attracts the water with such violence that the water is heated thereby as daily experience teacheth Afterwards when this Lime is made up into Mortar it turns again into stone wherewith Houses may be built upon the land yea and in the water also But when the Lime in any building is exposed to a moist air the said building cannot continue long but the Lime will become impregnated with Salt-petre for the Salt-petre which is in the air is by means of moisture conveyed into the Mortar or Lime and mortifies it and quickens the small quantity of Salt which is in the Lime into Salt-petre and common salt which happens the sooner in a place where Privies or Stables are as Salt-petre men know very well how to ripen and reduce Ashes and Lime to Salt-petre by means of Salt-petre water Here
after a narrow search that that part which is white in the Stone was before the red and that the white brought forth the red for thou wilt perceive in some places of them many white parts which in their growth and increase were once conjoyned but by means of the red are separated from each other though they did before belong to one another and that the red parts as their bloud proceed from them We proceed now to a brief declaration of the operation and being of Metals and partly how they are interwoven together which Metals are six in number or seven if we count Mercury together with them which is a water from whence the other Metals are produced or born and withal we shall set down some short Remarks concerning Minerals and also Salts which are few in number and stand in harmony together that the understanding of man might the more easily be able to comprehend them in order to give the Reader a small hint how he may be able to discourse with them as well as with the Stones forasmuch as they are very nigh of kin and that there is a great union between them for that the Stones are the Mother and Work-house of the Metals SECT II. Concerning Metals Minerals and Salts ANd here first of all Mars appears in his whole Armour wherefore it is fit to put this Query to him 1 Q. Why art thou the first of all the rest who appear'st and shewest thy self R. Seest thou not that I must have a nearer alliance in many respects with all the Metals more than they the rest of my Brethren have one with another And seeing that men cannot be without me and I amongst all the Metals am of greatest use to them both inwardly and outwardly by water and by land therefore at Sea they must make use of my Needle in their Compass because I have the North-Pole for my propriety as my Magnetical living power doth demonstrate as also doth my Minera the Magnet it self which here in England is found near the Tinn-Oare Moreover the whole Earth is everywhere as it were sowed over with Iron-Oare And besides this all other Metals are best known unto me so that I am best able to give an account concerning them 2. What meanest thou by that expression when thou sayst that thou art profitable to man both inwardly and outwardly R. Ask the Earth and the plow'd lands where Corn grows from whence both Beasts and Men do receive their life and nourishment 3 Q. How am I to understand this R. Look into my several Changes and thou wilt find by experience that when I am polished I shine like a Looking-glass and am the hardest amongst all Metals especially when I am changed into Steel so that between my Hammer and my Anvil all Instruments of Life and Death and of Peace and War are made and formed out of me and through me alone can be prepared Moreover I amongst all Metals am soonest changed into Earth or Clay for when I am moistened with water I become rusty and by means of this corruption corrosion and suffering am changed into a yellow-colour'd body which Painters use and is called Oker this Oker when put into the fire is changed into a red colour forasmuch as it still retains the nature of Iron and into which the greatest part of it can be changed again This foresaid yellow Oker thou wilt find in many places where my Mine or Oare is which when it is again joyned to me by those that are skilful and experienced it makes a softer and better Iron than the ordinary because my superfluous sulphur is meliorated in the said yellow-colour'd body through rust and is no more so apt to melt but withal is less stony and brittle whereas the other Iron wherein the said sulphur doth abound is more apt to melt but more stony and brittle when it grows cold 4 Q. How can the Sulphur have this effect upon Iron R. When thou takest a red-hot glowing and fiery piece or gad of Steel and holdest to it a piece of Brimstone then the Steel will drop down melted together with the Brimstone and the drops will be hard stony brittle and unmalleable though more easie to melt but when the said drops are oft put into the fire until the Brimstone be burnt away from them then they become harder to melt again but withal are softer and more malleable as they are cold 5 Q. What further changes is this foresaid Oker subject to when it is not melted down to Iron but is permitted to die and perish R. When the said Oker it is changed into a yellow Earth or Clay which by means of the fire is afterwards baked or burnt into red Bricks which by their red colour shew that there is some Iron left in them which in the fire by means of some additions may be separated from them And forasmuch as we find everywhere throughout the whole World such innumerable multitudes of Fields which consist of such a yellow Clay or Earth what can we else conclude from thence but this that the said Earth was formerly Iron-oare which now partly of it self and partly by means of the Plough-share is every year more and more cut off from its Root or Mine whereby its mortification is promoted so that it can be changed or transmuted into Grass Herbs Trees and Corn from whence men and Beasts have their Food and Being And from all this thou mayst lear the great inward profit and advantage I do afford to mankind 6 Q. From this it may seem as if the advantage which ariseth from this change or alteration were the reason of the Iron Age so called wherein men forasmuch as they were sed herewith became Iron-like and cannot yet change the food and consequently also the essâ—â—ce which they receive from the Iron-like Earth into a better and more noble essence viz. into Love so that the Iron-like nature of their food still remains which they as being also Iron-like do draw magnetically into themselves and therefore must be ruled with a Rod of Iron to the end that the said Iron-like nature through multifarious mortifications and advances may be gradually improved transmuted and lost through fire and be changed into the Gold of Love and Unity which is fix in the fire Give me therefore now an account also of the outward advantage or profit thou affordest men R. Concerning my Hammer and Anvil I have by the way mentioned something before to which may be yet added more particulars according as Dr. Gilbert hath described them When I am formed into the Needle of a Compass and made hot if then they let me lie upon the Anvil towards the North till I am cold I shall by this means better turn my self towards the North than if I had received that impression from the touch of the Magnet Moreover all sorts of Instruments which men make use of throughout the whole course of their lives in times of Peace
especially to the heart and head And like as in the Body the Heart is a more principal part than the Stomach might we not compare the same with the most holy place in the Temple Moreover as the Temple was open above and that the Head of man is placed above and is the upper part of the body might we not compare it to Heaven whither the smell and savour of the Burnt-offerings and Incense mounted continually And when all this is done in its due order will it not again come down from the Head as from Heaven and so perform its Revolution in order to perfection 69 Q. Now for the way and means how this right and due order may be kept and observed in the Body of Man hath not God fully declared this to the People of Israel by Moses and ordered the same to be registred in Scripture as an everlasting Record viz. that they should eat no Creatures produced by Putrefaction nor such as be of a ravenous nature but onely clean Beasts that divide the Hoof and chew the Cud and revolving so the Meat And doth not God hereby point out to us that such Creatures as these were the next to Man and the fittest to be enobled into his nature And whereas the Beasts amongst the Jews were to be killed without any affrightment as much as possible to this end their slaughtering Knives were most sharp and keen without the least notch in them and that for this end that all cause of pain and fright to the Beasts might be removed whereby otherwise their bloud might be obstructed 70 Q. Forasmuch then as Man ought to be a King and Governour in his Kingdom which is within him in his Heart must he not in order to keep good rule by means of his spiritual upper under Officers each in his own place and order so rule the whole Body that all that is in it may be dispensed and regulated in good order And by consequence must not there be many under Officers all under the command of the Stomach which can and must distinguish what is good or bad for man According as we see in some sick persons in whom there is yet some strength of life left that oft-times there ariseth in them an appetite to some strange thing by means of which when they can get it and feed upon it they soon after recover And may not the wonderful healing renewing and out-working power and property which is in these under Officers be further discerned in Women with Child in that those things many time serve to procure their health and recovery which would be the death of others if they should take them 71 Q. Moreover may not the extraordinary mentioned Arsenick When we go about to separate this Red Arsenick from its redness it divides itself into two parts a small part of it yields a common combustible Sulphur and the remaining part is white Arsenick which white Arsenick that hath no mixture in it of Combustible Sulphur that is by art perceptible is also found in great quantity in the Silver Mines as the red is found in Gold-oare From some Silver-oare they sublime the common white Arsenick which is every where to be sold as made out of Cobalt and in that part of it which in sublimation stays below a certain matter is found which the Germans call Saffer in which are many round Pellets or Globules which in melting run together and are called Wismut or Bismut which are altogether white like Silver and heavy but very brittle as glass and consist of very thin leaves lying upon one another as it is in Izing-glass and shining like the Regulus of Antimony which is their form When this Bismuth is sublimed it changeth into common Arsenick But as for the Saffer when it is melted with Pot-ashes and white sand a Painters blew commonly called Smalt is made of it which blew colour shews that it is of a Lunar nature as indeed there are found several Cobalts that are rich in Silver As to what concerns the forms of Metals I shall onely in this place make mention of the form of Gold as being the most perfect Metal and consequently must have the perfectest form of them all for the other imperfect Metals especially are changeable wherefore also their form cannot be so well perceived as that of the perfect ones This likewise is the reason why the perfect Metals retain their form upon the Test and do not turn to glass without some addition as all the other Metals do Upon this account also it is that the fire cannot dissipate these perfect Metals nor break their form so as that they should be divided into little particles and carried away upon the wings of the Air as it happens to Mercury When we make an Aqua Regis of Vitriol or Alloms Salt-petre common Salt or Salt Atmoniack slowly rectifie it and then dissolve Gold in it and afterwards cohobate and digest the same several times and at last slowly distil the water from it and poure again of the same Aqua Regis fresh upon it digesting and cohobating as before and last of all distil it with a boiling fire in a low Retort we shall find that some part of the Gold will come over with the water and that when any of the said water impregnated thus with Gold falls upon any ones hand it tingeth the same with yellow spots which afterwards are changed into a bright and beautiful red and last of all into a high purple colour This fine dissolved volatile Gold if we let it stand long in the Air so as the strength of the water may gradually evaporate or put to it a little common water distilled and then let it stand for a while we shall observe and find that the subtile volatile Gold will by degrees form itself into little flat stars and when we hold the Glass against the light and shake it we shall see that the whole water is full of such little shining Golden stars which afterwards swim on the top of the water and twist and weave themselves in one another so that we can plainly and visibly to the eye perceive how the said Stars do vitally and naturally form themselves and afterward reduce themselves to a Body again From which instance we may exactly see and perceive the form of Gold and understand the reason why fine Gold is so flexible and suffers itself to be Hammer'd out into such thin leaves yea and yet further to be expanded afterwards when fine Silver is guilded with the foresaid thin Leaves and Hammer'd out for we find that Gold in conjunction with Silver suffers itself yet further to be dilated and hammer'd out until the Silver begins to appear or shine through the Gold and becomes after that whiter and whiter until that the Gold at last grows so thin that it vanisheth from the sight and comprehension of man This visible glorious spiritual Body may lead us to endless glorious thoughts and meditations
strong fire it is forced to leave its vitrifying part behind viz. the fore-mentioned gained ten pounds which from the fire and water were super-added to it and consequently turns to a Metal as it was before and then it pierceth all melting-Pots whatsoever which is the reason why no Vessel is found which can hold such hot Lead 20 Q. Is there no way to be found out for to make Glass of Gold R. Yes for by adding Iron to it we may make Glass of Gold and by this addition the form of Gold is partly broken forasmuch as the Iron contains much unripe fix Sulphur wherefore also Iron requires a strong fire for to melt it down and when it is molten with Gold it is difficult to separate the Gold again from it without loss of the Gold 21 Q. Is there nothing more to be taken notice of concerning Gold R. I shall mention one thing more for a conclusion of this matter viz. when fine Gold is melted several times with an equal quantity of Regulus of Antimony and after every time ground small and sublimed with common Sublimate and afterwards edulcorated this hath been found when well prepared good for many sorts of diseases and particularly for the cure of some kindes of the Dropsy exhibited to the quantity of two three or four grains and that for this reason because that each time it is melted some part of the Gold is volatilized and loseth its Metallick nature and becomes disposed to take upon itself a Vegetable nature as being now exalted and higher digested wherefore it can together with the Antimony the better perform its opperations in man and become united with him 22 Q. What is now further to be observed about the other Metals R. I shall speak of some of these with all possible brevity seeing that as hath been said they are not so perfect that we can as exactly observe and take notice of their texture and formation as we can in Gold and Silver wherefore what here follows may serve for a short indication and hint for others to enlarge upon as well concerning the other Metals as concerning Minerals and Salts The reason why the fiery Sulphur alone doth make the white Sulphur malleable we may in part gather from what hath been said already and in part also from what we find in Lead and Tin For Tin is the lightest amongst all Metals and that by reason of the great quantity of combustible Sulphur it contains as appears when a small portion of it is mixed with Silver it makes it all brittle and unmalleable which doth not happen so when it is mixed with fine Gold And on the contrary when Lead is mixed with Gold it makes the Gold unmalleable but hath not the same effect when it is melted with Silver Now that the combustible Sulphur is the cause of this may be further gathered from this instance viz. when we take filings of Tin and mix them with quarter of Salt-petre and put them into a Crusible upon the fire then the Salt-petre will kindle the combustible Sulphur and at the bottom we shall find a small portion of molten Tin very hard and ringing or sounding And if we repeat this opperation the whole will be changed into an unmalleable powder of which white Glass may be made and of itself is no more reducible into Tin So that we see and may be assured that the malleability of Metals and their metallick from doth proceed from the fiery Sulphur as before hath been made out at large when we treated concerning Gold We may likewise take a further observation of this from an experiment of Lead which can endure a certain degree of fire upon the Test before it turns to Glass When the said Lead is dissolved by Alkalies and Salts or Oyl which take in the Sulphur and separate it from the Body the Lead by this means becomes changed into a volatile running Mercury which can no more endure the fire as before but is cold and running like water and without a metalline form From all which instances we may clearly perceive that Metals are made by the union of both the foresaid Sulphurs as also that the Metals differ from one another according to the quantity and proportion of Sulphur they have in them and according to the degrees of their natural union in order to perfection Now if any one should go about to imitate Nature in this her process and endeavour mechanically to effect the same mixture which Nature performs in her own way and order he will find himself mistaken for that his eye-sight is not sharp and piercing enough perfectly to spy and perceive the fine and subtile inter-weavings of Nature and much less are his fingers fit to knit and work the same And in case he should try to do it by a strong fire of fusion let him first well consider what before hath been set down concerning this matter for he shall find that Nature doth nor make use of any such violent fire But if any should think to make use of violent strong corroding waters in hopes by this means to dissolve the Metals and Minerals and to unite them again he will find by experience that this will not succeed neither forasmuch as Nature never makes use of any such violent and unnatural things in her process about Minerals for all Salts which are found in the Earth are not violent but natural as amongst others Vitriol is From both these deductions we may conclude that a strong fire doth burn and change a thing but doth not therefore annihilate it as may be seen in the foregoing instance of burnt Firr-wood In like manner when Brimstone which is as a fire is by heat or putrefaction changed into Vitriol it hath no more ingress into Metals and none have hitherto been found that have been able to reduce it to Brimstone again But a warm Fire gives and communicates growth and life to a warm moisture therefore when a strong Fire hath reduced Brimstone to Vitriol yet the true proper life is not therefore there also but time is required that a warmth may excite and kindle life in the moisture Wherefore he that seeks for a Menstruum which without any changing of it self shall perform its solutions will find himself extremely mistaken for that nothing is to be found in the World that is not changeable concerning which matter much more might be said Common Sea-salt is a thing well known and doth not differ at all from Salt of the Mountains or Sal Gemme Now this Salt appears in two different forms viz. as a living or as a dead Salt as we may perceive evidently to the eye when we take a piece of flesh and lay it at the bottom of a Vessel which is full of little holes and put under the same a Tub or other Vessel and then strew salt upon the flesh which must be turned with the convex part upwards so that the salt as it dissolves may run down
handycrafts men make use off in order to the bringing about of a natural union of things they might then be able to find out the true way of Dying In order to which they need only to mind and consider the practise of some Mechanicks whom I here shall mention As 1. Tanners who do bring forth life in two several things which commonly amongst men are looked upon as dead and unite them so together as that afterwards they cannot by any art whatsoever be separated again As for instance they take the Hides of Oxen or other Beasts and when by means of Quicklime they have rid them of all the hair and afterward throughly washed out the Lime they dry them and then lay them to steep in water impregnated with the strength and vertue of Oak-bark wherein they let them lie for some time and then take them out again and dry them and so repeat this moistning and drying them again three four or more times according to the thickness of the Hides and then after this they take out the Hides and lay them wet upon one another strewing some powder of the said Oaken Bark between them and let them lie so till they grow naturally warm of themselves and by this means the life and virtue of the Oaken bark becomes so intimately united with the life of the Hides that it is impossible to separate them again so as a third Creature is produced out of two Natures united together as is a Mule For the Leather which before would quickly rot and putrifie in the water hath by this means obtained on Oaken nature so as to abide in the water without damage as experience teacheth us how that such a piece of Leather hath continued for several years in a Pump without rotting or putrifying We may observe the same likewise from those that make wash-leather who also do unite two natures viz. an earthly and watry so as that they cannot be separated again viz. they take several skins of beasts and fetch off the Wool or Hair with Lime as aforesaid and then wash them well and dry them afterwards they moisten them throughly with Train-oile and beat it well into them as a Fuller doth when he fulls Cloath this done they dry them in the Sun or in a Stove till they find that when the Skins are stretched out there appear some white streaks in them then they moisten and work or full them again with Train-oile and dry them as before in the Sun or beated room which they repeat so long until the said skins according to the proportion of their thickness have taken in and do retain enough of the said Train-oile Then these skins being almost dryed are laid in heaps one upon another in a stove or hot-house until they begin to grow naturally warm of themselves which they try by thrusting their arm into the midst of them for when they perceive they are warm enough they must one by one be turned so as that which was under most must now lie uppermost to the end that all of them may equally partake of the said warmth for if they should grow too hot and lie too long upon one another the heat would become too great and burn the skins Those parts of the skins to which the warmth hath not been communicated will have no true union with the Train-oile but the same may be washed away from them and the Leather continues the same as it was before But what is well united with the said Train-oile never can be washed off again neither can the Oile be separated from it forasmuch as it is now become of an Amphibious nature as partaking of the nature of Fish and beast at once 3. In some places they make vinegar in the manner as follows they take the dry stalks of Raisins and fill a Barrel or other great vessel with the same and when any one hath got a large vessel such as are the largest Rhenish-wine Fat 's full of these he hath enough for his whole life time for to bring wine to a natural heat withal and so turn it to vinegar For when the wine is poured upon these stalks called Rap and hath stood a while on them the wine gets through the pores veins or hollow pipe vessels of these stalks as having formerly passed through the same or like and by means of this motion and passage it grows warm and then is drawn off and other wine drawn upon them instead of the former and by this means of drawing off and pouring on again they do make vinegar in Holland Now if Dyers would well mind and consider the practice and performance of these three sorts of Handicrafts men they would soon find the great difference there is between the natural union which those Artists introduce into their Materials and their own Mechanical conjunction of colours with the subjects of their Trade The Second PART Concerning the MICROCOSME OR MAN As being the Little World CHAP. I. Of the Original and Essence of MAN and his Vnion with the Great World 1 Q. SEeing that the Creator of all Beings before the foundation of the world and before ever they were brought forth had and contained the same in his mind and wisdom even the little world as well as the greater according to the testimony of Scripture Prov. 8. 22 23. and the following verses also Wisd. 8. 4. Must not then the world the greater as well as lesser have their Creator as their Original and Beginning within themselves so as neither the Creator nor his Creature are separate from each other which St. Paul confirms Acts 17. 27 28. That the Lord is not far from every one of us for in him we live move and have our Beings 2 Q. Since then the Creator in and through the Son of God is every where present in the Creatures in the greater as well as in the lesser world Man who is the Seed and Fruit of the Tree of the greater world filling the same in all parts and working in and with the same to the end he may advance all things to their due perfection and glory Col. 1. 16 17. Hebr. 1. 2 3. Wisd. 8. 5. Syr. 24. 7 8 9. And seeing it cannot be said that perfection is come before the end hath reached its beginning and the beginning united it self with the end in order to a New Birth and production The Question then is whether both the great and lesser world for to arrive at their perfection must not in all their workings aim at this viz. that they may return to their beginning and to be united with it And that seeing their beginning is the Son of God John 1. 1 2 3. Col. 1. 17 18. Rev. 22. 13. they through the Son of God who co-operates in them and with whom they as the members of a Body in order to their glorification and becoming Sons of God must be united that so they in the Son the first-born as their head may
New Testament is so often called the Son of Joseph for Joseph and Mary being promised and betrothed to each other became by this means united in spirit so that this Image and David's spiritual Seed of promise entred into her and hers again into him and became united together and being united were wrought out by the Holy Ghost According to which Position we see clearly that Christ was really a Son of Joseph viz. of the spiritual Joseph or spiritual multiplication increase or propagation seeing that in Joseph the total fulness of the promised Seed of Abraham and David were concentred CHAP. II. Concerning the Spiritual and Bodily Conception and Birth of Man 1 Q. SEeing that every man can know by himself and certainly acknowledge that all Images which enter into him through the Senses do retain the same bigness and measure of the original whose Image is received may not we apprehend from hence that the central Spirit of man being the Image of God with which these Images are united doth want no room or matter to receive them in and work them out in time And seeing that no Image enters into this central Spirit but for this end that in the same it may be wrought out and perfected must it not follow therefore that the more of these good Images are wrought out in the central Spirit of man the more perfect such a man must be 2 Q. Moreover when the central Spirit of man which dwells in the heart as a Center between the two extremities of his out-flowing and receiving faculty both which tend and are in order to Union viz. as well in the upper extremity the Brain as in the lower parts which is demonstrable by Anatomy If the said Spirit I say shall both receive and work out to perfection these spiritual Images and we know that one thing alone can perform no operation because wheresoever shall be any working there must necessarily be one that works and one that receives and so the thing working must contain both natures will it not follow then that the central Spirit of man which is both male and female in union together hath room enough in his inward spiritual World to range in himself every one of the received Images in the place which is alike and proper for it and to give them their proper and peculiar food suiting with their several Natures and Beings by which the said spiritual Image may maintain its Being and attain to its Perfection Forasmuch as by means of this food it becomes united with the central Spirit and in order to its further perfection becomes the properiety of the said Spirit forasmuch as it cannot return to nothing May not we therefore conclude from hence that the central Spirit in man in its male and female propriety is able to work out in himself perfectly all the Images of created things and that in the same there is no distinction of male and female but that they both inasmuch as respects the central Spirit and his receiving of the spiritual Images are alike and perfect 3 Q. Forasmuch as the spiritual Conception happens and is compleated inwardly as hid in two distinct persons and spiritually in the central Spirit which wells in the heart and hath its out-working in the Brain and the lower parts of our body and that nothing that is to be known in this outward World is known onely in Spirit but must manifest it self in a Body must not then the forementioned spiritual Conception and Birth also become bodily to the end that likewise a corporal and fleshly Conception and Birth may follow wherein the foregoing spiritual Conception may appear and be manifested And seeing that the spiritual shews it self and dwells in the corporeal must not they both therefore needs be of near kin to one another 4 Q. Seeing then that the spiritual Conception and Birth must become bodily and that no bodily fleshly Conception and Birth can naturally be compleated without a male and female must not therefore a union of Man and Wife precede because without a foregoing Conception and Union no Birth can be brought forth Now how can such a Conception and Union of both be made out otherwise than thus that Man and Wife before they are contracted must have been pleased with taken delight in and loved one another And must not this Love ordinarily stand in a constant growth because every right Union must proceed from a stedfast Love And doth not the Love which a man bears to his Wife cause him to have the Image of his Wife continually standing before him with her face turned towards his even face to face In like manner the Love which the Wife bears to her Husband doth it not cause her to have the Image of her Husband within her standing before her which she more and more unites to her self the said Image having its face likewise turned towards her even face to face But forasmuch as no Union can be of two things which in all their parts are strange to one another and between which there is no interceding relation or affinity as was hinted before when we spake of the Sun Moon and Stars will it not follow that a man hath the woman in a hidden manner and as it were asleep in himself and so likewise a woman the man insomuch that the one is truly in a spiritual manner partaker of the other and this in order to the bringing forth a common first spiritual and afterwards a bodily comprehensible Birth And doth not all this notwithstanding the strangeness of it at first sight very well agree with the Doctrine of the ancient wise men both amongst the Jews and Heathens who with one voice witness this And likewise with the Holy Writ it self which with its high authority confirms the same Gen. 1. 27. where speaking concerning the Creation of Man Moses expresly declares that God created man male and female As also Mat. 19. 4. where our Saviour himself doth further confirm the same 5 Q. When now Man and Wife have taken in and received each others Image are they satisfied with this alone that they have received into themselves each others Image spiritually and retain the same or rather have they not each of them an uncessant longing and desire to restore the Image they have taken in to the party from whom they received it to the end that one Image being united with the other they may by this Union be brought to a corporeal visible and comprehensible Being When therefore such a longing desire possesseth the whole Humanity both of Man and Wife so that every part and member of both none excepted press to the union of both Images and the bodily manifestation of them as to a bodily likeness of themselves is it then possible for either Man or Wife any longer to keep in themselves the received Image seeing that it must now be wrought out and brought to perfection 6 Q. And forasmuch as the female Image
it come to perfection Must not we of necessity conclude therefore that from this little Egg the whole form of the Body is produced in the Womb Explication of the Figures FIGURE I. Represents two humane eggs of a different bigness FIGURE II. Represents an Embryo of three or at the most four days after Conception A Represents to the eye the inward part of the Membranes Chorion and Amnion being imperfectly formed and in which there is as yet no appearance of the Hepar uterinum B Represents an Embryo in which may be seen the distinction of the Head from the Body but no delineation of any other parts FIGURE III. Represents an Embryo of fourteen days A The Hepar uterinum with the Veins and Arteries which are dispersed through the substance of it Fig I Fig II Fig III Fig IV Fig V Fig VI BBBB The Membrane-Chorion dissected CCCC The Membrane-Amnion dissected in like manner D The Navel-string E An Embryo of about fourteen days in which the Face now appears more distinctly and the rest of the Members are somewhat formed and distinguished FIGURE IV. Represents to he eye a gristly Scheleton of an Embryo of three weeks FIGURE V. Represents an Embryo of one month A The whole gristly bulk of the Head shewing the gristly points of both the upper and neather Jaw-bone bb The Clavicula now all bone cc The points of the ossification of the Shoulder-blades dd The white strokes designing the ossification of the Shoulder ee The white strokes shewing the ossification of the Arm-bone FF These white points in all the Ribs except the first and last do denote the ossification already begun in them gg The Thigh-bones representing what is bone in them hh The greater and lesser bone of the Leg both clearly represented and already of a bony substance FIGURE VI. Shews an Embryo of six weeks which differs not from that of two months represented in my Osteogenia but onely in bigness and that the lesser bone as we have before hinted is to be seen here which in the other did not yet appear A Doth exhibite the inferiour Jaw-bone distinguished into six little bones 2 Q. Seeing that we read in Scripture that Eve was made out of a Bone or Rib because the Central Spirits have their residence in the Bones they being the first Product or Out-birth of the said Spirits the Query is Whether it will not follow from hence that the Bones are the first material being which we may call female from which the flesh as from a Spring or Fountain doth continually proceed and to which it must by revolution return again in order to perfection 3 Q. It is further queried what the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tzaelà doth properly signifie of which it is said Gen. 2. that the woman was made seeing that it hath several significations as of a Beam Prop or Support a Rib a Side a Fountain a Building c. And in case any one will needs have it to signifie a Rib here we must ask which Rib it was and of which side Or whether the said Rib were taken from both sides at once because the Ribs are fastened to the sides of the Vertebra of the Back-bone and most of them are likewise joyned together by Cartilages to the Sternum or Breast-bone Or forasmuch as the word also signifies a Beam or any thing that is a Support or Prop whether if we take it in this sence it can signifie any thing else but the whole Back-bone of man which bears up the whole Body in like manner as Beams support a Building Moreover whether for to reconcile all these several meanings together we ought not to enquire where the mid-point and very center of the whole Back-bone and the Ribs which are united to it is Forasmuch as this Center is that out of which Eve was made And is not this well worth our consideration for we may easily know that all the rest of the Bones in man proceed from this center of the Back-bone because it is notorious that an Embryo in the Mothers Womb doth first begin to have Arms and Legs fourteen days after conception Whether I say after a due weighing of all this we may not conclude that Eve was made out of the very Center of the whole Body of Man 4 Q. Forasmuch as with all women according to the ordinary course of Nature every month or four weeks is found a menstruous Bloud which â—easeth after that they are with Child because the Embryo in the Womb hath its nourishment in part from thence so that the humane Body is partly made and consists of the said menstruous Bloud Do not we by this means find the number four in man and the harmony which the Body of man hath with the Moon which performs its course or circuit in four weeks or twenty eight days 5 Q. Seeing that we find as is clear from Anatomy that a Child in the Mothers Womb in the first fourteen days after conception hath neither Arms Legs Hands or Feet but onely a meer trunk of the Body which hath two extreme parts viz. the Head and Belly in the midst of which is the Heart which is the Center from whence all Life comes into the Body of man even as all the Life of this sublunary World proceeds from the Coelestial Sun may not we conclude therefore that the number one is that within which God takes up his dwelling-place And do not these three together the Head the lower Belly and the Heart which rules over the other two give rise or original to the number three 6 Q. Forasmuch as we find that a Child in the Mothers Womb within the time of three weeks hath all his Bones Fingers and Toes compleat which Bones as may probably be conjectured are first formed because to them are first fastened the Muscles Sinews c. and that when this number 3 of the 3 weeks is multiplied by 13 the product is 39 weeks in which time the Child is wholly perfect for the birth may not here therefore be matter for our enquiry whether in this case there be not to be found an agreement between the greater and lesser World because we see that a Child is perfected by thirteen Revolutions even as the Sun in thirteen Moons makes a year so as thirteen Revolutions make up a perfect Childâ— year like as thirteen Moons make a compleat Solar year 7 Q. Seeing that in Arithmetical counting we can go no higher than 10 because then we begin again anew which is also evidenced by the 10 Fingers of Man which are the appointed Instruments for him to work out any thing and that the Child lies ten months in the Mothers Womb until it be born according to the testimony of Scripture Wisd. 7. 2. May we not also from hence in a certain manner find out the foundation of the number Ten in man SECT II. Concerning the Senses of Man 8 Q. FOrasmuch as in the Head are five outward and
is still drawn in yet so as that a certain part of this first attracted and wrought-out air remains in the Belly which serves to the necessary strengthening and maintaining 〈◊〉 Life And may not we from all this in part understand that in the Little World the Body 〈◊〉 Man as well as in the Great World there is a continual Revolution without ceasing 19 Q. Do not we in like manner perceive this continual Revolution of the Air in the Body of Man and the Communication of the same from the Belly to all parts of the Body and that by means of the same the Life of man is without ceasing fed and maintained in this instance That when in aged Persons and sometimes young who by over-hard labour have already given forth their Life and Strength this Revolution comes to be weakened and draws to a period the Dropsie follows upon it because the living power and virtue in the Air can no more be taken in by that party and that consequently the Night and Moon as the Lady of Water gets the upper hand And thus the Water takes up its residence in the hollow of the Body where the Air before had its abode and from thence pours forth itself into the Legs and Feet where the Air bore sway before And upon this account it is that the Dropsie proves incurable when it seizeth persons in whom this revolutional power of Life is wholly lost either by reason of old age or over-hard labour or long-continued sickness 20 Q. May not we further perceive of how great concern this Revolution of the Air in the Body of Man is from hence that when the Dropsie is onely caused by some obstruction or disorder by means of which this Revolution is hindred and that the Life be not wholly wasted then it may be cured as is known by experience that many who have had life enough and by the help of Medicines have had this disorder appeased and reduced have been perfectly cured of this sickness and that by different ways in case the Disease have not yet taken an entire possession of man so as to rule over him 1. It hath been found by experience that Opium prepared in manner here specified hath proved very successful in the cure of this Distemper Take one pound of Opium to eight pounds of the Juice of Quinces with other Spices or Drugs that shall be thought fit digest and ferment these together the space of three weeks whereby it is spiritualized and made more fit for due operation the press it out and boyl it to a thick consistence and give the Patient daily of this six seven eight nine ten grains or more with regard had to his strength as well as the strength of the Opium in some warm Vehicle taking care that he be kept warm in Bed This I say is an experienced Cure of this Distemper for it makes the Patient to sweat and opens the obstructed hidden passages In like manner for cure of the Quartan Ague which is nothing else but a bare custom left by the Agues going before whereby Nature doth as it were return back from a Tertian to a Quartan in which case we give some grains of this prepared Opium upon the first invasion of the Paroxysm in some warm Vehicle and then compose the Patient to sweat in a Bed and repeat this if need be nine or ten times until the Patient do mend and be restored by which means many have been recovered The same likewise is commonly of great use in all those Diseases which proceed from an ebullition of the Bloud or from a contrariety aversion risen in Nature such as are the Cholick Gripes Bloudy Flux Pleurisie c. for to bring Nature to rest and quiet again but in cases where Vomits are necessary as in foulness of the stomach or Palsey this Opiate must not be given 2. Toads cut up in the midst and their intrails taken out and afterwards dried and beaten to powder with a like quantity of Sugar give the Patient a thimble full of this Powder fasting in Wine and it will strongly drive forth the water of the Dropsie by Urine 3. Where it is yet seasonable and the sick party is not wholly over-powered by the Disease the vulnerary Herb called Asclepias or Wince-toxicum taken inwardly every day is very good and profitable in this case Another means serviceable in the curing of this Disease hath already been set down in the former part of this Treatise to which we remit the curious Reader 21 Q. Forasmuch then as we do perceive that the Great and Lesser World do stand in an harmony and agreement together and that the Moon and Stars do continually produce water and bear rule in the same and that the Sun continually works in the said waters in order to the perfecting of them in that he makes a fiery water by which means a perfect Revolution is brought about And do not we find that the same thing happens also in Man the Little World so that his Moon and Stars continually generate a water in him and bear rule in the same And whenever this Revolution doth not happen so that the light of the Sun cannot work orderly in the said waters doth not then the nature of the Nocturnal Light get the dominion And forasmuch as the same doth continually produce water and that the said water cannot circulate for want of the light of the Sun must not then this standing water of necessity produce the Dropsie And according to this Hypothesis can the cure of the Dropsie consist in ought else but in appeasing of the disturbed solar life by which means the Sun being again duly united with the waters doth reduce the waters to their former out-working subtilty and life seeing that the light of the Sun Moon and Stars which pierceth through all bodies how hard soever they may be doth again open the hidden spiritual passages that were obstructed which are far more subtile and minute than to be perceived by any Anatomist or the outward eyes of any man whatsoever and through the said opened passages it afterwards by means of the Air drives forth that water by Sweat Urine and Stool But when for want of knowledge of a true Medicine they tap the Patient and by making an Incision in his body let out the water in cases where the said Disease is come to such an height that by reason of the weakness of Nature the Physicians cannot any other way cure the same all at once through unskilfulness and want of experience how can it be otherwise but that sudden death must needs follow because the life which is yet in the said water and cannot in this way be separated from it is let out together with the water In like manner also when some unexperienced Physicians mistake the Tympanites or Wind-Dropsie for the Water-Dropsie and according to this imagination of theirs make an Incision in order to the letting out of the supposed water and
seeing that the Stomack is a wise and understanding Purveyor for the whole body which must and doth continually renew all and every part of it not one of them excepted by a continual circulation in a two-fold form of Blood and Water may not we for these reasons likewise suppose the Stomach to be the universal Physician that cures all Diseases the rather because we experience that when the Stomach hath lost its strength no Medicine can be helpful to the sick And whether it be not therefore necessary to preserve the same in its strength and vigour to the â—end that the whole body may be kept so likewise For must not the ferment of the Stomach which is its own proper fire do all that is to be done in order to the preserving of the Life of Man and no Strange fire even as it was forbid to bring any strange fire to the Altar at Jerusalem Ought not we therefore in this case to observe to that old Verse Principiis obsta serò Medicina paratur c. And is it not so much the less strange that 〈◊〉 peculiar fire should be found in man forasmuch as the same was very well known amongst the Jews who look'd upon this fire when abundantly perceiv'd in or about any person as a great Omen 〈◊〉 Presage of something very extraordinary according to what is mentioned of Achitophel in Cabale denudatae Tomo secundo in tractatu de Revolutionibus Animarum which Treatise some years since I got translated by a Friend and was not long since printed at Francfort on the Mayn viz. that fire proceeded from his Member And that such a fire as this is contained in mans Urine and is preserved in the water as a close baked and compacted slime may not we plainly perceive this by the Phosphorus which a few years since was found out in Germany which is made in this manner First you evaporate a great quantity of Urine until it become as thick as Honey and then mix the same with three parts of Sand which mixture being put into a coated Retort and a large Recipient joyn'd to it with water in it and the Retort placed in a convenient Furnace and driven with a sufficiently strong fire at last a shining matter comes over which after settles it self into a thick substance and when taken out of the water doth give light and shine in the dark and being rubbed upon Paper doth set it in a light flame It will not be thought unreasonable here for us to enquire whether from what hath been said we may not in some sort understand the Analogy resemblance there is between that glorious fire which in former times came down from Heaven upon the Altar at Jerusalem and the fire which is in Man And might not we likewise find out an agreement between the Stomach of Man the Little World and the Grave which is the Womb of the Woman of the Great World forasmuch as in them both all things must perform their Revolutions in manner as was mentioned before when we treated concerning the Earth 68 Q. Now when all things in the Stomach of man are in good and due order may not we conclude that it must then needs communicate health to the whole body of man especially to the heart and head And like as in the Body the Heart is a more principal part than the Stomach might we not compare the same with the most holy place in the Temple Moreover as the Temple was open above and that the Head of man is placed above and is the upper part of the body might we not compare it to Heaven whither the smell and savour of the Burnt-offerings and Incense mounted continually And when all this is done in its due order will it not again come down from the Head as from Heaven and so perform its Revolution in order to perfection 69 Q. Now for the way and means how this right and due order may be kept and observed in the Body of Man hath not God fully declared this to the People of Israel by Moses and ordered the same to be registred in Scripture as an everlasting Record viz. that they should eat no Creatures preduced by Putrefaction nor such as be of a ravenous nature but onely clean Beasts that divide the Hoof and chew the Cud and revolving so the Meat And doth not God hereby point out to us that such Creatures as these were the next to Man and the fittest to be enobled into his nature And whereas the Beasts amongst the Jews were to be killed without any affrightment as much as possible to this end their slaughtering Knives were most sharp and keen without the least notch in them and that for this end that all cause of pain and fright to the Beasts might be removed whereby otherwise their bloud might be obstructed 70 Q. Forasmuch then as Man ought to be a King and Governour in his Kingdom which is within him in his Heart must he not in order to keep good rule by means of his spiritual upper under Officers each in his own place and order so rule the whole Body that all that is in it may be dispensed and regulated in good order And by consequence must not there be many under Officers all under the command of the Stomach which can and must distinguish what is good or had for man According as we see in some sick persons in whom there is yet some strength of life left that oft-times there ariseth in them an appetite to some strange thing by means of which when they can get it and feed upon it they soon after recover And may not the wonderful healing renewing and out-working power and property which is in these under Officers be further discerned in Women with Child in that those things many time serve to procure their health and recovery which would be the 〈◊〉 of others if they should take them 71 Q. Moreover may not the extraordinary sensibleness of these Spirits be gathered from those who have a natural abhorrence and antipathy against many things as for instance those who cannot endure Cheese c. how ill they grow as soon as the smell of it doth reach their Nostrils so that their Stomach by a peculiar aversion it hath from it is ready to vomit And when at any time we go about to cozen them by mixing Cheese with any of their Meat though so as cannot be perceived by them yet into what disorder doth it cast them Thus we observe likewise that excess in eating or drinking which makes others sick doth not hurt fools notwithstanding that the quantity be very extraordinary but they can eat and drink whatsoever is set before them because they have no apprehension of it May not we likewise observe a further evidence of this in those that cannot endure Cats as having a natural antipathy against them who as soon as they come into a place where a Cat is though hid from their
us to and was by all the Jews and Disciples of Christ at the time of his appearance here on Earth held for an undoubted truth As for instance John 9. where mention is made of him who was born blind and that the Disciples on that occasion asked our Saviour Whether this blind man had sinned or his Parents that he was born blind Where we find that Christ did not reprove his Disciples for this their opinion of mans Soul returning into another renewed body but onely answers them without excepting against their opinion and signifies to them the true reason why the said blind man was born blind by which means he tacitly confirmed the foresaid Doctrine which afterwards he himself also openly taught as shall be more largely shewed hereafter And seeing that we read in the Old Testament of so many Manslaughters committed by the express command of God and yet that God by reason of his infinite goodness and wisdom neither doth nor can do ought in his universal administration and government of the World but what must tend to the inevitable salvation and good of mankind forasmuch as according to Scripture he hath mercy upon all because he hath power over all and winketh at the sins of men because they should amend For he loveth all the things that are and hateth nothing that he hath made for neither would he have made any thing if he had hated it Or how could any thing have endured if it had not been his will Or how could it have been preserved if not called by him But he spareth all because they are his own who is the Lover of Souls and his incorruptible spirit is in all things Wisd. 11. v. 24 25 c. From all which we may take occasion to enquire what the end and aim of God in order to the common good of all mankind could be in all this killing and utter destroying of People but this that thereby a transplantation in this way of Revolution for the melioration and final perfection of men might be brought about Wherefore also God in Paradise foretold to Adam That the day wherein he did eat of the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil dying he should die that is die and die again Thereby signifying to him that he should then enter upon a continual and uncessant dying and die in all his right Off-spring until the great Sabbath of this World And may we not here take occasion to consider whether this be not one of the chief points of Scripture and wherein is contained a singular great mystery of that Wisdom which hitherto hath been concealed and hid from the most in Europe And whether our ignorance of the same be not the cause of most of that Confusion and Contention which is amongst those who are called Christians as for instance about Praedestination Justification c. And whether all these Differences and Contests may not be taken out of the way by this Doctrine of Revolution when once the same shall be clearly made out and generally received 3. Q. Forasmuch as the Scripture makes mention of Cain and Abel who were Brethren and Twins as the Scripture witnesseth Gen. 4. 1 2. where it is said that Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bear Cain and that she proceeded to bear without Adam's knowing of her a second time his brother Abel Which confirms that both the Brothers were born of one onely Conception of whom Abel who was born last was the elder and first conceived even as Thamar's Midwife witnessed concerning Pharez and Zarah Gen. 38. 28. And likewise is the reason why we cannot say that Jacob did unjustly defraud his Brother Esau of his Birth-right forasmuch as the same did of right belong to him as having been first conceived though he was born last Seeing then I say that the Scripture tells us that Cain killed his Brother Abel and that the Lord thereupon demanded of Cain where his Brother Abel was It is not worth our inquiry whether the Lord by this demand did not hint and signifie to him that his Brother Abel was in him which Cain at first was ignorant of and therefore answered the Lord I know not but presently thereupon call'd to mind and perceiv'd that he himself was the Earth that had received the bloud of his Brother wherein was his Soul Whereat he being astonished answered with wonder and horrour Am I then become my Brothers keeper Gen. 4. 9. May not we therefore conclude from hence that when a man in anger kills another outwardly as to his Body that he doth it for this reason because he cannot endure the being and nature of the other inwardly in himself and yet because he cannot kill him inwardly according to his Soul therefore the Party that is outwardly kill'd continues inwardly to be his Accuser and Judge to the end that by means of a due punishment he may be brought to right and bettered And that thus Abel's Bloud in which his Soul was continually cried for Vengeance in Cain until it was executed which was when Cain was killed by Lamech who was the seventh from Adam in the Line of Cain according to the common Opinion of the Jews 4 Q. Seeing that the foresaid Lamech was the first that is mentioned in Scripture who had two Wives at once and that he declared unto them the Revolution of Man in the words set down in Scripture it will not be amiss if we enquire more particularly into the meaning of them The words are these Gen. 4. 23. Hear my voice ye wives of Lamech and hearken unto my speech I have stain a man to my own wounding and a young man to my own hurt Cain shall be avenged seven times but Lamech seventy seven times Which last words in the Hebrew admit of a twofold meaning for besides seventy seven they may signifie twice seven or seven and seven Concerning which the Jews write that thereby is intimated that Cain should be brought to judgment by a double seven or two times seven viz. by two men each of which have seven names in Holy Writ of which the one was Moses and the other Jethro See more of this in Rabbi Jitschak Loriensis de Revolutione animarum p. 367. Francofurti 1684. Now when we count twenty years which more or less is the age of a man wherein he ordinarily attains his full growth for to Marry or go to War wherefore the Lord commanded Moses to number those of the children of Israel that were of the age of twenty years and upward that were able to go forth to war Numb 1. 2 3. and to these twenty years allow one year more for the getting of a Child and moreover some weeks for the wives purification which will amount to about a year and an half and when afterwards we multiply 77 by 21 1 2 we shall find the number of years from Adam to the Deluge viz. 1656. excepting onely a small gap which may be filled up several