gunpowders force raised in the aire to a certain height moving neither lower nor higher then the form all vigor affordeth it vertue and there remaineth untill the force of the corruptible and wasting fire be spent and then it falleth down againe But the Light of the star carrieth and raiseth up the spirituall body according unto the proportion of the mounting Light which soreth as high as its power and the ponderosity of the body will permit and so it hangeth perpetually at a certain distance from the center because the fire is of an eternall and incorruptible nature and will not fade as that artificiall fire of the squib doth Now as all the illuminating vigors and animating forces or flames that are imparted unto the universall waters was bestowed on them by that bâight catholick Spirit or emanation which was sent forth by God to be carried on the waters which as Scripture doth averre is brighter then the Sun or Starrs So there is none of all those Lights which are separated or divided in essence from that glorious and glittering Spirit whose beams were dispersed over all the waters in the abysse in giving of them life and being For this reason therefore because each Light had a diversity in proportion of formall brightness and measure of corpulency it is that one celestiall body doth vary in his manner of vertue motion and influence from another but because the extracted quintessence or purer materiall essence of all the Chaos with the purity of Light that issued from the creating Spirit were united into an Angelicall alterity both of those natures in the figure of one masse sored up out of the dark abysse into the heaven's center where they challenged the Royall Phoebaean Throne and that Sphaericall masse is to this hour termed the Sun of Heaven which as from the created Fountain of Light enflameth and formally enlightneth all the rest of the Starrs in the heavens above and the Element and elementated creatures below So that after the universall contracted Light was effected the fourth day of the Creation it was ordained to be that capitall Organ of life and vegetation in the starry world which did send and showre down his influences and fiery spiracles of life conservation vegetation and multiplication upon the sublunary earth and waters Thus therefore in few words you have the reason of that Condensation and Rarefaction whereby both the invisible heavenly Substance and visible celestiall bodies were made And it seemeth not to disagree from the opinions of the learned Theologians Basil and Damascene touching the causes of the divine Spirit 's action in Condensation and Rarefaction before the apparition of the Sun in the heavens Forasmuch as they will have the daie's Rarefaction or cleare heaven to be occasioned by an emission of Light ordained by the divine will or act of this Omnipotent Spirit But they think that the night's Condensation and the opake or condensed bodie in the heavens are effected by a contraction of Light which was also caused by the sacred Spirit 's volunty Thus therefore we see out of the confession of certain of the prime Fathers of the Church what was the cause of the cold condensing Night and the hot rarifying Day before the Spirit was congregated into the Tabernacle or quintessentiall substance of the Sun which was extracted by the Spageâick or separative action of the divine Spirit out of the huge deformed waters of the abysse And therefore this also must be the reason of Condensation and Rarefaction unto this day For as the Spirit in the Sun being far from us and as it were contracting his beames in regard of us unto himself or absenting himself from our Hemisphere so that the cold waters do incline unto the nature of their mother Chaos by reason whereof the night and darkness are long and the light and day but short and faint in heat So also in that season the common sublunary Element is subject to Condensation and Incrâssation and therefore is constrained or contracted into the consistence of Frosts Snows Hail Ice and Cold showers c. Again when it is neare unto us it dilateth it self and by his heat and presence the cold waters become hot and the daies are augmented and fortified or made strong in heat and then the common sublunary Element is apt for dilatation and subtiliation being easy to be inflamed and set on fire with Lightnings coruscations and such like But I leave the history of the Condensation and Subtiliation of the aethereall Spirit to descend unto the like acts or conditions in the sublunary Element CHAP. V. How the lower waters or catholick sublunary element were distinguished ordered and shaped out into sundry distinct sphears which are called particular Elements and that by the foresaid all-working Spirit or dâvine Word SInce that it is most certainly proved already that the universall substance of the world's machin was made but of one onely thing namely of a matter that was produced out of the potentiall bowells of the dark chaos or abyss by the spagerick vertue of the divine Word the which matter Moses tearmed Waters and Hermes the humid nature of the which in generall as both Moses and St. Peter aver the heavens and the earth were made of old it must needs follow that out of this catholick masse of waters the universall sublunary element was derived which is commonly termed by the name of Aer as all that humid substance in the celestiall orbe is called Aether Now this generall element is by the breath of the divine Spirit Râach Elohim altered and changed from one shape unto another for that which is the visible waters was made first of the aire which is an invisible water as again the visible water by condensation is made earth And this is proved first by the words of St. Paul who saith Per fidem agnovimus quod semper ita actum sit cum mundo per Verbum ut ex iis quae videri non poterant fierent ea quae possunt videri We know by faith that it hath been ever acted with the world by the word that those things which can be seen were effected or made of those things which could not be seen And again Solomon saith that the world was made of a matter that was not seen But besides these proofs we are taught by chymicall experience that earth is nothing else but coagulated water nor visible water any thing else but invisible air reduced by condensation to a visibility nor fire any thing else but ratified aire And in conclusion all the sublunary waters were in the beginning but an invisible humid or watry spirit which we call by a common name Aire and consequently the catholick sublunary element was in its originall nothing else but one aire being that heaven was made before the seas or the earth as Moses teacheth us And therefore by faith we must believe according unto St. Paul's doctrine that all
iis mala muâââ angustiae God for saketh the wicked and hideth his face from such as are impious thaâ evill and necessiây may encumber them But the speciall causes of life death and resurrection are expressed in these words of the Prophet David before mentioned O Lord how glorious are thy works in wisdom thou hast made them all the earth is full of thy riches so is the wide sea and innumerable creeping things therein Thou givâst unto them and they gather it thou openest thine hand and they are filled with good things but if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou takest away their breath they die and return unto dust Again if thou sendest out thy Spirit they are re-created and revive and thou renewest the face of the earth c. Psa. 104.20 Lo here the essentiall reason and centrall manner of Generation and Corruption is exactly described and set forth by the Psalmise namely that by the presence and benigne action of the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord life is continued and contrariwise by the absence or departing or by taking of it away from the creature it dieth and corrupteth for so long as the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord acteth and worketh in the creature it is not possible it should die or corrupt but when it departeth death and corruption must needs follow also when it abideth in the body but resteth from his action or as it were withdraweth his active beams from the circumference unto the center which the Prophet tearmeth The hiding of God's face then is the creature troubled which is as much to say as it is sick but if it be totally taken away then the creature is forced for want of it to expire and die To conclude if it return and shineth forth again unto the creature then it reviveth again as it did unto Lazarâs and unto the Widow's child which the Prophet raised Whereby it is apparent how death is nothing else but the absence of the essentiall form and consequently it is made evident that the vivificating form is immediately from God and not that imaginary one which the Peripateticks have groped after and I prove it evidently out of these places though the precedent Text doth expresse it plainly enough Non permanebit saith the Lord Spiritus meus in homine in aeternum quia caro est eruntque Dies ejus centum viginti annorum My Spirit shall not remain perpetually in man because he is flesh and his daies shall be a hundred years and twenty Whereby is argued that it is the Spirit of God which maketh man to live and that by the absence thereof death must needs ensue But because the curious will scarce approve of this translation of Jerom saying that the nature of the Hebrew Text is otherwise taken I will maintain and confirm it by the like and of the same condition in Job Si Deus apponens ad hominem animam suam Spiritum aut flatum ejus ad se reciperet vel traheret deficeret expiraret omnis care simul homo in cinerem râverteretur If God setting his minde upon man should receive or draw unto himself his spirit or breath of lifâ all flesh would fail and die and man also together with him would return unto ashes So that we see it is the Spirit of God which giveth life not onely unto man but also to every other creature And that it is meant by the reall vivifying Spirit of God which giveth life unto man expresly we have it confirmed thus by Job in another place Spiritus Dei saith Job fecit me inspiratio Omnipotentis vivificavit me The Spirit of God made me and the inspiration of the Almighty hath vivified me or given me life And therefore it followeth that if the presence of this Spirit doth cause generation life and preservation of necessity the absence of it must cause corruption death and destruction for when the Spirit of the Lord is removed from the bodily masse of the creature it leaveth it deformed and as it were another chaos or terra inanis vacua being that it is destitute of the Spirit of life which did make it to act and exist in its specifick nature And forasmuch as this incorruptible Spirit doth preserve the corporeall masse from corruption by his incorruptible vertue and power it followeth therefore that when the Spirit is departed or absolutely contracted in it self without any externall act the masse must of necessity forthwith die and return unto a privative nothing Now the difference between the resurrection from death or rather deadly sleep unto a temporall life for the words of Christ were touching Lazarus that he was not dead but slept and that which is an eternall life is this for as there is nothing that hindereth death more than the presence of the incorruptible Spirit so also is there nothing which hindereth the perpetuity of living more then a corruptible body or a body subject unto death or corruption and therefore that body must die that it may put off corruption and endue incorruption namely by purification and separation of the corruptible additaments which is effected by a loosning of the tie of the alterable elements and a freeing of the spirituall part of the corporall composition from its long captivity that it may become pure and clean which being done then by the union of the incorruptible Spirit with it all will be made spirituall so that according unto the doctrine of St. Paul That which is sowed will not be quickened except it die And that which thou sowest is not the body that shall be but God giveth it a body at his pleasure And therefore as the body is sown in corruption so it riseth in incorruption as it is sown a naturall or elementary body so it is raised a heavenly and spirituall body So that the body must die that it may put off corruption that is the corruptible portion of the impure element that it being made spirituall may abide with the Spirit of life for evermore For this reason he affirmeth that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God because in their elementary nature they are subject unto corruption and therefore cannot inherit the land of incorruption but it is the pure spirit of the blood and flesh which rise after they have deposed their grosse tabernacle unto incorruption being animated by the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord which onely causeth a temporall life in the naturall or compacted elementary masse and an eternall one unto the spirituall and refined body which is contrary in condition unto the naturall body as the Apostle doth justifie for by purification it is changed from an elementary body unto a heavenly and spirituall one Do we not see after the same example how the very grain of wheat is so exalted in vertue after it hath endured corruption and hath been freed from the grosse elementary tie that it
matter they imagine to be drops of water which are caused by the concretion or condensation of that vapour Also they make their two efficient causes cold and heat for say they it is the office of cold to condense and congeal the included vapour into water and that it is the heat and cold together which maketh the water fluxible and moovable Let it therefore be lawfull for me judicious Reader to answer these Peripatetick Philosophers with an over-worn axiom of their own and consequently to fight with them at their own weapons Their axiom is Erustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora That is vainly done or effected by many which may be effected by lesse Now if that this originall work in the producing of fountains may be performed most conveniently by one and the self-same subject of water without the altering of it first into vapour by subtiliation and afterward by condensing again that subtle vapour into water Then I make no doubt but you will conclude with me that this Peripatetick definition is vain imaginary and sophisticall by their own rules But I will make it apparent hereafter by an ocular demonstration that it is possible by a course in nature onely that water without any alteration of his consistence may by the secret veines and close passages or conduits of the earth be drawn or sucked up out of the huge seas unto the top or summity of the mountains after by his soaking through the sands and pory substance of the earth it hath left his salt nature behind it which appearing evidently to every mans sense the vanity of Aristotles invention will soon be discovered unto wise men Besides all this the sterility of his reason or invention which would faign that these vapours cleaving unto the sides of the caverns or hollow places and that there forsooth they must be converted into drops of water which from thence must issue forth into rivers will be palpable and manifest if we consider that these drops so made are apter to circulate and readier to fall down again into the bowells of the earth from whence they came by those self-same vaulty passages or hollow veines through which they ascended than to issue forth of the ground allaterally because that every heavy thing is more prone to descend then to move sidelong And therefore it is likely that either all the waters so made or the greater part must needs return downward by the way it came or ascended in the form of vapour But omitting these reasons for a while we must see if the Text which is conteined in the Book of Verity do consent in this Opinion with Aristotle and his faction yea or no. We find in the first place that it is not an accidentall and imaginary heat or cold that acteth in this Meteor's Generation but God who operateth by his Angelicall Spirits and solar act in the accomplishment of this business And although that in his action as well privative as positive cold and heat do expresse themselves as his Ministers For the Text saith Coram frigore ejus quis consistat Who can stand against his cold Yet it is his catholick positive act which he extendeth out of his sunny Tabernacle and hotter winds and privative vertue which he manifesteth in the longinquity and absence of his bright Tabernacle from the region pointed at and the propinquity of the polar seat of the colder winds to alter annually the created Element And therefore it is God which by his Spirituall Organs as well in Heaven above as Earth and Water beneath that operateth all things and amongst the rest produceth the Fountains of which the rivers are made And consequently we ought to esteem it the Act of God's Spirit which filleth the earth as Solomon saith and operateth all the naturall effects therein Which also David doth testify in these words Qui emittis fontes per valles ut inter montes ambulent potum praebeant omnibus animantibus agri frangant onagri sitim suam Qui irrig at montes è caenaculis suis faciens ut germinet foenum adjumenti herbam ad hominis usum Who sendeth forth the fountains through the valleys that they may run between the mountains and give drink unto every living creature of the field that the Asse may quench his thirst and that they may water the mountains from their cells causing the grass to grow for the use of the Oxe and the herb for the benefit of man c. So that here we have the sole catholick Agent and therefore the Operator of fountains as is proved by this Text. Again here we have the finall cause set down for the which they were created and continued in succession by God namely to water the earth for the giving drink unto all cattell and living creatures and for the multiplying of grasse herbs trees and fruit for the use as well of man as beast But will our Peripateticks say we hear no news out of Scripture for the contradicting of our matter assigned for the composition or consistence of Fountains which we say to be a vapour and not water in its naturall substance Neverthelesse to qualify this their imagination and to make them behold the Truth without Spectacles I counsell them to give eare unto this assertion of Solomon Omnia flumina saith he intrant in mare mare non redundat ad locum unde exeunt revertuntur ut iterum fluant All rivers enter into the Sea and it is never the bigger they return unto the place from whence they came that they might flow again By the which Speech of the wise-man expressing the materiall cause of Fountains the foresaid definition of Aristotle is utterly othrown for this doth evidently prove that it is one and the self-same water and that in the plain form of water without any transmutation of it out of water into vapour and then from vapour into water again as he doth erroneously alledge which moveth from the Sea unto the Mountains and from the Mountains unto the Sea again Insomuch that for this onely errour some of his earnest disciples have become Apostates or renegado's unto his doctrine For Joannes Velcurius a learned man in the worldly Philosophy and one who hath sweat and taken great pains in the Aristotelian doctrine insomuch that he wrote a Comment on his Physicks when he cometh to speak of the Generation of Fountains he seemeth to confess and publish his Master's folly in these words Non conveniunt plane Sacrae Scripturae cum Physicis de ortu fluminum fontium quae ex mari per varios alveos meatusque fluere ac ad suos fontes refluere Eccles. 1. testatur dicens Omnia flumina intrant in mare mare non redundat aâ locum unde exeunt flumina reveâtuntur ut iterum fluant Caeterum Physici dicunt materiam esse vaporem resolutum in aquam liquefactum à frigore et
In this respect also the Prophet Baruch hath it Stellae dederunt lumen in custodiis suis laetatae sunt ad jussum Dei The stars gave light in their watches and dâd rejoice at the Commandement of God Hereupon it came to pass that when this Spirit did fight for Josuah he made the Sun stand still at his pleasure He turned the Sun from light unto darkness at the passion of Christ By it the stars in troops were stirred up to fight in their order by theâr influences against Sisera So that it is easy to discern that as the heavens and stars were first framed and animated by this Spirit to serve as Organs to administer unto the natural Fabrick of this world so also beyond the common course of the macrocosmicall nature they may by the self-same Spirit that commandeth them and acteth in them as the soul doth within the body operate what when and how it lists and be diverted from the usual order to effect his will as well by altering the motion of his body as action of his light and influentiall Spirit Again touching the fixt stars Job speaketh thus in the person of this Spirit Canst thou restrain the sweet influences of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion Canst thou bring forth Mazaroth in their time Canst thou guide Arcturus with his Sons Knowest thou the course of the heavens or canst thou set the rule thereof upon the Earth c. As who should say that no man is able to know the courses of the stars or to discern the powers or vertue of their influences save only this divine Spirit and that man unto whom it shall reveal the true Art and rules of Astronomy or Astrology And therefore Salomon doth glory in that he knew the course of the year and dispositions of the stars and the change of the Solstices by wisdome Per Sapientiam saith he novi Solstitiorum mutationes anni cursum dispositiones stellarum c. If therefore the Astronomer wanteth this true Astrologicall foundation all will be faulty and fabulous as by the vulgar Astronomy which is for the most part erronious and uncertain it appeareth I proceed now downwards unto the Meteorologicall region to see how this Omnipotent Spirit worketh in the catholick sublunary Element for the producing of Meteors in divers shapes and natures As for the Act of this Eternal Actor or Operator in the ayre water and earth for the production of Meteors it is most evidently expressed in plain terms by holy Writ Saith Job Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aëri appendit aquas in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum God by his Wisdome doth adapt a waight or pondero sity unto the ayre and hangeth up the waters in measure and giveth bounds or maketh a Law for the rain and prepareth a way for the lighting 's of the Thunders In which words he sheweth that this one Spirit of Wisdome in whom is the power as well of contraction or condensation as of dilatation or ratifaction can at his pleasure make the aire more thick and ponderous by condensation and so reduce it into a cloud or by rarifying it into a more thin and subtile consistence render it in the form of lightning and evermore the aire so altered receiveth his shape or figure from the Alterer according to the will of him who ordaineth all things And thus the clouds the lightenings the thunder the comets the frost hayl snow and ice are created daily by this operating Spirit But we have all this confirmed and acknowledged by many places of Scriptures Sapientiâ Dei eruperunt abyssi nubes rore concrescunt saith Salomon By the Wisdome of God the Abysse was broke open and the clouds were turned into dew or raine Again Ego sapientia sicut nebula texi omnem terram I Wisdome like a mist did cover the whose earth saith the son of Syrach in the person of this Spirit And again Ego in altissimis habitavi Thronus meus est columna nubis I saith Wisdome did dwell in the highest places and my throne was a pillar of clouds Deus nubes effecit sapientia saith Job God made the clouds by his Wisdome This Spirit maketh the clouds to asscend it causeth the lightnings with the raân and it bringeth forth the wind out of his Treasury saith David And again Verbo suo quam celerrimè excurrente sermone suo in terra emisso edit Deus nivem sicut lanam pruinam sicut cineres dispergit coram frigore ejus quis consistat God by his Word passing most swiftly and by his Voice being sent out upon the Earth doth bring forth snow like wool and spreadeth abroad the frost like ashes Who is able to consist before his cold There are many thousands of other places which I can produce out of the book of Verity to prove that all Meteorology is founded on this Spirit But because I will speak of this point more at large in my last Book of this present Treatise where I do express the true History of the Meteors and open the errors and falsities of the Aristotelian Meteorology I will only conclude with this confession of the wisest Philosopher Salomon Novi saith he virtutes elementorum varietates temporum sive tempestatum ventorum seu spirituum vires nam omnium artifex me docuit sapientia I know the power of the Elements and the varieties of times and tempests and strength of the winds for Wisdome the work-mistress of all things taught them me Whereby it is evident that shee who was the maker of the Meteors and was by Consequence the most skilfull and best acquainted with their natures did instruct him in them I will now speak a word or two of Physick Concerning the excellent Art of Phyââck or Medecine the Wiseman saith A Deo est omnis medela From God cometh every kind of healing or curing which being so it is certaine that the only Actor in healing and curing is immediatly from this all-working Spirit and therefore the Kingly Prophet hath it He sendeth his Word and healeth them and delivereth them from their graves And Salomon But the teeth of the venemous dragons could not overcome thy children for thy Word came to help them and healed them even thy Word O Lord which healeth all things for thou hast the power of life and death c. Mark well Even thy Word saith the Text which healeth all things Now this divine Word is the root and fountain of this eternal Spirit of Wisdome and therefore the Basis or foundation of healing is in him and consequently from him all the mystery of healing doth proceed which also agreeth with this of the Apostle There are divers gifts but one and the same Spirit there are divers operations but God is the same which worketh all in all but unto
ociosaque ad nihil respiciens ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. Nihil dicitur in quo statu Aleph tenebrosum dictitatur When the divine sapience was retracted in the abysse of darknesse resting still and quiet and respecting nothing it was esteemed as nothing and in that eâtate it was called dark Aleph In this contracted or rather sequestred or private estate therefore of the divine unity it operateth according unto this its negative pâoperty or condition by his essentiall agent Cold which is proved therefore not to be an accident as the vain doctrine of the Peripateticks would perswade us being it is apparent unto each wise-man that no accidentall qualities are in or can be from God being that the divine Nature is meerly a simple essentiall and formall purity existing in himself and of himself and therefore he being but one essence is able to produce out of himself what essentiall property he pleaseth And for this reason the divine wisdom is said to be spiritus unicus multiplex one simple spirit in essence but manifold in respect of his essentiall properties Now that this essentiall property or nature of Cold is the formall instrument or instrumentall vertue whereby God doth operate in his hidden and potentiall estate for the resistance of heat and action or motion and for the deformity and destroying of that which he in his patent nature did effect by his Heat or active property it is made evident by effect for what the spirit of wisdom in its patent nature did operate by its hot spirit or blast from the south or easterly winde namely in subtiliating and raâifying of the waters into thin aire making that which was gross subtle and making that which was opake and dark diaphan and invisible the self-same spirit again enduing his latent and cold property doth deform and undo For in blowing or breathing from the North the same thin and ratified aire is made thick dense and visible which was through raâifaction made invisible and that which by dissipating of parts was made transparent light and diaphan is now by the Northern properties contractive vertue reduced into an opake or dark substance and no way perspicuous That which was active movable and lively by an addition of heat is now become stupid still and deadly by the invasion of cold That which was light and of no sensible weight is framed into an heavy and ponderous body or consistence as we see when the aire by the northern blast is turned into snow hail ice frost c. Now that it is but one and the same spirit in essence which bloweth from the four winds the Prophet Ezekiel doth testifie when he said Veni spiritus à quatuor veniis insuffla interfectos istos Come O Spirit from the four winds and breathe upon these slain persons c. Whereby he argueth that it is but one spirit though it endueth at his pleasure a four-fold property And now to confirm all this which is said to be true do but mark the words of the royall Psalmist Jehovah emittit nives sicut lanam pruinam sicut cineres dispergit deâicit gelu tanquam frusta coram frigore ejus quis conâistat Emittens verbum liquefacit ista simul ac efflat ventum suum effluunt aquae God sendeth forth the snow as wooll and scattereth the frost like ashes casteth out the ice like as gobbits who is able to withstand his cold He sending forth his word liquefieth all these northern effects So soon as he bloweth or breatheth forth his wind the waters do flow again that is the snow frost and ice do melt and are turned into water Out of which words we may observe many notable things namely first that God in his hidden or latent property doth by his essentiall action of cold contract unto the center those things which were before dilated towards the circumference Secondly that the property of cold is attributed or ascribed unto God in his northern action and therefore it is said Who is able to resist his cold For which reason it is evident that it is an essentiall vertue in the divine puissance Thirdly That it must be the act of unity in his dark hidden and privative property both because it darkeneth things that are diaphan transparent and light and then because it depriveth of life and motion that which did act move and live through essentiall heat And lastly because it is an utter enemy unto the action of heat which at tendeth on the revealed emanating and vivifying divinity Fourthly that the effects of cold are undone by the act of the revealed nature of God which is the word for the Text saith He sendeth out his word and resolveth or melteth all these namely the snow frost and ice Fifthly that all this is effected by one and the same spirit in essence but of divers and opposite conditions to perform the will of the Father which sendeth it forth Again that the cold property of the winde is the essentiall depriving vertue or stupifying and contracting act of God it appeareth by this of Job Deus fortis edit glacâem flatu suo flante Deo concrescit gelu The strong God bringeth forth the ice by his breath God blowing the ice is ingendered I conclude therefore that cold is the essentiall act of the divine puissance or eternall sapience shrowding it self in its mantle of darkness and therefore doth manifest the divine volunty in that estate of his by the effects namely in that it draweth from the circumference unto the center and therefore is the occasion of congregating of things as well hetero-as homo-geniall and by consequence the onely essentiall agent or efficient cause of inspissation contraction constriction fixation immobility ponderosity rest obteneration or darkness of mortification privation stupefaction and such like In the contrary divine property namely in this spirit's patent manifest and positive nature or as he is termed light Aleph wherein he moveth or sendeth out his emanation from the center towards the circumference and revealing himself upon the dark face of the Abysse maketh the invisible non Ens or potentiall Nihil to appeare in Act being first animated by his bright presence in the form of waters He is said by the Wiseman to be omnibus mobilibus mobilior ubique penetrans seu attingens propter munditiam ejus The most agile and movable of all movable things piercing through all things by reason of his purity So that as the other privative or Northern property did produce rest and vacancy from operation by attraction or contraction from the circumference unto the center so in this his positive or Southern and Orient property by dilating himself or sending out his active beam brightness or emanation from the center towards the circumference he doth beget and procreate motion being accompanied by the essentiall Act of Heat or calidity which operateth continually upon the effects of cold in resisting dissolving and
this kind of Angelicall vertue the divine spirit doth work his privative effects and acts of Inspissation and fixation in the sublunary Element causing terrestriall and earthly effects But contrariwise we find that by and in the Southerne and Easterly Angelicall spirits the all-Creating and operating power doth cause Rarefaction and Subtiliation in the said inferiour waters through their essentiall action which is heat And for this cause the said hot winds do undoe by rarefaction all that which the cold Northern winds did effect by congelation Hence therefore it commeth that of this potent Angell who is said by the wise Cabalists to be the President and Governour of the Celestiall Sun which some terme Michael quasi Quis sicut Deus of whom we will speak hereafter also touching his Angelicall organs in the 4. Corners of the earth by which he useth to do his will it is sayed The sonne of man will send out his Angels from the four winds of heaven and moreover we shall find in the place before mentioned that this imperiall Angell did rise from the Easterly angle of the world and did command the foresaid fowr Angels which had dominion over the four winds as vassals unto his will For the Text hath it And I saw another Angell come up from the East and cryed with a loud voice unto the 4. Angels unto whom power was given c. Hurt not the earth neither the seas nor the trees till I have sealed c. Whereby it is apparent that the 4. Governours of the winds are subject unto that great Angell who is the powerfull and potent Intelligence which moveth and ruleth not only the Sun but sustaineth all things by vertue of this word and this Almighty Angell is esteemed by some to be the same mentioned in the first Chapter of the Apocal. Who said I am Alpha and Omega Now that the Sun by vertue of this omnipotent Spirit whose immediate angelicall organ or instrument the Angell Michael is doth govern the airy spirit both of the lower and upper world the wise Solomon doth seem to acknowledge where he saith Sol lustrans cuncta in circuitu pergit spiritus The sun illustrating all things the aire or spirit moveth about For this reason also the Philosophers have called the winds Titanei filii the sons of Titan or of the celestiall Sun It appeareth therefore that the increated spirit which supereminently moveth in the angelicall creature Michael and therefore El or Deus fortis is annexed unto it is that self-same Princely Spirit specified by the Prophet Ezekiel as is already proved who dwelleth in the great Angel who rising up from the East commanded the 4. governours of the winds with their legions whereby it is manifest that they have all their act and power from it and are ordained to be employed onely at his will either to effect privation or position and consequently to produce condensation or rarefaction in the world at his pleasure namely position and information by his light and heat and privation or deformation by his dark and cold property And hereupon the kingly Prophet speaketh thus Angeli Dei validissimi robore efficientes verbum ejus auscultantes voci ejus ministri ejus facientes placitum The strong Angels of God which do execute his word and hearken unto his voice are his mânisters to perform his will And again Qui facis angelos tuos ventos et ministros tuos ignem urentem Who makest thy angels winds or spirits for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ruach signifieth Ventus Spiritus Flatus and thy ministers flames of fire Whereby it is evident that the eternall Breath is that which animateth the Angels the Angels give life and vigour first unto the stars and then unto the winds the winds first informe the elements or rather alter the catholick sublunary element into divers natures which are tearmed Elements and then by the mixtion of divers windy forms in that one element they do produce meteorologicall compositions of divers natures according unto the diversity of the windy forms which alter it But that I may the more pertinently discourse upon these businesses and withall discusse many difficulties and scruples which have not a little troubled the Philosophers and Theosophers of our age touching the principle tabernacle of this all-acting and creating Spirit in the world Before I passe any further in this my story of Condensation and Rarefaction I will expresse mine opinion touching that point at large because the enucleation of it will be very pertinent and necessary for the opening of this main businesse forasmuch as in it not onely the world's creation but also the emperiall government of the worlds Spirit and the formall manner of production of Meteors doth consist CHAP. III. What the cavills of this our age hath been touching the seat of the all-creating and universall inacting Spirit in this world And herein also it is proved that Jerom's translation upon this Text of David Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole God put his tabernacle in the sun is according unto the true sense of Scriptures And lastly the reason of the errour in our latter Translations is herein according unto the Author's capacity expressed I Confesse there hath been a great controversie whether Jerom or Tremellius or Pagnâne and some others have erred in their translation of the fore-mentioned Hebrew Text for Jerom being of greater antiquity howsoever he found the nature of the Hebrew which he translated interpreteth the first verse of the nineteenth Psalm of David Posuit Deus tabernaculum suum in sole God hath put his tabernacle in the sun Pagnine making use of the same Text but perchance corrupted and altered from the Originall copy and therefore construeth the Hebrew thus In coelis posuit Soli tabernaculum He made for the Sun a tabernacle in the heavens And Tremellius expounds it Soli disposuit tentorium in iis He made the heavens a pavillion for the Sun Verily if we consider all things rightly we must imagine that either the Text must be altered and corrupted from that Originall copy which St. Jerom had or else the reverend Jerom's worth must of necessity be called into question for so grosse a mistaking Touching the petson surely the whole Christian Church in his days would not have made election of a man of mean skill in the Hebrew language to undergo a task of such importancy being for the main good of the whole Christian Church as was the translation of the Bible out of Hebrew into Latin It would not I say have relied upon a man of small cunning either in the Hebrew language or mysteries of divinity to judge of the likelyhood or coherence of the Scripture's Harmony and therefore the ability of the person unto whose charge so great a business was committed and consequently the fruits of his labours could no way be undervalued being compared unto either Pagnine or Tremellius Again that he was held for a person
plants relent liquifie and become animated and fluent the birds rejoyce and are quickened and the dull and senslesse aire is by little and little refreshed and taketh flight into the southern regions for reasons I will shew you in my demonstrative positions immediately following And yet for all the absence of the bright and inacting Spirit in the Sun it followeth but that one and the self-same Spirit which filleth all may alter his privative property when and where he list for we see oftentimes quite contrary unto the common constitution of the year that by it thunders and lightnings are effected in the midst and hardest of the winters and the winds which are most active namely the east and south blow beyond expectation all which is effected by him at his pleasure who operateth all in all how and by what means and where and when he list This therefore being well pondered I enter into the state of this my demonstration The demonstration or proof how the annuall winds are moved by the vivifying spirit which is in the Sun I have told you that the whole effect of the divine action in the humid nature of this inferiour world did consist in Congelation and Rarefaction and that the first was caused by the privative and northern act of Gods Spirit which doth operate by cold and the other by his positive operation which is guided by heat Now as these two have their dominion or depression by the presence or absence of the Sun so also is the universall aire more cold spisse opake and sluggish or stupid when the Sun is farthest off and again more hot subtle bright transparent agil and active when the Sun is nearest Mark therefore the properties of the aire included in the glazen vessell of the Calender-Instrument and remember that it is but one and the same Spirit in essence that worketh as well privativly as positivly for it was one and the same Spirit which was called by the Prophet from the north and south for the Text saith Veni spiritus à quatuor ventis c. wherefore this Spirit is it that governeth the universall sublunary aire as well privatively as positively And although this Spirit be most plentifully in the Sun yet it being neverthelesse every where is able at all times and in every place to expresse himself in both properties I come therefore unto the point or mark In the first Chapter of the first Book of this present Section I have most clearly demonstrated unto you that the aire included in the Weather-glasse hath in every respect a relation unto the aire or catholick element of the great world where also it is proved that the aeriall humid nature doth as exactly fill every place of the vaulted world where the earth or water are not lest any vacuity should be found in the cavity thereof no otherwise than the dilated aire in the head and neck of the Weather-glasse doth fill the cavity thereof and therefore as the aire included in the glasse doth work by dilatation at the presence of the Sun namely in the Summer-season when the externall aire is heaâed so also and after the self-same manner will the aire of this northern hemisphear be dilated when the Sun is present yea and the nearer the Sun is and the more perpendicular his beams are the greater will the generall aire 's rarefaction be and consequently of that particular aire which is in the glasse On the other side when the Sun is absent from the Boreall hemisphear namely when it moveth beyond the Aequinoctiall then will the common aire in that hemisphear wax cold and be contracted and condensed and consequently the particular aire in the glasse will be contracted after the same proportion which may easily be measured or conceived by the degrees of ascent of the water in the glasse as the rarefaction may be collected by the descent thereof This therefore being well conceived or understood and that the cause of this rarefaction is the presence of this divine act in the sunny tabernacle and that the reason of the condensation is the absence or remotenesse of the said act or operating and emanating Spirit and consequently the presence of the divine puissance which is darknesse for as we said the absence of heat is the presence of cold which is the essentiall worker in the divine puissance and again the presence of heat is the absence of cold So also the absence of positive light conceiveth privative darknesse and the absence of privative darknesse imparteth the presence of positive light We may easily hereupon collect the reason of the annuall winds and perceive what their externall is and how that aire is animated by the vivifying Spirit which is sent out from the Sun Consider therefore that when the Sun is present with us the Summer is created by his presence the aire is calefacted by the bright beams of his Spirit and by calefaction is rarified and by reason of rarefaction of parts requireth a larger place for his existency As for example We put two pound of Vitreol into a Retort and fasten the nose thereof unto a huge Recipient or Receiver stopping the joynts fast that the spirits do no way expire We force out the Spirit from the Retort into the Receiver and we find it tried by experience that part of the Vitreol being dilated into spirits those spirits finding the ample Receiver not sufficient to contain them do violently break the Receiver into an infinity of pieces Whereby it is made plain that a thing which is condensed will occupy but a small place but when it is dilated it will require a very large continent for his existence All this is argued plainly by our experimentall Instrument for when the Sun is present the aire included is forthwith dilated more or lesse according unto the vigour of the solar spirits and winds that blow but when it is dilated it requireth by so much the more a larger place to be contained in by how much the more it is dilated or âarified and that is proved thus namely because the water is thrust down by so many degrees lower by how many the aire excelleth in rarity So that it is evident that the onely reason why the water is precipitated more and more downwards is because being by degrees subtiliated it maketh it self a larger room to abide in Now that I have shewed you thus much mark that when the Sun commeth newly into an hemisphear where winter did reigne or had dominion and therefore the cold did incrass and thicken the aire as for example when it passeth from us into the southern hemisphear to convert the winter estate of that part into summer it doth forthwith begin to attenuate the aire of that part of the world and that aire so rarified being animated and as it were revived by the operating beams of the Suns bright spirit becommeth light-winged or feathered wherefore it flyeth away from the south and seeketh a larger place for
calore simul intra terram The holy Scriptures do not agree with the Naturalists concerning the Originall of Rivers and Fountains which Ecclesiastes 1. saith to flow by divers channels or passages out of the Sea and to flow again unto their Fountains saying All rivers enter into the Sea and the Sea is not the greater they return again unto the place from whence they came c. Whereby it is plain that he must accuse his Master of false doctrine or else he must condemn Solomon in his Judgment For if the one be contradictory unto the other it ought of all wise-men to be chased away or expelled from Christian mens remembrance Now it were a foolish thing for any religious person to say that the divinely-wise Solomon lied to save the reputation of the Ethnick of diabolically wise Aristotle But if they would yet will I teach them in the next Chapter by an evident ocular demonstration that Solomon's assertion is most true and that of Aristotle's most erroneous and fantasticall I conclude therefore that I gather out of the aforesaid places of the Bible that this following Definition doth best agree with the nature of a Fountain A Fountain is a continuated Flux of water issuing from the Sea as from his beginning and flowing into bowells of the earth and after that from the bowells of the earth as from the mean by which it passeth unto the upper or higher Superficies of it by vertue of the divine act in the mundan Spirit as well positive or dilative as privative and contractive for the benefit and sustenance both of man and beast In which definition plain water without any alteration of his shape is expressed for the materiall cause and is said to have its beginning from the Sea from whence it moveth unto the Mountain's tops The efficient cause of this work we find to be the act of the Divine Word in a double property as shall be more at large demonstrated in the next Chapter And hereupon Solomon said Sapientia erat apuâ IEHOVAM in principio viae suae cuncta componens quaâdo roborabat fontes abyssi ponebat mari statum Wisdome was with IEHOVAH in the beginning of his waies as a composer of all things when he did establish the Fountains of the abysse and set the Sea within his limits or bounds And lastly The finall cause is to give drink and food unto both man and beast as we may gather out of the forementioned Text of the royall Prophet We come now unto the demonstration CHAP. IX Wherein Solomon's assertion touching the Fountains and Rivers is maintained partly by an ocular demonstration and partly by true Philosophicall reasons which are founded thereon I Did advertise you Learned Reader in my precedent discourse that Gods Spirit doth operate annually in the common Element of the Sublunary world by a double vertue whereof the one is dilative which is effected in his positive and manifest property namely in his light active and warm disposition the principall Treasury and store-house whereof he hath made the Sun Forasmuch as his bright emanating Spirit of Wisdome did elect that pure vessell for his Tabernacle The other is contractive which is effected in his privative and secret condition namely in his dark fixing and cooling disposition whose principall treasury is about the poles Forasmuch as it being contrary in effect with the first is seated in the farthest quarters or points of the world from the Sun So that as the vivifying Spirit which is seated in the Sun doth by his presence operate onely by dilatation in the common sublunary Element in banishing of the Northern cold and undoing the actions thereof by the way of Rarefaction In like manner by the absence of the Sun the spirits of the Polar property doth take possession of that portion of the Element and undoeth by the way of congelation all the subtill actions of the Spirituall and active solar vertue As for example all that in the winter time among the nations of the Southern world that is to say beyond the line the Sun being then in the Northern Hemisphere causing by his vertuous Spirit our Summer season the Antartick pole's cold property doth effect namely in thickning the aire raising the Fountains or Springs and multiplying the waters producing the Snows Frost Ice and Hail mortifying the herbs fruits and plants and such like the Sun at his next visitation of those quarters which will be in our Northern winter by the vetue of that dilating and vivifying Spirit from the Fountain and Father of Light which aboundeth in it will undo converting the thick aire to thin striking down the Fountains more towards the bowels of the Earth which were raised in the winter dissolving the Snow Frost ice and hail and of fix and opake bodies making them movable and transparent waters reviving the spirit of the trees plants and herbs which were almost livelesse through congelation and renewing their mourning bodies with new green garments blossoms and flowers and lastly with wholsome fruit To conâlude there is nothing that the polar cold prevaileth over in the one hemisphear but the solar heat operateth contrarily by the same pâoportion in the oppoâite region of the world for else the world must endure an augmentation or a diminution in its substance that is sometimes it would be bigger and sometimes lesser But as Sâlomon averred that the seas for all the comming in of rivers are never the greater so also though fountains rise in one part of the world and sinke in another and although also the aire by attenuation made by the active spirit of the Lord moveth from the warm or summer hemisphear unto the cold and winter hemisphear yet is the world no bigger or lesser in its existency for all that What therefore the winter properly doth operate in one hemisphear of the world the summer-hemisphear must needs act in the same proportion in the contrary for if beyond the Line are made great raines in their winter we must needs have great drought in the summer on this side the Line When it is hottest with us it will be coldest with them if it prove temperate with us it will be so with them as the Sun being in the Aequinoctiall maketh daies and nights equally long and the season temperate to both hemispheares These things therefore being considered maturely in the first place I proceed unto my practicall conclusion and my naturall observation thereupon is that the aire included in the Weather-glasse is made Hybernall or of the nature of winter by the dominion of cold for as soon as the head of it feeleth the externall cold the contained aire will immediately shrinck up and contract it self into a little space and consequently the aire is made more dense and thick and that this is so it appeareth by the mounting or attracting up of the water for there is such a naturall tye betwixt the one and the other that if the one contracteth it self in a
time when these secrets shall be discovered which will come to pass when the seventh Seal shall be opened for then that high mystery which is the finall cause why and for what end Gods Providence will by these two opposits reveal it self and clean extinguish all enmity out of the world shall be discovered As touching nevertheless the end of this dissonancy the Apostle saith that it will be when the Son hath delivered the Kingdom unto God the Father and when he hath evacuated every Principality and Potentate and Virtue he must raign untill he hath made his enemies his foot-stool and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death So that as two contrarieties or discords proceeded from one Unity or unison namely Light and Darkness from one Divine Essence So also these two dissonant branches or confusion of Unities will at the last be reduced or return again into one harmonious Unity in which there will be found no dissonancy namely when these words of the Revelation are accomplished Ecce omnia nova facio vetera enim transurunt Behold I make all things new for the old heaven and earth have passed away But leaving this allaterall discourse we will proceed directly in our Sympatheticall and Antipatheticall Argument or inquiâition into the which that we may penetrate with the greater celerity and facility and dive the deeper into the research of their actions it will be fit that we should describe in the first place the manner how the world doth live by the participation of these two namely of the Light and Darkness and that I will expresse unto you in few words what the Ancient Philosophers have determined about the soul of the world and lastly I will shew that their Opinions do not erre or vary much from the Testimony of the sacred Bible CHAP. IV. Wherein it is evidently proved as well by the ancienâ Ethnick Philosophers as by the authority of Holy Scriptures that there is a soul of the world Herein also is expressed what this catholick Soul is and whereof it is composed or made I Purpose in the first rank of my discourse touching the soul of the world to expresse what the opinions as well of the ancient Cabalists and mysticall Rabbi's as Ethnick Philosophers are concerning this Subject so much condemned by some self-conceited and little skillfull persons in so profound a mystery and so highly prised and esteemed by others who have with the Lyncean eye-sight of their understanding dived and penetrated into the secret bowells of Nature with due reverence contemplated her Centrall and eternall Agent And afterwards my meaning is to set down the concordance which is observed betwixt them and Holy-Writ The Cabalist's tenent is that the great Angell whom they term Mitattron which by interpretation is Donum Dei the gift of God is that very same catholick Spirit which doth animate the whole world and thereupon Rabbi Moses doth averre it to be Intellectus a ens or the generall intellectuall agent from which all particular forms do flow And they say that from this universall angelicall Spirit all singular vertues as well animall as vitall and naturall do proceed which also they call Angells whereof there are an infinite number in respect of our capacity And the Philosopher Democritus Orpheus with divers of the Pythagoreans do not much differ from this opinion of these Rabbi's but in variety of name onely for they imagine that all things are full of gods and therefore they offered divine Honours Praiers and Sacrifices unto them in the creatures and did worship each of them with a divers fashion of ceremony But they had evermore that regard unto JEHOVA the eternall Unity and Father of all things that they referred all these gods unto one Jupiter This point nevertheless being ill understood by the ignorant was an especiall cause of Idolatry being that hereupon the simple fell unto the worshipping of the creature in stead of the Divinity which was in the creature And for this reason Solomon Vani sunt homines omnes naturà in quibus est ignorantia Dei qui ex iis quae spectantur bonis eum qui est intellig ere non potuerunt neque ex operibus consideratis ipsum opificem agnoverunt All men are naturally vain in whom is the want of the knowledg of God and cannot conceive him that truly is by such good creatures as they sensibly do discern nor yet have scanned and discovered the Workman by the consideration of his works In like manner the Platonists did call the generall vertue which did engender and preserve all things the Animam mundi or the soul of the world And to this their opinions the Arabick Astrologians do seem to adhere forasmuch as they did maintain that every particular thing in the world hath his distinct and peculiar soul from this vivifying Spirit To this opinion also Mercurius Trismegistus Theophrastus Avicenna Algazel and as well all the Stoicks and Peripateticks do seem wholly to consent or agree Again Zoroaster and Heraclitus the Ephesian conclude that the soul of the world is that catholick invisible fire of which and by the action whereof all things are generated and brought forth from puissance unto act Virgil that excellent Latine Poet calleth it that mentall Spirit which is infused through every joint and member of the world whereby the whole Mass of it namely the heaven and the earth or spirit and body are after an abstruse manner agitated and moved His words are these Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per arâus Mens agitat molem c. A Spirit saith he doth nourish within and being infused over all the joints or members of the world it doth move the whole substance of the same Marcus Manâius as also Boetius and Augurel being later Poets are of Virgil's opinion For Manlius saith Hoc opus immensi constructum corpore mundi Vis animae divina regit The divine power of the âoul doth govern this work which is erected in the body of the vast world And Boetius Tu triplicis mediam naturae cuncta moventem Connectis animam Thou dost frame or tye together a mean soul of a triple nature which movâth all things And Augurel saith Nonnulli quicquid diffunditur undique coeli Aëraque terras lati marmoris aequor Intus agi referunt animà quà vivere mundi Cuncta putant ipsumque hà e mundum ducere vitam Ast animae quoniam nil non est corporis expers Mundus at mundi partes quoque corpore constant Spiritus hic intermedius fit quem neque corpus Aut animum dicunt sed eum qui solus utroque Participans in idem simul haec exârema redâcat Some say that whatsoever filleth the Heaven the Aire the Earth and wide Seas is stirred up by a soul through the vertue whereof all things in the world do live and also that the world it self doth exist by it But because
mane tenebras diem in noctem mutavi vocavi aquas maris effudi eas super terrae faciem Coelos den que mediante Spiritu meo ornavit Deus converti coelum in gyro in locum suum uno die omniaque numero pondâre meâsura disposuit temperavit God by his wisdom giveth proportion of weight unto the aire hangeth the waters in measure He made the earth in his strength prepared the world in his wisdome and extended the heavens by his prudency He hanged the North upon emptinesse and inânity and ballanced the earth upon nothing For she was present at the building of the heavenâ and it was âhe that did compasse and fashion out all things When God did establish the foundations of the earth she was present and composed all things And in another plaâe this Spirit of wisdom saith I came out of the mouth of the most high being first-born or brought forth before any creature I was created in the beginning before all ages neither shall my beeing cease in the latter age of the world and I do administer before him in his holy habitation I caused a never failing light to rise in the heavens and I covered the earth after the manner of a mist. I dwelled in the highest places and my throne was in a câowdy pillar I alone did compasse round about the heavens and did penetrate into the profundââ of the abysse and I walked in the waves of the seas and I stood upon every earth I made the North or pole-star and Orion and I turned the darknesse into day and the day unto night I called the waters of the seas and poured them out upon the face of the earth I turned the heavens about unto his place in one daies space To conclude God adorned the heavens by my spirit and did proportionate and temper all things in number weight and measure c. By which testimonyes it is most apparent that all changes alterations actions ornaments of beauty motions numbers weights measures and consequently all diversities that are made in the generall homogeniall mass of the waters are effected by this vivifying emanation of the benigne and bright spirit of the eternall Unity whose root is the Word for in verity according unto St. Paul it is onely this Spirit that doth operate all in all And therefore I must needs conclude with the kingly Prophet and say Opera Dei mirabilia ampla sunt quae omnia fecisti in sapientia The works of God are marvellous and ample which thou hast effected in thy wisdom And again Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli Spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum By the word of the Lord the heavens were fashioned and fastned and by the Spirit of his mouth each vertue thereof Which words do seem to infer not onely the materiall substance of the world which is intimated by that word Heavens but also the inacting form that is the vivifying beginning of all things which hath no beginning and this is signified by the Word and his off-spring the Spirit from the which the waters first received their beeing and then of these catholick waters were the heavens the earth and elements made in number weight and measure that is to say were effected by a subdivision through the spagerick act of the self-same word or spirit And therefore St. Peter hath it Coeli erunt priùs terra de aquis per aquas consistentes verbo Dei The heavens and the earth were of old of waters and by waters consisting by the word of God As who should say after the Spirit of the Lord had issued out of the dark abyss for it is said Verbum erat in principio The Word was in the beginning and had given act and form and consequently a name unto the waters for it was said that the Spirit of the Lord was carried upon the waters the same Spirit did operate to reveal explicitely and particularly that which the Chaos did at the first contain in it self complicitely and confusedly and that in a generality wherefore when it had revealed the universall matter of all things which was water it did by little and little anatomise it and open the secret closets thereof to shew forth and make manifest that which from all eternity lay hid in it and was without form or beeing and therefore esteemed rightly for Nothing And first the substance of the world was made of it in generall as it appeareth by this Text Manus omnipotentis mundunt ex informi materia effecit The hand of the Omnipotent did make the world of a matter without form or shape And as St. Jerom interpreteth it Ex materia invisa Of an unseen or invisible thing Then that watry and humid substance was divided into the heaven and earth in distinguishing the waters from the waters by the same Spirit which is the ministring hand of the Almighty for the Text hath it In habitatione sancta coram ipso ministravi I did administer before him in the holy habitacle And again Sapientia apud ipsum fuit cuncta componens Wisdom was she that composed all things with God And this was the second daies work Then the lower waters were divided into elements namely earth water aire c. and that was the third daies separation as Moses doth methodically demonstrate All which Hermes expresseth thus as is said before Ex luminis voce verbum factum prodit verum hoc naturae humidae astans eam fovebat Ex humidae autem naturae visceribus sincerus ac levis ignis protenus evolans alta petit aer quoque levis spiritûs parens in mediam regionem inter aquam ignem sortiebatur terra verò aqua sic invicem commixta jacebant ut terrae facies obruta nusquam pateret The word which was made did issue out of the Light 's voice and this Word being present and assistant unto the humid nature did foster and preserve it Then the light fire proceeding out of the bowells of the humid nature soared or mounted aloft The thin air aâsâ which is the father of the spirit did elect the middle region which is between the fire and the water for his abode The earth and water did lie so intermingled together that the face of the earth was no where overflowed or drowned by the waters Whereby it is evidently proved that this thin spirituall water or humid nature in it self is no more than mans spirit without the vivifying act of life for as in the soul of every creature that liveth there are two things chiefly to be required namely an Agent and a Patient so where the one of these are wanting there can be no created soul for if that the world's life was onely the essentiall breath of God without the vehicle of the created humid spirit which is the matter of heaven then that life would be simple identity and of one and the same property
and consequently there would be neither variety of action neither any contraction or dilatation of systole and diastole in things and therefore no action or passion in the soul for without a passive nature there can be no action and also without an active nature there can be no passion Now matter which proceedeth from water is the subject of all passion as here mother Chaos was the female or passive unto the action of Demogorgon or God Also act or form which proceedeth from light is the subject of all action as its father Eternity or the bright emanation of the spirit of wisdom from the fountain of light was the male or agent From hence therefore it is an easie thing to gather first what the soul of the world is and therefore of what parts it doth consist for we must consider that as every creature hath his interior and exterior so also we must exquisitely search after an internall and an externall in the soul being it is a creature and again that it is a creature it is most certain because it is not Identity but Alterity for if it were Identity it would be the divine unity or essence and consequently it would not be created Now that it is Alteritas it is plain because it is compounded of two after the consistence of Angells forasmuch as his internall is a vivifying flame issuing or proceeding from the eternall emanation of life and his externall is an aeviall spirit which is created inacted and animated by this eternall emanation from God And forasmuch as the nature of that most essentiall and never-dying fire is said to be all and in every part of the world and therefore Scriptures say Christus adimplet omnia Christ filleth all things Christus est omnia in omnibus Christ is all and in all Dei Spiritus est in coelo in inferno in extremis maris in nocte in tenebris c. The Spirit of God is in heaven in hell in the extreamest parts of the seas in the night and in darkness Sapientiam effudit Deus super omnia opera sua God hath powred out the spirit of wisdom upon all his works Spiritus Dei incorruptibilis inest omni rei The incorruptible Spirit of God is in every âhing Coelum est ei sedes terra autem scabellum pedum ejus The heaven is his seat and the earth is his footstool Spiritus sapientiae implet orbem The spirit of wisdom filleth all the world c. Forasmuch I say as it is in every particle of this humid spirit the which by his presence is now full of dignity that before was vile and deformed it is certain that it maketh this catholick spirit to live And therefore this angelicall spirit thus composed of alterity or of two is called Anima mundi because it is that catholick or generall spirit divinely animated from the beginning which doth vivifie afterwards each particular creature of the world proceeding from the generality to the speciality and from the speciality unto the individuality So that the mighty question so often revolved by the Peripatetick Philosophers and so slenderly by them resolved may hereby be fully determined and enucleated if it please the wise and impartiall Reader rightly to consider things as indeed they do stand for by this it is easie to express and distinguish mentem divinam or the divine emanation from anima or the soul and again the anima from spiritus or the spirit being that it is evident that the mentall radication is the eternall and formall emanation which is given or sent out by the Creator in her positive property to create the world and consequently the earthly body and heavenly spirit thereof of nothing or non-actuall existence The spirit is that inward created spirit of the world or subtle substance of the waters or humid nature simply considered in its self which is animated and illuminated by that Archetypicall emanation and the soul or anima is that union which is made between this humid created spirit and the increated formall emanation which doth inform or create So that by this we may discern first what the forma informans or natura naturans is then what the forma informata or the natura naturata is The forma formans or natura naturans is God or the divine emanation which created all things the forma informata or natura naturata is the created light or the spirit informed or illuminated by the presence of the bright increased Spirit and the increated Spirit clothed with or enduing that created spirit is said to be vestitus or amictus lumine quasi vestimento cloathed with light that is with an illuminated spirit as with a garment We shall find also in Exodus that in the same Chapter the spirituall creature in which the divine Spirit acteth and resideth is tearmed an Angell in regard of his externall spirit in composition but again in the same Chapter it is tearmed JEHOVA in regard of the eternall form that acteth in it Also the Angell is said to go before the Israelites in a pillar of clowd by day and a pillar of fire by night And again it is said in the same history that JEHOVA went before them in the said order And the wise man said Fuit sapientia iis tegumentum interdiu lux stellaris noctu Wisdom was a cover to them in the day time and a starry-light in the night And the reason of all this is expressed elsewhere thus Noli exacerbare eum quia non feret defectionem vestram quoniam nomen meum est in eo Do not anger this my angel for he will not endure your defections because my name is in him c. Where by his name he signifieth his word which is God as if he had said I do essentially animate him and I am within him c. That the soul of the world or Mens divina in mundo simply taken is the divine mentall emanation absolutely in it self being distinguished from the created spirit this Text in Scriptures doth warrant Animam Spiritum dividit discernit sermo Dei vivus The Word of God doth devide the soul and the spirit c. Where by the word is ment the mentall beam by the Spirit the humid nature that existeth by the presence of the mentall beam which God by his Word can withdraw unto himself or emit according unto his will and pleasure Whereupon David said Deo recipiente Spiritum suum à creatuâis eâspi aât âmiâ erte spiritum recreantur bono God receiving or withdrawing his Spirit from ãâ¦ã they exspire but sending out his Spirit they are recreated with life and goodness Aâd âow I will prove all this out of such definitions or descriptions which as well the Faâheâs of the Church as the Philosophers both Christian and Gentile have made upon the soul in generall both as it hath a relation unto a body and also as it is
them lines others sorts on which the virtue of things do depend They erre not much in this saying onely in appearing to divide the Godhead into diversities of gods but they seem to excuse themselves of that error in saying that all those gods had relation unto one Jupiter and so by that word relation they preserve the continuity and indivisibility in the Soul They agree therefore with Scriptures in that their meaning is that this divine essence is in all things For as Scriptures acknowledg that the catholick Spirit of Wisdome is one simple Spirit and yet it is tearmed by Solomon multiplex or manifold in respect of his multiplicity of action or property in creatures which it animateth for it is said to fill the universe And the incorruptible Spirit of God to be in all things and to give life and motion unto all forasmuch as it is omni re mobilior more movabâe and sprightfull then any thing and being but one thing it is able to do all things it being permanent in it felf and therefore doth animate all being that it is in all and every where For this reason also the Poets say Omnia Jovis plena that all are full of Jupiter That is to say the essentiall beams of this Eternall Jupiter or JEHOVA are in every particular place of the world making things to live and exist by a different property And for this reason they conclude that omnia diis plena as is said all things are full of gods I come unto the third The Platonists and all those Philosophers which partake with them differ in nothing from Orpheus Democritus and the rest saving that those call that the Soul of the world which the other tearm Jupiter and the Gods which possesse all things they nominate peculiar souls or mentall beames which depend and have a continuated relation unto the Anima mundi as the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord that filleth each particuler is not discontinued from that humid fountain which filleth the universe It is evident therefore by this which is already said that all the subsequent opinions of the Philosophers touching the Anima mundâ may be fully confirmed and maintained by the self same reasons and therefore I will say no more touching this point at this instant I conclude therefore thus that seeing the Soul of the world hath for his internall act the bright emanation of the eternall Unity and the subtile catholick created Spirit for its humid Vehicle or materiall Organ which is its externall in which and by which it operareth in all and over all We must acknowledg that there is a kind of contrariety in the very catholick Soul for else would not action and passion be in the created Soul which is so called because it is made of alterity that is of two namely of a creared passive which is an off-spring of the dark Chaos and therefore apt to move unto darknesse by a naturall inclination and of an increated active which seeketh to Deify this Spirit if it do adhere or incline unto it and to exalt its light Hence cometh it that by reason of this Spirit 's divers inclination there are good or bad passions ingendred not onely in the heavens and earth of the great world and their creatures as well celestiall and elementary as animall vegetable and minerall but also in the little world which is man as shall be expressed in the first Chapter of the next Book But first I deem it most fit to open unto you the true mystery how the peculiar Soul of the little world and then how all other Souls as well animal vegetable and mineral do proceed and spring from and afterwards are preserved and multiplied by this catholick Soul of the world which is a doubt not fully decided by the best Philosophers even unto this very day And therefore ought this discourse of ours not to be slighted or lightly regarded even of the learnedest of this our Age. CHAP. V. How all particular Souls are said to spring forth or proceed and then afterwards to have their preservation and multiplication from this generall Anima mundi or Soul of the world and first to begin with that of the moââ noble which is of the little world or Man HErmes called also for another reason Mercurius Trismegistus said rightly that the world was made after the similitude or Type of God and therefore as the one is tearmed Archetypus so also the other is said to be Typus For this reason therefore in another place he saith Scio mundum à Deo atque in Deo hominem vero a mundo in mundo consistere principium autem comprehensioque omnium Deus I know saith he that the world is from God and in God and that man is of the world and in the world But God is the beginning and the comprehension of all things And again he speaketh thus else where in a generality Deus est Cosmi Pater cosmus vero eorum quae in Cosmo cosmus quidem Dei filius jure Cosmus appellatus est quia omnia veritate generationis exornat necnon indesinenti vitae operatione perpetua necessitatis celeritate elementorum commistione ordine genitorum Cosmus quaecunque ab ipsa origine suscepit à Deo perpetuò servat God is the Father of the world the world is the father of them that are in the world and the world is the off-spring of God and it is rightly called Cosmus because it adorneth with verity every kind of generation and also with a never ceasing operation of life and a perpetuall celerity of necessity in the commixtion of the Elements which by order are brought forth c. In all this he varieth not from Scriptures For that in the beginning God is said to have made the world of a matter without a form and to have adorned his humid nature or the heavens with his vivifying Spirit which filleth and operateth all in all as I have told you before and that from the breath of the self-same Spirit of life all the creatures of the world are animated and from the substantiall Elements in the world they receive their matter So that as God by the pouring forth of his bright vivifying and all-acting Spirit did make the humid and passive nature of the world to operate and that so animated Spirit which is mixed secundum totum in qualibet ejus parte in all and every part with his increated Animatour is rightly called the Soul of all the Universe So we ought to make no question at all but that every particular Soul in this vaulted machin of the world doth depend and is procreated preserved and multiplied from that catholick Soul because it is an axiom infallible among Philosophers that the whole doth comprehend each part and again each particular hath his existence and being from the whole But the world's catholick materiall Spirit is inacted and preserved by the catholick Eternall Spirit
in the animals it is easie to know how blood in the animals body is transmuted from a white chylous substance into a rubicund and ruddy blood By reason of his vegetation and multiplication in substance it is an easie matter to guesse the manner of augmentation and vegetation and also of the quantitative multiplication by way of generation of the animal For verily I have observed so worthy an experiment in this vegetative salt in the Wheat of which the blood of man by eating of bread is full that we need not to make any doubt but that it is the onely substance of vegetation as well in the animall as vegetable For on a day when I had cast away the faeces or superfluous part of the substauce out of which I did draw the salt liquor into a large Pipkin and covered it with a thin plate of iron within three weeks or a months space I found it to have struck up out of the pot quite through the plate of iron and to make above a thousand blades like an iron-coloured saffron to grow up out of the superficies of it which argueth the admirable vegetative property that it hath in it But letting this suffice to expresse the occult puissance of this secret fire of God in nature in all vegetables mineralls and other animals I will now convert the file of my speech onely unto that wondrous act and operation which this admirable Spirit effecteth in the little world or man The spirit of life was by God so inspired into man that he was made a living creature no otherwise then when Elohim Ruach was breathed on the waters they were animated and vivified and became a great world which the Platonists for that reason called Magnum animal A great living creature But as the world was made after the image of God before man was made and afterwards man by the same Spirit in the world was framed by the Word after the pattern of that Spirit of life and the substance of the waters which were in the great world Therefore we must conceive that man hath the vivifying means of his sustentation preservation and multiplication by generation from the soul of the world and his elements Wherefore Hermes doth not unadvisedly expresse the descent and ingression of the worlds vivifying spirit into man after this manner A er est in corpore anima in aere mâns in anâma in mente verbum Verbum verò est eorum pater The aire is in the body the soul or life is in the aire the mentall Spirit is in the soul the Word is in the mentall Spirit and the Word is the Father of them all And he concludeth in that place Quod Verbum sit imago Dei mens verbi anima mentis aer animae corpus aëris That the Word is the Image of God the mental beam the image of the word the vitall Soul the image of the mental beam the aire of the vitall Soul and the body of the aire Whereby we may discern the admirabletie which every portion of each dignity in the great world hath unto other in the composition of the little world and therefore it is made evident that the purest portion of elementary matter is aire the purest sublimity of the aire is the vitall form in which is the mentall beam and in it is the Word which is God and we must observe that by mentem or the mentall Spirit is meant the vivifying Spirit of Wisdom which filleth all things whose fountain as Ecclesiasticus doth teach us is the Word of God as if I with Hermes should say the bright and eternall Spirit of life in the quintessentiall Spirit maketh the Soul the Soul in the aire is conducted into the body where it operateth the effects of vivification and internall multiplication of the Species and therefore he saith in another place Anima hominis in hunc vehitur modum Mens in ratione ratio in anima anima in spiritu spiritus in corpore Spiritus per venas arteriasque sanguinemque diffusus animal undique ciet The Soul of man is carried into his body after this manner The mental beam is the reasonable spirit the reasonable spirit is in the Soul or ethereall spirit the Soul or ethereall spirit is in the airy spirit and the airy spirit is in the body which moveth through the veins and arteries and being dispersed over all the blood doth agitate and move the body on every side We must therefore imagine that the aire which is drawn into our heart by inspiration is full of that divine treasure of life the which residing in the heart of man sucketh and draweth his life into it by a magnetick force and virtue For nature coveteth and rejoyceth at the presence of its like as is said And again that the heart is the precious store-house of the active treasure of life we may collect out of this speech of Solomon Cor tuum custodi supra onânem observationem quia ab eo procedunt actiones vitae Gard with the best diligence and keep charily thy heart seeing that from it proceed all the actions of life The nature and instruments by which the Spirit attracteth magnetically and expelleth after attraction that of the humid vehicle of aire which is inutil and superfluous in this Being that without the sparks of life and generation which swimme in the aire no creature amongst the which we esteem Man to be the chiefest can live scarsly a moment of time it is most necessary that they should be drawn and sucked in by the creature every minute for without this necessary act with the salutary effect thereof the animal will forthwith be suffocated or strangled for by the deprivation of the aire the soul will soon cease his vivifying operation forasmuch as it is nothing else but a portion of eternall light in the soul of the world which is composed as I proved before of the divine emanating virtue and the subtil humid nature of the world whereof the first affordeth the Calidum innatum or natural heat of life and the last the humidum radicale or radical moisture unto the creatures existence and therefore by the inspiration of aire this double virtue is every moment renewed and refreshed in the creature This Spirit therefore the Animal and by consequence man inspireth or sucketh into the left chamber ventricle or region of the heart by the contraction of the straight fibres of the heart when the transverse and oblique fibres will be relaxed whereby the heart will be dilated or opened and this action is called of the Physitians Diastole In the time thereof or interval of this motion the heart doth draw into his left vessell by the Arteria venosa or veiny artery out of the lungs whither it first was conveyed by inspiration through the aspera arteria or weesell-pipe a portion of the airy store-house of nature with his vitall treasury contained in it being as is
said ordained by God for vivification and spiritual and seminal generation's cause that is to say for the nutrition of the vital and internal generative Spirits no otherwise then the liver is accustomed to suck and draw the chylous juice of the gross nutriment for the engendring and fosâering of the naturall spirits which are ordained for vegetation or encreasing of the bodily parts Again after that nature hath received and drawn-in into her well-adorned and subtilly adapted still-house or laboratory I mean the heart this aereal Spirit with his concealed or occult treasure she beginneth in it to anatomise and sift or search the bowels of of this attracted aire and separating the celestiall nature or true vitall treasure of the invisible fire of life from the grosser and most inutil portion of the aire it reserveth onely the purest which is nothing but a subtile volatile salt adapted to serve as a vehicle for the divine fire of life or true vivifying Spirit in the aethereal and quintessentiall nature and then as for the selected Spirits of life she encloseth them in her large arteriall store-house called Aorta or Arteria magna the great Artery sending immediatly the more superfluous fuligions and inutil part of the aire back again the way it came by exspiration And this expulsive action is effected by the contraction of the transverse fibres of the heart and the relaxation of the straight for by this means the heart is also contracted or compressed which action of motion is called by Physitians Systole And we must understand that for the better preservation of this golden treasure of life within his arterial treasure house God in nature hath so ordered that there is a triple valve or gate like three half-moons to close it in and to keep it securely for the bodies necessity lest it should fly away by the passage it came in and therefore this three-leaved gate is fashioned after such a manner that it doth open within and is closed without so that what gets into the great Artery cannot return back again as in like manner at the mouth of the venal artery there is a double gate compacted of two valves and they do open without and shut within so that fresh aire may easily enter but the treasure included after the expulsion of the fuliginous vehicle or superfluous aire may be retained Now will I 'm few words expresse unto you the action of this heavenly Spirit After it is thus included in the arteriall trunk it is certain that it doth dilate it self through the branches or divided channells thereof over all the body For by those branches called Charotides a refined portion of it doth ascend unto the brain by those smal conduicts I say the super-celestiall part of this Chymicall extraction forasmuch as it is in dignity the most super-excellent of all the fountain of life doth challenge unto his seat and possession the noblest and loftiest region of this micro-cosmicall palace and as it were his Emperiall heaven for hither soareth the mentall beam in his rationall vehicle electing this place for its chief tabernacle or coelum coelorum yet so that the beames of his power are reflected unto every branch of his divided Arterial cabinet For this reason therefore all Physitians as well Ethnick as Christian have concluded that the voluntary humane action hath his seat in the brain being the region of the animal virtue or faculty whereas the other two actions of man namely the vitall in the heart and naturall in the liver seem to be subject unto this being that they are actiones involuntariae unvoluntary actions and this is the reason that the Brain is the seat of reason and understanding Then in the second rank that portion of the introducted Spirit which in the forge of man's nature is framed out and found fit for the action of life is convayed into those branches of the great Artery which are called Cervicales Humerariae and those which assigne life unto the region of the Chest or breast where it doth indue and take on it that impression of spirituall vivacity which belongeth unto those parts as also the Coronariae do assume unto them the internal or ideal shape of spirits belonging unto the heart and so forward touching the other Arteriall branches and their contained heavenly treasure So that this invisible spirit lurking and as it were swimming in the thin substance of the airy spirit doth not onely expanse and dilate it self to the vivifying of each member in the body but also by a contraction of it self into a spermatick cloud the which happeneth in the act of copulation through a certain magnetick virtue animated by divine love this spirit is miraculously convayed into two preparing arteriall spermatick vessells from every member but especially from the three principalls and there this celestiall Spirit full of divine fire after the Image of the radicall Archetype in whom all things were first spiritually and ideally delineated before they were in the regard of man even as the Prophet David did glory in that he had wholly received the image of the Temple described by the hand of God which afterward was put in act containeth the invisible of that humane body which shortly was to be inacted and really to be delineated and brought forth unto man's sight that is to say it did ideally possesse the shape of the inward or spiritual man as also the image of the externall or corporall man being compacted of the four Elements proceedeth from the visible sperm which issued from the two venall spermatick vessells But that this is so we have it plainly as I imagine confirmed by these words of Holy-Writ Tu possides renes meos ex quo obtegebar in utero matris meae non celata est vis mea tibi ex quo factus sum in abdito artificiosè confectus velut in imis partibus terrae Massam meam vident oculi tui in libro tuo omnia membra mea sunt scripta ex quibus diebus for mabantur cum nullum ex iis extaret Thou dost possesse my reines from the time that I was covered in my mothers womb My strength is not hid unto thee from the time that I was made and was artificially shaped as it were in the lower parts of the earth Thine eyes do behold the masse whereof I was made and all my members were described and delineated in the dayes that they were shaped or informed when none of them did visibly exist And to this purpose it is said else-where Spiritus Dei fecit me spiraculum omnipotentis vivificavit me The Spirit of the Lord made me and the breath of the Omnipotent did vivifie me That is First he reduced me into a mass of seed and afterwards did make it alive by his breathing into it And the wise-man Ut ignoras quae sit via spiritus quomodo ossa pinganturin ventre praegnantis sic nescis opera Die quia est fabricator
do with the Hebrew Rabbies justly apply the essence of the first emanation unto Mitattron which emanation is said to enter by the royall port or gate Cheter or Corona For know that this catholick Angell is said to be the first creature because it importeth the spirit of the world which did first receive the first-born son or the Emperiall emanation from the Attribute of God called EHIAH which is a name of eternity for that it containeth and doth respect the time past the time present and the time to come For this cause therefore doth this great Angel style it self Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end The first influence therefore which was of universall life and essence is received by the Angel Mitattron which is for this reason called Donum Dei after it was shouted down from the port Cheter into the highest order of the Angells called Seraphin which by reason of their propinquity unto the throne of God are said to burn or be set on fire with divine love And hereupon these have their excellent beauty and clearnesse by reason of this sacred influence which is so full of the loving benignity of the Father of light From thence this potent angelicall nature conducts the beams of this light into the convexity of the aetheriall heaven and there bestowes it as in a generall magazin or store-house which place it afterwards informs or vivifieth insomuch that by the admirable action and motion thereof it is called Primum mobile or that sphear which moveth first in the heavens and by his motion it turneth the naturall or temporall world round about from the East unto the West in twenty four houres The mover is this catholick Angel of the world full of this eternall emanation by which it animates the world Therefore also is Sapientia said to be omnium rerum priùs creata the first of all creatures and Fluxus virtutis Dei emanaâio claritatis ejus omni re mobilior penetrans ubique propter suam munditiam permanens in se omnia innovans It is an influence of the vertue of God and the shining forth of his brightnesse which is the most movable of all things penetrating all things by his purenesse and being one in essence reneweth all things that is it reviveth every thing By which it is plain that this catholick emanation is the soul of the world having endued or put on the universall angelicall spirit and therefore is called by the holy Text a Creature so that the catholick created spirit of the world is the Primum mobile for by this first-born emanation from God it is animated and moved as by the swiftest mover in the world and the mover is tearmed Primus motor both together or called Mundi anima which therefore is defined to be in respect of the created spirit thus animated Primum mobile spoâte per se mobile The first thing moved which is moved voluntarily and by it self And for this reason also the animal faculty in man which is sedes animae intellectulis is said to move voluntarily when the action âf the vitall and naturall faculty compared unto the etheriall and elementary heaven do move unvoluntarily that is at the will of the first mover And this work is therefore assigned unto this sphear with the legions of intelligences that are derived from and created there by their catholick head which is the said grand Arch-angell as beams from one Sun partly to hinder the starry lights which were after created from burning the elementary world or working by their long continued impression too violent and unnaturall alterations as also to make a proportionable day and night unto the earth To conclude by this angelicall act the whole spirit of the world was generally inacted The divine emanation which issued from the second Sephiret or port called Hochma which is sent out by the Attribute IAH passeth into the order of the Cherubins which signifieth the plenitude of Science and abundance of the gifts of Wisdom and is received of the Arch-angel Zophiel which by the etymology of his name argueth pulchritude as being replenished with an infinity of particular beams of life But another calleth this keeper and conductor of these beams Ruziel who immediately doth direct them into the firmament or heaven of the fixt starrs and principally into the broad girdle of the starry heaven which is called the Zodiack arguing by the etymology of his name that the beams of this emanation do chiefly work and fashion out ideally the liniments of an infinity of particularities in the elementary world as shall be demonstrated hereafter The third effluxion which is made from the port Binah under the protection of the name ELOHIM descendeth immediately into the order of the Thrones arguing thereby Gods severe property full of âudgment and is received by the Arch-angel Zabkiel or as others will have it of Kaspiel which is as much to say as Genius Cholerae magnae and this effluxion is conducted down into the next sphear below the firmament which it informeth according unto the naturall property of the divine influx and it procreateth the globe of Saturn which it replenisheth with spirits or inferiour intelligences called by the name of Saturnine Intelligences which send down these influences into the elementary world to produce effects according unto their nature as well in the aire and water as in and upon the earth The fourth emanation which is derived from the conduit-pipe of Chesed over which the word EL hath dominion is received of the angelicall order of Dominations which import power against evill spirits and the benefit of life and breath and then is committed unto the Arch-angel Zadkiel which is by interpretation Genius justitiae and this Angel according unto the nature of the influence which it carrieth is a friend unto the true Justice in the proportion of the elements and a friend unto the creature's life wherefore it conducteth the beams of this property into the next or be below Saturn which they make a dwelling place for an infinity of spirits that are created out of the same informing influence and therefore are of its property This Terra Angelica Olympi is tearmed the Star of Jupiter and these kinds of Olympick spirits are tearmed Jovial Intelligences which do poure forth the streams of their influence into the elementary regions and animateth the spirits of its nature which work effects appropriated unto the property of this influence The fifth eradiation or emission of divine beams is out of the Sephiroticall numeration or port called Geburah whose President is the divine Attribute ELOHIM GIBBOR and these beams are said to passe directly into the order of Potestats and the Arch-angell unto the which these beams are committed is called Samaâl or as others will Hamael and it is a Genius which importeth horrour and this Intelligence doth conduct the beams of its Emanation into the Sphere which is below that of Jupiter and informeth the spirits
the root and originall foundation or point from the which all Antipathy and Sympathy do spring namely the first from the privative property or its Nolunty the second from its positive or Volunty I told you next that from this one root or Unity in essence a two-sold branch or member did spring forth expressing typically and explicitly the effects and conditions of these two contrary properties or dispositions which were contained complicitely in the Ideall root namely darkness which is the privative fruit of his Nolunty and light the true character or badge of his Volunty And then I proved unto you that these two were the beginnings of all things Lo here the two Principles of Antipathy and Sympathy extracted out of one root Thirdly I demonstrated unto you that by the separation of the pure from the impure from the dark Chaos which act was effected by the spagerick vertue of the bright emanation or word of the eternall Unity the humid or watry nature of the world was created that is to say essentially informed by the lively presence of the said all-informing Spirit so that through that union of two contrary natures in one namely the informing essence or naturating nature and the informed substance or the nature naturated the spirit of the world was animated and afterwards by the wisest Philosophers termed the Anima mundi which is that angelicall composition of two called therefore by the Sages Alteritas as God in his simple nature is called Identitas Now the passive portion of which alterity was made is said to be the humid created nature oâ naturated matter of the world whose active essence is the ever-living emanation from eternity which as the Apostle teacheth us doth vivifie all things and filleth all things and is all in all The union of these two maketh the catholick soul of the world called in respect of the simple creating and vivifying emanation Mens in regard onely of the spirit informed Spiritus and as these two are united in one Anima Lo here the third degree of the sympatheticall and antipatheticall progression from the simple root of eternity namely the created matter or spirit in the soul of the world being the child or off-spring of darknesse or the dark Chaos which is therefore naturally prone unto the negative or privative effects of darknesse and consequently apt in its own condition to receive any discordant and antipatheticall impression which the angelicall spirits of darknesse shall imprint upon it For as the sacred light which animates the humid spirit of the world and consequently the whole masse of the waters whereof the heaven and the earth was made as St. Peter doth justifie is the most movable agill and active of all things so on the contrary party the matter that is informed and therefore the created body and spirit is most degenerate from it in that it is no way enclined of its own nature unto motion or life For the Philosophers words are Materia est per se ad motum inefficax ab ipsa anima seu luce degenerans Wherefore of its selfe it endueth its mother Chaos or Hyles her condition and is enclined to rest immobility darknesse cold spissitude and congelation For this cause therefore it suffereth the impressions and characters of both oppositions to wit sometimes it enclineth unto darknesse and then it groweth spisse opak cold immobil thick and ponderous and tendeth in that his property downwards to the cold center or the seat of darknesse which is its mother and then it is in rebellion and opposition with light motion and heat and so it is antipatheticall unto the actions of light and life as we see the airy spirit of the world which is clear light diaphan thin movable and soaring upward by the operating power of the descending light becommeth by the Northern cold congealed opak spisse and immobil or fixed into snow hail ice frost and such like So that by this antipatheticall accession of the cold characters of the dark abysse it is discordant from the loving union and symphoniacall accesse which it had unto the region of light Contrariwise the bright form of the soul which is the essence of that eternall emanation doth give the matter or spirit of the soul's life action motion hear tenuity and diaphanity and that more or lesse according as it hath power and dominion over it And we must note that the more the spirit approacheth unto the nature of light the firmer are the bonds of its sympatheticall accords For as sympathy doth consist of things of a like nature so the nearer the spirit approacheth unto form the greater is the sympathy and accord the surer the tie and the more virtuous the effect for the more that the created spirit is illuminated the lesse it remembers that naturall inclination and love that it had unto its dark originall insomuch that by such an extream purified exaltation it becommeth as it were deified And therefore Plato's opinion is that if the middle spirit which is between the mentall beam and the dark bodily substance doth more adhere unto the divine or mentall beam than the dark body then it will become a good Demon or Angel but if it respect the body more than the divine beam it will descend unto the nature of a Cacodemon or spirit of darknesse Also by Scripture we are taught that by adhering unto this divine light namely unto Christ we shall be transformed into the same image to wit if we forsake this dark world and the lusts of the obscure body or flesh But to return unto the soul of the great world If the airy spirit be given over unto the power of darknesse it becommeth bodily and turnes into the same image namely frost snow hail c. but if the hot effect or the formall act of light prevail a degree over the stupid cold of darknesse it leaveth his opake quality and becommeth diaphan and returneth from an earthly fixt and obscure nature unto a clear transparent and fluxible substance and by another degree of the divine act it is made more subtle more dilated more invisible and pure and it is called Aire by a third it is purified unto fire by a fourth unto aether when it loseth all the appetite of mutation and forgetteth the privative stock from whence it came by a fifth it becommeth angelicall or emperiall and so it is exalted more and more in dignity according as it is more and more obedient unto the actions of the eternall and catholick influence of form which shineth forth from the fountain of infinity For we must understand that the whole inclination of the eternall emanation is to reduce this child of darknesse unto eternall light unity and life as contrariwise the endeavours of the potentiall darknesse which is the stamp of Gods Nolunty or privative nature are clean contrary So that all the end of the creating light 's action is to unite all by the symphoniacall band of love and
earth with his presence This therefore was it that made some even of our Christian Philosophers to break forth into these speeches Deus est Natura Natura Deus God is Nature and Nature is God Whereby they ment that the naturating or radicall informing nature was the eternall emanation which made and informed the humid nature of the world which for that reason was called Natura naturata or the Nature which was made naturall namely by the presence of the Naturating nature or Spirit of the Lord which moved upon the waters and imparted unto them of his fiery informing Vigor or Essence as we may find partly by Sacred Testimony and partly by the confirmation of St. Austin We must therefore after a due consideration of this which is said infer that if the influence be compleatly animated by the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord then must it be indued with the properties of that Spirit or Divine Nature and consequently it must be the most subtill quick movable and penetrating of all spirits and in that respect will be able to pass through all solid bodies without resistance and also to ingender augment and nourish all things and being incorporated or specificated it procreateth like individualities of their like and again it hath in regard of our capacity an infinite extension and therefore cannot be limited All which I purpose by experience or ocular demonstration to demonstrate in this manner We find in practice that the Load-stone by virtue of his subtill spirit which doth internally animate it is made so potent through it in his attractive virtue that it is able without resistance to display and transmit the beams of his active virtue quite atravers the hardest stones the most solid and finest grained wood through thick plates copper tin silver or gold yea and to penetrate quite through the impenetrable glass it self and other such like compacted stuff which have no sensible porosity or spiracle which is an evident Argument that this spirit is of a far more peircing and subtill nature than the sublunary aire forasmuch as it is denied passage through the slightest paper-skin or bladder In the like manner man's inward or celestiall spirit which is the vehicle of this vivifying beam is so subtil in it self that nothing is able to resist it when the inward mentall beam doth aime at any mark how far or how inaccessible soever it may be esteemed in the fleshly mans conceit For being this celestiall or aethereall spirit in man is made after the pattern of the Divine Image which it beareth it must also resemble it in its actions Now the subtilty of the Divine act in man's spirit is expressed by Hermes in these words Quicunque hac Dei Naturà fulti sunt intelligentià suâ cunctà complectuntur quae in terra sunt in mari siquid est praeter ea supra coelum atque adeo scipsos erigunt ut ipsum quoque bonum intueantur Who soever do rely on this Divine Nature may comprehend by their understanding all thingâ whâch are upon the earth and in the seas yea and besides all this any thing that is in heaven above and also they may elevate themselves in such a manner that they may behold the face of goodnesse it self c. Whereby he signifieth the all-sufficient act of penetration which is in the mentall beam by whose unresistable action the celestiall influence doth penetrate and operate without any intermediate resistance in and through all things By which it is evident that as every inferior specifick creature is indued with this essentiall spirit and doth consist and is as it were founded and edificated on it as on an essential Corner-stone or Foundation so the emission of his beams is not to be limited by any setled Sphere of activity as the unadvised and more sensuall then intellectuall Philosophers have defined it to be being that it is Vis in rebus infinita An infinite virtue or nature in things and therefore not finite or determinable For look how far it shineth or emitteth his active spirit out of the Center of the celestiall star even so far is this Centrall terrestriall bright Spirit able to make his Semidâameter of extension So that as the heavenly starr's beamy influence doth penetrate downward unto the Center of the earth even after the very like manner doth each terrestriall star peirce unto the Center of the celestiall star from whence it was derived and the more rich and exalted is the starry form in the creature the nearer it approacheth unto the nature of the most exalted star in heaven and maketh his extension the more forcible Now as we see that every Astrall influence in the creature doth by a naturall inclination and that Sympathetically aspect the star or celestiall Fountain from which it did spring and likewise that star in heaven by a paternall respect doth send down his influences to feed and nourish his like filiall fire or form in the creature here below and both of them by a mutuall relation do rejoyce together at the spirituall presence of each other whereupon it is said Naturá natura laetatur naturam continet O natura coelestis veritatis naturas Dei nutu multiplicans Nature is rejoyced in nature and containeth nature O celestiall nature which by the Will of God doth mulâply natures so likewise each kind or species which is indued with all one influence doth because of his likness to another send forth by a sympatheticall consent beams of one nature making an harmonious Symphony in the concourse of their beams by which they do agree in union of love And for this reason the axiom of the Philosophers before mentioned runneth in this strain Natura ex similibus similia procreare solet Nature doth use to procreate like of like And this is the cause why each specifick Form doth rejoyce in its like and is ready to produce his kind and doth not use to passe the limits of his kind as for example A Man's nature produceth a Man a Horse a Horse a fenel-seed fenel a bean a bean wheat produceth wheat c. And also the nature of each thing so created is most amiable unto the nature of his like and sendeth forth the amiable and Sympatheticall beams of his affection to concurre with the like beams which are emitted from his like so that both of them do easily consent and rejoyce at each other and by contraction of beams they indeavour to cause a union For this reason therefore the Load-stone rejoyceth at the aspect of its like for if one Load-stone meeteth with another each will aspect the other by their Saturnine Sulphureous spirits and embrace each other For by their applications they will Centrally suck and draw the one to the other with a Sympatheticall imbracing Also because that the Iron is subject unto the self-same constellation and hath his Centrall star in all points correspondent unto the Load-stone for which essentiall consanguinity
effecteth For when it vegetateth or causeth to grow and multiply it is called life when it contemplateth it is termed a spirit it is called sense when it is conversant about the function which belongeth unto the externall sense it is termed the mind when it is versed about wisdom it is called Mens or the mentall beam when it understandeth it is termed reason when it discerneth between good or bad it is called memory when it remembreth it is styled Volunty when it willeth and yet all these are but onely one soul divers properties I say but one onely essence So that it is the same essentiall act which causeth life and contemplation which maketh sense and intellect which effecteth memory and reason and to conclude that willeth or nilleth Which being thus Is it not a sinfull thing in ignorant persons to make the occult actions of this abstruce spirit by which they live move understand discern between good and evill remember see feel hear touch and âast the effects of the devill and consequently to rob their bright soul of her honour instead of giving her thanks for her assistance by ascribing her arcane operations most irreligiously and falsly unto the devill And why I pray Why because they cannot dive into the depth of her activity by whom they themselves do live move and have their being Yea and to limit her activity with bounds according unto their pleasure who though they know not so much have their life and volunty from her which limiteth them according as she pleaseth who is infinite in her being for so much as she is a portion not divided from that Divine Emanation which is infinite in his extention It is evident therefore that this vivifying Spirit can send forth its action unto any mark in the world from any specifick nature but especially from the Microcosmicall creature and the rather if the mark be of the same specifick condition and the vehicle of the spirit namely the effused blood measuring first the distance between the wound and the Ointment Moreover we shall find this confirmed by other of her operations effected in the same Microcosmicall Mine from whence it emitteth its beams at an unlimited distance As for example It is found by experience and that by naturall means without any suspition of Cacomagicall devices or superstitious artifices that if a persons urine that hath the Yellow Jaundis be conveied at the distance of a hundred miles as by an honourable Person of no small rank and entire in Religion I am informed who hath often times made the tryall hereof unto a place where a composition shall be made of the urine and ashes of a certain tree commonly known and had in this Kingdom with certaine blades of Saffron as hath been told you in my Book entitled The Squeezing of Parson Foster's Sponge it often-times cureth that disease when the best of Physicall experiments have failed and this Medicine misseth seldom where the disease is curable And now I will relate a true story which befell this last yeare 1630 upon a Chirurgion's wife who dwelled not far from the Tower of London She fell desperately sick of the Yellow Jaundis and had sick gripings and shouâings withall about her Stomack my self after many others was called unto her but prevailed but little by our Physicall means over the disease wherefore she hearing me tell of the many cures which this Noble Earl I spake of did perform in having the Parties water she sent her man unto me with her water to request me to make some means unto the Noble Man for her The fellow was sent by me with a letter four miles into the country and when he came unto the house he found two that were there to give thanks for their recovery For by that means they were cured The urine was received for my sake and the fellow sent away But mark the consequence so soon as the fellow was parted with the urine the sick woman was tatled unto by demure Gossips and told that it was done by witch-craft and the devill and therefore dangerous for her soul which made her rage and cry-out upon witch-craft and was much discontented which when I heard I came no more unto her esteeming her ungratefull and sent suddenly to the Earl to request him to undo the business and break the clods which he sent me word he would do but told me it was to late For said he it will work the effect howsoever Indeed the woman mended immediatly after it and no doubt did ascribe the cure unto some other inefficacious Physicall trash applied per chance unto her by some Mountebank All this I spake to my knowledg and I am not ignorant of the manner of the cure For it pleased the Noble Personage to impart unto me the manner yea and the Ladies his daughters have cured many of this disease aswell rich as poore who have made some means unto them for this cure And this worthy Lord did assure me that he had cured at an hundred mile's distance I cannot chose but make you acquainted with another cure which he effected upon a noble Lady that was my patient She had extreamly the Jaundis and though I did in some sort remove them for a while yet it returned again I then requested the Noble Knight her husband to send her water unto the foresaid Honourable Personage and promised him to write my letter by him All was done as I counselled and the Countess her self took it into her care to dispose of the water and the rather because the Lady that was sick was of a Noble Parentage Somewhat i wrought with the disease but not to our purpose Whereupon I did visite this Noble Man and told him of the small success that his Medicine had He willed me to send her water once more and told me that a Lady was with him in the foresaid noble patients behalf the day before I sent again her water and from that time forward she mended apaâe and was perfectly cured There are a hundred who can justifie this to be true Neither can it be alledged that it might be done by some medicine used in âhe mean time To âut off this objection she was prohibited for all that season to take any medicine but bare food onely Now the reason of this cure is no otherwise effected then that of the weapon-salve for the spirit of the blood in the infected person hath a continuated relation unto his salt yea and its habitation is in the aereall salt of the blood which being a subtle earth in the center whereof is the spirit contracted and being partly dispersed in the urine which is the whey of the blood it sucketh and draweth unto it his like from the infected body whereby it being as it were resuscitated and newly revived it emitteth new beams to meet comfort and correct the infected beams emitted out of the sick body And again the infecting spirit of the iâteâitious humour is by vertue
man that marcheth on the hill where the Mine is and holdeth this Hazel-rod in this posture shall presently perceive the top or perpendicular of the rod to incline violently downward when the man treadeth on a place where any Mine is which is an evident Argument of the Magneticall affection which is between the one and the other 6. Experiment A man that hath many boils in his body was counselled when other things would not cure him by an old woman to find out a bramble which groweth out of the earth at both ends or both ends rooted in the ground and this man was counselled to creep in his clothes under the bramble backwards three times and he was cured so his boils vanished by little and little in five or six daies Mr. Fuller 2. Proposition The singular order and sympathy or antipathy of the vegetable parts between themselves is described and typically set forth by a relation or respect had between it and the Load-stone whereby is argued that the vegetable and minerall and consequently the animal observe one sympatheticall or harmonicall proportion as well in their sympatheticall order as antipatheticall irregularity in their disorder A Problem for the confirmation of the foresaid Proposition In all Magneticall things be they vegetable or minerall and consequently animall evermore nature doth tend unto a convenient unity both in nature and position and contrariwise where their parts do not according unto the course of nature incline unto a conjunction there happeneth a disturbance and as it were a diversity between part and part Demonstration in the Minerall Magnet Take a long Load-stone or Minerall Magnet and let it be C D and let C be the North Pole B and D the South A Then divide this long Load-stone in the middle between the two poles where the aequator passeth namely in E F and E will be South or aequinoctiall unto the pole D and F unto the pole C. As therefore these parts of the Load-stone did respect one another in their entire disposition So also nature tendeth after their division to unite them again And therefore where the division is made the end E desireth and coveteth to cleave and adhere unto F. But E. will not be joyned or have any commerce with D nor yet F with C and then one must convert C unto D and they will well agree and be combinated together For D turneth to the South as before and C to the North. But E and F which should be parts naturally conjoyned and united in the Stone are in so doing mightily displaced so that they do not accord and unite together by a materiall union but they receive their motion and inclination from the form of the Stone So that the ends of this Stone whether they are disjoyned or united do Magnetically tend after one manner unto the poles of the earth both in its first entire and divided figure as in the second and the Magneticall concourse F E in the second figure into one body will be as perfect as that of C D even as it was engendered in his vein and F E as the flote in their boat Application unto the Vegetable This self-same conveniency and inconveniency of the Magneticall Form which is noted to be in the Minerall Magnet will also be observed in vegetables For take a wand or rod of a Willow Tree or any other Plant which groweth easily and let it be A B and A is the uppermost part of the rod and B the lower part next unto the root divide this rod in the middle D C I say then that if the end D be grafted again in the end C it will grow Also if B be grafted on A they will be consolidated together and sprout forth But if D be grafted upon A or C. upon B they will be at strife and consequently will never grow but one of them must needs dye by reason of the preposterous order and inconvenient position because that the vegetative force or vigor which proceedeth after one manner is now diverted and compelled or forced into contrary parts I will say no more touching this point but proceed unto the main burthen of these practicall Magneticall Conclusions with their infallible Demonstration CHAP. VI. How the feisiblity and possibility of the Magneticall manner of cure by the Weapon-salve is produced and demonstrated to be naturall The which that we may the better effect we will first set down our main Proposition touching this kind of cure and afterward elucidate and clearly demonstrate it by evident proofs derived especially from the virtue of the Load-stone The Proposition IF after the wound is made a portion of the wound 's externall blood with his inward spirits or of his internall spirits onely that have penetrated into the weapon or any other thing which hath searched the depth of the wound be conveyed from the wound at any reasonable but unlimited or unknown distance unto an Ointment whose composition is Balsamick and agreeing specifically with the nature of the creature so wounded and be in a decent and convenient manner adapted and as it were transplanted or grafted into it the oyntment so animated by those spirits will become forthwith magneticall and apply with a magneticall aspect or regard unto the bearny spirits which stream forth invisââbly from the wound being directed thereunto by those spirituall bloody spirits in the weapon or other thing which hath received or included them and the lively and southern beams streaming and flowing from the wound will with the northern attraction of the oyntment so magnetically animated concur and unite themselves with the northern and congealed or fixed bloody spirits contained in the oyntment and stir them to act southernly that is from the center to the circumference so that by this reciprocall action union or continuity the lively southern beams will act and revive the chill fixt or northern beams which do animate the oyntment with a magneticall vertue and quickned spirits of the oyntment animated by the spirits of them both and directed by the spirits which were first transplanted into it doth impart by the said union or continuity his balsamick and sanative vertue unto the spirits in the wound being first magnetically attracted and they afterwards by an unseperable harmony transfer it back again unto the wound And this is the reason of that sympatheticall and antipatheticall reference or respect which is by experience observed to be between the oyntment and the wound so that if the whole space of the weapon that made the wound be covered and annointed with the unguent and the unguent be well wrapped and kept warm the wound will find consolation and be at ease but if a part of the oynment be pared away or wiped off from the weapon it hath been often tryed that pain or dolour will immediately ensue and afflict the wound Moreover if the place anoynted be kept temperately warm the wound will also rest in temper but if it be uncovered and
the north to the equinoctiall is one and the same spirit in essence although in property it varieth in his parts Likewise the south wind having dominion doth send out from the equinoctiall unto the north his blast without any discontinuance of his essence and yet the nearer it approcheth unto the north the weaker is his force in dilatation and dissolution and yet the spirit is one and the same in essence with that of the north for it is but one anima mundi or vivifying spirit of the world which the Platonist esteem to have his dwelling in the Sun And David saith He put his tabernacle in the Sun And therefore the winds are called by some Titanei filiI the sons of Titan or the Sun And the Prophet argueth aswell the Unity as the Omnipotency of this vivifying Spirit where he saith Veni Spiritus a quatuor ventis insuffla interfectos istos ut reviviscant Come Spirit from the four winds and breathe upon these slain persons that they may live Where he argueth that it is but one essentiall Spirit which as Solomon saith filleth the world and is in every thing of the world but after a manifold property The conclusive Application We conclude therefore that the spirit in the wounded man's blood not exhausted and that in the blood exhausted is all one spirit in essence howsoever it vary in property and therefore being continuate and indivisible in essence it is no marvell though it acteth from one extreame unto another diversly namely Magnetically and attractively from the Oyntment for there by reason of its absence from the Southern or lively blood in the body it indueth a Northern nature and sucketh or attracteth his like being emanated in the aire and the Southern-pole or aequinoctial point by dilatation sendeth out his spirit to be attracted and so there is made a communication betwixt the Balsamick nature and the wounded the self-same spirit operating diversly And I will express unto you a notable example in the great world When the Sun is beyond the aequinoctial Southward which happeneth in the winter then is the Northern nature most powerfull in attraction congelation and inspissation on this side the aequinoctial As contrariwise the Southern nature is most vigorous and efficacious in dilatation dissolution and subtiliation and yet you shall plainly discern how one and the same Spirit in the world doth operate from the one extream unto the other For when the Sun in the South doth dilate the aire and the waters there which the precedent winter had thickened and incrassated by attraction of cold and by dilatation doth dissipate it then that aire and water so dissipated requireth a larger place and flieth from the aspect of the Sun Northward And again the Northern propertie of the same spirit being now in the winter time most potent doth by attraction suck and direct Magnetically those spirits which are chased from the South and the nearer it draweth them unto the pole the more suddenly it condenseth them into clouds which by reason of the Sulphureous nature which it bringeth from the Summer or aequinoctial do immediatly dissolve themselves into rains And this is the reason that the Southern winds are so rife among us in the winter and consequently that we have so much rain in that season So that we may see how the double property of one and the same spirit doth operate at one and the same time about the effecting of one and the same thing in one and the same catholick aire of the world as I have told you before in my foregoing Discourse As also in the ascending or descending of fountains in each Hemisphere the like is effected All which is most lively demonstrated and performed in the Weather-glass as I have expressed before Whereby it is confirmed that being the Microcosmicall spirit is all one in condition with the Macrocosmicall It followeth thât though the body of it be divided yet the spirit remains indivisible and can dilate and contract it self at any extention as is proved by the properties of the two contrary winds whose spirit is continued from both extremities and by the small pieces in the Load-stone which have their compleat poles as well as the whole Also by this a man way see that this spirit's operation is not to be limited by any of the Peripateticks imaginary Sphere of activity and consequently that it may work at any distance being directed and guided by a right and homogeniall Magnet that is to say agreeing at the least-wise in speciality if not in individuality or both as the blood of the wounded which is transplanted and that in the body both which are identity in nature and also as is the Uznea and Mummy in the Oyntment which is of the same Specifick though not of the Individuall You see therefore Learned Reader how plainly this business or the fore-said Proposition hath been demonstrated as well by the Load-stone as the naturall practise in the great world and in practise of the Weather-glass which I term my Demonstrative Instrument But because there are some strange accidents which happen in this cure by chance and unlooked for a reason whereof could never hitheto be expressed I will speak a word or two of them in a second Proposition and so I will end this Chapter The second Proposition It hath been observed in the cure of wounds by the Weapon-salve that if there happen in the time of the cure any issue of blood from some other part of the wounded man as bleeding at the nose pissing of blood or by some other wound or else if he have to do with any menstruous woman in the mean time the force of the Ointment will be diverted and the efficacy of it will stand but in little stead and the reason that I can give is because the Southern bloody spirit which raigning in the veins did emit and direct his beams unto the Oyntment was easily attracted and imbibed by the Oyntment but when that spirit is diverted and turned another way and is attracted by a contrary Magneticall Subject then will a divorce as it were be made by the second Magnet betwixt the emanating Spirit and the attractive in the Oyntment And I will maintain and demonstrate this to be true by this Magneticall experiment A Problem to confirm the Proposition out of Gilb. lib. 2. de Mag cap. 31. Two Load-stones or Irons excited rightly cohaering by the comming of another fresher and stronger Load-stone or Iron excited do make an abort and the new commer will easily drive away the other with a contrary face and will command him and so the endeavour or the desire of the other two which were first joyned will end Application Thus you see how fitly these two do concur namely the fore-recited animal act with these of the mineral I end this Chapter with this Assertion Spirits that have their subtiliation and action from natural heat do act livelily so long as they abide within
the sensible Orbe of Light 's calefacting beams being stirred up a centro ad circumferentiam But if the said Spirits depart or wander out of the Orbe of Light and are environed by the cold act of darknes then they contract themselves from the Circumference unto the Center and so resting in the Center do cease to act except they be incited or provoked by the virtue of heat which doth subtiliate and by subtiliation make both extreames alike As is proved by the Weather-glass and by blood issuing out of the wound c. as is said before Wherefore I will boldly conclude that the spirits of the blood conveyed either in the body of the blood or sucked up into the wounding weapon or in a stick knitting-needle probe or such-like may be evoked extracted or revived and united unto his fountain partly by preserving it from the externall aire 's inclemency till it be dissevered by comfortable warm heat of his kind and partly by the lively coition or concurrence and conjunction of his like by a favourable and salutary aspect I have been I fear me too tedious in this Chapter and yet not longer than the business doth rightly deserve considering how the world hath been puzzelled and all Philosophers put to their wits end about the due search and enquiry of this curing exploit Forasmuch as they in the concluson were able to say so little and to demonstrate less to prove this manner of cure to be naturall that they gave way without controlement unto the rash and temerarious censures of such self-conceited persons as would forsooth have this kind of cure to be onely Cacomagicall and Diabolicall which they insultingly go about therefore to maintain because great appearing Philosophers which did write in the defence of this Subject could say so little and to so small purpose unto the contrary I will speak a few words concerning some other Histories which are and may be referred unto the self-same manner of cure CHAP. VII How it is possible by Naturall and Sympatheticall operation that a D'sease in the Blood may be cured onely by transplantation of the excrements thereof at a far distance into a vegetable earth not vegetating but comforting the infected nature by mortifying of the disease The Proposition IT is possible that an infectious disease in the blood and body may be cured by transplanting of the excrementitious whay of the blood to wit of the sick party's urine at a far distance in the ashes of a vegetable which is proper to comfort nature and to kill and destroy the infection which doth debilitate it An experimentall history to confirm this There is a Noble-man of no mean ranck and very wise religious and one of the best esteem who useth commonly to cure the yellow Jaundies at the distance sometimes as he hath related it unto me of an hundred miles and that onely by means of the sick parties urine translated unto him and the manner is this He taketh the ashes of a certain Tree commonly known among us here in England and mingleth the urine with it and causeth his man to mould it up in the form of a paste the which is divided into lumps which he causeth to be framed up into 3 7 or 9 balls and in the top of each of the said balls he maketh a hole and puts a blade of Saffron into each hole and so filleth up the hole with the said urine and then he putteth or disposeth these balls into a secret place where no body may meddle with them and immediately the Jaundies in the patient be he further or nearer off from the place of the medicine will by little little fade and wear away And this experiment hath been tryed on above a hundred poor and rich and many of them were such as Physitians have dispaired of This not onely he but also the noble Ladies his daughters who for Gods sake have in this case done good to many poor people do affirm to be true And thus much I can affirm my self that being called unto a Chirurgions wife Anno 1637. after that other Doctors had been with her but to little purpose who was filthily infected with this disease and having used some medicines but to little purpose at her request I sent her man into the country with a Letter unto that noble personage to implore his help But in the interim that the urine was sent the woman was perswaded by some sincere fools that it was witch-craft which made her half mad and to rave and to use her man hardly at his return Whereupon I sent a messenger forthwith to desire his Lordship to undo what he had caused to be done because of the ingratitude of the woman He sent me word that he would But said he it will be but in vain for it will cure her do now what I can And indeed she mended immediately upon it Also there was a noble Lady daughter unto a Lord who was much infected with the same disease and finding that usuall remedies in Physick did her little or no good I sent her water unto the said noble Earle who did his endeavour But when I found that the disease did stick still upon her though her urine did amend in colour I took horse and did certifie that noble personage of the small effect the medicine had He wished me to send it again and the sick Lady did send her water the second time and did forthwith begin to mend and within a few daies was perfectly well There is another who unto my knowledge hath cured forty of this disease by boyling of their water or urine away on a gentle fire things God he knoweth far enough from either superstition or witchery Certain Problematicall Demonstrations to confirm the probability of this Proposition 1 Problem The nails and hair of the sick party being taken and put into a hole that is bored in an Oke and the Oke being stopped up with a peg of the same wood cureth an Atrophiaticall or wasted member as is proved before Application And therefore much more the serous matter which is separated from the blood because the essentiall vegetable salt of the blood in the specifick in which are some scintills or sparks is mingled with it and by vertue of them there is a continuated sympathy or respect between the salt and sulphure in the balls and the infected blood For as I proved in the precedent Chapter the spirit in the urine is as continuated with that in the blood as was the spirit of the wounded and the oyntment so that by a continuity and union of consent the curative faculty of the vegetable ashes doth operate spiritually as well upon the infected blood in the body as upon the urine and therefore that is the reason that as the salt in the ashes do work on the salt in the urine so do both of them communicate their forces by a mutuall consent through the reason of the same continuity unto the blood
a receptacle for the Angelicall Spirits and blessed Souls as it hath its position betwixt both the extream worlds namely that of Eternity and the other of Temporality for it hath an immediate relation or commerce with them both For first it receiveth its immediate light life or formall existence from Eternity and then it poureth it out or communicateth it with the temporall or inferiour mansion to create and vivify it with the creatures thereof insomuch that as the formall act of the temporall world is Angelicall so the vivifying soul or spirit of the aeviall is divine or eternall Wherefore it followeth that the nature and property of Angells is neither to be excluded from the Subject of Theology forasmuch as they participate with the Divine Light or bright presence of Eternity neither can they be exempted from the body of Philosophy being that the Angelicall light is the soul and life of the Temporal nature and consequently the true Philosopher must acknowledg his essentiall science or Philosophicall grounds to proceed radically from the Eternall God by his aeviall or Angelicall Spirits into his temporall creatures I mean the Stars Winds Elements Meteors and perfect mixed bodies and therefore in respect that the Philosophicall Subject is animated by Angelicall influences it must needs pierce with a mentall regard into the eternall Light which doth centrally vivifie both the aeviall and temporall creatures beyond the which there is nothing to be found or imagined This therefore is the perfect tri-partite measure of that Ladder which Jacob dreamed of when he laid his head upon the stone which in its longitude latitude and profundity contained the images or characters of these three worlds and for that reason it was termed by the Patriarch himself Domus Dei The tabernacle of God Whereupon as that stone had his externall and internall so in his divine dream he observed Angells to ascend by it namely from earth which is the Creator's soot-stool unto the Eternall world where his Throne is by the aeviall mansion and also to descend again by the same degrees Thus may the sacred Philosopher with the Prophet not onely perceive by a more externall spirituall vision Rotam in Rota or the aeviall essence in the temporall beeing but also by a most internall or mentall aspect he may contemplate Rotam in medio Rotarum to wit a centrall mover and Eternall Spirit in the aeviall by the which the temporall or corporeall creature is immediatly vivified and agitated whereby we may boldly infer with the Scriptures that God is essentially one and all And therefore I may lawfully conclude with these axioms of the divine Theo-Philosophists which appertain as well unto the formal act in the Creature which is the true life of Philosophy as the essentiall virtue of Divinity that God operateth all in all He vivifieth all things He filleth all things His incorruptible Spirit is in all things By the Word all things were made In the Word was life and that life was the light of men He giveth life and inspiration and all things In him we live move and have our beeing He is the Father of all who is above all and through all and in all of us From him by him and in him are all things He sent his Spirit and created all things He giveth breath unto the people and spirit unto the creatures that tread on the earth O Lord how manifold are thy works in Wisdom thou hast made them all the earth is full of thy riches c. If thou hidest thy face the creatures are troubled if thou takest a way their breath they die if thou sendest forth thy Spirit they are re-created or revived By him were all things created which are in heaven and which are in earth things visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominations or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist Note here how the Apostle doth livelily set forth in these words the foresaid three worlds Again Christ is all and in all things He sustaineth all things by the word of his Virtue In him are all the treasures of Wisom hid God by his Wisdom giveth or proportioneth a weight unto the aire and hangeth the waters or clouds in measure and maketh a decree for the rain and ordereth a way for the lightnings of the Thunders He speaketh in Thunder and answereth Job out of a Whirl-wind He by his Word giveth Snow like wool and scattereth the hoary Frost like ashes he casteth forth his Ice like morsels who can resist against his cold He sendeth out his Word and melteth them so soon as he sendeth forth his breath the waters do flow again By his breath the Frost is engendered and the breadth of the waters is made narrow I could produce an infinity of other places out of Scriptures to manifest the universall acts and virtuous operations which are effected in the Elementary creatures by that most essentiall and eternall Wisdom which is the main ground and true Corner-stone whereon the purest Mosaicall Philosophy doth rely but I esteem it needless being that they are copiously expressed already by me in this my Philosophicall Discourse and therefore I imagine that these which are already produced will be sufficient to content and satisfy all such as are unpartially judicious unto whose better wisdom and favourable constructions I recommend these mine indeavours and finally both them and my self unto God's blessed protection Your Friend Robert Fludd MOSAICALL PHILOSOPHY The First Book Section 1. The Argument of the First Book THis first Book sheweth that whereas the minds of worldly men are at this very day erected and soared up even unto the highest pitch of infidelity insomuch as they require and demand after signes and ocular demonstrations as the Jewes did For it is said The Greeks hunt after wisdom the Jewes demand for signes c. or else they will in no case be drawn to believe our Author did esteem it the greatest means of conquest in this Herculean-combat which is to be effected betwixt the two deadly enemies and strong champions Truth and Falshood that is to say the wisdom of God and that of the World if he could find out some vulgar and well known Experiment or practicall Insârument which might serve our celestiall Champion Truth instead of an Herculean-Club to tame and exanimate that foul monster Infidelity who standeth so stifly in the maintenance and defence of his Lord and Master I mean the Prince of darknesse and errour his privileges being that such persons as will not be conducted and directed unto the center of Veritie by reall practise and ocular demonstration may rightly be adjudged more irregular and extravagant from the square and polished rules of reason than the brute beast who warned by experience which in that respect may rightly be esteemed for the mistresse of fools doth make his
secret peculiar included spirit which worketh the feat and to make men to give credit to their tales they have dyed the common water in the vessell with Vardegrease or such like stuffe I must give you to understand that all their prattle is but deceit and that plain dealing is a jewell As for the accidentall part of this Machin being it is framed and composed in a diverse fashion I will not graphically delineate or draw it out unto your view being that the pictures will be chargeable and the matter being done will serve you but to little purpose CHAP. IV. Wherein are Expressed the sundry properties with the usage of this demonstrative Instrument I Divide as well the property as the use of this Instrument into two kinds whereof I call the one generall and I make the other more peculiar As for the generall property of it by the one it contracteth and condenseth namely when the included aire is animated by the externall cold and by the other it dilateth and rarifieth to wit if the included spirit be excited by any externall heat And therefore through his constrictive nature or action which is made evident by the contraction of the aire we may easily discern the universall reason of the inspissation and condensation of things that wâre thin And again by his dilatation we may scan or decipher the cause of rarifaction of such things as were thick For by the speculation we shall find that there is nothing in the whole Empire of Nature which can be rarified and made subtle except it be by the action of light or fire whether it be visible or invisible and the essentiall effect of that action is light And on the contrary part nothing can be condensed or inspissared where darknesse hath not dominion forasmuch as darknesse is the essentiall root of cold which is the immoderate act or in condensation The particular properties with the uses thereof are manifold for first The nature of it is to discover the temper of the externall aire or catholick element in heat and cold for the higher that the water doth climbe in the neck or pipe of the Matras it argueth that the firmer stronger is the dominion of cold in the aire so that by this means we may daily judge of the increase or decrease of cold in the aire and by consequence we may guesse at the proportion of heat in the sublunary spirit of the world by the descent of the water Ceâtain Experiments worthy of observaâion and approved by many of this City touching this Experimentall Glasse If the water in the pipe of the glasse which before was highly mounted doth fall on the sodaine by some degrees it will be an undoubted signe that raine will immediately ensue If the water in the space of one night doth descend it is also a signe that raine will come not long after If the South or East wind do blow immediately after a North or Westerlie wind the water will fall by certaine degrees but if the North wind or cold Westerlie wind do blow after a Southerne or Easterlie wind then will the water be forth with exalted If the water doth attaine unto the figure 1. it argueth that the Ayre is in a moderation between heat and cold as when the Sunne is in the vernall Equinoctiall or as the naturall temper of the Spring useth to be But if the water mount higher then it argueth that the disposition of the Ayre is by so many degrees more of Northen or Boreall nature as the water is mounted towards the bolts head for you must conceive that the degrees from 1. unto the uppermost 7. are belonging unto the winter Hemisphere and therefore are the degrees which note the augmentation of cold So that if the water do mount up unto 2. in the Northern or higher part it is an argument that cold hath dominion over heat in the externall Ayre only by one degree If it mount unto the 3. of the same Hemisphere it doth foretell a slight frost but if it ascend unto 4. or 5. it pretendeth a hard and solid frost if it come unto 6. and 7. it argueth great ice but if it mount yet higher it sheweth that a hard Ice is likely to surprize and cover the whole river of Thames On the other side if the water descend from 1. unto 2. of the lower ranck of degrees which importeth the Summer or hot Hemisphere then it argueth heat hath gotten dominion over cold by one degree But if it descend unto 3. or 4. it importeth a greater distemper of the Ayre in heat if it descendeth unto 5. or 6. it demonstrateth the ayre to be exceeding hot but if the water be beaten downe unto the lower figure of 7. it sheweth that extreame and Sultry heat causing Coruscations and lightnings hath dominion in the Aire So that we may discerne how great a reference or relation there is between the externall ayre or universall sublunary Element and the Ayre included in the instrument But I will in better termes expresse the Consanguinity and Sympatheticall relation which is between the one and the other in this subsequent Chapter CHAP. V. Here it is proved evidently notwithstanding any objection which may be made to the contrary that not only this experimentall Organ hath a relation unto the great world but also the spirit included in this little modell doth resemble and imitate the action of that which is included in the great or macrocosmicall Machin BUt before I will proceed in any further comparison between the spirit contained in the small modell with the properties of the agents and patients in it and this of the great world I do think it to be necessary first to answer unto a certain doubt or objection that may be made the which unlesse it be resolved and taken away such a relation or comparison may appear unto the ignorant either improper or altogether impossible I know therefore that not a few will object and say that no convenient comparison can be made between this our small artificiall Machin and that naturall fabrick or organ of the world forasmuch as the spirit in our Glasse is every where inclosed and strictly included in his vessell and therefore may easily be incited by force to move according unto the regular figure or fashion of the glasse But the case is far otherwise in the spirit which is contained in the vast cavity of the world for in it the aire or spirit doth use at every impulsion to move freely this way and that way as we are instructed by daily experience in the blowing of the winds from each quarter of the world Unto this I answer That it is the self same reason of motion and relation from a thicker or denser nature unto a thinner and in like manner from a thinner or rarer unto a thicker or denser in a small subject that is in a greater so that the like respects be had and that by an equall weight
was pure light but the world did not know it And Solomon Sapientia Deus fundavit coelos stabilivit terram in prudentia By wisdom God made the heavens and by his prudency he laid the foundations of the earth In conclusion the whole harmony of holy Writ which is too long for me punctually in this place to rehearse doth testifie thus much that all things of what nature or condition soever were made disposed and effected in by and through this divine vertue or emanation which is God himself forasmuch as it is the divine act whose root is the word Ex ipso saith St. Paul per ipsum in ipso sunt omnia Of him by him and in him are all things But because some of the learned of this world may reply that though it is true that God by his divine Spirit or Word did create all things yet it followeth not that he doth act immediately and exist essentially in every thing But after that this eternall Spirit of wisdom had bestowed on each creature a peculiar vertue in its creation then the creature can act of it self by a free-will which is absolutely and distinguished and divided from the immediate act of God I answer that by our founded rules in Divinity the true essence of the Deitie is individuall and therefore God doth impart no essentiall act or vertue unto any creature which can be discontinued or seperated from Himself And for this reason Christ who is the eternall spirit of wisdome is said to fill all I marry will our learned say that is vertually but not substantially or essentially I would fain know laying all such school distinctions apart of which St. Paul biddeth Timothy to beware if the vertue of God be not his essence or whether the one can be divided from the other If they reply and say that this vertue of God is no essence but an accident Verily they must needs erre in saying so being that it is most certainly known unto the very Jewes and Gentiles themselves that God hath not any accidents in him seeing that he is absolutely essentiall and reall of himself for where his divine act is there is also his vertue and where his vertue is there is he truly said to be essentiall for else the word or divine act which doth vivifie and quicken every creature should seem to be but an Accident and that divided from the divine essence which how absurd it is the immortality and root of it doth argue For David in his forsaid text sayeth spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum from the spirit of his mouth doth issue every vertue of the heavens I imagine that there is no man of an upright sense that will esteem this vertue to be an Accident which being so then must it needs be essentiall and consequently in God and of God and therefore not divisible from his spirit But what needs more words when Scriptures do confirme this every where St. Paul sayeth in the text before mentioned Quoniam in ipso condâta sunt universa in coelis et in terra tam visibilia quam invisibilia omnia in ipso et per ipsum creata sunt et omnia in ipso constant Because all things in heaven and earth are made in him as well visible as invisible all things are created in him and by him all consist in him Ergo nothing without him Again St. John saith In verbo erat vita Life was in the Word And therefore the creature is annexed unto him by a continuated tye of one and the self-same spirit of life which is in the creature without the which it cannot exist one minute And for this cause the Psalmist saith O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom thou hast made them all The earth is full of thy riches so is the wide sea and the innumerable creeping things therein both great and small Thou givest unto them and they gather it thou openest thine hand and they are filled with good things but if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou takest away their breath they die and return unto dust Again if thou sendest out thy Spirit they are re-created and revive and thou renewest the face of the earth Whereby we see that it is the immediate act of the Spirit of wisdom that worketh these things by which God is said to vivifie all things and that by him we breathe and live and have our being And not onely we but also all other flesh whatsoever as it appeareth by the foresaid Text as also by this testimony of Job Si Deus apponens ad hominem animum suum spiritum seu flatum ejus ad se reciperet deficeret exspiraret omnis caro simul homo in cânerem reverteretur If God setting his heart or mind upon man should receive or draw unto himself his spirit or breath of life all flesh would die together and man would return unto dust And the Prophet Deus dat flatum populo qui est super terram spiritum calcantibus eam God giveth breath unto the people which is on the earth and a spirit unto the creatures which tread on it Now I beseech you How is it possible that this spirit of life should be present with and in all things and therefore essentially in every thing and yet it should cease to act immediately that is in persona sua when it is the most swift and mobil ' in his active nature and agility of all things as the wise man telleth us That he is present in all things it is apparent because all things do act and live in him and by him for St. Paul's Text before mentioned saith Omnia in ipso constant All consist in him And again Ipse operatur omnia in omnibus He worketh all in all And St. Peter The heavens and the earth which were of water exist by the word And Solomon Incorruptibilis Dei spiritus inest omni rei The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things And again Spiritus disciplinae sanctus implet orbem terrarum The spirit of wisdom filleth the earth And the Prophet David Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend into heaven thou art there if I lie down in hell thou art there Let me take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea yet thither shall thine hand lead me and thy right hand hold me If I say yet the darknesse shall hide me even the night shall be light about me yea the darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and night are both alike Therefore it is his reall Spirit that filleth all things and not any accidentall vertue as is falsly imagined by some And the Prophet Isaias Coelum est sedes mea terra scabellum pedum meorum saith the Lord The heavens
are my seat and the earth my foot stool And Jeremy Coelum terram nunquid impleo Do not I fill the heaven and the earth Now that you may know more particularly how this is done hearken unto David In sapientia saith he omnia fecisti repleta est terra possessione tua Thou madest all things in wisdom and the earth is full of thy possession or riches he meaneth with his Spirit which replenisheth inacteth and informeth all things And therefore saith the son of Syrach Sapientiam effudit Deus super omnia opera sua super omnem carnem secundum datum suum God powred out his wisdom upon all his creatures and upon all flesh according unto the measure that he bestoweth it That is to say The Spirit of wisdom is more or lesse in all things according as it pleased God to impart it unto this or that creature And for this reason Solomon in another place Sapientia operatur omnia Wisdom worketh or acteth all things Which agreeth with this Text of the Apostle Deus operatur omnia in omnibus Why should we not infer then that this spirit is essentially and presentially in every thing To conclude therefore this general discourse of the true Philosophy Moses teacheth us that after the foundation of the Heavens and Elements every creature that was framed or composed of them and lived and moved in them did exist and was preserved by the self-same spirit namely the Sun Moon and other Starrs in heaven the seeds trees herbs and such like vegetables and the creeping and four-footed beasts of the earth and fishes of the seas And lastly Man was created by one and the self-same spirit but God imparted unto him a greater proportion of his Spirit that thereby he might excell in perfection all other creatures It were too infinite to expresse and set down the main scope of this businesse in writing as Scriptures do at large recite it for look into the works of Moses the books of Joshua and Judges the history of Kings or Chronicles the reports of Job the Psalms of David the Proverbs Ecclesiastes Cantiques and Wisdom of Solomon the monuments of the Prophets the subject of Ecclesiasticus and Maccabees and lastly the relations or stories of Christ and his Apostles and we shall find that this sacred wisdom with her essentiall vertues and acts in the vast cavity of this world both above and beneath is the ground and firm foundation of all their doctrine and science as well concerning naturall as supernaturall businesses or rather touching the acts of God in his naturall Tabernacles or watry and humid mantles which he assumeth or putteth off at his pleasure as Scriptures do testifie And yet I would have no man so far to mistake me as not to think that as God is not excluded from the creatures so he is not included by any of them I will now descend unto particularities and shew you how this eternall wisdom is the fountain or corner-stone first of the higher Arts namely of Theology Physick or the art of Curing Astronomy Musick Arithmetick Geometry Rhetorick and after that how the Meteoro-logicall Science onely dependeth on his act then how true Morall learning and Politick government is derived from the instructions and directions of this onely wise Spirit And lastly how all mysticall and miraculous Arts and discoveries are effected and brought to light by it confirming that place in Scripture where it is said Caeterae sunt ancillae hujus All sciences are but the handmaids unto this wisdom Of each of these therefore in order CHAP. III. In this Chapter it is proved that the true Sophia or wisdom is the ground of all Arts and therefore it being revealed or discovered unto man he may be taught and instructed by it as by the onely wise and essentiall School-mistress in all science and knowledge IN Christo saith the Apostle sunt omnes the sauri sapientiae scientiae absconditi All the treasures of wisdom and science are hid in Christ. And Solomon Sapientiam dat Dominus ex ore ejus prudentia scientia The Lord giveth wisdom and from his mouth is prudency and knowledge And Ecclesiasticus Thesaurabit super virum scientiam intellectum justitiae Wisdom will treasure up in man science and the understanding of justice And again Ego doctrinam quasi prophetiam effundam relinquam illam quaerentibus sapientiam I will powre forth doctrine or learning as prophesie and I will leav it upon such as seek wisdom And the incarnated Word or Christ Jesus said Spiritus sanctus vos docebit omnia The holy Spirit will teach you all things And again Cum venerit ille Spiritus veritatis docebit vos omnem veritatem When that Spirit of truth shall come it will teach you all truth Esdras tasted of that materiall wisdom in the form of a fiery drink and he was so full of sapience that he indited books of science and wisdom for the space of forty daies together which his Scribes did register as he uttered it by word of mouth And Solomon saith Sapientiam optavi data est mihi invocavi venit in me spiritus sapientis I wished for wisdom and understanding was given me I invocated and the spirit of wisdom came into me But lest the captious of this world should say that these words of Solomon were meant in another sense than in the conceiving of such sciences as are comprehended under Philosophy called Naturall I wish them for their better direction to listen unto Solomon who doth in this case sufficiently interpret himself and that to the simplest mans capacity in this sense Spiritus sapientis mihi datus est ut cognoscerem constitutionem mundi vim elementorum principium finem mediumque temporum solstitiorum mutationes varietates temporum seu tempestaium anni circuitus stellarum situs naturas animantium animos seu iras bestiarum ventorum seu spirituum vim cogitationes hominum differentias plantarum radicum facultates etiam cognovi quaecunque sunt occulta manifesta omnium enim artifex me docuit Sapientia By the spirit of wisdom I came to know certainly how the world was made and the power of the elements and the beginning end and middle of times the changing of the Solstices the variety of times and tempests the compasse or revolution of the year the scituation of the Starrs the natures of living creatures the dispositions and angry conditions of beasts the strength of the winds or spirits the cogitations of men the differences of plants and the faculties of roots Also I knew both what was hid and manifest for wisdom the work-mistresse of all things did teach me Out of which words we gather that by the revelation of this divine spirit he attained to the knowledge of all things For since wisdom is the center root or corner-stone of all things how should
one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdome and unto an other the gift of healing Now that this Omnipotent and all-operating Spirit is that Wisdom which giveth life and health to every creature it is made manifest by many places of the book of Verity saith the Wiseman Sapientia custodiet salutem Wisdome will preserve health In Sapientiae dextra est longitudo dierum In the right-hand of wisdome is the length of daies Est lignum vitae omnibus qui apprehenderunt eam Shee is the tree of Life unto all them which can possessâ her where it is meant as well of body as of soul as it did appear by those cures which Christ and the Apostles did effect by the means of this Spirit upon the earth Sapientiam qui invenerit inveniet vitam hauriet salutem à Dâmino He that hath found wisdome shall find life and shall draw or attract health from the Lord. And in another place Ipsa hos qui se observant a doloribus liberavit wisdome preserved such from dolours as observed her And again Sapientia sanati sunt quicunque placuerint tibi ô Domine à principio They were healed O Lord whosoever have pleased thee from the beginning Yea verily each prudent Reader ought seriously to understand that there is not an animal vegetable or minerall but hath and receiveth immediatly his curative act from this Spirit And therefore the foresaid Son Syrach saith Altissimus de terra creavit medecinam vir prudens non abhorrebit illam The most high hath created medicine of the earth and the Wâse man will not despise it whereby we may discern first that the trees herbs roots and mineralls being of springs of the earth were ordained by God to be the means of curing and healing of men and then that the gift or act which is imparted unto them is from this Spirit of wisdome forasmuch as it is said to be in all things and to operate all in all in them though after a divers manner as the Apostle doth affirme confirming in this the Wisemans saying before recited Verbum tuum sanans omnia Thy word which healeth all things And therefore he inferred Non herba nec maâegmaâe sed verbo tuo sanante omnia not by herb or plaister but by thy word which healeth all things If the Word therefore heal all things then nothing can cure but the Word or the spirit of wisdome whose Fountain is the Word as is proved before But seeing this incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things and since it is the most active and movable thing in this world and since by his purity he penetrateth through all and acteth in all What should hinder me or any good Christian else to say that he acteth all in all in and by this word of himself and by himself and that immediatly and therefore not any Creature of it self or by it self as the Peripatetick doctrine doth most erroniously and to the seducing of true Christian hearts from their Creatour publish unto the World alluring them thereby to derogate from God who is all in all by arrogating abâolute authority unto the Creature in making and ordaining so many essentiall distinct subalternate agents which must forsooth operate per se as the Sun the Stars the winds the Elements and the compounded creatures as well imperfectly as perfectly mixed Verily in so doing they make the world believe that the Organ doth act per se essentially and not this hidden and centrall word or incorruptible Spirit existing in every thing which is the fountaine or foundation of the true ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or wisdome and the main mark or Summum bonum which the true Philosopher or Lover of wisdome doth ayme at Therefore doth Salomon the Prophets and Christ with his sanctified followers exhort all men to be Amatores verae Sapientiae Lovers of this wisedome in whom is all Act as well intellectuall condescending unto the sublimation of mans knowledg as more materiall namely operating to vivification vegetation and multiplication But of this more at large in another place I will return unto my purpose and conclude this brief discourse upon the true Physick with Salomons confession who sayeth Per sapientiam novi na turas animalium was bestiarum differentias virgultorum virtutesradicum imò quae sunt occulta et manifesta mihi patefecit omnium artifex Sapientia By wisdome I knew the natures of living creatures the raging conditions of Beasts the dâfferences of plants and the vertues of roots yea all the mysteries of creatures as well occult as manifest were revealed unto me by wisdome which is the worker of all things Whereby he argueth that wisdome even that heavenly Spirit which did bestow on herbs animals and minerals their virtues as well hidden and secret as apparent and evident even that eternall Word which is all in all and operateth or acteth all in all and therefore can only teach and instruct by an externall revelation what he internally doth and by what vertue he operateth in each creature and although Ethnick Philosophers and Physitians have by practicall effects or sensuall observations and demonstrations à posteriori found out the occult properties in plants as for example of the Piony to cure the falling-sickness of Herniaria to respect the rupture of Tussilago to be proper for the Lungs of Euphragia to be good for the eie-sight of Thecilea and Viscus quercinus to prevaile against the falling-sickness c. In animals of the Toad to stanch blood of the Alsaeus hoof and also the Frog to cure the falling-sickness of the Scorpion chiefly to cure the bitings of the Scorpion c. yet because they are ignorant of the centrall grounds of Sympathy and Antipathy which consisteth in the Volunty or Nolunty of one and the same Spirit they can give no other reason for such hidden things but only that they are ab occulta proprietate of a hidden property And in fine can say no more but that they are talia quia talia and so we receive from these learned Doctours nothing else but Ignotum per ignotius A thing unknown by a more unknown To conclude it is certain that Salomon learn'd so much of the nature of Planets and other creatures by the discovery of this Spirit that it was said of him that he was instructed by this his Schoolmistriss in the vertues of all vegetables beginning even from the lowly Hysop and so mounting unto the lofty Cedars of Libanus Having then in few words expressed unto you the power of this Spirit in her documents of Physick or Medicine and proved that shee is the Basis or ground of every sanative property in the world I will shew you in the next rank her act and vertue in the essentiall Musick Touching the harmony of this world and how every sublunary element and superlunary sphear are disposed by an essentiall kind of symphoniacall
Morall Phylosophy For in Counsell Temperance is considered and then there is Justice Wisdome and Fortitude Again the Son of Syrach In Sapientiâ est Decor vitae qui operantur in ea non peccabunt In wisdome is the comliness of life and who so operateth in her will not sin Now you know that sin is the breach of the Law and the Mosaicall Law is grounded as well upon the Morall rules of behaviour between man and man as in mans duty unto God And Salomon in another place Cum Sapientia venerunt mihi omnia bona innumerabilis honestas per manus illius With wisdome came unto me all good things and innumerabâe honesty from her hands To conclude this is expressed unto us more really and to the quick in the Text above mentioned Sapientiae labores magnas habent virtutes sobrietatem enim sapientiam justitiam virtutem docet quibus in vita hominibus nihil est utilius The labours or works of wisdome have great vertues For she teacheth sobriety and wisdome justice and vertue than the which there is nothing more profitable or commodious in this life By which places and many more which I could produce it is plain that the Instructrix and foundation of all Morall or Ethicall doctrine is the Spirit of true wisdome which descendeth from the Father of Light As for the true and sincere Politick Government which belongeth unto Kings Princes and Magistrates of this earth we finde it warranted by Scriptures that wisdome is the root from whence it springeth if it be good For we find in one place that Sapientia facit Regem ut digne regnet in populum Wisdome maketh a King to govern or raigne over his people worthily And Salomon Sapientiâ Reges regnant Legum-conditores justa decernunt By wisdome Kings do raigne and the Law-makers do discerne just things Again Sapientiâ Principes imperant Potentes decernunt justitiam By wisdome Princes do govern or command and powerfull men do decern justice And elsewhere Sapientia melior est quam arma bellica Wisdome is better then armor of war And Ecclesiasticus Sapientiam qui audit judicabit Gentes He which beareth wisdome hall judge Nations Sapientia ministrabit in medio magnatorum in conspectu Praesudis apparebit Wisdome shall administer in the middle of the Nobility and shall appear in the sight of the President or Judge And Salomon after the manner of a confession saith Ob Sapientiam habebam claritatem apud turbas honorem apud seniores juvenis acutus inveniar judicio in conspectu potentium admirabilis ero For my wisdom I did shine among the people and was honoured among the Elders being but a young man I shall be found sharp in judgment and in the eyes of the potent I shall appear admirable Again Per sapientiam disponam populus nationes mihi erunt subditae By wisdom I will order the people and nations will be subject unto me Sapientem timebunt audientes reges horrendi Ob sapientiam multitudini videbitur bonus in bello fortis sapientia deducit me ut disponam populum tuum justè Fearfull and dreadfull potentates hearing a wise man will be afraid He will appear by reason of his wisdom good in the eyes of the multitude and valiant in war Wisdom directeth me to dispose of the people justly c. By which and many other places it appeareth that the divine wisdom is the onely guide of true government in every Common-wealth and where her rules are not respected or followed that government must needs proceed of wordly wisdom which is terrene animal and diabolicall Lastly I will conclude and finish this Chapter with the miraculous and supernaturall effects it produceth and the admirable acts which it bringeth to passe beyond the capacity of mans imagination so that the man which is partaker of this divine Agent and can firmly unite it unto his own spirit may do wonders Sapientia intravit in animam servi Dei Mosis stetit coram reges horrendos in portentis signis Transtulit Israelem per mare rubrum inimicos dimersit Wisdom entred into the soul of Moses the servant of God and he stood before mighty Kings in prodigies and signes He carried Israel through the red sea and drowned their enemies Sapientia muâtiplicem experientiam docet nam scit illa praeterita de futuris aestimat scit versutias sermonum solutiones aenigmatum signa monstra antequam fiant praesagit evenius quoque temporum seculorum Wisdom teacheth manifold experience she is acquainted with things that are past and judgeth of things that are to come She understandeth the wilinesse of speech the solutions of aenigma's or riddles and knoweth signes and prodigies before they appeaâe she is also familiar with the Events of times and ages And the Apostle Spiritus omnia scrutatur etiam profunda Dei The spirit searcheth out all things even the profund inscrutable things of God It was that by the power of which wine was made of water five thousand persons were sustained by five âoaves of bread by it Chrâst did waâk safely upon the waters did cure one that was blind from his nativity did raise Lazarus from the dead did enter into the Chamber where his disciples were etiam clausis januis he doores being shut did cause an infinity of fishes to be taken compelled the wind and storme at sea to cease and be obedient unto his command did cast out divells from such as weâe possessed So also it was sayed signa prodigia in virtute spiritus sancti effecit Christus per Paulum Christ did effect signes and prodigies by the vertue of the holy spirit by Paul By this Spirit Adam had virtutem continendi omnia the vertue to comprehend all things And Solomon did by it understand the thoughts of men and knew all things which were occult and hidden To conclude Moses Joshuah Gideon Samuel Daniel Elias Eliâha with the other Prophets Judas Maccabaeus Chriât and his Apostles which were all the observant disciples unto the true wisdom did by her secret art and operation bring to passe all those miracles which are mentioned in the holy Testament both New and Old as each man may find to be true if he will be pleased to make a due enquiry into that holy story But all this is most aptly expressed by the Prophet Daniel in these words Ipse revelat profunâa abscondita novit in tenebris constituta lux cum eo est He is the revealer of things that are profound and hidden an understandeth the things which lurk in darknesse for light dwelleth with him All which being so it is most apparent that there is no art or science whether it be abstruse and mysticall or manifestly known be it speculative or practicall but had his root and beginning from this true wisdom
the mysty and ambiguous clouds of that cavilling brabling heathenish Philosophy which they so adore and follow with their Master Aristotle as if he were another Jesus rained down from heaven to open unto mankind the treasures of the true wisdome But maâk a while I beseech you how the Apostle doth describe these wrangling Philosophers with their Sophisticall Philosophy and with what characters and colours he doth justly describe them Si quis aliter docet non acquiescit sanis sermonibus Domini nostri Jesu Christi saith he ei quae secundum pietatem est Doctrinae superbus est nihil sciens sed languens circa quaestiones pugnas verborum ex quibus oriuntur iuvidiae contentiones blasphemiae suspiciones mala conflictationes hominum mente corruptorum qui veritate privati sunt existimantium quaestum esse pietatem If any man teach otherwise and consenteth not unto the wholsome words of our Lord Jesus Christ and unto the doctrine which is according unto Godlinesse he is puffed up and knoweth nothing but doteth about questions and contention of words whereof cometh envy strife rayling evil surmises froward disputations of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth which think that gaine is Godlinesse From such saith St. Paul unto Timothy Seperate thy self I could hartily wish that each Christian Peripatetick who spendeth his time in disputes and cavills after the Aristotelian manner and attempteth to draw out the endless bottome of truth or dive into the bowells or labyrinths of verity by subtle evasions I meane by an infinity of distinctions which doe rather distract then attract man unto the true wisdome which is but plaine and simple unity I could wish them I say to ponder this with patience and seriously to call to mind that in the Church of God and habitations or kingdoms of the true Sophia or if they please Philosophia there is no such custome as the Apostle teacheth us for this mixtion of multiform humane wisdome with the wisdome of God hath been the occasion of so many dissentions and discords as have sprung up among the Philosophers of this world whereupon every kind of this false Philosophy hath by stiffe cavillations and disputations maintained her Sect. This also hath been the occasion of errours in the Church of God as well among Christians as Turkes and Jewes For amongst us Christians it hath been the root of many Schisms and Heresies which have risen up in the re-search of one onely true God which is the eternall Unity And hereupon Convenientibus vobis in Ecclesia saith St. Paul si quis videtur esse contentiosus nos talem consuetudinem in Ecclesia non habemus If any man seem to be contentious we have no such custome in the Church of God To conclude there are so many waies of deception in this our Christian world by reason of these Aristotelicall evasions and Protean Peripateticall distinctions and sophistications that the self-same thing may by them like a nose of waxe be turned and changed or altered in outward appearance which way a man list and so plain simple truth is abused and the silly man seduced The Apostle doth notably decypher or paint forth this kind of Aenigmaticall Philosophers of our Age which like glorious Thrasoes are puffed up in their own conceipts and think very well of themselves though they approach not neare the mark or Summum bonum which wise men do ayme at in these colours In novissinis diebus saith he instabunt tempora periculosa c. Erunt homines seipsos amantes cupidi elati superbâ c. Semper dâscentes nunquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes quemadmodum autem Jamnes Mambres restiterunt Moysi ita hi resistuunt veritati homines corrupti mente reprobi circa fidem ultra non proficient insipientia enim eorum erit manifesta omnibus sicut illorum fuit Tu autem assequuntus es meam Doctrinam In the last daies shall come perilous times for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters high-minded and proud c. alwaies learning and never attaining unto the knowledge of the truth And as Jamnes and Mambres did resist Moses so do these withstand the truth being men corrupt in minde and reprobate concerning the faith But these shall prevail no longer for their foolishnesse shall be made manifest unto all men as theirs also was But thou hast fully known my doctrine c. Now his doctrine was concerning the true Philosophy whose foundation was Jesus Christ or the true wisdom and corner-stone which sustaineth all and is all in all and filleth all and acteth or operateth all in all which is contrary unto the tenour of the Ethnick doctrine seeing that it maketh an infinity of essentiall Agents in this world as Daemons Stars Elements Meteors Fire Water Cold Heat Man Beast Plant Minerall and such like the which they will have as subalternate essentiall Agents to act and operate of themselves not understanding that there is but one catholick and indivisible Agent in many mansions which doth operate by and in an infinity of organicall vehicles all in all and over all And this doctrine of theirs hath so infected our Christian Philosophers which are of their sect that they distinguish of Gods Beeing saying That he is present vertualiter and not substantialiter or essentialiter As who should say that Gods vertue can be without his essence or divided from his divinity which is indivisible and so they dream of some accidents to be in God which are distinguished from his essence Or else they distinguish and say that he operateth all principaliter and mediate as he is the first cause But say they there are an infinity of secundary causes which act and operate of themselves But I wonder if that were true how God can be said to fill all things and operate all in all if he be onely the first efficient cause and not the generall cause of all action in this world by his blessed Spirit which he sent out into the world to do the will of him that sent it as well in heaven as in earth What needs more words when the Apostle in plain tearms decideth this controversie in the Text before mentioned Etsi sunt saith he qui dicuntur Dij sive in coelo sive in terra siquidem sunt dij multi domini multi nobis tamen est unus Deus Pater ex quo omnia nos in âllo unus Dominus Jesus Christus per quem omnia nos per ipsum Sed non in omnibus est haec scientia Though there be that are called Gods as well in heaven as on earth as there are many gods and many lords yet unto us there is but one God which is the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him But every man hath not that knowledge By
which words each Christian may discern how adverse the divine Philosopher Paul is unto the imaginary vertue and immediate act of either the Peripatetick's Daemons and Intelligences or of the starry bodies and influences or of the qualiâies of his four Elements or of the Winds and other Meteors mentioned by their Master Aristotle And although they appear in outward shew that they act or work of themselves in this world yet our true Philosopher Paul teacheth us that by his Philosophy whose basis or ground is the true wisdom Jesus Christ he can discern no other Agent but one primary of whom are all things and the other secundary by whom are all things both which he acknowledgeth to be but one in essence for the one being an emanation out of the other doth onely and of himself operate all in all This is the perfect tenent of the essentiall Philosophy And therefore whatsoever the mundan and Ethnick Philosophy doth tell and by insinuating subtlety perswade us unto which is apparently contrary unto the true Philosophy we ought not in any case to believe And unto this the said divine Philosopher seemeth to consent in these words Though an angel from heaven doth preach unto you otherwise then that whâch we have preached unto you let him be accursed If any man preach otherwise then that ye have received let him be accursed And therefore seeing that the Aristotelian learning is contradictory in diverse main points unto the positions of the essentiall wisdom or philosophy a true Christian ought not in the main points to believe it seeing that as St. James hath it the grounds and tenour of it are opposite unto the holy Bible which is the onely cabinet of truth and therefore is pronounced by him to be terrene animal and diabolicall Hereupon St. Paul writeth unto his schollar Timothy in this style Timothy keep that which is committed unto thee and avoid profane and vain bablings and oppositions of sciences falsly so called which while some professe they have erred concerning the faith In which words he seemeth to forewarn his Disciples that they be not entangled with the sophisticall allurements of the woâldly Philosophy which contradicteth the truth and is not pacifick but troublesome and full of vain disputes and opposition pronouncing such kind of Philosophy to be not truly but falsly called a science as also all those sciences which depend on it And moreover insinuates unto his disciples that such Christians as profess it with too too vehement a devotion and confidence have by the meanes of it been subtilly induced into errors concerning the faith which is grounded upon the Anchor-hold of this invisible wisdome which is the spirituall Christ Jesus Again in this sense he giveth this Caveat before specified unto his Colossian disciples Beware that no man do deceive you by Philosophy and vaine fallacy according unto their adition of men according unto the Elements of this world and not according to Christ c. Whereby he admonisheth us Christians to eschew the false philosophy of the Ethnicks and to stick firmly unto the rules and doctrine of the true wisdome and therefore he saith in the same Text In Christo ambulate radicati et aedificati in ipso c. walk yee firmly rooted in Christ c. whereby he intendeth that Christ is the only corner-stone and ground work of the true Philosophy being that all creatures yea and the whole world is founded on it and consequently that the foundation of Paganish philosophy is sandy and of no validity whereupon the Apostle saith Fundamentum aliud nemo potest ponere praeter id quod positum est quod est Christus Jesus No man can lay any other true foundation but that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now that this is clean contrary unto the false grounds of the Ethnicks the said Apostle seemeth to intimate in these words Hoc dico ut non ambuletis sicut et gentes ambulant in vanitate sensus sui tenebris obscuratum habentes intellectum alienati in vita Dei per ignorantiam quae est in illis propter caecitatem cordis eorum c. I say this that you should not walk as the gentiles do in the vanity of their senses having their understandings obscured with darkness being alienated from the life of God by ignorance which is in them by reason of their blindnesse of heart I must now come to particularize upon the erroneous and false doctrine of the Peripatetick or Aristotelian philosophy that thereby I may the better lay it open unto the world by comparing the vanity thereof with the goodnesse and perfection of the divine and sacred Sophia or wisdome CHAP. V. Here the erroneous doctrine of the Gentiles Philosophy is set down being proved for certaine reasons herein expressed to be founded upon the wisdome of this world and not upon that which descendeth from God NOw me thinks I heare some sharp-witted Aristotelian reply and say How can he prove that the peripatetick Philosophy is not descended from above And why should not the foundation thereof be the true wisdome which came from God But before I come to the answering of this objection I beseech thee gentle Reader give me liberty first to apologize a little for my self Be thou therefore pleas'd in the first place to understand from my just and upright spirit that I acknowledge and confess this Prince of the Peripatetick Philosophy to be a personage of a profound speculation and that he had as deep an insight into the light of nature as any of the common ranck of Philosophers in his time Yea verily he had so sharp an ingeny and so subtill and refined a spirit that he not only allured by his worldly craft and humane invention the Gentilish Greeks whereupon he was termed by them Cacodaemon or a deceitfull spirit or seducing from the truth but also Christians themselves of every sect even unto this present Insomuch that they are so wedded unto his worldly wisdome that they admire each new proficient in Philosophy of their Universities to maintaine his actions and not to decline from his doctrine As for my self though I may be rancked in that number yet now I have collected my spirits and have by Gods grace attained unto that light of holy Scriptures whereby I am made able to distinguish and discerne their essentiall collours from this praestigious one of Pagans I must say with Cicero that Quaedam promissa sunt servanda nimirùm licita and on the other side Quaedam promissa non sunt servanda nempe quae sunt illicita Lawfull promises are to be observed but such as are unconscionable are to be violated Now God forbid good Christians should imagine that any oath which is made to derogate from the verity of the holy Bible should be perpetually confirmed for that were to rebell against the truth Wherefore my essentiall Motto in this my old age notwithstanding any alleageance which I have by
the Originall or primary womb from whence the waters were extracted which were the materiall stuff whereof all things were framed was this dark and deformed Abysse or Chaos and therefore had the beginning of their formall being from the Father of all-informing and vivifying light and essence But that we may directly shew unto you the egregious theft of the foresaid Philosophers from Moses his Principles That Principle which Moses termed darknesse the darke Abysse or potentiall Principle Aristotle doth call his Materia prima or first matter which he averreth to be something in puissance or potentially only because it is not as yet reduced into act Again he seemeth to term it privation but falsly being that no position did precede it On the other side Plato calleth it Hyle which is esteemed to be nothing forasmuch as it is invisible and without form Also he compareth it to a dark body in respect of the soul and spirit As for Hermes he intitleth it by the name of umbra horrenda or fearfull shadow Pythagoras maketh it his Symbolicall Unity From in this its estate it hath relation unto nothing else but it self which is mere Unity and consequently it acquireth not so much as the name of a Father because it doth not by an emanation respect or attempt the production of a Son Hippocrates will have it named a deformed Chaos or an universally troubled mass without form or shape Again as touching the first inacted passive Principle or the primary passive matter out of which all things were carved That which Moses called waters Aristotle doth intitle by the name of Second matter forasmuch as it was begotten and derived out of the bowels of the first-matter or Chaos or dark abysse which also Plato termeth the Spirit and Hermes the humid nature Hippocrates with Anaximenes the vast and universall aire of this world Pythagoras pointeth at it Symbolically by the number of duality which is the mark of imperfection for it argueth thereby the imperfect estate of matter being destitute of the formall character of Unity which maketh three and therefore the ternary number is esteemed amongst the wisest Philosophers for the root of all perfect numbers To conclude that vivifying and animating Principle which Moses called light proceeding from the Spirit of the Lord Aristotle maketh his formall beginning Plato the act or soul of the world Pythagoras delineates it by the number of three and Hippocrates calleth it that immortall heat the which when all things were troubled in the beginning by contention did sore up unto that upper region which the Ancients do call the Aether or Heaven Is not this therefore a notable kind of Robbery amongst the choisest Ethnick Philophers thus fasly to ascribe and attribute the Principles and Doctrine unto themselves which were revealed by God's Spirit unto the wise Prophet Moses and that of pupose to make themselves great and eminent not only in the eies of the Gentiles but also by subtill allurements or false and fading suggestions laid on those foundations to distract Christian men from the Truth And yet as for Plato and Hermes I must excuse them being that they do both of them acknowledg in express terms with Moses that the matter or substance wherof the heavens and the earth were made was a humid nature and the internall form or act which did dispose of it into diversity of figures or forms was the divine Word as you may find most plainly expressed in Plato's works and in the Pimander of Hermes or Mercurius Trismegistus But amongst all the rest Aristotle hath sored highest upon the wings of his own conceited imaginations and built the structure of his worldly wisdome upon the typicall form of the Mosaicall grounds thinking thereby to assume and purchase unto himself in the regard of this world the name of an absolutely wiseman though in the conclusion he appeareth far otherwise in the eyes of God for as much as he doth assigne particular essentiall actions which appertain really unto God unto the creatures with more obstinacy then the rest affirming that they operate essentially of and by themselves when in Verity it is only God that operateth all and in all and that immediatly as the Apostle Paul doth intimate unto us And this is the reason that they give not unto God the only Creator the glory of every action in this world as they ought to do but rather to a created nature and unto Angels and Stars and Elements and compounded creatures which were made and are still sustained and maintained by the all-creating Spirit or word of the Almighty And this is the originall occasion of the multiplicity of Idolatry which hath and doth hitherto raigne in this world namely of the worshipping of the Sun Moon and starres of sacrifices offered unto Idols or false Gods and deceiving Devils of the Veneration of Isis and Osiris of the adoration of Saturne Jupiter Mars Venus and Mercury of the immolations or offerings unto Caelum Vesta Ceres Proserpina Vulcan Pluto and Neptune with many other errours and absurdities whereby ignorant men are rather seduced from the knowledg of the true God than any way induced unto the understanding of him rightly And this very same Doctrine relying on the invention of man hath been the occasion that the world hath erred concerning the divine Word and through blindness have not perceived the operations and properties of the holy Spirit in the creatures yea verily it hath been the occasion why some of our Christian Philosophers themselves have neglected the research of Gods Actions in his creatures as well visible as invisible they are I say so wedded unto the Aristotelian Philosophy that they do voluntarily avert their eies from the true and certain Science of the Meteorologicall Science revealed by the Scriptures which are the fountains of Wisdome to follow the uncertain and scarce-probable doctrine of their Ethnick-Master touching that admirable subject And this is the reason that they will not acknowledg any true Meteorologicall Philosophy to be taught by the Spirit of Wisdome in the said holy Book but only matters belonging to the health and salvation of man when indeed it is most evident that whole pages or leaves as well of the books of Moses Job Psalms and the Prophets as many places of the New Testament are full of that subject All which is expressed in the book of the true Wisdome that thereby we may admire the wonderous works which the Creator hath from the beginning effected and daily doth produce in this lower world to witness his eternall power in his creatures But leaving all allaterall discourses I will proceed now unto our main Subject which concerneth the true Mosaicall Principles with their effect CHAP. II. What were the Mosaicall Principles or beginnings in generall How they were produced and extracted out of Nothing Then what is meant by that word Nothing And lastly the first Principle which is the dark Abysse or Chaos without form is particulaerly described THe
which are extant For this reason also Renclin speaketh of the beginning by the mouth of the mysticall and learned Rabbies in these words It is written in the book of âahir Nihil est principium nisi sapientia haec est infinitudo ipsa trium summarum cabalisticae arboris numerationum quas vos tres in divinis personas appellare consuevistis quae est absolutissima essentia quae cum sit in abysso tenebrarum retracta immanens ociosaque vel ut aiunt ad nihil respiciens idcirco dicitur ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã id est Nihil sive non ens ac non finis quia nos tam tenui erga res divinas ingenii paupertate mulctati de iis quae non apparent haud secus atque de iis quae non sunt judicamus At ubi se ita ostenderit ut sit aliquid reverá subsistat tum Aleph tenebrosum in Aleph lucidum convertitur scriptum enim est Sicut tenebrae ejus ita lux ejus Nothing is the beginning but wisdome or sapience and it is the infinity of the three highest numerations of the Cabalisticall tree which yee are accustomed to call the three persons in divinity the which is an absolute essence which whilest it is retracted in the abysse of darkness and resteth still and quiet or as they say having respect unto nothing is for that cause termed of the Hebrewes Ain that is to say Nihiâ or nothing or no entity Because that we being affected with extreame shallowness or poverty of wit and capacity in the conception or apprehension of divine things do judge of those things which do not appeare as we are accustomed to do of such things as are not at all But when it hath shewed forth it selfe to be somewhat indeed and that it doth really in human apprehension exist somewhat then is dark Aleph converted into light Aleph for it is written As his darknesse such is his light or the expresse words of the Prophet are Tenebrae sunt ei sicut ipsa lux darknesse is unto him as Light Whereby it is Evident that though darknesse or invisibility do appear unto our sense to be nothing in regard of that which is made manifest in light yet in verity all are reall and essentiall before God and therefore that nothing or deformity in regard of our weak capacity out of which the waters which is the materiall principle of all things were originally extracted seem unto him in whose divine puissance they remain a materiall existence For as much as nothing is in God but what is essentiall reality or a something in being but of him by him and in him are all things as we are taught by holy-Text wherefore as well the dark matrix or womb of the waters as the watry infant or humid nature which sprung out of the belly of the gloomy abysse or Chaos were really in God before they appeared to sight that is to say they remained in the Almighties puissance or volunty and were to be disposed of by him as he pleased no otherwise then the number of things to be builded was first in the mind of the builder But that this is so namely that the world was framed and made of such a matter which was said therefore to be without forme because it was invisible we find it proved and maintained by this Authority of Scripture before mentioned which Tremellius interpreteth thus Omnipotens manus tua creavât mundum ex informi materia which Jerome translateth ex invisa materia ô Omnipotent thy hand hath Created the world of a matter without forme or as Jerome speaketh of an invisible matter Now that this generall matter was waters which the presence of the all-informing spirit of the Lord did vigorate and inact in a generality and termed them by the name Shamaim and that the waters were the first materiall principle of which the world was made no otherwise then out of a rude masse of Clay a great pallace is fashioned or framed the Text of Moses doth seem evidently to confirme first for that it doth mention the waters on which the spirit of the Lord was carried and that immediatly after he had nominated the confused Chaos under the Title of the dark abysse and Terra inanis vacua or the void and deformed earth and that immediatly before the first day's seperation Whereby it is plainly argued that waters were the materiall principle being created or inacted by the spirit of the Lord or Elohim Ruach Forasmuch as they were nominated before the first dayes work Secondly that it was the said eternall wisdome or spirit Elohim who acting as it were the part of a mid-wife did deliver and bring forth this birth and gave it act and form Again we may learn out of the same Chapter of Moses that the waters were the Subject of that separation which was effected by the Spagirick or fiery-vertue of the said Spirit or divine word Thirdly that the heavens above were made of the purer brighter and more worthy waters and the Elementary world beneath of the grosser darker and viler sort of waters and that there was a midle kind of them which participating of both extreames was termed the firmament whose main office was to devide and seperate the water from the waters Then out of the lower waters by the same word or spirit were the Elements proportioned and placed their severall regions namely the Aire the Seas and the dry Land So that we see how the spirit of the Lord did fabrick the whole world and every member thereof out of this humid spirit or aquatick nature which also is most plainly verified by this Text of the Apostle Peter Coeli saith he erant prius et terra de aqua et per aquam existens verbo Dei The heavens were First and the earth of waters and by waters existing in and by the word of God But the world is composed only of heaven and earth and therefore it followeth that the whole world is made and existeth of the waters and by the waters consisting by the word of God Now therefore since the Starrs of heaven are esteemed nothing else but the thicker portion of their Orbes and again every Creature which is below is said to be compacted of the Elements it must also follow that both the Starrs in the higher heaven and the compound-Creatures beneath in the Elementary world be they meteorologicall or of a more perfect mixtion namely Animal vegetable or minerall must in respect of their materiall part or existence proceed from waters the which as they were brought unto light by the divine word So also do they eternally consist and are in their being sustained in and by the same Spirit as shall be plainly manifested unto you in this Chapter following Thus therefore I have sufficiently expressed unto you and evidently proved by holy Authority that the originall Catholick matter of all things was Water
aeri appendit aquas in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum Coelos creabat extendebat eos firmabat terram quae germinant ex ea sapientia creavit Deus terram stabilivit coelos prudentia facit ut oriatur lumen in coelis indeficiens sicut nebula tegit omnem terram Facit anni cursus constituit dispositiones stellarum fecit Arcturum Oâionem Convertit in mane tenebras diem in noctem mutat vocat aquas maris effundit eas super faciem terrae Praeparavit terram in aeterno tempore replevit eam bipedâbus quadrupedibus ipsam effudit Deus super omnia opera ejus super omnem carnem secundum datum Ipsa denique operatur omnia Deus per ipsam operatur omnia in omnibus ipse vivificat animat omnia ut Apostolus Quare Propheta recte In sapientia omnia fecisti repleta est terra possessione tua c. Wisdom created the world of a matter without form She revealeth the foundations of the deep and discovereth the things that are hid in darknesse and light is with her She maketh the foundations appear out of darknesse and converteth the deadly shaddow into light She spreadeth forth the North upon the void or empty face of the abysse and hangeth the earth upon nothing For God made all things by the wisdom which came out of his mouth and compassed about the circuit of the heavens and walked in the profundity of the abysse She was present when he prepared the heavens when he covered by a certain law or compasse the abysse When he established the heavens or etheriall region above then was she with him as the composer of all those things She laid the foundations of the earth and fastned the heavens and broke up the Abysse and made the clouds to gather in a dew She giveth waight unto the Aire She hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clouds by measure She giveth unto the raine its laws and ordaineth a way unto the Lightning of the Thunder She created the heavens and did spread them abroad She fastned the earth and made the things which grow upon it God created the earth by her and established the heavens by his Providence and she causeth an indeficient Light to rise and appeare in the heavens and she covereth as it were with a cloud the whole earth She maketh the courses of the year and instituteth the dispositions or natures of the Stars She made the Pole-star and Orion and turned the darkness into the morning and changed the day into night She calleth the waters of the Sea and poureth them upon the face of the Earth She hath prepared the Earth from eterniây and filled it with two-footed and four-footed Creatures God effused or poured her forth upon all his Works and upon all flesh in a divers measure To conclude ââe operateth all things as Solomon saith and therefore God by her doth operate all and in all things And again she vivifieth and animateth all things as the Apostle telleth us whereupon the Royall Prophet David doth rightly conclude in these words Oh Lord how glorious are thy works in Wisdome thou hast made them all the Earth is full of thy riches So is the wide Seas and innumerable creeping things therein both great and small Thou givest unto them and they gather it thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good things But if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou dost take away their breath they die and return unto dust Aâain if thou dost send out thy Spiâit they are re-created or re-vive and thou renewest the face of the Earth c. In which Speech the Prophet confirmeth that it is the Spirit of the Lord who by his presence reviveth that it createth and generateth and by his absence or vacancy mortifieth or corrupteth it And lastly by his returning or restoring of it again causeth both revivification and resurrection from the dead The which three mysticall operations of one Spirit in this world the whole Scriptures do handle at full and therefore we will conclude the last Chapter of this Book namely that which succedeth with this very Subject which shall truly correspond unto that defective treatise which Aristotle maketh of generation and corruption But before we come to speak of it we must proceed a little further in the opening of this present Principle By this therefore that is already said we may easily perceive that the Catholick Act or formall Principle with his infinity of dilatations or emanations are in the hands and volunty of the Creator who for that cause is said to operate by his Wisdome all in all as is already declared And therefore the Schoole distinction de operatione mediata immediata principali seu primaria minus principali seu secundaria with many other such like evasions forged out by the Ethnick Philosophers being necessary instruments of the Prince of this world forasmuch as they by their worldly discipline do distract even Christians themselves from Truth and Unity by a multiplicity of confused distinctions ought to be quite abolished being that the only act and Catholick agent in all things is immediatly from God and is all one in essence with God and is essentially in all things For the text saith that God hath poured out his Spirit on all his works and the incorruptible Spirit of God is in aâl things and the heavens and earth are full of it Again this Spirit is the most active and mobil of all things which being so what I beseech you should hinder it to work immediatly and absolutely in all things Being that it is the immediate vertue and vivifying emanation from God and consequently there can be no difference between the immediate act of God and the act of this Spirit which must needs be immediate in the creature because as it is present in it so also it is most mobil and all-sufficient in it selfe to operate Now therefore seeing it is evident that this Spirit is God and that the essence divine is indivisible it must needs follow that where it acteth immediatly there God also must act and operate immediatly and therefore all distinctions framed out after the inventions of men being laid aside these words of the Apostle and Solomon God worketh all in all doth generally hold over all and every particular and consequently we ought to acknowledg no subalternate acting or efficient cause in this world but onely one identity or divine essence and that is he who worketh all in all and vivifieth informeth and animateth immediatly all things alone without any assistance as Scripture tells us in divers places Ego IEHOVAH saith the Text faciens omnia solus nullus mecum I am IEHOVAH who work all things alone and have none to help or aid me Ego Sapientiaciâcumivi rotunditaâem coelorum sola I wisdome compassed the heaven alone c. For
destroying of them So that this formall Champion of Light namely Heat warreth perpetually against the cold gardian of Darknesse For the one can have no dominion in the Aire untill the other by little and little be exiled And therefore as the Light principle with all his branches is said to be the Father of posiâion act information plenitude motion life health and Heat So also doth Heat operate according unto the nature of his restless and ever operating Father which is Light to destroy the effects of darkness and cold as we see in the nature of the hot winds namely that of the South and East or Orient For as the Northern cold wind doth congregate contract harden thicken or condense make ponderous fix immovable and opake the aire changing it by inspissation into the nature of more ponderous Elements So contrariwise the said hot winds or spirits do dissipate dilate mollify rarify and make thin and light volatil movable and transparent what the cold winds did so change and alter and all this is effected by the Act spagerick or separative Act of God's Spirit or Word And therefore the Prophet said in the Text mentioned before Emittens verbum suum liquefacit ista simul ac efflaâ ventum suum effluunt aquae God sending forth his Word that is causing his bright vertue to shine forth he did undo or melt the Snow Frost and Ice which God in his hidden or contractive property had caused and that under the form of an Angelicall wind And therefore it is said So soon as he bloweth forth his breath or wind the waters flow that is to say the Snow is melted and of a fix and opake substance becometh movable lively fluent and diaphan or transparent So also the heat of the Easterly wind destroyeth and dissipateth the watery effects of the Westerly wind and therefore the Prophet saith Postquam veniente Euro vento IEHOVAE è deserto exaruerit scaturigo ejus siccatus fuerit fons ejus Afterwards by the Easterly wind of the Lord coming from the desert his spring withered and his Fountain was dried up As if he had said the water was changed by the heat of that wind into Aire by rarefaction or subtiliation Thus have you understood how these two opposit Vertues namely Cold and Heat do spring from one and the same Spirit in radicall essence by which it operateth actually and essentially by a double property Forasmuch as they produce in the Catholick Element of the sublunary world opposite effects to effect the will of the Creator in the Aire and upon the Earth and Seas Now I will speak a word or two of the Procreation or Generation of such passive Natures as are brought forth by the mutuall action and opposition of the two foresaid essentiall Vertues which do spring and have their root or beginning either in the Divine Nature's Nolunty and privative existence or Volunty and positive emanation These passive qualities do essentially depend upon the former and do no otherwise belong unto them then the female or passive do unto the male or active And first I will tell you my mind touching the birth of Humidity and afterward I will come to speak of Siccity We must imagine that when there was no formall Light to inact the deformed Abysse or Chaos and consequently no Heat to act and make a division of Light from Darkness then all the dark Chaos was inclining unto drouth and wet congealed with cold For cold hath an infinite power and dominion where Heat is absent as we see about the Northen Pole all the waters are frozen into a dry and cold clod or heap by reason of the absence of the Sun's heat In like manner where the Sun or burning Easterly winde doth send forth directly their spiracles of Heat there Cold is banished and the Earth is turned into a dry thirsty and spongy masse Even so and after the like pattern are those or rather these after those patterns For the Chaos was a confused a cold and a dry heap untill the Light did appear and began to operate Also the Light of it self as it was considered without any action upon the passive masse was of a fiery condition that is to say heat and drouth did only appear in it it followeth therefore that as cold in effect is nothing else but the act of the divine puissance made potent and evident by the absence of Heat So also is drouth or dryness nothing else but an apparent passive nature evermore accompanying the two foresaid active powers in their absolute intention where moysture is totally absent Now moysture is as it were a mongrell begotten between the two opposite actives which is proved thus The North wind by his dominion turneth the Aire into Snow Hail Ice or Frost that is into a cold and dry Substance But when the Southerly or Easterly wind doth begin to have dominion then their blasts do penetrate by little and little the said dry masses or substances and undoeth them and coverteth them into a moist or humid nature according unto the tenor of those forementioned words of David So soon saith he as he bloweth forth his wind the waters flow So soon as he sendeth forth his Word they are liquefied So that moisture is nothing else but a mixtion of heat and cold in one solid Substance which is fluxible in potentia and then by little and little doth the cold and drouth depart and become faint according as the power of the wind is more or less vigorous in Heat For thus much we must observe that as cold doth make immobil and fix So it is an evident signe that the Southern or Eastern Heat hath taken possession of the Mass when by their action it beginneth to moysten to revive and move again forasmuch as nothing doth effect that function but Heat In the very same manner also the increated and all-creating Spirit of Light moving upon the face of the dark abysse did operate in it and made the congealed Mass to relent and then it was called by Moses waters and by Hermes humida natura or the humid nature And so they continue unto this day being altered from one nature unto another according unto the will of God which he effecteth by his Ministers the Angelicall winds causing the Spirituall waters to change and wheel about from one nature into another And we must observe in these changes that even the visible waters were first made and derived from the invisible waters according unto St. Paul's doctrine before mentioned For Heaven was before the Sea and Earth which were as it were the feces dregs or grosser part of the catholick Sublunary Element An ocular Demonstration confirming the Divine properties or Vertues above-mentioned Before we proceed unto our ocular demonstration which shall be made in and by our Experimentall instrument we must consider in the first place that the Catholick Aire or Sublunary Heaven is the subtiler and more spiritual portion
of those waters which are under the Firmament of which division Moses maketh mention and therefore every particular thereof doth correspond unto the whole and consequently the aire included in the glass of the Instrument is of the same nature as is that of the whole Catholick Aire and therefore by reason of their continuity as the excluded whole fareth so also doth the included part Again as the Spirit which walked upon the waters did animate vivify inform and dilate them giving them motion So also by his absence or by hiding its act or contracting its emanating beames into it self the waters are also contracted condensed and darkned as it appeareth by the Northern wind 's property which proceedeth from the privative or contractive action of this Spirit But as the waters do by their existence fill the vaulted cavity of the world So also doth the all-informing Spirit fill every corner of them insomuch as being it operateth all in all but in a diversity of property and therefore it is termed multiformis Sapientia so sometimes it operateth in its privative property in these lower waters as is already told you namely when it bloweth from the North and West and sometimes in his positive nature as when it breatheth from the South or East In the first by his cold action he contracteth from the circumference unto the center as is said by the last namely by his hot property he dilateth from the center to the circumference Seing then that it is water that is the Catholick passive out of the which as being the common Subject of all things the shape of the whole world and every thing therein was and is carved out and fashioned as St. Peter telleth us and that the eternall creating and all-inacting Spirit of the Lord is the universall actoâ which moveth all in all in the waters as Moses doth intimate unto us and that in and by an infinity of Organs as Angels Sun Moon Starrs Winds fire c. as in many places of Scripture we find it it must needs follow that he is the agent as well in the contraction and dilatation generally without the Glasse as particularly within the Glasse Wherefore as the Sun the hot winds the fire or naturall heat of mans body have their dilative property from his emanating and inacting vertue and do alter by it the cold aire the winds and water from his privative disposition So it followeth that as well the dilatation of the aire in the Glasse as contraction is the immediate act of this Spirit 's positive or privative property for when this Spirit bloweth from the North or West the aire is contracted more or lesse into a narrower room within the Glasse and that is proved thus namely because the water is drawn up higher into the neck of the Glasse lest a corporall vacuity should be admitted in nature And again it is most apparent that the aire in the Glasse is by so much the more contracted by how much the Northern cold hath dominion in the outward aire because it is gathered into a more strait place oâ passage then it was before the water was elevated up On the other side if the hot winds or Summer Sun do inflame the externall aire then the included aire will also dilate it self and in its dilation require a larger space That the aire is so dilated by heat it is plainly demonstrated in that the water is struck down by so many degrees lower than it was Again if one put his hand on the top of the ball of the Glasse the water will sinke for the aire will forthwith be dilated Now that the spirit of life which giveth this heat unto Man or Beast is from this eternall Spirit which as the Apostle saith doth vivifie all things Scriptures do in many places above and hereafter mentioned confirm Again the Prophet calleth this one Spirit from the four winds to breathe into the dead carcases that they might live again Thus you see it evidently confirmed by an ocular demonstration that cold doth contract inspissate and make gross the included aire which is argued by the drawing up of the water and straitning the aire And again that heat doth dilate and dissipate by the enlargement of the aire in hot weather or by laying of the hand on the bolts head which is made evident by the beating down of the waters Note I beseech you ye that will not be over-partiall on the Peripateticks behalfes the two notable errours of the Aristotelians whereof the first is manifested in that they hold for a Maxim that calidum doth congregare homogenea heat doth congregate and gather together things of one nature Now you see it here ocularly demonstrated that heat doth operate the contrary for it dissipateth and disperseth the aire which is of homogeneall parts and therefore it doth not congregate it But it is cold that doth congregate compact and gather homogeneall things together as well as heterogeneall For you see in our Instrument that it contracts and gathers together the aire yea and water in a straiter and narrower place And therefore their assertion also is not âound when they say that frigidum doth onely congregare heterogenea The other of their palpable errours is also described by this ocular experiment for whereas they say that the Sun starrs and Fire yea and all heat whatsoever doth attract and draw unto it the vapours and humidity of the earth waters c. we find the contrary by this our experimentall Glass for in onely laying the warm hand upon the Glass the aire dilates it self immediately and is so far from being attracted by the heat that contrariwise it flyeth away from the hand And that this is so it appeareth by the striking down or precipitation of the water as is said Thus have we sufficiently mentioned in this present Book the estate of the first and second Principles of all things and that but in brief tearms because my purpose is to touch them with a more large and copious style in the first Book of my Sympatheticall and Antipatheticall History I will now proceed unto the next Book wherein I purpose to handle the mystery of Rarefaction and Condensation with the manner of the variety in the heavenly Fabrick and the rotation of one catholick sublunary Element into a four-fold nature or existence And in the last place I will conclude with the radicall efficient cause of Creation Generation Corruption and Resurrection The fourth BOOK The Argument of this Book Herein is expressed the universall mystery of Rarefaction and Condensation where also it is proved that by them the World was made the Heavens established in due order and the catholick Element altered and changed after a quadruple manner and condition CHAP. I. Herein first the common or catholick subject of Condensation and Rarefaction is once again recited or repeated as also the two essentiall opposite properties or vertues which are derived from the eternall Principle in his privative
and positive nature are proved to be the immediate causes of both those alterations in the generall Element of Waters I Have made it as I imagine most plain and evident unto your understandings as well by the testimony of the antique Philosophy and infallible wisdom of holy Writ as by ocular demonstration that the common or universall matter and subject of all things was the Waters which were inacted and created by the bright Spirit of the Lord before all things Which being so and for that all Condensation and Rarefaction do regard a subject or materiall substance wherein it should be performed or effected it followeth therefore that the onely matter which doth endure or suffer the act of either of them must be water or a humid and moist nature being it is the onely substantiall stuff which filleth all the vast cavity of the world and consequently the materiall existence of which both Heaven and Earth and all things therein are framed and were originally shaped out This is therefore that main subject of Condensation and Rarefaction by the means whereof all things in this world are made to differ from one another and are disposed and ordered by God according to weight number and measure in their proper rancks and places that is they are placed in a higher or lower region according unto that dignity which the catholick or eternall Actor hath bestowed upon them in their creation The common matter therefore of incrassation and subtiliation being thus made manifest we are to finde out the universall actor or operator in this work And I did signifie unto you before that it was the sacred emanation of that divine splendour which did operate from all beginnings and doth at this present operate and shall hereafter work all that which hereafter shall be effected in the heavens above and the earth beneath which assertion of mine accordeth well with this axiom of the Apostle oftentimes and that not without a just occasion repeated by me Deus operatur omnia in omnibus God worketh all in all And David In sapientia omnia fecisti Thou hast made all things in thy wisdom And Solomon Sapientia operatur omnia Wisdom worketh all things And the Apostle in another place Christus portat omnia verbo virtutis suae Christ beareth all things by the word of his vertue And St. Peter The heavens were of old and the earth of waters and by waters consisting by the word Again St. Paul saith that Christ is in all and filleth all And in another place Christus omnia est in omnibus Christ is all and in all Now this holy spirit of wisdom is said to be omnibus mobilibus mobilior more swift and movable than any movable thing And therefore he must needs act all in all according unto his will and pleasure Again when he is pleased to withdraw his actuall beams within himself he seems to rest and the act of the creature doth cease and then death doth ensue namely cessation from the activity of life Now being he is the most agil and moovable of all things the vertue of heat doth evermore accompany the motions of his light yea and are essentially united unto the actor even as we see in the Sun which Sydrach the wise-man compareth with Divinity saying that the body is likened unto the Father the the beams or emanation unto the Sun and the active heat which issueth from them both unto the Spirit that the beam is continuate unto the body of the Sun as the emanation from the divine fountain is one individuall essence with the fountain of eternall light and the virtue issuing from the Sun and his beams is in like manner unseparable in essence from the other two even as we find that the holy Spirit which is emitted from Father and Son is one in essence with them both For this reason therefore the divine Philosopher Hermes saith Mens ab essentia Dei nequaquam divisa sed illi potius eo modo connexa quo solis corpori lumen The mentall beam is not at all divided from the essence of God but rather joyned and knit unto him after the same manner that the light is continuated unto the Sun Whereupon it is evident that the vertue of heat is essentiall unto light as the act of motion is never absent from the emanating brightnesse I conclude therefore that Rarefaction is nothing else but the dilating of water by heat which was first contracted by cold and Condensation on the other side is a contraction or sucking and drawing together of those watry parts which were dilated or dispersed by heat So that the subject of both these actions is water and the fountain as well of the privative as positive agent is the Nolunty or Volunty that is to say the negative or affirmative will of that one eternall Unity who is that all-informing and operating Spirit which acteth and accomplisheth his pleasure in all and over all by his divers organs as well angelicall as celestiall and elementary which according unto their diversity in disposition are moved by this internall act to operate in this world the will of the Creator both positively and privatively as shall be told you in the Chapter following CHAP. II. How this Divine spirit or Ruach Elohim being but one in Essence worketh both by his Angelicall and Astrall organs in this sublunary world after a four-fold manner THe Eternall spirit of wisdome who is the initiall principle of all things and in whom and by whom as the Apostle teacheth us the Angels Thrones potestates and dominations were Created doth operate by his Angelicall Organs of a contrary fortitude in the Catholick Element of the lower waters both the effect of Condensation and that of Rarefaction And to verifie this out of the holy Bible's testimony we read first that this one spirit is the arch Lord and Prince of the 4. winds or else the Prophet by the commandement of God would not have said Come O spirit from the 4. winds and make these dead Carcasses to live againe Now that this one spirit worketh in and by spirituall and Angelicall Organs in the execution which is effected by the property of the 4. winds it is proved out of the Apocalyps where we find these words I saw 4. Angels stand on the 4. Corners of the Earth holding the 4. winds of the Earth that they should not blow on the Earth neither on the Sea c. By which it is evident that these Angelicall Presidents over the 4. winds were the Ministers and Organs by and in the which the spirits or blasts of the winds were emitted or retained according unto the will of that eternall spirit which guideth them when and where he list But we find by daily observation that the essentiall vertue in the Northern spirit is cold and therefore contractive or attractive from the circumference unto the centre and by consequence a causer of congelation and condensation By
not denied for all that to fill the earth and heavens Concerning the third The Theologians do affirm that the Light which was expansed over all the heavens and did operate in place of the Sun for the first three daies space was at the fourth day congregated into the body of the Sun But this Light which was so dispersed was the immediate act of that Eternall Spirit which was carried on the waters and therefore that Light which is in the Sun doth participate with divinity as shall be more evidently expressed in the eighth and last Argument By the fourth which is proved out of the Celestiall or Astronomicall dignity which the Sun representeth it is most evident that it comprehendeth in his mansion divinity being that by how much the more perfection any thing hath in it self and excelleth the rest in glory by so much the more it approacheth unto divinity For as much as Hermes doth rightly tell us not disagreeing in that from our Saviour Christ his doctrine that Bonum and perfectum is onely God Now the Macrocosmicall Sun's dignity and perfection is easily to be discerned in that this Royall Phoebus doth sit in his chariot even in the center or middle of the heavens glittering with his golden hair as the sole visible Emperour holding the royall Scepter and government of the world in whom all the vertue of the celestiall bodies do consist as Jamblicus and many other learned personages have confirmed And Proclus averreth that all the powers of the starrs are congregated and collected into one at the aspect of the Sun the which are afterward disseminated by the fiery spiracle of the said Sun upon the Earth Doth not the Wiseman also by reason of the glory of this heavenly vessell or organ compare the brightness of the in-created Spirit or fiery emanation of divinity with it by reason of his excellency in brightness And again is it not proved before by the Son of Syrach that the Fabrick of the Sun is full of the glory of the Lord But I will say more unto this point in the eighth and last Argument The fifth sheweth how by an Arithmeticall regard Divinity must needs dwell in the Sun namely as it is onely one unity from which all the multitude of the starrs in heaven do derive and draw their formall essence no otherwise than from the Arithmeticall unity all numbers whatsoever are produced for the number two hath but the form of one and the same unity twice conceived and then one unity more maketh three and so in infinitum In the very like manner as one candle lighteth another and a third and so proceedeth in infinitum Even so this one heavenly Candle informeth with light and beauty all the starry candles in heaven and yet it reserveth still without any detriment his wonted unity in perfection power and glory By the sixt Argument which is Geometricall in regard that the Sun is a most bright circular body it must needs be that it hath a centrall point unto his circumference in the which all his illuminating power doth consist being that the circumference is nothing else but a semi-diametrall dilatation of a punctuall and essentiall vertue from the center unto the circumference And this is the meaning of that Axiom in Philosophy In medio consistit virtus veritas Now if that wonderfull beauty and clear brightnesse which is in the Sun were not extended from the center it would not proceed à principio interno and then it must like as the Moon doth require some other externall corporall illuminator but that is proved to be otherwise being that there is not any body found in the world that is equall in brightnesse unto it And this is an argument that it hath a centrall divinity or divine vertue in it which like unto the soul in the center of the creature vivifieth or acteth from the center unto the circumference thereof and so making the superficies of the body a fiery and bright coloratum causeth it according unto the infinity of its centrall agent to extend his beamy emanation to all the limits of the vast world Hence is it that God is said to be the center of all whose circumference is no where that is to say in and over all and beyond or without all Neither let it seem strange unto any that I say the in-created light is visible in regard of his tabernacle which it endueth being that Scriptures do testifie that he is a consuming fire And again that the spirit of wisdom excelleth the sun and starrs in brightnesse And again it is said He is attired with light as with a vestment To conclude he is fons pater luminis and therefore there can be no light either visible or invisible in this world which is not from it Doth not St. Paul seem to aver that all visible things were first from things that were not visible whereby is argued that all visible light was first from the invisible whose fountain is God the which invisible light is continued in essence unto his like in the creatures as shall be shewed anone The seventh is confirmed by an observation in Musick namely that the divine Spirit hath elected the Sun for his tabernacle to wit by reason of his position in heaven For if we consider that God as he is said to exist in himself is reputed by Scripture to be seated in the heaven of heavens and in another place in the highest heavens and yet he respecteth and looketh down unto the earth In that regard we may compare him si sacra cum mundanis componere fas sit unto an unison in Harmony for if a string of a musicall Instrument be struck open it soundeth a unity from the bridge of the Instrument unto the nut or head So we imagine that a chord may be extended from the worlds circumference or highest heavens unto the center or earth Again if we presse the chord of the Instrument just in the middle then each half chord being struck will sound in a diapason unto the whole and will prove the center or perfection unto each end of the chord which will then point out as it were the circumference Now the consonant diapason is the most perfect accord of all others and therefore noteth that the middle betwixt the light or heaven and the earth is the seat of the greatest perfection which doth correspond unto the unison as 1 doth to 2 which is in proportione dupla in a double proportion It followeth therefore and by effect it appeareth that the Sun is placed in this centrall seat which correspondeth unto the whole as 2 doth unto 1. because it is the opinion of all Astronomers that the Sun is placed in the middle or center of the heaven Now how this perfect accord was mystically shaped out of the divine and radicall unity or unison which said Fiat and it was done I beseech you observe Unity said Fiat and so this unison caused
a divine emanation which made 2. and had the self-same regard unto unity as the diapason or perfection hath unto an unison Now this bright emanation by the which all things were created and framed in true harmony elected in this world the perfect seat of its royall regard unto all creatures in the point of diapason which is ever in the middle of the unison and therefore in the center of the heavens But it appeareth unto the eyes that the Sun is ranked in the middle of the seven Planets and again it appeareth by the divine glory which shineth from it that it is a seat of divine perfection and therefore the Platonists have imagined that the Solar orbe or sphear is the seat of their anima mundi or soul of the world Now as this royall and most consonant Diapason doth comprehend in his capacity the other two inferior accords in Musick namely Diapente and Diatessaron for of these two united is the Diapason composed it is likely that the whole harmony of the heavens and consequently of the world are put in practise in this created organ the actor or player whereon is the eternall Spirit which soundeth out every minute from this his glorious Instrument straines of life vivification multiplication pacification or preservation unto the creatures for this is the office of the eternall Christ in this world I mean the divine Word in the which as the Evangelist John testifieth is life But of this in the next Eightly it is proved by a physicall or naturall regard For we observe and not we onely but the beasts themselves nay the very herbs and vegetable plants of the earth do feel and as it were confesse that the Sun is the chiefest treasury of vivification and multiplication in this world Whereupon it is apparent that when the Sun approacheth near us the herbs and trees which seemed as dead before do now revive put on their green coats and flourish with their blossoms and flowers But contrariwise when it departs on the other side of the Aequinoctiall they put off their flowers and green apparell and begin to mourn as it were for his departure But saith St. Paul Deus vivificat omnia God doth vivifie all things And therefore if the Sun by his presence bringeth unto the world the vertue of vivification it is apparent that it hath this gift from the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of life and being abundantly poured on it by God into this heavenly vessell it doth effect these vivifying acts in the world no otherwise than the same spirit being affluently infused on Christ Moses Elijah and other Saints upon earth did effect wonders upon the earth in healing reviving from death c. Doth not the sacred Text also aver that Sapientiam Deus effudit supra omnia opera sua secundum datum suum God hath poured out his spirit upon all his works more or lesse Why then should any man make any scruple or question touching the Spirit 's habitation in the Sun in abundance This therefore is the chiefe subject of this Psalme of David to expresse that the glory of God doth palpably appear out of the creatures of heaven yea out of every creature the eternall Spirit doth shine or expresse his glory more or lesse and is according to the gift which is given unto him to be discerned out of it And thereupon Job saith Coelos ornavit Deus Spiritu suo God hath adorned or beautified the heavens with his Spirit By which words it is manifest that it is the essentiall spirit of God which giveth by the abundance of his presence the lustre and glory unto the Sunne which for that reason is termed and that not erroneously by the Platonists who therein have imitated the divine Poet Orpheus Oculus mundi because that in and by it as in a certain clear and smooth looking glasse or mirrour all things are seen and discovered And again the philosopher Heraclitus Si solem è mundo sustuleris quid est nostrum Corpusculum sâ desit anima Nulla ibi contractatur vena pulsatilis sentiendum nullum inest judiciuns Nullus in eo vitalis halitus aut respiratio If thou takest away the Sonne out of the world what is our little body if the soul be wanting There is no beating veine or pulse to be discerned in it there is no judgment to be perceived in it there is neither breath nor respiration in it For this reason also it is termed Coâ caeli the heart of heaven because that as in the heart doth exist the lively fountaine of blood which doth water and humect the other members of the body So also it appeareth by effect that the vertue vegetation and conservation of all things both inferiour and superiour doth issue and spring from the Sun forasmuch as it imparteth and inspireth by his light life and heat unto inferiour things and bestoweth formall light unto the superiour Now this light is a certain simple act which converteth unto it self all things by a vivificall or lively heat which penetrateth all things and conducteth their vertues over all and withall disperseth and expelleth away all darknesse and obscurity Whereby it is apparent that if the life in generall be in the word as St. John saith and if this catholick spirit of life vivifieth all things as St. Paul and Judith affirm and if the spirit of wisdom be brighter than the sun and a simple and pure spirit which is more movable and active than all things and therefore operateth all in all and if it penetrateth all things by reason of his purity as Solomon saith and all these properties are found in the solar vertue What should disswade man from thinking that the Hebrew Text was not rightly understood of Jerom when he interpreted it Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole He put his tabernacle in the sun Verily this was necessary for man to understand being that unto this very hour there are but few that will acknowledge that the Spirit of God doth immediately operate and work in his organ the Sun and by the Sun but being rather seduced by the Ethnick learning they will admit many subalternate agents or efficient causes per se that is of themselves distinguished from the essentiall act of God which is the reason of Idolatry and worshipping of the creature for the Creator and neglect or ignorance of the Creator in the creature For although it be said by Solomon Quod solem praevenire oportet ad benedictionem Dei We ought to prevent the sun-rising to give thanks unto thee And again we read that when we pray we should conver our faces unto the east or rising sun Yet ought we to imagine that he teacheth this doctrine for the Creator's cause which dwelleth in that bright tabernacle and not for the tabernacle's or creature's sake For it was into this errour that the Aegyptians fell who adoring this illuminated creature in lieu of the Illuminator
the Sun hath his seat or place in heaven Alass what child knoweth not this by an ocular direction without any such precept of the Prophet And what is this pertinent unto the Text going before The heavens declare the glory of God c. Why should he mention the Sun immediatly afterward What To tell us that the Sun was in heaven A thing known unto every man No but that the heaven's beauty was derived from that glorious Spirit of God which had chiefly his abiding or dwelling in the sunny Tabernacle that thereby blind worldly men might discern that it was God in that beauteous creature and not the creature which sent down so affluently those vertuous influences and lights which were effused out of the vessell of the Sun being that by the mistaking of that knowledg so many of Gods creatures which he framed out after his own Image have been seduced into errour and allured ignorantly to adore the Sun and other Starrs for Gods Which in verity are nothing of themselves Spiritu suo ornavit coelos saith Job He doth not say Sole but Spiritu suo which made the Sun its Tabernacle And now to our last Argument wherein I will shew you how by the assertion of certain wise Philosophers that exposition of Jerom seemeth to be confirmed Saith one unto whose opinion also St. Austin doth adhere Quaelibet res tantum sibi Dei vindicat quantum capax est luminis Every thing doth challenge unto it self so much of divinity as it is capable of Light But the Sun is the brightest creature in the world Ergo it possesseth abundantly the Spirit of divinity Many Philosophers therefore consent in this not erring from the tenent of Scriptures namely that In lumine numen in numine lumen In Light is divinity and in divinity is Light And Plato Ne loquaris de Deo sine Lumine Speak not of God without Light Doth not Scriptures confirm all this in saying that God is Light and that vestitur seu âmiâtuâ est Lumine quasi vestimento He is clothed with Light as with a garment Yea verily he is said to be a consuming fire I conclude therefore that Jerom hath translated that place according unto the true sense and consequently we may gather the reason of Rarefaction and Condensation from the presence or absence of the the Sun and confess after the due examination of the case that the onely Agent of these two operations in the waters or catholick Element is the Eternall Spirit 's presence action and emanation or his absence and rest And this is easily demonstrated by our experimentall glass for the nearer the Sun is unto us and the deeper we are in Summer the more will the aire in the glass be dilated which is manifested therefore because that in summer-time the water is beaten down and precipitated lowest Again the further the Sun is from us and the deeper we are in winter the more is the aire condensed in the glass and that is made evident by the elevation or exaltation of water in the neck of the mattrass or glass Neither do we say that the whole reason of Condensation and Rarefaction doth proceed from the Spirit in the Sun onely being that the same Spirit is as well present in this Elementary region as aethereall and hath the power and life of the winds in his rule by which both in the winter and summer he exalteth or depresseth the waters in the glass and consequently causeth Condensation and Rarefaction of the aire as well included in the Instrument as excluded and by that means causeth a diuturnall change in the generall Sublunary Waters or catholick Element of aire after a four-fold nature from one condition unto another Which mutation or alteration of the inferiour humid nature out of one form into an other is commonly called Elements as shall be expressed hereafter But first we will come unto the Fabrick of the heavens and shew how they were framed out by Condensation and Rarefaction Effected by this one Eternall Ruach Elohim or Spirit of God CHAP. IV. After what manner this Eternall Spirit or Ruach Elohim did frame out the Heavens and shaped or made the Starrs thereof by his Act of Condensation and Rarefaction IT is the Apostle Peter's assertion that the Heavens and the Earth were of the Wateâ and by the Waters by the Word of God So that the Word we see is the Agent as wâll in the Condensation of the invisible waters into waters that are visible and then of these visible waters into a visible earth Thus was the world in generall distinguished into thicker and thinner regions by that divine Spirit Ruach Elohim which was carried on the waters And this is well argued by Hermes in these words Distinctis libratisque rebus quae igneo Spiritu vehebantur emicuit coelum septem in circulos Things being distinguished and ballanced the which were sustained by a fiery Spirit the heaven did shine forth into seven circles Where he signifieth that it was a fiery Spirit and a little before he calleth it Splendorem Sanctum the holy Splendor which sustained and bore up every circle or Sphere of the heavens in his due place And hereupon the Wiseman Omnia mensura numeroque pondere disposuisti seu temperâsti Thou hast disposed all things in measure and number and weight that is to say in a distinct measure and proportion in ponderosity and levity and in a due and convenient number namely into seven distinct Spheres and an infinity of condensed bodies For although all the heavens be composed of aire and fire and therfore it is called Aether quasigneus aer yet by the rule of St. Paul who teacheth us that things visible were first of things invisible we are instructed that both the visible bodies in heaven and also all visible lights were first of invisible waters and invisible formall Light which hath its root in God the bright eternall Unity of all created numbers and therefore as Aristotle saith that Stellae are densiores partes sui orbis So I say that as the Substance of the heavens is invisible by reason of its rarity in like manner are the starrs visible by reason of their density For it was Condensation that caused visibility and Rarefafaction which is the occasion of invisibility And yet for all this it is not concluded with Aristotle that the starrs are the denser parts of their orbs but rather Lights which were included in the spirit of the dark shadow of the abysse which spirit in separating of Light from Darkness sored upward by vertue of the included Light and so according unto the proportion of that eternall formall fire which it retaineth unto this day as his corner-stone it is sustained and elevated in its proper place no otherwise then we see that the artificiall squib according unto the proportion of its artificiall and fading fire with the ponderosity of its body is during the time of the
of the north and so by their mutuall action a middle nature of a westerly condition will be produced namely water which is between aire and earth as the western position is betwixt the south and north But the southern blast of its own nature is hot and moist as is the disposition of the catholick element of aire or else the word being sent from that quaâter would not have melted and undone the cold and drie effects of the north as is said Again that the breath of the Lord which commeth out of the South affecteth the catholick element of aire diversly but spiritually this Text of Abakkuk doth testifie God comming from the south his glory covered the heavens and the pestilence went before his face c. whereby he argueth the invisible effects namely the corruption and infection of the aire which this divine Spirit in his displeasure breatheth forth from the southern quarter of the world But when he worketh or operateth in his windy organs of the East then they imprint upon the generall element a fiery character and dilateth his substance into the nature and disposition of the fire and then may it passe under the title of the Element of fire as we have it confirmed out of many places of the holy Text Praecepit Dominus saith Jerom vento calido urenti or as Tremellius hath it Paravit Eurum silentem ut percuteret sol caput Jonae adeò ut aestuaret petiit animae suae ut moreretur The Lord commanded a hot and burning wind or a still easterly wind to go out that the sun might strike upon Jonas his head that he might be enflamed with heat insomuch as he did desire in his heart to die And again Ventus urens seu Eurus desiccabit fructus ejus rami ejus erant marcore contracti A burning or Easterly wind shall dry up his fruits and his boughs shall be consumed and wasted And again Ventus Eurus aduret spicas And JEHOVAH saith in his anger Percussi vos in vento urenti in aurigine multitudinem hortorum vestrorum Misi in vos pestem pro ratione Aegypti I have struck you with a burning winde and have blasted the multitude of your gardens I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of that of Aegypt Again Postquam veniente Euro vento IEHOV Ae à deserto ascendente exaruerit scaturigo ejus siccatus fuerit fons ejus After that by Eurus the wind of IEHOVAH comming and arising out of the desert his spring and fountain was dryed up And Haggaj Percussi vos vento urente grandine omniae opera manuum vestrarum I have struck you with a burning winde with hail even all the works of your hands c. Whereby it appeareth that at the blast of these easterly winds the aire or catholick element becommeth burning and fiery so that it heateth and enflameth the bodies of the creatures On the other side the occidentall winds are found by experience to be opposite in nature and condition unto these for they convert the hot aire or generall element into cold and naturall visible water being that they are the procurers of cold raines So that we may see by this that the formall act in each Angell of the four corners of the earth of which the Apocalyps doth make mention hath an essentiall vertue imparted unto it from God according unto his volunty at the instant of the Angels information and therefore in that very property doth the angelicall creature act in the common element or lower waters in the which the creating Spirit properly was when he made it so that the common element is daily informed anew and altered by the formall or essentiall act of the angelicall winde which bloweth with dominion insomuch as if the easterly angelicall wind informeth it then it becommeth a fiery element for it heateth and drieth by super-excellency If a southerly it is changed into that element's nature which is called aire and if a westerly spirit hath dominion it is converted into the temper and proportion of water Lastly the Northern blast transmuteth it unto the consistence and disposition of earth By this therefore that maine doubt which hath so long troubled the Peripateticks and hammered in their brains and yet hath never been rightly resolved by them unto this day may easily be undone and taken away namely to find out the essentiall form of the Elements For by this true Philosophy we find it to be an Angelicall Spiracle or essentiall blast of wind infused by the Spirit of God diversly into the aiery or spirituall vessell to alter and change according unto his will the humid passive nature out of one condition into an other Moreover the Catholick air being diversly so animated bringeth forth and informeth a new after the condition of his variety of animations a multiplicity and multiformity of Meteors As for example the Easterly element brings forth children like it self As are the fiery and light Meteors namely Coruscations Lightnings Comets and such like according unto the nature of such Seminary influences as shall descend from heaven at that instant The Southerly Vapours Clouds Lightning with Thunders The Westerly Cold raines and as it were Snowy resolutions The Northenly Frost Snow Ice Hail But I know that this wil be objected against me What then will you make of the Earth and Seas Are not these distinct Elements which have been from the beginning I answer that if they listen unto St Peters doctrine he teacheth that the Earth was of waters and therefore the waters were before the Earth and again the heavens were made before the Earth as Moses sheweth and therefore the Earth appeareth to be the Foeces or the grosser part of the lower waters and the visible water the grosser part of the Ayre For doth not the Apostle Paul tell us in the Text before mentioned that things visible were first of things invisibâe The change therefore of all things visible or invisible are effected by the Condensing or contracting faculty and property in the all-acting spirit And the reducing of them againe from a visible estate unto an invisible is caused by the Rarifying or dilating act of the self same Spirit in essence but differing in property And therefore as air was changed into water and water into Earth by the degrees of Cold so also is Earth changed insensibly into water and water into Ayre by the severall degrees of heat for if this were not how is it possible that so many waters falling from the Clouds should not more and more augment the Seas and diminish the Ayre or why should so much Earthen Coals and whole mountaines of wood that are burnt not make the earth lesse in Consistence if there were not an hourly supply and transmutation of Ayre into water and from water into Earth which though this divine nature doth effect secretly and insensibly yet by effect it
would mount and soar upward towards the heaven were it not that the spirit so set at liberty is detained by the elementary stuffe which hinders it in its ascent and yet neverthelesse it is so dignified after its corruption that its vertue is augmented by many degrees as it appeareth in the abundant multiplication which its dilated spirit doth produce through the abundance of that incorruptible spirit which it endueth As touching the other resurrection which is unto a temporall life it is by reason that the body is not corrupted neither is there a loosning of elementary ligaments by dissolution whereby the spirituall body may be purified and clean separated from and have no commerce with the elementary dreggs which do issue out of the lower waters so that the occult spirituall body cannot be at liberty to embrace the spirit of life with eternall tyes Of this kind of resurrection was that which Christ effected on the widow's son which was carried to be buried when he said Young man I say to thee Arise and he that was dead sat up Also he caused resurrection in the like manner to the dead daughter of one of the Rulers of the Synagogues crying and saying Maid arise and her spirit came again and she rose up straight-way Unto such a temporall life also Lazarus was raised up Again by the prayer of Elijah the widow's son was raised again for the Text saith that at the voice of Elijah the soul of the child came into him again and he revived Whereby we ought to note two things first that these bodies were not wholly corrupted I mean the Elements of the composition were not devided by resolution and therefore though the Spirit returned into them yet it brought their bodies but to a temporall life And although it might be alledged that Christ's body was not corrupted and yet it had Resurrection from death unto eternall life I answer that the Text saith that he would not suffer his Holy one to see corruption and by that reason he had Resurrection the third day after he died being that his body was without sin and therefore void of corruption But I leave this mysticall doctrine to the research of the learned Theosophists Secondly we are to note that it is the presence of the vivifying Spirit of God which causeth Generation and Resurrection from the death And again it is the absence thereof which induceth death and corruption For the Scriptures say that it was the soul of the child which came again into the child to make it alive again And the other Text saith her spirit came again and she revived And therefore Job said in the place above mentioned If God should draw his Spirit or Spiracle of life from the creature all flesh would expire And David If thou takest away their breath they die If thou sendest forth thy Spirit they revive or are re-created Now if we shall compare this our principle of Generation and Corruption with that of the Peripateticks we shall find as great a confusion in the one as there is a plain explication of the other for they define Generation to be mutatio materiae à forma substantiali pristina in aliam formam substantialem A change or mutation of matter from its wonted substantiall form into another form Also they will have Corruption to be mutatio amissio formae substantialis quae prius inerat materiae sed nunc non inest eidem The mutation or loss of a substantiall form which was first in the matter but now hath forsaken it Thus you see how they nominate a substantiall form but what it is and how it commeth into the body to cause Generation or after what manner it departeth from it again to cause death and corruption they relate not and therefore we have ignotum per ignotius when in verity it is the Spirit of God which informeth and vivifieth all things causing by its presence as well Generation which Aristotle observed and Resurrection which he never knew or could discern by his worldly Philosophy as corruption privation and death by its absence So that in this change or passage of the creature from one estate unto another we shall find that as it was made and all things else out of one dark and deformed potentiall principle by the shining forth of actuall Light which informed and by information created all things of Nothing making them to live and exist so also by the absence of that all-informing Light each thing becommeth dark dead and destitute of their essentiall form untill a new Light do manifest it self after a manner which doth alienate the watery Subject from the form and shape it had at the first So the body or carkasse of a dead man is in the state of a deformed chaos in regard it hath lost its wonted human substantiall form or act no otherwise then if the Lord did take away his Spirit from the world all things would return again to Nothing or a deformed chaos or dark abysse as it was at first But when the effectuall act of a new form doth break forth out of the dead carcasse causing the whole Mass thereof to become verminous or full of worms then may we say that the Corruption of the one is the Generation of the other which evermore holdeth good when the Elementary stuff is still present So that Privation is the mean between them both and as it were a vacuity a Nihâl or non entity between two formalities But I will demonstrate the mystery of Generation and Corruption after this Manner Now therefore that the progression or ranks of the worlds Creation and his simple Members is shewed you which consisteth of four ranks in which estate the world must as I said indure till it be refined with fire I will make my progression from these simple members of the world's existence and proceed unto the order of degrees in composition which have their beginning and foundation from them namely from the first degree or rank in Generation or Composition unto the Complement thereof And as between the beginning of mixtion and the perfection thereof there must intercede a medium or mean which must be imperfectè mixtum or an imperfect mixtion so betwixt a simple Element and a perfect body an imperfect composition must needs intercede namely such a one as is that of a Meteorologick nature As for example in the generation of a man the beginning which is founded on the catholick watery Element and taketh his place in the first rank is Sperm for it is a watery or fluid Substance but little altered and as in the water the whole Fabrick of the world and seeds of all things was complicitly conteined and yet nothing did appear externally but water So in the seed or Sperm though nothing do appear in the first degree explicitly but Sperm yet the whole man namely the bones flesh blood sinews and such like are complicitly conteined and will
by degrees appear out explicitly namely in the sixt rank for it will be altered from humour to solidity with a certain distinction of the three principall Members in the seventh to an Embrionall shape and in the eighth which will make up a cube unto the materiall root 2. or the Square 4. which is characterized in the catholick Element by the impressions of the four winds into a perfect creature In like manner in the great world we see that the simple Element namely the generall aire appeareth externally plain simplicity and an invisible Nothing explicitly and yet it containeth complicitly a clowd water or rain Fire or Lightning and a ponderous stone with Salt and such like which by degrees do explicitly appear through the vertue of the four Winds So that a vapour possesseth the first rank the cloud the sixt the Lightning and clowd the seventh and the earthly Stone argueth an exact rotation of all the foure ventous forms into one mixtion which represents the eighth's place in Composition or Generation But when the man cometh to Corruption then his parts proceed in resolution backwards namely from 8. to 7. from 7. to 6. and from 6. to 5. untill it return unto the point of the simple Spermatick Element from whence it began and there it beginneth a new Generation in another form For the all-acting nature is never idle So also the Stone is resolved into water and water into a vaporous clowd and the clowd into aire from whenâe it came which is the simple catholick Element which admitteth no farther or proâounder resolution by corruption Now the onely Operator in both these works is the Spirit of God for in Generation it shineth forth of the catholick Elements center or SpermS internall unto perfection and persevereth in his action till a perfect man be produced which Job confirmeth thus Nonne sicut Lac fudistime sicut caseum coagââasti me cute carne texisti me ossibusque nervis induisti me cum vita benignitatem exercuisti erga me Et visitatio tua conservavit spiritum meum Didst thou not poââe me forth like milk and like cheese didst crudle me Didst thou not cover me with skân aââ flesh Thou didst indue me with bones and sinews thou didest shew forth unto me thy benignity in my life and thy visitation doth preserve my spirit Contrariwise when the Spirit of God with-draweth his beames from the circumference of Generation and Composition unto the center of simplicity he leaveth to visite the Spirit of the creature and so it must fade ad decayingly return unto the principle from whence it came and from thence again if the same spirit is pleased to shine forth a new Generation beginneth where the Corruption or Resolution ended The Demonstration is such The Simple Square of the world's Composition where 2. that is to say Light and Water is the root The progression from the said Elementary Square unto the cube of Composition The root of Generation which is from the 4. Elements or the catholick Element four-foldly altered Where the four elements remain in their simplicity as they were created complicitely in one watry nature or rather catholick element called Aire which is the root from whence generation ariseth unto the period of perfect composition by four degrees or steps of alteration namely from the 4 to the 8. and whither tendeth retrogradely corruption namely from 8 to 4. CHAP. VII That God contrary unto Aristotle's assertion with the opinion of divers other Ethnick Philosophers doth not operate of necessity for the creation and continuation of his creatures but of his proper will and benigne inclination WE tearm that properly Necessary that can be no otherwise again we esteem that as well voluntary as fortuit or happening by chance which may be otherwise Now there hath risen and sprung up a great dispute among the Ethnick Philosophers whether God operateth in this world voluntarily or of necessity or as it were by compulsion the greater part therefore of them are flatly of an opinion that God acteth in this world as well in the generation and conservation of things as corruption of them by necessity and not by any voluntary motion whereby it must follow that he was enforced to do or effect what he doth from all eternity by some other nature which was either coeternall with him or pre-existent or else that he was excited or pushed forward against his will to effect this or that by some creature which he did make All which how erroneous and extravagant it is from the rules and center of truth I will in few words expresse unto you For first of all What I beseech you is of greater antiquity than God being that he was before any thing What is in Geometry before or in measure lesse then a point or which among all the numbers of Arithmetick is of so antient a standing as is the unity Wherefore it must needs follow that God is free and voluntary in his actions being that he was of himself and did exist without any respect had unto any other either precedent or coeternall principle from all beginning and therefore was sufficient in himself and of himself to work and operate by himself from all eternity But the principall reasons of the foresaid Ethnick opinion are two-fold first because God doth act and operate by his proper essence and not by any acquired vertue then forasmuch as the effects in the world seem to be necessary and hereupon they conclude that they cannot come or proceed from any contingent that is to say fortuit or voluntary occasion of another Unto the first me-thinks they seem to argue against themselves for as he acteth by his proper essence or substance it is evident that he is moved of his own accord and consequently not by any externall compulsion or internall necessity Moreover in the latitude of unity there can be no compulsion or coaction because that Unity cannot suffer Again it is not possible that he should be urged to work by any externall or alien efficient cause because that he remaining primarily fixed and stedfast in himself and of himself worketh as the originall fountain of all things by himself emitting his formall and vivifying beams of life at his pleasure and with-drawing them again when and where he pleaseth Unto the second I say that necessary effects do no way include any necessity in the first efficient cause because that secundary causes which Plato and other wise-men called Hand-maids or She-slaves do act at the command and inciting of him which is the unity of all multitude and therefore all in all or by a necessary order so that a necessity in worldly created things dependeth upon the volunty and command of him who made them the which order he accomplisheth and finisheth at his pleasure And therefore we find this written by the wise-man Ignem mitescit nè combureret modò ignem ille facit ardere inter aquas c. He
Ventus Nubes c. The Sun Moon Starrs Lightnings Winds Clouds c. do obey the Will and Command of God that is they are incited by his Word and of necessity provoked to effect his pleasure It followeth not therefore that he that commandeth must be constrained to do or act in that imperious manner being that he doth it as a first mover who hath not any other actor before it or co-eternall with it and consequently doth operate of a free will which is radically grounded in himself And hereupon the Apostle Voluntati Dei quis resistat Who is able to resist the will of God And the Prophet Consilium meum stabit omnis voluntas mea fiet My counsell shaâl stand and my will shall be accomplished And Job Deus quodcunque voluit hoc facit What God would have done that he effecteth And therefore he doth not act involuntarily or of necessity but voluntarily and according unto his free Will We conclude therefore that seeing what is Necessarium or necessary is that which cannot happen otherwise but must of necessity be so So that which is contingent may happen or be effected otherwise as is that thing which is either fortuit or voluntary Now that the Acts of God in this world are voluntary and therefore cannot be tied up with the bands of Necessity it is proved in this namely because it may happen otherwise then it is accustomed to be by the laws or rules of nature As when the will of God was that the Sun should stand still or move retrogradingly or that it should be eclipsed when the Moon was in none of the points of the animall intersection that is neither in the head or tayl of the Dragon c. The fifth BOOK of this present Section The Argument of this Book AFter that the Author had expressed the Originall nature of the two essentiall properties namely of Heat and Cold and had proved the main effects thereof to be Rarefaction and Condensation whereby the Heavens and Elements were framed He proceedeth now in this Book unto the mystery of Meteorologicall impressions being the first degree of Composition shewing that their Fabrick is the act of the Divine Spirit effected in the catholick Element of the world's lower region and consequently do not proceed from such accidentall and externall grounds or beginnings as the Peripateticks do fasly surmise For this reason therefore he hath compared the Meteorologicall doctrine of Aristotle with that of the holy Scripture And finally by producing the Pagan Philosophy touching these aiery impressions unto the Lidian tryall or touch-stone of Truth he findeth them to prove false spurious metal yea and meer dross in respect of the golden Truth CHAP. I. Herein you shall find in few words a Repetition of the precedent Discourse Also an Exposition upon the word Meteoron or Meteor And lastly the Method which the Author intendeth to observe in this Book is expressed IN my precedent discourse I have briefly pointed at first the Principles of things namely the Root of every thing that was viz. the Dark or potentiall unity from which sprung forth the Light or actuall unity And I told you that both of them were but one thing in essence forasmuch as Light was unto the eternall unity all one with darkness though unto our weak capacities they are opposite in property Then I signified that out of the first obscure unity by his other manifest property waters did appeare arguing thereby that of or from this unity by this unity and in this unity are all things After that I shewed how waters were the materiall or passive Principle of all things as the illuminating and formall Spirit was the actuall and informing beginning of every being both which issued as I said before out of one Root which for that cause is rightly said to be all in all Then I expressed unto you how that Cold was an essentiall adherent unto privative rest and the stout of-spring and Champion unto darkness As contrariwise Heat was the immediate issue and companion unto essentiall action or motion and the inseparable Champion or Assistant of Light And then I told you how Humidity and Siccity had their Originall from the mutuall presence or absence of the foresaid two active vertues or essentiall properties Cold and Heat Lastly I declared unto you the reason and manner of Condensation and Rarefaction and that the main matter or Subject thereof was the waters but the catholick Actor was and is the Word or Spirit of God who acteth first in his Angelicall Organs by the Starrs and especially the Sun in Heaven above and winds beneath upon the generall sublunary Waters or Elements according unto his volunty altering of it after a four-fold manner through the formall properties of the four Winds and that either by Condensation or Subtiliation into divers shapes and dispositions Now in this Book I will open unto you after a true and infallible manner forasmuch as it shall in all points agree with the contents of the holy History how the blessed Word or sacred Spirit of the Lord doth by Condensation and Rarefaction produce and bring forth in this our catholick sublunary Element all Meteorologicall bodies But before I enter into this my discourse it is fit for me to tell you what the Antients do mean by this word Meteor Those Apparitions which are seen in the aire are by the Greeks called Meteora not in regard of their naturall essences but by reason of their sublimity in position Others tearm them more naturally Impressions forasmuch as they are shaped and imprinted above in the catholick element called Air. But in respect of their essentiall consistence they are properly called Corpora imperfectè mixta aut composita Bodies that are imperfectly mixed or compounded and that either because of their unexpected generation being that they are procreated and appear suddainly and at a short warning or else because their composition appeareth not to be according unto the mutation or change of substance or alteration of quality or else in regard they are not so exactly composed as other animated bodies which are perfectly mixed Or lastly these impressions are so called forasmuch as they have not attained unto any perfect form neither seems there to be in this kind of composition any great alteration of parts seeing that the members of the element so altered are confused with one another Howsoever it appeareth that such names are assigned unto this kind of impression after the fancy or conceit of this or that Philosopher when in verity they are magnalia Dei a mysticall body I say framed and fashioned by the finger of God out of the bowels of the catholick sublunary element to effect his will upon the earth either to judgment or mercy as shall be more at large expressed hereafter So that in this sense they may rightly be tearmed the characters or signes of Gods benignity and misericord or vengeance and severity upon the earth
My purpose therefore in this Meteorologicall relation is to direct you into the path of true wisdom for the better scanning and decyphring-out of so great a mystery as is the meteorologicall act of the Spirit of God and to lead you by that means out of the mire and puddle of Ethnick or pagan Philosophy in which we Christians even unto our immortall shame do stick fast and like brutish swine do willingly wallow The which that I may the better effect I will compare the absurdities of the false Peripateticall Philosophy with the infallible verity of the holy Text that thereby each Christian pondering in the ballance of justice the contradiction which shall be expressed between the one and the other may open his intellectual eyes and follow sincerely that which is good and forsake the bad betaking himself unto the truth and flying from that which is prestigious and false and may by that means at the last discern with open eyes that main difference which is between the wisdom and Philosophy of this world which in verity for the Spirit of God hath pronounced it so is meer foolishnesse and that of God which is the reall and essentiall truth Thus therefore you may discern and that in few words the manner or order of my method in this Book not determining with my self to be over-tedious unto you in it but to finish briefly that Meteorologicall wisdom which in regard of its own worth deserveth to be enrolled in the everlasting monument of a far greater volume and to be polished or burnished over with the lustre of a more elegant style and refined manner of speech CHAP. II. In this Chapter the true mystery of the Winds is discovered and set down according unto the intention of the divine Spirit 's testimony and withall the false and prestigious spirit of Aristotle and his Peripateticall adherents touching that subject is unmasked and made manifest THat I may the better expresse that difference which is between the false wisdom and philosophy of this world and that which because it is of God must be true indeed nay verity and truth it self my minde and purpose is in the first place to set down the opinion of the Peripateticall faction and then afterward to compare and examine it with the touchstone of the divine Word or Scripture thereby to make a tryall whether it be right and sound or not that is whether it will bear water or shrinck in the wetting Now because as I said the four cardinall and collaterall winds of the heavens with their angelicall Presidents are the actors in the transformation of the catholick Mercuriall element or Protean sublunary waters from one shape into another I think it most necessary to begin this my story or discourse with the profound mystery of the winds in generall forasmuch as they are noted to be the principles of all the other Meteors And first I will expresse what the pagan Peripateticks and their Christian followers have and do determine concerning them The Peripateticall Philosophers are of opinion that the wind is a hot and dry exhalation being difficultly enflamed which ariseth out of the earth and soareth up unto the middle region of the aire from whence it being forthwith repelled downwards by reason of the coldnesse of that region and again it re-indeavouring upwards doth partly in regard of its levity and partly by other ascending exhalations which it meeteth in his violent and coacted descent move laterally in the lower region of the aire the which aire it doth ventilate and agitate lest that for want of motion or stirring it should putrifie This is the sum of their opinion concerning the generation of the winds I will therefore insist upon this Peripateticall or Aristotelian definition or rather description of the winds First because that the spurious Christian Philosophers as if they were incited thereunto by a kind of unbridled madnesse do not stick to defend and by their best endeavours uphold this his opinion as well in their publick Schools and private negotiations or studies as by their writings and that with such an assured obstinacy as if it had been divinely published unto worldlings or uttered and pronounced by the sacred Oracle of truth it self Secondly because the place wherein this imaginary exhalation is said to be ingendered and from whence it is derived is by it esteemed to be the earth and the seat unto which it coveteth to ascend is according unto their doctrin the middle region of the aire into the which by reason of the cold temper thereof it is not permitted to enter or penetrate but the medium or mean forsooth in the which it moveth naturally upward and by compulsion or against nature downwards and lastly by justling or strugling together of other ascending exhalations and the forcible descending fumes laterally that is to say towards the right or left hand is the lower region of the aire Thirdly for that they seem to averr as it appeareth by this definition that the agent mover or efficient causer of this exhalation as well downwards as laterally is double or two-fold namely the cold of the middle region of the aire which forceth and presseth downward towards the earth that scarce imaginable fume and the other is the troop of other ascending exhalations or subtle smoaks which successivly do rise out of the earth which in their motion upwards meeting with that fume which is forced to descend do strive and as it were wrestle with it and consequently by that means do make a noise in the aire which is called the Wind. And this is the Peripateticall Philosopher's windy fiction which in the conclusion after a due examination will prove to be but a bubble or vain puff of wind that is to say meerly words without any substance Now the finall end or cause why their nature hath ordained these windy motions in the aire is as their definition doth testifie that by this manner of ventilation the aire may be preserved cleared and purged from all putrefaction and corrupt disposition But whosoever will give credit unto this Ethnick definition especially if he be a true lover of wisdom I counsell him first to examine every particular member of it and having made a diligent enquiry therein let him see and discern whether they agree with the lawes of true reason and wisdom In the first rank and order therefore let us mark or observe whether in the former member of his description there be any probability of verity to be found By it we are told and taught that the materiall substance of the winde is a hot and dry exhalation arising and surging out of the earth But by holy Scripture which all true Christians ought to credit before all things we are taught that the winde hath his originall or beginning from the Spirit or breath of IEHOVAH A flatu narium tuorum saith Moses coacervatae sunt aquae flavisti vento tuo operuit eos mare By the breath of thy
descendeth from above even from the Father of light But to proceed unto the doubt which is Whether according unto Aristotles intention the originall matter of the wind be of the earth and his first motion from the earth into heaven A man more learned and wise by far in the mysteries of nature than Aristotle ever was answereth in this manner Venti viam saith he ignorat homo ignorat homo opus ipsius Dei qua via faciat haec omnia Man knoweth not the way or path of the winds man knoweth not the work of God namely by what means he effecteth these things But Aristotle was a man yea and an Ethnick man and therefore could so much the lesse judge rightly of such abstruse things as are these wherefore JEHOVAH seeming to deride the boldnesse of such a worldling and as it were in reprehending of him speaketh in these words Nosti nè ubinam sit via in qua dividitur exhalatio quae spargit ventum super terram Knowest thou where is the way wherein the exhalation is divided which spreadeth the wind upon the earth Arguing hereupon the impossibility for a worldly mans capacity to conceive or understand these things unlesse he be taught and instructed by the Spirit of wisdom who teacheth all things the which Spirit is bestowed by God on whom he pleaseth And yet Aristotâe seemeth impudently to answer God and say I know it well for the way of this exhalation is from the earth upward unto the middle region of the aire where partly by an Antiperistasis caused of cold driving it downward again and partly by other exhalations which are successivly ascending the exhalation is compelled to move laterally upon the face of the earth c. But I will shew the impossibility of this reason by that which followeth immediately hereafter To the second and third part of this clause I say that the medium by the which the winds are carried or moved is by far more vast and large then that which Aristotle assignes unto it for the winde doth not blow and act onely in the lower but also in the middle yea and in the upper region of the aire If therefore the winde do blow in the middle region of the aire then will the vigour of Aristotle's definition be taken away forasmuch as the efficacy thereof doth chiefly consist in this namely that such a hot and dry exhalation as is the cause of the wind is not permitted to penetrate the middle region of the aire but is reverberated precipitated and beaten down again by the vertue of the middle region's cold which resisteth the heat of the sublimed exhalation Now if there be any wind in the middle region of the aire this cause of the winde will be taken away forasmuch as then the exhalation will not be repelled downwards into the lower region where it should meet other ascending exhalations to make a noise and to be dispersed laterally on the earth for the exhalation which causeth a wind in the middle region will not be driven down by the cold but is observed to blow and to move the clouds and thunders in the middle of that sphear yea it is made manifest by daily experience that as well the upper or higher clouds which are white and yellow and therefore more light and subtle by reason of their fiery brightnesse as the lower which are grosser and more obscure are driven and pushed by the winds from any quarter of the world unto the opposite for except the winds were also present in that region they could never move as on the wings of the winds in that manner Do we not also observe that the south-wind bloweth from the southern horizon and another from the next which is northern so that both winds have dominion in either of the horizons at all one and the same time whereupon it often happeneth that great and dark clouds moving from each opposite quarter by four of those contrary angelicall spirits do meet in the point of each Horizon and cause one masse or huge sea of clouds serving as a Tabernacle unto the great spirit of wonders which worketh or causeth these things whereupon there followeth great lightnings and thunders by the concourse of opposite angelicall natures being the messengers ministers and voice of the Almighty which never could have been effected unless the winds by the will of the Almighty had moved impetuously the one against the other in the middle-region of the aire And this we have also confirmed out of Scripture where it is said Ascendit fumus e naribus IEHOVAE carbones accensi sunt ab eo inclinavit coelos descendit caligo sub pedibus ejus ascendit super Cherubin volavit lapsus est super pennas venti Posuit tenebras in circuitu suo latibulum cribrans aquas de nubibus coelorum prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes succensae sunt tonabat de coelo Dominus c. Smoak ascended out of the nostrils of IEHOVA coales are kindled by him He inclined or bowed down the heavens and descended and darkness was under his feet and he ascended upon the Cherubin and did flie and glide upon the wings of the wind He put the darknesse round about him to serve for to hide him sisting out waters from the clouds of heaven before his face for at his presence the clouds were set on fire and the Lord did thunder from heaven c. Out of which speech we gather that not only the Clouds and Thunder and Lightnings are moved by the windy ministers or Angels of the Lord but also that Divinity it self being compassed about with dark clowds in the middle region of the aire is carried upon the airy Cherubin and useth the wings of the winds as organs to move on Whereby each wise man may easily perceive that the worldly wisdome or Peripateticall Philosophy is plain foolishness being that it would falsly perswade the world that such essentiall Acts as are the Angelicall winds whose inward essence is the bright Spirit of the Lord are caused accidentally and are moved and stirred up by externall violence when by the doctrine of the true wisdome it is evident that they are indued with most essentiall internall Agents and therefore do move where and when they list according unto that before-mentioned of St. John For saith he Spiritus spirat ubi vult The Spirit bloweth where it lists Which being so as is apparent that the wind hath actum formam principium internum An essentiall and inward act form and Principle at the motion whereof it is moved or caused which way the invard mover pleaseth and therefore the Text saith Spirat ubi vult It bloweth where it will and consequently it is indued with a volunty or will whereby each man may see how extravagant from the Truth is the Peripateticks reason touching this point who admit no essentiall and internall form unto the Winds but make it a thing meerly
endued with a various and divers condition or property insomuch as the one is hot and moist the other cold and dry the third hot and dry and the last cold and moist It were impossible that this difference and variety should happen if all winds were framed and fashioned onely after one fashion that is if they did move laterally by compulsion as Aristotle telleth the tale I come now unto the last clause or member of the Peripateticall definition which doth touch the finall end or reason of the production or creation of the winds His opinion is that his nature doth produce this manner of ventilation for the purging and purifying of the aire and for the preservation thereof But we are taught by experience that this is not true being that we with Galen and Hippocrates do discern that the southerly winds are contagious and pestiferous forasmuch as they render the aire thick and make it putrid and rotten by their malignant heat and lax humidity And this also we have confirmed by the sacred Text Ne timeto saith David à lue seu daemonio vast ante in meridie Fear not the pestilence oâ corrupt daemon which commeth from the south And Habacuck Deo à meridio veniente praecessit vel ante-ivit eum pestis antrax ad pedes ipsius God comming from the south the pestilence went before him and at his feet went the boch or carbuncle Yea verily and all winds in a generality as also the other meteors of heaven are ordained by the Creator as well for a whip and scourge as to assist preserve and save the creature as by many places of Scripture we are certified and Job in expresse tearms hath taught us And therefore Aristotle hath erred in his judgment concerning the finall cause of the winds as well as in the rest We may justly hereupon conclude that this definition of our pagan Peripatetick whom we Christians do adore and follow with such devotion and reverence is altogether false and of no validity because the winds are creatures of a nature more essentially eminent and divine than either Aristotle or any of his factious sect did ever understand forasmuch as they are not things without internall lights and essences and do not consist onely of externall and adventitious motions that is to say are not made of fumes or exhalations arising by accident or chance out of the earth But as Zacharias doth teach us they are created and animated by an angelicall spirit and stand before the Lord of all the earth and are hid in the power or treasury of their Lord out of the which he calleth them at his pleasure to do and accomplish his will and pleasure upon the earth and upon the seas either ad vinâictam seu punitionem to revenge and punish or else ad misericordiam benignitatem creaturis praebendam to shew unto the creatures his mercy and benignity CHAP. III. The true and essentiall definition of the wind is divers waies and that according unto the sense and assertion of the holy Scrâptures expressed in this Chapter NOw me-thinks I hear some of the Peripateticall faction to murmur against me and reply If this definition of Aristotle be not good as by your proof it appeareth assigne us a better if you can Tell us therefore essentially what is the winde or how you define or describe it rightly by the warrant of holy Writ To this I answer that it may be effected many waies under one and the self-same essence And first of all we may describe it and that not impertinently after this manner The winde is an airy spirit of a mean consistence inspired and animated by the breath or inspiration of JEHOVA the which he draweth forth of his treasury to execute his will and pleasure either by the way of malediction and vengeance or of benediction and misericord Every particle of this definition is proved out of convenient places of holy Scriptures and first that his externall is aire of a mean consistence it is made manifest in that the words aire winde and spirit are expressed in many places of Scriptures by all one Hebrew word namely by Ruach Again that his internall or moving soul and centrall act is the divine Spirit or inspiration it is proved and confirmed by the places which are cited before A flatu narium tuarum saith Moses coacervatae sunt aquae flavisti vento tuo operuit eos mare By the breath of thy nostrills the waters were gathered in a heap thou didst blow with thy wind and the sea did cover them And again Glaciem Deus fortis edit flatu suo The mighty God bringeth forth ice with his breath c. as if they had said God inspired the aire with his Spirit So that there appeareth no difference between an angelicall creature and the aire so divinely inspired for the aire is said to be the externall or manifest of an Angell as well good as bad animated by God for the effecting of his will either to punish or to extend and shew forth his benigne mercy or clemency as his internall and occult portion is the immediate breath of God and therefore as I said before they are by St. Denis tearmed Algamatha that is to say clear mirrours or looking-glasses which receive the light of God Is it not in plain words expressed by David Quod angelos suos fecerit ventos that he made his angels winds where by his angels is meant the emissions from his throne and they being incorporated with the aire are tearmed angelicall natures Again JEHOVA said of the Angel that went before the Israelites to conduct them in the wildernesse Nolite exacerbare eum nam non feret defectiones vestras quoniam nomân meum est in eo Do not anger him for he will not bear your errours because that my name is in him that is to say The bright impression of my word For the son of Syrach said that wisdom went before them in a pillar of cloud and was a light unto them in the night and a shadow or cloud in the day to keep them from the extream heat For this reason therefore the same Angell is called in many places of that book sometimes Jehovah in regard of his inward and increated essentiall act and sometimes Angelus in regard of his alterity or composition of two or as he was a creature and therefore as God is identity namely an absolute simple pure and increated essence so an Angell is by the wiser Rabbies tearmed Alteritas to wit as he is compacted of the uniform inspiration of God and the humid or aery nature of the world that is of a created spirit or a created aire which made the Psalmist say that which is above cited Qui facit angelos ventos ministros suos ignem urentem For in this saying he seemeth to include both the occult and manifest nature As concerning the next clause of this definition
and windy Angels as the Seraphins are fiery Spirits and so moveth upon the wings of the wind or aire which his Angelicall Cherubin doth animate So that in and by the windy Organ he is said to blow when and where he list It is I say the Eternall Spirit of Wisdome which is in brightness and vertue more noble then the Sun of Heaven as Solomon testifieth For as much as it also giveth life and splendor unto the Sun And therefore it is said to excell the Sun in brightness which is the onely efficient cause or formall and essentiall Agent in this business and consequently neither the Sun or any other of the created host of Heaven It is I say again the all-creating Spirit and not the created which is the generall act and onely formall mover in the Meteors whom his Angelicall Ministers which do ever stand before this Lord of all the earth that I may speak with the Prophet Zachary are ready to assist as Organs or instrumentall causes to execute his will It is I say the essentiall wind or Spirit which bloweth from the center of the cloud and moveth or inciteth his spirituall created Organs according unto his will For by it his Spirit also moveth in the Angels and winds causing them to effect his Command according unto David's assertion Wherefore we may see by this which is said how incongruous is this opinion of the Ethnick Peripatetick unto the Truth and how far it derogateth from the right of God's Word and consequently what an errour it is in our Christian Philosophers to follow and imitate his learning with such a devotion and fervency as if they were Theodidacti taught by God himself when in verity his doctrine doth rather disswade Christians from the knowledg of him in his works then instruct them therein being it perswadeth them that things are effected both in heaven above and in the earth and in the waters beneath by vain waies and accidentally that is to say meerly by naturall causes onely and so would blemish the honour and reputation of Him who in verity is all in all and operateth all in all and that not by constraint as the vain Peripatetick imagineth but according unto his Will as it is proved before CHAP. VI. The true and essentiall Definition or rather description of a Cloud is set forth in this Chapter WEll then will they reply Let us understand how you can better define or describe the nature of a clowd according unto that holy Philosophy and true Wisdom which you seem to profess To the which I answer that I am willing and that after a divers manner though agreeing in one unity of Essence A clowd is the revealing and making manifest of the invisible mundan spirit which is hidden in the treasury of God namely the heavens by the centrall operation of the divine wisdom and his windy ministers being incited thereunto by the will of God into a vaporous heap or clowdy substance which the said spirit of wisdom erecteth for his secret place or vehicle to move in and for the effecting of his will as well in heaven above as in the earth and waters beneath Or after this manner A clowd is the reducing of the invisible aire into a visible thick and gloomy consistence which is by the will of God effected through the concurrence or meeting together of opposite or transversall winds for the accomplishment of his secret will and pleasure Or else thus A clowd is a certain visible condensed heap of aire the which the Spirit of wisdom being expansed every wheâe doth make and compose as it were of nothing that is to say of an airy invisible somewhat which it extracteth out of his mysticall treasury to do and effect the will of God as well in heaven as in earth In which definitions or rather descriptions the materiall substance seemeth to be a coagulated mist or condensed masse or heap of aire the formall cause is set out in the shape and form of the clowd the efficient cause or centrall agent is the essentiall act of the divine wisdom who employeth and exciteth his windy ministers to work externally by the way of compression We have also the magazine or treasury out of which the substance of the winds is produced namely the heavens or aire which is termed Arca Dei thesauraria The chist or cabinet of Gods treasures To conclude the finall cause is manifested in this that the clowd is ordained to bring forth the effects as well of Gods clemency and benignity as of his severity and anger Now for the defence of the first part of these descriptions we find it thus written Deus sapientia suâ apt at pondus aeri appendit aquas in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum c. God doth by his wisdom proportionate the weight of the aire and hangeth the waters or clowds in measure assigneth lawes unto the rain and maketh a way unto the lightnings of the thunder That is to say according unto the will and ordination of the divine Spirit the aire or substance of heaven is changed from a lighter or thinner estate or weight unto a heavier or thicker the degrees of which mutation are expressed in the words following for first it was aire then clowds then rain or vulgar water Also the Text doth seem to make the lightnings internall or formall light of the clowd which is not revealed but by the violation or ruption of the compound and ablation of darkness Again it is said by Job as is already related Aer condensabitur in nubes ventus transiens fugabit eas The aire will be thickned into clowds And touching the clowds of snow Congregatio spiritus aspergit nivem The aire being gathered together doth scatter the snow on the earth Touching the efficient cause it appeareth to be God or the eternall Wisdom and therefore in the precedent Text it is said Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aeri appendit aquas vel nubes in mensura God by his wisdom hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clowds in measure And again Nubibus densis obtegit Deus coelos God covereth the heavens with thick clowds But all this is sufficiently expressed before As for the finall cause set down in the foresaid definitions it is confirmed by Scriptures in this fashion Pro irrigatione fatigat Deus den sam nubem dispergit lucem nubis suae quodcunque praecipit illis faciendum in terra sive ad flagellum sive ad faciendam beneficentiam efficiet ut presiò sit God wearieth the thick clowd for the watering of the earth and he disperseth every where the light of his clowd whatsoever he commandeth them to be done upon the earth whether it be for a scourge or else in favour and benignity he maketh them to be ready to accomplish it And Baruch saith When God commandeth the clowds that they passe over the whole earth they
And in conclusion God by his Word doth exactly and soly operate all in all as the Apostle saith which being so I would fain know where is this Physicall nature of the Peripateticks unto the which they assign an essential form of action of it self and by it self Verily it is most apparent that there is no such catholick actor as the Peripateticks do fain But it is one onely Word of God one catholick Christ which filleth all things one eternall Sapience which replenisheth the world one incorruptible Wisdom which is in all things that onely worketh and effecteth immediately all in all And therefore it is apparent that without it nothing can exist and act Forasmuch therefore as the aire is a part of the celestiall consistence it followeth that it was made by the Word and that it doth as it were swim in the Word Forasmuch as it comprehendeth all things as in many places of Scripture it is expresly set down and it is moved and guided by the Word yea verily and in the aire being it is the universall Treasury of God there are many peculiar cabinets out of the which by his Word which is effected by his strong and powerfull Angels as David telleth us he doth produce divers kinds of Meteors as is proved before which are committed unto the government and presidentship of divers Angells or Spirits the which also are created of aire and exist in the aire by the Word and therefore move and act in the Word or in and by one and the same divine Spirit which the Prophet Ezekiel called from the four winds to make the dead to live again by whose administration the Word moving them and operating in them all Meteorologick species or kinds are brought forth and procreated in the aire yea and all those wonderfull tempests which happen in the world are effected or produced And hereupon it is said that he made his Angells winds and his Ministers flames of fire Again Dei curruum duae sunt myriades multa millia Angelorum Dominus cum illis est Dominus Sinai in Sanctuario habitans There are two myradâ even many thousands of Angells the Lord is with them the Lord of Sinai inhabiting in his Sanctuary Where he meaneth in his apparition in a tempest as he did upon the Mount Sinai These spirits therefore which in regard of their externall were made or created of aire and with the aire do exercise their office or Ministry in the aire and are by Gods Ordination conversant about the directions of Tempests Clowds Rain Snow Hail Frost Lightning Thunder Comets Chasmus Floods or Inundations Heat Cold Moysture Drowth and all other Accidents which do appear in the aire And hereupon it is insisted by the Revelatour that by the Ordination of God four Angells were appointed as Presidents over the four winds of the four corners of the earth unto whom it was assigned to hurt the earth and waters and trees and fruits But there it is said that they had not any power to execute their harmfull or tempestuous violence on the earth and waters till the imperious Angell had excited or moved them unto it But as all thâs was unknown unto the Ethnick Philosophers so hath it been altogether neglected or rather rejected by their Christian disciples because that in their mouths and writings the lying and false spirit of Aristotle hath taken too deep a root or possession and challenged unto it self the prime and superiour place Although therefore that this my admonition may seem unto such as are wedded unto their will and hood-winked with Aristotle's subtill documents to be but wild ridiculous and of little or no esteem yet I would have them know that it is a thing of great importance and high consequence being that it concerneth and toucheth the honour of God For by it true Christians may fundamentally know and understand the reall and essentiall causes of tempests and other acts and operations which do thereunto belong and thereby perceive that they happen not by case fortuit neither operate by any act of their own as the phantastick Ethnicks have devised or fained in their writings but are traduced out of the holy Treasuries by the Divine Providence and are sent down here below by the operation of the Word and execution of his Angelicall Ministers either to afflict and scourge the wicked for their offences or by putting them in remembrance of their sins that they may by the fear thereof be driven to repent So that when they unto their terrour shall hear the voice of the Lord in Thunder from above and behold the fiery flashes of his wrath and indignation or shall see the dreadfull inundations caused by abundance of Snow or Rain they might be induced to repentance and be humbled and incited to invoke their Creator unto their aide and to pray him heartily to avert all dangers from them and to mitigate his Tempests and to pacify the fury of his fiery or watery Ministers and to grant them them milder and more benigne weather with gentle and fertill rains and to bless and save the fruit of their lands and to preserve their cattle which feed upon them as also their houses and other such like necessary additaments from the violence of his tempestuous Angells or Spirituall instruments contrariwise who neglecteth this doctrine which is founded on the true Wisdom and wallowing as it were with the Sow in the mire betaketh himself unto the rules of that Wisdom which is but meer foolishness before God and consequently will imagine all these Meteorologicall marvels to proceed by chance and accidentally and without the act of any internall principle and for that cause will neglect them as esteeming them onely things naturall and therefore will neither dread them as indeed they ought to do nor yet acknowledg him who is the true Author of them and immediate Actor in them is justly to be numbred among those men at which the Wiseman aimeth in this speech All men saith Solomon are vain by nature in whom is the ignorance of God and who cannot understand him who is by such things as are made nor yet conceive the workman by the consideration of his works The Epilogue unto this Section THus Judicious and Christian Reader have you understood the main difference that is between the wisdom of this world which the Apostle affirmeth to be but meer foolishnesse before God and that which descendeth from above and issueth from the Father of Light which is the essentiall and true Spirit of Sapience or Discipline And consequently you may easily discern how the Ethnick Philosophy that is grounded upon the worldly wisdom forasmuch as it relyeth onely on the Traditions of men and Elements of this world is but a vain âallacy or Prestigious Figment and therefore onely that of the Patriarcks Prophets and Apostles which is founded upon the Catholick Christ or Eternall Spirit of God in whom is the plenitude of Divinity is onely true
of unitie's Nolunty and sometimes affecting and imitating the action and property of light which floweth from the eternall and all-acting fountain of unity And this is the vertuous effect of the sacred Volunty For it seemed unto the Author that by reason that the whole world was composed of these two contrary properties namely of formall light and the humid dark matter it must needs follow that the catholick soul or generall vivifying spirit thereof and consequently every particular essence or formall existence which is derived from that catholick soul no otherwise than beams from the Sun must be obnoxious subject unto opposite passions and alterations From hence therefore springeth that originall love or hatred which is known to be between the good Angels and the evill Spirits from hence do issue all those assiduall mutations and alterations which happen in the aetheriall sublunary heavens namely by reason of the cross variety of the starry influence From hence proceed those oppositions and contrary effects which are expired or breathed forth from the winds From hence are derived the discord and concord of the Elements with the diversity of natures in the meteorologicall Impressions From hence do flow the multiplicity of affections the opposition of dispositions the passion of spirits and in a word the sympathy and antipathy which is observed to be between all creatures as well simple as compound be they animal vegetable or mineral The Author therefore concludeth upon these grounds that it is but just and reasonable to consent unto the opinions of the two notable and famous Philosophers Heraclitus and Empedocles touching this point whereof the first hath exposed it as an infallible Maxim Quod omnia fiant per litem amicitiam That all things are made and composed of strife and friendship that is to say Of hatred and love The last hath pronounced it for an oracle of truth Quod ex quatuor elementis ex amicitia lite composita sit anima That the soul is composed of four elements and of peace or concord and contention or discord signifying thereby that contrary disposition which is between the watry spirit and the bright mentall beam in regard of their originall For by litem or strife he argueth as well the spirituall contention as the corporall in respect of that contrary puissance and hability which is between the formall light and dark matter both in regard of the body in the act of corruption when the soul would part from it and in the antipatheticall or irascible passion in respect of the soul in which the spirit laboureth and suffereth unnaturally In these opinions of the fore-said Philosophers they seem not to vary from that of the son of Syrach speaking thus Gemina sunt omnia quorum alterum est contrarium alteri nec quicquam factum est quod mancum sit All things are of a double nature the one of them contrary to the other and yet there is nothing made which is defective CHAP. I. In this Chapter it is demonstrated that God is that pure and catholick Unity the which includeth and comprehendeth in it self all multiplicity AS there is no man be he never so highly exalted in the sphear of Mathematicall perfection or profoundly dived into the mysticall bowells of the abstrusest Arithmetick that can with the quick eye-sight of his ripest understanding observe or discry any thing either by order or antiquity to challenge justly unto its self a place or ranâk before Unity and for this reason the wisest Philosophers do ingenuously confesse that it is the onely principle or root of all number and multitude so also ought each person of judgment to acknowledge that this radicall Identity as it is considered in its pure and absolute nature and condition cannot be limited by any quantitative dimension nor yet included or comprehended by any member nor divided into distinct portions nor yet defined by any substantiall quiddity or entity And hereupon it hath been judiciously concluded by wise men that Unity is the most antique and radicall principle of all others forasmuch as it comprehendeth in it self all substances quantities and qualities no otherwise than the Geometricall prick or point being considered in its naked simplicity is observed to be indivisible and scarcely to be perceived yea verily and as it were nothing to be determined and yet nevertheless the prick or point is evidently known to be the infallible beginning not onely of every Geometricall line but also of all other continuated Mathematicall dimensions whatsoever seeing that it comprehendeth all magnitudes and is not comprehended of any These two principles of all dimensions whatsoever since that they in order rank and antiquity do precede and excell all others did the expert Mathematicians invent after the typicall imitation or image of the most internall centrall and abstruse point of Divinity or divinest and brightest Unity remaining in that very estate in which it stood before the creation of the world namely when it reserved it self within it self and remained occult and hidden from all potentiall creatures which it was pleased afterward by the revealing of it self or emission of its vivifying light to inact and make manifest for its abode in its simple and absolute nature of unity without having any respect or consideration to things which it would create So that in this manner of this Unitie's being and existence it could not be esteemed for God forasmuch as hitherto it had not produced any creature by the which it might be adored or acknowledged for God neither could it rightly be stiled or termed a Father For it did not appear to have thought on any Son or issue either Archetypicall and ideall or typicall and mundane neither could it be reputed for the Summum bonum or higheât goodness being that the defoâmed matter or dark Chaos or rather Hyle did not as yet taste of that his bright and all-inacting blessing which was concealed and hidden in its potentiall darkness and obscurity which was therefore void of all form neither could it be intitled fair forasmuch as it did not hitherto impart his beauty for the decoration or inacting of any creature noâ could it rightly be said to be eternity being that in this manner of his occultation within its self it seemed unto humane capacity not to exist at all and consequently not to have any reference or commerce with either eternity or aeviality or temporality moreover it could not assume or challenge unto it self the name of principle because it had no relation as yet unto any thing that did spring or issue from any beginning To conclude the nature of this simple Monadicall existence was before all created so occult and obsâure unto mortalls apprehension in its order and antiquity so unknown yea and so inscrutable and incomprehensible in its essence that it could not any way be conâluded to be either substance or quantity or quality but rather was conceived to be a certain transcendent entity or
existence reserved onely in its self and consisting of it self not having any principle root or beginning to spring from and exist by but onely from and of it self in whose Divine Puissance as in a place without end or limits all things which are now explicitly apparent were then complicitly contained although in regard of our capacity they were esteemed nothing And for this cause such persons as were conversant in the Laws of the true Wisdome have inacted in their never dying Registers that this mysticall infinity when it was thus bewrapped in the gloomy clew or profound abysse of darknesse and remained as it were vacant or resting in its self without any action or as they say having regard or respect unto nothing was therefore termed in Hebrew ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to say Nihil Non finis Non Ens and in plain English Nothing at all in our imagination because the tenuity and poverty of man's capacity and ingeny in the regard of Divine things is such that it is accustomed to judge and imagine that not to be or exist at all which appeareth not manifestly unto the sight For this reason therefore the wisest persons in the abstruse and hidden Caball have termed this originall Unity in his secret disposition Aleph tenebrosum or the obscure and dark Aleph the which Hebrew letter is received among the Jews and Cabalisticall Rabbi's for the figure of one in Arithmetick and by consequence it is Hieroglyphically taken for God as he is understood to be that absolute Monady or Unity which onely was in it self and did abide and rest in it self without any action of emanation which afterward he did use when he was pleased to operate in Creation and therefore the wise Philosopher Hermes not disagreeing in this from the Holy Scripture saith Monas ante mundi exordium sibi ipsi non aliis reluxit Unity or Identity dâd shine onely to it self and in it self and not to any thing else And in another place Erat umbra infinita in abysso agua insuper Spiritus tenuis intellectualis per divinam potentiam in Chaos inerant There was an infinite shadow upon the face of the abysse and moreover water and a thin intellectuall spirit were in the Chaos through the divine puissance And Moses to confirm this saying of that wise Philosopher Tânebrae erant super faciem abyssi By this therefore may wise men discern and contemplate though a far off what the Potentia or puissance divâne was before any creature did explicitly appeare out of darkness as also they may easily gather what is the true principle and foundation of Darkness namely the enclosing or retaining of the actuall beams or light of immortall life and being in this bright fundamentall unity in the which is no darkness so that the Originall darkness can be reputed for nothing else but the absence of the radicall Unitie's bright emanation which is the fountain of all action neither can that Divine vivifying and creating Light be present when the will of that simple and absolute essence in Unity is not minded to send forth unto deformity the treasure of its informing beams And hereupon it followeth of necessity that darkness was upon the face of the abysse and that the earth was void and without form before the Divine Essence did shine forth and that darkness was made the tabernacle of rest and repose because where the Divine act or sacred emanation is absent all things are onely potentiall and consequently without actuall verity being as it were stark dead and without life or motion and that the property of coldness and stupidity had dominion during that privative estate because that heat is ingendred by motion onely and motion hath its beginning from Light and all brightness doth flow from this Unity which is termed the Father and Fountain of all Light wherefore it followeth that if this Divine Essence retain it self in it self then the dark Chaos reserved onely in the Divine Puissance or Potentia Divina must be deprived of motion and that it is inclined to inspissation and condensation by reason of his congealing and cold property which doth thicken and make gross by contraction and that it is the fountain of all privation and an enemy unto the creatures life and being because it is contrary to act motion and heat which are the hand-maids of the Divine emanation and consequently it is the fountain of death deformity and non-entity To conclude as Light is the originall of life position act motion and in a word of the Volunty of God in his revealed Nature so also is this primordiall darkness the head and well-spring of death privation rest or vacancy and in brief of the Divine essence's Nolunty And hereupon the Scriptures do justify that when God doth send forth his salutiferous beams and manifest unto his creatures the light of his countenance they are refreshed with goodness and life when he in part doth hide his face and withdraweth his lively and vivifying beams from them they grow sick and their spirits are troubled but if he totally withdraw his aspect of life from them they do immediatly expire and breath their last Whereupon also Moses Deus malos relinquit abscondit faciem suam ab iis ut obveniant iis mala multa God forsaketh the wicked an âhideth his face from them that much mischief may befall them And David Quousque abscondis vultum tuum a me Exhilara me vultu tuo visitatio tua conservat Spiritum meum How long wilt thou hide thy face from me make me glad with thy countenance thy visitation doth conserve my spirit c. Whereby it appeareth that this Divine Essence observeth as well after his creation of the world as before it both the action of his Nolunty and his Volunty in the first whereof he withdraweth or withholdeth that vertue of life from the creature which is the act of privation in the last he giveth life and preservation to it For by this his dilatative property he created the world and all things therein CHAP. II. Wherein it is proved that all things were complicitly and ideally in God and of God before they were made THus have I expressed and made manifest according unto the small validity of mine understanding the estate and being of this radicall and eternall Unity before any thing was by it created with the effects that it did produce in the potentiall and deformed Mass or materiall subject of all things which was complicitly or hiddenly detained and comprehended in that Omnipotent and incomprehensible point of Divine perfection in which increated condition it remained as Nothing quoad nos forasmuch as it was without form unto the which it appertaineth onely to give a name and essence and therefore in the estate of its non-actuall being wise men have termed it Potenâiam Divinam or the Divine Puissance To confirm and verify all this we find these
granting or positive emanation and privative or negative condition which are as I have said both good in him who is nothing but pure goodnesse in his simple and absolute nature and therefore are one in him who is sincere unity in himself Whereupon the wise Philosopher not disagreeing in this from Scriptures saith Non est ân monade divinâ nisi unum bonum ab ipso enim factore nihil malum nihilque turpe In the divine essence there is not any thing but unity and goodnesse for from the Creator there is neither evill nor filthinesse And for this cause when Job saw that God did strike him as it seemed to him without a cause forasmuch as he was a just man and as the Text saith according unto Gods heart he being egged forward notwithstanding all his pains with a pious zeal towards his Creator though he knew that his affliction proceeded from the hiding of his Maker's countenance from him did break forth into these terms Et tamen absit à Deo impietas ab Omnipotente iniquitas And yet for all that far be it from me that I should deem any impiety to be in God or that iniquity should proceed from the Almighty It is most apparent unto the sleightest Philosopher that God is conversant in the created nature as well about corruption and privation as generation and position and yet no good Christian can be ignorant but that either of these opposite properties so familiar in one sincere essence is absolutely good in that it is compleatly excellent in goodness in it self although nothing is more terrible fearfull abominable and wicked to the creature than is his own death and corruption If we Christians deny the property in the Ideal unity namely as well to deprive the creature of his life by withdrawing his act of life from it into it self we may justly imagine our selves to be inferiouâ in judgment unto the Infidell Poets and Philosophers who do verifie this fore-mentioned axiom of the wise-man Bonum malum vita mors honestas paupertas à Deo sunt Good and eviâl life and death riches and poverty are all from God Whereby he intimateth that this one essentiall divinity operateth oppositely in the created world by a two-fold differing property Their Allegoricall story is this Proclus follâwing the antient Theology of Orpheus Ilesiode Euripides and Eschylus which personages have inveloped in their fabulous Counts or Stories such hidden secrets as they had learned of divine persons and such as were profoundly seen in the mysteries of God doth decipher the properties of the supream and archetypicall Son under the shadow of the visible and typicall Sun in this manner expressing thereby that one and the same eternall essence doth operate all in all as well privatiâly as poââtivly These Poets tearm it by the name of Apollo in the day-time because they pretend that in his position and benigne nature which is manifested by the vivifying property of the Sun he composeth the creature of seven parts foâ ãâã âhe quaternary number the Pythagoreans did signifie matter which is ââamed of the Elements for it is the square oâ 2 which is an unperfect number and therefore doth deâipher matter and by the ternary which is the number of perfection they express the form of things so that these two numbers united do make up the septenary number whiâh doth inâlude the perfect complement of the creature Again they intitle it Dionysius in the night time namely in his dark and privative disposition saying that under this name he useth to tear and divide that creature into seven pieces which under the title of Apollo or in his positive property or solar and divine nature it had composed So that they seem to argue that the self-same unity in essence is the author as well of destruction and corruption as of the generation and vivification of the creature but they therefore tearm it according unto the variety of his property by a differing name no otherwise than the Cabalist calls it in his hidden and privative property Aleph tenebrosum or darâ Aleph namely when he keepeth in his beams of life in himself or withdraweth his face from the creature and Aleph lucidum or light Aleph when he shineth forth unto it and extendeth his beams of life upon it By this therefore we Christian may see that the very Pagans did grant or acknowledge that which the Scriptures do testifie though it be by an allegoricall way concluding with them that it is onely in the power of one and the same radicall unity to save or destroy to give life or take it away to will or to nill and in conclusion to operate all and in all and that according unto its pleasure Thus have we confirmed that the two members of an opposite condition or disposition do spring out of one eternall root and that they operate in this world by clean contrary effects and consequently that since the mass of waters whereof as St Peter doth testifie the heavens and the earth were made of old did come out of the dark chaos and was as it were her second birth which the Poets feigne to be Pan or the universall nature it is easie to be considered by the wise Philosopher that this passive portion of the world is by a naturall instinct inclined to darkness and unto all the privative conditions thereof so that if it were not for the formall portion of the world which proceeded from that bright spirit of wisdom which Solomon calleth The vapour of the vertue of God and the sincere emanation of the brightnesse of the omnipotent and the splendour of the divine liâht and the mirrour without all spot of his goodnesse that divided the waters into distinct orbes or sphears and gave a proportionall weight unto the aire and tyed or hanged up the waters in the thick clowds by measure and gave orders unto the rain and made a passage for the lightnings of the thunders if it were not I say for the act of this Spirit all things would be alike It is this Spirit that said Ab ore altissimi prodij retunditatem coelorum circumivi solus in profundo abâssi ambulavi I came out from the mouth of IEHOVA and compassed about the heavens I walked in the profundity of the abysse c. It was the bright wisdom which IEHOVA did possesse in the beginning of his waies before his works before all time before the world was made when there was not any abysse before there was any fountain before the mountains were raised or the earth created When he made the heavens it was there when he did fortify the superiour waters it was there when the limits of the sea were framed lest the waters should passe their bounds When he gave the earth her foundation it was there with him as a helper to compose all things To conclude by it all was formally made and
in its simple and separated estate Damascene seemeth to define it thus Anima est subâtantia spiritualis a divinis fontibus emanaâs simplex indissolubilis immoââalâs libeâa incorporea indivisibilis quantitate figura pondere colore carens The sââl is a spirituall sâbstance flowing from the divine fountains simple indâssolvable immortall free incorporealâ indivisible wanting quantity figure waight and colour Unto this also Bernard seemeth to consent And Augustin defineth it thus Est mens divâna omnia intelligens omnibusque se assimilans It is a divine Spirit that understandeth all things and doth cânform it self unto the shape or lâkenesâ of all things And for this reason certain Philosophers say that it is made after the likeness of the Spirit of Wisdome which is known to be the Image of God For it beareth the likeness of every thing in it self Wherefore it is defined by them to be the similitude of all things And verily it hath in it self this power to apprehend and find out all things Again it is like unto all things being that it is one in all There are some of the ââviner sort of Mysticall Philosophers that seem to conclude mans soul more fully in this definition Anima est lux quaedam divina ad imaginem Verbi causae causarum primi exemplaris creata sâbstantia Dei sigilioque figurata cuâus character est verbum aeâânum The soul is a certain divine Light created after the Image of the Word the caâse of causâs and the first exemplaâ or image c. Another defines it thus Est res incorporea omni decore adornata Sanctae Trinitati âssimiâata ãâã nae gloriae coaquata It is an incorporeall thing whâch is adorned with all virtue likned to or resembââng the Holy Trinity and coâequated unto eternall glory Some do describe it thus Est Spiritus intellectualis semper vivens semper in mâtâ sâcundum sui operis efficââm variis nuncupatur nominibus Dicitur vita dum vegetat spiritus dum contemplatur sensus dum sentit animus dum sapit mens dum intelligit ratio dum dâscernit mem ria dum recordatur dum vuli voluntas at isla omnia non sunt nâsi una essentia seâ proprietate diversa It is an intellectuall Spirit alwaies living alwaies in motion and in respect of its divers operations in the body it hath divers appellations assigned unto it For it is called life in regard of its vâ vificative and vegetative property It is called a Spirit as it is conversant about contemplation and is a spirituall substance and breatheth in the body it is called sense as it is imploied about the Act of sensation it is termed Animus when it operateth in Knowledg and Wisdome and it is named Mens in regard of its Divine Understanding and Memory as it doth remember again as it is affected to will any thing it is called Voluntas and all these names decipher but onely one Anima or Soul in essence but divers and sundry properties or faculties c. And these later descriptions are assigned unto this vivifying Spirit as it is conversant with the body Now if we shall duly examine all these delineations of the essence and properties of this Anima as well in her freedom from the body as when it is included in it we shall find it not to vary one jot from the tenor of my precedent assertion For first we shall observe it to be in its essentiall virtue the off-spring of the eternall emanation which came immediatly from God for the inacting of all things and then that it hath for its substantiall Vehicle the thin subtile created spirit of the world which maketh it alteritatem or a composition of two namely of the bright emanation from the eternall Fountain and therefore in the foresaid definitions it is tearmed in regard of this its interior in the first a Spirituall Substance flowing from the divine Fountain in the second mens divina in the third the Image of similitude of the divine Wisdome in the fourth a divine Light after the Image of the Word the substance of God whose character is the Word in the fifth the similitude of the Holy Trinity coaequated unto the divine Glory Secondly it participates of the mundane spirit and therefore it is by the sixth and seventh tearmed in regard of its substance a spirit that breatheth in the body and it is the Vehicle of the formall act which is in truth the divine mentall beam being considered in it self as the substantiall and materiall spirit in its simple nature it is that which participateth with the created spirit of the world The union of these two is called anima so that anima includeth mentem and spiritum or the divine and created nature in one which filleth all and animateth and vivifieth all things according to the assertion of such Gentile and Ethnick Philosophers as I have cited before which I will prove no way to dissent or vary from the testimony of the holy Text. And to make this the plainer I will compare them in order And first I will begin my relation with the Cabalists great Angell whom they call Mitaitron which by interpretation is Donum Dei the Gift of God which as they say is the catholick intellectuall Agent from the which all peculiar forms do descend The Apostle saith that the Lord doth vivifie all things And Solomon saith that the Spirit of Wisdom is the tree of life and the fountaiâ or beginning of life and if this Spirit be the fountain of life then the Son of Syrach effudit Deus illam supra omnia opera sua supra omnem carnem secundum datum suum God poured it out upon all his works and upon all flesh in his measure And this was that catholick angelicall Spirit which God sent out as a Spirituall Messenger from himself and out of himself in the form of an emanation to move upon the waters and to inform and vivify them and give life and being not onely to the great world but also to every particular thereof and the emanation was this Word of God by whom all things were made and vivified forasmuch as in it was life I mean that Christ which filleth all things who is all in all as the Apostle saith who in the beginning made the earth and the heavens were the work of his hands and after his creation of all things he doth as St. Paul telleth us portare omnia verbo virtutis suae bear up suffer and sustain all things by the vivifying virtue of this Word Which also David confirmeth in this Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum By the Word of the Lord the heavens were framed and setled and by the breath of his mouth all the virtues thereof namely the life preservation and being The Apostle therefore seemeth to conclude thus Deus non aliquo indigens
according unto these multiplications in form the more will the creatures be exalted in excellency You see now how far and by what proportions as well spirituall as materiall the Platonick harmony of the world extends it self and may observe that where this harmonious proportion between form and matter is not there must needs be as well spirituall as corporall dissention or discord and consequently antipathy We see also that the root of life is fixed in the angelicall composition which is of simple light pure spiritual matter so that the eternal sapience or essential soul is the act of the Angels the aevial angelicall spirit is the act or essential life of the starrs or heavenly influence and the starry influence is the soul and life of the winds the spirituall emanation from the winds do fourfoldly inform the catholick sublunary element or lower waters the element doth animate the meteorologicall impressions and of these are the compound creatures compacted which draw from the divine fountain of them all being one spirit in essence but multiform in regard of the variety of organs by which it worketh variously in the world So that it appeareth that God animated immediately the Emperiall heaven or the intellectuall spirit which is the seat of Angells and this we compare to the root the emperiall heaven animates the stars or aetheâiall region which we refer to the square and the starry heaven is as it were the male or multiplyer and vivifier of the elementary region and his creatures which we compare unto the cube Verily not onely the abstruse Cabalists but also the profoundest Philosophers have made an everlasting memory of this perfect and formall root or ternary number with his triple dimension I mean not that which is taken for a mercatory number or such an one as the vulgar Arithmeticians do use in their Algorism but as it is a spirituall and essentiall character of numeration proceeding from a certain circular revolution and square and cubick multiplication And therefore the Learned have founded on this subject their formall and mysticall Arithmetâck and Geometry which are not exercised about common and vulgar subjects but wholly employed about the profound meditations of the true Cabâle naturall Magick and essentiall Alchimy which because the ignorant vulgar people do rashly condemn under those titles are otherwise tearmed by the mysticall with the name of the science Elementary Celestiall and Supermundane as well because it entreateth of separated Intelligences and substances as some do style them as also because it is the worthiest of all others to be understood as being conversant about the knowledge of the Creator for the greatest perfection in which man may most glory is to artain unto the true knowledge of God which also the Prophet doth testifie in these words Let not the wise glory in his wisdom noâ the strong man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches but let him that will glory vaunt and glory in that he knoweth and understandeth me And verily these are the three mysticall sciences which are by wise men appropriated unto the knowledge of the three worlds I mean the Intelligible the Celestiall and Elementary represented according unto the Cabalists by these three Letters of the name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Adam Also the three parts of man termed the little world to wit the Intellect the Soul and Body which is subject to alteration and corruption as also the elementary part Upon this foundation also the Rabbi Zoar said That there are three things which correspond unto one another in this ternary dimension forasmuch as they are framed or formed after the pattern of the Archetype and radicall Idea namely the Tabernacle of God which Moses erected the Temple of Solomon and mans Body according unto the three manner of numbers which were applyed unto them namely the vocall or operative which is the extract of the measure unto the elementary world the formall which is extract from the vocall unto the celestiall and the rationall or divine which is extracted out of the formall unto the intellectuall I will make all this plain by the reall description of the Tabernacle This Tabernacle did symbolize with the three worlds in his parts for the former of them was uncovered and was exposed unto the winde rain hail snow and all other impressions which are ingendered in the sublunary world with perpetuall alterations and changes and unto this part the common sort of people as also the beasts in an assiduall vicissitude of life and death did resort by reason of the continuall sacrifices which were slain and offered in this place And therefore this region importing the cube of matter is rightly referred unto the elementary world which is composed of the grosser waters as of a substance fluid and unstable and for this reason it is properly called the world of darkness wherefore the Evangelist in one place styleth the devill the Prince of darknesse and in another place the Prince of this world This region also hath his relation unto the body of man The second part of the Tabernacle which was burnished over with gold and illuminated with a Candlestick of seven lights doth decypher out the starry heaven and his seven erratick lights of Planets and this heaven as it is in the middle betwixt two extreams namely between the bright fountain of the formall or emperiall heaven and the obscure and dark abysse of matter or elementary world so also it doth participate of the two extreams namely of water and fire And for this reason the heaven is called of the Hebrewes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Aââamaiim of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã esch fire and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã maym water in Greek Aether quasi igneus aer But the warry body or matter of it is therefore incorruptible because her appetite is so fulfilled by the affluence of the formall nectar from above that it desireth not any alteration and touching her activity and motion it hath it from that eternall emanation which is said by Solomon to be the most movabâe of all things and in verity it is the first catholick mover who is said to be the President of the primum mobile at whose act all the inferiour intelligences do move about their rouling and twinckling fires no otherwise than at the motion of a centrall wheel many externall wheels do move and have their life Thus we may see first why this region of the world is tearmed Heaven or sphear of equality namely by reason of his mixtion in equall proportions of form and matter also why it is called the sphear of the soul of the world by reason that it is composed of the pure spirit of the waters which is female and passive and the bright fire or act of eternity for the mentall divinity doth by and through this humid nature which is his vehicle act and shew forth his vivifying and emanating property in and by this spirituall organ and
consideration that the etymology of the word by interpretation may import donum Dei or the gift of God for what greater gift could God impart unto his potentiall creatures and in generall unto the great world then his eternall Spirit of wisdom or his onely Begotten to make them of somewhat nothing and to take away all deformity and nullity from the water and to shape out of them a Heaven and an Earth and to figure out in them all the creatures thereof and to preserve them in existence essence and lively being This was therefore indeed the true catholick donum Dei or gift of God whose incorruptible nature is in all things and filleth all things and as it is the most movable of all things so it operateth all in all according to the will of him that sent him And therefore in regard of the office and as he was an emissive Spirit so was he not unworthily named by them the great or catholick Angell had not Scriptures in plain tearms seemed to intimate so much I could also demonstrate that the world and his soul or life was shaped after the image of the Archetype in this manner From 1 which was all light in whom is no darknesse did 2 issue which was quoad nos darknesse or the dark Chaos so called because unity did not as yet shine forth to inform them Betwixt these two extreams is 3 interposed as a peaceable or charitable unity between meer light and darknesse or the Spirit of divine love who resting in the midst between these two principles uniteth the divine formall fire with the humid materiall nature or spirit of darknesse making a union of two opposite natures so that both natures do remain in one sympatheticall concordance and therefore this formall ternary is called Ligamentum elementorum litem amicitiam concoâdiae vinculis connectâns The ligament of the elements tying together hatred and love with the bands of concord I expresse them thus Deus 1 Lux. Coelum 3 Sphaera aequalitatis Terra 2 Tenebrae This excellent harmony of the soul of the world is else-where most fitly expressed by me by two equall Piramidicall shapes whereof the one is formall the other materiall the basis of the formall is the immediate act of God or the infinite and onely bright Unity and it importeth the emanation of the creating and informing Spirit so that his Cone doth penetrate unto the very center of the dark earth or abysse And contrariwise the basis of the materiall or watry Pyramis is in the earth or center of darknesse and the Cone ascendeth unto the center of the basis of the formal Pyramis in this manner Now where the intersection is made between the two principal concurrences I have framed a piece of a circle which circle because the portions of the formall Pyramis and materiall are there equall we therefore with the Platonists do call Sphaeram aequalitatis or the Sphear of equality or as they in another respect tearm it the orbe or sphear of the soul of the world which is just in the midst of the starry heaven called for that reason Aether quasi igneus aer a fiery aire as who should say an equall portion of the spirit of the waters and of the formall fire descending from God or Unity as I have expressed before And therefore as we placed in the precedent demonstration the 3 in the center or middle of the line between the divine illuminating unity 1 and the dark Chaos or deformed duality 2 so in the world was the spirituall body of the visible Sun of this typicall world placed in which the invisible and increated Sun of the Archetypicall world did put his Tabernacle and for this cause it is rightly tearmed of the Platonists the sphear of the soul. And verily by effect we find that all vivification doth potently spring from the solar or Sunny influence and as for the excellent beauty of the creature as also in respect of the vivifying act thereof it is an evident argument that it aboundeth with the blessed sparks or vivifying beams of divinity Again that it is the bright organ by which he that vivifieth all things doth impart and pour forth the showre of his benignity or divine Nectar of life continuall experience teacheth even the meanest plowman Now that this most excellent and perfect concord of life doth remain principally in the midst of the line drawn from unity or the fountain of form to the earth or duality which is the fountain of matter I prove it thus by the accords of Musick The perfectest consonance in Musick is Diapason and of all the other symphoniacall accords it approacheth nearest unto the sacred Unity in Divinity for it is half unison and therefore it is rightly compared unto the blessed emanation of life which came from unity and for that reason it is rightly tearmed the Idea or image of a unison And as the unison like one essence in Divinity doth comprehend three Persons importing the three accords in the Archetypicall harmony So also the Diapason comprehendeth in it the two other accords besides it self namely Diapente and Dâatessaron Now that this most perfect consonant of Diapason is planted in the midst of a unison and doth as it were beget in it self two perfect chords or Diapasons which be contained within it self I prove it thus Take a Lute or Bandora and strike any of the strings open and then stop that same string exactly in the middle of it and each half will sound a Diapason unto that open unison so that the unison which is made by the striking of the whole string open will be divided into two Diapasons or most perfect consonants unto the whole which is an evident argument that the perfection of the Diapason is in the seat of the Sun and consequently that the formall and lively accord of all the world is no otherwise in that centrall or middle place then the heart which is the seat of life is in man And yet by the beams of the Sun this life of the world is made catholick and filleth all no otherwise than the vitall blood doth universally expanse it self in the Microcosm by the channells of the arteries But I fear I have followed this point too far to prove and maintain the soul of this world wherefore I leave it to come directly unto the point being that in my Mosaicall Philosophy to wit in the fourth book thereof I have fully proved and maintained that Translation of Jerom to be right namely Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole he put his tabernacle in the Sun I will proceed therefore unto the second opinion of the Philosophers The ancient Philosopher Democritus Orpheus with the Pythagoreans do judge that all things are full of gods and again all these gods they referre unto one Jupiter where by gods they ântend the divine virtues infused into things which Zoroaster called divinos illices Synesius the Bishop Symbolicas illecebras others tearm
are reasonable namely Man as unreasonable to wit the Stars of heaven and earthly creatures both animals vegetables and minerals And therefore Archangelus the Cabalist maketh many degrees in the offices of Angels For some saith he do stand before the divine tribunall of God still praising him some administer unto him and unto us also some have the custody of the watches of the night of which CHRIST maketh mention If he came in the second or thââd watch of the nâght c. Some have the government of the four quarters of the year and these are Presidents over the four stations of the Sun others are ordained rulers over the seven Planets and some do dispose of the influences and vertues of the fixed Stars and twelve Signes of which St. Joââ doth seem to make mention saying That in the twelve gates that is the twelve Signes which as Plato saith are the ports of heaven are the twelve Angels Some are tuâelar Angels and are ordained for the creatures safeguard some have the custody of beasts others of plants others of pretious stones and mineralls All these the secret Theologians and wisemen do affirm averring withall that God worketh all in this inferiouâ world by the administration of Angells And therefore St. Paul saith That all are administring spiââts sent to effect that office Thus far Archangelus And again Reuclin argueth That the influxion of angelicall beams from the stars must be divers and of sundry natures because that the Angells do not by their voluntary action move the celestiall Orbe alwaies after one manner though by reason of the violent motion it doth move daily by a diurnall motion from East to West But what needs many words when the progression of the foresaid Cabalisticall work doth open and discover all the myâticall operation and variety of action in the Angells For if once the ten names of God which produce ten divers emanations of different conditions which are sent by the ten foresaid numerations or sephiroticall ports or channells do breed contrary effects both in heaven above and in earth beneath it followeth by the foresaid testimony of the Prophet David that there must be so many angelicall vehicles to conduct them into the lower world as there are Cabalisticall ports and channells and consequently as many diversities of the divine properties proceeding from the variety of his will as also varieties of vehicles to conduct them For I would have each judicious Reader to conceive that the Hebrew Doctors did judge of the nature and property of each Name or attribute ascribed unto God in holy Writ by that self-same effect which it produced after the uttering or expressing of it therein no otherwise than the Philosopher useth to judge of the nature and property of the complexion by the aspect of the Physiognomy or as by the signes whiâh he beholdeth in the heavens he determineth of their effects to wit of rain winds thunder c. namely because such presages in the heavens do use to bring forth such and such effects Now as I have proved before if it be the divine influence of light which animateth and informeth each angelicall spirit it must needs follow that every one of these angelicall conductions or vehicles of these influences must have also a divers property because the formall influences which do animate these intelligences which carry them are different and therefore they will be naturally prone and enclined to operate the will of the Creator according unto the nature of emanation or beams of that property which it receiveth from his proper port As concerning therefore those angelicall receptacles or organs which are ordained to receive the divers kinds of divine influences or irradiations I purpose briefly to expresse them in the first place for the better understanding of the Reader with the channell they do belong unto and then the order of Angels which doth first receive them After this I will set down the celestiall Orbes or Stars into the which as unto their particular store-houses they are conveyed And lastly I will speak somewhat of the effects that these influences which are conveyed down from their starry treasury into the elementary world do effect both in the aire seas or water and earth Touching therefore the Names or attributes of God as also their emanations or streaming forth of beams with their peculiar properties I have in few words written them in the precedent Chapter as for the rest I would have the Reader to know that those ten severall divine emissions of ten severall lights out of so many Sephiroticall or Cabalisticall spouts or channells into the vast cavity of the world to accomplish the will of the Creator have their particular angelicall waggoners or conductors for in this the best Theosophers agree that as the upper Order of the Angels do receive their light and bright emanations immediately from God so do they emit them and manifest them unto the inferiour Orders and for this reason they are called Mirrours because they receive their light from the face of God or his eternall catholick emanation which as I have proved before is the head and fountain of all these Angelicall lights And again as the secret Theologians have by their serious observation of the holy Bible espied ten distinct properties as also ten divers cognominations or Names of God appropriated unto them so they perceived that there was a singular Angel appointed to receive each of these emissions of beams endued with the self-same property or condition as the lights which they receive do possesse forasmuch as these Spirits do live and are animated by them being that as the externall of the Angell is a spirituall aire so the internall of it is the formall irradiation or emanation which is according unto Gods will emitted into it And this is a generall note amongst all the secret Theologians unto whom Bartholomaeus and St. Dennis do adhere touching this point that no Angell can intermeddle with anothers businesse or take upon him the work that belongeth unto another except it be such inferiour Angels as are destinated to serve under their Arch-angels in the same function or property as shall be said more at large We must therefore understand that the office of the great and catholick Angell Mitattron was so universall that it was employed first about the information of the whole world and the division of light from darknesse as also for the vivifying of the watry spirit of the world and the diurnall rouling about of the heavens And therefore it is said and not without a good cause That it was the divine and generall Emanation that is the eternall Sapience which for this reason is said to be created before all things by whom afterward all things were made or created And for this reason it is said That this Angel doth contain in it all the angelicall perfection no otherwise than the universall beams of the Sun are comprehended in the body of the Sun Wherefore we
we see that as well there are good beams or benigne spirits which by a secret and hidden Emanation do stream forth from the fountain of the winds namely those which are poured out by JEHOVA's benigne Attributes as are El by Jupiter Eloach by the Sun Sadai by Venus and then Michael Raphael Gabriel c. do by their Legions execute God's Will And there are bad and corrupt or privative emission of spirits of a contrary fortitude from the winds which have their Originall from Elohim Elohim Gibbor and Adonaia which make Saturn Mars and the Moon their store-house neither would I have any one to wonder that I should derive the multiplicity of the good and the bad properties which are effected by the winds from one Divine essence which imparteth his Will by the diversity of his lively properties unto the 4 Archangells since the Prophet saith Vem spiritus à quatuor ventis insuffla interfectos istos ut revivi scant Come O Spirit from the four winds and breathe on these slain persons that they may live again Here the Prophet acknowledgeth that it is but one essentiall vivifying Spirit that effecteth all this and consequently that the four opposite properties in the four Angells which are the Governors of the winds are the influences or essentiall beams of one and the same Spirit of life in essence By reason of these spirits of a contrary fortitude in the aire sometimes good and propitious events befall the creatures of this lower world namely when the good spirits raigne and wholsome winds do blow which happen when the benign starrs and Planets have dominion in heaven and consequently their influences below and again somtimes bad and dysastrous accidents armed with privative and destructive effects befall the creatures of this Elementary region by reason of severe emissions of beams from the winds which animate those evill spirits that in infinite multitudes do hover though invisible in the aire who are rejoyced and revived at the blasts which issue from the stations of their cruell Princes and are as it were summons and all-arms to stir and excite them unto wrath and to blow the coles of their sleeping malice All this we may gather from this speech extracted out of Joseph Castaliensis A terra usque ad firmamentum non est locus vacuus sed omne plenum formis ex illis purae ex illis capaces gratiae ac mâserationum sunt infernis multae effigies foedae noxiae tentatrices omnes commorantes volantes in aëâe Et non a terra usque in coelum locus vacuus quin totum sunt species ex iis ad pacem ex iis ad bellum ex iis ad bonum ex iis ad malum ex iis ad vitam ex iis ad mortem omne id in habitatione inferiori in qua nos sumus From the earth unto the firmament there is not a void place but all is full of forms Of the which some are pure and some are capable of grace and mercy and there are beneath many foul hurtfull and tempting shapes and of all these do abide and flie up and down in the aire And from the earth unto the heaven there is not one sparâ place but all is full of forms whereof some are enclined to peace some to war some of them are given to goodness some to naughtiness and some of them are Agents to life and some unto death and all this chanceth in the lower habitation in the which we are c. Whereby he signifieth that the whole air is replenished as well with spirits of darknesse as with spirits of light And therefore there is a continuall conflict made here below betwixt these spirits of opposit conditions Whereof the one do attend upon their Prince of darknesse being alwaies ready to accomplish his behests and consequently are very familiar unto the humid nature or matter of the world which is the child of the dark Chaos and for that cause have naturally a great dominion and power over it which by reason of its inclination unto darkness is easy to be tempted and allured from the Society of formal Light And hereupon the materiall world the flesh and the Devill are joyned together as also Satan is termed by the Apostle the Prince of the aire which is the off-spring of the waters from whence the materiall substance of the world was taken The other do wait on the Prince of Light their Master who is the eternall Wisdom which springeth from the bright word of eternity And these two dignify the world with life and do employ their greatest care to animate vivify and preserve it with such salutary beams as they receive immediatly from the eternall Emanation or fiery Word in which is the essence of life and being By this means therefore namely from the opposition of these two spirits of a contrary fortitude all the passions in the spirit and consequently of the Soul yea and body as well of the great world and all the creatures therein as of the little world have their immediate beginning namely the good passions as are joy charity hope confidence misericord humanity in the little world which are caused by dilatation of the heart and concord appetite Sympathy desire or concupiscence delight audaâity jucundity caused by dilatation from the Center unto the circumference and by consequence Anâipathy in the great world And again the bad passions in the little world's spirit as are sadness hatred desperatness timidity anger furor and bashfulness which arise from the contraction of the heart and in the great world and his creatures as are stupidity or congelation discord hatred irascibility fear c. and in conclusion Antipathy which comes by contracting from the circumference unto the Center All which are certain passions either well affecting and reviving the vital spirits with comfort by dilatation of those spirits with the beams of a kind of joy and delight or else choaking or suffocating them with the gloomy fog of darkness by contracting of those spirits with the mist of grief or privative sadness CHAP. V. What Actions in the Spirit or Soul in generall do produce Sympathy and what Antipathy How Sympathy or Compassion proceedeth from a certain dilatation of spirits in two or more particulars or an emitting of their internall beams of life or essence positively and benignly from the Center unto the Circumference attempting thereby to make a concord or union betweâââwo or more like or homogenial natures and contrariwise Antipathy by contracting the said beams from the Circumference unto the Center moveth after an opposite manner namely by division or discord that is quite contrary unto the beams of the other which are emitted I Have signified unto you first in my precedent discourse that two properties were Archetypically or Ideally and after a complicite manner comprehended in one radicall Unity or Essence namely the one effected by its Nolunty the other by its Volunty Lo here
vegetation multiplication and preservation and hath made his seat in the Center of the heavens that by one most perfect Consonant namely a spirituall Diapason he might illuminate the Angels above and the stars round about him and that by a more material Diapason he might penetrate into the Center of the elementary world to communicate his perfection to each creature thereof that they might be beautified by his bright presence and vivified by the penetrating beams of his essence and consequently that the imps or spirits of darkness may be debilitated by the appearance of his Glory as if one chord were extended betwixt the Fountain of Light and the abysse of darkness which being struck made an unison but being pressed down and divided directly in the middle of it each part will render being struck a double diapason unto that unison importing a double perfection proceeding from the bright catholick Emanation whereof the one respecteth the adorning of the lower waters with life and virtue and the other maketh an accord of friendship among the higher Now as the body of the Sun and substance of the Aether is of a middle or mean spirituall matter or consistence of the waters it is evident that it also is subject to be altered by passion as well Antipatheticall as Sympatheticall For else it would not be the immediate receptacle of those opposit and contrary Emanations which descend from the differing Attributes But by effect we find the contrarâ For some starrs are friends and Sympathise in nature with some creatures below Some again do hate one another deadly and consequently send down into this lower world contrary influences which move contrary passions or impressions in the vitall spirits or souls of certain Elementary creatures Again we find that the life of the Animal doth consist of opposit actions namely of Systole and Diastole that is of contraction by the property of matter and dilatation by the Act of the formall Light So that the nature of matter is to draw by contraction from the Circumference unto the Center but the condition of the formall essence is quite contrary unto it For it doth dilate or emit his beams from the Center to âhe Circumference Also the Philosophers testify that in sleep and rest the spirits are contracted from the Circumference to the Center after the manner of the dark Chaos or cold North wind which bringeth by that contraction the agill and volatil spirit or aire of the lower world to rest and fixation by condensation But contrariwise in wachfulness or waking they conclude that there is an emission or emanation of spirits from the Center unto the Circumferentce which is an Argument of two contrary effects of the firmaments vivifying operation in the souls or spirits of the creatures below and yet by reason of the equality of each action and passion they have a compound-disposition according and agreeing in the naturall operation of life which descendeth from above Thus therefore you see that even from the starry heaven there descendeth Sympathy and Antipathy As for the Elementary world it aboundeth manifestly with the effects of these two contrarieties and therefore lest there should follow any continuall unnaturall perturbation which may deprave this great formall workman of his expectation which was to put concord and peace in the machine whiâh he had ordered and framed he divided each region in this lower world that there might be interposed an indifferent friend between two extream enemies which he effected by weight number and measure So that unto the weightiest portion of the lower waters is imparted the least proportion of form that by its grossnesse and weight it might fall unto the Center and remain fixt in it and it was called earth then unto another portion he bestowed a double measure of Light to make it reside in a higher region and thereby the matter which was next the earth became more thin light and movable And therefore this augmentation of Light melted the frozen waters a little and did make them fluxible and transparent So that he partly by reason of the continuity of his matter with that of the earth and partly because of its cold nature it is a temperate friend of the earth and taketh his place next unto him So that it is not so cold as the earth nor so moist as the aire For it is not enough subtiliated till the bright Agent of the world bestoweth on the dark watery abysse above the water three portions of his Light So that it converted part of the gross lower waters into a thinner and more light shape than was the watery Element and it was the aire which by reason of the triple proportion of formall light was hotter and more dilated then was the water wherefore as the water was cold but not so cold as the earth and moist but not so moist as the aire So the aire is hot but not so hot as the fire and moister then the water By reason therefore of his moisture this portion of the catholick Element is friendly to the water on the one side and on the other side unto the fire because of his heat Lastly that in-created Spirit of life did yet multiply a part of those waters by an other or higher degree of subtility and purity So that it became the most subtil and highest portion of the generall Elements and is consequently hot and dry wherefore by reason of its drouth it agreeth on the one side with the earth which in circulation is next unto him and on the other side with the aire in respect of his heat but it is hotter then the aire and not so dry as the earth Lo here you see the effect of that Sympathy which the Peace and Love of God did put among the discordant enemies of this world For thereby the water as a friend to both the aire and earth becometh a stickler and mediator of peace between them The aire as a friend unto the two enemies fire and water is made an indifferent judge betwixt them both So that the one contrary is kept from strugling and tugging with the other by the super-celestiall and golden tie of peace Thus you see that this Spirituall Christ doth as the Apostle saith bear and sustain all things by the word of his Virtue And as Hermes said the humid nature by the assistance of the world is ordered and disposed harmoniously into Elements So that by this Virtue all Sympatheticall action was effected in the Sublunary world of which the Wiseman speaketh thus In se Elementa dum convertebantur sicut in organo qualita is sonus immutatur omnia suum locum custodiunt But when this harmonicall ranck and Symphoniacall proportion is violated then the enemies come together and rage against one another unto the disturbance of the whole Sublunary fabrick For aire and earth do struggle against one another as also the water doth cruelly invade the limits of the fire and all will be
Light flieth from darkness and being delighted at the presence of more light and life avoideth and hateth the presence of his contrary namely of death and evill Hence therefore it cometh that the children of Light which are grafted unto this catholick illuminated spirit do flie as from a pestilence the children of darknesse and their works And the reason is because this humid created spirit finding now the pleasure volunty and felicity of its illuminated estate is affraid least the privative beams of darkness or the dismall Emanations of God's wrath should dimm their light and obscure the brightness of life that is to say lest they should turn their Sympathizing passions of joy and gladness into the Antipathizing storms of sadness and mourning by sucking or contracting the beauteous Emanations of joy love and gladness from the Circumference into the Center of the Spirit and so deprive it of that salutary and sprightfull irradiation of love and life by hiding of God's face which he did emit from the Center to the Circumference of the creature to recreate and rejoyce it According unto that of Moses God forsakes the wicked and hideth his face from them that much evill may befall them Or unto that of David God hiding his face from the wicked they are troubâed receiving their spirit they expire That is vexation and privative passions befall them which may also be understood of the catholick Microcosmicall wordl's spirit as of the Microcosmicall and other creatures all which have their beeing from the Macrocosmicall Spirit For when the Divine nature which animateth the Sun of heaven was displeased at the Passion of our Saviour it did Centrally withdraw his beamâs from it and it lost its beauty and became dark against the common course of nature So that the pleasant Sympathy which it produced by its presence unto the creatures beneath and in the heavens above was quite changed into Antipathy for a while This therefore was a privative passion in the heart of the great world or as a man may say a Syncope or swooning of the world when ELOAH did abstain for that season to pour forth his influence of beauty by the port of TIPHERETH Also that palpable darkness which happened in Egypt was a privative passion caused by the hiding away of God's face or by the contracting the beams of light within himself Such privative passions also are menaced unto the Sun Moon and Starrs towards the latter end of the world For if the world was made by the sending forth of God's bright Emanation for by the Spirit of the Lord the heavens were adorned as Job telleth us it followeth that by taking it away all will return again unto darkness and plain nothing or deformity even as it was before But this producing of good and Sympatheticall passions by emitting of light from the Center to the Circumference and again the effects of Antipatheticall passions which do oppose the concord and Sympathy of life is excellently described and painted forth by the due examination of the vital action in man For as there are noted to be in generall two severall active Virtues in man's spirit whereof the one is voluntary which is the Prince over the other and commandeth and moveth the inferior actions even as the Divine Angell Mitattron doth in the Primum mobile of the great world which is referred unto the Volunty and moveth by it the celestiall orbs and Elementary world so in the Microcosmicall Fabrick the first mover is that Divine mentall beam which is the head of man's soul and the other kind is involuntary because it is commanded and ruleth after the will of the intellectuall or rationall beam no otherwise then all the lower Orbs are constrained to move after the will of the mover in the Primum mobile So the vitall action in man is one of those branches which is involuntary and no otherwise subject unto the Volunty of the mental beam then the starry heaven which is the seat of life forasmuch as the Sun which is the heart of the world hath his residence there is commanded by the Emperyall Spirit Now as we find that according unto the will of the Divine essence poured out into the heavens and consequently here below as well joyfull and compassionate effects do spring from the positive and dilative property of Unity to recreate and stir up volupty and pleasure in the creature as also trist and sad effluxions proceeding from the contractive Virtue whereby God hideth the face of his benignity from the creatures and thereupon as well concupiscible as odible or irascible passions are caused in the world Even so we find it manifested as well by experience as by the observation of the learnedest in Physick and Philosophy that the vitall action which is over-ruled according unto the mind of the superior Volunty either is opened or enlarged by the dilative property of the first movers will and thereby openeth the cabinet of the heart to produce in the vitall spirit those good passions which Sympathize with life and light namely gladness hope confidence love miserecord and affability or it is contracted and thereby gathereth together also the spirits in the heart whereby is engendred in the vitall spirit such bad privative passions as do antipathise with those good ones which rejoyce and comfort the life and these passions are termed Antipatheticall because they are wholly contrary unto the nature of those which are good of which number proceeding from the hearts contraction are sadness care dispaire fear hatred anger furor bashfullness and so forth So that as by the former the spirit by dilatation did look up unto the Fountain of Light and did rejoyce to see the volupties and pleasure thereof So by the later the spirit was forced by contraction to be deprived from the vision of light and to look pâonely downward into the abysse of darkness and to participate with the dark passions thereof And by this decifering and opening therefore of the two opposit passions in the little world we may easily collect the reason and manner of them in the great world being that as eadem sit ratio parcis totius so also the passions of the great world may easily be considered by those of the little world As for example The Load-stone is in comparison of its mother earth even as man is to the whole world wherefore Man is called the Son of the world by Heâmes as Cardanus Bap. Porta D. Gilbert and others have made the Load-stone the child or son of the earth We find I say in the Load-stone all the passions as well sympatheticall as antipatheticall which do affect his mother earth for it hath his Poles with the earth and it escheweth all in conformity with the earth it flyeth from that which is contrary unto its nature And again doth sympathise with that which is its like it hath its Aequinoctialls Colures Meridians and Tropiâks as the earth hath and in conclusion it argueth not onely
travelled in their studies and learning many years floating through the wide seas of vain and scarce probable imaginations have returned home now in their old age unto the port of their infancy having their wit or understanding onely laded and charged with the poor fragments or merchandise of Ipse dixit or other mens opinions but are able to say nothing centrally upon their own knowledge So that we Christians after we have travelled and made our peregrination of life and studies in the world think it sufficient in the end to say Aristotle Plato Galen Hippocrates and in conclusion this man or that man said so Ergo it is so When Scriptures do teach us a truer Philosophy which is quite contrary unto theirs This kind of students therefore are rightly pointed at by the Apostle and numbered amongst those which are semper discentes sed ad scientiam veritatis nunquam pervenientes ever learning but never attaining unto the truth For how is it possible that the blind should rightly lead or conduct the blind Others having long steered the Helm of their Bark this way or that way for to find out the abstruse seat or habitation of this Stones vertues have scarce dashed their vessell against her rocky Island but have thereupon returned with wondrous relations of what they have by that means collected and in fine have proved their new imaginations but as superficiall as the effects of their search have been and in conclusion all have proved but conjecturall Others have so far been guided and directed in their search by the Pole-star allurements that they have stuck fast in the frozen seas and have gone no further but at the resolution of the ice they have returned with imaginary wonders conceived of magneticall Mountaines and iron Castles even by eight degrees above the Moon that is in the eighth Sphear yea and others soar above that place also Whereby we may conceive how every man according unto his chimerian-fancy imagines variety of Castles in the aire yea and above the stars also for the magneticall soul's habitation Some bâgle not a jot from the continent of the earth but imagine it to be numbered amongst those stars which have the Sun for their fixt center about the which they move perpetually so that they feigne the earth to have the form of a star which is far different from the Peripateticall form In conclusion every one hath his opinion somewhat differing from another and that you may know all this to be true I will express and recite some of their newes touching this enquiry which after their long voyage they have made in the suddy seas of their serious contemplations and registred them in their written monuments as in the Chronicles or Histories of their studious adventures or speculative and spirituall travells Amongst the which some foar upwards and call the heavens for witness to confirm their assertions some sail unto the hyperboreall mountains others unto strange northern Islands to find out the grounds of this miracle others send their spirits of enquiry down unto the bowells of the earth and find it to be the universall starry form thereof some will make the originall to spring atomically out of the stone and subject to be attracted But amongst all these rationall persons I dare scarce rank one of another kind forasmuch as this man surely is to be numbered among those Elders which have travelled in the ship of fools being that he much like an other Gryllus or as the eighth wise Master of Greece will have this vertue to be Cacomagical or the act of the devill Now amongst such as have travelled in their spirits unto heaven to find out this mystery one will have the reason for the direction of the Load-stone to be sought for out of the Tail of the celestiall Bear-star affirming that the vertue of this starry Bear doth prevail and hath dominion over this Stone and is transferred from it into the Iron and that is Marsilius Fic nus But I reply That this is not so because experience teacheth us that Iron of it self hath his Poles as well as the Load-stone and will by a due adaption seek out and by its own naturall instinct turn and direct it self unto the station of his proper Poles Of this opinion also is Petrus Peregrinus who following the rules of Frier Bacon have sought the arguments of the magneticall directions out from the Poles of the heaven Also Cardanus will have the immediate cause of the variation of this Stones vertue to spring from the rising of the star in the Bear 's Tail Lucas Gauricus is also of their opinion but he joyneth also the vertue of Saturn and Mars in this negotiation confessing withall that the main constellation in the Zodiack unto which this Stone is subject is Virgo Albertus Magnus saith that the Load-stone and Iron are directed unto the Northern starrs and followeth them no otherwise then a Plant called the Heliâropion followeth the Sun Bessardus will have his opinion apart and maketh the pole of the Zodiack the fountain of the Load-stone's Virtue Again the Conimbricensian Colledge derive the cause hereof from a part of the heaven not far from the Pole But Martin Corâesius will have this attractive Virtue to descend from a place beyond the Poles or movable heavens On the other side Gaudentius Merula tells us that the Load-stone doth draw Iron with an intent to direct it unto the North because it is an order superior unto the Iron with the constellation of the Beare I must confess that beams which are dilated are prompt to deliver their brethten which are impâisoned and to direct them to their native home But I cannot understand Meâula's mind in this sense Others make the heavens in generall the fountain of this Stone 's virtue For Paracelsus saith that it is the starrs which being full of the Load-stone's power draweth the Iron unto them c. And this should seem probable because the Iron moveth to it poles even in the absence of the Load-stone Fernelius staggers for somtimes he confesseth the cause of this Action to be abstruse and in another place he maketh the heavens to be the Author Scaliger soring nearer unto the point of verity assigneth to it also a celestiall cause unknown to himself averring that the terrestiall Load-stones are derived not from the Globes or mountaines of the starrs but from that essentiall power or essence which was their Fabricator which raigneth in that part of heaven which hangeth over the Septentrionall point And unto this opiniân doth Pâato seem to adhere where he confesseth the Magneticall essence to be a Divine power And verily they speak well but in so large a sense that this their assertion appeareth unto their disciples being rightly scanned as I saidâ ignoââm per ignoâius For so in the generall terms we may say that all things are from God We will come down from our celestiall speculations and look on the humility of such as
by the Port of TIPHERETH which importeth beauty and brightnesse into the Sun who by dilatation doth clarifie and subtiliate the spirit of the world and expelleth darkness and this action doth proceed from the center to the circumference And contrariwise there are other emanations which pour out beams of attraction or contraction as doth ELOHIM by the port Binah or Prudentia into the globe of Saturn By this therefore the Spirit of God in his prudency did tie and hang the heavens as it were lincks in a chain of gold together and did bear up the elements in their places and sucked or contracted the grosser part of the waters from the circumference unto the center and there did confirm and fix them in a dark and gross manner So that the fountain of this attractive and contractive property is in the divine Attribute ELOHIM which for reasons that I have told you before is the head of the northern property namely of cold drought opacity congelation incrassation and rest which is caused in the center because it is the terminus ad quem the point unto the which the contraction or attraction is chiefly made beyond the which there can be no further penetration And for this reason the centrall vertue which is in the bowells of the earth doth draw and alluâe all weighty things unto this point which when they attain unto the center can passe no further for it is at that centrall butt that the property of ELOHIM doth aime and the Divinity which dwelleth in the earth's center is the divine essence under the name and property of ELOHIM the seat of whose immediate emanation is the angelicall order of Thrones which belongeth unto the earth or grosser waters his magazin or treasure-house in the starry heaven is the globe of Satuân whose property for this reason is cold and dry astrictive contractive attractive and retentive for his beams contract unto the center and he is the Lord over the North-winds which are cold and dry contractive attractive sad and melancholy and it is the Planet which doth administer unto the Pole-star called by the Aegyptians Alruckaba forasmuch as it hath the nature and property of Saturn and Venus and therefore it is the principall helper and assistant in performing not onely the attractive effects of ELOHIM and for that reason doth endue the nature of Saturn which abounds in the Northern effects of ELOHIM but also it participates with the condition of Venus which is the Planet that commandeth the concupiscible faculty and for this reason it maketh a naturall coition namely it draweth with a voluptuous delight his like even as feminine matter is eagerly affected to draw or suck masculine form unto it This therefore is the reason that the earth doth attract unto it the formall shapes which descend down from above and burieth them within its womb with delight For heaven is affirmed by all true Philosophers and Cabalists to be the masculine and the earth the feminine Neither can I but consent with Lucas Gauricus the Astrologians opinion where he saith as is recited before That the star in the Tail of Ursamajor or the great Bear is President of the Load-stone as also that Saturn is the Planet which is allotted unto him and lastly that it hath an speciall relation unto the Constellation of Virgo and the rather because Virgo is that Signe of the Zodiack which possesseth the very self-same Longitude that the said star doth and for that it is of an earthly stiptick and attractive nature as also of the condition of Saturn and Venus All these reasons have been strong motives to perswade me that these are principall celestiall agents in the Northern disposition and property of this lower world and consequently in the attractive motion of the terrestriall northern Pole and every particular thereof I told you before that the eternall Unity everlastingly One in essence dividing or transforming it self by property into Trinity did shape out or describe ideally the archetypicall or internall world according unto whose example he did afterwards delineate or frame out the typicall or externall Wherefore it must follow that if the typicall or naturall world was framed after the idea in the intellectuall or mentall world then what parts or properties are made evident unto our capacity in this world were also the same in the archetype for Quod facit tale est magis tale There was no house that the Carpenter or Brick-layer builded but it was first delineated in the idea of his intellect and then drawn forth superficially in paper and so afterward put into a solid execution so also David confessed that he had the Temple which Solomon erected first drawn forth ideally by Gods finger Now when that God had in his divine counsell thus ordered and shaped out an ideal world in himself to put it in execution and as it were to make it to appear unto mans sense he emitted himself out of himself in the form of an eternall emanation called his Image which was his wisdom by which the generall world and every particular thereof was produced according unto the ideall pattern which was in it self This therefore being so and being that the divine essence can no way be divided howsoever it varieth in property it followeth that every particular beam which shineth out diversly from that catholick emanation to create differing things is one indivisible essence with the whole emanation and therefore he is said to fill all and to be all in all And that the incorruptible spirit is in all things and that he filleth the whole earth I proceed therefore thus If the created world have his shape his members and every particular property assigned unto it by that formall and vivifying world which is described and imprinted in this divine and all-sufficient and creating emanation then consequently all the members properties and natures in this world are graphically or curiously painted out in the supernaturall one it remaining nevertheless one and the same in essence And therefore as in him the catholick image of the outward world is contained so every beam or emanation that issueth from him but is not divided from him containeth the shape of the world And for this reason the wise Philosophers have said That each creature enjoyeth a proportion of the great world by which it is shaped and made in it self a little world as shall be demonstrated by the Load-stone more plainly hereafter And again man is called Omnis creatura as he doth participate of all so that his soul is said to be Ad imaginemtotius sapientiae facta omnium in se gerens similitudinem Made after the similitude of all wisdom bearing in it self the likeness of all things And therefore it is tearmed of another Omnium similitudo The likeness of all things And the reason is because it is one Unity Hereupon also it is reported to be a certain divine and individuall substance Alkindus in his Book de Radiis speaking
which he draweth or attracteth from the circumference unto the center and so congealeth inspissateth and hardeneth soft spirits by contraction and coarctation of those parts which before were porous and dilated But some will perchance reply and say How is it likely that the emanation or emission of spirits from the port of Binah under the Attribute of ELOHIM or the streaming forth of the breath or blasts from Boreas and his two collateralls can harden by contraction or suck and draw in spirits from the circumference unto the center when their emissions are straight from the north southward and make no reflexion whereby any such motion à circumferentia ad centrum should be made I answer That this is effected after a wonderfull fashion and worthy to be pondered by the choisest wits We must consider therefore in the first place that the property of the Attribute ELOHIM was before all beginning ordained to indue the negative or contractive nature of the eternall Unity's Nolunty namely of darkness for when God will not shew the light of his countenance he reflecteth his light in himself that is he withdraweth it from the circumference to the center and leaveth onely darkness unto the creatures This property of God is antipatheticall unto such parts of the world as also unto all such creatures as have their life from a naturall heat which heat had its beginning from Gods benevolent emanation that is from the act of unity by an emission or dilatation from the center unto the circumference I mean from unity into multitude It followeth therefore that though the emission of winds from the north be streight yet their essentiall property proceeding immediately from Gods angelicall organ is contractive and attracting from the circumference unto the center seeing that it is an emission which by the divine Spirits emanation and action in the nature of ELOHIM is cold dry coagulative or congealing and apt to rest and is therefore antipatheticall and oppugnant unto the disposition of the air forasmuch as it is hot and moist and consequently is animated by the dilative action which the catholick spirit sendeth or breatheth out of the celestiall Sun and other vivifying stars as are Jupiter and Venus And for this cause it followeth that when the Boreall spirits are sent forth into the aire it must needs succeed that at the antipatheticall contract of these cold spirits the naturall heat or life of the aire flyeth or with-draweth it self from its circumference unto its center and so partly by that contractive motion in it self caused per antiperistasin or by reason of the antipatheticall occurrence or meeting of his contrary and partly by mingling of a new terrestriall form it is congealed and falleth to the earth as if it were dead because unmovable in the form of snow hail frost and ice In like manner we see that the aery life in other creatures whose formall beeing consisteth of Gods dilating property is forced to fly from the circumference unto the center leaving the externall parts chil cold and apt to a deadly congelation or lethall repose which we observe not onely in animal creatures but also in vegetables seeing that their blood as I may tearm it or vitall suck is congealed by the winter and northern cold and is as it were liveless untill by the vivifying and dilative sorce of the ensuing Vernall or Springly and Australl vertue it is resolved and melted again and the severe tye or icy knot of the northern nature undone For this reason therefore you may discern that there is but one catholick element which is partly subject and obnoxious unto the privative and dark contracting and consequently attracting property of Gods Spirit and partly capable to endue his positive and light dilating disposition and that this common subject is the spirit or aire of the sublunary world which by lesse inspissation or contraction caused by the west winds is made water and by more compression and constriction caused by the northern and winter blasts becommeth snowy or icy earth And contrariwise by lesse dilatation and subtiliation is made aery or vaporous caused by the spring season and south wind and by a greater rarefaction and exaltation it is made fire by the dominion of such spirits as are sent out from the east and summers heat and both these main two-fold divided properties belong unto one and the same Spirit as is before related Verily this common demonstration can deceive no man being that the very unreasonable creatures are moved by a naturall inclination either to sympathize and rejoyce with the clemency and comfort of the one property or to fly from or eschew the severer assaults of the other which do antipathize with their nature But to our main business It is manifest by that which is already said that the northern breath is contractive attractive inspissative and apt to darkness immobility and rest and that the south-winde or rather the winde from the Aequinoctiall is contrary in nature unto it as being ready to undo all that the north winde did effect namely to dissolve the congealed aire which was made snow frost hail ice into water and water into aire to make transparent that which was dark and render thin that which was before thick And therefore between these properties there is no more sympathy then I have shewed you to be between the Load-stones Aequinoctiall and the Pole And again that both these opposite natures proceed and spring from one and the same divine and catholick spirit which operateth all in all every where and consequently as well in earth as in heaven this testimony of the true Philosophy doth manifestly confirm and import Deo emittente sermonem suum in terram quam celerrimè excurrit qui nives emittit sicut lanam pruânam quasi cineres dispergit dejicit gelu tanquam frusta coram frigore ejus quis consistat Emittit verbum suum liquefacit ista simul ac efflat ventum suum effluunt aquae God sendeth forth his word it runneth forth most swiftly upon the earth who produceth snow like wool and spreadeth abroad the frost like ashes and casteth down the ice as it were pieces Who is able to resist against his cold He sendeth forth his word and melteth or dissolveth all these so soon as he breatheth forth his wind or Spirit the congealed waters begin to flow and move Whereby it appeareth that the Word or Spirit of God congealeth by one property and dissolveth by another and consequently as God is all one in essence so it is one and the same Spirit that effecteth these four-fold alterations in one catholick spirit of the world which are by the Ancients called distinct Elements because they cuold never as yet throughly determine what was the essentiall form of the Elements But if they had well considered the four Elements of the which they spake so much and as it should seem understood essentially but little or had they well conceived that
heaven and earth were made of water and by water by the Word as Sacred Philosophy teacheth us then they would have known also that the common substantiall Subject of them all was but one created watery spirit also that this spirits four-fold information was effected by one increating formall essence or Divine Word acting and informing that universall Element by a four-fold emanation so that the will of one creating Spirit effected by and working in four Angells of an opposit nature maketh disposeth or changeth every day this one spirituall watery Subject into this or that Element according unto the Will of the Creator All which is evidently demonstrated by the wether-glass For the aire therein inclosed doth by contraction or dilatation convert it self into the form of any of the Elements and is altered therein according as the nature of the Macrocosmicall blast or wind that bloweth Now whereas it may be objectively demanded From whence then came the earth and waters that are resident perpetually here beneath I answer That they are the effects which the winds by the Will of God or ELOHIM RUACH did originally produce and these were framed first out of the aire namely by thickning it by one degree into water and ingrossing it by another into solid and fixt earth as it appeared by the third daies Creation where it was said that Aridum apparuerit ex aquis Dry-land did appear out of the waters But the Divine Philosopher St. Paul doth confirm all this where he affirmeth that we ought to believe by Faith that those things which are visible were first of things invisible and unseen And again if that the two lower bodies did not resolve themselves by little and little though insensibly into aire it would not be possible that the earth or the water could hold that abundance of Water Stones Brimstone caused of Lightnings and such like which falleth from the aire and yet we see that neither the aire nor water nor earth are at any time found bigger then their naturall accustomed proportions By this therefore I have sufficiently expressed unto you the attractive and contractive property of the Northern Pole in the aire which inferreth thus much that as the Northern blasts are enemies unto life because they contract from the circumference to the Center which is contrary unto the act of man's life therefore all things that are reduced into a chill cold and Northern property be they airy watery or earthy they draw strongly unto them as it is proved by the weather-glass For the included aire being animated by the effects of a strong and obstinate Northern wind sucketh and draweth the waters on high namely from the Aequinoctiall point of the glass unto the Center of the North Pole which is assigned by the head of the mattras and also by the same reason congealed spirits in any earthly substance do suck or draw from the exteriour to the interior as we observe that Bole Armoniack sucketh moysture unto it and also all other earth when it is throughly dry and that in his own naturall condition namely because it being of the quality of the North it sucketh and draweth strongly a watery moysture but this is by reason of his drought the attraction therefore in the Load-stone is otherwise For it having the essentiall nature of its mother Earth and the virtue of the North in his Pole draweth the masculine Sulphureous spirits out of Iron greedily and that with a feminine appetite by reason of the propinquity and likeness of one nature unto another The like regard also hath the Pole star unto the Load-stone as the Load-stone hath unto the Iron which is his like For Natura Natura suá gaudet laetatur Nature is glad and rejoyceth in her like nature as Empedocles doth truly testifie But both the Iron and the Load-stone are of one myne one vein and one nature seeing that both of them are of an earthly and boreall disposition and therefore the Load-stone and his formall included spirits being more encombred with superfluities then the refined Iron doth as it were either for their assistance namely to be delivered from that incombrance draw unto them their like out of the purified Iron or Steel by a wonderfull appetite and in this action suck unto it the Iron who as unwilling to leave its formall spirit doth follow by a naturall continuity the motion of its formall beams or else for comfort and consolation yea and formal refection's cause no otherwise then the cold materiall female doth the more formall male to be refreshed by the masculine seed or sulphureous Form which they both received from that generall Agent 's ideal Northern nature that sustaineth and animateth the earth I will prove it by a similitude but in a vegetable substance We observe that the grain of wheat not participating with the nature of the earth that is so long as it is above ground and not sown attracteth not his like from heaven but when it is committed unto the earth and the earth by corruption hath unloosed his bands his spirits suck down from above the Sun-beams and celestiall influences of his fixt constellation and erratick Planet in quantity that thereby it may be delivered and rise again by the celestiall beams of his own nature that descend from heaven and principally from the Sun so that like being added to his like becommeth the stronger in ascention For experience teacheth us that the celestiall included form or vitall beam creepeth out of the earth upwards tending by all his appetite unto its ethereal native home from whence it came but because the Element of fire is contiguous unto the aethereal spirit therefore it will not permit these aethereall or sunny-beams to ascend without it and because the aire is a near-cleaving and continued neighbour unto the fire therefore it will not permit the fire to ascend without his presence and again the water challengeth the self-same priviledge namely to ascend with the aire and lastly the earth will not let the water move upwards without her company as being next of her race and therefore will have the self-same prerogative with the other three But because the earth is ponderous and cannot ascend she holdeth it fast below and will not permit the spirit to sore higher and so those beamy spirits which seemed to descend for the freedom of their brethren are by these Elementary ties or rather the four-fold disposition of one Element detained and made to hover and hang in the aire where insteed of flying upwards to heaven they do multiply into many graines And I have noted by mine own experience namely by anatomising of corn with the fiery knife of distillation that the female in corn which sucketh down the celestiall influences of the like nature is a pure volatil Salt of a refined or aereall terrestrial condition but rich in celelestiall fire and therefore made volatil and airy by the union of both extreames so that it is this female
bodies appear to be dead yet shall the naturall Magician know that in his flesh and bones there abideth admirable spirits which operate no less wonders yea and far greater then those of the Load-stone And therefore I would have each self-conceited person that are so apt to envy against the Mysteries of God in nature to learn more discretion and experience before they so vain-gloriously do judge the strange and marvellous effects of man's royall nature and pronounce so boldly without hesitation or sticking that there are no spirits in any amputated members or portion in man no nor in the dead carcass as Casman and Foster aver Nay that the Devill himself can not conferre any into them or it For I would have both them and other temerarious and bold Judges to know that as the Load-stone though appearing a dead mass is observed to suck and draw Centrally unto it with a lively appetite the beams and body of the Load-stone and that all and every member divided from the Load stone will do the like in its proportion Even so I can prove it and confirm it by an ocular demonstration that by a right application of the fleshy parts of a dead man's carcass unto a live man if the application be long it will make the live man faint and feeble the which nevertheless a while after the materiall or corporall Magneticall Mummy be removed will receive again his wonted strength Moreover lest this relation may seem to Mr. Foster and the rest of his Cabalisticall Sect a figment or Chimerious fancy forasmuch as he may alleadge that the application of the thing may work in the live man's imagination and cause him to perswade himself that he is faint and that without any true ground and that there can be no externall effect to prove it I answer That it will suck or draw forth of the live man the spirituall Mummy in a visible manner For by the coldness of the part the spirituall Mummy so extracted will condense it self on the superficies of the corporall Magnet even as aire into a cloud or a cloud into Manna so that it may be gathered and converted into a very pretious and wholsome Panacaea or generall medicine if the party out of which it is extracted be sound and of a wholsome complexion as contrariwise it may prove as corrupt and Antipatheticall a medicine where the body out of which it is drawn is infected with any venomous or contagious disease namely French Pox Plague Leprosie and such like as shall be more at large expressed in the next book Now the reason of this act and operation in the dead man's Magnetick parts is that as when the body was alive it was animated by light and enjoyed all the properties of light to wit it was hot active moveable dilative and in conclusion of an Aequinoctiall or Southern condition so that naturall fire being extinguished it indueth the properties of darkness for it is mortified by cold and is congealed potentiall fix or immobil contractive and in fine of the rigid zone's and frozen Pole's nature So that whereas before whilst it lived it did emit his beams from the Center to the Circumference and did enjoy the blessings of God's vivifying and positive Emanation now it indueth the condition of his contracting privative and mortifying Emanation And yet I would not that wisemen should think that because the lively body is turned into a dead carcass therefore it is void of all spirits of life being that Scriptures confirm that the incorruptible spirit is in all things and consequently as well in those that are dead as in those that are alive For this incorruptible spirit according unto the variety of his property in the four winds is sometime in motion from the center of the thing in which it is unto the circumference for so he vivifyeth and causeth the creature to act and live by a southern or aequinoctiall faculty so I say it operateth from the center of the celestiall sun to the animation of inferiour creatures namely by evocation of their incorruptible spirits which were repelled by the winter or Boreal cold into their center from their center unto their circumference as it appeareth by such vegetables which seem for that reason as it were dead all the winter season because the spirit of life leaves and forsakes the circumference of the plant and betaketh it self unto the center to retire from the assaults of cold which is its opposite as far as it can But when it perceiveth its fountain of light to approach and to send them forth succours they begin by little and little to spring again from their center unto their circumference and being united unto the externall beams which are come unto their aide they expel dark privation and congealing cold from out their tabernacles and do proceed to operate and act unto vegetation and multiplication as also we see in the corn which is buried in the earth Even so I say and no otherwise the Load-stone's Martiall nature being originally by a Saturnine spirit contracted into his center is exagitated and stirred up and with like joy doth suck unto it the formall beams of the Iron from whose Martiall sulphureous spirit they did originally spring And even so also the spirits of the dead body being by mortifying cold driven from the circumference unto the center and resting there at repose without any action maketh the body and every part thereof fixt and unmovable but when they are applyed unto the lively circumference of their species or kind they spring forthwith and in their watery spirits towards the circumference as if they were almost famished in the center and rejoyce to meet with their like in the live man which doth as it were dilate it self and issue forth of the pores in a streaming manner for their assistance and they being partly congealed in the center of the dead member do with a greedy appetite suck them in with the spirituall Mummy which is their vehicle towards their centrall abiding to endue it with life as it was before and to recreate it with their presence but the unctuous spirituall Mummy being full of bright spirits resting upon the superficies of the live man inspissated with the cold and mortifying contact of the dead flesh or part of the carcase is forthwith congealed and may be reserved for a private use But can we I pray you better confirm this than with the contractive restrictive or congelative vertue of the fumous excrescence issuing from the salt contained in the dead mans bones for by applying it I mean the Uznea or masse which groweth on the dead mans bones unto the irruptions of blood or haemorrhoigy in a living man the warm blood as it were moved by an antipatheticall affection returneth back again and is denyed passage by the congealing and binding operation of these northern effected excrescences But leaving these conclusions touching the dead mans magnet and its vertues for a while what will
you say and there may be a microcosmicall Magnes or Load-stone which may be selected and gathered out of the living man without any detriment or prejudice unto his life whose vertues both in regard of its monstrous and unnaturall generation being composed of unlike parents and being compacted of two substances different in kinde as the Mule is namely of an earthly Mercury and cholerick sulphureous human spirits as also in his manner of attraction of the spirituall Mummy out of the living man yea and what is far more admirable by the transplantation of it either to the animal or vegetable kinds it worketh after a strange fashion either sympathetically or antipathetically I know that these newes will streight way be esteemed by some who are apter to judge amiss than rightly to scan to be diabolicall And why Marry because they passe the sphear of their capacities And yet I know this to be true and know them which have put it in execution not without the wonderment of many yea I know this Microcosmicall Magnet and the use thereof the which when it is tryed by wise-men and well pondered by them will appear as naturall as the effects thereof will seem strange and the reason abstruse But if that which I have said before be well understood and seriously pondered the cause hereof will not seem so hidden as that it should exceed the limits of nature Of this kind of magneticall action as well sympatheticall as antipatheticall I purpose by Gods grace to discourse more at large in the third or last Book of this Treatise or History CHAP. V. In this Chapter is expressed the secret cause why and manner how as well the Microcosmicall as Macrocosmicall Load-stone doth operate ad distans and thââ unto an unknown dimension or unlimited intervall MR. Foster hath sufficiently expressed the shallowness of his Philosophy where he averreth That because the light of the Sun and Stars cannot penetrate the thick clowds and opake bodies Ergo the formall essence of a man is not able to pierce and penetrate directly in his course without being stopped or hindred by Castles Hills Woods and such like But had he been a little more profoundly seen or immersed in the bowels of true Philosophy he would have known that the Etheriall sperm or Astralicall influences are of a far subtiler condition than is the vehicle of visible light Yea verily they are so thin so mobile so penetrating and so lively that they are able and also do continually penetrate and that without any manifest obstacle or resistance even unto the center or inward bosom of the earth where they generate mettals of sundry kinds according unto the condition of the influence as the antient Philosophers do justifie The subtlety therefore of this spirit Plotinus according unto Plato's minde doth fully expresse in these words Tanta est Aetheris tenuitas ut omnia corpora penetret universi tam supera quam infera cum ipsis conjunctus aut implicitus ea major a minime reddat quia spiritus iste interior cuncta opera eorum mole minima nullum prorsus augmentum recipiente alit atque conservat The tenuity of the Aether is such that it doth penetrate all the bodies of the world as well above in heaven as below on earth and this heavenly substance being joyned and mixed with them it maketh them not a jot the bigger for all that because this inward spirit doth nourish and preserve all bodies without adding any thing unto their weight or encreasing of their substance And by reason of this heavenly natures purity or subtlety the heaven or coelum is called by the wiser Philosophers and mysticall Poets the Husband unto the earth which they tearm Vesta yea and the very stars of heaven among the which the Copernicans ranck the earth are likened unto his wife being that they are extracted out of the aetheriall substance no otherwise than Eve was out of the side of Adam for they are defined to be the thickest portions of their orbs by reason whereof they are accounted as the members of heaven and consequently there is nothing so thin subtle and piercing as is that spirit from whence by condensation they are derived This is the cause that the true Alchymists do tell such wonders of their Coelum which they call their Quintessence arguing that by reason of its purity and subtlety it is able to penetrate all things And the Philosophers say that it is their nature which they define to be Vis quaedam rebus infinita omnia permeans entia cunctas generans res easque augens alensque ex similibus similia procreans A certain infinite power in things which penetrateth and passeth through all things ingendring every thing and augmenting and nourishing them and procreating like things of their like And verily if you will be pleased to consider really what I have spoken before you will remember how I told you that the angelicall vertue proceeded from the archetypicall emanations and are the types of the divine Idea Again that the aetheriall spirit was filled with the angelicall influences which had their essentiall root from God So that in verity it is not the starry light which penetrateth so deeply or operateth so universally but that eternall centrall spirit with which his divine and unresistable essence penetrateth all things both in heaven above and in the earth and waters beneath And all this the mysticall Philosophers seemed to verifie though darkly when they called Saturn which was the father also of Jupiter or the head of the catholick emanation the father of Coelum or Heaven arguing thereby that in the emission of the spirit of wisdom he produced created or informed the heavens according to that of Job Coelum ornasti Spiritu tuo Thou didst adorn the heavens by thy Spirit And David Verbo Domini fimati sunt coeli Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by his Spirit each vertue thereof And St. Peter Coeli erant prius terra ex aquis per aquas existentes verbo Dei The heavens were first and the earth of water and by the waters existing by the word of God It is certain therefore that the whole essentiall act of the aetheriall spirit is the divine emanation or the bright incorruptible Spirit of the Lord and therefore of necessity that spirit which is worthy to be the immediate vehicle of so unresistible and emanating influence must be conformable to it in purity and subtility which is the informer who is said by the wise Solomon to be Omni re mobilior subtilior attingere ubique propter suam munditiam innovare omnia implere orbem terrarum To be the most active and moveable and subtill of all things and to penetrate and pass everywhere by reason of his purity in essence and to renew and refresh all things and to fill the
spirits forcibly because vis unita est fortior But when the Iron is planted at a further distance namely in C the greatest portion of the basis of the spirituall triangular-emission passeth by the Iron without any streight encounter and so his effect or vertue is made too weak to draw so ponderous a thing at so far a distance But because his celestiall star doth meet and embrace his emissions and doth fortifie them therefore it is evident that the pole-star doth act in the Load-stone to stir up and animate his like vigour in it and the Load-stone being so vivified doth correspond unto the action of the star penetrating by all one sympatheticall and symphoniacall consent even to the center of his fountain which is easily effected being they are all of one essence Do we not perceive this by an externall apprehension to be true when we observe the northern pole of the Load-stone in a kind of naturall duty to regard and behold with a stedfast constancy the pole-star which is so far off from the body of the Load-stone though near and conjoyned in the beamy affection of one essentiall spirit That this is so we may perceive by the needle touched Do we not gather by Astronomicall practise that the distance of these two bodies I mean the celestiall star and the terrestriall stone is so great as there cannot be esteemed a greater extension in our regard namely seeing that the space is between the starry heaven or eighth sphear in which the pole-star is and the earth And yet we find them to concur and meet in aspect and to operate and sympathize with each other What! and must this abstruse spirits action be limited by any phantasticall and imaginary sphear of activity figured out by persons little skilled and too too superficiall in the occult treasure and arcane or centrall actions of God in nature In like manner there must needs be a sympatheticall concurrence of occult beamy light betwixt the Iron and the Load-stone because they have both centrall stars or beamy influences of one nature and from one and the same fountaine whose occult emanations pass God knoweth at how far a distance although the effects do accidentally appear unto our sense no more than the celestiall influences which descend from heaven upon the Minerals Vegetables and Animals Nevertheless if we will believe the relations of History we are told by Serapio O aus Magnus and the Moors that as well in the Indies as towards the northern pole there are Rocks of this Stone which suck and draw ships unto them at a far distance and pull the iron nailes out of them which is a cause as they say that they fasten together the plancks and boards of their boats and ships with wooden pins And again what shall we say unto the opinion of Fracastoâius a learned Physitian and a well grounded Philosopher who blusheth not after a tedious enquiry made by him in the Load-stones secret disposition to conclude that the reason why the Load-stone directeth his pole unto the north is because that in that angle of the terrestriall world there are mountaines of Load-stone which do draw Iron unto it Verily it is a great distance that this magnetick Rock is able to operate upon the Iron if that were true namely from the Aequinoctiall unto the frozen point of the North-pole for unto the Aequinoctiall line the Mariners make use of the Needle to find out what altitude they are in And although some do think this strange yet for all that many learned men seen as well in Geography and composing of Sea-Maps as delineating the description of the world do firmly adhere unto this opinion Whereby we see that wise and learned men do confirm that the limited sphear of activity ascribed unto the Load-stone by the Peripatetick Philosophers and Christian School-men of his sect is vain and frivolous But to come and ascend from the Minerall unto the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms we observe that there is an admirable relation between the fixed stars and the planets and by the same reason also between plant and plant yea and between the plant and the mineral and between the animal and the plant As for example Touching thâ sympatheticall relation we find in the first place that the beams of the herb and flower Heliotropium and that of Succory do sympathetically meet and joyne themselves and embrace lovingly the beams and influences of the Sun for they are observed to turn and winde about even in the most clowdy day at the diurnall motion of him And contrariwise in the night time by reason of his absence they contract their flowers as being enemies unto the dark and cold night as Mizaldus affirmeth Also the Oynion as Plutarch doth testifie waxeth green and groweth when the Moon decreaseth and again it withereth when she encreaseth There is also a great sympatheticall reference between the Crab and Oyster and the Moon for when the Moon encreaseth they encrease in their succe or juice again when she decreaseth they also do decrease in their substance Moreover touching the eradiation of one plant unto another it is noted that the Rue otherwise tearmed Herbâgâace doth entertain with exceeding great friendship the Fig-tree insomuch that it never groweth or prospereth better than under that tree and that there is a notable sympathy betwixt their natures it is evident because they smell and taste much alike Also if the Myrtle be planted near the Pomgranat-tree it maketh him more fertill and fruitfull and it self more odoriferous and each of them rejoyce at one anothers presence and society and indeed both of them agree in a nature being cold dry and astringent Moreover to express the exceeding sympatheticall relation which is between the Vegetable nature and the Mineral let us but mark diligently the occult property of the Hazel-tree For if at certain times there be forked twigs cut from it and each twig of the forked branch be held in each hand so that the forked place where they joyne stand directly upward and as it were perpendicularly And with this kind of posture of the stick the party that holdeth it pass over a mountain that hath in its bowells some riâh minerall or mettalline veine when as the man walketh right over the place of the mine the perpendicular twist will forcibly and that whether the bearer will or no bow downward towards the earth but if there be no mine or veine it will not move That this is true my self can witness and more than a thousand which have seen the effect and will justifie thus much for even among us certain Germaines performed the like fear in the Silver-mines at Wales and in Germany it is a thing commonly exercsied in those mountains of Saxony and Hungary where there are mines of Silver and Gold Besides lest my assertion should be of little faith among the incredulous I would have them know that George Agricola and Munster do avow
the same to be true Lord what a stir would the enemy of the weapon-salve make to behold such a sight What! an unsensible branch of a tree consisting of two twigs onely to discover hidden mettal and to penetrate with his invisible beams above six hundred fathom in the solid earth and that quite through craggy rocks and stony veines What will they say is it possible that a vegetable which is less active movable and hot then is the animal should perform this act when it is impossible as they say that the animal's beamy influence or emanation should pass or co-operate at any far distance with his like by reason of castles rocks woods hills fogs and such like Surely they will conclude that this wonder must be done by the act of the devill or not at all For being an animal spirit cannot effect such an union in aspect at so far a distance how should the sensless vegetable move and encline of it self c Such will their censures be I know who are apt to judge before the case be known when in verity it is that proportioned harmony in all these lower creatures by which they do correspond unto the celestiall bodies or rather to the divine influences in them which spring from one capitall catholick and eternall emanation who infuseth immediatly his vertuous beams as well of sympathy as antipathy into each starry globe and they again do pour them down into this elementary world causing a harmonious and symphoniacall consent betwixt both regions And therefore Alkindus saith Omnia quae fiunt in hoc mundâ contingunt in munâo elementorum à coelesti harmonia sunt translata All things that are effected in this world and do happen in the elementary world proceed from the coelestiall harmony It is therefore certain that the metallick beams concurring in their ascent with the beamy influences of the forked rood do cause that portion in the hazel roods twist to move downwards no otherwise than the Loadstone is noted to draw Iron or another Load-stone most strongly by the pole I know it will seem strange unto these kind of men to hear that metallick substances in their veines should send forth beams but if they were as well conversant with the lively natures of the mineralls as the minerall men of Tiroll in Germany and in Hungary are they would be assured by ocular experience that at times they send forth thunder and lightning in the earth which appeareth most dangerous unto the workmen so that except they get out of the mine when they observe the signes they suffer But to proceed There is also noted and marked to be a kind of antipatheticall aspect between the creatures here below as well as between some speciall stars both erratick and fixt above and also one creatures beamy aspect is known to abhorre the other So that in their applications of beams the one is observed to eschew and decline or reflex from the other with a kind of irascible formidable or odible and hatefull aversion Miraldus telleth us that the Cowcumber being as it were terrified at the noise of the Thunder is often changed The Onion was refused by the Egyptians to be eaten because it was noted by them to vary from all other growing things for as all herbs saving it did increase as the Moon did So onely the Onion did contrariwise receive all his detriment and dimmution when that star did increase in his Light There is an Antipathy between the Lightning and the Fig-tree and the hide of the Sea-calf and therefore these are never struck by it Also there is known to be exceeding hatred between the reed and the fern or brake insomuch that if either of the roots bruised be laid on the stalks or branches of the other it casteth it off from it with a scornfull hatred Of all beasts also the Elephant hateth and detesteth the little Mouse so that if any of the food which is administred unto them be eaten or touched by Mice they will abhorre and loth it forthwith The like Antipathy is noted to be between the natures of the Catablepa and the Weasell for the Weasells are as poyson unto them The Cock doth Antipathetically abhorre the Fox All Snakes and Adders do fear and fly from the Ashen-tree insomuch that they are carefull to keep themselves as well out of the forenoon as afternoon shadow of it Again Diascorides reporteth that the âaxus or Ewe-tree is so venomous that if any one do but sit under it he is hurt thereby and often times it costs him his life And Coelius Rodiginus saith that the Adder is affraid of a naked man It is well known and confirmed by many Authors that the Catablepa being but a very small Animal killeth with the beam of his aspect a thousand paces off from him Also one blear-eyed person is able to infect another afar off by the secret emission of his contagious beames We see that Onions draw teares from a person ad distans by the emission of its bâams Again we observe that as like being wholsome and sound doth commonly by a Sympatheticall affection embrace his like So also like being corrupted doth Antipathetically and that ad dâstans poyson and infect his like as we see that a blear-eyed or Ophthaliniacall person infecteth no member of another person but his eye and one of Pâysicall ulcered and consumed Lungs woundeth onely the Lungs of another and that ad distans and by the application or concurrency of the two beams of one nature being Antipathetically affected and impoysoned But to return again unto our Magnetick Scope which is as well spirituall as corporall I say there is such a spirituall respect of Sympathy betwixt creature and creature that the beloved doth allure and draw unto it after an admirable manner of attraction the spirit of the Lover as I my self have seen marvellously effectd by a water-Spannell of mine own in France For as I rode post to Lions and by the way had lost my vallise or male in which my Letters of Exchange were and seeking to return back again I found my post-horse of that quality that he would by no means recoile and go back again Then I was forced to send my dog back to look out and after he had been absent half an houre he brought the bouget in his mouth which is strange considering that I was on horse-back and that he could not discern any footing of mine and yeâ nevertheless he came to the bouget which I desired and finding by it a sent of me he brought it again But that I may come more pertinently to the business A friend of mine being in my company lost his dog in the night-time we came into a private house where he never was before and being in a chamber the doore being fastned about half an hour after the dog came and did violently scrape and bounce at the dore to find out his beloved whereby it
is evident that the beams of his affection did in the absence of his Master not forsake his Master's beams which guided him unto the unknown place so directly that he found him out Is it not also a wonderfull Sympatheticall Emanation that the Pigeon called the Carrier doth make unto the place or dove-coat wherein he was bred and fostered Which for that reason it doth so dearely affect and love that though he be conveied 500 miles from his noursery in an enclosed basket yet he will fly directly back again with a letter about his neck Which is an evident Argument that it is justly and straightly guided by the emitted beam of his affection which is contiued after a spirituall manner with the place it doth most delight in What shall we say in two persons whereof the one doth love and affect without all reason and therefore prosecureth with the beam of his affection his beloved though she or he altogether either abhorring or neglecting and not corresponding with the like beams of affection doth not reciprocally embrace but rather refuse and avert the beams of his or her Love But where two do joyntly affect by a Sympatheticall Union there the action will spiritually be furthered at a far greater distance as when two starrs of heaven send out their beams semidiametrally and concur in one harmonious point of affections Nay verily as we behold being taught by experience that there will be a great Antipathy between the slain bodie 's contracted spirit and the murtherer insomuch that the lively spirit of the dead being contracted after death by cold into its Center doth through an angry Antipatheticall passion move again from the Center unto the Circumference as it were to resist the deadly enemy and doth cause the congealed blood to flow and move as if it would meet with and assault afresh the murtherer's emitted spirit So we must surely confess that where one spirit concurreth in Sympathy with another of the like nature the power must be the greater and the action performed at a larger distance as is evidently expressed in the abstruse operation which is in the Magnetick cure effected between the weapon or ointment and the wounded person of which I have spoken so much in that hot encounter which hath been between Mr. Foster and my self in the Book where I was provoked to squeeze his Sponge and farther do purpose in this present Treatise to enlarge my self a little better touching that point by way of a comparison made between the Magneticall virtue in Man and that of the Load-stone The Argument of Mr. Foster consisteth upon the impossibility of that operating virtue at so large a distance as is propounded by some to be effected by the Ointment or rather of the lively blood's Emanation and emitting forth of his exciting spirituall beames or influences unto the dead or congealed blood which impossibility if it were true indeed in the Animal kingdom which is the most dilative and less bound with bodily bonds I wonder that it should not be far more impossible and unfezible in the mineral bodies by reason of the firm and close solidity of them which are therefore apter to retain their influentiall beams then the bodies which are made lax and porous Besides all this the Animal body is hot and fiery and consequently the readier to dilate and send forth his virtue the further but the minerall is cold and therefore the less active and powerfull in sending forth his beams And yet for all this experience teacheth us that the Loadstone looketh towards the North-star sendeth forth his spirituall aspect unto it as also the star doth at the like distance send out his beams unto his Northern minerall mark at an unmeasurable distance as is said before which being so why should not I beseech you the Animall star derived from his celestiall Fountain send out also his beams unto the frozen and chill blood in his unctuous earth I mean the Weapon-salve or unto the blood 's invisible spirit sucked into the Iron by his attractive Sulphureous nature For experience teacheth us that though no corporall blood be found on the Iron yet if the place of the weapon that wounded the person be anointed it cureth by a like Sympatheticall aspect For country-Chirurgions have made tryall when they durst not search the wound with the Probe and found by experience namely by putting the weapon into the fire that the part of the sword or weapon will discover it self which wounded the party being that it will change colour from the rest whereby they perceive how deep the wound is by the observation of that part of the weapon which did penetrate And therefore this is an evident argument of the ingression of the bloody spirits into the wounding instrument and consequently it argueth that there are essentiall spirits which emanate or issue forth of the blood quite forsaking the body whereby also it is expressed against Mr. Foster that if the grosser spirits of the blood are able to pierce the close-grained steel it s finer and more subtil spirits are able to penetrate without any resistance all other things in manner of an influence But wee 'l approach a little nearer to our purpose and will remove ouâ argument from the minerall demonstration unto the vegetable that thereby we may express like by like in our animal subject I will therefore insist upon the Grain of Wheat which being dead and putrified in the earth is suscitated by the beamy influences of the Sun For like doth draw his like by a magnetick power and like rejoyceth in his like and like is suscitated and revived and quickened or evoked from his rest or center by his evoking and alluring or embracing like and by this means the beamy spark or atom of sunny influence in the grain being idle and doing nothing in the center thereof is stirred up by his externall like to act and operate his own delivery out of the elementall mire or the slimy band of the elementary compound And therefore as it was before contracted from the externall cold into the center it is now by the presence of fresh solary irradiation from above exsuscitated as is were from death unto life and so by the assistance of those celestiall beams it passeth beyond the limits of the corrupted grain and soareth above the earth and seeketh by all means to ascend unto his native region from whence it descended but being cumbered in his ascent by the sublunary substance of the importunate elements which enclose it on every side it is beset with the volatil salt of the aire and insteed of mounting into his desired place it is contented to multiply in his kind and to have companions namely other graines procreated like it self In like manner the microcosmical Sun of life raigning as Scriptures do teach us in the blood doth emanate and send out his spirituall beams which are inseparable by continuity joyned unto and continued with the spirit of the congealed
abolished being no man can justly determine of the extension of the solar influence of whose nature the beam in the grain doth participate no otherwise than one small Load-stone cut out of a great one hath his parts or poles and circles in every respect corresponding with those of the great one Man hath a most subtle influence or vivifying spirit of life sent down and infused into him by divine inspiration in which is the property of the four winds as the Prophet Ezekiel telleth us and consequently the Idea of every nature but the essence of this spirit is indivisible and therefore the vivifying spirit sent from it into man hath all the properties of the spirit that infused it no otherwise than a lesser Load-stone cut out of the greater hath in every respect the property of the greater And consequently the spirit of the one is no more divided from the other âhan the Sun-beams can be divided from the Sun But the Spirit of the Lord filleth all things as Solomon hath it and maketh the dimension of his operation in man more or less according unto his will and therefore will admit no such phantasticall limited sphear of activity as the wisdom of mans invention I mean the subject of the pagans Philosophy which is folly before God would inferr For this reason therefore Hermes saith Anima mente Deoque plena intima mundi replet complectitur extima vitamque haec omnibus suggerit The soul or vitalâ spirit being full of divinity filleth the world and embraceth externall things and this giveth life unto all things without it giveth life unto the great and perfect animal the world and breathing unto each thing that liveth within it And again elsewhere Naturá incorporeâ nihil est capacius nihil velocius nihil validius aut potentius Sic iterum à te ipso incipiens meditare atque animae tuae praecipito quae citius quam praeciples evolabit Jubeto inquam ut transeat in Oceanum illa priusquam âusseris ibi erit indenbi nunc est nequaquam discedens Jubeto iterum ut in coelrm volet nullis pennis egebit nihil ejus obstruet cursui non solis incendium non aetheris amp iâudo non vertigo coelorum non syderum antiquorum corpora quin penetrans omnia ad supernum usque corpus transcendat Quinetiam sivolueris Globos omnes transire coelârum quodque supeâius est investigare id quoque tibi licebit Adverte quanta sit animae âuae potestas quantae celeritas There is nothing more capable than the incorporeall or spirituall nature nothing more swift and quick or nimble nothing more strong or powerfull Again Beginning thus with thy self do thou meditate and command thy soul what thou pleasest and it will flye sooner than thou commandest Command it I say that it pass into the Ocean sea and it will be there before thou bidst it Again command it that it flye into heaven and it will want no wings nothing will hinder her or stop her in her course no not the heat of the Sun nor the vast largeness of the heavenly or aethereall vault nor the wheeâing about of the starry orbs nor yet the bodies of the other starrs but peircing all these it passeth quite through even unto the highest body Moreover and if thou wilt have her to pass âver the celestiall Globes and to search out whatsoever is above thou maist do it also Mark therefore how great the power of the Soul is and how swift and quick it is in its execution c. thus far the wise Hermes By both which places we may observe first that the Soul in generall and therefore in particular is full of Divinity and consequently that it is this Divine Essence that worketh in this soul all in all in the world and every member thereof as the Apostle saith and therfore the said Philosopher in the place before Anima mânte Deoque pâena c. Secondly that this Divinity in the catholick created spirit filleth all things in an Angelicall existence that is indueth the mantle of the vast worldâs spirit And this agreeth with Scripture which saith that Spiritus Dei implet omnia The Spirit of the Lord fâlleth all things Spiritus incorruptibilis inest omni rei The incorruptibe Spirit is in all things Deus vivificat omnia God vivifieth all things and consequently is the essentiall act and life of the world as I have proved fully in the first Book of this Treatise wherefore Hermes in another place saith thus Animae universâ per omnem mundum ab una mundi totius anima profluunt tanquam dâstributae circumferentes The universal souls throughout the whole world do proceed as it were distributed concurrentâ from one soul of the whole world which is all one with that which we have said before namely that all Souls in this world are certain beamy streams proceeding from that catholick Emanation which issued from the eternall Fountain of the illuminating act to some more copiously and to some more spââingly and therefore Man âs said to be in dignâty little less then the Angells by reason of the large portion of Light bestowed upon him Spiritus Dei fecit me saith Job sed inspiratio Omnipotentis fecit me âmelâigere Thirdly That in the very twinckling of an eye it is able to penetrate quite through all things and that at what distance it pleaseth and consequently will not be limitted by any imaginary Sphere of activity But Mr. Foster and his complices will reply that the spirit which should operate in the blood and from the blâod to the Ointment is a naturall spirit and not this Divine Spirit This Objection maketh me to smile As who should say that this act of vivifying yea and of every other faculty belonging unto man's spirit doth not move from one and the same Divine Fountain when the Apostle saith In him we move we live and have our being Again it is said that in the blood is the soul or spirit of life And St. John saith In Verbo erat vita in the Word was life I will tell you therefore what a true Philosopher saith touching this point Anima saith he ad similitudinem totius sapientiae facta omnem in se gerit similitudinem est que spiritus intellectualis semper vivens semper in motu secundum suâ operis officium variis nuncâpaâur nâmânibus Dicitur vita dum vegetat spiritus dum contemplatur sensus dum senti animus dum sapit mens dum intelligit ratio dum discernit memoria dum recordatuâ dum vult voluntas ista omnia non sunt nisi una anima proprietate diversa sed essentia unica The soul of Man framed after the similitude of all wisdom doth beare in it self the likness of all things and it is an intellectuall spirit ever living and ever in motion and it is termed by divers names and appellations according unto the office of the work which it
stones and mineralls without the help of which naturall things neither they nor their devill which revealed unto them their secret vertues could effect or accomplish their desires And for this purpose as Ovid telleth the story she searched the lofty tops of Ata to find out herbs for her purposes Many operate their feats by the vertuous property of stones which the devill doth deliver unto them though they themselves know neither the starry influence that giveth the force nor yet how they should be prepared for the operations of such strange effects As for example There was a witch in Scotland who at her arreignment did confess that by the property of a stone which was taken from her she could discover any thing namely if a thing were true it would sweat and if it were false it would not sweat and also it would reveal other things unto her by changing colours And again when they desired to see some conclusions from her she said that if they would let her have her stone she would shew them some But they fearing that she would escape by that means durst not let her have it but did burn her at the Queens Ferry in Scoâland Some are instructed by him to take a metal and to prepare it under his proper constellation and to grave on it the characters of the star and Angells belonging unto it at suâh a time as the star is most potent in heaven and well encountred by other Planets And then they find these plates to be of a strange effect in many Magical executions What And because the devill knoweth the virtue and properties of these naturall things and can instruct his minsters in the evill usage of them therefore doth it follow that Adam and Solomon and the wise Magitians of the East and many other good and godly persons do not know their virtues their times of collection and their manner of application in goodness yea and if they see a just cause in a contrary sense and that without the transgression of the bounds of naturall and lawfull Magick whose true subject is the Spirit of Wisdom which is the Basis or foundation of true Naturall Philosophy What make we of the means which Moses used when he by dispersing of ashes brought the botch over all Aegypt But some will say that this was supernaturally done Let them but look into the occult Secrets in the nature of other animals vegetables and mineralls and they shall find as great mysteries as these contained naturally in them all suspition of commerce with the devill being set apart Was the reverend Father Albertus Magnus a Cacomagician because he reciteth the abstruce occult and mysticall virtues of Animals Plants and Stones The like did Hermes Plato and many other profound Philosophers Or must these be the pupills of the devill because they know the times and houres of their collection and manner of preparation though they kept that secret unto themselves No verily for they had it from tradition namely from the mysticall and profound Philophers or naturall Wisemen such as Solomon Hermes and the wise men called Magi or naturall Magicians of the East which revealed them unto the worthy by succession from one Age unto another Was it not a wondrous propery in Gyges his ring that cold make him by the naturall property that it had to walk invisible And yet forsooth the blind buzards of our Age such I say as Mr. âoster and his Complices are will have all these miraculous effects in the creatures to proceed from the devill and so deprive the Omnipotent Spirit of God and his Nature of their right when Solomon in plain terms confesseth that all the knowledg of the secret times of Election of the mysticall natures in the stars of the occult virtues and properties of Man Beasts Plants and Roots and all things else known or unknown proceed from the Spirit of God and therefore he concludeth in these words Omnium enim opifex me docuit Sapientia For wisdom the worker or maker of all things taught me In which words he inferreth first That the Spirit of Wisdom teacheth and discovereth unto man the abstruce mysteries of Naturall Philosophy which consisteth in the knowledg and discovery of naturall virtues as well above as beneath And secondly That it is the same Spirit that made those virtues in every specifick thing namely in the starrs above and in the animal vegetable and minerall kingdoms beneath Which being so what can the devill being but a reasonable creature as well as man do in the creating of these essentiall virtues by which he worketh his feats more then man Or why should we attribute that unto him which doth rightly belong unto the all-creating and acting Spirit in the internall creature If man please he may attribute the wickednesse of the action unto the devill which instigateth man to evill and teacheth him the means to effect his bad intent that verily doth of right belong unto the devill For he was created for a destroyer as the Prophet Isaias testifieth to us and to effect it he maketh use of God's naturall creatures for he used the fire of God from heaven to destroy Job's cattle and the corrupt aire to kill with the Plague or Pestilence the Israelites for David's sins Neither was it ever observed that he could do ought against man of himself saving onely in temptation but he operaâeth to destroy or make sick by such naturall antipathising means as God hath framed for a directer usage although also unto some of his veneficall schollers he is pleased to show and reveal a counter-poyson by which they may by a stronger sympatheticall operation drown or extinguish such antipatheticall effects as they have imposed upon man's externall spirit when they are moved either for fear of punishment or for gain or foâ compassion to do it which is the reason that some witches can undo those afflicting maladies which they themselves or other witches have laid on persons but alwaies they must operate by a reall and manifest naturall Substance as are Powders Ointments Herbs and such like As for example Claudaea Fellea Joan Banno and Nicola Piscatrix with all their Society in Lorraine confessed the 9. of May 1581. that they had delivered unto them by the devill subtill powders of three natures the which were distinguished in colour For said they that of a black colour killeth being strewed on meat or rubbed on the body or sprinkled on the apparell and that of an ashen or reddish colour causeth diseases but the white Powder did cure those diseases And Odella Boncuriana being arraigned the 18. of January 1586. saith that it was the manner of the witches of his faction to strew a poysoned powder in the way where they should pass on whom they would work mischief And Francis Perine confessed the 4. of November 1588. that an herb was given her by the devill to be laid in the way that Riberianus who did beat her for stealing some
that all these are lies I reply That it was a learned Philosopher and famous Theologian that relateth them who no doubt would if he lived tell him That he should learn to understand the hours of elections the stars that have dominions on the earth and their times of exaltation or fortitude on the earth And lastly over what creatures in the three compound Kingdoms they have their proper influences For my part I know admirable secrets in man and beasts for the which the Peripatetick Philosophy can yield no reason as for example That the Pike or Jack-fishe's guts dried should mightily provoke urin the sucking of blood from a Mole whose nose is cut off for the same purpose will cure the falling-sickness and that after the taking of it it maketh the party exceeding sick as experience hath taught us by the cure of a Lady in Kent who was cured thereby Also that it being burnt unto powder it should by an occult nature expell the cholick That the heart and liver of the Frogs should be approved for the falling-sickness That a Snake's skin should accelerate and hasten a woman's delivery That the menstrues in a woman should cause a Leprosie That the Toad dried should stench blood as also the Spider being applyed unto the nostrills of him that bleedeth as I have often tried As for other occult miracles in stones mettles herbs and animals the true schollars unto Solomon I mean Hermes Plato Albertus Magnus Diascorides and such like are full and doubtlesse they would not prove so sottish and indiscreet to publish lies and to write things of impossibility averring them to be effected in their knowledge and so by that means lose that reputation which they have gained in the world by their wisdom But as concerning the practise of our main businesse which is touching the sympatheticall and antipatheticall respect that is between the different Mummy which is in mans body and the ocular demonstration thereof produced from the Loadstone I purpose in this next Book to shew and prove more unto you than any one hath done before me unto this present as I may imagine The Third BOOK Which toucheth many practicall Proofs and experimentall Conclusions to confirm the loving Microcosmicall Attraction or sympatheticall Coition and antipatheticall Expulsion or hatred by the magnetick and expulsive property of the Macrocosmicall Load-stone The Argument of this Book The Author's Proem unto this present Book wherein he briefly and in few words reciteth what is said before I Have related to you in my precedent discourse and made sufficient proof of it that the spirituall Christ the divine Word or eternall wisdom is the true basis or foundation of the essentiall Philosophy as is proved by the Apostle's testimony forasmuch as he is the sure and never-failing corner-stone on which every creature is builded and in whom it consisteth seeing that in it is life and that life is the essentiall light which vivifieth all things and consequently operateth all in all as the Scriptures do sufficiently testifie For if the Spirit of the Lord doth impart unto the creature life and inspiration and all things And if again that Spirit doth replenish the earth and be in every thing as Solomon confesseth then must we also acknowledge that this centrall Spirit of every specifick thing is that Divinity wherein the essentiall root of all magnetick sympatheticall attraction and antipatheticall expulsion in every kind consisteth For being it is the catholick love which imparteth it self unto every particular existence to give it action and motion to attract his like nature for a convenient nourishment assistance and consolation so also it maketh the organ in which it acteth to resist and expell all such emanations as either in order quality or essence do disagree and are opposite or harmfull to the specifick existence or conservation For this reason therefore it endueth the creature with a double affection namely with a concupiscible desire and an irascible hatred whereof the one doth rejoyce or sympathize with his like and therefore allureth or draweth it unto him to consolate and assist him in his beeing the other doth eschew and drive away by an antipatheticall and odious aspect that which may be harmfull and noysome unto it And this is the act of that all-creating and sustaining Wisdome which made each creature by a kind of successive preservation which it sucketh from his like in the world to be and exist and consequently hath given it an irascible faculty to defend it self from that which is contrary unto it Whereby we may see how this vivifying spirit doth moderate all things with an unpartiall hand insomuch that though it hath framed all things by opposition namely light and darknesse and therefore in mans regard both good and evill yet he ordained that each individuall should have the faculty to eschew with an irascible and antipatheticall disdain that which unto it is contrary either in order or nature or both untill the time be accomplished in which after he is exalted he shall expell all contrariety and discord out of this world by making a sympatheticall union amongst all things which also St. Paul doth argue in these words Cum evacuaverit omnem Principatum Potestatem Virtutem Oportet autem eum regnare donec ponat omnes inimicos sub pedibus suis novissima autem inimica destruetur Mors Omnia enim subjecit pedibus ejus Cum autem ei subjecta fuerint omnia tunc ipse filius subjectus erit illi qui subjecit sibi omnia ut sit Deus omnia in omnibus When he hath evacuated every Principality and Potestat and Virtue For he must raign untill he put all his enemies under his feet the last enemy death shall be destroyed For he shall subject all things under his feet And when all things are made subject unto him then also the Son shall be subject un-him who hath made all things subject unto him that God may be all in all Whereby it is evident that the catholick Magneticall virtue which resideth in God's eternall Spirit shall at the last be exalted after his glorious victory and draw all things unto him and all things shall be one in him and he in them and consequently all Discord and Hatred being banished and laid apart Love Peace and Vnity shall erect the perpetuall and never-dying Trophy of this hallowed Victory This universall Magnetick Virtue is acknowledged by the Spirit of Christ in these words Si exaltatus fuero à terra omnia traham ad meipsum If I shall be exalted from the earth I will draw or attract all things unto my self that is I will by mine attractive or conjoyning Vnite all things and as it were ingraft them into mine own Nature So that in the beginning all things came from one Unity as comprehending in it implicitly all things which are explicitly unfolded and comprehended under two contrary Principles So in the end all things
matrix yea that out of the Magnet body the perfectest Iron or Steel is extracted it ariseth from the consideration that the Martiall and Saturnine spirit of the Load-stone sucketh and attracteth from his center the body of Iron unto it drawing forth of it his formall beams as it were his spirituall food but because the Iron-body will not forsake so easily his inward spirit it followeth and is suâked unto it And again the Iron finding the like spirits in the Load-stone doth covet as fast to be possessor of them by an equall coition or desire and so a conjunction or union is made no otherwise between them than between man and wife But because the Loadstone is fuller of the Saturnine stony Mercury than the Iron which is purified from it by fire and consequently more near unto the property of the male therefore it sucketh not the Load-stone so greedily unto it as the Load-stone doth the Iron For it is an old confirmed axiom That Matter doth desire and long after Form and as eagerly doth draw and allure it as the female doth the male But that the Iron is in lieu of the male it appeareth in the strength that it addeth unto the Load-stone for if the Load-stones pole be capped with steel it doth so far animate it beyond his own proper nature that it causeth it to draw unto it a far greater proportion of Iron then otherwise it was able This therefore being rightly considered we may with the greater facility collect what that microâosmicall Load-stone should be that is able to extract the microcosmicall spirit without any dammage or debilitation of the body If therefore we would attempt to effect this excellent exploit we must do it by such a corporall Magnet as shall be taken out of the Microcosm or Man whose production and generation must in every respect accord and agree with that of the macrocosmical or terrene mineral Loadstone which is mentioned before the which I purpose onely by circumloâuâion and not in plain tearms to expresse unto you that thereby so great a secret as this key to unlock the balsamick cabinet of mans Mummiall nature may be hidden from the unworthy and yet sufficiently made manifest unto the worthy and religious Philosopher by evident circumstances for if that such hidden mysteries in nature were vulgarly discovered there would be no difference had between a wise man and a fool And therefore Solomon did teaeh us Quod sit sapientis celare rem It is the part of a wise man to hide the thing And the wise Philosophers in their Writings did so considerately express the secret of nature that they might hide it from the ignorant and uncapable vulgar and yet speak plainly to such as are the children of art and sons of true learning But this is not all for I would have you to understand that the property of the magnetick microcosmicall work is so universall that it sheweth the way as well to infect the Mummiall spirits of man with a venomous and pernicious antipatheticall nature as to extract it in its wholsome and sympatheticall condition whereby it may be employed in good and salutary usages And for that reason namely because evill-minded persons as well witches and sorcerers whom the devill hath instructed in the abuse of this excellent mystery as also wicked minded-men I mean incarnate devills may do great mischief in the world by the publick revelation thereof for most men are proner unto mischief than inclined to do goodness I think it to be the wisest part not to name the internall microcosmicall Magnet openly but onely to express it in more generall tearms I would have therefore each wise man to understand that the magnetick nature as well antipatheticall as sympatheticall of all things consisteth onely in the sulphureous vertue of the vitall spirits which by reason of their incarceration are apt to attract their like unto them by contracting of it self from the circumference unto the center Even so the animal vegetable and mineral salt which is the immediate receptacle of this sulphureous spirit that by reason of its pure Saturnine Mercurial earth sucketh and draweth by the act of the included spirits their like from the circumference whereby they vegetate and multiply both in their airy volatill salt which by a Saturnine or northern condition is like snow or frost condensed and in their aetheriall or celestiall fire And again the sulphureous spirit flyeth back or reflecteth his beams into its centrall salt after it did emanate unto the circumference of the body by northern accidents namely by externall cold as it appeareth by the fiery or heavenly seeds included in the aire that is retained within the Weather-glass which when the north-wind bloweth is contracted by reason that the expansed spirits of the celestiall sulphure or the heavenly fire which is in it flying from his cold opposite betaketh it self unto the center of the aire compassing as it were it self with a clowd or making it a house to resist the northern blasts inclemency For as hereafter I will shew you in my magnetick demonstration that the sulphureous Aequator is an enemy to the cold Mercurial poles Also in mans body when a northern or stupid fear possesseth it the sulphureous spirits contract themselves and leave the externall aspect pale blewish and wan and in so doing contract the internall spirits of the body unto the center but this motion is antipatheticall and caused by unnaturall passion Again those sulphureous included spirits being at liberty they dilate and expanse themselves into the open aire as having no evident magnet to attract or contract them into a narrower room To conclude therefore the microcosmicall Magnet must issue and be ingendred from the microcosmicall sulphureous spirits in his proper salt which is his form from a more strange Mercury which by his vicinity and propinquity is most familiar with it and as it were akin unto it by adoption and this is his passive matter Wherefore of these two microcosmicall portions I mean the formall and materiall our secret Magnes is framed by the which the spirituall Mummy is extracted out of the living man by means whereof admirable cures and pernicious harms may be effected as well ad distans or afar off as near at hand or by an immediate contact or administration Moreover the same internall Magnet or attractive salt in man in whose interior the sulphureous vivifying spirit doth dwell and of whose condition and root our foresaid microcosmicall Magnet is will perform the self same salutary effects and many other rare experimentall conclusions if it be conveyed into the blood by transplantation from the alive person by an effluxion or in the nails and hair separated from him to another subject There is also another microcosmicall Magnet which is taken from the dead man by the means whereof the spirituall Mummy may be drawn out of the living man and applyed for mans health as well by an immediate administration as by
excrescence transported unto the Plant and so the plant animated by that spirit becommeth a magnet which directeth his vegetating spirit to apply unto the spirit or beam of the weak member c. I come now to the proof of the fourth Member The fourth Member of the Proposition is demonstratively proved thus Fourthly that there is a spirituall penetration made from one body unto another before any magneticall operation can be effected Demonstration This member is sufficiently confirmed by that which is already said in the other members and yet it is more plainly expressed by this Problem Problem The Load-stone doth guide and direct magneticall things the which do conceive vigour and force from it not onely in their extremities but also in their interiours and very marrow As for example A piece of Iron so soon as it is touched or attainted with the very breath of the Load-stone it is excited magnetically at the end at which it is touched or regarded and that very power which it received by that touch passeth quite through from the end touched unto the other not onely superficially but also centrally and as I may say at the very marrow Application It appeareth evidently by this that as the formall beams of one Load-stone doth penetrate unto the very center of the other and the other again reciprocally into the very center of it so also the spirit of the wounded man doth penetrate partly by emission from it self and partly by attraction of his like in the oyntment into the bowels of the oyntment unto the spirits of his own kind that are hid in it and reciprocally the oyntment being made a magnet by the imbibing of the Mummial spirits of the blood applyeth his attractive beams unto those which are emitted from the wound being directed therein by the spirit of the dead blood in the unguent as shall be shewed hereafter more at large The fifth Member of the Proposition with the Proofs Fifthly that the magneticall act and operation of celestiall astralicall or starry and influentiall spirits are not to be limited nor yet to be impedited or hindred in their motion if we look into the mystery of this business with intellectuall eyes We must distinguish this Member for your better understanding into two severall articles or branches whereof the first must shew that the extension of the emanations made from two astralicall or starry spirits are not to be limited by mans understanding howsoever by an externall effect it may at random be guessed at These one shall prove that such influentiall starry beams or quintessentiall emissions as are sent forth from the Load-stone unto the Iron or from one Load-stone unto his like in nature and consequently from all other magneticall bodies oâ like condition in essence cannot be hindered by the interposition of any solid or well-compacted bodies as some Fool losophers rather than Philosophers have âemerariously averred in their writings Touching the first which includeth the imaginary termination or bounding of beamy or formall extensions or emanations from magneticall bodies within a setled or known limited sphear of activity the impossibility thereof howsoever our Peripatetick Philosophers have feigned the contrary is argued by these following problematicall Demonstrations Certain Problematicall Demonstrations confirming the contents of this Members first Article 1. Problem The vigour in heavenly bodies whereby they move themselves doth argue a soul in them and for that reason they are esteemed by the wisest Philosophers to be endued and animated with a divine act or spirit by means whereof they move which being so the extension of application of their beams must also prove uncertain and therefore without limit being that their spirits after the emanation made do concur sometimes in the aire sometimes in the water and sometimes without resistance they pierce even unto the center of the earth to operate upon the mineral Kingdom bestowing on the earthly subjects that are under them of that very formall act and vertue whereby they operate in their acute penetration And therefore these inferiour creatures of a like nature are able to send forth and extend their astralaicall or beamy vertues as far and to apply their beams at as an unterminable distance as their stars in heaven are observed to do 2 Problem It is rightly then said that the Load-stone doth move the Load-stone and doth both dispose of one another by their primary form which it receiveth from his starry fountain And therefore it was not any absurdity in the wise man Thales Milesius nor yet any madness in Scaliger to assigne a soul unto the Magnet seeing that by it it is centrally incited directed and carried or moved circularly As for example Example If two Magnets be put one against the other in their small barkes upon the water they will not presently concur together but first they do mutually conforme themselves unto one another or else the lesser doth obey the greater moving it self after a circular fashion and when at the last they are disposed according unto their naturall position they run or concurr together The like effect also will appeare between the Magnet and the Iron and the Iron and the Iron as shall be expressed hereafter An Addition Whereby although it may be replied that this Act of the Load-stone with the Load-stone or it with the Iron doth by effect seem to be limited within a certain dimension and therefore what I say proveth not much as yet for the unbounded dimension of the Magneticall bodie 's emanation I answer That the sensible act which is between the Load-stone and Load-stone doth not argue that because the two ponderous bodies have their motion but at such a distance therefore their spirits can extend themselves or apply their beams no further For it is one thing to operate sensibly by a violent attraction of a heavy mass and another thing for one Form onely to embrace and concur in a naturall rejoycing sympathy with another And this alteration is verified even of such as are well practised in the Load-stone's property by this following Problem 3. Problem The Orbe of the internall or spirituall Magneticall virtue doth extend it self at a larger distance than the Orbe of any sensible or externall or visible motion can warrant For the thing that is Magneticall is effected in the extremity of it a far off although it doth not move by a locall motion But if the Load-stone be applied nearer unto it then will also the whole Magnetick mass move corporally unto it Whereby is acknowledged that the virtuous extention of the Magnet is farre beyond the limits of the Orbe of visible Magneticall motion But I will prove it by degrees more evidently namely that the starry influentiall virtue in the Magnet extendeth it self beyond the limits of any sensible capacity 4. Problem The needle touched Magnetically will aspect the North-pole even from the aequinoctiall point which is an Argument of the unlimited extention of the Load-stones
that soul in man extend it self far beyond the capacity of flesh and blood and therefore is onely intellectually to be understood By the fifth that each particle of mans blood or spirituall Mummy being divided from the whole hath all the parts or proportions in it ideally described that the whole hath and therefore doth operate as well with a northern as southern aspect and consequently draweth down from the heavens a like property as occasion is given For so this one Spirit is said to come from the four winds and yet it is but one spirit in essence though four-fold in property for it was by the vertue of it that the dead mentioned by the Prophet did rise again And therefore so far as the north wind or south winds extension may be so far is this spirit in man able to send forth his spirituall beam I will come now unto the proof of the second Touching the second Article which sheweth the acute penetration of this spirit and that it is effected without any impediment contrary unto some ignorant persons opinion who think that castles stones woods hills and such like may hinder the penetration of this subtle and all-penetrating spirit The proof is made by these problematicall demonstrations Demonstrations confirming this Member's second Article 1 Problem Neither fire nor water nor earth can hinder the ingressive action or piercing vertue of the Load-stone upon the Iron being it is proved by experience that it sucketh and draweth it unto him quite through them as for example If a candle or flame of fire be interposed between the Load-stone and a small piece of wyer you shall find the piece of Iron will leap quite through the flame unto the Load-stone In like manner the Needle on his turn-pin will for all the interposition of a flame turn unto the Load-stone and that with the same celerity that it would do in the open aire So that you may see by this experiment that the coition of these magneticall bodies are not hindred by fire Also if water or earth be interposed between them it will do the like There is another Problem which expresseth the unresistable penetrative vertue of this more effectually in these terms 2 Problem Iron is allured onely by an immateriall act or an incorporeall process which doth operate and is conceived in an Iron subject as in a continuated homogeniall body and therefore it hath no need of large or wide passages And for this reason the Iron is moved and drawn by the Load-stone it self and again the Iron doth draw the Load-stone it self and a concourse or a meeting together in a unity is made by their beams although that thiâk bodies be interposed as sticklers between them So that you see that the putting or applying of thiâk subâtances between the Iron and the Load-stone cannot hinder the coition of spirits which is a token that the influentiall or formall spirit cannot be impedited in hiââotion And therefore âhis subtle spirit whiâh hath his beginning from the soul of the world is said by the wisest Philosopher Omnia permeare entia âo pass or travers all things But yet more plainly 3 Problem The Load-stone without any frication or rubbing or being exsiccated by heat or perfused with moysture in the aire in the water doth provoke and allure unto it magneticall subjects and also solid as well-compacted bodies as thick boards or tables of stone or grosse plates of mettle as silver gold or brass being put between And Ridley saith That although such substances as be not magneticall be placed between the Needle and the Load-stone yet they cannot hinder the orbe and proceeding of the magnetick vigour As for example If a Load-stone should be placed in a box of wood stone tinne silver or brass yet the Loadstone will extend his magneticall orbe Application I conclude therefore by this typicall expression that the emissions of mans vitall spirits are so subtle and so piercing that no interposed bodies are able to hinder it in its motion to his pretended mark nor yet the magneticall blood in the oyntment being excited can be hindred in his concouââe oâ union with the same southern âr vivifying spirit and that especially because the formall spirits of the one is continued and homogeneal unto the other I proceed now unto the sixt Member of the foresaid Proposition The sixt Member of the Proposition with the Proofs Sixtly that after a Body be it Animal Vegetable or Mineral is made by a transplantation of another bodies spirits magneticall or a magnet unto that other body it doth by attracting of its beloved's spirits unto it impart unto them of that vertue and property which appertaineth unto it self insomuâh that as the lover doth participate with the nature of the beloved so also the beloved doth partake and share with the lover's condition especially if they be homogeneall in kind and reciprocall in affection Certain Problematicall Demonstrations to confirm this member of the fore-said Proposition 1 Problem Quodlibet corpus cui Mummia viva in alio homine propinatur illicò fit magnes Every body to whom the lively Mummy from a man is given or administred is forthwith made a Magnet Application This Problem is animal and not mineral but it inferreth that by the transplanting of mans bloody spirits into the oyntment the oyntment is forthwith become magneticall and attractive even as before I told you that the hair and nails being planted or grafted on the Oke make it forthwith by communicating of the spirits of the one with the spirits of the other attractive and magnetick 2 Problema Magneticum The Load-stone hath nothing neither can do any thing which the Iron being excited cannot do and that not onely by contact but at a reasonable distance Application Neither can the live man's spirit perform any action that the dead blood transplanted in the Salve by the Magneticall assistance of the Salve cannot perform yea verily it goeth yet further for it inspireth into the wound a Sanative influence 3. Problem Iron being touched doth recreate another Iron and instructeth it unto Magneticall motions so that it draweth unto it a third As for example The Load-stone being applied unto A it draweth unto it the piece of wier B and also after B it draweth C and after C it draweth D. Application The Iron B is compared unto the spirits that are first animated by the lively spirits in man and that animates the Oyntment's spirits which are of a Microcosmicall nature by reason of Uzneas volatil salt which is the receptacle of such vegetating and vivifying Spirits as give life unto man save onely they are of a Northern property and as it were dead These spirits in Oyntment are referred unto C which work and operate being so excited in D which importeth the emitted spirits of the wounded man so that we see that it is but one and the same continuated Spirit which putteth into action the three severall Subjects
Load-stone be hid in the dust of Steel for a season it will become more strong and powerfull in his attraction also the Steel will be bettered by his nature But Paracelsus commeth more near in his relation and saith That by heating of the Load-stone and extinguishing of him in an oyle of Crocus Martis which is made of the best Carinthian Steel so often till it will imbibe no more it will so corroborate this Load-stone that it will have ten times more force then it had in attraction Application By a like relation the weak spirits in the transplanted blood being imbibed by the animal unguent which hath the self-same relation unto the spirituall Mummy in it as the oyl of Crocus Martis hath unto the weak spirits in the Load-stone will be revived and recreated in his magnetick vigour and being mingled with his unctuous like will make a compounded Magnet which will draw his like spirits more strongly by far then it could before Again as the small or weak Magnet doth recover force by being buried in the dust or ferruginous earth which is of his nature so also the bloody spirits being interred in the unctuous earth of his own nature doth by the attraction of his like from the fountain of blood and of the salutary spirit from the oyntment so unite it self unto the oyntment that it createth by emanation a fit Magnet which communicateth his balsamick nature unto them both and by attraction of the spirit of the wounded member it rendreth it self medicinable so that by a continuity and integrity of spirit it conferreth through an immediate spirituall contact the balsamick spirit of the Uznea and other unctuous ingrediences into the wound Do we not observe that the water which passeth or runneth by a heap of salt doth endue wholly the vertue of the salt though the stream of it be long and doth communicate that nature from one extream unto the other And much more the aire will carry the nature of the place it passeth by afar off and yet all that aire so animated will be continuate and therefore much more that subtle celestiall spirit which doth inhabit the aire 2 Problem Iron being touched doth recreate other Iron by touching it and instructeth it unto magneticall motions Application By the like proportion in the Animal kingdom the transplanted spirit being first animated by his southern or living fountain doth animate and recreate magnetically the unguent so that it doth operate upon the wounded man's spirit being emanated and attracted unto it by bettering of his wounded nature through his balsamick emission 3 Problem Set a Load-stone of no force or strength that can be perceived upon a Load-stone of good strength and vigour especially upon the poles and he will shew a vigour as if he were as strong as the other Load-stone whereunto he was united but after he is taken away he will be as weak as he was before unless it be done again often The self-same effect followeth if a piece of Iron be placed on a strong Load-stone but take it away from the Stone and almost all the vertue will be lost Application In the like manner the weak northern blood being transplanted into the oyntment and applying it self unto the lively spirit's emanation by the preservation and corroboration of the oyntment waxeth strong and draweth or operateth effectually rendring the whole oyntment magneticall But if it happen that the oyntment be either pared off from the place of the weapon in which the spirits did penetrate as Sir Bevis Thelwel did prove on the ax that wounded the Wheeler or be struck or wiped off as did happen unto the ax that wounded the Ship-wright by the striking down unadvisedly of Sir Nicholas Gâlburn's hilt of his sword then it will leave his vertue which it received from the bloody spirits in the live man and the balsamick uncture of the unguent and therefore will the wound by that division be as dolorous or more painfull than before But if the oyntment be reapplyed unto the place again and it be wrapped warm the magneticall concourse will be renewed and the dolour will forthwith cease as it hath been tryed by many and this distemper is not made by the cold aire onely causing a chill dolour in the wound but also by the heat of the fire it becommeth inflamingly or burningly dolorous For Mr. James Virot sometimes my servant but now Apothecary unto the Queen and dwelling in Black-Friers did this last year make of the unguent and for a tryall did wound with his Lancet a man in the arm and afterward did annoint the Lancet and applyed it to the fire that the oyntment melted and the Lancet waxed hot and it so fell out that at that instant the wounded person found so great a burning pain in his wound that he could not endure it and then immediately he annointed it again and the wound was forthwith pacifick and healed immediately The Apothecary is extant and will be ready to maintain it The same is better confirmed by this Problem 4 Problem If a weak Magnet be rubbed at one of his poles with a stronger Load-stone it will be bettered by it by his vigour and vertue if not augmented in power Application The very same proportion of action is between the Mummy in the nails and hair and the vegetable Magnet as also between that in the transplanted blood and in the oyntment for the vegetable Magnet or Oke did reduce the occult and secret Mummy in them from puissance unto act by opening the closets of nature no otherwise than the earth doth the grain of Wheat by rotting and even so also is the potentiall or northern nature of the spirituall bloody Mummy being extracted and reduced unto action by the unctuous earth or magnetick oyntment 5 Problem If the magneticall Needle being first touched with a Load-stone be made red-hot in the fire it will lose all his polar puissance or vertue and directive faculty but if it be freshly touched again it will recover his vertue and act again Application So by converting the Proposition for eadem est ratio contrariorum the reason of contraries point at one and the same If the transplanted blood which was touched magnetically with the spirit of life be frozen or congealed with cold it loseth all his strength and operative and directive vertue but if it be conforted by the oyntment and re-animated with the Southern or vitall spirit as before it will not onely wax alive and act again but also render the oyntment magneticall and direct it in his course unto the member affected 6 Problem If there be a thin plate of Steel fastned unto the neather pole of the Magnet or Load-stone namely between the Load-stone and the way of it then the Magnet will lift double and sometimes decuple or ten-times so much as it did From this practice began the capping or arming of the Load-stone with Steel or Iron after divers manners Application
be with the weapon conveyed unto his oyntment which keepeth it from the cold aire and serveth the spirituall Mummie's turn to preserve it as the filings of Steel doth the formall spirit of the Load-stone 2. Problem Baptista Porta did take a Load-stone and kept it in the filings of Steel a good while and afterwards he found it more vigorous and efficacious in his attractive vertue Also Paracelsus by heating a Load-stone and imbibing it with the oyl of Iron did increase the vigour of it by many degrees as is said before Application In like manner if the spirituall Mummy in the transported blood be but weak or faint yet if it be kept a while in the animal salve it will become vigorous insomuch that it will also animate the whole salve 3 Problem Set a Magnet of no force or strength that can easily be perceived upon a Load-stone of good strength and vigour especially upon the poles and he will shew a vigour as if he were as strong as the Load-stone is whereunto he is united but after he is taken away he will be as weak as before unless it be often done Application So also if the spirits transported with the blood be planted on a found and balsamick unguent it will gather strength but if the unguent be either wiped or pared or melted off from the weapon it will immediately lose his force And again if it be freshly annointed and covered warm it will be forth-with recreated again as is said before Moreover this is also confirmed by this Problem mentioned before 4 Problem If a weak Magnet be rubbed at his poles with a stronger Load-stone he will be bettered by it in his vigour and vertue if not augmented therein 5. Problem A stronger and bigger Load-stone doth augment the force of a lesser if it be put on the pole of the greater Magnet for then will the north pole of it be the more vigorous Application The strong blood and spirit in the wounded man by aspect maketh the weak blood and spirit which is transplanted in the oyntment to operate magnetically and to apply and direct the spirit of the unguent unto it strongly which it would not do without the union which it hath with its fountain which is more lively agil and robust The eighth Member of the Proposition with his Proofs The eighth Member of this Proposition is that in all magneticall operations there must be a reciprocall application or aspect made between the lover and the beloved as between the matter or feminine which coveteth and the form or male which is coveted and by a likeness or continuation of formall spirits like is united unto his like which acteth in the matter So the Boreall spirit with his unctuous materiall body coveteth and allureth effectually the formall and aequinoctiall beams or emanating spirit of the wound and directeth the unctuous Magnet to bring to pass the effect of his concupiscence which is easily effected being that there is a continuation between their spirits But to our Proofs Certain Problematicall Demonstrations to confirm this Problem 1 Problem The magneticall coition is an act of the Load-stone and the Iron not of one but of both like man and wife Application As the woman that is colder and of a more northern nature doth covet the man which is of a hotter and southern disposition so also by a sympatheticall likeness in either's spirit they meet and unite their seeds of affection In the very like manner the cold spirit in the congealed blood coveteth the hot spirits of the lively and active blood and after each of them are met they unite natures and procreate a third as a child which partaketh of them both 2 Problem The first vertue of the primary form in the Iron was at the first distinct but is now confused by the fusion or melting of his body when the magneticall or iron-vein was examined and yet nevertheless after that a whole and strong Load-stone is applyed unto it returneth again unto his former act for his form being disposed and ordered with the magnet they both do conjoyne together sociable forces consenting magnetically and mutually unto unity in all motions and are adjoyned together without any corporeall contact and consequently are made all one Application The self-same is the reason of Contraries and therefore the self-same may be said touching the extremity of cold which is in the Problem reported of the extremity of heat We say therefore That the blood which whilst it was in his naturall vein was distinct in his action is now by pouring it out into the cold aire made confused and void of any manifest formall action but when by the assistance of the oyntment it is stirred up and applyed again unto the spirituall emanation of the strong blood it is rectifyed again and doth conjoyne his nature with the adopted power it hath from the oyntment and so a union of both natures is made whereby the wound 's spirit doth participate with the balsamick nature of the Mummy Again in the true nature of the said Problem without any conversion of proposition the bloody spirit in the ânguent became confused through overmuch heat as it appeareth by Mr. James Viret his experiment in holding the Lancet by the fire after it had wounded and was annointed 3 Problem Two Load stones being disposed into severed Boats and placed on the superficies of the water if they be sufficiently placed within the orbs of their vertues they will with mutuall affection prepare themselves for a meeting and at the last embrace or adhere unto one another Also if an Iron be fitted in one Bark and a Load-stone in another the Iron will hasten in the very same manner unto the Load-stone and also the Load-stone being in his Bark will move unto the Iron insomuch that either of them are carried from their places in such a manner that at the last they are joyned together and so do rest as being well satisfied and contented in their loves The like also will be effected if two wiers excited by the Load-stone be put through like corks and placed on the water to swim for you shall see them make love to one another and moving by little and little they will sensibly meet and with their ends strike and touch one another Application In like manner the Northern or congealed blood or bloody transported Mummy by the conduct of his unctuous vehicle which is also by his presence made Magnetick doth covet the Southern union of the living and moving bloody spirits of the wounded as Matter doth Form or the female doth the male and because the spirit is continuated betwixt them both as the aire is continuated betwixt the North-pole and the South aequinoctial in the great world though each extremity be of different natures namely the one cold and dry congelative attractive and immobil the other hot and moist dissolutive discussive and mobil or agill therefore they easily
arteriall vessell and this is the well-spring of the inward man for it is the invisible fire of life and it is called Semen which when the mixtion of both is made doth dwell no otherwise centrally in the visible sperm then mans soul doth in the body We must observe therefore that as there are two vessells on a side the one spirituall the other elementall so these two in their descent towards the resticles do make by their subtle implication of the one with the other that admirable and pleasant web or plex to behold which the Greeks do call Anaâtomosis the which embracing and secret weaving together of insensible parts is effected by the artifice of that great builder not onely as the Anatomists do think because that the red and bloody seed may be made white but first that it might divide the spermatick substance in the venall vessells and seminall substance in the arteriall from the bloody masse as well naturall which âloweth from the liver as vitall which springeth from the heart And then that by this Dedalian labyrinth the seminall form being the microcosmicall heaven may aptly and according unto the specifick creatures true similitude be mingled together no otherwise then we observe the form of a thing to be by a naturall mixtion perfused and spread over all his elementary substance And without all doubt the fabrick of this Plexus or Anastomosis is such as is the impression of some notable Seal the which in a Man is Manlike in a Lion is like a Lion in an Eagle is after the shape of an Eagle and so according unto this impression which is occult and scarâely discerned by imagination the sperm is formed after the manner of clay and is moistned with this seminary nature as with water and by the vertue of that divine spirit which dwelleth secretly in it is made a living creature in the womb These two natures therefore are so tempeâed together according unâo the law of this vivifying nature and the semen or invisible spirit of the aire is so agitated and moved by the divine nature which moveth in that spirit no otherwise then the aire is with the spirit of the blower that the bodily visible sperm is shaped out after the image of his created species or kind even as we see a Mole to make and frame out it self a house or dwelling place under the earth And this is the work of the secret spirit after that this compounded and well mixed substance is cast into the womb To conclude all that we have spoken touching this animal subâect may easily also be averred and that without any offence of the vegetable kingdom for the whole plant or tree did yet lie hid complicitely in the seed or kernell and by the same reason is explicitely brought to ligât by the operation of the hid and secret spirit of light and life which is in it But I have ranged too far from my mark and that in a subject I fear which will prove offensive unto such as will not radically consider these things as they are indeed but after their sense and the wisdom of the world I will therefore now approach unto the main point of our Discourse since that I have thus largely expressed unto you the two principal and radicall pillars of Sympathy and Antipathy namely light and darkness or form and matter being that all love and therefore Sympathy proceedeth from light as contrariwise all hatred and consequently Antipathy must needs spring and arise from darkness whose first-born child was Litigium or Discord The Second BOOK Wherein those mysticall Irradiations which spring occultly from the two foresaid opposite Principles Light and Darknesse with their Sympatheticall and Antipatheticall effects as also the reason of each living or concupiscible Attraction of like natures and odious and irascible Expulsion in things of a contrary spirit are detected and opened The Argument of this Second Book THe Author having by diligent enquiry found out the essentiall root of Sympathy and Antipathy as is already expressed in the first Book where he proveth it to be but one catholick or universall simplicity in essence though of a two-fold property quite opposite unto one or other in nature and condition no otherwise than Volunty is unto Nolunty He thought it not sufficient to gather by circumstances and conclude ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã namely that it is so And therefore in this present Book he attempteth with the tightest and highest stretched nerves of his understanding to enquire and search out the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to wit why wherefore and by what means this double act is disseminated in the Universe Indeed he finds this last branch so difficult to be found out by mortall capacities that he esteemeth it no small master-piece in this his research and for this reason is contented to be directed or guided into this difficult path of so profound a speculation by the light or Pole-star of such sublime and rectified both Theologicall and Cabalisticall spirits as have received the enucleation of so great a doubt from that highest spirituall emanation who is the onely revealer of deep and arcaâe mysteries as the Prophet Daniel and the wise Solomon doth assure us who forasmuch as ãâ¦ã âssentiall Actor both in Sympathy and Antipathy is most able to describâ ãâ¦ã âorth this doubt which men so earnestly hunt after in her liveliest coloârs By the observation therefore of the rules and axioms as well of the holy Scriptures as learned Hebrew and Aegyptian Rabbies he hath gathered That the eternall or divine and archetypicall world which hath neither beginning nor end doth radically spring from one simple and catholick fountain of Light and doth effuse a decuple emanation endued with a ten-fold property into the Aeviall or Angelicall world which hath its beginning from the eternall one but no end And the aeviall world doth in like manner pour out these divine effluxions or emanations of light by angelicall vehicles into the temporall world which hath both a beginning and an end So that the etheriall or celestiall region of the temperall world is made the store house or treasury of the divine influences from whence they are more or lesse according unto the will of him who sendeth them out distilled down into the elementary world to effect his command or pleasure either for the good or welfare or harm and dammage of the elementary creature By this degradation therefore he perceived that God sent out one essentiall emanation by his word of a multiform and sundry condition that things might vary and differ in this world from one another and that the variety of properties in the manifold emanation or flowing forth of the divine vertue establisheth an angelicall creature or spirituall organ of a differing act whereby and in the which it doth operate centrally by a diverse nature And consequently he finds it evident that being in the divine emanations there are properties of a contrary fortitude it must needs
follow that there are differing Angelicall spirits which correspond in nature and condition unto each divine property under which they do administer in this world so that by these spirituall organs or angelicall instruments the beams and brightnesse of the eternall influence do descend first into the starry region of the temporall world and afterwards are shoured down into the elementary sphears and penetrate even into the bowells of the earth and dark abysse to operate the will of that eternall and radicall essence which sent them forth by which means the spirit of sapience is rightly said to be in the heavens above and in the abysse beneath and to fill or replenish all and lastly to operate all in all And lastly taketh into his consideration some special particular object well known unto the world that by the experimentall enquiry or searching out of his hidden nature he might practically maintain and ocularly prove that unto the incredulous world concerning the mystery of Sympathy and Antipathy which before he had onely expressed and verified Theorically or by speculation The Loadstone or minerall calamite therefore is the mark at which he aimeth or subject which he electeth for this purpose being that the effects of its secret and occult properties do most aptly correspond unto those of the animal vegetable and minerall Wherefore he prepareth in this Book a way by the anatomization and ripping up the fardell of this marvellous stone's occult nature that thereby he might with the better speed make his entry unto such experimentall conclusions and comparisons between the one and the other as shall be at large described and set forth in the third Book of this History that thereby the nature and condition of the animal may be discovered and demonstrated by that of the minerall And lastly for a conclusion unto this Book he sheweth the folly of such persons as being masked or overlaid with ignorance do imagine that any magneticall action can be effected essentially by the devills artifice or power averring confidently that the devill is able to effect nothing but by naturall means which also is rather ordained for the use of man then of the devill and consequently that man which useth the naturall creatures which the devill hath practised on to work wickednesse is no way culpable of Cacomagy as vain men would have it being that the righteous use of the creature for which God did ordain it is not therefore to be rejected because the devill with his adherents do unrighteously abuse them by converting them to mischief CHAP. I. That Sympathy is the off-spring of Light as Antipathy hath its beginning from Darkness The Etymology or true signification of both words as also the natures of them both are herein described SInce the radical and essential Unity with its two opposite branches or properties which are the characters of his Nolunty and Volunty have in generall terms been thus evidently described unto you with the two catholick effects thereof namely love and hatred and all those passions as well spirituall as corporall which are derived from them whether they be good or bad in respect of the creature that suffereth I think it now most fit to enter into our main discourse and to anatomise the secret bowels of that Sympathy and Antipathy which is not onely seen and made manifest in naturall but also supernaturall creatures by effect For no man of learning can be so ignorant and blind being instructed by daily experience which is the mother even of very fools as not to discern the hidden miracles both of heavenly and earthly things daily shining forth in Sympathy and Antipathy that is in concords and discords which are caused by reason of a secret league or friendship which is betwixt them even from their very mixtion in their first creation But before we presume to enter into this profound discovery it will be requisite to lay open the signification or Etymology of them both that thereby we may the better conceive their distinct natures and essences Sympathia is a Greek word namely ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and is derived from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã id est una cum or one with and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is passio or passion which pâoceedeth from the Verbe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. patior or I suffer as Antipathia is composed of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. contra or against and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So that the first imports a passion bred of unity concord and love tearmed more properly compassion and the other an odible passion mooved by two resisting and fighting natures of a contrary fortitude I may therefore rightly define Sympathy to be a consent union or concord between two spirits shining forth or having their radical emanation from the self-same or the like divine property As for example All creatures that participate of those benigne emanations or beams which are sent out from God by his Angelicall Organs into the orbe of Jupiter are from thence emitted down to the earth and are conferred upon a multitude of creatures that were created under this property which for that reason do shine forth and emit their beams unto one another here upon earth lovingly and joyfully namely because they proceed all from one root which descendeth unto Jupiter also such as are friends to Jupiter or like unto him in condition send down influences in creatures which are acceptable unto such as live from their nativities and are sustained and have their complexionary faculties from Jupiter and therefore they send forth beams of friendship or benignity unto one another as are also Venus c. But contrariwise where the influences which are adverse in property or of an opposit divine emanation are sent down unto the Planet Mars which is enemy to Jupiter and from thence are poured out on creatures beneath there will be ill and unwelcome encounters made between the secret emissions of those creatures beams So that one by a naturall instinct doth seek to fly and escape the encounters of the other or to resist and fight against the other as shall more largely and plainly be expressed unto you hereafter But because the generall cause of all Sympathy and Antipathy is a hidden and secret emanation or shining forth by emission of beams from one creature unto another it will be most requisite for us to unloose the fardle of this profound business that we may the plainlier behold and contemplate the fountain and root of all beames and eradiations in generall and thereby unfold and lay open the mysticall reason of their difference and follow their extensions even from the root unto the trunâk and from it unto the boughs and branches and from those branches to descend even unto the individuall twigs which nourish and foster an infinity of leaves and bring forth fruit in abundance CHAP. II. How and by what Attributes or properties the Hebrew Rabbies and profoundest Cabalists do proove thaâ contrariety of natures
being too wary and listning overmuch unto the Proverb Noli alium sâperâ Câimbe not too ãâã have their regard more pronely namely upon the earth and her effects onely and of this ranck is Fracastorius who searching after the reason and beginning of this attracting faculty doth imagine that the Hyperboreall mountaines which abound with rocks of this nature do draw these Iron-natured subââcts unto them And this his figment seemeth so plausible unto divers persons of learning that they follow it as well in their Astronomicall writings as Geographicall tables or descriptions of the world and Sea-cards or maps which if it were tâue they would easily draw unto them all such Ships as pass in the Northern Seas Olaus Magnus and some other that follow his traditions say that the attâactive force cometh from some northern Islands which abound in that Magnetick subject But leaving their fancy unto the empty wind I pâoceed unto others Lucretius Caâus a poet of the Epicurean Sect dreameth that the attraction of Iron is caused of an effluxion of atoms For saith he according unto the Epicures opinions as most subtill atoms do emanate and ââow out from every thing even so do atoms âlie out of the Iron as Magneticall seeds by a certain coition of it with the Load stone into the interposed place or space that is between them and that by the union or complication of both bodies the iron is drawn c. Unto this sense also do Aphrodiseus Joannes Costâus Plutarch yea and Thomas Aquinas incline when indeed they ought to know that no attraction is made by emission from the Center unto the Circumference that is by dilatation but rather by sucking in and contracting from the Circumference unto the Center and therefore the emission of atomicall seeds out of the Iron can be no reason of its Union with or moving to the stone But it must be the Load-stone that must draw the beams or spirits out of the Iron For it appeareth that the Iron doth not draw it self unto the Load-stone but is drawn unto it Thales and Anaxagoras think that the Load-stone hath life in it because it attracteth a substance like it self as lively creatures do Lucâetiuâ and Orpheus think there is that Sympathy between the Magnet and the Iron which is between the male and female and in this they erre not much Averroes Scaliger and the Cardinal Cusanus would have Iron to move unto the Load-stone as unto his originall Mattix Galen thinketh that it draweth by his substantiall form And now I must come unto the opinion of my renowned Fellow or Collegue D. William Gilbert for his Magnetick skill and deep search as well contemplative as experimentall touching this Subject His mind is that this attractive virtue in the Load-stone doth spring from formall actions or originall and primary Virtues or vigours For he concludeth that the Magnetick force proceedeth from a particular or singular form differing from that formall and specifick cause in mixt bodies mentioned by the Peripateticks but saith he it is a certain form which is the proper entity and existence of the starry Globes and their homogeniall incorrupted parts which he calleth the Primarie radicall and astreall Form namely such a one as is in the Sun the Moon and other celestiall Stars And he averreth that after a like manner there is one in the earth which is that true Magneticall Puissance which is called the first act or vigor And this he saith is not derived from the whole heaven affirming that it is procreated by Sympathy through influence or occult qualities neither is it from any peculiar starre For it hath its Magneticall virtue from the earth c. This is my learned quondam Fellow-Collegue his opinion whose pains and industry in the research of this Subject's practicall conclusions as I cannot but commend and extol So on the contrary side reason will not permit me to consent unto this his speculative foundation or root of the Load-stone's virtue in all For who can believe that the earth it self much less the particulars thereof can have any Virtue radically from it self when it is evident that as well the earth as the heavens came radically out of the waters And therefore as the heaven was before the earth it must needs follow that the formall Virtue of the earth did totally descend from heaven and consequently the earth had no such property from it self But of this hereafter more at large Among the Ethnick Philosophers Plato and of the Christians Scaliger and Fernelius do think that the cause of this Attraction is Divine and from above but how and after what manner they express not And therefore though in a generality they have spoken the truth yet in these common words they seem to expresse they know not what In particular I will conclude with the last opinion which is the most idle and insufficient of all the rest and therefore is worthy to be made the last and most unworthy part namely the tayl or excrement of them Franciscus Rucus maketh a great doubt concerning the wonderfull property in the Load-stone and because forsooth the pitch of his capacity can attain no higher then unto Superficiall things and such as are subject unto sense therefore he judgeth all effects beyond his reach to be Cacomagicall and consequently he maketh a doubt whether the cause of these actions in the Load-stone be not an impostury or subtill slight of the Cacodemons or evill spirits And yet this man is more to be born withall then such as do boldly averre that the act and wonderfull effects of the Weapon Salve is cacomagicall For he speaketh not absolutely as they do who without any farther doubting do seem to attribute all hidden effects unto the Divell and so deprive God of his due but onely this man maketh a doubt whether it be so or no. CHAP. II. In this Chapter the Author's Opinion touching the originall intermediate and immediate Action or Virtue of the Load-stone is enucleated and set down at large I Am sure you do remember how in my precedent discourse I have demonstrated that God in a generality doth operate all and in all and then after what manner the self-same Unity in the Divine essence is manifested in its property according unto the multiplicity of his sacred Volunty which is therefore proved to be manifold because the particular effects of his actions which are not put in execution but by his Volunty are infinite in Variety And for this cause I shewed unto you that there are attributed unto one and the same sacred essence Ten severall denominations or Attributes whereof some send out emanations of dilatation and extension by the which the waters were expansed and spread abroad by subtiliation and shaped into bright clear and transparent heavens and of such kind of influences are those which are emitted and infused into the world by HOCHMA through JAH or by the Spirit of Wisdome and those which spring forth from ELOAH
ignarus And therefore I will conceal the rest of his occult properties and their sympatheticall effects from such Criticks and lock it up in the treasury of truth Onely in a word I say that by it the Dropsie Pleurisie Gout Vertigo Epilepsie French-Pox Palsey Cancer Fistula foul Ulcers Tumors wounds Herniaes Fractions of Members superfluity and suppression of Menstrues in women as also sterility in them Feavors Hecticks Athrophy or wasting of members and such like may by this naturall magicall means be cured and that at distance and without any immediate contact And to conclude Paracelsus affirmeth that this magneticall kind of cure which is effected by naturall Magick doth excell in vertue all other Physicall secrets which may be extracted or separated either out of Herbs or Roots or Minerals I will now come to the second Part or Member of this Book which speaketh of the antipatheticall effects of this Mummiall experiment The Second Part or Member of this Book which handleth the practice of Antipathy CHAP. I. In this Chapter the Author expresseth how by the self-same internall spirit in the creature as wel Antipatheticall as Sympatheticall effects may be produced Herein is also set down the reason why a spirit that is infected and corrupted with a poyson some condâtion is most venomous and contagious unto his kind AS it is certain that like doth naturally affect his like for Nature doth rejoyce at the presence of his nature and nature doth correct and corroborate his nature if it be sound and full of vivifying and wholsome spirits So also nature if it be poysoned and infected by a venomous nature will by uniting it self unto a sound and wholsome nature quickly corrupt and inquinate it and so by such a kind of abortive and depraved union antipathy is placed insteed of sympathy Now how this is possible in nature I will in few words relate unto you As nature doth magnetically effect and allure unto it her like so if that like which it âucketh unto it be inquinated with corruption the said attracting spirit be it never so sound will quickly taste of the bitter with the sweet namely of the poyson and so will also be corrupt equally with that spirit which is homogeneall unto it in which the infection dwelleth being forced unawares to entertain strife dissention and antipathy into his tabernacle unawares even as we see a sound spirit in the Animal which thirsting after his like spirituall celestiall food which hovereth occultly in the aire to be refreshed by it doth unawares draw in an enemy with it namely a pestilent and corrupt fume whereby it is oppressed and inflamed with a putredinous fire so that it was not the appetite or desire of the sound spirit to draw in that poyson unto it but the spirit like it self that was poysoned And again each spirit which is incumbered with any antipatheticall and unnaturall accident desireth to shake off contentious antipathy and to re-assume that peacefull sympathy which it enjoyed before but finding it self unable it is apt to cleave and adhere unto good and sound spirits for its relief being that vis unita fortior and if more sound spirits of his like were joyned unto it then might it the easilier conquer and expell his antipatheticall adversary So also we see that one blear-ey'd person by darting his infectious beams for relief at a reasonable distance becommeth a flame which setteth on fire the sound spirit unto the which it applieth for spirituall poysons are like secret flames of malignant fire Wherefore as spirits are by union joyned together and multiplyed like oyle added unto oyle so doth the infectious flame increase and feed equally upon them both For as the sound spirit desireth the society of his like to comfort it and the corrupted spirit so desired doth also covet the sound spirit to assist it against his enemy So corruption is sucked in by them both and antipathy is forced to roust among them and forsaketh them not untill it hath penetrated and gnawed into even their bowells and poysoned their very entralls And we must note that there is no poysoned spirit that doth sooner take hold of a spirit then such as is specifick and of a homogeneal nature For that is the reason that one Mans spirit being infected with the Plague doth so multiply it in his kind chiefly as also the Murren doth chiefly rage in the spirits of Sheep and medles not with the spirits of Men. Do we not commonly see that a like nature being altered by putrefaction is most deadly unto his like So worms avoided out of the body and dried to pouder do by inward administration kill the worms Spitle that is avoided from the Pulmoniack cureth after preparation the Pâisick The Spleen of a Man prepared is an enemy unto the swelling and vegetable Spleen The stone of the Kidney or Bladder by calcination cureth and dissolveth the Stone The touch of a dead man's hand cureth the schirrous tumors The Scorpion being bruised or his body macerated in oyle cureth the wounds of the Scorpion and the oyle of the Viper as also the trochises of his flesh the bitings of the Adder or Viper dead and congealed blood and the salt excrescence out of man's bones is antipatheticall unto the flowing blood In conclusion there is nothing that is more powerfull to check or correct an impediment in a spirit then by applying of the same Specifick spirit being altered from his nature by a contrariety So also there is nothing that infecteth a sound nature sooner than a nature homogeneal unto it self which hath indued corruption and that is the reason that the infirm and corrupted Mummy of one man is so apt to putrify and corrupt that of another as we may not onely discern by these words of Paracelsus Corrupta Mummia corpus etiam sanum quod attingit cum quo unitur corrumpit ea autem sani corporis corruptio est corporis alterus ex quo Mummia sumpta est valetudo sanitas The corrupted Mummy doth also corrupt the sound body that it layeth hold of and is united unto and the corruption of the sound body is the health of the other body out of which the corrupt Mummy was extracted As for example If a man be Leprous and I extract by the Microcosmicall Magnet the Mummy out of him and give it to a sound man it will reduce the Leprous person unto his health again but it will filthily infect the sound man that took it with the same disease as shall be told you hereafter more at large But before we come unto the bulk of this business it will be most fit that I make an Apologeticall transgression lest some persons of more envy and indiscretion than profundity in the true naturall Magia may unworthily accuse me of Cacomagy and that onely because they are altogether ignorant in the mysteries of those lawfull Acts in nature which were taught unto Solomon and revealed unto the wise men of this
world for the good and benefit of mankind by the good Spirit of God neither are they therefore to be eschewed because that by evil men they may be converted unto evil effects and so diverted from their true usages for which God did ordain them but rather a skilfull natural Magician such as a true Physitian ought to be should first know the good uses of such hidden mysteries in nature that they might with the better effect imploy them for the good of mankind and then not be ignorant of those abuses which may be produced by them that they thereby may the better prevent and put by all such wicked effects as naughty men would produce by them unto the dammage and destruction of Gods creatures AN APOLOGY A short Apology for the usage of the Mysticall or Spirituall Mummy and to prove that as well the Antipatheticall abuses as Sympatheticall uses of it and all other naturall things are to be known and well understood by the naturall Magician or wise Physitian for preventions cause though not alwaies put in execution but onely where need requireth I Know that there will be many barking Cynicks inveighing Criticks and railing or Satyricall Momus's whose onely delight is fostred with the fire of disdaine or malice who smothered as it were with the blind and foggy smoak or fume of ignorance will say that if the Sympatheticall effects of the spirituall Mummy be allowable for a Physitian yet are the Antipathetiacall properties thereof odious and no way to be indured nay they are Cacomagicall because the divell doth instruct his ministers about the abuses of this Microcosmicall kind of corruption and therefore for this reason the very knowledg of such a thing is not to be indured c. These objections I know will these sensless and unreasonable kind of bablers make touching the knowledg of so mysticall a business But if their saying should take place amongst the wise what should become of Solomon's skil in naturall Logick Or wherefore should he who was esteemed the wisest among men be so overseen as to aspire unto the knowledg of all things whatsoever and to understand as well the enemies as friends unto man's nature For it is said of him that he knew the natures of living creatures the fierâness of beasts the cogitations of Men the difference of Plants the virtues of roots and all things else that were occult and secret Nay why should he say that Wisdom the Work-Mistris of all things taught it unto him Are there not Plants and Animals and Minerals that are stark poyson and venomous unto mans nature as well as benigne and salutiferous He knew saith the Text the natures of all living creatures or animals and why so if that were true which those Scoffers mutter Why should he know or look after the property of such things which are poyson and harmfull unto mankind Are not the Aspis the Viper Adder and that putrifying or corrupting Worm termed Seps in Latin or Purâisur in French by reason of his rotting venom The Serpent called Dipsas which infecteth the spirit with an immensurable drouth the Amphisbena the Basilick the Dragon the Hollio Among creeping creatures the Spider the Scorpion the Toad the Lizard the Salamander the Cantharides and an infinite number of other as well earthly as watery Animals venomous and wonderfull pernicious unto mankind He knew also the differences and virtues of Plants But say these temerarious Judges What reason had Wisdom to show and discover unto him the abominable effects of the herb called Aconite which is so pernicious unto Man and Beast that the Poets fained that it grew alongst the shore of the venomous River Acheron in hell The Hemlock which was the character of death among the Athenians for with the juce thereof they poysoned the condemned persons The Jusquâame or Hen-bane The Poppy of whose juce the somniferous Opium is derived The Toad-stool Scamony Euphorbium Colloquintida Bears-fooâ Titâmal or Spurge Assera bacca Grunsell Flammula and an infinity of such like vegetables Also amongst the Mineralls Antimony Quick-silver Arsenick Rosalgar Verdeârease Lithurge Cerusse Vitriol and an infinity of others My answer is That all these things though in themselves they are venomous yet being rightly handled and used by wise men they are made passing medicinable And I would have them know that God created all things good but it is the Divell and his instruments who by ill imploying of them do make them odious and detestable unto mans nature For as by their right use and application they may produce sympatheticall effects so by their abuse they produce nothing else but antipatheticall actions and rebellious conflicts with man's nature God I say ordained them for a good use namely for man's health but the Divell doth apply them destructively and malitiously which also the foresaid wise naturall Magician Solomon confirmeth in these words God created all things that they should exist and be and he made all the Nations of the Earth sound and durable so that there was not a destructive medicine in them Also God created Man inexterminable but it was by the malice of the Divell that death entered into the world And the wicked imitate him and are of his seed Whereby it is plain that it was the Divell and naughty men which are his instruments and indeed true Divells incarnate which do adapt that for a wicked use which indeed is good and righteous in it self What shall I say more what because that the Divell doth apply a good thing unto a bad use must that thing for ever be abhorred and eschewed of wise men And must for that reason the good use thereof be excommunicated out of man's society and be for ever after reputed for Cacomagicall damnable and diabolicall As for example Because the Divell and his adherents I mean the witches and Necromancers do by the Divel's instructions apply the Mummy of man as well corporall as spirituall about their pernicious and destructive inventions Therefore must all âhey which use the same for a good and salutiferous intent be esteemed Cacomagicians Is it a sign that the Physitian who cureth diseases by it hath for that reason a commerce with the Divell Or must a Christian Physitian because he is acquainted with the evill which the properties of naturall things may effect by an unnaturall or antipatheticall adaptation needs put that evill in execution unto the prejudice of mans health Verily if things are rightly considered the knowledge of good and evill in the creatures do well befit the science of a Physitian for except he be acquainted with the evill as well as the good how is it possible to cure the harms which are effected by the bad being that except the cause be known the effect wil hardly or never be cured As for example If the nature of the spirituall philtre which infecteth be not discovered how should the cure be performed or the cause be extinguished or taken away The true Magitian doth