Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	draw_v	iron_n	loadstone_n	1,525	5	13.0457	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81166	Mr. Culpepper's Treatise of aurum potabile Being a description of the three-fold world, viz. elementary celestial intellectual containing the knowledge necessary to the study of hermetick philosophy. Faithfully written by him in his life-time, and since his death, published by his wife.	Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654.; Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. Mr Culpepper's Ghost.	1657 (1657)	Wing C7549A; ESTC R231704	57,249	219

causeth strange and true Dreams to those that are asleep and divinations and sudden true apprehensions even to those that are awaked according as it is ordered or disposed either by the Spirit of God or mediation of Angels hence it comes ●o passe that a man passing by the place where a man was murdered or a●● great battle sought or the like he●● presently surprized with fear and h●●ror together with trembling and sh●●king all over his body because the A●●● is full of the dreadfull species of ma●● slaughter and Ideas of blood whi●● being breathed in troubles the intern●● spirit with the like species which c●seth fear and astonishment for 〈◊〉 very sudden impression astonisheth N●ture Thus we have shewed you what 〈◊〉 operations of the Air are now 〈◊〉 we may come a little closer home the point we shall treat of the 〈◊〉 properly as it is and so it is to be co●dered as it is 1. Pure 2. Lesse pure 3. Grosse First as the Air pure or of its purest substance are the vitall spirits of all living creatures made and this is that which causeth them to breath the word Spiritus coming from spiro to breath If the Etymologie of words were rightly considered it would set a period to divers of scores if not hundreds of errors which are as frequent among ●our Divines as Butter-flyes in the Sun they taking them up upon trust without any examination Secondly as it is lesse pure so it is ●n its own proper sphere and this is that we breath in and commonly call Air it was in Paradie pure and is indeed the food of the spirit as meat is of the body But in the habitable world in which we live it is not pure but author sometimes of diseases and sometimes of death Thirdly the Air which is grosse● compassed about with Water as t●● centrall Fire is with Earth because t●● Water and the Air are friendly 〈◊〉 one another It is the Air bei●● mixed with Water in the body of t●● Earth which causeth Earth-quake and being mixed with the water 〈◊〉 the Sea sometimes makes the S●● work extremely when there is no win● or but very little as Sea-men know w● enough Fourthly the Air lives in all thing and placeth a seed in the other E●●ments as Males do in Females it n●●risheth them makes them concei● and preserves the conception bei●● conceived for in this Element is 〈◊〉 seed of all things which by Circu●●tion it distributes into Matrixes 〈◊〉 Wombes by the sperm and menstru●● of the World which we shal speak m●● of in the next Chapter Fifthly in and by this Element not onely Minerals Animals and Vegetables live but also all the other Elements For proof of which consider 1. Water if it be kept from the Air putrefies 2. Fire if it be kept from the Air is extinguished and quickly goes out though it were never so hot before those that are practitioners in the Art of Alchimy know how by adding more or lesse Air to their Fire to make it burn more or lesse fiercely according to the quantity of Air it receives so is the quantity of the heat it gives 3. To wind up all briefly the whole structure and fabrick of the World is preserved and upheld by Air which cleerly appears in that all Animals yea man himself dies if you take A●● from him for as we told you befo●● the spirit was made of pure Ai● so is it preserved by breathing in th● Air. 6. In this Element by virtue of t●● Fire is contained that imagined se●● which constringeth the menstruum 〈◊〉 the World as is cleerly seen in t●● growth of Trees and Hearbs f●● there goeth forth a sperm through t●● pores of the Earth by reason of t●● perpetuall acting of the centrall F●● which the Air by an equall proportio● according as it is decrced by the G●● of Nature and acted and perform●● by Nature constringeth and congeale● by drops so that Trees grow 〈◊〉 degrees day after day drop aft●● drop till at last they come to great 7. We told you before that in th● Element was the seed of all thing we shall now shew you how it make use of this seed and so conclude this Chapter Presently after the Creation there was included in this Element a magnetick virtue by the great Creator of all things which if it had not it could not attract nourishment and if it did not attract nourishment the seed could not increase nor multiply It is conceived by no wise man we are confident but that when God bid all things multiply and increase in the beginning he gave them some naturall meanes whereby they might increase or multiply this we confesse few study after the more is the pity a little knowledge will serve their turn so they can but get money then we conceive he placed this magnetick virtue in the Air that so as the Load-stone draws Iron so the Air draws to it selfe the nourishment of the menstruum of the World viZ. Water for it is the Leader of the Water and the hidden virtue of it is included in all seed tha● so it may attract to it radicall moysture to make it fruitfull Of the Element of WATER CHAP. IV. BEfore we come to the matter it self give us leave to premise a few things which are very necessary to be understood of all that intend this Philosophicall study First that the Seed of a thing is one thing and the Sperm another Secondly that the Earth receives the Sperm of things and the Water receives the Seed in like manner Thirdly that the Air distills into the Water by means of Fire and the Water conveys the very same into the Earth Fourthly that there is alwayes ple●● of Sperm but not alwayes Seed answ●rable This causeth many defects i● the operation of Nature We sha●● lay them down in a generall way a●● leave every Philosopher to apply th●● every one to his own particular oper●tions I. Sometimes the Seed comes in to sparingly or not so plentifully as 〈◊〉 expected and this is caused by wa●● of a sufficient heat to digest it an● this must needs hinder many goo● things which nature would have prod●ced had she had a sufficiency of heat fo● where the Sperm enters without seed 〈◊〉 goes out again as it comes in and bring forth no fruit II. Sometimes the Sperm enters in to the Matrix with a sufficiency of Seed but the Wombe of the World is fou● and not fit for conception as being burdened with grosse foul sulphurous and flegmatick vapors so that 〈◊〉 brings forth either Abortives or Monsters Have a speciall care of this in your operations or else you will never get Aurum Potabile while your eyes are open We come now to a particular disquisition of the Element in hand in which we shall observe the same method we did in the former and shew you 1. What it is 2. What its operations be 1. What it is It is the Menstruum of the

hypocrisie and dissimulation a couple of bad qualities in a Philosopher 6 He causeth inordinate lust 7 By stimulating matters to Generation before the due time or before they are sufficiently cleansed and purified he often produceth monstrous conceptions and as monstrous births both in the Microcosm and in the Macrocosm And let this suffice to have spoken of Jupiter CHAP. V. OF MARS MArs though he be commonly called an infortune yet if his opperations be heedfully viewed you shall find him as helpfull to Nature and by consequence to all hermetique preparations of which Aurum potabile is one of the greatest neither shall it yeeld in dignity to any the Philosophers stone excepted as any of the rest of the planets and indeed if we should speak the truth we must tell you really we do not know that the influence of one planet is more necessary then the influence of another but to come home to Mars who else would be angry we desire you to consider 1 After Saturn hath fixed and purified things in Nature and Jupiter layed the foundation of their Vegetable growth Mars comes in and blowes the Bellowes hard that so he may increase the heat and this doth a Philosopher two notable good turnes 1 It calcines his matter that so by a second production in may be made better th●n it was at the first An Alchymist will tell how much calcin'd Vitriol is stronger then crude and a Sope-boyler can tell you how much calcin'd Ashes are stronger then others 2 It urgeth on all things to motion and by Philosophicall motion Philosophicall time is found out even as the time of the day is found out by the seeming motion of the Sun This you will confesse to be a truth if you doe but consider that when you are angry your thoughts are swifter and quicker by half then they are when you are pleased But to proceed 2 Mars clarifies that putrifaction which Jupiter causeth in his digestion and makes all things fluid in the body of man There is scarce a Physitian breathing though he be never so great a Dunce but he knowes this well enough that the blood in our bodies is clarified and made fluid by Chollor and if he doe so in the Microcosm Philosophy will teach any one that knowes what it is that it must of necessity doe the same in the Macrocosm 3 By his heat he is assistant in distributing vital heat to the Creation and urgeth forward the motion of the rayes of the Sun this we suppose to be the reason why Astrologers say He is the Suns Captaine Generall and why the Sun is exalted in his house It is pity Astrologers study Philosophy no more that they might the better be able to give a reason for their own Principles 4 Because he is hot and dry he is Diametricall opposite to the operation of the Moone and therefore he calcines and clarifies the radicall moysture both in the Macrocosm and in the Microcosm he also causeth it to keep its Center that so it may not dissipate it selfe too much or in plain tearms exhaust it selfe all in seed nay more then that that which will seem stranger it fortifies radicall moisture by opposing it for indeed without opposition the world could not subsist because it consists of contrarieties and therefore the one must needs strengthen the other and causeth it to make head against what opposeth it and this need be doubtfull to none that ever sate still and blowed the fire 5 As all things are bred and generated by heat and moysture as they are fixed by coldnesse and drynesse as we told you before So in the vegetable Generation in man there must needs be some exsuperance or abounding this Mars by his heat exhales and converts into excrements that so they may be cast out from the pure 6 He heats and quickens the powers of the other Planets and stirs them up to action he is amongst the Planets like a Criminall Magistrate in a Common-wealth he punisheth their slacknesse and seeth they be not idle 7 We care not greatly if we give a reason why at the first Mars came to be called an infortune or at least-wise what we conceive to be the reason what is this Because by his congruity with the Sun he either increaseth the vitall spirit in quantity or maketh it too hot in quality a strange position let us see if we can make it good To effect which consider 1 That there might be no confusion in those active causes the first Principles because they are contrary the one to the other and therefore knowne Enemies but that all things may flow from one head as God is one therefore God drew all the force of working and virtue of begetting into one narrow round compasse and this is that which we call the Sun 2 This he placed in the Centre of the Creation that from thence his virtue might be sent out spread and bestowed equally about the world to make one generall heat light life nature and cause of all things 3 God cast in the knowne foure fighting enemies viz. The Elements and set all the rest of the Creation in a restlesse race too and fro this way and that way that so by their various influences upon contrary qualities there might be a continuall change of things here below that so man should Centre in nothing but in God himselfe when he sees all other things are subject to change 4 After God had done so he created man after his owne Image and infused a spirit into him cloathed with a fine windy coat of the cleanest super-celestial Aire from that place which Philosophers call Aether if you will from the third Heavens 5 In the Generation of man when our life in the lusting parts thereof is by the bellowes of thought stirred up and moved to action it sends forth out of every part of the body the hot naturall spirit or breath of begetting cloathed with a Garment of seed which is cut out from the dewy part of our meat ready to be turned into our own like if not already turning 6 Give us leave here a little by the way to have one word or two with Aristotle who is not ashamed to aver That the seed of man is an excrement whereas if it were our businesse in hand we could easily prove that it is the best juyce in all our body and the finest workmanship which is made of all our food and that 's the reason the immoderate use of Venery weakens Nature so much But to proceed 7 This fine Oyle or food of life after it hath remained forty dayes in the double naturall heat of the begetting spirit and the womb is formed and fashioned into the shape of a man 8 Now is radicall moysture at its full growth and perfection and daily decreases even to the time of dissolution for the Child in the womb is put over by Nature for the rest of its nourishment to the Menstru's of the mother