Jacob Boehme's Aurora
Chapter 2: An Introduction, shewing how men may come to apprehend The Divine, and the Natural, Being. And further of the two Qualities.
ALL whatsoever has been mentioned above is therefore called Quality, because it qualifies, operates, or frames all in the Deep above the Earth, also upon the Earth, and in the Earth, in one another, as ONE Thing, and yet has several distinct Virtues and Operations, and but one Mother, from whence descend and spring all Things. And
all the Creatures are made and descended from these Qualities, and live therein, as in their Mother; and the Earth and Stones descend or proceed from thence also; and all that grows out of the Earth, lives and springs forth out of the Virtue of these Qualities, no rational Man can deny it.
Now this two-fold Source, Good and Evil, in every Thing, is caused by the Stars; for as the Creatures in the Earth are in their Qualities, so also are the Stars.
For from the two-fold Source, every Thing has its great Mobility, running, springing, driving, and growing. For Meekness in Nature is a still Rest, but the Fierceness in every Power makes all Things moveable, running, and generative.
For the driving Qualities cause a Lust in all Creatures to Evil and Good, so that every Thing is desirous one of the other, to copulate and increase, decrease, grow fair, perish, love, and hate.
In every Creature in this World is a Good and Evil Will and Source; in Men, Beasts, Fowls, Fishes, Worms, and in all that which is upon the Earth; in Gold, Silver, Copper, Tin, Iron, Steel; Wood, Herbs, Leaves, and Grass: As also in the Earth, in Stones, in the Water, and all whatsoever can be thought of.
There is nothing in Nature, wherein there is not Good and Evil; every Thing moves and lives in this double Impulse, Working, or Operation, be it what it will.
But the holy Angels, and the fierce wrathful Devils, are here to be excepted; for these are severed apart: Each of these lives, qualifies, and rules in his own peculiar Quality.
The holy Angels live and qualify in the Light, in the good Quality wherein the Holy Ghost reigns. But the Devils live and reign in the fierce wrathful Quality, in the Quality of Fierceness and Wrath, Destruction or Perdition.
Yet both of these, the good and the evil Angels, were made out of the Qualities of Nature, from whence all Things existed, only they differ in their qualifying, or in their Condition.
The holy Angels live in the Power of Meekness, of the Light and Joyfulness: And the Devils live in the Power of the rising or elevating Quality of Fierceness, Terror, and gross Darkness, and cannot comprehend the Light; into which Condition they precipitated and cast themselves through their Pride and Elevation of themselves, as I shall show afterwards, when I shall write of the Creation.
But
if thou wilt not believe that in this World all descends or comes from the Stars, I will demonstrate it to thee, if thou art not a Sot or Stock, but hast some little Reason and Understanding left, therefore take Notice of that which follows.
First behold the Sun; it is the Heart or King of all Stars, and gives Light to all Stars from the East to the West; it enlightens and warms all, all lives and grows by its Power; besides, the Joy of all Creatures stands in its Power.
If that should be taken away or extinct, then all would be dark and cold; neither would there grow any Fruit, and neither Man nor Beast could propagate and increase, because their Heat would be extinguished, and their Seed would be cold and chilled.
Of the Quality of the Sun.
If thou wilt be a Philosopher and Naturalist, and search into God's Being in Nature, and discern how all is come to pass, then pray to God for the Holy Spirit, to enlighten thee with it.
For in thy Flesh and Blood thou art not able to apprehend it, and though thou readest it, yet it is but as a Fume or Mist before thine Eyes.
In the Holy Ghost alone, who is in God, and also in the whole Nature, out of which all Things were made, in him alone thou canst search into the whole Body or Corporeity of God, which is Nature, as also into the Holy Trinity itself. [Nature]
For the Holy Ghost goes forth from the Holy Trinity, and reigns and rules in the whole Body or Corpus of God; that is, in the whole Nature. [Corpus]
Even as the Spirit of Man rules and reigns in the whole Body in all the Veins, and replenishes the whole Man; even so the Holy Ghost replenishes the whole Nature, and is the Heart of the good Qualities of every Thing.
[Nature]
If thou hast that Spirit in thee, so that it enlightens, fills, and replenishes thy Spirit, then thou wilt understand what follows in this Writing.
But if not, then it will be with thee, as it was with the wise Heathens, who gazed on the Creation, and would search and sift it out by their own Reason, and though with their Fictions and Conceits they came before God's Countenance or Face, yet they were not able to see it, but were stark blind in the Knowledge of God. [Reason]
As the Children of Israel in the Desart could not behold the Countenance of Moses, and therefore he must put a Veil before his Face, when he drew near to the People.
The Cause of it was, they neither understood nor knew the true God and his Will, who notwithstanding walked among them, and therefore that Veil was a Sign and Type of their Blindness and Misunderstanding. [notwithstanding]
As little as a Piece of Work can apprehend him that made it, so little also can Man apprehend and know God his Creator, unless the Holy Ghost enlightens him; which happens only to those that rely not upon themselves, but set their Hope, Will, and Desires only upon God, and move in the Holy Ghost, and these are one Spirit with God.
Now if we consider rightly of the Sun or Stars, with their Corpus or Body, Operations, and Qualities, then the very Divine Being may be found therein, and that the Virtues of the Stars are Nature itself.
If the whole Wheel, Circumference, or Sphere of the Stars, be well considered, then it is soon found, that the same is the Mother of all Things, or the Nature out of which all Things are come, and wherein all Things stand and live, and whereby every Thing moves; all Things are made of these Powers, and therein they all abide eternally. [Circumference]
Though indeed they shall be changed at the End of this Time, when Good and Evil shall be separated; and so in like Manner Angels and Men, in the Power of Nature, out of which they had got their first Beginning, shall subsist in God eternally.
But here you must elevate your Mind in the Spirit, and consider how the whole Nature, with all the Powers which are in Nature, also the Extension, Depth, and Heighth, also Heaven and Earth, and all whatsoever is therein, and all that is above the Heavens, is together the Body or Corporeity of God; and the Powers of the Stars are the Fountain Veins in the natural Body of God, in this World.
You must not conceive, that in the Body of the Stars is the triumphing Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in which there is no Evil, for it is the Light-holy, eternal Fountain of Joy, which is indivisible and unchangeable, which no Creature can sufficiently apprehend or express; which dwells and is above the Body of the Stars in itself, whose Depth no Creature is able to measure or fathom.
But we must not so conceive, as if God was not at all in the Corpus or Body of the Stars, and in this World: For when we say, ALL, or from Eternity to Eternity; or all in All, then we understand the entire GOD.
Take Man
for a Similitude or Example, who is made after the Image or Similitude of God, as it is written. [Gen. 1. 17.]
The Interior, or Hollowness in the Body of Man, is, and signifies the Deep betwixt the Stars and the Earth.
The Wind-pipe and Arteries, wherein the Air qualifies or operates, signify the Deep betwixt the Stars and the Earth, wherein Fire, Air, and Water, qualify in an elementary Manner, and so the Warmth, the Air, and Water, qualify also in the Wind-pipe and Arteries, as they do in the Deep above the Earth.
The Veins signify the powerful Flowings out from the Stars, and are also the powerful Egressions of the Stars; for the Stars with their Powers reign in the Veins, and give Form and Shape to Men.
The Entrails or Guts signify the Operation of the Stars, or their consuming all that which is proceeded from their Power, for whatsoever themselves have made, that they consume again, and remain still in their Virtue and Power, and so the Guts also are the consuming of all that which Man thrusts and stuffs into his Guts, even all whatsoever grows from the Power of the Stars.
The Heart in Man signifies the Heat, or the Element of Fire, and it is also the Heat; for the Heat in the whole Body has its Original in the Heart.
The Liver is the Mother of the Blood; for from the Liver comes the Blood in the whole Body into all the Members.
The Feet signify near and afar off; for Things near and Things afar off are all one to God: And so Man by Means of his Feet can come and go near and far off; let him be where he will, he is in Nature neither near nor afar off; for in God these are One Thing.
The Hands signify God's Omnipotence; for as God in Nature can change all Things, and make of them what he pleases, so Man also can with his Hands change all that which is grown in Nature, and can make with his Hands out of them what he pleases: He rules with his Hands the Work and Being of the whole Nature, and so they very well signify the Omnipotence of God.
Now observe further,
The whole Body to the Neck signifies, and is the round Circle or Sphere of the Stars, as also the Deep within or between the Stars, wherein the Planets and Elements reign.
The Flesh signifies the Earth, which is congealed, and has no Motion; and so the Flesh in itself has no Reason, Comprehensibility, or Mobility, but is moved only by the Power of the Stars, which reign in the Flesh and Veins.
No more could the Earth bring forth any Fruit, neither could there grow any Metals, as Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, or Stones, if the Stars did not work in them; neither could there grow any Grass, without the Operation of the Stars.
The Head signifies Heaven; the same is grown on the Body, by the Veins, Passages, and proceeding forth of Powers; and so all the Powers come again from the Head and Brain into the Body, into the Fountain-veins, or Arteries of the Flesh.
Now Heaven is a pleasant Palace of Joy, wherein all the Powers are, as in the whole Nature in the Stars and Elements, but not so hard Working and Springing. For every Power of Heaven has but one Species, Kind, or Form of Power, springing very bright and meek, not promiscuously Evil and Good one in another, as in the Stars and Elements, but very pure.
It is made out of the Midst of the Waters, but not qualifying in such a Manner as the Water in the Elements, for Fierceness or Wrath is not therein. However Heaven belongs to Nature, because the Stars and Elements have their Original and Power from the Heaven.
For Heaven is the Heart of the Water, as in all Creatures, and in all that which is in this World, the Water is the Heart thereof, and nothing can subsist without Water, be it in the Flesh, or out of the Flesh, in the Vegetables of the Earth, or in Metals and Stones, in every Thing the Water is the Kernel or the Heart of it. And
so Heaven is the Heart in Nature, wherein all the Powers are, as in the Stars and Elements, and it is a soft, supple and meek Matter of all Powers, as the Brain in Man’s Head is.
Now Heaven kindles with its Power the Stars and Elements, so that they move and work: And so the Head of Man is also like Heaven.
For as in Heaven all Powers are meek and full of Joy, and as Heaven has a Closure or Firmament above the Stars, and yet all Powers go forth from Heaven into the Stars; so the Brain also has a Closure or Firmament between it and the Body, and yet all the Powers go forth from the Brain into the Body, and into the whole Man.
The Head contains the five Senses, viz. Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Feeling, wherein the Stars and Elements qualify, and therein exists the Sydereal, or Heavenly Starry or Astral and Natural Spirit in Men and Beasts; in this flow forth Good and Evil, for it is the House of the Stars.
Such Power the Stars borrow from Heaven, that they can make in the Flesh a living and moving Spirit in Man and Beast. The Moving of the Heaven makes the Stars moveable, and so the Head also makes the Body moveable.
Now open here the Eyes of thy Spirit, and behold God thy Creator.
Question.
Here now the Question is, From whence has Heaven, or whence borrows it, this Power, that it causeth such Mobility in Nature?
Answer.
Here you must lift up your Eyes beyond Nature, into the Light-holy Triumph-ing divine Power, into the unchangeable holy Trinity, which is a triumphing, spring-ing moveable Being, and all Powers are therein, as in Nature.
For this is the Eternal Mother of Nature, of which Heaven, Earth, Stars, Ele-ments, Angels, Devils, Men, Beasts, and all have their Being; and therein ALL stands.
When we nominate Heaven and Earth, Stars and Elements, and all that is therein, and all whatsoever is above the Heaven, then thereby is nominated the Total God, who has made himself Creaturely in these above-mentioned Beings, in his Power which proceedeth forth from him.
But GOD in his TRINITY is unchangeable, and whatever there is in Heaven and upon Earth, and above the Earth, has its Spring, Source and Original from the Power which proceeds from God.
Yet you must not therefore conceive, that in God there is Good and Evil, for God himself is the Good, and has the Name from Good, which is the triumphing eternal Joy: Only all the Powers proceed from him, which you can search out in Nature, and which are in all Things.
Question.
Now perhaps you may say, Is there not Good and Evil in Nature? And seeing every Thing comes from God, must not then the Evil also come from God?
Answer.
Behold, there is a Gall in Man's Body, which is Poison, and he cannot live with-out this Gall; for the Gall makes the Astral Spirits moveable, joyous, triumphing or laughing, for it is the Source of Joy.
But if it is inflamed or kindled in one of the Elements, then it spoils the whole Man, for the Wrath in the Astral Spirits comes from the Gall.
That is, when the Gall overflows, and runs to the Heart, then it kindles the Element of Fire, and the Fire kindles the Astral Spirits which reign in the Blood in the Veins and in the Element of Water; and then the whole Body trembles by Reason of the Wrath and the Poison of the Gall. And
such a Source has Joy, and from the same Substance as the Wrath. That is, when the Gall in the Loving or Sweet Quality is inflamed, in that which Man is in love withal, then the whole Body trembles for the Joy, in which many Times the Astral Spirits are affected also, when the Gall is overflown, and is kindled in the Sweet Quality.
But it has no such Substance in God, for he has not Flesh and Blood, but he is a Spirit, in whom all Powers are; as we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Thine is the Power." [v John 4. 24. Matth. 6.] And
as it is written of him, "He is Wonderful, Counsel, Power, Champion, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." [w Isaiah 9.]
The Bitter Quality is in God also, but not in that Manner as the Gall is in Man, but it is an everlasting Power, in an elevating triumphing Spring, or Source of Joy.
And though it is written in Moses, "I am an angry zealous God," yet the meaning of it is not, that God is angry in himself, and that there rises a Fire of Anger in the Holy Trinity. [x Exod. 20. Deut. 4. 24.]
No; that cannot be, for it is written, against those that hate me, in that same Creature, the Fire of Anger rises up. But
if God should be angry in Himself, then the whole Nature would be on Fire, which will come once to pass on the last Day in Nature, and not in God, but in God the triumphing Joy will burn; it was never otherwise from Eternity, nor will it ever be otherwise. But now
the elevating springing triumphing Joy in God makes Heaven triumphing and moveable, and Heaven makes the Stars and Elements moveable, and the Stars and the Elements make the Creatures moveable.
Out of the Powers of God are the Heavens proceeded; out of the Heaven are the Stars; out of the Stars are the Elements; out of the Elements are the Earth and the Creatures come to be.
Thus all had its Beginning, even to the Angels and Devils; which before the Creation of Heaven, Stars, and the Earth, were proceeded out of the same Power, out of which the Heaven, the Stars, and the Earth were proceeded.
This is a short Entrance or Introduction, showing how the Divine and Natural Being is to be considered. Henceforth I will describe the true Ground and Depth concerning what God is, and how all Things are framed in God's Being.
Which indeed has been partly concealed from the Beginning of the World to this Time, and Man with his Reason could not comprehend it.