Jacob Boehme's Aurora
Chapter 3: Of the most blessed Triumphing, Holy, Holy, Holy Trinity, GOD the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ONE only God.
COURTEOUS Reader, here I would have you faithfully admonished to let go your opinion and conceit, and not yield to the spell of the Heathenish wisdom, nor be offended at the simplicity of the author: for this work comes not from his reason, but from the impulse of the spirit.
Only be thou careful to get into thy spirit the Holy Ghost, who issueth forth from God, and he will lead thee into all truth, and reveal himself unto thee.
Then thou wilt see well enough in his light and power; even into the holy Trinity, and understand those things which are written hereafter following. Of GOD the FATHER.
When our Saviour JESUS CHRIST taught his disciples to pray, he said; [Matt. vi. 9.] When ye pray, say thus: Our Father, which art in heaven.
The meaning is not as if heaven could comprehend, encompass or contain God the Father; for heaven itself is made by the divine power: for Christ saith, My Father is greater than all.
And God saith in the Prophet, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What house would you build for me? I compass the heaven with a span, and the earth with three fingers. Also, I will dwell in Jacob, and Israel shall be my tabernacle.
But in that Christ calls his Father a heavenly Father, his meaning is that his Father's lustre and power appear and shine very bright and pure in heaven; and that above the circle or enclosure which we behold with our eyes, and which we call heaven, does appear the totally triumphing Holy Trinity, The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Thereby Christ also distinguisheth his heavenly Father from the father of nature, which is indeed the stars and the elements; these are our natural father, out of which we are made, and by whose impulse we live here in this world, and from whence we have our food and nourishment.
Therefore God is our heavenly Father, in that our soul continually longeth after him, and is desirous of him, yea it thirsteth and hungereth continually after him.
The body hungereth and thirsteth after the father of nature, viz. the stars and the elements, and that father feedeth and nourisheth the body.
But the soul thirsteth after the heavenly holy Father, and he giveth meat and drink to it, feeding it with his holy Spirit, and the spring, source or fountain of joy.
Yet we have not two fathers, but one only: For heaven is made by his power, and the stars are made out of his wisdom which is in him, and which proceedeth forth from him. Of the Substance and Property of the Father.
When we behold heaven and the stars, then we behold his eternal power and wisdom: So many stars stand in the whole heaven that they are innumerable and incomprehensible to reason, and some of them are not visible, so manifold and [so] various is the power and wisdom of God the Father.
But every star in heaven differeth in its power and quality, which also makes so many distinctions in and among the creatures upon the earth, and in the whole creation.
All the powers which are in nature proceed from God the Father; all light, heat, cold, air, water; and all the powers of the earth, bitter, sour, sweet, astringent, hard and soft, and more than can be reckoned; all have their beginning from the Father.
Therefore if a man would liken the Father to anything, he should liken him to the round globe of heaven.
Thou must not conceive here that every power which is in the Father stands in a peculiar severed or divided part and place in the Father, as the stars do in heaven.
A resemblance, image or figure whereof we have in the Prophet Ezekiel, [Chap. 1] who seeth the Lord in the spirit and resemblance like a wheel, having four other wheels one in another, the four being like one another; and when they moved they went straight forward, which way soever the wind did sit or blow, and that way they all went forward, having no cause of returning.
Thus it is with God the Father; for all the powers are in the Father, one in another, as one power; and all powers consist in the Father, in an unsearchable light and clarity or brightness and glory.
Yet thou must not think that God, who is in heaven and above heaven, does there stand and hover, like a power and quality which has in it neither reason nor knowledge.
As the sun which turneth round in its circle, and poureth forth from itself heat and light, whether it be for benefit or hurt to the earth and creatures, which indeed would be for hurt if the other planets and stars did not hinder.
No, the Father is not so, but he is an all-mighty, all-wise, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-hearing, all-smelling, all-feeling, all-tasting God, who in himself is meek, friendly, gracious, merciful and full of joy, yea joy itself.
And he is thus from eternity to eternity unchangeable: He never changed himself in his being, neither will he change himself in all eternity.
He is proceeded or born of nothing, but he himself is all, in eternity; and all whatsoever is, is come from his power, which from eternity goeth forth from him.
His immensity, height and depth, no creature, no nor any angel in heaven, can search into, but the angels live in the power of the Father, very meekly and full of joy, and they always sing in the power of the Father. Of GOD the SON.
If a man will see God the Son, he must once more look upon natural things, otherwise I cannot write of the Son: The spirit indeed beholdeth him, but that can neither be spoken nor written; for the divine being consisteth in power, which can neither be written nor spoken.
Therefore, if we intend to speak of God, we must use similitudes. For we live in this world as men who know but in part, and are made of that which is but in part. Therefore I cite the Reader into the life to come, where and when I shall speak more properly and more clearly of this high article.
In the meanwhile the loving Reader is to attend to the sense and meaning of the spirit, and then, if he has but any hunger in him, he will not fail to get a little refreshing. Now observe,
The Turks and Heathen say, God has no Son: Set wide open your eyes here; and do not make yourselves stark blind, and you will see the Son.
The Father is all, and all power subsisteth in the Father: He is the beginning and the end of all things; and besides and beyond him is nothing; and whatever is, is from the Father.
For before the beginning of the creation of the creatures there was nothing but GOD only; and where there is nothing, out of that, nothing will be. All things must have a cause or root, or else nothing will be.
Yet you are not to think that the Son is another God than the Father. Neither should you think that the Son is without or apart from the Father, and that he is a severed part or divided piece, as when two men stand the one by the other, where one comprehendeth not the other.
No, the Father and the Son are not of such a substance, or such a kind of thing; for the Father is not an image, to be likened to anything; the Father is the fountain of all powers, and all the powers are one in another as one power, and therefore he is said to be ONE only GOD.
Otherwise, if his powers were divided, then he were not allmighty, but now he is the self- subsisting, allmighty and allpowerful God.
And the Son is the Heart in the Father; all the powers which are in the Father are the propriety of the Father; and the Son is the Heart, or the kernel or pith in all the powers in the whole Father, and he is the cause of the springing joy in all powers in the whole Father.
From the Son, who is the Father's Heart in all his powers, the eternal joy ariseth and springeth in all the powers of the Father; such a joy as no eye has seen, nor ear heard, neither has ever entered into the heart of any man, as [1 Cor. ii.9.] St Paul saith.
But if a man here on earth is enlightened with the Holy Ghost from the fountain of JESUS CHRIST, so that the spirits of nature, which signify the Father, are kindled in him, then there ariseth such a joy in his heart, and it goeth forth into all his veins, so that the whole body trembleth, and the soulish, animal spirit triumpheth, as if it were in the holy Trinity, which is understood only by those who have been guests in that place.
This is but a type [see ch. 4. v.15] or glimpse of the Son of God in man, whereby faith is strengthened and preserved: For the joy cannot be so great in an earthen vessel as in a heavenly, wherein the perfect power of God is, fully. Now here I must write a Similitude.
Consider heaven, which is a round globe, having neither beginning nor end, for its beginning and end are everywhere, which way soever you look upon it: So is God, who is in and above the heaven, he has neither beginning nor end.
Now consider further the circle or sphere of the stars, they denote the various powers and wisdom of the Father, and they also are made by the power and wisdom of the Father.
Now the heaven, the stars, and the whole deep between the stars, together with the earth, signify the Father.
And the seven planets signify the seven spirits of God, or the princes of the angels, among which also lord LUCIFER was one before his fall; all [these] were made out of the Father in the beginning of the creation of angels, before the time of this world.
Now observe: The sun stirreth in the midst, in the deep between the stars, in a round circle, and is the heart of the stars, and giveth light and power to all the stars, so tempering the power of the stars that all becometh pleasant and joyful.
It enlighteneth also the heaven, the stars, and the deep above the earth, working in all things that are in this world, and is the king and the heart of all things of this world, and so rightly signifieth the Son of God.
For as the sun stands in the midst, between the stars and the earth, enlightening all powers, and is the light and heart of all the powers, and is all the joy in this world, besides, all beauty and pleasantness stands in the light and power of the sun.
Even so the Son of God in the Father is the Heart of the Father, and shineth in all the powers of the Father; his power is the moving springing joy in all the powers of the Father, and shineth in the whole Father, as the sun does in the whole world.
If the earth should be taken away, which signifieth the house of misery, of trouble, or of hell, then the whole deep would be light in one place as well as in another: as indeed, from the lustre of the Son of God, the whole deep in the Father is as light in one place as in another.
As the sun is a self-subsisting creature, power and light, which shineth not forth from or out of all creatures, but in and into all creatures, and all creatures rejoice in its power.
So the Son in the Father is a self-subsisting Person, and enlighteneth all the powers in the Father, and is the Father's joy or Heart in his centre, or in the midst of him. Observe here the great Mystery of God.
Further, the sun is made or generated from all the stars, and is a light taken from the whole nature, and shineth again into the whole nature of this world; it is united with the other stars, as if itself together with all the stars were but one star.
So the Son of God is continually generated from all the powers of his Father from eternity, and is not made, but is the heart and lustre shining forth from the powers of his heavenly Father; a self-subsisting Person, the centre or body of the lustre in the deep.
For the Father's power generateth the Son continually from eternity to eternity; but if the Father should cease to generate, then the Son would be no more: Also, if the Son should shine no more in the Father, then the Father would be a dark valley: And then the Father's power would not rise from eternity to eternity, and so the divine being would not subsist.
Thus the Father is the self-subsisting being of all powers, and the Son is the Heart in the Father, which is generated continually out of all the powers of the Father, who again enlighteneth the powers of the Father.
Do not conceive that the Son in the Father is so mixed that his Person can neither be seen nor known: No; for if it were so then it were but one Person.
For as the sun shineth not from or out of the other stars, though it had its original from the other stars, so also the Son shineth not from or out of the powers of the Father, as to his body or corporeity.
Though he is generated continually out of the powers of the Father; yet he shineth back again into the powers of the Father, for he is another Person than the Father, but not another God.
He is eternally in the Father, and the Father generateth him continually from eternity to eternity, and the Father and the Son are ONE God, of an equal being in power and omnipotence.
The Son seeth, tasteth, heareth, feeleth, smelleth and comprehendeth all, as the Father does; in his power all liveth and is, whatsoever is good, as in the Father; but that which is bad or evil is not in him. Of GOD the HOLY GHOST.
God the Holy Ghost is the third Person in the triumphing holy Deity, and proceedeth from the Father and the Son, and is the holy moving spring or fountain of joy in the whole Father.
He is a pleasant, meek, quiet wind, or whispering breath, or still voice, out of all the powers of the Father and of the Son; as on mount Horeb with the prophet Elijah, and on Whitsunday or the Day of Pentecost with the Apostles, may be perceived.
Therefore if we would describe his Person, substance and property from the true ground, it must be represented in a similitude. For the spirit cannot be written down, being no creature, but the moving, flowing, boiling power of God.
Consider the sun and stars again: The stars being many and several, inexpressible and innumerable, signify the Father: out of the stars the sun is come to be; for God has made it out of them, and it signifieth the Son of God.
From the sun and stars proceed the four elements, fire, air, water and earth, as hereafter I shall demonstrate plainly, when I shall write of the creation. Now observe:
The three elements, fire, air and water, have a threefold moving or qualification, but proceed from one body; and consider, the fire or heat swells and flies aloft from the sun and stars; and from the heat the air swells [or expands itself] and flies aloft; and from the air comes the water.
And in this motion or qualification consisteth the life and spirit of all creatures, and whatever can be named in this world; and that signifieth the Holy Ghost.
And as the three elements, fire, air and water, proceed from the sun and stars, and are one body in one another, and cause the living motion, and the spirit of all the creatures of this world.
So the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son, and causes the living motion in all the powers of the Father.
And as the three elements move in the deep, as a self-subsisting spirit, and cause heat, cold and clouds, and flow forth from the power of all the stars; and as all the powers of the sun and stars are in the three elements, as if they themselves were the sun and stars, from whence is the life and spirit of all creatures, and does consist therein; just so the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son, and moveth in the whole Father, and is the spirit and life of all the powers of the whole Father. Observe here the deep Mystery.
All the stars which men see, and those which they do not see, they all signify the power of God the Father; and out of these stars is generated the sun, which is the heart of all the stars.
Also there goeth forth into the deep from all the stars the power which is in every star: And the power, heat and shining of the sun goeth likewise into the deep.
In the deep the power of all stars, together with the heat and lustre of the sun, are all but one thing, a moving, boiling, hovering, like a spirit or matter; only it has not reason, for it is not the Holy Spirit. And thus also the fourth element must adhere or belong to a natural spirit, or it is not capable of reason. [75. " Thus God the Father goeth forth in his deep out of all his powers, and generateth the splendour, the Heart, or the Son of God in his centre."]
Which may be likened to the round globe of the sun, which shineth upwards, downwards, and on every side; and so the splendour, together with all the powers, goeth forth from the Son of God in the whole Father.
Now in the whole deep of the Father, externally, without the Son, there is nothing but the manifold and immeasurable or unsearchable power of the Father.
And the unsearchable power and light of the Son is, in the deep of the Father, a living, all- powerful, all-knowing, all-hearing, all-seeing, all-smelling, all-tasting, all-feeling spirit, wherein is all power, splendour and wisdom, as in the Father and the Son.
And as in the four elements there is the power and splendour of the sun and all the stars, so it is in the whole deep of the Father, and that is, and is rightly called, the Holy Ghost, which is the third self-subsisting Person in the Deity. Of the Holy TRINITY.
Now when we speak or write of the three Persons in the Deity, you must not conceive that therefore there are three Gods, each reigning and ruling by himself, like temporal kings on the earth.
No: such a substance and being is not in God; for the divine being consisteth in power, and not in body or flesh.
The Father is the whole divine power, whence all creatures have proceeded, and has been always, from eternity: He has neither beginning nor end.
The Son is in the Father, being the Father's Heart or light, and the Father generateth the Son continually, from eternity to eternity; and the Son's power and splendour shine back again in the whole Father, as the sun does in the whole world.
The Son is also another Person than the Father, but not externally, without or severed from the Father, nor is he any other God than the Father is; his power, splendour, and omnipotence, are no less than the whole Father.
The Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son, and is the third self-subsisting Person in the Deity. As the elements in this world go forth from the sun and the stars, and are the moving spirit which is in everything in this world.
So the Holy Ghost is the moving spirit in the whole Father, and proceedeth or goeth forth from eternity to eternity continually from the Father and the Son, and replenisheth the whole Father; he is nothing less or greater than the Father and the Son; his moving power is in the whole Father.
All things in this world are according to the similitude of this Ternary. Ye blind Jews, Turks and Heathen, open wide the eyes of your mind: in your body, and in every natural thing, in men, beasts, fowls and worms, also in wood, stone, leaves and grass, I will shew you the likeness of the Holy Ternary in God. Objection.
Open your eyes, and consider yourselves: Man is made according to the similitude, and out of the power, of God in his Ternary. Behold thy inward man, and then thou wilt see it most plainly and clearly; if thou art not a fool and an irrational beast; therefore observe.
In thy heart, in thy veins, and in thy brain, thou hast thy spirit; and all the powers which move in thy heart, in thy veins, and in thy brain, wherein thy life consisteth, signify God the Father.
From that power springeth up thy light, so that thou seest, understandest and knowest in the same power what thou art to do; for that light glimmereth in thy whole body; and the whole body moveth in the power and knowledge of the light, which signifieth God the Son; for the body helpeth all the members in the knowledge of the light.
For as the Father generateth the Son out of his power, and as the Son shineth back in the whole Father; so in like manner the power of thy heart, of thy veins, and of thy brain generateth a light which shineth in all thy powers in thy whole body. Open the eyes of thy mind, consider it, and you will find it so.
Now observe: As from the Father and the Son there goeth forth the Holy Ghost, who is a self- subsisting Person in the Deity, and moveth in the whole Father, so also out of the powers of thy heart, veins and of thy brain, goeth forth the power which moveth in thy whole body; and out of thy light, in the same power, goeth forth reason, understanding, skill and wisdom to govern the whole body, and to distinguish all whatsoever is externally without the body.
And both these are but one, in the government of thy mind, viz. [they are] thy spirit, which [spirit] signifieth God the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost from God ruleth in this spirit in thee, if thou art a child of light, and not a child of darkness.
For in respect of this light, understanding and government, is man distinguished from the beasts, and is an angel of God; as I shall clearly shew when I write of the creation of man.
Therefore observe exactly, and take notice of the order of this book, and then thou wilt find whatsoever thy heart desireth or ever longed for.
Thus you find in man three fountainsprings. First, the power in thy whole mind, which signifieth God the Father. Then secondly, the light in thy whole mind, enlightening the whole mind, which signifieth God the Son. Then thirdly, there goeth forth out of all thy powers, and out of thy light also, a spirit which has understanding.
For all the veins, together with the light in thee, as also thy heart and thy brain, and all whatsoever is in thee, make or constitute that spirit; and that is thy soul; and it well signifieth the Holy Ghost, which goeth forth from the Father and the Son, and reigneth in the whole Father; for the soul of man reigneth in the whole body.
But the body or the bestial flesh in man signifieth the dead corrupted earth, which man through his fall has so framed to himself; of which more shall be spoken in its due place.
["The soul containeth the first principle; and the soul's spirit the second principle in Ternario sancto, in the holy Ternary; and the outward spirit, viz. the astral, containeth the third Principle of this world."]
Thus you find also the Ternary of the Deity in beasts; for as the spirit of a man is, and existeth, so is it also in a beast, and therein is no difference.
But the difference lies in this, that man is made by God himself out of the best kernel or pith of nature, to be his angel and similitude, and God ruleth in man with his holy spirit; so that man can speak, discourse, distinguish and understand all things.
But a beast is made of the wild nature of this world; the stars and elements have generated beasts through their motion, according to the will of God.
So existeth the spirit in birds, fowls and worms also; and all has its threefold source in similitude to the Ternary in the Deity.
You see also the Ternary of the Deity in wood and stones, as also in herbs, in leaves and in grass, only these are all earthly.
However, nature generateth nothing in this world, be it what it will, and though perhaps it should stand or continue but scarce a minute, yet it is all generated in the Ternary, or according to the similitude of God.
Now observe: In wood, stone or herbs there are three things contained, nor can anything be generated or grow if but one of the three should be left out.
I. First, there is the power, from which a body comes to be, whether wood, stone or herbs. II. After that, there is a sap in that thing, which is the heart of the thing. III. Thirdly, there is in it a springing, flowing power, smell or taste, which is the spirit of the thing, whereby it grows and increaseth. Now if any of these three fail, the thing cannot subsist.
Thus you find in everything a similitude of the Ternary in the divine being, look upon what you will; let no man make himself so stark blind as to think otherwise, or to think that God has no Son and no Holy Ghost.
I shall make this more plain and clear when I come to write of the creation; for I do not borrow of other men in my writings: And though indeed I quote many examples and testimonies of God's saints, yet all is written by God in my mind, so that I absolutely and infallibly believe, know and see it; yet not in the flesh, but in the spirit, in the impulse and motion of God.
It is not so to be understood that my reason is greater or higher than that of all other men living; but I am the Lord's twig or branch, and am a very mean and little spark of his; he may set me where he pleaseth, I cannot hinder him in that.
Nor is this my natural will, that I could do it by my own small ability; for if the spirit were withdrawn from me, then I could neither know nor understand my own writings; and I must on every side fight and struggle with the devil, and lie open to temptation and affliction as well as other men.