Jacob Boehme's Aurora
Chapter 13: Of the terrible, doleful, and lamentable, miserable Fall of the Kingdom of Lucifer.
I Would have all proud, covetous, envious, and wrathful Men invited to look into this Glass, and there they will see the Original of their Pride, Covetousness, Envy and Wrath, also the Event and final Requital or Wages thereof.
The Learned have produced many and various Monsters concerning the Beginning of Sin, and Original of the Devil, and scuffled one with another about it; every one of them thought he had the Ax by the Handle, yet it continued hidden from them all till this very Time.
But since it will henceforth be fully revealed, as in a clear Looking Glass, therefore it may well be conceived, that the great Day of the Revelation of God is now near at Hand, wherein the Fierceness and the kindled Fire will be separated from the Light.
Therefore let none make himself stark blind, for the Time of the Restitution of whatsoever Man has lost is now near at Hand: The Day dawns, or the Morning-redness breaks forth; it is high Time to awake from Sleep.
Question.
Now it may be asked: What is the Source or Fountain of the first Sin of Lucifer’s Kingdom?
Answer.
Here we must again take in Hand the highest Depth of the Deity, and see out of what King Lucifer became a Creature, or what was the first Source or Fountain of Evil or Malice in him?
The Devil and his Crew continually excuse themselves, and so do all wicked Men, which are begotten in Corruption, saying; God does them wrong in thrusting them out or rejecting them.
Nay, this present World dares to say, that God has decreed or concluded it so in his Predestinate Purpose and Council, that some Men should be saved, and some should be damned; and say, to that End also God has rejected Prince Lucifer, that he should be a Spectacle of God’s Wrath.
As if Hell, or Malice and Evil, had been from Eternity, and that it was in God’s predestinate Purpose that Creatures should and must be therein; and so they pull and hale and bestir themselves to prove it by Scripture, though indeed they neither have the Knowledge of the true God, nor the Understanding of the Scriptures, though some erroneous Things also are brewed from the Scriptures.
Christ says, “The Devil was a Murderer and Liar from the Beginning, and did not stand in the Truth.” But seeing these Justifiers and Disputers assist the Devil so stedfastly, and pervert God’s Truth, and change it into Lies, in that they make of God a thirsty and fierce wrathful Devil, and such a one as has created and still wills Evil, so all of them, together with the Devil, are jointly Murderers and Liars. [† John 8. 44.]
For as the Devil is the Founder and Father of Hell and Damnation, and has himself built and prepared for himself the hellish Quality to be his royal Seat, so also such Writers and Scriblers are the Master-Builders of Lies and Damnation, who help to confirm and establish the Devil’s Lies, and to make of the merciful, loving, and friendly God, a Murderer and furious Destroyer, and to pervert and turn the Truth of God into Lies.
For God saith in the Prophet: “As true as I live, I have no Delight or Pleasure in the Death of a Sinner, but that he turn and live;” and in the Psalms it is thus; “Thou art not a God that hast Pleasure in Wickedness.” [b Psalm 5. 4.] [a Ezek. 33.11.]
Besides, God has given Laws to Man, and has forbidden the Evil, and commanded the Good. Now if God would have the Evil, and all the Good, then he should be at odds with himself, and it would follow, that there would be Destruction or Destructiveness in the Deity, one Quality running counter against the other, and the one spoiling and corrupting the other.
Now how all this is come to pass, or how Wickedness has taken its first Source, Original and Beginning, I will declare in the highest Simplicity in the greatest Depth.
To which End the Spirit invites and cites, summons or warns all Men that are seduced into Errors by the Devil, that they come and present themselves before the Looking-Glass of this school, wherein they shall see and inspect the murtherous Devil into his very Heart.
Then he that will not take heed and beware of his Lies, whilst he may very well do it, there is no Remedy for him neither here nor hereafter: He that sows and will sow with the Devil, must reap with the Devil also.
In the Center of the Halfh it is shown, that the Harvest is white already, wherein every one will reap what he has sown.
Here, my entrusted Talent, which I have received, I will let out for Rent, Profit and Increase, as I am commanded to do, and he that will deal with me in this Way of Gain or Usury, it shall be free for him, he may freely do it, whether he be a Christian, a Jew, a Turk, or a Heathen; they will be all alike advantageous to me; my Warehouse shall stand open for every one, let none fear exacting Tricks or Deceit, for he that comes to deal with me in Wares, shall be justly, rightly, and fairly dealt with.
Every one should here have a care, to deal so well, that he bring in some Gain of Use-money for his Master: For I am afraid, that every Merchant will not be fitted in my Wares for his Turn; for to some they will be very strange and uncouth; neither will every one understand my Language, Phrase and Expression.
I would therefore have every one warned, that he deal circumspectly and warily, and not be conceited that he is rich, and cannot grow poor; truly I have very admirable and wonderful Wares to sell, every one will not have Understanding and Skill to know what to do with them.
Now if any one should in Drunkenness or Fulness fall upon them, and plunge himself into Perdition, let him bear his own Blame; he has need of a Light in his Heart, that his Understanding and Mind may be well governed.
Else let him forbear to come into my Warehouse, or he will but deceive his own Expectation; for the Ware which I have to sell is very precious and dear, and requires a very sharp and acute Understanding: Therefore have a Care, and do not climb aloft where you see no Ladder is, else you will fall.
But to me is shown the Ladder of Jacob, upon which I am climbed up, even into Heaven, and have received my Ware, which I have to sell and vent: Therefore if any one will climb up after me, let him take heed that he be not drunken, but he must be girt with the Sword of the Spirit.
For he must climb through a horrible Deep, a Giddiness will frequently come into his Head; and besides he must climb through the Midst or Center of the Kingdom of Hell, and there he will feel by Experience what a Deal of Scoffings and Upbraidings he must endure.
In this Combat, I had many hard Trials to my Heart's Grief: My Sun was often eclipsed or extinguished, but did rise again; and the oftener it was eclipsed or put out, the brighter and clearer was its Rising again.
I do not write this for my own Praise, but only for an Item or Hint, that if it go with you, you should not despair about it; for there belongs and is requisite a mighty enduring hard Labour, and Stoutness, for him that fights with the Devil, betwixt Heaven and Hell: For he is a potent Prince.
Therefore have a Care, that thou put on the Coat of Mail or Habergeon of the Spirit, else do not venture to come near my Warehouse, that my Wares be not ill handled by thee, and so be prejudicial to thee. [Corflet or Breast-plate.]
Thou must renounce the Devil and the World, if thou wilt enter into this Fight, else thou wilt not overcome: But if thou overcomest not, then let my Book alone, and meddle not with it, but stick to thy old Matters, else thou wilt receive but evil Wages for thy Pains: 'Be not deceived, God will not be mocked.' [Gal. 6. 7.]
Truly it is a narrow and strait Passage, or Entrance, through the Gates of Hell, for them that will press in to God; they must endure many Pangs, Crushings and Squeezings from the Devil.
For the human Flesh is very young and tender, and the Devil is rough and hard, also dark, hot, bitter, astringent and cold, and to these two are very ill matched.
Therefore I seriously exhort the Reader, and would have him faithfully warned, as it were with a Preface to this great Mystery, that if he does not understand it, and yet longs and would fain have the Meaning or Understanding thereof, that he would pray to God for his holy Spirit, and that he would enlighten him with the same.
For without the Illumination thereof you will not understand this Mystery; for there is a strong Lock and Bar before it in the Spirit of Man, that must be first unlocked or opened. And that no Man can do, for the Holy Ghost is the only Key to do it with.
Therefore if thou wilt have an open Gate into the Deity, then thou must move, stir and walk in God's Love; this I have let down here for thy Consideration.
Now observe,
Every Angel is created in the seventh qualifying or fountain Spirit, which is NATURE, out of which his Body is compacted or incorporated together, and his Body is given him for a Propriety, and the same is free to itself, as the whole Deity is free. [Viz. the Body.]
He has no Impulse or Driving, without or distinct from himself; his Impulse and Mobility standeth in his Body, which is of such a Kind and Manner, as the whole God is; and his Light and Knowledge, as also his Life, is generated in that Manner, as the whole divine Being is generated.
For the Body is the incorporated or compacted Spirit of Nature, and encompasses or incloses the other six Spirits; these generate themselves in the Body, just as it is in the Deity.
Now Lucifer had the fairest, most beautiful, and most powerful Body in Heaven, of or among all the Princes of God, and his Light, which he has, and is continually generated in his Body, that has incorporated with the Heart or Son of God, as if they were one Thing.
But when he saw that he was so fair and beautiful, and found or felt his inward Birth and great Power or Authority, then his Spirit, which he had generated in his Body, which is his ANIMAL (or animated) or Life-spirit, or Son, or Heart, exalted itself, intending to triumph over the divine Birth, and to lift up or extol itself above the Heart of God.
Note, The Author calls the soulish Birth the ANIMAL Birth, from Anima, which signifies the Soul; but seeing the Scripture otherwise understands by the Word Animal the perished or corrupted Soul, or Animalem hominem, the Animal Man, or the corrupted natural Man, that is, the Adamical bestial Man, and so he being advertised of it, he altered that Expression, and used it no more any further.
Here observe the Depth.
In the Middle, or central Fountain or Well-spring, which is the Heart, where the Birth rises up, the astringent or harsh Quality rubs itself with the bitter and hot; and there the Light kindles, which is the Son, of which it is always impregnated in its Body, and that enlightens and makes it living.
Now that Light in Lucifer was so fair, bright and beautiful, that he excelled the bright Form of Heaven, and in that Light was perfect Understanding; for all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits generate that same Light.
But now the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits are the Father of the Light, and may permit or suffer the Birth of the Light to be as much as they please; and the Light cannot exalt or raise itself higher than the qualifying or fountain Spirits will permit, or give it leave.
But when the Light is generated, then it enlightens all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits, so that all Seven are Understanding, and do all Seven give their Will to the Birth of the Light.
But now every one has Power and Might to alter its Will in the Birth of the Light, according as there is Occasion: Now if that be so, then the Spirit cannot triumph thus, but must lay down its prancing Pomp. And
therefore it is that all seven Spirits are in full Power, every one of them has the Reins in its Hand, that it may hold in and check the generated Spirit, from triumphing any higher than is fit for it.
But the seven Spirits, which are in an Angel, which generate the Light and Understanding, they are bound and united with the whole God, that they should not qualify any other Way, either higher or more vehemently, than God himself; but that there should be one and the same Manner and Way between them both.
Seeing they are but a Part or Portion of the Whole, and not the Whole itself, for God has therefore created them out of himself, that they should qualify, operate or act in such a Manner, Form and Way as God himself does.
But now the qualifying or fountain Spirits in Lucifer did not so; but they seeing that they sat in the highest Primacy or Rank, they moved themselves too hard, and strongly, that the Spirit which they generated was very fiery, and climbed up in the Fountain of the Heart, like a proud Damsel or Virgin.
If the qualifying or fountain Spirits had moved, qualified, or acted gently and lovely, as they did before they became creaturely, as they were universally in God before the Creation, then had they generated also a gentle, lovely, mild and meek Son in them, which would have been like to the Son of God; and then the Light in Lucifer and the Light of the Son of God had been one Thing, one qualifying, operating, acting, and affecting, one and the same lovely Kissing, Embracing, and Struggling.
For the great Light, which is the Heart of God, would have played meekly, mildly, and lovingly with the small Light in Lucifer, as with a young Son, for the little Son in Lucifer should have been the dear little Brother of the Heart of God.
To this End God the Father has created the Angels, that as he is manifold and various in his Qualities, and in his Alteration or Variegation is incomprehensible in his Sport or Scene of Love, so the little Spirits also, or the little Lights of the Angels, which are the Son of God, should play or sport very gently or lovely in the great Light before the Heart of God, that the Joy in the Heart of God might here be increased, and that there might be a holy Sport, Scene, or Play in God. [Alteration] [various]
The seven Spirits of Nature in an Angel should play and rise up gently in God their Father, as they had done before their creaturely Being, and rejoice in their new-born Son, which they have generated out of themselves, which is the Light and Understanding of their Body; and
that Light should rise very gently or mildly in the Heart of God, and rejoice in the Light of God, as a Child with its Mother; and so there should be a hearty Loving, and friendly Kissing, a very meek and pleasant Taste or Relish.
In this the Tone should rise up, and sound, with singing and ringing forth, in praising and jubilating: Also all the Qualities should rejoice therein, and every Spirit should exercise or practise its divine Work or Labour, as God the Father himself does.
For the seven Spirits had this in perfect Knowledge, for they were united and situated with God the Father, so that they could all see, feel, taste, smell, and hear, what God their Father did, or wrought and made.
But when they elevated themselves in a sharp or strong Kindling, then they acted against Nature’s Right, otherwise than God their Father did, and this was a stirring Quality, or Rising up, against, or contrary to the whole Deity.
For they kindled the Salitter of the Body, and generated a high triumphing Son, which in the astringent Quality, was hard, rugged or rough, dark and cold; in the Sweet, was burning, bitter, and fiery; the Tone was a hard fiery Noise; the Love was a lofty Enmity against God. [fiery Noise] [Salitter]
Here now stood the kindled Bride in the seventh Nature-spirit, like a proud Beast; now the supposed she was beyond or above God, nothing was like her now: Love grew cold, the Heart of God would not touch it, for there was a contrary Will or [proud Beast] Opposition betwixt them. The Heart of God moved very meekly and lovingly, and the Angel moved very darkly, hard, cold, and fiery. And
the Heart of God could now unite and qualify with the Heart of the Angel, but that could not be; for there was now Hard against Soft, and Sour against Sweet, and Dark against Light, and Fire against a pleasant gentle Warmth, and a hard Knocking or Rumbling against a loving melodious Song.
Question.
Hearken, Lucifer, Where lies the Fault now, that thou art become a Devil? Is God in Fault, as thou highly sayest?
Answer.
O no, thou thyself art faulty, the qualifying or fountain Spirits in thy Body, which thou thyself art, have generated thee such a little Son: Thou canst not say, that God has kindled the Salitter out of which he made thee, but thy qualifying or fountain Spirits have done it; whereas thou wast entirely before a Prince and a King of God.
Therefore, when thou sayest, God created thee thus, or that he has without sufficient Cause spewed thee up out of thy Place, then art thou a Liar and Murderer; for the whole heavenly Host or Army bears Witness against thee, that thou hast thyself erected and prepared this fierce Quality for thyself.
If it be not so, then go before the Face of God, and justify thyself. But thou seest it plain enough without that; and besides, thou darest not look on that Matter: Wouldst not thou fain have a friendly Kiss of the Son of God, that thou mightest once be eased or refreshed? If thou art in the Right, then do but once look upon HIM! Perhaps thou mayest be made sound or whole again.
But stay a little, another sits on thy Throne, he is kissed, and he is an obedient Son to his Father, and does as the Father does.
Stay yet a little while, and the hellish Fire will kiss thee; in the mean while, make much of this *Latin till more grows out of it; thou wilt suddenly lose thy Crown. Now one might ask,
What then, in Lucifer, is properly that Enmity against God, for which he was thrust and driven out of his Place?
[† Document.]
Here I will show you exactly the Pith, Kernel and Heart of Lucifer, and then you will see, what a Devil is, or how he is become a Devil. Therefore take heed, and do not invite or entertain him as a Guest, for he is the arch-sworn Enemy of God, and of all Angels and Men, and that in his Eternity.
Now if thou understandest and apprehendest this aright, then thou wilt not make of God a Devil, as some do, which say; ‘God hath created the Evil, and that his Will is, that some men should be lost’; which Men, that say so, help to increase the Devil’s Lies, and bring upon themselves the severe Judgment, by their perverting God’s Truths, and so turning them into Lies.
Now observe,
The whole Deity has in its innermost or beginning Birth, in the Pith or Kernel, a very tart, terrible Sharpness, in which the astringent Quality is a very horrible, tart, hard, dark and cold Attraction or Drawing together, like Winter, when there is a fierce, bitter, cold Frost, when Water is frozen into Ice, and besides is very intolerable.
Then think or suppose, if in such a hard Winter, when it is so cold, the Sun should be taken away, what Kind of hard Frost, and how very rough, fierce and hard Darkness would be, wherein no Life could subsist.
After such a Manner and Kind is the astringent Quality in the innermost Kernel or Pith in itself, and to itself alone, without the other Qualities in God; for the Austereness or Severity makes the Attraction or Drawing together, and Fixation or Glutinousness of the Body, and the Hardness dries it up, so that it subsists as a Creature. [Creaturely.]
And the bitter Quality is a tearing, penetrating and cutting bitter Quality or Source: for it divides and drives forth from the hard and astringent Quality, and makes the Mobility.
And betwixt these two Qualities is Heat generated from its hard and fierce bitter Rubbing, Tearing and Raging, which rises up in the bitter and hard Quality, as a fierce wrathful Kindling, and presses quite through, as a hard fiery Noise.
From whence exists the hard Tone, and in that Rising up, or Climbing, it is invironed and fixed in the astringent Quality, so that it becomes a Body which subsists.
Now if there was no other Quality in this Body, which could quench the Fierceness of these four Qualities, then there would be a perpetual Enmity therein. For the Bitter would be against the Astringent, in that it storms and tears so vehemently therein, and breaks open the Astringent. And
then the Astringent also would be against the Bitter, in that it attracts, draws together, and holds fast the bitter Captive, that it could not have its own Course. And
the Heat would be against both, in that with its fierce, wrathful Kindling and Rising up it makes all hot, burning, and raging, and is fully or totally against the Cold. And
so the Tone would be a great Enmity in all the other, in that it penetrates forcibly through all like a Tyrant. And
thus, this is the very deepest and innermost hidden Birth of God, according to which, he calls himself an angry zealous or jealous God, as may be seen by the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. [i Exod. 20. 5. Deut. 5. 9.] And
in this Quality stands Hell and eternal Perdition, as also the eternal Enmity and murtherous Den, and such a Creature the Devil is come to be.
But now seeing he is a sworn Arch-enemy of God, and though indeed the Disputants and Helpers of the Devil will needs force it so in Arguments, that God wills the Good and also the Evil, and that he has created some Men to Damnation, therefore and thereupon the Spirit of God cites them, upon Pain of eternal Enmity, to come before this Looking-Glass, wherein their Heart shall be laid open; and they shall see what God is, and who the Devil is, or how he is become a Devil.
If thy Heart be not bolted and barred up in Death, through thy stubborn Wilfulness and Blasphemy, and drowned in horrible Sins, purposing not to desist from them, or leave them, then awake, and behold; I take Heaven and Earth, also the Stars and Elements, and all the Creatures, and Man himself also in his whole Substance, to witness, and so I will prove it also plainly and clearly in its due Place, with all these forementioned Things, especially when we come to treat of the Creation of all the Creatures.
If these Things will not give thee Satisfaction, then pray to God, that He would open thy Heart, and then thou wilt know and see Heaven and Hell, as also the whole Deity with all its Qualities; and then no doubt thou wilt forbear, and justify the Devil no more: I am not able to open thy Heart for thee.
Now observe the true * Birth or Geniture of God.
[Or the Divine Birth.]
Behold, as I have mentioned above, the Birth or Geniture of God in its innermost Being, in these four Qualities, is thus sharp or tart.
Thou must understand it exactly.
The astringent Quality is thus sharp in its own proper Quality in itself, but it is not alone, or without the other; neither is it generated of or in itself, as being wholly free, but the other six Spirits generate it, and they also hold it by the Reins, and may let their Reins and Authority go as far only as they please.
For the sweet Spring or Fountain-water is suddenly a Whip, Scourge or Lash upon the astringent Quality, and mitigates, softens, or supples it, so that it grows very thin, gentle, mild, and soft, as also very bright.
But that it is thus sharp in itself, is to the End that a Body may be imaged or framed through its attracting or drawing together, otherwise the Deity would not subsist, much less a Creature. And
in this Sharpness God is an all-comprehensible, and all-fixing, or all-fastening sharp God: for the Birth, Geniture, and Sharpness of God, is thus everywhere.
But if I shall describe the Deity in its Birth or Geniture in a small round Circle, in the highest Depth, then it is thus.
In a Similitude.
As
suppose a WHEEL standing before thee, with seven Wheels one made in the other, that it could go on all Sides, forward, backward, and cross Ways, without Necessity of any turning back or stopping. And
in its going, that always one Wheel in its turning about generates the other, and yet none of them vanish out of Sight, but that all Seven be visible. And that
the seven Wheels always generate the Naves in the Midst or Center according to their turning about, so that the Nave stands always free without Alteration or removing, whether the Wheels go forward, or backward, or cross Ways, or upwards or downwards. And that
the Nave always generates the Spokes, so that in their turning about, they stand right and direct from the Nave to the Fellies of the Wheel: and yet none of the Spokes to be out of Sight, but still turning about thus one with another, going whithersoever the Wind drives it, and that without Necessity of any turning back or stopping.
Now observe what I shall inform you in the Application of this.
The seven Wheels are the seven Spirits of God, the one always generating the other, and are like the turning about of a Wheel, which has seven Wheels one in another, and the one always wheels itself otherwise than the other in its Station, and the seven Wheels are hooped round with Fellies, like a round Globe.
And yet that a Man may see all the seven Wheels turning round about severally apart, as also the whole Fines or Compass of the Frame, with all its Fellies and Spokes and Naves. And
the seven Naves in the Midst or Center to be as it were one Nave, which fits every where in the turning about, and the Wheels continually generating these Naves, and the Naves generating the Spokes continually in all the seven Wheels, and yet none of the Wheels, as also none of the Naves, nor any of the Fellies or Spokes, to be out of Sight, and as if this Wheel had seven Wheels, and yet were all but one Wheel, and went always forward, whithersoever the Wind drove it.
Now behold, and consider,
[to be out of Sight,]
The seven Wheels one in another, the one always generating the other, and going on every Side, and yet not one out of Sight, or turning back; these are the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits of God the Father. And
they generate in the seven Wheels in each Wheel a Nave, and yet there are not seven Naves, but only one, which fits in all the seven Wheels: And this is the Heart or innermost Body of the Wheels, wherein the Wheels run about, and that signifies the Son of God.
For all the seven Spirits of God the Father generate continually in their Circle, and that is the Son of all the seven Spirits, and all those qualify or act in his Light, and the Son is in the Midst or Center of the Birth, and holds together all the seven Spirits of God, and they in their Birth turn about therewith thus.
That is, they climb either upward or downward, backward or forward, or crossways, and so the Heart of God is always in the Midst or Center, and fits always every qualifying or fountain Spirit.
Thus there is one Heart of God, and not seven, which is always generated from all the seven, and is the Heart and Life of all the seven.
Now the Spokes, which are always generated from the Naves and Wheels, and which fit all the Wheels in their Turning, and are their Root, Stay, and Fastening, in which they stand, and out of which they are generated, signify God the Holy Ghost, which proceeds forth from the Father and the Son, even as the Spokes go out from the Nave and Wheel, and yet abide also in the Wheel.
Now as the Spokes are many, and go always about with and in the Wheel, so the Holy Ghost is the Workmaster in the Wheel of God, and forms, images and frames all in the whole or total God.
Now this Wheel has seven Wheels one in another, and one Nave, which is fitted in all the seven Wheels, and all the seven Wheels turn on that one Nave: Thus God is one God, with seven qualifying or fountain Spirits one in another, where always one generates the other, and yet is but one God, just as these seven Wheels are but one Wheel.
Now observe,
The Wheel in its incorporated Structure and Frame signifies the astringent Quality, which attracts or draws together the whole corporeal Being of the Deity, and holds it, and dries it, so that it subsists. And
the sweet Spring or fountain-Water is generated by the driving about or rising up of the Spirits, for when the Light is generated in the Heat, then the astringent Quality is amazed or terrified for great Joy, and this is a submitting or lying down, or growing thin, and the hard corporeal Being sinks down like a Meekness or Mildness. And so
now the Terror or the Glance of the Light rises up in the astringent Quality very gently and shivering, and trembles, which now in the Water is bitter, and the Light dries it, and makes it friendly and sweet. Now
therein standeth Life and Joy; for the Terror or Flash rises up in all the Qualities, like the Wheel before mentioned which turns about, and then there all the seven Spirits rise up one in another, and generate themselves, as in a Circle, and the Light is shining in the Midst or Center of the seven Spirits, and shines back again in all the Spirits, and all the Spirits triumph therein, and rejoice in the Light. And
as the seven Wheels turn about upon one Nave, as upon their Heart, which holds them, and they hold the Nave, so the seven Spirits generate the Heart, and the Heart holds the seven Spirits, and so there arise Voices, and divine Joyfulness, of hearty Loving and Kissing. [Or: Glorious.]
For when the Spirits with their Light move, or boil, turn about and rise one in another, then the Life is always generated; for one Spirit always affords to the other its Taste or Relish, that is, it is affected with the other.
Thus the one tastes and feels the other, and in the Sound one hears the other, and the Tone presses forth from all the seven Spirits towards the Heart, and rises up in the Heart in the Flash of the Light, and then rise up the Voices and Joyfulness of the Son of God; and all the seven Spirits triumph and rejoice in the Heart of God, each according to its Quality.
For in the Light in the sweet Water all Astringency, and Hardness, and Bitterness, and Heat, are mitigated and made pleasant, and so there is in the seven Spirits nothing else but a pleasant Striving, Struggling, and wonderful Generating, like a divine holy Sport or Scene of God.
But their sharp or tart Birth, of which I have written above, abides hidden as a Kernel, for it becomes mitigated by the light and sweet Water.
Just as a sour bitter green Apple is forced by the Sun, that it becomes very pleasant or lovely to be eaten, and yet all its Qualities are tasted; so the Deity keeps its Qualities also, but strives or struggles gently, like a pleasant lovely Sport or Scene.
But if the qualifying or fountain Spirits should exalt or lift up themselves, and penetrate suddenly one into another, driving hard, rubbing and thronging, crowding or squeezing, then the sweet Water would be squeezed out, and the fierce Heat would be kindled, and then would rise up the Fire of the seven Spirits, as in Lucifer.
This is now the true Birth or Geniture of the Deity, which has been so from Eternity in all Corners and Places whatever, and abides so in all Eternity. [1 Apocalyp. Rev. 9.11.]
But in the Kingdom of Lucifer, the Destroyer, it is otherwise, as I have written above concerning the Fierceness; and in this World, which is now half kindled also, it is likewise after another manner, and will be so till the Day of the Restitution; of which I shall write when I treat concerning the Creation of this World.
Now in this glorious, lovely, and heavenly Saltiter, or divine Qualities, the Kingdom of Lucifer also was created without any greater Motion than the other.
For when Lucifer was created, he was altogether perfect, and was the fairest Prince in Heaven, adorned and indued with the fairest Clarity or Brightness of the Son of God.
But if Lucifer had been spoiled or destroyed in the Moving of the Creation, as he pretends, then he had never had his Perfection, Beauty and Clarity, but would have been presently a fierce dark Devil, and not a Cherubim.
Of the glorious Birth and Beauty of King Lucifer.
Behold, thou murtherous and lying Spirit! here I will describe thy royal Birth, how thou wast in thy Creation, how God created thee, and how thou becamest so beautiful, and to what end God created thee.
If thou sayest any other Thing than this, which Heaven and Earth, and all the Creatures, testify, then thou liest; nay, the whole Deity testifies against thee, that God created created thee for his Praise out of himself, to be a Prince and King of God, as he did Prince Michael, and Prince Uriel.
Now observe,
When the Deity moved itself to Creation, and would form, image or frame Creatures in its Body, it kindled not the qualifying Spirits, else they would have burnt eternally, but it stirred them very gently or softly in the astringent Quality.
That drew or attracted the divine Saltiter together, and dried it, so that it became a Body, and so the whole divine Power of all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits of that Place or Room, as far as that of the Angels reached, was captivated in the Body, and became the Property of the Body, which neither can nor shall be destroyed again in Eternity, but shall remain the Body’s Propriety, or proper own in Eternity.
Now the captivated or incorporated Power of all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits had its Propriety in the Body, and is risen in the Body, and has generated itself in the same Manner as the whole Deity generates itself from all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits.
One Quality has always generated the other alike, and none of them have vanished or gone out of Sight, just as it is in the whole God; and then the whole Body, as it is also in the Ternary, generated itself just as the Deity generates itself without or distinct from the Body in the Eternity.
But this I must mention here; viz. that Lucifer, the King, was incorporated together out of his whole Kingdom, as the Heart of the whole Place or Room thereof, so far as his whole angelical Host or Army reached when it was created, and so far as that Circumference or Circle, Region or Quarter reached, wherein he and his Angels became a Creature, and which God before the Time of Creation had inclosed or concluded as a Room or Space for a Kingdom, whose Circuit or Extent comprehends Heaven and this World, as also the Deep of the Earth, and of the whole Circle, Sphere, or Circumference of this whole World, of the Heavens and Stars. And
according to the Qualities were his qualifying or fountain Princes created, which are his kingly Counsellors, and so also were all his Angels created.
Yet you are to know, that every Angel has all the seven Spirits in him, but one of the seven is Chief or Principal.
Now behold!
When the King was thus incorporated or compacted together, as one comprehending his whole Kingdom, then instantly, the same Hour, and in the same Moment, when he was incorporated or compacted together, the Birth of the Holy Trinity of God, which he had for a Propriety in his Body, rose up and generated itself without, distinct from the Creature, in God. ["
Understand for a Propriety in the Liberty, not essentially, but as the Fire shines forth or glows through the Iron that is flaming hot, and the Iron remains Iron still; or as the Light replenishes or fills the Darkness, the dark Source or Quality being changed into Light, and so becomes joyful, and yet in the Center remains a Darkness, which is as food to be Nature; for a Spirit is replenished only with the Majesty."]
For in the Driving together of the Body, presently likewise rose up the Birth also in great Triumph, as a new-born King, in God; and all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits showed themselves very joyful and triumphing.
And instantly in the same Moment the Light was generated and rose up out of the seven Spirits in the Center of the Heart, as a new-born Son of the King, which also instantly in a Moment clarified or brightened the Body of all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits from the Center of the Heart; and externally from without, the Light of the Son of God clarified or brightened it.
For the Birth of the new Son in the Heart of Lucifer also penetrated through the whole Body, and was glorified from the Son of God, which was without, distinct from the Body, and was in a friendly Manner welcomed with the greatest Beauty of Heaven, according to the Beauty of God the Son, and it was to him as a loving Heart or Propriety, with which the whole Deity qualified or operated. And
then instantly also the Spirit of the new-born Son in the Heart, went forth from the Light of Lucifer through his Mouth, and united, qualified, or co-operated with the holy Spirit of God, and was with highest Joy received and embraced, as a dear little Brother.
Now here stands the beauteous Bride: what shall I write of her now? was she not a Prince of God, as also the most beautiful, moreover in God’s Love also, and as a dear Son of the Creatures?
Of the horrible, proud, and henceforth doleful lamentable Beginning of Sin. The highest Depth.
Observe here,
When King Lucifer was thus fairly, gloriously, beauteously, highly and holily framed or built, he should surely have now begun to praise, honour and magnify his Creator; and should do that, which God his Creator does. [Observe here,]
Viz. God his Creator qualifies or operates very meekly, lovingly and joyfully, and one qualifying or fountain Spirit of God always loves the other, and brings its Affection into the other, and always helps the other to image, form and frame all in the heavenly Pomp.
Whereby in the heavenly Pomp always such fair beauteous Forms, Ideas, Figures, and Vegetations spring up, as also various Colours and Fruits; and this the qualifying or fountain Spirits of God do in God, as a holy Play, Sport or Scene.
Now behold!
Seeing then God had incorporated or compacted together out of himself eternal Creatures, they should not qualify or operate in the heavenly Pomp in such a Way and Manner, as to be like God himself. [Now behold!]
No, by no means; for they were not thus imaged or framed for that End: For the Creator had for this Cause incorporated or compacted the Body of an Angel together, to be more dry than he is in his Body, that he might be and remain to be God; so that the Qualities should be harder and tougher, that the Tone or Sound might be loud, clear and thrill.
So that when the seven Qualities in an Angel, in the Center of the Heart, generate the Light and the Spirit or Understanding, that then that same Spirit, which in the Light of the Heart goes forth at the Mouth of the Angel, in the divine Power, should as a loud, clear, shrill Sound in the Power of all the Qualities in God sing and ring forth as a melodious Music, and in the Forming, Imaging, Framing or Qualifying of God, rise up as a pleasant, hearty, loving Voice, in God’s forming.
And when the Holy Ghost forms the heavenly Fruit, then should the Tone, which should rise up in the Praising of God from the Angels, be also together in the forming or Imaging of the Fruit; and so on the other Side again, the Fruit should be the Food of the Angels. And
therefore also we pray in our Father, saying, GIB uns unser Täglich Brot, [GIVE us our daily Bread,] so that the Tone or Word, GIB, [GIVE,] which we thrust forth from our Center of the Light, through the animated, animal or soulish Spirit, out at the Mouth forth from us, into the divine Power, should in the divine Power, as a Fellow-forming or Fellow-generating, help to image or frame unser Täglich Brot, [our daily Bread,] which afterwards Dir Vater giebet Uns, [the Father gives us,] for Food. [Co-generating.] [Co-forming.] [Phulchatl.] [Math. 6. 11.] And
then when our Tone is thus incorporated in God’s Tone, so that the Fruit is formed, imaged or framed, it must needs be wholesome or healthful for us, and so we are in God’s Love, and have that Food to make use of, as by the Right of Nature, our Spirit in God’s Love did help to image and form the same. [In a printed Copy, vis fide et adnotatione Dii.]
Herein stands the innermost and greatest Depth of God. O, Man, consider thyself! I will more largely declare it in its due Place.
Now for such an End has God created the Angels, and they do so too: for their Spirit, which in the Center or Heart goes forth from their Light in the Power of all the seven qualifying or fountain Spirits, that goes forth at their Mouth, as God the Holy Ghost goes forth from the Father and Son, and helps to form, image or frame all in God (that is to say, in the divine Nature) through the Mercurius, Song and Speaking, and Sport or Scene of Joy.
For as God works in Nature to the Producing of all Manner of Forms, Ideas, Images, Vegetations, Springings, Fruits and Colours; so do the Angels also in very great Simplicity or Sincerity; and though they should scarce touch the least Twig, or scarce rejoice in the beauteous Flowers in the heavenly May, and discourse and confer never so little, weakly, meanly, or simply thereof; yet nevertheless that very Tone or Speech rises up together in the divine Salitter, and helps to co-image, and frame or form all.
Thou hast many Examples thereof in this World, that if some Creature or Man look upon a Thing, it perishes because of the Poison or Venom in the Creature: On the other Hand again, some Men, as also Beasts and other Creatures, can with their Tone or Words change or alter the Malignity or Evil of a Thing, and bring it into a right Form. And
that now is the divine Power, which all the Creatures are subjected to; for all whatsoever it is that lives and moves, is in God, and God himself is all, and all whatsoever is formed or framed, is formed out of HIM, be it either out of Love, or out of Wrath.
The Head-Spring, or Fountain-Vein of Sin.
Now Lucifer being so royally imaged or framed, that his Spirit in his Forming and Imaging rose up in him, and was received or embraced of God very excellently and lovingly, and was let or put into Glorification, then instantly he should have begun his angelical Obedience and Course, and should have moved (as God himself did) as a loving Son in the House of his Father, and that he did not.
But when his Light was generated in him in his Heart, and that his qualifying Spirits were instantly affected or inwrought with the high Light, they then became so highly rejoicing, that they elevated themselves in their Body against the Right of Nature, and presently began as it were a higher, statelier, more pompous or active Qualifying or Operation than God himself exercised.
But these Spirits elevating themselves thus, and triumphing so fiercely and vehemently one in another, and rising up against the Right of Nature, by that Means they kindled the qualifying or fountain Spirits an exceeding Deal too much; one the astringent Quality attracted or compassed the Body too hard together, so that the sweet Water was dried up.
And the powerful and great bright Flash, which was risen up in the sweet Water in the Heat, from whence the bitter Quality exits in the sweet Water, that rubbed itself so horribly hard with the astringent Quality, as if it would break in Pieces for great Joy. [Water in the Heat]
For the Flash was so bright, that it was as it were intolerable to the qualifying or fountain Spirits, and therefore the bitter Quality or Source trembled and rubbed itself so hard in the astringent, that the Heat was kindled contrary to the Right of Nature, and the astringent also dried up the sweet Water by its hard Attracting together.
But now the Quality of Heat was so severe, furious and eager, that it bereaved the astringent Quality or Source of its Power; for the Heat exits in the Fountain or Source of the sweet Water.
But the sweet Water being dried up through the astringent attracting together, therefore could not the Heat any more rise to a Flame or to any Light, (for the Light exits in the Unctuosity or Oiliness of the Water) but glowed like a red-hot Iron, or like Iron not quite glowing, but very dimly and darkly; or as if you should put a very hard Stone into the Fire, and should let it lie there in great Heat, as long as you please, yet it would not be glowing Light, because it has too little Water, or Oiliness in it.
Thus now the Heat kindled the dried Water, and the Light could no more elevate and kindle itself, for the Water was dried up, and was quite consumed by the Fire or great Heat.
The Meaning is not here, as if the Spirit of the Water was swallowed up or devoured, which dwells in all the seven Qualities, but its Quality, or upper Place or Predominance, was changed into a dusky hot and sour Quality. [Predominance]
For here in this Place the four Quality has taken its first Original and Beginning, which now also is inherited in this World, which is not in Heaven in God after such a Manner at all, nor in any Angel; for it is, and signifies the House of Affliction, Trouble and Misery, and is a Forgetfulness of all Good. [Affliction]
Now when this was done, the qualifying or fountain Spirits rubbed themselves one upon another in that Manner and Way, as I have mentioned above concerning the Figure of the sevenfold Wheel, for they use thus to rise up one in another, and to taste one another, or to affect one another, from whence Life and Love exist. [Figure]
Now in all the Spirits there was nothing else but a mere hot, fiery, cold and hard Corruption, and so one evil Quality tasted the other, whereby the whole Body grew so very fierce and wrathful; for the Heat was against the Cold, and the Cold against the Heat. And
so the sweet Water being dried up, the bitter Quality (which existed and was generated by the first Flash, when the Light kindled itself) rose up in the Body through all the Spirits, as if it would destroy the Body, and so raved and raged like the rankest or worst Poison. And so
from thence existed the first Poison, wherein we poor Men now in this World have enough to chew upon, and thereby the bitter poisonous Death is come into the Flesh.
In this Raging and Tearing now the Life of Lucifer was generated, that is, his dear little Son in the Circle or Center of his Heart; and what Manner of Life and dear little Son came to be, I offer to any rational Soul to consider of.
For such as the Father was, such was the Son also, viz. a dark, astringent, cold, hard, bitter, hot, sour, stinking Fountain or Source, and the Love stood in the bitter Quality, in its penetrating Taste and Relish, and became an Enmity against all the qualifying or fountain Spirits in the Body of the high-minded arrogant King.
Thus the Tone rose up through the Penetrating of the bitter Quality through the heat and dried Water, and through the astringent hard Quality, into the heart, into the little new dear Son. And
here the Spirit went forth, and as he was generated in the Heart, so he went forth now at the Mouth; but how welcome a Guest he was before God, and in God, also before the holy Angels of the other Kingdoms, I leave to thee to consider of.