(78) While it is but glimmering it is only a gentle, soft, longing delight or pleasing lust in thee, and does not consume thee; but if thou exhaltest thy heart still more, and thou kindlest the sweet quality or fountain, so that it becomes a burning flame, then thou kindlest all the qualifying or fountain spirits, and then the whole body bumeth, and so mouth and hands fall on to work.

(78) Therefore beware of the Longing [Lust or Desire;] and say not in thyself, I stand in the Dark, the Lord sees me not, [nor] what I think and do. He stands in the Gate of the Mind, where the Soul stands (before the clear Face of God) in the opened Gate; and all thy Abominations are known before God, and thou makest the Element of God blush [or change Colour] with them; thou grievest the chaste Virgin (which dwells in her own Center, and is given to be a Companion to thee in thy Mind) and makest her sad; she warns thee of the Way of the Ungodly; if thou followest [her Counsel,] and turnest, and breakest in unto her, by earnest Repentance, then she crowns thee in thy Mind with Wisdom and Understanding, that thou mayest then very well avoid the Devil; but if they doest not, then thou fallest out of one Sin and Abomination into another, and makest thy Measure full and running over, and then the Devil helps thee into his Kingdom, and thou art very serviceable to him; for thou art a true Scourge to the Children of God, not only with Reproaching, but also in Deeds [or in the Work of thy Hands,] which the Devil dares not do; thou doest him acceptable service. He amuses thee finely with the Name [i of God,] so that thou bringest forth from thy Lips, and teachest it; but thy Heart is a Thief and

(34) Behold, thou Child of Man, if thou wilt easily draw near to this Knowledge, take but thy Mind before thee, and consider it, and therein thou wilt find all. You know, that out of it proceeds Joy and Sorrow, Laughter and Weeping, Hope and Doubting, Wrath and Love, Lust to a Thing, and Hate of the Thing: You find therein Wrath and Malice, also Love, Meekness, and Well-doing.

(59) Also, I receive it from before the seat of his throne, where all holy souls of men stand before him, and rejoice before him; [and I tell thee] that the desire of the flesh in soft pleasingness, to be rich, to be handsome, beautiful and fair, or to be mighty or potent, is a very bath or lake of hellish wrath, into which thou crowdest and runnest, as if thou wert drawn in with cartropes; for there is very great danger therein.

(22) The Pride of Nature indeed inclines one Man more strongly than another, but it forces [or compels] none that they must be proud; and if there be a Force [or strong Compulsion upon any,] then it is when Man willingly for temporal Honour and Pleasure Sake lets the Devil into his eternal Essences; and then he [the Devil] sees presently how that Man is inclined [or led] by the Spirit of this World, and in that Way tempts him accordingly; if Man lets him but in, he is then a Guest very hardly to be driven out again; yet it is very possible, if that Man entirely and sincerely purposes to turn, and to live according to the Will of God, then the Virgin is always ready [before-hand] in the Way to help him.

(40) Do not behold thyself, thou blind Mind, and consider thyself, where is thy angelical Form in thee? Why art thou so angry, stern, [fierce, froward,] and malicious? Wherefore dost thou elevate thyself still in thy Wickedness, in Pride, in Might [or Authority,] and Pomp, and boasteth thyself for a brave and potent Beast? What is it that thou dost? Wherefore hast thou High and Low. let the Spirit of this World into thee, which seduces thee (as it lists) into High-mindedness, into [proud] Stoutness, into P Potency and Pomp, into Covetousness and Lying, into Falshood and Treachery, as also into Sickness and Corruption, [or Frailty?]

(10) What is better and nobler than true poorness in spirit? Yet when that is held up before us, we will have none of it, but are always seeking ourselves, and our own things. We like to have our mouths always filled with good things, that we may have in ourselves a lively taste of pleasure and sweetness. When this is so, we are well pleased, and think it standeth not amiss with us. But we are yet a long way off from a perfect life. For when God will draw us up to something higher, that is, to an utter loss and forsaking of our own things, spiritual and natural, and withdraweth His comfort and sweetness from us, we faint and are troubled, and can in no wise bring our minds to it; and we forget God and neglect holy exercises, and fancy we are lost for ever. This is a great error and a bad sign. For a true lover of God, loveth Him or the Eternal Goodness alike, in having and in not having, in sweetness and bitterness, in good or evil report, and the like, for he seeketh alone the honour of God, and not his own, either in spiritual or natural things. And therefore he standeth alike unshaken in all things, at all seasons. Hereby let every man prove himself, how he standeth towards God, his Creator and Lord.

(4) The more conformed thereto, the more it pleases; For the blest ardour that irradiates all things In that most like itself is most vivacious. With all of these things has advantaged been The human creature; and if one be wanting, From his nobility he needs must fall. 'Tis sin alone which doth disfranchise him, And render him unlike the Good Supreme, So that he little with its light is blanched, And to his dignity no more returns, Unless he fill up where transgression empties With righteous pains for criminal delights. Your nature when it sinned so utterly In its own seed, out of these dignities Even as out of Paradise was driven, Nor could itself recover, if thou notest With nicest subtilty, by any way, Except by passing one of these two fords: Either that God through clemency alone Had pardon granted, or that man himself Had satisfaction for his folly made. Fix now thine eye deep into the abyss Of the eternal counsel, to my speech As far as may be fastened steadfastly!

(44) For an angry, malicious, proud Seeking of Self-Honour, and Dignity, a mendacious, [or lying,] thieving, robbing, murderous, lascivious, lecherous Mind, is not the Similitude of God. But an humble, chaste, modest, pure, courteous [Mind,] which inclines itself with a longing Desire and Love to the Heart of God, that is the Similitude of God; in which the fire-flaming Spirit in the Joy and Meekness goes forth out of the Will, and for its Brethren the Will of its Spirit (which goes forth from it) readily inclines towards them; and as the Proverb says, It imparts the very Heart to them, which is done in the Spirit, wherein the heavenly Joy (in the eternal Element) springs up, and the Wonders of God are manifested in the Virgin, by a Hymn of Praise to the eternal Mind of God; where the Mind plays upon the Harp of David an Hymn to God; where then (in the eternal holy Mind) there springs up Knowledge and Colours in the [eternal] Element, and in the Spirit Wonders, with Works and Powers [or Virtues.]

(15) But if thou wouldst know what the true faith is, then observe: Thy heart must not qualify or cooperate with the four sons of the devil, in pride, covet-ousness, envy, wrath, extortion, oppression, lying, deceiving, murder, and tearing the bread out of thy neighbours throat, studying day and night to do mischief, in bringing subtle devices and designs to effect, that thou may court and give satisfaction to the fourfold devil of pride, covetousness, envy and wrath, and exercise thyself in worldly pleasures and voluptuousness.

(1) IT 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 issue and final requital or wages thereof.

(25) Now, after that a man hath walked in all the ways that lead him unto the truth, and exercised himself therein, not sparing his labour; now, as often and as long as he dreameth that his work is altogether finished, and he is by this time quite dead to the world, and come out from Self and given up to God alone, behold! the Devil cometh and soweth his seed in the man’s heart. From this seed spring two fruits; the one is spiritual fulness or pride, the other is false, lawless freedom. These are two sisters who love to be together. Now, it beginneth on this wise: the Devil puffeth up the man, till he thinketh himself to have climbed the topmost pinnacle, and to have come so near to heaven, that he no longer needeth Scripture, nor teaching, nor this nor that, but is altogether raised above any need. Whereupon there ariseth a false peace and satisfaction with himself, and then it followeth that he saith or thinketh: “Yea, now I am above all other men, and know and understand more than any one in the world; therefore it is certainly just and reasonable that I should be the lord and commander of all creatures, and that all creatures, and especially all men, should serve me and be subject unto me.” And then he seeketh and desireth the same, and taketh it gladly from all creatures, especially men, and thinketh himself well worthy of all this, and that it is his due, and looketh on men as if they were the beasts of the field, and thinketh himself worthy of all that ministereth to his body and life and nature, in profit, or joy, or pleasure, or even pastime and amusement, and he seeketh and taketh it wherever he findeth opportunity.

(16) Now these are the foods with which the devil lies in wait for us. First he injects a pain into your heart until you have heartache on account of a small thing of this life, and he seizes (you) with his poisons. And afterward (he injects) the desire of a tunic, so that you will pride yourself in it, and love of money, pride, vanity, envy that rivals another envy, beauty of body, fraudulence. The greatest of all these are ignorance and ease.

(19) Now this is the root of covetousness, envy, pride and wrath [anger]; for in the fierce qualifying or acting and boiling rose up the wrath, and burnt like fire of heat and cold, and was also bitter as gall.