(29) The face consists of a natural trinity: the eyes representing the spiritual power which comprehends; the nostrils representing the preservative and vivifying power; and the mouth and ears representing the material Demiurgic power of the lower world. The first sphere is eternally existent and is creative; the second sphere pertains to the mystery of the creative breach; and the third sphere

(22) And now if the Glance out of this Mind, out of this or any other Form not here mentioned, glances [or darts] through the Eyes, then it catches up its own Form out of every Thing, as its starry Kingdom is most potent at all Times of the Heaven, in the Good or in the Bad, in Falshood or in Truth. And this is brought before the King, and there must the five Counsellors try it, which yet are unrighteous Knaves themselves, being infected from the Stars and Elements, and so set in their Region [or Dominion.] And now those [Counsellors] desire nothing more than the Kingdom of this World; and to which Sort the starry House of the Brains and of the Heart is most of all inclined, for that the five Counsellors also give their Advice, and will have it, be it for Pomp, Pride, Stateliness, Riches, Beauty, or voluptuous Life, also for Art and Excellence of earthly Things, and for poor Lazarus there is no Thought; there the five Counsellors are very soon agreed, for in their own Form they are all unrighteous before God; but according to the Region of this World they are very firm. Thus they counsel the King, and the King gives it to the Spirit of the Soul, which gathers up the Essences, and falls too with Hands and Mouth. But if they are Words [that are to be expressed] then it brings them to the Roof of the Mouth, and there the five Counsellors distinguish [or separate] them according to the Will of the Mind; and further [the Spirit brings them upon the Tongue, and there the Senses [divide or] distinguish them in the Flash, [Glance, or in a Moment.]

(14) First the King gives it to the Eyes, to see whether it be Good or Evil; and the Eyes give it to the Ears, to hear from whence it comes, whether out of a true, or out of a false Region, and whether it be a Lie or Truth; and the Ears give it to the Nose, (the Smell,) that must smell, whether that which is brought in (and stands before the King) comes out of a good or uevil Essence; and the Nose gives it to the Taste, which must try whether it be pure or impure, and therefore the Taste has the Tongue, that it may spit it out again if it be impure; but if it be a Thought to [be expressed in] a Word, then the Lips are the Door-keepers, which must keep it shut, and not let the Tongue forth, but must bring it into the Region of the Air, into the Nostrils, and not into the Heart, and stifle it, and then it is dead.

(76) And through the middle portal next to it there come forth fragrant smells, and dew and rain, and prosperity and health.

(3) Therefore it is that I say, and have said, that evermore when the devil taketh any body, he figureth in some quality of his body what his servants be in spirit. For he enflameth so the imagination of his contemplatives with the fire of hell, that suddenly without discretion they shoot out their curious conceits, and without any advisement they will take upon them to blame other men’s defaults over soon: and this is because they have but one nostril ghostly. For that division that is in a man’s nose bodily, and the which departeth the one nostril from the tother, betokeneth that a man should have discretion ghostly; and can dissever the good from the evil, and the evil from the worse, and the good from the better, ere that he gave any full doom of anything that he heard or saw done or spoken about him. And by a man’s brain is ghostly understood imagination; for by nature it dwelleth and worketh in the head.

(9) Now these two Gates are in one another; the nethermost goes into the Abyss, and the uppermost goes into Paradise; and a third Gate comes to these two, out of the Element with its four Productions, and presses in together with the Fire, Air, Water, and Earth; and their Kingdom is the Sun and Stars, which qualify with the first Will; and their Desire is to be filled, to swell, and to be great. These draw into them, and fill the Chamber of the Deep, [viz.] the free and naked Will in the Mind; they bring the Glimpse [or Glance] of the Stars into the Gate of the Mind, and qualify with the Sharpness of the Glimpse [or Flash;] they fill the broken Gates of the Darkness with Flesh, and wrestle continually with the first Will (from whence they are gone forth) for the Kingdom [or Dominion,] and yield themselves up to the first Will, as to their Father, which willingly receives their Region [or Dominion.] For he is obscure and dark, and they are rough and sour, also bitter and cold; and their Life is a seething Source of Fire, wherewith they govern in the Mind, in the Gall, Heart, Lungs, and Liver, and in all Members [or Parts] of the whole Body, and Man is their own; the Spirit which stands in the Flash brings the Constellation into the Tincture of its Property, and infects the Thoughts, according to the Dominion of the Stars; they take the Body and tame it, and bring their bitter Roughness into it.

(23) And there stand the three Principles in Strife. The first Principle, viz. the Kingdom of Sternness [or wrathful Fierceness] says, Go forth in the Midst of the strong Might of the Fire, it must be [so;] then says the second [Principle] in the Mind, Stay and consider, God is here with the Virgin, fear the Abyss of Hell; and the third [Principle,] viz. the Kingdom of this World says, Here we are at Home, we must have it [so,] that we may adorn and sustain the Body, it must be [so;] and it takes the Region of the Air, viz. its own Spirit, and brings that [Region] out at the Mouth, and keeps the Distinction according to the Kingdom of this World.

(12) What is really meant by this? The expression, "end of the nose," is very cleverly chosen. The nose must serve the eyes as a guiding line. If one is not guided by the nose, either one opens wide the eyes and looks into the distance, so that the nose is not seen, or the lids shut too much, so that the eyes close, and again the nose is not seen. But when the eyes are opened too wide, one makes the mistake of directing them outward, whereby one is easily distracted. If they are closed too much, then one makes the mistake of letting them turn inward, whereby one easily sinks into a dreamy reverie. Only when the eyelids are sunk properly halfway, is the end of the nose seen in just the right way. Therefore it is taken as a guiding line. The main thing is to lower the eye-lids in the right way, and then to allow the Light to stream in of itself, without trying to force the Light to stream in by a concentrated effort. Looking at the nose serves only as the beginning of the inner concentration, so that the eyes are brought into the right direction for looking, and then are held to the guiding line: after that, one can let it be. That is the way a mason hangs up a plumb-line. As soon as he has hung it up, he guides his work by it without continually bothering himself to look at the plumb-line.