(44) And thy worldly Bravery, Glory, Beauty, and Riches, will not exalt thee before God, as thou supposest, nor yet thy Office which thou didst bear here, be it the kingly or priestly Office; if thou desirest to be in Heaven, then thou must (through thy Saviour) be new born; thou must endeavour to bring thy Subjects to Righteousness, and then thou wilt shine (with thy Office) as bright as the Luster of Heaven, and thy Works will follow thee. O Man! consider thyself in this.

(37) Now behold, thou Child of Man, (seeing thou art an eternal Spirit) thou hast this to expect after the Breaking [or Deceasing] of thy Body; thou wilt be either an Angel of God in Paradise, or a hellish ugly diabolical Worm, Beast, or Dragon; all according as thou hast tbeen inclined [or given to] here in this Life; that Image which thou hast borne here in thy Mind, with that thou shalt appear; for there can no other Image go forth out of thy Body at the Breaking [or Deceasing of it;] but even that which thou hast borne here, that shall appear in Eternity.

(41) But whoso seeks his water of life in worldly joys, The eyes of the heart which behold the heavens Mankind are ever being changed, and God's elixir Joins the body's garment without aid of needle. On the day that you entered upon existence, You were first fire, or earth, or air. If you had continued in that, your original state, How could you have arrived at this dignity of humanity? But through change your first existence remained not In lien thereof God gave you a better existence

(11) Also let a man mark, when he is in this hell, nothing may console him; and he cannot believe that he shall ever be released or comforted. But when he is in heaven, nothing can trouble him; he believeth also that none will ever be able to offend or trouble him, albeit it is indeed true, that after this hell he may be comforted and released, and after this heaven he may be troubled and left without consolation. Again: this hell and this heaven come about a man in such sort, that he knoweth not whence they come; and whether they come to him, or depart from him, he can of himself do nothing towards it. Of these things he can neither give nor take away from himself, bring them nor banish them, but as it is written, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,” that is to say, at this time present, “but thou knowest not whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth.”12 And when a man is in one of these two states, all is right with him, and he is as safe in hell as in heaven, and so long as a man is on earth, it is possible for him to pass ofttimes from the one into the other; nay even within the space of a day and night, and all without his own doing. But when the man is in neither of these two states he holdeth converse with the creature, and wavereth hither and thither, and knoweth not what manner of man he is. Therefore he shall never forget either of them, but lay up the remembrance of them in his heart.

(2) And look thou have no wonder of this: for mightest thou once see it as clearly, as thou mayest by grace come to for to grope it and feel it in this life, thou wouldest think as I say. But be thou sure that clear sight shall never man have here in this life: but the feeling may men have through grace when God vouchsafeth. And therefore lift up thy love to that cloud: rather, if I shall say thee sooth, let God draw thy love up to that cloud and strive thou through help of His grace to forget all other thing.

(33) O thou confounded Babel, go out from Antichrist, and come (with a penitent Heart and Mind) before thy merciful Brother, and Saviour of all Men; he will more readily hear thee, than thou come to him. Step only out of this wicked Babel into a new Birth, and be not so much in Love with the Kingdom of this World; thou art but a mere Guest and Stranger in it. What avails thee, thy i transitory Honour [from Men,] which scarce lasts one Moment? Thou shalt indeed get much greater [surpassing] Joy and Honour in the new Regeneration, where the holy Souls in the Heaven, and the Angels will rejoice with thee. Consider what Joy and Gladness thou wilt stir up thereby in the Heart of Jesus Christ, where then instantly the precious Talent (the Holy Ghost) will be given thee, and thou wilt get the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that thou thyself mayest open it. Or dost thou think it is not true? Do but seek and try with an earnest Mind, and thou wilt find Wonders indeed; thou thyself shalt know, [understand,] and (without any Doubt at all) assuredly see in thy Mind, out of what School this is wrote.

(16) "Shame upon thee, O soul, for thy overweening love of the world! If thou dost not believe in heaven or hell, at any rate thou believest in death, which will snatch from thee all worldly delights and cause thee to feel the pangs of separation from them, which will be intenser just in proportion as thou hast attached thyself to them. Why art thou mad after the world? If the whole of it, from East to West, were thine and worshipped thee, yet it would all, in a brief space, turn to dust along with thyself, and oblivion would blot out thy name, as those of ancient kings before thee. But now, seeing thou hast only a very small fragment of the world, and that a defiled one, wilt thou be so mad as to barter eternal joy for it, a precious jewel for a broken cup of earthenware, and make thyself the laughingstock of all around them?"

(25) Therefore, O dear Soul, turn, and let not the Devil captivate thee, and regard not the Scorn of the World; all thy Sorrow must be turned into great Joy. And though in this World thou hast not great Honour, Power, and Riches, that is nothing; thou knowest not, whether Tomorrow will be the Day it will come to thy Turn [to die.] Does not a Bit of Bread taste better to the Needy, than the best Dainties to the great Ones? What Advantage has the rich Man then, but that he sees much, and must be tormented and vexed in many Things, and in the End must give an Account of all his Doings and Stewardship, and how he has been a Planter in this World? He must give an Account of all his Servants, and if he has been an evil Example to them, and has been a Scandal to them, so that they have walked in ungodly Ways, then their poor Souls cry eternally cfor Vengeance upon those their Superiors; there all stands in the Figure in the Tincture. Why dost thou contend and strive so much after worldly Honour that is transitory? Rather endeavour for the Tree of Pearl, which thou earnest along with thee, and shalt rejoice eternally in its Growing and Fruit.

(26) If thou art to be born on a higher plane, the vision of that higher plane will be dawning upon thee.

(2) Therefore, O Man! consider thyself here in this World, in which thou standest in the Birth, thou art sown as a Seed or Grain, and a Tree grows out of thee; therefore now see in what Ground thou standest, that thou mayest be found to be Timber for the great Building of God in his Love, and not for a Threshold [or Footstool] to be trodden under-foot, or that is fit for nothing but for the Fire, whereof nothing will remain but Dust and Ashes.

(63) Therefore, O Child of Man, consider what thou art in this Time; esteem not so slightly or poorly of thyself, but consider that you remain in Paradise, and put not out the divine Light in you; or else you must hereafter remain in the Original of the Source of Anger or Wrath in the Valley of Darkness; and your noble Image out of God will be turned into a Serpent and Dragon.

(2) Thus shalt thou do with thyself: thou shalt loathe and be weary with all that thing that worketh in thy wit and in thy will unless it be only God. For why, surely else, whatsoever that it be, it is betwixt thee and thy God. And no wonder though thou loathe and hate for to think on thyself, when thou shalt always feel sin, a foul stinking lump thou wottest never what, betwixt thee and thy God: the which lump is none other thing than thyself. For thou shalt think it oned and congealed with the substance of thy being: yea, as it were without departing.

(12) But if thou leavest them off, and passest with the Desire of thy Heart into the Mercy of God, then thou goest into Heaven, into God the Father, and thou walkest in the Body of Christ in the pure Element; and the Holy Ghost goes forth out of thy Soul, and leads thee into all Truth; and the old corrupt Man does but hang to thee, which thou shalt destroy in Death, and with thy Love in Christ still overcome, and captivate the Anger of the Father in thy Soul; and thou shalt spring up with thy new Man through Death, and appear in the same at the last Judgment-Day. The Gate to Babel.

(58) Now if thou wilt [turn] to the Virgin again, then thou must be born anew through the Water in the Center, and [through] the Holy Ghost; and then thou shalt receive her again with greater Honour and Joy; of which Christ said; There will be more Joy in Heaven for one Sinner that repenteth, than for ninety and nine Righteous, who need no Repentance; so very gloriously is the poor Sinner received again of the Virgin, that ait must no more be a Shadow, but a living and understanding Creature, and [an] Angel of God. This joy none can express, only a regenerate Soul knows it; which the Body understands not; but it trembles, and knows not what is done to it.

(8) But it behoveth you to know that a master hath said on this passage of St. Dionysius, that it is possible, and may happen to a man often, till he become so accustomed to it, as to be able to look into eternity whenever he will. For when a thing is at first very hard to a man and strange, and seemingly quite impossible, if he put all his strength and energy into it, and persevere therein, that will afterward grow quite light and easy, which he at first thought quite out of reach, seeing that it is of no use to begin any work, unless it may be brought to a good end. And a single one of these excellent glances is better, worthier, higher and more pleasing to God, than all that the creature can perform as a creature. And as soon as a man turneth himself in spirit, and with his whole heart and mind entereth into the mind of God which is above time, all that ever he hath lost is restored in a moment. And if a man were to do thus a thousand times in a day, each time a fresh and real union would take place; and in this sweet and divine work standeth the truest and fullest union that may be in this present time. For he who hath attained thereto, asketh nothing further, for he hath found the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Life on earth.

(15) Therefore, O noble Man, let not Antichrist ahd the Devil befool you, who tell you that the Deity is far off from you, and direct you to a Heaven that is situated far above you; whereas there is nothing nearer to you than the Heaven is. You only stand before the Door of Heaven, and you are gone forth with Adam out of the paradisical Heaven into the third Principle; yet you stand in the Gate, do but as the eternal Mother does, which by great desiring and longing after the Kingdom of God, attains the Kingdom of Heaven, wherein God dwells, wherein Paradise springs up; do you but so, set all your Desire upon the Heart of God, and so you will pass in by Force, as the eternal Mother does; and then it shall be with thee as Christ said, The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth Violence, and the Violent take it by Force: So you shall make to yourself Friends in Heaven with your unrighteous Mammon, and so you come to be the true Similitude and Image of God, and his proper own; for all the three Principles, with the Eternity, are in you, and the holy Paradise is again generated in you, wherein God dwells. Then where will you seek for God? Seek him in your Soul only that is proceeded out of the eternal Nature, wherein the divine Birth stands.

(21) Now behold, O Man, how thou art both earthly and also heavenly, as [it were] mixt in one [only] Person, and thou bearest the earthly, and also the heavenly Image, in one [only] person; and thou art also the fierce [wrathful Property or] Source, and thou bearest the hellish Image, which springs in the Anger of God, out of the Source of the Eternity; thus is thy Mind, and the Mind holds the Balance, and the Senses put [Weight] into the Scales.

(42) O thou blind Mind, with thy Might and Stateliness, full of Wickedness and devilish fierce Wrath, [wilt thou know where thou art after that thy Body perishes?] Thou art even with all the Devils, in the Abyss of Hell, if thou dost not turn, and by earnest unfained Sorrow and Repentance for thy Abominations, enter into the angelical Footsteps, that the Saviour and Treader upon the Serpent of fierce Wrath, Wickedness, Lying, and Deceit, may meet thee, and embrace thee in his Arms, and [that thou] mayest be new-born in him, and be yielded up into the Bosom of the chaste Virgin, and become an Angel; or else thou art in the eternal Death, in the eternal Darkness, and canst not in all Eternity reach the Kingdom of God any more.

(41) What is it now that thou hast after thy Corrupting, when thou diest? Consider thyself, what is it that thou art [then?] Thou art a Spirit: But what Kind of Source [or Property] is it that thou hast in thee? [Surely thou hast in thee] Anger, Wickedness, Pride, Self-seeking, Wilfulness, (in raising up thyself after temporal Pleasure, but finding none;) [thou hast] a false Mind in the Spirit, full of Lies and Deceit, and murderous, [arising in thee] out of the Essences. As thou wast upon Earth towards Men, just so it is [then] with such a Spirit as is gone forth from thee out of the corruptible Body of the Element. And where shall that [then] remain when this World perishes? Dost thou suppose that it shall [then] be an Angel? Has it an angelical Quality, [Source or Property?] Is its Source [or Quality] in Love, Humility, and Meekness? Is it in the divine Obedience, in the Light of Joy?

(24) Or what thinkest thou, if thy Twig be thus very dry and withered, and that thou must eternally swelter in the Anger of God, where instantly thy human Image will be taken away, and thou wilt be in the a Shape of the most abominable Beasts, Worms, and Serpents, all according to thy Deeds and Practice here, where then all thy Deeds will stand in the Figure in the Tincture eternally before thy Eyes, and will gnaw thee sufficiently, so that thou wilt continually think, if thou hadst not done this or that, thou shouldst have attained the Grace of God? Thy Mocking stands before thy Eyes, and thou art ashamed to let the least good Thought into thy Soul; for Good is as an Angel before thee, and thou darest not (for great Shame) so much as to touch it with thy Mind, much less look upon it. But thou must eternally devour into thyself thy great Scorning, with all thy Vices and Sins, and thou must eternally despair; and though thou thinkest to go forth after Abstinence, yet the Light strikes thee down again, and so thou goest but forth aloft (in thy devouring fretting Worm, in thyself) without the Thrones of God; and it is with thee, as with one who stands upon a high stony Cliff of a Rock, and would cast himself into a bottomless Gulf; and the further he sees, the deeper he falls. Thus thy own Sins, Scornings, Deridings, Cursings in Contempt of God, are thy Hell-fire, which gnaws thee eternally; this I speak in the Word of Life.