(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.

(29) Therefore, my beloved Mind, look what thou dost; and judge not so hastily and unadvisedly, and do not turn Beast because of the Multitude of Opinions, to whom belongs only the Chaff of the noble Seed. The Spirit of God shows himself in one that seeks him, yet according to the Manner and Kind of his Essences; and yet the Seed of God is sown along in the Essences; and if the Seeker seeks in a divine Desire, then he finds the Pearl according to his Essences, and so the great Wonders of God are manifested thereby.

(28) My dear and loving Reason, bring thy five Senses hither, and consider thyself, according to the Things above-mentioned, what thou art, how thou wast created the Image of God, and how thou in Adam (by the Infection of the Devil) didst let thy Spirit of this World take Possession of thy Paradise which now sits in the Room of Paradise. Wilt thou say that thou wast created thus [as] as to this World in Adam at the Beginning? Then behold and consider thyself; and thou shalt find another Image in thy Mind and Speech.

(65) The Mind (which knows [or understands] nothing in the Light of Nature) will marvel at such Writings, and will suppose that it is not true, that God has extracted and created Man out of such an Original. Behold, thou beloved Reason and precious Mind, bring thy five Senses hither, and I will show thee whether it be true [or not.] I will show thee [plainly,] that thou hast not the least Spark [or Degree of Reason or Cause] to allow any other Ground [to build upon,] except that thou wilt let thy Heart be, imbittered by the Devil in bestial Reason, and except thou wilt wilfully contemn the Light of Nature, which stands in the Presence of God. And indeed, if thou art in such a bestial Way, leave my Writings, and read them not, they are not written for such Swine, but for the Children [of Wisdom,] that are to possess the Kingdom of God. But I have written them for myself, and for those that seek, and not for the Wise and Prudent of this World.

(64) But thou mad World, what shall the Spirit say [of thee?] art thou not my Brother? The Essences of my Spirit stir thee, go forth out of thy Beast, and then I go with my Companions into the Garden of Roses, into the Lily of God. Why keepest thou back, and sufferest thyself to be held by the Devil? Is he not thy Enemy, he does but hunt after thy Pearl; and if he gets it, then thy Spirit becomes a Worm and Beast in its Figure. Why sufferest thou thy angelical Image to be taken away, for temporal Pleasure Sake? Thy Pleasure is only in the corruptible Beast. But what does that avail the Soul? If thou dost not go out from it, thou wilt get eternal Woe and Sorrow by it.

(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?]

(32) Therefore, O Man! consider what thou hast received with thy bestial Body, to eat and to drink of Evil and Good, which God did forbid. Look here into the Ground of the Essences, and say not with Reason; It was merely for Disobedience, which God was so very angry at, that his Anger could not be quenched. Thou art deceived, for if the clear Deity was angry, it would not have become Man for thy Sake to help thee; look but upon the

(62) Then: "There is in man reasoning; and there is a divine Reason. Reason is implanted in man to provide for life and sustenance, But divine Reason attends the arts in the case of all, Teaching them always what it is advantageous to do.

(66) Behold, what are thy five Senses? In what Virtue do they consist? Or how come they in the Life of Man? Whence comes thy Seeing, that thou canst see by the Light of the Sun, and not otherwise? Consider thyself deeply, if thou wilt be a Searcher into Nature, and wilt boast of the Light of Nature. Thou canst not say that thou seest only by the Light of the Sun, for there must be something which can receive the Light of the Sun, and which mixes with the Light of the Sun (as the Star does which is in thine Eyes) which is not the Sun, but consists of Fire and Water; and its Glance, which receives the Light of the Sun, is a Flash, that arises from the fiery, sour and bitter Gall, and the Water makes it soft [or pleasant.] Here you take the Meaning to be only, concerning the outward, viz. the third Principle, wherein the Sun, Stars, and Elements are; but the same is also true in every one of the Creatures in this World.

(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.

(2) Now surely me thinketh that this is a well moved question, and therefore I think to answer thereto so feebly as I can. First when thou askest me what is he, this that presseth so fast upon thee in this work, proffering to help thee in this work; I say that it is a sharp and a clear beholding of thy natural wit, printed in thy reason within in thy soul. And where thou askest me thereof whether it be good or evil, I say that it behoveth always be good in its nature. For why, it is a beam of the likeness of God. But the use thereof may be both good and evil. Good, when it is opened by grace for to see thy wretchedness, the passion, the kindness, and the wonderful works of God in His creatures bodily and ghostly. And then it is no wonder though it increase thy devotion full much, as thou sayest. But then is the use evil, when it is swollen with pride and with curiosity of much clergy and letterly cunning as in clerks; and maketh them press for to be holden not meek scholars and masters of divinity or of devotion, but proud scholars of the devil and masters of vanity and of falsehood. And in other men or women whatso they be, religious or seculars, the use and the working of this natural wit is then evil, when it is swollen with proud and curious skills of worldly things, and fleshly conceits in coveting of worldly worships and having of riches and vain plesaunce and flatterings of others.

(57) Behold, thou poor Soul in thy Bath of Thorns, where is thy Home? Art thou at Home in this World? Why then dost thou not seek the Favour and Friendship of the World? Why dost thou not hunt after the temporal Honour, after Pleasure and Riches, that it may go well with thee in this World? Why dost thou make thyself a Fool to the World, and art every one's Owl and Footstool? Why dost thou suffer thyself to be despised and abused by those that are inferior to thee, and know less than thou? Why shouldst thou not be stately and brave with those seeming holy Hypocrites? And then thou wouldst be beloved, and no Body would abuse thee; and thou wouldst be more safe and secure in thy Body and Goods, than in this Way, wherein thou art but the World's Owl and Fool.

(7) Or dost thou suppose, that we are mad, that we write thus? If we did not see and know it, we should then be silent. Or canst thou not once know the thorny Bath, wherein thou swimmest? Dost thou still say, thou art in the Garden of Roses? If thou thinkest thou art there, see well whether thou art not in the Devil's Pasture, and art his most beloved Hind, which he fattens to the Slaughter for his Food.

(31) "Every man naturally desires a superiority, to have treasures of Gold and Silver [intellect and soul], and to seem great in the eyes of the world. God indeed created all things for the use of man, that he might rule over them, and acknowledge therein the singular goodness and omnipotence of God, give Him thanks for His benefits, honor Him and praise Him. But there is no man looks after these things, otherwise than by spending his days idly; they would enjoy them without any previous labor and danger; neither do they look them out of that place where God hath treasured them up, Who expects also that man should seek for them there, and to those that seek will He give them. But there is not any that labors for a possession in that place, and therefore these riches are not found: For the way to this place, and the place itself hath been unknown for a long time, and it is hidden from the greatest part of the world. But notwithstanding it be difficult and laborious to find Out this way and place, yet the place should be sought after.

(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.

(25) And thus thou earthly Man mayest see, how thou livest here in three Principles, if thy Mind inclines itself to God; but if it gives up itself to the Source of this World, then thou standest before Heaven, and thou sowest two Principles, viz. the Spirit of this World, and the fierce Source of Eternity. The Weil-Spring [or Fountain] of the Antichristian Kingdom.