(73) Therefore (as is mentioned before in the third Chapter) when the Birth of Life sprung up, every Essence had again a Center in itself, according to its own Property or Quality, and figures a Life according to its Essence, viz. Harshness, Bitterness, Fire, and Sound; and all further according to the Ability of the eternal Birth, which is confirmed in the Kingdom of Heaven.

(48) Thus now when the Virtue of the Life and the Spirit of the second Principle, is generated in the first Originality of the first Principle (viz. in the Gate of the deep Darkness, which the Will of the Virtue of the Virgin, in the fierce earnest Flash of the fierce Might of God, did break, and set itself in the pleasant Habitation) then instantly the Essences of the Stars and Elements, in the Flash of the Springing-up of the Life, pressed in also, yet after the Building of the pleasant Habitation first [made.]

(11) And now it may very exactly be understood by the Essences and Property of the Soul, that in this House of Flesh (where it is as it were generated) it is not at Home; and its horrible Fall may be also understood [thereby.] For it has no Light in itself of its own, it must borrow its Light from the Sun; which indeed springs up along with it in its Birth, but that is corruptible, and the Worm of the Soul is not so; and it is seen that when a Man dies it goes out. And if then the divine Light be not again generated in the Center, then the Soul remains in the eternal Darkness, in the eternal anguishing [Source or] Quality of the Birth, where nothing is to be found in the kindled Captive. Fire, but a horrible Flash of Fire, in which [Source, Property, or] Quality, also the Devils dwell; for it is the first Principle.

(13) For observe it, although now in the Harshness there be Bitterness, Fire, Sound, Water, and that out of the springing Vein of the Water there flows Love (or Oil) from whence the Light arises and shines; yet the Harshness retains its first Property, and the Bitterness its Property, the Fire its Property, the Sound or the Stirring its Property, and the overcoming the first harsh or tart Anguish, (viz. the returning down back again) or the Water-Spirit, its Property, and the springing Fountain, the pleasant Love, which is kindled by the Light in the tart or sour Bitterness, (which now is the sweet [Source or] springing Vein of Water,) its property; and yet this is no separable Essence parted asunder, but all one whole Essence or Substance in one another. And each Form or Birth takes its own Form, Virtue, Working and Springing up from all the Forms; and the whole Birth now retains chiefly but these four Forms in its generating or bringing forth; viz. the rising up, the falling down, and then through the turning [of the Wheel in the sour, harsh,] tart Essence, the putting forth on this Side, and on that Side, on both Sides like a Cross; or, as I may so say, the going forth from the Point [or Center] towards the East, the West, the North and the South: For from the Stirring, Moving, and Ascending of the Bitterness in the Fire-Flash, there exists a cross Birth. For the Fire goes forth upward, the Water downward, and the Essences of the Harshness sideways.

(57) The first Tincture of the first Principle is properly the P Habitation in the Fire-flash, which is the Source, [Life, or active Property,] in the Gall, which makes the Brimstone-Spirit (viz. the indissoluble Worm of the Soul, which rules powerfully in the sharp Essences, and moves and carries the Body whithersoever the Mind, in the second Center will) to be its Dwelling-house; its Tincture is like the fierce, [austere or grim,] and sharp Might of God; it kindles the whole Body, so that it is The dazzling Light of the Sun. Warm, and that it grows not stiff [or congealed with Cold,] and upholds the Wheel in the Crack in the Essences, out of which the Hearing arises. It is sharp, and proves the Smell of every Thing in the Essences; it makes the Hearing, though itself is neither the Hearing nor Smelling; but it is the Gate that lets in Good and Evil, as the Tongue and also the Ear [does.] All which comes from hence, because that its Tincture has its Ground in the first Principle; and the Kindling of the Life happens in the Sharpness, in the Breaking through the Gate of the eternal Darkness.

(8) Our Life in the Mother's Body has its Beginning wholly, as is above mentioned, and stands there now in the Quality of the Sun and Stars, where then, with the Kindling of the Light, a Center springs up again, where instantly the noble Tincture thus generates itself (out of the Light, out of the joyful Essences of the [sour] harsh, bitter, and fiery Kind [or Quality,]) and sets the Spirit of the Soul in a great pleasant Habitation: And the three i Essences (viz. Harshness, Bitterness, and Fire) are in the Kindling of the Life so very fast bound one to another, that they cannot (in Eternity) be separated one from another, and the Tincture is their eternal House, wherein they dwell, which [House] they themselves generate from the Beginning unto Eternity, which again gives them Life, Joy, and Lust [or Delight.] The strong Gate of the indissoluble Band of the Soul.

(58) Therefore are the Essences of the Spirit of the Soul so very sharp and fiery, and [therefore] the Essences go forth out of such a sharp fiery Tincture, wherein now stand the five Senses, viz. Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Feeling; for the fierce Sharpness of the Tincture of the first Principle, proves in its own Essences [in or] of the Soul, or [in the Essences] of the Worm of the Soul, in this Place rightly so called, [it proves] the Stars, and Elements, viz. the Out-birth out of the first Principle, and whatsoever unites [or yields] itself to it, it takes that into the Essences of the Worm of the Soul; viz. all whatsoever is harsh [or sour,] bitter, stern, [or fierce,] and fiery, all whatsoever generates itself in the Fierceness, and all whatsoever is of the same Property with the Essences; all that which rises up along there in the fiery Source, and elevates itself in the Breaking of the Gate of the Darkness, and boils, [springs, or flows up] above the Meekness; and all whatsoever is like the sharp austere Eternity, and qualifies [or mixes] with the Sharpness of the fierce Anger of the God of the Eternity, wherein he holds the Kingdom of the Devils captive. O Man! consider thyself here, it is the sure Ground, known by the Author, in the Light of Nature, in the Will of God.

(25) For you see, feel, and find, that all these must yet have a higher Root from whence they proceed, which is not visible, but hidden; especially if you look upon the starry Heaven which endures thus unchangeably; therefore you ought to consider from whence it is proceeded, and how it subsists thus, and is not corrupted, nor rises up above, nor falls down beneath, though indeed there is neither above nor beneath there. Now if you consider what preserves all thus, and whence it is, then you find the eternal Birth that has no Beginning, and you find the Original of the eternal Principle, viz. the eternal indissoluble Band: And then, secondly, you see the Separation, in that the material World, with the Stars and Elements, are out of the first Principle, which contains the outward and third Principle in it; for you find in the elementary Kingdom or Dominion, a Cause in every Thing, wherefore it is, generates, and moves as it does: But you find not the first Cause, from whence it is so: There are therefore stwo several Principles; for you find in the visible Things a Corruptibility, and perceive that they must have a Beginning, because they have an End.

(36) Thus also is the eternal Birth, wherein the Virtue [or Power] is continually generated from Eternity; and out of the Virtue the Light; and the Light causes and makes the Virtue. And the Light shines in the eternal Darkness, and makes in the eternal Mind the [desiring] and attracting Will; so that the Will Well-spring. in the Darkness generates the Thoughts, the Lust and the Desiring, and the Desiring is the attracting of the Virtue, and in the Attracting of the Virtue is the Mouth that expresses the Fiat, and the Fiat makes the Materia [or Matter,] and the Spirit separates it, and forms it according to the Thoughts.

(51) And in this Joy, in the Water-Spring, [or Source,] the pleasant Source of the bottomless Love rises up, and all that rises up there is the second Principle: For the whole Begetting or Generating falls into a glorious Love; for the Harshness now loves the Light dearly, because it is so refreshing, chearly, and beautiful; for from this pleasant Refreshing it becomes thus sweet, courteous, and humble [or lowly;] and the Bitterness now loves the Harshness, because it is no more dark, nor so strongly [eagerly or fiercely] attractive to itself, but is sweet, mild, pure, and light.

(29) Thus now in the Essence of all Essences, there are three several distinct Properties, which yet are not parted asunder, with one Source [or Property] far from the other; but they are in one another as one only Essence, and yet the one does not comprehend the other. As these three Elements, Fire, Air, Water, are all three in one another, and neither of them comprehends the other; and as one Element generates another, and yet is not of the Essence nor Source [or Property] thereof; so the three Principles are in one another, and one generates the other, and yet no one of them all comprehends the other, and none of them is the Essence [or Substance] of the other. The Depth in the Center [or Ground.]

(16) And the Fire generates now also a Fire, according to the Property of every Quality; in the tart Spirit it is tart; in the Bitter, bitter; in the Love, it is a very hearty Yearning, Kindling of the Love, a total, fervent, or burning Kindling, and causes very vehement Desires; in the Sound it is a very shrill tanging and where the Sound in all Qualities tells or expresses, as it were with the Lips or Tongue, whatsoever is in all the Fountain-Spirits, what Joy, Virtue, or Power, Essence, Substance, or Property [they have,] and in the Water it is a very drying Fire.

(29) Its Essence is the Flash in the Circle [or Circumference] of the Springing of the Life, which in the Water makes the Glance and Shining; and its Root is the Fire; and the Stock is the [sour] Harshness. Now the Flash separates the Bitterness and Harshness from the Water; so that the Water becomes soft, [fluid] and clear, wherein then the Sight of all Creatures does consist, so that the Spirit in the Flash in the Matrix of the Water does see; and the Flash stands therein like a Glance, [or Luster,] and fills the Spirit of the Essences; from which the Essence draws vehemently to itself; for it is the [sour] Harshness, and the Flash continually separates the Darkness from the Light, and the Impure from the Pure; and there now stands the divine Virtue [or Power:] And the divine Glance continually imagines [or imprints] itself in the pure, from which the [sour] strong [Property] is separated out from Nature; and the divine Glance makes the Pure Sweet; for it mingles itself, [or infects] there.

(23) Now if we will search after the Tincture, what it is in its highest Degree, we shall find the a Spirit: For we cannot say, that the Fire is the Tincture, nor the Air neither. For the Fire is wholly contrary to the Tincture; and the Air stifles it; it is a very pleasant Refreshment; its Root, out of which is generated, is indeed the Fire: But if I may rightly mention the Seat where it sits, I cannot say otherwise, but that it is between the three Principles, viz. [between] the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Hell, and the Kingdom of this World, in the Midst, and [it] has none [of the three] for its own, and yet it is generated from all three: And it has as it were a several Principle, which yet is no Principle, but a bright pleasant Habitation. Neither is itself the Spirit, but the Spirit dwells in it, and it so renews the Spirit, that fit becomes clear and visible. Its true Name is Wonderful, and none can name [that Name,] but he to whom it is given, he names it only in himself, and not without [or outwardly,] it has no Place of its Rest in the Substance, and yet rests continually in itself, and gives Virtue and Beauty to all Things, as the in this World; and it is not the Thing itself, though indeed it works in the Thing, and makes the Thing grow and blossom, and yet it is found really [to be] in all Things, and it is the Life and Heart of all Things, but it is not the Spirit which is generated out of the Essences.

(51) Thus the Soul is generated between both the Centers, between the Center of God, (understand [between the Center] of the Heart or Light of God, where it is generated out of an eternal Place,) and also between the [propagated or] out-sprung Center of this World; and it [the Soul] has its Beginning from both, and qualifies with both; and therefore thus it has all three Principles, and can live in all three.

(50) The first Principle (viz. the Darkness) takes the fierce and sudden Fire-flash; and so when the re-comprehended Will, in the first Will of the first attracted Darkness of the Harshness, discovers itself, and breaks the Darkness in the Flash, then the harsh dark Fire-flash remains in the first Will, and stands over the Heart, in the Gall, and kindles the Fire in the Essences of the Heart. 5 1. And the second Principle retains its Light for itself, which is the pleasant Habitation, which shines there, where the Darkness is broken, [or dispelled,] wherein the courteous loving Virtue, and the Pleasantness arises, from whence the Shriek [or Crack] in the strong Might becomes so very joyful, and turns its forcible Rushing into a joyful Trembling; where then the Fire-flash of the first Principle sticks to i it, which causes its Trembling. But its Source [or active Property] is Pleasantness and Joy, that cannot sufficiently be described; happy are they that find it [by Experience.]

(9) The Birth of the eternal Nature is like the [Thoughts or] Senses in Man, as when a [Thought or] Sense is generated by something, and afterwards propagates itself into infinite many [Thoughts,] or as a Root of a Tree generates a Stock and many Buds and Branches, as also many Roots, Buds, and Branches from one Root, and all of them from that one first Root. Therefore observe what is mentioned before, whereas Nature consists of six Forms [or Properties,] so every Form generates again a Form out of itself of the same Quality and Condition of itself, and this Form now has the Quality and Condition of all the Forms in itself.

(48) Now we have shown you the first Principle, out of which all Things take their Beginning; and must so speak of it, as if there was a Place, or a separable Essence, where there is such a Kind of Source; to the End that the first Principle might be understood, so that the Eternity, as also the Anger of God, Sin, eternal Death, the Darkness, (which is so called in Respect of the Extinguishing of the Light,) also Hell-fire, and the Devil, might be known and understood [what they are.]

(8) For when the Fiat kindled the Element in the Out-Birth, then the kindled Materia [or Matter] became palpable [or comprehensible,] this was not now fit for Paradise, but it was created outward, [or made external.] Yet that the Element with its Out-Birth might no more generate thus, therefore God created the Heaven out of the Element, and [caused or] suffered out of the Element, (which is the heavenly Limbus) the third Principle to spring up; where the Spirit of God again discovered [or revealed] itself in the Virgin, viz. in the eternal Wisdom, and found out, in the Out-Birth, in the corruptible Substance, the Similitude again. And the Discovering stood in the sharp Attraction of the Fiat, and the Fiat created it so, that it became essential [or substantial;] and the same are the Stars, a mere Quinta Essentia, an Extract of the Fiat's, out of the Limbus of God, wherein the hidden Element stands.

(62) And this is the Source of the first Principle, which (without the Light of God) cannot be otherwise, neither can it change or alter itself; for it has been so from Eternity. And out of this Source, the Essences of the Worm of the Soul, in the Time of its creating, were extracted by the Fiat of God, and created in Paradise, [and set] before the Light of God, which enlightened the Fire-flash, and put it into very high Meekness and Humility.