(5) 'As of a great lighted fire one coal of the size of a firefly, if left, may be made to blaze up again by putting grass upon it, and will thus burn more than this,

(22) Now the Sun and the Stars [or Constellations] continually kindle the Tincture, for it is fiery; and the Tincture kindles the Body, with the Matrix of the Water, so that they are always boiling, [rising] and seething. The Stars [or Constellations] and the Sun are the Fire of the Tincture, and the Tincture is the Fire of the Body, and so all are seething. And therefore when the Sun is underneath, so that its Beams [or Shining] is no more [upon a Thing,] then the Tincture is weaker, for it has no Kindling from the Virtue of the Sun. And although the Virtue of the Stars and the quality are kindled from the Sun, yet all is too little, and so it becomes feeble, [or as it were dead.] And when the Tincture is feeble, then the Virtue in the Blood (which is the Tincture) is wholly weak, and sinks into a sweet Rest, as it were dead or overcome.

(9) For the Harshness is as hard as a Stone [or Flint,] and the Bitterness rushes and rages like a P breaking Wheel, which breaks the Hardness, and stirs up the Fire, so that all comes to be a terrible Crack of Fire, and flies up; and the Harshness or Astringency breaks in Pieces, whereby the dark Tartness is terrified and sinks back, and becomes as it were feeble or weak, or as if it were killed and dead, and runs out, becomes thin, and yields itself to be overcome: But when the strong Flash of Fire shines back again upon or into the Tartness, and is mingled therein, and finds the Harshness so thin and overcome, then it is much more terrified; for it is as if Water was thrown upon the Fire, which makes a Crack: Yet when the Crack or Terror is thus made in the overcome Harshness, thereby it gets another Source, [Condition or Property,] and a Crack, or Noise of great Joy proceeds out of the wrathful Fierceness, and rises up in fierce Strength, as a kindled Light: For the Crack in the Twinkling of an Eye becomes white, clear, and light; for thus the Kindling of the Light comes in that very Moment as soon as the Light (that is, the new Crack of the Fire) is infected or impregnated with the Harshness, the Tartness or Astringency kindles, and shrieks, or is affrighted by the great Light that comes into it in the Twinkling of an Eye, as if it did awake from Death, and becomes soft or tmeek, lively and joyful; it presently loses its dark, rough, harsh, and cold Virtue, and leaps or springs up for Joy, and rejoices in the Light; and its Sting or Prickle, which is the Bitterness, that triumphs in the turning Wheel for great Joy.

(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.

(4) 'That which is the subtile portion of fire, when consumed, rises upwards, and becomes speech.

(14) And he awoke from his sleep, and he arose, and the sun had set ; and there was a flame, and behold a furnace was smoking, and a flame of fire passed between the pieces.

(22) For there is in the Original, first, Harshness, which attracts, shuts up, makes Darkness, and sharp Cold; but the Tartness cannot endure the Attracting: For the Attracting in the Cold makes in the Bitterness a Sting, [or Prickle,] which rages and resists against the hard Death, but not being able to come away out of the Tartness, (being its Mother wherein it stands,) therefore it rages very horribly, as if it would break the Harshness [in Pieces;] it flies upwards and sideways, and yet finds no Rest, till that the Birth of the Harshness falls into an aching horhible Essence, like a Brimstone- Spirit, very rough, hard, Stinging in itself, [or Kindling in itself,] like a whirling Wheel, and that the Bitterness flies up very swiftly, from whence proceeds a twinkling Flash; at which the dark Harshness is terrified, and sinks back as vanquished. And so when the Bitterness finds the Mother overcome, and as it were half dead, or soft, [or meek,] it is terrified more than the Mother. But the Shriek or Terror being past in the harsh Mother, which is now half dead, or soft, [pliable or meek,] then the Bitterness loses its terrible Right, [or Property,] and becomes white, light, and clear; and thus is the Kindling and Birth of the Fire, as is mentioned before.

(12) For the Spring of the great Anguish, which was in the Beginning before the Light, in the [tart] Harshness, from which the bitter Sting or Prickle is generated, that is now in the sweet Fountain of the Love in the Light changed from the Water- Spirit, and from Bitterness or Stinging is now become the Fountain or Spring of the Joy in the Light. Thus now henceforth the Fire-flash is the Father of the Light, and the Light shines in him, and is now the only Cause of the moving Birth, and of the Birth of the Love. That which in the Beginning was the raking Source, is now S U L, or the Oil of the lovely pleasant Fountain, which presses through all the Fountains, so that from hence the Light is kindled.

(5) And then in manner of the little flame, Which followeth the fire where'er it shifts, After the spirit followeth its new form. Since afterwards it takes from this its semblance, It is called shade; and thence it organizes Thereafter every sense, even to the sight. Thence is it that we speak, and thence we laugh; Thence is it that we form the tears and sighs, That on the mountain thou mayhap hast heard. According as impress us our desires And other affections, so the shade is shaped, And this is cause of what thou wonderest at." And now unto the last of all the circles Had we arrived, and to the right hand turned, And were attentive to another care. There the embankment shoots forth flames of fire, And upward doth the cornice breathe a blast That drives them back, and from itself sequesters. Hence we must needs go on the open side, And one by one; and I did fear the fire On this side, and on that the falling down. My Leader said: "Along this place one ought To keep upon the eyes a tightened rein, Seeing that one so easily might err."

(10) The sun does not thine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this is lighted.

(2) Earth hath, moreover, always many changes in its species;—both when she brings forth fruits, and when she also nourishes her bringings-forth with the return of all the fruits; the diverse qualities and quantities of air, its stoppings and its flowings ; and before all the qualities of trees, of flowers, and berries, of scents, of savours—species. Fire [also] brings about most numerous conversions, and divine. For these are all-formed images of Sun and Moon ; they’re, as it were, like our own mirrors, which with their emulous resplendence give us back the likenesses of our own images.

(31) Thus the noble Life in the Tincture stands in great Danger, and has hourly to expect the [Corruption, or Destruction, Breaking, or] Dissolution; for as soon as the Blood (wherein the Spirit lives) flows out [or passes away,] the Essence [breaks, or] dissolves, and the Tincture flies away like a Glance or Shadow; and then the source [or Springing up] of the Fire is out, and the Body becomes stiff.

(32) For the Fire in the Essence comes to be a a soft meek Light, and is nothing else but a zealous [or eager] Kindling of the Tincture, and the harsh Essence causes that the divine Virtue can draw it to itself, and taste it, for in the [sour or] harsh Essence the Taste does consist, in Nature: In like Manner the bitter Essence serves to [make] the moving rising Joy, Fragrancy and Growing; and out of these Forms the Tincture goes forth, and it is the House of the Soul; as the Holy Ghost [goes forth] from the Father and the Son, so also the Tincture goes forth from the Light of the fiery Soul, and then also from its virtuous [or powerful] Essences, and so it resembles the Holy Ghost, but yet the Holy Ghost of God is a Degree higher; for he goes forth from the Center of the Light wholly in the fifth Form, from the Heart of God, at the End of Nature.

(30) But the Sweetness is like Oil or Fire, wherein the Flash continually kindles itself, so that it shines: But the Oil being sweet, and mingled with the Matrix of the Water, therefore the shining Light is steady, [constant and fixed,] and sweet: But seeing it cannot, in the Nature of the Water, continue to be an Oil only (because of the Infection of the Water) therefore it becomes thick; and the [Nature or] Kind of the Fire colours it red; and this is the Blood and the Tincture in a Creature, wherein the noble Life stands. Of the Death and of the Dying. The Gate of Affliction and of Misery.

(2) As many as the hind (who on the hill Rests at the time when he who lights the world His countenance keeps least concealed from us, While as the fly gives place unto the gnat) Seeth the glow-worms down along the valley, Perchance there where he ploughs and makes his vintage; With flames as manifold resplendent all Was the eighth Bolgia, as I grew aware As soon as I was where the depth appeared. And such as he who with the bears avenged him Beheld Elijah's chariot at departing, What time the steeds to heaven erect uprose, For with his eye he could not follow it So as to see aught else than flame alone, Even as a little cloud ascending upward, Thus each along the gorge of the intrenchment Was moving; for not one reveals the theft, And every flame a sinner steals away. I stood upon the bridge uprisen to see, So that, if I had seized not on a rock, Down had I fallen without being pushed. And the Leader, who beheld me so attent, Exclaimed: "Within the fires the spirits are; Each swathes himself with that wherewith he burns."

(45) But what is the Fire? First, there is the Darkness, the Hardness, the eternal Cold, and the Dryness, where there is nothing else but an eternal Hunger. Then how comes the Fire to be? Dear Soul, here [in the Fire's coming to be] the Spirit of God (viz. the eternal Light) comes to help the Hunger; for the Hunger exists also from the Light: Because the divine Virtue beholds itself in the Darkness, therefore the Darkness is desirous [and longing] after the Light; and the Desiring is the Will.

(11) On thy heart is rust on rust collected, Thy rust, layer on layer, O black kettle! If that smoke touched a new kettle, It would show the smut, were it only as a grain of barley; For everything is made manifest by its opposite, But when the kettle is black, then afterwards Who can see on it the impression of the smoke? If the blacksmith be a negro, But if a man of Rum does blacksmith's work,

(3) One night, the moths met together tormented by a desire to be united to the candle. They said: 'We must send someone who will bring us information about the obj ect of our amorous quest.' So one of them set off and came to a castle, and inside he saw the light of a candle. He returned, and according to his understanding, reported what he had seen. But the wise moth who presided over the gathering expressed the opinion that he understood nothing about the candle. So another moth went there. He touched the flame with the tip of his wings, but the heat drove him oflF. His report being no more satisfying than that of the first, a third went out. This one, intoxicated with love, threw himself on the flame; with his forelegs he took hold of the flame and united himself joyously with her. He embraced her completely and his body became as red as fire. The wise moth, who was watching from far off", saw that the flame and the moth appeared to be one, and he said: 'He has learnt what he wished to know; but only he understands, and one can say no more.'

(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.

(47) Now therefore the Anguish, Bitterness, and Woe in the [Sting or] Prickle, are like a Brimstone-Spirit, and all Spirits in Nature are Brimstone: They [torment, or] cause the Anguish in one another, till that the Light of God comes to help them; and then there comes to be a Flash, and there is its End, for it can climb no higher in Nature; and this is the Fire, which becomes shining in the Flash, in the Soul, and also in the Mind. For the Soul reaches the Virtue of the Light, which puts it into Meekness; and in this World it is the burning Fire: In Hell it is immaterial, and there it is the eternal Fire, which burns in the P Quality.