(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.

(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.

(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.

(7) But now the first Will in the Mind is out of the sour Anxiety, and its Glimpse [or Discovery] in the Original, is the bitter, strong, [or sour] Fire-flash in the Sharpness, which makes the Stirring and Noise, and also the Seeing in the Glance of the Sharpness of the Fire-flash, that so the reconceived Glimpses [Discoveries or Glances in the Thoughts] have a Light in them from whence they see, when they run [along] like a Flash.

(5) The eternal Mind is in the great unsearchable Depth, and from Eternity is the indissoluble Band, and the Spirit in the and therein in the Center of the Deep is the reconceived Will to the Light; and the Will is the Desiring, and the Desiring attracts to it, and that which is attracted makes the Darkness in the Will, so that in the first Will, the second Will generates itself again, that it might fly out of the Darkness; and the second Will is the Mind, which discovers itself in the Darkness, and the [Discovery or] Glance breaks [or dispels] the Darkness, so that it stands in the Sound and in the Crack; where then the Flash sharpens itself, and so stands eternally in the broken Darkness, so that the Darkness thus stands in the Sound of the Stars. And in the Breaking of the Darkness, the reconceived Will is free, and dwells without the Darkness, in itself; and the Flash which there is the Separation and the Sharpness, and the Noise [or Sound] is the Dwelling of the Will, or of the continually conceived Mind; and the Noise and the Sharpness of the Flash are in the Dwelling of the Will free from the Darkness. And the Flash elevates the Will, and the Will triumphs in the Sharpness of the Flash, and the Will discovers itself in the Sharpness of the Sound in the Flash of the Light, without the Darkness in the Breaking, in the Infinity. And in that Infinity of the Flash, there is in every Discovery of the Whole fin the Particular (in every Reflection) again a Center of such a Birth as is in the Whole. And those Particulars are the Senses, and the Whole is the Mind out of which the Senses proceed; and therefore the Senses are mutable [or transitory,] and not in the Substance; but the Mind is whole, and in the Substance.

(32) But alas! the Life has many greater and more powerful Enemies; especially the four Elements and the Constellations [or Stars.] As soon as [any] one Element becomes too strong, the Tincture flies from it, and then the Life has its End: if it be overwhelmed with Water, it grows cold, and the Fire goes out, then the Flash flies away like a Glance or Shadow: If it be overwhelmed with Earth, viz. with impure Matter, then the Flash grows dark, and flies away: If it be overwhelmed with Air, that it be stopt, then the Tincture is stifled, and the springing Essences, and the Flash breaks into a Glance, and goes into its Ether. But if it be overwhelmed with Fire or Heat, the Flash is inflamed, and burns up the Tincture, from whence the Blood becomes dark, and swarthy, or black, and the Flash goes out in the Meekness.

(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.

(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.

(3) Thus round about me flashed a living light, And left me swathed around with such a veil Of its effulgence, that I nothing saw. "Ever the Love which quieteth this heaven Welcomes into itself with such salute, To make the candle ready for its flame." No sooner had within me these brief words An entrance found, than I perceived myself To be uplifted over my own power, And I with vision new rekindled me, Such that no light whatever is so pure But that mine eyes were fortified against it. And light I saw in fashion of a river Fulvid with its effulgence, 'twixt two banks Depicted with an admirable Spring. Out of this river issued living sparks, And on all sides sank down into the flowers, Like unto rubies that are set in gold; And then, as if inebriate with the odours, They plunged again into the wondrous torrent, And as one entered issued forth another. "The high desire, that now inflames and moves thee To have intelligence of what thou seest, Pleaseth me all the more, the more it swells.

(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.

(31) In the Originality of Darkness, there is Harshness and Austereness, this Harshness causes that it be light; for Harshness is Desirousness, an Attracting; and that is the first Ground of the Willing [or Longing] after the Light, and yet it is not possible to comprehend it; and the Attracting in the Will is the [Sting or] Prickle, which the Desiring attracts, and the first Stirring [or Moving.] Now the Prickle cannot endure the Attracting in the Will, but resists, flies up, and yet cannot get away from thence; for it is generated in the Attracting. But because it cannot remove from thence, nor can endure the Attracting, therefore there is a great Anguish, a Desiring [or Longing] after the Light, like a Furiousness, and like a breaking whirling Wheel; and the Anguish in the Bitterness rises up in the Wrath after the Light, but cannot get it, being desirous in the Anxiety to lift up itself above the Light, yet does not overcome, but is infected, [impregnated or mingled] with the Light, and attains a twinkling Flash; and as soon as the Harshness, or the Hardness (viz. the Darkness) gets the same into it, it is terrified, and instantly goes away into its Ether: And yet the Darkness continues in the Center. And in this Horror [Terror or Shriek] the Hardness or Harshness becomes mild, soft, [supple,] and thin; and the Flash is made in the Bitterness, which flies up thus in the Prickle: Thus the Prickle discovers itself in the Mother, which so terrifies the Mother with the Flash, that she yields herself to be overcome; and when the Prickle strengthens itself in the Mother, and finds her so mild, then that is much more terrified, and loses its [fierce, strong] wrathful Propriety, and in the Twinkling of an Eye becomes white, clear, and bright, and flies up very joyfully, trembling with great Delight, [Lust] and Desire; and the Mother of Harshness from the Light comes to be sweet, mild, thin, and material, even Water. For she loses not the Essence of the harsh Conditions, and therefore the Essence attracts continually to it out of the Mildness, so that out of the Nothing, Something comes to be, viz. Water.

(16) And if the Will be thus in Darkness, then it is in Anguish; for it desires to be out of the Darkness, and that Desiring is the Flowing [or Working,] and the Attracting in itself, where yet nothing is attained but a fierce Source in itself, which by its Attraction makes Hardness and Roughness, which the Will cannot endure, and thus it stirs up the Root of the Fire in the Flash, as is before-mentioned, whereupon the re-comprehended Will goes forth from the Flash, into itself, and 1 breaks the Darkness, and dwells in the broken Darkness, in the Light, in a pleasant [Joy or] Habitation in itself; after which [Joy or] Habitation, the Will (in the Darkness) continually lusts, from whence Longing arises, and thus it is an eternal Band, which can never be loosed; and thus the Will now labours in the broken Gate, that it may manifest or discover his Wonders out of himself, as may be seen well enough in the Creation of the World and all Creatures.

(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.

(50) Thus the Birth gets an Essence that has Sharpness from the Harshness, and Sweetness, Thinness, and Expansion from the Light. And now when the Flash of Fire comes into its Mother, and finds her so sweet, thin, and light, P then it loses its own Propriety in the Qualification, and flies aloft no more, but continues in its Mother, and loses its fiery Right [or Propriety,] and trembles and rejoices in its Mother.

(45) Seeing then that the Shriek of the Joy in the Virtue of God (which breaks the Doors of the deep Darkness) thus springs up in the Heart, and flies with its Glimpse [or Sparkling] into the Head, then the Virtue of the Joy sets itself above, as being the strongest, and the Flash [or Glance] beneath, as being the weakest; and so when the Flash [or Glance] comes into the Head into its Seat, then it makes itself two open Gates. For it has broken the Doors of the deep Darkness, and therefore it continues no more in the Darkness, but it must be free as a victorious Prince [or Conqueror,] and will not be held captive. And this signifies to us the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, who is now free, and will not be held [therein,] which in its due Place shall be very deeply described. And those Gates which the Glance holds open, they are the Eyes, and the Spirit of Joy is their Root, which [Spirit] springs up at first in the Kindling of the Life.

(46) Now the Will or the Desiring in the Dryness cannot reach the Light; and therein consists the Anguish in the Will [Longing] after the Light; and the Anguish is attractive, and in the Attracting is the Woe, and the Woe makes the Anguish greater, so that the Anguish in the Harshness attracts much more, and this Attracting in the Woe is the bitter [Sting or] Prickle, or the Bitterness of the Woe; and the Anguish reaches after the [Sting or] Prickle with attracting, and yet cannot comprehend it, because it resists, and the more the Anguish attracts, the more the [Sting or] Prickle raves and rages.

(13) Seeing now that the Mind stands in free Will, therefore the Will discovers itself according to that which the Regions have brought into the Essences, whether it be Evil or Good; whether it be fitting for the Kingdom of Heaven, or for the Kingdom of Hell; and that which the Glimpse [or Flash] apprehends, it brings that into the Will of the Mind. And in the Mind stands the King, and the King is the Light of the whole Body; and he has five Counsellors, which sit altogether in the Glimpse with its Infection has brought into the Will, whether it be Good or Evil; and these Counsellors are the five Senses.

(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.

(68) Timaeus: and dissolving the very passages of the eyes causes a volume of fire and water to pour from them, which we call “tears.” And this moving body, being itself fire, meets fire from the opposite direction; and as the one firestream is leaping out like a flash, and the other passing in and being quenched in the moisture, in the resultant mixture colors of all kinds are produced. This sensation we term “dazzling” and the object which causes it “bright” or “brilliant.” Again, when the kind of fire

(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.