(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.

(84) And so instead of the paradisical Joy and Refreshment, there has been a mere Brimstone-Spirit, which stands in Anguish and Trembling, of Corruption [or Fragility,] which kindles the Tincture of the Blood, wherein Tearing, Stinging, and Tormenting is wrought; and if the Fire in the Brimstone-Spirit be too much kindled, then it burns the Tincture up, and the Light of Life goes out, and then the Body falls away to be a dead-Carcase; and if the tart Sourness be kindled too much by the hard Attracting and Holding, then also the Light of Life goes out, and the Body perishes; so also of the Water; if the Tincture kindles itself in the Meekness, then it becomes windy, gross, swelled, wholly dark, also infectious.and corrupt, wherein the Flash of the Life is as a pricking Thorn. And so Man's Life is every where begirt with Enemies, and the poor Soul is always in a close Prison fettered with many Chains, and is continually in Fear that (when the Body shall [die or] break) it may fall into the Kingdom of the Executioner, the Devil.

(15) As is mentioned before, the eternal Mind stands thus lin the Darkness, and vexes itself, and longs after the Light, to generate that; and the Anguish is the Source, and the Source has in it many Forms, till it reaches the Fire in its Substance, viz. [it has] Bitter, Sour, Hard, Cold, Strong, Darting forth, or Flashing; in the Root of itself sticks the Joy and Pain alike; viz. when it comes to the Root of the Fire, and can reach the Light, then out of the Wrath [or Sternness] comes the great Joy. For the Light puts the stern Form into great Meekness; on the contrary, that Form which comes only to the Root of the Fire, that continues in the Wrath.

(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.

(41) And now after that the Stars and Elements (as is mentioned before) have got their Region and the House to dwell in, then begins the mighty Strife in great Anxiety about the King of the Life. For the Chamber of the Building (or Fabrick] stands in very great Anguish, and [here] we must consider the Original of the Essence of all Essences, the eternal Birth and the Root of all Things; as that there is in the House of the Anguish, first one only Essence [or Being,] and that Essence is the Mixing of all P Essences, and it has first a Will to generate the Light, and that Will is attractive, [astringent or sour.] Or Hell, A Dwelling for the Senses and Thoughts,

(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.

(11) Now the Sourness (in its Lust or great Longing [or Panting] after the Light) attracts continually, and in its own Substance it is nothing else but a vehement Hunger, very dry, and as [a Vacuum or] nothing at all, a desiring Will, as the Darkness after the Light; and its Hunger, or Attracting, makes the Bitterness, the Woe [or Lamentation] that it cannot be satiated, or mollified, from whence the Anguish rises, so that the Will, or Prickle, [or Sting] is rubbed, [or struck] in itself, from the Lust of the Desiring, and it will not yield itself to the dark Nothing, or dead Will, but sets its Desire and Anguish, and also its [eager or] strong Will so very hard towards the hidden Light of God, that thereby the Will becomes a twinkling Flash, like a sparkling or crackling Fire, whereby the Sourness, that is so very aching, is continually filled, and as it were deadened, whereby the sour Spirit comes to be soft, sweet, and material, even Water.

(14) Thus in the Harshness there is a new Birth again; understand, where the tart [sour Astringency] is predominant in the Birth, and where the Fire is not kindled according to the bitter Sting or Prickle, or from the Beginning of the Anguish: But the rising [or exulting] Joy, is now the Center and Kindling of the Light, and the Tartness [or Astringency] has now in its own Quality the S U L, Oil, and Light of the Father: Therefore now the Birth out of the Twig or Branch of the first Tree is qualified altogether according to the harsh Fountain; and the Fire therein is a tart [or sour] Fire; and the Bitterness a tart Bitterness; and the Sound a tart Sound; and the Love a tart Love; but all in mere Perfection, and in a totally glorious Love and Joy.

(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.

(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.

(10) And further, when the Horror [or Crack or Shriek] of the Fire is come into its harsh Mother, and has thus overcome its Mother, then itself is much more terrified, for there it loses its fierce or strong Property, because the Mother [has] attained another is come to be, which in the inanimate Matrix, the Materia, [or Matter,] in the Midst of the Horror [or Crack] is come to be a soft and bright mixt Matter, viz. from the Crack of the Light [is proceeded] Gold, Silver, Copper, Tin, Lead, &c. according as every Place in the Matrix stood in the wrestling Center. 1 1. For the Birth in the whole Space of this World (as far as Lucifer's Kingdom reached) was thus; and therefore there is very different Kind of Earth, Metals, and other Things in one Place, than in another. And it is plain before our Eyes, that all Metals are mixed which proceeds from the a bringing forth in infinitum; which we well understand and see, but cannot utter, nor dare we speak it, for it troubles us, and it reaches into the Deity, which is without Beginning, and eternal; therefore the Creature must let it alone upon Pain of the Loss both of its Reason and Sense.

(8) And in this Form in the Wrath [or fierce Strength] in the watry sour Mother, the sour bitter Earth, Brimstone and Salt, is generated, before the Kindling of the Sun in the Matrix that is void of Understanding. But the Separation that is in it, is caused from the Birth's standing in great Anguish, and from its desiring the Separation in the Birth; for the Bitterness agrees not with the Harshness [or Sourness,] and yet they are as Mother and Son, and as Members one of another; and it must be so, or else nothing could be, for it is the eternal Band, and the Original of Life.

(12) But the Bitterness being so very much affrighted at the Flash of Fire in the Sourness, it catches its Mother (the Sourness) which is become material from the Crack, and flies out, and is clouded or swelled from the material Sourness, as if it also was material, and moves, and strengthens itself continually in the Mother; and that is the Element called Air in this World, which has its Original in the watery Mother, and the Water has its Original from the Air, and the Fire has its Original from the longing Anguish; and the Earth and Stones took their Beginning in the strong Attraction at the Fall of Lucifer, when the Sourness was so fierce, strong, rising, and attractive, which Attraction is stopped again by the Light in the third Principle.

(11) Behold now, when the Bitterness, or the bitter Sting [or Prickle,] (which in the Original was so very bitter, raging and tearing, when it took its Original in the Harshness,) attains this clear Light, and tastes now the Sweetness in the Harshness, which is its Mother, then it is so joyful, and cannot rise or swell so any more, but it trembles and rejoices in its Mother that bare it, and triumphs like a joyful Wheel in the Birth. And in this Triumph the Birth attains the fifth Form, and then the fifth Source springs up, viz. the friendly Love; and so when the bitter Spirit tastes the sweet Water, it rejoices in its Mother [the sour tart Harshness,] and so refreshes and strengthens itself therein, and makes its Mother stirring zin great Joy; where then there springs up the sweet Water-Spirit a very sweet pleasant Source or Fountain: For the Fire-Spirit (which is the Root of the Light, which was a strong [fierce rumbling Shriek, Crack, or] Terror in the Beginning) that now rises up very lovely, pleasantly and joyfully. The divine everlasting Gates or Doors, by which we have Entrance to the Deity,

(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.

(9) Behold, the three Essences, (viz. [Sourness or] Harshness, Bitterness and Fire) are the Worm or Spirit [that dies not.] God's eternal Will; and in the Attracting of the [sour] Harshness is the Sting [or Prickle] of the Bitterness, which the [sour] Harshness cannot endure, but attracts continually the more forcibly to it, from whence the Prickle continually grows greater, which yet the [sour] Harshness holds Prisoner; and this together is the great Anxiety, which was there in the dark Mind of God the Father, when the Darkness was anxious [or longed] after the Light; from whence in the Anxiety (from the Glance of the Light) it attained the Twinkling Flash: Out of which the Angels were created, which afterward were enlightened from the Light of God (mby their Imagination into the Heart of God;) and the other (like Lucifer) for their Haughtiness [or Pride's] Sake, remained in the Flash of Fire and Anxiety.