(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.

(15) And thus also the first bitter Sting or Prickle, or the first Bitterness (after the Light is kindled, and that the first Birth stands in Perfection,) generates again out of its own Quality an or Source springs up in a new Fire or Life, having the Condition and Property of all the Qualities, and yet the Bitterness in this new Sprout is chief est among all the Qualities; so that there is a bitter Bitterness, a bitter Tartness, a bitter Water-Spirit, a bitter Sound, a bitter Fire, a bitter Love, yet all perfectly in the rising up of great Joy.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(9) Moreover, when the Bitterness rages, rises up, and vexes in the [sour] harsh Mother, then it falls into a glimmering Flash most terribly; in this Form the Mercurius, or Venom, or Poison is generated. For when the Matrix perceives this Flash of Fire in its dark sour Form, then it is terrified, and becomes dead in her hard sour Property. And in this Place, Death, Poison, the noble Life in the Mercurius, and in the Springing up of the third Principle.