(48) A king rejoices in those whom he governs, and therefore God rejoices in the wise man. He who governs likewise, is inseparable from those whom he governs; and therefore God is inseparable from the soul of the wise man, which he defends and governs.

(80) In short, there are therefore Five in the princely Council, that one should advise the other, and every one is of a peculiar sundry Quality; and that compacted or concreted Spirit which is generated out of all the Powers, He is their King or Prince, and he sitteth in the Head in the Brain of a Man, and in an Angel in that Power which is instead of the Brain of a Man, and in the Head also upon his Princely Throne, and executes every Thing, which was concluded and decreed by the whole Princely Council.

(4) And it, varies according to the nature and the material. In the case of arms and of fighting animals the ordering power is the soul and mind, by means animate and inanimate; and in the case of the passions of the soul, which we master by virtue, reason is the ordering power, by affixing the seal of continence and self-restraint, along with holiness, and sound knowledge with truth, making the result of the whole to terminate in piety towards God. For it is wisdom which regulates in the case of those who so practise virtue; and divine things are ordered by wisdom, and human affairs by politics - all things by the kingly faculty. He is a king, then, who governs according to the laws, and possesses the skill to sway willing subjects. Such is the Lord, who receives all who believe on Him and by Him. For the Father has delivered and subjected all to Christ our King," that at the name of Jesus every knee may bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'

(125) Now as all Angels are bound to the King, so is the King also bound to God his Creator as Body and Soul; the Body, signifies God; and the Soul the angelical King, which is in the Body of God, and is become a Creature in the Body of God, and abides eternally in the Body of God, as the Soul does in its Nest, and therefore also has God so highly glorified him, as his own Property, or as the Soul is glorified in the Body.

(13) Now when this is done, then thou art as the whole or total God is, who himself is Heaven, Earth, Stars, and the Elements, and hast also such a Regimen or Dominion in thee, and art also such a Person, as the whole God in the Place of this World is. Now thou sayest: How shall I understand this? For the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Hell and of the Devil are distinct one from another, and cannot be one Body. Also the Earth and Stones are not God; nor the Heaven, Stars and Elements; much less can a Man be God; for if so, he could not be rejected by God. Here I will tell thee the Ground of all by Degrees, one Thing after another; therefore keep the Question in Mind. Of the astral Birth or Geniture, and of the Birth or Geniture of God.

(7) The whole Being of God is contained in God alone. The whole of humanity is not contained in one man, for one man is not all men. But in God the soul knows all humanity, and all things at their highest level of existence, since it knows them in their essence. Suppose any one to be in a beautifully adorned house: he would know much more about it than one who had never entered therein, and yet wished to speak much about it. Thus, I am as sure, as I am of my own existence and God's, that, if the soul is to know God, it must know Him outside of time and place. Such a soul will know clearly how near God's kingdom is.

(1) Our Lord saith that the Kingdom of God is near us. Yea, the Kingdom of God is within us as St Paul saith "our salvation is nearer than when we believed." Now we should know in what manner the Kingdom of God is near us. Therefore let us pay diligent attention to the meaning of the words. If I were a king, and did not know it, I should not really be a king. But, if I were fully convinced that I was a king, and all mankind coincided in my belief, and I knew that they shared my conviction, I should indeed be a king, and all the wealth of the king would be mine. But, if one of these three conditions were lacking, I should not really be a king.

(20) But the King is the Heart of all the Qualities, and has his Circumference, Court, Quarters, or Residence in the Midst or Center, like a Fountain: And as the Sun stands in the Midst among the Planets, and is a King of the Stars, and the Heart of Nature in this World, so great also is a Cherubim or King of Angels. And

(2) Of the kingly office one kind is divine, - that which is according to God and His holy Son, by whom both the good things which are of the earth, and external and perfect felicity too, are supplied. "For," it is said, "seek what is great, and the little things shall be added." And there is a second kind of royalty, inferior to that administration which is purely rational and divine, which brings to the task of government merely the high mettle of the soul; after which fashion Hercules ruled the Argives, and Alexander the Macedonians. The third kind is what aims after one thing - merely to conquer and overturn; but to turn conquest either to a good or a bad purpose, belongs not to such rule.

(123) so also are the three angelical Kings, Lords over their Angels, even to the Heart and deepest Ground, though they cannot corporeally or bodily vary or change themselves, as God himself can who has created them; yet they rule them (viz. the Angels) corporeally, and are bound or united to them, as Body and Soul are bound one to another.

(102) We must continue in this Throne [which is ours.] What are the other Thrones to me, where the Principalities of Angels are? They are indeed our Friends, and faithful Helps in the Service of God; we must look upon our own Throne wherein we were created and made Creatures, and upon our Prince in that Throne, upon God. The first Purpose of God when he created us, and beheld us in the eternal Band, that must stand.

(102) But the Difference lies in this, that Man is made by God himself out of the best Kernel or Pith of Nature, to be his Angel and Similitude, and God rules in Man with His Holy Spirit; so that Man can speak, discourse, distinguish, and understand all Things.

(24) By this you might find and understand the Ground, how the Kingdom of this World is generated, and how one Kingdom is in the other, and how one is the Chest and Receptacle of the other, and where yet there is no captivating at all, but all is free in itself: and Man stands manifested in all three [Principles,] and yet knows neither of them in the Ground, except he be generated out of the Darkness into the Light, and then that a Source knows the fierce Eternity, as also the Out-Birth of the Eternity. But he is not able to search out the Light, for he is environed therewith, and it is his Dwelling-House; whereas yet he is (with this Body) in this World, and with the Originality of the Soul in the Ground of the eternal Source, and with the noble Blossom of the Soul in the Kingdom of Heaven with God, and is thus rightly a Prince in the Heaven, over Hell and Earth; for the fierce Source [or Torment] touches it not; but the Blossom makes out of the fierce Source [or Quality] Paradise, [viz.] the high exulting Joy in the Springing up.

(22) Therefore consider what Weight thou puttest in by the Senses: Thou hast the Kingdom of Heaven in thy Power, for the Word of the divine Virtue [or Power] in Christ, has given itself to thee to be thy own; and so also thou hast the Kingdom of Hell in a Bridle, in the Root, and thou hast it for thy own by the Right of Nature; and thou hast the Kingdom of this World also (according to thy Humanity received from Adam) for thy own.

(2) In similar fashion our salvation depends upon our knowing and recognizing the Chief Good which is God Himself. I have a capacity in my soul for taking in God entirely. I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and presence of God. He is also near things of wood and stone, but they know it not. If a piece of wood became as aware of the nearness of God as an archangel is, the piece of wood would be as happy as an archangel. For this reason man is happier than the inanimate wood, because he knows and understands how God is near him. His happiness increases and diminishes in proportion to the increase and diminution in his knowledge of this.

His happiness does not arise from this that God is near him, and in him, and that He possesses God; but from this, that he knows the nearness of God, and loves Him, and is aware that "the Kingdom of God is near." So, when I think on God's Kingdom, I am compelled to be silent because of its immensity, because God's Kingdom is none other than God Himself with all His riches. God's Kingdom is no small thing: we may survey in imagination all the worlds of God's creation, but they are not God's Kingdom. In whichever soul God's Kingdom appeareth, and which knoweth God's Kingdom, that soul needeth no human preaching or instruction; it is taught from within and assured of eternal life. Whoever knows and recognizes how near God's Kingdom is to him may say with Jacob, "God is in this place, and I knew it not."

(106) Thus, my dear Mind, know, rthat the Creature of Christ is the Center of this Throne, from whence every Life proceeds, viz. whatsoever is heavenly; for in the Center is the Holy Trinity, and not alone in this Center, but also in all angelical Thrones, also in the Souls of holy Men; only we must thus speak, that it may be understood. Now the Body (understand the Creature, the Man Christ) is set in the Midst of this Throne, and stands also in Heaven (understand in this Principle) sitting in his Throne at the Right-hand of God the Father.

(136) His Court, Province, Place, Region or Quarters, wherein he dwelt with his whole Army or Company, and wherein he is become a Creature, and which was his Kingdom, is the created Heaven and this World, wherein we dwell with our King JESUS CHRIST.

(124) For the King is their Head, and they are the Members of the King; and the qualifying or fountain princely Angels are the King's Counsellors, or Officers in his Affairs, like the five Senses in Man, or as the Hand and Feet, or the Mouth, Nostrils, Eyes and Ears, whereby the King executes or accomplishes his Affairs. [Instrumenta in Employment.]

(6) If a Man rightly considers all Circumstances, he will find that the whole Government in its Locality, Circumference, or Region in a Kingdom, is of the same Condition or Constitution as the Body of an Angel is, or as the Holy Trinity. Observe here the Depth.

(28) The secret doctrine declares that every part and member of the body is epitomized in the brain and, in turn, that all that is in the brain is epitomized in the heart. In symbolism the human head is frequently used to represent intelligence and self-knowledge. As the human body in its entirety is the most perfect known product of the earth's evolution, it was employed to represent Divinity--the highest appreciable state or condition. Artists, attempting to portray Divinity, often show only a hand emerging from an impenetrable cloud. The cloud signifies the Unknowable Divinity concealed from man by human limitation. The hand signifies the Divine activity, the only part of God which is cognizable to the lower senses.