(6) ¶I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

(75) Hearken, thou hast the sweet water in thee, pour that into the fire, and then the fire goeth out: If thou lettest it burn, then it consumeth in thee the sap that is in all the seven qualifying or fountain spirits, so that thou wilt become dry.

(7) With a cup of pure water from the Deep shalt thou purify thy way!

(4) —O he who goes to rest in his body, and then rises a burning heat, blazing even within the sea, and the sea goes up because of this burning vapour, at the time of the morning; come, bring thy fire; pour thy burning vapour on him who will raise his hand against Osiris N. for ever and ever

(33) But seeing all is corrupted, therefore must the upper water in the wrath of God come to help the astringent, bitter and hot quality of the earth, and soften the quality and quench its fire, so that the life may always be generated, and that the holy birth, between death and the wrath of God, may be generated also.

(6) 5. The basin, the fire of which is a blazing flame; the front of the fire, the god in it is the bearer of altars

By water and fire this whole realm is purified, the visible by the visible, the hidden by the hidden. Some things are hidden by the visible. There is water within water, there is fire within the oil of anointing.

(23) Therefore, my beloved Soul, be lively, and see what thy noble Bridegroom has left thee in his Testaments for a Legacy; as namely, in the Baptism, the Water of his Covenant, flowing from his holy original Body. Whereas we in this World, viz. in the external Birth of his Body, do acknowledge four Things, namely, Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, wherein our earthly Body consists; so likewise in the heavenly Body there are four such Things. The Fire is the Enkindling of the divine Desire. The Water is that which the Fire desires, whence it becomes meek, and a Light. The Air is the joyful Spirit which blows up the Fire, and makes in the Water the Motion. And the Earth is the true Essence which is born in the three Elements, and is rightly called Ternarius Sanctus [the Sacred Ternary,] in which the Tincture is brought forth in the Light of the Meekness; and therein also is born the holy Blood out of the Water, being an Oil of the Water, in which the Light shines, and the Spirit of Life consists.

(2) O thou great Coverer of Heaven, in thy name of Stretcher [of Heaven], grant that I may have the command of water, even as Sut hath command of force on the night of the Great Disaster: grant that I may prevail over those who preside at the Inundation, even as that venerable god prevaileth over them, whose name they know not. May I prevail over them

(77) But when thou lookest upon a thing which pleaseth thee, and awakenest the spirit in thine heart, then thou kindlest the fire in thine heart, which burneth first in the sweet water like a glowing coal.

(9) Therefore let every one have a Care how he uses his Reason, that he may therewith stand in great Honour in the Wonders of God. We know that this World shall perish in the Fire; it shall be no Fire of Straw or Wood, that would turn no Stones to Ashes, and further to Nothing; neither will there any Fire gather together, into which this World shall be thrown; but the Fire of Nature kindles itself in all Things, and will melt or dissolve the Body of every Thing, or whatsoever is palpable, and turn it to Nothing.

(92) "For the fire will consume all, and causes a high rising in the source, and the meekness of the light causes entity or substantiality; viz. in the eternal light it causes the water-spirit of eternal life; and in the third principle of this world it causes water, together with the existency or original of the air.

(67) But those waters shall in those days serve for the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and those who dwell on the earth, for the healing of the body, but for the punishment of the spirit; now their spirit is full of lust, that they may be punished in their body, for they have denied the Lord of Spirits and see their punishment daily, and yet believe not in His name.

(29) Yet it did not so here, but after it was risen up in the water, in the astringent quality, it also dissembled [or played] with the astringent quality and broke out or burst forth furiously, like a thunderclap, whereby it would prove and shew forth its new Deity; and so the fire rose up, as when there is a tempest of lightning, intending thereby to be so great as to be above all things in God.

(11) As the many torrents of the rivers rush toward the ocean, so do the heroes of the mortal world rush into Thy fiercely flaming mouths.

(19) You must also mark the Form of the Water-Spirit; when that generates its like, so that it is predominant in its Regeneration or second Birth, and that a Center is awakened in it, (which itself in its own Essence does not awaken, but the other Fountain- Spirits do it therein,) it [the Water-Spirit] is still and quiet as a meek Mother, and suffers the other to sow their Seed into it, and to awaken the Center in it, so that the Fire rises up, from whence the Life is moved. In this [Form] the fire is not a hot burning [scorching] Fire, but cool, mild, soft and sweet; and the Bitterness is no Bitterness, but cool, mild, budding, and flowing forth, from whence the Forming [or Figuring and beauteous Shape] in the heavenly Glory proceeds, and is a most beautiful Substance; for the Sound also in this Birth flows forth most pleasantly and harmoniously, all as it were palpably or feelingly, or in a Similitude, as a Word that comes to be an Essence, or a comprehensible Substance. For in this Regeneration that is brought to pass in the Water-Spirit, (that is, in the true Mother of the Regeneration of all the Fountain-Spirits,) all is as it were comprehensible or substantial; although no Comprehensibility must be understood here, but Spirit.

The FUMIGATION from MYRRH. O Thou, who doff the roots of Ocean keep In seats cærulean, dæmon of the deep, With fifty nymphs (attending in thy train, Fair virgin artists) glorying thro' the main: The dark foundation of the rolling sea And Earth's wide bounds, belong much-fam'd to thee; Great dæmon, source of all, whose pow'r can make The Earth's unmeasur'd, holy basis shake, When blust'ring winds in secret caverns pent, By thee excited, struggle hard for vent: Come, blessed Nereus, listen to my pray'r, And cease to shake the earth with wrath severe; Send on our sacred rites abundant health, With peace divine and necessary wealth. Next: XXIII: To the Nereids Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXI: To the Sea, or Tethys Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXIII: To the Nereids » Sacred Texts | Classics

(8) "Then I shall come through the demon down to the water. And whirlpools of water and flames of fire will rise up against me. Then I shall come up from the water, having put on the light of faith and the unquenchable fire, that through my help the power of the spirit may cross over, she who has been cast in the world by the winds and the demons and the stars. And in them every unchastity will be filled.

(66) And the Lord of Spirits gave commandment to the angels who were going forth, that they should not cause the waters to rise but should hold them in check; for those angels were over the powers of the waters.

(23) And there the holy Tincture is generated out of the Essences, which regards not the Fire, but sets the Essences (viz. the Soul) in its pleasant Joy. Then come the other three Elements out of their Regions, and fill themselves also by Force Or Dominion. therein, each of them would taste of the Virgin, receive her and qualify [or mingle] with her: viz. the Water, that fills itself by Force also therein, and it tastes the sweet Tincture of the Soul. And the Fire says; I would willingly keep the Water, for I can quench my Thirst therewith, and refresh myself therein. And the Air says; I am indeed the Spirit, I will blow up the Heat and Fire, that the Water do not choak thee. And the Fire says to the Air; I will keep thee, for thou upholdest my Quality for me, that I also go not out. And then comes the Element [of] (Earth) and says; What will you three do alone? You will starve and consume one another; for you depend all three on one another and devour yourselves, and when you shall have consumed the Water, then you extinguish; for the Air cannot move, unless it has some Water; for the Water is the Mother of the Air, which generates the Air: Moreover, the Fire becomes much too fierce [violent and eager] if the Water be consumed, and consumes the Body, and then our Region is out, and none of us can subsist.