Moreover, in persecutions for the name of Christ, or for the truth, putting our body and life in danger, we even leave these and give them up to our enemies, to tyrants, etc., with patience, like the Lamb of God, whom all sheep imitate, only that the soul may be kept entire, strong, safe and uncorrupt, in the faith and knowledge of God and truth. Do we not signify by this, that internals prevail over externals? - because the soul is internal, the body external; and who would be of so foolish a mind, that he had rather neglect and lose his soul, with faith in God, and knowledge of the truth, only that he might keep his external mortal body, and temporal life? For faith and the knowledge of the truth being destroyed and lost, the body with the temporal life is of no moment.
Finally, in extreme torments, anguish and infernal dolours of our conscience for sins committed, even with David we leave and execrate the very soul itself, and we bring to nought, and empty ourselves of all the solace both of God and the creatures, and we are left unto ourselves, crying out with the Son of God, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" So that God only, and alone, might be, and remain in us, unhurt, unviolated, just and perfect in all things that He doth with us, both sweet and bitter. So, by adverse things, we are always reduced to internals, and make a regression to ourselves, and unto God which is in us. Do we not therefore after this manner testify the truth of this rule: - that every internal is more noble and more worthy than his exterior?
Wherefore, seeing there is nothing in us so near and intimate as God is, it follows that any other thing is not to be so esteemed, sought and loved as God alone, Who hath put and hid in us, the most excellent Treasure of His divine Wisdom, Light, Life, Truth, and Virtue, taken from His own Self, and hath commanded to ask Him, seek, and knock in the hidden place of our heart, in Spirit, and in Truth, having given a testimony, that the kingdom of God, first of all, to be sought, is not here or there without us, but is to be found most inward in us, as a Treasure hid in a Field.
From all these things it clearly appears to me that God is not at all more remote or nearer to me in this life whilst I am in this world, and in this mortal body, than He will to me be in life eternal. But I have and feel my God equally now present and intimate to me, even as I shall have Him in the other world, in a new body. For He is in me and I in Him, whether I am in a mortal body in this world, or without this body in that world. This alone makes the difference, that this thing even hitherto is hidden: but then it shall be manifest and open.
But that I am not so nigh and near to Him as He is to me, this is not to be imputed to Him, but to my aversion, who do not sabbathize in my God Who is with me, that is, who by running up and down with my unquiet and vagabond soul through the creatures, am more delighted to be and to be busied in my proper will out of my internal Country; and I suffer that ever hissing Serpent to creep on to the creatures in the multifarious concupiscence and delectation of the flesh, of the eyes, and pride of life, or self-love: neither am I less frequent in the various discourse of my thoughts, ever and anon, day and night, ascending out of my heart, now desiring this, now that, speculating, willing, nilling, now this, now that; where, moreover I weary and burden myself with all kind of care, and vex myself with various affections. All of which things are the Astrological operation and revolution of the internal stars in our soul.
But if I could Theologize my Astrology, that is, if I could desist sometimes from all these things, and study to be at rest in my God Who dwells with me, that is, if I could accustom my mind to quiet and spiritual tranquillity, that it should cease to wander in the variety of thoughts, cares, and affections, that it might be at leisure from the external things and creatures of this world, and chiefly from the love of myself; that I might wholly die, and as it were be annihilated in my self, that I could come into a loathing and oblivion, not alone of all the things of the whole world placed without me, and of mundane friendship, which I have with men, but also into a plenary dereliction of myself, that is, of my will, of mine - if there be any - wisdom, knowledge, science, art, industry, prudence; of mine - if there be any - dignity, praise, honour, authority, estimation in the world amongst men; of mine - if there be any - office, state, degree, order; and, in brief, into an absolute forgetfulness of all my negotiations and occupations, and of myself as well within as without, which is nothing else than to Theologize Astrology.
Then, at length should I begin: more and more to see and know the most present habitation of God in me, and so I should taste and eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of Paradise, which Paradise I myself am, as a guest with whom God is, and ought to be, and I in like manner with God.
This, I say, should be the exercise of my soul, the Theologization of Astrology, and a regression from Externals to Internals; from Nature to Grace; from the Creature to God; from the friendship of the world, to the friendship of God; from the tree of Death, to the Tree of Life; from terrene things to Celestial.
So should I go again to my first original, from whence I went forth, by arrogating to myself a liberty of willing, desiring, coveting, thinking, speaking and doing what I pleased me, God in the meantime being neglected, without Whom I ought not to do any thing.
Whatsoever therefore we have from the Light of Nature, all this with most humble self-denial once in the week is to be laid down at the feet of the best and greatest God, whether it be magic, or cabalistic, or astronomic, or chemic, or medicinal, or physical science. Also liberal arts, and mechanic work, and whatsoever study, office, state, order, dignity, kind of life, also wealth, riches, houses, and all kind of natural gifts. All these appertain to this our Astrology, and ought so to be Theologised, by the exercise of sanctifying the Sabbath, which is an universal forgetfulness of all things and of ourselves, and the rest of our soul from all disquiet, in a sacred silence, a cessation from all will, thought, desire, affection, discourse, operation, etc., as well within as without. And this is that only and principle cause of the Sabbaths being divinely commanded to Man: to wit, that man should not eat death and perish to himself by the eating of the forbidden Tree.
To eat is to be delighted in himself, and in the creatures, rather than in the Creator Himself.
Rom. I. I. Cor. 2. I. John 2. Matt. 6. Gen. 2. Exob. 20. - To kiss himself in the gift received, neglecting the Giver.
To love the world, and things which are in the world, neglecting God.
To serve Mammon, neglecting God.
To use all things after his pleasure and will, despising the Law of the Lord. Thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not eat, thou shalt not desire to turn from God to the creatures; and to thyself; to commit whoredom with the creatures; to depend on thyself and on things created: to languish in love of terrene things, and temporal good things, setting God aside; which may be described a thousand ways.
Hence the Doctrine of Christ, who came from above, and brings celestial and divine wisdom from the Light of Grace, sounds altogether contrary, to wit: -
That a man ought to be converted into a child, and to have so much of the knowledge of good and evil to live in him, as he had when he was but a child, or infant newly born.
I say the Doctrine of Christ commands a man to eat of the Tree of Life, to live by the inspiration of the internal Godhead, which is, -
To fall off again from the creatures, and from himself to God.
To adhere to God, Mammon being left.
To be united with God, the love of the creatures being left.
To believe in God, to offer and give up himself to God, to pray - "Thy will be done."
To put off the old Man, and to put on the new Man.
To fly evil and adhere to good, which in like sort may be explicated by a thousand manners of speaking and phrases from the very writings of the Apostles.
But in what manner all and singular kinds of sciences, and natural gifts, and those vain studies, actions, businesses and differences of men, etc., arise from the Light of Nature, or the Stars; and in what order they are referred to the Seven Governors of the world and how a man ought to use them; also how every one of us ought to Theologize his own Astrology flourishing in himself, and to erect to himself a new Nativity, from the heaven of the new Creature, and to institute and assume a new kind of life; and chiefly, what is the solid and the most certain cause of all the holy Sabbath, that is, after what manner a man ought to labour six days and on the seventh day to sanctify the Sabbath rightly; - all these things are most evidently set forth and propounded in the following chapters of this book.
Of the composition of the Microcosm, that is Man, from the Macrocosm, the great World.
The absolute description, and essential explication of this slime, dust or mass, extracted from the whole macrocosm, we shall find everywhere abundantly and wonderfully declared, alone by Theophrastus Paracelsus in his most excellent writings.
Seeing therefore it is manifest, that every produced and composed thing can take or assume his essence, nature and propriety from nothing else but from that whereof it is made and produced; which even that first man, as another and later world, made of the former world, by the Ens of that slime, is made partaker of the same essence, nature and propriety, as the macrocosm had in itself. For the whole great world existing and being compact in that quintessence of extracted slime, forthwith it followed that the whole Macrocosm was complicitly collected and transposed into man, by divine formation, the substance and nature of the Macrocosm remaining nevertheless safe and entire. For such is the condition in the universal production and generation of things, that every like of itself produceth his like, and that without destruction of its essence and nature.
John 3. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. - Hence that which hath its original and derivation from God, is the same that God is, - the Spirit or breath of God which is in man immediately proceeds from God, therefore God is of a truth in man by the Ens of inspiration.
That which hath its original and derivation from the world, is the same that the world is. The soul and body of man are immediately taken, extracted, and composed of the world, therefore the world is of a truth in man, by the Ens of slime.
So the first man, made of the macrocosm, bears in himself the macrocosm, with the essence and nature of all creatures complicated, collected, and compacted together: yet, nevertheless, he was formed as to his body of the elements and things elementated; as to his soul, of the soul of the Macrocosm, or the Spirit of Nature which contains and comprehends in himself the whole Firmament, with all its stars, and astralic virtues and operations. So it comes to Pass that there is nothing without a man in the whole heaven of Nature and in all the elements, with which man in his composition doth not participate, and is endued with its nature.
But there are two things in which the Microcosm and the Macrocosm differ, and appear to be contrary, to wit, - the form of the person, and the complication of things.
As to the form, it seemed good to divine wisdom, to convert that mass extracted from the Macrocosm, and to be converted into a man, not to put and set it into the form of the Macrocosm, which is round and circular; nor according to the animal form. But it pleased him to erect and apply it to the form of His own Image and similitude; man nevertheless, in the meantime, remaining the Microcosm.
Therefore, this difference does not touch his essence. The form doth not take away the truth of the subject, that man may not be believed to be the Microcosm.
See, concerning this, the 'Foundation of Wisdom' by Paracelsus. - As to the complication or composition of all natural things into one body, or into one person, all things cannot be apparent and distinctly known together in a man; one thing after another, as it is excited and provoked, is manifest and flourisheth in the species, other things in the meantime remaining hidden in the Macrocosm; all things are explicitly existing, living and operating in the species. But in the Microcosm all things are compact and conjoined together.
Moreover, after that Man the Microcosm was, and held all things now in himself, out of which he was taken, behold the whole plenitude of Nature, as well corporally as spiritually, was conjoined in him, and as a most rich treasure collected and laid up in one Centre, yet so as man should be all things complicitly; and yet none of them all explicitly.
Adam, Protoplastos. - And from this Protoplast, or first formed Man and begetter of all (Adam,) even in like manner are we constituted and formed: not of the same slime or mass as that was in the beginning, whereof Adam was made; but by a mass extracted from the substance of the Microcosm, which we, with Paracelsus, call the Ens of seed, which seed hath and bears in itself complicitly the whole Microcosm, that is, Man, and thence the human offspring, as to the essence, nature and propriety, in all things alike grows and comes forth to its begetter, as a most lively image, which truly could not be done if all these things did not lie hid and extant in the Ens of the seed. Hence every one of us hath the same in himself essentially delivered over to himself by the Ens of the seed from his parent, which the first man received and had from the extracted Macrocosm by the Ens of slime, to wit - an elemental body from the Elements, and a soul or Siderean Spirit from the Firmament.
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