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ire is the purest, and most worthy element of all, full of unctuous corrosivenesse adhering to it, penetrating, digesting, corroding, and wonderfully adhering, without, visible, but within invisible, and most fixed; it is hot, dry, and tempered with aire. its substance is the purest of all, and its essence was first of all elevated in the creation with the throne of divine majesty, when the waters of the heavens were established, as we have said in the element of water: out of the lesse pure part of its substance the angells were created; out of that which was lesse pure then that, being mixed with the purest aire, were the sun, moon and stars created. that which is lesse pure then that is raised up to terminate, and hold up the heavens: but the impure, and unctuous part of it[pg 100] is left, and included in the center of the earth by the wise, and great creator, for to continue the operation of motion, and this wee call hell. all these fires are indeed divided, but they have a naturall sympathy one towards another.

this element is of all the most quiet, and like unto a charriot, when it is drawed, it runs, when it is not drawed, it stands still. it is also in all things undiscernibly. in it are the reasons of life, and understanding, which are distributed in the first infusion of mans life, and these are called the rational soule, by which alone man differs from other creatures, and is like to god. this soule is of that most pure elementary fire, infused by god into the vitall spirit, by reason of which man after the creation of all things was created into a particular world, or microcosme. in this subject god the creator of all things put his seal, and majesty, as in the purest, and quietest subject, which is governed by the will, and infinite wisdome of god alone. wherefore god abhors all impurity, nothing that is filthy compounded, or blemished may come neer him, therefore no mortall man can see god, nor come to him naturally: for that fire which is in the circumference of the divinity, in which is carryed the seale and majesty of the most high, is so intense, that no eye can penetrate it: for fire will not suffer any thing that is compounded to come neer to it: for fire is the death, and separation of any thing that is compounded. wee have said that it is the most quiet subject (for so it is) or else it would follow (which so much as to thinke were absurd) that god could not rest; for it is of most quiet silence,[pg 101] more then any mans mind can imagine. thou hast an example of this in the flint, in which there is fire, and yet is not perceived, neither doth appear, untill it be stirred up by motion, and kindled in it that it may appear: so the fire in which is placed the sacred majesty of our creator, is not moved, unlesse it be stirred up by the proper will of the most high, and so is carryed where his holy will is. there is made by the will of the supream maker of all things a most vehement, and terrible motion. thou hast an example of this, when any monarch of this world sits in his pompe, what a quietnesse there is about him? what silence? and although some one of his court doth more, the motion is only of some one, or other particular man, which is not regarded. but when the lord himself moves, there is an universall stirre, and motion, then all that attend on him, move with him. what then? when that supream monarch, the king of kings, and maker of all things (after whose example the princes of the world are established in the earth) doth move in his own person of majesty? what a stirre? what trembling, when the whole guard of his heavenly army move about him? but some one may ask, how doe wee know these things, since heavenly things are hid from mans understanding? to whom wee answer, that they are manifest to all philosophers; yea the incomprehensible wisdome of god hath inspired into them, that all things are created after the example of nature, and that nature hath its bounds from those secret things, and accordingly works; and that nothing is done on the earth, but according to the example of the heavenly monarchy, which is managed by[pg 102] the divers offices of angells. so also there is nothing brought forth, or generated, but what is done naturally. all humane inventions, yea and arts, which either are, or shall bee, proceed not otherwise then from naturall principles. the most high creator was willing to manifest all naturall things unto man, wherefore hee shewed to us that celestiall things themselves were naturally made, by which his absolute, and incomprehensible power, and wisdome might be so much the better known; all which things the philosophers in the light of nature, as in a looking-glasse, have the cleer sight of. for which cause they esteemed highly of this art, viz. not so much out of covetousnesse for gold, or silver, but for knowledge sake, not only of all naturall things, but also of the power of the creator, and they were willing to speak of these things sparingly, and only figuratively, lest divine mysteries by which nature is illustrated, should be discovered to the unworthy, which thou, if thou knowest how to know thy selfe, and art not of a stiffe neck, maist easily comprehend; who art created after the likenesse of the great world, yea after the image of god. thou hast in thy body the anatomy of the whole world, thou hast in stead of the firmament the quintessence of the foure elements, extracted out of the chaos of sperms, into a matrix, and into a skin, which doth compasse it round, thou hast most pure blood in stead of fire, in the vitall spirit whereof is placed the seat of the soule (which is in stead of the king;) thou hast a heart in stead of the earth; where the centrall fire continually works; and preserves the fabrick of this microcosm in its being; thou hast thy mouth in stead of the[pg 103] articke pole; and thy belly in stead of the antarticke, and all thy members answer to some celestialls: of which in our booke of harmony wee shall treat more fully, viz. in the chapter of astronomy, where we have wrote how that astronomy is easy, naturall, how the aspects of planets, and stars are efficacious, and why prognostication is given of raine, and other events, which would bee too tedious to reckon up here, and all these are linked together, and performed in a naturall manner, onely god doth some things extraordinary. because the ancients omitted it, we are willing to shew it to him that is diligently studious of this secret, that the incomprehensible power of the most high god, may so much the more cleerly come home to his heart, and that hee may love, and adore him the more zealously. let therefore the searcher of this sacred science know, that the soule in a man the lesser world, or microcosme substituting the place of its center, is the king, and is placed in the vitall spirit, in the purest bloud. that governes the mind, and the mind the body: when the soule conceives any thing, the mind knows all things, and all the members understand the mind, and obey the mind, and are desirous to fulfill the will thereof. for the body knows nothing, whatsoever strength, or motion is in the body, is caused by the mind; the body is to the mind, as instruments are to the artificer; now the soule, by which man differs from other animalls, operates in the body, but it hath a greater operation out of the body, because out of the body it absolutely reigns, and by these things it differs from other animalls, who have only the mind, not the soule of the deity. so also god, the maker of all[pg 104] things, our lord, and our god, works in this world those things, which are necessary for the world; and in these hee is included in the world; whence wee beleeve that god is every where. but hee is excluded the body of the world by his infinite wisdome, by which hee workes out of the world, and imagines much higher things, then the body of the world is able to conceive, and those things are beyond nature, being the secrets of god alone. you have the soul for an example, which out of the body imagines many most profound things, and in this it is like unto god, who out of the world works beyond nature; although the soule to god bee as it were a candle lighted to the light at noonday: for the soul imagines, but executes not but in the mind; but god doth effect all things the same moment when hee imagines them; as the soul imagines any thing to be done at rome, or elsewhere in the twinckling of an eye, but only in the mind; but god doth all such things essentially, who is omnipotent. god therefore is not included in the world, but as the soul in the body; he hath his absolute power separated from the world, so also the soul of any body hath its absolute power separated from the body, to doe other things then the body can conceive; it hath a very great power therefore upon the body, if it pleaseth, or otherwise our philosophy were in vain. by these therefore learn to know god, and thou shalt know in which the creator differs from the creature. thou thy selfe shalt be able to conceive greater things, when as now thou hast the gate opened by us. but lest this treatise should grow too big, let us returne to our purpose.

[pg 105]

wee said before that the element of fire is the most quiet of all, and that it is stirred up by motion, which stirring up wise men knew. it is necessary that a philosopher know the generation, and corruption of all things, to whom not only the creation of the heavens is manifest, but also the composition, and mixture of all things: but although they know all things, yet they cannot doe all things. we know indeed the composition of man in all respects, yet wee cannot infuse the soule; because this mystery belongs only unto god: & he exceeds all things by these kind of infinite mysteries. seeing these are out of the corse of nature, they are not as yet in the disposition of nature: nature doth not work before there be matter given unto her to work upon. the first matter is given to her by god, the second by the philosopher. now in the operation of the philosophers nature hath a power to stir up the fire, which by the creator is secretly included in the center of every thing: this stirring up of the fire is done by the will of nature, sometimes by the will of the skilfull artificer disposing of nature. for naturally all impurities, and pollutions of things are purged by fire: all things that are compounded, are dissolved by fire: as water washeth, and purgeth all things imperfect, which are not fixed; so the fire purgeth all things that are fixed, and by fire they are perfected: as water doth conjoine all things that are dissolved; so fire separates all things that are conjoined; and what is naturall, and of affinity with it, it doth very wel purge, and augment it, not in quantity but in vertue. this element doth severall ways secretly work upon other elements, and all things else: for as the animall soul[pg 106] is of the purest of this element, so the vegetable is of the elementary part of it, which is governed by nature. this element doth act upon the center of every thing in this manner: nature causeth motion, motion stirs up aire, the aire the fire; now fire separates, cleanseth, digesteth, coloureth, and maketh all seed to ripen, and being ripe expells it by the sperm into places, and matrixes, into places pure or impure, more or lesse hot, dry or moist; and according to the disposition of the matrix, or places, divers things are brought forth in the earth, as in the booke of the twelve treatises concerning matrixes mention hath been made, that there are as many matrixes, as places. so the builder of all things, the most high god hath determined, and ordained all things, that one shall be contrary unto the other, yet so that the death of the one be the life of the other: that which produceth one, consumeth another, and another thing from this is naturally produced, and such a thing which is more noble then the former: and by this means there is preserved an equality of the elements, and so also of the compositum. separation is of all things, especially of living things the naturall death: wherefore man must naturally die because hee is compounded of four elements, hee is subject to separation, seing every thing that is compounded is separated naturally. but this separation of mans composition must needs have been done in the day of judgement, i.e. the first judgement, when the sentence of a naturall death was passed upon him: for in paradise man was immortall. which all divines, as also sacred writ doth testifie; but a sufficient reason of this immortality no philosopher hi[pg 107]therto hath shewed; which it is convenient for the searcher of this sacred science to know, that he may see how all these things are done naturally, and bee most easily understood. but it is most true, that every compound thing in this world is subject to corruption, and separation; which separation in the animall kingdome is called death: and man seeing hee is created and compounded of foure elements, how can hee bee immortall? it is hard to beleeve that this is done naturally; but that there is something above nature in it. yet god hath inspired it into philosophers that were good men many ages since, that this is so naturally. which take to be thus. paradise was, and is such a place, which was created by the great maker of all things, of true elements, not elementated, but most pure, temperate, equally proportioned in the highest perfection; and all things that were in paradise were created of the same elements, and incorrupt; there also was man created and framed of the same incorrupted elements, proportioned in equality, that he could in no wise be corrupted, therefore he was consecrated to immortality: for without all doubt god created this paradise for men only, of which and where it is wee have largely treated in our book of harmony. but when afterwards man by his sinne of disobedience had transgressed the comandement of the most high god, hee was driven forth to beasts into the corruptible world elementated, which god created only for beasts: who of necessity, seeing he cannot live without nutriment, must from corrupt elementated elements receive nutriment. by which nutriment those pure elements of which he was created, were infected; and so by little[pg 108] and little declined into corruption, untill one quality exceeded another, and destruction, infirmity, and last of all separation, and death of the whole compound followed. so that now they are neer unto corruption and death, who are procreated in corrupt elements, of corrupt seed, and not in paradise; for seed produced out of corrupt nutriments cannot be durable; and by how much the longer it is since the driving forth of man out of paradise, so much the neerer men are to corruption; and by consequence their lives are so much shorter, and it will come to this passe, that even generation it selfe by reason of the shortnesse of life shall cease. yet there are some places, where the aire is more favourable, and the starres more propitious, and there their natures are not so soon corrupted, because also they live more temperately: our countrey-men by reason of gluttony, and inordinate living make quick hast to corruption. this experience teacheth, that they that are born of the seed of infirme parents doe not live long. but if man had continued in paradise, a place sutable to his nature, where all the elements were as incorrupt, and pure as a virgin, hee had been immortall for ever. for it is certain that when pure elements are joined together equally in their vertues, such a subject must be incorrupted, and such must the philosophers stone bee: to this creation of man the ancient philosophers have likened this stone, but modern philosophers understanding all things according to the letter doe apply it to the corrupt generation of this age.

this immortality was the chief cause that philosophers exercised their wits to find out this stone,[pg 109] for they knew that man was created of such elements which were sound and pure. they therefore meditated upon that creation, which, when they knew to bee naturall, began to search further into it, whether such uncorrupted elements could bee had, or if they could be joined together, and infused into any subject. now to these the most high god, and maker of all things revealed, that a composition of such elements was in gold: for in animalls it could not be had, seing they must preserve their lives by corrupt elements; in vegetables also it is not, because in them is found an inequality of the elements. and seeing all created things are inclined to multiplication, the philosophers propounded to themselves that they would make tryall of the possibility of nature in this minerall kingdome; which being discovered, they saw that there were innumerable other secrets in nature, of which, as of divine secrets, they have wrote sparingly. so now thou seest how corrupt elements come to bee in a subject, and how they are separated; when one exceeds the other, and because then putrefaction is made by the first separation, and by putrefaction is made a separation of the pure from the impure, if then there be a new conjunction of them by vertue of fire, it doth acquire a form much more noble then the first was. for in its first state, corruption was by reason of grosse matter mixed with it, which is not purged away but by putrefaction, the subject thereby being bettered; and this could not be but by the vertues of the foure elements, which are in every compound thing, being joined together: for when a compositum must perish, it perisheth by the element of water; and whilest they lie thus confusedly,[pg 110] the fire together with the earth, and aire which it is in potentially, agree together, and by their united forces do afterward overcome the water, which they digest, boile, and lastly congeal; and after this manner nature helps nature. for if the hidden central fire, which is the life of all things overcomes, and works upon that which is neerer to it, and purer, as it selfe is most pure, and is joined with it: so it overcomes its contrary, and separates the pure from the impure, and there is a new form generated, and if it bee yet a little helped, much more excellent then the former. sometimes by the wit of a skilfull artificer there are made things immortall, especially in the minerall kingdome. so all things are done by fire alone, and the government of fire, and are brought forth into a being, if thou hast understood mee.

here now thou hast the originall of the elements, their natures, and operations described unto thee very briefly, which is sufficient for our purpose in this place. for otherwise if every element were described as it is, it would require a great volume not necessary for our purpose. all those things, as wee said before, wee refer to our book of harmony, where god willing, if wee live so long, wee shall write more largely of naturall things.