Three Principles of the Divine Essence Chap. 8-16 - meuser

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 o Region is out, and none of us can subsist.
24. Then thus say the three Elements (the Fire, the Air, and
the Water) to the Earth; Thou art indeed too dark, too rough,
and too cold, and thou art rejected by the Fiat: We cannot take
thee in; thou destroyest our Dwelling, and makest it dark and
stinking, and thou afflictest our Virgin, which is our only Delight
and Treasure wherein we live. And the Earth says; Yet pray
take my p Children in; they are lovely, and of good Esteem; they
afford you Meat and Drink, and cherish you, that you never
suffer Want.
25. Hereupon thus say the three Elements: But so they may
afterwards get a Dwelling in us, and may come to be strong and
great, and then we must depart, or be in Subjection to them, and
therefore we will not take them in neither, for they may come to
be as rough and cold as thou art: Yet this we will do, thou
mayest let thy Children dwell in our q Courts and Porches, and
we will come and be their Guest, and eat of their r Fruit, and
drink of their Drink, else the Water which is contained in the
Element would be too little for us.
26. Now thus say the three Elements (Fire, Water, and Air,)
to the Spirit; Fetch us Children of the Earth, that they may dwell
in our Courts, we will eat of their s Essences, and make thee
strong. Here the Spirit of the Soul (like a Captive) must be
obedient, and must reach with his Essences, and fetch them forth.
o Dominion or Rule.
p Its Fruits.
q In the Stomach and Guts.
r The Virtue of their Fruit.
s Or Substance.
And then comes the Fiat, and says, No: Thou t mightest [so]
out­run me; and [the Fiat] created the Reaching forth, and there
came forth from thence, Hands, and all other Essences and
Forms, as it is before our Eyes, and the Astronomicus [Astronomer]
knows it well, yet he knows not the Secrecy of it, although
he can explain the u Signs according to the Constellation and Elements,
which qualify [and mingle] together in the Essences of
the Spirit of the Soul.
27. And now when the Hands (in the Will) reach after the
Children of the Earth (which [Reaching forth] yet is no other
than a Will in the Spirit of the Child in the Mother’s Body) then
the Fiat is there, and makes a great Room in the Courts of the
three Elements, and a tough firm Inclosure round about it, that
they may not touch the Flesh: For the Flesh is afraid of the