Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

338 FllANCIS BACON
seeded by the First Light in that primitive emanation, or SIT"
LUX— Let there be light — which some falsely render FIAT
LUX— Let light be made. For nature is the voice of God, not
a mere sound or command, but a substantial, active breath,
proceeding from the Creator, and penetrating all things. " *
In the Lumen di Lumine the same author describes " The New
Magical 2 Light Discovered and Communicated to the World."
Here we read of " a phantastic circle, within which stands a
lamp typifying the light of nature, the secret candle of God,
which he hath tinned in the elements. It burns but is not
seen, shining in a dark place. Every naturall body is a kind of
black lanthorne ; it carries this candle within it : but the light
appears not; it is eclipsed by the grossness of the matter.
effect of this light is apparent in all
The
things, but the light itself
is denied, or else not followed. The great w r orld hath the sun
for his life and candle. According to the absence or presence
of this fire, all things in the world flourish or wither."
In the " Fasciculus Chemicus, or Chymical Collections made
English by James Hasolle, " 3 there is a prayer for the Intellectual
lAnima Magica Abscondita. Eugenius Philalethes. Ed. A. E. Waitc. Redway.
2 Wo must not allow ourselves to be puzzled or misled by the use of language
purposely adopted by the professors of the New Philosophy in order outwardly
to accord in some degree with the jargon of the alchemists. Bacon explains
very clearly his view of magic iu the true sense. " The chief business of the
Persian magic (so much celebrated) was to watch the correspondences between
the architectures and fabrics of things natural and things civil. . . . Neither
are these all similitudes, but plainly the footsteps of nature treading or printing
upon different subjects and matters. . . . A thing of excellent use for displaying
the unity of nature, which is supposed to bo the office of Primitive
Philosophy." — (De Aug. iii. 1.)
" I must stipulate that magic, which has long been used in a bad sense, bo
again restored to its ancient and honourable meaning. For among the
Persians magic was taken for a sublime wisdom, and the knowledge of the
universal consents of things, and so the three kings who came from the East to
worship Christ were called by the names of the Magi. I, however, understand
it as the science of hidden forms (inherent natures) to the production of
wonderful operations; and by uniting (as they say) actives with passives, displays
the wonderful works of nature." — (lb. iii. 5). Natural magic, in short,
displays not only the unity of nature, but also the universal harmony of things ;
the mingling of heaven ahd'earth — Bacon's prime object.
3 An anagram for the name of Elias Ashmole, the celebrated Freemason and
Rosicrucian antiquarian and historian, born, Lichfield, 1617.