Two Treatises on the Nature of the Elements and the Fifth Essence

ON THE ELEMENTS.

[...] spark of the knowledge of nature (τῆς γνώσεως τῆς φύσεως) shines forth! Who would not admire the Creatures (Creaturae), so many of which he beholds to be admired? How can it be, O Man, that you contemplate the miracles of God (miracula Dei) without admiration? Why are you blinded while seeing? Why do you not investigate and praise the works of God, as often as you see that primeval Substance (Substantia), the first Matter (Materia) of all things, in which Fire (Ignis), Air (Aer), Water (Aqua), and Earth (Terra) shine forth with the same perfection with which they were created by God in the beginning?

Observe, I pray, the separation of the four Elements (Elementa). The spirit of fire flies upward, carrying with it air, water, and earth, which, condensed by the coldness of the air, seek their own kind—those things, I say, from which they were produced. The moisture of oil, which is water, is transformed into a mist; it falls down again drop by drop. Earth ascends like smoke and falls back blackened. Air is received by itself. Who, explaining the reason of this miracle, could forget the divine praises?

Thus it is established, friendly reader, that Fire alone is the life of all things, illuminating all things and leading them to that splendor, which

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