ON THE SIGNATURE

The signature represents what a thing is good and useful for.

represents what it is good and useful for; for every thing reveals its Mother, who provides the essence original: "Essentz"; the fundamental nature or "soul" of a substance and the will for its outward formation.

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the Opposition and the Conflict in the Being of All Beings.

Since the forms are so many and manifold, where each one brings forth a different will out of its own property than the other, we understand herein the opposition and the conflict in the being of all beings original: "Wesen aller Wesen"; a central concept in Böhme's philosophy referring to the ultimate source of all existence. We see how each one treats the other as an enemy, poisoning and killing it—that is, overcoming its essence and the spirit of that essence, and leading it into another form. From this, sickness and pain arise when one essence breaks another.

And then we also understand herein the Medicine original: "Artzney": how one thing heals another and brings it to health. If this were not so, there would be no Nature, but rather an eternal stillness and no Will. For it is the counter-will original: "Widerwille" that creates movement and the origin original: "Vhrstand" of seeking, so that the opposing torment original: "Quall"; Böhme uses this term to describe both a source of pain and a source of "welling up" or vital energy seeks rest, and in that seeking only elevates and further ignites itself.

It is for us to understand how the Physician original: "Arizt" stands in the likeness of every thing; for in likeness arises the fulfillment of the will as its highest joy. For every thing desires a will of its own—