Preliminary Report regarding the Figure.

AS all Holy Scripture—which flowed from God’s mouth through his holy teachers, prophets, and apostles—consists almost entirely of figures, hidden prophetic speeches, riddles, and stories (besides the single instructional goal of repentance and godliness), in these the wonders of Divine Wisdom truly appear: they tell of the past, prefigure the present, and indicate the future. However, they are structured so that neither coarse, carnal reason, nor self-wise, clever reason can understand or guess them at the first encounter. In this way, the hidden nature of Divine Wisdom remains in its dignity, and the wise and understanding heart is given cause to dig and search for wisdom. Just as, externally, the beautiful and shining gold—the noblest body or essence of all nature—is dug out of the dark and coarse earth according to Solomon's parable in Proverbs 3, verse 14:

So one finds in these writings of Divine Revelation such a depth and wealth of wisdom that all reason sinks before it. One need only consider the Philosophical Sphere original: "Philosophische Kugel" or the Wonder-Eye of Eternity original: "Wunder-Auge der Ewigkeit" in the Forty Questions, page 272; also the Wheel of Nature in The Threefold Life, page 153; and then the secret interpretation of the End of Times in the Great Mystery original: "Mysterio Magno", page 241. This is not to mention what remains wrapped up here and there throughout the writings.

From these, through Divine Grace, we have caught sight of the ideal form of this spirit—as the gift of revelation for this time—and presented it to the lovers of wisdom for further reflection in the first figure on the title page of all his works. An interpretation of the same is as impossible to provide in this brevity as it is unnecessary to include, because it is explained abundantly everywhere in the writings; we direct the reader there, having cleared the path with references found throughout all treatises, chapters, and verses.

However, to touch upon it only slightly, we wish to remind the reader of what the author Referring to Jacob Böhme (1575–1624), the mystic whose works this volume contains. discusses everywhere regarding the two eternal principles original: "Principien" of the worlds of Darkness and Light: that they indeed form one sphere in Eternity original: "Æternität", and yet in their quality they stand as separate and back-to-back against each other.

The black semicircle on the left is the principle of the dark world; the subtle one on the right, that of the Light-World. The middle one, like a clock-wheel, is the outer mystery original: "Mysterium" of the creation original: "Creation" of this world, or the third principle. The seven circles around it, where the seventh appears at the top like a shining sun—

net/ This is a catchword, the first syllable of the first word on the following page, "erscheinet" (appears).