A MOST LUCID EXPLANATION

AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS VOLUME

REGARDING THE EMBLEM.

[Initial A] Before the creation of things, the incomprehensible and almighty Maker of the Macrocosm Macrocosm: The "great world" or the universe as a whole, viewed as a complex, ordered system divided the universal mass into three parts differing in their purity by his immense power. From the purest of these, he ordained that the Cherubim, Seraphim, Archangels, and all the orders of other Angels be created. From the less pure part, he ordained the heavens and the ethereal regions; and from the most impure, the elements and all sublunary sublunary: literally "under the moon," referring to the earthly realm which is subject to change and decay, unlike the "perfect" heavens things, by saying: Let them be made, and they were made. original: "Fiant, & facta sunt" However, because of the simple purity of its substance, he placed the first division of matter beyond the comprehension of natural things; for it is metaphysical and supernatural, which modern writers of philosophy confirm is bounded by the Empyrean heaven Empyrean heaven: From the Greek for "fiery," this was considered the highest part of the universe, the abode of God and the angels, composed of pure light or fire, that is, the glowing and fiery realm.

But the remaining parts of the less pure mass—namely the ethereal and the elemental—because they are subject to Nature (the governess of the Microcosm Microcosm: The "little world," usually referring to man as a reflection or miniature version of the entire universe under God), are rightly called "natural" for that reason. Now, two efficient causes of these parts contained within the fabric of the Macrocosm are enumerated: namely Nature, and her "Ape," which we call Art Art as the "Ape of Nature": A common Renaissance concept suggesting that human skill and technology (Art) can only imitate or mimic the creative power of Nature. The Father and Lord of Nature is God, the Best and Greatest; to whom she is closest, and from whom we know all her virtues and effects are derived. She is, as it were, the knot and bond of the elements, and possesses the power to rightly temper the mixture of elements in their due proportions, to mingle them aptly in every composition, and to stamp upon each species its fitting form.

Nature is also a certain infinite force procreating like from like, since she is the fertile mother of all qualities and things, which she increases and nourishes. And to describe her in a single phrase according to the opinions of Zoroaster Zoroaster: An ancient Persian prophet often cited in Renaissance texts as a source of "Primal Magic" and deep wisdom and Heraclitus Heraclitus: A Greek philosopher known for the idea that "all things flow" and that fire is the fundamental substance of the universe, she is the "invisible fire," which they call the Soul of the World Soul of the World: Often called the "Anima Mundi," it is the animating spirit believed to permeate all of nature. We, however, have depicted her visibly in almost the same way as several recent philosophers; we did this with the intention that her power might be better grasped by the reader's mind. And so, we have fashioned her as a naked virgin of tender and blooming age, with hair like the stars and most beautifully gilded, praiseworthy for the very clear sharpness of her eyes, and lovely for the blushing color of her cheeks. This virgin was so remarkable in the brightness of her whole body, and so sweetly adorned with all the gifts of the greatest Maker, that poets could not prefer Pallas Pallas: Another name for Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, nor Venus, nor Juno, nor any other goddess, however graceful, to her beauty. By her singular prudence the "first moveable" Primum Mobile: In the old Earth-centered model of the universe, this was the outermost sphere that moved all the inner planetary spheres is governed, and the eighth sphere...