Handbook of Restored Physics and the Secret Work of Hermetic Philosophy

...viewed from a more realistic perspective. original: "conceptâ sententiâ"; completing the thought from the previous page: "other things [seemed] to me from the real perspective that was accepted." Neither the authority of the more serious philosophers, nor their arguments—which were as ambiguous as they were clever—could turn my mind away from the light of Nature, to which it had entirely surrendered itself.

Therefore, wonder drew my spirit into a love of knowledge scientia: in this period, "science" referred to any certain, systematic knowledge of the world, often blending what we now call philosophy and physics. This Love, which uses fiery rays as its weapons, snatched my kindled mind into the more sacred inner chambers of Nature.

I hesitated for a long time whether I should share the secrets arcana: hidden or mysterious truths of nature, often sought by alchemists and natural philosophers drawn from that place with you, the students of philosophy. For I suspected it might be unwelcome to you, and for me, a task full of "dangerous dice-rolls" original: "periculosæ plenum opus aleæ"; a classical idiom used to describe a project where the outcome is uncertain and the risks of failure or social backlash are high.. Indeed, I felt myself warned by the passing years—which are the best of counselors—to learn wisdom from the misfortunes of others. For it was clear enough to me how many writers had suffered a "shipwreck of their reputation"; how stingy people are in offering praise, yet how quick they are to condemn the labors lucubrationibus: literally "work done by lamplight," referring to the intense, late-night study required to produce a scholarly book of others, and how bold...