High and Deep Grounds of the Threefold Life of Man

...this drawing into itself, and conceives within itself another will to go out from the darkness into itself; and that same other conceived will is the eternal Mind Mind: Gemühte. In Böhme's thought, this refers to the seat of the soul's emotional and volitional activity., and it enters into itself like a swift flash of lightning, shattering the darkness, and goes out into itself, and dwells within itself; thus it creates for itself another Principle: Principium. Böhme uses this term to describe distinct realms of existence, such as the worlds of Light, Darkness, or the physical universe. of a different quality original: "Qual" (quality/torment). Böhme often plays on the linguistic link between Qual (pain/torment) and Quelle (source/wellspring), suggesting that all existence emerges from a dynamic, even painful, tension., for the sting of stirring Sting of stirring: Stachel der Rügung. The internal friction or restlessness that arises when the "will" begins to move within the stillness of the void. remains in the darkness.

27. So we must now speak of the forms in the harsh, dark nature: for we understand that the darkness yearns for the light, which stands eternally over against it, but in another Principle: Principio.

28. For the two forms—namely the harsh and the bitter-stinging—are the original source Original source: Uhrkund. The primal origin or foundational evidence of all being. of all existence, and the eternal will is the mother in which they are born. And it is for us to understand that harshness Harshness: Herbe. The first of Böhme's seven "source-spirits," representing a contractive, cold, and astringent force that pulls inward., by grasping the will, always draws to itself; and this drawing is the sting of stirring, which the harshness cannot endure. For harshness desires the harsh, severe enclosure in death, but the stinging bitterness Bitterness: Bitterkeit. The second source-spirit, representing movement, friction, and expansion that breaks the contraction of harshness. is the unlocker—and yet, in itself, it would be nothing without the will.

29. Now, when harshness draws in so severely, the sting—being the harshness's own drawing—cannot endure it, but stirs itself all the more; and the harshness cannot endure this stirring either, for it desires silent death. Thus this is a chain and a bond that always creates itself, and has no maker.

30. Since this movement occurs as swiftly as a fleeting thought, the sting desires