The Contest of Wisdom with Folly

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To the sons of doctrine and those raised on the wings of justice, we pray from the heart for Concordant Symphony and immunity from viperous tongues through Jesus

As it is my nature (most distinguished men and most esteemed judges) to lead a life that is first of all pleasing to my God, and thereafter to men—a life tranquil and full of charity, according to that essence of the Mosaic Decalogue The Ten Commandments given to Moses. contracted into two parts by our Savior: namely, honor and fear God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself—so indeed (as I hope) have I conducted myself in these five volumes of mine now published (by the assistance of divine grace). I have behaved both before God and men such that no place can be found in them where I have spoken a reproach against anyone with a biting tongue. Nor, puffed up by vain philautia From the Greek 'philautia,' meaning self-love or conceit. or foolish and impious desire, led by a craving to disparage anyone, have I ever thought that because I trumpeted my opinions to the world, the truths found in the harvest of others should be considered lies. This remains true even if my findings seem rare to the ear, crude at first sight, or arduous and beyond the grasp of common men's thoughts. Without detriment to other writers (I say), or the depravation of their dignity (my pen being armed not with a viper's tooth, but governed by a peaceful mind with all bitterness set aside, and with hatred and envy banished to Orcus A name for the underworld or hell in classical mythology., accompanied only by honest reason), I was eager to sing of that harmonic matter in the world—both the great The Macrocosm, or the universe. and the small The Microcosm, or the human being.—to the praise of God and the comfort of men. I did this so that, by the harmony begun by me, I might render the state of my mind conformable to its own laws; for the mind, in and of itself, is quiet and exists as a most rich Symphony and full of divine splendor in its super-celestial homeland. Hence, my soul being sincerely occupied in the sweet contemplation of the consonances of true harmony, it has delighted in filling these volumes—not with quarrels, brawls, calumnies, lies, or cavils—but with a real subject, supported and confirmed by reason, authority, and ocular demonstration Evidence provided through visual diagrams and illustrations, for which Fludd’s works are famous..

For what, I ask, can be devised that is more futile or more foolish among mortals than to explain peace through the means of war, or Sympathy The occult principle that things in the universe are naturally drawn to or influence one another. through the noise of Antipathy, or to contaminate the peaceful proportions of God and nature itself with the impious and unjust dissonances of discordant Litigation and the Devil?

No one (as Christ witnessed) can rightly serve two masters. What weight, therefore, is to be expected in a true explanation of the world's music when the mind (which worldly harmony fundamentally adorned) is now, on account of the pollution of the malignant body, infected by the stain of Litigation and defiled by the filth of dissension? For the more human nature is prone to litigation, the further we judge it to be from the thought of divine harmony (by which the frames of the world and its elements are arranged toward one another in peace and concord), and consequently we suspect its soul to be plunged more deeply into the sad valley of shadows. Solomon certainly seems to support this opinion, breaking out into these words:

For the corruptible body presses down upon the soul, and the earthly habitation weighs down the mind that is full of many cares, so that we hardly conceive of the things that are upon the earth, and we find with labor the things that are at hand; but who shall search out the things that are in the heavens, and who shall know the counsel of God, unless God gives him wisdom? Thus the paths of those who dwell on the earth were corrected, and men were taught the things that please God, and so they were saved by Wisdom. original: "Corpus infestum corruptione adgrauat animam..." quoting Wisdom of Solomon 9:15-18.

From this, therefore, we see that the holy Wisdom of God is the foundation of universal harmony. With her leading the paths in true concord, we perceive those things pleasing to God (the source of harmony) and are led to know the harmonic mystery of the world. The aforementioned wise man [Solomon] also seems to confess this in a similar thread of discourse: Wisdom (he says) gave me certain knowledge, so that I might know the constitution of the world, and the power of the elements; the beginning, the end, and the middle of times; the changes of the solstices and the varieties of seasons or tempests; the circuits of the year and the positions of the stars: the natures of living creatures, and the tempers or rages of beasts; the forces of winds or spirits, and the thoughts of men; the differences of plants, and the virtues of roots; and to know whatever things