Of the Threefold Life

rage [or rave] and also the flash of fire, which are like the Sulphur and it is the power of the igniting of the fire, for the quael source-quality or torment [or the property] of the fire stands in it.

35. What makes the third form in nature.

35. Now understand us rightly: the fire-flash from the sharpness makes the third form in nature. For in the bitterness, and out of the raging (the bitter sting in the tart anguish), it makes a Sulphur-spirit, in which the flash stands, and it is the soul (or the eternal life) of the fire-forms. For the anguish makes in itself again a desire to flee out of the anguish, and yet there is nothing that can flee, but so it is in the centro center, and is no longer called the center.

36. What the fourth form in nature is called.

36. The fourth form is the transformation of the hard bitterness, like the shock of the flash: the dark hardness consumes [or eats] itself so that it is overcome, becoming weak and as if dead, where it then becomes Sal Salt: and yet it retains the right of the bitter attraction [or contraction].

37. The four forms of nature are named Sulphur, Mercurius, and Salt. The Sulphur-spirit is the will in the four forms, in which the devils dwell.

37. Thus the four forms of nature are no longer called the center (even though they clearly have the center in them and in their origin), but [the complex is named] Sulphur, Mercurius, and Sal Salt. For the Sulphur-spirit is the soul of the fire-forms: for it has the fire in it, and the anguish makes in it another will, so that the fire-forms have an eternal will (which is their own) in themselves. For that same will is to fly up out of the fire-forms, [up] over nature, and to ignite nature in the fire, and thus to be in terrible power, just as can be seen in the devils, who live in this will, as we will explain hereafter.

38. What the ancient Sages understood by the three words Sulphur, Mercurius, and Salt.

38. Thus understand us rightly, what the ancient Sages understood by the three words Sulphur, Mercurius, and Salt: even though they all together might not have been able to reach the high light; yet they had enough of it in their understanding, in the light [or in the wisdom] of this world (as in the third principle), which has all the same understanding and grasp; only, they did not understand the three principles: otherwise they would have known God; thus they remained in the light of this world as Heathens with their understanding [or knowledge]. For they found the soul of the four forms in the light of the power of the Sun, and further than that the second principle that is the light, the heart, or the Son was not revealed to them.

39. That which was hidden to the Heathen and still is, shall become manifest.

39. There where the soul stands in the eternal bond, and where the cross of nature is, the eternal word is born out of the original eternal will (which is the creator and the maker in nature); that was hidden from them, likewise still to this day: but the time reveals it

of Man.

where it stands [or where it shall stand known and manifest] as a banner: of which more shall be spoken in its place.

40. From where the mind and the thoughts arise.

40. The ingenious mind has it quite clear in our description what Sulphur, Mercurius, and Salt are. For Sul is the soul, and is exactly the Sulphur-spirit, which has the fire-flash (with all its forms) in it: but as the power and the light of the Sun work in it (since the soul stands in flesh and blood), so the Sun works [or makes] out of the bitter Salt-spirit (with its friendly rays) an oil, and ignites the fire: thus the Sulphur-spirit burns, and is a light in the essences: and out of the anguished will, the mind is born: and [out of] the wheel of the essences, the thoughts: for the power of the Sun also holds the mind, so that it does not stand in anguish, but rejoices in the power of the light.

41. Explanation of the word Sulphur.

41. Thus Sul is the soul: in a herb, it is an oil, and in man (according to the spirit of this world in the third principle) also, which is constantly born out of the anguish of the will (in the mind), and the Sulphur-worm is the spirit that has the fire and burns. Phur is the bitter wheel in itself, which causes it.

42. Explanation of the word Mer-cu-rius.

42. Mercurius comprises all four forms; just as life rises up, and yet it does not have its beginning in the center, like Phur, but after the fire-flash (as the bitter dark form) it is startled, where the hardness transforms itself into the weak sharpness, where the other will (as the will of nature, which is called anguish) arises, there Mercurius has its origin. For Mer is the shivering wheel, quite terrible, sharp, and poisonous, hostile; which takes itself so [or adopts itself] in the bitterness, in the fire-flash, where the severe life arises. The syllable Cu is the pressure [or the thrusting up] out of the severe anguished will of the mind of nature: it is ascending, and wants to be above. Ri is the catching [or the taking] of the fire-flash, which gives a bright sound and tone in Mer. For the flash makes the sound, thus the Salt-spirit becomes one that sounds, and its form is gritty like sand, and in this arise voices, tone, and sound, and as Cu catches the flash, so the pressure [or the thrusting up] is like a wind, which thrusts [up] over itself, and gives a spirit to the flash so that it lives and burns. Thus the syllable Us is called the burning fire, which constantly drives from him with the spirit: and the syllable cu constantly forces upon the flash.

43. Explanation of the word Sal.

43. Note: the OCR lists this as 44, but it follows 42 And the third word Sal is the Salt-spirit. Since the ancient Sages have seen how nature is thus divided into many parts [or shares], where each form of nature has its own