Helmont Cabbalistical Dialogue

7/27/2019 Helmont Cabbalistical Dialogue

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Refer to myStudy of Christian Cabala in Englishathttp://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/karr/ccineb.pdf

Addendum B: Seventeenth-Century Printed Works onChristian Cabala in English, which includes passages from vanHelmonts Cabbalistical works

Addendum C: The Contents ofKabbala denudata, with EnglishSources.

Notes on the transcription:

Spelling, punctuation, and italicization have all been preserved,though missing letters have been added. Parentheses ( ) and squarebrackets [ ] are given as they appear in the original text.

While the typeface I have used (Book Antiqua) is not the sameas the printed text, I have attempted to imitate the look of theoriginal viaspacing, enlarging, italicizing, etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Coudert Allison. The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century:The Life and Thought of Francis Mercury van Helmont (1614-1698) [BRILLSERIES IN JEWISH STUDIES, 9], Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers,1999

Helmont, Franciscus Mercurius van, 1614-1699. A cabbalisticaldialogue in answer to the opinion of a learned doctor in philosophy and theology,that the world was made of nothing [microform] : as it is contained in the secondpart of the Cabbala denudata & apparatus in Lib. Sohar, p. 308 &c. /printed in Latin at Sultsbach, anno 1677 ; to which is subjoyned a rabbinicaland paraphrastical exposition of Genesis I, written in High-Dutch by the authorof the foregoing dialogue, first done into Latin, but now made English.London: Printed for Benjamin Clark ..., 1682.

Krabbenhoft, Kenneth. The Mystic Tradition. Abraham Cohen Herreraand Platonic Theology. Ph.D. dissertation: New York: New YorkUniversity, 1982:

Chapter 2: Cabala, Christian Mysticism, Cabala andChristian Mysticism: Similarities and Differences, andCabala and Conversos

Scholem, Gershom. Kabbalah. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House,1974: PART THREE, 8. Christian Knorr von Rosenroth

Spector, Sheila.Jewish Mysticism: An Annotated Bibliography on Kabbalah

in English. New York/ London: Garland Publishing, 1984: O:Non-Jewish Kabbalah, pages 309-357.


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(TITLE PAGE)[Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont, 1614-1699]

A

Cabbalistical

DIALOGUEIN

ANSWERTo the Opinion of a Learned

Doctor in Philosophy and Theology,THAT THE

W O R L DWAS MADE OF

NOTHING.As it is Contained in the Second Part of the

Cabbala Denudata & Apparatus in Lib. Sohar, p. 308.&cc.Printed in Latin at Sultsbach,Anno 1677.

To which is subjoyned

A Rabbinical and Paraphrastical Exposition ofGenesis I.written inHigh-Dutch by the Author of the foregoingDialogue, first done into Latin, but now made English._______________________________________________________________________

LONDON,Printed for Benjamin Clarkin George-Yard in Lombard

Street, Bookseller, M DCL XXXII.

(1)A Cabbalistical Dialogue in Answer to the

Opinion of a Learned Doctor in Philosophyand Theology, That the World was madeof Nothing. To which is Subjoined aRabbinical and Paraphrastical Exposition ofthe First Chapter ofGenesis.

Compiler

THE Marts and Fairs drawing near, Icannot possibly enquire of thee concerningall those things which I once wasdetermined to enquire of : Only tell mebriefly for the present ; Are there theFundamentals of the Cabbala, which areproposed in the Aeto-paedo-melissaean

Dream ?Cabbal

No, no ; But what answer shall I give toone that is in hast ; unless thou dost allowme to defer until another time those things,which are more amply to be added to thosethree Treatises, called A further Disquisition,

the Exposition of the Mercava, and theCabbalistical Catachism ?


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(2)Compil.

Be it so. This is all I ask in the first place,Whether dost thou deny all Creation,properly so called ? Or what is Creation,according to thy Hypothesis or doctrinalSupposition ?

Cabb.

I will answer Paradoxes with Paradoxes;and because I perceive thou examinest allthings so strictly in the Ballance of Reason,which for the most past is stark blind inthese more sublime matters; I shall answerproblematically, so as ye may be able tojudge, whether our Cabbalistical terms do

not also admit of another interpretation,according to the dictate of reason, than sucha one as may be said to labour under anabsurdity. But as for our Hypothesis itself, Ishall more freely expatiate on that anothertime. Now therefore to answer thyquestion, I know one, who is of outnumber, who defineth Creation, properly socalld, to be the effection of an infinite efficient,whereby a separable Being is constituted, ormade. This definition ofActive Creation, mayalso be easily applied to Passive Creation; orto that which is Relative, that is, to thatrespect which the Creator hath to the

(3)Creature, or on the contrary : As also to

Creation which is mediate, whether it be soin regard of the Efficient, or in regard of theEffect. And what absurdity is there in allthis ?

Compil.But why, in this definition, dost thou

omit that, which we call the formal reasonof Creation, viz. that it is done out ofNothing?

CabbBecause the Particle [Ex] out ofdoes only

denote or properly belong to matter ; norcan it Properly belong to Spirit ; which yet

is the most proper Subject of Creation.Properly so called : and of this [Spirit] it canno wise be said, that it is, or is not [Ex] outof another, but only that it is [ab] or fromanother : just as we say, not that an Idaea orconception is made out ofthe Soul, or out ofthe Mind, but from the Soul, or from theMind : or that the beams or rays of aCreated Spirit are made out of its Centre(unless peradventure with regard to place)but from the Centre : or that the Hands, orother formal Members of and Angel, whenhe appears, are made out of the Angel, but

are madefrom him.


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(4)Compil.

But thus thou seemest to shut out matterfrom Creation.

Cabb.No, but only from such a Creation as is

immediate. For these are our Positions. 1.

That the Creator first brings into being

spiritual Nature. 2. And that eitherarbitrarily [when he pleased ;] or condition-ally, as he continually understands,generates, &c. 3. That some of these Spirits,for some certain cause of reason, are sliptdown from the state of knowing, ofPenetrating, or of moving into a state of

impenetration. 4.T

hat these Monades orsingle Beings being now become spiritlessor dull, did cling or come together aftervarious manners. 5. That this coalition orclinging together, so long as it remainssuch, is called matter. 6. That, out of thismatter, all things material do consist, which

yet shall in time return again to a moreloosned and free state. No contradiction isinvolved in all these. Hence the Creator mayalso be said to be the efficient cause of allthings materiated or made material, althoughnot immediately.

(5)Comp.

After this rate , the Creature would beco-eternal, and co-existent with God.

Cabb.No otherwise, than as the beam or light

is said to be co-existent with the Sun ; aConception, Idaea, or thought with themind; a Mode, Manner, or Accident of a

Being is co-existent with its Being ; a thingdependent with that on which it dependeth;the effect with its positive actual efficientcause; and many such like. For thus mayUnity be alwaies better conceived to be inGod, because thus he will alwaies havePluralities as his opposites In like manner

will his Goodness be better thus conceivedby reason of his incessant communicationsto his Creatures. Also that he is supream Act,because he will alwaies actuate otherBeings. Also that he is the Beginning and theCause, because he will alwaies influence hisCreatures as their cause. Also that he isSubject, because he will alwaies haveAdjuncts Also that he is the Measure,

because he will alwaies commensurateothers. Also that he is Priority, because hewill alwaies have all else to be Posterior to,or after him. Also that he is Substance,


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(6)because he will alwaies bear up all things.

Also that he is the Crown, because he willencompass or comprehend all others. Andso of all the Rest of his Names and Numbers,and therefore also belongeth to him theNotion of a Kingdom , because he willalwaies have Subjects.

Comp.

Why thus it will follow that God didCreate be intrinsical necessity.

Cabb.

There will be no absurdity in that, ifCreation be understood to be immediate inregard of its Subject : and therefore to beonly of a spiritual nature, which in a certain

respect is immanent, or working within itsown self, just as motion is from Fire,Cogitation or thinking from the Soul,Volition or Willing proceeding from God :whence also Creation is very little differentfrom Conservation, according to theSentiments of our People. But in thatCreation that is Mediate or Transient, orworking ad ext a without himself, he actethfreely, so that, for Example, he, one day,creates out of Chaos or confused mass, the

Heavens ; another day, the Earth; anotherthe Stars.

(7)Compiler.

But how, I pray, after this manner, willthe Effect be posterior to, or after its cause ?

Cabbal.In the order of Nature, though not in the

order of Time.

Compil.But at this rate, Spiritual Natures will

differ little from the very Creator himself ;and because it is supported that matter isfrom their stupefaction or Dispiritedness, itwill follow that the Divine Essence is, as itwere, a kind of bodily Spirit.

Cabb.

In the first place indeed, some of theAncients seem to have asserted, That theSoul is a Particle of the Divine Air, or Breath,and that men are called the Off-spring ofGod, (Acts 17. 28.) Yet is this warily andwisely to be understood: that the Air orBreath of God doth at least differ from Godhimself, as the thing principiated orprincipled differs from its principle : nowfor things to agree generically or in kind,doth not infer or allow that they are thesame in Essence, or do agree essentially.Whence none do assert the Divine Essenceto be Bodily-spiritual, but those


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(8)who deny all nature of Spirits ; tho perhaps

it may be more truly said that there is thatin God (if I may so say) which may becalled , or an affect, or moving(as it were) sufferingly to Create, ratherthan in Spiits an , or an affect ormoving sufferingly to become MatterHowever from this Hypothesis, or doctrinal

supposition, the Nature of God isestablished to be much more Spiritual, thanfrom the VulgarHypothesis ; because by thisVulgar one, Matter, as such, is not allowedto be so much as a Substance, but to be onlya certain extrinsical and accidentalModification of a Spiritual Substance, from

which God is most vastly distant;insomuch, as he is the most wise and chiefMover ofall things.

Comp.But however the Material World will be

thus, after a sort, determined to be a Spirit.Cabb.

Matter as such, is not a Spirit; but onlythat very Substance it self, which appearethunder the form of Matter, viz. in itsblindness or darkness, to wit, in that its dull

rest, and privation of its former happiness,that was in sometimes past a Spirit, and as

(9)yet is fundamentally and radically such, and

will sometime hereafter be such againformally, as it is said (Rom 8. 19, 20, 21, 22,23. Eph 1. 10 I Cor. 15, 28.) Exampleshereof may be a Man Living, and a ManDead; a thin Vapour, and Ice, &c.

Comp.

Dost thou therefore conclude positively,that out ofnothing, nothing can be Created ?

Cabb.Indeed having positively determined

that Matter is made by a Coalition orClinging together of Spiritual degeneratedull Monades or single Beings, and that this

Coalition is called Creation, I should notspeak accurately if I should say that Matteris made out of Nothing. But I should assertthat a Spirit is produced neither out ofnothing, nor out of something; because thevery Particle Ex (out of) respects a materialcause, which is by no means admitted to bein Spirits. But the Inferences with whichthe first Axiom is loaded, do not touch myHypothesis. But these Absurdities, and

Incongruities do flow from the vulgarOpinion, viz. 1. That from a Beingsupreamly perfect, supreamly


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(10)intelligent, supreamly free, having motion

in and felt by itself in the highest degree,supreamly penetrating, supreamlyimmutable, supreamly positive, supreamlyliving, &c. should be produced a Beingmost absolutely imperfect, in the highestdegree void of all Science, Understandingand Knowledge; under the highest

necessity and force imaginable, bound inthe highest degree to the Laws of PassiveMotion, and by consequence destitutealtogether ofall liberty and willing, wantingin it self in the utmost degree all motion ,and subjected only to the motions andimpressions of others, and therefore of and

in it self in the highest degree quiet andimmovable, wanting in it self allpenetration as well active as passive; mosthighly mutable, most highly privative, anddespoiled of all happiness, and thepossession of all real good, and thereforemost highly dull, sluggish and dead, and byconsequence enjoying nothing at all of thosethings which are contained in the cause;whence also many have said that nature isplainly contrary unto God : whereas anefficient cause as it cannot produce anything that is altogether like unto it self : soneither can it produce any thing altogether

(11)unlike unto it self. 2. And yet this Subject

so vile and void, which is by us deservedlysaid to occupy the least part of theUniverse, is, notwithstanding in this vulgarHypothesis, concluded to be co-extended,yea, co-existing, and co-ordinate with God,and therefore is lifted up into so high anestimation, that all the doctrine in the whole

Pagan Philosophy is exhausted or drawnfrom this Subject alone : which also isestablished the measure of all Theorums,Maxims, and Conclusions concerning Spirits,or concerning God ; (which they call aDemonstration a posteriori, that is, fromeffects, or posterior Considerations) whence it

becomes an accursed Materialism, andconsequently Atheism. 3. As. To be, andnot to be, done imply a contradiction, so itis a consequent of this contradiction, out ofNot-being, to be ; if we should speakaccurately, and according to the Laws of theEssential Descriptions of Causes. 4. Afterthe same manner, God must be said to haveCreated Death, Sin, Shadows or Darkness,Monsters, Evils, &c. which are privations, asMatter is the privation of spiritual nature,

inasmuch as in whose definition, not oneonly positive term ought truly and


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(12)rightly to be made an ingredient; because

neither is discerpibility or divisibleness, orseparableness to be allowed to it in theabstract, and as considered in the Atome orindivisible Being. 5. The Creation of matterout of nothing, doth directly and perfectlyoppose, or is repugnant to the Wisdom ofGod : inasmuch as in the case thus stated,

when he might have done that which wasbest, as for Example, he might have madeevery Creature a Spirit, yet some and so manyhe would make to be no Spirit, and not thebest. 6. It is contrary to His Goodness,because he would Create something withoutany Communication at all of most ofHis good

things. 7.I

t is contrary to His Beauty;because Matter is quite opposite directlycontrary to and distant from the first FairOne. Yea, 8. Hereby would be a progress orpassage from one extream to anotherimmediately Whence, 9. it would beabsurd, for the avoiding of certainabsurdities, which flow not necessarily fromHypothesis, to admit of many more otherabsurdities, which are highly hurtful to thenature of the Soul and Kingdom of theMessiah, and are such as plunge theMind sointo material dirty Gulphs, that by reasonof utter blotting out of

(13)its spiritual nature in it, it at length plainly

becomes a material thing as it were, whichGod forbid !

Compil.Dost thou therefore assert that matter

cannot be Created ?

Cabb.

Not immediately; Nut after that a Spiritis immediately Created, it doth for certainassignable Causes, and which are elsewhereto be remembered, descend into that stateof Death, that it admitteth of the Qualitiesand name of matter, being now a naturalMonade or single Being, and a very Atome :

then out of these a further mediate Creationmay be made and done, even as out of aDead Sinner, a New Creature is made by andthrough the Messiah. Therefore as to theThird, Fourth and Fifth Axiomes, I answer,that matter as such, or as it is consideredformally, doth not only not existby and of it

self, but in truth doth not so much as existpositively, but privatively only, just as dothshadow, or rest, &c. And whatever is, is aSpirit, whether it be only fundamentally soas a dead man is a man, or whether it bealso formally and really so, as is a Soul, anAngel, God.


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(14)Comp.

What therefore dost thou Reply to therest ?

CabbThe rest fall of themselves. For every Spiritis not the Divine Essence (which by the Sixthand Seventh Axiomes seems to be insinu-ated) in a numerical Identity, but only in a

specifical, or a generical Identity. Hence isexpresly concluded by us, that there is

* a Systeme of separate Beings,which comprehendeth the Briathick, theJezirathich and the Asiathic, Isa. 43.7. And

these in as much as they are products (forthey exclude not the concurrent Divinity,

also) do not exist of and by themselves, butfrom the Author of Emanations, who onlyexisteth of and by himself, according to theEighth Axiome. But that the Divine Essencecan be divided (as the Ninth Axiome would

have it) that we admit not if, but mosthighly adore the Unity which is in it. Just,

as for Example, when in some most Limpidand clear Fountain, there secretly lurksome earthly and stony Particles, and theseat length do cling and grow together, andare separated from the Water, no manasserts and saies that

______________________________

* lit. WORLD OF SEPARATION.

(15)the Fountain is divided into small Pebles, but

that the Pebles are separated from it ; so intruth the Creator produced first of all infiniteMyriads of Spirits united to him, and withhim in the supream degree of most happyperfection (in which the Messiah did stillabide) so that God might be all in all : Butthen, by reason of various degrees of the

exercise of their proper Free-will, therecomes to be a secretion or separation madeamongst these, and that of a many degrees,as there are degrees ofKnowledge, even untothe very last extremity, which is theprivation thereof ; and therefore this deathmust again, some time hereafter, be

swallowed up, Isa.25 8. Now altho(according to the Tenth Axiome) singleParticles cannot be infinite, yet a Spiritconsidered in it self, is, to us, indefinite, andits amplitude, or extension is such and sogreat, as the degree of its Knowledge andUnion doth admit. The Divine Essence it selftherefore is not constringed, but that whichwasAnalogous to it, viz. a Created Spirit : andthese Particles out of which the materialWorld consisteth, cannot be said to be of theDivine Essence, but of that Nature which wasEffected, Constituted, Produced,


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(16)Made, Created, and brought outwards from

the Divine Essence. And this constrictionmay be called a Sleep, according to theThirteenthAxiome, or a Death, &c. And theawakening, (of which mention is made inthe Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and SixteenthAxiomes, which is by us termed a Secretion,or Separation of Sparkes) hath so many

degrees of Ascent, as can be assigned ofDescent ; the extremities of which are,however, no other than the last contra-position or opposition to God in the state ofDeath ; and a supream Union (though not anUnity) with God, and that indeed so, that(not the primarypower ofCreating, which is

*to produce Spirits, but) the Secondary,which is to form or make (not out of a

Negative Nothing, but out of a pre-existingrude Subject, or a privative Nothing ,concerning which see 2 Macc. 7. 28) as for

Example, by ** the Vehicles of Angels,&c by *** it can communicate thereuntothe grosser Natures, which we deny notconcerning the Messiah, from Isa. 65. 17, 18.But in the Commentaries upon the TwelfthAxiome, the derivation of the Soul from thematerial World is unduly imputed unto us :because________________* BRIAH **YETZIRAH ** *ASIAH

(17)every Spirit is not sunk down to this low

degree, but many of them did stop at someof the intermediate degrees, amongst whichalso were Souls. Nor do we to these Particlesascribe pains (as the Comment on theThirteenth Axiome insinuates) because wesay, that they want even a sensualKnowledge: yet some such thing, and what is

Analogous thereunto , even the Scriptures doascribe unto them, Rom 8 12. The rest I passby, and do appeal to them of your ownnumber, who refute the vulgar Philosophy, ifthey be duly and soundly understood.

Compil.I am afraid that by making too much

hast, thou hast brought forth Blind Whelps.Cabb.These Doctrines I propose Accademically,

and for Experiment sake; nor do I requireassent to them from any whatever.However, I shall in due time explain morefully the Cabbalistical Hypothesis, in its ownproper Terms.

Comp.At least, let the Glory of all our Writings

be ascribed unto our God, and toHis Christ.


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(18)_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

A

PARAPHRASTICAL

EXPOSITIONOf the First Chapter of

G E N E S I S ,WRITTEN

InHigh-Dutch by the Author of the fore-going Dialogue; first done into Latin,

but now made English.

Verse 1. In or by theBeginning of theCreatures [orCreation of God,as in Rev. 3. 14.Col. 1. 15, 16.John 1. 3. I Cor8. 6. Eph. 3. 9.

Heb. 1. 2. viz. by the Soul ofthe Messiah, which wasalready conjoyned with theDivinity : God or Elohim [orthe dijudicating, or judgingDivinity, with which the Soul

of the Messiah had conjoynedit self, and re-

(19)mained together therewith inan inseparable conjunction]Created or manifested, orpresented Celestial Beings, orthe Heaven, viz. Spirits who

remained in a state of motion,as Job 38. 7. Col. 1. 16. towhich sort or kind, Souls alsoare referred, or do belong :Also Terrestrial Beings, or theEarth, viz. those Spirits wholaid down or putt off the State

of motion, and are vulgarlycalled Matter, as Rom. 8. 20.now these two sorts or kindsof Spirits, even before thisformation and preparation,did all flow forth from God.

Vers. 2 And this

Terrestrial Being, the Earth,viz. Matter, was plainly

unmoved Mass, inasmuch asit was gross thick Matter, andpartly was capable of motion,but altogether without formand void. And darkness, that is,

Spirits who had departed


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from the Union of the Light,Luke 22. 53 2 Cor. 6. 14, 15.

Eph 6. 12. Col 1. 13. 2 Pet 2. 4.Jude vers. 6 were extended

upon and in the parts of theAbyss, or upon the face of theDeep, Gen. 1. 2. that is, theywere present in, and adherentto those places which were

most remote from themanifestation of the Original,Luke 8. 31. Rev. 20.3. But theSpirit of God

(20)or Elohim indeed, or of thedijudicating or judgingDivinity, that is, the goodSpirit moved it self, anddistributed its motion, ormoved upon or in the parts, orface of the Waters, whichencompassed round, or allover the Abyss or Deep.

Vers. 3 And Elohim or God,or the dijudicating or judgingDivinity, said (that is, sufferedthe Word or Soul of theMessiah to operate, or work,John 1. 1, 2 &c) Let the Light

appear (or let there be Light)

that is, let the Spirit of Naturegive a most strong motion to

the most subtil Matter, and theLight did appear (or there wasLight) from this impressedmotion, viz. that which theSon of God, by the Soul of theMessiah brought into theSpirit of Nature, and into this

most thin, fine Matter.

Vers. 4 And Elohim or God,or the dijudicating or judgingDivinity, saw the Idaea (ormeasure, or Notion) of theLight, viz not only beheld theextension it self of the mostsubtil matter, but also that themost Noble of the Spirits andSouls began to cloaththemselves with this Light,which was good, not onlybecause it was fit to makesuch Vestments, but for other

holy uses and services also.And

(21)Elohim or the dijudicating orjudging Divinity, or God madea separation, or divided

between the Light, together


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with the Spirits and Soulsinvested therewith, and

between or from the Darkness,or Spirits of darkness.

Verse 5. And Elohim, or thedijudicating or judgingDivinity, or God, called theLight, together with the Spirits

and Souls invested therewith,the Idaea or measure of theDay, as in Rom. 13. 12, 13. IThes. 5. 5, 8. 2 Pet. 1. 19. andthe Darkness, viz. of suchSpirits who dwelt and livd inthe darkness, and in theAbyss he called the Idaea ormeasure of the Night, I Thes.5. 1. And it was the Evening,that is, a certain Essencemixed with more gross thickMatter, and which was nextunto darkness whilst, viz. thegloomy dark Spirits do also

mix themselves with somesort of such matter; and it wasthe Morning, that is, therewere also such Natures whichonly did incline to the Idaeaor measure of the day, towhich also the Matter of the

second Element is to be

referred : and this was the firstDay, that is, the first Class,

Order, or sort of Creature.

Verse 6. And Elohim, or thedijudicating Divinity of Godsaid (see more about it at v. 3.)

(22)

Let there arise up a thinextended Essence or let therebe a Firmament) of the Air andof Heaven, in the midst of, orbetween the Waters, that themiddle Spirits may havewherewith to investthemselves, and let it make aseparation, or divide betweenthe inferior Waters, andbetween or from the superiorWaters, which are sometimesfound in Clouds above, andother times under the form ofVapours.

Verse 7. And Elohim orGod, or the dijudicatingdivinity made or spreadabroad out of the Matter ofthe third kind or sort (for asthe word [Create] [or to be

Created] belongs to Spirits, so


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the term of [making or ofbeing made] belongs to

Matter) a thin and extendedEssence of Heaven, and of theAir or the Firmament, viz. notonly of the grosser AerialAtoms, which may becompressed and extended likea sheet of Paper (or a Bow; but

also of the Aethereal Globulescontained in the Cells or Poresof those Atoms as also themost subtil Matter which isfound in their Pores, togetherwith Salt-watry Vapours :Andthis he made the distinction,or divided between the waterswhich were beneath theextension, or under theFirmament (and

(23)which afterwards wereattributed into Seas andRivers, which were above or

on the surface of the Earth,and very much also withinthe very Bowels thereof) andbetween, or from those watersplaced above the extension, orwhich were above theFirmament, out of which

afterwards did arise Clouds,

and other Aereal Meteors, andremained so or it was so.

V.8. And Elohim, or thedijudicating divinity, or Godcalled the extension, or theFirmament, or Air, Heaven,which name is elsewherecommonly used for the Air, as

Gen. 1. 20, 26, 28. Gen. 2. 19,20. Gen. 7. 11. Gen. 8. 2. and

by it properly is understoodthe * Atmosphere, whichencompasseth round theGlobe of the Earth : and it wasthe Evening; by which is meanta middle Nature betwixt Airand Water, coming near to thelikeness of Water : and it wasthe Morning, that is a middlenature of the second Class,Order or sort of Creatures.

* The Atmosphere isthat part of or in the

Air, which beingalwaies opposite to theSun, reacheth up as

far as the shadow ordarkness of the Earthreacheth.


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Verse 9. And Elohim, or thedijudicating and combining

divinity, or God said, Let thewaters which are under theHeaven (or the Air) be gatheredtogether (for at that time, theyas yet quite covered over allthe whole Earth) by means ofcertain deeply hollowed

Gulphs, and of highly exaltedMountains, congregatethemselves into one place, thoin divers distinct Regions, orCountries, and let the dry Land

(24)appear, that from thence athird sort or kind of Spiritsmay get their vestments, &dwelling places, & it was so.

Ver. 10. And Elohim or thedijudicating divinity, or Godcalled the dry land, Earth,

according to its diversScituations, such also as areContinents, Isthme, Islands,and Peninsules or almostIslands : and the gatheringtogether of the waters, called theSeas, such as also are standing

Pools according to all their

divers sorts; as are Oceans,Creeks, Arms of the Sea, and

Lakes or standing Waters :and Elohim, or the dijudicatingDivinity, or God saw, orjudged that it was good, totransplant into it divers livingSouls.

Vers 11. And Elohim, or thedijudicating Divinity, or Godsaid, Let the Earth bring forthdivers Plants, or grass, whichcommonly proceed to afurther growth, and in which,even as in all Plants, theinferior Souls or Psyches(vulgarly termed vegetable)do obtain their springing forthand their encrease : to whichClass, Order or sort also arereferred all Mettals in theirunder-ground places, which,according to the Chaldeans, are

nothing else but Portal orEntries of Vegetables; and theHerb yielding seed, and the Fruittree yielding Fruit after its kind,whose seed is in it self upon theEarth, and it was so.


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Vers. 12. And the Earthbrought forth various Plants, or

grass (and Vegetables) bothwithin and without itsBowels, or Womb, and Herbyielding seed after its kind, andthe tree yielding fruit, whose seedwas in its self after its kind;AndElohim, or the dijudicating di-

(25)vinity, or God saw that it wasgood, viz. for to be a variety offood for the Creatures whichwere to come afterwards.

Vers. 13 And the Eveningwas, that is, there existeddivers sorts or kinds ofintermediate inanimate bodysTerrestrial, and Mettalick;Andthe Morning was, that is,various intermediate kinds ofBeings, which declined

towards Sense, such as are theZoophytes, or half Herbs, halfAnimals, viz, the third day, orthe third Classis, Order ofCreatures.

Vers. 14. And Elohim, orthe dijudicating Divinity, or

God said, now at last after theproduction of Vegetables, lestthat men prone to Idolatry,should ascribe the Creation ofthem to the Stars; Let Lightsarise out of, or let there beLights in that thin Essence, or

in the firmament of the Heaven,the most subtil Matter beingthickned or thrust closetogether into a constant place,which afterwards may castforth their beams to a greatdistance, to make distinction,or to divide between the day, inwhich shineth one only sort oflight, and which is properonly to lucid natures : andbetween or from the Night, inwhich the greater Light isabsent, and the dark Naturesare strengthened; and let them

be for Signs concerning diversnatural accidents, such as areDrought, Frosts, and variousseasons; and for certain timesor seasons of the year, ofFestival Days, and Months,and for Days and Years.


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Vers. 15 And let them be forburning Torches, (or Lights)

in that same thin Essence, orin the firmament

(26)of Heaven to give light upon theEarth, and it was so.

Vers. 16. And Elohim, orthe dijudicating divinity, orGod made two great Lights, socalled and vulgarly esteemed,which, viz to men in this Earthseem greater than the others,and have greater operation intheir round motions : and oneof them the greater light, withhis greater circumvolution torule the day, and the other lesserlight, with his lesser compass,rowling it self about the Earthto rule the night, as well in

respect of its light it self, as of

it influence upon moisthumours, he made the starsalso, which afterwards partlydisappeared, & weretransmuted into Comets &Planets, or wandring Stars.

Vers. 17.And Elohim, or thedijudicating divinity, or God

set them into that same thinEssence, or Firmament of theHeavens, to give light upon theEarth.

Vers. 18. And to rule overthe day, and over the night, and

to constitute a differencebetween, or to divide the lightfrom the darkness, which arefound no where more than inthe shadows of the grosserbodies. And Elohim, if thedijudicating divinity, or Godsaw that for this end andpurpose it was good.

Vers. 19 And the eveningwas, that is, these weremiddle natures to whichbelong both fiery Meteors,and Aereal Spheres : and the

morning was, that is, these arethose middle Natures, towhich are referred blazingStars and lesser Planets; thiswas the fourth day, or thefourth Class, Order or sort ofCreatures.


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Vers. 20. And Elohim, orthe dijudicating Divinity, or

God said, let the waters bringforth by Troops, or

(27)abundantly divers Animalsmoving themselves, themoving Creature, as are those

of the water-kind, those thatlive both on Land and in thewater, those that creep, andthose that have wings, inwhom there is a Psyche, orliving Soul or Spirit : and theFowls that may fly (about) abovethe Earth, in the midst of thatthin Essence, or in the openFirmament of Heaven.

Vers. 21 And Elohim or thedijudicating Divinity, or GodCreated, that is transplacedSouls into the several

Terrestrial Animals following,viz divers of the greaterSerpents, such as are Dragons,great Whales, Monsters, thelarger Snakes, Crocodile, Sea-Buffalloes, and all Psyches, orinferior Souls of living

Creatures creeping with feet

or every living Creature, thatmoveth, which the waters

brought forth by Troops, orabundantly after their kind, andevery winged Fowl after its kind,and God saw that it was good,for divers sorts of food, viz.for Man and Beast.

Vers. 22. And Elohim, orthe dijudicating Divinity, orGod blessed them, and gaveunto them an influentialcapacity, that those of them,which were created in pairs,were able to propagate andenlarge their kind, and he said

[the Word or Soul of theMessiah co-operating] coupletogether, be fruitful andmultiply, and fill the waters inthe Seas, and let Fowl multiplyin the Earth.

Vers. 23. And it was theEvening, these were thoseintermediate Natures, whichtend unto the nature of


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(28)Fishes : and it was the morning,

these were the middleNatures which became flyingCreatures, and this was thefifth day, or the fifth Class,Order, or sort of Creatures.

Verse 24 And Elohim, or

the dijudicating divinity, orGod said, let the Earth bringforth various Psyches or theliving Creature after his kind,viz Cattle and Flocks, andWorms, or creeping things, andwild Beasts, or beast of theEarth after his kind: and it was

so, or so done.

Vers. 25 And Elohim, or thedijudicating divinity, or Godmade divers wild Beasts, or theBeast of the Earth after his kind,and divers Herds of Cattel

after his kind, and diversWorms creeping with feet onthe Earth, or everything thatcreepeth upon the Earth after hiskind : and Elohim, or thedijudicating divinity, or Godsaw that it was good, and that

every thing had its use.

Verse 26. And Elohim, or

God said to the Soul of theMessiah, Let us make Man-kind, that is, let ustransplaced the superiorhuman Soul into a certainMatter destinated for it, in ourImage, after our likeness, that as

there is a communion betwixtus, or our selves, so alsobetwixt them and this samesubtil Matter let somewhatarise, or spring forth, out ofwhich afterwards may followlike effects; and let them, viz.these Souls which are calledMen, have dominion over theFish of the Sea, and over theFowl of the Air, or of Heaven,and over the Cattel, or Flocks,and over all the

(29)

Earth, and over every creepingthing that creepeth upon theEarth, or over all wild Beasts,and over all Worms whichcreep with feet upon theEarth.


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Vers. 27. And so Elohim, orthe dijudicating divinity, or

God Created, and changed thestate of the Soul that fromthence might be made man-kind in his own Image in theImage of God or Elohim, or thedijudicating divinity created hehim or it, Male in the fore-

part, and Female in the hinder-part, created he them, viz. alland every one of the Soulswhich do at present exist inthe whole Universality ofMankind, he transplaced intoa certain subtil Matter, and co-ordained, or put them into anorder under the person ofAdam the Protoplast, or the

first Parent, as a Regiment ofSouldiers, under theirColonel, or General.

Vers. 28. And Elohim, or

the dijudicating divinity, orGod blessed them, and gaveunto them the faculty orcapacity of turning their facesto one anther : and Elohim, orGod said unto them, apply yourselves that you may be fruitful,

and multiply, and replenish the

Earth, or fill the Terrestrial, orthe material Being in all the

parts thereof; and subdue it toyour selves, that your bodysmay take thence theirnourishment, and haveDominion over the Fish of theSea, and over the Fowl ofHeaven, or of the Air, and overevery living thing that moveth,or creepeth with feet upon theEarth.

Vers. 29. And Elohim orGod said, I have given you everyHerb, in their Superiour and

Inferiour

(30)qualities, bearing seed, which isupon the face of all the Earth,and all Trees, or every Treewhich beareth Fruit, or in thewhich is the Fruit of a Tree

yielding seed, or his seed, allthese shall be for food, or toyou it shall be for Meat, torepair the decaies of yourbodies.

Verse 30. And to every Beastof the Earth, or wild Beast, and

to every Fowl of the Air, or of


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Heaven, and to everything thatcreepeth, or that goeth with

feet upon the Earth, whereinthere is life, or a living Psycheor Soul, I have given every greenHerb, or all Plants and Herbs,for Meat, and it was so.

Verse 31. And God saw all,or every thing that he had made

in the matter, and behold it wasvery and supereminently,(Deut. 6. 5.) good. And theEvening was, that is, themiddle Natures descendingdown to the brute Animals :and the morning was, that is,there were also middleNatures which were exaltedabove humane condition; andthis was the sixth day, or thesixth Class, Order, or sort ofCreatures.


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CHAP. II.

Verse 1. THus theHeavens andthe Earth

were(togetherwith theAir)brought to

perfection, andfinished, and allthe Hosts (or Troops) of them,

viz in the Heavens multitudesof Thrones and ofAngels; and in the Earth,multitudes of well orderedsublunary Creatures.

Verse 2. And Elohim, orthe dijudicating Divinity, orGod on the seventh day ended hisWork which he had made; and herested, or ceased from furthercreating, on the seventh dayfrom all his Work which he hadmade.

Verse 3. And Elohim, orGod blessed the seventh day and

sanctified it : even as, and forwhich cause the seventhnumber is said to be holy andpure, because that amongstthe first numbers none isformed out of it, nor is itformed out of any of them, asif it did hint that thehappiness of the Creaturesdid consist only in it, if, notbeing mixed with any otherCreatures, they were quiet inGod : Because that in it (in thatday) he rested from all his Work,which Elohim, or God had

created therein all kinds ofSpirits and Souls, so that fromthence he had made somethingin a material represent-tation,manifestation, or appearance,by and through which, otherSpirits were presented in this,

or the other matter, &c.

F I N I S.

Helmont Cabbalistical Dialogue

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