Section 5

thedifeafe.

Then to handle one at once as our manner is, and will keep
•ur curtom ftill , to keep onr health and body in temper , feems
no fuch matter to me as the world would make it , even plain-
ly impoiUble, when I know all the wayes and entries to let
in difeafes anddiftempcrsofthe body, may by fmall heed be
ftoped and fenced.

Wee muft needs draw breath and eat meat •, for the caufe
I (hallfpeakc of it in its place- and as this is not all clear and
agreeable, fo nature hath her leavings^ and again labour and re H
are needful , and perhaps we cannot chufc but be moved in
mind with joy , greife , fear , hope , and fueh like paffions,
though the Stoickj deny neceffity, faith Des Carte;.

By fo many wayes and gats difeafes may enter, if they
be not well watced and looked unto , which may be done in
reafon , and hatn been done often , as they allure us that
have lived long without all difcafe and fickneffes , as John
Harding relates of a Miniftcr called Iohn M*c\lai*e to have con-
tinued for thefe fourfcore years laft paft together in heakht&af-
ter his hair,teeth,ey6&fle(brcnued,& becameyong again,&fuch
like (lories arc to be found enough if we might ftay to feek them-
fome are contented for all but air and meat , but thefe fay they
have often feeds of difeafes lye hid in them unable to be fore-
feen or prevented , as we find thofe meats that make the rlneft
ihew, ( as Wine and Sugar ) and fuch enticeing bakes, to
have hid in them moft hateful difeafes and dregs in the bottom;
fo the air when it feems the belt and highefl: , yet is foraetimes
infe&ed and poyfoned with venemous breath fent out and
thruft into it either from below or from the fears of Hea*
ven , and as the • caufe is hidden and unknown to us,
fo the hurt impoflible to be avoyed and prevented.

If I lift to let my fpeech run at large , cfpecialy in o-
ther mens grounds , I could finde that that Divifion is
falfe, firfc , (to come to meat anon ) and then if it Wdc

true

RoJteCrncian PHYSICK. 29

true, yet the eaufe'of that infe&ion not unable to be forefcen
and warded-, but I am fo forry for the fault above,that I can the
better take heed hereafter j yet methinks it is a grief to hear the
harmlefs and glorious divine things above, fo defaced with flan-
der, and no man makes anfwer for them.

Gentle Reader, be pleafed to ftay a little; If the Stars have no
light, and fo no power but from the Sun , that mod wholfome
and profperous creature, then they hnrthim mod wrongfully,
and reprove themfclves very rightly. And again, if they be but
a piece of the finer part , andtirft nature, as it were, of the
World , as I have fhewed in my Book of the The Wife Mans
Crorvny then they be the wholfomcft things in the World; fo far
be they from poyfoned flander : And fo let their Lights be ne-
ver fo grofly mingled in their meetings, and thereby that ftate
of the Weather changed fuddenly , and from thence our
bodied troubled and turned into Difeafes, becaufe they
were not prepared and made -ready for it, yet the things are
good and prosperous; and by knowledge of Aftrology, or influ-
ences of the Planets, and races of the (tars, we may prepare our
felves, and prevent all , if we cannot have that happinefs to con-
verfe with our Guardian Genius. Now for lower reflexion, it is
not worth the anfwering when there is fo much wafte ground in
the World; then let us pafs over to that other Breach -t may we
not fhun the leaving baits in our Dyet, and take fuch meat as is
moft temperate and aear our Nature , and then drefs the fame
after the moft kindly and wholfome manner, feafoning itwel
with labour, mirth and fleep?

And to be plain, I have (hewed in another Treatifc of mine,
entituled, The veaj to bliife, fo much noted by our Writers,what
a jewel of health it were to ufe all raw & temperate meat, or be-
cauf we be wife & vertuous^and thisDyet would perhaps change
our Nature of fire, but like Pbi/ofophers, a quite contrary way;
taking the belt,whenas none is loft,and leaving the worft,which
is that we now take, a Way I fay , to {trip of all grofsnefs and
foulnefs of bodies, the only hurt of themfelves, and is the Food
of all Difeafes.

I will Jell you another way which you will think fl range, but
y,oa (hall find it true •, if the meat be temperate , as I bid you

ehufc

24 Rope Crucian PHYSICK.

chufeir, there is no hurt can come thereby, (if yon keepmea-
fure in your felves)fave from your leavings^ thefc in fo clear a
Dyct firft will be very few-, but if you would be ruled by my
Counfcl which Nature f aught we , thofe few (hould never hurt
you.

Of all the Leavings in the body, there are three which the li-
ver maketh moft troublefomeuntous, (for the reft areeafily
difpatched ) a light and eafie, or rather & fiery (as fome call )
Ckoller^ a cold and heavy mud, called Mtlmcho'lj-, and the third
is Vr\ney which I wil treat of in the next Chapter, but thofe two
the worfer-, and this fault is not in themfeives, but all by rcafon
of the needlefs and hurtful bowels in our bodies, (as the Seeds-
man ufeth to fow good and bad together ) which being of the
fame kind and quality with thofe humors,do draw and pul them
ftil unto them ( as all other parts and things doj for their Food
and nourilhment.and fo by the narrow paflages to and fro,their
greedinefs in pulling and holding, and a hundred fuch means,
fubjed to great mifchances, have brought in as many mifchiefs,
whereas Nature the great expeller of her unlike, and Enemies,
if (he had free choice and liberty, would otherwife with eafe,
and without hurt, expel thofe Leavings, efpecially fo fmalla
number of the better fort in fo clean a Dyer •, nay , fet the ma-
lice of thofe parts, (thofe parts are Melt-ball, and Reins) if
there be not fufficient ftore of other foul meat at hand , like a
poyfoned or a purging Medicine, they ufe to draw good Juices,
and to make Food of them^ what is not manifefted in this chap-
ter, (hall methodically be demonstrated in the enfning, fori in-
tend to be fenous in this part of my Book , and will (hew you
what Nature taught me.

CHAP-

Rofte Crucian P H Y S I C K. 2 1

CHAP. X.

Rofe Crncian Medicines made plain by example:-, And thofe are a-
bsvf comrolcmcr.t -, Thafthrret Sw.-bcams declare fome fine
*n& fo> rain fat nejs to vourifo marine'. How to live twenty yeers
without Fcod}ds many creatures do. Vfe and Cuflom a fecond
N.itPirii The Bird called Manuda Diaca, and the finging Dog,
andCamelia-ithtt never eat food. An experienced Medicine,
ar.d how to applj #v Parte e'fr, and the Rojie Cwcitn %ew Art of
Healing.

OF Arifictlc it is reported, That he is the witty Spye of Na-
ture,and as if he had been made in this matter , he {hews the
need and ufe of the greater JEntralls and Bowels of Wights, and
faith very truly and wifely,The Heart and Liver as the fpring of
Life and Food, to be needful for all Wights, adding to the hot-
ter one,the Brain to cooled the Lights to clenfe the Heat, flay-
ing there as if he thought the ocher three unprofitable^ nay for
one of them in the fame Book, (F fay) telling the (lories of the
Hart and Camel , and giving the reafon why they be bothfo
fwift, healthful, long-iiv'd and other good properties above the
reft enfeoffed .vouched in plain tearms, the want of the fiery and
feummy Gall, as a great Enemy to them, for the Melt that
muddy Bowel, that it may be left out as needlefs in the bodies of
the better creatures. The Meadows near Cortina and Afugga-
dere declare when by arrange and hidden venue they bereave
the Beads thereof that graze upon them of it- the Herb is called
Afplenmm; as I told you in the preceding Chapters, nay, that
the Milt is not onely idle, but hurtful,which all experience, even
in our felves hath taught it.

The Turks light Footmen, (I fay, which I know not by what
exam pie unlefs it were the want of the fame in the Camel , ma-
king the Bead able to travel anhandred miles a day , andf<?
without drink fifteen dayes together ) being in their childhood
purged of their Milt, prove thereby the mod light, fwift, found
and lading Footmen in the World.

As

32 Rope Crucian PHYSICK.

As for the veins of Urine-drawers, as drinklefs creatures have
none at all, fo fome men have but one of them, as if nature paf-
fed not to make any at all ^ if we could forbear our drink (as
thefe Beafts do by kinde, and fome men by cuftom ) we might
the better fparc them, and avoid many mifchiefs in our bo-
dies.

Therefore the odd man, Varacelfm , I know not by what
light, if not of the EofieCrtfs, (caftin I think, from feraphical
illumination ) not onely fees thefe faults , but alfo finds wayes
to amend them, and to cut the mifchiefs off all thefe three noy-
fome parts, not with any yeildirg Craft , but with Rofie Cruci-
an divine kind of Healing, with Aarum frotabile,&c. fo that to
avoid all difcafes thatfpring of the Leavings, take of Aurum
fotnlfile , one ounce •, one pound of the Oyle of Ravens ^ two
pound of MiltrvAJt y or Afpler/ium-, a handful of Cwksfojle^of
Ditltmnum Qretenfe^ Ophl.^lofsum and Scorfioides, Echihm , of
each alike quantity, and obferve the Afcendent, andhis Lord-
and the Moon, and Lord of the fixt , at your difcretion , and
take the quantity of a Walnut every night and morning, and
anoynt the face &hands,&(if you wil)the reft of the body: Ro-
fie Crucians have other healing and yeilding Medicines, you
(hall know them in their places ^ this is fuch an experienced
Medicine, that you know where to find it; I need not (hew
you to put out the fway and power of thefe idle bowels , or
perhaps it (hould not need, and in a fcock that cafeth our clean
Dyct Nature her felf as (he doth in thofe Meadows by other
creatures, would alfo quite raze and difpatch them within a few
generations.

But

Rofte Crucian PH YSI CK, •»

But I will go further, Hear a Rofte Crucian t)tw and unheard of
opinion, and yet let not your judgement run, before you fee good
reafoii; What if we could f aft for ever, and live without all food?
might not all hurt and danger of meat be then forestalled?
if other Creatures, whofe life hangeth upon the fame hold, by
the fufferance , nay by the commandement of God and Nature ,
do laft for ever, there is no Reafonbut the fame common Nature
will at laft fuffer it in us; Let us fee. And to ftep oyer the Came-
/;0»,becaufe it is a Cold and bloodlefs Creature^ what fay we to a
Bird, which is an hot and perfect one? 'a bird in thzMelucc'o Iflands,
Manuda Diaca by name, that hath no feet at alI,no more then an
ordinary fiih, as Mr. Moore faith, and I have feen her; the bi°nels
of her body and bill, as likewife the form of them, is much
whu of a Swallows, but the fpreading out of her wings 'and Tail
has no lefs compafs then, an Eagles-, (he lives and breeds in the
Aire, bomvy by the force of wind with moreeafe then Archytas
his Dove, and comes not near the earth but for her Burial; for the
largenefs and lightnefs of her wings and tail fuftain her without
Latitude, and the laying of her Egges and brooding of her yourg
is upon the back of the Male, which is made hollow, as alfo the
breatt of the Female, for the more eafie incubation, taking no
other food, as alas how flhould fhe?then there is found.- but whe-
ther fhe lives meerly of the dew ot/7^^«,oroffliesandfuch
like infects, I leave to others to difpute.

Nay,have you not heard of the Little Dog in the JVeft Indies,
which fingerh io fweetly al! the night long, neither night nor day
eating anything ? But there be examples in our kind as well, then
it is certain above contrOlment : Sir Chriftopher Heydon faith
there is a Mouthlefsandfoameatlefs people or kind of men about
the held of Ganges, which liverh by the breath of their Noftrils,
except when they take a far journey, they mend their Diet with
the fmell of flowers '• and left you may think I lean upon bare
Authorities without theihy of reafon,all'the matter reftsupon this
reafon I told- you before, that our life lay in the hind fbefidea
little exercife) of two like meats, one- for the Soulxnd Natural
heat which is within us, and the fineftand firft moifture in our
body, the other is without any meat, of the fame Temper with
our body as near as may be;to uphold the frame and building of

F the

5 4 Rofte Crucian V H Y S I C K.

the fame which / faid to be a fine Alerj and Fiery flame.

And we are now grown foout of order, and fo much eltranged
from our Etherial firli Moifture and the life of God, that we creep
downward towards the Earth through difeafes, before we can
reach the Life of the Vehicle; within fixfeore years we dye, and are
hidden from the fenhble appro:h of renewing life.

\

CHAP. XI.

Of Nature and her medicines experienced by Rojie Crucians, and of
the occult virtue of My fleries-^of the healing andconfuming medi-
cines and of their ufe-} of the Gout, Le fro fie, Drop fie And Falling
Sicknefs, &c.

NOW the Aire it felf, efpecially when it is ever more as
the wet Sunbeams declare, fofprinkled with fome Finefor-
rAignfatnefs, may feem fufficient food to nourifh the finer part of
our fVvww^wherein the temper of mankind, and his life (touching
that point) ftandeth, which is as much as any meat can do to life,
(fork is not fed by common food, as I faid above ^ though not
enough for flrength, becaufe the grofler, founder, and tougher
parts wherein the ftrangth lyeth, (hall want food in this Dyet , and
fail no doubt greatly, yet life fhalllaft ftillt as long as Aire and
frfi moifiure holds, in my opinion: or if we think thatfofparea
Diet, we may mend it (as the mouthlefs people do) mih (me\[ o?
Flowers*, or rather,as we know Nature is able to draw Aire and
other food which fne defireth through the skin into all places of
the body; fo if (he had meat applyedtotheftomach,fhe would no
doubt fatisfie herfelf that way moft finely, without the heap of
hurts let in at the broad and common gates,as we fee by example
for Drinks, that all the while we fit in Water we fhall never thirft.-
And for meat, I have heard Rofte Crucians {zy joy applying of wine
in this fort they fafted without all hunger for two years together.
And in like manner I have experienced this, and faired two
dayes when Ifirft ftudied the nature of the Guardian Genii : But
if that would not ferve the turn, and we mult needs receive in

meat

Rojie Crucian P H Y S I C K. }-

meat at the common gate, yet we may Jet it pafsno further
then the gate, and make the ftomach in the mouth, which is the
ufe of fome/tyk Crucians when they are Seraphically illuminated;
and to provide enough for life and ftrength, and a great deal bet-
ter for our health, then wedo,becaufe the clearer part alone
(hould be received , And moreover /fay, for the clear difpatch
ofth at our ordinary trouble and anoyance which your reverence
will not fufter me to name., although /might among Pbyficiant,
but they know my meaning.- But it fhall not need to fteal fliifts
and holds if you will believe the Rofe Cruciansyt\\zt we may eafily
faft all our life (though it be three hundred years together) without
all kind of meat, and fo cut oflfall doubts and dangers of difeafes
thereof fpringing; and for my own part, I know fome that have
fafted and lived in the holy orders of the Fraternity without all food
tenyears fpace togecher.What need we fay more ? if you be both
fohard of belief, and dull of fjghr, and reports of good Authors,
nor my own experience will fink into you,nor yet can you fee the
light ofreafon fhiaing before yo, take here a few of ordinary
matters in the life And ufe of men, and weigh one with another; is
it not as common in ufe, and indeed needful, to fpit, and avoid
another namelefs leaving? and to Drink, but to fleep efpecially?I£
fome of thefe,nay all may be fpared why not our meat alfo?Iet us
fee a little, and by example, becaufe Reafon is both too long and
too open to cavil.

To leave drink Avhich many have all their lives left ; Elizabeth
Drewe, a Devonftoire Gentlewoman, is reported never to have [fat ,
nor the whole Indian Nation. Sr. John Heydon.hith, he knew one that
kept the namelefs matter forty dates together. And although this
anfvvereth not the queftion , yet it fheweth the truth of the for-
mer Holy Story , for if in fo foul and grefs a thing as dyet is , he
could folong want it, why not thefe men for ever , in fo clear
and fine adier,almoft empty and void ol all leavings?For the grof-
fer fort, which make up this foul and fhameful one we left be-
fore , as you heard, and the finer in the paffage from the Stomach
through the former Gates were drawn all away to the Liver, as
the like is ever in us and voided otherwnes. To clofe up all,I was
at Sea with one that flept not one wink for thefe three years laft
paft, and Mr. Iohn Kvotsford is a Witnefs to this truth,andCapt.
Wwdfor. . F \ And