CHAPTER VIII.

The “Tractatus Theologo-Philosophicus,” 1617, Title — Serpents in Skull — De Vita — Seventeen Chapters — God — the Word and Light — Origin of Universal Life — Devil of all Darkness — Service of Fire — Oblique Revolution — Government by the Elohim — The Opake Body — Pan — The Abyss of Cold — The coming forth of the Divine Word — Origin of Minerals, &c. — Fishes — Birds — Higher Developments — Earth first of all the Temple of God — Man formed of dust, the material of that first Temple — The breath of life — Union with Father and Son — The Body of Adam — Site of Paradise — Twofold — Adam only a few hours free from sin — Advent of Christ — Mount Tabor’s Mystery — The Vision of Elias — Dwelling of Rosicrucians — The Key of David — De Morte — Michael and Satan — Adam destroyed by Eve — The Imperfect — The Carnal — By the love of the body — De Resur- rectione — Second Adam supernatural — Overcomes by obedience — Enoch and Elias — The earth to be renewed by fire — God manifest in our flesh — What the resurrection body will be — Fludd’s view of his time — Dark — Rosicrucians possess the true Alchemy — The Sun in the Centre of the Vault — The Lion of the Tribe of Judah — The Carbuncle and the Ruby.
'T'HE same year which witnessed the issue of the revised edition of the “ Apologia ” saw also the issue of the next of Fludd’s works. It is also said to have been put to the press at Oppenheim by Maier, on his return from England, or sent thither by him.
The volume is entitled, “ Tractatus Theologo-Philo- sophicus, in Libros tres distributus ; Quorum — i. De Vita, ii. de Morte, iii. De Resurrectione. Cui inferuntur nonnulla Sapientise veteris, Adami infortunio superstitis, fragmenta : et profundiori sacrarum Literarum sensu et lumine, atque ex limpidiori et liquidiori saniorum Philosophorum fonte hausta atque collecta, Fratribusque a Cruce Rosea dictis, dedicata a Rudolfo Otreb Britanno. Anno Christvs
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Mvndo Vita. Oppenheimii typis Hieronymi Galleri, Im- peiisis Job. Theod. de Bry.” The date (1617) is given in a chronogram, and the name, “ Roberto Floud,” can be read easily enough in “ Rudolfo Otreb.” The title-page is surrounded by pictured scenes from the Edenic life. That at the top seems to represent the creation of Eve. Adam is still in a deep sleep. Eve, newly born, is adoring the sacred name, surrounded by an oval glory. On the one side is represented the temptation. The serpent, issuing from the tree, offers, or holds out, an apple or fruit in his mouth, while Adam is holding another in his hand, having apparently just received it from Eve. Opposite is the other scene. The sinful pair are being driven forth by death, represented, in skeleton form, pointing with bony fingers to the outer darkness, while a hand, issuing from a cloud, holds a sword, the blade of which is a flame of fire. The two side views are in pillar form, on the basis of each of which is represented a skull and cross-bones. These are entwined with serpents, the heads of which issue from the eyeholes of the skulls.^ At the bottom is an oval picture representing a number of naked figures surrounding a lake or pool of water, some in it. Several hands are raised either in argument or explanation. A skull, bones, &c., are scattered about. The capital letter I at the beginning of Caput I. is also interesting. It stands as a pillar behind which the sun appears at “ high 12.” A human being is falling to the earth, upon which another creature, apparently representing Pan, is seated charming a serpent by music. The same letter appears in the second volume of the “ Utriusque Cosmi Historia.” This tract is not included in the collection of the author s works, and is marked in my copy as Traite extremement rare,” and Liber Rariss: 1775,” by some former posse.ssor. It extends to 126 pages.
^ This symbol also appears in the “ Marriage of Christian Rosencreutz. ” “There was a scull, or death’s head, in which was a white serpent, of such a length that, though she crept circle-wise about the rest of it, yet her tail still rempined in one of the eyeholes until her head entered again at the other.” — Waite, R. C., 149.
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“ Liber Primus, De Vita,” consists of seventeen chapters, to which is added ‘‘ Divitiarum hujus mundi avidis Epilogus.” In addition to Scripture, few authors are quoted. Tremellius '' in Genesim,” Hermes Trismegistus, Plato, and Dionysius Areopagito being the chief. The work begins with the natural hypothesis that God, the Word and Light, is the original of universal life, and that the Devil, from his darkness, is the author of the beginnings or origins of Death.
The first chapter commences with the sublime statement that the original of all things is the Incomprehensible Jehova, King of Kings, the nourishing Father of life, who, from unformed mattei', brought forth the clear substance of the heavens and the most delicate spirit of the universe. This, we are told, was performed by the fire, or burning spirit, proceeding from His mouth — the very breath of life. All was done through His immense love and the greatness of His liberality. The method of the production or restoration of order, Fludd declares to be by the splendour of His presence and the operation of His lightnings in a gradual oblique revolution and circumgyration of God’s threefold light. Death, which at least in image had then existed, as by the shining javelins of His presence, God threw down to the abyss. The pride of Diabolus, then full of ambition to be governor of the celestial kingdom. He oveidhrew, en- compassed, repressed, and bridled. But not extinguished ; for, through his power, we too often receive no benefit by the worship of God. Hence the inevitable unhappiness of man ; hence the mixture of truth with falsehood ; hence the perpetual war of the just mind with the body, and the persecution of the just by the impious. He then dis- tinguishes between the two goverments — that of God, the Elohim, the King Celestial, the Father of Lights and Splendour ; and the Devil, the infernal king, author of death and darkness, and director of the opake material. The power of evil being so strong, it is not surprising, therefore, that the tremendous burden of the human being should
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often govern the weak and little flame of the soul. The
O
opake body exceeds by many proportions the bright soul imprisoned in it. The author then goes on representing himself as one of the sons of Adam now drinking the cup of unhappiness by the fall, and having contracted death in the body by Adam’s sin, and proposes to enter upon the history of the divine life in God and in nature.
The next chapter treats of the opinions of the most ancient philosophers as to the origin of the universe. The Demogorgon, perceiving a vibration and tremor amid the darkness of chaos, soon Pan “ secunda creatura, productus erat.” The spirit of nature, pure, limpid, receiving impression from the God great and good, the chaos is dissolved, and God, the author of life, places his seat and throne ad machinse centrum.” Life and death are now on opposite sides, and the fountain of life has arisen in the world. In heaven the Trinity abides, where there is nothing material, but perfect purity, “ syncera igneitas,” infinite brightness, and immense splendour. Beneath is the abyss, or place of cold, “ lacus lethifer,” which is placed in the centre of the globe. When the divine word came forth, the world, because of its darkness, was unable to comprehend that divine light. Daniel in the den of lions, amid the darkness of his prison, is an apt type of the state of man. The divine balsam, which is the celestial grace, at last cured the blindness of men, and they were then able to contemplate the splendid glory of the Creator, fully seen in the new city, Jerusalem, which the crystalline river and the tree of life ornament and offer true sustenance, where death has no place, where from all darkness and ignorance have passed, because God and the Lamb shine forth for ever in the perfect brightness of glory. The third chapter treats of the origin of minerals and vegetables, of creatures “ aquatilia, volatilia, et terrestria.” All these were created by the fiat of God and by the Spirit of his mouth. This chapter is followed by another treating of the origin and cause of their spiritual or rational life. Fludd
B
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considers the creation a matter of progress onward ; the evolution of fishes is followed by that of birds, and that by the appearance of land animals — their capabilities, powers, possibilities, methods of life, progress in higher develop- ' ments. The nature and condition of life and spirit improves as time is passing, and at last the earth has attained such a chemically perfect state that all is prepared for the advent of man.
The fifth chapter treats of the creation of Adam, the first man — a twofold existence, external and visible, internal and invisible. He was produced in the time of light, sole meridiem peragrante ” — the outward part formed of the mud or dust of the earth. The earth was really then the temple of God. So man was formed of the material of that temple, a fact witnessed to by S. Paul and Xystus the Pythagoraean. God then breathed in faciem ejus spira-
culum vitae.” And that divine breath contained in it
“ vera portio Trinitatis personae ” — the Light of the Father, the Splendour of the Son, and the Divine Knowledge or Intelligence of the Holy Spirit. This is illustrated from Trismep'istus. Thus for a time the Divine ligjht as wit- nessed by S. John shined in darkness, and so man is the temple of God. This made man heavenly and immortal. Man, therefore, is of the “ nature of God,” and so capable of junction with God. Such was Adam, comparable to angels. Fludd then goes on to explain the saying of Trisinegistus that God has given two imagines ad suum exemplar,” the world and man. Mundus est Dei imago et homo mundi.” God’s spirit breathed on the very first as well as the last day of creation. Hence, “ Ambo, Macrocosmus nempe et Microcosmus, Dei simulacrum amplexi sint, et pulchritudine tarn immensa ornati exstiterint.”
In the sixth chapter the inquiry is. What is the breath of life ? The answer is given in the words of S. John —
“ God has given unto us eternal life, and that life is in his son.” Trismegistus is made to agree to this, that life is union with the Father and the word. Blessed indeed, then,
Cj.
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was Adam, who had breathed into him eternal life. Thus was he made the animal divinum/’ He partook of a multiform nature, with the elements in his body, with the plants in growth, with other animals in his senses, with the heavenly Father in his vital parts, with the angels in his intellect. The question as to the nature of the Adamic body is next considered. It was pure, clear, and bright, and like the countenance of Moses when he came down from the Mount of God. The reference to those excluded from the New Jerusalem by the writer of the Apocalypse is extended by comparison. That city, whose sun is the brightness of God and whose light is the Lamb, whose parts are adorned with gems and precious stones, has a mansion for the body of Adam, the very bones of which are as pure gold, the walls of pure jasper, the very heart of the tree of life, and the veins and arteries filled with the water of life.^ This is the complete restoration of humanit}^ Some of the intense thoughts in this chapter are only to be understood by those who can see through them and by them to the inner mysteries of God. Fludd next treats of the vulgar opinions as to the site of the paradise on earth in which Adam was placed and where he was nourished by the heavenly nectar. Many, he says, who have attempted to discuss this question have only exhibited their own depth of darkness. Paradise is twofold, terrestrial, Edenic ; super-celestial, the New Jerusalem, entirely spiritual. The Edenic paradise was situated in Mesopotamia, near the Arabian desert, full of beauty, and watered by noble and limpid rivers. Both are comparable in fertility and pleasure. Even the Edenic paradise is a great and wonderful mystery. All joy was there, produced by the true word of God and the brightness of His face. The cultivation of the garden was to Adam, before his fall, a pleasure ; afterwards, such labour became a pain and drudgery. But the trees of life and of good and evil, non sint grosses, manifestse et oculis communibus conspiciendse,”
^ See as to the “ body of Adam,” Jennings, 351, et seq.
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but occult, mystical, and such as can be understood by those who are wise and loved by God. In regard to the fall, Fludd holds that Adam was but a few hours free from sin. His mind was at first occupied entirely with the higher and better light and joy. In the second hour Eve was created ; in the third hour the various animals were named ; in the fourth hour Eve was tempted and took the forbidden fruit ; in the sixth hour the eyes of both were opened and their misery was discovered ; and in the seventh hour the Divine voice was heard. They fled and hid them- selves from God. Fludd seems to agree with a sentence quoted from Trismegistus, that “ lapsus est a contemplatione partis ad sphseram generationis.”
The fourteenth chapter treats of the advent of Christ. Fludd fully accepts the doctrine of His Divinity, designing Him “ Verbum Jehovfe sacrosanctum, Deus verus, Principium et Finis, Alpha et Omega.” He came into the world that we might live by Him. Christ, the saviour of the world, the bright and morning star, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, rose again the third day. Not merely did He fulfil the revelation made to Moses and Elias, but the reference, in 2 Esdras xiv. 44-46, to the two kinds of knowledge He openly revealed ; and the seventy books, delivered only to the “ wise among the people, for in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge,” received fulfilment before the ascension. On such mystic subjects did Christ converse with Moses and Elias on Mount Tabor, when man in Christ attained and exhibited perfection in existence. To such sights were S. Stephen and S. Paul for a few moments admitted. Having thus and otherwise established the fact of a common knowledge of Divine things suitable for the worthy and unworthy to read,” Fludd proceeds in the fifteenth chapter to refer to the Arcane Mysteries known to the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. Still the light shines in darkness and is not comprehended of men. The errors of the Devil bind men in ignorance and sin ; yet still is the
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saying true that tlie Divine work goes on, that God is still the fount of life, and tliat in His light men shall see light. In these latter words, well and lucidly declared by the royal prophet, are the heavenly mysteries of the paradise of God, and the light which shall still shine amid the darkness of the world. To the faithful the visions of S. Stephen and S. Paul are still granted, treasures far above those of earth, according to which the brethren most worthy of praise, “ de Rosea Cruce, in confessione vestra oblatum.” Y ou
have, he says, the key conducting to the joys of paradise, and ffoes on to show that the revelation to Elias at Horeb
O
is the same as made known in the Rosicrucian allegory, the way to possess the most admirable treasure.” This is the manner of acquiring the mystery of the Divine light, which is the Treasure of Treasures. The wind, earthquakes, and fire are illusions and lies of the Devil. But the Divine voice heard by Elias, who attains this treasure, will bring men to the state of innocence which Adam forfeited. We should not be glad merely because devils are subject, but because our names and brethren are written in heaven. The house of the Holy Spirit is where the spirit of wisdom delights to have his habitation with men. “ Our building, although 100,000 people had very near seen and beheld the same, shall for ever remain untouched, undestroyed, and hidden from the wicked world, “ Sub umbra alarum tuarum Jehova.” Christ only has the key to the hidden treasure of paradise ; He only has prevailed to open the book and break the seals. This is the key of David, “knock and it shall be opened, ask and ye shall receive.” Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God. It is by that bread which, when broken, Christ was known to the disciples at Emmaus. This is the manna, food of angels, which when received bands are loosed and the spiritual light is illuminated. The same power which was in the zephyr, which Elias heard, the same which Solomon received — that spirit of wisdom which existed before the world was. The beginning is the fear of God —
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that delights to he with the sons of men — coming into the heart and preserving what is good therein, the tree of life in those who understand this wisdom. This wisdom, then, is the Treasure of Treasures, the joy of paradise.
The section, “ De Vita,” concludes with a brief “ Di- vitiarum hujus mundi avidis Epilogus,” warning against laying up treasure on earth, rather to see those joys which are in paradise, so that where the treasure is, there the heart will be also. By the baits of the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the desire of the eyes, the evil one tries to make us keep from gaining the real treasure. He then calls on his brethren to care nothing for earthly and mundane glory. We need not be in difficulties. Consider the lilies of the field, far more glorious than Solomon. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all will be added. He calls His chosen ones to come into the garden of paradise to gather myrrh and spices, to eat the honey- comb with the honey, to drink wine with milk. All are welcome ; the Spirit and the bride say come. The section ends with the devout wish that, with humble hearts, minds, bodies, and actions, adorned with devout prayers, we may be led into the right way and regain paradise.
“ Liber Secundus, De Morte ” extends from page 83 to page 97. It commences with the account of the battle between the great dragon, the ancient serpent called the Devil and Satan, and Michael the archangel. The heavens rejoice, but the earth is filled with woe, and so it happened. Eve became the instrument of the serpent, and the world was ruined, death was introduced, and the world became drowned in sin. The second chapter of this section treats of the particular cause of the death and fall of Adam. Filled with the spirit of God which had been breathed into him, he was illumined by the true wisdom, and all things were subject to him — his own powers and the terrene existences. His mind was a palace of light. The Devil, having been for pride cast down from heaven, sought to destroy this perfect work of God. Knowing that man had
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an earthly part as well as a celestial power, he resolved to lay siege to the former. This was done in the person of Eve, the more cold and humid, the darker and more imper- fect existence. She showed Adam the fruit; she solicited- him to eat it. The will of the Devil prevailed, and by means of the carnal will of the woman, Adam is ruined, and the universal misery of humanity is accomplished. Thus the splendour of his wisdom is extinguished ; that body, which had been bright as the face of Moses, became dark- and sad. The pure mind, the innocence of man, is made mortal, sinful, and impure — the heavenly is changed to the earthly. Thus Adam, from being the habitation of a good dsemon, became- that of an evil spirit.
All this Scripture history, we are told in the next chapter, teaches that this led to the carnal knowledge of Eve. The spirit, which before had been exalted in com-' munication with the governors of the world, was now turned earthward to carnal and fleeting delights. The fascination of carnal delights effaced the purer joys. Tris- megistus is quoted in support of this opinion, referring probably to the statement in the Pimander, “ the cause of death is the love of the body.”^ “ He that through the error of Love, loved the Body, abideth wandering in darkness, sensible, suffering the things of death ” (Everard, 12, 13).' “ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John ii. 16). The spiritual eye of Adam being closed by his sin, the bodily eyes pierced his naked- ness. The fall of man was then caused by the knowledge of the woman and earthly love. The gift of the woman was not for carnal lust, but for a companion in the life of contemplation. Thus, in all nations and peoples, barbarous or civilised, the act of conjunction is secret and hidden.^ And the curse of the serpent confirms this — “And 1 will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
^ Evidently referring to the statement of S. Augustine, in his “City of
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seed and her seed,” &c. The part which sinned is punished — " I will greatly multiply thy sorrows, and thy concep- tion,” &c. The seed of Cain was the result. That seed still continues, and this was the cause of the new covenant with Abraham, and why it had the seal of circumcision ; and so afterwards He did not abhor the virgin’s womb, but, by his purity and grace, did sanctify that part which was involved in the transgression of Eve. “ Wherefore, blessed is the barren that is undefiled, which hath not known the sinful bed ; she shall have fruit in the visitation of souls.” Hence the Psalmist, “ I was conceived and born in sin.” The law of Moses as laid down in the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus is also referred to. Fludd seems to hold that the expression, “ increase and multiply,” had no reference to the increase by ordinary generation, but by spiritual pro- duction. Concludimus igitur, quod causa mortis et lapsus Adami esset pulchritudinis corporis amor” (97).^ Few find the true way, most are rushing along the way of death ; many called, but few chosen ; many are asked to the marriage, but few prepare themselves.
The third division of the work is entitled “ De Resur- rectione.” It extends from page 89 to page 126, in eight
1 See here also S. Augustine, “ City of God,” book xiv., chap. 22, 23, &c. ; Origen Contra Celsum, book iv., chapter xxxix. The remarks of S. Gregory Nazian. on the Garden of Eden are also worthy of notice in this connection. God placed Adam in this paradise, ‘ ‘ a dresser of immortal plants, perhaps of divine thoughts, both the simpler and more perfect ; naked in simplicity and guileless life, and removed from all cover and pretence, for such it became the original man to be.” Adam gave way to the suggestion of the woman, “ who, being taken out of the side of the man, typifies the lower and impulsive or appetitive part of our nature.” “ Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, was in the transgression” (1 Tim. ii. 4). Owen (Treatise of Dogmatic Theology, 235) well remarks — “All the in- clinations of the sensual appetite were before the fall,” as Thorndike and Taylor agree, “ hut the disorder of them by it” See in Forlong’s “ Rivers of Life,” vol. i. 33, a remarkable illustration of the “ Temptation ” as understood in the East. The Hebrews generally held that it was a “ fig,” not an apple, which caused the fall of Eve. A basket of figs was one of the most sacred objects in the possession of Bacchus, whose symbol was always made of the wood of the ficus. In the East, “ eating forbidden fruit was merely a figurative mode of expressing the performance of that act necessary for the perpetuation of the human race, an act which in its origin was thought to be the service of all evil ” (Forlong, i. 142). See also upon the bruising of “ head ” and “ heel,” Jennings’ Rosicrucians, p. 310.
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chapters. He who is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Creator of all things, and is that Word who was in the beginning with God, by which Word all things were produced. He it is who became flesh, suffered death, rose again from the dead, is Lord of all, and wages now perpetual war against the Devil, the beast, and the false prophet. Because the first Adam, terrestrial, and a man, merely natural, by the fraud of the Devil became dis- obedient, it was necessary that the second Adam should be supernatural and celestial. The first Adam fell by dis- obedience ; the second Adam, by His obedience, humility, and patience, not only pacified the great Creator, but became a vivifying Spirit. Death was introduced into the world by the first Adam ; so, therefore, it was necessary that, by His resurrection from the dead, the second Adam should conquer the Devil. As in Adam all died, so in Christ should all be made alive. Adam, by his first transgression, sowed the earth with human bodies, with sepulchres and monuments of death ; so the second Adam, by His obedience, death and resurrection, raised the corruptible to incorrup- tion, brought light from darkness, heaven to earth, life immortal from death. The resurrection of Christ is the cause of our minds being raised now and our bodies in the future. He recalls the cases of Enoch and Elias, born in sin, and so mortal, but by God’s power regenerated. This is a picture of our higher life. It is impossible for us to know God, who is a Spirit, whose majesty and essence our eyes are not able to perceive ; yet the best picture is fire, flame, and light. Fire always tends to rise upwards and to leave the earth. This he illustrates by an experiment. Much more so the light, uncreated, which is the splendid and holy wisdom, clearly showing forth from God, which is far more precious than the sun and the stars. When this light shone forth, the delights of that brightness were with, and to, the sons of men. It is this light which lights up human nature to Paradise. It liberates the souls of men ; they rise from darkness to heaven, just as the light and heat of
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the sun cause the wheat, apparently dead, to show new life. So the heavenly light and heat will cause our bodies to assume a perfect form and to rise above the earth. It, too, shall at last, as by fire, renew the whole face of the earth. The icon of God is to be seen in the fiery sword, in the burning bush, in the fiery pillar, in the fire descending from heaven, in the brightness and light of the angels at the nativity of Christ, and in the lightning seen at other times.^
The Word took flesh and tabernacled on this earth, to teach men the way of truth and to explain the command- ments of the Father. This life was, as S. John say&, manifest to us, and we have seen, and heard, and testify, and announce. This is the tree of life, which who so pos- sesses has eternal life, and is passed from death to life. Immortal powers abode in that sacred Word, as He declared to S. Peter, if I should ask the Father, and He would give me twelve legions of angels.” But He had to suffer, die, and the third day He rose again, triumphant over death. His mortal body became perfectly purified from material existence, and became most subtile and impalpable. It was the Eternal Spirit, the Light Incarnate, which did this. So that same Spirit shall renovate man and make his body like that of Enoch and Elias, and lift him up to
^ Light, bright and pure, is the emblem or symbol of God, as gross darkness — the blackness of darkness — is the symbol of the evil power. The magi were led to the cradle of the infant Christ by the light of a star. These sages of the East knew that truth alone could make man like God, “ whose body resembles light, as his soul or spirit resembles truth.” It was the want of the oil to make the light in the lamps which caused the exclusion of the foolish virgins from the great marriage feast of heavenly glory. Indeed, the conflict of light and darkness is the foundation of all religions. “Akin to the school of the ancient lire believers and of the magnetists of a later period, are the Theosophists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These practised chemistry, by which they asserted they could explain the profoundest secrets of nature As they strove, above all earthly knowledge, after the divine, and sought the divine light and fire, through wliich all men can acqviire the true wisdom, they were called the Fire Philosophers (philo-^ophi per ignem). The most distinguished of these are Theoplirastus Paracelsus. . . Robert Flood
or Fludd, &c.” (Ennemozer, Histy. of Magic, (|uoted by Jennings, “ Indian Religions,” p. 138). “ And the city had no need of the sun, neither of
the moon to shine in it ; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof ” (Rev. xxi. 23). . - , -
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heaven. This quickening Spirit had its dwelling in the last Adam. This is that true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Blessed, then, is he who dies in Christ, for Christ is the cause of his resurrection. It was this life-giving Spirit which succoured Elijah. He asked to die, but having tasted of the fruit of the tree of life, his body was purified, and he was rendered capable of passing from the world without tasting of death. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven yet ; as Enoch and Elijah do so, other men may do so. But, as on Mount Tabor, Christ Himself became bright, and His face shone in the sun, and His raiment became whiter than any fuller on earth could white them ; so, as we hear that Elijah went up in a chariot of fire, by that spiritual fire he was purged and cleansed, and rendered pure, bright, and clear. The Holy Spirit shall, therefore, revive all who sleep in Christ. The greatest gift of all will be when, after the resurrection, those who have passed through it will be united to Him, drawn to Him, and so remain with Him for ever. The life and appearance on the mount of Moses and Elias will show what our resurrection bodies shall be — pure, yet evident one from another. “ For God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of His own eternity.” “ Seek not death, then, in the error of your ways, and pull not upon yourselves destruction with the work of your hands.” ^ Fludd takes a dark view of the state of man and society in his time. The Devil was truly then prince of this world, and men led captive through sin and greed. Those who were really sons of God were the light in the Word. Chief among these are the brethren of the Rosy Cross. They have all virtues. Their light is greater than the rising sun. We have, he exclaims, “ Leonem fortissimum solem devorantem.” They possess the true alchemy. Hence, then, false alchemists, intoxicated with ignorance, who only seek to make metallic gold and care nothing for the
^ Wisdom, ii. 23 j i. 13,
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heavenly and celestial treasure. He then, addressing the Brethren of the R. C., refers to the passage in the “ Fama” descriptive of the heptagonal monument, supposed to be found in the famous vault, “ which was enlightened with another Sun, which was situated in the upper part in the centre of the building.” There was found the body of Brother R. C., and the inscription, “Jesus mihi omnia.” That sun was but an image of Jesus Christ. We are therefore to watch, for we know not, neither do angels know, when the Son of Man, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, shall have His advent. He draws out a simile from the address to the church at Philadelphia in the Apocalypse, quotes in support a passage from the “ Fama,” and has a reference to the “ Romani seductiones impuri.” That last advent will be shortly before the time when the stone cut out without hands smites Nebuchadnezzar’s image upon his feet, which were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. Then shall be accomplished full}’’ the vision of Ezekiel, when the Spirit came from the four winds upon the dead bodies and they arose, an exceeding great army ; then were gathered before God all nations, and He separated them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. After the dismissal of all souls into their eternal habitations, death shall be destroyed for ever. A new heaven and a new earth shall be prepared, the city descend from heaven, and the tabernacle of God shall be with man, and all tears, grief, and sorrow be for ever dissipated. Let, then, the brethren of the R. C., with pure hearts and minds, lift up their heads with joy and gladness. The sun has arisen in the east, the Lion has come, the splendid carbuncle has dissipated the rays of darkness, impurity is expelled from the world. Adore God, in light eternal, with the highest praises. Blessed shall be those eyes which shall be illumi- nated by the spiritual splendour and light. Blessed be God, who hath revealed His hidden mysteries to His chosen, and hath now expelled from the earth all impurity and contention. Blessed be Thou, 0 lion of the tribe of Judah,
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and sun above the heavenly New Jerusalem. 0 Ruby! whose blood is the salvation of the faithful ; 0 Carbuncle ! who by thy splendour and cleai’ness illuminates mankind ; 0 tree of life ; 0 bright light of eternal life ; 0 mirror without spot of God’s majesty, true wisdom, and holy knowledge ! “ Tibi sit laus, tibi sit gloria infinita, tibi sit
honos immortalis, et adoratio sempiterna. Amen.”
I