First in Latin, then in English:
The number in [# ] indicated
the section of the Latin original. The version in [v#] indicated
the English translation: [V1] being the literal
translation, [V2] being the slightly
interpretative, and [V3] being the 1640 translation
of John Everard, Doctor of Divinity.
[1] Verum, sine mendacio,
certum et verissimum:
[V1] It is true, without lies
and quite certain.
[V2] True, without falsehood, certain
and most true,
[V3] It is true without any lying, certain
and most true,
Quod est inferius est sicut quod
est superius, et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius,
[V1] What is lower is just like
what is higher, and what is higher is just like what is lower,
[V2] that which is above is as that which
is below, and that which is below is as that which is above,
[V3] that which is inferior, or below,
is as that which is superior or above there being one Universal matter
and form of all things, differenced only by accident, and particularly
by that great mystery of Rarefaction and Condensation, and that which is
superior as that which is inferior,
ad perpetranda (also: penetranda,
praeparanda) miracula rei unius.
[V1] for the accomplishment
of the miracle of a thing.
[V2] for the performance of the miracles
of the One Thing.
[V3] to work and accomplish the Miracles
of one thing, and to show the great variety and diversity of operations
wrought by that Spirit that worketh all things in all things.
[2] Et sicut res omnes fuerunt
ab uno, meditatione unius: sic omnes res natae fuerunt ab hac una re, adaptatione
(adoptione).
[V1] And just as all things
come from one and be mediation of one, thus all things have been derived
from this one thing by adoption.
[V2] And as all things are from One,
by the mediation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing
by adaptation.
[V3] And as all things were from ONE,
by the Mediation of one, God having created all things in the beginning,
which is the beginning of all things, and the wisdom of his Father, so
all things spring and took their original from this one thing by adaptation
or fitting itself accordingly in number weight and measure, for Wisdom
builds her own house.
[3] Pater ejus est Sol, mater
ejus est Luna. Portavit illud ventus in ventre suo. Nutrix
ejus terra est.
[V1] The father of it is the
sun, the mother is the moon. The wind has carried it in his belly.
The earth has nourished it.
[V2] The Sun is its father, the Moon
its mother, the Wind carries it in its belly, its nurse is the Earth.
[V3] The Father of this one thing, or
that which he useth instead of an Agent, in all the Operations thereof,
is the Sun, and the mother thereof or which supplies the place of a female
and Patient is the Moon; the Nurse thereof receiving in her lap all the
influences of heat and moisture, the Sulphur and Mercury of Nature (for
the Spirit of GOD moveth not but upon the Face of the water) is the Earth.
The Wind or Air carried in its Belly as one of the links in the chain,
that link superior things to them that are below.
[4] Pater omnis Telesmi totius
mundi est hic.
[V1] It is the father (the cause)
of all completion of the whole world.
[V2] This is the father of all perfection,
or consummation of the whole world.
[V3] This is the Father original and
fountain of all perfection, and all the secret and miraculous things done
in the world;
Virtus ejus integra est, si versa
fuerit in terram.
[V1] His power is undiminished,
if it has been turned towards the earth.
[V2] Its power is integrating, if it
be turned into earth.
[V3] Whose force is then perfect and
complete to perform those Miracles, and many more when it is turned into
Earth; that is from a volatile and unfixed thing as it was both before
and in the preparation, to a most fixed Earth, but quintessential, wherein
all the virtues are both concentrated and doubled, nay infinitely increased.
[5] Separabis terram ab igne,
subtile ab spisso, suavitar, magno cum igenio.
[V1] You will separate the earth
from the fire, the fine from the coarse, gently and with great skill.
[V2] Thou shalt separate the earth from
the fire, the subtle from the gross, suavely, and with great ingenuity.
[V3] To which purpose Thou shalt separate
the Earth from the Fire, for they being united, and the subject being but
one thing (like Adam and Eve before their separation, or Plato's Hermaphrodite,
a man and a woman joined together back to back) could not generate or beget,
till all parts be separated, and purged; and the subtle or fine aethereal
from the thick or gross, sweetly and with much leisure all haste being
from Hell, and with a greate deal of wit, judgment and discretion: for
to every thing there is an appointed time, and for the production of all
animals, vegetables and minerals, the measure of the Igne (fire) is measured,
2. Edras 4, 37. And therefore is requisite both patience to persevere and
expect the appointed time, and wit or judgment to find, and order the fire.
Ascendit a terra in coelum, iterumque
descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorum et inferiorum.
[V1] It ascends from the earth
to the sky, again descends to the earth, and receives the powers of what
is higher and what is lower.
[V2] It ascends from earth to heaven
and descends again to earth, and receives the power of the superiors and
of the inferiors.
[V3] It ascendeth from Earth to Heaven,
and descendeth from Heaven to Earth, even as the rain, which in like manner
is often cohabited upon the earth; and one part of it is by the appointment
of wisdom fixed into earth, whilst another part of earth is attenuated
and dissolved; this being the perpetual motion of wisdom itself : and by
this means it acquireth the virtue and power of all things above, the subtilty,
purity, penetrative activity of fire, light, heaven and things below, the
fluidness, fixedness and capableness of all influences, which the lower
elements of Earth and Water have.
[6] Sic habebis Gloriam totius
mundi. Ideo fugiet a te omnis obscuritas.
[V1] Thus you will have the
glory of the whole world, and all darkness will depart from you.
[V2] So thou hast the glory of the whole
world; therefore let all obscurity flee before thee.
[V3] So shalt thou have the glory of
the whole world which consisteth in long life, health, youth, riches, wisdom
and virtue, Therefore shall all obscurity fly from thee the obscurity and
darkness of the body, its distemper and sickness; of the Soul and Mind,
that which ariseth from these ignorances which is cured not in the branch
only but in the root, when we have put our light in a clear glass.
Haec est totius fortitudinis fortitudo
fortis, quia vincet omnem rem subtilem, omnemque solidam (solidum) penetrabit.
[V1] It is the strength of all
strength, because it will conquer all the fine and penetrate all the solid.
[V2] This is the strong force of all
forces, overcoming every subtle and penetrating every solid thing.
[V3] This is the most strong strength
of all strength, the mightiest expression of all the power strength and
efficacy of nature which can be in sublunary things, for it will overcome
any subtle thing, as metals in Mercury, and the spirit of the bodies; which
though they be thin it will be congealed, and though they be volatile,
it will fix: and likewise in living weight, there is no disease so spiritual
but it will root it out: and every hard thing it will pierce as well in
compact metals with whom it will join inseparably, as in diseases that
affect the solidest part of bodies.
Sic mundus creatus est. Hinc
erunt adaptationes mirabiles, quarum modus est hic.
[V1] Thus the world was created.
From this will be wonderful applications of which it is the pattern.
[V2] So the world was created. Hence
were all wonderful adaptations, of which this is the manner.
[V3] Thus was the World created : Therefore
do the philosophers call their Stone, the little world made of the same
Chaos, and after the same manner that the great one was. From whence will
be wonderful adaptations, or fittings of Agents and Patients, and by that
means strange productions in all the kingdoms of Nature, animal, vegetable
and mineral : and the manner of them is this, which is showed and set down
before, and the method of operation the same:
[7] Itaque vocatus sum Hermes
Trismegistus, habens tres partes philosophiae totius mundi.
[V1] And so I have been called
Hermes, thrice greatest, possessing three parts of the knowledge of the
whole world.
[V2] Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistus,
having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
[V3] Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistus
or the thrice greatest Mercury, having the three parts of the philosophy
of the whole world, and endowed with the knowledge of the Body, Soul and
Spirit, whereof all things consist, and of all things that are in the three
kingdoms of Nature.
[8] Completem est quod dixi
de operatione Solis.
[V1] Finished is what I have
said about the work of the sun.
[V2] What I have to tell is completed,
concerning the Operation of the Sun.
[V3] Thus endeth that which I have spoken
of the operation of the Sun: for whatsoever is made or done in all sublunary
matters, is done only by the power of the Sun, of whom the Psalmist saith
the Almighty hath placed his Tabernacle, it being the Fountain of all natural
heat or Nature itself in the Creatures, which is nothing but the finger
or ordinate power of the Almighty; And the finger or power of God, is God
himself, to whom is due all that, and infinitely more, than the creatures
can possibly ascribe unto him. Blessed be He for evermore.
Amen..
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