The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 64 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann
Chapter 7 (part 6)
2.) There existed in man also the third principle, wherein resides sensual desire.
He was not endowed with this principle for the purpose of surrendering himself to it, but that he might introduce it into the light of God, and glorify Him by means of that light.
2 "Man was a mixed individuality, and destined to be an image according to the inner, and also according to the outer world; but as the symbol of God, he was to rule with the inner consciousness over the external one." ( Menschwerdung , i.
3, 13.) "When man remains in harmonious order, so as not to let one world into the other, he is then the likeness of God; but the image or the mirror of the world p.
151 of light he should surely introduce into the external world." ( Six Theosophical Points , vi.
12.) "The constellation (the astral influences) of the macrocosm should not be permitted to rule over man; but he has his own constellation (the spirit, the idea) within himself, which is capable of becoming attuned to the harmony of the rise and evolution of the divine world within." ( Letters , i.
8.) "All of man's desire should have been placed into the light; then would the light have shone within his essence and desire, and filled everything as with one will." ( Tilk ., i.
542.) "The soul of Adam could have ruled powerfully over the external principle if she had entered again with her will into the heart of God, into the word of the Lord." 1 ( Forty Questions , iv.
2.) Thus it was intended that, by means of the instrumentality of man, the paradisiacal splendour should be continually spread out and increased over terrestrial nature, and that all the hidden treasures of nature should be uncovered.
"The external world is also of God and belonging to God, and man has been created therein, so that he may bring again the external into the internal one; the end into the beginning." ( Letters , xi.
18.) "Adam was also created in the external quality, so that he may manifest in forms and execute in works that which had been perceived in eternal wisdom." ( Menschwerdung , i.
4.) "Man has been created in Paradise, for it was out-blooming through the earth, and from the earth of Paradise was Adam's body created, because he was a lord of the earth, and it was his destiny to unfold the p.
152 wonders of the earth.
If it had not been for that purpose, God might have endowed him with an angelic body; but in that case the substantiated being with its wonderful qualities would not have been unfolded." 1 ( Menschwerdung , ii.
12.) But while in Adam all the three principles were originally in unity and harmony, there was attracting him outwardly in a powerful manner, not only the heart of God, but also the devil and the kingdom of the terrestrial world.
2 "Man stood in three principles, and they were in equal concordance in him, but not outside of him; for the dark world had a desire different from that of the world of light, and likewise the external world had a desire differing from that of the dark world and from the world of light.
Thus the image of God was betwixt three principles, which all of them in their desire were conducive to that image.
Each of them wanted to become manifest in Adam—to have him within its own regiment or as a ruler, and to manifest its wonders through him." ( Mysterium , xvii.
34.) "Everything attracted Adam and wanted to take possession of him.
Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.
[auto] The passage warns against the 'constellation of the macrocosm' or astral influences ruling over man, mirroring the concept of external planetary powers obstructing the soul.
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
[auto] The text distinguishes between the inner and outer worlds, and between sensual desire and the light of God, presenting a duality to be harmonized.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
[auto] The passage explicitly defines man as a mixed individuality and image of both inner and outer worlds, possessing an internal constellation attuned to the divine.