The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 88 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann
Chapter 9 (part 6)
He could generate in a virginal state, and procreate by means of his will and out of his own substance, without any pain or laceration." ( Threefold Life , ii.
24.) "If man had withstood the temptation one human being would have been born from another, in the same way as Adam in his virginal state was projected into objectivity as a human being and image of God, because that which is of the Eternal can also procreate (multiply) itself according to the law of eternity." ( Threefold Life , xviii.
7.) These descendants of man would have issued one from the other, and one would have surpassed the other in his qualities and dignity before God.
1 "It is unnecessary to know whether, if man had remained in his original state, all (future) individuals would have been the products of one individual, or whether they would have been produced one from another; but in seeking within the depth, in the centre, I find that one would have come from the other.
In the course of time they would have differed in their qualities; some would have grown to be superior to others, as is the case at present where not all men are equals, but some have more genius and intelligence than others." ( Menschwerdung , 1.
5, 4.) But now, after the generative powers, which were formerly p.
192 united in man, appear in a state of separation in males and females, each sex seeks within the other the child that is to be generated, and strongly desires to unite with the other.
1 "In the beginning of creation all was born from one being, and a separation of sex took place later on.
Therefore each sex strongly desires the other, as is seen in the process of procreation." ( Three Principles , viii.
40.) "There is now a strong sexual desire in all creatures.
The male spirit seeks for the beloved child in the female, and the female seeks for it in the male." ( Three Principles , viii.
44.) "The water-mother strongly desires for the fire-mother, and seeks for the child of love.
Likewise the fire-mother seeks for it in the water-mother, and therefore both sexes have a strong desire to mingle with each other." ( Three Principles , viii.
42.) This desire, wherein the two sexes are burning in regard to each other, is an abomination before God; but if it is governed by faithfulness and orderly conjugal love, it is patiently tolerated by the Lord.
2 "Conjugal sexual cohabitation is not sinful, because it is in accordance with man's human nature.
It is incited by the power of nature, and tolerated in divine patience by the spiritual soul." ( Stiefel , ii.
409.) "Lust, however, without being ennobled by faithful conjugal love, is merely an animal and sinful desire; and if you seek in marriage only the gratification of sexual lust, you are then not superior to an animal." ( Three Principles , xx.
64.) p.
193 "Beware, O man, as to how you use the sexual animal desire!
It is an abomination before the Lord (the divine Being in man), whether it be within or outside of legalised wedlock; but true lawful love and faithfulness hides the desire before the sight of God." ( Three Principles , xx.
65.) "If a couple generate children, their imagination or desire (during the sexual act) is not holy, but the noble part of the soul is ashamed of it.
There are even animals that are ashamed of that act.
The transformation of base substance — outer matter or the inner soul — into a purified, perfected, or 'gold' state; the magnum opus as both laboratory practice and spiritual allegory.
The passage uses distinct alchemical terminology such as 'tincture', 'spirit of fire', and 'water' to describe spiritual substance and procreation.
The reunification of complementary divine principles (male-female, spirit-matter) as a symbol of wholeness and salvation.
The text details the desire between male and female principles (fire-mother/water-mother) to unite for the 'child of love', symbolizing the reunification of separated powers.
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.
Man is described as an 'image of God' containing divine tinctures like fire and water within himself, reflecting the cosmic structure.
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
[auto] The passage centrally explains the current human condition of sexual desire and division as a result of generative powers appearing in a state of separation from their original unity.