The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 100 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann
Chapter 10 (part 7)
It is not shown that Esau became subject to Jacob, but the story represents to us a spiritual symbol, showing how the kingdom of nature in man was to become subjected and to be made to submit in humility to the kingdom p.
214 of grace; how it should become entirely submerged in divine humility, and out of that humility become regenerated." ( Mysterium , lii.
29.) "Upon Esau followed Jacob as the image of Christ, conceived in the essence of faith and clinging to Esau's heel.
The Adamic image created by God had to be born first of all and to live eternally, but not in its gross and animal state of existence.
With the expression of 'Jacob holding on to Esau's heel' is symbolised that the other Adam, namely, Christ, should be born after the first Adam, and grasping him from behind, draw him back from the direction of his own self-will into the first matrix, wherein nature originated, so that he might be newly born." ( Mysterium , lii.
37.) "Esau was born of holy parents, and represented an image of corrupted nature only in regard to his state of separation.
God separated also the image of Christ from the same seed of Esau's parents (as Jacob), and put it before him as a contrast to his brother (Esau).
Moreover, Jacob by his gift and humility excited the greatest compassion in Esau, and therefore we should not condemn Esau." 1 ( Grace , ix.
121.) More important than these opposites are those of the descendants of Japhet, because they selected for themselves false gods from the powers of nature, and were now led by them by means of oracles.
"The idolatry of the heathen consisted in their departing from the one only God and turning to the magic generation of nature, selecting false gods from the powers of nature." 2 ( Mysterium , xi.
6.) p.
215 "The heathen worshipped the planetary system and the four elements, because they knew that these ruled the external life of all things.
Thus by means of their intellectually conceived word they entered into the likewise conceived and formed (manifested) word of nature.
On the other hand, the spirit of the formed word of nature became a part of themselves, and thus one intellect moved the other.
The human intellect moved the intelligence within the soul of the external world as far as the desire of the latter is concerned, and by means of this intelligence (residing within the astral light or the mind of the external world) the prophetic spirit out of the Spirit of God indicated to them how in future times the formed word of external nature would manifest itself in the up-building and in the destruction of kingdoms, &c.
Out of this soul of the world the heathen received answers by means of their images and idols, because their faith which they very powerfully introduced into them moved them; and this has therefore not all been accomplished by the devil, as it is supposed by those who, knowing nothing about the mystery, make the devil responsible for everything, while they are ignorant of what either God or the devil is." ( Mysterium , xxxvii.
10–13.) Those heathen who led a pure and blameless life arrived at a knowledge of the symbols of celestial things by means of their ability to see within the mirror of external nature.
1 "The heathen remained within their own magic, but p.
216 those who went out from the desire of corruption and entered into the light of nature, because they did not know God, but who, nevertheless, lived in purity, these heathen were the children of the free will, and in them has the spirit of freedom unfolded great wonders, as may be seen in the works of wisdom which they left behind them." ( Terrestrial and Celestial Mysterium , viii.
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 process of regeneration and being 'newly born' out of humility reflects the spiritual transformation central to alchemical work.
Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.
The text describes heathen worship of the 'planetary system and the four elements' which ruled external life, functioning as governing powers of nature.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
Heathen knowledge is described as seeing 'symbols of celestial things by means of their ability to see within the mirror of external nature'.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
It describes how 'one intellect moved the other' between human intellect and the intelligence within the soul of the external world.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
Corruption is defined not as inherent substance but as a 'state of separation' from the divine image.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
[auto] The passage explicitly interprets the biblical narrative of Jacob and Esau as a spiritual symbol concealing an inner truth about nature and grace.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The passage explicitly discusses the 'formed word of nature' and the 'intellectually conceived word' as mediating forces between God and the material world.
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.
The passage states that the 'kingdom of nature in man' must submit to grace and that human intellect moves the intelligence within the soul of the external world.
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.
Esau represents an image of corrupted nature 'only in regard to his state of separation' from God.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The passage speaks of being 'regenerated' and becoming the 'image of Christ' through divine humility.
Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.
The passage describes heathen magic where faith introduced into images moved the 'intelligence within the soul of the external world'.