Freher's Process in the Philosophical Work · 1 of 4

Part 1

2. As long as Adam stood in a pure paradisical innocency, the Eternal Word and power of life (called by the author the Heavenly Mercury), was his leader, and had pre-dominance in him. His life, which was a clear flaming fire, burned in and was nourished by that pure spiritual oil of the Divine substantiality; which, together with the holy water of eternal life, is generated in the angelical world: and this, therefore, could not but give forth a glorious bright shining light.

3. Through the power of his imagination, or lust after the knowledge of good and evil, that which then was still kept under in him, and was so hidden from him, viz., the outward watery property, came to be manifest in his holy oil, and got predominance therein. This oil therefore, now overpowered thereby, could no more be such an agreeable food, and well-doing to his fire, as it could and did before. And so his fire not only lost its shining light, but came also to be spoiled itself, for it was obscured, and made all impotent. And his Mercury, which before in his holy oil, had caused and raised up paradisical joy and triumph, according to his moving and stirring property, was now made a stinging anguishing poison, according to his own natural constitution, which he doth and must stand in, when before or without the light.

4. Nothing of the Divine substantiality was hereby spoiled, poisoned, or turned into evil: though sometimes this or that expression, which must be made use of with respect to Man, may seem in outward appearance, to say something the like. For that which was in Man of the Divine substantiality, faded disappeared, or died indeed, but only with respect to Man; seeing that this disappearing, was but an entering into its own secret original, and so but a returning unto God the giver thereof. When contrariwise the creatural Mercury, that is, Man's own life, went forth with its will, desire and lust, out of eternity into time: so that the former union was broken, and upon this breach, its own natural property and propriety could not but be made manifest immediately: and because of this manifestation, which never should have been made, according to the will of God, it is now rightly called spoiled, poisoned, and turned into evil; when yet all this doth not reach the Divine substantiality, nor the holy life of God, but only that of Man.

5. This is the sum and substance of what Behmen largely and more circumstantially declareth concerning Man's paradisical state, and falling away from it under the curse. Where he brings in also for a clearer illustration hereof, not only the fall of Lucifer, saying of him, that his desire was to try the fiery Mercury, like as Man desired to try the watery; but also the serpent with its poison, saying, that in the strongest and most poisonous Mercury, the highest tincture lieth, yet not in its own natural property, etc. All which he represents as a most proper, and pertinent introduction to this discourse of the Philosophical Work.

6. Immediately after the fall of Man, God said unto the serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: her seed shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. And herein the philosopher's stone or tincture lieth implicitly. For though this primarily concerneth Man, yet secondarily it concerneth the whole Creation also; and this bruising of the serpent's head is done both spiritually and corporeally, and both in time and in eternity, and though in different degrees, yet in a parallel process or method, both here and there.

7. The serpent's sting points at the Wrath-fire, and the woman's seed at the Light and Love-fire. These two are in every thing: and in the curse that former came to be predominant in outward Nature. This latter must now be raised up again, and, by its shining through the Wrath, it must subdue and keep it under, and take away from it its predominant power, so that it may keep and exercise only its true natural office, as a servant in and to the light. And that these two may no more stand in contrariety and opposition to each other, but be one only thing, reharmonized by Light and Love, and reintroduced into Paradise. And when now thus the dark poisoned Mercury is tinctured, his anguishing death is turned into triumphing life and joy, and his former dark desire into a new Light and Love-desire; which of itself is now able to make in itself a pure Love and Light substantiality, viz., a heavenly body out of an earthly.

8. The whole work consists summarily therein, that two things must be reduced back into one, even into such a one as they were from the beginning before they came to be two. A heavenly thing and an earthly one are to be joined. That former must be admitted or received into itself by this latter, and must change it into its own heavenly quality. Earth must be turned in, and Heaven out, etc. Which the Mercury, that is therein, doth all himself; the Artist is not to do it, neither can he do it: he is only to join together those ingredients that are requisite, and to leave the work to be done by that workman, which is therein already. Yet nevertheless Understanding and Faith is in him required; and by this latter especially he is to co-operate, if his design shall take effect. For his design is nothing less than to fetch out a body from the curse, and to raise it up from the dead; which never can be done by him, that is still dead himself, both in his understanding, and as to his internal life.

9. With all this, the process in the regeneration of Man runs parallel exactly. Consider only with thyself the heavenly humanity of the Regenerator, and the earthly of poor fallen Man, that is to be regenerated. Consider, that the former must be received or taken in by the latter, and that this must suffer itself to be subdued, changed, kept under, and turned in by that. Consider that faith in Man is absolutely required, by which he must in a sense co-operate indeed, but that for all this he cannot make himself a Child of God; but must suffer himself to be made so by the eternal speaking Word, which in the philosophical process is called by Behmen, the Heavenly Mercury. Which also at the end of time, as in the completest period of the regeneration, will raise up his body again, which then shall no more be earthly, but heavenly, and conformable to his own glorified body. Consider, I say, all this in its true coherence, and dependence upon the only love and free grace of God: and you will certainly find, that all the description of this process, is nothing else but a sound, true and solid paraphrase and explanation of these words of St. John, saying: "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe in his name."

10. In these words also lieth plainly, the possibility for obtaining the perfection in the Philosophical Work; which is rightly and firmly grounded hereupon by Behmen. For if God gave us, out of his infinite love, that which is the greatest and the highest, how could he have withheld from us, that which is much lesser and lower? If Man, in this divine power, bestowed upon him by free grace, can verily rule and triumph again over sin, death, devil, and hell, whom he made himself subject unto by his lust, Why should he not also be enabled thereby, to rule and triumph again over the curse in the Earth, he brought into it by the same lust, when this latter is but a natural consequence of that former; nay an inconsiderable one in comparison to that? Truly it is inseparable therefrom, if that former be really attained unto, and provided that all the qualities that are requisite thereto, be verily found in the Artist or philosopher.

11. All these qualities are, as in their principal sum and substance, concentrated in this, that the Artist first must have the curse in himself transmuted into the Heavenly Blessing, through the holy tincturing blood of Jesus Christ. Which Behmen sometimes also thus expresses, "He must first be, and have really that same in himself, which he will make or introduce into metals without himself". And this he frequently presseth home unto every one, warning earnestly and calling Heaven and Earth to witnesses, that none shall presume to meddle with the curse in the Earth, before he be really delivered, as to his inward Man, from that curse in himself; or else he may expect to earn nothing else but curse instead of blessing. Before this his own internal deliverance, he may have indeed so many fine notions of this work in his brain; but the real process cannot be manifest in him, and so not understood by him, in that experimental fullness and exactness which is required.

12. The same he offers also to the serious consideration of such a one, under these and the like philosophical terms - He is to know that his Mercury is kindled in the fiery Mars, and burns in the eternal Saturn, in the terrible impression of darkness; his Venus is captivated, his water dried up, his Jupiter is become a fool, his Sun is darkened, and his Moon turned into a black night. And now there is no other remedy but to take Venus (the eternal love of God) and to introduce that into his poisoned Mercury and Mars, that they may be tinctured thereby, and then his Sun will shine again and Jupiter rejoice, etc. Which he further illustrates, by plain intelligible words, all representing most excellently his own way, practice and experience.

13. Yet all this, though really attained unto, will not be yet fully sufficient. For there is not only such a sufficient ability for this work, and a sufficient understanding of its process required, which I doubt not but Behmen had; but there is also required an especial calling thereunto, which he had not. Without this calling the Artist goes but in his own will; though his meaning and intent, as to his thinking were never so good and pure. And this call he must be able to discern, by his own internal character, which it carrieth along with and in itself, from his own natural impulse. Which easily may delude him, under the specious appearance of a divine call; and whereby the spirit of this world, which from its own internal constitution, is mightily for such an undertaking, will certainly mislead him into various dangers.

14. When now these two more general requisites viz., (1) An experimental understanding, from the Artist's process in his own regeneration, and (2) a divine call for this understanding, are truly found in him, two other more particular qualities will still be required in him, when he now is to make a beginning of his work. And these are represented by Behmen from that parable of our Lord, concerning a man which went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and was robbed and wounded by highwaymen. Saying, "That the Artist must truly and wholly stand in the figure of the merciful Samaritan and must have both his will and eyes." His will, that he may desire nothing else, but to heal and restore that which is wounded and broken. And his eyes, that he may be able to discern that wounded body which he is to heal, and which is not easily to be discerned, and not by every one, because of its great corruption.

15. These eyes he shall have the greatest need of in his very first beginning, when he is to choose the proper matter for this Philosophical Work. This is called by Behmen and described parabolically - "That evil child, which is run from its mother's house (from Jerusalem to Jericho) and desired to be in self, or to stand by itself upon its own bottom". And this must be sought for in Saturn; which Saturn therefore, the Artist must have sharp and piercing eyes to look into, both as to eternal and temporal nature. For the Wrath of God, by its strong astringent impression (says he further) hath shut it up into the chamber of death. Not hath it turned the same into Saturn. [Which I think is to say so much, as that it is not turned into lead.], but it keeps it imprisoned in the Saturnish death, in the first cold, hard, dark, astringent Property; which is called the great still standing death, because as yet there is no mobility of life therein.

16. When this proper matter is found in Saturn, the Artist may go to work, but so, that he do consider and follow that same process, which God observed in the redemption and restoration of mankind through Jesus Christ, (in which twofold holy Name, the general process was clearly understood by Behmen from the language of Nature), even from his conception and nativity, unto his Resurrection and Ascension. So doing, he may come to find the joyful feast of Pentecost, viz., that desirable tincture in outward Nature, which is answering unto that holy spiritual tincture, whereby St Peter, in his first public sermon, on the day of Pentecost, tinctured three thousand souls at once.

17. When the human Mercury, the outspoken word of the human life, was infected and poisoned by the serpent, or manifest and predominant in its own natural quality, which it hath in itself, before and without the Light, God did not reject the humanity, so as to annihilate it wholly, and to make another new, and strange Adam, but he restored or regenerated that which thus was spoiled. And this he effected not by any such new or strange thing, as which the humanity had not had in it before; but by that self-same holy divine Mercury, which was at first breathed into Adam, for to make him an image and likeness of God. This he re-introduced into the poisoned humanity, and made thereby a good, sure and solid disposition to the new regeneration thereof. And this was done in the immaculate conception of Jesus Christ. For therein conjunction was made, between the eternal speaking, and the human outspoken Word, Mercury, or human life, now poisoned in Man, and full of self or own will.

18. This must be the first consideration of the Artist, well to be observed, that so he may be sure to act accordingly, and to bring not his subject matter to the fire, without such a previous conjunction; if he will not work in vain, and make himself ridiculous. And for an illustration hereof this may serve: in the Second Principle, of Light, the Love-desire, that is, the first property of Eternal Nature, but considered as in the fifth, makes a pure crystalline substantiality. And therein the divine Mercury is the eternal holy Word and understanding: but in the first principle, wherein the harsh astringent desire makes a dark obscure substantiality, the same Mercury is a principal part, or chief property of the Wrath of God, and an original of all mobility, and moving power. This Mercury therefore (considered as in the outspoken Word, or life of Man) after it was turned away from the second principle, of Love and Light, and was made manifest according to its own wrathful property in the first; could not have been restored or brought back again, but by that very same Mercury, which was first breathed into Man, and was not altered in the Light and Love of God, though it was altered in Man, in whom it disappeared and lost its former pre-dominion. Now the getting this lost pre-dominion again, either in Man, or in any other creature, according to its own kind, is nothing else, but that same tincturing and transmuting, which in all this discourse is spoken of; and which restored pre-dominion therefore of that Heavenly Mercury must needs reproduce again such a pure light's substantiality, as that which disappeared in Man, by his fall, and in the Earth by the curse.