The Signature of all Things'It is not to be thought that the life of darkness is sunk in misery and lost as if in sorrow. There is no sorrowing. For sorrowing is a thing swallowed up in death, and death and dying are the very life of the darkness.' Jacob Boehme's mystical pantheism and dialectical conception of God - in which good and evil are rooted in one and the same being - soon brought him into conflict with Lutheran orthodoxy. It is in 'The Signature of all Things' (Signatura Rerum) that the tenets of Boehme's theosophy are related in their greatest detail. Casting the reader into the vortex of his cosmological universe, Boehme's endeavour to express a new sense of the human, divine and natural realms attains its apotheosis in his conception of the Ungrund, the uncertainty that precedes the divine will's arousing itself to self-awareness. Challenging and rewarding in equal measure, this is a profound text, deeply influential upon devotional writers such as William Law, visionaries such as William Blake (informing The Marriage of Heaven and Hell) and, more recently, upon cultural production as diverse as the psychology of Carl Jung and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. |
Contents
3 | |
9 | |
13 | |
22 | |
Chapter IV | 32 |
Chapter V | 43 |
Chapter VI | 48 |
Chapter VII | 56 |
Chapter XIII | 162 |
Chapter XIV | 176 |
Chapter XV | 196 |
Chapter XVI | 210 |
Postscript by the Translator | 221 |
A Dialogue Between a Scholar and his Master Concerning the Supersensual Life | 224 |
Dialogue I | 227 |
Dialogue II | 245 |
Chapter VIII | 76 |
Chapter IX | 91 |
Chapter X | 108 |
Chapter XI | 129 |
Chapter XII | 152 |
A Dialogue Between Junius a Scholar and Theophorus his Master | 259 |
A Discourse Between a Soul Hungry and Thirsty | 278 |
The Way From Darkness to True Illumination | 279 |
You might also be interested in | 296 |
Back cover | 297 |
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Common terms and phrases
according Adam angels anger anguish arises artist become beginning body bring brought called cause centre changed child Christ cold colour continually corporeal created creature cure curse darkness dead death desire devil Disciple divine earth earthly enkindled enter essence essentiality eternal evil expressed falls false Father fiery fire flagrat four elements gives God's ground grows hard hath heat heaven heavenly hell herbs highest humanity hunger impression introduced Jesus Jupiter kingdom liberty lies light likewise live Lord lubet manifest Mars Master Mercury mind mother mystery nature original outward paradise poison principle reason receives resigned salt Saturn seek self-hood separate shines soul sound speaking spirit stands Sulphur thee things thou thou art thyself tincture true turned understand unto Venus virtue voice whence wherein wholly wonders wrath