Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 127 of 204
Sulphur · Fire · Passage 3
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1616 · sequence pages 23–24
Latin
Quietissimum subiectum illud esse diximus, quoniam est, alias sequeretur, quod et cogitare absurdum est, Deum quiescere non posse; est enim quietissimi silentii, plus quam mens humana imaginare potest. Habes exemplum in silice in quo ignis est, et tamen non sentitur, nec apparet, donec motu excitatur et accenditur in illo ut appareat; ita ignis ille in quo locata est sanctissima Maiestas Creatoris nostri, non movetur nisi propria voluntate Altissimi excitetur, et sic deportatur quo est sancta Voluntas eius. Fit enim voluntate supremi conditoris motus vehementissimus et terribilis. Habes exemplum, quando aliquis Monarcha huius mundi in sua pompa sedet, qualis circa illum quies, quale silentium? Et etiamsi ex suis aulicis aliquis movetur, motus tantum unius et alterius particularis est, qui non consideratur. Sed quando Dominus ipse movetur, fit rumor et motus universalis, tum omnis assistentia movetur cum illo. Quid igitur quando supremus ille Monarcha Rex Regum ac Conditor omnium rerum, ad cuius exemplum principes mundi constituuntur in terris, movet authoritatem, qualis motus, qualis tremor, quando circa illum movetur tota assistentia caelestis exercitus?
English
I have called this the most tranquil subject, because it is. Otherwise it would follow—an absurd thought even to entertain—that God could not rest. It possesses a stillness of silence beyond what the human mind can imagine. You have an example in flint: fire is present in it, yet is neither felt nor seen until motion stirs and kindles it into visibility. Likewise the fire in which our Creator's most holy majesty is placed does not move unless stirred by the Most High's own will. It is thereby borne wherever his holy will directs. At the supreme Creator's will, its motion becomes exceedingly violent and terrible.
Consider a monarch of this world seated in state. What quiet surrounds him, what silence! Even if one of his courtiers moves, it is merely the particular movement of one or another person and is disregarded. But when the lord himself moves, a general stir and movement arises: his whole company moves with him. What then happens when that supreme monarch, king of kings and maker of all things—after whose example earthly princes are appointed—sets his authority in motion? What movement, what trembling, when the entire attendant heavenly host moves about him!
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Sulphur · Fire · Sulphur · Fire · Passage 3
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete supplied Latin–English edition of the Twelve Treatises, Epilogue, Enigma, Parable, Dialogue of Mercury and Treatise of Sulphur, with original preliminaries, John French’s historical English address and its separately labelled modernisation, 101 annotations and the complete study apparatus.
Historical Text and Translation
The Twelve Treatises and their concluding texts follow the selected 1606 Herzog August Bibliothek witness. The Dialogue uses the 1607 Cologne printing; the author’s preface and Alsted epigram use Frankfurt 1611. Sulphur uses the 1616 Munich and Rome witnesses. John French’s 1650 address is separately identified as historical English reception.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
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The historical Latin texts and John French’s 1650 English address are in the public domain. The new translation, modernisation and editorial apparatus were prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions in 2026 and are published with the site owner’s authorization.