Lumen de Lumine

Name: Lumen de Lumine
Author: Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes)

A New Magical Light · The Complete 1651 First Edition

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Lumen de LumineThe Magical Aphorisms of Eugenius · Aphorism 1

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Facing Pages · Branch 174 of 200

The Magical Aphorisms of Eugenius · Aphorism 1

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Latin

Ante Omnia Punctum extitit: non τὸ ἄτομον, aut Mathematicum, sed Diffusivum. Monas erat Explicite: Implicite Myrias. Lux erat, erat & Nox: Principium, & Finis Principii: Omnia, & Nihil: Est, & Non.

Modern English

Before all things there existed a point: not an indivisible atom or a mathematical point, but a diffusive one. Explicitly it was a monad; implicitly, a myriad. It was light, and it was also night; a beginning and the end of beginning; all things and nothing; is and is not.

About This Reading Edition

The complete 1651 Lumen de Lumine, or A New Magical Light, by Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), with original and modern English, fresh translations of the Latin, Greek and Hebrew passages, the historical emblem and its inscriptions, all twelve Magical Aphorisms, 105 annotations and the complete supplied Diotimos study apparatus.

Historical Text and Translation

Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), Lumen de Lumine, or A New Magicall Light. London: H. Blunden, 1651. Governing witness: Wellcome Collection EPB/A/69096.4, digitisation b30340160, Wing V150, ESTC R146. Source credit: Wellcome Collection; Public Domain Mark.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The historical text and emblem are public domain. The supplied 2026 reading, translations and Diotimos editorial material are published with the site owner’s authorization.