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Original English Page · Branch 241 of 318
Secrecy and the Divine Source · Original
Original English
can it bee expected then, that I should prostitute this Mysterie to all hands whatsoever, that I should proclame it, and crie it, as they cry Oysters? Verily these Considerations, with some other which I will not for all the world put to Papyr have made mee almost displease my dearest friends, to whom notwithstanding I owe a better Satisfaction. Had it been my fortune barely to know this Matter, as most men doe, I had perhaps been lesse carefull of it, but I have been instructed in all the Secret Circumstances thereof, which few upon Earth understand. I speak not for any Ostentation, but I speak a Truth which my Conscience knowes very well. Let me then Reader, request thy Patience, for I shall leave this Discoverie to God, who if it bee his blessed will can call unto Thee, and say: Here it is, and thus I worke it. I had not spoken all this in my own Defence, had I not been assaulted (as it were) in this very point, and told to my face I was bound to discover all that I knew, for this Age looks for Dreames and Revelations, as the Traine to their invisible Righteousnesse. I have now sufficiently discours'd of the Matter, and if it be not thy fortune to find it by what is here written, yet thou canst not bee deceived by what I have sayd, for I have purposely a voyded all those Termes, which might make thee mistake
Modern English
can I then be expected to expose this mystery to every hand whatsoever, to proclaim it and cry it through the streets as oysters are cried for sale? These considerations, together with others which I would not commit to paper for the whole world, have almost made me displease my dearest friends, to whom I nevertheless owe a better satisfaction. Had my fortune been merely to know this matter, as most people do, perhaps I would have guarded it less carefully; but I have been instructed in all its secret circumstances, which few on earth understand. I do not speak for display: I speak a truth which my conscience knows very well. Reader, let me therefore ask your patience. I shall leave this disclosure to God, who, if it is his blessed will, can call to you and say: “Here it is, and this is how I work upon it.” I would not have said all this in my defence had I not been attacked, as it were, on this very point, and told to my face that I was obliged to disclose everything I knew; for this age expects dreams and revelations as the attendants of its invisible righteousness. I have now discussed the matter sufficiently; and if you are not fortunate enough to find it through what is written here, you nevertheless cannot be deceived by what I have said. I have deliberately avoided every term that might lead you to mistake
Socrates
Reading Magia Adamica · Secrecy and the Divine Source · Page 112 · Passage A
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Thomas Vaughan’s complete 1650 Magia Adamica publication, with all historical preliminaries and the complete appended Coelum Terrae, original and modern English, fresh translations of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, full poems, eight historical marginal notes, the complete recovered printed corrections, 312 annotations and the complete supplied Diotimos study apparatus.
Historical Text and Translation
Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), Magia Adamica: or The Antiquitie of Magic, with Coelum Terrae. London: T. W. for H. Blunden, 1650. Governing transcription: EEBO-TCP A64768.0001.001. The Getty Research Institute copy supplies surviving first-edition page images; the 1656 issue supplies explicitly disclosed missing or defective material. The complete shared 1650 errata are recovered from the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica copy of The Man-Mouse.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
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The historical text is public domain; the EEBO-TCP Phase I transcription is released under CC0. The supplied 2026 reading, translations and Diotimos editorial material are published with the site owner’s authorization.
- Governing historical text and transcriptionEEBO-TCP: governing 1650 textual witness
- First-edition image witness with disclosed lacunaeGetty Research Institute: surviving 1650 comparison copy
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