Sal Lumen and Spiritus Mundi Philosophici

But to give my own share of the meaning concealed beneath these mythologies, do we not clearly see that ancient Demogorgon, father of all the gods—or rather of all the members of the world—who is said to dwell at the centre of the earth, covered in a green and rusty mantle and nourishing every kind of animal, is nothing other than the universal spirit? From the womb of Chaos, obeying the Lord’s voice, this spirit brought to light the heavens, the elements and everything within them, which it has ever since maintained and quickened. For it truly lodges in the midst of the earth, as I explained fully at the beginning of this book: that is, at the centre of the world, where it is seated as upon its throne. From there, as from the heart of this great body and the seat of universal life, it produces, animates and nourishes everything. What else can we imagine the green and rusty mantle clothing it to be, but the surface of the earth which envelops it, dark and iron-coloured, enamelled and painted with every kind of herb and flower? Virgil, perfectly instructed in all these mystical secrets, gave this spirit or soul of the world the name of Jupiter, whom he makes his shepherd Damoetas invoke at the beginning of his songs, because, he says, all things are filled with him. Pan too, the god of the forests worshipped by shepherds, may be understood as the same thing. Besides his name, which means ‘all’, he is made lord of the forests because the Greeks considered him governor of Chaos, which they otherwise call Hyle, meaning a forest. Thus Orpheus in his hymn calls him: Pan the strong, the subtle, the whole, the universal, All air, all water, all earth, and all immortal fire; You who sit with time upon one and the same throne, In the lower realm, the middle, and the highest; Conceiving, engendering, producing, preserving all: Principle in all, of all, who accomplish everything; Seed of fire, of air, of earth, and of the waters; Great spirit quickening all the members of the world, You who move through all in all, changing their natures, Lodging in every body as its universal soul, To which you give being, and movement, and life, Proving by a thousand effects your infinite power.