Relation

Use in the book

The Hermetic account of soul distinguishes moving in something, in relation to something, and for the sake of something. It denies these conditions to the soul’s own movement and then associates them with place, time, nature, harmony, form, shape, and body. Another Hermetic passage describes activities constituted in relation to something or for a purpose as unable to remain idle in their proper activity.

Places to read

1. I.41.4.1Relations conditioning bodily motion are distinguished from the soul’s own movement.
2. I.41.6.4Relative and purposive constitution entails continued activity.
3. I.4.7c.2The maker’s relation to matter enters a report about necessity.

Translation in this edition

The English retains the prepositional distinctions, including their unusual application. It does not silently replace them with a textbook list of categories.

The relation of maker to matter

Schesis can describe how one thing stands toward another. In I.4.7c.2, the report about Plato identifies necessity at one point with the maker’s relation to matter. That interpretation is distinct from the ensuing quotation from the Timaeus. “Relation” preserves the connection between the two terms without turning it into a separately existing substance.

Use in the book

A creature becomes intelligible as treasure through its relations. The sun’s excellence is disclosed by what it does for eyes, fields, seas, and other creatures; an isolated account of its material constitution would miss its value. Knowledge must therefore move outward from the thing to the whole order in which it serves and is enjoyed.

The personal sense remains active. Christ has relations and acquaintances, and the reader must learn a pattern of love exceeding merely familiar ties. Traherne does not abolish particular relationships, but refuses to let them define the outer boundary of concern. The movement from private relation to universal communion follows the same logic as the movement from an isolated object to its place among God’s gifts.

Places to read

1. III.44The enlarged study of nature includes relations, causes, and ends.
2. III.55The sun and a piece of gold acquire intelligible value through their relations.
3. I.60Christ’s ordinary relations are placed within his comprehensive love.
4. III.97Being God’s children includes likeness and shared glory beyond the bare relation of children.

In this edition

Relations in I.60 and I.94 can mean relatives or familiar associates. It should not automatically be read as the abstract philosophical term used in III.44.