Burning cherub, flaming sword, and trees of life

Meaning

The burning cherub and flaming sword guard the tree of life in the divine comparison; Nature’s watchful, fire-spitting dragon guards her garden and golden apples. Nuysement expressly glosses the latter treasure as knowledge of Nature’s most hidden secrets. The common function is guarded access, not a claim that the two guardians are the same being or that the apples name an ordinary fruit. The image introduces the problem of oral transmission to the worthy and the risk that knowledge disappears when it is not written. It therefore belongs as much to the history of secrecy and teaching as to the book’s natural allegories.