1.
CES. It is said that the best and most excellent things are in the world
when the whole universe responds from every part, perfectly, to those
things; and this it is said takes place as the planets arrive at Aries,
being when that one of the eighth sphere again reaches the upper
invisible firmament, where is also the other Zodiac;[A] and low and evil
things prevail when the opposite disposition and order supervene, and
thus through the power of change comes the continual mutation of like
and unlike, from one opposite to another. The revolution then of the
great year of the world is that space of time in which, through the most
diverse customs and effects, and by the most opposite and contrary
means, it returns to the same again. As we see in particular years such
as that of the sun, where the beginning of an opposite tendency is the
end of one year, and the end of this is the beginning of that. Therefore
now that we have been in the dregs of the sciences, which have brought
forth the dregs of opinions, which are the cause of the dregs of customs
and of works, we may certainly expect to return to the better condition.
[A] Astronomers distinguish between a fixed and intellectual zodiac;
and the movable and visible zodiac. According to the former, Aries
still stands as the first of the signs; that is to say, the first
thirty degrees of the zodiacal circle, reckoning from the
equinoctial point in spring, are allotted to Aries in the
intellectual zodiac.... Astronomers generally choose to reckon by
the fixed and intellectual zodiac.--(Drummond's "Oedipus Judaicus.")
MARICONDO. Know, my brother, that this succession and order of things is
most true and most certain; but as regards ourselves in all ordinary
conditions whatever, the present afflicts more than the past, nor can
these two together console, but only the future, which is always in hope
and expectation as you may see designated in this figure which is taken
from the ancient Egyptians, who made a certain statue which is a bust,
upon which they placed three heads, one of a wolf which looks behind,
one of a lion with the face turned half round, and the third of a dog
who looks straight before him; to signify that things of the past
afflict by means of thoughts, but not so much as things of the present
which actually torment, while the future ever promises something better;
therefore behold the wolf that howls, the lion that roars and the dog
that barks (applause).
CES. What means that legend that is written above?
MAR. See, that above the wolf is Lam, above the lion Modo, above the dog
Praeterea, which are words signifying the three parts of time.
CES. Now read the tablet.
MAR. I will do so.
41.
A wolf, a lion, and a dog appear
At dawn, at midday, and dark night.
That which I spent, retain and for myself procure,
So much was given, is given, and may be given;
For that which I did, I do, and have to do.
In the past, in the present and in the future,
I do repent, torment myself and re-assure,
For the loss, in suffering and in expectation.
With sour, with bitter and with sweet
Experience, the fruits, and hope,
Threatens, afflict, and comforts me.
The age I lived, do live and am to live,
Affrights me, shakes me and upholds
In absence, presence and in prospect.
Much, too much and sufficient
Of the past, of now, and of to come,
Put me in fear, in anguish and in hope.
CES. This is precisely the humour of a furious lover, though the same
may be said of nearly all mortals who are seriously affected in any way.
We cannot say that this accords with all conditions in a general way,
but only with those mortals who were, and who are, wretched. So that to
him who sought a kingdom and obtained it, belongs the fear of losing the
same; and to one who has laboured to secure the fruits of love, such as
the special grace of the beloved, belongs the tooth of jealousy and
suspicion. Thus, too, with the states of the world; when we find
ourselves in darkness and in adversity we may surely prophecy light and
prosperity, and when we are in a state of happiness and discipline,
doubtless we have to expect the advent of ignorance and distress. As in
the case of Hermes Trismegistus, who, seeing Egypt in all the splendour
of the sciences and of occultism, so that he considered that men were
consorting with gods and spirits and were in consequence most pious, he
made that prophetic lament to Asclepios, saying that the darkness of new
religions and cults must follow, and that of the then present things
nothing would remain but idle tales and matter for condemnation. So the
Hebrews, when they were slaves in Egypt, and banished to the deserts,
were comforted by their prophets with the hope of liberty and the
re-acquisition of their country; when they were in authority and
tranquillity they were menaced with dispersion and captivity. And as in
these days there is no evil nor injury to which we are not subject, so
there is no good nor honour that we may not promise ourselves. Thus does
it happen to all the other generations and states, the which, if they
endure and be not destroyed entirely by the force of vicissitude, it is
inevitable that from evil they come to good, from good to evil, from low
estate to high, from high to low, out of obscurity into splendour, out
of splendour into obscurity, for this is the natural order of things;
outside of which order, if another should be found which destroys or
corrects it, I should believe it and not dispute it, for I reason with
none other than a natural spirit.[B]
[B] As in long-drawn systole and long-drawn diastole, must the
period of Faith, alternate with the period of Denial; must the
vernal growth, the summer luxuriance of all Opinions, Spiritual
Representations and Creations, be followed by, and again follow the
autumnal decay, the winter dissolution.--("Sartor Resartus.")
MAR. We know that you are not a theologian but a philosopher, and that
you treat of philosophy and not of theology.
CES. It is so. But let us see what follows.