70 PARACELSUS 



never had been any in existence, nevertheless the children 

 of Adam and Eve would be born and have their particular 

 temperaments. One may be melancholy, another choleric, 

 a third sanguine or bilious, &c. Such qualities of men 

 come from the Ens projprietatis, and not from any astral 

 influences, for the temperaments, tastes, inclinations, and 

 talents form no part of the body ; that is to say, they 

 give no complexion, colour, or form to it — they are the 

 attributes of the Uns proprietatis.^ 



Although, speaking in a general sense, the Microcosm 

 and the Macrocosm bear to each other a similar relation- 

 ship as the chicken in the egg bears to its surrounding 

 albumen, nevertheless the action of the Macrocosm upon 

 the Microcosm is only an external condition of life, called 

 by Paracelsus, Digest. No man or any mortal being can 

 exist without the influence of the Astra, but they do not 

 come into existence through them. A seed thrown into 

 the soil may grow and produce a plant, but it could not 

 accomplish this if it were not acted upon by the sun, 

 nor could the soil itself produce a seed, no matter how 

 long the sun would shine upon it. Paracelsus explains 

 the origin of the qualities of the external conditions of 

 life as being produced by the mutual attractions and 

 interactions existing between the Macrocosmos and the 

 Microcosmos, and by the harmony of both spheres (the 

 upper and lower mind), of which either is formed in 

 accordance with the other. The common basis of both — 

 which is, so to say, their common receptacle of germs 

 — is called Limbus. "Man being formed out of the 

 Limbus, and the Limbus being universal, and therefore 

 the mother of all things, it follows that all things, 



nnity and purity except by means of the celestial marriage (within his 

 soul) such as takes place during the process of spiritual regeneration. 

 (See Jacob Boehme.) 



^ What else can this ^*Ens proprietatis " mean but the human monad 

 reincarnating itself, and being in possession of all the tastes, inclinations, 

 talents, and temperament acquired during its former existences as an 

 individual being ? 



