This is understood by none but the Children of Christ, who have known it by Experience.

WHEN Christ the Corner-Stone stirreth Himself in the extinguished Image of Man, in his hearty Conversion and Repentance, then Virgin Sophia appeareth in the Stirring of the Spirit of Christ in the extinguished Image, in Her Virgin's Attire before the Soul; at which the Soul is so amazed and astonished in its Uncleanness, that all its Sins immediately awake in it, and it trembleth before Her; for then the Judgement passeth upon the Sins of the Soul, so that it even goeth back in its Unworthiness, being ashamed in the Presence of its fair Love, and entereth into itself, feeling and acknowledging itself utterly unworthy to receive such a Jewel. This is understood by those who are of our Tribe, and have tasted of this Heavenly Gift, and by none else. But the Noble Sophia draweth near in the Essence of the Soul, and kisseth it in friendly Manner, and tinctureth its dark Fire with Her Rays of Love, and shineth through it with Her bright and powerful Influence. Penetrated with the strong Sense and Feeling of Which, the Soul skippeth in its Body for great Joy, and in the Strength of this Virgin Love exulteth, and praiseth the Great God for His blessed Gift of Grace.

I will set down here a short Description how it is when the Bride thus embraceth the Bridegroom, for the Consideration of the Reader, who perhaps hath not yet been in this Wedding-Chamber. It may be that he will be desirous to follow us, and to enter into the Inner Choir, where the Soul joineth Hands and danceth with Sophia, or the Divine Wisdom.

I.

When that which is mentioned above cometh to pass, the Soul rejoiceth in its Body, and saith,

PRAISE, Thanksgiving, Strength, Honor, and Glory, be to Thee, O great God, in Thy Power and Sweetness, for that Thou hast redeemed me from the Anguish of the fiery Driver. O Thou Fair Love! My heart embraceth Thee; where hast Thou been so long? I thought I was in Hell in the Anger of God. O Gracious Love! Abide with me, I beseech Thee, and be my Joy and Comfort. Lead me in the right WAY. I give myself up into Thy Love. I am dark before Thee, do Thou enlighten me. O Noble Love, give me Thy Sweet Pearl; put it I pray Thee into me.

O Great God in Christ Jesus, I praise and magnify Thee now in Thy Truth, in Thy Great Power and Glory, for that Thou hast forgiven me my Sins, and filled me with Thy Strength. I shout for Joy before Thee in my new Life, and extol Thee in Thy Firmament of Heaven, which none can open but Thy Spirit in Thy Mercy. My Bones rejoice in Thy Strength, and my Heart delighteth itself in Thy Love. Thanks be to Thee forever, for that Thou has delivered me out of Hell, and turned Death into Life in me. O Sweet Love! Let me not depart from Thee again. Grant me Thy Garland of Pearl, and abide in me. O be my own proper Possession, that I may rejoice in Thee forever.

Upon this, the Virgin Sophia saith to the Soul,

MY nobel Bridegroom, my Strength and Power, thou art a thousand Times welcome. Why hast thou forgotten Me so long, that I have been constrained in great Grief to stand without the Door and knock? Have I not always called thee and entreated thee? But thou hast turned away thy Countenance from Me, and thine Ears have declined My Entreaties. Thou couldst not see My Light, for thou didst walk in the Valley of Darkness. I was very near thee, and entreated thee continually, but thy Sinfulness held thee Captive in Death, so that thou knewest Me not. I came to thee in great Humility, and called thee, but thou wert rich in the Power of the Anger of God, and didst not regard My Humility and Lowliness. Thou hast taken the Devil to be thy Paramour, who hath defiled thee thus, and built up his Fort of Prey in thee, and turned thee quite away from My Love and Faith into his hypocritical Kingdom of Falsehood; wherein thou hast committed much Sin and Wickedness, and torn thy Will off from My Love. Thou hast broken the Bond of Wedlock, and set thy Love and Affection upon a Stranger, and suffered Me thy Bride, whom God did give thee, to stand alone in the extinguished Substance, without the Power of thy fiery Strength. I could not be joyful without thy fiery Strength, for thou art My Husband; My shining Brightness is made manifest by thee. Thou canst manifest My hidden Wonders in thy fiery Life, and bring them into Majesty; and yet without Me thou art but a dark House, wherein is nothing but Anguish, Misery, and horrible Torment.

O noble Bridegroom, stand still with thy Countenance towards Me, and give Me thy Rays of Fire. Bring thy Desire into Me, and enkindle Me thereby, and then I will bring the Rays of My Love, from My Meekness into thy fiery Essence, and be united with thee forever.

O My Bridegroom, how well am I, now that I am in Union with thee! O kiss Me with thy Desire in thy Strength and Power, and then I will show thee all My Beauty, and will rejoice and solace Myself with thy sweet Love and shining Brightness in thy fiery Life. All the Holy Angels rejoice with us, to see us united again. My dear Love, I now entreat thee to stay faithful to Me, and do not turn thy Face away from Me any more. Work thou thy Wonders in My Love, for which Purpose God hath created thee and brought thee into Being.

II.

The Soul saith again to its Noble Sophia , its Love, that is born again in it,

O my Noble Pearl, and opened Flame of Light in my anxious fiery Life, how Thou changest me into Thy Joy! O Beautiful Love, I have broken my Faith with Thee in my Father Adam, and with my fiery Strength have turned myself to the Pleasure and Vanity of the outward World. I have fallen in Love with a Stranger, and would have been constrained to walk in the Valley of Darkness in this strange Love, if Thou hadst not come into the House of my Misery, in Thy great Faithfulness, by Thy piercing through and destroying God's Anger, Hell, and dark Death, and restoring Thy Meekness and Love to my fiery Life.

O Sweet Love! Thou hast brought the Water of Eternal Life out of the Fountain of God, with Thee into me, and refreshed me in my great Thirst. I behold in Thee the Mercy of God, which was hidden from me before by the strange Love. In Thee I can rejoice; Thou changest my Anguish of Fire into great Joy in me. O amiable Love, give me Thy Pearl, that I may continue in this Joy forever.

Upon this the Noble Sophia answereth the Soul again, and saith,

MY dear Love and faithful Treasure, thou highly rejoicest Me in thy Beginning. I have indeed broken into thee through the deep Gates of God, through God's Anger, through Hell and Death, into the House of thy Misery, and have graciously bestowed My Love upon thee, and delivered thee from the Chains and Bonds wherewith thou wert fast bound. I have kept My Faith with thee, even though thou hast not kept thine with Me. But now thou desireth an exceeding great Thing of Me, which I cannot willingly trust in thy Hands. Thou wouldest have My Pearl as thy proper own. Remember, I pray, O My beloved Bridegroom, that thou didst carelessly lose it before in Adam; and thou thyself standest yet in great Danger, and walkest in two dangerous Kingdoms; for in thy original Fire thou walkest in that Country wherein God calleth Himself a strong jealous God, and a consuming Fire. The other Kingdom which thou walkest in, is the outward World, wherein thou dwellest in the vain corrupt Flesh and Blood, and where the Pleasures of the World and Assaults of the Devil beset thee every Hour. Thou mayest perhaps in thy great Joy bring Earthliness again into My Beauty, and thereby darken My Pearl; or thou mayest possibly grow proud, as Lucifer did, when he had the Pearl in his Possession, and so turn thyself away from the Harmony of God, as he did, and then I must be deprived of My Love forever afterwards.

No. I will keep My Pearl in Myself, and dwell in the Heaven in thee, in thy extinguished, but now in Me, revived, Humanity, and reserve My Pearl for Paradise, until thou puttest away this Earthliness from thee, and then I will give it to thee to possess. But I will readily present to thee My pleasant Countenance, and the sweet Rays of the Pearl, during the Time of this Earthly Life. I will dwell with the Pearl Itself in the inner Choir, and be thy faithful loving Bride. I cannot espouse Myself with thy earthly Flesh, for I am a heavenly Queen, and My Kingdom is not of this World. Yet I will not cast thy outward Life away, but refresh it often with My Rays of Love; for thy outward Humanity shall return again. But I cannot admit to My Embraces the Beast of Vanity, neither did God create It in Adam with a Purpose to have It so gross and earthly. But in Adam thy Desire, through the Power of its strong Lust, formed this beastial Grossness, from and with all the Essences of the awakened Vanity of the earthly Property, wherein Heat and Cold, Pain and Enmity, Division and Corruption subsist.

Now, My dear Love and Bridegroom, do but yield thyself up into My Will; I will not forsake thee in this earthly Life in thy Danger. Though the Anger of God should pass upon thee, so that thou shouldst grow affrighted and disheartened, or shouldst think that I had deserted thee, yet I will be with thee and preserve thee, for thou thyself knowest not what thine Office is. Thou must work and bear Fruit in this Life's Time. Thou art the Root of this Pearl-Tree; Branches must be produced out of thee, which must all be brought forth in Anguish. But I come forth together with thy Branches in their Sap, and produce Fruit upon thy Boughs, and thou knowest it not; for the Most High hath ordered, that I should dwell with and in thee.

Wrap thyself up therefore in Patience, and take Heed of the Pleasure of the Flesh. Break the Will and Desire thereof; bridle it as an unruly Horse; and then I will often visit thee in the fiery Essence, and give thee My Kiss of Love. I will bring a Garland for thee out of Paradise with Me, as a Token of My Affection, and put it upon thee, and thou shalt rejoice in it. But I give thee not My Pearl for a Possession during this Life's Time. Thou must continue in Resignation, and hearken what the Lord playeth on His Instrument in thy Harmony in thee. Moreover, thou must give Sound and Essence to thy Tune, out of My Strength and Virtue, for thou art now a Messenger of His Word, and must set forth His Praise and Glory. For this Cause it is that I have contracted Myself a-new with thee, and set My triumphal Garland upon thee; which I have gotten in the Battle against the Devil and Death. But the Crown of Pearl wherewith I crowned thee, I have laid aside for thee. Thou must wear that no more till thou art become pure in My Sight.

III.

The Soul saith further to the Noble Sophia,

O Thou Fair and Sweet Consort, what shall I say before Thee? Let me be wholly committed unto Thee; I cannot preserve myself. If Thou wilt not give me Thy Pearl, I submit to Thy Will; but give me Thy Rays of Love, and carry me safely through my Pilgrimage. Do Thou awaken and bring forth what Thou wilt in me; I will from henceforth be Thy own. I will or desire nothing for myself, but what Thou Thyself wilt through me. I had fooled away Thy Sweet Love, and broken my Faith with Thee, whereby I was fallen into the Anger of God. But seeing that of Love Thou didst come to me into the Anguish of Hell, and hast delivered me from Torment, and received me again for Thy Consort, I will now therefore break my Will for Thy Love's Sake, and be obedient unto Thee, and wait for Thy Love. I am satisfied now that I know Thou art with me in all my Troubles, and wilt not forsake me.

O Gracious Love, I turn my fiery Countenance to Thee. O fair Crown, take me quickly into Thee, and bring me forth from Unquietness. I will be Thine forever, and never depart from Thee more.

The Noble Sophia answereth the Soul very comfortably, and saith,

MY noble Bridegroom, be of good Comfort. I have betrothed thee to Me in My highest Love, and contracted Myself with thee in My Faithfulness. I will be with thee and in thee always to the End of the World. I will come to thee and make My Abode with thee, in thy inner Chamber. Thou shalt drink of My Fountain; for now I am thine, and thou art Mine; the Enemy shall not separate Us. Work thou in thy fiery Property, and I will put My Rays of Love into thy Working. And so We will plant and manure the Vineyard of Jesus Christ. Afford thou the Essence of Fire, and I will afford the Essence of Light, and the Increase. Be thou the Fire, and I will be the Water, and thus We will perform that in this World for which God hath appointed Us, and serve Him in His Temple, which We ourselves are. Amen.