There is no need for him to visit the ruined theaters of the ancients,
Nor the new ones, rendered vain by their own spectacles.
Rather, let him cast off the impure world, and cast off himself,
And let him flee the clouds that entangle the soul.
Let him enter the orchestra of your Amphitheater, KHUNRATH,
While the goodly little spark of the Heavens leads the way.
Where Divine Wisdom shows in the Emerald mirror original: "Smaragdi... speclo." Likely a reference to the "Emerald Tablet" of Hermes Trismegistus, a foundational text of alchemy.
What the Macrocosm The "Great World," or the universe at large. does, and what the Microcosm The "Little World," or the individual human being. does.
And where the Panacea A legendary universal remedy. of Hermes and Asclepian Hygeia Asclepius was the Greek god of medicine; Hygeia was his daughter and the goddess of health. reign,
And each scatters worthy riches upon the worthy.
Which KHUNRATH—offspring of a noble Genius—
Opens in his wide Amphitheater, while Envy's stomach turns.
Go on then: the foundation of your Amphitheater shall remain firm,
As long as the Macrocosm shall be, and as long as the Microcosm shall be.

Johannes Seuffius, Ecclesiastical Secretary

to the Elector of Saxony, consecrated this

to his dearest friend, for the sake of

honor and love, on the Ides of March, in the year 1604,

at Dresden.

An ornate horizontal typographic border consisting of repeating symmetrical scrollwork and floral motifs.

OF THE LOVER OF THEOSOPHY

to the

PHILOSOPHER

OF THE SHADOWS original: "Umbratilem." Referring to a "closet" or "armchair" philosopher who deals only in theory and "shadows" rather than the light of divine experience.

An Address original: "$προσφωνησι\varsigma$."

BY THEODORUS AQUILINUS, POET LAUREATE.

Why, Sophist In this context, a "Sophist" is one who uses clever but fallacious reasoning, as opposed to the true seeker of divine wisdom., do you call back to my care the futile Muses

who have been renounced?

Hearts dedicated to GOD deny the Camenae A Latin term for the Muses, often associated with secular poetry.,

nor are they open to Apollo.

There was once that foolish confidence,
Deceit, Darkness, and Dreams:
To summon the deaf Apollo from the Delphic cave,
To call the Muses "Divine Beings,"
And to seek the gift of speech (a gift granted by GOD)
From a fountain, a grove, or mountain peaks.
Now another force moves the mind; a greater GOD
Demands other ways of living,
Reclaiming for Himself His own gift from man,
So that we might live for the Father of Life:
To find no time for vanities, whether at rest or at work,
Or for the literature of fables.