des Steins der Weisen. 7

[It] has been of little consequence, so there will have been nothing to say of such things.

Now that God the Almighty, through his almighty art, has separated the elevation and purification of the matter, [and] has coagulated, fixed, and confirmed the firmament, which is named the heaven—which is round, spherical, dish-shaped, movable, and encompassed with Δ fire: For if the clouds were not surrounded by the cold and with the Δ fire, the lower elementa elements on earth would be ignited and burned up. This heaven is now so beautifully, clearly, and heartily arranged, in which the stars are ordained and attached; but the world and earth [are] separated from it, which is so black and shapeless to behold, which is to be compared as day and night, light and darkness, sun and moon, [and] is a different thing: Thus the uppermost part has become lighter and more luminous before the Divine Omnipotence.

Accordingly, God has made and created many hearty, different creatures from the earth, so that one surpasses the other in skill, beauty, virtue, form, [and] effect, so that the earth is endowed with all kinds of growth; also, the lower part is made fruitful and augmented by the upper through the sun, moon, planets, and stars by heat and moisture, from which also grows a