Leseprobe

63 C e c i l i a Mu r a t o r i NATURE The observation of nature is the starting point of Böhme’s philosophy. The frontispiece of his first book, Aurora (1612), states that the object of the text is the “description of nature, how everything was and came to be in the beginning, how nature and the ele- ments became creaturely” (see p. 33). 7 Through the investigation of nature, Böhme seeks to understand the origin of the entire world, and even to envision how “it will be at the end of this time.” 8 Nature is thus the most immediate source of knowledge for Böhme. He has recourse to the metaphor, used throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, that nature is like a book that the human being needs to learn how to read. In fact, what can be learnt from nature cannot be found in any traditional book. In his second work, On the Three Principles of the Divine Essence (1619), he warns the reader as follows: “you won’t find any book in which you could better dis- cover and investigate the Divine wisdom than when you walk on a green and blooming meadow, there you will see, smell and taste the marvellous power of God, even if this is just a similitude” ( Three Principles 8.12). 9 1 Title page in: Valentin Weigel, Studium Universale , Frankfurt / Leipzig 1698, Embassy of the Free Mind, Collection Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica