VISIO QUARTA, cap. XVII
The Head as a Map of Cosmic Elements
The human head is divided into three regions mirroring the cosmic elements, each separated by equal measure.
In the human head as well, three higher elements are designated: from the surface of the skull up to the forehead, bright fire with the darker fire beneath it; from the forehead up to the tip of the nose, pure upper air; and from the nose down to the throat, watery air set over a strong, bright white air. And these regions are separated from one another by equal measure, just as the density of the upper fire with the dark fire, the density of the pure upper air, and the density of the watery air with the strong and bright white air each stand in equal measure.
The Three Powers of the Soul in Balance
The soul possesses three equal powers—comprehension, understanding, and motion—that must remain in proper proportion.
For there are also three powers in the soul: comprehension, by which it grasps heavenly and earthly things in God's power; understanding, by which it understands many things, since it even knows that evil sins exist and where they are neglected through repentance; and motion, by which it is moved within itself in every direction, as it accomplishes good works in the examples of the righteous in its dwelling place; and this comprehension and understanding join together with the soul's motion, so that if the soul comprehended more than it could understand or be moved, it would be out of proper proportion. And these same powers in the soul are united in this way, and none of them exceeds another.
Soul and Body United in Action
The soul moves the body like a builder, and together they operate either by the flesh's taste or the soul's desire.
For the soul's comprehension encompasses the whole body with all its parts, moving all things in their proper measure toward what the flesh craves through feeling and tasting, like a builder who measures his building rightly for people to dwell in; and the body is moved through the soul, and the soul cannot fail to move the body toward various activities, because it understands what the flesh craves, since the flesh too lives through the soul. And the soul, being life, is also a living fire in the body; the body, however, is a made thing, and so it cannot contain itself from operating in two ways: either according to the taste of the flesh, or according to the desire of the soul.
Good Works and Evil Works Before God
The soul's good work is a beautiful building before God, while evil work is defiled; angels praise the good and reject the wicked.
A good work of the soul is like a most beautiful building before God and the angels, but its evil work appears like a building made from mud and stained with a great deal of filth. Therefore, the soul that does good works is praised by God's angels, and the soul that does evil works according to the taste of the flesh is rejected from praise.
The Soul's Powers Mapped onto the Head
The equal measure of the head corresponds to three equal soul powers—exhalation, knowledge, and sense—that work together without exceeding one another.
And in the same straight and equal measure that runs from the crown of a person's head forward to the eyebrows, around to each ear, and back to the base of the neck, an equal density of elements is marked out, together with the constitutions joined to them. In the same way, there are three equal powers in the soul: exhalation, knowledge, and sense, through which it accomplishes its works. For through exhalation this power begins what it can do, and this is as it were the front part of the head; through knowledge it spreads itself as it were toward each ear; and through sense it bends back as it were toward the base of the neck. These powers are equal in this way: namely, because the soul, by exhaling, begins to do no more than knowledge can grasp or sense can bear, and so they work together as one, because none of them exceeds another, just as the head has a straight measure.
The Inner Person's Conduct and the Impenitent
Measures in the lips, ears, shoulders, and throat teach how the inner person should live in God's work or penitence, while the wicked are confounded.
A description of certain measures found in the lips, ears, shoulders, and throat of man, and how the inner person ought to conduct himself according to these in the work of God or in penitence; and that the wicked and impenitent are often deeply confounded, because they cannot withdraw penitence from a person.
Read the original Latin
In capite quoque hominis tria superiora clementa designata sunt, scilicet a superficie calvariae usque ad frontem lucidus ignis cum subteriori nigro igne; a fronte autem usque ad extremitatem nasi, purus aether; et de naso usque ad guttur aquosus aer cum sibi subposito forti et albo lucidoque aere. Et loca ista aequali mensura ab invicem discreta sunt, quemadmodum et densitas superioris ignis cum nigro igne, densitas etiam puri aetheris, necnon densitas aquosi aeris cum forti et albo lucidoque aere aequalis mensurae existunt. Nam et in anima tres vires sunt, videlicet comprehensio, qua in potentia Dei coelestia et terrestria comprehendit; et intelligentia, qua plurima intelligit, cum etiam peccata mala esse novit, ubi ea per poenitentiam negligit; ac motio, qua in se ubique movetur, cum sancta opera in exemplis justorum cum habitaculo suo perficit; comprehensioque ista et intelligentia ad motionem animae se in unum conjungunt, ita ut si anima plus comprehenderet quam intelligere aut movere posset, in injusta mensura esset. Atque eaedem vires in anima hoc modo unanimes sunt, nec alia aliam excedit. Comprehensio enim animae totum corpus cum omnibus appendiciis suis circumdat, omnia scilicet in ipso recta mensura movens ad illa quae caro sentiendo et gustando concupiscit, velut fabricator aedificium suum hominibus ad habitandum recte metitur, corpusque per animam movetur, nec anima omittere potest, quin corpus ad diversa opera moveat, quia intelligit illa quae caro concupiscit, quoniam et caro per eam vivit. Et anima vita existens etiam vivens ignis in corpore est, corpus autem factum opus, et ideo se continere non valet, quin in duabus viis operetur, videlicet aut secundum gustum carnis, aut secundum desiderium animae. Bonum autem opus animae quasi pulcherrimum aedificium coram Deo et angelis est, sed malum opus illius velut aedificium ex luto factum et plurimo stercore infectum apparet. Quapropter et anima quae bona opera facit ab angelis Dei laudatur, et quae mala opera secundum gustum carnis operatur, a laude repudiatur.
Sed et in recta aequalique mensura, quae a summo capitis hominis in ante usque ad supercilia, et usque in utramque aurem ejus, et retro usque ad initium colli ipsius est, aequalis densitas elementorum cum sibi adhaerentibus constitutionibus designatur. Hoc etiam modo pares in anima tres vires sunt, id est exspiratio, scientia et sensus, cum quibus perficit opera sua. Per exspirationem enim haec incipit quae facere potest, et hoc quasi anterior pars capitis est, atque per scientiam velut ad utramque aurem se dilatat, et per sensum quasi retro usque ad initium colli se reflectit. Istae namque vires hoc modo aequales sunt, scilicet quoniam anima exspirando non plus facere incipit quam scientia comprehendere aut quam sensu sufferre possit, et sic unanimiter operantur quia nulla istarum aliam excedit, quemadmodum et caput rectam mensuram habet.
Descriptio quarumdam mensurarum, quae in labiis, in auribus, in humeris, in gutture hominis inveniuntur, et qualiter secundum ista interior homo in opere Dei vel poenitentia se agere debeat; quodque maligni et impoenitentes saepe valde confunduntur, quod poenitentiam homini abstrahere non possunt.
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