VISIO QUARTA, cap. LIII
Equal Measures of Body and Sky
The human body and the cosmos share the same proportional measure, linking flesh and firmament in a single divine symmetry.
And from the crown of a person's head to the base of their throat, from the base of the throat to the navel, and from the navel to the place of excretion, the measurement is equal—just as, in turn, from the height of the sky down to the lower edge of the clouds, from the lower edge of the clouds to the surface of the earth, and from the surface of the earth to its deepest point, the measurement is equal.12
The Soul's Lifelong Labor
From birth to death the soul works through innocence, the passions of youth, and the weariness of old age.
For the soul is at work from the first day of birth right up to the last day of a person's life, according to what childhood, adolescence, and old age each demand.3 In childhood, that is, it works through innocence; in adolescence through the taste of the flesh—which grave sins more often follow; but in old age it is worn out by the fatigue of living, and so it struggles to put a quick end to its efforts, whatever they may be.45
The Craftsman's Equal Design
As the supreme craftsman set the sky in equal measure, so the soul holds an equal capacity for knowing good and evil from first effort to last.
For just as the supreme craftsman set the sky with its walls at an equal measure, so the soul that works within the body has, from the beginning of its effort to the end, an equal capacity for working with the knowledge of good and evil—and neither of these works without the other.67
Tender Above, Hard Below
The earth's upper part is soft and penetrable while its lower part is hard and impenetrable, and yet something of this is found in the human soul.
Because the upper part of the earth is tender, soft, and easily pierced, while the lower part is tough, hard, and impenetrable — and yet, in spite of all this, something is found in the soul of man.
Read the original Latin
Et a vertice capitis hominis usque ad finem gutturis ejus, et ab eodem fine gutturis usque ad umbilicum ipsius, et ab umbilico usque ad locum egestionis, aequalis mensura est; quemadmodum etiam a summitate firmamenti usque ad inferiorem partem nubium, et ut ab eadem inferiori parte nubium usque ad summitatem terrae, et ut ab eadem summitate terrae usque ad infimum finem ipsius aequalis mensura existit. Anima namque a primo die nativitatis usque ad ultimum diem vitae hominis secundum quod pueritia, adolescentia et senectus requirunt, operatur. In pueritia scilicet per innocentiam, in adolescentia per gustum carnis, quem peccata criminalia saepius sequuntur; in senectute autem taedium operandi habet; quapropter operibus suis, qualiacunque sint, finem cito imponere contendit. Sicut enim summus artifex firmamentum cum parietibus suis aequali mensura constituit, sic anima, quae in corpore operatur, a principio operis sui usque in finem aequalem possibilitatem operandi cum scientia boni et mali habet, quarum neutra sine altera operatur.
Quia superior pars terrae tenera, mollis et perforabilis; inferior vero tenax, dura et impenetrabilis sit, et quid secundum ista in hominis anima inveniatur.
Notes
- 1 ↩The visionary symmetry between the human body and the cosmos (measured from head to navel matching sky to earth) carries symbolic weight: the human person as microcosm. The repeated equal measurement underscores an ordered correspondence between body and world.
- 2 ↩egestio is a rare word; sense uncertain but rendered 'excretion' as the most plausible intended meaning for the lower bodily region in this anatomical-spiritual analogy.
- 3 ↩anima rendered 'soul' per lexeme policy. operatur rendered 'is at work' to capture the continuous operation of the soul through all life stages.
- 4 ↩criminalia (rare form) rendered 'graven sins' to capture the weight of sins that follow the taste of the flesh in adolescence. The term may also mean 'capital sins' in some traditions.
- 5 ↩taedium operandi rendered 'fatigue of living' — the weariness that comes with a lifetime of effort, not mere boredom.
- 6 ↩The analogy between the craftsman building the firmament with measured walls and the soul operating in the body with knowledge of good and evil suggests a created order in which moral knowledge and bodily capacity are proportionally given throughout life. The final clause (neutra sine altera operatur) implies that knowledge of good and knowledge of evil are inseparable in the soul's earthly operation.
- 7 ↩anima rendered 'soul' per lexeme policy. scientia boni et mali ('knowledge of good and evil') echoes the tree of knowledge; rendered plainly to preserve the allusive weight.
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