29 Apr.

SACRIFICE AND SURVIVAL, 1584-1585

weather,travel,household_family,letters_books,angelic_spiritual,alchemy_experiment,visitors_network

A meridie circa IYz. As E.K. stood at the end of the gallery by his chamber, looking over into the vineyard, he seemed to see the little man the gardener, in all manner of behaviour and apparel, who is the chief workman or overseer of Mr Carpio his workme.n in the same vineyard. He seemed very handsomely to prune some of the trees. At length he approached under the wall by E.K. and holding his face t; 189 t; away-ward he said unto him 'Pray tell your learned master to come to me'-and so went away as it were cutting here and there the trees very handsomely, and at length over the cherry trees by the house on the rock in the garden he seemed to mount up in a great pillar of fire. E.K. bade his wife to go and see who was in the garden. She came up and brought him word: 'Nobody.' E.K. then came to me and said: 'I think there is some wicked spirit that would delude me' -and so told and said to me as is before noted. Then said I, 'I will go into the garden,' and bade E.K. come with me. We went down that way which this creature did go, but nothing we saw; went to the banqueting-house in the vineyard, but that place pleased us not; so we went along in the way by the cliff side, and sat down on the bank by the great pile of vine-stakes lying in the very south end of the vineyard. And we had not sat there half a quarter of an hour, but 1 espied under the almond tree, and on the south side of it, being the westerly almond tree, that is it which is standing on the westerly side of the straight path which leadeth from the north toward the south in the vineyard: 1 espied (I say) like a sheet of fair white paper lying tossed to and fro in the wind. 1 rose and went to it, and (to the praise of God his truth and power) there 1 found three of my books lying, which were so diligently burnt the tenth day of April last. The three books were: I. Enoch his book, 2. the '48 Claves Angeliae', 3. and the third was the book of my gathering of the 30 Airs, and entitled 'Liber Scientia: Terrestris Auxilii et Victoria:'.6 Thereupon E.K. coming to me, 1 fell on my knees with great thanks yielding to the God Almighty, and so did E.K., whose mind and body were marvellously affected at the sight of the said books, having no show or sign that ever they had been in the fire, neither by colour or savour, or anything wanting. And after we had sat half an hour under the foresaid almond trees, praising God and wondering at the miracle: suddenly appeared by us the self-same gardener-like person, but with his face somewhat turned away, and nothing thereof to be judged as of Ave the custom is. He said: 'Kelly, follow me.' E.K. went, and 1 sat still, awaiting his return. This gardener went before E.K. and his feet seemed not to touch the ground by a foot height. And as he went before E.K., so the doors did seem to open before him. He led him up the great stairs on the left hand by the