LIBER CHAOS Bl. Raymond Lull Doctor Illuminatus

Part II
10 Predicates

H - Quantity

1.  The quantity of the prime Chaos is composed of the intense quantity of both active and passive igneity, aereity etc. and extended into the substance of Chaos in action as well as in passion; and the same applies likewise to the other accidents of Chaos.

2. The quantity of the first degree of Chaos is diffused, divided and distinguished into infinite particular quantities in the third degree as we see for instance in the quantities of men, lions, eagles, whales, olives, olive trees and other things like these, and each of these quantities is produced from the quantity of its universal, namely the quantity which is in the first degree of Chaos.

3. In form and matter, igneity is quantified, aereity is quantified and so are the other essences in the prime Chaos, therefore quantity is intensively divided by accident and extensively composed by accident; now form and matter are substantial things, and as God created matter and form He also created accidents, namely the prime qualities, and made one supposite comprising form, matter and accidents; thus, one extended quantity was made from the intense quantity of form and matter and the quantity of accidents, and this extended quantity has both substantial and accidental components, because it is made of intense substantial and accidental quantities which are also ingredients of the extended quantity inasmuch as it is accidental as well.

4. In the third degree of Chaos there is one form composed of four forms and one matter composed of four matters, as can be seen in a peppercorn or in other species, and hence, if extended quantity were of the essence of this form and of the essence of this matter, the peppercorn would contain one common formal and material quantity composed of contrary quantities, and consequently, form would have its own matter in itself and vice versa so perfectly that no corruption could occur in this grain, but because extended quantity cannot be of the essence of form and matter, there is corruption and subsequent generation in the third Chaos due to the increase or decrease in quantity of the form and matter which substantiate the third Chaos by means of accidents.

5. The quantity of heat, brightness, lightness etc. in the third Chaos is divided by accident into action and passion; now the form of fire quantifies its heat, brightness and lightness in matter, and hence, if extended quantity were of the essence of form and matter, the supposite would be essentiated from the quantity of heat and lightess as well as from the quantity of form and matter, in which case quantity would be the genus, but matter and form would be the species, and the quantificative and the quantifiable, would be just one intense quantity generating a supposite substantiated by mere quantity, which is impossible.

6. Quantity arose in the prime Chaos in this way: in the beginning, God created form and matter, which are intensively quantified per se; now as form is action and matter is passion, the quantity of form is active per se and the quantity of matter is passive, and thus the extension of igneity, aereity etc. is quantified by accidents whose substantial subject is the Chaos.

7. Quantity in the prime Chaos gives rise to quantity in the third, like in a pepper which is an accidentally quantified supposite made of substantial form and matter; and hence, in generation, form and matter are followed by the innate substantial quantity they have in themselves as form and matter, but the quantity in their quality, relation etc. is accidental. Nor can any part of quality etc. be substantial, for then substantial and accidental quantities would be so intimately joined that accidental quantity could not resist substantial quantity, which is impossible.

8. Just as quantity arises in the third Chaos from essential quantity in the prime Chaos, so likewise, when it is corrupted in the third, it reverts to the first, and as a generating agent substantially generates a generated offspring of its own species, so the generating agent likewise quantifies its generated product and qualifies it, and so with the other accidents, and hence only the prime Chaos and the third, through the mediation of God and heaven, can generate new forms in matter, from which new accidental forms, namely quantity, quality etc. accidentally arise.

9. The intense quantity of form and matter, and the intense quantity of quality, relation etc. are essences of quantity extended through form, through matter, through quality, through relation etc. but only form and matter are the very essence of the supposite; and this is how substantial and accidental, continuous and discrete, intense and extended quantity arise.

10. Substantial quantity is intense and gives rise to extended quantity which is accidental and accidentally quantifies the extension of form and matter.

11. Continuous quantity and intense quantity are one and the same thing; but discrete quantity, as we said, is the one with substantial parts, every one of which is present and contained in every other part and vice versa throughout the entirety of the prime Chaos and the third.

12. The essence of substance and the essence of quantity are so intimately blended, as each exists in the other, that the intellect can hardly apprehend the difference between the essence of substance and that of quantity, as we see in wine mixed with water: now the parts of water and the parts of wine enter so subtly into each other that the essences of wine and water seem to be one identical essence, so that the sense of sight, when looking at this body which is quantified both inside and outside, cannot sense any difference between the essences, but this deficiency is repaired by intellectual training.

13. Just as form and matter are inside substance while displaying their figure outside of substance, so likewise their quantity is inside substance but its figure appears outside; and just as a blind man has no way of judging colors, likewise the sense of sight has no way of judging the essence of quantity, for it can only sense its outwardly apparent figure.

    The things we said show how essential, formal quantity hides within substance and its predicates, while its figure is displayed externally. The same is likewise understood about the other points essentially and formally present within the substance of Chaos and displaying their figures through the third Chaos and outside substance.