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O those celestial natures , multiplying the natures of truth by the will of God ! Having , therefore , given this example , rule the tingeing natures , but if ye err , blame no one save yourselves . To which end we must consider the nature of fire , and water , and air , and earth , such as they were prior to the creation of the heaven , and what was happening to them in this previous state ; for no one has as yet explained the manner of their generation , but we speak of fire and the rest of them , whatever they mean , as though men knew their natures , and we maintain them to be the first principles and letters or elements of the whole , when they cannot reasonably be compared by a man of any sense even to syllables or first compounds . Accordingly , the Masters have said that between them there exists the same desire as between male and female , and if any one , being introduced to this Art , should know these natures , he would sustain the tediousness of cooking until he gained his purpose according to the will of God . It has been an age of long sorrow of such natures , in such a hell-begotten sort of world as ours .