Editing Ramon Llull (section)

====Correlatives====

Llull introduced an aspect of the system called the "correlatives" just before the final transition to the Ternary Phase. The correlatives first appear in a work called the ''Lectura super figuras Artis demonstrativae'' (c. 1285-7) and came to undergird his formulation of the [[ontology|nature of being]].<ref>Gayà, Jordi (1979). “La teoría luliana de los correlativos. Historia de su formación conceptual.” Universität Freiburg im Breisgau.</ref> The doctrine of correlatives stipulates that everything, at the level of being, has a threefold structure: agent, patient, act. For example, the divine principle "goodness" consists of "that which does good" (agent), "that which receives good" (patient), and "to do good" (act). Llull developed a system of Latin suffixes to express the correlatives, i.e. ''bonitas'' (goodness); ''bonificans'', ''bonificatus'', ''bonificare''. This became the basis for proving that the divine principles are distinct yet equivalent in God (each principle has the same underlying threefold structure, yet retains its own unique correlatives). This supports the combinatorial operation of the ''Art'' (i.e., this means that in God goodness ''is'' greatness and greatness ''is'' goodness, goodness ''is'' eternity and eternity ''is'' goodness, etc.), the Lullian proof of the [[Trinity]] (each divine principle has the three correlatives, and together the principles comprise the Godhead; therefore, the Godhead is threefold) and the [[Incarnation]] (the active and passive correlatives are equivalent to matter and form, and the trinitarian unfolding of being occurs on all levels of reality).{{sfn|Pring-Mill|1955}}

Within this framework, ''Liber Chaos''—a section of the ''Lectura''—explores the concept of primordial chaos as the initial state of creation, whereat divine principles had yet to impose order upon formless potential. Llull's treatment of chaos aligns with his system of correlatives, suggesting that chaos itself contains within it the active force of divine causation, the passive potential of undifferentiated being, and the act of transformation by which it becomes structured reality. This concept—though philosophical, in Llull’s system—bears a striking resemblance to alchemical notions of ''[[prima materia]]'', the raw substance from which all transmutations arise.{{sfn|Bonner|2007|pp=107–108}}