Born in the German village of Alt Seidenberg in 1575, Jacob Boehme was from his childhood was subject to profound mystical visions. Although a shoemaker by trade, he felt compelled to publish his experiences, and to expound a philosophy which - although based solidly on Christian mysticism - led him into conflict with Church authorities. He was briefly exiled from his home town and persecuted for most of the remainder of his life. In 'Signatura Rerum', Boehme describes God as both Void and Source of All Creation, the font from which creative will struggles towards manifestation and consciousness. For Boehme, Evil results when individual elements of Deity strive to become the whole. Boehme's views became very popular, and he is known to have influenced a wide variety of thinkers, including St Martin, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Schelling, Nietsche and Newton.