Em...

D·IVINE LOVï~

AND 'WIS:DOM BY

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

•• o Lord, how manifold are Thy works 1 ~ WISDOM hast Thou made them ail. ft

Psa1m clv. 24.

/-.13 0 ,~- HI

"1. Gad is Order itself.

"II. He created man from arder, in arder and into arder.

" III. He created his rational mind according ta the arder of the whole spiritual world, and his body according ta the arder of the whole natural world, on which account man was called by the Ancients a little heaven, and a microcosm (or little world).

"IV. Tt is a law of arder that man, from his little heaven, or little spiritual world, ought ta mIe his microcosm, or little natural world, just as Gad from His great heaven, or spiritual world, mIes the macrocosm, or natural world, in each and an things thereof."

SWEDENBORG.

(True Christian Religion.)

A new translation by Mr. H. Goyder Smith, with the Rev. Charles Newalt, B.A., as Consultant, Jrom the Latin, edited Jrom the author' s origi1~al edition

published at Amsterdam, 1763

ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING

THE DIVINE LOVE AND

THE DIVINE WISDOM

FROM THE LATIN

OF

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INcoRPoRATEo) SWEDENBORG HODSE

2.0 HART STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1

1937

CONTENTS

PART l Nos.

Love is the Life of Man l

God alone, thus the Lord, is Love itself, because He is Life itself; and angels and men are recipients ~lifu 4

Being and Existence in God Man are distinctly one I4In God Man infinite things are distinctly one I7

Divine Love is of Divine Wisdom, and Divine Wisdom

The Divine is not in space . 7 God is Very Man II

There is one God-Man, from Whom aU things are 23 The Divine Essence itself is Love and Vvisdom . 28

is of Divine Love 34 The Divine Love and Wisdom is substance and is form 40 The Divine Love and vVisdom are Substance and Form

in itself, thus they are the Very and the Gnly . 44 The Divine Love and Wisdom must of necessity be and

AU things in the universe have been created by the

AU things in the created universe are recipients of the

AU things that have been created bear a certain likeness to man 6I

The uses of aU created things ascend through degrees from outermost things to man, and through man

The Divine fiUs aU the spaces of the universe, apart from

exist in others created by itself 47

Divine Love and Wisdom of God-Man . 52

Divine Love and Wisdom of God-Man 55

to God the Creator, from Whom they are . 65

space 69 The Divine, apart from time. is in aU time 73 In the greatest and the smallest things, the Divine is

the same 77

v

CONTENTSVI

PART II Nos.

The Divine Love and Wisdom appear in the spiritual worlel as the Sun 83

Heat and light issue from the Sun which exists from the Divine Love and vVisdom 89

That Sun is not Gad, but is the manifestation of the Divine Love and Wisdom of Gad-Man; it is the same with the heat and light from that Sun. 93

Spiritual heat and light, in going forth from the Lord as the Sun, make one, just as His Divine Love and Wisdom make one. 99

The Sun of the spiritual world is seen at a middle altitude, and afar off from the angels, just as is the natural sun from men lO3

The distance between the Sun and angels in the spiritual world is an appearance proportioned ta their reception of the Divine Love and \Visdom lO8

Angels are in the Lord, and the Lord in them; and because.-1.. angels are recipients, the Lord alone is HeavËn. II3

In the spiritual world the east is where the Lord appears as the Sun, and other quartcrs are determined therefrom . II9

The quarters in the spiritual world are not from the Lord as a Sun, but from the angels according to reception 124

Angels turn their faces constantly towards the Lord as a Sun, and thus the south is ta their right, the north ta their left, and the west behind them . 129

Ali interior things of the angels, bath of mind and body, are turned towards the Lord as a Sun 135

Every spirit, without exception, in like manner turns towards his own ruling love 140

--,-, The Divine Love and Wisdom ema!lating from the Lord as a Sun, and giving heat and light in heaven, are the Divine proceeding, which is the Holy Spirit 146

The Lord created the universe and ail things thereof by means of the Sun which is the first Proceeding of the Divine Love and vVisdom 151

The sun of the natural world is pure fire, and therefore dead; nature aisa is dead, because it originates from that sun 157

III

CONTnas Vll

Nos. Creation is not possible without two suns, the one living

and the other dead 163 The end of creation exists in outermosts, which end is,

that ail things may return to the Creator, and that there may be co~n_c!ion. 167

PART III

There are atmospheres, waters and earths in the spiritual world just as in the natural world; but the former are spiritual, the latter natural 173

There are degrees of love and wisdom, and consequently degrees of heat and light, also degrees of atmospheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

r ' Degrees are o!/,twofold order, degrees of '~'I ane!

degrees of breadt~. . . . . . . . . . 184 Degrees of height~ of the same nature, and one is

from the other in a series, like end, cause, and effect 189 The first degree is the ail in ail of the following degrees . 195 Ail perfections increase and ascend with and according ~ees . 199

In\.succes~iye ,.9rderl the first degree. is_the highest, and the "third iStli'e lowest; but iil simultaneous order the first degree is the inmÜs(:auèf':fhethire!-TIle outermost 205

The outermost degree surrounds, contains, and s..':lEP~ts

prior degrees . . . . . 209 Degrees of (15cigh1: are in fu \ness and power in their

outermosfâégree 21 7 Degrees of bath kinds are in the greatest and least of

created things . 222

I~b&-l..QrdJre_threJLdegr.ees .()Lheight.j!11iI!j!~nd

,!!!cre<lte, and in man are three degrees, finite ana created . 230

Every man has these:three degreeS)of heig.ht. from birth.IJ )q They ,cano pe opened one after the oth~r, and as 1

they are opened man is in the Lord and the Lord in! man . 236

Spiritual lig.!?t fiows in through the three degrees into man, but not _spiE,itu,a,I-h~t, except so far as man shuns evils as sins, and looks to the Lord 242

T~ Ci

viii CONTENTS

Nos. Man becomes natural and sensual if the higher degree.

which is the spiritu~l, is not opened in him 248

(l.) What the natural man is and what the spiritual 251

(II.) The character of the na/urai man in whom the spiritual degree is opened 252

(III.) The character of the natural man in whom the spiritual degree is not opened, but yet not closed 253

(IV.) The character of the natural man in whom the spiritual degree has been absolutely closed. 254

(V.) Lastly, the na/ure of the difference between the life of a merely na/ural man and the life of a beast 255

The natura! degree of the human mind regarded in itself is continuous, but, when raised, it has the appearance of being discrete, through correspondence with the two higher degrees 256

l

Since the natural mind covers and contains the higher degrees of the human mind, it is reactive; and

,if the !!igp.~r degrees are no):_open~J .i~_ acts against them, but if they are opened, it acts with them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

The origin of evil cornes from 'lP.l!.Se of the faculties peculiar to man, termed ra~ity and fr~edom . 264

(l.) .Il bad man equally with a good man enjo)'s these two faculties 266

(l l.) A bad man abuses these faculties in confirming eV1'l and false things, but a good man lises them in confirming good a1ld true things 267

(l II.) Evils and falsities confirmed in man remain and become !lis love and thence his life . 268

(IV.) Those things wMch belong to Ms love and thence to his liJe are passed on to lhë' children 269

(V.) Ali eviliand the falsities from t~. both inh&ritçd and contracted, reside in Me naturàl mind . _.- 270

(Evils and falsities exist in everything opposed tO(go9d' " and tme-things, because evils apd falsities' are

diaboliê'àl and infernal, and good and truc things are Divine and heavenly . 27 l

--

CONTENTS lX

Nos. (I.) The naturai mÎ1zd, which is Î1z evils and

falsities from them, is a form and image of heU . 273

(I Io) The flatural mind which is a form or image of heU, descends through three degrees . 274

(I II.) The three degrees of the natural mind, which is a form and image of heU, are opposite to the three degrees of the spiritual mind, which is a fornz and image of heavùï":----: . . . 275

(IV.) The natural mind which is a heU is opposed in everything to the spiritual mÎ1zd which ~aheawn 2~

AU things of the three degrees of the natural mind are included in works which are done through acts

of the body . 277

PART IV

The Lord from Eternity. who is Jehovah, created the "ûniversèJ and aU things thereof from liimself, and

d6t from nothing 28l0

The Lord from Eternity, or Jehovah, couId not have created(thè Ulîiv~rsè and aU things thereof unless he were man 285

The Lord from Eternity, or Jehovah, brought forth from Himself the sun of the spiritual ",::orld, and from that created( the universe, and all things thereof . 290

In the Lord there are three (attributes), the Divine of Love, the Divine of Wisdom, and the Divine of Use, which are the Lord; and these three are reErjjeI!!ed outside the Sun of the spiritual world, the Ivine of Love by heat, the Divine of Wisdom by light, and the Divine of Use by the atmo~here

containing them 7-' 2960 0 • 0 • 0 • • 0

The atmospheres, which are three in number in bath the spiritual and natural worlds, in their ultimates finish in substances and matters of the nature of those in tneir eartp.s 302

There is nothing of the Divine in ~f in the substances Il and matters from which earths are formed, but yet they come from the Divine in itself 3050

_______________________________

x CONTENTS Nos.

Ali uses, which are the ends of creation, have ferms which they receive from substances and matters such as are in the earths . 307

(1.) There is effort in carths to bring forth fOl'»!s, or fOl'ms of uses . ~ 310

(II.) The~è [sacerta'in likmess to the creation of the ul1iverse in aU forms of uses 313

(JI1.) There is a certain likeness to man in aU jorms of uses 317

(IV.) There is a certain lilleness to the Infinite and Eternal in aU forms of uses. 318

Ali things in the created universe, viewed in regard ta uses, bear a Iikeness ta man; and this proves that Gad is Man. 319

Ali things created by the Lord are uses; and they are uses in that arder, degree and respect in which they relate ta man, and through man ta the Lord frem Whom they are. 327

'Uses for sustaining the body . 331 Uses for perfecting the rational 332 Uses for receiving the spiritual from the Lord 333 Evil uses were not created by the Lord, but originated

together with hell . 336

(1 V.) Influx fram heU works to produce things thqt are evil uses wherever tllere are things corre

effected by influx, the vegetable and the

(1.) IVhat is meant by evil uses on the earth. 338 (II.) A il things are in heU that are evû uses, and

~n heaven that are good uses -.- . . 339 (II 1.) There is a continuous infl-;'-; fram the spiritual

world into the natural wof'ld 340

sponding thereto . 341 (V.) The lowest spiritual separa/edfrom its higher

degree works to titis end . 345 (VI.) There are two forms in whic!! the work is

animal form . 346 (VII.) Each of these forms, while it exists, receives

the means of propagation 347 In the created universe things visible prove that nature

has produced nothing, and does produce nothing, 1[but that the divine produces ail things out..Qf

itself, and through the spiritual world. . . . 349

---ol

CONTENTS Xl

PART V Nos.

Twa receptacles and dwellings of His Own, called Will and Understanding, have been çreated and farmed by the Lord in man; the WUD for His Divine Love, and the Understanding for His Divine Vhsdam . .;.. 358

The Will and the Understanding, which are the receptacles of love and wisdam, are in the brains, in the whale and every part of them, and fram them in the body, in the whalc and evcry part of it . 362

(J.) Love and wisdom, and the will and the understanding therefrom, make the very life of man 363

(II.) The life of ma1l is in its beginnings in the brains and in its derivatives in the body . 365

(IIJ.) Such as life is in its beginnings, such it is in the whole and every part 366

(IV.) By means of Ihose beginnings life is in the whole from every part, and in every part from the whole 367

(V.) Such as the love is, such is Ihe wisdom, and therefore such is the man 368

There is a carrespandence of the will with the heart, and of the understanding \Vith the lungs 371

(J.) A Il things of the mind have reference 10 Ihe will and tenderstanding, and ail 1Mngs of the body to the heart and lungs . 372

(II.) There is a correspondence of the will and understanding with the heart and lungs, and from this a correspondence of ail things of the mind with ail things of Ihe body. 374

(IIJ.) The will corresp01lds to the heart . 378 (JV.) The understanding corresponds 10 the lungs 382

(V.) By means of Ihis correspondence many secrels concerning the will and underslanding, and therefore also concerning love alld wisdom, may be disclosed 385

(VJ.) Man's mind is his spirit, and the spirit is the man. The body is the external through which the mind or spirit feels and acts in its world . 386

Xli CO:-fTENTS

Nos. (VII.) The union of man's spiril with the body is

by the correspondence of his will and understanding wilh his heart anèf lûngs, and separation cames through non-êorrespondence . 390

The correspondence of the heart with the will and the understanding with the lungs makes known ail that is possible to be known of the will and understanding. or of love and wisdom, and thus of man's soul . 394

(1.) Love or the will 'is man's very life . 399

human form except by mar.r.iagB. wiJh

the understanding, and makes the union reciprocal . 4 ro

(II.) Love or the will strives continually towards the human form and all things thereof 400

(III.) Love or the will can do nothing through its

.wi~il01J'l gr Ut.e undefstanding. . 401 (IV.) Love or the will prepares a home or bed

chamber for ils future wife, which is wisdom or the understanding ... 402

(V.) Love or the will also prepares allthe things in its own human form sa that it may act together with wisdom or the undèYstanding . 403

(VI.) After the nuptials, the jirst union cames through the affection of knowing, from which springs an affection for truth 404

(VII.) The second uniOlt cames through the affection of u~~anding from' which springs~perception of truth . . . . 404

{VIII.) The third union c'Q;;;;s through the affection for seeing truth, from wh'ich springs thought 404

(IX.) Love or the will cames into sensitive and active life through these three unions . 406

(X.) Love or the will introduces wisdom or the understa'nding into allthings of its hot'se 408

(XI.) Love or the will does nothing except in tl1lion with wisdom or the understandùlg 409

{XII.) Love or the will ?A·nites itself ta wisdom or

CONTENTS xiii Nos.

(X IIJ.) Wisdom or the understanding, from .power given it by love, can be raised, and can receive such things as are of heavenly light, and perceive them . 413

(XIV.) Love 01' the will cati be ra.ised likewise and can receive such things as are of heavenly heat, provided it loves wisdom, its partner, in that degree 41 4

(XV.) Otherwise love 01' the will dmws wisdom 01'

(XVI.)

(X VIl.)

the understanding back from its elevation, so that it ma)' act in 1(j~ison with itsélf . 4 16

Love 01' the will is purifted by wisdom in the understandin.g if the'Y are t-èiiSëd together' . 419

Love or the will is d~filed in and b)! the understanding if they are not raiseâ together 421

(X Il Ill.) Love p~!Jjf!:.ed by wisdom in the understanding becomes spirftual and celestial\ 422

(X1X.) Love defiled in and by the understanding, becomes natural, sensual and corporcal 42 4

(XX.) The facully of understanding, caUed rationality, and the fa.culty of acting, caUcd frecdom, stillremain . 425

(XXI.) Spiritual and celestiallove is love towards the neighbml.r and to the Lord, and natural an.d sensual love is love of. the world and of self . 426

(XX Il.) jt is the same with charity and faith, and thcir union, as with will and understanding, and their union 42 7

What man's initial forrn is at conception 432

ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING

DIVINE LOVE

PART 1

LOVE IS THE LIFE OF MAN

I. Man knows that love exists, but not what it is. He knows that there is such a thing from everydaY,speech, as when it is said that:" }Ie. loves me; the king loves his people and ûië peoplëlove their king; iilwsband loves his wife and the mother her children, and vice vërsa"; lhêD. again that: this or that man loves his country, his fellow-citizens, his neighbour; in a similar way when removed from the idea of person, that he loves this or that thing. But although love is so universally talked about, hardly an.y: one \.gl~s

what love is. When he thinks about it, then because he· is unable to form any reasoned idea of what it really is, he declares either that it is not anything, or only something which fiows in from sight, hearing, touch, and conversation, and so affecting him. He is absolutely unaware 1h;J.L it is his ~~J.iie; not merely the general life of his whole body, and of his every thought, but of every ( particular of them. A wise man can perceive this, when it is said : JLYQlLif!k~~ affection which comes from love, can you think or do anything ?

' Or when that affection cools, do not thought,)J\ SëèCIl,and· aêi:îÔ~y-ë;9!d to the like extent ?

1

1-3] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

And when it glows, in the same degree do not they hecomewarm ? But the sensible man perceives this not from the refiection that love is the life of man, but from experience that it is so.

2. No one knows what the life of man is unless he knows that it is ~e. If this be not known, one may believe that the life of man is only feeling and acting, another that it is thinking; when yet thought is the first effect, and feeling and action the second effect of life. It is said that thought is the first effect of life, but there is thought inner and more interior, as also thought which is outer and more exterior. ~Vhat is ac.!;Jally~

fu§.t effect of life is inmost thougtlt, WhlCh is the( erc n of ends. But 01 these later, when the

degrees Ole are considered.

3. ~me idea concern~g love--that it is the life of man-may be gathered trom the heat 0!.Jliê

1\ iiill the world. This heat is welT"KnownJ:Q..1>e, t1as it were.l... the comïi'fOiîlife OI:.arr the vegetation

I~

of the earth. For, when the warmth of spring cornes, plant life of every kind rises up from the soil, decks itself with foliage, then with blossom, and at length with fruit, and just as if it were alive. But when, in autumn and winter, the heat is withdrawn, these signs of its life are stripped from it, ctOO wither away. So it is with love in man, for h~t and lo~ mutually correspond. \Vhèrefore aISO love is Wârm.

2

[4,5�

GaD ALONE, l'HUS THE LORD, IS LOVE�

ITSELF, BECAUSE HE IS LIFE ITSELF;�

AND ANGELS AND MEN ARE RECIPIENTS�

OF LIFE�

4. This will be fully explained in the treatises on Divine Providence and on Life. Here we merely observe that the Lord, who is God of the universe, is Uncreate and Infinite, but man and angel are created and finite. And, because He is Uncreate and Infinite, the Lord is Being Itself, which is called J ehovah, and is Life l tself or Life in Himself. Since the Divine is one and indivisible, the creation of any one directly from the Uncreate, the Infinite, Being Itself and Life ItselLis. impossible, but must be from things created and finite, so formed that the Divine can be in them. Since men and angels are such, they are redpients of life. Consequently if any man al10w himself to be led away by his own reasoning into the idea that he is not a recipient of life, but is Life, nothing ) can restrain him from the thought that he is God. The man, who feels that he is Life, and thence cornes to believe it, deceives himself; for, in the instrumental cause, he fails to perceiv_e the original cause otherwise than as one with it. That the Lord is Life in Himself, He Himself teaches in John, As the Father hath life in HimselJ, so also hath He given to the Son to have li~ ili lfimself (v. 26) ; and that He is Lire Itself ( 0 n Xf.25; xix. 6). Now since life and love are one, as appears from what was statedin Nos. I and 2, it fol1ows that the Lord, because He is Life l tself, is Love l tself. .,

5. But in order that this may sink into the B 3

5, 6] DIVINE LovE AND WISDOM

mind, it must be known of a surety that the Lord, because He i~.l-ove jn .it? very essence, that 1s ~ Love, a ears before the an efS-ii11leaVen __a!>_ the Sup, and t at from that Sun proceed heat and light; that the heat therefromJn..J.i..t~_!?~e

is love, and the ligllt therefrom in its essence( is ~; andtJ1aITIïë angels, jusfult1îëIi1ëasuE.e thatiliëy receive that ïIl1lfltuaI1ïe31 and hglit,3[.e themselves èXàmples -0 ove anawisdom, yet not from themselves, but from the Lord. This spiritual heat and light not only flow into angels and

)\Jaffect them, but also flow into men and affect them rccisel as the 6ecome red ients. Tllljj

J become recipients accor mg to thelr love oftliè Lord and of the nelghbour. Hns Sün ltself, or tlïe Divine Love, cannot create any one by its own heat and light directly from itself, since one so created would be Love in its essence, which Love is the Lord Himself; but it can create from substantial and material things so formed as to Q.e caE~Je of receivLI~g--.that v~y heat and light; as,

DY -comparison, the sun of our worIa, by its heat and light, is unable to produce germinations directly in the earth, but only out of earthy substances, in which it can be present through its heat and light, and cause vegetation. In the work on HEAVEN AND HELL (n. rr6-I40) it may be seen that the Lord's Divine Love is manifest in the spiritual world as the Sun, and from it streams spiritual heat and light giving love and wisdom to the angels.

6. Since, then, man is not Life, but a recipient of life, it follows that the conception of man from the father is not a conception of life, but only..ni ~L..<l-lld pllrest forIILCapable...!lf receiving life,

4

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [6,7

to which, as to a nucleus or starting-point in the womb, are added successively substances and matters adapt~çL.iIl_19_rm_tfL!h~_re~Etion of life in its own order and degree.

THE DIVINE IS NOT IN SPACE

7. It is impossible to grasp by a merely natural idea that the Divine, or God, is not in space, although everywhere present and with every man in the world, every angel in heaven, and every spirit under heaven, but it is possible by a spiritual idea. The reason is that in the natural idea there is space; for it is fashioned of such things as are in the world, in every one of which, as the eye sees them, is space. Everything great and small there, everything there which has length, breadth, and height is of space. In short, every measure, figure, and form there is spatial. That is why it is said to be impossible to grasp, by a natural idea, the fact that the Divine is JlQti.n.MJ~c..~L along~h

the deç!<lratiQn 1patjt is~v~here present. But the fact remains that a man can understand this by the power of natural thought, if only he permit ~of spirituallight to enter in. On this account something shill first De saw of the idea and spiritual thought therefrom. The spiritual idea draws nothing whatever from space, but derives its aU fram state. State is predicated of love, life, wisdom, the affections and joy therefrom; in general terms, of good and of truth. The truly spiritual idea of these things has nothing in common with space. l t is higher and regards spatial ideas beneath it as the sky surveys the earth. Yet since angels and spirits see with their eyes in like manner

5


as do men in the world, and abjects cannat be seen except in space, therefore in the spiritual world, where angels and spirits dwell, there appear ta be spaces similar ta those on the earth. Yet the spaces there are appearances only; for they are not fixed and constant as on earth; they can be lengthened and shortened, changed and varied; and because they cannat be sa deterrnined by measure, they cannat be comprehended there by any natural idea, but by th~iritual idea alone ; 1which is no other regardmg3atial distances tnan

J ~Cflli:taiïCës oIgoëi""d---ano. orfruth; -and tfiëie l are'!l1inities and likenesses in accordance wlth

t1lelr states. --~

8. From this it is evident that man cannat grasp by a merely natural idea the fact that the Divine is everywhere, yet not in space, but that angels and spirits perceive it clearly; with the consequence that man also may do sa, if only he admit sorne ray of spiritual light into his thought. The reason why man can understand is because it is not rus body which thinks, but his spirit; thus not his natural, but his spiritual.

9. But there are many who do not understand this, because they love the natural, and will not raise the thoughts of their understanding upwards into spirituallight; and they, who will not do this, cannat think except in terrns of space, even of Gad; and ta think sa of Gad is ta think from the extension of nature. This must be said by way of introduction, because without the knowledge and without sorne perception that the Divine is not is space, it is impossible ta understand anything concerning the Divine Life, which is Love and

6

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [<)-II

Wisdom, the subjects here treated; and thereafter little if anything about Divine Providence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Infinity, and Etemity, which are to be treated in succession.

10. It has been said that spaces appear in the spiritual world exactly as in the natural world, consequently also distances, but that these are appearances according ta spiritual affinities of love and wisdom, or, of good and truth. It is on this account that the Lord, notwithstanding that He is everywhere present in the heavens with the angels, appears high above them, as the Sun; and because reception of love and wisdom causes affinity with Him, it is for that reason that those heavens appear nearer ta Him where the angels are, by virtue of their reception, in doser affmity, than those with whom the affinity is more remote. From this also it is that the heavens, which are three in number, are distinguished one from another; likewise the societies of which each heaven is composed; furthermore, that the heUs under them are distant according to their rejection of love and wisdom. And so it is with men, in whom and with whom the Lord is present throughout the entire universe; and this solely for the reason that the Lord is not in space.

GOD IS VERY MAN

II. In aU the heavens there exists no other idea of Gad than that of MAN. The reason is, that heaven as a whole and in part is in form like Man, and the Divine, which is with the angels, makes heaven, and thought runs agreeably to the form

7

II) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

of heaven; wherefore it is impossible for the angels to think otherwise concerning God. Hence it is that aIl those in the world, associated with heaven, think in like manner concerning God, when thinking inwardly in themselves, or in spirit. From this fact that God is Man, every angel and spirit is a man in perfect form. This results from the form of heaven, which is like to itself in greatest and least things. (That heaven as a whole and in part is in form like Man may be seen in the work on HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 59-87: and that thought runs agreeably to the form of heaven, n. 203, 204.) Tt is known from Genesis (i. 26, 27), that men were created in the image and likeness of God; and again that God was seen as a Man by Abraham, and by others. The ancients, wise and simple alike, thought of God no otherwise than as of a Man; and when at length they began to worship many gods, as at Athens and at Rome, they worshipped themall as men. What is here said may be illustrated by the following, previously published in a certain small treatise :

The Gentiles, especially the Africans, who acknowledge and worship one Gad, the Creator of the universe, entertain concerning Gad the idea of Man; they say that no one can have any other idea of Gad. When they learn that there are many who cherish the idea of Gad as something cloud-like in mid-air, they inquire where such people are; and on being told that they are among Christians, say it is impossible. But they are told in reply, that the idea arises from the fact that in the Ward, Gad is called a Spirit, and their idea of a spirit is of a particle of cloud; not knowing that every spirit and angel is a man. An examination, nevertheless, was made ta 8

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [II-13

ascertain if the spiritual idea of such persons was like their natural idea, and it was found to be different with those who acknowledge the Lord interiorly as God of heaven and earth. l once heard an eIder from among the Christians say that no one can have an idea of the Divine Ruman; and l saw him taken to various Gentile peoples, and successively to such as were more and more interior, and from them to their heavens, and at length to the Christian heaven. Everywhere he was granted a communication of their interior perception concerning God, and he observed that they had no other idea of God but the idea of a Man, which is the same as the idea of the Divine Ruman (see c.L.]. n. 74).

12. The common idea of God in Christendom is as of a Man, because the Athanasian Doctrine of the Trinity describes Rim as a Person; but those of higher degree, the wise, prodaim that God is invisible, for they cannot understand how God, as Man, could have created heaven and earth, then filled the universe with Ris presence, and many things, which cannot sink into the understanding, so long as it is not known that the Divine is not in space. Those, on the contrary, who approach the Lord alone, think of the Divine Ruman, thus of God as Man.

13. Row important it is to have a right conception of God is evident from this, that the idea of God forrns the inmost of thought with all who have religion, for everything of religion and of worship regards God; and it is quite impossible for communication with the heavens to be granted, unless there be a right idea of God, because,

9

13, 14] DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM

universally and singly, He is in aU the things of religion and of worship. Hence every people in the world is assigned a place in the spiritual world according ta its idea of Gad as Man; for in this and no other is the idea of the Lord. That the state of life after death with a man is according ta the idea of Gad in which he has confirmed himself, is evident from its converse, namely, that the denial of Gad, and, in Christendom, the denial of the Lord's Divinity, make tell.

*BEING AND *EXISTENCE IN GOD MAN

ARE DISTINCTLy ONE

14. Where Being is, there Existence is; the one is not presented without the other; for Being I5 through Existence, and not apart from it. This the rational mind comprehends when it thinks, whether there can be granted any Being which does not EXIsT, or, any Existence except from Being; and since the one is presented with the other and not without it, it follows that they are one, but distinctly one. They are one distinctly like love and wisdom: besides love is Being, and wisdom is Existence, for love is not given unless in wisdom, nor wisdom unless from love; wherefore when love is in wisdom, then it EXIsTs. These two are one of such a nature that they may indeed be separated in thought, but not in operation, and it is on this account that they are said ta be distinctly one. Being and Existence in Gad Man also are distinctly one like soul and body. The soul is not presented without its body, nor the

• ct Esse" and "Existerc."

ro

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [14-17

body without its sou!. The Divine Soul of God Man is what is understood by the Divine Being, and the Divine Body what is understood by the Divine Existence. That the soul can exist without . the body, and think and be wise, is an error flowing from delusions, for the soul of every man is in a spiritual body, as soon as it has cast off the material coverings which it carried about in the world.

15. Being is not Being unless it Exists, because prior to this it is not in a form, and, if not in a form, it has no quality, and that which has no quality is not anything. That which exists from Being makes one with it, because it is from Being. Hence there is unition and each is the other's mutually and reciprocally, besides being in everything of the other as in itself.

16. From these things it is evident that God is Man, and thereby God Existing; not Existing from Himself, but in Himself. He who exists in Himself, He is God from whom aIl things are.

IN GOD MAN INFINITE THINGS ARE

DISTINCTLy ONE

17. It is weIl known that God is infinite, for He is called the Infinite; but He is called the Infinite because He is infinite. He is not Infinite from this fact alone, viz. that He is very Being and Existence in Himself, but because there are infinite things in Him. An Infinite without infinite things in Himself is Infinite only in name. The infinite things in Him cannot be said to be infinitely

n* II

17-1 9] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

many, or infinitely aIl, on account of the natural idea respecting many and ail; for the natural idea of infinitely many is limited, and the idea of infinitely ail, though not limited, is drawn from limited things in the universe. Wherefore, on account of his natural ideas, man is unable, by any refinement and approximation, to come into a perception of the infinite things in God; but an angel, in the spiritual idea, by these means is able to rise above the degree of man, yet never so far as to that perception.

18. That there are infinite things in God, any one may convince himself, who believes that God is Man; and because He is Man, He has a Body, and ail that pertains to it. Thus He has a face, breast, abdomen, loins, and feet; for without these He would not be Man; and, since He has these, He has also eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and tongue; then also the inward parts of man, the heart and lungs, and their connections; all of which, taken together, make man to be man. In created man these are many, and, observed in their combinations, innumerable; but in God Man they are infinite; nothing whatever is wanting; hence His infinite perfection. That a comparison is drawn between Man Uncreated, that is God, and created man, is because God is Man; and He Himself says that the man of this world was created after His image and likeness (Gen. i. 26, 27).

19. The fact that there are infinite things in God is made more clearly evident to the angels from the heavens in which they dwell. Heaven, considered in its entirety, is composed of myriads of myriads of angels, and collectively is in form

12


like a Man; every society of heaven, whether large or smaU, likewise; hence also an angel is a man, for an angel is a heaven in least form. That this is sa may be seen in the work on HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 51-87). Heaven, as a whole, in part, and in the individual, is of such a form by virtue of the Divine which the angels receive; for an angel is a man in perfect form just sa far as he is a recipient from the Divine. This is why the angels are said to be in God, and God in them; also that God is their aU. How many things there are in heaven cannat be written down; and because the Divine is what makes heaven, and those myriads of things, too numerous to express in words, are from the Divine, it is clearly evident that there are infinite things in Very Man, who is Gad.

20. The like may be shown to be the case from the created universe, provided that this is regarded from uses and their correspondences, but before this can be understood sorne preliminary explanations must be given.

2r. Because there are infinite things in God Man which are visible in heaven, in angel and in man as in a mirror, and, because God-Man is not in space (see above, n. 7-10), it can, to sorne extent, be seen and understood, in what manner Gad can be Omnipresent, Omniscient, and AU Provident, and how, as Man, He could create aU things, and, as Ma)], He is able to keep the things created by Himself in their order to eternity.

22. The fact that infinite things are distinctly one in Gad-Man may also be manifest, as in a mirror, from man. In man there are many and

13

22,23J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

rul

innumerable things, as said above; but man feels them as a one. From sensation he knows nothing of his brain, heart, and lungs, of his liver, spleen, and pancreas; nor of the countless things in his eyes, ears, tongue, stomach, generative organs, and in the remaining parts; and because he knows nothing of them from sensation, he is, to himself, as indeed one. The reason is, that aIl these things are in such a form, as that not one can be lacking ; for it is a form receptive of life from God-Man (as shown above, n. 4-6). From the order and connection of aIl things in such a form, the sensation and thence the idea, is presented as if they were not many and innumerable, but really one. From this it may be inferred that the man and innumerable things, which in man seem to make a one, are in Very Man who is God distinctly, nay rather most distinctly, one.

THERE IS ONE GOD-MAN, FROM WHOM

ALL THINGS ARE

23. AlI things of human reason unite and, as it were, concentrate in this, that there is one God, the Creator of the universe; wherefore a man endowed with reason, from ordinary intelligence, neither does nor can think otherwise. Tell any sane man that there are two Creators of the universe, and you will find a repugnance on his part toward you, possibly from the mere sound of the phrase in his ear; from which it appears that ail things of human reason unite and concentrate in this, that God is one. There are two reasons for this. First, the very capability of thinking rationally is not man's, but God's with

14 1

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [23, 24

him; human reason in its general nature depends upon this: and this general nature of reason causes man ta see as from himself that Gad is one. Secondly, by means of that power, man either is in the light of heaven, or he draws thence the general nature of his thought; and it is a universal of the light of heaven that God is one. It is different if man has perverted the lower parts of his understanding by that capability. He does indeed possess the capability, but. by the twist given to those lower parts. he turns it another way. and thereby his reason becomes unsound.

24. Every one, though he may be unaware of it, thinks of a company of men as a man; sa he sees at once what is meant by saying that the king is the head and his subjects the body, and that this or that man is such a part of the general body, that is, the kingdom. The like holds good with the spiritual body as with the body politic. The spiritual body is the church. whose head is Gad-Man. From this it is evident what kind of a man the church would look like, if one should think not of one God, Creator, and Sustainer of the universe, but of severa!. Thus viewed, it would appear as one body with many heads, not as a Man, but a monster. If it be said that with these heads there is one essence, and thus together they make one head, the resu1tant idea cannat be other than of one head with several faces, or of one face with several heads. Thus the church would be presented ta view mis-shapen; when yet the one Gad is the head, and the church is the body, which acts at the bidding of its Head, and not from itself, as is also the case in man. Hence also it is that there can only be one king to a

15

24-26J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

kingdom. Several would rend it asunder, but one can hold it together.

25. So would it be with the church scattered throughout the whole universe, which is called a communion, because it is as one body under one Head. It is known that the head controIs the body under it at will; for understanding and will have their home in the head, and by them the body is put into motion, so long and so far as the body is only obedient. As the body can do nothing except from the understanding and will in the head, so the man of the church can do nothing except from God. It appears as if the body acts from itself, as if the hands and feet move themselves, and as if the mouth and tongue in speaking vibrate of themselves, when yet not a whit is from themselves, but from the affection of the will and thence the thought of the understanding in the head. Think then, if there were several heads to one body, and each and any head were under the jurisdiction of its own understanding and will, whether it could continue to exist. Among several heads, singleness of mind such as results from one head would be impossible. As in the church, so is it in the heavens. Heaven consists of myriads of myriads of angels; unless these one and all looked to the one God, they would fall away from one another, and heaven would be dissolved. Consequently if an angel of heaven merely thinks concerning several gods, he is there and then separated; for he is cast out to the utmost boundary of the heavens, and sinks downward.

26. Because the whole heaven and everything therein relate to one God, angelic speech is of such

r6


a nature that, through a certain harmony flowing from the concord of heaven, it finishes in a single cadence; a sign that it is impossible to think of God otherwise than as one; for speech is from thought.

27. Who will not perceive, whose reason is sound, that the Divine is indivisible? and moreover that severa! Infinites, Uncreates, Omnipotents, and Gods are impossible? If another, not gifted with reason, should argue that these may be possible, provided they have one and the same essence, and that by this means one Infinite, Uncreate, Omnipotent, and God, results, is not one and the same essence one identity? And one identity is not given to severa!. If it should be said that one is from the other, then he who is from the other is not God in himself. And yet God in Himself is the God from whom all things are. (See above, n. I6.)

THE DIVINE ESSENCE ITSELF IS LOVE

AND WISDOM

28. If you gather up aIl the things that you have come to know, and submit them to the insight of your mind, and if, in sorne elevation of spirit, you search out what is the universal of them aU, you can come to no other conclusion than that it is Love and Wisdom. For these are the two essentials of all things of man's life. Everything of that life, civil, moral, and spiritual, depends on these two, and, without these is nothing. It is the same with all things of the life of the collective Man, who is, as was said above, a society larger

I7

28-30 ] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

1

1

l1

r

or smaller, a kingdom, an empire, a church, and also the angelic heaven. Take away love and wisdom from these, and consider if they be anything, and you will perceive that, apart from these as their origin, they are nothing.

29. Love together with Wisdom in its very essence is in God. This no one can deny; for God loves all men from Love in Himself, and He leads aIl men from Wisdom in Himself. The created universe, also, looked at from its arrangement or order, is so full of wisdom and love that you may say that an things in the aggregate are that very wisdom. For things limitless are in such order, successively and simultaneously, that taken together they make a one. l t is from this cause and no other, that they can be held together and preserved for ever.

30. It is because the very Divine Essence is Love and Wisdom that man has two faculties of life, from one of which he has understanding, and from the other, will. The faculty from which he has understanding draws everything it has from the influx of wisdom from God; and the faculty from which he has will draws everything it has from the influx of love from God. The fact that a man is not truly wise and does not rightly love does not take away the faculties, but merely closes them up; and so long as they remain closed, they may be called understanding and will, but essentially are not. If, therefore, these two faculties were taken away, all that is human would perish -thinking and expressing one's thought, willing and acting from one's will. From this it is clear that the Divine dwells with man in these two

18

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [30 -33

faculties, the ability ta become wise and the power ta love. That in man there is the possiblity of loving (and of being wise), though he may not be wise and love as he might, has been made known ta me by much experience, which you will see elsewhere in abundance.

31. It is because the very Divine Essence is Love and Wisdom, that aU things in the universe bear reference ta good and ta truth; for everything which cornes from love is caUed good, and everything which cornes from wisdom is caUed truth. But of these things more later.

32. And again, because the very Divine Essence is Love and Wisdom, the universe and everything therein , alike animate and inanimate, continue their existence from heat and light; for heat corresponds ta love, and light ta wisdom. For which reason also spiritual heat is love, and spirituallight is wisdom. But of these, also, more later.

33. From the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, which make the very Essence that is Gad, spring aU man's affections and thoughts; the affections from the Divine Love and the thoughts from the Divine Wisdom. Each and ail the things of man are nothing else than affection and thought. These are like fountains of ail things of his life. AH the joys and delights of his life are from them, the joys from the affection of his love, and the delights from thought thence. Now because man is created ta be a recipient, and is a recipient ta the extent that he loves Gad, and from love ta Gad is wise; in other words, sa far as he is affected by those things which are from Gad and thinks

19

33-35] DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM

from that affection, it follows that the Divine Essence, which is the Creator, is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom.

DIVINE LOVE IS OF DIVINE WISDOM, AND

DIVINE WISDOM IS OF DIVINE LOVE

34. That the Divine Being and Divine Existence are distinctly one may be seen ab'ove (n. I4-I6). And because the Divine Being is Divine Love, and the Divine Existence is Divine Wisdom, these are likewise distinctly one. They are said to be distinctly one, because love and wisdom are two distinct things; for love 15 in wisdom, and wisdom EXI5T5 in love; and because Wisdom derives its Existence from love (see n. I4), therefore also Divine Wisdom is Being. From this it follows, that Love and Wisdom taken together are the Divine Being, but when taken distinctly Love is called Divine Being, and Wisdom, Divine Existence. Such is the angelic idea of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom.

35. Since there is such a union of Love and Wisdom, and of Wisdom and Love in God-Man, there is one Divine Essence. For the Divine Essence is Divine Love because it is of Divine Wisdom, and is Divine Wisdom because it is of Divine Love; and since there is such a union of these, therefore, also the Divine Life is one. Life is the Divine Essence. Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are one because the union is reciprocal, and reciprocal union causes oneness. But of reciprocal union more will be said elsewhere.

20


36. There is also a union of love and wisdom in every Divine work, from which it has perpetuity, or rather, eternal duration. If there be more of Divine Love than of Divine Wisdom. or more of Divine Wisdom than of Divine Love, in any created work, the excess passes off. It would continue to exist only in the measure in which the two are equally present.

37. The Divine Providence partakes equally of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in reforming, regenerating, and saving men. Were there.more of the one Divine attribute than the other, man could not be reformed, regenerated and saved. Divine Love wills to save aH, but it can do so only through Divine Wisdom; and aIl the laws by which salvation is effected are laws of Divine Wisdom. Love cannot transcend those laws, because Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are one. and ad in union.

38. In the Word, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are understood by " righteousness" and " judgment," Divine Love by "righteousness," and Divine Wisdom by "judgment." For this reason " righteousness" and " judgment" in the Word are predicated of God. Thus, in David: Righteousness and Judgment are the support of Thy throne (Ps. lxxxix. 14). Jehovah shall bring forth righteousness as the light,

and judgment as the noonday (Ps. xxxvii. 6). In Hosea: l will betroth thee unto Me for ever ...

in righteousness and judgment (ii. 19). In Jeremiah: l will raise unto David a righteous

branch, who shall reign as king, ... and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth (xxiii. 5).

21

38,39] DIVlNE J_OVE AND WISDOM

In Isaiah: He shall sit upon the throne of David, and ttpon his kingdom, to establish it ... in judgment and in righteous1MsS (ix. 7).

Jehovah shall be exalted, ... because He hath fllled the earth with judgment and righteousness (xxxiii. 5)·

In David: When l shall have learned the judgments of thy righteousness (Ps. cxix. 7).

Seven times a day do l praise Thee because of the judgments of thy righteousness (Ps. cxix. 164).

The same is understood by " Life" and" Light " in John, In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men (i. 4). By " Life " here is meant the Lord's Divine Love, and by " Light " His Divine Wisdom. The same meaning applies to " life " and " spirit " in John : Jesus said, The words whiclt l speak unto you are spirit and are life (vi. 63).

39. In man love and wisdom appear as two separate things, but yet in themselves are one distinctly, because such as is the quality of man's love, such is his wisdom, and such as is the quality of wisdom such is his love. Wisdom which does not make one with its love appears to be wisdom, and yet is not. Love which does not make one with its wisdom appears to be the love of wisdom, though it is not. For indeed, the one derives its essence and its life reciprocally from the other. The reason why wisdom and love with man appear as two separate things is that the faculty of understanding with him is capable of being elevated into the light of heaven, but not so the ability to love, except so far as he acts according to what he perceives from his understanding. Anything of seeming wisdom, therefore, which does not make

22

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [39.40

one with the love of wisdom. goes swiftly back to the love which does ; and this may be a love not of wisdom, but rather of insanity. For indeed, a man may know from wisdom that he ought to do this or that, but continually neglect to do it, because he does not like it. But so far as he willingly obeys wisdom's behests, so far he is an image of God.

THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM IS

SUBSTANCE AND IS FORM

40. The idea, entertained by the great mass of people concerning love and wisdom, is of something as it were transitory and fioating in thin air or ether; or like a breath from something of the kind. Scarcely any one thinks that they are really and actually substance and form. Those who recognise that they are substance and form still think of love and wisdom outside the subject and as fiowing forth from it; and, notwithstanding that it is transitory and fioating. still they caU substance and form that which they think of outside the subject and fiowing from it; not knowing that love and wisdom are that very subject, and that what is perceived outside it and as transitory and fioating is only an appearance in itself. There are several reasons why this has not hitherto been seen. One is, that appearances are the first things out of which the human mind forms its understanding. They can only be dispersed by an investigation of their cause. If the cause be deeply hidden, that investigation is only possible if the mind be kept a long time in spiritual light, and this it cannot do for long, by reason of the

23

40 , 41 ] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

natural light which is constantly drawing it back. The truth is, however, that love and wisdom are real and actual substance and form, which constitute the subject itself.

41. As this is contrary to appearance, it will seem unworthy of belief, unless it be proved. This can only be achieved through such things as man can take in through his bodily senses; by these it shail be proved. Man possesses five bodily senses, known as touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight. The subject of touch is the skin, with which a man is encompassed. The very substance and form of the skin cause it to feel whatever is applied to it. The sense of touch is not in the things applied, but in the substance and form of the skin, which are the subject. The sense itself lies only in the disposition of the subject to the things applied. It is the same with taste. This sense lies only in the disposition of the substance and forrn of the tongue; the tongue is the subject. Similarly with smell: it is weil known that scent affects the nostrils and is in the nostrils, and is a disposition of them due to scented particles touching them. So with hearing: it appears to be in the place where the sound cornes from, but is actually in the ear, and is a disposition of its substance and form. That hearing is distant from the ear is an appearance. In like manner sight : when a man sees objects at a distance, it seems to him as if vision were there; yet ail the while it is in the eye, which is the subject, and is in the same way a disposition of it. It is distant only by the inference of a man's judgment concerning space from the things which are in between, or from the diminution and consequent indistinctness

24

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [41 ,42

of the object, an image of which is produced interiorly in the eye according to the angle of incidence. Rence it is evident that sight does not go out from the eye to the object, but that an image of the object enters the eye, and disposes its substance and form. For it is exactly the same with sight as with hearing; hearing does not go out from the ear striving to catch sound, but sound enters the ear, and affects it. From these considerations it can be established, that the disposition of substance and form which causes sense is not a something separate from the subject, but only causes a change in it, the subject remaining subject then, as before and afterwards. Renee it follows that the five senses are not any transitory thing issuing from their organs, but that they are the organs seen in their substance and form, and that when they are affected sense is produced.

42. It is the same with love and wisdom, with this one difference only, that substances and forms, which are love and wisdom, are not visible directly to the eyes, as are the organs of the external senses. But yet no one can deny that substances and forms are those things of love and of wisdom which are caHed thoughts, perceptions, and affections, and that they are not transitory and floating things having existence out of nothing, or withdrawn from real and actual substance and form, which are subjects. For in the brain are .substances and forms innumerable, in which every interior sense pertaining to the understanding and will has its seat. AH the affections, perceptions, and thoughts there are not exhalations from these substances, but are actually and really subjects, which send forth nothing from themselves, but

25

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1:

i

1


only undergo changes in accordance with the things which ftow against them and affect them. This may be confirmed from things previously stated about the external senses. Of the things thus ftowing against and affecting them more will be said later.

43. From these things it may, for the first time, be seen that Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in themselves are substance and form, for they are very Being and Existence; and unless they were Being and Existence of such a nature as are substance and form, they would be only a figment of the imagination, which in itself is nothing.

THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM ARE

SUBSTANCE AND FORM IN ITSELF, THUS

THEY ARE THE VERY AND THE ONLY

44. That Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are substance and form has been proved just above ; and that Divine Being and Existence is Being and Existence in itself, has also been stated above. One cannot say "from" itself, because this involves a beginning, and also a beginning from something within it which is Being and Existence in itself. But Very Being and Existence in itself is from eternity, and, moreover, is uncreate, and everything created must be from an Uncreate., What is created is also finite, and the finite cannot exist except from the Infinite.

45 He, who with sorne degree of thought can follow the argument and understand Being and

26


Existence in itself, will certainly fol1ow on and understand that it is the Very and the Only That is named the Very which alone 15, and that the Only from which al1 else is. Now because the Very and the Only is substance and form, it must be very and only substance and form. And because that is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, it must be very and only Love, and very and only Wisdom. Consequently it is very and only Essence, as weIl as very and only Life, for Love and Wisdom is Life.

46. From these things it may be evident how sensually, that is, how from the senses of the body and from their unenlightenment in spiritual matters, do those think, who declare that Nature is from herself. They think from sight. They cannot think from their understanding. Thought from sight closes the understanding, but thought from the understanding opens the sight. They can form no idea of Being and Existence in itself, and that it is Eternal, Uncreate, and Infinite; nor can they picture Life except as a transitory something dissolving into nothingness; nor think in any other way of Love and Wisdom, and certainly not that aIl the things of Nature come from them. Neither can it be seen that aIl things of nature come from them, unless nature is regarded from Uses in their succession and their order, and not from any of its forms, which are merely objects of sight. For there are no uses except from life, and their succession and order from wisdom and love. On the other hand forms are the containants of uses. For which reason, if the fonus alone are regarded, nothing of life can be seen in nature, still less of

. love and wisdom, and so nothing of God.

27

47, 48J

THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM MUST

OF NECESSITY BE AND EXIST IN OTHERS

CREATED BY ITSELF

47. The essential of love is not to love itself, but others, and through love to be united with them. The essence of alliove is union, nay rather, its life, and is called pleasantness, agreeableness, delight, sweetness, bliss, happiness. and felicity. Love consists in this, that its own should be another's. To feel another's joy as one's own, that is loving. But, feeling one's happiness in another, and not his in oneself, is not loving. This is self-love, whereas the other was love of the neighbour. These two kinds of love are diametrically opposed. Either conjoins the other, and it does not seem that loving one's own, that is, oneself in another, disjoins; when yet it separates so utterly, that as much as any one may have loved another in this way, just so much will he hate him. For that union dissolves of itself gradually, and then, step by step, love turns to hatred.

48. Who that is capable of discerning the essential character of love cannot see this? For what is loving oneself alone and not sorne one else who will return love for love? Tt is surely separation rather than binding together. Love's union is reciprocal. There can be no reciprocity in self alone, and if there is thought to be, it cornes from an imagined reciprocity in others. From these things it is evident that Divine Love must be and exist in others, whom it may love, and by whom it may be loved; for with such a reciprocity in ail love, it will be greatest, that is, infinite, in Love itself.

28


49. With respect ta Gad: Loving and being loved reciprocaUy cannot be granted to others, in whom is anything of infmity, or of the essence and life of love in itself, or of the Divine; for if any of these infinite qualities were in them, He wotùd not be loved by others, but would love Himself. Indeed the Infinite or Divine is one only, and if this were in others, it would be Itself, and the very love of self, of which not a whit can be attributed to Gad; for this is the direct opposite of the Divine Essence. And sa it must be imputed in others, in whom is nothing of the Divine in itself. l t will be seen later that it may be in beings created by the Divine. But, ta this end, there must be Infinite Wisdom making one with Infinite Love; that is, there must be the Divine Love of Divine Wisdom, and the Divine Wisdom of Divine Love. (See above, n. 34-39.)

50. Upon the perception and consideration of this mystery depends the perception and knowledge of aU things of existence or of creation, besides aU things of subsistence or preservation by Gad; that is ta say, of aU the works of Gad in the created universe, of which the following pages treat.

SI. But let me beg you not ta obscure your ideas with time and space; for as much as time and space enter into your ideas when you read the following, sa far will it be unintelligible; for the Divine is not in time and space. This will be seen clearly in the continuation of this work, especially concerning Eternity, Infinity, and Omnipresence.

29

52]

ALL THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE HAVE

BEEN CREATED BY THE DIVINE LOVE

AND WISDOM OF GOD-MAN

52. So fuU of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom is the universe in greatest and least, and in first and last things, that it may be said to be Divine Love and Wisdom in an image. That this is so, is clearly established by the correspondence of aU things of the universe with aU things of man. Each and every thing in the created universe, that has existence, corresponds accordingly with each and every thing of man, so that it may be said, he also is a kind of universe. The correspondence of his affections, and thence of his thoughts, is with aU things of the animal kingdom; of his will, and thence of his understanding, with all things of the vegetable kingdom ; and of his outermost life, with aU things of the mineraI kingdom. That such is the correspondence, does not appear to any one in the natural world, but to every one, who turns ms mind to it, in the spiritual world. In that world are aU things existing in the natural world in its three kingdoms, and they are correspondences of affections and thoughts, from the will and from the understanding respectively, also of the outermost things of life, of those who are there; and all these things around them present just such an appearance as in the created universe, except that they are in lesser form. Thus the angels see clearly that the created universe is an image representative of God-Man, and that it is His Love and Wisdom which are presented in the universe in image. Not that it is God-Man, but from Him; for nothing whatever

3°

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (52-54

in the created universe is substance and forrn in itself, or life in itself, or love and wisdom in itself ; nor, indeed, is man a man in himself, but everything is from Gad, who is Man, Wisdom and Love, and Form and Substance, in Himself. That which is in itselJ, is uncreate and infinite; but that which is from Him is created and finite, because it.holds nothing within it which is in itself; and this exhibits an image of Him, from whom it is and exists.

53. Being and Existence may be applied ta things created and finite, ta substance and forrn, also life, likewise love and wisdom, but aIl these are created and finite. The reason why these terms may be applied is not that they have anything Divine of their own, but that they are in the Divine and the Divine in them. For everything created is, in itself, inanimate and dead, but is quickened and made to live, when the Divine is in it and it is in the Divine.

54. The Divine is the same in one subject as in another, but one created subject differs from another; for no two things can be alike and therefore each thing is a varied receptacle. On which account the Divine is made visible in its image in diverse ways. lts presence in opposites will be discussed later.

31

...

55, 56]

ALL THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE

ARE RECIPIENTS OF THE DIVINE LOVE

AND WISDOM OF GOD-MAN

55. lt is known that each and ail things of the universe are created by God; on this account the universe with each and ail things of it is caIled in the Word, the work of the hands of Jehovah. The world in its entirety is said to be created out of nothing, and concerning nothing the idea is cherished of absolute void; when yet, from absolute void, nothing is or can be made. This is an established truth. The universe, therefore, which is an image of God, and hence full of God, could not be created except in God from God; for God is Being itself, and whatever is must be from Being. To create what is, from nothing which is not, is utterly contradictory. But still that which is created in God from God is not continuous from Him; for God is Being in ltself, and in created things there is not any Being in itself. If there were, it would be continuous from God, and thus be God. The angelic idea of this is something of this nature: What is created in God from God is like that in a man, which he had drawn out of his life, but from which the life has been withdrawn; which is such as accords with his life, but still is not his life. The angels adduce in confirmation many things which exist in their heaven, where they are in God, they say, and God is in them, yet still they have nothing of God which is God, in their own being. More will be presented later in confirmation. Let this suffice for present information.

56. Every created thing, by virtue of this origin,

32


is of such a nature, that it may be a recipient of God, not by continuity, but by contiguity. By the latter, and not the former, it is possible to be conjoined, for it is accordant because it was created by God in God; and because thus created, is an analogue, and through that conjunction is like to an image of God in a mirror.

57. This is why angels are not angels from themselves, but by virtue of that conjunction with God-Man ; and that conjunction is according to the reception of Divine Good and Truth, which are God, and appear to proceed from Him, though reaily they are in Him. This reception is according to the way in which they apply to themselves the laws of order, which are Divine truths, in the exercise of that freedom of thinking and willing according to reason, which they have from the Lord as if it were their own. By this they have reception of Divine Good and Truth as if from themselves, and by this there is reciprocation of love; for, as was said above, there cannot be love unless it be reciproca1. The like is true of men on the earth. From the things now stated for the first time, it may be seen that ail things of the created universe are recipients of the Divine Love and Wisdom of God-Man.

58. Before the attempt can be made to explain to the comprehension, that aH those other things of the universe, which are not classed with angels and men, are also recipients of the Divine Love and Wisdom of God-Man, as for instance those just below men in the animal kingdom, lower still in the vegetable kingdom, and lowest of aIl in the mineraI kingdom, a great deal must be said about

33

58-60] "DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

degrees-degrees of life and of the recipients of life. Conjunction with the things of these kingdoms is according to their use; for all good uses originate nowhere else than through a like conjunction with God, but different according to degree. This conjunction, in its descent becomes successively of such a nature that nothing of freedom is in them, because there is nothing of reason, and, therefore, nothing of the appearance of life, but all through the descent they are recipients (of the Divine Love and Wisdom). Because recipients. they are also re-agents; and, for as much as they are re-agents, are receptac1es. After the origin of evil has been disc1osed, we shall speak of the conjunction with uses which are not good.

59. From these things it may be evident that the Divine is in each and aU things of the created universe, and thence that the created universe is the work of the hands of J ehovah, as it is said in the Word; that is, the work of the Divine Love and Wisdom, for these are understood by" the hands of Jehovah." And notwithstanding the presence of the Divine in each and aU things of the universe. there is, in their being nothing of the Divine in itself; for the createrl universe is not God, but from God; and since it is from God, an image of Him is in it, as it might be the refiection of a man in a mirror, wherein the man indeed appears, but yet nothing of the man is in it.

60. 1 have heard many talking round about me in the spiritual world, saying they are perfectly willing to acknowledge that the Divine is in each and every thing of the universe, because they see therein the wonderful works of God, and for which

34


reason the more interiorly they are examined, the more wonderful they are. Yet, when they have heard that the Divine actuaily enters into each and every thing of the created universe, they were displeased; a sure token that while asserting it, they do not believe it. They were asked, therefore, if they cannat see this merely from the marveilous facu1ty, inherent in every seed, of producing its own plant form, even to new seeds; also that in every single seed the idea of the infinite and eternal is present, since there is in them a striving to multiply and fructify to infinity and eternity. Then again, consider any animaIs, even the smailest. They have organs of the senses, brains, heart, lungs, and ail the rest, with arteries, veins, fibres, muscles, and motions from them; not ta mention their amazing instinct, concerning which whole volumes of writings exist. AIl these marvels are from God; but the forms, with which they are clothed, are from material substances of the earth. From these proceed plants, and, in their order, men. That is why it is said of man,

That he was created out of the ground, and that he is the dust of the earth, and that the soul of lives was breathed into him (Gen. ii. 7),

from which it is clear that the Divine is not man's own, but is adjoined to him.

ALL THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN CREATED BEAR A CERTAIN LIKENESS TO MAN

61. This may be demonstrated from each and ail things of the animal, vegetable, and mineraI kingdoms respectively. A relation to man in each

C ~

6rJ DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

and aU things of the animal kingdom is plain from these considerations: AnimaIs of every kind have limbs by which they move, organs by which they feel, and viscera by which these are put in motion. These they have in common with man. They have also appetites and affections similar to those natural to man. At birth they have knowledge corresponding to their affections, in sorne of which appears something like the spiritual. This is more or less plain to the eye in the case of beasts, birds, bees, silkworms, ants, etc. From these facts it is that altogether natural men assert that living creatures of this kingdom are like them, apart from speech. A relation to man in each and aU things of the vegetable kingdom is plain from these considerations: They spring forth from seed, and from that advance successively through their various stages of growth; they have something resembling marriage, and later on prolification. Their vegetable soul is use, of which they are forms. There are, besides, many other features, which bear relation to man, and which have also been described by certain authors. A relation ta man in each and aU things of the mineral kingdom appears only in the endeavour to produce such forms as may bear that relation, which forms are, as we have said, those of the vegetable kingdom, and in this way to fulfil uses. For when first the seed faUs into the bosom of the earth, she warms it, and out of herself gives it power, drawn from every direction, to shoot up, and present itself in a form representative of man. There is an endeavour of such a kind also in its solid parts, as witness corals in the depths of the ocean, and ftowers in mines, where they originate from mineraIs and also metals. The endeavour towards vegetating, and fulfiUing

36


uses by this means, is the one most remote from the Divine to be found in created things.

62. As there is an endeavour of the earth's mineraIs towards vegetation, so there is an endeavour of plants towards vivification; thence come inseets of different kinds corresponding to the odours emanating from plants. This is not due to the heat of this world's sun, but to life ftowing through it according to the recipients, as will be seen in what foilows.

63. That this relation of aU things of the created universe to man exists may be known indeed from what has been adduced, but only visualised vaguely. Yet in the spiritual world this is seen clearly. AU the things of the three kingdoms are there, and in the midst of them the angel. He sees them aU around him, and he knows also that they are symbols of himself; nay rather, when the inmost of his understanding is opened, he recognises himself, and sees his likeness in them, almost as in a mirror.

64. From these and many other things in agreement, which we have no space for here, it may be known for a certainty, that God is Man and the created universe His image; for the general relation of ail things is to Him, just as there is a particular relation to man.

37

65J

THE USES OF ALL CREATED THINGS ASCEND THROUGH DEGREES FROM OUTER

MOST THINGS TO MAN, AND THROUGH

MAN TO GOD THE CREATOR, FROM WHOM THEY ARE

65. Outermost things, as said above, are each and all of the things of the mineral kingdom. They include matter of different kinds, of stony, saline, oily, mineraI, metallic substance, covered over with soil composed of vegetable and animal elements reduced to the finest mould. Hidden within them lie the end as weil as the beginning of ail uses which originate from life. The end of ail uses is the endeavour to beget uses; the beginning is energy in action from that endeavour. These pertain to the mineraI kingdom. Middle things are each and ail things of the vegetable kingdom. They comprise grasses, herbs, plants, shrubs, and trees, of every kind. Their uses are to serve each and ail of the animal kingdom, as much those not fuily formed as the perfecto They nourish, delight, and vivify them; nourishing their bodies with their own substances, delighting their senses with their own savour, fragrance, and beauty, and giving life to their affections. The endeavour towards these uses enters into them from life also. F irst things are each and all things of the animal kingdom. The lowest of that order are cailed worms and insects; the middle, birds and beasts; and the highest, men; for in each of the kingdoms are lowest, middle and highest ; the lowest are for the use of the middle, and the middle for the use of the highest. Thus the uses

38

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [65---67

of all created things ascend in order from outermost things up to man, who is flrst in order.

66. There are three degrees of ascent in the natural world, and three also in the spiritual world. AlI animaIs are recipients of life; the more perfect are recipients of life of three degrees of the natural world, the less perfect of two degrees of that world, and the imperfect of one of its degrees. But man alone receives the life of the three degrees, not only of the natural, but also of the three degrees of the spiritual world, and, indeed, because he can be elevated above nature, is different from any other animal. He can think analytically and rational1y of civil and moral things, which are within nature, and also of spiritual and celestial things above nature; in fact he can be elevated into wisdom so far as to see God. But we must treat of the six degrees, through which the uses of all created things ascend in their order to God the Creator, in their proper place. From this summary it can be seen that there is an ascent of all created things towards the First, who alone is Life, and, that the uses of all things are the very recipients of life and thence the forms of the uses are so also.

67. It shall also be described briefiy how man ascends, that is, is elevated from the outermost degree to the first. He is born into the outermost degree of the natural world; from that he is raised by means of things learnt into the second degree; and as he in this way perfects his understanding, he is raised to the third degree, and then becomes rational. The three degrees of ascent in the spiritual world are above the three natural

39

.........


degrees in him, and are not visible until he has put off the earthly body. When this is put off, the first spiritual degree is opened to him, afterwards the second, and finally the third, but only with those who become angels of the third heaven; these are they who see God. Those become angels of the second and outermost heaven in whom the corresponding degrees can be opened. Every spiritual degree in man is opened according to his reception of Divine Love and Wisdom from the Lord. Those who receive sorne measure thereof come into the first or outermost spiritual degree ; those who receive more, into the second or middle spiritual degree; and those who receive much,

. into the third or highest degree. But those who receive nothing of the Divine Love and Wisdom remain in the natural degrees, and draw no more from the spiritual degrees than the ability to think and thence speak, to will and thence act, but not with perception.

68. Regarding the elevation of the interiors of man, which belong to his minci, this also should be known. There is reaction in everything created by God. In Life alone is action, and reaction is produced by the action of Life. This reaction appears as if it were in the thing created from the fact that it emerges when acted upon. Thus in man it seems as if it were his, because he feels that life is his own completely, when yet he is only a recipient of life. That is why man, from his own hereditary evil, reacts against God. On the other hand, so far as he believes that ail his life is from God, and every good of life is from the action of God, and every evil of life from man's reaction, just so does reaction partake of action, and

40


man acts with God as if from himself. The equilibrium of aH things is from action together with reaction, and everything must be in equilibrium. These things have been pointed out lest man should believe that he ascends to God from himself, and not from the Lord.

THE DIVINE FILLS ALL THE SPACES OF

THE UNIVERSE, APART FROM SPACE

69. Nature has two properties, SPACE and TIME. In the natural world man forms from these his considered ideas, and from them his understanding. Should he remain in them and not lift his mind above, it is impossible for him to perceive anything spiritual and Divine anywhere; for he surrounds them with ideas which draw (their quality) from space and time, and to the extent he does this, so the illumination of his understanding becomes altogether natura1. To think from this sort of reasoning about spiritual and Divine things, is just as if from the darkness of night one were to think of those things which are visible only in daylight. This is the source of Naturalism. But he who has the wit to raise his mind above those considered ideas, limited by space and time, passes out of darkness into light, and discerns spiritual and Divine things, and at length is sensible of what is in them and from them. Then from that light he dispels the darkness of his natural illumination, and removes its errors from the centre of his understanding to the sides. Every man, possessed of understanding, can, and also actuaHy does, think above these properties of nature; and then affirrns and sees that the Divine,

4I

69, 70] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

because omnipresent, is not in space. He is also able to affirrn and see the things mentioned above ; but, if he denies the Divine Omnipresence, and ascribes ail things to nature, he has no desire to be elevated, although he is able.

70. These two properties of nature mentioned above, namely space and time, are laid aside by ail who die and become angels ; for they then enter into spiritual light, in which the abjects of thought are truths, and the abjects of sight resemble those in the natural world, but are correspondent to their thoughts. These truths, of which they think, draw absolutely nothing from space and time; but what they see does indeed appear just as in space and time, but the angels never think from these (properties). The reason is, that spaces and times there are not fixed as in the natural world, but are changed according ta the states of their life. On this account, instead of space and time entering into the ideas of their thought, they think of states of life, such things as relate ta states of love instead of spaces, such as have reference ta states of wisdom instead of times. From this it is that spiritual thought and also speech therefrom differ sa completely from natural thought and speech, as ta have nothing in common except sa far as the interiors of things are concerned, which things are ail spiritual: of which difference more will be said elsewhere. Now, since the angels have no thoughts of space and time, but, instead, of states of life, it is clear that they do not know what is meant by saying that the Divine fills spaces, for they have no idea of spaces; but they understand perfectly clearly when, without any such idea, it is said that the Divine fiUs aU things.

42

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [71 ,72

71. Ta show that the man of altogether natural outlook has the idea of space in his contemplation of spiritual and Divine things, and the man of spiritual vision has no such idea, let this serve for an example. The former's thoughts come through ideas acquired from the abjects of his sight, ail of which have form partaking of length, breadth,and height, and shape determined by them, either angular or round. These are manifestly present in the ideas of his thought about things visible on earth, and, also, about invisible things, as, for instance, civil and moral affairs. It is true he is unconscious of these things, but they are constantly there attendant on them. How different the spiritual man, especiaIly an angel of heaven ! His thought has no trace of form and shape, deriving anything from the length, breadth, and height of space, but is wholly from the state of a thing arising from the state of its life. So, he thinks of the good of a thing from the good of its life instead of the length of space, he thinks of the truth of a thing from the truth of its life instead of breadth, and of their degrees instead of height. Thus he thinks from the correspondence, which the spiritual and the natural bear ta each other. l t is from this correspondence in the Ward that length indicates the good of a thing, breadth the truth of a thing, and height the degrees of them. From this it is evident that an angel of heaven is absolutely unable ta think otherwise, when it concerns Divine Omnipresence, than that the Divinefllls all thingsapartfromspace. What an angel thinks, that is truth, because Divine Wisdom is the light "vhich illuminates his understanding.

72. This is the basic thought concerning God; for without it, the things ta be related concerning

c* 43

72 ,73] DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM

the creation of the universe by God-Man, His Providence, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and Omniscience, can certainly be understood, but just as surely cannot be retained in the mind; because the altogether natural man, while he understands those things, is continually slipping back into his life's love, which is that of his will. This love dissipates them and plunges his thought in space, from which cornes the illumination, which he styles rational, quite uriaware that his denials are the measure of his irrationality. That such is the case, may be confirmed by the idea entertained concerning this truth, GOD 15 MAN. l beg you to read carefuIly, n. II-13 above, and what has been written after; then you will understand that it is so. But if you allow your thought to fail back into the natural illumination which draws its quality from space, will not these truths appear paradoxical? And if you let it fall far, you will reject them. This is the reason for saying that the Divine fills aIl the spaces of the universe, and for avoiding saying that God-Man does so. For if this were said, the merely natural iilumination would not favour it, but it would support the principle that the Divine fills them, because it agrees with the teachings of the theologians, that God is omnipresent, and hears and knows ail things. (More on this matter may be seen above, n. 7-10.)

THE DIVINE, APART FROM TIME, 15 IN

ALL TIME

73. As the Divine, apart from space, is in aIl space, so in the same way, apart from time, it is in ail time; for not a thing peculiar to nature can be

44

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [73

predicated of the Divine, and space and time are peculiar to nature. Space in nature is measurable, time likewise. Time is measured by days, weeks, months, years, and centuries; and days by hours, weeks and months by days, years by the four seasons, and centuries by years. Nature derives this measurement from the seeming circuit and rotation of the sun of the world. But in the spiritual world it is quite different. There the progressions of life appear in like manner in time, for they live with one another there, just as men do in the world, which is impossible without an appearance of time. But time is not divided into seasons there as it is in the world, for their Sun is constant in the east, immovable. It is indeed the Divine Love of the Lord which, to them, is visible as the Sun. Rence there are no days, weeks, months, years, centuries for them, but they have instead states of life, by which a distinction is made, which cannot be cal1ed a distinction into times, but into states. From that it results that angels do not know what time is, and, when mentioned, perceive instead state. When state determines time, time is only an appearance, for joy makes time seem short, and sadness makes it seem long. It is c1ear, then, that time there is nothing else than quality of state. This explains why hours, days, weeks, months, and years, are used in the Word to indicate states, and their progressions, both in series and in the aggregate; and when times are predicated of the church, by its morning is understood its first state, by noonday its fulness, by eventide its dec1ine, and by night its end. The four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, have a like meaning.

45


74. From these considerations it is evident that time makes one with thought from affection; for from that is the quality of man's state. Many instances can be adduced to show, that distances in progressions through spaces in the spiritual world coincide with progressions of time. For example, ways there are actuaUy shortened or lengthened according to the desires, which the thought has from affection. Hence it is also that the expression" spaces of time" derives its origin. On the other hand in cases, such as in sleep, where thought does not connect with the man's own affection, time is not noticeable.

75. Since times, peculiar to the world of nature, are in the spiritual world pure states, which there appear progressive, because angels and spirits are finite, it may be evident that they are not progressive in God, because He is Infinite, and infinite things in Him are one, as has been shown above (n. 17-22): from which it foUows, that the Divine, apart from time, is in aU time.

76. The man, who does not understand and is unable to think from any perception concerning God apart from time, certainly cannot form an idea of Eternity other than temporal: and then he cannot help being bewildered in thinking of God from eternity; for he thinks from a beginning, and that is solely of time. His crazy thought leads to this, that God thus existed from Himself ; thence he faUs easily into the origin of nature from herself ; and from this idea he can only be set free by a spiritual or angelic idea of eternity. which is without time. and when without time, is Eternal and Divine likewise; the Divine is Divine in

46

DIVINE LovE AND WISDOM [76-78

itself, and not from itself. The angels declare that they can indeed understand Gad from eternity, but nature fram eternity by no method of thinking, still less nature from herself, and not at all nature in herself. For that which is in itself is very Being fram which ail things are; and Being in itself is very Life, which is the Divine Love of the Divine. Wisdom and the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love. This is the angels' Eternity, detached from time, in the same way as is the Uncreate from the created, or the Infinite from the finite, of which in truth, no ratio is possible.

IN THE GREATEST AND THE SMALLEST

THINGS, THE DIVINE IS THE SAME

77. This follows from the two preceding divisions: The Divine, apart from space, is in ail space, and, apart from time, in all time. Moreover spaces are greater and greatest, smailer and smailest; and since spaces and times coincide, as was said above, it is the same with times. In these the Divine is the same, because the Divine neither changes nor is subject ta change, as is the case with everything of space and time, or of nature. It is invariable, immutable; consequently, everywhere and ever the same.

78. l t appears as if the Divine were not the same in one man as in another. For instance, in the wise and the simple, in the aged and the young, it seems quite different. But this is a false impression. It is the man who is different, not the Divine in him. Man is a recipient, and it is the recipient or receptacle which varies. A wise man's reception

47

78- 80] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

of the Divine Love and Wisdom is more adequate and therefore fuller than that of a simple man; and an old man, provided he is wise also, will receive more than a child or young man; but always the Divine is the same in the one as in the other. Similarly, there is a false impression that the Divine is different with the angels of heaven and men on earth, because the angels have ineffable wisdom, and men so little. But the seeming variation is not in the Lord; it is in the subjects, qualified by their reception of the Divine.

79. That in greatest and smallest things the Divine is the same may be made c1ear from heaven and the angel there. The Divine in the whole heaven and in the angel is the same; on which account the whole heaven may present the appearance as of one ange!. 50 it is with the church and so with a man of the church. The whole heaven and the whole church together are the greatest things in which is the Divine; the smallest is an angel of heaven and a man of the church. Several times 1 have seen an entire society of heaven as one man-angel. 1 was told that this man-angel appearance may be as a man, large as a giant or as small as a child; and this is due to the fact that the Divine is the same in greatest and smallest things.

80. The Divine is also the same in the greatest and least of all created things, which are not living; for it is in the good of their use. But why they are not living, is that they are not forms of life, but forms of uses; and the form differs according to the excellence of the use. But how the Divine is in them will be told later, in the part where creation is discussed.

48


81. Remove space, absolutely deny a vacuum; then refiect upon the Divine Love and Wisdom, as very Essence with space withdrawn and vacuum denied. Having done that, consider them from space, and you will perceive that the Divine is the same in greatest as in smailest things; for great and small is not permissible in Essence withdrawn from space, but identity only.

82. And here a word shail be said about vacuum. Once l heard angels in conversation with Newton on this subject. They said they could not endure the idea of vacuum as nothing, because in their world, which is spiritual, and within or above the spaces and times of the natural world, they feel, think, are affected, love, will, breathe, yea speak and aet, just in the same way. Yet nowhere in vacuum as nothing can one do these things, since nothing is nothing, and of nothing not anything is predicable. Newton replied that he knew that the Divine which Is fiils ail things. He shuddered at the idea of nothing in regard to vacuum, because that idea is destructive of aU things. He urges those who talk with him on the matter to beware of the idea of nothing, comparing it to a swoon, because any real aetivity of the mind is impossible in nothing.

49

PART II

THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

APPEAR IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD AS THE SUN

83. There are two worlds, the spiritual and the natural. The spiritual world receives nothing whatever from the natural, nor the natural world from the spiritual. They are absolutely separate, and communicate only by correspondences, the nature of which has been abundantly shown elsewhere. To il1ustrate this by an example; Heat in the natural world corresponds to the good of charity in the spiritual world, and light in the natural world corresponds to the truth of faith in the spiritual world. Who does not see that heat and the good of charity, and that light and the truth of faith are absolutely separate things? From the first intuition they appear as distinct as if they were two absolutely different things. They seem so, if one refiects upon what the good of charity has in common with heat, and the truth of faith with light; when nevertheless, spiritual heat is that good, and spirituallight is that truth. Although these things are thus separate in themselves, they yet make one by correspondence, and in this way; while man is reading in the Word of heat and light, the spirits and angels, in association with him, understand, for heat charity, and for light faith. This example is adduced to let it

50


be known, that the two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, are so separated as to have nothing in common; but yet are so created as to have communication, nay rather to be conjoined, by correspondences.

84. Since these two worlds are thus separated, it is quite evident that the spiritual world is under another sun than that of the natural world. For there is heat and light in the spiritual world just in the same way as in the natural, except that the heat and light there are spiritual; and spiritual heat is the good of charity, and spiritual light is the truth of faith. Now since heat and light cannot derive their origin elsewhere than from a sun, it is perfectly plain that the spiritual world has a different sun from the natural world, and also, that the sun of the spiritual world, in its essence, is such that spiritual heat and light can exist from it, and that the sun of the natural world, in its essence, is such that natural heat can exist from it. Every spiritual thing having reference to good and truth can spring from no other source than the Divine Love and Wisdom; for aU good is of love, and all truth is of wisdom; that they have no other origin, every discerning man can see.

85. Hitherto the existence of any other sun than that of the natural world has been unknown. The reason is that man's spiritual has passed into his natural to such an extent that he had no knowledge of anything spiritual, and did not know that a spiritual world had been provided, in which spirits and angels dwell, a different world altogether from the natura!. Since now the spiritual world has Iain unknown among men of the world so completely

SI


as to have vanished from their ken, it seemed good to the Lord to open the sight of my spirit, that l might see everything there, just as l see things of the naturai world, and might afterward describe that world, which has been done in the work HEAVEN AND HELL, wherein aIso, in one part, the Sun of that world has been discussed. Of a truth l have seen it. It seemed of the same size as the sun of the naturai world, and Iike it aIso in being just as fiery, but glowing with a redder tone. l t has been disclosed to me that the whole angelic heaven is under that Sun; that angeis of the third heaven see it constantIy, angeis of the second heaven very often, and angels of the first or outermost heaven sometimes. That aIl the heat and light which they enjoy, and everything visible there, are from that Sun, will be seen later.

86. That Sun is not the Lord Himself, but is from the Lord. The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom going forth are manifest in that world as the Sun. It is said, that Sun is Divine Love, because Love and Wisdom in the Lord are one (as shown in Part 1); for Divine Wisdom is of Divine Love, therefore aIso is Love.

87. That Sun appears fiery in the angels' sight, because love and fire are mutually correspondent. They certainly cannot see love with their eyes, but they see instead what corresponds to it. For angels, equally with men, have an internal and externa1. Their internal thinks and understands, wills and loves. Their external feels, sees, speaks, and acts. AIl their externals are correspondences of their internals, but spiritual correspondences,

52


not indeed natural. Divine Love, furthermore, is felt by spiritual beings as fire. Hence, where fire is mentioned in the Word, it means love. Holy tire had that meaning in the Israelitish Church: whence also it is the custom, in prayers to God, to say, "May heavenly tire kindle the heart," meaning Divine Love.

88. On account of such a division between spiritual and natural, as has been shown above, n. 83, not the least thing of the natural sun, that is, nothing whatever of its light and heat, or of any earthly object, can pass into the spiritual world. There the light of the natural world is darkness, and its heat death. But the heat of the world can be vitalised continuously by the influx of heavenly heat, and the light of the world illumined by the influx of heavenly light. Influx takes effect through correspondences, and is impossible by continuity.

HEAT AND LIGHT ISSUE FROM THE SUN,

WHICH EXISTS FROM THE DIVINE LOVE

AND WISDOM

89. Heat and light exist in the spiritual world, the abode of angels and spirits, in like manner as in the natural world where men dwell; and heat and light are also felt and seen similarly. But still the heat and light of the two worlds differ so much, that, as stated above, they have nothing in common. The difference between them is comparable to that between the living and the dead. The heat of the spiritual world has life in itself; so too its light. For the heat and light of the spiritual

53

89-91 ] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

world issue from the Sun which is pure love; whereas the heat and light of the natural world issue from a sun which is pure tire. Love is living, and the Divine Love is very Life, and tire is dead, and solar tire is death itself. It may be so designated, because it has absolutely nothing of life in it.

90. Angels, because they are spiritual beings, can only live in spiritual heat and light. Men, on the other hand, can only live in natural heat and light; for the spiritual is proper to the spiritual, and the natural to the natura1. If an angel were to draw from natural heat and light the minutest thing he would perish, for it is utterly out of agreement with his life. Every man, as to the interiors of his mind, is a spirit. When a man dies, he goes out of the natural world altogether, and leaves behind everything belonging to it, and enters into a world which has in it nothing of nature. In that world he lives so cut off from nature, that there is no connection by continuity, as, for instance, between what is purer and grosser, but only as between what is prior and posterior. The sole connection between these is through correspondences. From. this it is evident that spiritual heat is not purer natural heat, nor spiritual light purer natural light, but that they are from an utterly different essence; for spiritual heat and light draw their essence from that Sun which is pure Love, or Life Itself; and naturallight and heat draw theirs from a sun which is pure tire, in which there is absolutely no life; as said above.

9I. Since there is such a distinction between the heat and light of the two worlds, it is perfectly c1ear that the inhabitants of the one cannot see

54

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [9I , 92

those in the other world. For the eyes of a man, who looks at things from natural light. are made of the substance of his own world, whereas the eyes of an angel are formed of the substance of his world; thus in both cases adequately to receive their own light. One can see, therefore, the depth of ignorance of those who will not admit, that angels and spirits are men, because they do not see them with their eyes.

92. Hitherto it has been unknown that angels and spirits live in utterly different heat and light from that which men have; nay rather, the fact that another heat and light is given has not been known. Indeed man has not penetrated with his thought beyond the interior or purer things of nature; accordingly many have placed the dwellings of angels and spirits in the ether, and sorne in the stars, thus within nature, not above or outside it; when nevertheless angels and spirits are absolutely above or outside nature, and in their own world which is under another Sun. 1t was proved earlier that spaces in that world are appearances, and therefore it cannot be said that they are in the ether or the stars. They are indeed in association with man, conjoined to the affection and thought of his spirit: for man is a spirit; he thinks and wills from it; consequently the spiritual world is where man is, and is not at aH scattered about away from him. In a word, every man, so far as the interiors of his mind are concemed. lives in the midst of spirits and angels in that world; and he thinks from its light. and loves from its heat.

ss

93-95)

THAT SUN IS NOT GOD, BUT IS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM OF GOD-MAN: IT IS THE SAME WITH THE HEAT AND LIGHT

FROM THAT SUN

93. By that Sun, which is visible to angels and provides heat and light for them, is not to be understood the Lord Himself, but that which first goes forth from Him, the fulness of spiritual heat. This is spiritual fire, and is the Divine Love and Wisdom in their first correspondence. On this account that Sun appears fiery, and also is fiery to angels, but not to men. Fire as understood by men is not spiritual, but natura1. The difference between the two kinds of fire is comparable to that between the living and the dead. Wherefore the spiritual Sun gives life to spiritual beings by its heat and renews spiritual things. The natural sun does the same for natural beings and natural objects, yet not from itself, but by means of an influx of spiritual heat, for which it ministers as a substitute.

94. That spiritual fire, in which also light has its beginning, becomes spiritual heat and light, which decrease in intensity as they go forth. This decrease is effected by degrees, which will be explained later. The ancients represented this by circles glowing with fire, and resplendent with light around the head of God. This holds good even at the present day in pictures representing God as a Man.

95. Actual experience testifies to the fact that love causes heat, and wisdom light. When a man

56


loves he grows warm, and when he thinks from wisdom sees things as if in light. Thus it is plain that the first manifestation of love is heat, and of wisdom light. It is obvious, also, that they are correspondences; for heat is not in the love itself, but cornes into existence from love in the will, and thence in the body; light, too, is not in wisdom, but cornes into existence in the thought of the understanding, and thence in speech. On which account love and wisdom are the essence and life of heat and light. Heat and light are what go forth; and because of that are also correspondences.

96. Any one may know that spiritual light is entirely separated from natural light, if he direct attention to the thoughts of his mind. For the mind, when it thinks, sees its objects in light. They, who think spiritually, see truths equally well at midnight as in daytime. For which reason, also, light is attributed to the understanding, which is said to see. Indeed one sometimes says concerning another man's statements, one sees it is so, meaning that one understands. The understanding cannot see from natural light in this way because it is spiritual; for naturallight is not ever-present, but withdraws with the sun. It is c1ear, then, that the understanding enjoys a different light from that of the eye, and that light has a different origin.

97. Let everyone guard against thinking that the Sun of the spiritual world is God Himself. God Himself is Man. The first thing proceeding from His Love and Wisdom is a fiery spiritual substance, which appears before the angels as a Sun. When, therefore, the Lord manifests Himself in Person to the angels, He manifests Himself as a Man; and this sometimes in the Sun, sometimes outside the Sun.

57

98- 100) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

98. From that correspondence, the Lord is named in the Word not only Sun, but Fire and Light also. They are to be understood thus: The Sun is Himself, as to the Divine Love and Wisdom united; Fire is Himself as to Divine Love, and Light as to Divine Wisdom.

SPIRITUAL HEAT AND LIGHT, IN GOING FORTH FROM THE LORD AS THE SUN, MAKE ONE, JUST AS HIS DIVINE LOVE

AND WISDOM MAKE ONE

99. How Divine Love and Wisdom in the Lord make (or become) one has been explained in Part 1. In a similar way heat and light make one, because these go forth, and the things which go forth make one by correspondence: for heat corresponds to love, and light to wisdom. Thence it follows, that just as the Divine Love is the Divine Being, and the Divine Wisdom is the Divine Existence (see n. 14-16), so spiritual heat is the Divine going forth from the Divine Being, and spiritual light is the Divine going forth from the Divine Existence; wherefore as by that union, Divine Love is of Divine Wisdom, and Divine Wisdom is of Divine Love (see n. 34-39), so spiritual heat is of spiritual light, and spiritual light is of spiritual heat; and because there is such a union, it follows that heat and light in going forth from the Lord as the Sun are one. On the other hand it will be seen later that they are not received as one either by angels or men.

100. Heat and light going forth from the Lord as the Sun are named specially the spiritual; and,

58


the spiritual in the singular number, beeause they are one. Beeause of this, when the spiritual is spoken of in the following pages, bath together is ta be understood. On aeeount of that spiritual, the whole of that world is ealled spiritual; through it aH things there derive their origin, and their specifie name. That heat and that light are eaHed the spiritual, beeause Gad is eaHed a Spirit, and Gad as a Spirit is this spiritual going forth. Gad in His Very Essence is named Jehovah; but through that spiritual going forth, angels and men of the Chureh reeeive life and enlightenment; that is why quiekening of life and enlightenment is said ta be effected through the Spirit of J ehovah.

lOI. An illustration of the way in whieh heat and light, that is, the spiritual going forth from the Lord as the Sun, make one, is furnished by the heat and light whieh issue from the natural sun. They make one as they leave the sun. That they are no longer one on the earth is due ta the earth and not ta the sun; for the earth revolves daily round its axis, and is earried round annually aeeording ta the ecliptie. From this eireumstance the appearanee is that heat and light do not make one; for at midsummer there is more heat than light, and at midwinter more light than heat. Sa it is in the spiritual world; but there the earth has no sueh movements. The angels, however, turn themselves, sorne more, sorne less, towards the Lord; and they who turn more reeeive more of heat and less of light; while they, who do not turn themselves sa fully towards the Lord, reeeive more of light and less of heat. The result of this is that the heavens, whieh are formed of angels, are divided into two kingdoms, one ealled celestial,

S9

ror-r03J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

the other spiritual. The celestial angels receive more of heat, and the spiritual angels more of light. The eatths also, on which they dweIl, assüme an appearance according to the degree of heat and light received by them. If this change of state of the angels is substituted for the motion of the earth, the correspondence is perfecto

roz. AIl spiritual things owing their origin to the heat and light of their Sun make one similarly when regarded in themselves, but they do not make one if looked at as coming forth from the affections of angels. This will be seen later. When heat and light make one in the heavens, it seems'like spring to the angels: but not so united, it may seem like summer, or maybe like winter; not the winter of frigid zones, but of the tropical regions: indeed the evenly balanced reception of love and wisdom is the very angelic state; and, therefore, an angel is an angel of heaven in the measure that love and wisdom are united in him. It is the same with the man of the Church, if love and wisdom, or, if you will, charity and faith, make one in him.

THE SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD IS SEEN AT A MIDDLE ALTITUDE, AND AFAR OFF FROM THE ANGELS, JUST AS

IS THE NATURAL SUN FROM MEN

r03. The majority of people coming from the world entertain the notion that God is " on high," above the head, and that the Lord is among the angels in heaven. These ideas they hold, because God is called in the Word, " Highest," and is said to dweIl " on high "; and so they raise eyes and

60

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [r03-rOS

hands upwards when they pray and worship, not knowing that " highest " means the inmost. And, regarding the Lord, they think of Him only as of another man, sorne perhaps as of an angel; not knowing that the Lord is the Very and Only God, who rules the universe; who, if He were among the angels in heaven, could not have the universe under His observation, guidance and direction; and further, that if He did not shine before the eyes of those in the spiritual world as a Sun, there could be no light for the angels. For angels are spiritual beings, and, therefore, none but spiritual light accords with their essential nature. That heavenly light immeasurably transcends earthly light will be seen later when treating of degrees.

r04. But regarding the Sun, which gives light and heat to the angels, it is seen from the earths inhabited by them at an elevation of about fortyfive degrees, that is middle altitude; and it is seen also afar off just as the sun of the world appears far off from men. That sun is seen constantly at this altitude and distance, nor does it move. Consequently, the angels have no times divided into days and years, nor any advance from morning through mid-day towards evening and into night; nor any progression of the year from spring through summer towards autumn and into win ter, but there is perpetuaI Iight and perpetuaI spring: and for this reason instead of times there are states, as was said above.

lOS, The Sun of the spiritual world is visible at the middle altitude especially for these reasons: (r) The heat and light going forth from that Sun are at their middle position, and thence at equal strength, and thus rightly blended. For if the Sun

6r


,

were higher, more heat than light would be received, and if lower, more light than heat; just as happens on earth when the sun is above or below the middle of the sky. When it is above, heat increases more than light, and when below, light increases more than heat; for light remains the same in summer and winter, but heat increases or diminishes according to the degrees of the Sun's altitude. (2) The Sun of the spiritual world is scen at a middle altitude above the angelic heaven, because there is thus a perpetuaI spring in aU the angelic heavens, whereby the angels are in astate of peace; for this state corresponds to spring time on earth. (3) The angels are thus enabled to turn their faces constantly towards the Lord. For at every turn of their bodies, the angels have the East, thus the Lord, before their faces. This is peculiar to that world, and would not happen if their Sun were higher or lower, and least of aU if directly above the head.

106. If the Sun of the spiritual world were not afar off from the angels, as the natural sun is from men, the angelic heaven, and hell under it, and our earthly globe under them, taken coUectively, would not be under the observation, guidance, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, and providence of the Lord; comparatively as the sun of our world, unless it were as far off from the earth in which it appears, could not be present and potent by its heat and light in all lands, and so 'could not minister, as it were by deputy, for the Sun of the spiritual world.

107. The chief essential is to understand, that there are two suns, one spiritual, the other natural ; the former for those in the spiritual world, and the

62

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [107. 108

latter for those in the natural world. Unless this be known, one can understand nothing aright concerning creation and man, which are to be discussed. Effects may indeed be seen, but if the causes are not seen together with them, the effects can only appear obscurely.

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SUN AND ANGELS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD IS AN APPEARANCE PROPORTIONED TO THEIR RECEPTION OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND

WISDOM

roS. AIl the errors, which prevail among the wicked and the simple, spring from appearances which have been confirmed. So long as appearances remain appearances, they are apparent truths, according to which every one may think and speak; but when accepted as actual verities, which is done when they are confirmed, then apparent truths become falsities and errors. For instance: The appearance is, that the sun is carried daily round the earth, and every year advances in its orbit. Any one may think and speak according to this apparent truth, so long as he does not confirm it; certainly he may say that the sun rises and sets, and thereby causes morning, noon, evening, and night; also that the sun is now in this or that degree of its orbit or altitude, and in this way makes spring, summer, autumn, and winter. But when this appearance is confirmed as actual truth, he thinks and utters a falsity from his error. It is the same with countless other appearances, not only in natural, civil, and moral, but also in spiritual matters.

63

r09, rra] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

r09. It is sirnilar with the distance of the Sun of the spiritual world, that Sun which is the first emanation of the Divine Love and Wisdom. ActuaUy there is no distance, but there is an appearance of distance, regulated by the degree of the angels' reception of the Divine Love and Wisdom. That distances in the spiritual world are appearances may be seen from what has been shawn above, as in n. 7-9, that the Divine is not in space; and in n. 69-72, that the Divine without space fiUs ail spaces. If there are no spaces, neither are there distances; or, put in another way, if the spaces are appearances, distances also are appearances, for distances are of space.

rra. The Sun of the spiritual world appears at a distance from the angels, because they receive Divine Love and Wisdom in the measure of heat and light sufficient ta their needs. For an angel, because created and finite, cannat receive the Divine in its first degree of heat and light, such as is in the Sun, for he would be utterly destroyed. The Lord, therefore, is received by them in a degree of heat and light corresponding ta their love and wisdom. Ta give an example: An angel of the outermost heaven cannat ascend ta the angels of the third heaven. If he does ascend and enter their heaven, he faUs down as in a swoon, and his life struggles as if with death, because he has Jove and wisdom in a lesser degree, and the heat of ms love and the light of his wisdom are in that same degree. What, then, would happen, were an angel ta ascend right up ta the Sun, and come into its fire? On account of the differences of reception of the Lord by angels, the heavens

64

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [IIO-II2

also appear separate from one another. The highest heaven, which is caIled the third, appears above the second, and this above the nrst; not that the heavens stand apart, but that they appear to do so. The Lord, indeed, is present just as fuIly with the angels of the outermost heaven as with those of the third. The cause of the appearance of distance is in the subjects, the angels, not in the Lord.

III. That this is so, can be perceived with difficulty by the natural idea, because space enters into it ; but it can be perceived by the spiritual idea, because there is no space in that ; this is the idea in which the angels are. Yet it is possible to perceive this fact by a natural idea, that love and wisdom, or what is the same, the Lord who is Divine Love and Wisdom, cannot go forth through spaces, but is in any one according to reception. That the Lord is present witll aIl, He Himself teaches in Matthew xxviii. 20; and that He makes His abode with those who love Him, John xiv. 23.

II2. But this may be regarded as of higher wisdom, because it has been connrmed through the heavens and the angels; but yet it is the same with men. Men, as to the interior things of their minds, are warmed and illumined by the same Sun. They are warmed by its heat, and illumined by its light, to the extent of their reception of love and wisdom from the Lord. The difference between angels and men is that angels are under that Sun only, but men are not only under it, but also under the natural sun; for the bodies of men cannot have being and remain in being except under both suns; not so the bodies of angels, which are spiritual.

65

II3, II4]

ANGELS ARE IN THE LORD, AND THE

LORD IN THEM; AND BECAUSE ANGELS

ARE RECIPIENTS, THE LORD ALONE IS

HEAVEN

II3. Heaven is called "the dwelling-place of God," and also " the throne of God "; from this it is believed that God lives there like a king in his kingdom. But God, that is the Lord, is in the Sun above the heavens, and is in the heavens through His presence in heat and light (as shown in the last two paragraphs). Although the Lord is in heaven in that way, still He is there as in Himself, for (as shown just above, n. roS-IIZ) the distance between the Sun and heaven is not distance, but appearance of distance. Since that is so, it follows that the Lord Himself is in heaven, for He is in the love and wisdom of the angels of heaven; and because He is in the love and wisdom of ail the angels, and angels constitute heaven, He is in the whole heaven.

II4. The Lord is not only in heaven, but also is very Heaven, because love and wisdom make an angel, and these two are the Lord's with angels ; hence it foilows, that the Lord is Heaven. For angels are not angels from their inherent nature (proprium); that is just like man's, which is evil. The inherent nature of the angels is such, because ail angels were once men, and that nature c1ings to them from birth; it is only put aside; and to the extent this is done, they receive love and wisdom, that is, the Lord in themselves. Any one may see, if only he elevate his understanding somewhat, that the Lord can only dweil with the

66

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM Irq, us angels in what is Ris own, that is, in Ris own nature, which is Love and Wisdom, and certainly not in that of the angels, which is evil. Renee, so far as evil is put away, so far the Lord is in them, and so far they are angels. The angelic state itself of heaven is Divine Love and Wisdom. When this Divine is in the angels it is called " the angelic." From this, again, it is plain, that angels are angels from the Lord, and not from themselves; and thus heaven also.

US, The manner in which the Lord is in an angel, and an angel in the Lord, can only be understood if the nature of the union is known. The union is of the Lord with the angeI, and of the angel with the Lord. Tt is, therefore, reciprocal. On the angel's side it is Iike this: the angel is conscious only that he is in love and wisdom from himself, just as a man is, and hence as if love and wisdom were his or his own. Unless he so perceived, there would be no union; thus the Lord would not be in him, nor he in the Lord. l t is only possible for the Lord to be in any angel or man, if that one, in whom the Lord is with love and wisdom, has the sense and feeling of their being his own. In this way the Lord is not only received, but, having been received, is also held fast, and loved, too, in return. For which reason the angel becomes wise by that union, and he remains wise. Who can wish to love the Lord and the neighbour, and who can desire to be wise, without the sense and feeling that what he loves, learns, and assimilates, is his own ? Who can retain that desire in himself otherwise? If this were not so, the inflowing love and wisdom would have no abiding-place, for they would flow through, and not affect the being. Thus

D 0

IlS, Il6] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

an angel would not be an ange!, nor would man be man; on the contrary, he would be like something inanimate. From these things it may be evident that reciprocation is necessary, if there is ta be union.

rr6. It shaH now be explained how it cornes about, that an angel perceives and feels as his own, and thus receives and retains, what yet is not his (for as was said above, an angel is not an angel from anything of his own, but from those things which he has from the Lord) The essence of the matter is this: every angel has freedom and rationality. These two faculties are given him ta the end that he may be capable of receiving love and wisdom from the Lord. But neither freedom nor rationality is his; they are the Lord's in him. Yet since these two are sa dosely united with his life, sa dosely that they may be said ta be joined on ta it, they appear ta be his very own. From them he is able ta think, will, speak, and act ; and what he sa does appears as if it were done from himself. This makes the reciprocation, through which the union is effected. But sa far as an angel believes that love and wisdom are in him, and sa arrogates them ta himself as his own, sa far the Angelic is not in him, and he has no union with the Lord. For he is not in truth; and since truth makes one with the light of heaven, sa far he cannat be in heaven. For by that daim he denies that his life is from the Lord, and believes that he lives from himself, and, therefore, that the Divine essence is his. The life, called angelic and human, depends on these two faculties of freedom and rationality. From these things it may be evident that the angel has reciprocation for the

68

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [II6-IIS

sake of union with the Lord, but that the reciprocation, considered as to its own capability, is not his, but the Lord's. Henee, if he makes a wrong use of this reciprocation, which enables him to perceive and feel what is the Lord's as his own, he fails from the angelic state. That the union is reciprocal, the Lord Himself teaehes, in John xiv. 20-24; xv. 4-6; and that the union of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord, is in those things which are the Lord's, and are called His words, John xv. J.

IIJ. Some people imagine that Adam was in such a state of liberty or free-will, that he could love God and be wise from himself, and that this free-will was lost in his posterity. But this is an error: for man is not Life, but a recipient of life (see n. 4-6, 54-60); and he who reeeives life cannot love and be wise from anything of his own. For which reason also Adam, desirous of being wise and loving from himself, fell from wisdom and love, and was cast out of Paradise.

IIS. What has just been said of the angel, applies in the same way to heaven, which consists of angels, since the Divine is the same in greatest and least things (see n. 77-S2). It is equally true of man and the Church; for an angel of heaven and a man of the Chureh by union act as one; moreover, a man of the Church is an angel in respect to the interior things of his mind. A man of the Church means a man in whom the Church is.

69

IIg, 120]

IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD THE EAST

IS WHERE THE LORD APPEARS AS

THE SUN, AND OTHER QUARTERS ARE

DETERMINED THEREFROM

IIg. The Sun of the spiritual world and its essence, its heat and light, and the Lord's presence from it, have been discussed. Now also the quarters of that world wiU be described. We treat of that Sun and that world because we are treating of God, and of love and wisdom; and to do so otherwise than from their very origin, wouId be to treat from effects, not causes. Yet effects disclose only effects, and when they only are investigated reveal no cause. But causes reveal effects, and the knowledge so acquired is wisdom ; but seeking causes from effects is not to be wise, because errors then present themselves, which the investigator caUs causes, and this is to turn wisdom into folly. For causes are the first things and effects are ensuing things; and first things cannot be seen from those which ensue, but ensuing things can be seen fror:n first things. This is order. This is why the spiritual world is discussed first, for aU the causes are there; and later, the natural world, where ail things visible are effects.

120. Here now we speak of the quarters in the spiritual world. The quarters there are like those in the natural world, but spiritual, just as that world itself is; whereas those of the natural world, like that world itself, are natura1. They differ so much as to have nothing in common. Both worlds have four quarters, east, west, south, and north. In the natural world these four quarters are

70


constant, fixed by the sun in meridian; opposed to it is the north, on one side the east, and on lhe other the west. These quarters are determined by the meridian of each place, for the sun's station in meridian anywhere is always the same, and, therefore, fixed. In the spiritual world it is different. The quarters there are determined by the Sun there, which appears constant in its place, and that place is the east. For which reason the determination of the quarters of that world is not, as in the natural world, fram the south, but is fram the east, with the west opposite, and the south and north on either side. But, as will be seen later, those quarters are not fram the Sun there, but fram the inhabitants of that world, who are angels and spirits.

121. Now since those quarters are spiritual, by virtue of their origin from the Lord as a Sun, therefore, the dweIlings of angels and spirits, which aIl conform to those quarters, are also spiritual; and they are spiritual because they have their homes according to reception of love and wisdom fram the Lord. Those most loving dwell in the east, and those in a.lower degree of love in the west; the most wise dwell in the south, and those in a lower degree of wisdom in the north. It is from this, that in the Word, in the highest sense, by "the east" is meant the Lord, and, individuaIly, love towards Him; by" the west" is meant love to Him of less intensity; by "the south" is meant wisdom in light ; by" the north " is meant wisdom in shade; or similar things relative to the state of whoever is concerned.

122. Since the east is the point from which aIl the quarters in the spiritual world are determined,

71


and by the east, in the highest sense, is meant the Lord and also the Divine Love, it is clear that the source, from which aH things exist, is the Lord and love to Him; and, that so far as one is not in love, just so far he is moved away from Him, and finds a home in the west, south, or north, at a distance according to the reception of love.

123. Since the Lord as a Sun is constantly in the east, the ancients, with whom aU things of worship were representative of spiritual things, in their devotions turned their faces towards the east; and that they might do the same in aU worship, made their temples to turn in that direction. From this it is that churches, to this day, are also similarly constructed.

THE QUARTERS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD�

ARE NOT FROM THE LORD AS A SUN,�

BUT FROM THE ANGELS ACCORDING TO�

RECEPTION�

124. It was said thaf angels dweU separately in the eastern, western, southern, and northern quarters, respectively; and that they who dweU in the eastern quarter are in a higher degree of love; those in the western, in a lesser degree of love; those in the southern in the light of wisdom; and those in the northern in the shade of wisdom. This diversity of dweUing-places seems as if it were from the Lord, as the Sun, when, nevertheless, it is from the angels. The Lord is not in a greater or lesser degree of love and wisdom, nor, as the Sun, in a greater and lesser degree of heat and light with one

72


than with another, for He is everywhere the same ; but, He is not received in the same degree by one as by another. This is what makes them appear ta themselves ta be more or IE'sS distant from one another, and also different according ta the quarters. From which it follows, that quarters in the spiritual world are nothing else than the various receptions of love and wisdom, and thence of heat and light from the Lord as a Sun. That this is sa is c1ear from what was indicated above (n. 10S-II2), that distances in the spiritual world are appearances.

125. Since quarters are the varying receptions by the angels of love and wisdom, something shall be said of the diversity from which the appearance springs. The Lord is in an angel and an angel in the Lord, as was shawn in a preceding chapter ; but, because there is an appearance as if the Lord as a Sun were outside him, there is also the appearance that the Lord sees him out of the Sun, and that he sees the Lord in the Sun, which is almost like the reflection in a mirror. Wherefore if one were ta speak from that appearance, the facts are: that the Lord sees and looks at each one face ta face, but the angels on the contrary do not thus behold the Lord. Those who are in love ta the Lord from the Lord see Him straight before them, and, therefore, abide in the east and west; but those who are more in wisdom see Him at an angle ta the right, and those less in wisdom at an angle ta the left, and dwell respectively in the south and north. Theil' vision is inc1ined for the reason which has been stated above, namely, that the love and wisdom, going forth from the Lord as one, are not received by these angels as one; and wisdom, which abounds avel' love, may appear ta

73


be wisdom, but yet is not, because there is no life from love in that superabundance. From these things it is clear whence cornes the· diversity of reception, in exact proportion to which the angels' dweUings appear according to the quarters in the spiritual world.

126. That diverse reception of love and wisdom deterrnines the quarter in the spiritual world, may be seen from this fact, that an angel changes his quarter according to the increase and decrease of love with him; from which it is clear, that the quarter is not from the Lord as a Sun, but from the angel according to reception. I t is the same with man in regard to his spirit. He, as to his spirit, is in sorne quarter of the spiritual world, whatever quarter of the natural world he may be in; for, as was said above, the quarters of the spiritual world have nothing in common with those of the natural world. In these man dweUs as to his body, but as to his spirit in those of the spiritual world.

127. To the end that love and wisdom may become one in angel and in man, there are pairs in aU the parts of his body. Eyes, ears, and nostrils, hands, loins, and feet, aU are pairs; the brain is divided into two hemispheres, the heart into two chambers, the lungs into two lobes, and so with the rest. Thus there is in angel. and man a right and a left; and aU their right parts refer to love from which cornes wisdom, and all the left parts to wisdom springing from love; or, what is the same, aU right parts to good from which truth cornes, and aU left parts to truth springing from good. Angels and men possess these pairs,

74


sa that love and wisdom, or good and truth, may act as one, and as one, may have regard ta the Lord. But more concerning this matter later.

128. Thus it may be .seen in what error and resultant untruth are those, who imagine that the Lord at will imparts heaven, or at will permits one man ta become more wise and loving than another; when yet the Lord is equalIy desirous that the one and the other may become wise and be saved. Indeed he provides the means for aIL Just as each one receives them and lives in accordance with them, sa he becomes wise and is saved. For the Lord is the same with one as with another; but the recipient angels and men are unlike from their differing reception and life. The truth of this may be evident from what has just been said concerning the quarters, and of the angels' corresponding abodes ; namely, that that diversity is not from the Lord, but from the recipients.

ANGELS TURN THEIR FACES CONSTANTLY

TOWARDS THE LORD AS A SUN, AND

THUS THE SOUTH IS TO THEIR RIGHT,

THE NORTH TO THEIR LEFT, AND THE

WEST BEHIND THEM

129. AlI that is here said of angels and of their turning towards the Lord as a Sun, is ta be understood also of man regarding his spirit. For man, in respect ta his mind, is a spirit, and, if in love and wisdom, is an angel; for this reason, also, after death when he lays aside his external

D* 75

129, 130J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

things, which he had acquired from the natural world, he becomes a spirit, or ange!. Since the faces of the angels are ever turned towards the east, thus towards the Lord, it is said also of the man, who is in love and wisdom from the Lord, that he " sees God," he " looks to the Lord,~ he " has God before his eyes," meaning that he is living just as an angel does. Such expressions are used in the world, because such things actually exist, both in heaven and in the spirit of man. Does not any man, when praying, look before him to God, no matter to what quarter his face is turned ?

130. Angels ever turn their faces to the Lord as a Sun, because they are in the Lord and the Lord in them; and the Lord interiorly leads their affections and thoughts, and always directs them towards Himself; hence they cannot do otherwise than look towards the east, where the Lord as a Sun appears. Tt is evident, then, that angels do not turn of themselves to the Lord, but that He turns them to Him; for when angels think interiorly about the Lord, they think of Him only as in themselves. Tt is not interior thought itself which produces distance, but exterior thought, in union with the sight of the eyes. The reason is, that exterior thought is in space, but not interior ; and when not in space, as in the spiritual world, is still in the appearanee of spaee. But these things are hardly intelligible to the man who thinks about God from spaee. For God is everywhere, yet not in spaee; thus both within and without an ange!. Henee an angel can see God, that is, the Lord, both within himself and outside himself; within, when he thinks from love and wisdom, and without himself, when he thinks

76

DIVINE LOVE AND WrSDOM [130-132

about love and wisdom. But these matters will be discussed in detail in the treatises on the Divine Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence. Let every man beware of that detestable heresy, that God has infused Himself into men, and is in them, and no longer in Himself; when yet God is everywhere, as weIl within man as without him; for apart from space, He is in aIl space (see n. 7-10, 69-72). For, if He were in man, He would be not only divisible, but also confined in space; yea, man might then even consider himself to be God. So abominable is this heresy, that, in the spiritual world, it stinks like a corpse.

131. The angels' turning to the Lord has this special feature, that they behold the Lord as a Sun in front of them at every turn of their bodies. An angel may turn round and round, observing aIl manner of things about him, yet still the Lord as a Sun ever appears before his face. Wonderful as this may seem, it is yet the truth. To me, also it has been granted thus to see the Lord as a Sun; l see Him before my face; and for several years have so seen Him, to whatever quarter of the world l had turned.

132. Since the Lord as a Sun is, therefore, the east, facing aIl the angels of heaven, it follows that the south is to their right, the north to their left, and the west behind them, and so also with every turn of the body. For, as was said before, aIl quarters in the spiritual world are determined from the east; therefore, those who have the east before their eyes are in those very quarters, yea, are themselves the conclusions of them; for, as shown above n. 124-128, the quarters are not from the Lord as a Sun, but from the angels according to reception.

77


133. Now since heaven is composed of angels, and angels are of such a nature, it follows that the universal heaven tums itself towards the Lord, and, through that tuming, is ruled as one Man by the Lord, as indeed it is in His sight. That heaven in the Lord's sight is as one Man may be seen in the work on Heaven and HeU, n. 59-87. From that also are the quarters of heaven.

134. Since the quarters are thus, as it were, impressed upon the angel, as weU as on the universal heaven, an ange} knows his own house and place of abode, unlike a man in the world, wherever he goes. Man has not this sense, because he thinks from space, thus from the quarters of the natural world, which have nothing in common with those of the spiritual world. But birds and beasts have such knowledge, for it is implanted in them to know of themselves their homes and dweUingplaces, as is weU known from abundant experience ; a proof that such is the case in the spiritual world ; for all things which exist in the natural world are effects, and aU things which exist in the spiritual world are the causes of those effects. No natural thing exists which does not derive its cause from the spiritual.

ALL INTERIOR THINGS OF THE ANGELS,

BOTH OF MI ND AND BODY, ARE TURNED

TOWARDS THE LORD AS A SUN

135. Angels have understanding and will, and they have a face and body. They have also interior things of the understariding and will, as weIl as of

78

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [I35, I36

the face and body. The interior things of the understanding and will pertain to their interior affection and thought; the interiors of the face are the brains; and the interiors of the body are the viscera, the chief of which are the heart and lungs. Briefiy, angels have every single thing that men on earth have; and from these things it is, that angels are men. The external form without those internaI things does not make them men, but the external form, together with them, nay rather, from them, does; otherwise they would only be lifeless images, of a man, because no living form was within.

I36. It is well known, that the will and understanding govern the body at their pleasure, for what the understanding thinks the mouth speaks, and what the will desires, the body does. It is plain, therefore, that the body is a form corresponding to the understanding and will; and since form is also predicated of understanding and will, it is plain that the form of the body corresponds to the form of the understanding and will; but this is not the place to describe how the two forms are constituted. Furthermore, there are in both forms things innumerable, which act, from the one side and the other, as one, because they mutually correspond. Hence the mind, or the will and understanding, mles the body at pleasure, absolutely, as if it were its very self. The result is, that the interior things of the mind act in unison with the interior things of the body, and their respective exterior things likewise. We shall speak further on of the interiors of the mind, before treating of the degrees of life; likewise at the same time, of the interiors of the body.

79

I37, I38] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

I37. Since the interiors of the mind make one with the interiors of the body, it follows that when the former are turned to the Lord as a Sun, the interiors of the body are also turned in like manner; and because the exteriors of both, as weIl of mind as of body, depend upon their interiors, they too, are similarly turned. Indeed, the action of the external cornes from the internaIs, for the general derives its aIl from the parts of which it is composed. From these things it is plain that because an angel turns face and body towards the Lord as a Sun, aIl the interiors of his mind and body are turned thither also. So it is with man. If he has the Lord ever before his eyes, which is the case if he is in love and wisdom, then he looks to the Lord, not only with eyes and face, but also with the whole mind and heart, that is, with aIl the things of the will and understanding, together with aIl things of the body.

I3S. This turning to the Lord is an actual turning. Tt is a certain elevation: one is raised, indeed, into the heat and light of heaven, which is effected by the opening of the interiors. When these are opened, love and wisdom flow into the interiors of the mind, and the heat and light of heaven into the interiors of the body; hence an uplifting, as from a cloud, into clear air, or from air into the ether. Love and wisdom, with their heat and light, are the Lord with man, He who, as mentioned above, turns that man towards himself. I t is the reverse with those who are not in love and wisdom, especially with those opposed to love and wisdom. Their interiors, both of mind and body, are closed, and when closed, the exteriors react against the Lord, for such is their inherent

So

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [I38-140

nature. Hence it is that they turn their back on the Lord; and turning one's back on the Lord is turning to hell.

I39. This actual turning towards the Lord is from love and wisdom together, and neither from love alone, nor from wisdom alone. Love alone is like Being without Existence, for love has existence in wisdom; and wisdom without love is like Existence without its Being, for wisdom has existence from love. Love is indeed possible without wisdom, but this is man's love and not the Lord's ; and wisdom, too, is possible without love, and this wisdom is indeed from the Lord, yet the Lord is not in it; for it is like light in winter, which certainly cornes from the sun, but yet lacks the sun's essence, heat.

EVERY SPIRIT, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, IN

LIKE MANNER TURNS TOWARDS HIS OWN

RULING LOVE

140. First we will explain what a spirit is and what an angel. Every man after death cornes fust into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and there goes through his times, or states, and, according to his life, is made ready either for heaven or hell. So long as he stays in that world he is called a spirit. He who has been raised from that world into heaven is called an angel; but he who has been cast down into hell is called a satan or devil. During their stay in the world of spirits, he who is being prepared for heaven is called an angelic spirit, and he who is

8I

I40-I4Z] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

being prepared for hell, an infernal spirit; meanwhile the former is united with heaven, and the latter with hello AlI spirits, in the world of spirits, are attached ta men, because men, as ta the interiors of their minds, are in a similar position between heaven and hell, and through those spirits are in connection either with heaven or hell, according ta their life. It must be borne in mind that the world of spirits is one thing, and the spiritual world quite another. The world of spirits is that of which we have just spoken; but the spiritual world, in the complex whole, is the world of spirits and heaven and hello

I4I. Something shall also be said about loves, because it has ta do with the turning by their loves of angels and spirits towards their loves. The universal heaven is divided into societies according ta all the diversities of loves; sa with hell and with the world of spirits. But heaven is thus divided according ta the differences of heavenly loves; hell, according ta the varieties of infernal loves; and the world of spirits even, according ta the differences of loves, bath heavenly and infernal. There are two loves which are the heads over all the rest, or ta which all other loves refer. The principal love, or that ta which aU heavenly loves relate, is love ta the Lord; and the principal love ta which aU infernal loves relate, is the love of ruling from self-love. These two loves are diametrically opposed ta one another.

I4z. Since these two loves, love ta the Lord and the love of ruling from self-love, are absolutely opposed ta each other, and since all who are in love ta the Lord turn themselves ta Him as a Sun

8z


(as shown in the preceding chapter) it may be evident that all who are in the love of ruling from self-love turn their backs to the Lord. Thus they turn in opposite directions, because those who are in love to the Lord love nothing more than to be led byHim, and wish to be ruled by Him alone ; but those who are in the love of ruling from selflove, love nothing more than to be led by themselves, and will that they themselves alone may rule. This is called the love of ruling from self-love because there is a love of ruling from the desire to perform uses, which is a spiritual love, because it is one with love towards the neighbour. But really this cannot be called the love of ruling, but the love of performing uses.

143. Every spirit without exception, turns towards his ruling love, because love is the life of every one (see Part l, Nos. 1-3); and life turns its receptades, called members, organs, and viscera, thus the whole man, towards that society which is is in a similar love to itself, thus where its own love is.

144. Since the love of ruling from self-love is utterly opposed to love to the Lord, the spirits who are in that love turn in the reverse direction from the Lord. Thence they look to the west of the world of spirits, and, because of this contrary turn of the body, have behind them the east, to their right the north, and to their left the south. The east is behind them because they hate the Lord; the north is to their right because they love errors and falsities therefrom; and the south is to their left because they scorn the light of wisdom. They may turn round and about, yet everything they see around them appears of a nature corresponding to

83


their love. They are aIl natural sensual spirits; and sorne are such as imagine they alone live, regarding others as so many phantoms. They believe themselves to be wise above aIl others, notwithstanding that they are insane.

145. In the spiritual world roads are seen, paved like roads in the natural world; sorne lead to heaven, others to hello But the roads leading to hell are invisible to those passing to heaven, nor do the roads to heaven appear to those on the way to hello There are countless ways of this kind, branching off to every society of heaven and hello Each spirit takes the road which leads to the society of his own love. He cannot see roads tending in any other direction. From this it is, that every spirit, as he turns towards his ruling love, also moves forward.

THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM EMANAT

ING FROM THE LORD AS A SUN, AND

GIVING HEAT AND LIGHT IN HEAVEN,

ARE THE DIVINE PROCEEDING, WHICH IS

THE HOLy SPIRIT

146. 1t has been shown, in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW ]ERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, that God is One in Person and in Essence, in Whom is a trinity, and that that God is the Lord; then that His Trinity is called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that the Divine from God is called the Father; the Divine Human, the Son; and the Divine Proceeding, the Holy Spirit. It is said Divine Proceeding, yet no one knows how it cornes

84


to be caUed "Proceeding." It is not known, because up to this time it has been unknown that the Lord appears as a Sun before the angels, and that from that Sun issues heat, which in its essence is Divine Love, and at the same time light, which in its essence is Divine Wisdom. So long as these things were unknown, it could not be understood otherwise than that the Divine Proceeding was the Divine in itself ; for which reason it is stated, in the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity, that one person is of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. Now, on the other hand, when it is known that the Lord appears as a Sun, it is possible to form a correct idea of the Divine Proceeding which is caUed the Holy Spirit, viz. that it is one with the Lord, but proceeds from Him just as heat and light do from the sun. This also is the reason that angels enjoy the Divine heat and light just 50 far as they are in love and wisdom. Apart from the knowledge that the Lord appears in the spiritual world as a Sun, no one can ever know what is meant by " proceeding," for instance, whether it merely imparts those things which are of the Father and the Son, or merely enlightens and teaches. Still it is not the part of enlightened reason to recognize it as the Divine in itself, and caU it God, and thus make a division, since it is weil known that God is one and omnipresent.

147. It was shown above that God is not in space, and by reason thereof, He is omnipresent; also that the Divine is the same everywhere, but that His seeming variation is in angels and men from difference of reception. Now, since the Divine proceeding from the Lord as a Sun is in light and heat, and light and heat flow first into universal

85


recipients, which in the world are called atmospheres, and these are the recipients of c1ouds, it may be seen that as the interiors, which pertain to the understanding of man and angel, are veiled around with such c1ouds, so is he a receptac1e of the Divine proceeding. By clouds are meant spiritual clouds, which are thoughts. If these come from truths, they harmonise with Divine Wisdom, but are discordant if they come from falsities. Wherefore also, when thoughts from truths are represented to sight in the spiritual world, they appear as clouds of a dazzling white, and thoughts from falsities as black clouds. From these things one may see that the Divine is indeed in every man, but is veiled by each one in varying degree.

148. Since the Divine itself is present in angel and man by spiritual heat and light, it is said of those who are in the truths of Divine Wisdom and in the goods of Divine Love that they glow with love to God when they are affected by these, and from affection they think from them concerning them. Sometimes, also, this is perceived and feU, as when a preacher speaks from zeal. These same are also said to be enlightened by God because the Lord, by Ris Divine proceeding, not only kindles the will with spiritual heat, but also enlightens the understanding with spiritual light.

149. That the Roly Spirit is the same as the Lord and is Truth itself, from which man has enlightenment, is plain from these passages in the Word:

Jesus said, When the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all tntth; he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall have heard, that shall he speak" (John xvi. 13). 86

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [I49-ISI

He shall glorify Me; for he shall rece~'ve of Mine, and shall show it ~mto you (John xvi. I4, I5)..

That he will be UJith the disciples and in them (John [xiv. I7]; xv. 26).

Jesus said, The words that 1 speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life (John vi. 63).

It is clear fron these passages that truth itself, which proceeds from the Lord, is called the Holy Spirit. It enlightens because it is in light.

ISO, The enlightenment, ascribed ta the Holy Spirit, man has indeed from the Lord, but it is effected by means of angels and spirits. The nature of that mediation, however, cannat as yet be explained; only tbat angels and spirits cannat enlighten man in any way from tbemselves, since they are enlightened in a similar way ta man, by the Lord. Because they are sa enlightened, it follows that all enlightenment is from the Lord alone. That angels or spirits are the means employed is because the man, when illumined, is then put in the midst of such angels and spirits as rcceive enlightenment from the Lord more than others.

THE LORD CREATED THE UNI VERSE AND

ALL THINGS THEREOF BY MEANS OF THE

SUN, WHICH IS THE FIRST PROCEEDING

OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

ISr. By the Lord is meant Gad from eternity, or Jehovah, who is called Father and Creator because He is one with Him, as has been shawn in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

87


CONCERNING THE LORD: wherefore, in the following pages, where aiso Creation is discussed, He is called the Lord.

152. In Part l (particularly in Nos. 52 and 53) it was fully demonstrated that all things in the Universe were created by Divine Love and Wisdom. Here, now, it will be shown that it was by means of the Sun, which is the first proceeding of Divine Love and vVisdom. No man who can discern effects from causes, and afterwards from causes, the effects in their order and series, can really deny that the sun is the first of creation. For all things in the sun's world subsist from it; and because they subsist from it, they also came forth from it ; the one fact infers and proves the other. For all things are under its view, since it set them in order that they may exist, and besides, " holding them under its view" means arranging continually, wherefore also it is said " Subsistence is perpetuaI existence." Moreover, if anything were to be withdrawn entirely from the sun's influx through the atmospheres, that thing wouid instantly be dissipated; for the atmospheres, which are purer and purer, and are rendered active in power by the sun, preserve aIl things in connection. Now since the subsistence of the Universe, and all things thereof, is from the sun, it is clear that the first thing of creation is the sun, from which (everything exists). Creation is said to be by the sun, but the meaning is, by the Lord through the sun, for the sun also was created by the Lord.

153. There are two suns, through which all things have been created by the Lord, the Sun of the spiritual world and the sun of the naturai

88

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [I53-I55

world. The Lord created aIl things through the Sun of the spiritual world, but not through the sun of the natural world, for the latter sun is far below the former. It is in the middle distance, with the spiritual world above and the natural world below. The sun of the natural world was created to render aid as a deputy. Of this aid more in what follows.

I54. The universe and aIl things thereof were created by the Lord, the Sun of the spiritual world being the means, because that Sun is the first proceeding of Divine Love and Wisdom, and from Divine Love and Wisdom aIl things exist. (See Nos. 52-82.) In every created thing, greatest as weIl as least, there are three properties, the end, the cause, and the effect. A created thing without these three is impossible. This is the order of their existence in the greatest thing-the universe; the end of aIl things is in the Sun, which is the first proceeding of Divine Love and \Visdom; the causes of ail things are in the spiritual world; and the effects of aIl things are in the natural world. Just how these three properties are in first things and last things will be explained later. Now, because a created thing without these three properties is impossible, it follows that the universe and aIl things thereof were created by the Lord through the Sun, in which is the end of aIl things.

I55. Creation itself cannot be brought within the scope of the understanding unless space and time are removed from the thought; but if these are set aside, it may be understood. Remove them if you can, or as much as you can, and maintain the mind in an idea withdrawn from space and tirne, and you will perceive that maximum of space

89


and minimum of space differ nothing ; and then yon are bound ta entertain the same idea concerning the creation of the universe as of the creation of its individual parts; and that variety in things created arises from this fact, that there are infinite things in Gad-Man, and thence indefinite things in the Sun which is the first proceeding from Him, and these limitless things are presented in the created universe as in an image. From this it is that no one thing can anywhere be precisely like another. From this cornes that variety of aIl things which is presented ta the sight in the natural world together with space, and in the spiritual world in the appearance of space; and it is a variety bath of generals and of particulars. These are the things which have been shawn in Part I.

Nos. 17-22. In Gad-Man infinite things are distinctly one.

Nos. 52-53. AU things in the universe have .been created by the Divine Love and Wisdom.

Nos. 55-60. AU things in the created universe are recipients of the Divine Love and Wisdom of Gad-Man.

Nos. 7-10. The Divine is not in space. Nos. 69-72. The Divine fills ail spaces, apart

from space. Nos. 77--82. The Divine in greatest and least

things is the same.

156. The creation of the universe and all things thereof cannat be said ta have been effected from space ta space, nor from time ta time, thus progressively and successively, but from Eternity and from Infinity; not from eternity of time because this is impossible, but from Eternity not of time, for this is the same with the Divine; nor from

90


infinity of space, because this is impossible, but from 1nfinity not of space, which also is the same with the Divine. These things, l know, transcend the ideas of thoughts in the light of nature, but they do not transcend such ideas in spirituallight, for these have nothing of space and time in them : nay, neither do they wholly transcend ideas that are in natural light; for when it is said that infinity of space is impossible, every one from reason assents; it is the same with eternity, for this is infinity of time. If" ta eternity " be spoken of, this can be understood from time; but not " from eternity," unless time be set aside.

THE SUN OF THE NATURAL WORLD 1S

PURE F1RE, AND THEREFORE DEAD;

NATURE ALSO 1S DEAD, BECAUSE IT

OR1G1NATES FROM THAT SUN

157. Creation itself cannat be attributed in the slightest degree ta the sun of the natural world, but wholly ta the Sun of the spiritual world; since the natural sun is altogether dead, but the Spiritual Sun is living; for it is the first proceeding of Divine Love and \\Tisdom; and what is dead does nothing of itself, but is acted upon: wherefore ta attribute anything of creation ta it would be like ascribing the work of a craftsman ta the tool which is moved by his hands. The sun of the natural world is pure fire from which everything of life has been withdrawn; but the Sun of the Spiritual world is fire which has within it Divine Life. The idea held by the angels concerning these two fires is, that the Divine Life is within, in the fire of the

91

I57-I60J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

Sun of the spiritual world, but is without, in the fire of the sun of the natural world. From this it may. be seen that the motive power of the natural sun does not come from itself, but from the living force proceeding from the Sun of the spiritual world; wherefore, if that Sun's vital force were withheld or withdrawn, the natural sun would coUapse. Rence it is that sun-worship is the lowest of aU the forms of worship of God, for it is absolutely dead, like that sun, and therefore in the Word is caUed " the abomination."

I58. Since the sun of the natural world is pure fire, and on that account dead, the heat and light proceeding from it are also dead: equaily dead are the atmospheres, caUed ether and air, which receive in their bosom and carry down the heat and light of that sun. Since these are dead, so are each and ail things of the earth which lie beneath them and are cailed lands. Yet each and aU of these things are ericompassed by spiritual things, which come forth and issue from the Sun of the spiritual world. Unless they were so encompassed, the earths could not be impelled to produce forms of uses, which are plants, nor forms of life, which are animaIs; nor to provide materials for the existence and subsistence of man.

I59. Now because nature begins from this sun, and ail that which exists and subsists from it is cailed natural, it follows that nature, with each and aIl of its parts, is dead. That nature appears as if alive in man and beast, is on account of the life which attends and impels it.

I60. Since the lowest parts of nature, forming the earths, are dead, and do not change and vary

92


according to the states of the affections and thoughts, as in the spiritual world, but are immutable and fixed, there are spaces and spatial distances in the natural world. There are such things because creation ceased there, and remains in its repose. Rence it is plain that spaces are peculiar to nature; and because spaces there are not, as in the spiritual world, appearances of spaces according to states of life, they too may be caHed dead.

161. Since times are fixed and constant in like manner, they also are peculiar to nature; for the length of a day is always twenty-four hours, and of a year always three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days. The very alternations of light and shade, heat and cold, also return regularly. The states returning daily are morning, noon, evening and night; those recurring yearly are spring, summer, autumn and winter. Moreover the annuaI states modify the daily states regularly. AH these states are likewise dead, because they are not states of life as in the spiritual world where heat and light are continuous. The light corresponds to the state of wisdom, and heat to the state of love with the angels, which states therefore are living.

162. From these things may be seen the foolishness of those who attribute aH things to nature. Those who have confirmed themselves in favour of nature have brought themselves into such astate that thcy no longer desire to raise the mind above nature; whence it results that the mind is closed upwards and opened below. Man thus becomes natural-sensual, which is spiritually dead; and because then he thinks only from such ideas as he

93


had imbibed from the bodily senses, or through those senses from the wor/d, in his heart he even denies God. Then because the union with heaven is broken, conjunction with hell ensues, the power of thinking and willing alone remaining. The faculty of thinking from rationality and of willing from freedom are the two faculties which every man receives from the Lord, nor are they ever taken away. These two faculties are equally the heritage of devils and angels; but devils apply them to insane thinking and evil doing; and angels to becoming wise and doing good.

CREATION IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT

'IWO SUNS, THE ONE LIVING AND THE

OTHER DEAD.

163. The universe in general is divided into two worlds, the spiritual and the natura1. Angels and spirits inhabit the spiritual wor/d; men the natural. These two wor/ds are absolutely alike in external appearance, so alike that they cannot be distinguished, but they are utter/y unlike in their internaI appearance. The men themselves who dwell in the spiritual wor/d and who, aS was said before, are called angels and spirits, are spiritual ; and because they are spiritual, think and speak spiritually. But men in the natural world are natural, and therefore think and speak naturally ; and spiritual thought and speech have nothing in common with the natura1. From this it is plain that these two wor/ds, spiritual and natural, are absolutcly distinct from each other, so much so that they cannot be in any way together.

94


164. Now since these two worlds are so separated, two suns are essential, one from which aU spiritual things exist, and the other from which aU natural things exist. And since aU spiritual things, in their origin, are living, and aU natural, in origin, are dead, and suns are the origins, it foUows that one Sun is living and the other dead: and also that the dead sun "itself is created by the Lord through the living Sun.

165. A dead sun was created for this purpose, that in outermost things everything may be fixed, settled, and constant, and thence, that there may exist forms which are perennial and enduring. In this and no other way was the basis of creation laid. The terraqueous globe, in which, upon which, and around which, such things exist is, as it were, the base and support wherein aU things terminate and upon which they rest, for it is the last work. Tt may also be compared to a matrix out of which effects are produced, which are the ends of creation. This will be discussed later.

166. That aU things were created by the Lord through the living Sun and nothing through the dead sun, may be evident from this, that what is living disposes what is dead in submission to itself, and shapes it for the uses which are its ends; but not the contrary. 1'0 imagine that al! things exist from nature and that Iife even cornes from nature is possible only to one bereft of reason, who knmvs not what life is. Nature cannot dispose of life in regard to anything, for in herself nature is absolutely inert. For what is dead to set in motion the living. or dead force to move living force, or what is the same, for the natural to act upon the spiritual,

95

166,167] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

is entirely contrary to order, and therefore to think so is opposed to the light of sound reason. What is dead, or natural, may indeed be completely turned or changed in many ways by external events, yet it cannot ad upon life; but life does act within it according to the change of form induced. Tt is the same with physical influx .into the spiritual operations of the soul; which it is known does not occur because it is impossible.

THE END OF CREATION EXISTS IN

OUTERMOSTS, WHICH END IS, THAT ALL

THINGS MAY RETURN TO THE CREATOR

AND THAT THERE MAY BE CON]UNCTION.

1:67. In the first place something shaH be said about "ends." There are three which follow in order and are called first end, middle end, and last end. They are also called end, cause, and effect. These three must be together in everything, so that it may be anything; for a first end without a middle end and at the same time a last end is impossible; or what is the same, an end by itself without a cause and an effect is impossible. Equally impossible is a cause alone without an end from which, and an effect in which it exists; or an effect alone, that is without its cause and end. That it is so may be understood if it be borne in mind that an end without an effect, or separated from its effect, is a thing non-existent, and therefore merely a word. For an end to be really an end, it must be terminated, and is terminated in its effect, wherein for the first time it is called an end because it is the end. 1t seems as if the agent

96

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [r67-r70

or the effecting cause exists by itself; but this appearance is from what is in the effect; if it is separated from the effect, it vanishes instantly. Thus it is plain that these three, end, cause, and effect, must be in everything for it ta be anything.

r68. Again, it must be known that the end is everything bath in the cause and in the effect; it is from this that end, cause and effect are said to be ends-first, middle, and last. But in arder that the end may be everything in the cause, something out of the end must be there in which it may be ; and that it may be everything in the effect, something out of the end, through the cause, must be there for it ta be in. For the end cannat be in itself alone, but must be in something existing from itseIf, in which it may be as ta everything of its own, and by its activity become efficient even till it subsists. That in which it subsists is the last end and is caIled the effect.

r69. These three, namely end, cause, and effect, are in the created universe, as in its greatest, sa in its least things. They are in greatest and least things because these three are in Gad the Creator, who is the Lord from eternity. But because He is Infinite, and because Infinite things in the Infinite are distinctly one (see Nos. r 7-22), therefore also these three in Him and in His infinities are distinctly one. Hence it is that the universe, created from His Being, and which, regarded as to uses, is His image, acquired these three in each and aIl its parts.

r70. The universal end, or the end of aIl things of creation, is that there may be eternal conjunction

97


of the Creator with the created universe; and this is only possible with subjects, in whom His Divine can be as in itself, thus in whom it can dwell and remain. In order that these subjects may be His habitations and resting-places, they must be recipients of His Love and Wisdom, as from themselves, thus such as are about to raise themselves to the Creator and be conjoined with Him as from themselves. Without this reciprocity, conjunction is impossible. 'l'hese subjects are men who have the ability to raise and conjoin themselves as from themselves. 'l'hat men are such subjects, and that they are recipients of the Divine, as from themselves, has been shown many times above. Through that conjunction the Lord is present in every one of His created works: for everything was created for man as its end; wherefore the uses of aH created things ascend by degrees from lowest things to man, and through man to God the Creator, from whom they exist, see above Nos. 65-68.

171. Creation progresses continually to this last end througb these three, end, cause, and effect, because these three are in the Lord, the Creator, as was said just above; also the Divine, without space, is in ail space (Nos. 69-72), and in greatest and least things the same (Nos. 77-82); from which it is clear that the created universe in the general progression to the last end is relatively the middle end. Indeed, from the earth, forms of uses are continually raised by the Lord the Creator in their order even up to man who also is from it as to his body. Thereafter man is raised by the reception of love and wisdom from the Lord; and ail the means are provided for their reception; and he was thus

98


fashioned that, if only he be willing, he can receive. From what has now been said it may be seen, although as yet only in a general way, that the end of creation exists in outmost things; which end is, that aU things may come back to the Creator and that there may be conjunction.

172. That these three, end, cause, and effect, are in each and all created things, may also be evident from this fact, that aIl effects, caIled last ends, become anew first ends in continuous series from the First, who is the Lord the Creator, even to the last end, which is the conjunction of man with the Lord. That aIl last ends become anew first ends is plain from this, that there is nothing so inert and dead as to have nothing efficient in it. Even out of sand cornes a breath whose quality is to give strength to produce, and thus to effect something.

E 99

PART III

THERE ARE ATMOSPHERES, WATERS AND

EARTHS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, JUST

AS IN THE NATURAL WORLD; BUT THE

FORMER ARE SPIRITUAL, THE LATTER

NATURAL

173. It has been stated in the preceding pages and shown in the work on HEAVEN AND HELL, that the spiritual and natural worlds are alike, with the sole difference that each and aIl things of the former are spiritual, and of the latter, natura1. Since these two worlds are alike, both have atmospheres, waters and earths, which are the generals, by and from which each and all things exist with infinite variety.

174. Regarding the atmospheres which are called ethers and airs, they are alike in both worlds, except that those in the spiritual world are spiritual and those in the natural world are natura1. The former are spiritual because they exist from the Sun which is the first proceeding of the Lord's Divine Love and Wisdom, and from him receive in themselves the Divine fire which is love, and the Divine light which is wisdom, and carry both the one and the other down to the heavens where the angels dwell, and cause the presence of that Sun there in greatest and least things. Spiritual

100

LI

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [I74-I76

atmospheres are discrete substances or least forms, originating from the Sun; and because they each singly receive the Sun, its fire, divided into so many substances or forms, and, as it were, wrapped up by them and tempered by the wrappings, becomes heat, proportioned eventually to the love of angels in heaven and of spirits under heaven. The same holds good of the light of the Sun. Natural atmospheres are like the spiritual in this, that they also are discrete substances and least forms, originating from the sun of the natural world. They also receive the sun singly, store up its fire in themselves and temper it and carry it down as heat to earth where men dwell. The same is true of light.

I7S. The difference between spiritual and natural atmospheres is that spiritual atmospheres are receptacles of Divine fire and light, thus of Love and Wisdom, for they preserve them interiorly in themselves: on the other hand, natural atmospheres are not receptacles of Divine fire and light, but of the fire and light of their own sun, which in itself is dead, as was shown above; consequently there is nothing interiorly in them from the Sun of the spiritual world, still they are girt about by spiritual atmospheres from that Sun. That there is this difference between spiritual and natural atmospheres (1 have learned) fram angelic wisdom.

I76. Tllat there are atmospheres in the spiritual world, precisely as in the natural, may be evident from this, that angels and spirits breathe, speak, and hear just as men do in the natural world; and respiration, speech and hearing are aH effected by means of the lowest atmosphere, the air: then

IOI

176-1781 DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

from this, that angels and spirits see precisely as men do in the natural world, and sight is possible only in an atmosphere purer than air: again from this, that angels and spirits think and are affected like men in the natural world, and thought and affection are possible only by means of atmospheres still purer; and lastly from this, that aU the parts of the body of angels and spirits, external as well as internai, are held together in connection by the atmospheres, the external by air, and the internai by ether. Unless these atmospheres exerted pressure upon the forms of the body, the interiors and exteriors would fiow apart. Since angels are spiritual and each and all the parts of their bodies are held together in connection, form and order by means of atmospheres, it follows that these atmospheres are spiritual. They are spiritual because they originate from the spiritual Sun, which is the first proceeding of the Lord's Divine Love and Wisdom.

177. It has been said above, and has been shown in the work on Heaven and Hell, that there are also waters and earths in the spiritual world just as in the natural, but with this difference, that they are spiritual. Because they are spiritual, they are moved and modificd through the heat and light of the spiritual Sun by means of the atmospheres therefrom, precisely as is the case with waters and earths in the natural world through the heat and light of its sun by means of its atmospheres.

178. Atmospheres, waters, and lands, are here mentioned because these three are the generals through and from which each and all things exist in infinite variety. Atmospheres are the active

102


forces, waters the mediate forces, and lands the passive forces from which aIl effects exist. These three are such forces in their series solely by virtue of the life which proceeds from the Lord as a Sun and makes them active.

THERE AIŒ DEGREES OF LOVE AND

WISDOM, AND CONSEQUENTLy DEGREES

OF HEAT AND LIGHT, ALSO DEGREES OF

ATMOSPHERES

179. What follows will not be comprehended unless it be known that there are degrees, and then what they are, and of what nature they are, since in every created thing, thus in every form, degrees exist. This Part of Angelic Wisdom will therefore treat of degrees. That· there are degrees of love and wisdom may be seen clearly by consideration of the angels of the three heavens. The angels of the third heaven surpass in love and wisdom those of the second heaven, and these the allgels of the lowest heaven, sa much sa, that it is impossible for them ta dwell together. The degrees of love and wisdom distinguish and separate them. Hence it is that angels of the lower heavens cannat ascend ta ange1s of the higher heavens; and, if it is permitted them ta ascend, they neither see them nor anything near them. The reason that they do not see them is that their love and wisdom is of a higher degree and beyond the perception of the lower angels, for each angel is his own love and his own wisdom, and love and wisdom together in its form, is man, since Gad, Who is Love l tself and Wisdom Itself, is Man. At different times it has

103

~

r79-r8rJ DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

been permitted me to see angels of the lowest heaven who have ascended to angels of the third heaven ; and when they have made their way thither, l have heard them complaining that they do not see any one, while yet they were in the midst of them. Afterwards they were instructed that they were invisible to them because their love and wisdom were imperceptible to them, and that it is love and wisdom which cause an angel to appear as man.

r80. That there must be degrees of love and wisdom appears c1earer still from the consideration of the angels' love and wisdom in relation to men's. It is known that the wisdom of angels is, relatively, ineffable; that it is even incomprehensible to men, when they are in natural love, will be seen later. It appears ineffable and incomprehensible because it is in a higher degree.

r81. Since there are degrees of love and wisdom, there are also degrees of heat and light. By heat and light are meant spiritual heat and light, such as the angels have in the heavens and such as men have as to the interiors of their minds, for men have a corresponding heat of love, and light of wisdom to the angels. In the heavens it is the case that the quality and quantity of the angels' love determines the quality and quantity of their heat ; the same applies to their light in respect of their wisdom: the reason is that with them love is in heat, and wisdom in light, as was shown above. It is the same with men on earth, with the difference, however, that angels feel that heat and see that light, but men do not because they are in natural heat and light; and so long as that is so,

r04

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [r8r, r82

they only sense spiritual heat in sorne delight of love, and only see spiritual light by a perception of truth. Now since man, so long as he is in natural heat and light, knows nothing about the spiritual heat and light within him, and since this can only be known by experience from the spiritual world, we shaH, therefore, here speak particularly regarding the heat and light in which the angels and their heavens are. From this and from no other source is enlightenment given on this subject.

r82. But degrees of spiritual heat cannot be described since love, to which spiritual heat corresponds, does not faU thus into the ideas of thought; on the other hand, degrees of spiritual light can be described since light does, for it is this in respect of thought. Still the degrees of spiritual heat can be understood from consideration of the degrees of light, for they are in a like degree. With respect then to the spiritual light in which angels are, it has been granted me to see it with my eyes. The light with the angels of the higher heavens is sa dazzling a white as ta be indescribable, even by the brilliant whiteness of snow, and also so glowing as cannot be described, even by the splendour of this world's sun. In a word, that light exceeds the noonday light on earth a thousand times. But with angels of the lower heavens, the light can be described to sorne extent by comparisons, although it still exceeds the most intense light of our world. The light of the angels of the higher heavens is indescribable for this reason, that their light makes one with their wisdom; and since their wisdom, compared with that of men, is ineffable, so also is their light. From these few things it may be evident that there are degrees

r05


of light; and because wisdom and love are of like degree, there must be like degrees of heat.

183. Since atmospheres are receptacles and containants of heat and light, it follows that there are just as many degrees of atmospheres as there are of heat and light, and of love and wisdom. Much experience of the spiritual world has clearly shown me that there are several atmospheres and that they are distinguished from each other by degrees; especially this, that angels of the lower heavens cannot breathe in the region of the higher angels, and appear to themselves to gasp for breath, as living creatures are wont to do when raised from the air to ether, or from water into air. Moreover spirits below the heavens appear like a black cloud to those above. That there are several atmospheres and that they are distinguished from each other by degrees, see No. 176.

DEGREES ARE OF TWOFOLD ORDER,

DEGREES OF HEIGHT AND DEGREES OF

BREADTH

184. A knowledge of degrees is like a key for uncovering and penetrating into the causes of things. Without this knowledge hardly anything of cause can be known; for, without it, objects and subjects of both worlds seem so simple, as if there were nothing in them beyond that which meets the eye; when yet, compared to the things which lie hidden within, what is thus seen is as one to thousands, nay rather to tens of thousands. The interiors which do not lie open can in no wise

106


be laid bare except by a knowledge of degrees; for exteriors move towards interiors and through these towards inmosts, by degrees; not by continuous, but by discrete degrees. "Continuous degrees " is a term applied to the graduallessening or diminishing from grosser to finer, or from denser to rarer ; or, preferably, to growths and increases from finer to grosser or from rarer to denser; precisely as light merges into shade, or heat into cold. But " discrete degrees" are altogether different; they are like things prior, subsequent, and final; or like end, cause, and effect. These degrees are called discrete because the prior is by itself, the subsequent by itself, and the final by itself; yet talœn together they make one. The atmospheres, which are called ethers and airs, from highest to lowest, or from the sun to the earth, are separated into such degrees; and are like simples, collections of simples, and again collections of these, which taken together are called a composite. These degrees are " discrete" because they exist separately, and are meant by degrees of height; but the former are "continuous" because they increase continuously, and are meant by degrees of breadth.

185. Each and all things in the natural and in the spiritual worlds co-exist in accordance with discrete degrees and continuous degrees together, or degrees of height and breadth. The dimension established by discrete degrees is called height and the dimension established by continuous degrees is called breadth. Their position, in respect to the sight of the eye, does not alter their designation. Without a knowledge of these degrees nothing can be known of those features which distinguish the

E* 107

r8s, r86] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

three heavens, the love and wisdom of the angels there, the heat and light in which they live, and the atmospheres which encompass and preserve them. Nor without this knowledge of degrees can anything be known of the distinctions which rule in the interior faculties of men's minds; in their states in respect to reformation and regeneration ; in the exterior aptitude of the body, both of angels and men; and especially of the distinction between spiritual and natural, and thus of correspondence. Nor indeed can anything be known of any difference between the life of men and beasts, or between more perfect and less perfect beasts, or of the vegetable and mineraI kingdoms. It may be evident from these considerations that those persons who are ignorant of these degrees cannot perceive causes from any considered judgment; they only see effects and form their opinion of causes from them, frequently by induction continuous with the effects: when yet causes do not produce effects by continuity, but discretely ; for a cause is one thing and an effect is another. The difference is like that between prior and posterior, or between formative and formed.

r86. In order to arrive at a still better understanding of discrete degrees, their quality, and their difference from continuous degrees, the angelic heavens may serve as an example. There are three heavens, separated by degrees of height, one below another. The only communication between them is by influx, which is effected by the Lord through the heavens in their order to the lowest; and not in the reverse direction. Each heaven by itself, however, is divided, not by degrees of height, but by degrees of breadth; those in the

r08

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [r86, r87

middle, or centre, are in the light of wisdom; while those surrounding, even to the boundaries, are in the shade of wisdom. Thus does wisdom decrease even to ignorance, as light merges into shade, by continuity. It is the same with men. The interiors of their minds are divided into as many degrees as there are angelic heavens, one above another. Wherefore these interiors are divided by discrete degrees, or degrees of height. l t is from this fact that man can be in the lowest degree, then in a higher, and also in the highest, according to the degree of his wisdom. Moreover, when he is only in the lowest degree, the higher is closed; but it is opened as he receives wisdom from the Lord. As in heaven, so also in man there are continuous degrees, or degrees of breadth. Man is like the heavens because he is a heaven in least form, in respect to the interiors of his mind, so far as he is in love and wisdom from the Lord. That man, as regards the interiors of his mind, is a heaven in least form, may be seen in the work on HEAVEN AND HELL (Nos. sr-58).

r87. From these few instances it may be evident that he who knows nothing of discrete degrees, or degrees of height, cannot know anything of man's state regarding his reformation and regeneration, which are effected by the reception of love and wisdom from the Lord, and then through the opening of the interior degrees of his mind in their order. Nor can he know anything of influx through the heavens from the Lord, or of the order into which he has been created. For if anyone thinks of these things from continuous degrees, or degrees of breadth, and not from discrete degrees, or degrees of height, he can perceive nothing from causes, but

rog


only from effects; and to see from effects only is to see trom fallacies, whence come, one after the other, errors; which can be so multiplied by inductions, that at length the grossest falsities are called truths.

188. 1 do not know that anything has become known up to this time concerning discrete degrees, or degrees of height, but only concerning continuous degrees, or degrees of breadth; nevertheless, nothing of the real truth about cause can become known without a knowledge of degrees of both kinds. They will be deaIt with, therefore, in the whole of this Part: for it is the aim of this little work to uncover causes, that effects may be seen from them, and thus the darkness be dispelled which envelops the man of the Church concerning God, the Lord, and Divine things generally, which are called spiritual things. This 1 may mention, that angels are grieved for the darkness on earth : they say that they see light hardly anywhere; that men snatch at errors and confirm them, and thereby multiply lies upon lies; and, in order to confirm them, search out by deductive reasoning from errors and falsified truths, such things as cannot be demolished, owing to the darkness in regard to causes, and ignorance regarding truths. The angels lament especially over confirmations of the doctrine of faith separate from charity, and justification thereby; also over the ideas held about God,angels, and spirits, and the ignorance of what love and wisdom are.

rro

[I89, 19°

DEGREES OF HEIGHT ARE OF THE SAME

NATURE, AND ONE IS FROM THE OTHER

IN A SERIES, LIKE END, CAUSE, AND

EFFECT

189. As degrees of breadth, or continuous degrees, are like the gradations from light to shade, heat to cold, hard to soft, dense to rare, gross to fine, and so forth, and these degrees are known from sensual and ocular experience, while degrees of height, or discrete degrees, are not so known, these, particularly, will be deait with in this Part, for without a knowledge of these degrees, causes cannot be pereeived. It is known indeed, that end, cause, and effect, follow in order like prior, subsequent, and final; also that the end produees the cause, and through the cause the effect, so that the end may exist. About these, also, many things are known: and yet to know them and not to see them by application to existing things, is simply to know abstractions, which remain only so long as the thought is occupied with analytical ideas from the metaphysical. Henee it is that although end, cause, and effect advanee by discrete degrees, yet little, if anything, is known in the world about these degrees. For a mere knowledge of abstractions is like an airy something which flies away; but if abstractions are applied to such things as exist in the world, they become like what is seen with the eyes on earth, and endure in the memory.

190. AlI things existing in the world of which threefold dimension is predicated, or which are called composites, are of degrees of height, or discrete degrees. But let examples make this

III


clear. It is known from ocular experience that every muscle in the human body consists of minutest fibres, and that these put together into little bundles form larger fibres, caned motor fibres, and .that groups of these form the composite caned a muscle. 1t is the same with nerves: in them, from minute fibres larger fibres are gathered together which look like filaments, and these massed together compose the nerve. The same is true of the rest of the combinations, gatherings into bundles, and groupings, from which come the organs and viscera; for these are composites of fibres and vessels shaped in various ways through like degrees. 1t is the same also with each and an things of the vegetable and mineraI kingdoms: in woods there are combinations of filaments in triple order; in metals and stones there are compressions of parts, also in triple order. From these things it may be seen how discrete degrees are constituted, namely, one from the other, and through that other the third, which is caned a composite; and that each degree is discrete (separate) from the other.

19I. From these examples the inference is permissible, regarding things which the eye cannot see, that the same applies to them; thus, to organic substances which are receptacles and homes of thought and affection in the brain; to the atmospheres; to heat and light; and to love and wisdom. For the atmospheres are receptacles of heat and light; and heat and light are receptacles of love and wisdom; consequently as there are degrees of atmospheres there are like degrees also of heat and light, and of love and wisdom; for the same principle applies to the latter as to the former.

IIZ


192. That these degrees are homogeneous, i.e. of the same character and nature, appears from what has just been said. Motor fibres of the muscles, least, larger, and largest, are homogeneous; nerve fibres, least, larger, and largest, are homogeneous ; woody filaments from least particles to their composites are homogeneous. The parts of stones and metals of every kind, likewise. The organic substances, which are receptacles and homes of thoughts and affections, from their simplest forms to their common congeries, which is the brain, are homogeneous. The atmospheres, from pure ether to air, are homogeneous. Degrees of heat and light in series foUowing the degrees of atmospheres are homogeneous; and hence also degrees of love and wisdom. Things which are not of the same character and nature are heterogeneous and do not harmonize with the homogeneous; thus they cannot form discrete degrees with them but only with their own, which are of the same character and nature and with which they are homogeneous.

193. That these degrees in their order are like ends, causes, and effects, is clear; for the first, which is the least, produces its cause through the middle, and its effect through the last.

194. l t should be known that each and every degree is separated from the other by coverings of its own, and that aU the degrees together are separated by a general covering; and that the general covering communicates with the interior and inmost degrees in their order. Hence cornes the union of aU the parts and oneness of action.

II3

195-197]

THE FIRST DEGREE IS THE ALL IN ALL OF

THE FOLLOWING DEGREES

195. The reason is that the degrees of each subject and of each thing are homogeneous; and they are homogeneous because they are the products of the first degree. For their formation is such that the first, by making little bundles or compressions, in a word, by groupings, brings forth the second and through this the third, and separates each one from the other by a covering drawn around iL Hence it is clear that the first degree is the original and sole directing (force) in those foUowing and therefore is their aH in aIl.

196. When it is said that degrees are such in respect to each other, the meaning is that substances are such in their degrees. The mode of speaking by degrees is abstract, that is, universal, and therefore applicable to every subject or matter which is in degrees of this kind.

197. This may be applied to aU those things which have been enumerated in the preceding article, thus to muscles, nerves, materials and parts of both vegetable and mineraI kingdoms, to organic substances which are the subjects of thoughts and affections in man, to atmospheres, heat and light, and love and wisdom. In ail these things the first is the sole directing force in the foilowing, nay, rather, it is the sole thing in them; and, because it is the sole thing in them, is the ail in them. That this is so is clear also from these weU lmown facts, namely, that the end is the ail of the cause and through the cause is the aU of the effect; and on that account, end, cause, and effect

114

DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM [197-199

are cal!ed first, middle, and last end; and again, that the cause of the cause is also the cause of that which is caused; and that there is nothing essential in causes except the end, and nothing essential in motion except the effort: also, that there is one single substance which is substance in itself.

198. From these things it may be seen c1early that the Divine, which is substance in itself, or the one and only, is the substance from which each and al! things have their being; thus that God is the all in ail of the universe, in agreement with what has been proved in Part First: as Divine Love and Wisdom are substance and form (Nos. 40-43); Divine Love and Wisdom are substance and form in itself, thus the Very and Only (Nos. 44-46); aH things in the universe are created by Divine Love and Wisdom (Nos. 52-60); Hence the created universe is His image (Nos. 61-65); The Lord alone is heaven, where angels are (Nos. Il3-Il8).

ALL PERFECTIONS INCREASE AND ASCEND

WITH AND ACCORDING TO DEGREES

199. That degrees are of twofold nature, breadth and height, has been shown above (Nos. 184-188); and that degrees of breadth are as light verging to shade, or wisdom to ignorance; and that degrees of height are like end, cause, and effect, or as prior, subsequent, and final. Of these latter it is said that they ascend or descend, for they are of height; but of the former that they increase or decrease, for they are of breadth. These two kinds of degrees differ so much as to

Ils


have nothing in common; they should therefore be understood c1early and by no means be confused.

zoo. All perfections increase and ascend with and according to degrees because all predicates follow their subjects, and perfection and imperfection are general predicates, of life, of forces, and of forms. "Perfection of life" is the perfection of love and wisdom; and because the will and understanding are their receptac1es, perfection of life is also perfection of will and understanding, and therefore of affections and thoughts; and because spiritual heat contains love, and spiritual light contains wisdom, perfection of these also may be referred to perfection of life. "Perfection of forces" is the perfection of aIl things which life actuates and moves, but which have no life within them. Such forces are the atmospheres in respect of their active means; the interior and exterior organic substances in men, and also in animaIs of every description. Such forces, also, are aU things in the natural world which receive their means to activity from its sun, both directly and indirectly. "Perfection of forms" and perfection of forces make one, for such as are the forces, so are the forms, the only difference being that forms are substances, while forces are the activities of them; wherefore like degrees of perfection pertain to both. Forms which are not at the same time forces are also perfect according to degrees.

Zo1. The perfections of life, forces, and forms, which increase or decrease according to degrees of breadth, or continuous degrees, will not be discussed here, because these degrees are known in the world; but only those which ascend or descend

rr6

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [20r, 202

according to degrees of height, or discrete degrees, since these are not known in the world. Of the manner in which perfections ascend and descend according to these degrees little is to be learned from things visible in the natural world, but it is clear from things to be seen in the spiritual world. From objects visible in the natural world only is it revealed that the more closely they are examined the greater are the marvels which meet the eye: for example, the eyes, ears, tongue, muscles, heart, lungs, pancreas, kidneys, and other viscera; then too, seeds, fruits, and flowers; and also metals, mineraIs, and stones. The fact is weH known that in aH these things, the more inwardly they are looked into, the more wonderful are the things which present themselves to view; and yet it has hardly become known at aH that they are interiorly more perfect according to degrees of height, or discrete degrees. Lack of knowledge of these degrees has concealed it. But since these very degrees are clearly visible in the spiritual world (for, from the highest to the lowest, it is distinctly divided into them) it is possible for an intelligent idea of them to be drawn therefrom: from which afterwards one can infer as to the perfections of forces and forms, which are in similar degrees in the natural world.

202. In the spiritual world there are three heavens, set in order of degrees of height. In the highest heaven the angels are in every perfection, exceeding the angels in the middle heaven, who are in every perfection superior to the angels in the lowest heaven. The degrees of perfections are such that angels of the lowest heaven cannot attain to the first threshold of the perfections of the angels

II7

202] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

of the middle heaven, nor these to the first threshold of the perfections of the angels of the highest heaven. This seems a paradox, yet is the truth. The reason is that they are associated according to discrete degrees, and not according to continuous degrees. l have learned from observation that the difference between the affections and thoughts, and consequently the speech, of the angels of the higher and lower heavens is such that they have nothing in common; and that communication takes place only through correspondences which exist by the direct influx of the Lord into ail the heavens, and by indirect influx of the Lord into ail the heavens, and by indirect influx through the highest heaven into the lowest. Such being the nature of these differences, they cannot be expressed in natural language and so cannat be described; for the thoughts of the angels, being spiritual, do not fail into natural ideas. They can only be expressed and described by themselves in their own tongues, words, and writing. and not by human means. This is why it is said that things are heard and seen in the heavens tao great for words. Sorne idea of the differences may be gathered from this fact, that the thoughts of the angels of the highest or third heaven are concerned with "ends," those of the middle or second heaven with "causes," and those of the lowest or first heaven. with "effects." It must be borne in mind that it is one thing ta think from ends, and another to think about ends; one thing to think from causes, and another to think about causes; as it is also one thing to think from effects, and another to think about effects. Angels of the lower heavens think about causes and ends, but angels of the higher heaven think from causes and

Il8


ends; and ta think from these is indicative of higher wisdom than thinking about them. Ta think from ends is the way of wisdom, from causes the way of intelligence, and from effects the way of science. From these things it is c1ear that all perfections ascend and descend with and according ta degrees.

203. Since the interiors of man, which are of his will and understanding, resemble the heavens in respect ta degrees (for man, as ta the interiors of his mind, is a heaven in least form) therefore their perfections are like them also. But these perfections are not visible to any man while in the world because he is then in the lowest degree; and the higher degrees cannat be perceived from the lower; but they are seen after death, for man then cornes into that degree which accords with rus love and wisdom. Because he then becomes an angel he thinks and speaks things which were inexpressible ta his natural man, for there is an elevation of all the things of his mind, not in simple ratio, but threefold. Degrees of height are in this latter ratio but degrees of breadth are in simple ratio. Only those who were in truths in the world and had applied them to life ascend and are raised into degrees of height.

204. It appears as if prior things are less perfect than subsequent, or simples than composites; but the prior from which the subsequent cornes, or simples out of which composites come, are the more perfecto The reason is that prior and simpler are more naked and less veiled by substances and matter devoid of life, and are, as it were, more Divine; wherefore they are more nearly related

II9


ta the spiritual Sun in which the Lord is. For perfection itself is in the Lord and from Him in the Sun, which is the first proceeding of His Divine Love and Wisdom; and then in those things immediately foIlowing, and sa in arder even ta the lowest, becoming less perfect as they recede. Were there not such outstanding perfection in prior and simple things, neither man nor any animal could exist, and afterwards subsist, from seed; nor could the seeds of trees and shrubs vegetate and multiply; for everything becomes more immune from injury the more it is prior and simple, because it is more perfect.

IN SUCCESSIVE ORDER THE FIRST DEGREE

IS THE HIGHEST, AND THE THIRD IS THE

LOWEST; BUT IN SIMULTANEOUS ORDER

THE FIRST DEGREE IS THE INMOST, AND

THE THIRD THE OUTERMOST

205- There is a successive arder and there is a simultaneous arder. The successive arder of these degrees is from highest ta lowest, top ta bottom. In this arder are the angelic heavens, where the third heaven is the highest, the second the micldle, and the first the lowest. Such is their position in respect ta each other. 'Ihere, in like successive arder, are the states of love and wisdom with angels, of heat and light, and of spiritual atmospheres, likewise ail the perfections of forrns and forces. When degrees of height, or discrete degrees, are in successive arder, they may be compared ta a column divided into three staries, through which

I20

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM 2°5-2°7

ascent and descent are made. The most perfect and beautiful things are in its upper chamber; the less perfect and beautiful in the middle; but the still less perfect and beautiful in the lowest. But simultaneous order which consists of the same degrees has a different appearanee. In this the highest things of successive order, the most perfect and beautiful (as mentioned above) are in the inmost, the lower in the middle, and the lowest in the circumference. They are, as it were, in a firm base in accordance with these three degrees ; in whose middle or centre are the finest parts, around this parts less fine, and on the outer borders -the circumferenee-parts composed of these and therefore grosser. It is like that column, mentioned just above, subsiding into a plane, whose top makes the inmost, the middle the middle, and the base the outmost.

206. Since the highcst of successive order becomes the inmost of simultaneous order and the lowest becomes the outmost, therefore in the Word, by " higher " is signified interior, and by " lower " is signified ext~rior. Up and down, height and depth have the same significations.

207. In every ultimate there are discrete degrees in simultaneous order. Motor fibres in every muscle, fibres in every nerve, also fibres and smaIl vessels in aIl the viseera and organs, are in such an order. The inmost in these are the simplest, the most perfeet things; the outermost is a composite from them. A like order of these same degrees is in every seed and fruit, also in every metal and stone; their parts, from which the whole is formed, are of such a nature. The inmosts, middles, and outermosts of the parts are in these

121


degrees; for they are successive composites, or bundlings and massings, from the simples, which are their first substances, or matters.

208. In a word, such degrees exist in every ultimate, thus in every effect. For every ultimate has its being from things prior, and these from their first; and every efiect exists from cause and this from the end; and the end is the aU of the cause, and cause the all of effect (as shown above) ; and end makes the inmost, cause the middle, and effect the outmost. It is the same with degrees of love and wisdom, heat and light, and also with the organic forms of thoughts and affections in man, as will be seen later. The series of these degrees in successive and simultaneous order has been treated in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW ]ERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (No. 38, &c.) ; it was shown that like degrees are in each and aU things of the Word.

THE OUTERMOST DEGREE SURROUNDS,

CONTAINS, AND SUPPORTS PRIOR DEGREES

209. The doctrine of degrees, taught in this Part, has up to now been explained by the various things which exist in both worlds; as for instance by the degrees of the heavens where angels dwell, by the degrees of heat and light with them, by the degrees of the atmospheres, and by various things in the human body, and also in the animal and mineral kingdoms. But this doctrine has a wider range which includes not only natural, but also civil, moral, and spiritual things, and every single thing thereof. There are two reasons for this

122

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [zog-zII

extension ta such spheres: Firstly, in every thing of which anything can be predicated there is the trine, called end, cause, and effect, and these three are mutually related according to degrees of height: Secondly, every civil, moral, and spiritual thing is not something abstract from substance, but ail these things are substances, for just as love and wisdom are not abstract things but are substances (see above Nos. 40-43) so likewise are ail those things called civil, moral, and spiritual. These indeed may be thought of in a way abstract from substances, yet in themselves are not abstracto Take for example, affection and thought, charity and faith, will and understanding ; for it is the same with these as with love and wisdom, in that they are not possible outside of subjects which are substances, but that they are states of subjects or of substances. That there are changes of these, which produce variations, will be seen in what follows. By" substance" is also meant form, for substance without forro is impossible.

ZIa. From its being possible ta think of will and understanding, affection and thought, and charity and faith, abstractly from the substances which are their subjects, and from their having been sa regarded, it has come to pass that a correct idea of these things, as being states of substances or forms, has perished. It is altogether as with sensations and actions, which are not things abstract from the organs of sensation and motion. Abstract or separate from these, they are mere figments of reasoning, like sight without the eye, hearing without the ear, taste without the tangue, and sa on.

ZII. Since aIl civil, moral, and spiritual things proceed through degrees, not only continuous but

IZ3

2II-213] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

discrete also, in the same way as natural things, and since progressions of discrete degrees are like those of ends to causes and of causes to effects, l have chosen to explain and confirm the present point that the outmost degree surrounds, contains, and supports prior degrees, by the things above mentioned, namely by those which pertain to love and wisdom, will and understanding, affection and thought, and charity and faith.

212. That the outmost degree surrounds, contains, and supports prior degrees is clearly seen from the progression of ends and causes to effects. That the effect surrounds, contains, and supports causes and ends can be perceived by enlightened reason; but it is not so clear that the end with all things thereof, and the cause with all things thereof, are actuaHy in the effect, and that the effect is their full complex. That such is the case may be seen from what has been said above in this Part, especiaHy from this, that one thing comes from the other in triple series, and that effect is nothing else than the end in its outmost. And since the outmost surrounds, it follows that it contains and also supports.

213. So far as it concerns love and wisdom, love is the end, wisdom the instrumental cause, and use the effect; and use surrounds, contains, and supports wisdom and love; and moreover use surrounds and contains in such a manner that aH things of love and wisdom are actually in it; it is their sirnultaneous meeting place. But it must be strictly borne in mind that aH things of love and wisdom which are of the same kind and degree are present in use, in accordance with the principles stated and explained above (Nos. 189-194).

124


214. Affection, thought, and action are also in a series of like degrees because every affection has relation to love, thought to wisdom, and action to use. Charity, faith, and good work are in a series of like degrees, for charity is (the form) of affection, faith of thought, and good work of action. Will understanding, and practice are also in a series of like degrees; for the will is of love and thence of affection, the understanding is of wisdom and thence of faith, and practice is of use and thence of work. And just as aU things of wisdom and of love are present in use, so all things of thought and affection are present in action, all things of faith and charity in good work, and so on; but aU are homogeneous, that is, harmonious.

215. That the outermost of each series, namely, use, action, work, and practice, surround and contain aU prior things, is a fact not yet known. It seems as if there were nothing more in use, action, work and practice than such as is in motion; yet ail prior things are actually present in these, and so fully that nothing is wanting; they are enclosed in them like wine in its vessel, and household goods in the home. These are not seen because they are looked at from the outside and 50 regarded are only activities and motions. It is like the movement of arms and hands. One is not conscious that a thousand motor fibres co-operate in their every motion, and that these thousand motor fibres are stimulated by thousands of things of the thought and affection corresponding to them; which, because they act inmostly, are invisible to any bodily sense. That nothing is done in or through the body except from the will through the thought, is weil known; and since both operate, each and

125


aIl things of will and thought must needs be present in the action; they cannot be parted. Renee it is that other people form their opinion from deeds or works concerning the thought of a man's will, which is called his intention. This fact has been made known to me that the angels, from a single deed or work of man, perceive and see the whole of this will and thought; the angel of the third heaven sees from his will the end for which he acts, and the angel of the second heaven the cause by which the end operates. l t is from this that works and deeds are so often enjoined in the Word, and it is said that man is known by them.

216. l t is in accordanee with the angelic wisdom that if the will and understanding, or affection and thought, also charity and faith, do not clothe and invest themselves with works or deeds when possible, they are only as vapours which pass away, or as phantoms of the air which vanish; and they first are fixed in man and become part of his life when he sets to work to do them. The reason is that the outmost surrounds, contains, and supports prior things. Such a vapour and a phantom is faith apart from good works, and such also are faith and charity without the practice of them, with the sole difference that they who profess charity and faith have the knowledge and the ability to will to do good works, but not so those in faith apart from charity.

126

2I7,218

DEGREES OF HEIGHT ARE IN FULNESS

AND POWER IN THEIR OUTERMOST

DEGREE

2I7. It was shown in the preceding chapter that the outermost degree surrounds and contains prior things. It follows then that prior degrees are in fulness in their outermost, for they are in their effect, and every effect is the fulness of causes.

2I8. That these ascending and descending degrees, also called prior and subsequent, and, likewise, of height and discrete, are in their power in their outennost may be confirmed from all these things which have been adduced in the preceding chapters as confirmations from objects of sense and perception. But here l wish to confirm them only by the efforts, forces and motions in dead and in living subjects. It is known that effort does nothing of itself but acts through forces corresponding to itself, and that through them motion appears; consequently that effort is everything in forces and through forces in motion; and since motion is the outermost degree of effort, by motion effort exerts its power. Efiort, force, and motion are united in no other way than according to degrees of height, conjunction of which is not by continuity, for they are discrete, but by correspondences. For effort is not force, nor is force motion; but force is produced by effort, indeed force is effort excited, and motion is produced through force; wherefore there is no power in effort alone, or in force alone, but there is in motion, which is the product of them. That this is so may yet seem doubtful, because not

I27


illustrated by application to objects of sense and perception in nature; nevertheless such is their progression into power.

219. But let application of these be made to living effort, living force, and living motion. The living effort in man, a living subject, is will united to understanding; the living forces in man are those which form his body within, in ail of which are motor fibres entwined in varying fashion; and the living motion in man is action, which is produced through those forces by the will united to the understanding. For the interiors pertaining to will and understanding make the first degree; the interiors pertaining to the body make the second degree; and the whole body, the complex of them, make the third degree. l t is well known that the interiors pertaining to the mind have no power except through forces in the body, and that forces have no power except through the action of the body itself. These three do not act through what is continuous but through what is discrete, and to act thus is to act through correspondences. The interiors of the mind correspond to the interiors of the body; and the interiors of the body correspond to its exteriors, through which actions arise; wherefore the two prior degrees have power through the exteriors of the body. It may seem as if effort and forces in man have sorne power, although not in action, as in sleep and in states of rest, but even then the limits of efforts and forces are in the general motor organs of the body, which are the heart and lungs; but with the stoppage of their action the forces cease also, and with them effort.

220. Since the powers of the whole, that is, of the body, are determined chiefly into the arms and

128


hands, which are ultimates, " arms " and" hands " in the Word signify power, and the" right hand " signifies superior power. Since such is the unfolding and revealing of degrees in power, the angels, who are near to man and in correspondence with all things belonging to him, perceive his quality as to understanding and will, charity and faith, thus as to the internallife of his mind and the externallife therefrom in the body, from a single action made by the hands. l have often marvelled that angels have such an intuition from a single action of the body through the hands; but it has been proved repeatedly by actual experience. l t has been said that consecration into the office of a minister by the laying on of hands had this derivation, and that touching with the hand signifies communication; besides other like things. The inference is that everything of charity and faith is in the works, and without works charity and faith are like rainbows in the vicinity of the sun which die away and are dispersed by a cloud. On this account " works " and the " doing of works " are so frequently mentioned in the Word, and it is said that man's salvation depends upon them; further, he is called a wise man who does them and a foolish man who does them not. But it must be understood that "works" here mean uses actually performed; for everything of charity and faith is in and according to uses. This correspondence of works with uses exists because it is spiritual, but it operates through substances and matters, which are its subjects.

221. Here two heavenly mysteries may be revealed, which can be understood by means of what has been said above. The first is that the

129

22rJ DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

l

Word is in its fulness and power in the sense of the letter. For there are in the Word three senses, celestial, spiritual, and natural, according to the three degrees. Since they are there according to degrees of height and conjunetion is effected by correspondences, the uitimate, which is the naturai and is called the sense of the letter, not only surrounds, contains, and supports the corresponding interior senses, but is the Word in the ultimate sense in its fulness and power. Abundant proof will be found in the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Nos. 27-35, 36-49, 50-6r, 62-69). The other is that the Lord came into the world and assumed a Human

-.--in order that He might put Himse!U'l!S>~erto subdue the helli and restore fo mueralithmgs in heaven as weIl as on earth. Thi~ he put on over His former Human. ~fhe Hum--a:ntliïis

À. s~uêëd in the world was like man's. Both Human natures nevertheless are Divine, and nence infinitely transcending the finite humans of angeis and men. And because He fully"glorified the

'1 natural Human even to its ultimate, Hérose again wîtl'l a whôIe body, differently from any man. By the ~tion of this Human ~~.2!L.Pivine

Ommpoten...s:e not only for subdulng the heTISalld lof bringing the heavens again into order, but aiso for keeEing the hells in subieetion to eternl1y, and savïng mankind. 1~ Eower is meant by His

\\ sittina at the ri ht han of the power and mi t of ~ o. ecause t e or, y e ass mptlOn of a

~ ifufurai Human, mad Him If Dl . ùt1ïln ultimates,'1Ièïs c ed" the Word," and it lS said ~ the Word was made Flesh"; Divine Truth in ultimates is the Word in respect to the sense of the Ietter. This He made Himself by

130


fulfiIling ail things of the Word concerning Himself ln Moses and the Prophets. Every man 1S fiiSOWii. good and his own truth; man is a man from no other reason: but the Lord, by the aSSuill12tion of

J� a natural Human, is Divine Good itself, and Divine Yruth itself, or what is the same, He is Divine Love Itself and -Divine Wisdom Itself. oothin ilrStbeginnings and in ultimates. 1'fêrïce it is that the Lord, since His coming into the world, appears in the angelic heavens as a Sun with more powerful rays and greater splendour than before His Coming. This mystery can be understood by means of the doctrine of degrees. The Lord's omnipotence before His advent into the world will be discussed later.

DEGREES OF BOTH KINDS ARE IN THE�

GREATEST AND LEAST OF CREATED�

THINGS�

222. That the greatest and the least of aIl things consist of discrete and continuous degrees, or degrees of height and breadth, cannot be shown by examples from visible objects, because least things do not appear to the sight, and greatest things which are visible do not appear to be divided into degrees; on which account this proposition only permits of proof through universaIs.. And since angels have their wisdom from universals and from them their knowledge of particulars, it is permitted to make their statements on these matters known.

223. They are as foIlows: There can be nothing so minute as to be without degrees of both kinds ;

F� 131

223, 224] DIVIN);: LOVE AND WiSnOM

for instance, nothing so minute in any animal, plant, minerai, in the ether or the air, as not to have these degrees in it. And since ether and air are receptacles of heat and light, and since spiritual heat and light are receptacles of love and wisdom, there can be nothing of heat and light or of love and wisdom so minute as not to have in it degrees of both kinds. They also state that the least thing of affection and of thought, nay, rather of an idea of thought, consists of degrees of both kinds, and that if it does not, it is nothing; for it has no form, no quality, nor any state which can be changed ane! varied, and thereby exist. The angels confirm it by this truth, that infinite things in God the Creator, who is the Lord from eternity, are e!istinctly one; and that in His infinites are infinite things; and that in these infinitely infinite things are degrees of each kind, which yet are distinctly one in Him. Now, because these things are in Him ane! all things are created by Him, and things created refiect in a certain image the things which are in Him, it follows that the minutest finite thing cannot be without such degrees. Greatest and least things have these degrees equally, because the Divine is the same in greatest and least. That in God-Man infinite things are distinctly one, see Nos. 17-22; and that the Divine is the same in greatcst and least things see Nos. 77-82; both propositions are further explained in Nos. 155, 169, 171.

224. Since love ane! wisdom are substance and form (as shown above, Nos. 40-43) it is impossible for the minutest thing of love and wisdom, or of affection and thought, or of the least idea of thought, to exist without both kincls of degrees ;

132


in like manner affection and thought. And because forms are impossible without these degrees, as said above, it fo!lows that they have the same degrees; for ta separate love and wisdom, or affection and thought, from substance in a form, is ta blot them out of existence since they are not possible outside of their subjects; for they are the states of their subjects which a man perceives in aH their variation, which states cause them ta appear.

225. The greatest things which have bath kinds of degrees are: the universe, the natural world, the spiritual world, any dominion and kingdom whatever, with everything civil, moral, and spiritual of them, the entire animal, vegetable, and mineraI kingdoms, all the atmospheres of bath worlds taken together, also their heats and lights, each of the above in its whole complex. Things less general as well: man in his complex, every animal, tree, shrub, stone and metal, in theirs. Their forms are alike in this, that they consist of bath kinds of degrees: the reason is that the Divine, by whom they are created, is the same in greatest and least things (see Nos. 77-82). The particulars ta the least detail and the generals ta the aggregates are similar in this, that they are forms of bath kinds of degrees.

226. On account of things greatest and least being forms of bath kinds of degrees, they are connected from beginnings ta ends, for likeness unites them. But yet it is impossible for any least thing ta be identical with another, and there is therefore a distinction in all the particulars ta the least detail. That no least thing can be the same

133

226-229] DIVINE LOVE Mm WiSDOM

as another in any forllls or arriongst any forms is on account of greatest things having like degrees and the greates{ being made up of the least. Since there are such degrees in the greatest forms and the differences from top ta bottom and from centre ta circumference in accordance therewith are perpetuaI, it follows that it is impossible for any lesser or least of these forms, having like degrees, ta be .identical with any other.

227. From angelic wisdom there is this statement aIso. The perfection of the created universe is on account of the likeness in respect of these degrees which exists between generals and particulars, or the greatest and the least: for the one then regards the other as its Iike, capable of joining together with it in every use and of bringing every end into effect.

228. But these things may seem paradoxical because they are' not shown by application to visible abjects; yet abstract things, being universal, are wont ta be understood better than applied things, which are of unending variety; and variety obscures.

229. Sorne propound the theory that a substance is possible sa simpIe as not ta be a forro from lesser forros, and that by the heaping into masses of this simple substance, things substantiate or composite come into existence, and at length the substances which are called material. But such superlatively simple substances are not possible: For what is substance without form? It is such that nothing can be predicated of it; and from "being" of which nothing can be predicated, nothing can be

I34


produced by heaping up. That there are countless things in the first created substances of aIl things, that is, in the most minute and simple, will be seen in what follows, where forms are treated of.

IN THE LORD ARE l'BREE DEGREES OF

HEIGHT, INFINITE AND UNCREATE, AND

IN MAN ARE THREE DEGREES, FINITE

AND CREATED

230. In the Lord the three degrees of height are infinite and uncreate because the Lord is Love itself and Wisdom itself, as was shown in preceding chapters; and because the Lord is Love itself and Wisdom itself, He is also Use itself. For love has use as its end, and brings it forth by means of wisdom; for love and wisdom have no boundary or end without use, or no home of their own; wherefore they cannot be described as being and existing unless there is a use in which they may be. l'hese three form the three degrees of height in subjects of life. These three are as it were end the first, end the middle which is caIled cause, and end the last which is called effect. That end, cause and effect form the three degrees of height has been shown above and abundantly confirmed.

231. That there are three degrees in man may be evident from the elevation of his mind even to the degree of the love and wisdom of the angels of the second and third heavens; for aIl angels were born men, and man, in respect to the interiors of his mind, is a heaven in least form; consequently there are as many degrees of height in

135

231--233] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

man, by creation, as there are heavens. Man also is an image and likeness of God; wherefore these three degrees have been inscribed upon man because they are in God-Man, that is, in the Lord. That these degrees in the Lord are infinite.and uncreate, and in man finite and created, may be evident from what has been proved in Part First : as from these, the Lord is Love and Wisdom in Himself; Man is a recipient of love and wisdom from the Lord; also, nothing but Infinite can be asserted of the Lord, and nothing but finite of man.

232. With the angels these three degrees are named Celestial, Spiritual, and Natural; and to them the celestial is the degree of love, the spiritual of wisdom, and the natural of uses. The reason they are so named is that the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the one termed celestial, and the other spiritual, to which a third kingdom draws near, wherein are men in the world, and this is the natural kingdom. Moreover, the angels of whom the celestial kingdom consists abide in love; the angels of the spiritual kingdom in wisdom; and men in the world in uses; and on that account the three kingdoms are united. How it is to be understood that men are in uses will be discusscd in the next Part.

233. l have been told from heaven that~

1 the aS~Dtion of a RUffian iD the world, thëtwo prior degrees were actually in the Lord from eternity, who is ]ehovah, and the third degree potentially, as also they are in angels; but that

2 ictfteJ3 t.he.-ill;sum~man in the world, He ~I:!J~ill-.19~....third d~caneanaturai,

and therehy became Man, li~~1! the world,

136


but with the difference however, that this degree, J~_the _12rior d.~œ~~te,

while those in angel and man are [mite and created. For the Divine which had filled aU spaces without space (Nos. 69-72) penetrated even to the ultimates of nature; yet before the assumj?Hon

~ of1Iie Ruman tllere was a Divine influx into the natura! degree through the medium of the angelic heavens, but after the assumption direct from Himself. This is the reason why aU Churches in the world before His Coming were representative of spiritual and celestial things, but after His Coming became natural-spiritual and natural-celestial, and why representative worship was abolished. It was also the reason that the Sun of the angelic heaven, which is, as was said above, the first emanation from His Divine Love and Wisdom, gleamed with more remarkable brilliance and splendour than before the assumption. It is this also which is meant by these words in Isaiah: In that day the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (xxx. 26). This is said of the state of heaven and of the Church after the Lord's Coming into the world. Again in the Apocalypse: The C01tntenance of the Son of lVfan was as the sun shineth in his strength (i. 16); and elsewhere as in Isaiah lx. 20; 2 Sam. xxiii. 3, 4; Matt. xvii. 1, 2. The mediate enlightenment of men through the angelic heaven, before the Lord's Coming, may be likened to the moon's light, the mediate light of the sun. This became immediate as the result of His Coming, as foretold in these words in Isaiah, The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and in David: In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace until there is no

137


longer any rnoon (Psalm 1xxii. 7). This a1so is said of the Lord.

234. The Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, put on this third degree by the assumption of a Human in the world because He cou1d enter into this degree only by means of a nature similar to human nature, thus only by conception from His Divine, and by birth from a virgin; for in this way He couId lay aside the nature, which in itself is dead and yet a receptacle of the Divine, and clothe Himself with the Divine. This is meant by the two states of the Lord in the world, ca11ed exinanition (emptying) and glorification, which are treated of in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD.

235. These statements concerning the threefold ascent of degrees of height are general, but they cannot be discussed here in any detail because, as was said in the preceding chapter, these three degrees must be in greatest and in 1east things; this only need be said, that there are such degrees in each and aU things of love, and therefrom in everything of wisdom, and from these in every use. In the Lord ail these degrees are infinite, but in ange1 and man !lnite. How these degrees dwe11 in love, wisdom, and uses can only he described and unfoldecl in series.

138

[236, 237

EVERY MAN HAS THESE THREE DEGREES OF HEIGHT FROM BIRTH. THEY CAN BE

OPENED ONE AFTER THE OTHER, AND AS THEY ARE OPENED MAN IS IN THE LORD

AND THE LORD IN MAN

236. It has not becorne known hitherto that there are three degrees of height in man for the reason that these degrees have not been recognised ; and as long as they escaped notice none but continuous degrees could be known; and when only these degrees are known it may be believed that love and wisdom increase in man only by continuity. But it must be known that every man from birth has three degrees of height, or discrete degrees, one above or within another, and that each degree of height, or discrete degree, has also degrees of breadth, or continuous degrees, according to which it increases by continuity; for there are degrees of both kinds in the greatest and in the least of aU things (see Nos. 222-229). A degree of one kind without the other is impossible.

237. These three degrees of height are termed natural, spiritual, and celestial (see No. 232). When man is born he cornes first into the natural degree and this grows in him by continuity in accordance with what he learns, and the understanding acquired thereby, even to the highest of the understanding, which is caUed the rational. Yet not by this means is the next degree, which is called spiritual, opened. This is opened by a love of uses in accordance with what he is able to understand, but it is a spiritual love of uses, which

F* 139


is love towards the neighbour. This degree may grow in like manner by continuous degrees even to its highest point, and it grows by means of intelligent ideas of truth and good, or of spiritual truths. But even by these the third degree, which is called celestial, is not opened; for this is opened by the celestial love of uses, which is love to the Lord; and love to the Lord is nothing else than committing to life the precepts of the Word, which may be summed up in shunning evils because they are hellish and devilish, and doing good because it is heavenly and divine. Thus are these three degrees opened in man one after the other.

238. So long as man lives in the world he knows nothing of the opening of these degrees within him because he is then in the natural degree, which is the ultimate, and from it thinks, wiils, speaks, and acts; and the spiritual degree, which is interior, does not communicate with the natural degree by continuity but by correspondences, and this is not perceived by the senses. But when man lays aside the natural degree, which he does at death, he cornes immediately into that degree which had been opened within him in the world; into the spiritual, he in whom that degree had been opened and into the celestial, he in whom that degree had been opened. The man who cornes into the spiritual degree after death, no longer thinks, wills, speaks, and acts naturally, but spiritually; and the man who cornes into the celestial degree thinks, wills, speaks, and acts according to that degree. And because communication between the three degrees is only possible by correspondences, the differences of love, wisdom, and use in respect of these degrees are such as have nothing in common by means of

140


anything continuous. From these considerations it is plain that man has three degrees of height, and that one after the other can be opened.

239. Since man is endowed with three degrees of love and wisdom and thence of use, it follows that there must be three degrees of will, of understanding, and thence of result, and in this way a determination to use; for will is the receptacle of love, understanding the receptacle of wisdom, and result is use from these. From this it is evident that there are in every man a natural, a spiritual, and a celestial will and understanding, potentially from birth, and in act when opened. In a word, the mind of man, consisting of will and understanding, is, from creation and therefore from birth, of three degrees, so that man has a natural mind, a spiritual mind, and a celestial mind, and can thereby be raised into angelic wisdom and possess it while living in the world; but he comes into it only after death and if he becomes an angel, and then his speech is inexpressible and incomprehensible to a natural man. I knew a man of moderate education in the world and after his death saw him and conversed with him in heaven. l perceived clearly that he spoke like an angel and that what he said would be imperceptible to the natural man. The reason was that in th~ world he had applied the precepts of the Word to life and had worshipped the Lord, and was therefore raised up by the Lord into the third degree of love and wisdom. I t is important to have a knowledge of this elevation of the human mind, for upon it depends the understanding of what follows.

240. Man has two faculties from the Lord whereby he is distinguished from beasts. One is

L}I


that he can understand what is true and what is good. This is called rationality and is the faculty of his understanding. The other is that he has power to do what is true and good. This is called f~ and is the faculty of his will. ~or man, on account of his rationality, is able to think whatsoever he pleases, either with or against God, and either with or against the neighbour; he also has power to will and to do what he thinks ;0Ui: when he sees an eV1I and fears punishment, he is able on account of freedom to cease doing it. J3y v1rtue of these two facultles man lS man and distinguished from beasts. Man has them from the Lord unceasiQgly; they are not withdrawn,Iofïn that event man's human would perish. With every man, ood and evil alike, the Lord is in these two facultles; t ey are t e or s dwe ing place in the

\ liuman race; from this it is that every man, good as weIl as evil, lives to eternity. But the Lord's dwelling place is doser within man as bX..m~of

these faculties man opens the higher degrees; for their opening glves film entrance to higher degrees of love and wisdom, thus he comes nearer to the Lord. From this it may be evident that as these degrees are opened, so man is in the Lord and the Lord in him.

241. It was said above that the three degrees of height are like end, cause and effect, and that love, wisdom and use follow their course according to these degrees; wherefore a few things shall be said here about love as the end, wisdom as the cause, and use as the effect. Everyone who consults his reason, provided it is enlightened, can see that the end of all things of man is his love, for w~t he loves that he thinks, resolves and does,

142


consequently has for his end. Man is able also to see from his reason that wisdom is cause, because he, or the love which is his end, seeks diligently in his understanding for the means by which he may attain his end; thus he consults his wisdom, and these means make the instrumental cause. That use is effect needs no explanation. But love with one man is not the same as with another, neither is wisdom', nor thence use. And since these three are homogeneous (see Nos. 189-194) it follows that such as is man's love, such is the wisdom, and such the use. Where wisdom is mentioned, what belongs to man's understanding is meant.

SPIRITUAL LIGHT FLOWS IN THROUGH

THE THREE DEGREES INTO MAN, BUT

NOT SPIRITUAL HEAT, EXCEPT SO FAR AS

MAN SHUNS EVILS AS SINS, AND LOOKS

TO THE LORD

242. l t is evident from what has been shown above that heat and light emanate from the Sun of heaven, which is the first proceeding of the Divine Love and Wisdom (treated of in Part Second) ; light from His Wisdom, and heat from His Love; and that light is the receptacle of wisdom and heat the receptacle of love; and that so far as man cornes into wisdom, he cornes into this Divine light, and so far as he cornes into love, he cornes into this Divine heat. It is also evident from what was indicated above that there are three degrees of both light and heat, or three degrees of both wisdom and love, and that these degrees have been formed

143

242, 243J DIVINE LOVE AND WISVOM

in man in order that he might be a receptacle of Divine Love and Wisdom, and 50 of the Lord. lt is now to be proved that spiritual light ftows in through these degrees into man, but spiritual heat does not, except 50 far as man shuns evils as sms, and looks to the Lord; or what 15 the same, t that man is able to receive wisdom even to the third degree, but not love unless he shuns evils as sins, and looks to the Lord; or what is still the same, that man's understanding can be raised into wisdom bùflÎls will cannot except 50 far as he shuns evils as sins.

243. That the understanding can be raised into the light of heaven, or into angelic wisdom, and that the will cannot be raised into the heat of heaven, or into angelic love unless man shuns evils as sins and looks towards the Lord, was made evident to me from experience in the spiritual world. l have frequently seen and perceived that simple spirits, who only knew that there is a God and that the Lord was born Man and scarce anything besides, thoroughly understood the mysteries of angelic wisdom, almost as the angels do; and not they alone, but many also from the devilish crew. Th% while they were listening, understood,

\ \ but not when they ~hought within thems~s, for as tliey were hstenmg hght entered trom above, but as they thought things over no light could penetrate except such as agreed with their heat or love. Wherefore also as soon as they heard these mysteries and perceived them, they turned their ears away and remembered nothing; yea, those who were from the diabolical crew immediately rejected and absolutely denied these mysteries because the fire of their love and its delusive light

144


eovered them with darkness whieh extinguished the heavenly light from above.

244. l t is the same in the world. A man, not altogether stupid and who from eonceit in his own intelligence has not eonfirmed false things in himself, when he hears men speaking on higher things or when he reads sueh things, provided he has some affection of knowing, at once understands them, retains them, and afterwards is able to eonhrmthem. A bad man ean do 'this just 1J;1e fl same as a good man. Even a bad man, although J

in heart denying tfië Divine things of the Chureh, still has power ta understand them and also speak and preaeh them, besides skilfully eonfirming them in writing; but assuredly, when left to his own thought, his own hellish love makes him think eontrary to them and deny them. From whieh it is obvious that the understanding ean be in spiritual light even though the will is not in spiritual heat. From whieh it follows that the understandin~does not lead the will, or wisdom beget love, ut it merëI'y teaehes and shows the way; it teaehes how man ought to live and shows him the way he should go. And again it follows that the will leads the understanding and makes it àCfliïtii'ilsOrïWîfh Itself; and that the will's love proc1alms that to bewisdom in the understanding whieh agrees with itself. In what follows it will be seen that the will does nothing by itself without the understanding, but ail that it does, it does in eonjunction with the understanding; on the other hand it is the will flowing in whieh takes the understanding into partnership, and not the other way round.

245. The nature of the influx of light into thel three degrees of life in man, whieh belong to the

145


mind, shail now be explained. The forms receptive of heat and light, or of love and wisdom, and which, as said above, are in triple order or of three degrees, are transparent from birth and transmit spiritual light as crystal glass does naturallight. From this cornes the possibility of a man being raised to the third degree in respect to wisdom. Nevertheless these forms are not opened except when spiritual fieat umtes wlth spiritualhght, or love With ~m; yet through su~union tliese transparent forms are opened in accordance with degrees. The same holds good with the heat and light of the natural sun regarding plant life on the earth. Wintry light, though equally as bright as summer light, opens nothing in seed or tree, but when united with vernal heat then everything bursts open. The comparison is exact because spiritual light corresponds ta natural light, and spiritual heat to natural heat.

246. This s iritual heat is acquired o~by shunnin ev a a _._ e ~me J!.ii1e lookinft towards the Lord; for so long as man is iiî evÎS he is also in the love of them, indeed in lust for them, and the love of evil and lust rests in a love which is contrary to spiritual love and affection. That love or lust can only be removed by shunning evils as sins; and since man cannat escape them of himself but only trom the Lord, he must look to Hlm. When he thus esca~es"'them

from the Lord, the love· of evil and it heat is removed at the same time, and the love of good and Ifs heat IS put 10 Ùs place, whereby a higher degree is opened. The Lord indeed flows in from above and opens it and at the same time unites love or spiritual heat to wisdom or spiritual light.

146

,

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (246-24él

From this union man begins to flourish spiritually, like a tree in spring time.

247. Man is distinguished from beasts by the influx of spiritual light into aIl three degrees of the mind; and, compared with beasts, man can think analytically, perceive not only natural truths but spiritual also, and, seeing them, can acknowledge t~e reformed and regenerated. The hculty of receiving spirituallight is what is meant by rationality, referred to above, which every man has from the Lord, and which is not taken away from him; for if it were taken away, he could not be reformed. It is on account of this faculty, termed rationality, that man can not only think, but also speak from thought, differently from beasts; and afterwards from his other faculty, termed freedom, also referred to above, he can do the things which he thinks from his understanding. As these two faculties, rationality and freedom, which are peculiar to man, have already been discussed (No. 240), no more will be said about them here.

MAN BECOMES NATURAL AND SENSUAL

IF THE HIGHER DEGREE, WHICH IS THE

SPIRITUAL, IS NOT OPENED IN HlM

248. l t was shown above that there are three degrees of the human mind, termed natural, spiritual, and celestial, and that they can be opened in man one after the other: also, that the first degree to be opened is the natural, and afterwards, if man shuns evils as sins and looks to the Lord, the spiritual degree is opened, and at length

147


the ce!estial. Since these degrees are opened according to man's life, one after the other, it follows that the two higher degrees may not be opened, and then man remains in the natura!, the ultimate, degree. It is known even in the world that there is a natura! man and a spiritual man, or an external man and an internaI man; but it is not known that a natura! man becomes spiritual by the opening of any higher degree in him, and that the opening is effected by a spiritua! life conformed to the DIvme---E,recepts, ana that1without such a life man rëmams natura!.

249. There are three classes of natural men: one consists of those who know nothing about the Divine precepts; another of those who know there are Divine precepts but give no thought to a life according to them; and the third of those who disregard and deny them. Respecting the first class, who know nothing about Divine precepts, since they cannot teach themselves there is nothing for them but to remain natura!. Every man is taught about the Divine precepts by others who know them from religion, and not by immediate revelations; on which subject see the " Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scriptures " (Nos. II4-II8). The second class, who know about the Divine precepts but give no thought to a life according to them, also remain natura! and care about no other concerns save those of the world and the body. These after death become menia!s and servants, according to the uses which they are able to perform for those who are spiritual; for a natural man is a menial and servant, and a spiritual man is a master and Lord. The third class, who disregard and despise

148


the Divine precepts, not only remain natural but become sensual in proportion to their contempt and denial. The sensual are the lowest natural men, incapable of thought higher than the appearances and errors of the bodily senses; these after death are in hello

250. Since in the world it is not known what a spiritual man is, or what a natural man is, and he who is merely natural is by many called spiritual, therefore the two shall be distinctly treated of, as follows:

(i) What the natural man is, and what the spiritual.

(ii) The character of the nat~tral man in whom the spiritual degree is opened.

(iii) The character of the natural ma·n in whom the spirit~tal degree is not opened, but yet not closed.

(iv) The character of the natural man in whom the spiritual degree has been absolutely closed.

(v) Lastly, the nature of the difference between the life of a merely natural man and the life .of a beast.

251. (i) What the natural man is, and what the spiritual. Man is not man from face and body, but from understanding and will; wherefore by the natural man and the spiritual man is meant that man's understanding and will are either natural or spiritual. The natural man as regards his understanding and will is like the natural world, and may be called a world or microcosm ; and the spiritual man as regards his understanding and will is like the spiritual \vorld, and may be

149

251,252) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

called a spiritual world or heaven. From which it is clear that since the natural man is in a certain image a natural world, he loves worldly things, and that as the spiritual man is in a certain image a spiritual world, so he loves the things of that world or of heaven. A spiritual man certainly does love the natural worldalso, but onlyas a master may love a servaDf'wOilgh ""bom he fulfils a use. Accordmg to uses also a natura1 man becomes as it were s iritual when he feels the delight of use fro e siri al. This naturar man may be called spiritual natural. The spiritual man fmds pleasure in spiritual truths; he likes not only to know and understand but also wills them; however, the natural man likes to talk about those truths and to do them too: doing truths is performing uses. This subordinatIon cornes from tfîe umon of the spiritual and natural worlds; for whatever appears and is done in the natural world derives its cause from the spiritual world. From this it may be evident that the spiritual man is absolutely distinct from the natural and that the only communication between them is that of cause and effect.

252. (ii) The character 0] the natural man in whom the spiritual degree is opened is obvious from what has been said above; ta which must be added that the natural man is a complete man when the spiritual degree lS 0 ened m hlm; Ïor he lS en assocIa e wIt ange s m eaven and at the same time with men in the world, and in regard to both is living under the guidance offu Lord; forme spiritual man gathers his inJunctlons 1rrom the Lord through the Word, and follows

l/ them out by means of the natural man. The

ISO


natural man whose spiritual degree has been opened is unaware that he thinks and acts from h~ own spiritual man; for If seems as 1f if were from Illmself, when yet it is not from himself but from the Lord. He also is unaware that by means of his spiritual man he is in heaven, when, actually, his spiritual man is in the midst of the angels of heaven ; sometimes he is even visible ta them, but as he retreats inta his natural man after a brief stay there he is parted from them. Again, he is unaware that his spiritual mind is filled by the Lord with thousands of the secrets of wisdom and thousands of the delights of love, and that he will come into these things after death when he becomes an ange!. The reason why these things are unknown ta the natural man is that communication between the natural and spiritual man is effected by correspondences, and tbis communication is only perceptible ta the understanding in ffièlïght by WhlCh trutns are seen, and ta the will lry. the affection with WhlCh uses are perfor~ed.

253. (iii) The character of the natural man in whom the spiritual degree is not opened, but yet not closed. The spiritual degree is not opened, but not yet c1osed, with those who have led in sorne measure the life of charity and yet have known Iittle of genuine truth. The reason is that this degree is opened by a unioiîOf love and wls(fom, or of heaCwltli light;1ove aloIïë,""'Orspmtua! hèàt/a1Oïlè; tloes not open it, nor wisdom alone, nor spirituailight aione; but bath united. Wherefore, if the genuine truths which give wisdom or light are unknown, love has not the power ta open that degree, but only keeps it in the possibility of being opened; which is to be understood by its not

15 [

~

~

r

v

253J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

l

being shut. This is the same as in the vegetable kingdom. Beat alone does not make seeds and trees grow, but it works in union with light to èffect this. It should be known that aU truths are of spirituallight and aU good things are of spiritual heat, and that good opens the spiritual degree by means of truths; for good produces the eftect of use by truths, and uses are the good things of love, which derive their essence from the union of good and truth. The lot of those aIter death, in whom the spiritual degree is not opened and yet not shut, is that since they are stiU natural and not spiritual, they are in the lowest parts of heaven where they sometimes sufter hard things, or they are in the outskirts of sorne higher heaven where they are, as it were, in the light of evening ; for, as was said above, in heaven and in each of its societies, the light decreases from the middle to the boundaries, and those who are more advanced in Divine truths than others are in the centre, and those in few truths in the outskirts. They are in few truths who only know from religion that there is a God and that the Lord suftered for them; also that charity and faith are essentials of the Church; and take no trouble to find out what they are; when yet faith in its essence is truth, and truth is manifold, and_charity is aU the work of his calling which man âoes from the Lord;

. w1liëh iSëIone from the Lord as and when heShûns e\7tts as sms. It isPmlsely as was sfâteâ1il5O'Ve, the end IS the aU of the cause, and the eftect is the ail of the end through the cause: the end is charity or good, the cause is faith or truth, and eftects are good works or uses. From this it is clear that no more of charity can be carried into works than to the extent that charity has been united with

152


truths which are termed "of faith." Through these truths charity enters into works and gives them their character.

254. (iv) The character of the natural man in whom the spiritual degree kas been absolutely closed. The spiritual degree is closed in those who are in evils as to life, and still more in those who, on account of evils, are in false principles. It is the same as with a fibril of a nerve, which contracts at the slightest touch of anything of a different character; similarly every motor fibre of a muscle, yea, the muscle itself, and even the whole body, shrinks from the touch of whatever is hard or cold; so also substances or forms of the spiritual degree in man shrink from evils and the falsities from them, for they are of opposite character. For the spiritual degree, being in the form of heaven, only allows good things, and truths which ~xist from good, to draw near; these are homogeneous to it, but evils and the false ideas which exist from evil are heterogeneous to it. This degree is contracted, and by contraction closed, especially with those in the world who by reason of their self-love are in the love of domination, since this love is opposed to love to the Lord. l t is also closed, but not so much, in those who from love of the world have an insane greed of possessing the goods of others. These loves shut up the spiritual degree because they are the origins of evils. The contraction or closing of this degree is like the twisting of a spiral in the opposite direction: the reason of which is that, after this degree is closed, it turns back the light of heaven, and there is darkness there instead of heavenly light; hence truth, which exists in heavenly light, becomes

153


nauseous. In such persons not only does the spiritual degree itself become closed, but also the higher region of the natural degree, which is termed the rational, until at last the lowest region of the natural degree, termed the sensual, alone stands open; for this is nearest to the world and the outward senses of the body, from which the man afterwards thinks, speaks, and reasons, A natural man, sensualised by evils and false ideas therefrom, in the spiritual world, in heavenly light, does not look like a man, but like a monster with nqse drawn back: the indrawn nose results from the correspondence of the nose to the perception of truth. Moreover he cannot bear a ray of heavenly light ; the only light they have in their caverns is like that which cornes from live coals or burning charcoal. It is clear therefore who, and of what character, they are who have their spiritual degree closed.

255. (v) The nature of the d-ifference between the l-ife of a merely natural man and the l-ife of a beast. This difference will be discussed in detail when treating of life in the following pages. Here it is only necessary to point out that the difference is that man has three degrees of mind, or of understanding and will, which can be opened one after the other; and, since these are transparent, man can be raised as to bis understanding into the light of heaven and see truths, spiritual as well as civil and moral; and, from many truths so seen, can form conclusions about them in their order, and thus perfect his understanding to eternity. But beasts do not possess the two higher degrees. They have only the natural degrecs, and without the others have no means of thinking on any

154


civil, moral or spiritual matter. And since their natural degrees cannat be opened sa as to be raised into higher light, they are unable ta think in successive order but only in simultaneous arder, which is not thinking, but acting from knowledge corresponding ta their love. And because they cannot think analytically and view a lower thought from sorne higher one, they are unable ta speak, and can only utter sounds consistent with the knowledge which is barn of their love. Still the very lowest of sensual men only differ from beasts in that they can fill the memory with information, and think and speak therefrom; and this ability they derive from the power, peculiar ta every man, of understanding truth if they wish ta. Tt is this capacity which makes the difference. But many, by abuse of this capacity, have made themselves lower than beasts.

THE NATURAL DEGREE OF THE HUMAN

MIND REGARDED IN ITSELF IS CON

TINUOUS, BUT, WHEN RAISED, IT HAS

THE APPEARANCE OF BEING DISCRETE,

THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE

TWO HIGHER DEGREES

256. Although this is hardly comprehensible ta those who have not yet made acquaintance with clegrees of height, it must nevertheless be revealed, because it is a matter of angelic wisdom. Although it is impossible for the natura! man ta think about this wisdom in the sarne way as angels, the U1.clerstanding can yet perceive it when raisecl as far as

155


the degree of light of the angels; for the understanding can be raised even to that extent and be enlightened accordingly. But the illumination of the natural mind does not rise by discrete degrees, but by a continuous degree; then, as it increases, so it is illuminated interiorly from the light of the two higher degrees. How this is done can be understood from a perception of the degrees of height, as being one above another, and of the natural degree, the ultimate, as being like a general covering of the two higher degrees. Then just as the natural degree is elevated towards the higher degree, so the higher, from within, acts upon the outer natural and il1uminates it. The illumination is indeed effected from within by means of the light of the higher degrees; but it is received by the natural degree, which covers and surrounds, through continuity, thus more clearly and purely in proportion to its ascent; that is, the natural degree is enlightened from within by the light of the higher degrees discretely, but in itself is enlightened continuously. From this it is plain that so long as man lives in the world, and is thereby in the natural degree, hE' cannot be raised into wisdom itself such as it is with angels, but only into higher light, even to the angels, and can receive illumination from their light, which flows in from within and enlightens. But these things cannot as yet be more clearly described; they can be better understood from effects, for effects present causes in themselves in light and thus il1ustrate them, when there is sorne previous knowledge of causes.

257. Such effects are: (1) The natural mind can be raised even to the light of heaven in which angels are and perceive natural1y, thus not so

156


fully, what angels perceive spiritually; nevertheless, man's natural mind cannot be raised into angelic light itself. (2) Through the elevation of his natural mind to the light of heaven man can think, yea, speak with angels; but the thought and speech of the angels then flows into the natural thought and speech of the man, and not in the reverse way ; for which reason angels speak with man in natural language, his own mother tongue. (3) This is effected by a spiritual influx into the natural and not by any natural influx into the spiritual. (4) Ruman wisdom, which is natural during man's life in the natural world, cannot be raised to the level of angelic wisdom, but only into a certain image of it; the reason is that the elevation of the natural mind cornes by continuity, as it might be from shade to light, or from grosser to finer. Yet the man, whose spiritual degree has been opened, cornes into that wisdom when he dies, and may also come into it by the suspension of his bodily senses and, at the same time, an influx from above into the spiritual things of his mind. (5) Man's natural mind is composed of both spiritual and natural substances: thought comes from its spiritual substances but not from natural substances; these are separated when the man dies, but the spiritual substances are not; wherefore that same mind, after death when man becomes a spirit or angel, remains in a form like that which it had in the world. (6) The natural substances of that mind, which as was said are separated by death, constitute the covering of skin for the spiritual body of spirits and angels. It is by means of such covering, taken out of the natural world, that their spiritual bodies continue to exist, for the natural is the outmost containant. Consequently

157


there is no spirit or angel who was not born a man. These secrets of angelic wisdom are addueed here in order that the quality of man's natural mind may be known. Further particulars will be given in the following pages.

258. Every man is born into the pm,ver of understanding truths even to the inmost degree, in which are the angels of the third heaven; for the human understanding, lifting itseif up by continuity around the two higher degrees, reeeives the light of wisdom of those degrees, as described in No. 256. Renee man can become rational in accordance with his elevation; if raised to the third degree, he becomes rational in accordanee with the third degree; if to the second degree, he becomes rational to that degree; and if not raised, he is rational in the first degree. It is said that he becomes rational in accordance with these degrees because the natural degree is the general receptac1e of their light. Man does not become rational to the extreme height possible, because love, which pertains to the will, cannot be raised in the same manner as wisdom, which pertains to the understanding. The will's love is raised only by shunning evils because they are sins, and then by the good things of charity, namely uses, which man afterwards performs from the Lord. Wherefore if love, which is of the will, is not raised at the same time, wisdom, which is of the understanding, however it may have aseended, yet relapses ta its own love. Rence man is still rational only in the lowest degree if his love be not raised at the same time into the spiritual degree. It may be evident, therefore, that man's rational appears as if of three degrees: rational from celestial, from

158


spiritual, and from natural; also that rationality, the faculty which can be raised, is still in man, whether or not it be raised.

259. 1t was said that every man is bom into that faculty, or into rationality; but this means every man whose body has not been injured by sorne chance occurrence, either in the womb or from an after-birth disease, or from a wound on the head, or from sorne insane lust bursting forth and unloosing aU barriers. With such people the rational cannot be raised, for the life of the will and understanding with them has no bounds, within which it may stop, so arranged that it can perform outward acts in an orderly manner; for life acts in accordance with the ultimate boundaries, but not out of them. That rationality is not given 1.0 infants and children will be seen below (No. 266 at the end).

SINCE THE NATURAL MIND COVERS AND

CONTAINS THE HIGHER DEGREES OF THE HUMAN MIND, IT IS REACTIVE; AND, IF

THE HIGHER DEGREES ARE NOT OPENED,

IT ACTS AGAINST THEM, BUT IF THEY ARE OPENED, IT ACTS WITH THEM

260. It was shown in the previous chapter that, since the natural mind is in the lowest degree, it envelops and encloses both the spiritual and celestial minds, which are higher in respect to degrees. There cornes now the necessity of showing that the natural mind reacts against the higher or

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260, 26iJ DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

interior minds. It does so because it covers, encloses, and contains them, and this cannot be done without reaction; for if it did not react, the things inside or enclosed would become loosened, pushed forth, and so be scattered. It would be just as if the viscera, which are the interiors of the body, were to faIl out and ftow apart, should the coverings of the body not react. So also it would be if the membrane covering the motor fibres of a muscle did not react against the forces of these fibres in their activities; not only would action cease, but aIl the inner tissues would be dispersed. l t is the same 'Nith every !owest degree of the degrees of height: consequently with the natural mind in relation to the higher degrees; for, as said above, there are three degrees of the human mind, natural, spiritual, and celestial, and the natural mind is in the lowest degree. Another reason why the natura! mind reacts against the spiritual mind is that the natura! mind is composed not only of spiritual substances but also of natural (see No. 257); and substances of the natura! world react from their very nature against those of the spiritual world; for in themselves they are dead, and are set in motion from without by substances of the spiritual world. Things that are dead, and are acted upon from without, offer resistance from their own nature, and thus from their nature react. From these considerations it may be evident that the natural man reacts against the spiritual man and that there is a contest. It is the same whether it be said of man, natural and spiritua!, or of mind, natural and spiritual.

261. It may be obvious also that the natural mind continually opposes spiritual ideas if the

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DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOlvl (z6r, z6z

spiritual mind be c1osed, and is fearfullest anything should flow in therefrom to disturb its own states. Everything which flows in through the spiritual mind cornes from hcaven, indeed the spiritual mind is in its form a heaven; and everything which fiows into the natural mind cornes from the world, for the natural mind is in its form a world. It foHows therefore that, when the spiritu~l ~1).ind

is c1osed, the natural mind reacts against aH heavenly things, nor does it admit them, except so far as they are useful to it as means for providing and possessing worldIy things. And when heavenly things are used as means by the naturaI mind for its own ends, those means then become natural, heavenly th~)UgI:Ul:H~y~Rpear; fQr}h~~Ii(givês

them -tfieir quality. They 5ëcome indeed just fike tUe intelligent ideas of the natural man, which have no inherent life in them. But since heavenly " things cannot be united to natural sa as ta act as one, they are separated, and with merely natural men are arranged round about the natural things Within. Hence it is that a merely naturaI man can speak and preach about heavenly things and feign them also by his actions, aIthough inwardly [ thinking in opposition to them. The latter he does when alone, but the former when in company. But of this more later.

26z. The natural mind or man, on account' of its inborn reaction, opposes the things of the spiritual mind, or man, whe!! he love..s hims~1f and the world above aIl things. Then also he fe~Sa

delight in eviIs of every kind, as, for instance, adultery, fraud, revenge, blasphemy, and other such things; then too, he recognises nature as the creator of the universe; and aH these things

r6r


he confirms by means of his rational faculty; and, after confirmation, either 2erverls, stifies, or ~1!?

away the good and true things of heavên and the Church, and at length either runs away from them, or scorns them, or hates them. This he does in his spirit and in his body, so far as he dares to speak from his spirit to other people without fear of the los-S-QLrgr.!:!.!é.lti9n touching his honour and wealth. Vv'ith such a man the spiritual mind becomes gradually more and more closely shut, principally through the confirmation of evils by falsehoods. Rence it is that confirmed evil and falsity cannot be eradicated after death. That is only possible by repentance in the world.

263. But the state of the natural mind is absolutely different when the spiritual mind is opened : then the natural mind is disposed and subordinated in cClmpliance with the spiritual; for the spiritual mind acts upon the natural from above or within, removes those things therein which reaet, and adapts to itself those which act in harmony with & whereby prevailing Il.:e3!s.!i~m 'is gradually done away with. It must be understood that there is action and reactiorDin the greatest and least things

7- ( onhe univefse,both living and dead; hence cornes the eq.uilibrium of ail things, which is destroyed when laction overcomes reaction and vice versa If is tlie-samewIfh-the 11atüral and spiritual minds. When the natural mind acts from the delight of its love and the pleasures of its thought, which in themselves are wickcd and false, ttle.--.r.ei!.<:tion of lhe naturé).l mind remaves those things which belong ~ to the spiritual mind, and blocks the

/ doors lest they enter; it causes action ta come from such things l,as agree with its own reaction.

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lDIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [263,264

Thus there is an action and reaction of the natural mind, 0.Qp'0sed to the action and reaction of the ~piritual rrund, resulting in the closing of the spiritual mind like the bending back of a spiral. But, if the spiritual mind be opened, the action and readion of the natural mind is inverted; for ~Illiitual mind acts from above orwithln, and at the same tiffië'frQIÎÎ below or without, through those things in the naturaÏÏnind which have been arranged in submission to it, and twists back the spiral in wIncn the action and reaction of the

Ir natural mind lie; for this mind from birth is in , direct opposition to things orthe spirItual mind,

an opposition derived by heredity from parents, as is weIl known. Such is the nature of the change of state, called reformation and regeneration. The state of the natural mind before reformation may be compared to a spiral twisting or bending itself downward, but after reformation to a spiral twisting or bending itself upward; wherefore man before reformation looks downward to hell and after- retormafio-ri ü-pwar~!o h~aven.- ~- ---

THE ORIGIN OF EVIL COMES FROM ABUSE

OF THE FACULTIES PECULIAR TO MAN,

TERMED RATIONALITY AND FREEDOM

264. By rationality is meant the faculty of understanding what is true and from it what is false, what is good and from it what is evil; and by freedom is meant the faculty of thinking, \Villing and doing these things freely. From the foregoing it may be evident, and from the following will be more evident, that every man has these

G r63

264-266J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOllf

two faculties by creation and thence by birth, and that they are from the Lord; that they are not taken away; that from them comes the appearance that man thinks, speaks, wills and acts as of himself; that the Lord dwells with every man in these faculties; that man lives to eternity on account of this union; that man can be reformed and regenerated by means of these faculties, but not without them; fmally, that by them man is distinguished from beasts.

265. That the origin of evil comes from abuse of these faculties will be explained in this order :

(i) A bad man equaUy with a good man enjoys these two faculties.

(ii) A bad man abuses these faculties in confirming evil and false things, but a good man uses them in confirming good and tr'ue things.

(iii) Evils and falsities confirmed in man remain and become his love and thence Ms lite.

(iv) Those things which belong to his love and life are passed on to the children.

(v) AU evils, both inherited a1'l,d contracted, reside in the natural mind.

266. (i) A bad man equally with a good man enjoys these two faculties. It was shown in the preceding chapter that the natural mind, in respect to the understanding, can be raised even to the light which the angels of the third heaven have, and see truths, acknowledge them, and then talk about them. From this it is c1ear that, since the natural mind can be so raised, a bad man equally with a good man enjoys that faculty which is called rationality: and because the natural mind

164


can be raised to such an extent, it follows that he also can think and speak about them. Moreover reason and experience testify that he can will and do them, even if he does not. "Reason"; Who cannot will and do what he thinks? But that he does not, is because there is no desire to will and do them. The ability to will and do is freedom, and is the Lord's gift to every man; but his not willing and doing good, when he has the power, cornes from love of evil, which opposes; This love however he can resist, and many also do resist. This has been confirmed several times from " experience" in the spiritual world. l have listened to evil spirits who inwardly were devils and had in the world rejected the truths of heaven and the Church; these, when the affection of learning, which is every man's from childhood, was excited by the glory that, like the brightness of fire, surrounds every love, perceived secrets of angelic wisdom just as clearly as good spirits, who inwardly were angels. Yea, those diabolical spirits said, they can indeed will and act according to them, but do not wish to. When told they may will them if only they shun evils because they are sins, they said they can even do that, but are not willing. From this it was plain that the wicked equally with the good have the faculty of freedom ; let every man refiect and he will perceive that it is so. Man is able to will because the Lord, fram Whom that faculty cornes, gives him the power unceasingly; for as said above, the Lord dwells with every man in these two faculties, hence in the faculty or power of being able to will. In regard to the faculty of understanding, termed rationality, this is not granted to a man before his natural mind cornes to its maturity; meanwhile

r65


it is like seed in unripe fruit which is incapable of being opened in the ground and of growing into a shrub. Neither is this faculty granted to those mentioned above (No. 259).

267. (ii) A bad man abuses these facuUies in confirming evil and false tl~ings, but a good man uses them in confirming good and true things. Man derives the power to confinu whatsoever he wills from the intellectual faculty termed rationality and the voluntary faculty termed freedom; for the natural man can raise his understanding towards higher light just so long as he desires; but one who is in evils and the falsities from them raises it no higher than into the upper region of his natural mind, and rarely to the region of the spiritual mind. The reason is that he lives in the delights of the love of his natural mind; and if he rise above that mind, the delight of his love perishes. If his understanding be raised higher and he see truths opposed to the delights of his life or to the principles of his self-intelligence, he either perverts those truths, takes no notice of them and contemptuously abandons them, or he bears them in mind as means to serve his life's love or the pride of his selfintelligence. That a natural man can confirm whatever he wishes is very evident from the many heresies in the Christian world, each of which is confirmed by its adherents. Who does not know that evils and falsities of every kind can be confirmed ? It is possible ta confirm, and the wicked do confinu also in themselves, that there is no God, and that Nature is everything and created herself; that religion is only a mcans for keeping simple minds in fetters; that human prudence efiects all and the Divine Providence nothing,

166


beyond maintaining the universe in the order in which it was created; also that murders, adulterie.s, thefts, frauds, and revenge are permissible, according to Machiavelli and his followers. These and many like things a natural man can confirm, yea, can fill volumes with confirmations; and when they have been confirmed, these falsehoods appear in their delusive light, and truths in such shadow that they are to be seen only as phantoms of the night. In a word, take the grossest lie and present it as a proposition, and say to an expert, " Confirm it," and he will confirm it to the utter extinction of the light of truth; but set his confirmations on one side, go back and look at the proposition itself from your own rationality, and you will see its falsity in an its deformity. From these things it may be evident that man can abuse these two faculties, the Lord's gift to him, by confirming evils and falsities of every kind. No beast can do this, since no beast enjoys these faculties; wherefore a beast is born into the whole order of its life and into every knowledge of its natural love, differently from man.

268. (iii) Evils and falsities conjirmed in man remain and become Ms love and thence his life. Confirmations of evil and falsity are simply the putting away of good and truth, and if they grow they become rej ections; for evil removes and rejects good, and falsity truth: hence also confirmations of evil and falsity serve to shut up heaven, for every good and truth flows in from the Lord through heaven ; and when heaven is c1osed, man is in hell, and in a society where similar evil and falsity reign, whence no release is afterwards possible. Permission was given to

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268,269J DIVINE LOVE AND WISOOM

speak with sorne who ages before had confirmed in themselves the falsities of their religion, and l perceived that they persisted in the same errors as they held in the world. The reason is that ail the things which man confirms in himself become properties of his love and his lite; of his love because they become properties of will and understanding, and will and understanding constitute the life of everyone; and when they become properties of man's life they become properties not only of his whole mind but also of his whole body. Hence it is clear that a man who has confirmed himself in evil and false things is of such a character from head ta foot; and when wholly such, by no manner of twisting or turning can he be brought back ta an opposite state and thus be withdrawn from hel!. From these and the preceding statements in this chapter may be seen whence the origin of evil is.

269. (iv) Those things which belO1~g ta his love and thence ta his life are passed on ta the children. Tt is known that man is barn into evil and that he acquires it as an inheritance from parents: and it is believed by sorne that the inheritance is not from parents but through parents from Adam; but this is an error. He derives it from the father, from whom he has a soul which is clothed with a body in the mother; for the seed from the father is the first receptacle of life, but a receptacle of such quality as it was with the father, for it is in the form of his love, and everyone's love is, in greatest and least things, similar ta itself. There is in that seed an effort towards the human form, into which also it gradually passes. Hence it follows that so called hereditary evils from the fathers, and sa tram grandfathers and forefathers,

r68


are derivcd to the offspring in succession. Experience also teaches this, for as to affections there is a resemblance of races to their nrst progenitors and a stronger resemblance in families, and a still stronger resemblance in homes; indeed the resemblance is such that generations can be distinguished not only from character, but even from the face. But of the begetting of the love of evil from parents in children more will be said later when treating of the correspondence of the mind, or will and understanding, with the body and its members and organs. Here only these few things are brought forward that it may be known that evils are derived in succession from parents and are augmented through the accumulations of one parent after another, until man by birth is nothing but evil: and that the malignity of evil increases according to the degree of the closing of the spiritual mind, for thus the natural mind also is closed above; and that this is not re-established in their descendants except by shunning evils as sins by the Lord's help. In no other way is the spiritual mind opened and the natural mind thereby restored to a form corresponding with it.

270. (v) AU evils and the falsities from them, both inherited and contracted, reside in the nattlral mind. Evils and the falsities from them reside in the natural mind because that mind is, in form or image, a world; but the spiritual mind is, in form or image, a heaven, and in heaven evil cannot be entertained; on which account this mind is not opened from birth but only has the possiblity of being opened. The natural mind takes its form also in part from natural substances, but the

r69


spiritual mind solely from spiritual substances. This mind is preserved in its innocence by the Lord sa that man may become man; for he is barn animal, but becomes man. The natural mind and everything thereof is curved in spirals from right ta left, but the spiritual mind in spirals from left ta right; these minds are thus reciprocally opposed in direction, a token that evil resides in the natural mind and of itself acts against the spiritual mind. Moreover the spiral from right ta left is turned downward and sa towards heU, but the spiral from left ta right goes up, thus towards heaven. That it is sa was made plain ta me by this proof: an evil spirit cannat twist his body from left ta right but turns from right ta left; on the other hand a good spirit can with difficulty turn the body from right to left but turns easily from left ta right. The spiral motion follows the flow of the mind's interiors.

EVILS AND FALSITIES EXIST IN EVERY

THING OPPOSED 1'0 GOOD AND TRUE

THINGS, BECAUSE EVILS AND FALSITIES

ARE DIABOLICAL AND INFERNAL, AND

GOOD AND TRUE THINGS ARE DIVINE

AND HEAVENLY

271. Everyone agrees when he hears that evil and good, and falsity from evil and truth from good, are opposed; but since those who are in evil do not feel and hence do not perceive otherwise than that evil is good--for evil pleases their senses, especially sight and hearing, and from that it also

170


pleases the thoughts and so the perceptions-they acknowledge indeed that evil and good are opposed, yet when they are in evil they dec1are evil to be good from the delight of it, and good evil. Take for example the case of the man who abuses his freedom of thinking and doing evil; he calls that freedom, and its opposite, namely thinking the good which is essentially good, slavery; when nevertheless the latter is true freedom and the former serfdom. He who loves adulteries cails it freedom to commit adultery, and servitude when not allowed; for he feels delight in lust and undelight in chastity. He who from self-love is in the love of domination feels in that love a joy of life surpassing every other kind of pleasure; hence everything that belongs to that love he calls good and everything contrary to it he declares to be evil; when yet it is the opposite. It is the same with every other evil. Wherefore, although everyone agrees that evil and good are opposites, those who are in evil still cherish a wrong idea about this opposition, and only those in good have a right idea. No one so long as he is in evil can see what is good, but he who is in good can see evil. Evil is below as in a cave, good is above as on a mountaino

272. Now since many are ignorant of the nature of evil, and that it is absolutely opposed to good, and as it is important that it should be known, the matter shall be examined in the following order:

(i) The natural mtOnd, which is in evils and falsities from them, is a form and image of hello

(ii) The natural mind, which is a form and image of hell, descends through three degreeso

c* 171

272, 273) DIVINE LOVE AND WI5D01\-l

(iii) The three degrees of the natu1'al mind, which is a form and image of hell, are opposite to the three degrees of the spiritual mind, which is a form and image of heaven.

(iv) The nabtral mind which is a heU is opposed in everythi11g to the spiritual mind which is a heaven.

273. (i) The natural mind, which is in evils and falsities from the'm, is a form and image of hello How the natural mind in its substantial form is constituted in man or how it has its form woven from substances of both worlds in the brains, where that mind resides in its first beginnings, cannot here be described. The universal idea of that form will be given in the following pages where the correspondence of mind and body is dealt with. Here something will be said only regarding its form in respect to states and their changes, by which perceptions, thoughts, intentions, desires, and things connected with them are produced; for in respect to these the natural mind that is in evils and falsities therefrom is a form and image of hello This form assumes as subject a substantial form, for without it changing states are impossible, precisely as sight without the eye and hearing without the ear are impossible. And as regards the form or image wherein the natural mind relates to hell, it is such that its prevailing love together with its lusts, the universal state of this mind, is just as is the Devil in heU; and thoughts of what is false originating from that ruling love are like the Devil's crew. Nothing else is meant in the Ward by the Devil and !lis crew. The case is similar also, for in heU there is a love of dominion from self-love, a ruling love, called there the

172


Devil, and the affections of the false together with the thoughts originating from that love are called his crew. It is the same in every society of hell, with differences such as are the specific differences of one genus. The natural mind in evils and the falsities from them is in a like form; consequently a natural man of such a character cornes after death into a society of hell resembling himself, and then in each and everything he does, acts in unison with it; for he enters into his own form, that is, into the states of bis own mind. There is another love ca!led Satan, subordinate to the former-the Devil; it is the love of taking possession of the goods of others by every possible wicked device; cunning villainies and subtleties are its crew. In this heU the inhabitants as a class are called satans, in the former they are called devils; and those who do not act secretly there do not disown the name; from this it is that the heUs as a whole are cal!ed the Devil and Satan. The two hells are divided generical!y in accordance with these two loves because al! the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, celestial and spiritual, in accordance with two loves. The diabolical hell, on account of standing opposite, is the counterpart of the celestial kingdom, and the satanic hell, for the same reason, of the spiritual kingdom. That the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, celestial and spiritual, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hel! (Nos. 20-28). A natura! mind of such a character is in form a hel! because every spiritual form is like itself in greatest and least things; hence every angel is a heaven in lesser form, as has also been shown in the work on Heaven and Hel! (Nos. SI-58) ; from this it fol!ows also that every man or spirit who is a devil or a satan is a hel! in lesser form.

173


274. (ii) .The nat~tral mind, which is a jorm or image oj hell, descends through three degrees. It may be seen above (Nos. 222-229) that in the greatest and least of aIl things there are degrees of twofold order, called height and breadth; thus the natural mind also (has these degrees) in its greatest and least things. Here degrees of height are understood. The natural mind, by reason of its two faculties called rationality and freedom, is so situated that it can ascend through three degrees and descend through three degrees. It ascends on account of its good and true things and descends on account of its evil and false things. When it ascends, the lower degrees which tend towards hell are closed, and when it descends the higher degrees which tend towards heaven are closed, the reason being in their re-action. These three higher and lower degrees are neither opened nor closed in man in early infancy, for he is then ignorant of good and truth, and of evil and falsity; but as he enters into them the degrees are opened and closed on one side or the other. When they are opened towards heIl the ruling love of the will chooses the highest or inmost place; thought of falsity, which the understanding has from that love, chooses the second or middle place; and the conclusion of love through thought, or of will through understanding, receives the lowest place. It is the same here also as with the degrees of height treated of above. In order they are like end, cause and effect, or tint, middle and last end. The descent of these degrees is towards the body; hence in the descent they wax grosser and become material and corporeal. If truths from the Word are admitted into the second degree to form it, they are falsified by the first degree, which is the love of evil, and

174


become servants and slaves; from which it may be evident what truths of the Church from the Word become in those who are in the love of evil, or whose natural mind is in form a hell; namely, that they are profaned because they serve the devil as means; for love of evil ruling in the natural mind, which is a heU, is the Devil, as was said above.

275. (iii) The three degrees of the nat~tral mind, which is a form and image of heU, are opposite to the three degrees of the spiritual mind, which is a form and image of heaven. That there are three degrees of the mind, caUed natural, spiritual, and celestial, and that the human mind, composed of these degrees, looks towards heaven and turns itself in that direction, was shown above. Renee it may be seen that the natural mind, as long as it looks downward and turns itself towards hell, is likewise composed of three degrees, and that each degree of it is opposite to a degree of a mind that is heaven. That this is so was very evident to me from things 1 saw in the spiritual world, namely, that there are three heavens separated in accordanee with the three degrees of height; that there are three hells and these also are separated in accordance with the three degrees of height or depth; that the hells are opposite to the heavens in each and aU things; that the lowest heU is opposite to the highest heaven, the middle heU to the middle heaven, and the uppermost heU to the lowest heaven. It is the same with the natural mind which is in the form of hell; for spiritual forms are like themselves in greatest and least things. The heavens and hells are set opposite in this manner because their

175

.,


loves are thus opposed. Love to the Lord and from it love towards the neighbour make the inmost degree in the heavens; but self-love and love of the world make the inmost degree in the hells. Wisdom and intelligence proceeding from their loves make the middle degree in the heavens ; but folly and insanity, seeming like wisdom and intelligence, proceeding from their loves make the middle degree in the hells. Things resulting from the two other degrees which are either stored up in the memory as items of knowledge or determined into actions in the body make the lowest degree in the heavens. Conclusions also from their two degrees, which become either laid up in the memory as items of knowledge, or determined in the body as actions, make the outermost degree in the heIls. How the good and true things of heaven are converted in the heIls into evil and false things and so into the opposite may be evident from this experience: 1 heard that a certain Divine truth flowed down from heaven into hell and that by degrees, on the way in its descent, it was turned into falsity, so that at the lowest hell it was completely opposite; from which it was clear that the hells in accordance with degrees are in opposition to the heavens in respect to aIl things good and true, which become evil and false through the influx into inverted forms; for it is weIl known that aIl influx is perceived and felt according to the recipient forms and their states. This inversion into the opposite was also made clear to me by the following experience: it was granted me to see the hells in their position relatively to the heavens, and those who were there appeared inverted with head downward and feet upward ; but it was said that to themselves they appear aIl

176


the time erect on their feet, as is the case with the antipodeans. From these examples of experience it may he evident that the three degrees of the natural mind, which is a hell in form and likeness, are opposite ta the three degrees of the natural mind, which is a heaven in form and likeness.

276. (iv) The natural mind which is a heU is opposed in everything to the spiritual mind which is a heaven. When loves are opposites, all things pertaining ta the perception become opposites; for out of love, which makes the very life of man, ail the others flow like brooks from their spring ; such as are not therefrom separate themselves in the natural mind from those which are. Whatever belongs ta man's ruling love is in the middle and the l'est towards the sicles. If the latter are truths of the Church from the Ward, they are sent from the middle further away ta the sides, and at last are driven out, and then the man or the natural rnind perceives evil as good, sees falsity as truth, and conversely. For this reason he believes malice ta be wisclom, folly to be intelligence, cunning ta be prudence, wicked clevices ta be cleverness; and then also he makes Divine and heavenly things of the Church and of worship of no account, and bodily and worldly things of the greatest worth. Thus he inverts the state of his life making for example what is the head's ta belong ta the sole of the foot and trampling on it, and what is of the sole of the foot ta he of the head. Thus man from living becomes dead. He is said ta be living whose mind is a heaven, and ta be dead whose mind is a hell.

177

277,278]

ALL THINGS OF THE THREE DEGREES OF

THE NATURAL MIND ARE INCLUDED IN

WORKS WHICH ARE DONE THROUGH ACTS

OF THE BODY

277. Through the knowledge of degrees, taught in this Part, this secret is revealecl: that aIl the things of the mind or of man's will and understanding are present in his actions or works, included almost as are the visible and invisible things in seed, fruit, or egg. Actions themselves or works only appear like these outwardly, yet innumerable things are present inwardly; for there are forces of the motor fibres of the whole body which meet together and all the things of the mind which rouse and determine these forces, as shown above. That they have three degrees has been shown above. And since there are ail things of the mind so there are all things of the will, or all the affections of man's love, which form the first degree; aU the things of the understanding or all the thoughts of his perception, which make the second degree; and all the things of the memory, or aU the ideas of thought nearest to speech taken from the memory, which compose the third degree. From these determined into act proceed works, in which, viewed in outward form, the prior things do not appear, which, nevertheless, are actually therein. That the ultimate is the complex, containant, and base of prior things may be seen above (Nos. 209-216); and that degrees of height are in fulness in their ultimate (Nos. 217-221).

278. The actions of the body viewed by the eye appear thus simple and uniform, as in external form

178


do seeds, fruit, eggs, and nuts and almonds in the kernel, yet holding ail prior things, from which they exist, together in themselves, because every ultimate is covered round and thereby distinguished from prior things; also, every degree is enveloped by a covering and thereby distinguished from another; wherefore things of the first degree are not known by the second degree, nor those of this degree by the third. For example: The love of the will, which is the first degree of the mind, is not perceived in the wisdom of the understanding, which is the second degree of the mind, except by a certain delight in thinking of the thing. The first degree which, as said before, is the love of the will, is not perceived in the knowledge of the memory, which is the third degree, except by a certain pleasure in knowing and speaking. It follows from these facts that a work which is the action of the body includes ail these things, although outwardly it appears simple as one thing.

279. This is confirmed by the following: Angels attendant on man perceive one by one those things which are from the mind in the action; spiritual angels what is from the understanding therein, and celestial angels what is from the will therein. This seems a paradox, yet still is true. But it should be known that the things of the mind which have to do with a matter, proposed or in hand, are in the middle and the rest round about according to affinities. Angels declare that a man's character is perceived from a single deed but in a likeness of his love changing according to its determination into affections and from them into thoughts. In a word, every act or deed of a spiritual man is, in the sight of angels, like fruit,

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luscious, useful and beautiful, which when opened and eaten gives relish, use, and delight. That angels have such perception of man's acts and deeds may also be seen above (No. 220).

280. It is the same with man's speech. Angels recognise a man's love from the tone of his speech, his wisdom from articulation of sound, and his knowledge from the meaning of the words. They say moreover that these three things are in every ward, since the ward is like an effect in that it contains sound, articulation, and meaning. It was told me by angels of the third heaven that, from every ward spoken in sequence, they perceive the speaker's general state of mind and also some particular states. That in every single ward of the Ward there is a spiritual meaning from the Divine Wisdom, and a celestial from the Divine Love, and that these are perceived by angels when the Ward is read devoutly by man has been abundantly shawn in "The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture."

281. It is demonstrated from these things that aU his evils and false principles of evil are in the deeds of a man whose natural mind descends through three degrees into heU; and that aU his good and true things are in the works of a man whose natural mind ascends into heaven; and that the one and the other are perceived by the angels fram a solitary ward or action of man. Rence it is said in the Ward that a man" shaU be judged according ta his works "; and that he shaU render an account of his words.

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PART IV

THE LORD FROM ETERNITY, WHO IS

JEHOVAH, CREATED THE UNIVERSE AND

ALL THINGS THEREOF FROM HIMSELF,

AND NOT FROM NOTHING

282. It is known throughout the universe and acknowledged by every wise man from interior perception, that there is one Gad, the Creator of the universe; and it is known from the Ward that Gad the Creator of the Universe, is called " Jehovah," by reason of Being, since He alone Is. That the Lord from eternity is that J ehovah has been proved by many passages from the Ward in "The Doctrine of the New J erusalem concerning the Lord." Jehovah is called the Lord from eternity because J ehavah assumed a Human that he might save mankind from heIl, and then commanded the disciples ta calI Him Lord; for which reason Jehovah in the New Testament is called The Lord, as may be evident from this:

"Thou shalt love Jehovah thy Gad with aIl thy heart and with aIl thy soul" (Deut. vi. 5); but in the New Testament:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy Gad with aIl thy heart and with aIl thy soul " (Matt. xxii. 37) ; similarly in other passages in the Evangelists, taken from the Old Testament.

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283. Everyone who thinks from c1ear reason perceives that the universe was not created from nothing, because he sees it is impossible for anything ta come out of nothing; for nothing is nothing and ta make something out of nothing is a contradiction, and a contradiction is contrary ta the light of truth, which is fI'am Divine Wisdom; and whatever is not from Divine Wisdom is not from Divine Omnipotence. Everyone who thinks from c1ear reason sees also that ail things were created out of substance which is substance in itself, namely, Being itself, out of which all things that are can exist; and since Gad alone is Substance in its~lf and therefore Being itself, it is evident that the existence of things themselves is fI'am no other source. Many have seen this, since reason permits, but have not ventured ta confirm it, fearing lest they might come perchance ta think that the created universe is Gad because fI'am Gad, or that nature is from itself and thus its inmost is what is called Gad. Renee it cornes about that although many have perceived that the existence of aIl things is from no other source than Gad and Ris Being, yet they have not dared ta advance beyond the first thought about it, lest they should entangle their understanding in a so-called Gordian knot, from which they might not afterwards be able ta release it. That release would be impossible because their thought, concerning Gad and the creation of the universe by Gad, had been from time and space, the properties of nature; and from nature no one can understand Gad and the creation of the universe, but everyone, whose understanding is in sorne degree of interior Iight, can perceive that nature and its creation are from Gad, because Gad is not in time and space. That

r82


the Divine is not in space, see above (Nos. 7-10) ; that the Divine fiUs aU spaces of the universe apart from space (Nos. 69-'72); and that the Divine, apart from time, is in aU time (Nos. 73-76). In the foUowing pages it wiU be seen that although God created the universe and aU things thcreof trom Himself, yet there is nothing whatever, that is God, in the created universe; besides many things which wiU put this matter in its proper light.

284. In Part First of this Work the subject treated was; God, as being Divine Love and Wisdom, and Lite, also Substance and Form which is the very and only Being. In Part Second the spiritual Sun and its world, and the natural sun and its world, and the creation of the universe with aU things thereof by means of both suns by God. In Part Third degrees in which each and aU things which have been created exist. Here in Part Fourth the creation of the universe by God wiU now be treated. The reason for explaining aU these subjects is that angels have lamented before the Lord that when they look into the world they see nothing but darkness, and in men no knowledge of God, or of heaven, or of the creation of nature, to which their wisdom can incline.

THE LORD FROM ETERNITY, OR ]EHOVAH,

COULD NOT HAVE CREATED THE UNI

VERSE AND ALL THINGS THEREOF UNLESS

HE WERE MAN

285. Those who entertain a natura! bodily idea of God as Man are entirely unable to understand how God as Man could have created the universe

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___________ .J


and ail things thereof; for they think within themselves, How can Gad as Man wander through the universe from space ta space and create? Or, How is it possible from His place ta speak the ward and as saon as it is uttered, creation follow ? When it is said that Gad is Man, such ideas suggest themselves ta those who think of Gad Man in the same way as of a man of this world, and who think of Gad from nature and its properties, which are time and space. But assuredly those who do not think like this perceive clearly that the universe could not have been created unless Gad were Man. Let your thought into the angelic idea of Gad as being Man, put away as far as you can the idea of space, and you will come very near ta the truth. Sorne of the learned certainly have a perception of spirits and angels as not in space because they have a perception of the spiritual as apart from space. For the spiritual is like thought, which despite its being in man, yet makes it possible for him ta be present as it were elsewhere, in any place, even the most l'emote. Such is the state of spirits and angels, who are men even as ta their bodies. Where their thought is, there they appear, because in the spiritual world spaces and distances are appearances, and act as one with thought from their affection. From which it may be evident that Gad, who appears as a Sun far above the spiritual world, and ta whom there can be no appearance of space, is not ta be thought of from space. And it can then be understood that He created the universe out of Himself, and not out of nothing; again, that His Human Body cannat be considered as great or small, or of any height, since this aIsa pertains ta space; consequently that in things first and last, greatest and least, He

184


is the same ; and above al!, that the Human is the inmost in every created thing, yet apart from space. That the Divine is the same in things greatest and least, see above (Nos. 77-82); and that the Divine fil!s al! spaces apart from space (Nos. 69-'72). And because the Divine is not in space, it is not, like the inmost of nature, continuous.

286. That God could not have created the universe and al! things thereof unless He were Man, an intelligent person may very clearly perceive from this, that he cannot deny within himself that in God there is Love and Wisdom, Mercy and Forbearance, also very Goodness and Truth, since these are from Him. And since he cannot deny this, neither can he deny that God is Man; for apart from man, not one of these is possible; for man is their subject and to separate them from their subject is to say that they do not exist. Think of wisdom and place it outside man. Is it anything ? Can you imagine it as something ethereal or as something fiaming? You cannot, un~ess perchance within them; and if it be in them, it must be wisdom in a form such as man has; it must be in the whole of his form, not a single thing may be missing if wisdom is to be in that form. In a word, the form of wisdom is man; and because man is the form of wisdom, he is also a form of love, mercy, forbearance, goodness, and truth. because these act in unison with wisdom. That love and wisdom cannot be conceded except in a form, see above (Nos. 40-43).

287. That love and wisdom are man may be evident also from the fact that the angels of heaven are men, whose beauty is proportioned to

r8S

287-289] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOi\I

the love anû wisdom they have from the Lord. The same may appear from what is said of Adam in the Word, that he was created into the image and likeness of God (Gen. i. 26), because into the forro of love and wisdom. Every man on earth is born in human form in respect to the body, because his spirit, caHed also the soul, is a man. And this is a man because it is receptive of love and wisdom from the Lord; and their reception by the spirit or soul is the measure of his manhood after the death of the material body, which had clothed it; their non-reception makes him proportionately monstrous, yet deriving something of manhood from the ability to receive.

288. Since God is Man, the whole angelic heaven coHectively resembles one man, and is divided into regions and provinces in accordance with the members, viscera, and organs of man. There are, indeed, societies of heaven which constitute the region of the brain and aH things thereof, of the face and aH its organs, and of aH the viscera of the body; and these regions are separated from each other precisely as they are in man; moreover the angels know in which region of Man they dwell. The whole heaven bears this likeness because God is Man; and God is Heaven because the angels, who constitute heaven, are recipients of love and wisdom from the Lord, and recipients are images. That heaven is in the forro of man and all his parts has been shown in the Arcana Cœlestia, at the end of several chapters.

289. From aU these things one may see the emptiness of ideas of those who think of God in any other way than as Man, and of the Divine

186


attributes otherwise than as in God as Man, since these apart from Man are mere figments of reason. That God is Very Man, from Whom every man is man in accordance with his reception of love and wisdom, may be seen above (Nos. II-I3). That truth is here confirmed on account of what fol1ows, that the creation of the universe by Gad, because He is Man, may be perceived.

THE LORD FROM ETERNITY, OR ]EHOVAH,

BIWUGHT FORTH FROM HIMSELF THE

SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, AND

FROM THAT CREATED THE UNIVERSE

AND ALL 'l'HINGS THEREOF

290. The Sun of the spiritual world has been discussed in Part Second of this work, where the fol1owing propositions have been demonstrated: Divine Love and Divine Wisdom appear in the spiritual World as the Sun (Nos. 83-88). Spiritual heat and light issue from that Sun (Nos. 89-92). That Sun is not God, but is the manifestation of the Divine Love and Wisdom of God-Man; in like manner the heat and light from that sun Nos. 93-98). The Sun of the spiritual world is at a middle altitude, and appears afar off from the angels just as is the natural sun from men (Nos. 103-107). In the spiritual world the east is where the Lord appears as the Sun, and other quarters are determined therefrom (Nos. II9-I28). Angels turn their faces constantly towards the Lord as a Sun (Nos. 129-139). The Lord created the universe and al1 things thereof by means of that Sun,

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29°,291] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

which is the first proceeding of the Divine Love and Wisdom (Nos. 151-156). The sun of the natural worid is pure fire, and nature, which takes its origin from that sun, is therefore dead; and the sun of the natural world has been created in order that the work of creation may be completed and ended (Nos. 157-162). Creation is not possible without two suns, the one living and the other dead (Nos. 163-166).

291. This also is among the things demonstrated in Part Second: That Sun is not the Lord but is the Proceeding from His Divine Love and Wisdom. It is called " Proceeding" because that Sun was brought forth from the Divine Love and Wisdom, which in themselves are substance and form, and the Divine proceeds by this means. But as human reason is such as not to be satisfied unless it see a thing from its cause, thus unless it also perceive " how "-in this case how the Sun of the spiritual world, which is not the Lord but the proceeding from Him, was brought forth-something shall be said on this also. l have talked much with the angels on this subject. They told me that they see this clearly in their spirituallight, but can only with difficulty put it before man in his natural light, owing to the difference between the two kinds of light and therefore of the thoughts. They said, however, that it is similar to the sphere of affections and thoughts therefrom which surrounds every angel, whereby his presence is indicated ta those near and far away; and that this sphere round about him is not the angel himself, but cornes out of every single thing of his body, from which substances flow continuously like a stream and encompass him; also that these substances

188


around his body, ever impelled by his life's twin founts of motion, the heart and lungs, stir the atmospheres into their activities and thereby establish in others a perception as if he were present; and thus that it is not another sphere of affections and thoughts therefrom, although it is so called, that goes forth and is continued, since affections are mere states of the mind's forms in him. They said further that such a sphere exists about every angel because there is one about the Lord, and that the sphere about the Lord is in like manner from Him, and that that sphere is their Sun, or the Sun of the spiritual world.

292. The perception of such a sphere around angel and spirit has often been granted me, and of a general sphere around many in a society. l have also been permitted to see it in varying guise, in heaven on occasion like a clear flame, in hell like a dense fire, at times in heaven in the semblance of a clear shining cloud, in heU as a thick black thunder cloud. It has also been granted me to perceive them in the varied form of odours and stenches. By these things l have been assured that a sphere, consisting of substances set free and separated from their bodies, spreads around everyone in heaven and in heU.

293. It was seen also that a sphere flows forth not only from angels and spirits but also from every single thing that appears in that world, as from the trees and their fruits there, from shrubs and their flowers, from herbs and grasses, even from the earths and their very particles. From these facts it was made clear that this general principle exists in things both living and dead,

189

,


namely, that everything is surrounded by a likeness of what is within it, and which is exhaled from it continuously. From the experience of many learned men it is weil known that a similar thing exists in the natural world, as that a wave of effiuvia constantly flows forth from man, from every animal, and also from tree, fruit, shrub, flower and even from metal and stone. This the natural world derives from the spiritual world, and the spiritual wodd from the Divine.

294. Since these things which constitute the Sun of the spiritual world are not the Lord, but from the Lord, they are not life in itself, but are dispossessed of life in itse1f; just as those things which flow forth from angel and man and make the spheres around them, are not angel or man, but are from them, bereft of their life. The only respect in which these spheres make one with ange! or man is that they harmonize, because they \Vere taken out of the forms of their bodies, which in them were forms of their life. This is a secret which angels with their spiritual ideas can visualise in thought and express in speech, but men cannat do so through their natural ideas, since a thousand spiritual ideas go ta the making of one natural idea, and one natural idea cannat be resolved into any spiritual idea, still less into sa many. The reason is that they differ according to degrees of height, concerning which see Part Third.

295. That there is such a difference between the thoughts of angels and of men was made known to me by this experiment. They were requested ta think spiritually on sorne subject and afterwards ta tell me what they had thought. When this was done and they wished ta tell me, they could not.

190

,,~


They said that they were unable to utter them. It was the same with their spiritual language and writing; there was no word of spiritual language similar to a word of natural language, nor any spiritual writing like natural writing, except the letters, each one of which comprised a complete significance. But-and this is wonderful-they seemed to themselves to think, speak, and write in the spiritual state in the same manner that man does in the natural state, when yet there is no similarity. From which it was clear that the natural and spiritual differ according to degrees of height, and that they do not communicate with each other except by correspondences.

IN THE LORD THERE ARE THREE (ATTRIBUTES), THE DIVINE OF LOVE, THE DIVINE OF WISDOM, AND THE DIVINE OF USE, WHICH ARE THE LORD; AND THESE THREE ARE REPRESENTED OUTSIDE THE SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, THE DIVINE OF LOVE BY HEAT, THE DIVINE OF WISDOM BY LIGHT, AND THE DIVINE OF USE BY THE ATMOSPHERE CONTAINING

THEM

296. That heat and light go forth out of the Sun of the spiritual world, heat out of the Lord's Divine Love, and light out of His Divine Wisdom, may be seen above (Nos. 89-92, 99-102, 146-150). Now ie will be explained that the third which goes forth from the Sun there is the atmosphere

191


containing the heat and light, and that it goes forth out of the Lord's Divine which is called Use.

297. Everyone who thinks with any enlightenment can see that love has and intends use for an end, and brings it forth by means of wisdom; for love cannot bring forth any use of itself, but with \",isdom as its means it cano Nay, what is love, unless there be something loved? This something is use; and because use is the thing loved and it is brought forth by means of wisdom, it follows that use contains love and wisdom. That these three, love, wisdom, and use follow in order according to degrees of height, and that the outmost degree surrounds, contains, and supports the prior degrees, was shown above (Nos. 209-216, and elsewhere). From these things it may be evident that these three, the Divine of Love, the Divine of Wisdom, and the Divine of Use, are in the Lord, and in essence are the Lord.

298. That man, regarded as to his outward and inward things is a form of ail the uses, and that ail the uses in the created universe correspond to those uses in man, will be fully proved in what follows; it need onlY be mentioned here that it may be known that God as Man is the form itseif of ail uses, and from this form al! uses in the created universe derive their origin; and thus that the created universe, regarded as to uses, is an image of Him. Those things are called used which are from God-Man, that is, from the Lord, in order by creation; but those things are not called uses which come from man's inherent nature, for this is hell, and the things therefrom are contrary to order.

192


299. Now since these three, Love, Wisdom, and Use are in the Lord and are the Lord; and since the Lord is everywhere, for he is omnipresent; and since the Lord cannot present Himself to any angel or man such as He is in Himself, and such as He is in His Sun, He therefore presents Himself by means of such things as can be received, and as to love manifests Himself by heat, as to wisdom by Light, and as to use by atmosphere. The Lord manifests Himself as to use by atmosphere because the atmosphere contains heat and light, as use contains love and wisdom. For light and heat, going forth from the Divine Sun, cannot go forth in nothing, or in vacuum, but must have a containant which is a subject. This containant we cali the atmosphere, which surrounds the Sun and takes it to its bosom. It carries it to the heaven where angels dwell, and from there to the world of men and so makes the Lord's presence everywhere manifest.

300. That the spiritual world has atmospheres in like manner as the natural world has been shown above (Nos. 173-183); and it was explained that atmospheres of the spiritual world are spiritual, and atmospheres of the natural world are natura1. It may now be evident from the origin of the spiritual atmosphere most closely encircling the spiritual Sun that each thing thereof is in its essence of the same nature as the Sun in its essence. That it is so, the angels make quite clear by means of their spiritual ideas, which are apart from space, in this way: There is one only substance from which ail things exist, and the Sun of the spiritual world is that substance; and since the Divine is net in space, and is the same in greatest and least

193


things, that Sun, which is the first going forth of God-Man, is of similar character; and again, this one only substance, which is the Sun, going forth by means of atmospheres according to continuous degrees, or degrees of breadth, and at the same time according to discrete degrees, or degrees of height, establishes the varieties of all things in the created universe. The angels declared that these things cannot possibly be understood unless spaces be withdrawn from the ideas; and that if they be not withdrawn, appearances must necessarily introduce errors; which, however, cannot enter so long as it is borne in mind that God is Very Being, from which aH things exist.

30r. Moreover, it is perfectly clear from angelic ideas, which are apar't from space, that in the created universe nothing whatever lives except God-Man, that is, the Lord; nothing whatever is set in motion except by life from Him; and nothing exists except by means of the Sun from Him; so that it is a truth that in God we live, and move, and have our being.

THE ATMOSPHERES, WHICH ARE THREE IN NUMBER IN BOTH THE SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL WORLDS, IN THEIR ULTIMATES FINISH IN SUBSTANCES AND MATTERS OF THE NATURE OF THOSE IN

THEIR EARTHS

302. It was shown in Part Third (Nos. 173-176) that there are three atmospheres in both the spiritual and natural worlds, which are separate

194


from each other according to degrees of height, and which, in their downward course, according to degrees of breadth, become less active. And because of this tendency they become constantly more dense and inert, and at length in ultimates so dense and inert as to be no longer atmospheres but substances at rest, and in the natural world fixed and of the nature of those in the earths, which are called matters. Such being the origin of substances and matters, it follows, firstly that these substances and matters are of three degrees ; secondly that they are held in connection with one another by surrounding atmospheres; thirdly that they are adapted to the production of aIl uses in their forms.

303. That such substances or matters as are in the earths were brought forth by the sun through its atmospheres, who will not endorse who refiects that there are continuous links from the First to ultimates and that nothing can have existence except from something prior to itself, and at length from the First, and that the First is the Sun of the spiritual world, and the First of that Sun is God-Man, or the Lord? Now since atmospheres are those prior things whereby that Sun establishes itself in ultimates, and since those prior things continually decrease in activity and expansion even to ultimates, it follows that when their activity and expansion cease in the ultimates, they become substances and matters such as are in the earths, which retain within them from the atmospheres, out of which they originated, the striving and incitement to bring fortll uses. Those who do not make the creation of the universe and aIl things thereof dependent on continuous links from

H 195


the First can but build hypotheses, shattered and tom from their causes, which when examined by a mind that looks deeply into the matter do not appear like buildings, but like heaps of rubbish.

304. From this general origin of aIl things in the created universe individual things there acquire tne same order, that is, they proceed from their first to ultimates, which are relatively in astate of rest, that they may terminate and remain in being. Thus in the human body fibres go from their flrst forms until at last they become tendons, also fibres with small vessels from their firsts until they become cartilages and bones; and upon these they are at rest and continue in being. Since the progression of fibres and vessels from firsts to ultimates is of this nature in man, a similar progression of their states exists, and these are sensations, thoughts, and affections. These also from their firsts, which are in light, spread to the ultimates, where they are in shade; or from their firsts, where they are in heat, to ultimates, where they are not in heat. Also, since thére is such a progression of these, there is a like progression of love and of wisdom and aIl the things appertaining to each of them. In a word, this progression is in aH things of the created universe. This is identical with what was proved above (Nos. 222-229), namely, that there are degrees of both kinds in the greatest and least of aH created things. There are degrees of both kinds even in the minutest things of aH because the spiritual Sun is the one and only substance from which aH things exist, according to the ideas of the spiritual angels (No. 300).

196


THERE IS NOTHING OF THE DIVINE IN ITSELF IN THE SUBSTANCES AND MATTERS FROM WHICH EARTHS ARE FORMED, BUT YET THEY COlVIE FROM THE DIVINE IN

ITSELF

305. From the ongm of the earths (treated of in the preceding chapter), it may be evident that there is nothing of the Divine in itself in their substances and matters, but that they are stripped of everything that is Divine in itself. For they are, as was said, the endings and fixings of the atmospheres, whose heat has given way to cold, light to darkness, and activity to inertia. Nevertheless, they have borne in unbroken succession from the substances of the spiritual Sun what was in that substance from the Divine. This, as was said above (Nos. 291-298), was the sphere surrounding God-Man, or the Lord; from this sphere, in continuous succession from the Sun and with atmospheres as the means, have arisen the substances and matters from which the earths are formed.

306. The ongm of earths from the spiritual Sun and with atmospheres as the means can be explained in no other way by words fiowing from natural ideas, but may be otherwise explained by words fiowing from spiritual ideas, since these are apart from space and therefore do not faU into any of the words of naturallanguage. That spiritual thoughts, speech, and writings differ so completely from natural as to have nothing in common and that they communicate only by correspondences, may be seen above (No. 295). It is enough,

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306,3°7] DIVINE LOVE AND \VISDOM

therefore, for the ongin of the earths to be perceived naturally to sorne extent.

ALL USES, WHICH ARE THE ENDS OF

CREATION, HAVE FORMS WHICH THEY

RECEIVE FROM SUBSTANCES AND MATTERS

SUCH AS ARE IN THE EARTHS

307. All that has been said hitherto, as, for instance, about the sun, the atmospheres, and the earths, are only means to ends. The ends of creation are those things which are produced from the earths by the Lord as the Sun by means of the atmospheres. These ends are called uses. They include in their scope all the things of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and finally the human race and the angelic heaven which is from it. These are called uses because they are recipients of the Divine Love and Wisdom, also because they have regard to God their Creator from whom they are, and by this means conjoin Him to His great work; and by this conjunction cause themselves to be kept in life from Him just as they came into existence from Him. It is said that they have regard to God their Creator and conjoin Him to His great work, but that statement is according to the appearance. What really is meant is that God the Creator causes them to have regard and to conjoin themselves to Him as if from themselves ; but how it is done will be told in what follows. Something has been said about these matters before in their proper places; as, for example, that Divine Love and Wisdom must of necessity be and exist in others created by itself (Nos. 47-51) ;

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DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [3°7-310

that ail things in the created universe are recipients of Divine Love and Wisdom (Nos. 55-60); that the uses of ail created things ascend by degrees to man, and through man to God the Creator from Whom they are (Nos. 65-88).

308. Who does not see clearly that the ends of creation are uses when he refiects that nothing else can have existence from God the Creator, and therefore nothing else be created, but use; and that to be a use it must be for the sake of others; and that a use for the sake of itself is also for others, since it makes possible astate that may be of use to others? He who refieets thus may also refieet that use which is use cannot exist from man, but in man from Him from whom everything that exists is use, thus from the Lord.

309. But as the subjeet here to be treated of concerns the forms of uses, it shaH be stated in the following order :

(i) There is effort in earths to bring forth ~tses

in forms, or forms of uses. (ii) Tl~ere is a certain likeness to the creation of

the universe in aU forms of uses. (iii) There is a certain likeness to man in aU

forms of uses. (iv) There is a certain likeness to the Infinite and

Eternal in aU forms of ~tses.

310. (i) There is effort in earths to bring forth uses irt forms, or forms of uses. That there is this effort in the earths is evident from their origin, in that the substances and matters, from which the earths are composed, are the ,endings and fixings of atmospheres which go forth as uses from

199


the spiritual Sun, may be seen above (Nos. 305,

306). And because these substances and matters have that origin, and their masses are held in connection by the surrounding pressure of the atmospheres, it follows that they have therefrom a perpetuaI effort to bring forth forms of uses. The faculty itself of production they derive from their origin, namely, that they are the ultimates of atmospheres, with which they are, therefore, in accord. When it is said that this effort and this faculty are in earths, the meaning is that they are in those substances and matters from which earths are composed, whether they be in earths, or exhalations from earths in atmospheres. l t is weIl known that atmospheres are full of such things. That such an effort and faculty are in substances and matters of the earths is manifestly plain from the fact that seeds of every kind, when opened by the medium of heat even to their inmost, are impregnated by most subtile substances which have no power unless they be of spiritual origin, and thereby, in the ability to unite themselves with use, from which is their prolificacy. Then, through union with matters of a natural origin, they are able to produce forms of uses and afterwards to deliver them as from the womb so that they also come to the light, and thus germinate and grow. This effort, afterwards, is continuous from earths through the root even to outmosts, and from outmosts to firsts wherein use itself has its origin. Thus uses pass into forrns; and forms, in progress from firsts to outmosts and from outmosts to firsts, derive from use, which is like a soul, this property, that each and aIl of them are of sorne use. Use is compared to a soul because its torm is like a body. That there is an effort yet

200


more interior, that of producing uses for the animal kingdom by vegetable growths, also follows, for animaIs of every kind are nourished by them. That there is an inmost effort in them as weIl, that of performing uses for the human race, follows likewise. From the foregoing these conclusions are drawn: (1) That there are ultimates and in them all prior things together in their order (as shawn above in different places). (2) That there are degrees of both kinds in the greatest and least of aIl things (see above Nos. 222-229), and likewise in that effort. (3) That aIl uses are brought forth by the Lord out of ultimates, and in ultimates, therefore, there must be effort towards them.

3II. Still, aIl these efforts are not living, for they are efforts of the last forces of life, within which forces, by reason of the life from which they exist, there is finally a striving to retum to their origin by the means presented. Atmospheres in ultimates are forces of this kind, and by them substances and matters such as are in earths are impelled to take forms and are held together in forms both within and without. Space does not permit a fuller demonstration. the subjeet is tao extensive.

312. The first production from these earths, while they were still new and in their simple state, was seed. The first effort therein could be no other.

313. (ii) There is a certain l-ikeness ta the creation of the universe in aU forms of uses. Forms of uses are of a threefold kind, namely, of the mineraI, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The forms of uses of the mineraI kingdom cannot be described, as they are not apparent to the sight. The first

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forms are substances and matters of which the earths are composed in their minutest partic1es. The second forms are masses of them in infinite variety. The third forms come from plants which have turned to dust, and from animal remains, and from the continual evaporations and exhalations from them, which mix with earths and make their soil. These forms of the three degrees of the mineral kingdom bear a likeness to creation in this, that impelled by the sun through the atmospheres and their heat and light, they bring forth uses in forms, which uses were the ends of creation. This likeness to creation lies concealed in their efforts.

314. The likeness to the creation of the universe in the forms of uses of the vegetable kingdom is manifest in their progress from firsts to outmosts, and from outmosts to firsts. Their firsts are seeds, their outmosts are stalks covered with bark, and by means of the bark, which is the outmost of the stalk, they strive towards seeds, which, as was said, are their firsts. Stalks with their coverings of bark answer to the earth covered with soils, from which the creation and formation of all uses proceeds. It is well known to many that growths of plant life are made by the forcing outwards by coverings of the roots through the inner and outer barks continued round the stalks and branches into the beginnings of fruits, and, in like manner through fruits into seeds. A likeness to creation in the forms of uses is exhibited in the progression of their forms from firsts to outmosts, and from outmosts to firsts; also, that in the whole progression there is the end of producing fruits and seeds, which are uses. From what has been said above,

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it is clear that the progression of the creation of the universe was from its First, which is the Lord encompassed by the Sun, to ultimates, which are earths, and from these through uses to its First, or the Lord; also that the ends of ail creation were uses.

315. It must be known that the heat, light, and atmospheres of the natural world effect absolutely nothing towards this likeness to creation. It is only the heat, light and atmospheres of the Sun of the spiritual world that do this, bearing that likeness with them and infusing it into the forms of uses of the vegetable kingdom. The heat, light, and atmospheres of the natural world simply open the seeds, maintain their products while unfolding, and clothe them with the matters that fix them. But this is done not by any forces from their own sun, which regarded in themselves are nothing, but by forces from the spiritual Sun by which they are unceasingly impeiled to these services. Natural forces contribute absolutely nothing towards giving them a likeness to creation, for the likeness to creation is spiritual. But in order that it may appear and perforrn use in the natural world, and may be fixed and lasting, it must be materialized, that is, completely filled with matters of that world.

316. There is a likeness to creation in the forms of uses of the animal kingdom. For instance, from a seed deposited in the womb or egg a body is formed, which is its ultimate, and this, when grown up, produces new seeds. This progression is similar to that of the forms of uses of the vegetable kingdom: seeds are the beginnings; the womb or egg is like the earth; the state before birth is

H* 203


like that of the seed taking root in the earth; the state after birth, until the time of prolification, is like the growth of a tree until it reaches the state of bearing its fruit. From this parallel it is plain that, just as a likeness to creation exists in the forms of plant life, so is it also in the forms of animal life, that there is, indeed, a progression from firsts to ultimates, and from ultimates ta firsts. A similar likeness to creation exists in every single thing in man; for love has a like progression through wisdom into uses; after that the will through the understanding into acts, and charity through faiths into works have similar progressions. Will and understanding, and charity and faith also, are the first origins; acts and works are the ultimates; from these cornes the return through the delights of uses to their firsts, which, as was said, are will and understanding, or charity and faith. That the return cornes through the delights of uses appears very clearly from the evident delights of acts and works, from whatever love they spring, flowing back to the first origin of that love and being united thereby. The delights associated with acts and works are what are called the delights of uses. There is a similar progression from firsts to ultimates, and from ultimates ta firsts in the forms, most purely organic, of affections and thoughts in man. In his brains there are those star-like forms called the grey substances, from which fibres issue through the medullary substance by way of the neck into the body, pass to the ultimates there, and return from ultimates ta their firsts; the return is made through the bloodvessels. There is a like progression of all affections and thoughts, which are changes and variations of state of those forms and substances; for the fibres

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going out of those forms or substances may be compared to atmospheres from the splritual Sun, which are containants of heat and light; and the acts of the body are like the things brought forth from the earths by the agency of atmospheres, the delights of which uses return to their originating cause. I t is scarcely possible for the understanding fully to grasp that such is the progression of these things and that a likeness to creation is therein, both because the thousands and myriads of forces operating in an act appear like one, and because the delights of uses do not put ideas in the thought, but only make themselves felt without a distinct perception. Previous statements and illustrations on these matters may be seen: That uses of all created things ascend through degrees of height to man, and through man to God their Creator (Nos. 65-68): and, That the end of creation appears in outermosts, which end is that all things may return to the Creator and that there may be conjunction (Nos. 167-172). But these things will be seen still more clearly in the following Part, where the correspondence of the will and understanding with the heart and lungs will be dealt with.

317. (iii) There is a certain likeness ta man in aU forms of uses: This has been shown ahove (Nos. 61-64). In the following chapter it will be scen that all uses from firsts to ultimates, and from ultimates to firsts, have relation to, and correspond with, all things of man, consequently that man is, in a particular likeness, a universe, and conversely, that the universe, regarded as to uses is, in likeness, aman.

318. (iv) There is a certain likeness ta the Infinite and Eternal in aU forms of uses. The likeness to

205


the Infinite in these forms is plain from their effort and power ta fill the spaces of the whole world and of many worlds besides, ta infinity. For from one seed, a tree, shrub, or plant, is brought forth which fills its own space; from which tree, shrub, or plant, seeds are produced, in sorne cases several thousands of them, which when sown and grown up, fill their spaces; and if from each of these there were to come just as many new seeds again and again, in the course of years the whole world would be filled; and if the reproductions still continued, many worlds would be filled; and this ta infinity. Reckon a thousand from one seed and ca1culate a thousand times a thousand, ten, twenty, one hundred times repeated, and you will see. The likeness to the Eternal in them is also similar. Seeds are propagated from year ta year, and propagations never cease. From the creation of the world even to this time they have not ceased, nor will do ta eternity. These two things are evident proofs and attesting signs that ail things of the universe were created by an Infinite and Eternal God. Besides these likenesses ta the Infinite and Eternal, there is yet another in " varieties "; since there can never be a substance, state, or thing in the created universe the same or identical with another, neither in atmospheres, nor in earths, nor in forms arising from them; thus not in any of the things which fill the universe can anything the same be produced ta eternity. This is conspicuously evident in the variety of faces of all human beings; no one face exists in the whole world the same as another, nor can there be ta eternity, consequently not one mind the same, of which the face is the type.

206

[319,320

ALL THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE,

VIEWED IN REGARD Ta USES, BEAR A LIKENESS Ta MAN; AND THIS PRaVES

THAT GaD IS MAN

319. Man was called by the ancients a microcosm, from the fact that he resembles the macrocosm, that is, the universe in its entirety: but it is not known to-day why he was so caIled, for the only evidence of the universe, or macrocosm, in him is that he obtains food and bodily life from its animal and vegetable kingdoms, and that its heat maintains the condition for living, its light for seeing, and its atmospheres for hearing and breathing: but these things do not make man a microcosm in the sense that the universe together with aIl its properties is a macrocosm. The fact is that the ancients did calI man a microcosm or little universe, and they derived it from the knowledge of correspondences, which the most ancient peoples had, and by communication with angels of heaven; for angels of heaven know from what thev see around them that aIl things of the universe: viewed in regard to uses, bear a likeness to man.

320. But the idea of the universe seen in the spiritual world does not make it possible for this proposition to come into the thought, and from that into the knowledge of any man. Consequently it can only be confirmed by an angel in the spiritual world, or by some one who has been permitted to dwell there and see the things of that world. Because 1 have had this permission 1 am able, from things seen there, to disc10se this secret.

2°7

321 , 322J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

321. It must be known that the outward appearance of the spiritual world is exaetly like that of the natural world. Lands, mountains, hills, vaBeys, plains, fields, lakes, rivers, springs, are to be seen there, as in the natural world; thus aU the things belonging to the mineraI kingdom. Paradises, gardens, glades, woods, and in them trees and shrubs of every kind bearing fruit and seed, also plants, fiowers, herbs, and grasses; thus aB things pertaining to the vegetable kingdom are to be seen there. AnimaIs, birds, and fish of every kind are seen; thus aH things of the animal kingdom. In that world man is angel and spirit. This fact is advanced in order that it may be known that the universe of the spiritual world is exactly like the universe of the natural world, with the sole difference that things there are not immoveable and static as in the natural world, because nothing there is natural, but everything is spiritual.

322. That the universe of that world bears a likeness to man may be clearly seen from this, that aB the things just mentioned (No. 321) appear to the life and are about the angel and around the angelic societies, as if produced or created from them; they remain round them and do not disappear. The foBowing are instances of why it appears as if they have been produced or created from them: when an angel goes away, or a society passes to another place, the things mentioned no longer appear; when other angels arrive in their place, the whole aspect round about is changed, the paradises with their trees and fruits, the fiower gardens with their blossom and seed, the fields with herbs and grass, even the kinds of animaIs and

208


birds, aH are changed. Such things exist and are changed in this way because they aH come into being according to the affections of the angels and the thoughts which spring from them, for they are correspondences; and because things that correspond make one with the thing to which they correspond, they are a likeness representative of it. The likeness itself is not seen when aH these things are looked at in their forms, but appears when they are regarded in their uses. It has been granted me to perceive that angels have recognized and seen themselves in these things, when their eyes have been opened by the Lord and they have seen them from the correspondences of uses.

323. Now since those things which are about the angels, according to their affections and thoughts, relate to a particular universe in this, that they are lands, plants, and animaIs, and these form a likeness representative of the angel, it is clear why the ancients caHed man a microcosm.

324. That it is so has been abundantly confirmed in the Arcana Cœlestia; and also in the work on Heaven and Hell; and in various places in the preceding pages where correspondence has been discussed. There also it has been shown that there is nothing in the created universe that has not correspondence with something of man, not only with his affections and thoughts therefrom, but also with his bodily organs and viscera; not with these as substances, but as uses. Hence it is that in the Word, where the Church and the man of the Church are treated of, such frequent mention is made of trees, as the olives, vines, and cedars; then gardens, glades, and woods; and beasts of

20g


the earth, birds .of the air, and fish of the sea. They are mentioned there because they correspond, and by correspondence make one, as has been said. Wherefore aiso the angeis do not perceive these things when man is reading about them in the Word but, instead of them, the Church or men of the Church, as to their states.

325. Since all things in the universe bear a Iikeness to man, Adam, in respect to wisdom and intelligence, is represented by the Garden of Eden, wherein were trees of every kind, aiso rivers, precious stones and gold, and animaIs to which he gave names; by all of which are meant such things as were in Adam, and made what is called Man. Almost the same things are said of Ashur in Ezekiei xxxi. 3-9, by whom is signified the Church in respect to intelligence; and of Tyre, by which is signified the Church as to its ideas regarding goodness and truth (Ezek. xxviii. I2-I3).

326. From these things it may be evident that all things of the universe, regarded from uses, bear a Iikeness to man, and that this proves that God is Man. For such things as have been mentioned above are not about the angelic man from the angel, but are from the Lord through the angel. For they come into being by influx of the Lord's Divine Love and Wisdom into the angei who is a recipient, and before whose eyes it is brought forth Iike the creation of a universe. From this they acknowledge there that God is Man, and that the created universe, regarded as to uses, is a Iikeness of Him.

2IO

[327,328

ALL THINGS CREATED BY THE LORD�

ARE USES; AND THEY ARE USES IN THAl'�

ORDER, DEGREE, AND RESPECT, IN WHICH�

THEY RELATE 1'0 MAN, AND THROUGH�

MAN '1'0 THE LORD, FROM WHOM THEY�

ARE�

327. On these subjects it was said above: That nothing can have existence from God the Creator except use (No. 308). That the uses of ail created things ascend thraugh degrees from outermost things ta man, and through man ta Gad their Creator (Nos. 65-68). That the end of creation exists in outermosts, which end is, that aU things may return to God the Creator and that there may be conjunction (Nos. 167-172). That they are uses so far as they have regard to the Creator (No. 307). That the Divine must of necessity be and exist in others created by Itself (Nos. 47-51). That aU things of the universe are recipients according to uses, and this according ta degrees (No. 58). That the universe, regarded from uses, is an image of God (No. 59). Besides many other things. From these, this truth is c1ear, that aU things created by the Lord are uses, and that they are uses in that order, degree, and respect, in which they relate ta man, and through man to the Lord fram whom theyare. It still remains to say something in detail concerning uses.

328. By man, to whom uses relate, is meant not an individual man, but a gathering of men, and a society, smaller or larger, maybe state, kingdom, empire, or that largest society, the whole world,

2II

328-330) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

for each of these is Man. Likewise in the heavens the whole angelic heaven is one Man in the sight of the Lord, and equaily sa every society of heaven ; from this it is that each angel is man. That this is so may be seen in the work on Reaven and Reil (Nos. 68-I03). These things make clear what is meant by man in the foilowing pages.

329. What use is may be evident from the end of the creation of the universe, that end being the existence of an angelic heaven. And since the angelic heaven is the end, man also, or the human race, is the end because heaven is from the human race. Rence it follows that ail created things are mediate ends and that these are uses in that order, degree, and respect, in which they relate to man, and through man ta the Lord.

330. Seeing that the end of creation is an angelic heaven from the human race, thus the human race itself, aU other created things are mediate ends. These, because they relate to man, have in view these three things in him, his body, his rational, and his spiritual, for the sake of his union with the Lord. For man cannot be united to the Lord if he be not spiritual; nor can he be spiritual if he be not rational; nor can he be rational if his body be not healthy. These three may be compared to a house of which the foundation stands for the body; the building on it for the rational; the contents for the spiritual; and union with the Lord for living in it. From this the order, degree, and respect are manifest, in which uses, the mediate ends of creation, relate to man, namely, for sustaining his body, perfecting his rational, and receiving the spiritual from the Lord.

2I2


331. Uses for sustaining the body relate to its nourishment, clothing, habitation, recreation and enjoyment, protection, and welfare. The uses created for the nourishment of the body are ail the things of the vegetable kingdom suitable for food and drink, such as fruit, grapes, grain, pulse and herbs; also ail the things of the animal kingdom which serve for meat, such as oxen, cows, calves, deer, sheep, kids, goats, lambs, and milk; likewise fowls and tish of many kinds. The uses created for clothing the body, and also for habitation, recreation, enjoyment, protection and welfare, are many products of these two kingdoms, and being weil known, are not detailed. Their mere enumeration would tiil pages. There are many things, indeed, which are not of use to man; but superfiuity does not do away with use; it ensures its continuance. Misuse of uses also is possible, but misuse does not destroy the use, even as perversion of truth does not destroy truth, except with those only who pervert it.

332. Uses for perfecting the rational are ail the things that instruct on those matters just spoken of. They are cailed the sciences and learning, and relate to natural, economic, civil, and moral a:ffairs. They are acquired from parents, teachers, books, intercourse with other people, or by thinking the matters out for oneself. These perfect the rational just 50 far as the uses are in a higher degree. They endure 50 long as they are applied to life. Space forbids the enumeration of these uses, as much by reason of their abundance as of their varied regard to the general good.

333. Uses for receiving the spiritual from the Lord are a11 the things that have to do with religion

213


and the worship from religion; thus those that teach the recognition and acknowledgment of God, and the acknowledgment and recognition of goodness and truth, and thus eternal lite. These are acquired in the same way as other instruction, from parents, teachers, discourses and books, and especially by study of the life according to them, and in the Christian world by doctrines and discourses from the Word, and through the Word from the Lord. These uses comprise what may be described in terms similar to those employed for the uses of the body, provided that they are applied to the soul: nourishment to the good things of love, clothing to the truths of wisdom, habitation to heaven, recreation and enjoyment to life's happiness and heavenly joy, protection to protection against infesting evils, and welfare to eternal life. Ail these things are given by the Lord according to the acknowledgment that aU bodily things are also from the Lord, and that man is only like a servant and steward appointed over the goods of his Lord.

334. That such things have been given to man for his use and enjoyment, and that they are free gifts is plainly evident from the state of ange1s in the heavens, who have, like men on earth, a body, a rational, and a spiritual. They are nourished freely, for food is given them daily; they are clothed freely, for garments are given them; they reside freely, for houses are given them. They have no anxiety about anything at aU, and in so far as they have become rational and spiritual beings, their enjoyment, protection, and welfare are assured. The difference is that angels see that these things come from the Lord, since they are created

214


in agreement with the state of their love and wisdom (as shown in the preceding chapter, No. 322); but men do not see this because (their natural supplies) return yearly and have nothing to do with the state of their love and wisdom, but depend on the care taken with them.

335. Although it is said that they are uses because through man they have relation to the Lord, it cannot be said that they are uses from man for the Lord's sake, but from the Lord for man's sake, since aU uses are infinitely one in the Lord, and none are in man except from the Lord, for man can do no good thing of himself, but only from the Lord. Good is what is called use. The essence of spiritual love is to do good to others for their sake without thought of self. Infinitely more is this the essence of Divine Love. This is like the love of parents towards children, because they do good to them from love with no thought of self, but for their sake. This is clearly seen in a mother's love for her babes. Because the Lord is to be adored, worshipped, and glorified, it is thought that he loves adoration, worship, and glory for His own sake. But He loves these things on man's account, since by means of them man cornes into the state that aUows the Divine to flow in and be perceived; for man thereby removes his inherent nature which stops influx and reception. This inherent nature, indeed, which is self-love, hardens the heart and shuts it up. It is removed by the acknowledgment, that from himself cornes nothing but evil, and from the Lord nothing but good. From this acknowledgment there is a softening of the heart and humiliation, from which adoration and worship flow forth. From these

215


things it follows that the uses, which the Lord performs for Himself through man, are to the intent that man may do good from love; and· since this is the Lord's love, reception is the enjoyment of His love. Therefore, let no one believe that the Lord is with those who merely worship Him. He is with those who do His commandments, thus uses; with these He has a dwelling - place, but not with the former. (See what was said above on these matters, Nos. 47-49,)

EVIL USES WERE NOT CREATED BY THE

LORD, BUT ORIGINATED TOGETHER WITH

HELL

336. AH good things existing in act are called uses, and aH evil things existing in ad are also called uses, but evil uses, whereas the former are caHed good uses. Now, since ail good things come from the Lord and aH evil things from hell, it follows that none but good uses were created by the Lord and that evil uses arose out of hello By the uses with which this chapter deals in particular are meant all the things which appear on earth, as animaIs of every kind and vegetables of every kind; such of these as serve a use to man are from the Lord, and those which cause him injury are from hello Similarly, by uses from the Lord are meant all things that perfect the rational and effect man's reception of the spiritual from the Lord; but by evil uses are meant ail things that destroy the rational and make it impossible for man to become spiritual. Those things which cause injury to man are called uses, because they

216


are of use to the evil in doing evil, and also because they are of service in the absorption of injurious matters, and thus as remedies. Use is meant in both senses, as, for instance, love, as good love and evil love. Moreover, everything that love does it calls use.

337. That good uses come from the Lord, and evil uses from heU will be shown as follows :

(i) What is meant by evil uses on the earth. (ii) AU things are in heU that are evil uses, and

in heaven that are good uses. (iii) There is a continuous influx from the spiritual

world into the natural world. (iv) Influx from heU works to produce things that

are evil uses wherever there are tlûngs corresponding thereto.

(v) The lowest spiritual separated from its higher degree works to this end.

(vi) There are two forms in which the work is effected by influx, the vegetable and the animal form.

(vii) Each of these forms receives the power of propagating their kind, and the means of propagation.

338. (i) What is meant by evil uses on the earth. By evil uses on the earth are meant ail noxious things in both the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and also in the mineraI kingdom. It is needless to enumerate all the noxious things in these kingdoms since this would be piling up names, and to pile up names without an indication of the harm that each kind produces does not serve the use intended by this work. For information's sake it is sufficient here to mention some. In the animal kingdom there are venomous snakes, scorpions,

217


crocodiles, serpents, homed owls, screech owls, mice, locusts, frogs, spiders; also flies, drones, cockroaches, lice, mites; in a word, such as consume grasses, foliage, fruit, seed, food, and drink, and are harmful to beasts and to men. In the vegetable kingdom there are ail injurious, virulent and poisonous herbs, with pulse and shrubs of like nature. In the mineraI kingdom there are ail poisonous earths. From these few examples may be seen what is meant by evil uses on the earth; for evil uses are all things that are opposite to good uses, conceming which see the paragraph just preceding (No. 336).

339. (ii) AU things are in heU that are evil uses, and in heaven tltat are good uses. Before it can be seen that evil uses existing on the earth are not from the Lord but from hell, something ought to be said by way of introduction conceming heaven and hell, without a knowledge of which evil uses, as weil as good, may be attributed to the Lord, and it may be believed that they are together from creation, or they may be attributed to nature, and their origin to nature's sun. From these two errors man cannot be delivered, unless he know that nothing whatever exists in the natural world that does not derive its cause, and therefore its origin, from the spiritual world, and that good cornes from the Lord and evil from the devil, that is, from hello By the spiritual world is to be understood both heaven and hello In heaven aU those things that are good uses are to be seen, concerning which see the preceding chapter (No. 336) ; in heU ail those that are evil uses are to be seen, as enumerated (in No. 338) just above. These are wild creatures of every kind, as snakes, scorpions, serpents,

218


crocodiles, tigers, wolves, foxes, swine, horned owls, night owls, screech owls, bats, mice, rats, frogs, locusts, spiders, and noxious insects of many kinds, also hemlocks and aconites and poisons of every kind, both in herbs and in earths; in a word, aIl things that do harm and destroy men. In the hells such things thus appear to the life, precisely as they do on and in the earths. It is said that they appear there; yet they do not exist there as in the earths, for they are mere correspondences of lusts, that pour out from their evil loves and appear before others in such forms. Since such things are in the hells, they are also full of dreadful stenches, as of dead bodies, excrement, urine, decayed matter, with which diabolical spirits are there delighted, as animaIs are with rank smelling things. From these things it may be evident that their like in the natural world did not derive their origin from the Lord and were not created from the beginning, neither did they spring from nature through her sun, but are from hell. That they are not from nature by means of her sun appears plainly from the fact, that the spiritual fiows into the natural, and not the reverse; and, that they are not from the Lord, from this fact, that hell is not from Him, thus nothing in hell that corresponds to the evils of its inhabitants.

340. (iii) There is a cantinuaus influx Jram the spiritual warld inta the natural warld. He who does not know that there is a spiritual world and that it is distinct from the natural world, as what is prior from what is subsequent, or as cause from the thing caused, can know nothing about this infiux. This is why writers on the origin of vegetables and animaIs have only been able to

21 9

340 , 341J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

deduce it from nature; and, if from God, that God had put into nature from the beginning the power of producing such things, thus unaware that no power is implanted in nature, for nature in itself is dead and contributes no more to the production of these things than does a tool, for instance, to the work of a craftsman, that must be moved ail the time in order to act. It is the spiritual, which derived its origin from the Sun where the Lord is, and proceeds to the outmosts of nature, that produces the forms of vegetables and animaIs, sets forth the wonders with which both are endowed and fiils their forms with earthy matters, so that they may be fixed and lasting. Now since it is known that there is a spiritual world, and that the spiritual is from the Sun where the Lord is and which is from the Lord, and that it impels nature to action, as what is living impels what is dead, also that in that world there are similar things to those in the natural world, it may be evident that vegetables and animaIs have come into existence from no other than the Lord through that world, and by its agency exist perpetually; and thus there is continuaI influx from the spiritual world into the natura!. That it is so will be abundantly confirmed in the following chapter. Noxious things on earth are produced through influx from hell by the same law of permission whereby evils themselves flow into men from hello This law will be explained in the A ngelic W isdom concerning the Divine Providence.

341. (iv) Influx from hell works to produce things that are euil uses wherever there are things corresponding thereto. The things that correspond to evil uses, that is, to hurtful plants and noxious

220


animaIs, are cadaverous, putrid, excrementitious and stercoral, rancid, and urinous; wherefore in places where these are, such herbs and sllch animalcules exist as have been mentioned above ; and in torrid zones, similar things but larger, as snakes, cockatrices, crocodiles, scorpions, mice, and so on. Every one knows that marshes, swamps, dung, and fouI soils are full of such things; also that noxious insects fill the atmosphere like a cloud, and noxious worms the earth like armies, and destroy its herbage even to the roots. l once noticed in my garden that in the space of about a yard nearly all the dust was turned into tiny insècts, for when stirred with a stick, they rose up like clouds. That cadaverous and fetid things are in accord with these noxious and useless animalcules, and that they are homogeneous, is evident from mere observation and may be seen clearly from the cause, which is that similar stenches and fumes exist in the hells, where such animalcules are also to be seen. Those hells are therefore named accordingly; sorne are called cadaverous, sorne stercoral, sorne urinous, and so forth; but they are aIl covered, lest those vapours should rush out from them. For when they are opened to the slightest extent, as on the entry of novitiate devils, they excite vomiting and cause headache, and those which are at the same time poisonous induce fainting. The very dust there is also of the same nature, wherefore it is there called the damned arena. Rence it is plain that, where there are such fouI smells, such noxious things exist, because they correspond.

342. vVhether such things exist from eggs conveyed thither by air, rain, or permeation with

221


water, or whether they exist from the damp and stenches themselves there, will now be the subject of inquiry. That such noxious animalcules and insects, as have been mentioned above. are hatched from eggs carried to the place, or hidden in the ground even from creation, is not supported by general experience. since worms exist in tiny seeds, nuts, wood, rocks, and even on leaves; on plants also, and in them, are lice and grubs which are accordant with them; also by reason of the flies which appear in like manner, having risen in such abundance in houses, fields and woods in summer without any material egg forms; those which eat into meadows and lawns. and in certain hot localities fill the air and infest it, besides those that swim and fly unseen in fouled waters, fermenting wines and pestilential air. These facts of observation support those who declare that odours, stenches and exhalations emitted from plants, earths, and swamps, themselves also provide the beginnings of such things. That when they have come forth, they are afterwards propagated, either by eggs or by spawn, does not disprove their immediate generation; since every living creature of the kind, together with its minute viscera, also receives organs of generation and means of propagation, concerning which see below (No. 347). With these things one may be in agreement from the experience, hitherto unknown, that there are like things also in the hells.

343. That the hells mentioned above have not only communication but also connection with such things in the earths may be inferred from this, that the hells are not distant from men, but are round about them, indeed within those who are evil;

222

DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOilI [343, 344

thus they are in contact with the earths. For man, as to his affections and lusts and the thoughts therefrom, and as to his actions, which are good or evil uses and spring from them, is in the midst

.either of angels of heaven or of spirits of heU; and since such things as are on the earths exist also in the heavens and the hells, it follows that influx from them produces such things directly when the temperature is favourable. For all the things which appear in the spiritual world, equally in heaven as in hell, are correspondences of affections and of lusts, indeed their existence there is according to them. Therefore when affections and lusts, which in themselves are spiritual, faU in with homogeneous or corresponding things in the earths, a spiritual is present to furnish the soul, and material to furnish the body. Moreover, there is in everything spiritual an effort to clothe itself with a body. The hells are round ab~.lUt men and therefore in contact with the earths, because the spiritual world is not in space, but is where there is corresponding affection.

344. l heard two presidents of the English Royal Society, Sir Hans Sloane and Martin Folkes, conversing together in the spiritual world about the existence of seeds and eggs and their products in the earths. The former ascribcd them to nature, saying that power and force had been given to her from creation to produce such effects by means of the sun's heat. The other declared that this force in nature comes unceasingly from God the Creator. In order to settle the contention a bcautiful bird was shown to Sir Hans Sloane, and he was asked to examine it to see if it differed in the slightest degree from a similar bird on earth. He held it

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in his hand, examined it, and affirmed that there was no difference. He knew, indeed, that it was nothing but the affection of a certain angel represented outwardly as a bird, and that it would vanish or cease with his affection, which also came to pass. This praof convinced Sir Hans Sloane that nature contributes absolutely nothing to the production of vegetables and animaIs, but only that which flows from the spiritual world into the natural world effects it. If that bird, he said, were infilled to its least particles with corresponding matters of the earth, and so fixed, it would endure like birds on the earths; and that it is the same with things fram hello He said, in addition, that if he had known what he now knew of the spiritual world, he would have ascribed no more to nature than that it was serving the spiritual from God by fixing those things which flow without ceasing into nature.

345. (v) The lowest spiritttal separated from its higher degree works to this end. It was shown in Part Third that the spiritual flows downwards from its Sun even to the outmosts of nature through three degrees, called celestial, spiritual, and natural; that these three degrees are in man by creation and hence by birth, and are opened according to his life; that if the celestial degree, the highest and inmost, is opened, man becomes celestial; if the spiritual degree, the middle, is opened, he becomes spiritual; and if only the natural degree, the lowest and outmost, is opened, he becomes natural; that if man becomes natural only, he loves only bodily and worldly things and, to the extent that he loves these, does not love celestial and spiritual things, does not look to God,

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and to that extent becomes evil. From these things it is clear that the lowest spiritual, which is cal!ed spiritual-natural, can be separated from its higher degrees, andis separated in men from whom hel! is formed. The lowest spiritual cannot of itself be separated from its higher degrees and look towards hel! either in beasts or in the earths; it is possible only with men. From which it fol!ows that the lowest spiritual, separated from its higher degree, such as it is with those who are in hell, works to effect those evil uses on earth, spoken of above. That noxious things on earth derive their origin from man, and thus from hel!, may be confirmed from the condition of the land of Canaan, described in the Word. When the children of Israel lived according to the Commandments, the earth yielded her increase, the flocks and herds likewise; and when they lived contrary to the Commandments, the land was barren and, as it is said, accursed; instead of harvests it yielded thorns and briars; flocks and herds miscarried, and wild beasts broke in. The same may be deduced from the locusts, frogs, and lice in Egypt.

346. (vi) There are two Jorms in which the work is effected by influx, the vegetable and the animal Jorm. That two universal forms only are produced from the earth is known from the two kingdoms of nature, which are cal!ed the animal and vegetable kingdoms. And al! the things of either kingdom have many features in common. For instance, the subjects of the animal kingdom have organs of sense and organs of motion, members and visccra also, which are actuated by brains, hcart and lungs; and the subjects of the vegetable kingdom send a root into the ground and bring

225


forth stem, branches, leaves, fiowers, fruit ând seeds. Both kingdoms, animal and vegetable alike, as to productions into their forms, derive their origin by spiritual influx and operation from the Sun of heaven where the Lord is, and not from the influx and operation of nature from her sun, except the fixation of them, as was said above. AH animaIs, great and small, derive their origin from the spiritual in the lowest degree, which is called natural, and man alone from aH the degrees, of which there are three, called celestial, spiritual, and natura!. As each degree of height, or discrete degree, decreases from its perfection ta its imperfection by continuity, as light does ta shades, sa also do animaIs; wherefore there are perfect, less perfect, and imperfect animaIs. Perfect animaIs include elephants, camels, horses, mules, oxen, sheep, goats, and others, either of the herd or fiock. The less perfect are birds. The imperfect are fish and sheH fish; these, since they are the lowest of their degree, are, as it were, in shade, while the former are in light. Yet since they live solely from the lowest spiritual degree, which is called the natural, animais cannat look elsewhere than towards the earth and the food there, and ta their own kind for the sake of propagation. The soul of al! these is natural affection and appetite. Tt is the same with the subjects of the vegetable kingdom, which include the perfect, less perfect, and imperfect. The perfect are fruit trees, the less perfect are grape vines and shrubs, and the imperfect are grasses. But vegetables draw from the spiritual, which is their origin, the fact tllat they are uses, and animaIs from the spiritual, from wllich they arise, the fact that they are affections and appetites, as has been said.

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347. (vii) Each of these forms, whilë it exists, receives the means of propagation. That in ail the products of the earth which, as was said above, pertain either to the vegetable or animal kingdoms, there is a certain likeness to creation, to man, and also to the Infinite and Eternal, was shown above (Nos. 313-318); and the likeness to the Infinite and Eternal shines out by reason of their capacity for propagation to infinity and eternity. Renee it is that all reeeive the means of propagation, subjects of the animal kingdom by seed in the egg, or in the womb, or by spawning; and subjects of the vegetable kingdom by seed in the earths. From which it may be evident that although the more imperfect and noxious animaIs and vegetables originate by immediate influx from hell, yet afterwards they are propagated mediately by seeds, eggs, or grafts; therefore, the one position does not annul the other.

348. That aIl uses, both good and evil, come from a spiritual origin, thus from the Sun where the Lord is, may be illustrated by this experience. 1 have heard that things good and true have been let down through the heayens from the Lord to the hells, and that these same things reeeived by degrees in the abyss were there turned into things evil and false, the opposites of the things good and true let down. The reason for such a change was that recipient subjects turn aIl things that flow in to such things as agree with their own fonus, just as brilliant sunshine is turned into hideous colours and into black in those objects whose substances are inwardly of such a form as to sufiocate and extinguish light; and marshes, dung, and dead bodies turn the heat of the sun

~7 l


into stenches. Whence it is evident that evil uses also are from the spiritual Sun, but that good uses are changed in hell into evil uses. It is c1ear, therefore, that the Lord has not created and does not create any but good uses, and that hell produces the evil uses.

IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE THINGS VISIBLE PROVE THAT NATURE HAS PRODUCED NOTHING, AND DOES PRODUCE

NOTHING, BUT THAT THE DIVINE PRODUCES ALL THINGS OUT OF ITSELF, AND

THROUGH THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

349. The great majority of people speak from the appearance. They say that the sun by its heat and light produces whatever is to be seen in plains, fields, gardens, and woods; also that the sun by its heat hatches worms from eggs, and makes beasts of the earth and fowls of the air prolific, indeed, even gives life to man. Those who speak so from appearance only may do so and yet not ascribe these things to nature for they do not think about it: like those who speak of the sun rising and setting, making days -and years, and being in this or that altitude; these likewise speak from the appearance, and may do so, although they do not ascribe these efiects to the sun; for they are not thinking of the sun's ~tanding still and the earth's turning round. But those who confirm themselves in the idea that the sun produces what appears on the earth by means of its heat and light, in the end ascribe all things to nature,

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as well as the creation of the universe, become believers in naturalism and, fmally, atheists. These may indeed say afterwards that God created nature and put into her the power of producing such things, but they say this for fear of the loss of reputation. They still, by God the Creator, mean nature, and sorne the inmosts of nature; and then the Divine things taught by the church count for nothing with them.

350. Sorne indeed are to be excused that have ascribed certain visible things to nature for a twofold reason. First, they know nothing of the Sun of heaven, where the Lord is, and of influx therefrom, nor anything of the spiritual world and its state, nay rather, nothing of its presence with man. Rence they could but think of the spiritual as apurer natural, and thus of angels as being in the ether or the stars; also of the devil as man's evil, or if actuaHy existing, as being either in the air, or in the abyss; and of men's souls after death as being in the midst of the earth, or in sorne abstract place or space till the day of judgment ; and of other similar delusions brought about by ignorance concerning the spiritual world and its Sun. The second reason for excusing them is that they couId not understand the method by which the Divine produced aH those things that appear on earth, good and evil alike; afraid to confirm themselves in the idea, lest they should ascribe evil things also to God, conceive a maferial idea concerning Rirn, and rnake God and nature one, and thus confuse them. These are two reasons for excusing those who have believed that nature produces things visible by power irnplanted in her from creation. But those who have becorne atheists,

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through confi.rmations in favour of nature, ought not to be excused, because they could have confi.rmed themselves in favour of the Divine. Ignorance certainly excuses, but does not remove a falsity which has been confi.rmed, for this kind of falsity unites with evil, and so with hello Wherefore, those who have conflrmed themselves in favour of nature so far as to separate the Divine from her, reckon nothing as sin, because every sin is against the Divine which they have separated and thus rejected; and they who in spirit reckon nothing as sin, when they become spirits after death, confi.ned to hell, rush headlong into crime according to the lusts, to which they have given free rein.

351. Believers in the Divine working in aU the details of nature can, by very many things which nature shows them, be confi.rmed in favour of the Divine, as fullY as those confi.rmed in favour of nature, indeed more fully. For the former pay heed to the marvels to be seen in the propagation both of vegetables and animaIs. In the propagation of vegetables: that out of a little seed cast into the earth, a root goes out, by means of the root a stem, and branches, leaves, fiowers, and fruit, one after the other, even to new seeds; just as if the seed knew the order of succession, or the process by which it is about to be renewed. Can any rational being imagine that the sun, which is pure fi.re, has this knowledge, or that it can infuse its heat and light with the capacity to effect such results, or that it is able to fashion the marvels in them, and design the use. The man of elevated reason, who sees and ponders these things, cannot but think that they come from Him who has

23°


infinite wisdom, thus from God. Those who do acknowledge the Divine see and think this also ; but those who do not acknowledge the Divine do not see and think this, because they will not. Thus they allow their rational to sink down into the sensual, which draws all its ideas from the light of the region of the bodily senses, and confirms their illusions, saying, Do you not see the sun effecting these things by means of its heat and light? What is a thing that you do not see? Is it anything? Those who confirm themselves in favour of the Divine pay heed to the marvels to be seen in the propagation of animals: for instance, this fact alone is remarkable in eggs; the little chick lies in them hidden in its seed, or undeveloped state, with everything it needs until the hatching out, and also with everything for its growth, after hatching, until it becornes a bird, or flying creature, in a foon like the parent. And, if one engage in the study of the form, it is such as to fi11 any one with amazement who thinks deeply. For, in the most minute just as in the greatest of them, and indeed, in the invisible just as in the visible, there are organs of the senses, namely sight, hearing, sme11, taste and touch; also organs of motion which are muscles, for they fly and walk; and the viscera surrounding heart and lungs, which are set in motion by the brains. That common insects also enjoy the use of these organs is well known from their anatomy, as described by certain writers, notably by Swammerdam, in his Biblia N aturae. Those who ascribe aIl to nature certainly see these things, but have in mind only the fact that they exist, and declare that nature produces them. They say this because they have turned their minds away from thinking about the Divine;

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and those who have done this are unable to think rationally, still less to think spiritually, when they see the marvels in nature. But their thought is sensual and material; and then they think in nature from nature, and not above nature, in the same way as those do who are in hello The only thing that differentiates them from the beasts is that they have the power to think rationally, that is, they can understand, and so, if they choose, can think otherwise.

352. Those who have deliberately avoided thinking of the Divine when observing the marvels in nature, and who thereby become sensual, do not refiect that the sight of the eye is so gross that it sees many little insects just as if they were one obscure insect, when yet every single one of them is furnished with organs of feeling and motion, and thus is possessed of fibres and vessels, a tiny heart also, and lung tubes, minute viscera and brains; and that these organs are woven out of the purest substances in nature, their tissues corresponding to something of life, by which their minutest parts are separately animated. Since the sight of the eye is so gross that many such little insects, with innumerable parts to each one, appear to it as an obscure speck, and yet, by that sight, those who are sensual think and judge, it is plain how their minds have been dulled, and into what darkness it has brought them concerning spiritual things.

353. Any one may confirm himself in favour of the Divine from the visible things of nature, if he elect to do so, and he also does confirm himself, who thinks about God in regard to life. Take, for instance, the birds of the air, how each individual

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species knows its own food and where to find it, recognises its kind by sound and sight, and which among other kinds are its friends and which its enemies; how they mate, know sexual union, skilfully build their nests, lay eggs therein, sit upon them, know the period of incubation, at which time preciscly they hatch out their young, love them most tenderly, cherish them under their wings, bring food in their bills to nourish them, and this until they can ad for themselves, do the same things themselves and bring forth a family to perpetuate their kind. Every one who is willing to reflect on the Divine influx through the spiritual world into the natural can see this influx in these things. He can also, if he will, say from his heart, " Such items of knowledge cannot flow into them fram the sun through its rays of light, for the sun, from which nature derives its origin and essencè, is pure fire, and therefore its rays of light are absolutely dead"; and thus he may draw the conclusion, that such wonders come from the influx of the Divine Wisdom into the outmost things of nature.

354. Any one may confirm himself in favour of the Divine from things seen in nature, when he sees larvae, from delight of a certain desire, long and hope for the change from their earthly condition to one something like the heavenly, and creep into places and stow themselves away. as if into a womb in order to be reborn, and there become chrysalises, aurelias, caterpillars, nymphs, and at last butterflies; then having undergone this change of form and been decked with the beautiful wings of their kind, they fly upwards into the air as into their heaven, and there frolic joyfully, effect their marriages, lay eggs, and provide for

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354, 355) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

the generations to follow themselves; and in the meantime are nourished with delightful and sweet food from the fiowers. What man, confirmed in favour of the Divine by the visible things of nature, does not see a certain likeness to man's earthly state in these creatures as larvae, and a likeness to the heavenly state in them as butterflies ? On the other hand, those confirmed in favour of nature see indeed the same things, but because they have cast out of mind the heavenly state of man, they calI them mere instincts of nature.

355. Anyone may confirm himself in favour of the Divine, from things to be seen in nature, by consideration of what is known about bees. They know how to gather wax and suck honey from herbs and fiowers, and to build cells like tiny hüuses, and arrange them in the form of a city with streets through which they pass in and out; they scent at long distances the flowers and herbs from which they gather wax for their home and honey for food, and laden with these fiy back in a direct line to their hive. Thus do they provide themselves with food and dwelling for the coming winter, as if they foresaw its approach and knew of it. They also appoint for themselves a mistress as queen, by whom a further generation will be propagated; and for her they make a royal court above themselves with guards in attendance round about; when the time of bringing forth approaches, she goes with her retinue of attendants from ceU to ceil and lays her eggs, which a throng of followers smear ail over lest they receive injury from the air; from these a new' progeny is to come for them. Later, when this progeny has advanced to its maturity, so that it can do the same, it is

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driven from the home. The expel1ed swarm first gathers itself together, and then in a body, lest the association be dispersed, flies away in quest of a home for itself. Moreover, in the autumn the useless drones are led out and deprived of their wings, lest they return and consume the food for which they have not worked: not to mention other particulars. From these facts it may be evident, that on account of the use performed to the human race by influx from the spiritual world, bees have a form of government like that which exists with men on earth, or rather with the angels in heaven. Can any man of unimpaired reason fail to see that their methods do not come from the natural world? What is there in common between the sun from which nature exists and a government that rivaIs and compares with the government of heaven? From these and other very similar things in the brute creation, the man who avows and worships nature confirms himself in favour of nature, while he who avows and worships God by those same things, confirms himself in favour of the Divine. For the spiritual man sees in them spiritual things, and the natural man natural things, thus each such as he himself is. So far as l am concerned, l have regarded these things as proofs of the influx of the spiritual into the natural, or of the spiritual world into the natural world, and therefore from the Divine Wisdom of the Lord. Moreover, weigh up in your mind whether you can think analytically about any form of government, any civil law, any moral virtue, or any spiritual truth, unless the Divine flows in out of His Wisdom through the spiritual world. For myself, l could not and cannot, since l have observed that influx, perceptibly and sensibly, for nearly nineteen years

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continuously, and therefore speak from actual experience.

356. Is it possible for anything natural to have use as an end and to dispose uses into their orders and forms? l t is impossible except one be wise; and none but God, whose Wisdom is infinite, can so give order to the universe and form it. Who else, or what else, can foresee and provide aU those things that are food and clothing for men-food from the fruits of the earth and from animaIs, and clothing from the same sources? It is among the wonders of creation that those insignificant worms, called silkworms, should clothe in silk and magnificently adorn both women and men, from queens and kings even to maid-servants and menservants; and that insignificant insects like the bees should supply in abundance wax for the candIes by which temples and courts are made brilliant. These and many other things are convincing evidence that the Lord makes all things that exist in nature, from Himself, through the spiritual world.

357. To the above must be added, that l have seen in the spiritual world such as have been confirmed in favour of nature from things visible in the world, and at last had become atheists. In spiritual light their understanding appeared open below, but closed above. The reason was that they looked downwards to the earth and not upwards to heaven. Over their sensual, which is the lowest part of the understanding, appeared the likeness of a veil; in sorne lit up from hellish fire, in sorne black as soot, and in sorne livid as a corpse. Therefore, beware every one of confirmations in favour of nature. Let him confirm himself in favour of the Divine. There is no lack of evidence.

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PART V

TWO RECEPTACLES AND DWELLINGS OF

HIS OWN, CALLED WILL AND UNDER

STANDING, HAVE BEEN CREATED AND

FORMED BY THE LORD IN MAN; THE

WILL FOR HIS DIVINE LOVE, AND THE

UNDERSTANDING FOR HIS DIVINE WISDOM

358. The Divine Love and Wisdom of God the Creator, who is the Lord from etemity, and the creation of the universe, have been treated of; something shaH now be said of the creation of man. We read that man was created in the image of God after His likeness (Gen. i. 26). By" the image of God " is there meant the Divine Wisdom, and by "the likeness of God" the Divine love; for wisdom is nothing else than an image of love, since love shows itself in arder to be seen and recognised in wisdom; and because it is there seen and recognised, wisdom is its image. Moreover love is the Being of life, and wisdom is the Manifestation of life therefrom. The likeness and image of God appear clearly in angels, for love from within shines forth in their faces, and wisdom in their beauty; and beauty is the form of their love. l have seen and perceived it.

359. Man cannot be an image of God after His likeness, unless God be in him and be his lite from

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the inmost. That God is in man, and is his life from the inmost, follows from what was shown above (Nos. 4-6) namely, that God alone is Life, and that men and angels are recipients of life from Him. Moreover, it is well known from the Word that God is in man, and makes His abode with him; and because it has come to be known from the Word, it is customary for preachers to declare that men should be prepared to receive God, that He may enter into them, and be in their hearts, that they may be His dwelling-place. The devout man says the same in his prayers, and so do sorne more openly regarding the Holy Spirit, which they believe is in them when they have holy zeal, and from that zeal think, speak, and preach. That the Holy Spirit is the Lord, and not sorne other God who is a Person by Himself, has been shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerttsalem concerning the Lord. For the Lord declares :

" In that day ye shall know that ye are in Me, and r in you " (John xiv. 20; likewise, xv. 4, 5 ; xvii. 23).

360. Now, because the Lord is Divine Love and Wisdom, and these two essentially are Himself, it is necessary, in order that He may abide in man and give life to man, that He should create and form in man receptacles and dwellings of His own, one for love and the other for wisdom. These receptacles and dwellings in man are called the will and the understanding; the receptacle and dwelling of love, the will; and the receptacle and dwelling of wisdom, the understanding. That these two are the Lord's in man, and that from these two man has all his life, will be seen in what follows.

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361. That every man has these two, will and understanding, and that they are distinct from one another, as are love and wisdom from one another, is known and yet not known in the world. l t is known by general intuition, and is not known by thought, and still less from thought put into writing. For who does not know intuitively that will and understanding are two distinct things in man? Indeed, everyone perceives it when he hears, and possibly also says to another, "This man means well, but does not understand aright ; but the other man's understanding is all right, and his will all wrong. l like him whose understanding and will are both good, but l do not like him who understands well and wills wickedly." Yet when he thinks about will and understanding, he does not make them two and distinguish them, but confuses them, because his thought shares with the sight of the body. When he writes, still less does he perceive that will and understanding are two distinct things, since his thought then unites with the sensual, which is the man's inherent nature. Hence it is that sorne are able to think and speak dearly, yet cannot write well; and this is generally true of the female sex. It is the same with many other things. Who has not come to know intuitively that the man is saved who lives a good life, and condemned who leads a bad life? Aiso that a man whose life is good enters the society of angels, and sees, hears, and speaks there, just as man does? And that one who does what is just from equity, and what is right from rectitude, has a conscience ? But if one gets away from intuition and submits these things to thought, one then does not know what conscience is; nor does one know that the soul can see, hear, and speak as man does, nor that

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361) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

goodness of life is anything else than giving to the needy. And should you write about such things from your thought, you confirm them by outward appearances and errors, and by high sounding words of no substance. This accounts for the fact that many learned men and great thinkers, especially among writers, have weakened and dimmed, yea, have destroyed their intuition; and that simple people see more clearly what is good and true than those who imagine themselves their superiors in wisdom. This intuition cornes by influx from heaven and sinks into the thought almost to sight, but thought, separated from intuition, falls into the imagination, which cornes from sight and man's inherent nature. That this is so, you may put to the test. Tell anyone with intuition something true, and he will see it; tell him that from God and in God we are, we live and are affected, and he will see it; tell him that God dwells with man in love and wisdom, he 'will see it; tell him further that the will is the receptacle of love, and the understanding the receptacle of wisdom, and explain it a little, he will see it; tell him that God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and he will see it; ask him what conscience is, and he will tell you. But say the same things to any learned man who has not thought from intuition, but from principles or ideas caught by the sight from the world, that man will not see. Then consider which is the wiser.

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[362 ,363

THE WILL AND THE UNDERSTANDING,

WHICH ARE THE RECEPTACLES OF LOVE

AND WISDOM, ARE IN THE BRAINS, IN

THE WHOLE AND EVERY PART OF THEM,

AND FROM THEM IN THE BODY, IN THE

WHOLE AND EVERY PART OF IT

362. These things must he proved as foIlows : (i) Love and wisdom, and the will and the under

standing therefrom, make the very life ofman. (ii) The life of man is in its beginnings in the

brains and in its derivatives in the body. (iii) Such as life is in its beginnings, such it is

in the whole and every part. (iv) By means of those beginnings, life is in the

whole from every part, and in every part from the whole.

(v) Such as the love is, such is the wisdom, and therefore such is the man.

363. (i) Love and wisdom, and the will and the understanding therefrom, make the very life of man. Hardly anyone knows what life is. When one thinks about it, it seems as if it were a vapoury something, of which no idea is possible. It seems so, because it is n.ot known that God alone is Life, and that His Life is Divine Love and Wisdom; hence it is plain that in man life is nothing else, and that life is in man in the degree in which he receives this love and this wisdom. l t is known that light and heat go forth from the sun, and that aIl things in the universe are recipients, and become warm and bright in the degree of their

241


reception. Thus it is also from the Sun where the Lord is; the heat issuing therefrom is Love, and the light issuing is Wisdom, as was shown in Part Second. Life, therefore, cornes from these two, issuing from the Lord as the Sun. That love and wisdom from the Lord are life may be evident also from this, that man grows listless as love recedes from him, and stupid as wisdom leaves him, and, if they were to go away altogether, he would be deprived of life. There are many things partaking of love, which have had other names· assigned to them because they are derivatives, as affections, desires, appetites, and their pleasures and enjoyments; and there are many things partaking of wisdom, as perception, refiection, recollection, thought and intention towards a thing ; and there are many things partaking of both love and wisdom, as consent, conclusion and determination to action, besides others. Ali these, in fact, partake of both, but are named from the more important and immediate quality of the two. From these two in the end are derived sensations; they are sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, with their enjoyments and pleasures. According to appearances it is the eye that sees, but in fact the understanding sees through the eye; on which account seeing is attributed also to the understanding. The appearance is that the ear hears, but in fact the understanding hears through the

r l'h.o.. ear; therefore hearing is predicated of attention o~lLL and obedience, which are of the undefstanding. l,,(>:_ J Ihe appearance IS {fiat tne noSê smells, and tfiat ~ l4< the tongue tastes; but in fact the understanding ~~y its perception smells and also tastes; for this

reason smelling and tasting are attributed also to perception. And so in other cases. The sources

242


of everyone of these are love and wisdom. It may be evident, therefore, that these two make the life of man.

364. Everyone sees that the understanding is the receptacle of wisdom, but few see that the will is the receptacle of love. The explanation is that the will does nothing by itself, but acts by means of the understanding; also that, when the love of the will passes into the wisdom of the understanding, it nrst of all goes into affection, and in this way passes through; and affection is only perceived as something pleasant in thinking, speaking, and doing, to which no attention is given. Still it is evident that love is from the will, for the reason that everyone wills what he loves, and does not will what he does not love.

365. (ii) The life of man is in its beginnings in the brains and in its derivatives in the body. In beginnings means in its nrst forms, and in derivatives means in what is brought forth and formed from nrst things; and by life in beginnings is meant will and understanding. These two are what are in their beginnings in the brains, and in their derivatives in the body. It is evident that beginnings or nrst forms of life are in the brains :

(1) From feeling itself; since, when a man bends his mind to think, he perceives that he thinks in the brains. He, as it were, draws in the sight of the eye, and knits his brows, and feels that the investigation is within, mostly in the forehead and somewhat above it.

(2) From the formation of man in the womb ; since the brain or head cornes nrst and for quite a long time continues larger than the body.

243


(3) Since the head is above and the body below; and the law of order is for the higher to act upon the lower, and not the reverse.

(4) Since, with the brain injured, either in the womb, or by a wound, or by disease, or by excessive strain, thought is impaired,--ana sometlmes the mind becomes delirious.

(5) Since aH the body's outward senses, namely, sight, hearing, smell and taste, together with the general sense of touch, and even speech, are in the front part of the head, which is called the face, and connect directly by means of fibres with the brains, and derive from them their sensittve and active life.

(6) Rence it is that affections of love are portrayed in the face, and thoughts of wisdom are refiected in the eyes.

(7) Anatomy also teaches that ail fibres descend from the brains through the neck into the body and that none goes up from the body through the neck into the brains. And where the fibres are in their beginnings and first forms, there life is in its beginnings and first forms. Who dares to deny that life has its origin where the fibres have theirs ?

(8) Ask anyone with sorne degree of intuition, " Whereabouts is thought ? " or " Where do you think?" and he will reply, "In the head." Then ask someone who has assigned the seat of the soul to a particular gland or to the heart, or elsewhere, "Where are affection and its thought· in their first beginning? Are they not in the brain ? " and he will answer, No, or that he does not know. The reason for this ignorance you may see above (No. 36r).

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366. (iii) Such as life is in its beginnings, such it is in the whole and every part. In order that this may be perceived, it shall be explained where in the brains those beginnings are, and the manner of their conveyance down. Anatomy shows clearly where they exist. Tt makes known that there are two brains, and that they are continued from the head into the spinal column; that they consist of two substances, called cortical substance and meduUary substance; that cortical substance consists of innumerable gland-like forms, and medullary substance of innumerable fibre-like forms. Now as these glands are the heads of fibrils, they are also their beginnings; for the fibres begin and go for th from these glands, and gradually become bundled together into nerves. These bundles or nerves, when formed, descend to the sensory organs in the face, and to the organs of motion in the body, and form them. Consult anyone skilled in the science of anatomy, and you wiU be convinced. This cortical or glandular substance forms the surface of the cerebrum, and also the surface of the corpora striata, from which cornes the medulla oblongata; it also forms the middle of the cerebellum, and the middle of the spinal marrow. But the medullary or fibrillary substance everywhere begins in and proceeds from the cortical; and from this come the nerves,and from them all things of the body. That this is true is proved by dissection. They who understanél these things, either from study of the science of anatomy or from the testimony of experts, can see that the beginnings of life are nowhere else than the commencements of the fibres, and that fibres cannot go forth from themselves, but from those beginnings. These beginnings or origins; which

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appear as glands, are almost countless; their multitude may be compared to the multitude of stars in the universe; and the multitude of fibrils from them may be compared to the multitude of rays issuing from the stars and bearing their heat and light to the earths. The multitude of these glands may also be compared to the multitude of angelic societies in the heavens, which also are countless, and, as l have been told, are in the same order; and the multitude of fibrils issuing from these glands may be compared to spiritual truths and goodness, which in the same way flow down therefrom like rays. Rence it is that man is like a universe and like a heaven in least form, as has frequently been said and shown above. From these things it may be evident that such as life is in beginnings, such it is in derivatives; or, such as life is in its first forms in the brains, such it is in the things arising therefrom in the body.

367. (iv) By means of those beginnings life is in the whole from every part, and in every part from the whole. This is because the whole, that is, the brain and body together, by its origin, exists oruy from the fibres which proceed from their beginnings in the brains. It has no other origin, as is plain from what has been shown just above (No. 366). Rence the whole is from every part. Life also is in every part from the whole by means of those beginnings, because the whole furnishes each part with its dutY and its needs, and thereby makes it a part in the whole. In a word, the whole exists by reason of the parts, and the parts continue to exist by reason of the whole. That there is such a reciprocal communion, and union thereby, is plain from many things in the body. For it is the

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same there as in astate, republic and kingdom ; the community exists by reason of the individuals who are its parts, and the parts or individuals continue to exist by reason of the community. It is the same with everything which has any form, especially in man.

368. (v) Such as the love is, such is the wisdom, and therefore such is the man. For such as are the love and wisdom, such are the will and understanding, since the will is the receptacle of love, and the understanding of wisdom, as was shawn above; and these two make the man and his character. Love is manifold, and sa manifold that the varieties are unlimited, as may be evident from the human race in the earths and in the heavens. There does not exist one man or angel sa like another that there is no difference. Love is what distinguishes, for every man ishis own"'ov~. ILs supposea that wlsdorrî riiaI<es a dIstinction, but wisdom cornes from love and is the form of love; for love is the Being of life, and wisdom is the Manifestation of life from that Being. I t is believed in the world that the understanding makes the man; but this is believed because the understanding can be raised inta the light of heaven, as was shown above, and the man may thus have the appearance of being wise; but as far as that much of the understanding which transcends, that is, does not belong to the love, appears ta be the man's, so far he has that character, but it is an appearance. For ~t much of the understanding which transcends lias reilly to do With tfie love pf §OWillg and belVg wise, but not at the same tU"Qe with the love 0 applying to hie what the man knows and understands; wherefore in the wàt-Id

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that part in time passes away, or it lingers without in the borders, a thing of the memory, ready to faU away; on which account it is separated after deatn, and no more remains than agrees with the spirit's own love. Because love makes the life of man, and thus the man himself, all the societies of heaven and aU the angels in the socleties, are arran ed accordin to the affectIons belongmg10 t elr lo,xe, an no SOCle y nor ang SOCle y aœording to anything of the understanding apart from its love. It is the same in the hells and their societies, but in accordance with loves opposed to the heavenly loves. From these things it may be evident that such as the love is, such is the wisdom, and therefore such is the man.

369. It is recognised, indeed, that man is of the same nature as his ruling love, but only in respect to mind and disposition, not in respect to his body, thus not whoUy. But it has been made known to me from much experience in the spiritual world, that man, from head to foot, or from the first things in the head to the last things in the body, is of the same nature as his love. For aU in that world are forms of their love, angels· forms of heavenly love, devils of heUish love; devils deformed in face and body, but angels finely formed in face and body; and if their love is impugned, their faces are changed, and whoUy disappear if much attacked. This is peculiar to that world and so happens because their bodies make one with their minds. The reason is c1ear from what has been said above, that aU things of the body are derivatives, that is, are connected by means of fibres from beginnings which are receptac1es of love and wisdom. When beginnings have this charac.ter, their derivatives

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DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [369, 371'

are bound to be of the same nature. The consequence is that where beginnings go, the derivatives follow; they cannot be separated. Hence it is that ~ who raises his mind to the Lord is whQlly l2tt~I uE. to Hlm, and he who casts his mind down to e lS whol y cast down to heU; whereforethe whofe nla'ilëomes, according to his life's love, either into heaven or into hello From angelic wisdom cornes this: The mind of man is a man because God is Man; the body is the external of the mind, and feels and acts; and thus they are one, and not two.

370. It should be noted that the very forms of the members, organs and viscera of man, in respect to the actual composition, are from fibres that arise out of their beginnings in the brains, but that they are fixed by means of such substances and matters as are in the earths, and from the earths in the air and ether, and that this is effected by means of the blood. Therefore, in order that all things of the body may continue to exist in their formation, and thus be permanent in their functions, man must be nourished by material food, and be continually renewed.

THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE OF THE

WILL WITH THE HEART, AND OF THE

UNDERSTANDING WITH THE LUNGS

371. This shall be proved in the following order : (i) All things of the mind have reference ta tht;

will and understanding, and all things of the body ta the heart and lungs.

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-,


(ii) There is a correspondence of the will and understanding with the heart and lungs, and from this a correspondence of all things of the mind with all things of the body.

(iii) The will corresponds to the heart. (iv) The understanding corresponds to the lungs. (v) By means of this correspondence many secrets

concerning the will and understanding, and therefore also concerning love and wisdom, may he disclosed.

(vi) Man's mind is his spirit, and the spirit is the man. The body is the externat through which the mind or spirit feels and aets in its world.

(vii) The union of man's spirit with the body is by the correspondence of his will and understanding with his heart and lungs, and separation comes through non-correspondence.

372. (i) AU things of the mind have reference to the will and understanding, and aU things of the body to the heart and lungs. By the mind nothing else is meant than the will and understanding. and they include ail the things a man is affected by and thinks of, thus aIl things of man's affection and thought. Those things by which man is affected belong to his will, and those of which he thinks belong to his understanding. It is known that ail the things of man's thought belong to his understanding, since he thinks from the understanèling, but it is not so weIl known that aIl the things of man's affection belong to his will, and for this reason, that when he thinks he pays no heed to the affection, bût only to what he lS thmkmg ; just as wlle'n he hears somebody speakmg, li lS not

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the sound he attends to, but the words themselves ; when yet affection stands in the same relation to thought as sound does to the spoken word; for which reason one knows from the sound of a speaker's voice what his affection is, and from the words what his thought is. Affection belongs to the will because every affection belongs to love, and the receptacle of love is the will, as was shown above. He who does not know that affection belongs to the will confuses affection with the understanding, for he declares it to be one with thought ; nevertheless, they are not one although they act as one. That they are confused is clear from the common expression "1 think l shaH do this," meaning, " l will do it." But that they are two things is also clear from a common expression, " l wish to think over this matter," and when he thinks it over, the will's affection is present in the understanding's thought, just as sound is present in the spoken word, as was said before. That all the things of the body have reference to the heart and lungs is well known, but that there is a correspondence of the heart and lungs with the will and understanding is not known. This subject will therefore be discussed in what follows.

373. Since the will and understanding are receptacles of love and wisdom, these two are organic forms, or forms organised from purest substances, for such they must be to be receptacles. It does not matter that their organisation is imperceptible to the eye. Even when the vision of the eye is magnified by the microscope, the organisation lies within, imperceptible. Tiniest insects also are imperceptible, inside vision, yet they have organs of sense and motion, for they

25 1

373; 374J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

feel, and walk and fly. That they, too, have brains, hearts, lung tubes, and viscera, acute observers have discovered from their anatomy by means of the microscope. When the tiny insects themselves are not visible and stillless their component viscera, and it is not denied that they are organized even to each single particle in them, how then can it be said that the two receptacles of love and wisdom, called will and understanding, are not organic forms? How can love and wisdom, which are life from the Lord, act on what is not a subject, or on anything which has no substantial existence? How otherwise can thought inhere, and how can anything be spoken from thought not inherent ? Is not the brain, by which thought comes forth, complete and organised in every part thereof? There the organic forms themselves are visible even to the naked eye; and the receptacles of the will and understanding in their beginnings emerge in the cortical substance, where they are clearly seen as small glands, concerning which see above (No. 366). Do not, l beg you, think of these things from an idea of vacuum. Vacuum is nothing, and in nothing nothing takes place, and from nothing nothing comes forth. (Concerning the idea of vacuum, see above, No. 8z.)

374. (ii) There is a correspondence of the will and understanding with the heart and lungs, and from this a correspondence of all things of the mind with all tl~ings of the body. This is something new, and has not been known before, because nobodLknew what the sR.iritual was, and wherein it' differèd from the natural; consequently, what corres ondence is was unknown; for there IS a correspon ence 0 spmtu things with natural, and

z5z


through that correspondence cornes their union. We say that these things have not been known hitherto. Yet they could have been known. Who does not know that affection and thought are spiritual, and therefore that all things belonging to them are spiritual? Who does not know that action and speech ate natural, and therefore that all things belonging to them are nàtural? Who does not know that affection and thought, which are spiritual, make man act and speak? Who cannot know from these things what correspondence of spiritual things with natural is? Does not thought make the tongue speak, and at1ection together with thought make the body act? They are two distinct things. l can think without speaking, and l can will without acting; and the body, it is known, does not think nor does it will, but thought falls into speech, and will into action. Does not affection beam fOJ;'th from the face and there present a type of itself? This everyone knows. Is not affection, regarded in itself, spiritual, and are not the changes of the countenance, called the expression, natural? From this, who might not then conclude that there is a correspondence, and hence a correspondence of all things of the mind with all things of the body? And, since all things' of the mind have reference to affection and thought, or what is the same, -to will and understanding, and aIl things of the body to the heart and lungs, who might not also conclude that there is a correspondence of the will with the heart, and of the understanding with the lungs? Such things have been unknown, though they might have been known, because man has become so external as to be unwilling to acknowledge anything except the natura!. This has been the delight of his love, and

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therefore the delight of his understanding; for which reason it has been distasteful to him to raise his thought above the natural to contemplate something spiritual apart from the natural, and consequently, on account of his natural love and its delight, he could only think of the spiritual as apurer natural, and of correspondence as something ftowing in by continuity. Nay more, a man who is merely natural, is unable to think what is apart from the natural; to him it is nothing. There is another reason why these things have not been seen, and have, therefore, hitherto been unknown. They have removed from man's survey all matters of religion that are called spiritual by the dogmatic assertion in the whole Christian world that the theological, that is the spiritual, teachings, decreed by Councils and certain leaders, must be blindly believed because, as they say, they transcend the understanding. Some, therefore, have imagined the spiritual to be like a bird ftying above the air in the ether, to which sight the eye does not reach ; when yet it is like a heavenly bird, ftying near the eye and brushing its pupil with its lovely wings, longing to be seen. By the sight of the eye is meant enlightened sight.

375. The correspondence of will and understanding with heart and IUllgS cannot be proved abstractly, that is, by reasoning alone, but may be proved by effects. It is the same as with the causes of things. These, indeed, can be seen rationally, but clearly, only by effects; for causes exist in effects, and by their means render themselves visible; till then the mind is not convinced about causes. The effects of such correspondence will be related in what follows. But lest anyone slip into

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ideas concerning this correspondence acquired from assumptions about the soul, let him first read carefully what has been shown in the preceding chapter; Nos. 363-364, Love and wisdom, and will and understanding therefrom, make the very life of man; No. 365, The life of man is in its beginnings in the brains, and in its derivatives in the body; No. 366, 5uch as life is in its beginnings, such it is in the whole and every part; No. 367, By means of those beginnings life is in the whole from every part, and in every part from the whole ; No. 368, 5uch as the love is, such is the wisdom, and therefore such is the man.

376. Here, by way of testimony, a representation may be adduced of the correspondence of the will and understanding with the heart and lungs, seen in heaven among the angels. By a wonderful motion as of flowing into !?pirals, inexpressible in words, they formed a likeness of the heart and lungs with all the internai structures therein, and immediately were following the flow of heaven, for heaven ascends into forms like these by reason of the influx of love and wisdom from the Lord. In this manner they were representing the union of heart and lungs and at the same time the correspondence of these with the will's love and the understanding's wisdom. They called this correspondence and union the heavenly marriage, saying, that it is the same in the whole body and its individual members, organs and viscera as it is in those which belong to the heart and lungs; and that where the heart and lungs do not act and each perform its part, there no motion of life is possible from any voluntary principle, nor any sensation of life from any intellectual principle.

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377. Whereas the correspondence of the heart and lungs with the will and understanding is treated of in the pages immediately following, and upon this correspondence is based that of all parts of the body, namely, the members, organs of sense, and viscera; and seeing that the correspondence of natural things with spiritual has hitherto been unknown, and yet is amply set forth in two works, one of which treats of Heaven and HeU, and the other, the Arcana Cœlestia, of the spiritual sense of the Word in Genesis and in Exodus, l will here indicate what has been written and shown in those two works regarding correspondence. In Heaven and HeU: The correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man (Nos. 87-102). The correspondence of all things of heaven with all things on earth (Nos. 103-Il5). In the Arcana Cœlestia, the work on the spiritual sense of the \;Yord in Genesis and Exodus: The correspondence of the face and its expressions with affections of the mind (Nos. 1568, 2988-9, 3631, 4796-1, 4800, 5165, 5168, 5695, 9306); of the body, its gestures and actions, with things intellectual and voluntary (Nos. 2988, 3632, 4215); of the senses in general (Nos. 4318-4330); of the eyes and of sight (Nos. 4403-4420); of nostrils and of smell (Nos. 46244634); of the ears and of hearing (Nos. 46524660); of the tongue and of taste (Nos. 47914805); of the hands, arms, shoulders, and feet (Nos. 4931-4953); of the loins and organs of generation (Nos. 5050-5062); of the internaI viscera, especially of the stomach, thymus gland, of the receptacle and ducts of the chyle, of the messentery (Nos. 5I71-5I81); of the spleen (No. 9698); of the peritoneum, kidneys and bladder (Nos. 5377-85); of the liver, and of the

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hepatic, cystic, and pancreatic ducts (Nos. 5183-5) ; of the intestines (Nos. 5392-5, 5379); of the bones (Nos. 5560-4); of the skin (Nos. 5552-9); of heaven with man (Nos. 9II, 1900, 1982, 2996-8, 3624-49, 3741-5, 3884, 4051, 4279, 4403, 4524-5, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9632). All things that exist in the natural world and in its three kingdoms correspond to all things which appear in the spiritual world (Nos. 1632, 1831, 2758, 2990-3, 2997-3003, 3213-27, 3483, 3624-49, 4044, 4053, 4116, 4366, 4939, 5116, 5377, 5428, 5477, 8211, 9280). AU things that appear in the heavens are correspondences (Nos. 1521, 1532, 1619-25, 1807-8, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1980-1, 2299, 2601, 3213-26, 3349-50,3475-85,3748,9481,9570,9576-7). The correspondence of the sense of the letter of the Word and of its spiritual sense is treated of in the Arcana Cœlestia throughout; and on this subject see also the Doctrine of the New ] erusalem concerning the Sacred Script~tre (Nos. 5-26, 27-65).

378. (iii) The will corresponds to the heart. This cannot be seen so c1early taken by itself as when considered from the will in effects (as was said above, No. 375). By itself, this fact may make it evident, that aU affections, springing from love, lead to changes in the rate of the heart's action, as is plain from the beat of the arteries, which act at the same time with the heart. Hs changes and pulsations in accordance with the love's affections are innumerable. Those felt by the fmger are only that it beats slowly or quickly, high or low, calmly or roughly, regularly or irregularly, and so on; thus varying with joy and sorrow, peace of mind and wrath, courage and fear, fevers and chills, and so forth. Becallse the motions of the heart, termed

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378, 379] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDÛM

systole and diastole are changed and varied to accord with the affections of anyone's love, many ancient writers, and sorne modern, have ascribed affections to the heart and also believed their home to be there. From this it has crept into ordinary speech to talk of the heart as generous or mean, joyous or sad, soft or hard, stout or timid, whole or broken, of flesh or of stone; likewise as gross, soft, gentle; giving the heart to doing something, a single heart, a new heart, laying up in the heart, receiving in the heart, not rising above the heart, hardening one's heart, a friend at heart; hence the terms concord, discord follyof heart, and many similar terms expressive of love and its affections. Like expressions are found in the Word, because the Word has been written by means of correspondences. Whether you say love or will it is the same, since the will is the receptacle of love, as was said above.

379. Tt is known that there is vital heat in man and in every animal; but its origin is not known. Everyone speaks of it from conjecture, consequently those who have known nothing of the correspondence of natural things with spiritual have ascribed its origin to the heat of the sun, sorne to activity of the parts and sorne to life itself; but as they knew not what life was, they simply stopped using that word. But he who knows that there is a correspondence of love and its affections with the heart and its derivations, may know that love is the origin of vital heat. For love goes forth, from the spiritual Sun where the Lord is, as heat, and moreover, is felt by the angels as heat. This spiritual heat, which in its essence is love, is what flows in by correspondence into the heart and its blood, infuses it with heat, and at the same time

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DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [379-38r

gives it life. That a man grows hot and, as it were, bums, according to his love and the degree of it, and becomes numb and chilled as it decreases, is known, for it is felt and seen; it is felt in the heat of the whole body, and it is seen in the flush of the face; and extinction of love, on the other hand, is felt in the coldness of the body, and seen in the pallor of the face. Because love is the life of man, the heart is the first and the last of his life. And because love is the life of man and the soul impels its life into the body through the blood, in the Word blood is called the soul (Gen. ix. 4; Levit. xvii. I4). The various meanings of the word " soul" will be explained in what follows.

380. That the blood is red is also on account of the correspondence of the heart and the blood with love and its affections; for in the spmtuâl wbrld there are colours of every kind. Red and white are the fundamental, and the l'est derive their varieties from these and their opposites, which are a smouldering fire shade and black. Red there corresponds to love, and white to wisdom. Red corresponds to love because it takes its origin from the fire of the Sun there, and white corresponds to wisdom because it derives its origin from the light of the same Sun; and because there is a correspondence of love with the heart , the blood cannot but be red, and indicate its origin. Rence it is that in the heavens, where love to the Lord reigns, light is the colour of flame, and the angels are clothed in purple garments; and in the heavens where wisdom reigns, the light is shining white, and the angels are clothed in white lawn garments.

38r. The heavens are distinguished into two kingdoms, one of which is called celestial and the

K ~9

38r , 382J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

other spiritual; in the celestial kingdom love to the Lord reigns, and in the spiritual kingdom wisdom from that love. That kingdom in which love prevails is cal1ed heaven's cardiac kingdom, and that where wisdom prevails, is cal1ed its pulmonic kingdom. It should be known that the whole angelic heaven in its entirety resembles one man and 50 appears in the Lord's sight. For this reason its heart makes one kingdom, and its lungs the other; for there is a general cardiac and pulmonic motion of the whole heaven, and an individual motion therefrom in each ange!. The general cardiac and pulmonic motion is from the Lord alone, because love and wisdom come from Him alone; for these two motions are in the Sun, where the Lord is, and which exists from the Lord, and from that in the angelic heaven and in the universe. Banish spaces and think of omnipresence, and you will be convinced that it is 50. That the heavens are distinguished into two kingdoms, celestial and spiritual, may be scen in the work on Heaven and HeU (Nos. 26-28); and that the whole angelic heaven in its entirety resembles one man (Nos. 59-87).

382. (iv) The ~mderstanding corresponds to the lungs. This fol1ows from what has been said concerning the correspondence of the will with the heart; for will and understanding are the two things which rule in the spiritual man or in the mind; and the heart and lungs are the two things controlling the natural man or the body; and the correspondence is between aU the things of the mind and all the things of the body, as was said above; from which it fol1ows that the will corresponds to the heart, and the understanding

260


to the lungs. Moreover, everyone may perceive in himself, both from his thought and from his speech, that the understanding corresponds to the lungs. From thought: No one can think unless the respiration agrees and harmonizes; consequently, when one is thinking quietly the breathing is quiet, if one thinks deeply the breathing is deep; the breath is drawn in and let out, the lungs contract and expand in conformity to the thought, thus according to the influx from love, slowly, quickly, eagerly, gently, intently; indeed, if the breath be held completely, it is impossible to think except in one's spirit by its own respiration, and that is not manifestly perceptible. From speech: Since not the slightest sound escapes from the mouth without the assistance of the lungs; for the sound, which is articulated into words, aH cornes forth by means of the trachea and epiglottis; wherefore, according to the inflation of those beHows and the opening of the passage, the voice is raised even to a shout, and according to the contraction is lowered; and, if the passage be closed, speech together with thought ceases.

383. Since the understanding corresponds to the lungs, and thought therefrom to the respiration, in the Ward, "soul" and "Spirit" signify the understanding: as where it is said,

" Thou shalt love the Lord thy Gad with all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Matt. xxii. 37). " Gad will give a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezek. xxxvi. 26; Ps. li. 10).

That "heart" signifies the love of the will was shown above; therefore "Soul" and "Spirit" signify the wisdom of the understanding. That the

261


spirit of God, also caIled the Roly Spirit, means Divine Wisdom, and therefore Divine Truth, which is the light of men, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New]erusalem concerning the Lord (Nos. 50 -SI ).

Rence it is that " The Lord breathed on His disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (John xx. 22),

for the same reason it is said that " ] ehovah God breathed into the nostrils of Adam the breath of lives, and he was made a living soul" (Gen. ii. 7) ;

also Re said to the prophet, " Prophesy upon the breath, and say unto the wind, Come from the four winds, 0 breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live" (Ezek. xxxvii. 9) ;

likewise in other places; therefore the Lord is called "The breath of the nostrils," and "the breath of life." Because respiration passes through the nostrils, they signify perception; and an intelligent man is said to be keen-scented, and an unintelligent man to be dull-scented. For the same reason, spirit, and wind in the Rebrew and in sorne other languages are the same word; for the word spirit is derived from a word that means breathing; and therefore, when a man dies,' he is said to give up the ghost (anima = spirit or breath). It is from this also that men believe the spirit to be wind, or an airy something like breath from the lungs, and the soul to be of similar nature. From these things it may be evident that to "love God with aIl the heart and ail the soul" means to love Rim with ail the love and with all the understanding, and to " give a new heart and

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a new spirit" means to give a new will and a new understanding. Because" spirit" means understanding, it is said of Bezaleel,

That he was "filled with the spirit of wisdom, of intelligence and of knowledge" (Exod. xxi. 3) ;

and of Joshua, That he was "jilled with the spirit of wisdom " (Deut. xxxiv. 9) ;

and Nebuchadnezzar says of Daniel, That " an excellent spirit of knowledge, of intelligence, and of wisdom, was in him" (Dan. v. II, 12, 14) ;

and it is said in l saiah, They that err in spirit shall learn intelligence (xxix. 24) ;

likewise in many other places.

384. Since all things of the mind have relation to the will and understanding and ail things of the body to the heart and lungs, there are in the head two brains, each distinct trom the other as is the case with the will and understanding. The cerebellum exists chiefly for the sake of the will, and the cerebrum chiefly for the understanding. Similarly the heart and lungs in the body are distinct from the rest of the organs there. They are separated by the diaphragm and are enveloped by a covering of their own, called the pleura, and form that part of the body called the chest. In the other parts of the body, that is, the members, organs and viscera, the two parts are joined together, and thus also are pairs; for example, arms, hands, loins, feet, eyes, nostrils; within the body, kidneys, ureters, testic1es; and the viscera, which are not in pairs, are divided into right and left. Moreover,

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the brain itself has two hemispheres, the heart two ventricles, and the lungs two lobes; and the right of these relates to the goodness belonging to truth, and the left to the truth belonging to goodness; or what is the same, the right refers to the goodness of love from which comes the truth of wisdom, and the left to the truth of wisdom which comes from the goodness of love. And because the union of goodness and truth is reciprocal, and by means of that union they become as it were one, the effect in man is that these pairs act together and jointly in their functions, movements, and senses.

385. (v) By means of this correspondence many secrets concerning the will and understanding, and therefore also concerning. love and wisdom, may be disclosed. In the world iL!? scarcely known what the will is or what love is, since man is not able, QI hlmself, to love, and 'from love to will, in theN. same way that he can understand and think, 2:§ from himself; just as he cannot of himself make the heart to beat, âIffiough he can of himself e1tect respiratIOn onhe lungs. Now because it is scarcely known in the world what the will is and what love is, and yet it is known what the heart and lungsare, -for these can be seen and examined by the eye, and also have been examined and described by anatomists, whereas the will and understanding cannot be seen and examined,-therefore, when it is known that they correspond, and by correspondence act as one, many secrets concerning the will and understanding may be disclosed which otherwise would be impossible, as, for instance, the union of the will \Vith the understanding, and the reciprocal union of the understanding with the will; or, as the union of love 'Nith wisdom,

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and the reciprocal union of wisdom with love; also as the descent of love into the affections, the associations of the affections, and of their influx into the perceptions and thoughts, and at length their influx according to correspondence into the actions and senses of the body. These and many other secrets may be both disclosed and proved by the union of the heart and lungs, and by the blood f10wing in from the heart to the lungs, and reciprocaUy from the lungs to the heart, and from there through the arteries into aU the members, organs, and viscera of the body.

386. (vi) Man's mind is his spirit, and the spirit is the man. The body is the external through which the mind or spirit jeels and acts in its world. That man's mind is his spirit and that the spirit is the man can hardly be accepted in good faith by such as have deemed the spirit to be wind and the soul something etherial, such as is breathed from the lungs; for they say, How can the spirit be the man when it is spirit, and how can tl;te soul be the man when it is soul? and similarly concerning God because He is calied a Spirit. They have derived this idea of the spirit and the soul from the fact that, in sorne languages spirit and wind are the same word; also, that when a man dies, it is said that he gives up the ghost or spirit; and again that in cases of suffocation or swooning life returns when the spirit, or breath of the lungs, cornes back. And since they perceive nothing except breath and air, they judge from the eye and bodily sense that the spirit and the soul of man after death is not the man. From such a corporeal opinion of the spirit and soul, various assumptions have arisen, and out of these has grown the belief that man

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does not become a man until the day of the last judgment, and in the meanwhile he remains somewhere or other, awaiting the re-union (as has been related in the Continuation concerning the Last Judgment, Nos. 32-38). Since man's mind is his spirit, the angels are called minds, as they also are spirits.

387. The mind of man is his spirit and the spirit is the man because by mind is meant all the things of man's will and understanding, and these exist in their beginnings in the brains, and in their derivatives in the body; thus they are all the things of man as regards their forms. Since that is sa, the mind, that is, the will and understanding, impels the body and all its parts at will. Does not the body do whatever the mind thinks and wills ? Does not the mind encourage the ear ta hearing and direct the eye to seeing, the tangue and lips to speaking, urge the hands and fmgers ta doing whatever it pleases, and the feet ta walking whither it will? 1s the body anything but obedience to its mind; and can the body be such obedience unless it has the mind m ItS denvahves witFîin it ? :fSIf consistent with reaso'nTà think that the body obeys because the mind wills it sa to do? If that were sa they would be two, the one above and the other below, and the one will issue orders which the other will attentively obey. Because this is not at all compatible with reason, it follows that man's life is in its beginnings in the brains, and in its derivatives in the body, as has been said before (No. 365); also, that such as life is in its beginnings, such it is in the whole and in every part (No. 366) ; and that from these beginnings life is in the whole from every part, and in every part

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from the whole (No. 367). That all things of the mind have relation to the will and understanding, and that these are receptacles of love and wisdom from the Lord, and that these two make the life of man, has been shown in the preceding pages.

388. From what has just been said it may now be seen that man's mind is the man himself. For the elemental design of the human form, or the human form itself with every detail thereof, is continued from its beginnings, out of the brain and through the nerves, as also has been shown above. This is the form into which man cornes after death. He is thereupon styled spiri~ and angel, and is a completely equipped man, but a spiritual man. The material forni which was annexed and assumed in the world, is not a human form of itself, but by reason of that spiritual form. l t \Vas annexed and assumed so that man could perform uses in the natural world, and also that he might carry with him out of the purer substances of the world sorne permanent container of spiritual things, and in this way continue and perpetuate life. It is a truth of angelic wisdom that man's mind, not only in general, but in every particular, is in constant effort to attain the human form, because Gad is Man.

389. In arder that man may be man, no part, either of the head or body, must be lacking, that exists in the complete man, since there is nothing therein that does not enter into and make the human form; for it is the form of love and wisdom, and this regarded in itself, is Divine. In it are aU the terminations of love and wisdom, which in God-Man are infinite, but in His likeness, that is,

K* 267

- -.........,

389,390 ] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

in man, angel and spirit, are finite. If any part that exists in man were lacking, something of a termination from love and wisdom corresponding to it would be lacking, through which the Lord might be in man from first forms to outmosts, and might provide uses in the created world from His Divine Love through His Divine Wisdom.

390. (vii) The union of man's spirit with the body is by the correspondence of his will and understanding with his heart and lungs, and separation cornes through non-correspondence. On account of it being unknown hitherto that man's mind, that is, the will and understanding, is his spirit, and that the spirit is the man, and moreover, that man's spirit has a pulse and respiration like the body's, it could not be known that the pulse and respiration of the spirit in man flow into the pulse and respiration of his body and produce them. Since, therefore, man's spirit, equally with his body, enjoys a pulse and respiration, it follows that there is an exact correspondence between the two, for, as was said, the mind is his spirit, consequently, when their dual motions cease to correspond, a separation cornes, which is death. Separation or death occurs when, from sorne sickness or accident, the body cornes into such a condition as to be unable to act in unison with its spirit, for thus correspondence perishes, and with it union; not when respiration alone ceases, but when the heart's pulsation ceases. For so long as the heart is in motion, love with its vital heat remains and preserves the life, as is clear from cases of swooning and suffocation, and ~Il tbe condition of fetallife. In a word, man's bodily life depends on the correspondence of its pulse and respiration with the pulse and respiration of his

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DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [39°,391

spirit; and when that correspondence ceases, his bodily life ceases, and his spirit departs and continues its life in the spiritual world, which is so like his life in the natural world that he does not know that he has died. Most people are out of the body and in the spiritual world aft..er a lapse of t~s. l have spoken with some after two days.

391. That a spirit enjoys a pulse and respiration exactly as a man does in the world can only be proved by spirits and angels themselves, when permission to speak with them is granted. This permission has been given ta me; wherefore, when questioned on this matter, they affirmed that they are men exactly like men in the world, that they enjoy the use of a body just as men do, except that it is spiritual, and that they feel pulsation of the heart in the chest and of the artery in the wrist just as men do in the natural world. l have questioned many of them and they said the same. That man's spirit breathes within his body, l have been permitted ta know from personal experience. On one occasion the angels were allowed ta control my respiration, ta lessen it at will, and at last to withdraw it so far that only the breathing of my spirit remained, which l perceived at that moment sensibly. The same thing happened when l was permitted ta learn the state of the dying, as may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (No. 449). Sometimes also l have been reduced ta the simple breathing of my spirit as far as to perceive sensibly its harmony with the general respiration of heaven. Many times l have been in astate like that of the angels, and also been raised up ta them in heaven, and being then in the spirit outside the body, l have conversed with them with respiration in the

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same manner as in the world. From these and other actual proofs l saw plainly that man's spirit breathes. not only in the body, but also after it has left the body; that the spirit's breathing is so silent that man does not notice it; and that it flows into the manifest breathing of the body almost as cause flows into effect, and thought into the lungs and by means of the lungs into speech. Renee it is also plain that the union of the spirit and body in man exists through correspondence of the cardiac and pulmonary motions of both.

392. These two motions-cardiac and pulmonary -exist and continue because the whole angelic heaven to the least partic1e is in these two motions of life; and this again is because the Lord pours them forth from the Sun where Re is, and which is from Rim; for that Sun passes on these two motions from the Lord. It is c1ear that they have no other origin since all the things of heaven and of the world are supported by the Lord through that Sun in such a union of form as may be compared to chain work from the first link to the last, also since the life of love and wisdom is from Rim, and aH the forees of the universe exist from life. It follows that the variation of these motions is in accordance with the reeeption of love and wisdom.

393. A further explanation of the correspondence of these motions follows: what kind of correspondence they have who breathe together with heaven and they who breathe together with hell; also they who speak together with heaven but think together with hell, thus they who are hypocrites, fl<itterers, deceivers, and such like.

. 27°


THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HEART WITH THE WILL AND THE UNDERSTANDING WITH THE LUNGS MAKES KNOWN ALL THAT IS POSSIBLE TO BE KNOWN OF THE WILL AND UNDERSTANDING, OR OF LOVE AND WISDOM, AND THUS OF

MAN'S SOUL

394. Many learned men have toiled laboriously in search of the soul; but because they knew nothing of the spiritual world and of man's state after death, they could only frame theories of the operation of the soul in the body, not of its nature. The only idea they have been able to reach of what the soul is like is of something most pure in the ether, and of the form which contains the soul as of something etherial. Concerning this, however, they have ventured only generalities lest they ascribed anything natural to the soul, knowing that the sou! is spiritual. Now, because they had conceived such an idea of the soul and yet know perfectly weil that the soul 0 erates in the bo and produces everything t at as 0 0 Wl ItS

sensatlon âiïO motlon, ey ave, as was Sal ,

Iaboured hard ln reséàrch on the operation of the soul in the body, which sorne have held to be effected by influx and sorne by harmony. But as nothing has been discovered in this way with which the mind, desirous of seeing if it be so, can acquiesce, it has been granted me to speak with angels, and to be enlightened on this subjeet by their wisdom, of which the following is a summary. Man's soul, which lives after death, is his spirit. and lt IS man ln perfeeted form; the sou! of this

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1J{

\\


fonu is the will and understanding and the soul OMiiese lS loye arîa~om from the LQId; These (wo faculties are what constitute man's life, which is from the Lord alone; for the sake of reception of Him bJ.; man, the Lord causes it ta appear that hIe lS, as li were, man's own; but, lest he shou1d ascnbe hIe ta hlmself as filS own and thus withdraw himself from reception of the Lord, the Lord has aiso taught that everything of love, wfiIëll1Séâlléd ~od, and everythtn~of wisdom, which is~d

truth, cornes frori1Hlm, and nothing of them froi m2-E; and sÎnce these two are me, that everything of life which is life cornes from Him.

395. Since the soul, with res ect ta its veQ' Qeing, is ove an , an ese wo aculties eXlst ln man from the Lord, two receptacles wele created in man which also serve as the Lord's dwelling-places with him; one is for love and the other for wisdom; the love receptacle is called the will, and the wisdom receptacle is called the understanding. Now since Love and Wisdom in the Lord are distinctly one (see Nos. 17-22), and Divine Love is of Divine Wisdom, and Divine Wisdom is of Divine Love (Nos. 34-39), and these go forth in like manner from Gad-Man, that is, from theLord, therefore in man these tworeceptacles and dwelling-places of the Lord, called will and understanding, were created by the Lord so that they are distinctly two, b~et make one in every operation and in every sensahon; for in these will and understanding cannat be separated. Still, as essential to the end that man may become a receptacle and dwelling-place, it has been done in such a wa that man's underst . can be raisëa above l~ own parhcular love into a certain light

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of wisdom, in the love of which he is not, and tfierehy may see and learn how one must livetO come mto that love and s~$)( happiness ta eternity. Now since man has misapplied the power of raising the understanc1ing above his own particular love, he has destroyed that within him which might have been the receptacle and dwelling-place of the Lord, that is, of love and wisdom from the Lord, b makin the will the dwellin - lace of t e love of self anu a the world, and the un erstan mg tne dwel1mg-place of confirmatIons of those lovés. This is the ongin of these two dwelling-places, will and understanding, becoming dwelling-places of infernallove l and, by confirmatIOns m thei~r,

ç,f infernal thoug~t, which in hell passes for wisdom.

396. The cause of the loves of self and of the world being infernal, and of man being able ta enter into them and sa destroy the will and understanding within himseIf, is this: QY creati6n the [oves of self and of the world are heave~, for they are loves of the natural man of serVIce ta s~itual 10000as foundations are ta h.P.'lses. From t e love of self and the world man cares for the body, he wants ta be fed, clothed, and housed. ta provide for his family, ta seek useful employment, yea, and ta be held in respect according ta the dignity of his office, by reason of obedience, and also ta find delight and refreshment in worldly en[c1liiêiit; y~ these for the sakeof the elld, whic must be u~. For through these things he is m a candI tIOn ta serve the Lord and the nel hbour ; ut w en t ere is no love 0 servmg he Gd and the nelfthbour, and the love is only that of servmg hlmset oy means Qf 1Jle woŒ:l~

from bemg heavenly, it becomes infernal, and

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makes the man plünge mind and soul into his own inherent nat!:re which in itself is altogether eV1I.

397. Now in case man through the understanding be in heaven, as is possible, and through the will in hell, and thereby have a divided mind, after death everything that transcends his own particular love is removed; whence it ensues that will and understanding with all men finaUy act as one. With those who are in heaven, the will loves what is good and the understanding thinks what is true ; but with those in hell, the will loves what is evil and the understanding thinks what is false. Man does the same in the world when he thinks from his spirit, as he does when alone, although many think differently when they are in the body, as happens when they are not alone. Then it is different because they raise their understanding above the particular love of their will, or of their spirit: These things have been declared to let it be known that will and understanding are two distinct facultles, and yet were created to act as one, and that they are forced to do so after death, if not before.

398. Because, then, love and wisdom, and thence will and understanding, are what are spoken of as the soul, and in the following pages it is to be declared how the soul acts upon the body and effects aU its operations, and since this may be known from the correspondence of the heart with the will, and of the lungs with the understanding, by that correspondence the foUowing propositions have been revealed:

(i) Love or the will is man's very life. (ii) Love or the will strives continually towards

the human form and all things thereof.

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(iii) Love or the will can do nothing through its human form except by ma1'riage with wi§.dom or the understanding.

(iv) Love or the will prepares a home or bedchamber for its future wife, which is wisdom or the understanding.

(v) Love or the will also prepares all the things in its own human form so tltat it may act together with wisdom or the understanding.

(vi) After the nuptials, the first union cornes through the affection of knowing, from which springs an affection for truth.

(vii) The second union comes through the affection of understanding, from which springs perception of truth.

(viii) The third union comes through the affection for seeing tntth, from which springs thought.

(ix) Love or the will comes into sensitive and active life through these three unions.

(x) Love or the will introduces wisdom or the ~tnderstanding into all things of its house.

(xi) Love or the will does nothing except in union with wisdom or the understanding.

(xii) Love or the will unites itself to wisdom or . the ~tnderstanding, and makes the ~tnion

reciprocal. (xiii) Wisdom or the understanding, from power

given it by love or the will, can be raised and can receive such things as are of heavenly light, and perceive them.

(xiv) Love or the will can be raised likewise and can perceive such things as are of heavenly heat, provided it loves its partner in that degree.

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(XV) Otherwise love or the will draws wisdom or the zmderstanding back from its elevation so that it may act in unison with itself.

(xvi) Love or the will is purified by wisdom in the understanding if they are raised together.

(xvii) Love or the will is defiled in and by the understanding, if they are not raised together.

(xviii) Love, purified by wisdom in the understanding, becomes spiritual and celestial.

(xix) Love, defiled in and by the zmderstanding, becomes natural and sensual.

(xx) The faculty of understanding, called rationality, and the faculty of acting, called freedom, still remaitL

(xxi) Spiritual and celestial love is love towards the neighbour and to the Lord,' a1td natural and sensual love is love of the world and of self.

(xxii) ft is the same with charity and faith and their union as with will and understanding and their union.

399. (i) Love or the will is man's very life. This follows from the correspondence of the heart with the will (see above, Nos. 378-38r). For as the heart acts in the body, sa does the will in the mind ; and as all things of the body, in respect ta existence and motion, depend on the heart, sa all things of the mind, in respect ta existence and life, depend on the will. It is said "on the will," but this means on the love, because the will is the receptacle of love, and love is life itself (see above, Nos. r-3), and love which is life itself is from the Lord alone. By the heart and its spreading into the body

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through arteries and veins, it may be known that love or the will is man's life, since those things which correspond to each other aet in a similar manner. except that one is natural and the other spiritual. In what way the heart aets upon the body is plain from anatomy: for instance, every thing is living or submissive to life where the heart aets through vessels sent out from itself; and everything is lifeless where the heart does not aet through its vessels. Moreover, the heart is the first thing and the last thing that aets in the body. That it is the first is evident from embryos, and that it is the last is evident from the dying, and that it aets apart from the co-operation of the lungs is evident from cases of suffocation and of swooning. From this it may be seen that. as the subsidiary life of the body depends on the heart alone, so likewise the life of the mind depends on the will alone, and in the same way the will lives when thought has ceased, just as the heart does when breathing has ceased, as is also clear from the embryos, the dying, and cases of suffocation and swooning. From which it follows that love or the will is man's very life.

400. (ii) Love or the will strives continually towards the human form and aU things thereof This is plain from the correspondence of the heart with the will, for it is weIl known that aIl things of the body are formed in the womb by means of fibres from the brains and blood vessels from the heart. and that the tissues of aU the organs and viscera come from these two sources; from which it is clear that aIl things of man have existence from the life of the will, which is love, from their beginnings out of the brains through the fibres;

277


and all things of his body out of the heart through the arteries and veins. From these things it is perfectly plain that life, which is love and the will therefrom, strives continually towards the human form; and since the human form is composed of all those things that are in man, it follows that love or the will is in the constant effort and endeavour to form all those things. There is an effort and endeavour towards the human form because God is Man, and Divine Love and Wisdom is His Life, from which cornes the whole of life. Everyone may see that unless Life, which is very Man, were acting into that which has no life in itself, nothing could be formed such as exists in man, in whom thousands of thousands of things go to make one thing, and with one consent aspire to the likeness of the Life from which they sprang, in order that man may become His receptac1e and dwelling-place. From these things it may be seen that love, and from love the will, and from the will the heart, strive continually towards the human form.

401. (iii) Love or the will can do nothing through its human form except by marriage with wisdom or the understanding. This also is plain from the correspondence of the heart with the will. The embryo man lives from the heart, but not from the lungs; for at that time blood does not ftow from the heart into the lungs and enable him to breathe, but through an aperture into the left ventric1e of the heart; for which reason the embryo during that time cannot move any part of the body, for it lies bunched up, nor can it fee! anything, for the sensory organs are c1osed. It is the same with love or the will, from which the

278


embryo is all the while living, but in obscurity, without feeling and movement. But as soon as ever the lungs are opened, which takes place after birth, he begins at once to feel and to move, and likewise to will and to think. From these things it may be evident that love or the will can do nothing through its human form except by marriage with wisdom or the understanding.

402. (iv) Love or the will prepares a home or bedchamber for its future wife, which is wisdom or the understanding. In the created universe and every single thing thereof a marriage exists between goodness and truth; and this is so because goodness· comes from love, and truth from wisdom, and these two are in the Lord, and from Him all things were created. How this marriage exists in man may be seen refiected in the union of the heart with the lungs, for the heart corresponds to love or goodness, and the lungs to wisdom or truth (see above, Nos. 378-384). From that union it may be seen how love or the will betroths to itself wisdom or the understanding, and later weds or goes through a form of marriage with it. It betroths her to itself by preparing a home or bed-chamber for her ; and it marries her by uniting her to itself through the affections, and then carries wisdom with it into thilt home. Why it is so can only be described in spiritual language, because love and wisdom, and will and understanding therefrom, are spiritual things, which can indeed be taught in natural language, but only so as to be vaguely perceived on account of the ignorance of what love, wisdom, affections of goodness, and affections of wisdom which are affections of truth, really are. Yet one may see the nature of the betrothal and of the

279


marriage of love with wisdom, or of the will with the understanding, through the parallelism that exists in their correspondence with the heart and lungs. For it is the same with these as with love and wisdom, so much so as to make absolutely no difference, except that one is spiritual and the other natura1. Thus it is evident from the heart and lungs that the heart first forms the lungs, and later unites itself with them; it forms the lungs in the embryo, and unites itself with them after birth. This the heart does in its home, the breast, where they share their tent in common, separated from the other parts of the body by a wall, the diaphragm, and by a covering, the pleura. Tt is the same with love and wisdom, or with will and understanding.

403. (v) Love or the will also prepares all the things in its own human Jorm. so that it may act together with wisdom or the understanding. Will and understanding are mentioned, but it is right that it should be known that the will is the whole man; for the will is, with the understanding, in beginnings in the brains and in derivatives in the body, and thence in the whole and every part as has been shown above (Nos. 365-367). From which it may be evident that the will is the whole man in respect to form itself, both the general and the particular form of aIl things thereof; and that the understanding is its partner, just as the lungs are the partner of the heart. Let everyone beware of entertaining the idea that the will is something separate from the human form, for it is the same. From this it may be seen not only how the will prepares a bed-chamber for the understanding, but also how it prepares aIl things ln its home, the

280


whole body, so that it may act in union with the understanding. This it makes ready in this way; each and aH things of the body are united to the understanding as they are ta the will, or the understanding has each and aH things of the body in subjection as thè will has. How this preparation is effected can be seen only in the body, as in a mirror or likeness, by means of the science of anatomy. Thus it is known how all things in the body are connected so that when the lungs breathe, each and aU things of the whole body are moved thereby, while at the same time also they are moved by the beating of the heart. It is known from anatomy that the heart is united to the lungs by auric1es, which are continued into the interiors of the lungs; again that aH the viscera of the whole body are joined to the cavity. of the chest by means of ligaments; and so joined that when the lungs breathe, each and all things in general and in detail receive something from the respiratory motion. For when the lungs sweU out, the ribs expand the thorax, the pleura is dilated, and the diaphragm is stretched wide, and together with these all the lower parts of the body connected with them by ligaments receive sorne movement through the action of the lungs. l do not recite many facts, lest those who have no anatomical knowledge become lost through ignorance of the scientific terms employed in this subject. Only consult the expert and discerning anatomists as to whether ail things in the whole body from the breast downwards be not so bound together that, when the lungs are inflated, each and all things are roused to action, keeping time with the action of the lungs. From these things the nature of the union of the understanding with each and all things

281


of the human form, prepared by the will, is now plain; but examine the connections weIl, and survey them with anatomical eye, and afterwards, according to the connections, observe their cooperation with the breathing lungs and with the heart, and then think of understanding in place of lungs, and of will instead of heart, and you will see.

404. (vi) After the nuptials, the first union comes through the affection of knowing, from which springs an affection for tntth. By nuptials is to be understood man's state after birth, from a state of ignorance to a state of intelligence, and from this to a state of wisdom. The first state of mere ignorance is not here meant by nuptials, since at that stage there is no thought from the understanding, but only a dim affection of the love or will. This state is the first step towards the nuptials. But in the second state, which is of man in childhood, it is weIl known that there is an affection for knowing, by which the infant child learns to talk and to read, and later gradually acquires knowledge which belongs to the understanding. That it is love, belonging to the will, that effects this, cannot be doubted; for if love or the will did not set it in motion, it would not be done. That every man has, after birth, an affection for knowing, and through it acquires the knowledge by which his understanding is gradually formed, enlarged, and perfected, everyone acknowledges if he looks to experience with the aid of reason. That from this cornes affection for truth is also clear; for when man has become intelligent from an affection for knowing, it is not so much that affection by which he is led, as an affection

282


for reasoning, and forming conclusions on matters in which he takes delight, whether they be economic, civil, or moral. When this affection is raised yet more to spiritual things, it becomes an affection for spiritual truth. That its first or introductory state was an affection for knowing may be evident from the fact that an affection for truth is an exalted affection for knowing; for to be affected by truths is to will to know them, from affection, and when he discovers them, to drink them in from the joy of affection.

(vii) The second unùm comes through the affection of understanding from which springs perception of truth. This is clear to anyone who desires to study it from rational insight, which insight makes it plain that affection for truth and perception of truth are two faculties of the understanding, that in sorne persons are united and in sorne are not. They are united with those who love to perceive truths with the understanding, and not with those who only wish to know truths. It is clear also that everyone has as much perception of truth as he has affection for understanding; for take away affection for understanding truth and there will be no perception of truth; but grant affection for understanding truth, and its perception will correspond to the degree of affection for it; for the perception of truth is never lacking in a man of sound reason, provided he has the affection for understanding truth. It has been shown above that every man has this faculty of understanding truth, which is called rationality.

(viii) The third union cames through the affection for seeing truth, from which springs tlwught. That the affections for knowing, understanding, and seeing, or, the affection for truth, the perception

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40lJ DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

of truth, and thought, are each a separate thing, is but dimly seen by those who are unable to perceive the mind's workings separately, but is perfectly plain to those who cano The reason that the former see these distinctions dimly, is that the mind's workings are simultaneous in the thought with those who have both affection for truth and perception of it, and when simultaneous, they cannot be distinguished. Man is in manifest thought when his spirit thinks in the body, especial1y when in company with others; but when he has an affection for understanding, and thereby enters into the perception of truth, he is then in the thought of his spirit, which is meditation. This does indeed sink into bodily thought, but into silent thought ; for it is above bodily thought and sees the things which belong to thought from the memory, as it were, below itself, for he draws therefrom either conclusions or confirmations. But affection itself for truth is perceived only as a striving of the will from something delightful that lies within meditation as its life, to which little attention is paid. From these things it may now be evident that these three, affection for truth, perception of truth, and thought, follow in sequence fram love, and exist only in the understanding. For when love makes its entry mto the understandmg, WhiCh it does when their union is effected, it first begets affection for truth, then affection for understanding what it knows, and finally affection for seeing in bodily thought that which it understands, for thought is nothing else than internaI sight. Because it belongs to the natural mind, thought does indeed exist first, but thought, in accordance with perception of truth coming fram affection for truth, exists at the last. This thought is wisdom's thought,

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but the other is thought by means of the natural mind from the memory. All the workings of love or the will outside the understanding relate to affections for goodness, and not to affections for truth.

405. That these three things from the will's love follow in sequence in the understanding may indeed be comprehended by a rational man, but yet not seen clearly, and so not be confirmed to the extent of faith. Now since love which belongs to the will acts in unison with the heart by correspondence, and wisdom which belongs to the understanding acts in unison with the lungs, as shown above, what has just been said (No. 404) concerning affection for truth, perception of truth, and thought, can nowhere be more clearly seen and proved than in the lungs and the' structure thereof. These shall, therefore, be briefly described. After birth, the heart discharges the blood from its right ventricle into the lungs; and, after going through these, empties it into its left ventricle; and so opens the lungs. This it does through the pulmonary arteries and veins. The lungs have bronchial tubes which branch out, and fmally terminate in air-cells, into which the lungs admit air and so breathe. Around the bronchial tubes and their branches there are arteries and veins, called branchial, rising from the vena azygos or vena cava and from the aorta. These arteries and veins are distinct from the pulmonary arteries and veins. These facts make it plain that the blood flows into the lungs by two ways and flows out of them by two ways. This renders it possible for the lungs to breathe at a different rate from the heart's beat. It is well known that the reciprocal motions of the

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heart and of the lungs respectively do not act in unison. Now since there is a correspondence of the heart and lungs with the will and understanding, as was shown above, and since the union by correspondence is such that the one acts as the other acts, it may be seen, by the influx of blood from the heart into the lungs, how the will flows into the understanding, and effects the things mentioned just above (N0.404) concerning affection for and perception of truth, and concerning thought. Correspondence has revealed this and many other things concerning them to me, which cannot be described in few words. Since love or the will corresponds to the heart, and wisdom or the understanding corresponds to the lungs, it follows that the blood vessels of the heart in the lungs correspond to affections for truth, and the branches of the bronchia of the lungs to perceptions and thoughts from those affections. Anyone who explores aIl the tissues of the lungs from these beginnings and makes the analogy with the love of the will and with the wisdom of the understanding, may see reflected the things mentioned above (No. 404), and so be confirmed to faith. But since the facts of anatomical science concerning the heart and lungs are known to few, and to confirm anything by the unknown leads to obscurity, l refrain from further demonstra tion of the analogy.

406. (ix) Love or the will comes into sensitive and active life through these three unions. Love without the understanding or affection, which cornes from love, without thought, which cornes from the understanding, can neither feel nor act in the body, because love without the understanding is as it were blind, or affection without thought is as it

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were in a fog, for the understanding is the light by which love sees. The wisdom of the understanding cornes from the light which goes forth from the Lord as the Sun. Since. thereforc, the will's love sees nothing without the light of the understanding, and is blind, it follows that, without the light of the understanding, the bodily senses also would be in darkness and grossness, not only sight and hearing, but the others also; the other senses 31so hecause every perception of truth cornes from love in the understanding, as \Vas shawn above, and aIl the senses of the body derive their perception from the perception of its mind. It is the same with every bodily act; for an act from love without the understanding is like the action of a man in the night time, for at such a time he knows not what he is doing ; therefore there would be no intelligence and wisdom in the action. l t cannot be called living action. Action also derives its being from love and its character from intelligence. Besides, ail the power of goodness comes through truth; on which account goodness acts in truth and thus hy its means; and goodness cornes from love. and truth from the understanding. From these things, it may be evident that love or the "lill comes into its sensitive and active life through these three unions, concerning which see above (No. 404).

407. That it is so can be confirmed to the life by the union of heart and lungs. because the correspondence between the will and the heart, and between the understanding and the lungs. is such that just as love acts with the understanding spiritual1y, so does the heart act with the lungs naturally; hence what has been said above may he seen as in a picture presented to view. That

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man has neither any sensitive life nor any active life so long as the heart and lungs do not act together, is evident from the state of the embryo or of the infant in the womb, and from its state after birth. As long as man is an embryo, or in the womb, the lungs are closed; consequently he possesses neither feeling nor action; the organs of sense are sealed up, the hands are bound and the feet likewise; but after birth the lungs are opened, and in proportion as they are opened so man feels and acts; the lungs are opened by the blood sent into them from the heart. That man has neither sensitive nor active life without the co-operation of the heart and lungs is evident also from swoons. In swoons the heart alone acts and not the lungs, for breathing is then suspended. In these cases it is well known that there is no sensation and no movement. The same is true of a man suffocated, whether it be by water, or by something blocking the larynx and closing the breathing passage of the lungs. The man appears at the time to be dead, he feels nothing and does nothing, and yet is alive at heart, as is well known, for he returns to both lives, sensitive and active, directly the obstructions of the lungs are removed.

"1 l t is true the blood circulates in the meantime through the lungs, '5üTtllrough the pulmonary ~teries and vems, and not through the broncfiial arJenes 'l,nd veins, which .K!..vli man the p~er to breathe. It is the same wit the influx orIOve into the understanding.

408. (x) Love or the will introduces wisdom or the understanding into aU things of its hou.se. By the house of love or the will is meant the whole man in respect to all his mind's belongings. Because

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these correspond to all the things of the body (as shown above), the house means also the "'''hole man in respect to all the parts of his body, called members, organs, and viseera. That the lungs are introduced into aU these in the same way as the understanding into all things of the mind may be evident from what has been shown above: for example, love or the wiU prepares a home or bedchamber for its future wife, wisdom or the understanding (No. 402); love or the will prepares all the things in its own human form, or in its home, so that it may act together with wisdom or the understanding (No. 403). From the facts stated in these passages, it is plain that each and aU things in the whole body are connected by ligaments put for th from the ribs, spine, sternum, and diaphragm, and from the peritonaeum which depends on these, in such a way that, when the lungs' are breathing, they are similarly depressed and raised in alternate movements. That the alternations of breathing also penetrate to the viscera themselves, even to their inmost recesses, may be evident from anatomy ; for the ligaments mentioned above adhere to the sheaths of the viscera, and the sheaths, by thrusts outward, penetrate to their innermost parts, as do the arteries and veins also through their branches. Renee it may be evident that the breathing of the lungs is in complete union with the heart in every part of the body; and in order that the union may be complete in every respect, even the heart itself has pulmonic motion, for it lies in the bosom of the lungs and is connected with them by the amides, and reclines upon the diaphragm, whereby its arteries also participate in the pulmonic motion. Moreover the stomach has a similar union with the lungs by the connection of its gullet with the

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trachea. These anatomical facts are adduced with the purpose of showing the kind of union existing between love or the will and wisdom or the understanding, and of both together with aU things of the mind; for it is similar.

409. (xi) Love or the will does nothing except in union with wisdom or the understanding. For as love has no sensitive nor any active life apart from the understanding, and as love introduces the understanding into all things of the mind (as was shown above, Nos. 407, 408), it follows that love or the will does nothing except in union with the understanding. For what is it to act from love without the understanding? It can only be called irrational; for the understanding teaches what ought to be done and the way it should be done. Love does not know this apart from the understanding; on which account the marriage between love and the understanding is such that although they are two, they yet act as one. There is a similar marriage between goodness and trllth, for goodness belongs to love, and truth to the understanding. Every single thing in the universe which has been created by the Lord has such a marriage ; their use has relation to goodness and the form of the use to truth. From this marriage cornes the fact that every single part of the body has a right and a left, and the right relates to goodness from which truth springs, and the left to truth from goodness, thus to their union. The pairs in man are from this source. There are two brains, two hemispheres of the brain, two ventric1es of the heart, two lobes of the lungs, two eyes, ears, nostrils, arrns, hands, loins, feet, kidneys, testic1es, and other things; and where there are not pairs,

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there is a right and a left. These pairs exist because goodness has truth in view in order that itself may have existence, and truth has goodness in view in order that itself may live. It is the same in the angelic heavens and in each of their societies. More concerning these may be seen above (No. 401),

where it was shown that love or the will can do nothing through its human form without a marriage with wisdom or the understanding. We shall deal elsewhere with the union of what is evil and taIse, which is the opposite of the union of goodness and truth.

410. (xii) Love or the will u-nites itself to wisdom or the tmderstanding, and makes the union reciprocal. That love or the will unites itself to wisdom or the understanding is plain from their correspondence with the heart and lungs. The knowledge of anatomy teaches that the heart cornes into its life's motion before the lungs. Experience tcaches it by those who suffer from swoons and suffocation, also by embryos in the womb, and chicks in eggs. Knowledge of anatomy also teaches that the heart, during the time it is acting alone, forms and adapts the lungs 50 that it may put the respiration in motion there; and that it also forms the other viscera and organs so that it may perform various uses in them, the organs of the face that it may discern by sense, the organs of motion that it may move, and the l'est of the bodily organs that it may establish uses corresponding to the affections of love. From these things it is first and foremost evident that just as the heart produces such things on account of the varied activities it is about to perform in the body, so love produces corresponding things in its receptacle, the will, for the sake of the

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various affections that make up its form, which, as was shown above, is the human form. Now since the first and neighbouring affections of love are the affections for knowing, for understanding, and for seeing what it knows and understands, it follows that love forms the understanding for them, and actually cornes into them when it begins to feel and to act, and to think. The understanding contributes nothing to this, as is evident from the analogy of the heart and lungs (see above). From these things it may be seen that love or the will unites itself to wisdom or the understanding, and not wisdom or the understanding to love or the will; and it is further evident that the knowledge which love gains for itself from the affection for understanding, and the perception of truth which it gains from the affection for understanding, and thought which it gains from the affection for seeing what it knows and understands, do not come from the understanding, but from love. Thoughts, perceptions, and items of knowledge therefrom, do indeed flow in from the spiritual world, yet are not received by the understanding, but by love in accordance with its affections in the understanding. It appears as if the understanding receives them, and not love or the will, but it is an illusion. 1t appears also as if the understanding unites itself to love or the will, but this also is an illusion. Love or the will unites itself to the understanding and makes the union reciprocal. This reciprocal union comes from love's m'arriage with it. The union thence is made seemingly reciprocal by the life and consequent power of love. It is the same with the marriage of goodness and truth, for goodness cornes trom love, and truth from the understanding. Goodness actuates all things, and

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receives truth into its home, and unites itse1f with truth as far as it is in harmony. Goodness may also admit truths which are not in harmony, but this it does from an affection for knowing, understanding, and thinking its own things, while it is not yet deterroined upon the uses which are its ends, and are called its good things. There is absolutely no reciprocal union, or union of truth with good. What is united reciprocally cornes from the lire of goodness. From this it is that every man and every spirit and angel is judged by the Lord according to his love or goodness, and no one according to his understanding, or truth separate from love or goodness; fç"r man's life is his love, as was shown above, and filS hIe IS Itre just as he lias exalted filS affections 'S'Y means àf L truths, that IS, ln accordance w~

maue theatfêctions er cc. •or love's affections 1 are exalte an per ected by means of truths, thus by wisdom; and then love acts together with wisdom, as if from it, but actually of itse1f through wisdom, as through its own forro, which form receives nothing whatever from the understanding, but everything from sorne nxed purpose of love which is called affection ...

411. Love calls all those things which are favourable to it its good things, anrl all those that as means lead to good things it calls its truths; and because they are means they are loved and become the property of its affection, and thus become affections in forro; on which account truth is nothing else than a form of love's affection. The human form is nothing else than a form of ail love's affections; beauty is its power of discernment which it acquires through truths received either

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by external and internaI sight or hearing. These are the things that love arranges into a form of its affections. These fonus exist in great variety, but ail derive a resemblance from their general fonu. which is the human. Ail of these to love appear beautiful and worthy to be loved, but the rest ugly and unlovable. From these things it is evident also that love unites itself to the understanding. and not the reverse, and that the reciprocal union also cornes from love. This is what is meant by love or the will making the union with wisdom or the understanding reciprocal.

412. What has been said may be seen in sorne resemblance and so confinued by the correspondence of the heart with love and of the lungs with the understanding (of which above). For if the heart corresponds to love, its ends-the arteries and veins-correspond to affections, and in the lungs to affections for truth; and since there are other vessels alsû in the lungs cailed air vessels, by which breathing is effected, these vessels correspond to perceptions. l t must be correctly understood that the arteries and veins in the lungs are not affections, and that respirations are not perceptions and thoughts, but that they are correspondences, for their action is correspondent or synchronous; similarly, that the heart and lungs are not love and the understanding, but correspondences; and since they are correspondences, the one may be seen in the other. He who has acquired a knowledge of the structure of the lungs from anatomy, and makes comparison with the understanding, may see clearly that the understanding does nothing of itself, does not perceive nor think of itself, but it does everything from love's affections, which in

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the understanding are caUed affections for knowing, understandillg, and seeing truth (and were treated of above). For aU the conditions of the lungs depend upon the blood from the heart and from the vena cava and aorta,. and breathing, which is effected in the bronchial branches, goes on according to those conditions; for when the infiow of blood stops, breathing stops. Much more may yet be revealed by comparing the structure of the lungs , with the understanding, to which it corresponds; but as the science of anatomy is not generally known, and to demonstrate or confirm anything by the unknown renders it obscure, it is not advisable to say more on the matter. From my knowledge of the structure of the lungs 1 am fully convinced that love unites itself to the understanding by its affections, and that the understanding does not unite itself to any affection oflove, but that it is united reciprocally by love because of the end, that lClve may have sensitive and active life. But it must be known generally that man has a twofold respiration, one of the spirit, the other of the body; and that the breathing of the spirit depends on the fibres from the brains, and the breathing of the body on the blood vessels from the heart and from the vena cava and aorta. Moreover, it is evident that thought draws out the respiration, and it is evident also that love's affection draws out thought; for thought apart from affection is precisely like respiration without the heart, which is impossible. Renee it is clear that love's affection unites itself to the understanding's thought, as said above, in the same way as the heart does in the lungs.

413. (xiü) Wisdom or the understanding, Jrom power given it by love, can be raised, and can receive

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413) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

such things as are of heavenly light, and perceive them. l t has been shown in several places above that man has the power to perceive secrets of wisdom when he hears them. This faculty of man is what is called rationality and is the heritage of every man by creation. lt is the faculty of understanding things interiorly and.2! forming opinions on what 1s Just and ri fit and on what IS good and

Jt~; an y 1 man IS istmguishe rom eas s. This therefore is the meaning of the caption above, " the understanding can be raised and can receive such things as are of heavenly light, and perceive them." The truth of this may be seen effigied also in the lungs, since the lungs correspond to the understanding. lt may be evident in the lungs from their cellular substance, which is made up of branchial tubes continued even to the minutest air-cells, which are receptac1es for the air used in breathing; these are the things with which the thoughts ad in unison by correspondence. This cell-like substance is such that it may be expanded and contracted in twofold fashion, in one with the heart, and in the other almost separate from the heart, in the former by arterics and veins which come from the heart alone, in the latter by the bronchial arteries and veins which come from the vena cava and aorta,. these vessels are outside of the heart. This is sa in the lungs beca~e

understanding can be raised above its own articular love correspon mg 0 e eart an can receive liiili1 from heaven. Yet when the understanding is raIse a ove its own particular love, it does not go away from it, but geriyes therefrom an affection for knowing and understanding for the sake of~

SQlIle....-W~\'['ll~t of hanaur. glory or gain. This quality clings to every love like a surface,

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on account of which love shines out to the surface, and with the wise shines through. These things concerning the lungs are brought forward to prove that the understanding can be raised, and can receive and perceive things that are of heavenly light, for the correspondence is absolute. To see from correspondence is to see the lungs in accordance with the understanding, and the understanding in accordance with the lungs and so the confirmation in accordance with both together.

414. (xiv) Love or the will can be raised likewise and can receive such things as are of heavenly heat, provided it loves wisdom, its partner, in that degree. It was shown in the preceding chapter and in many places above that the understal!ding can be raised into the light of heaven, and from it imbibe wisdom ; but it has also been frequently shown that love or the will can be raised in like manner if1tIOVe f things that belong to the light of heaven.. oLiQ wisdom. But love or the will cannot be raised • through any hope of honour, glory, or gain, as an end, but through love of us.,e, thus not for the sake 11 \ of self, but for the sake of the neighbour; and ~ \

the LOrd f[,2m )11bëëaüse this love ~s O"iven onl b heaven, an IS Iven b t e or w n shüOs evils as sms, ove or the wi can on t is account be ralsed by this means and in no other way. Love or the will is raised into heavenly heat, the understanding, however, into heavenly light ; and if both be raised, their marriage is celebrated there, and is called a heavenly marriage, because it is a marriage of heavenly love and wisdom; for which reason it is said that love also is raised if it love wisdom, its partner, in that degree. Wisdom's love, or the genuine love of the humap

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understanding, is love towards the nei hbour from t~lQ.fd. 1t is t e same wIt lig t an eat in the world. Light is given without heat and is given with heat, the former in winter and the latter in summer. When there is heat with light all things flourish. Light in man corresponding to the light of winter is wisdom without its love, and light in man corresponding to the light of summer is wisdom with its love.

415. This union and disunion of wisdom and love may be seen effigied, as it were, in the union of the lungs with the heart. F<?r the heart can be united to the clustering air-vessels of the 5ronchia by blood sent out from itself, and li can be united 5y bTôod not from ItseU -Out from the vena câ,va and aorta. By this means the breathing of the body can be separated from the breathing of the

1spirit; but when blood from the heart alone acts, the respirations cannot be separated. Now since

• thoughts act in unison with breathing by correspondence, it is plain from the twofold condition of the lungs in respect to breathing, that man can think in one way and from his th(mght speak and act in the company of others, and that he can think in another way and from his thought speak and acCwhen not in company, that is, when he fears no loss of reputation. For flien heëân-think and speak against God, the neighbonr, the spiritual things of the Church, and against things moral and civil; and, moreover, can ad against them, by stealing, taking revenge, blaspheming, and committing adultery. But in company when he fears loss of reputation, he can talk, preach, and act precisely like a spiritual, moral, and civil man. From these things it may be evident that love

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416. (xv) Otherwise love or the will draws wisdom or the understanding back from its elevation, so that it may act in unison with itself. There is natural love and there is spiritual love. A man who is in natural love and at the same time lU spmfuâI lOve isa rahonal man; but a man who is lU nafural lOVe alone is not a rational man, although he may think rationally precisely like a spiritual man; he does certainly raise his understanding to the very light of heaven, thus to wisdom, but ~et the treasures of wisdom or of heavenly light 0 not belong to filS love. HIS love Goes thlS, If ïstrüè, bût trom a desire for honour, glory, and gain. Yet, when he perceives that he gains nothing of the kind from that elevation, as he does whenhe jrefiects within himself from TÙs own natural love, hehas no love tlien for thingsOf lieavell1y Ilght or wisdom; and for this reason immediately recalls the understandmg from lis elevation so tnat it may act in umson with filmseIf. For inStâriëë : ~he understa:nding by elevation attains wisdom, love at once sees the qualities of justice, sincerity, chastity, yea and of genuine love. The~

faculty of understanding and seeing things in heavenly light enables love to see this, and furthermore, to talk and preach about them and to depict them as moral and also spiritual virtues. When, 141 however, the understandin is not raised, lo\re, li it lS mere y na ura, sees no ose vlrtues, but instead of them, injustice, frauds, lust, and so

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forth. Should it then contemplate what it had said when its understanding was raised, it may ridicule them, and think only that they may serve it for ensnaring men's souls. From these things it may be evident how it is to be understood that

llove, if it love not lts partner, wlsdom, ln {fiat ~ree, draws it back from its elevatLOn, so that 1 may ad ln Ulllson wltfï-itse1f. That love 'can oe raise(!; if it love wisdom in that degree, may be seen above (No. 414).

417. Now since love corresponds to the heart, and the understanding to the lungs, the above statements may be confirmed by their correspondence; thus, how the understanding can be raised above its own articular 0 e evenJ!1to wlsâ:9m; also, Mw the un erstanding is drawn back from its elevahon by Uïat love, li {filS be mereI)!' natura1. Man lias a twoIofd r"ësimaûOn, orthe body and of the spirit. These two respirations may be separated and may also be united; in merely natural men, particularly in hypocrites, they are separated, but in spiritual and sincere men, rarely. Consequently a merely natural man and hypocrite, whose understanding has been raised, and in whose memory, therefore, many things of wisdom remain, can talk wisely in company by thought from the memory; but should he not be in company, his thought does not come from the memory, but from his spirit, thus from his love. In like manner also he breathes, because thought and breath act correspondently. That the structure of the lungs is such that they can lrr'ëéilhe both by blood from the heart and by blood from OlitSlÔë' Of lhë-hëart has been shown

ft 1above.

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418. Tt is generally held that wisdom makes the man; therefore when people hear anyone speaking and teaching wisely, they credit him \Vith wisdom ; indeed, he himself believes sa at the time. The reason is that when he speaks and teaches in company, he is thinking from his memory, and, if he be a merely natural man, from the surface of his love, which is the desire for hanour, glory, and gain; but that same man, when alone, actually thinks from the interior love of his spirit, and then not wisely, but at times insanely. From these things it may be evident that no one is judged by wise speech, but by his life; that is ta say, no one is judged by wise speech apart from life, but by wise speech united ta life. By life is meant love. That love is the life has been shawn above.

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and reject them become visible to him. Love, that is, the man, sees all this by the exercise of the faculty of raising his understanding into the light of heaven, the source of wisdom. Then to the extent that love puts heaven first and the WOrTcl second, and al the same hme puts the Lord 10 The first place and himself in the second, it is cleansed from unc1eanness and is purified; that is, love is raised into heavenly heat and united to the light of heaven in which the understanding dwells, and a marriage is made that is called the union of goodness and truth, that is, of love and wisdom. Everyone may understand intellectually and see rationally that in the measure that any man shuns and rejects theft and fraudulence, he will love sincerity, uprightness, and justice; in the measure that he shuns and rejects revenge and hmred, he will love the neighbour; and in the measure that he shuns and rejects adulteries, he will love chastity, and so on. Nay rather there is scarcely anyone who knows what there is of heaven and of the Lord in sincerity, uprightness, justice, love towards. the neighbour, chastity, and the other affections of heavenly love, until he has removed their opposites. As soon as the opposites are removed, he cornes into those affectlOns and DY thelr aid rëëàgtllses and sees thtm; meanwhile it is as if a veil were interposed, which does indeed transmit to love the light of heaven; but because love does not in that degree love its partner, wisdom, it does not receive it, indeed may even refute and rebuke it, when it returns from its elevation. Yet man is consoled by the thought that the wisdom of his understanding may prove the means to honour, glory, or gain; but then he puts himself and the world in the first place, and the Lord and heaven

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in the second; and what is put in the second place is loved only so far as it is serviceable; and if not of use, is given up and rejected, if not before death. yet after it. From these things the truth is now evident that love or the will is purified in the understanding, if they are raised together.

420. A similar thing is portrayed in the lungs, whose arteries and veins correspond to the love's affections, and whose respirations correspond to the understanding's perceptions and thoughts, as has been said above. That the heart's blood is c1eansed from undigested matters in the lungs and is nourished with the beneficial properties of the air inhaled, is evident from much observation. That the blood is cleansed of undigested matters in the lungs, is evident not only from the inflowing blood which is venous, and therefore filled with the chyle collected from food and drink, but also from the expirations which are moist, and from their odour, as perceived by others, as well as from the diminished quantity of blood flowing back into the left ventric1e of the heart. T hat the blood is nourished with the beneficial matters of the air inhaled, is evident from the immense volumes of odours and exhalations continually flowing forth from meadows, gardens and woods; and from the copious supplies of various kinds of salts in the vapours rising from the earth, rivers and ponds; and from the vast quantities of exhalations and effiuvia from human beings and animals. with which the air is charged. That these things flow into the lungs with the indrawn air is not to be denied, nor can it be denied that the blood drawg therefrom such things as are beneficial to it; and such things are beneficial as correspond to the

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42 0, 421J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

affections of its love. Hence it is that there are in the air-calls, or inmosts of the lungs, small veins with little mouths, which suck in such things; thereupon the blood flowing back into the left ventricle of the heart is changed into arterial blood and is in good condition. These facts prove that the blood is purified by heterogeneous things and is nourished by homogeneous things. That the blood in the lungs purifies and nourishes itseif correspondently to the affections of the mind is as yet unknown, but is very weil known in the spiritual world; for angels in the heavens enjoy only those odours that correspond to the love of their wisdom, but spirits in hell enjoy only those odours that correspond to the love opposed to wisdom; these odours are stenches, but the former are perfumes. l t follows from Jhis that men impregnate their blood with similar things according to the correspondence with their love's affections; for what man's spirit loves, the blood in accordance with the correspondence craves, and attracts by respiration. From this correspondence it cornes that man is purified in respect to his lovè if he love wisdom, and is defiled if he does not love it. Moreover, ail ur'fica 'on of man is effected b truths of wisdom, and ail e ement by falsities o~ruths of wtsdom

.;K.' 421 . (xvii) Love or the will is dejiled in and by ~ • the understanding, if they are not raised together;

li since, if love be not raised, it remains impure (as stated above, Nos. 419, 420); and as long as that is so, it loves what is impure, revenge, hatred, deceit, blasphemy, adultery; for these are then its affections and are called lusts; it scorns e;.rerything that has to do with charity, justice, sincerity, truth,

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and chastity. Love is said ta be defiled in and by the understanding: in the understanding, when love is. affected by thOSë"Tmpure thmgs; 6y the understanding, when love causes the things of wisdom to become its servants, and still more when it perverts, falsifies, and adulterates them. There is no need ta say more of the state of the heart or its blood in the 111ngs carrespanding ta these things, than was said above (No. 420), except that instead of purification of the blood its defilement takes place, and instead of nutrition of blood by fragrant odours, nutrition is effected by stenches, exact!y as it is in heaven and in hello

422. (xviii) Love, purifled by wisdom in the understanding, becomes spiritual and celestial. Man is barn natural, but as the understanding is raised inta the light of heaven and with it love is raised into the heat of heaven, 50 he becomes spiritual and celestial; he then becomes like a Garden of Eden which has at once the light and heat of perpetua! spring. Tt is not the understanding that becomes spiritual, but lo::e; and when laye tiëëomes spiritual, it also makes its P<n:tner, tl!e understandmg, spmfual and celesué.Û. Love becomes spiritual and celesbal by-:riife In accordance wlih the truths of wisdom taught and indicated by the understanding. Love imbibes these truths by means of its understanding and not from itself; for love cannat be raised except b knowin truths,

~ a~ 1 can know t ese on y y means a an e eva êd Il and enhghtened unders an mg; an en t e

measure ol-il--s--wve--1OTfftiThs by practisl~

is the height of lis elevation. For lt 15 one thing fa understand, and another ta will; or one thing ta talk and another ta do. There are those who

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understand and speak truths of wisdom, yet neither will them nor practise them. When, therefore, love does put into practice the truths of Ilght, which it understands and talks about, iJ is raised. '1 fiat If 1S so, man may see from reason atone; for what can be said of the man who understands the truths <:Jf wisdom and speaks about them while he lives contrary to them, that is, while his will and conduct are opposed to them? Love purified by wisdom becomes spiritual and celestial because man has three degrees of life, called natural, spiritual, and celestial, treated of in the Third Part of this Work. Man can be raised from one to another ; yet he is not raised b wisdom alone but b r e

Il in accor ance t erewJ.t , or man s Me is h1S .love. Wherefore, he loves wisdom to the extent that he appljes it to life; and that. application is tlie measure of his purification from what is unc1ean,

1that is from sins; and so far as he purifies himself, 1he loves wisdom.

423. The process of love purified by wisdom in the understanding being made spiritual and celestial cannot be seen through its correspondence with the heart and lungs, because no one can see the quality of the blood by which the lungs are maintained in a state of respiration. The blood may abound in impurities, and in this respect be indistinguishable from pure blood. Moreover the respiration of a merely natural man appears the same as that of a spiritual man, but the difference is c1early discerned in heaven, for there everyone breathes in accordance with the marriage of love and wisdom; on this account, as angels are recognised by that marriage, they are recognised also by the breathing. This is why, when 'anyone enters

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heaven who has not that marriage, he is seized with anguish in the breast, and struggles for breath like those in the agony of death; for which reason also he throws himself headlong from the place and rests not tiU he finds himself among those with respiration similar to his own; for then by correspondence he is in similar affection and therefore in similar thoughL From these things it may be evident that with the spiritual man, it is his purer blood, called by sorne the animal spirit, which is purified; and that it is purified to the degree the man is in the marriage of love and wisdom. It is this purer blood which corresponds most nearly to this marriage, and since it fiows into the blood of the body, it follows that the latter blood also is purified by iL The reverse is true of those in whom love is defiled in the understanding, but, as was said, no one can test this by any experiment on the blood. but he can by observing the affections of love, since these correspond to the blood.

424. (xix) Love, deflled in and by the ~mder

standing, becomes natural, sens~ial, and corporeal. Natural love se arated trom s iritual love is the OpposIte 0 spIrItual love. The reason IS that natural love is the love of self and of the world, and spiritual love is love to the Lord and to the neighbour; and love of self and the world looks downward and outward, and love to the Lord lQoks u'lward and inward. Consequently, wMn1 natur love is s rated fro s iritual 10 è7Ït cannot be raIs~_)r man s In~ot nature, bGt [(;mains Immersea~. and sa rar-as it lovesit, 15 fastened to iL Then if the understanding ascends and sees by the light of heaven such things as are of wisdom, it drags the wisdom down

3°7


and unites it to itself in its own inherent nature, '\ and there either re'ects the thin s of wisdom or

falsl es t em, or puts t em round about itself to bCSp<5KëïfOI foi-reputahon s sake. Just as natural love can ascend by degrees and become spiritual and celestial, so also it can descend by degrees and become sensual and corporeal; and the descent is to the extent that it loves to dominate from no love of use, but solely from the love of self. It is this love which is caHed the devil. Those who are in this love can speak and act exactly like those who are in spiritual love; but, at the time they do so, it is either from the memory or from the understanding raised by itself into_the light of heaven. Nevertheless their speech and actions may be compared to goodly fruit l'otten within, or almonds whose sheHs look sound but are worm eaten within. In the spiritual worlel they caH these things phantasies, by means of which harlots, who are there caUed sirens, make themselves look beautiful and adorn themselves with becoming dresses, but when the phantasy is dissipated they look like ghosts, and are like the devils who make themselves angels of light. For when that corporeal love drags its understanding down from its elevation, as it does when alone, and then thinks from its own love, it thinks against God in favour of nature, against heaven in favour of the world, and against the true and good things of the Church in favour of the false and evil things of heU, and thus against wisdom. From these things it may be evident what is the character of those caUed corporeal men, for they are not corpbreal in respect to the understanding, but are corporeal in respect to love; that is, they are not corporeal in understanding when speaking in company, but when

308


communing with themselves in spirit; and because they are such in spirit, after death, in respect to both love and understanding, they become what are known as corporeal spirits. Those who in the world had been in the supreme love of ruling from self love, and at the same time had excelled others in elevation of the understanding, then appear in body like Egyptian mummies, and in mind gross and foolish. Who in the world to-day knows that this love in itself is of such a character? Nevertheless a love of ruling from a love oJ.J:!.~e iSJ29ssible, but from a love of use for the sake of the eneral good, not or t e sake 0 se. ut man can hardly distinguish the one from the other and yet the diflerence between them is like that between heaven and hello The diflerences between these two loves of ruling may be seen in the work on Heaven and HeU (Nos. 55I-565).

425. (xx) The fa culty of understanding, called rationality, and the faculty of acting, called freedom, still remain. These two faculties belonging to man were discussed above (Nos. 264-267). Man possesses these two faculties in order that he may, from being natural, become spiritual, that is, may be regenerated. For, as was said above, it is ma.!!'s love that becomes spiritual and is regenerated; and tfilS cannot become spiritual or be regenerated unless he know by means of his J:nderstancl.ing whaLevil is and what goodness lS, and the~re

what tnîlllis and wfiatIalSif:fi5.'VVheÏï1îëKnows these thingS,l-ïe may cfioose o~ or the other; and if he choose goodness, he can Qy means oL.!:ys understanding be informecfOfihë means b w 'ch tQ..attam 0 goo ness. means are rOVl ed by WhlCh man can attain ness. le a 1 ity..

• 3°9


ta know and understand these means cornes from 1rattonalÛy, and the ablhty ta VI'Ïll and ta do them , from Jièedom. Freedom is also the will to knQw,

to understand.z and t2-think them. They kIlOW notlimg a50ut these faculties who believe from the teaching of the Church, that spiritual or theological things transcend the understanding, and must therefore be believed without understanding. These can only deny that there is a faculty of rationality. And they who believe from the teachings of the Church that no one can do ood of himself and t ere ore no good must be done wl1h any hope of salvation as its cause, can only deny from a principle of their religion the existence of both faculties belonging to man. Therefore, they who have become confirmed in these beliefs, are deprived of both faculties after death in accordance with their faith, and instead of the heavenly freedom which might have been theirs, have infernal freedom, and instead of the angelic wisdom they might have had from rationality, they come into infernal insanity. The remarkable thing is that they perceive the existence of bath these faculties in the doing of what is evil and thinking of what is false, not knowing that the freedom to do evil is slavery, and that the basic reason for thinking what is false is irrational. But it must be clearly recognised that bath these faculties of freedom and rationalit are nol man's, but are the Lordis m man, and that

\ ~ they cannat he Jl.PPUU?nated ta man as his QlVn ;Il \li lU therefore, .the cannat be iven ta .m~n as. his own. but r~ con mu y e ord s 1!!.--....E!1; and yètthey are never taken away fram man, for this reason; that without them he cannot be saved; for regeneration is J:.lot possible without them, as was said above. .3Vherefore man is taught by the

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Church that he cannot think what is true nor do what is good of himself. But since man is only conscious that this thought and act come from himself, it is perfectly clear that he ought ta be1ieve that he thinks what is true and does what is good as if from himself. For, if he do not believe this, either he does not think and act in this way and sa has no religion, or he thinks and acts from himself, and then he ascribes ta himself what is Divine. That man ought ta think what is true and do what is good as if from himself may be seen in the Doctrine of Life for the New]erusalem, from beginning ta end.

426. (xxi) Spiritual and celestial love is love towards the neighbour and ta the Lord, and natural and sensual love is love of the world and of self. B love ta ards the nci hbou . m a the e o uses, and bv love ta the Lord is meant the love ôfëiOfng uses, as has been shown betore. 1he reason that these loves are spiritual and celestial is that the love of uses and doing them from love for them is distinct from man's inherent love; for he who loves uses spiritually, regards not hims.!;lf 1Il but others outslde seTf,të)f whoSëgë5OG1ie 1S con-l ~

cerned. The loves 01 self and of the würfcrare opposed ta these loves, for they have no regard ta uses for the sake of others, but only for self; and those who perform uses in this way invert the Divine arder, and put themselves in the Lord's place, and the world in the pla.ce of heaven; thus it cornes about that they look backwards, away from the Lord and from heaven, and ta look backwards is ta look towards hell; but more concerning these loves may be seen above (No. 424). But man does not feel and perceive the love of performing

3II


uses for the sake of uses as a love of performing uses for the sake of self; hence also he does not know, when he does them, whether he is doing them for the sake of uses or of self. But he may know that in the degree he shuns evils, he is

erforming uses for the sake of uses; for sotar as he shuns them, he aoes them not from himself, but from the Lord. For evil and good are opposites, and for this reason one cornes into good to the extent that one cornes out of evil. No one can be in evil and in good at the same time, because no one can serve two masters at the same time. These things are said so that it may be known that, although man does not perceive by sense whether the uses performed are for the sake of use or for the sake of self, that is, whether the l1ses are spiritual or merely natural, he may yet know it by this, whether or no he consider evils to be sins. If he regard them as sins, and if, on that account, he refrain from doing them, then the uses he performs are spiritual; and when, from a feeling of aversion, he shuns sins, he also begins to have sensible perception of the love of uses for the sake of uses, and this from a spiritual delight in them.

427. (xxii) ft is the same with charity and faith, and their union, as with will and understanding, an.d their union. Celestial love and spiritual love are the two loves in accordance with which the heavens are distinguished. Celestial love is love to the Lord and spiritual love is love towards the neighbour. The distinction between these loves is that celestial love is the love of what is good, and spiritual love is the love of what is true; for. those who live in celestial love perform uses from love of what is good, and those who live in spiritual

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love from love of what is true. The marriage of celestial love is with wisdom and the marriage of spiritual love is with intelligence; fur domg what is good from goodness Ts the part of wisdom, and doing what is ood from truth is the part of intelligence; where ore ce estial love oes w at IS

good, and spiritual love does what is true. The difference between these two loves can only be defined in this way, that those who live in celestial love have wisdom inscribed on their life and not on their memory, for which reason they do not talk about Divine truths, but do them; while those who live in spiritual love have wisdom inscribed on their memory, and therefore talk about Divine truths and do them from princirles in the memory. Because those ltvmg m celesha love have wlsdom inscribed on their life, they perceive instantly whether anything they hear is true or not; and when asked if it be true, answer only, " It is," or " It is not." These are they who are meant by the words of the Lord :

" Let your communication be Yea, yea, Nay, nay " (Matt. v. 37).

And since such is their character they are unwilling ta hear anything about faith, saying, "What is faith? 1s it not wisdom ? " and" What is charity? 1s it not doing?" and when told that faith is believing what is not understood, they turn away with the remark, "This man is out of his mind." These are they who dwell in the third heaven, and who are the wisest of ail. Such a disposition have they acquired in the world who applied ta their life Divine truths directly they heard them by turning away from evils as infernal, and by worshiping the Lord alone. Ta others they appear like children because they live in innocence, and they

313

......


even seem simple because they have nothing to say about truths of wisdom, and because there is not an atom of pride in their discourse. Yet all the while as they listen to anyone speaking, they perceive by the tone all things of his love, and by his speech all things of his intelligence. These are they who abide in the marriage of love and wisdom from the Lord; and who relate to the heart region of heaven, mentioned above.

428. On the other hand those who live in spiritual love, which is love towards the neighbour, do not have wisdom inscribed on their life, but intelligence; for wisdom's part is to do good from affection for what is good, and the part of intelligenceÏs to do good from affection for what is true, as was sard aGove. Neither do tnese know what faith is.

' When faith i . d the understand trutfî, an w_en charity is mentioned they understand ~ putting jJ:U.t:h into l'ractice; and when told that tbey must believe, reply'that this is idle talk, and ask, " Who does not believe what is true ?" This they say because they see truth in the light of their own heaven; on which account, to believe what they do not see, they caU either simplicity or foolishness. These are they who constitute the lung region of heaven, also mentioned above.

429. But those who live in natural-spiritual love have neither wisdom nor intelligence inscribed on their life, but have something of faith from the Word, so far as this has been united with charity. Since these do not know what charity is, nor if faith be truth, they cannot be among those in the heavens who abide in wisdom and in intelligence, but among those in knowledge only. On the other hand those who shun evils as sins dwell in the

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DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (429-431

lowest heaven, and in light there which is like the light of the moon by night. But those who have not confirmed themselves in ignorant faith, but have at the same time cherished some affection for truth, having been instructed by angels so far as they can receive truths and live according to them, are raised into societies of those who dwell in spiritual love, and intelligence therefrom. These become spiritual, the rest remain natural-spiritual. But those who have lived in faith separate from charity are removed and sent away into deserts because they do not live in any goodness, thus in no marriage of goodness and truth, in which all abide who are in the heavens.

430. AIl that has been said in this Part conceming love and wisdom may be said of charity and faith, if only spiritual love be understood in respect of charity, and truth by which comes intelligence in respect of faith. It is the same if the terms will and understanding, or love and intelligence, be used, since the will is the receptacle of love, and the understanding of intelligence.

431. To the above l add this memorable facto In heaven all who perform uses from an affection for use draw from the communion in which they dwell a state of wisdom and happiness exceeding others. And there, with them, performing uses means acting sincerely, uprightly, justly, and faithfully, in the work of their employment. This they call charity, and acts of worship they ffill signs of charity, and other tlllngs they caTI duïis aQQ pnvlleges; declaring that when anyone does the work of his employment sincerely, uprightly, justly, and faithfuIly, the community abides and continues steadfast in its state of goodness, and

31 5

.,

43 1 , 432J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

that this is to " be in the Lord," since everything . that fiows in from the Lord is a use, and fiows in

fram the parts mto the community; and from the 1 community to the parts. The parts there are

angels, and the community is a society of them.

WHAT MAN'S INITIAL FORM IS AT

CONCEPTION

432. What man's initial or primitive form is in the womb after conception no one can know, since it cannot be seen; moreover, it is formed out of spiritual substance which is not visible by nàtural) light. Now since there are sorne in the world that turn their minds to searching out even the primitive form of man, that is, the seed from the father by which conception is effected, and since many of them have fallen into this error, that man is in his fulness from his first beginning, which is the rudiment, and is afterwards perfected by growth, it has beert disclosed to me what that rudiment or

· first is in its form. This has been disclosed to me by angels, to whom it was revealed by the Lord;r. and because they had made it part of their wisdom, and it is a delight of their wisdom to communicate what they know to others, permission having been granted, they presented before my eyes in the light of heaven a type of man's initial form, which was 1like this: Tt seemed like a tiny image of the brain with a delicate delineation of something of a face in front, without any appendage. This primitive in the upper convex part was a structure of globules of spherules touching one another, and each spherule was a joining of those yet more minute, and each of these in like manner of those still more

316

l~


minute; it was thus of three degrees. In front, in the fiat part, something outlined appeared ta

. represent a face. The COll\;ex part was covered round about with a skin or membrane sa fine as ta be transparent. The convex part, which was a type of the brain in least forms, was aIsa divided into two lobes, as it were, just as the brain in its greatest extent is divided into two hemispheres. l was informed that the right lobe was the receptac1e of love, and the left lobe was the receptac1e of wisdom ; and that by their wonderful interweavings they were, as it were, consorts and partners. It was further shawn in the light of heaven, which shane brightly upon it, that the structure of this little brain,( in respect ta the position in which it was lying and ta its fiow, was in the arder and form of heaven, and that its outer structure was in direct opposition ta that arder and form. After these things had been shawn and seen, the angels said that the two interior degrees, which were in the arder and form of heaven, were receptac1es of love and wisdom from the Lord; and that the outer degree, which was in direct opposition ta the arder and form of heaven, was a receptacle of infernal love and foUy; for the reason that man by hereditary defilement is barn inta evils of every kind, and these evils remain there in outermosts; and that these defilements are not removed unless the higher degrees are opened, which, as was said, are receptacles of love and wisdom from the Lord. And since love and wisdom are very man, for love and wisdom in their essence are the Lord, and tbis primitive of man is a receptac1e, it fol1ows that in that primitive there is a continuous effort ta attain the human form, which likewise it gradual1y assumes.

317

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