Plants of the Bible - Paradise Primitive Baptist Church

PLANTSOF THE

BIBLE

BY JOHN WORCESTER

CORRESPONDENCESOF

THE BIBLE

PART II

THE PLANTSTHE MINERALS

AND

THE ATMOSPHERES

BY

JOHN WORCESTER

BOSTON:MASSACHUSETTS NEW CHURCH UNION

1930

COPYRIGHTBY JOHN WORCESTER

1888

CONTENTS

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF PLANTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

THE FRUIT TREESThe Olive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14The Vine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23The Palm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33The Fig Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40The Pomegranate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Various Fruits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

THE NUT TREESAlmonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Beech Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Chestnuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61The Oak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64The Terebinth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

CONE-BEARING TREES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73The Cedar of Lebanon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74The Sequoias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83The Cypress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84The Juniper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Thyine Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Pines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Firs and Spruces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Review of Cone-Bearing Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

4 PLANTS OF THE BIBLE

THE SHITTAH TREE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

WILLOWS AND POPLARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

SHRUBS AND FLOWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118Roses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121The Box and the Myrtle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Thorns and Thistles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

AROMATICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Aromatic Trees and Shrubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Onycha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Hyssop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Mustard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

THE CEREALS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Wheat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Spelt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Rye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Barley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Oats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Maize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

THE SOLANUM FAMILY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160The Mandrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161The Potato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Tomatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

PULSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

THE CUCUMBERS AND THE MELONS, AND THELEEKS AND THE ONIONS, AND THE GARLIC . . . . . 171

GRASSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

CONTENTS 5

REEDS AND RUSHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178The Papyrus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181Reeds for Pens and Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183Sweet Cane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

FLAX AND COTTON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

THE TREE OF LIFE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

WATER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196Salt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206The Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208The Clouds of Heaven. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216Dew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Hail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221Steam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

THE ROCKS AND METALSRocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Roads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Millstones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232Deposited and Crystalline Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233Precious Stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241Gold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Copper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Iron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Sulphur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259


THE SUNBEAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268Creation through the Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

THE ATMOSPHERES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282Oxygen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285Nitrogen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286The Air in General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

NOTE ON THE COPPER AND IRON AGES . . . . . . . . . 291

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF PLANTS

The correspondence of plants with elements ofhumanity is less evident than that of animals; forthe activity and demonstrativeness of animalsforce upon us a recognition of their likeness toourselves, and call out our sympathy with theaffections and passions which they exhibit. Butplants, on the other hand, are stationary and pas-sive; they seem less like living creatures, and,consequently, less like men. Yet there is a veryreal delight in the companionship and cultivationof plants of various kinds: the silent forests havepower to excite human feeling in harmony withthemselves; the daisies and violets typify toeveryone’s perception certain human attributes;the brilliant purples, crimsons, and scarlets ofour cultivated flowers surely have some relationto the thrills of human feeling which quicken ourhearts as we look at them; that “the Sowersoweth the Word,” is accepted as a perfect truth,without question of the correspondence itimplies between seed grain and principles ofhuman life; an institution for implanting such


principles we call a “seminary”; and we give thename of “nurseries” alike to the ground in whichyoung trees are growing, the neighborhoods inwhich new principles are cherished, and therooms for tending little children. There can be nodoubt of our recognition of a general relationbetween the plants around us and the principles,theories, and plans in our minds.

It is the teaching of the New Church that thisrelation is that of full correspondence; that thesame creative influence which, received byhuman minds, gives the power of knowing, ofperceiving truth, and of developing principles oflife to their natural fruit, received by suitablematerials in the earth, manifests itself as plantlife; and that the phenomena presented by thislife in the vegetable kingdom represent perfectly,as to all the processes of growth as well as thevarieties of form, the growths of intelligence andwisdom in the mind.

Speaking generally, animals are distinguishedfrom plants by powers of locomotion, by sensi-tiveness, and by feeding upon vegetable sub-stances. And there are corresponding generaldifferences between affection and wisdom.

Affection is ever in motion, entering withsympathy into new states, and adapting itself tonew circumstances; but definite forms of knowl-

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF PLANTS 9

edge are based upon definite sets of facts, andthere they remain. If transplanted to other dis-similar sets, they accommodate themselves withdifficulty, though new plants of the same kindsmight readily grow from seed. A love of beinghelpful, for instance, enters readily into entirelynew situations, wherever help is needed; but def-inite knowledge of what is helpful must be basedupon circumstances; a theory formed for one sit-uation will rarely flourish in another; and the dif-ficulty is the greater as the theory is moremature, and its details more fully developed.

Affection, again, is sensitive, and consciousof pleasure or pain; knowledge in itself, and sep-arated from the affections which enjoy it, is sen-sible neither of growth nor of mutilation. Thereis an affection for thinking, which is delightedwith the act of intelligent perception, and ispained by obscurity. But a theory, a plan, orknowledge of any kind, in the mind, has nosense of pleasure or of pain; though its develop-ment may give a very keen enjoyment to theaffections which meditate upon it, either in prideor in charity or in simple love for truth.

The third general distinction between plantsand animals is that plants live upon inorganicmaterials from the earth and the air, while ani-mals need to have these materials organized for


them by plants. The mental correlative of thisfact is that wisdom grows by the application ofgeneral truth to particular circumstances; butthat affection is not expanded by general,abstract truth, until this is embodied in definiteknowledge of states or forms of life which arelovely. General truths concerning the duty ofuprightness and usefulness have a moderatingand purifying effect upon the affections, buthave no power to enlarge them; they present nodefinite object of interest and satisfaction. Butfrom these truths, with some acquaintance withpresent circumstances and opportunities, definitesocial theories and plans for useful work maygrow up, which furnish materials for meditationand new activity and enlarged enjoyment to theaffections.

These distinctions between animals andplants are clearly defined and easily recognizedin the higher types of the two kingdoms; but thesimplest living organisms consist merely ofminute specks of protoplasm, called monads,endowed with powers of motion, of nourish-ment, and of reproduction, with regard to someof which it seems impossible to determinewhether they are animals or plants. There is acorresponding meeting of mental growths on thelowest plane of spiritual life—the plane of sen-


sation. Do an infant’s first impressions belong tothe domain of understanding or of affection? Arehis first intentional sounds expressive of thoughtor of feeling? Is it possible to distinguish in thesefirst productions of his mind thought from feel-ing? This seems to be common ground.

Again, in speaking of affection and wisdomas entirely distinct and in contrast with eachother, we are using the terms in a manner whichneeds some qualification; for, wisdom does notgrow from facts and abstract truth without somedesire and effort to be wise, by which theabstract truth is seized and applied and orga-nized. And this desire to be wise is itself anaffection which is the formative life of the wis-dom. But it is affection operating in a purelyintellectual way, giving rise to purely intellectualdevelopments. The same affection which pro-duces the intellectual growths also loves themwhen produced—produces them for the sake ofenjoying them. Thus, it is not too much to saythat one and the same affection operating in ourfaculty for becoming wise produces spiritualplants; and, exhibited in its proper nature as aliving affection, produces also those enjoymentsin the fruits of wisdom which are spiritual ani-mals.


This is curiously illustrated by Swedenborgfrom his experience in the spiritual world. Hesays:

The origin of animals, which also is their soul, isa spiritual affection, such as belongs to man inhis natural degree. . . . That plants also have thesame origin is evident, especially from the plantsin the heavens, as that they appear there accord-ing to the affections of the angels, and also repre-sent those affections, insomuch that in them as intheir types, the angels see and know their ownaffections, as to their nature and quality. . . . Theonly difference is that the affections appearformed into animals by the spiritual life in itsmiddle principles, and into plants in its lowest,which are the earths there; for the spiritual lifefrom which they exist, in middle principles, isalive, but not so in the lowest, in which the spiri-tual influence retains no more of life than is suf-ficient to produce the likeness of it. . . . That theplant soul is from the same origin as the soul ofthe beasts of the earth, of the birds of the heaven,and of the fishes of the sea, does not appear atfirst view, by reason that the one lives and theother does not; but still it is manifestly evidentfrom the animals and plants seen in heaven, andalso from those seen in hell. In the heavens thereappear beautiful animals and beautiful plants; butin the hells noxious animals and also similarplants; and angels and spirits are known and their


qualities distinguished by the appearance of theanimals, and likewise of the plants; there is a fullcorrespondence [of both] with their affections,and so much so that an animal can be changedinto a correlative plant, and a plant into a correla-tive animal. (Apocalypse Explained #1212)

Plants represent affections in the effort to bewise, and to gather the elements of knowledgewhich in themselves are dead, and to arrangethem in their relations to life and duty so thatthey may give enjoyment and support to the liv-ing affections; animals represent the affectionsthemselves in their activity and enjoyment.Plants express the loveliness of wisdom and thegoodness of the works of wisdom, produced byand living from affection; animals show forth thewarm life of the affection, with its delight in wis-dom and in the fruits of wisdom.

THE OLIVE

The tree which, from the importance of its bene-fits and the honor paid to it in ancient times,appears to represent in fullest measure the sacredinfluence of the Tree of Life, is the Olive. It is amodest tree, of abounding fruitfulness, withgraceful, yielding twigs, willow-shaped ever-green leaves, of dark olive tint above and silverybeneath, and a trunk which, as it grows old,allows its useless inner wood to decay away, pre-serving only the outer layers still serviceable tothe fruit, which split up into a picturesque groupof distinct, irregular stems.

Its flowers are small, white, four-lobed, veryplentiful, giving place, as the season advances,to a generous abundance of olives. The treesreadily grow from seeds, but they need grafting;for the fruit of the wild olive is small and dry. Anolive tree begins to bear at about twelve years ofage, but does not attain maturity until it has livedforty years. After that, if carefully tended, it canbe depended upon for an annual yield of ten tofifteen gallons of oil for an indefinite period. No

THE OLIVE 15

one knows how long it may live; but there areold trees in the neighborhood of Jerusalembelieved to have grown from the stumps left byTitus when he destroyed the city in the year sev-enty.

Some of the olives are pickled, and constitutean important article of food in the countrieswhere they grow; but most are pressed in themill for their oil. The oil is pure nourishment,and is used freely in its native land as we usebutter. It is also burned in lamps for its richwarm light, is made into soap, and is used every-where to soothe and soften bruises and wounds,and to relieve the friction of delicate machinery.

These soothing, healing, cheering, nourishingproperties indicate, as the spiritual correlative ofolive oil, a knowledge of some merciful good-ness. Only this would at once give so much sup-port and nourishment to the mind, heal itswounds and bruises, relieve social friction andchafing, and furnish a standard of goodness bywhich, as in clear light, spiritual things can beseen truly and in their just relations.

But, while a knowledge of some kindly affec-tion is surely represented by oil, there are manysorts and degrees of kindness which wouldanswer the purpose more or less perfectly. Yetthere are some things which are true of the oil of


olives which can be said of no other oil; andthere is a noble love which is similarly distin-guished from every other kindly love. It is thepurest and sweetest of all the oils which answerthese useful purposes; and it was appointed, inthe Divinely selected ceremonial of the Jews, asthe means of consecration of priests and kings,and of all the buildings and furniture used in theservice of the Lord. The only love of which cor-responding spiritual things can be said withtruth, is the merciful love of the Lord receivedconsciously as from Him by men. The goodnesswhich men in penitent states feel in their heartswhen they humble them before the Lord, ismercy itself; it is absolutely unselfish love. It isknown by no man so long as he thinks he is goodof himself, and lives from his own impulses,guided by his own reason; but when he is fullyconscious of his natural worthlessness and openshis heart to the Lord, a new love enters, and hebegins to know how good the Lord is. Theknowledge of the goodness of God which menhave before they know the Lord as their God andtheir Savior is like the small dry berries of thewild olive (True Christian Religion #537). Butthe knowledge they have after they know andacknowledge Him is like generous olives full ofoil.

THE OLIVE 17

With such knowledge of the goodness of theLord, kings and priests ought to be consecrated;for their business is to rule over natural and spir-itual affairs from the Divine love of doing goodto men. The Lord’s own Humanity was called“the Messiah”; that is, “the Anointed,” becauseHe came to do upon the earth the works of theDivine Love. Such oil, also, is the “oil of joy”and the “oil of gladness” by which the faces ofthose who know and love the Lord are made toshine.

All the spiritual uses which correspond to thenatural uses of oil, such knowledge of the Divinegoodness performs preeminently well. Above allother knowledge it flames with warm light,showing all things as the Lord’s own goodnesssees them. It brings healing and strength andsupport to the deep places of the spirit. It is aknowledge of pure mercy, and gives patientcharity amid social conflicts. It also cleanses thesoul from stains which, like resin and fat, resistthe water of purification; for, by the revelation ofthe Lord’s generous goodness, it makes usashamed of selfish indulgences to which wecling though we know they are wrong, and loos-ens their hold upon us.

The tree upon which this excellent fruit isborne may be named from the fruit, the tree of


knowledge of the Lord’s goodness. Its seed is theconfession that the Lord is good, encased in astony shell from the truth that “none is good butOne: God.”

Planted in the soil of a good heart, this seedsends down its roots among the facts of creation,of human history, and of the Lord’s Providence,seeking a solid foundation for its knowledge. Itsleaves it raises into the air and sunshine, in theperennial desire to perceive the goodness of theLord, and to lay up actual experiences of it. Thematerials gathered by the leaves are those whichconstitute the knowledge of the Lord’s goodnesswhich olive oil represents; the leaves are there-fore the faculty of feeling or perceiving thatgoodness among the various influences of life.

But it is one thing to perceive intelligently theLord’s goodness in His works and His Provi-dence, and quite another to feel His love fordoing good as a living spring in us when oppor-tunity to do good is offered. The gladness of thismost delicate and living perception is repre-sented by the plentiful yet modest blossoms ofthe tree, which are the beginning of fruitfulness.

The fruit of the natural tree is bitter whenyoung, but in maturity is a sack of pure oil heldfirmly in its tissues, surrounding the single stonyseed. Spiritually to mature the corresponding

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fruit is to bring into life the pure kindness per-ceived in the works of the Lord, and given fromHim to His servants. They who are in the effortto live from the Lord know better than others thepride of heart which naturally prevents theproper reception of His love, and the chasteningof self which is constantly needed to bring itforth in purity. Their fruit, while immature, isnecessarily bitter, though when mature it is theLord’s own goodness. And every fruit contains anew assurance that the Lord, and the Lord alone,is good—an assurance alive with new desire totaste His goodness.

Of the fruit of the olive, we have a Divineexample in Psalm 103—a Psalm which is full ofperception and acknowledgment of the goodnessof the Lord:

Bless Jehovah, O my soul;And all that is within me, bless His holy name,Bless Jehovah, O my soul,And forget not all His benefits;Who forgiveth all thine iniquities,Who healeth all thy diseases;Who redeemeth thy life from destruction,Who crowneth thee with loving kindness

and tender mercies;Who satisfieth thy mouth with good,Thy youth is renewed like the eagle.


In the Mount of Olives our Lord was wont to restafter His days of labor in Jerusalem, because itrepresented His state of reception of the Father’sLove, which comforted and sustained Him.

“An olive leaf plucked off”—a remnant of thelife before the flood—was brought by the doveto Noah; which may be taken as a symbol of theperceptions of the Lord’s goodness, traditionallyhanded down to the second Church from thedays of innocent openness to the Lord repre-sented by Adam, and received not as a thing ofperception, but of faith (Arcana Coelestia #879).Growing upon the tree, it is a perception;plucked off for another, it is a thing of faith.

Such perception of the Lord’s mercy the sec-ond Church had not; but the Lord’s love is a loveof doing good, and when received by men it maybe felt secondarily as a delight in doing good tothe neighbor. This secondary representation ofthe olive remained as a living thing in thisChurch, and was cultivated by learning the waysof goodness and living in them. The Lord’s loveperceived as mercy for us is called by Sweden-borg “celestial good”; perceived as love for theneighbor it is called “spiritual good” or “char-ity”; both are represented by the olive (ArcanaCoelestia #10261).

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The knowledge of holy states, which has beenpreserved in a Divine manner in our SacredScriptures, has come down less perfectly, andstill in forms full of interest, in the myths andtraditional customs of the Greeks and Romans.In the prayers of the ancient Greeks, “in cases ofgreat distress, the suppliant would carry an olivebranch, or a rod with wool twined round it,throw himself on the ground before the sacredimage, and embrace its feet” (Murray’s Manualof Mythology, p. 16), which custom seems toimply at some time a knowledge that a state ofdependence upon the Divine Mercy is expressedalike by an olive branch and by lambs’ clothing.

The Olympian Games were trials of skill—intellectual and physical—held in honor of Zeusthe supreme God, on the plain of Olympia. Theprize of excellence was simply a wreath of olive(p. 17); as if in confession that a knowledge ofthe goodness of God is the chief of human wis-dom.

Apparently for the same reason, it is relatedof Pallas Athene (called Minerva by theRomans), the goddess of wisdom, that shecaused the first olive tree to grow from the barerock of the Acropolis; and for this greatest ofpossible benefits to mankind she received thesovereignty of the land (p. 58). The prize of the


games in her honor, at the festival called Pana-thenæa, “was a large painted earthenware vasefilled with pure olive oil, the product of the treesacred to Athene” (p. 113). One could hardlyexpress more plainly the truth that a knowledgeof the Divine Goodness is the noblest wisdom.

THE VINE

The vine ranks with fruit trees in every respectbut this—that it clings to other upright objectsfor support. It sends out branches in profusion;but they can only run on the ground, lifting theirheads a little, and requiring for the perfection oftheir fruit a tree or wall by which they may liftthemselves into the air. When cut back continu-ally, so that the branches are very small in pro-portion to the woody stem, the vine may standupright like a small weeping tree; in which formit is cultivated in many vineyards.

It puts forth from the axils of the leaves ten-drils, which are modified branches, or bunchesof grapes, by which it raises itself to its supports.When thus sustained it produces clusters of fruit,composed mostly of sweet, spirited juice, withfour hard, bony seeds. So very generous is it ofits fruitfulness that, if unwisely encouraged, anoble vine will exhaust itself in a single seasonand die. To ripen its fruit properly, it needs muchpruning and much sunshine. The fruit, however,varies greatly in quality, according to the kind of


the vine, sometimes being sour and astringent,sometimes exceedingly pleasant. The leaves ofthe vine are large, and are said to be much likedby sheep and cattle.

That the vine is perennial, like fruit trees, andbears useful fruits, shows that it corresponds tosome enduring principle which produces goodworks. That it naturally twines about otherobjects, depending upon them, and maturing nogood fruit unless it be supported in the air, indi-cates that the principle to which it corresponds issympathetic and very susceptible of spiritual ele-vation, which, indeed, is necessary to the valueof its works. Its tendrils represent an affectionfor drawing near to others, especially in elevatedstates; and they are in the place of branches, orbunches of grapes, because this affection isdesirous of giving, not of taking away.

The fruits of the vine are scarcely more thansacks of sweet and spirited juice, containing fourseeds. The juice is composed of water drawn upfrom the earth by the vine, exposed to air andsunshine in the leaves, and by combination withelements of the air and sunshine, which areabsorbed by the leaves, transformed to nourish-ing, refreshing juice, which is deposited in thegrapes.

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This is the use of the vine—to draw waterfrom the earth and transform it into wine. It rep-resents an affection which transforms the literalprecepts of the Word into pleasant truth of spiri-tual life. It is an affection for teaching the Lord’scommandments as truth of heavenly life as wellas of natural, as the ways of interior happiness aswell as of duty. It draws water of life from theletter of the Word, considers it in its applicationto states of thought and feeling, and, in the lightand warmth of the Love that gave it, perceivesits necessity to good, happy life, and thus fills itwith affection and wisdom.

The spiritual Olive brings a knowledge of theLord’s goodness into human life; and the vinebrings the kindness and pleasantness of His wis-dom. But it is the pleasantness of wisdom relat-ing to spiritual life, not to worldly and socialadvantages; the rich fruit is not perfected uponthe ground.

In regard to the growth of spiritual vines, itmay be said that when men come to a knowledgeof spiritual truth they are at first only too eagerto study it and talk about it with everybody.Some find delight in following out spiritualstudy in every direction, and are like vines thatrun to leaves and branches. Some are exceed-ingly zealous to enlighten and improve the


world, and exhaust themselves in unwise fruit-fulness. Experience comes as a pruner to directthe study wisely, and to secure moderation ofincipient fruitfulness. Fortunate if it comesbefore the time of rank confusion, or of utter dis-couragement.

Patiently to think out the principles of spiri-tual life, as applied to one’s home or to the com-munity, with a perception of the Lord’s blessingin the truth, is to mature the fruit of the vine; andit is manifest that the same effort which, chas-tened and wisely directed to improvement oflife, will mature sweet and inspiriting wisdom; ifallowed to generalize at random, may produceonly immature and useless dogmatism; or,absorbed in unpractical speculations, may bringforth nothing but leaves. Even these may be ser-viceable to innocent natural states, though theyare not helpful to spiritual life, as vine leaves arefood for sheep and cattle, but not for man.

There are also grapes which are not imma-ture, but are essentially sour; and there are menwho study the Bible and teach from it what theycall the truth of Heaven, without any true knowl-edge of the Lord, or right reception of Him, andwho therefore teach as truth of spiritual life whatis distasteful and unwholesome.

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The fruit of the olive relates to the Lord’sgoodness, or to mutual love from Him, and is,therefore, single, or grouped a few together. Thefruit of the vine relates to the manifold duties oflife, and hangs in clusters of many (ApocalypseExplained #918).

Its seeds are in two pairs, because its vitalprinciples relate to the conjunction of goodnessand truth, and of spiritual life and natural. Theyare hard and bony, because they are mostly com-posed of the unyielding truth that the words ofthe Lord are spirit and life, which their works areperpetually demonstrating with a delight whichrenews the desire to prove it again.

The Lord called Himself “the True Vine”; andat the marriage in Cana of Galilee He actuallytransformed water into wine, to represent thespiritual work which He was continually doing.He fulfilled the Law by living it Himself, andpresenting it with deeper meaning and kindaffection manifested in it. The Ten Blessings,and the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount,are the living water of the Ten Commandmentsapplied to interior life and filled with charity.

The Commandment is, “Thou shalt not kill,”which is rendered by the Vine of spiritual life.“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtainmercy.” The Commandment says, “Thou shalt


not commit adultery”; the Gospel, “Blessed arethe pure in heart, for they shall see God.” TheLaw enjoins love for the neighbor and hatred forthe enemy; Jesus says, “Love your enemies,bless them that curse you, do good to them thathate you, and pray for them that despitefully useyou and persecute you; that ye may be the chil-dren of your Father who is in Heaven.”

The Commandments thus applied to the innerlife, and filled with affection for the goodnesswhich they teach, are spiritual wine. This is suchwine as is represented by the wine of the HolySupper, which, again, the Lord calls His“blood,” because it is the thought of His ownheart, which not only gives life, but is life tothose who receive it.

They who love to think Christian truth fromHim and to live it, the Lord calls His branches.Frequently throughout the Scriptures the Churchis likened to a vine or a vineyard, as in the eight-ieth Psalm: “Thou hast brought a vine out ofEgypt: Thou hast cast out the heathen andplanted it”; and in Matthew 21:33: “There was acertain householder who planted a vineyard, andhedged it round about, and digged a wine pressin it, and built a tower, and let it out to husband-men, and went into a far country.” Of Noah,also, who represents the second Church upon

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earth, it is said that he “planted a vineyard”(Genesis 9:20); because the characteristic of thatChurch was the study of spiritual truth such as isrevealed by correspondences, and the enjoymentof the spiritual charity and beautiful living whichsuch truth teaches. But it is added that Noah“drank of the wine and was drunken” (Genesis5:21), which signifies that by correspondencesand reasonings from natural things concerningspiritual, the Church fell into errors and becamedelirious (Arcana Coelestia #1072); as men dowho use spiritual truth to exalt themselves, or forany other purpose than to increase their con-sciousness of dependence upon the Lord, andtheir love of doing His Commandments. Themisuse of wine to produce drunkenness is fre-quently mentioned in the Word, and always withthe signification of the abuse of spiritual truth tominister to one’s pride or other selfishness. Thisis very evident in Isaiah: “Woe unto them thatare wise in their own eyes, and prudent in theirown sight. Woe unto them that are mighty todrink wine, and men of strength to mingle strongdrink; who justify the wicked for reward, andtake away the righteousness of the righteousfrom him” (Isaiah 5:21–23). The perverse appli-cation of spiritual truth, by which the RomanCatholic Church has granted indulgences and


pardoned all manner of crimes to increase herown wealth and power, is meant by these wordsin the Apocalypse: “The inhabitants of the earthhave been made drunk with the wine of her for-nication” (Revelation 17:2).

Swedenborg speaks of an odor of wine whichhe perceived, and says, “I was informed that itwas from those who from friendship and rightfullove compliment one another, but so that there istruth in the compliments. The odor is with muchvariety, and is from the sphere of the beautiful informs” (Arcana Coelestia #1517). No doubtthere is a right use for wine, in great moderation,as a correspondence of and an aid to suchfriendly thought of others. The same flatteryaddressed to oneself, produces a silly compla-cency and self-display.

Swedenborg compares the purification ofconjugial love and its wisdom to the purificationof alcoholic spirits, and adds “wisdom purifiedmay be compared to alcohol, which is spirit mosthighly rectified” (Conjugial Love #145). On theother hand he says that the doctrine of justifica-tion by faith alone “has intoxicated the thoughts”of the clergy “like the spirit of wine which iscalled alcohol, so that, like the drunken, theyhave not seen this most essential thing of thechurch, that Jehovah God descended and

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assumed the Human” (True Christian Religion#98). The sugar, which is transformed into alco-hol, has a correspondence with the natural pleas-antness of thinking truth of spiritual wisdom;when transformed, it corresponds with a spiritualpleasantness, or assurance that the truth is thevery truth of life. The process of fermentationseems to correspond with the freeing of the truthfrom that which is of self, which is in it from theprocess of thinking, and changing the naturalpleasantness of it into a sense that it is not ofself, but is of the truth of life. Associated withtrue wisdom, this assurance brings content; butassociated with false doctrines it brings a falla-cious security which is like drunkenness. Genu-ine truth from the Lord, teaching love to theLord and the neighbor, with the assurance that itis the very truth of life, is the “wine that makethglad the heart of man”—the good wine whichthe presence of the Lord produces for those whotake part in the heavenly marriage of goodnesswith truth.

In describing his passage through the darkforest which protected the angels of the inmostheaven, Swedenborg says that his eyes wereopened, and he saw olive trees entwined withvines, and his steps were led from olive to olive,till he reached the summit of the mountain (Con-


jugial Love #75). The olives are knowledge ofthe Lord’s goodness; the vines are knowledge ofthe excellent kindness of His truth. Throughstates marked by the attainment of such knowl-edge lies the way to the angels nearest the Lord.

THE PALM

Of the appearance and natural history of thepalm tree we can have no better account than iscontained in Mr. Grindon’s admirable chapter(Intellectual Repository, August, 1873). He says:

The palm is a living pillar, slender, cylindrical,and erect, and capable, in one species or another,of attaining the stature of sixty, eighty, one hun-dred, and even one hundred and ninety feet. Oflateral growth, such as would constitute umbra-geousness, like that of an oak or chestnut, there isnone—not a single sideways shoot breaks theslim and shafted uniformity; the leaves, unique intheir kind, measure many yards in length; theyare as large, that is to say, as the entire branch ofmany an inferior tree of other formation; and,confined to the summit of the pillar, constitute aprodigious and evergreen crown, the principalleaves—such of them at least as are in the fullvigor of existence—arching elegantly outwardsand downwards. Because of these great dimen-sions, emulated only by the foliage of bananasand the arborescent ferns, they are called when-ever mentioned in Scripture, not “leaves,” but


what they really seem to be, as when the people“took branches of palm trees and strewed themin the way.” For the same reason, in the ancientpoets, it is never the leaf, but always the“branch,” of the palm that we read of. . . . Likethose of most other evergreens, the leaves, indi-vidually, are long-lived. Of course they die intime; but the decay is often gradual, the long pet-iole preserving its foothold, though drooping,and remaining attached for a considerableperiod; and when it goes there is still usually lefta fibrous and projecting stump, though some-times only a scar. . . . No tree, not even the wil-low, is fonder of, or more dependent upon, waterthan the palm. Let the sunshine be ever so fer-vent, give water enough to the grateful root, andit sees not “when heat cometh”; flourishing somuch the more gloriously under the twofoldinfluence, though dying if moisture be withheld.Hence it is that the appearance of the particularkind of palm always intended in Scripture, thedate palm, becomes, in the deserts where itgrows spontaneously, an infallible indication ofthe presence of springs; and nowhere is the asso-ciation more remarkable than in the northern partof the Sahara. Here the palm islands, or “oases,”are so numerous as to constitute a vast archipel-ago; the district itself receiving the name ofBeled-el-Jerid, or the “date country.” The oasesare not, as often supposed, islands of verdure that

THE PALM 35

rise above the surrounding sand, but depressionsin the sea-like expanse, in which moisture can becollected and retained, and where both animallife and vegetable can not only be supported, butsheltered from the storms—the latter an impor-tant element in the usefulness they subserve, andgiving no slight enrichment to the familiar andexpressive metaphor which makes the “oasis inthe desert” another name for solace and refuge.The great charm of the oasis is that, however,which is found in the alliance of the palm, theemblem of victory, with water, the emblem, soconstantly employed in Scripture, of Christianpurity and Christian truth.

The flowers of the palm trees are fashionedmuch after the same plan as those of the lily, hav-ing all their parts in threes. Individually theymake no show, and are often trifling and unat-tractive; but the abundance is so vast that, wereall to result in fruit, scarcely any plants in naturecould be esteemed more fecund. The many-branched clusters, often several feet in length,are developed from the very apex of the stem,sometimes standing erect, and constituting animmense thyrsus; more usually hanging downfrom among the bases of the leaf stalks. Whileyoung, the whole mass of the inflorescence isenclosed in a peculiar sheath, termed a “spathe,”just as in England we may see the panicles of


many grasses wrapped round before expansionby the uppermost green leaf.

The staminate and the pistillate flowers of thepalm grow upon separate trees. To secure a cropof dates, therefore, the Arabs are in the habit ofcutting the bunches of flowers from a stamen-bearing tree, and tying them among the clustersof pistillate flowers on another tree.

The date palm, the only species of the ordermade mention of in Scripture, is a tree of sixty toeighty feet in height, less graceful in appearancethan some of the others, but in substantial useful-ness excelled by none. No palm is in any waydeleterious, and the variety of useful productsobtained from the order in general has no paral-lel; the date palm stands, nevertheless, quite atthe head, if only from the vast multitude ofhuman beings it supplies with sustenance. Butthis is not all; the leaves are employed for vari-ous household purposes, and for fodder; and thevery stones of the fruits, hard and worthless asthey seem, when ground up with water, serve asfood for horses and camels.

The tall, straight trunk of the palm, stretching upinto the heaven, and expanding its great leaves atthe top, is suggestive of some spiritual principlethat looks directly to the Lord. The precisenature of this principle is indicated by the usethat is made of palms in the Scriptures. We readin John chapter 12 that the people “took

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branches of palm trees,” and went forth to meetthe Lord, and cried, “Hosanna; blessed is theKing of Israel that cometh in the name of theLord.”

“Branches of palm trees” are, as has beenshown, the large palm leaves. From the ancienttimes, when their meaning was known, camedown the custom of giving palm leaves to con-querors as emblems of victory. Nike, the goddessof victory, was therefore represented by theGreeks as carrying a “palm branch” in her hand(Murray, p. 213).

The people carried them to the Lord, andwent before Him waving them, to express thesame feeling that found another utterance intheir words, “Blessed be the King of Israel, thatcometh in the name of the Lord.” The palmleaves, therefore, here represent the acknowledg-ment of the Lord as King of Israel, coming in thename and with the power of Jehovah.

In the Apocalpyse (chapter 7), it is said that“a great multitude stood before the throne andbefore the Lamb, clothed in white robes andpalms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice,saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sitteth uponthe throne, and unto the Lamb.’” Here again, themeaning of the palms is explained by the spoken


words which ascribe salvation to the Divinityand the Divine Humanity of the Lord.

Palm leaves in the hand are, then, acknowl-edgments of the Lord as King and Savior; andgrowing upon their native tree they are percep-tions of the Divine saving power of the Lord.The tree from which such perceptions spring,and which in turn they increase and strengthen,is the tree of belief in the Lord.

This tree reaches up directly toward the Lord;with no branches, but bearing at its highest pointthese rational perceptions of His Divineattributes. It springs up in the desert of the natu-ral mind in youth and early manhood when thepassions are hot, wherever the cooling influenceof the Divine truth of life from the Word is feltand cordially received. Such reception of cleans-ing truth, and experience of its use, prepares themind for belief in the Lord as our Savior andKing.

Therefore it was that as soon as the childrenof Israel crossed the Jordan, by which this spiri-tual cleansing was signified, they came to Jeri-cho, “the city of palm trees”—the first city theyentered of their Holy Land, and therefore repre-senting the first state of good life from faith inthe Lord.

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On account of its situation, low in the Jordanvalley, the climate of Jericho is tropical, wellsuited to the palm tree, which gives place to thefig and the olive as we climb the hills toward theinterior of the land. And, in like manner, theprinciples represented by the palm flourish bestwith those who have more zeal than wisdom;and whose works also are, in their manner of ini-tiation, imaged by the fertilization of the palms,in that they are not produced by the quiet love ofperceiving truth and uniting it to its own good,but are the fruits of loyal, zealous obedience tothe truths taught by the leaders of the Church asthe Lord’s instruction.

This is the faith of great numbers in the Chris-tian Church. Their songs of praise are in thesame strain with that of the people who went outto meet the Lord, and of their kindred multitudewho stood before the throne—they are addressedto the Lord as Savior and King. These are theirleaves; and their fruits are the joys of deliveringfrom evil all whom they can bring to look to theLord with them. The seeds of this fruit are teach-ings of faith in the Lord, and their stony case isfrom the truth that there is no Savior but Him.

THE FIG TREE

In marked contrast with the upright, branchlesspalm, the fig tree, in some of its species, is themost wide-spreading of trees; the famous ban-yan or pagoda fig, of India, sometimes casting avertical shadow more than fifteen hundred feetin circumference.

The common fig tree, however, whose fruitwe use, is a small tree, but with a broad expansein proportion to its height.

A remarkable characteristic of the fig is thatthe blossoms are concealed, so that the fruit ispopularly supposed to be produced without blos-soms. The truth is that the flower stalk, which, inthe first crop, pushes itself out in the axil of theleaf bud before the leaf, is hollow, and bearsinside a multitude of little flowers, some stami-nate and some pistillate. When these flowershave matured, the stalk in which they areenclosed expands into a fig—the sweet, nutri-tious pulp belonging to the stalk itself, andimbedding a multitude of small, dry seed ves-sels.

THE FIG TREE 41

This low, spreading, fruitful tree must be rep-resentative of principles relating to neighborlyuses, not of very interior quality. That the fruit isproduced without visible blossoms indicates thatthe good works to which it corresponds are notpreceded by any conscious perception of interiortruth. For every spiritual fruit tree springs from aprinciple of use affectionately received in themind; its leaves are intelligent perceptions oftruth relating to the principle; and the blossoms,which are more delicate leaves, are perceptionsof purer, more delightful wisdom concerning itsuses. The joy in the perception of the ability ofthe loved truth to produce good uses expressesitself in the beauty and fragrance of the flower,within which is the beginning of the fruit. Theolive tree blossoms with delight in the percep-tion of the Lord’s goodness, now given withsuch fullness that it may be imparted to others;the vine, with the sweet pleasure of communicat-ing the wisdom and kindness of the Divine truth;but the fig is happy in the obscure knowledgethat it is right to do good, and in doing kindlyworks with no perception of what is spirituallywise and useful, and no sense of inflowing life orillustration from the Lord. Hence the fruit seemsto belong to the producer himself. The stalkthickens into sweetness, within which the living


fruits, which are the Divine precepts of welldo-ing, remain comparatively dry and tasteless.

Such is the fruit of benevolence in childrenand simple good persons, who receive instruc-tion in moral and benevolent life, accept it assomething to be done, without much intelligenceabout it, and are full of zeal for the works pre-scribed. Such fruit may appear before the leaf,because it is not dependent upon intelligence. Itis the abundant kindliness and morality of sim-ple, obedient goodness.

When our first ancestors lost their spirituallove and intelligence by eating of the tree ofknowledge of good and evil, because they wereno longer innocent, they were said to be con-scious of nakedness; yet they retained theirknowledge of the forms of moral life, withwhich as with fig leaves they clothed themselves(Divine Providence #313).

The Jews had in their Scriptures preceptswhich taught them to consider the poor, to havecompassion on the widow and the fatherless, toshow hospitality to the stranger, to deal theirbread to the hungry, to bring home the poor thatwere cast out, to undo the heavy burdens, to letthe oppressed go free, and to break every yoke;they prided themselves upon their knowledge ofthe Scriptures and upon their study of them.

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They were a fig tree glorying in leaves; but whenthe Lord came seeking fruit upon it, He foundnone, and presently the fig tree withered away.

But in the prediction of His Second Coming,the Lord gave as a sign the budding of the figtree: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; whenthey now shoot forth, ye see and know of yourown selves that summer is now nigh at hand”(Luke 21:29, 30). This was a sign of His coming,because the first effect of His coming would bean active interest in practical philanthropy and inall useful knowledge. Is not this spiritual signnow visible in the immense increase of benevo-lent feeling and work in our day? In the associa-tions for the relief of the poor, the sick, andinsane, the imprisoned, and the unfortunate ofevery class? In the fact that the pulpits of all thechurches are inculcating the precepts of goodmoral life, instead of the arbitrary dogmas of thelast century? And in the advance of scientificknowledge, so rapid as to cover every branch ofthe tree of science with a growth that almostconceals the stock of a hundred years ago? Whatpossible explanation of this marvelous and sud-den development can a fair mind suggest but thenearer approach of the Divine Spirit of wisdomand goodness?

THE POMEGRANATE

The pomegranate is:A fruit-bearing tree, or rather shrub, or the myrtlefamily, which is cultivated through all thewarmer parts of the Old World, from NorthernIndia through Persia, and in all the countries bor-dering on the Mediterranean. It is indigenous inNorth Africa and Southern France, and flourishesin Bermuda and many of the West Indian islands.It is evergreen, and forms rather a collection ofsmall stems…than a single tree, nor does it oftenexceed eight or ten feet in height. The leaves arelanceolate, glossy, and small, of a very delicategreenish-red color. . . . The bell-shaped blossomis extremely beautiful and conspicuous, varyingfrom scarlet to a deep orange-red, and the fruit,when ripe, is of a bright red color, as large as anorange, and crowned with its calyx, which addsmuch to its grace of form. . . . It continues tothrow out a succession of blossoms from Marchto June. . . . There are two sorts cultivated inorchards, the sweet and the sour, contrasting intaste like the orange and lemon, though theappearance of the fruit is precisely similar. The

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Romans, who introduced the tree from Carthage,gave it the name punicum malum, the Carthagin-ian apple; and our name pomegranate is derivedfrom the Latin “grained apple,” from the strikingappearance of the bright pink pips, packed incompartments separated by a white membrane,shining like rubies, and beautifully arranged. . . .

The bark and the rind of the fruit are powerfulastringents, and are used medicinally in the East;but are chiefly valuable as tannin. The rind of thewild pomegranate is still carefully collected inMorocco and the Sahara, and is used exclusivelyfor the preparation of the finest sort of moroccoleather, giving it a dull red color. (Tristram, Natu-ral History of the Bible)

The pomegranate, from the abundance of itsseeds, was regarded in ancient times as anemblem of fruitfulness. The tree upon which itgrows is of a humbler kind than any which hasso far been mentioned, being scarcely more thana flowering shrub. We should, therefore, look forits correspondence rather among the good thingsof natural life and knowledge than among thoseof interior perception. The idea of fruitfulnessprobably is correct; and the kind of fruitfulnesswe can learn with some definiteness from theuse made of the pomegranate in the furniture ofthe sacred Tabernacle.


Moses was commanded to cause a robe to bemade for Aaron in his ministry before the Lord;and it was said: “Upon the hem of it thou shaltmake pomegranates of blue, and of purple, andof scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bellsof gold between them round about; a golden belland a pomegranate upon the hem of the roberound about. And it shall be upon Aaron to min-ister; and his sound shall be heard when he goethin unto the holy place before Jehovah, and whenhe cometh out, that he die not” (Exodus 28:33–35).

By the garments of Aaron, who represents theministry of Divine things from the Lord amongmen, is meant the Divine Truth in the Lord’sWord and teachings from it. The hem of this gar-ment is the principles of good life and rightmorality in which all Divine teachings terminate,and by which they are held firmly together. Thepomegranates depending from this hem in colorsof truth and love and charity, are representativesof the beautiful life springing from these Chris-tian principles; and the golden bells are teach-ings of the presence of the Lord, with worshipfrom love for Him—the acknowledgment thatthe good life is from the Lord (Arcana Coelestia#9918, 9921).

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Olives are forms of knowledge of the Lord’sgoodness; grapes are knowledge of the sweet-ness and spirit of His wisdom; dates are gladexperiences of His salvation; figs are fruits ofnatural kindness and benevolence; and pome-granates represent abundant natural usefulnessbased upon Christian charity.

The golden candlestick in the tabernacle ofthe Israelites was ornamented with pomegran-ates and flowers. Each of the six branches termi-nated in “three bowls made like unto almonds, apomegranate and a flower”; and the central shaftin “four bowls made like unto almonds, theirpomegranates and their flowers”; and under eachpair of branches of the candlestick was a pome-granate (Exodus 25:31–36). The candlestick ofpure gold is a representative of the wisdom ofthe Lord in the heavens and the Church. Its orna-ments were pomegranates with their flowers,because that wisdom is the wisdom of useful-ness, and its delights are the perceptions ofmeans and opportunities of usefulness. Itsbranches sprang in pairs from the pomegranatesbecause the Divine wisdom regards equally whatis right and what is good, and both rightness andgoodness are essential to wise life, and springfrom love for wise life.

VARIOUS FRUITS

In regard to the correspondence of other fruitsthan those which have been mentioned, we havevery little instruction from Swedenborg. The fol-lowing sketches claim no authority but that ofreasonableness, so far as they are reasonable.

Oranges are more entirely composed of juicethan any of the other fruits except grapes. Theyare a coarser fruit than grapes, less digestible,more perishable. They yield no spirited wine;but contain some of the same acid as apples(Lindley). They are produced in tropical coun-tries; but are used all over the civilized world.Lindley says:

The productiveness of the common orange isenormous. A single tree at St. Michael’s has beenknown to produce twenty thousand oranges fitfor packing, exclusive of the damaged fruit andthe waste, which may be calculated at one thirdmore. (Vegetable Kingdom, p. 458)

It is also to be noticed that it is evergreen, and isbearing fruit the whole year round, new blos-soms appearing as the former fruit matures.

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Evidently oranges are representatives of wis-dom of a widely useful and perennially interest-ing kind. A clue to their exact meaning we findincidentally in Swedenborg. He relates that twoangels from the third heaven were sent down tohim to show him the form of conjugial love.After some discourse upon the subject, theywere recalled, and “were carried along a pavedway, through fields of flowers, from whichsprung up olives, and trees laden with oranges”(Conjugial Love #42). By the olives is meantmutual love received from the Lord; here theinmost mutual love, which is marriage love; andby the trees laden with oranges must be meantwisdom concerning marriage; for this onlywould be appropriate to the occasion. Orangeblossoms, likewise, are everywhere regarded asthe appropriate ornaments of weddings. There isa marriage of red and white in the color of theorange. Its immense and perennial fruitfulnessrepresents very fairly the interest with whichwisdom on this subject is acquired and imparted.

The leaves of the tree are jointed, like theleaves of the rosebush and many other plants,seeming thereby to represent perceptions ofcomplex relations. But the orange develops onlyone leaflet; perhaps because the friendship towhich it relates is limited to one.


The cultivation of oranges seems to havebeen introduced into Europe since the ChristianEra began; and it is at least a coincidence that theidea of the union of minds in marriage is one ofthe later growths of Christianity. When the Lordexplained to the disciples the wrong of divorcefor idle causes, the disciples replied, “If the caseof the man be so with his wife, it is not good tomarry” (Matthew 19:10). Paul also taught thatcelibacy is really preferable to marriage(1 Corinthians 7).

It will be observed that many fruits are of twokinds: sweet and sour. There are sweet and sourapples, and apricots, sweet and bitter almonds,oranges of every shade of sweetness, sourness,and bitterness, but in general sweet, and con-trasted with the sourness of lemons and limes.

Sweet fruits represent pleasant encourage-ment of good; and tart fruits a sharper and morestimulating wisdom of the duty and necessity ofgood life—the most acrid representing a criticalcensoriousness that is discouraging. Lemons andlimes therefore appear to represent wisdom thatteaches the spiritual necessity of pure and goodmarriage life.

The common fruit trees throughout the tem-perate regions of the earth are apples, pears,quinces, which form a group by themselves; and

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peaches, apricots, plums, and cherries, whichform another group.

It is uncertain what fruit is meant by the“apple” mentioned in the Canticles, and also inJoel 1:12. Tristram thinks it cannot be the properapple, since that fruit “barely exists in the coun-try.” The apricot, he thinks, is probably the fruit;as it is most abundant throughout the land, is notmentioned otherwise in the Bible, and meets allthe requirements of the context. It is possiblethat the name is a general one for fragrant, ediblefruits, including all that are mentioned above;and also lemons and oranges, and perhaps someothers. Gesenius says that the name in Arabicmeans properly apples, but includes also lemons,peaches, apricots, etc. The Latin word malumhas a similar general significance, standing for“any tree fruit fleshy on the outside, and havinga kernel within; hence [besides apples] used alsoof quinces, pomegranates, peaches, oranges,lemons, etc.” (Andrews Latin Lexicon).

All these are juicy fruits, not oil-yielding, andon this account, like grapes, they represent somepleasant truth matured by thoughtful experience;though no one of them bears so generously norproduces so noble wine as the vine.

A marked division among them appears uponslight attention. The apples, pears, and quinces


are many-seeded fruits, with firm flesh com-posed of the thickened calyx and stem. Peaches,apricots, and others of their family, have each asingle hard stone, enclosed in a more tender andjuicy pulp, which is formed from the pistil itself.Oranges, lemons, and limes differ from both inhaving a thick, leathery rind, in which, as in theleaves, there is a considerable quantity of oil;and, while they have many seeds, they have nocore, but are pulpy throughout, like berries; inthis particular resembling grapes.

In regard to the meaning of the apple,Mythology gives us a curious and valuable sug-gestion. According to Mr. Murray, Nemesis wasthe goddess of punishment:

A mysterious power, watching over the proprietyof life, she was conceived as shaping thedemeanor of men in their times of prosperity,punishing crime, taking luck from the unworthy,tracking every wrong to its doer, and keepingsociety in equipoise. . . . Among her severalattributes were a wheel, to indicate the speed ofher punishments, a balance, a bridle, a yoke, arudder, a lash, a sword and an apple branch.(Manual of Mythology, p. 217)

The wisdom of the proprieties of life, or of mor-als and manners, seems to answer well to thecharacteristics of the apple. Its goodness issuperficial, as the flesh of the apple is the thick-

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ened stem and casing. Its sharp or kindly criti-cism forms as large a part of socialcommunications as the flesh and juice of theapple do of daily food. And not sooner does thejuice of the apple turn to vinegar than criticalthoughts once expressed turn to sharp censure.In the freshness of the occasion that called themforth they may be only bright and stimulating;but it is remarkable how little repetition or think-ing over they will bear before all the kindlinessis gone out of them, and only sharp censure isleft. If pure and true, this may still be useful inmoderate quantity.

The vinegar of the Bible is the vinegar ofgrapes, and represents truth of life loved notfrom charity and sweet affection, but from a cen-sorious spirit; it may be from a love of chasten-ing evil, or from a desire to condemn others forthe sake of exalting oneself. The Lord taughtpure truth from love for the goodness and happi-ness to which it leads. His followers, in countriescalled Christian, have turned the truth into cen-sures and threats, by which they oppress and ruleover men. It was the perception of the comingperversion of His teachings that was representedby His tasting of the vinegar upon the cross(Apocalypse Explained #386).


The pear is a more luscious and tender fruitthan the apple, of the same kind. It seems to rep-resent the wisdom of polite and elegant manners.The thorniness of the ungrafted tree may repre-sent the exclusiveness of an unregenerate love ofpolite manners.

Quinces grow on bushes, not trees, and arenot eatable till cooked and much sweetened.Their growth, upon low, straggling stems, showstheir correspondence with something withoutelevation or unity—to rules of society, ratherthan to intelligently understood general princi-ples of conduct. Such knowledge of rules—unbearable if applied crudely—held pleasantly,with great kindness, makes a somewhat elegantand stimulating entertainment.

These three, in their many seeds, their bright,sharp juice, and their construction out of thestem and thickened calyx, are forms of truthapplied in their several ways to the morals andmanners of the community.

The softer, sweeter, single-seeded group, areforms of sweeter, kinder manners from a princi-ple of charity. The fruits of the apple kind repre-sent a knowledge of what is true and right andreasonable in natural life; but these of the peachfamily represent a knowledge of what makes agood home, a good neighborhood, a pleasant

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school, springing from a single-hearted enjoy-ment in goodness. The rules and principles ofsocial life are many, like apple seeds; its good-ness, with the perception thereof, is single, likethe stone of a peach.

The general necessity for moral goodnessforms a stony wall about its seed; but no suchabsolute certainty encompasses the particularprinciples.

The wooliness of most peaches is a curiousconfirmation of their correspondence with aknowledge of kind and affectionate manners.

Nectarines are only a smooth variety ofpeach. Apricots and plums are perhaps related topeaches somewhat as pears are to apples. Cher-ries are sometimes grouped with plums, andsometimes in a distinct genus; and from theirsmall size, early ripening, and clustered arrange-ment, appear to relate to the pleasures of child-hood’s social life.

ALMONDS

Another apparently very different fruit, but ofthe same genus with the peach, is the almond.

Almonds are stones of peaches made sweetand eatable in themselves, but not encompassedwith sweet pulp. They are not quickly perishableas is the juicy fruit; and in this respect, as well asin their dry nutritious quality, they partake of thecharacter of the grains.

Taking the peach as a type of works of affec-tion, the seeds are principles of the duty of char-ity by which such works are multiplied. Andalmonds are these principles of charity livedfrom love for their own goodness. In peaches theseed is out of sight, and the sweet pulp appearsto be the fruit. In almonds the seed is the fruit. Inthe works represented by peaches, there must bemuch expression of neighborly affection; but inthe almonds there is no demonstrativeness, onlya quiet doing of good works as a loved duty.Peaches, from their perishableness and juiciness,suggest occasional kind hospitalities and otherexpressions of affectionate interest to friends and

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neighbors; the drier almonds represent quietdaily service from the duty of love.

The priesthood of Aaron and his sons repre-sented the ministry of the goodness of the Lordamong men, and especially the living of a life ofcharity to lead men in the way to heaven. There-fore, when the rods of the several tribes werelaid up before the Lord, Aaron’s rod, for the tribeof Levi, blossomed, and brought forth almonds,which represented the use to which he and histribe were appointed.

The Hebrew name for the almond is “thewatchful,” a name said to be conferred becauseits pretty pink flowers open their eyes so early inthe winter, in which the peaches also resemblethem. And, spiritually, the love of a life of char-ity is ever awake to its opportunities.

The Lord said to Jeremiah, whom He wassending to reprove the people for their manysins, “What seest thou, Jeremiah?” And whenJeremiah replied “An almond rod,” the Lordexplained it as an emblem of Himself as to HisDivine watchfulness to lead men in the heavenlyway: “Thou doest well in seeing; for watchfulam I over my words to do them” (Jeremiah 1:11,12).

Perhaps we can now see why the burners ofthe golden candlestick were “made like unto


almonds”; for the candlestick is a representativeof the Divine wisdom in the Church, and the ulti-mations of this are teachings of the duties ofcharity.

In the present which Jacob sent to Egypt byhis sons, to the almonds were added “pistacianuts.” In explaining this, Swedenborg says thatthe almonds represent “goods of life correspond-ing to the truths of interior natural good”; andthe pistacia nuts, which he calls terebinth, repre-sent “goods of life corresponding to the truths ofexterior natural good” (Arcana Coelestia#5622). That is, the almonds are duties of realcharity, and the pistacia nuts of natural pleasant-ness.

The pistacia tree is related to the terebinth,which will be described presently; also to a largegroup of trees yielding varnishes, and to the poi-sonous rhus, which produces painful inflamma-tion of the skin.

BEECH TREES

The signification of almonds, as principles ofcharity in life, suggests the idea that other nutsmay represent the living of other good princi-ples, and the trees themselves the knowledge ofthem.

A solitary beech is a wide-spreading, sym-metrical tree; but in the forests it sometimesattains a considerable height. Its bark is smooth,which, together with the polish and integrity ofthe leaves, gives an impression of extreme clean-liness. Its nuts are very oily, sharply three-sided,growing in pairs in bristly burs.

The cleanliness of the tree suggests that theprinciple which it represents is a principle ofpurity. The oil of the fruit shows that the corre-sponding works are works of love. Their grow-ing in pairs indicates that they relate tomarriage—all of which is confirmed and madedefinite by what Swedenborg says of them in theother world. In the description of the palace rep-resenting conjugial love in the three planes ofthe mind, he relates that around the palace were


olive, palm, and beech trees; which three, hesays, represent the truths of conjugial love in thecelestial, spiritual and natural planes of the mindrespectively (Conjugial Love #270). The olive,as we have seen, represents the perception andknowledge of the Lord’s love, which, whenretrieved, manifests itself as mutual love, andespecially as the sweetest form of mutual love,which is conjugial love. The palm also, in repre-senting a knowledge of the Lord’s salvation,relates especially to salvation from the naturalpassions of youth, and to the consequent recep-tion of a pure-hearted love for marriage. And thebeech must represent a knowledge of the duty ofsingleness in marriage. The three-sided nuts, fullof pleasant oil, and growing, a pair closetogether within each smooth-lined bristly bur,are as pretty an image as a plant can show of lifeaccording to this principle.

CHESTNUTS

In his journey to the people of the Iron Age,Swedenborg approached them, with the accom-panying angel, through “a forest consisting ofbeeches, chestnuts, and oaks” (Conjugial Love#78). These seem to have been situated betweenthe people of the Copper Age and those of theIron, and to have partaken of the quality, at leastas to the beeches, of the nobler age; for the Ironpeople did not live in singleness of marriage. Solikewise in approaching the men of the CopperAge, he entered their heaven from the south,where he found “a magnificent grove of palmsand laurels,” which certainly partake of the intel-ligent quality of the earlier Silver Age.

The statement first mentioned is interestingfrom its association of the chestnut and the oakwith the beeches. They form one family, withmarked differences. The chestnut, which comesnearest to the beech, is distinguished from it forour purpose by the irregular number of nuts,from one to three in each bur, by the larger sizeof the nuts, and by the smaller quantity of oil in


them. The trees are cultivated for their fruit andalso for their wood, which is less solid than thatof the beech, but is exceedingly durable, espe-cially, as compared with other hardwoods, whenin or near the ground; for which reason it ismuch used for fences and for sills of houses.

It evidently represents some kind of knowl-edge of natural life. And as the pair of oily beechnuts represent a knowledge of the duty of single-ness in marriage, the chestnuts, of indefinitenumber, may represent the kindred duty of carefor children. The warmly lined bur, so softwithin and prickly without, suggests a comfort-able and well-protected home; and is a very per-fect representative of the paternal feeling whichwould guard the children from every hurtfulapproach till they arrive at maturity. This is verysimilar to the instinct of protection around one’smarriage life, as the bur of the chestnut resem-bles that of the beech.

The sharp angles of the beech nut indicate theperfect definiteness of the law of singlenesswhich it represents; and the rounder, more irreg-ular forms of the chestnuts express the greaterindefiniteness and variety of principles of educa-tion.

The wide spread of the branches, and theextreme age of some chestnuts, shows the com-

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prehensiveness and permanence of some princi-ples of education. The durability of the wood inthe ground represents the endurance of the prin-ciples when exposed to the experiences of theworld—parents carrying out good principles fortheir children’s sake much more patiently thanthey will for their own; whence their use asfoundation timbers for our homes.

THE OAK

The oak would seem to belong with peculiarappropriateness to the people of an Iron Age.1More than any other family of trees it seems toanswer in the vegetable kingdom to the iron ofthe mineral. “Strong as an oak” and “tough as anoak” are common expressions which are entirelyjustified by the character of the tree.

The main root of the oak, where the soil is favor-able, descends to a great depth compared with itsheight, especially in young trees, and it stretchesto a distance horizontally—and that at a consid-erable depth—equal to the spread of thebranches; thus taking a stronger hold of the earththan any other tree of the forest. It does not oftentower upwards to so magnificent a height asmany other trees; but, when standing alone, itthrows out its mighty arms with an air of forceand grandeur which has made it everywhere tobe considered the fittest emblem of strength andpower of resistance.

1. See the preceding article, under “Chestnuts.”

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The great value of the oak, in all countries, isfor its wood. It is applied to a greater variety ofimportant purposes than that of any othertree. . . . For strength, hardness, toughness, anddurableness united, it is unsurpassed; althougheach of these properties singly is found to agreater degree in some other wood.” (Emerson’sTrees and Shrubs of Massachusetts, pp. 137,138)

The first knowledge of good and evil, right andwrong which a child has, is not an interior, ratio-nal knowledge, but a knowledge of the state-ments and teachings which are the results ofthought. There is such a thing as thinking ratio-nally from a knowledge of the Divine standardsof right, and, from that rational thought, deduc-ing rules or formulas of speech and action, relat-ing to practical questions of every kind. Achild’s first knowledge is a knowledge of suchformulas, not thought out rationally by him, butlearned from others with a child’s intelligence,and held with great tenacity and stiffness,because they are the strength of his life. WhenAbram first entered the land of Canaan, he dweltin the oak grove of Moreh; and afterwards in theoak grove of Mamre. And this Swedenborginterprets as meaning that when the Lorddeparted from the natural states into which Hewas born, and began to learn of Divine and heav-


enly states, His first knowledge was of thischildlike kind. The things first learned are likeoaks, he says, “on account of the intertwinedbranches of the oak” (Arcana Coelestia #1443).They are like oaks also in the strength and tenac-ity with which they are held. And their fruits, orthe works done from such knowledge of rightand wrong, are like the somewhat bitter, but notinnutritious, acorns.

It is interesting to note the affinity which theacid of oak galls and oak bark has for iron. Theacid of the oak must represent a zeal for formu-lating, or for fixing and remembering in setforms; for the whole tree represents a knowledgeof and a love for such forms. Iron is the repre-sentative of ultimate truth in which all life rests.This the zeal for formulating seizes upon as thevery means of making knowledge fixed and def-inite; as the oak acid unites with the iron to makeink, with which all knowledge is written down infixed and enduring forms.

The acid of oak bark unites in the same waywith the skins of animals, to make leather. Forthe skins of animals represent the usual manifes-tations and descriptions of the natural affections;of which the zeal for formulating makes a cloth-ing of manners, according to the customs of the

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world, fitted to bear hard knocks, and to concealand protect the sensitive feelings within it.

The Divine Truth in the lowest form of defi-nite laws and customs is as it is usually pre-sented in the Old Testament, and as it wasrevealed by living voice from Mount Sinai to theIsraelites. This was the character of the Dispen-sation of which the Israelites constituted the cen-ter. In the circumferences of the Dispensation,accordingly, among the Gentile nations, oracleswere established in oak groves, where meninquired the will of the gods, and where no doubtthey received instruction from the spiritualworld, adapted to their state. Zeus, the great godof the Greeks, we are told, “at Dodona in Epirus,revealed his will towards men, and the incidentsof their future life, in the rustling of the branchesof a holy oak” (Murray, p. 48). “The oak and theolive, of all the trees of the earth, . . . were mostsacred to him” (p. 50); the olive because it repre-sented perceptions of the love of God in theinmost of the mind, and the oak because it repre-sented the perception of His will in ultimates.Therefore, also, “as god of Dodona, he wears awreath of oak leaves, and as Olympic god, awreath of the sacred olive of Olympia” (p. 51).

THE TEREBINTH

From the Hebrew root signifying “mighty” arederived several names which are usually trans-lated “oak,” or “plane,” in our Bible. All ofthem, however, appear to stand for trees remark-able for size and strength. There is a generalagreement among interpreters that a part of thesenames refer to the terebinth tree, as they aretranslated in the Septuagint. The names seem tobe used sometimes interchangeably (as in Gene-sis 25:4; Joshua 24:26; Judges 9:6), probablybecause all the trees indicated by them have asimilar general appearance and a like correspon-dence, of course with a difference; but some-times they are carefully distinguished, as inIsaiah 6:13.

Tristram says of the terebinth:It is the Pistacia Terebinthus of botanists . . . wellknown in the Greek Islands as the turpentine tree.In Chios, especially, a considerable quantity ofturpentine is extracted from it by tapping thetrunk; but this is not practiced in Palestine,where the inhabitants seem to be ignorant of its

THE TEREBINTH 69

commercial value. It is a very common tree in thesouthern and eastern parts of the country, beinggenerally found in situations too warm or dry forthe oak, whose place it there supplies, and whichit much resembles in general appearance at a dis-tance. It is seldom seen in clumps or groves,never in forests, but stands isolated and weird-like in some bare ravine or on a hillside, wherenothing else towers above the low brushwood.When it sheds its leaves at the beginning of win-ter, it still more recalls the familiar English oak,with its short and gnarled trunk, spreading andirregular limbs, and small twigs. . . . Many tere-binths remain to this day objects of veneration intheir neighborhood; and the favorite buryingplace of the Bedouin sheik is under a solitarytree. Eastern travelers will recall the “Mother ofRags” on the outskirts of the desert—a terebinthcovered with the votive offerings of superstitionor affection. The terebinth of Mamre, or its linealsuccessor, remained from the days of Abrahamtill the fourth century of the Christian Era; and onits site Constantine erected a Christian church,the ruins of which still remain.” (Natural Historyof the Bible, Article: “Teil Tree”)

As ordinarily met with today, the terebinthattains the stature of thirty or thirty-five feet. Theroot is substantial, and penetrates deeply into theground; the boughs spread widely, and at a con-siderable angle, and being clothed, except in


winter, with dark and shining foliage, the treepresents, during the larger portion of the year, abeautiful and conspicuous spectacle. The reddishhue of the branches and of the petioles, espe-cially while the parts are young, contributes tothe pleasing effect. The leaves, which individu-ally are three or four inches long, consist of aboutseven ovate-lanceolate leaflets disposed in a pin-nate manner. The flowers are borne in racemes,and though small and insignificant, somewhatlike those of the grapevine, are pretty, being yel-lowish, with crimson stigmas. In due time, theyare succeeded by dark blue drupes, the size ofpeas, but ovoid, in substance dry, and containingeach a solitary and bony seed, the kernel ofwhich is oleaginous and edible. The foliage andthe flowers alike evolve a resinous odor, which isdiffused like that of sweetbriar, especiallytowards evening, and when the day has beenwarm. Though deciduous, the terebinth is thus atree of many attractions. . . . In the island of Scio,the resinous matter which diffuses the scent iscollected in quantity by means of incisions madein the trunk. When extracted, it yields an odorresembling that of jessamine flowers, or the cit-ron, and gradually hardens into a translucentsolid—the Chian turpentine of commerce. (Grin-don, Scripture Botany)

Lindley calls this turpentine “a limpid, fragrant,balsamic resin, with an odor between lemon and

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fennel” (Vegetable Kingdom, p. 467). He says,also, that trees of this family yield valuable var-nishes, and that many members of the family arehighly poisonous; among which are our poison-ous ivy and sumac, which induce, and alsorelieve, painful skin and rheumatic diseases.

As the oak represents a knowledge of naturalteachings of right and wrong, as applied to theaffairs of life, the terebinth seems to represent aknowledge of similar teachings which conduceto peace, to smoothness of living in society, andto the removal of irritation. Its balsamic resinshows the pleasant soothing thought of the intel-ligence which it represents; and the affection init is further indicated by the combustible, heat-giving power of the resin. The use of kindredresins for varnishes points in the same direction;and it is manifest that the knowledge of humaninfirmities which is necessary to adjust oursocial relations to smooth and peaceful working,if used perversely, has power to produce irrita-tion and inability to work at all, which appears tobe represented by the highly poisonous effects,especially upon the skin, produced by someplants of the family.

Its representation is parallel with that of theoak; the one relating to what is right, and theother to what is good, on the same plane. The


dry stone fruit of the terebinth further indicatesits representation of a knowledge of what isgood. The composite character of its leaves mayindicate the perception of complex relations, asthe strongly lobed oak leaves seem to represent aperception of the application of principles ofright in various directions.

CONE-BEARING TREES

Besides the nut trees, there are many trees thatbear no edible fruit, but are valuable for timberand for beauty and healthfulness. They thereforerepresent, not duties, nor uses, but knowledgewhich in itself is useful. They are of everydegree of nobility, from the cedar to the poplar,and represent knowledge of human life of everygrade, from a knowledge of heaven and of theimmortality of the soul to a knowledge of whatpeople say and of the fashions.

Of the timber trees mentioned in the Bible,the most prominent is the Cedar of Lebanon.

THE CEDAR OF LEBANON

It was the grandest tree known to Solomon; forhe “spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is inLebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth outof the wall” (1 Kings 4:33). It was both tall andwide-spreading; for Isaiah speaks of “the cedarsof Lebanon, that are high and lifted up” (Isaiah2:13); and Ezekiel says, “Behold, the Assyrianwas a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, andthickness of shadowing, and of a high stature;and his top was among the thick boughs. Thewaters made him great, the deep set him up onhigh with her rivers running about his plants. . . .Therefore his height was exalted above all thetrees of the field, and his boughs were multi-plied, and his branches became long because ofthe multitude of waters. . . . All the fowls ofheaven made their nests in his boughs, and underhis branches did all the beasts of the field bringforth their young, and under his shadow dwelt allgreat nations” (Ezekiel 31:3–6).

The cedars now known upon Lebanon do notattain so magnificent proportions as this descrip-

THE CEDAR OF LEBANON 75

tion would imply; but it is probable that the fin-est parts of the Lebanon forest are gone, and thatthe scanty groves now remaining, though givingus the general character of the trees, do notpresent their finest development. The cedars ofthe Himalaya, regarded as a variety of the samespecies, are said to attain a height of two hun-dred and fifty feet, and a circumference of thirty-nine feet. Of the Lebanon cedars, Mr. Grindonwrites: “What is wanting in stature is compen-sated by the girth of the trunk, the noble propor-tions and the prodigious size and expansion ofthe principal boughs, which, in fine examples,are themselves equal to the whole of many a for-est tree. These huge limbs spread to so great adistance that when a cedar stands isolated uponthe sward, a space is overshadowed which inarea considerably exceeds the vertical measure.They strike out, moreover, in distinct horizontalstages, causing the tree to appear stratified.”

This last-mentioned characteristic is stronglymarked in the photographs of the cedars, and ismentioned by many observers. Mr. Thompsonsays: “The branches are thrown out horizontallyfrom the parent trunk. These again part intolimbs which preserve the same horizontal direc-tion, and so on down to the minutest twigs, andeven the arrangement of the clustered leaves has


the same general tendency. Climb into one, andyou are delighted with a succession of verdantfloors spread around the trunk, and graduallynarrowing as you ascend. The beautiful conesseem to stand upon, or rise out of, this greenflooring” (The Land and the Book, i. 297). Thewriter in Baedeker’s Guide-Book compares thesesuccessive strata of foliage to “small patches ofmeadow,” out of which the cones grow.

The leaves of the tree grow in clusters likethose of the larch, but grow so thick upon thenumerous twigs as to make a solid mat of foli-age, casting a dense shadow. Unlike the larch,they are evergreen. Of the resinous quality of thetree, Mr. Thompson says: “The wood, bark,cones, and even leaves of the cedar, are satu-rated, so to speak, with resin. The heart has thered cedar color, but the exterior is whitish. It iscertainly a very durable wood, but is not fine-grained nor sufficiently compact to take a highpolish; for ordinary architectural purposes, how-ever, it is perhaps the best there is in the coun-try” (p. 297).

The rapidly grown wood of the English speci-mens is described as worthless for building pur-poses. But there is much evidence that the woodof the mountains is durable, pleasing in color,and fragrant. Mr. Tristram testifies that “the


wood of the mountain-grown cedar of Lebanonis much closer in grain and darker in color thanthat of trees grown in England” (Natural Historyof the Bible, 343). A small piece in my posses-sion closely resembles in color, fragrance, andtexture the wood of our American Arbor Vitæ(Thuya Occidentalis), the “white cedar” ofMaine, which, though not a tough wood, is notedfor durability.

In looking for the mental correlative of thisnoble tree, the point of attention must be the rep-resentation of those successive platforms of ver-dure, mounting higher and higher into theheavens, which are the most striking characteris-tics of the tree.

The spiritual tree also must extend itsbranches, put forth leaves, and mature its fruit onsuccessively interior planes of the mind. It mustbe acquainted with both natural and spiritualthings, and recognize their distinctness as well astheir unity. We need not look farther to recognizethe truth of Swedenborg’s explanation: “ByAshur, the cedar in Lebanon, is signified therational mind, which is formed from naturalknowledge on the one part, and from the influxof spiritual truth on the other” (ApocalypseExplained #650).


The cedar of the mind extends its branches ofknowledge widely and compactly over thedomain of natural life, and another series ofbranches, with almost equal comprehensiveness,among the things of spiritual life; it knows thenature of spiritual love, and distinguishes clearlybetween the affections which are of God, andthose which are natural to men; and its topreaches even to that inmost conscious plane ofthe mind in which the presence of the Lord Him-self, with its infinite variety, is the holy andbeautiful object of knowledge. In Swedenborg’sjourney to the heaven of the Golden Age, theheaven nearest the Lord and most filled with Hisinfluence, he came at length to a grove of tallcedars, with some eagles upon their branches;upon seeing which, the angel guide said, “We arenow upon the mountain, not far from the top”;“and,” Swedenborg adds, “we went on, andbehold, behind the grove was a circular plain,where lambs were pasturing, which were formsrepresentative of the state of innocence andpeace of the inhabitants of the mountain” (Con-jugial Love #75).

The cedars reached to that inmost heaven;and they were representatives of the rationalintelligence which attains to a perception of itsinnocent quality. This is not the wisdom of that


heaven, which is only exquisite perceptions ofthe Lord’s love; but it is the wisdom of the next,or the Noahtic heaven, which touches upon it.

“A spiritual rational Church,” Swedenborgsays the cedars represent, “such as was theChurch among the ancients after the flood”(Apocalypse Explained #1100). “The study ofour age,” these ancients told him, “was the studyof truths by which we had intelligence; this wasthe study of our souls and minds, but the study ofour bodily senses was the representations oftruths in forms, and a knowledge of correspon-dences conjoined the sensations of our bodieswith the perceptions of our minds, and procuredfor us intelligence” (Conjugial Love #76).

A similar spiritual state is represented bySolomon’s temple, which was lined throughoutwith cedar of Lebanon. For a house is a naturalrepresentative of a state of life; if a dwellinghouse, it represents a state of living; if a temple,a state of worship. The lining of Solomon’s tem-ple with cedar, therefore, signifies that the stateof worship represented by the temple is interi-orly a state of spiritual rationality, which dis-criminates between spiritual and natural,understands the spiritual truth taught by the nat-ural representatives of the Word and of Nature,and loves it for the sake of good spiritual life.


In Ezekiel it is promised by the Lord that suchintelligence shall again take root in the earth in aChurch which shall interiorly love the Lord andlive in charity, and that its branches shall extendthrough the several planes of the mind, and givehomes to all who delight in intelligent spiritualthought. “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; I willalso take of the highest branch of the high cedar,and will set it; I will crop off from the top of hisyoung twigs a tender one, and will plant it upona high mountain and eminent: in the mountainsof the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shallbring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be agoodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl ofevery wing: in the shadow of the branchesthereof shall they dwell” (Ezekiel 17:22, 23).

The promise has not yet been fulfilled, it istrue; but the branch is set, and we wait only forits development. Upon a certain occasion, in thespiritual world, Swedenborg says, “I saw a cedartable, upon which was a book, under a greenolive tree, whose trunk was entwined with avine. I looked, and behold it was a book writtenby me, called Angelic Wisdom concerning theDivine Love and the Divine Wisdom, and alsoConcerning the Divine Providence; and I said[to the good spirits with whom he was talking]that it was fully shown in that book that man is


an organ recipient of life, and not life” (Apoca-lypse Revealed 875).

The olive tree is the growing perception ofthe Lord’s love; the vine is the perception of Hiswisdom of life; both of which are abundant inthe heavenly states to which Swedenborg leadsus. And, under these, just such angelic philoso-phy as a living cedar represents is contained inthe very book which Swedenborg saw appropri-ately borne upon the wood of a cedar tree.

The fragrance of the cedar should not bepassed without mention, though the general sub-ject of fragrant materials will receive more atten-tion presently. By odors we perceive the interiorquality of a substance, whether it be sweet orfoul, and recognize its agreement with our life;therefore it is said of sacrifices which had a goodrepresentation, that Jehovah smelled a sweetsavor from them. The sweet odors of flowers andfruits show the agreement of their life withpleasant life in us, and thus are expressions to usof the sweetness and gladness of their life. Thefragrance of the cedar wood, therefore, repre-sents the delightfulness of such knowledge as issignified by the cedar; for there are differencesin the delightfulness of knowledge.

The fragrance of wood depends chiefly uponthe essential oil and the resin it contains. Some


wood has much of these, and some scarcely any.There are trees beautiful to the sight, but withwatery sap and no fragrance, which evidentlyrepresent knowledge which is intellectuallybeautiful and satisfactory, but which stirs nodeep affections. But the trees whose sap is com-posed of fragrant resins and oils representknowledge that appeals to the heart rather thanto the understanding—knowledge that is goodand delightful to the life, as distinguished fromthat which is true and right. As for the cedar, weshall find woods more remarkable for theirsweet oils and resins; yet the tree that adequatelyrepresents the delightfulness of spiritual ratio-nality, the spiritual joy of the mind which dis-cerns between spiritual and natural, andperceives intelligently the correspondencebetween them, certainly cannot be lacking in fra-grance.

THE SEQUOIAS

The great Sequoias of California are arranged byDr. Gray between the cedars of Lebanon and thecypress. Their prodigious height and size andvery great longevity indicate their correspon-dence with vast and comprehensive ideas,including all planes of human life; and their dis-covery on the extreme west of the continent, asthe wave of habitation completed the circuit ofthe earth, suggests the unity of mankind as thepossible subject. May it not be that the larger ofthe two species represents a knowledge of theunity of Divine revelations; and the smaller, theunity of the Churches or races formed by theserevelations?

THE CYPRESS

Associated with the cedars in the building ofSolomon’s temple was the wood called, in ourtranslation, “fir.” Probably this, like the “cedar,”is a general term, including several kinds oftrees. The cypress, the juniper, and pines of sev-eral species are selected respectively by variousauthors as probably the tree that is meant.

Mr. Grindon, who, following Dr. Royle,accepts the cypress as the “fir” of the EnglishBible, thus pleasantly describes it:

In general figure, this beautiful tree correspondswith the Lombardy poplar, for which, in picturesof Oriental landscape, it appears to be notuncommonly mistaken. The branches are erect,close to the main stem, and almost in a line withit, so that, from a somewhat rounded base, ittapers gracefully to a point, the stature, in full-grown individuals, being fifty or sixty feet. Theleaves, which endure for six or seven years, areextremely minute, and pressed so close to thesurface of the twigs that they are scarcely distin-guishable; the innumerable but trifling flowersappear in spring; the fruit is a curious modifica-

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tion of the cone, nearly globular, and technicallycalled a “galbulus.” Everywhere in the GreekArchipelago, also in Asia Minor and in Syria, thelofty and evergreen spires are conspicuous at allseasons. . . . The wood of the cypress is ofremarkably fine and close grain, fragrant, verydurable, and of a pleasing reddish hue, whichPliny says is never lost. The same author statesthat the doors of the famous temple of the Ephe-sian Diana were constructed of cypress, and that,after the lapse of four hundred years, they stillseemed new (xvi. 79). He further states that thecypress statue of Jupiter in the capital, which hadexisted six hundred years, showed not a symp-tom of decay. Horace says that writings worthyof being handed down to remote posterity are, orought to be, preserved in cabinets made of thesame (Ars Poetica, 332).

“The gates of Constantinople,” also, accordingto Lindley (Vegetable Kingdom, p. 228),“famous for having stood from the time of Con-stantine to that of Pope Eugene IV, a period ofeleven hundred years, were of cypress.”

From ancient days cypresses have beenplanted by graves and in cemeteries, represent-ing, in the upward pointing of every shoot andleaf, and the fragrant, enduring wood, a knowl-edge of immortal life with God in heaven. It isonly since the knowledge of the spiritual world


was lost that it came to be associated with sad-ness. “By the ancients,” Mr. Emerson says, “thecypress was considered an emblem of immortal-ity; with the moderns, it is emblematical of sad-ness and mourning.”

It recovers its cheerfulness of aspect themoment we dissociate it from the grave, andthink of its graceful plumes as typifying ourknowledge of immortal life in heaven. Butwhether this knowledge be the proper door andfloor of the temple of the Lord, perhaps we canjudge better after comparison with kindredknowledge.

THE JUNIPER

Abundant upon Mt. Lebanon is a tall juniper,akin to our red cedar, which so nearly resemblesthe cypress as to be mistaken for it by some writ-ers. (See Bible Dictionary, Article: “Cypress.”)

The juniper appears to have been used forsacred purposes from remote antiquity. “Thatunder the name of kedros it was burned for thesake of its perfume, or as incense, by the ancientGreeks, appears from Homer’s account of theisland abode of Calypso (Od. v. 60), and it wouldappear to be the same to which Pliny refers whenhe says that ‘the wood lasts forever,’ and that ‘ithas long been employed for making statues ofthe gods’ (xiii. 11)” (Grindon). “The red heart-wood of the tall, fragrant juniper of Lebanon wasno doubt extensively used in the building of thetemple,” says the Bible Dictionary, supportingits assertion by the Septuagint adoption of thejuniper, instead of the fir of our English Bible.

The family is so important that, as I can findno full description of the tall juniper of Palestine,I will quote at some length from Mr. Emerson’s


description of our red cedar (Juniperus Virgini-ana) which probably is equally applicable to theother in its general statements.

“This is usually,” he says, “a ragged-lookingtree. . . . Surrounded by other trees in a wood, ithas a smooth, clear trunk for twelve or fifteenfeet and a handsome spiry head. On the rocks itassumes every variety of form, round-headed,irregular, or cone-shaped, sometimes not withoutbeauty.”

“From the exposed situations in which the redcedar grows, it often has to assume fantasticshapes.”

Mr. Emerson describes a tree exposed towinds from the sea, with the trunk “much bent,and all the branches violently twisted landward”;and another near the same place, which “liesprostrate on the rock from beneath which itsprings. It has a circumference of five feet threeinches as near the root as it can be measured, andsix feet eight inches at the largest part free frombranches. These, numerous, crowded, and mat-ted, bend down like a penthouse over the side ofthe rock. Others are seen on the same road as ifcrouching behind walls, rising higher and higheras they recede from the walls, and forming pro-tected, sunny spots for sheep to lie in.”

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He endorses the statement by Dr. Elliot that“those which grow along the sea coast, with theirroots partially immersed in salt water, thoughsmaller in their dimensions, are much moredurable than those which inhabit the forests.Often when surrounded and finally destroyed bythe encroachments of the salt water, their bodiesremain in the marshes for an indefinite period,. . . and seem to molder away like rocks, ratherthan decay like a vegetable product.”

“The wood is light, close-grained, smoothand compact, and possessed of great durability.The agreeable and permanent odor recommendsit for certain uses, as that of making pencils, andthe bottoms of small boxes and drawers, thearoma making it a safeguard against insects. Thesapwood is white, but the heartwood of a beauti-ful red, whence is derived its name.”

The cone which we should expect to find forits fruit is transformed by the union of its small,fleshy scales into a little berry, which is a favor-ite winter food of some birds, especially our rob-ins, or domestic thrushes. “The barren and fertileflowers are on different trees, rarely on thesame” (Emerson). The tree “has a geographicalrange equal, perhaps superior, to that of anyother tree known.”


Young junipers growing in favorable placesare scarcely distinguishable in general appear-ance from young cypresses. They have a similarupward tendency of every twig, the slender top-most shoot, though tossed by every breath, yetpointing straight heavenward as fast as it gathersstrength; their close, fine foliage is similar ineffect, and also the reddish, stringy bark. Thejuniper, however, has more tendency to spreadthan the cypress, and is much more affected inits form by circumstances. If the cypress repre-sents our knowledge of immortal life with Godin heaven, the juniper seems to represent aknowledge of His providence upon earth. Itflourishes, if permitted, and becomes a hand-some tree, in favored soils and climates; butmore frequently it springs from barren hills andbroken cliffs, into the crevices of which it pushesits roots deep, submitting them to a degree ofcompression which flattens and knots themalmost beyond recognition as roots; and underthese hard circumstances, its red, fragrant heartonly grows the redder and sweeter.

Scraggy the patient tree often is to the lastdegree, and of great variety of form (could aknowledge of the ways of Providence in such aworld as this be always symmetrical and uni-form?), but it all the more perfectly represents

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those lives, broken by toil and hardship, whichcontain the sweet recognition of a kind Father’shand always with them, providing better thingsthan they would have sought for themselves.Especially touching in this light are those bentand deformed watchers by the sea, which,almost prostrate from long-continued yielding tothe storms, yet more than others attain stronghearts and patient endurance.

They that go down to the sea in ships, that dobusiness in great waters, these see the works ofJehovah, and His wonders in the deep. (Psalm107:23, 24)

Returning now to the question of the trees men-tioned in the Bible, we read in 2 Samuel 6:5 thatwhen the Ark was brought up from Baale ofJudah, where it had long remained after its cap-tivity in Philistia, “David and all the house ofIsrael played before Jehovah on all manner of firwood, even on harps and on psalteries, and ontimbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.” Thewood of trees represents the goodness acquiredby thinking the truth to which the trees corre-spond, whence comes the power and affectionfor perceiving more. The music expresses thesentiments of the players, which in this instancewere those of thankfulness for the manifest pres-


ence of the Lord once more among them, and fordeliverance and safety from their enemies.

Admitting, then, the probability that the “fir”of Scripture includes several trees, in thisinstance the juniper seems to represent the expe-rience from which sprang the music, better eventhan the cypress.

As to the outer doors and the floor ofSolomon’s Temple, which are said to have beenmade of “fir,” the walls being lined with cedar—the temple, as has been said, represents a state ofspiritual wisdom and charity; and, in the uncer-tainty as to the kind of wood intended, it seemsnecessary to inquire through which, if either, ofthe kinds of knowledge that have beendescribed, we are introduced into such a state ofspiritual intelligence.

I would not confirm an opinion without morethorough information; but it may be safe toadmit that the eyes of many are opened to thereality of spiritual things when their friends passinto the spiritual world, and the certainty of theirimmortal existence comes home to them. It isalso true that many, perhaps most, persons arebrought to perceive spiritual things clearlythrough a sense of the presence of the Lord withthem, caring for them, protecting them, and lead-ing them out of evil to good. The two kinds of

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knowledge, though distinct, are parts of onegroup, which is the knowledge of the omnipres-ent providence of the Lord; and though onerelates especially to the future life, and the otherto the present life, neither is complete withoutthe other. It may, therefore, be allowable, untilwe have further information, to rest in the ideathat the general Hebrew term includes both trees,and possibly others that are nearly related.

It is interesting to note in relation to the doorsand walls of the temple, that upon them werecarved “cherubim and palm trees, and openingflowers”; the cherubim to represent good lovefrom the Lord, the palms to represent salvationby Him from evil, and the opening flowers torepresent the new delight in the perception ofspiritual truth; all of which seem just the appro-priate ornaments of the state and of the knowl-edge which have been described.

There is another species of juniper, the Juni-perus Communis, which lies close to the ground,spreading in a thick mat sometimes twenty feetin diameter, and multiplying so greatly as to be aserious injury to the pastures, at the same timethat it is almost useless in itself. This appears torepresent a knowledge of Divine Providenceapplied to outward events without interior eleva-tion or intelligence. It says that things are as they


are because Providence so wills, and there isnothing to be done about it. It is a fatalism whichdiscourages effort and profitable thought.

THYINE WOOD

Before touching upon the proper pines, there isanother member of the Cypress group whichshould be noticed, as it receives a passing men-tion in the “Apocalypse” under the name of Thy-ine Wood.

There seems to be no difference of opinionamong commentators in designating as the treeintended one of the Thuyas, of which we possessfamiliar examples in our Arbor Vitæ, one speciesof which is native to New England, and othersare imported and cultivated in gardens. Thenative tree (Thuja Occidentalis) is known as theWhite Cedar in Maine, and is valuable for itssoft, fragrant wood, of light reddish-brown color,which is much used for shingles, and also forposts, being very durable.

The foliage of the cultivated trees is madeclose and thick by pruning, in which state theyare planted for hedges, and pruned into quitesolid walls and many fanciful shapes. Thebranches, with their many twigs clad in minutescale-like leaves, are flat; but the flat sprays do


not lie horizontally like those of the cedar andthe hemlock spruce; there is much variety intheir direction, but, on the whole, they have avertical tendency.

The “Thyine” wood Mr. Grindon describes asfollows:

Being highly balsamic and odoriferous, it wasused for incense in primeval religious ceremo-nies, and thence received its name of thu-on, or“wood-of-sacrifice,” as instanced by Homer inhis charming description of the enchanted islandof Calypso (Od. V. 60). The tree which yields itis the Thuja articulata of Desfontaines, the Calli-tris quadrivalvis of Ventenat, and the “AlgerianCypress” of English catalogues. Nearly allied tothe arbor vitæ, it presents itself as a branchingevergreen, provided with innumerable slendertwigs, which are curiously jointed, clothed withminute leaves, and decked, in their season, with aprofusion of inconspicuous yellowish flowers.Upon all the wild and uncultivated hills of Bar-bary and Mount Atlas it is still to be found,though the majestic examples that grew ancientlyhave seen no successors. The wood was valuednot only for its odor when burned, but for itsbeautiful color—a dark and variegated hazel-brown—and its smooth and solid texture. Underthe name of citrus, citron, or citrine wood (just aswe nowadays say “rosewood,” the odor of thelatter corresponding with that of the flower), it

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was employed for the highest and most costlydescriptions of cabinetwork. Cicero, Martial, andLucan refer to its splendor and value; whileTheophrastus recommends that it should beemployed in the building of temples, seeing thatedifices dedicated to the deities should be con-structed of imperishable materials, and that thecallitris wood in particular is one that bids defi-ance to the hunger of insects.

The sacrifices of the ancients consisted chieflyof innocent animals, and represented the recep-tion of good affections from God, and theacknowledgment of all goodness as His. Thecustom of offering fragrant resin and gum, andsweet wood, for sacrifice, had its origin in thedays when the significance of all these thingswas understood; and they were employed withcareful discrimination and exact intention. Thewood, therefore, which preeminently was calledthe “wood-of-sacrifice,” must preeminently rep-resent the knowledge of the reception of goodaffections from God.

The distinct horizontal planes of the Cedarrepresent, as we have seen, a rational discrimina-tion between the several planes of the humanmind; but the vertical planes of the Thuya foli-age, blended, as they are, without vertical strati-fication, represent a perception of the principlewhich unites all planes of the mind from inmost


to outmost; and that principle is the love of God.From this point of view, therefore, we come tothe same conclusion, that the tree represents aknowledge of the good affections received fromGod, and of their unity.

Thyine wood is associated in the Bible with“vessels of ivory,” and therefore is said by Swe-denborg to represent the natural good correlativeto the truth represented by ivory (ApocalypseRevealed #774). Now ivory represents the sameas the teeth, which are the guards of the nutritionof the body; and that is, the principles of goodlife by which everything ought to be examinedbefore it is admitted to the halls of the mind or ofthe community. The good correlative with suchtruth is the knowledge of the increase of lifefrom the reception of such things as bear the test.It is the knowledge of the reception of life fromGod by those who pass the gates of heaven, andthe consequent increase of the life of heaven; itis the knowledge of the increase of good affec-tion in the Church by the presence of those whobring upright lives to her service; it is the knowl-edge of the gift of good affections from God tothose who are in the effort to do right.

PINES

Of all the conifers, and, indeed, of all trees thatgrow, pines most abound in resin. It is not of sofragrant a kind as some of the Eastern aromaticresins, yet it is pleasant in odor, and healing, and,in the forms of tar and pitch, is extensively usedto protect from the weather ships and cordageand houses. Indeed the idea of protection is asso-ciated with the pine in every shape. Pine forestsare the best of natural shields against cold winds.Their leaves, falling in autumn, make an evenwinter blanket over the plants beneath, and overtheir own roots. Their wood is the best of allwood for boards and clapboards and shingles forthe outsides of houses; and it is the most easilyworked and extensively used for doors, casings,and inside finish generally, and for drawers, cup-boards, and tables. The pitch pine of the Southmakes enduring floors, and its resinous sap, ashas been said, is protection itself against rain andwater.

It should not be overlooked that the seeds ofsome pines, as the stone pine of Europe, and the


sugar pine of the Pacific slope, are edible, andare an important article of food to the nativeinhabitants of their respective countries.

Pines, and also spruces and firs, send off theirprincipal branches at regular intervals, separatedby a year’s growth of the leading shoot; and,therefore, have a tendency to stratification. Oldpines generally lose their lower branches, andexpand the upper branches in a broad head,which is especially marked in the stone pine,giving it the name of the “parasol tree.” An oldwhite pine, by losing branches at intervals, fre-quently shows two or three widely separatedragged floors of verdure. The pines naturallyinhabit temperate or cool climates, and willthrive in sandy soil too poor to support otherlarge trees.

The resinous quality of the pine shows that itrepresents a knowledge which appeals to theaffections; the abundance of its inflammable sapindicates the fiery thought with which thatknowledge is cherished; and the uses to which itis put show that the loved principles relate to theprotection of men in the secure enjoyment oftheir homes, their possessions, their habits, andopinions; all these they protect from the cold ofindifference, and the rain or flood of intrusive orviolent instruction.

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The pines, therefore, represent the principlesof personal independence and the right of seclu-sion, in regard to natural, mental, and spiritualpossessions. They are principles which, amongNorthern nations at least, are of all principlesmost vehemently defended. They are the princi-ples which brought our forefathers across theocean to enjoy the freedom of the New Englandforests; and which they expressed, more exactlythan they intended, by stamping the figure of apine tree upon their first-coined shillings. Proba-bly a like association, with only a dim perceptionof its meaning, made a pine tree the banner of aScottish clan. The Greeks worshipped Poseidon,called by the Romans “Neptune,” as the “ruler ofthe sea, and as the first to train and employhorses” (Murray, p. 62). His temple stood in apine grove, upon the Isthmus of Corinth, and theprize of the Isthmian games, celebrated in hishonor, was a wreath of pine; apparently as a signof independence of thought.

There is an undeniable sense of gloom in pinewoods, which characterizes also an excess ofpersonal independence; and, on the other hand,there is a restfulness in their solitude, which rep-resents the enjoyment of needful seclusion.

As the resin of the sap, so inflammable andhot, represents the zeal which enters into the idea


of independence, the sugar which often accom-panies it represents the natural sweetness of thesame. The edible seeds of some species repre-sent the duty of attaining and securing somekinds of independence. But as this is a seriousduty only in relation to matters of conscienceand religion, a few of the nobler pines only haveseeds which are of any importance as food. Thehabit of the pines of dropping their lowerbranches as they grow older, and, except in a fewpoorer species, never sending up new shootsfrom the stump, represents the usual decrease ofcare for matters of external independence as wemature, and the transfer of the sensitiveness tomatters of conscience and of interior life.

That the wood of the tree with such a repre-sentation should be easily wrought into boxes,doors, clapboards, shingles, and many forms ofprotection and seclusion, seems perfectly natu-ral.

The name “pine,” as it occurs in our EnglishBible, is probably a mistranslation, and the pinedoes not seem to be really mentioned in theWord, unless it is included in the most generalsense of the cedar; which is not unlikely, as it is aconspicuous evergreen upon Mount Lebanon,and is nearly akin to the cedar both spirituallyand naturally.

FIRS AND SPRUCES

The firs and spruces constituting the familyAbies differ from the pines in shape, and in thequality of the wood. They are more sharply coni-cal than pines, having less lateral extension, andmore prominent leading shoots. The stratifica-tion is very regular from the top to the bottom ofthe trees, though when they grow together in theforests, they lose their lower branches.

Their wood is resinous, but much less so thanpine. It is harder, and not so easily worked; but,on account of the straightness of its stems, it isespecially valuable for frames of buildingswhere its size is sufficient; it is also sawed intoboards for outside covering and flooring.

It grows with the pine, but also in colder cli-mates, extending up the mountainsides, almost,or quite, to the limit of the growth of trees.

The regular pyramidal form of these trees,with their prominent leading shoot, and markedstratification throughout, suggests the principleof orderly subordination in the mind, in the fam-


ily, in Church and State, and in the heavens, astheir correlative.

In this view, a knowledge of what is proper toeach plane of the mind, or of life, and its relationto others, constitutes, successively, the severalstrata of branches; and the leading shoot is theeffort to attain the knowledge of the leadingprinciple, the ruling love, or the head. Someintermediate twigs or small branches usuallygrow between the layers, like common groundbetween different planes of life. These are rareand very small between the nodes of the pines;for the spirit of independence prefers to keep itsplace even more strictly than rules of orderrequire.

The trees naturally grow together, and theywork well together in building also; for the prin-ciples of order very properly constitute theframe, the coarser boarding, and the commonfloor, which give general shape to the familylife, while the details are finished with knowl-edge of individual rights and privileges.

That the principle of subordination survivesin states too intensely cold and discouraging forthe spirit of independence, is evident from thehistory of despotisms.

REVIEW OF CONE-BEARING TREES

Upon reviewing the family of cone-bearingtrees, it will appear, I think, that they all haverelation to the organic life of the human race.The cedar illustrates the degrees of human lifefrom outmost to inmost; the sequoia, the unity ofthe churches and races; the cypress shows thatthe race lives on forever with God in heaven; thejuniper, that the same God is with us upon theearth, making angels of men; and the thuya, thatthe Lord’s love permeates the whole, blessingevery effort to do right. The pines maintain theright of liberty to individuals and societies; andthe spruces and firs, the necessity for good orderand subordination.

All these trees are resinous, because theirspiritual correlatives are essential to happy life.They are loved, not merely because they arebeautiful and true, but with something of the zealand fire of the love of life. They are also ever-green, because the perceptions which theirleaves represent cannot do their work, and thenintermit; but must be ever active. Some of the


fruit trees relate to useful work which may bedone, and then a rest; some timber trees alsorelate to kinds of knowledge that grow as theyhave opportunity, and rest between whiles. Butnot so the trees which represent a knowledge ofprinciples essential to everyday life; these may,indeed, have seasons of special growth, but theiractivity cannot be wholly suspended even for aday.

The fruits of these trees are cones. The seedsare not shut up in close seed vessels, but lie openupon the scales, which are arranged in beautifulspirals. In pines and spruces, the cones are some-times very large, and contain many seeds; inother trees, they are smaller; and in the cypressand juniper the fleshy scales consolidate into lit-tle berries containing very few seeds each, butthe berries are numerous. The pollen-bearingcones are distinct from the seed-bearing—some-times on separate trees.

Several of these facts are to be explained bythe relation of the trees to organized social life.The spiral cone, with its many scales, representsone’s idea of a community, as to the good quali-ties of companionship, neighborhood, separateindependence, and beautiful order. The seedsnestled at the base of the scales represent theprinciples of life of the community, which, in the

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case of the edible pine seeds, are also duties.That they lie open upon the scales—not shut upin a seed vessel or fruit—is because they repre-sent the public laws of society, and not merelythe results of individual experience. The fertili-zation of the seeds by flowers in separate clus-ters, and sometimes on separate trees, is becausethese principles are not developed in solitude;they are principles of social life, and are devel-oped by association. How otherwise could thefirst suggestions of the laws of social order, ofdegrees in human life, of the unity of mankind,and even of the necessity for independence bereceived? If received at all, it is manifest thatthey would be much less abundant and perfect insolitude than in a community; and this is true,also, of ideas of immortality, of the Divine Prov-idence with men, and of the blessing of Godupon a good life.

The cones of the cypress and juniper aresmall and fleshy, like berries, because our realknowledge of the providence of the Lord, inrelation to this life and the other, is derived frompersonal experience within a small circle, and isa matter of gratitude and affection, as well as ofknowledge.

THE SHITTAH TREE

Mr. Grindon says, in agreement with the Dictio-nary of the Bible:

It has long been known that by shittah isintended one of the species of the beautiful genusacacia, the Hebrew word being no other than theEgyptian sont, or sunt, by which name it isknown to the present day in the ancient countryof the Pharaohs, the n being omitted when theword passed into the language of the Old Testa-ment.

Dean Stanley also remarks, in speaking of thevegetation of Sinai:

The wild acacia, under the name of sont, every-where represents the seneh, or senna, of theBurning Bush. A slightly different form of thetree, equally common under the name of sayal, isthe ancient shittah, or, as more usually expressedin the plural form (from the tangled thickets intowhich its stem expands), the shittim, of which thetabernacle was made—an incidental proof, itmay be observed, of the antiquity of the institu-tion, inasmuch as the acacia, though the chiefgrowth of the desert, is very rare in Palestine.

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The name acacia means the thorn tree, and noname could be better deserved; for not only arethe trunk and branches beset with pairs of thorns,but every twig presents a thorny point. And yet itis a pretty tree; the foliage with its many leafletsis graceful, and in the spring the tree is illuminedby innumerable little golden balls of fragrantblossoms.

It is abundant everywhere in Egypt and in thedesert, and furnishes the natives with the tough-est material for tools and the frames of theirboats, a considerable part of their fuel, and thegum arabic of commerce. The wood is close-grained, heavy, and extremely enduring; somespecimens still exist which are believed to befive or six thousand years old.

Fruit trees correspond to intelligence con-cerning good uses, and their twigs are the partic-ulars of such intelligence. But some fruit trees,when growing wild or neglected, harden theirtwigs into thorns, as is the case with pear trees;and such twigs correspond to intelligence, notabout uses to others, but about protection fromintruders. However unsatisfactory in a characterit may be to find only reserve and cautionagainst intrusion, where we have a right toexpect open-hearted friendliness, yet there is aright place and a use for such protection. Such an


attitude of mind is necessary towards the idleand wasteful, and still more towards those whocome with worse intent. There is a use in wallsand gates to the Holy City, to protect the inhabit-ants by shutting out evil; and the natural walls ofthe vegetable kingdom are thorny shrubs andtrees.

The noblest plants of this class are the aca-cias; and the noblest corresponding spiritualgrowths are those of a knowledge of the Divineprotection—a knowledge which comes fromexperience of the Divine power in repelling andshutting out evil from the mind. Swedenborgsays that shittim wood “denotes the good ofmerit and of justice, which is of the Lord alone.The reason why it also denotes love is becausethe Lord, when He was in the world, fromDivine love fought against all the hells and sub-dued them, and thereby saved the human race,and hence alone had merit, and was made jus-tice; wherefore the good of the Lord’s merit isHis Divine love” (Arcana Coelestia #10178).That is to say this wood corresponds, in individ-uals and in the heavens, to the sense that theLord alone fights for man against the hells, andto the consequent sense that His is all the powerof good. The same thing is taught in other pas-sages, especially in Arcana Coelestia #9486,


9715; in the latter of which numbers, afterrepeating that shittim wood denotes “the good ofmerit and justice which are of the Lord alone,”these terms are explained as follows:

By His merit is meant that He fought alone withall the hells, and subdued them, and so reducedinto order all things in the hells, and then at thesame time all things in the heavens. . . . The goodof the Lord’s merit is also now the continual sub-jugation of the hells, and so the protection of thefaithful; this good is the good of the Lord’s love,for, from Divine love in the world, He fought andconquered. From Divine power thence acquiredin the human, He afterwards alone fights andconquers to eternity for heaven and for theChurch, thus for the universal human race, andthereby saves them. This now is the good ofmerit, which is called justice, because it is of jus-tice to restrain the hells which endeavor todestroy the human race, and to protect and savethe good and the faithful.

The planks of the tabernacle were of shittimwood, representing the sense, in heaven and inthe Church, of the sustaining and protectingpower of the Lord’s love (Arcana Coelestia#9634). The ark also, and the table, and the altarswere of shittim wood, overlaid with gold or withbrass; because the acts and states of worship


which they represent are interiorly of the Lord’ssaving power.

Swedenborg, in Arcana Coelestia #9472,speaks of the shittim wood as a “species ofcedar,” following Schmidius in the commentwhich he several times intrudes into his text, andinto his translation of Isaiah 41:19. But that lightof heaven which does reveal heavenly things,though not natural, caused Swedenborg consis-tently to see and to teach that everywhere theshittim wood stands in the Word for a knowledgeof the saving and sustaining power of the Lord,and not for the rational knowledge of the relationbetween things natural and spiritual, which, ashe uniformly states, is represented by the succes-sive planes of verdure of the cedar tree.

It is interesting to notice that the acacia is atree of the desert, or of the borders of the desert,as the knowledge of the Divine protection is aknowledge that grows in states of temptation.The beautiful foliage of many leaflets, twicecompounded, in some related species sensitivelyshrinking from the lightest touch, are the tenderreachings out for a perception of the Divine pro-tection from the many evils that beset us, in gen-eral and in particular. The golden balls offragrant flowers are the joy of perceiving andconfessing that the Lord is good, though we are


not, and that in Him we are safe. The pure adhe-sive sap may be the thought from such percep-tion that all good things are from Him, andtherefore are one.

WILLOWS AND POPLARS

It is difficult to be sure of the trees indicated bythese names in the Bible. Probably the Hebrewterms for both are somewhat more comprehen-sive than our English words, and include a vari-ety of stream-loving trees and shrubs. TheHebrew names for the poplars and the willowsseem to be derived from whiteness, and manyspecies of both are silvery in appearance, espe-cially when the leaves are blown up by the wind.Willows are fond of the “water courses”; andLombardy poplars, and also the similar specieswhich is abundant in northern Palestine, are noless so. In moist places, they both grow withgreat rapidity; and their slender, flexible twigsare everywhere used for basket work. Poplarstems of larger size, from their lightness andstraightness, are a favorite wood for rafters. Bothtrees have their flowers in catkins, the stamensand the pistils on separate trees, and produce aprofusion of small, cottony seeds, which blowlike down in the wind. The long, slender leaves,which are common among willows, bear a

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strong resemblance to olive leaves, and some ofthe large trees are strikingly like olives in gen-eral appearance. And, on the other hand, theLombardy poplars, with every shoot pointingupward as straight as possible, equally resemblethe cypress in general appearance. It is also wor-thy of mention that several of the poplars, byreason of their flattened leaf stems and quiveringleaves, are universally taken as symbols of fear-fulness and tremulousness.

Swedenborg assigns to both the representa-tion of a low order of intelligence, relating to“natural good” (Arcana Coelestia #4013), andthe “lowest goods and truths of the natural man,which belong to the external sensuals” (Apoca-lypse Explained #458).

As the cypress, with its evergreen ascendingtwigs, corresponds to a knowledge of eternal lifein heaven, the poplar—which is so similar inform, but with deciduous fluttering foliage—seems to represent a knowledge of spiritualinfluences in the natural world—an external sen-sual knowledge, as of spirits and ghosts, andtheir influence upon the affairs of men, which,because of its lack of spiritual intelligence, issubject to superstitious fears and fancies.

The willows, in their resemblance to olivetrees, represent a similar knowledge of depen-


dence upon the Lord in regard to naturalthings—such, for instance, as the Israelites hadwhen they heard from their fathers what workswere done by the Lord in the days of old, such asis given in the literal story of the Scriptures, andsuch as is prominent in our national Thanksgiv-ings. Neither tree bears serviceable fruit, butthey fill the air with their downy seeds. And sodo the simple with their whispers of spirits andghosts, on the one hand, and, on the other, withsentiments of dependence, which with manytake the form of belief in charms and omens, orbetter, in faithful observance of religious forms.The pliable character of this intelligence, relat-ing to external good from a spiritual or Divineorigin, may be the reason why the twigs of thetrees so readily permit themselves to be woveninto baskets for the reception of material goods.In this shape they represent a state of gratefulreception and acknowledgment.

In the Scriptures, willows are associated bothwith rejoicing and with weeping: with rejoicingin times of prosperity and abundance; withweeping in times of captivity and scarcity. In thecelebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Isra-elites were commanded to take, with otheremblems, “willows of the brook, and rejoicebefore Jehovah seven days” (Leviticus 23:40). It

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is said also in Isaiah: “I will pour My Spirit uponthy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring;and they shall spring up as among the grass, aswillows by the watercourses” (Isaiah 44:4). Inboth instances they are spoken of as representa-tives of grateful rejoicing for benefits received.But in the Psalm (137:2), where it is said by thecaptives in Babylon, “We hanged our harps uponthe willows in the midst thereof,” they representan acknowledgment of natural benefits from theLord, given now to their enemies, and withheldfrom themselves. The pendulous boughs of somewillows have been taken as forms of grief. Andprobably they do represent a clinging to thethings of earth, and grief for the loss of them.

SHRUBS AND FLOWERS

In our study of trees, we have seen that the fruittrees represent wisdom of life of many usefulkinds—concerning the Lord, the Church, mar-riage, social relations, benevolences, the careand education of children. The leaves of the treesrepresent perceptions of new truth; and the blos-soms, all the parts of which are leaves modifiedby the expectation of fruit, represent the joyousperceptions of the application of wisdom to use.

The flowering shrubs are many of them akinto the fruit trees, but lack their stately size, andtheir nutritious fruitfulness. They are contentwith beauty and fragrance, without more sub-stantial fruits; or their fruits are only berries. Inthis they represent intelligence concerning vari-ous affections, which is enjoyed as a good initself. It is intelligence rather about being goodthan about doing good; or if it does other goodworks, they are pleasant and kindly rather thansubstantial.

A large part of the intelligence in children’sminds is of this kind. They have not the mature

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reason to think out useful plans of life, or even tofollow the details of such plans. But they lovestories, especially such as illustrate clearly thegood and the evil in human life. For such thingstheir perceptions are quick. They are fond also ofplays which imitate the works of maturer life—without their fullness of detail, but with a keensense of their heroism, their self-sacrifice, theirhumility, their patience, and other virtues. Thisintelligence in virtue, if of a permanent kind, andwith some development with years, agrees wellwith the nature of the flowering or fragrantshrubs.

The annual flowers, herbaceous and shortlived, are like the oft-recurring promptings to begood, to be gentle, modest, patient, hopeful,cheerful, grateful, and so on in a long series,when the admonitions are heeded in a spirit ofobedience to the Lord, or to the Lord’s represen-tatives. It is not difficult to see in violets thebeauty of a retiring modesty; in daisies, of hum-ble cheerfulness; in lilies, of a more stately andserene hopefulness. The perception of such char-acteristics, as presented in the flowers, hasalways been an element in the art of the poets.

Our Lord in speaking of “the lilies of thefield,” probably did not refer to lilies in particu-lar, for these are not conspicuous in Palestine;


but used the term in a general sense for the flow-ers of the field. Beautiful flowers abound allover the land; and neither in color, in form, norin texture, can any royal robes compare withthem. This is not less true spiritually than natu-rally; for the flowers of the mind are spontane-ous expressions of good feeling, and noelaborate array of artificial sentiment can com-pare in beauty with such as is spontaneous andgenuine, and has in it life from the Lord.

ROSES

Of all the flowering shrubs, perhaps rosespresent the greatest variety in form, color, andfragrance. Certainly they are unrivaled in thegenerosity of their blossoming, considering thesize, fullness, abundance, durability, and succes-sion of their flowers. They are akin to the greatfamily of fruits that represent the wisdom ofsocial life—the apples, pears, quinces, cherries,plums, peaches, and almonds. And the rosebushes themselves varying in size from a littlebush almost to a tree and bearing flowerssweetly simple, or full almost as a cabbage—white, blushing pink, deep crimson, and evenyellow—offer variety sufficient to cover a widerange of friendliness.

Swedenborg describes “rosaries” in heaven—one magnificent one arranged like a rainbow,within which sat the angel wives who instructedhim in the wisdom of conjugial love (ConjugialLove #293, 294). The delights of such wisdom,they said, the rosaries represented; but from hismention of “roses or flowers,” it appears that


they did not consist of roses exclusively. Mr.Murray says that roses were strewn about Cupid,“to symbolize the sweetness and beauty ofyoung love”; and that Hebe, the goddess ofyouth, was represented with a wreath of roses(Mythology, pp. 202, 208). The generosity andfreshness of youthful friendship and admiration,in all their varieties of modesty and of exuber-ance, seem to be very fully represented by theroses.

THE BOX AND THE MYRTLE

Two evergreen shrubs are these, hardly attainingthe size of trees, but valued as pretty ornamentsof the garden. The wood of the box has alwaysbeen a favorite for its close grain and goldencolor; and it is said that boxes were first madefrom it, and that the very name “box” is only theancient name of the tree, “pyxos,” slightly modi-fied. Of boxwood, hitherto, the blocks for woodengraving have been made almost exclusively.The close foliage of the box has invited theshears of the gardeners, and caused it to be cutinto borders and all manner of curious shapes, inall of which it retains a close, solid appearance.

The myrtle, besides its bright, clean foliage,is valued also for its fragrant white or rose-tinged flowers, and sweet-flavored berries.

Of myrtle bridal chaplets were made in oldtime, and also crowns for the victors in bloodlesscontests. The Muse of Love and Marriage Songswore a wreath of myrtle and roses, which werealso sacred to Venus.


The sweet-scented and ornamental shrubsrepresent a modest and pleasing intelligence, notintent upon important works, like that repre-sented by the fruit trees, nor yet simply upon theacquisition of useful knowledge, like the spiri-tual timber trees; but content to apprehend intel-ligently, and present acceptably the virtues oflife, as order, gratitude, humility, patience,friendship, and the like. Their very fragrance andbeauty show that they represent some spiritualpleasantness or beauty; and the human qualitieswhich are spiritually pleasant and beautiful aresuch virtues. The considerable size and longev-ity of the shrubs indicate a corresponding eleva-tion and permanence of the correlativeintelligence.

And among such varieties of intelligence, thatconcerning the value of order seems indicated byevery characteristic of the box. The very name,and the fact of its long-recognized adaptation forthe use which the name stands for, is anacknowledgment of the spirit that animates it; asis likewise its employment for borders in gar-dens. Its foliage—bright, clean, rigid, and ever-green—expresses as well as foliage can, theunremitting attention of such intelligence todetails of neatness and propriety. The perfectionwith which it preserves the forms into which it

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has been cut indicates the same formal spirit;and it is a similar quality in the close-grainedwood, which especially adapts it to engravers’purposes.

The more graceful and fragrant myrtleexpresses a more graceful and pleasant intelli-gence than that of the box, more closely relatedto active affections. Its ancient employment forchaplets of brides, and its association with rosesin the adornments of the Muse and the Goddessof Love, suggest the variety of intelligence rep-resented; which must not be confounded withthat of orange flowers, with their generous fruitsof wisdom concerning marriage, but perhapsrather resembles the delicate beauty and lessimportant fruitfulness of what Swedenborg calls“the chaste love of the sex,” which is the intro-duction to marriage love, and afterwards itsmodest companion.

The myrtle is a sister to the pomegranate; andwe have seen that pomegranates correspond toan abundant natural usefulness based uponChristian charity. The myrtle, more graceful andfragrant, though less showy in blossoms andfruit, must correspond to intelligence concerningsome kind of affection, less practical, but moregraceful and sweeter, and probably, as has beenindicated, a pure affection between men and


women. The love which we call “Platonic,”which Plato understood as a love for beauty ofmind, in either sex, indicative of intelligentreceptiveness, and which delights in the stimulusof such beauty to intelligence and virtue, is notvery far from the soul of the myrtle.

THORNS AND THISTLES

We have seen in the chapter on the shittah treethat there is a kind of thorniness which designsno harm, but is intended for useful protection;which, in that instance, is borne by a tree bothnoble and graceful, and useful in many ways.

The thorns of roses, likewise, seem intendednaturally for protection to the plant; and spiritu-ally they appear to represent the caution, andeven the jealousy, of friendship to prevent care-less intrusion.

Besides the acacia there are very many thornyand prickly plants in Palestine. The nubk-appleis a small tree beset with strong thorns, and bear-ing small hard fruit, which the natives eat. Thereis a low thick bush, spreading one to two feet,full of slender thorns an inch or two long; thecamels gather it in with their leathery lips andhorny tongue, and do not seem to be pricked inthe least.

There are thistles which in the plain of Gen-nesaret, and no doubt elsewhere, grow eight toten feet high, and are so strong and sharp that


horses cannot penetrate among them. There arenettles also which are not only sharp but sting-ing. These last, useless and almost maliciouslyhurtful in themselves, and preventing all usefulproductiveness, are certainly evil, and are likeill-natured minds, centered in self, and extendingtowards others only hard, repelling, censorious,and even malicious thoughts. When Adam andEve were sent forth from the Garden of Eden, itwas said that thenceforth the earth should pro-duce for them thorns and thistles, representingthe change in the state of mind from the bounte-ous kindliness produced while they were open tothe Lord’s love, to unfruitful censoriousnesswhen they turned to self. A similar curse waspronounced upon the house of Israel by theprophet Isaiah: “Upon the land of my peopleshall come up thorns and briars” (Isaiah 32:13).And in Hosea it is said, “The thorn and the this-tle shall come up on their altars” (Hosea 10:8).

Our Lord spoke of seed sown among thorns,as the truth “choked by cares, and riches, andpleasures of this life”—the thorns standing forselfish and worldly intelligence in general,which is intent upon exclusive advantages toself.

AROMATICS

The thought of every man from his affection,whether good or bad, has an influence uponthose whom he meets: it proceeds from him asan activity of his life around him. Many personsare very sensitive to these spheres of life; and allare more or less encouraged or depressed or insome way affected by them. In the spiritualworld these spheres of life are sometimes per-ceived as odors; those of kind, friendly life asodors of flowers and fruits; and those of selfish,evil life as poisonous and putrid odors. The fra-grant flowers and shrubs, which produce no fruitfor food, but only diffuse sweetness and pleas-antness around them, are like affections offriendship and gratitude, the very expression ofwhich is pleasant and cheering, though they dono more substantial work. The stimulus to smelland taste imparted by spices represents theencouraging influence of such affections; andthe noblest of the spices represent the noblestaffections, which are those of gratitude and


humility to the Lord, and affection for His goodgifts of love and wisdom.

In the Israelitish Church, where such affec-tions were represented though they did not reallyexist, prayers and praises from spiritual affectionwere represented by fragrant smoke from sweetresins and spices burnt upon the altar of incense.

AROMATIC TREES AND SHRUBS

Of aromatic trees and shrubs perhaps the noblestfamily is that of the Laurels, to which belong,besides the classic laurel, cinnamon trees andprobably the ancient cassia, also camphor andsassafras and many other less familiar aromatics.Mr. Grindon says of cinnamon:

The tree yielding it forms a beautiful laurel-likeevergreen; the leaves are oval, somewhat acute,several inches in length, entire, and of a peculiarglaucous color; the little grayish-white flowersare produced in thin panicles. . . .

In our own day the word Cassia has becomethe name of a Chinese spice bark resembling cin-namon, but somewhat coarser.

In the Bible, Cassia stands for a more preciousaromatic than Cinnamon, possibly reversing themodern English application of the names.

In Grecian mythology, Polyhymnia, the Museof Song and of Oratory, and Kalliope, the Museof Heroic Poems, wore crowns of Laurel. TheLaurel also was the prize of the Pythian games inhonor of Apollo.


From this tradition successful poets in ourtime are said to wear laurels, and the leadingpoet of England is the Poet Laureate. The treesthat bear sweet spices naturally represent theintelligence that perceives and stores up thesweet aroma of human experiences, that inter-prets their essence. This is true of all fragrantand resinous trees and shrubs in their degree,from the humblest to the noblest; they all repre-sent the intelligence of some joys of life, homelyor exalted. The understanding of the joys arisingfrom the nobler motives and inspirations seemsto be represented by Laurels.

In the Israelite ceremonial cinnamon and cas-sia were elements of the anointing oil by whichthe tabernacle and its furniture were sanctified,also with which the priests themselves wereanointed that they might minister in the sacredthings of the priests’ office. This sanctifying oilrepresented the Divine influence in the Church;for this alone gives holiness to the Church. Theolive oil which was the basis of it represents thegeneral reception of the goodness of the Lord;and the spices with which it was compoundedrepresent intelligence in regard to its benefits inthe various planes of life, from the pleasures ofsense to the inmost perceptions of the joy of lifeaccording to the Lord’s commandments. The

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ascending series in which these degrees of intel-ligence are represented is “myrrh, cinnamon,sweet cane, and cassia,” the cassia standing forthe noblest of the series. Of Myrrh, Mr. Grindonsays:

The tree itself is described as one of low statureand rugged aspect; the branches thorny, and besetwith small trifoliate, sessile, and bright greenleaves; while the flowers are insignificant andclustered, and the smooth brown fruits somewhatlarger than peas. The wood and bark emit a pow-erful odor; the gum, which exudes like that ofcherry trees, but chiefly near the root, is oily atfirst, but hardens upon exposure to the air.

Such is the modest tree which stands lowest inthe series, and therefore represents the sense ofthe Divine goodness in external things, as in thefruits of the earth and the things that contributeto natural comfort and protection. Its low stature,rugged thorny branches, and oily fragrant gum,all accord with this representation.

As these four aromatics represent intelligenceconcerning the goodness of the Lord in anascending series, and myrrh represents suchintelligence concerning sensual good, cinnamonrelates to a sense of the Lord’s goodness in natu-ral orderly life, sweet cane to the same in a lifeof spiritual charity, and cassia to the inmostsense of the goodness of the Lord’s love for men.


The angels’ sense of the goodness of the Lord inevery degree is glad and grateful, and thereforeis perceived as fragrant. Perhaps it is from thiscause that when those angels of the celestial kindwhose duty it is to attend upon the dead comenear, the odor of death is perceived as aromatic.For death is of the Lord’s love for raising meninto heaven, and these angels perceive it so, andalso the intensity of the Divine love that is therepresent.

Something balsamic is perceived from dead bod-ies when the Lord is present, and celestial angels;and it was said that the Lord is especially presentthere, wherefore also celestial angels are there;because without such presence of the Lord, therewould be no resurrection of the dead. (SpiritualDiary Minor #4702)

Another series of fragrant materials entered intothe composition of the incense which wasburned on the golden altar in the Tabernacle; andthese are called in our version, “stacte, and ony-cha, and galbanum, these sweet spices with purefrankincense.” The most important of these,frankincense, is thus described by Mr. Grindon:

The substance in Scripture called lebonah, . . .and in the authorized version, “frankincense,” isa dry, brittle, glittering, and aromatic gum resinof bitter taste, the same that in nineteenth-centuryshops is called olibanum. Anciently it was used


in sacrificial fumigations, the freedom withwhich the fragrant vapor is diffused, while theclear and steady flame itself is not easily extin-guished, rendering it specially suitable for suchpurposes. . . . The tree which produces olibanum,. . . in stature is lofty; the foliage, which is decid-uous, resembles that of the sumac, but iscrowded at the extremities of the branchlets; theflowers are pink and star-shaped, half an inch ormore in diameter, and are borne in erect and sim-ple racemes rather shorter than the leaves. Whenthe bark is wounded the frankincense flows out,delightfully fragrant, and dried by the atmo-sphere, presently hardens.

It is scarcely necessary to point out that theincense offered in the Jewish Church was a rep-resentative of the heartfelt and intelligent wor-ship of the Christian Church. “Let my prayer beset forth before thee as incense, and the lifting upof my hands as the evening sacrifice,” expressesthe evident truth that the offering of incense andsacrifices was representative of true spiritualworship. The smoke of fragrant gums is not wor-ship; but the ascent of fragrant human thought tothe Lord is worship. And that human thought isfragrant to Him which is full of the sweetness oflove.

Nothing can make it fragrant but love; and thesweetness is according to the quality of the love.


And the love must be not an intellectual senti-ment of the moment, but founded in the life. “Ifthou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remem-berest that thy brother hath aught against thee,leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thyway; first be reconciled to thy brother, and thencome and offer thy gift.” More than by any othermanifestation, the inward goodness or badnessof a thing is perceived by the scent; and noprayers are sweet-scented to the Lord which arenot from sincere love and charity in the life. Thetall tree bursting with fragrant gum, with leavescrowded to the ends of the branchlets as if at thefinger ends of outstretched hands, is a represen-tative of intelligent worship from such love.

The frankincense tree is related to the humblemyrrh tree; and their fragrant gums, togetherwith gold, constituted the offerings of the wisemen to the infant Lord. It will be seen in itsproper place that gold is a representative ofexperience of the love of the Lord in a lifeaccording to His commandments, which is fullpractical knowledge of His living presence.Frankincense is the representative of worship ofthe Lord from a life of charity; and myrrh, ofacknowledgment of the Divine goodness inexternal comforts and pleasures. These werebrought to the Lord in confession that the life of


the Church in every degree is from Him; that Heis God-with-us; and that worship internal andexternal belongs to Him alone.

ONYCHA

Among the materials of which the sweet incensewas made was “onycha,” which is believed to bea sweet-scented shell. The shellfish seem to berepresentatives of the love of protection andrepose; and their shells, of the truth which givessuch protection. The fragrant shell used in theincense may represent the grateful pleasure inthe acknowledgment of this protecting truth;which is one appropriate element in spiritualworship.

HYSSOP

A lower order of aromatic plants we find in thelarge family of mints. They are herbs or smallshrubs, many of them pleasantly stimulating asperfumes, and some also as flavors for food ormedicine. Among them we find lavender, thyme,sage, pennyroyal, savory, horehound, spearmint,and peppermint. Not one seems to be harmful,though there are some coarser kinds that are notspecially valuable. Peppermint is perhaps themost extensively used, chiefly as a flavor, andwith confectionery. It is an old remedy for sim-ple colic, and in sensitive persons producescolic. The abundance of such plants in Palestinemakes the whole air fragrant and delightful tobreathe, when they give out their perfume in thedewy evenings. They are all square-stemmed,with irregular flowers producing each four littlenutlets for seeds.

Such plants cannot represent a very exaltedwisdom; but a very sweet, humble, domesticwisdom they certainly do represent to us. Thesquareness of the stems and the fruit suggests as


their animating principle a love of spiritualsquareness—of considering fairly all sides, andmaking sure of what is both right and wise. It is amodest wisdom, applicable to a great variety ofsubjects, springing up afresh for every occasion,and in general discerning what is wholesome, fit,and thoroughly good. With an unconscious senseof this meaning, mints are used to garnishdishes, to perfume the clean linen, to adorn cot-tage dooryards and gardens. Their pleasant,homely fragrance is a grateful expression of thesatisfaction in fitness and wholesomeness.

It is probable that the hyssop of the Bible, likethe modern hyssop, was a mint, growing in littlebunches from the cracks in old walls; and thatthese little bunches made natural brushes forsprinkling the blood of the sacrifices upon thealtar, and the water of purification upon the tentand furniture of the dead. It has been supposedthat the “cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop,” com-manded in Leviticus 14:4, were arranged as abrush with a handle; and Miss Callcott suggeststhat such was the arrangement of the hyssop,called by Matthew and Mark “a reed,” uponwhich the sponge of vinegar was offered to theLord. She adds: “To this day the long-hairedbrush used in Roman Catholic churches for

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aspersing with holy water, is called in manyplaces the hyssop.”

A sense of what is both good and right, orthoroughly wholesome and useful, discerns alsowhy the contrary things are not good, andwherein they must be corrected or removed. Aplant representing such a sense would, therefore,appear to be an appropriate instrument for theapplication of the water or the blood of purifica-tion, to represent the removal of what isunwholesome or unclean.

MUSTARD

Scarcely an aromatic, and yet a condiment, themustard may with some propriety claim a fewwords here. The least of the seeds sown in thegarden, it yet may become the tallest of theherbs. In the plain of Buttauf, in the central partof Galilee, during the month of April, we rodeamong mustard plants ten and twelve feet high.Slender trees they were, with scant foliage; andyet they were specimens of very rapid herba-ceous growth, tree-like in form. They belong tothe family which gives us the water cress, cab-bage and cauliflower, turnips, radishes, andhorseradish—plants in which the roots, stalks,and leaves are the edible portions, and not thefruits. These food storers are mostly biennials,which devote the first year of their existence tothe gathering of material into themselves whichthey would expend upon the production of seedthe second year. But the gathered materials arethe use they do, and the seeds are only sugges-tions for gathering more. In this they are likemen who spend their lives in gathering stores of

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wealth, or learning, or muscle, without any ulte-rior object; the stores themselves being good tothem, and their use to the community. In accu-mulations of this kind there is much self-confi-dence, and sense of personal importance; and yetthere may be a generous willingness that thestores should be of use to others.

The mustard, though a member of the family,is an annual, and does not gather stores in thisway; but its rapid pushing itself into the sem-blance of a tree, displays the same spirit of self-confidence and importance. Its chief use is in theseeds, which are sufficiently pungent to causeblisters when applied to the skin, or to be anactive irritant in the stomach.

It may seem strange that the Lord shouldchoose this as an emblem of faith, or of the king-dom of heaven; but it is an emblem only of theleast of faith and the beginning of the kingdomof heaven. “A grain of mustard seed,” Sweden-borg says, “is man’s good before he becomesspiritual, which is the least of all seeds, becausehe thinks to do good of himself. What is of him-self is nothing but evil; yet as he is in a state ofregeneration, there is something of good, but it isthe least of all things” (Arcana Coelestia #55).The faith which the disciples had—even Jamesand John when they would have commanded fire


to come down from heaven, and when theydesired to sit, one on the right hand and one onthe left, on the Lord’s throne—had much self-confidence in it, and much expectation of beinggreat and doing great things. In all this it waslike the grains of mustard seed, aspiring andstimulating, but innocent and intending onlygood, even if somewhat irritating to their com-panions; producing, in fact, the same effect aschafing.

THE CEREALS

From the fruit trees, perennial and usually many-branched, is derived an important part of humanfood—the part that is most stimulating, pleasant,and refreshing; but the part that is most substan-tial and satisfying is derived from the lowlycereals. These are of humble growth, mostly of asingle stalk. They produce their fruit quickly,and immediately perish; and therefore must becontinually resowed, that there may be a succes-sion of harvests. Their fruit is at first milky, butquickly dries and hardens, and must be bothground into meal and cooked by fire to prepare itfor food.

We have seen that the fruits of trees corre-spond to various kinds of useful and interestingintelligence communicated from one to another:that the fruit of the olive represents intelligenceconcerning the goodness of the Lord; of the vine,intelligence in the wisdom of Christian charity;of the fig, in kindly beneficence; and of otherfruit trees, intelligence in various social virtuesand relations. Communication of such intelli-


gence in social life is stimulating, pleasant, andrefreshing; but this does not constitute the mainsatisfaction of life. The chief satisfaction ofevery day comes from doing faithfully the workof the day—the daily duties into which everyoneputs his chief strength, and his best thought forthe good of others. And these are the cereals;quickly sown and ripened, and constantly sownagain; dry and monotonous; and yet full of loveof work, and of satisfaction in its goodness. Thepleasantness of social communications is repre-sented by the sweetness of fruits. But the plea-sure of good work is hardened into a sense ofsatisfaction in its goodness, which is expressedby the starch of the grains; to which is added anabundance of the gluten, or muscle-making sub-stance, which is manifestly the embodiment ofthe love of useful work. The sense of satisfactionin the goodness of one’s work may easilybecome a pride in superior merit, and expressitself in “starched” manners and apparel.

If we see useful works done, and areacquainted with the love and thought fromwhich they are done, we may be strengthenedand delighted by them without any further pro-cess of preparation; as the disciples followingthe Lord, listening to His words, and seeing Hisworks, plucked the ripening ears of wheat as

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they walked, “and did eat, rubbing them in theirhands” (Luke 6:1). Or even while we see themwe may be fired with a desire to do such worksourselves; which is like roasting the green ears,and eating them, as is frequently done in Pales-tine and in the Bible story.

But as soon as the grain is dry, to prepare itfor food we grind it between millstones, kneadthe flour with water, and bake it before the fire.And by a corresponding process we get nourish-ing food from good works done no matter howlong ago. In our effort to bring out their real inte-rior quality, we assume a general basis of knowl-edge of circumstances, which we place like thelower mill stone, and then with another inflexi-ble stone of what it is natural to do under suchcircumstances, we examine the works, and com-pel them to yield their treasures of thought andfeeling. Such treasures, to be food for us, mustbe mingled with the truth of what is adapted tous and to our uses, which is spiritual water, madeas it were into cakes or loaves sufficient for ourneed, and, by the delight of love, compacted asin a new fruit of the wisdom of usefulness. Thenwe can receive it into our own thought, inten-tion, and life, and make it a part of our souls.

We may also be nourished, not by others’ har-vests, but by our own. For, in doing our duties,


there is an increase of wisdom and love of use,which themselves are food to the spirit. By suchfood are the interiors of angels’ minds nour-ished; and when they come out into more exter-nal states, after their labor, their tables are spreadwith the bread, the wine, and the fruits, whichcorrespond to the love and wisdom receivedinteriorly.

The duties of everyday life are not all donefrom affection or principles of the same kind.Many persons—a great many at the presentday—work because they are compelled to workfor the support of themselves and their families;many also work from love for an industrious,useful life; some because they see benefitswhich they sincerely desire the community toenjoy; and some because their Lord worked andstill works; and in a useful life, according to Hisinstructions, they can be with Him. And, as it isthe spiritual principle within the work whichcorresponds with the harvest, not the particulartrade or other outward form of employment,according to the kinds of these principles are thegeneral kinds of grains.

WHEAT

The most nutritious and wholesome of all thegrains is wheat. It has been used from the earliesttimes, and in all countries. In thoroughly tilled,rich soil, it yields abundantly; but in rough,stony, weedy land it produces almost nothing. Itsseeds possess great vitality, and will germinateafter many years, or after exposure to cold andwet that kills the other grains. So valuable is it asfood for man, that it is rarely given to animals ordistilled for drink. It is used generally in theform of bread; which is so much the most impor-tant article of food, that, in the Bible as well as incommon speech, it stands for food of every kind.

The noblest of the grains must represent theprinciples of the noblest work—that is, workdone from the Lord. The Lord’s example in serv-ing is our seed; the plan for doing like it is ourplant; the Lord’s love for the use, and His wisethought perceived in us, are the sap whichdeposits all its goodness in the fruit.

Of such goodness and such wisdom of use aremade the bread which is the best of all nourish-


ment for human souls. In the tabernacle of thecongregation, upon the golden table before theface of the Lord, were set always cakes of breadmade of fine wheaten flour; because the Lordalways gives to those who seek His face the sup-port of His pure love of serving.

Therefore, when the Lord came into theworld, and lived from that love Infinitely andDivinely in His own Humanity, bringing it forthclearly, that men might know it and receive itfrom Him, He said, “I am the living Bread thatcame down from heaven. If anyone eat of thisbread, he shall live forever” (John 6:51). Thesame is meant also by the Bread of the HolySupper—namely, the Lord’s own love of doinggood.

If we would have harvests of heavenly wheat,our hearts must be deeply, thoroughly tilled. Noweeds of selfish thinking must be left, no stonyobjections, no obstinate indifference. We mustbe thoroughly yielding and willing, full of desireto do the Lord’s will and nothing else. Such soilwill do good works from the Lord plentifully.Their seeds will live in it, patiently awaitingtheir opportunity, through discouragements thatwould destroy less noble principles, and willbear fruit that may go on increasing forever inheaven.

SPELT

Spelt is a species of wheat which will grow uponrougher land. It is distinguished from wheatchiefly by its closely investing wraps of chaff. Inan ear of spelt each kernel is wrapped in twooverlapping paleæ, and each cluster or spikeletof two to five kernels is held so firmly by a pairof stiff glumes that considerable force is requiredto liberate the grain. The stalk, or rachis, is sobrittle that these spikelets easily break off, to thegreat inconvenience of the farmer. The corre-spondence of spelt would seem to be with worksdone for the Lord’s sake, yet not so much in thefreedom of His Spirit as in literal adherence toHis teachings, which are loved for their ownsake, and not merely to introduce good life. “Thewheat and the spelt were not smitten” by the hailin Egypt; “for they were not grown up”; but “theflax and the barley were smitten.” The wheat andthe spelt Swedenborg here interprets as meaningthe good of interior life and its truth, which areundeveloped in those here meant by the Egyp-tians; but the things of external religious life arepracticed by them and can be destroyed.

RYE

Botanically akin to wheat, and next to it amongthe grains for nutriment, is Rye. Like wheat, it isused to make bread, but it is also distilled forintoxicating drink. Its heads are thinner thanthose of wheat, having only two rows and twoflowers in the place of four; the individualgrains, too, though of equal length with those ofwheat, are less round and full. It excels thewheat only in the length of its straw. It will growprofitably, also, where wheat will not, on sandysoil, with little care.

That the grain is so similar to wheat, meansthat the works to which it corresponds are simi-lar. They grow, however, from a mind less ten-der, less humble, and less full of desire for good.They are more elaborate in their theory, but lessfull in their accomplishment. They seem to beworks that are done rather from love for the truththan for the goodness of the Lord; and to havemore of the conceit of wisdom than the worksrepresented by wheat; for these, more full oflove, are also more humble and undemonstrative.

BARLEY

Another grain, a little further removed fromwheat botanically, and still less nutritious thanrye, is Barley. It is easily produced in every cli-mate that is habitable by man, and in some coun-tries is extensively used for bread for the poor. Itis malted for beer, and is given for provender tohorses and cattle.

The good which it represents, Swedenborgsays, is exterior natural good, as that representedby wheat is interior natural. It is good that ispleasant to the natural, social, and animal affec-tions. To be hospitable, and to make others com-fortable and happy, in imitation of the Lord’sworks, but of ourselves, and without the interiorhumility which perceives the Lord’s influence inthe works, is to produce harvests of barley. It isthe good that is most generally taught and prac-ticed in the Christian world; for our Lord has notyet been fully known. The most precious goodthat He would give has not yet been widelyreceived; but with five barley loaves have thewhole Christian multitude been filled.


That rye and barley are so freely used in thepreparation of intoxicating drink may be becauseprinciples of the kinds represented by them arestored in the mind, not for use, but to intoxicatehim who possesses them. The whiskey madefrom rye seems to answer well to an intoxicatingpride of wisdom; and the malt liquors made frombarley to the mild intoxication of pride in goodnature.

OATS

A very different grain from these, one that is notmentioned in the Word, is Oats. It is a grain thatgrows quickly in cold climates, is raised moreeasily than either wheat or rye, and is the favor-ite food of horses, for whose benefit it is gener-ally cultivated. It is also eaten by invalids, andby some others, especially the Scotch, in whosecountry it attains the greatest perfection. Nowhorses represent, as has been shown, a love ofunderstanding; and the Scotch are eminently anintellectual, reasoning people. And when oneloves to reason, and see and explain why a thingshould be done, then all the reasons for doing it,and doing it just so, invest everything he does, asthe ample upper palea invests the oat. Suchrational uses he will do, and do them conscien-tiously and abundantly, in states too cold andpoor for gentler works of goodness.

RICE

The grains most common among us are not nec-essarily the food of all the world. The millions ofpeople dwelling in India, China, and other partsof Asia use little of the food that is important tous, but subsist chiefly upon rice. We, too, userice as a light, easily digestible food, mostly forchildren and invalids. Unlike wheat, which con-tains much of both starch and gluten, rice iscomposed mostly of starch, which alone isunsuitable for bread. It is therefore seldomground, but is boiled whole, needing only tohave its thick, innutritious hull removed.

The immense multitudes of people who livechiefly upon rice are all childlike. Industriousthey are, but their industry is the simple industryof children. They do faithfully what they are toldto do, copy minutely the patterns that are giventhem; they enjoy doing over and over again whatthey have been taught, but have no strength tooriginate or to overcome new difficulties. Theirsatisfaction is the satisfaction of faithful obedi-ence to those whom they love and respect; and to

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the uses of obedience their rice corresponds. Asthe rice does not need to be ground, but easilysoftens by boiling, so neither does the affectionof their works need laborious examination; it issimple homogeneous love of obedient serving.To get at the affection, however, we must sepa-rate it from the letter of the commands obeyed,which may be held tenaciously, but unintelli-gently, and which has no share of the kindlyaffection in it.

The fire by which food is prepared for use wehave seen to be our own zealous love for duty orusefulness. Water is the truth of right and wrong.To heat the water is to combine our zeal with thetruth which shows our duty. And to boil the riceis to reflect upon the uses of obedience given usto do, with the desire to do our duty rightly, tillthe innocent delight of them is open to us, andwe can easily receive and appropriate it.

MAIZE

There remains to be studied Indian corn, ormaize; the cheapest and most abundantly pro-duced of the grains; which furnishes food forcattle as well as for man; which flourishes uponthe coarsest and grossest of manures, producinglarge, sweet stalks, and flowers with their partsnot conjoined as in the other grains in their ownlittle chambers, but separated, the stamenstogether in a showy tassel, and the pistils in asilky tuft projecting from the ear.

This least noble, but most abundant of theuseful grains, suggests at once the most commonand ignoble of the good motives for work—adesire to earn an honest living and the goodthings of the world.

Certainly works from this motive are donemore for the animal than the spiritual part ofman; they are stimulated by the coarsest exam-ples and experiences of others; their plans maybe large, showy, and pleasant to the naturalmind; and there is in them no regard for thesweet satisfaction of the conjunction of every

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truth with its own goodness, but instead, a loveof general approbation and admiration. There arevarieties in such works corresponding to thevarieties of the grain. Some are done reluctantlyand scantily by persons who love their own ease,and work from necessity, to obtain the means ofliving and of indulgence. Some are done abun-dantly and well by persons who are eager to “geton” prosperously in the world. And some—thesweetest and softest of them all—are done froma desire to provide comfortably for one’s family;and these, if done faithfully and honestly, have inthem good human, though natural, affection.

Thus the Lord provides satisfaction forhuman souls in their daily work even from thelowest of harmless motives. But he offers to allthe noblest of satisfactions. He brought downfrom heaven the purest delight in serving, fromthe Infinite Divine Love; and this He urges uponus all.

Oh, that my people had hearkened unto me andIsrael had walked in my ways! . . . He shouldhave fed them with the finest of the wheat; andwith honey out of the rock should I have satisfiedthee. (Psalm 81:13, 16)

THE SOLANUM FAMILY

To the Solanum family belong the Potato and theTomato, also a long list of narcotics, amongthem Tobacco, Belladonna, Hyoscyamus, andStramonium. These plants have so important aplace in modern life that it is worthwhile to givethem some attention. They all have narcoticproperties—even the potato leaves and seedsbeing poisonous. In general, they produce asoothing, stupefying, dreamy condition, in theextreme amounting to coma or paralysis; or, inthe reaction, a state of irritability, wild excite-ment, and delirium.

THE MANDRAKE

The only mention of this family in the Wordappears to be that of the mandrakes whichReuben found in the field in the time of wheatharvest, and brought to his mother Leah. Theyare mentioned also in Solomon’s song. TheMandrake is believed to be the same as the Man-dragora, which is not uncommon in Palestine. Ithas a long, forked, fleshy root, with a bunch ofleaves close to the ground—the flowers and fruitgrowing on slender stalks among the leaves. Theflowers are said to be dingy white with purpleveins, and the fruits pale orange, about the sizeof small crabapples. The fruit is regarded as pos-sessing amatory powers, and is much esteemedby Orientals. Swedenborg speaks of it as used inGenesis to represent “the things of conjugiallove” (Arcana Coelestia #3942; ApocalypseExplained #434), which is indicated also by itscommon reputation. No very elevated wisdomcan be represented by such ground fruit, butrather the most external wisdom of love and itsduties.

THE POTATO

Potatoes grow upon underground stems, and aremade up of buds with a deposit of starch toensure their growth. The plants produce seeds,yet the chief means of propagation is the plant-ing of the tubers; and these tubers are the useful,nutritious product of the plant. This seems toindicate a method of propagation in the worksthey represent, not so much by instruction, andthe communication of principles, as by anunthinking initiation into habits of work and use-fulness, as children are initiated at home, andothers by companionship. Their growing under-ground indicates the entire lack of spiritual ele-vation and intelligence in such productions.

Starch, of which the potatoes are largely com-posed, is in itself a wholesome nutriment, and, aswe have seen, has a correspondence with the sat-isfaction of good work—here it is the satisfac-tion of faithfulness to the interests into whichone is initiated. Such blind initiation and faith-fulness go together in very many of the moderncombinations of society. Churches and political

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parties, clans and cliques, neighborhoods andnations, as well as families, all train the young tosome extent in this way. They introduce theminto their own ways of thinking and living, not asa matter of principle, but as a matter of associa-tion for common benefit. Some proportion ofthis blind allegiance enters into almost every-one’s life, especially in children and the simple-minded; and faithfulness to it constitutes a partof his self-satisfaction. But potatoes are liable torapid decay; and this is true also of the alle-giance of the young and the simple, when moreknowledge of the world is given them. Thepotato plant also has in it sufficient poison toproduce stupidity or delirium; and there is a sim-ilar spiritual narcotic in a blind and exclusivedevotion to one’s family or party or clan.

TOMATOES

Tomatoes grow upon plants very like the Potatoplants. They are the fruit and not an undergroundtuber, and are almost entitled to a rank amongrefreshing fruits, instead of among vegetables.Usually, however, they are cooked, and fre-quently are used as sauce for more substantialviands. They represent some external, naturalwisdom; and their bright red color, as well astheir family, indicates that it is wisdom ofdomestic affection. It is neither comprehensivenor spiritual in quality; but simply the brightsociability of natural affection, which helps tomake home cheerful and harmonious.

TOBACCO

Tobacco is not used for food, but the leavesthemselves are smoked for the sake of the poisonwhich they contain. The effect of smoking uponone who is wholly unaccustomed to it is to pro-duce nausea and vomiting; but when he becomessomewhat accustomed to it the effect is at firstsoothing and tranquilizing, relieving anxiety andnervous strain. No doubt it was from this effectthat the American Indians were in the habit ofsmoking it in their “peace pipes,” as a sign thathostilities were laid aside and antagonistic feel-ings tranquilized. But the secondary effects ofthe smoking appear in increased irritability andunsteadiness of the nerves; which indeed byexcessive use of tobacco frequently become par-alyzed. How like all this is to the principle bywhich men in their various combinations forgain or for pleasure agree to shut their eyes totheir differences, that they may pursue togethertheir common end! At first the idea of thus com-bining makes them sick with disgust; but they goon and force themselves, and quiet their sensi-


tiveness and even their consciences, and learn toenjoy an artificial, dreamy friendship, fromwhich they are very unwilling to awake. Butwhen the end is attained, and perhaps before, areaction may come, and show itself in violentirritability and repulsion. If not thus, it may bethat the sensitiveness to differences, even in mat-ters of right and wrong, may be whollydestroyed, paralyzed by continual reasonings inbehalf of the artificial harmony, breathed in bythe thought as the smoke is inhaled by thelungs.1 The continued use of tobacco has adecided tendency to deaden the moral sensitive-ness.

Probably there is a right place for some suchreasoning in the strain and confusion of socialrelations, and a corresponding place for the drug;but it is better to see clearly all matters of differ-ence, especially in matters of right and wrong, tobe willing to put away all the wrong in our-selves, and to be kind to others in their efforts;also to lay aside frankly, as of small account,things that are not matters of principle; and thusto secure harmony on an intelligent Christianbasis. The immense increase of the use of thedrug in our day—no doubt stimulated by the

1. Compare True Christian Religion #159, 446.

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increasing complexity of social relations—seems to be a shirking of this duty; which, never-theless, will have to be done sometime, perhapsunder conditions in some respects more favor-able, but in some more difficult. The state of ourcountry in relation to slavery, for some yearsbefore the war, was much like that of a manunder the influence of tobacco.

The other narcotics belonging to the familyseem all to have relation to the narrow andexclusive attachments, friendships, partisan-ships, which, from childhood, produce on theone hand much of illusion and inertia, and on theother excesses of irritability, passion, and vio-lence.

PULSE

In Egypt and Palestine an important part of thefood of the people is composed of beans and len-tils, several kinds of which are extensively culti-vated. One very common small lentil, which ismade into a porridge, is still called by the samename as the staple of Jacob’s pottage, for whichEsau sold his birthright. The coarse bread of thecountry is crumbed or dipped into it—the pot-tage seldom if ever being eaten without it. Andso we read that “Jacob gave Esau bread and pot-tage of lentils; and he did eat and drink” (Gene-sis 25:34).

In general the family is a family of vines—thebeans climbing by winding the stalk about otherobjects, and the peas by tendrils which are modi-fied leaflets. They are nutritious, possessingmuscle-making elements like the grains; buttheir meal does not, like that of the grains, com-pact into bread. Probably it is on account of thislast peculiarity that Swedenborg says they repre-sent “a collection of ill-connected scientifics,” orthings learned; or “doctrinals not yet conjoined

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to good, thus a collection of them without order”(Arcana Coelestia #3316).

Again he says that lentils correspond to “thegood of doctrinals”; and explains that one firstlearns doctrinals, or teachings of truth, and pres-ently is affected by them, and this affection is thegood of the teachings (Apocalypse Explained#3332).

In some respects the Pulse as articles of foodare akin to the grains; they contain like them thenitrogenized or tissue-making element, and theyare hard and dry, and can be kept any length oftime. They are grouped with the grains as foodfor man, in Genesis; for they both are herbsyielding seed, which are given to man for meat.They are not, however, ground into meal, as aremost of the grains, and will not compact intobread; but, like rice, are boiled until they aresoft, or altogether crumble away. Their sustain-ing properties as food indicate a correspondencewith some form of satisfaction in work done.Their want of cohesion or compactness indicatesthe want of cohering plan and resolution, andcoincides with Swedenborg’s clue of “ill-con-nected scientifics”—that is, things learned anddone from instruction, and not from intelligentthought. They seem to differ from rice, in thatthe chief element in the correspondence of rice is


the duty of obedience, and the satisfaction offaithfulness to this duty; but the Pulse relaterather to a desire to learn how to do uses, and thedoing of them in a voluntary, imitative way,according to instruction. The eagerness of theplants to climb, their absolute dependence uponother objects for support, and their willingness toattach themselves to anything that will give thesupport, all indicate a state of initiation into theuses of life, as in youth. The beans, from theirtwining bodily around the means of support andelevation, seem to relate to the learning of thingsthat are loved because they are good; and thepeas, from their mode of climbing by modifiedleaflets, appear to relate to the learning of whatseems to be true and right; for leaves representperceptions, or reception by the understanding.

THE CUCUMBERS AND THE MELONS

AND THE LEEKS AND THE ONIONS, AND THE GARLIC

Though melons are sweet and fruitlike, they con-tain little nourishment, yielding little but sweet-ened water for refreshment. In cucumbers, thewater is not sweetened, but perhaps is slightlymucilaginous. They both grow upon vines run-ning upon the ground, or lifting themselves veryslightly by tendrils; holding themselves amongfruit trees like the serpents among animals. InEgypt they are planted in the mud or sand of thebed of the Nile, as the waters recede in earlyspring; and soon bring their fruits to maturity.The Israelites, weary of the manna from heaven,said, “We remember the fish which we did eat inEgypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the mel-ons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic”(Numbers 11:5), “all of which,” Swedenborgsays, “signify such things as are of the lowestnatural, that is, the sensual-corporeal man”(Apocalypse Explained #513).


The sensual-corporeal part of man is strictlythat which hungers and thirsts, and is affected bythe things which please the palate, the eyes, theears, the smell, and the touch. The part of themind that is affected by these things loves also tohear of them, and is affected by knowledge con-cerning them or agreeing with them. A good sen-sual-corporeal mind likes in the news of the daysuch things as relate to innocent pleasure, andsuch as give warning of evil; but the more com-mon perverse form loves the things that ministerto evil. The melons and cucumbers are watery,and medicinally produce colic, and other affec-tions of the digestive organs; and therefore theyappear to be related to the intellectual senses,through which the mind is instructed—the hear-ing and sight especially.

When Elisha was visiting the company of theprophets in Gilgal, “he said unto his servant, Seton the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sonsof the prophets. And one went out into the fieldto gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gath-ered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and cameand shred them into the pottage; for they knewthem not. So they poured out for the men to eat.And it came to pass as they were eating of thepottage, that they cried out, and said, O man ofGod, there is death in the pot. And they could

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not eat thereof” (2 Kings 4:38–40). The pottagerepresents such instruction as they loved inmerely literal things; and the “wild gourds” fromthe vine (supposed to be the colocynth, or bittercucumber) represents erroneous ideas from natu-ral, untaught, and untrained thought. And thecasting in of meal, by which Elisha cured theevil, represents the application to genuine use-fulness, by which idle speculation is made harm-less. At their best, however, such vines cannotrepresent anything better than a knowledge oforderly pleasures of sense, and especially ofsight and hearing.

The onions and leeks and garlic are valuablefor their bulbs, which are the thickened bases ofthe leaves, growing in the surface of the ground.They represent an intelligence of no greater ele-vation than the others, and of less scope. Fromtheir pungency, and their relation to diseases ofthe skin, it would appear that the sensual-corpo-real subjects to which they are related are thoseof the sense of touch and taste, and in somedegree of smell, which are the senses whichespecially affect the feelings, as the sight andhearing do the thoughts. The plants are bienni-als, and the edible bulbs are the deposits of thefirst year’s accumulation at the base of theleaves, which would furnish materials for the


flowers and seeds of the second year. The foodthus obtained has relation to knowledge, in thiscase sensual knowledge, gathered not with animmediate view to use, but as a good in itself,for present pleasure.

GRASSES

The Grains are only the nobler grasses, maturingseeds which are useful for food. They are relatedto the humbler grasses comparatively as fruittrees are to their allied flowering shrubs. To thegrasses we owe the summer beauty of our mead-ows and hillsides and lawns, and also the greaterpart of the food of the domestic animals. Thegreen pastures in which the sheep lie down arepastures of grass and other flowering herbage,which are correspondences of the teachings bywhich the Lord feeds His flock.

The grains are correspondences of dutiesdone from various good motives; and the grasseswhich are so like the grains, but are themselvesfood for the humbler animals, and do notdevelop large, nutritious seeds which shall befood for man, correspond to knowledge aboutthe duties of life which the grains represent, yetnot themselves teaching duties to be immedi-ately done. The instruction of children in thebroader aspects of life, which they like to knowabout, and to imitate in many childish plays, but


which do not yet present duties to them, is likethe grass of the field. The mind is nourished by itbefore it is prepared for the full satisfactions ofuseful life from duty to the Lord or from duty tothe neighbor. And so also are they who are pre-paring for the heavenly life nourished in theintroductory states before they enter into thatlife. They are instructed concerning it, whilethey are yet in their natural states; and love tolearn about it, and perhaps to learn very much,before they undertake its duties. And suchinstruction of the natural man before the satis-factions of the real life are received is like thegrass and herbage with which the good animalsare nourished. For the good animals correspondto such innocent, natural feelings.

Swedenborg tells us that “when there is dis-course in heaven concerning instruction andteaching from the Word, then in the world ofspirits, where spiritual things appear naturally,meadows green with grass, herbage, and flowersare represented to the sight, and also flocksthere; and this occurs with every variety accord-ing to the quality of the discourse in heaven con-cerning instruction and teaching” (ArcanaCoelestia #5201 ). And, again, “to find pasture isto be taught, illustrated, and nourished in Divinetruths” (Apocalypse Revealed #914). In Apoca-

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lypse Explained #507, it is said that the greengrass signifies the “scientific truth . . . by whichspiritual truth is confirmed, and which has lifefrom spiritual good”; where by scientific truth ismeant truth about good life and heaven and theChurch, learned as a child learns it. The beautyof an innocent, childlike mind, full of imagesand hopes of heaven and heavenly life, by whichthe innocent, natural feelings are delighted andsatisfied, is the beauty of spiritual pastures ofgrass and herbage, with the sheep and the lambsfeeding in them.

REEDS AND RUSHES

Somewhat like grasses in general appearance,but usually growing rank, by the streams and inwet places, are the reeds and rushes of manykinds. Among the rushes, we will for the presentpurpose include the sedges. The Biblical termincludes both; and here, where we are tryingonly for general ideas, only the general charac-teristics common to both will be mentioned.

They are too coarse for food for the domesticanimals, but are sometimes used for bedding andlitter for them. Before the introduction of wovencarpets, rushes were strewn upon the floors evenof palaces, to protect them from filth. There iseven an indication that the outer court of thetemple at Jerusalem, where they were sellingoxen and sheep and doves, was thus strewn; forthe expression for a “scourge of small cords,”with which the Lord drove them all out of thetemple, means primarily a scourge of twistedrushes. Scouring rushes were also used, and arestill used in some places, for soap and sand.

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Plants of this nature, and fit for such uses,cannot correspond to truth that teaches aboutheaven, or heavenly life, nor even to such asteaches about good uses in this life; but they maycorrespond to the teaching of decency and deco-rum, of what is fit and becoming, or unfit andnot to be done. This is evidently the meaning ofrushes upon the floor, to say that it should not bedefiled; of rushes for litter and of scouring also,and of the scourge with which the Lord drovefrom the temple court those who were defiling it.In reformation this lowest use must first be done,and then it gives place to the teaching of positivegood uses. The promise of “grass for reeds andrushes” relates to “the establishment of theChurch by the Lord; and that then there will beknowledge by means of the Divine Truth naturalto those who had before only sensual truth, issignified by grass for reeds and rushes. Grasssignifies knowledge from a spiritual origin, or bywhich spiritual truth is confirmed; but reeds andrushes signify knowledge from a sensual origin,or by which the fallacies of the senses are con-firmed. This knowledge, regarded in itself, isonly the lowest of natural knowledge, calledmaterial and corporeal, in which there is little ornothing of life” (Apocalypse Explained #627).As we have been speaking of it above, it is such


knowledge of the best kind, showing what is notfit and decent; but the standard of what is fit anddecent may have its origin either in the eternaltruth, or in the conventionalities of the time,which exalt many artificial and foolish things,and make wholesome and natural waysimproper. The “dragons” are they who externallyare in appearances of good, but internallywicked. They lie and are at rest among thosewho judge only by appearances, and by a literalcompliance with the precepts of the Word,though its spirit is wholly disregarded.

THE PAPYRUS

The noblest of the sedges is the Papyrus, fromwhich in old time paper was made. It was onceabundant, and was extensively cultivated, inEgypt, and is found now in the Sudan, also bythe Sea of Galilee and Lake Huleh. The accountsof the process of making paper from it differsomewhat; but it was probably made by slicingthe pith, and laying the slices side by side, andthen placing another layer upon and across them,and pressing and drying the whole.

For the communication of thought by writing,it is necessary to assume some common plane ofthought, some common standard in relation tothe things to be told; or else they either cannot betold at all, or will be received in imperfect anddistorted forms. And that common plane or stan-dard of thought, which serves as a basis for thecommunication of definite ideas, is like thepaper upon which characters are written. Thenoblest of the sedges, which represents a com-prehensive knowledge of the standards of lifeand thought, furnished a suitable material for


papermaking, in a primitive age when the stan-dards were fairly natural.

The ark in which Moses was placed by hismother was “an ark of bulrushes,” no doubtpapyrus; because Moses represents the Divinelaw which was to be revealed through him; andthis Divine law was to be brought down to thestandard of life of the Egyptians and the Israel-ites; and the knowledge of that standard is repre-sented by the ark of papyrus. It might also berepresented by the book in which Moses wrotethe law, which also was undoubtedly of papyrus(Deuteronomy 31:24; Arcana Coelestia #6723).

It was by the ark that Moses was kept alive,as was the Divine Truth by its being embodied inthe morals and customs of the Jews. Withoutsuch embodiment it could not have been pre-served; which was represented also by the break-ing of the first tables of stone, and the necessityfor the hewing out two others at the foot of themount. These stones, however, represent thefacts of the representative history, and the papy-rus ark the plane of moral and natural life, inwhich the truth was embodied.

REEDS FOR PENS AND MEASUREMENT

The paper was made of rushes, and the penswere made of reeds. Reeds also, because theywere straight, jointed, and light to carry, madeconvenient rods for measurement. Measuringreeds are several times mentioned in the Scrip-tures. Of these Swedenborg says:

Divine Truth in the lowest degree, or in the ulti-mate of order, is such as is the Divine Truth inthe sense of the letter of the Word, for childrenand the extremely simple. . . . This Divine Truthis what is signified by a reed or a cane. Andbecause explorations are effected with all bymeans of this lowest Divine Truth, . . . thereforemeasurings and weighings, in the representativechurches, were performed by reeds or canes, bywhich that Divine Truth was signified. (Apoca-lypse Explained #627)

That definite ideas either of abstract truths or ofhistory may be conveyed, there must be not onlya knowledge of the common plane of thoughtand life, but a standard of what is right, or isassumed to be right, by which the quality ofstatements, persons, or events may be measured,


and in relation to which they may be described.And this standard gives form to the record, like apen upon the paper—the ink merely fixing thatform, certifying to the truthfulness of the recordto the measurement or the estimate. The reedwith which John was commanded to measure thetemple of God represented the standard of theacknowledgment of the Divine Human of theLord and the life according to the command-ments, by which the Christian heaven was to bemeasured. Divine measurements are alwaysmade by a knowledge of the plainest Divinetruth; and the record of them has form from theiragreement or disagreement with that truth—thetruth says they are so, or so. But human mea-surements and records of measurement, areaccording to human ideas of right and wrong,which may be the revealed standards or somevery different standards. So far as they are thesame, their record is in agreement with that inthe Book of Life; but so far as they differ, theygive false and deceptive measurements. “A reedshaken with the wind” the teaching of the letterof the Word is called, because the letter can be soturned hither and thither, and made to confirmvarious opinions.

If it be desired to mark the distinctionsbetween the three families just described, it

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seems reasonable to regard the rushes as intelli-gence concerning what ought not to be done; thesedges as intelligence about what is done, or lifeas it is; and the reeds as intelligence concerninga just standard of life, and the measurement ofother standards by it.

SWEET CANE

A sweet or aromatic cane is also mentioned inthe Word, and was one of the ingredients of theholy anointing oil, with which the priests and allthe sacred things of the tabernacle wereanointed, and by virtue of which they were madeholy, and representative of the Divine Human ofthe Lord. By this aromatic cane, we are taught, issignified “the perception and affection of interiortruth” or “exterior truth in the internal man”(Arcana Coelestia #10256). Sweet odors signifywhat is delightful from spiritual affection; andthis, applied to a reed, may signify the delight ofagreement of the natural life and thought withthe Divine truth, or the Divine standard of goodand evil. This delight the Lord had in saying, “Ido always those things that please Him” (John8:29); “the Son can do nothing of Himself butwhat He seeth the Father do; for what thingssoever He doeth, these also doeth the Son like-wise” (John 5:19).

FLAX AND COTTON

These two plants furnish the vegetable fiberswith which the greater part of mankind areclothed. The flax has a straight, branchless stalk,surmounted by pretty blue flowers; the stalkitself containing the fibers which are called linenwhen separated from the woody part, and spuninto thread. The cotton plant is much branched,and bears many pods, which contain large, oilyseeds enveloped in the mass of fibers which wecall cotton wool. The fibers of linen are straightand shining; those of cotton are matted together;and, though equally white, are less silvery, andmake warmer clothing.

It is not clear which of the two is meant by“linen” in the Bible, and perhaps both are meant,and it is not intended to distinguish betweenthem. Neither does Swedenborg clearly distin-guish; for he usually translates the Bible termsby “byssus” or “xylinum,” and he says that“xylinum is byssus” (Arcana Coelestia #5319);and that byssus, “which also is xylinum,” “was akind of whitest linen of which garments were


made” (Apocalypse Explained #1143); appar-ently intending to be general, and not too spe-cific, in his definition.

The Bible tells us of the armies in heaven fol-lowing Him whose name is called the Word ofGod, “clothed in fine linen clean and white; forthe fine linen is the just deeds of the saints.” AndSwedenborg tells us that when good spirits areinstructed in the heavenly life, and taken up intoheaven, “they are clothed in angelic garments,which are for the most part white as of linen”(byssus, Heaven and Hell #519). He has much tosay about the correspondence of garments inheaven; and in general that they correspond tothe intelligence of the angels, or truth in theirexternal thought. The internal of angels and menis their love for what is to them good; but theirexternal is made up of knowledge, and thoughtfrom knowledge in regard to what is good andtrue. The internal love is the living sensitiveman; and the external knowledge and thoughtare like garments about the man in which he pre-sents himself to others.

There are some angels who are simply lovesfor the Lord and the neighbor, not caring toknow and think truth, but merely to live fromgood love. These best of the angels have not inthem what corresponds to garments, and there-

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fore need none. But others who love intelligentthought agreeing with good life appear in beauti-ful garments according to the quality of thisthought (See Apocalypse Explained #240, 828).“All spirits and angels are clothed according totheir intelligence. . . . The light of their intelli-gence is formed into garments, which, whenthey are formed thence, not only appear as gar-ments, but also are garments” (ApocalypseExplained #395).

We are reminded that it is the Lord who cov-ers Himself with light as with a garment (Psalm104:2); and the internal of that light affects theminds of angels with intelligence, while theexternal clothes them with garments.

In heaven, they who are in natural truth appearclothed in white, which appears like white linen;natural truth itself also is thus represented as ifwoven of fine threads of linen; those threadsappear like threads of silk, shining, beautifullytranslucent and soft, and the clothing made ofthem likewise, if the truth which is thus repre-sented is from good; but, on the other hand, thosethreads like linen do not appear translucent, norshining, nor soft, but hard and brittle, and yetwhite, if the truth so represented be not fromgood. (Arcana Coelestia #7601)

So much concerning the origin of linen-like gar-ments in heaven has been presented, because it is


the same power that forms them there whichpresses into the world to form similar substanceshere. There they are formed immediately, ofspiritual elements; but here mediately, throughthe processes of natural growth. But the samelove of intelligent thought about what is becom-ing and right in conduct which produces the gar-ments of angels also, in the effort to producesimilar garments here, becomes the life of theflax and the cotton, and actually forms the strongwhite fibers for clothing. The life of the blue-eyed, straight-stalked, shining flax, is the love ofintelligent thought of what is straightforward,clean, and intelligent; and that of the warm andcurly wool of the cotton, is the love for similarthought for what is kind and friendly as well asright.

In simpler days, the material of which paperwas made was the pith of the papyrus plant. Butnow it is the worn out linen and cotton clothingof mankind. As the paper represents the commonplane of life and thought which is assumed as thebasis of communication, the papyrus representsa knowledge of such ways of life as are simpleand natural. But when society became morecomplex and artificial, it became necessary toform a different plane by gathering a wideknowledge of the ways of life of many men and

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many nations, and generalizing it, and assumingthat general knowledge as the basis of communi-cation. And so the linen and cotton rags arereduced to pulp, and made into white paper. Themodern custom of making a common paper ofwood pulp appears to have a correspondencewith an assumed knowledge of the results ofrational thought about all sorts of subjects, towhich the trees correspond.

Together with these more artificial kinds ofpaper, there have come into use pens of variousmaterials, quills and metals. And these appear tohave a correspondence—the quills with thepower of sustained thinking and comparison,such as is represented by the flight of birds—andthe metals with knowledge of the laws of life.Such power and such knowledge determine theforms of statement and description.

THE TREE OF LIFE

The Bible begins with an account of a beautifulgarden containing every tree that is pleasant tothe sight and good for food; and in the midst ofthe garden was the Tree of Life. It closes with adescription of a holy city, through the goldenstreets of which ran the river of water of life, andon either side of the river grew “the Tree of Life,bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding herfruit every month, and the leaves of the tree werefor the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).

By the Garden of Eden is represented theinnocent state of primeval man, taught by God,and wise from God in every work of heavenlylove. By the Holy City is represented the state ofman regenerated, returning with full rationaldevelopment to the innocence of his childhood,to be wise again with the wisdom of the Lord,and to bring forth the fruits of the Divine Lovefor men (Divine Providence #313).

Every variety of Christian faith and love isrepresented by the twelve apostles and thetwelve tribes of Israel; every variety of Christian

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usefulness, by the twelve kinds of fruit producedby the Tree of Life.

In the full sense every variety of intelligenceand wisdom that looks to useful life lives fromthe Tree of Life which is in the midst of them all.Every tree that is good for food represents somewisdom of life that teaches good uses; every treepleasant to the sight represents some intelligentknowledge that is a means of usefulness; herbsyielding seed that is good for food are the teach-ing of duties; and the grass and flowering herb-age are the knowledge about good life by whichthe mind grows until it becomes mature andrational and can begin to do the good thingswhich it has learned about. All these are of thewisdom of the Lord by which men live. Theyexist in every variety in the heavens, as to theirspiritual essence, in the minds of angels and spir-its; and as to their representative forms, in theparadises, the gardens, and fields which makeheaven beautiful.

In the inmost heaven, . . . where love to the Lordreigns, their paradises and forests consist of oliveyards and fig trees; but in the second heaven theyconsist of vineyards and various kinds of fruittrees; in like manner in the lowest heaven, butwith this difference, that in this heaven the treesare not so noble. (Apocalypse Explained #638)


In heaven there appear paradisiacal gardens withfruit trees according to the angels’ wisdom fromgood of love from the Lord; but around thosewho are in intelligence and not in the good oflove, there does not appear a garden, but grass;and around those who are in faith separate fromcharity, not even grass grows, but sand. (Apoca-lypse Revealed #90)

They who have loved the sciences, and bythem have cultivated their rational mind, andthus have procured for themselves intelligence,and at the same time have acknowledged theDivine, have their pleasure in the sciences andrational enjoyment turned in the other life intospiritual enjoyment, which is of knowledge ofwhat is good and true. They dwell in gardens,where there appear flower beds and grass plotsbeautifully laid out, and rows of trees roundabout, with porticos and walks; the trees andflowers being varied from day to day. The sightof all in general brings joys to their minds, andthe varied particulars continually renew them.And because these correspond to Divine things,and they are acquainted with correspondences,they are continually filled with new knowledges,and thereby their spiritual-rational is perfected.These are their enjoyments, because gardens,flower beds, grass plots, and trees correspond tosciences, knowledges, and intelligence there-from. (Heaven and Hell #489)

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The influence of heaven is continually descend-ing to the earth, and operating both upon theminds of men and upon the substances of nature,in the effort to produce upon the earth forms ofthe Divine Life like those in heaven. In heaventhey exist in a fullness of interior perfection andvariety that is not possible in the grosser atmo-spheres and earths of the natural world. Here theinnumerable varieties of heaven can only beexpressed in generals. Yet the Holy City is achurch upon the earth, corresponding to theheavens; and the Tree of Life which grows inthat city is the Divine Wisdom of Life, asreceived by the men of the Church. Its fruits arethe good works which they who know and lovethe Lord will do from Him for one another—theworks of the Lord’s Providence done by Himthrough men; and its leaves are the rational per-ceptions of what conduces to good life by whichthey who live “in evils and in falsities will be ledto think soundly and to live becomingly” (Apoc-alypse Revealed #936). And whatever of theTree of Life is implanted in the natural life inthis world, has in it the possibility of endlessdevelopment in heaven—of wisdom and useful-ness and a sense of life from the Lord, with allthe beautiful external creations which corre-spond to these things.

WATER

Water is the means of motion to all the materialsof the earth, and the medium of communicationbetween the air and the earth. It partakes of thenature of both; on the one hand being readilyresolvable into oxygen and hydrogen, and alsomingling with the air in its own aerial form ofvapor, and on the other, having the weight andsubstantial character of a mineral, and in theform of ice, some of the hardness of the rocks.

It is the privilege of water to give motion tothe materials which plants desire for food. Theofferings of the earth cannot be absorbed by theroots except in solution; the water, therefore,introduces them through the spongy doors, andconducts them up the staircase of wood to theleaves. In the leaves it receives also the nutritiveportions of the atmosphere admitted throughtheir little windows, and holds all subject to theaction of the sunshine, and of the vital forces ofthe plant. When thoroughly prepared, it bears thedigested food to the fruit and the wood for theirincrease.

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The same excellent office it performs in theeconomy of the animal kingdom: it gives mobil-ity, through arteries and veins and all proper tis-sues, to the various materials which nourish thebody and compose its secretions and excretions.Abstract it from any part, and that part becomesdead as a chip; diminish it in any considerabledegree throughout the body, and the sluggish flu-ids refuse to respond to the vital impulses of thespirit; so that the spirit must needs separate itselffrom them and cast them off.

The bountifulness of the supply of water andthe perfection of the means provided for its dis-tribution show its importance in the eyes of Himwho provides it. Everywhere it drops from theclouds—originally, no doubt, the wholedescended from the watery atmosphere—and,after supplying the immediate wants of everyliving thing, and filling the earth and every reser-voir and crevice that can hold it, it runs merrilyoff in brooks and rivers, giving motion now tomills and logs and boats, and finally mingleswith the sea. Nor does it there rest in idleness,but enters the great system of ocean currents,which cool the tropics, extend the habitablezones to the north and the south, and undoubt-edly contribute much, in ways that are stillobscure, to the healthfulness of the earth for


human habitation. In the ocean, too, it bears upthe ships, and serves as a means of communica-tion among all the countries of the earth.

Invited from the ocean by the air and sun-shine, it enters upon a new sphere of usefulness.In the very act of expanding into vapor, itabsorbs the excessive heat of the air, which it isready at any moment to restore, if desired,assuming again for itself the form of dew orfrost, rain, snow, or hail. Besides equalizing thetemperature of the air, it softens its otherwise toodrying contact with plants and animals, andcombining with its nutritive materials, accom-modates them to the uses of life. At the sametime it deepens the blue of the sky, renders theair clearer, and holds the impurities in readinessto be carried off by the rain.

It is a little difficult to put one’s finger uponthe spiritual correlative of this admirable sub-stance, and hold it for examination, on accountof its transparency and mobility. But if we wereconsuming with fever and thirst, we should belikely to recognize the natural element which weneed. Suppose, then, that we are burning withspiritual fever, our affections are excited by theapprehension of a great injury or misfortune, weare restless, eager, and feverish with anxiety. Afriend comes in, cool and quiet, brings out some

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hopeful points in the situation, shows what isunreasonable in our feelings, and presentsclearly the right and practicable thing to do. Ifwe are sane, the restless burning will be quieted,and we shall set about what it is possible for usto do, in a healthy manner. Possibly our friend’spractical advice is spiritual water; at any rate, aliberal application of such common sense tounwise zeal is familiarly called “pouring coldwater” over it. In this case the spiritual elementemployed is truth which discriminates betweengood and evil, between the practicable and theimpracticable, and sets the thoughts running inuseful channels. The common expression, “thirstfor knowledge,” as applied to spiritual thirst, sofar appears to be justified, with the qualificationthat this particular kind of knowledge is under-stood.

Let us see whether this will answer to theother uses and conditions of water, or what mod-ification of our definition, if any, is required.And first, if it be true spiritual water, it is notonly useful in feverish states, but is a dailynecessity to the life of the mind. The food of themind is knowledge of good and pleasant things,and of all things that increase its affection anddesire. When the mind is nourished by suchfood, and good desires are strong in it, it inquires


immediately what it is right and practicable for itto do. The knowledge it already has is good andpleasant, but it cannot live from it, nor even takeit into active consideration, and so assimilate it,till a knowledge of what is practicable and rightsets it flowing. The same spiritual element seemshere to meet the requirement.

But food must be combined with water, that itmay be tasted and received at all, not only that itmay circulate through the body. Perfectly dryfood on a dry tongue has no taste and cannot beswallowed. And so the knowledge of goodthings, which is food to the mind, cannot bereceived till it is brought into some sort of rela-tion to us; if perfectly dry and uninteresting tous, we reject it. And it is brought into relation tous by a knowledge of what is universally rightand useful, which is like water drunk with it; or,better still, by a knowledge of what is right anduseful to us, which mingles with the food, andmoistens it as with our own saliva. This bringsout the real quality of the seeming good in itsrelation to us, and we know whether or not it isagreeable to our life.

Another important use of water, very differ-ent apparently, and yet performed by its powerof giving mobility, is in washing. The soilingmatter, which in its dry state clings to the gar-

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ments or the skin, is separated by water, whichpenetrates between the filth and the organizedsubstance, gives wheels to the loosened parti-cles, and trundles them off. Spiritual defilement,we are taught, is from thinking and doing evil—from “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, forni-cations, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Andwhen the spirit is defiled by thinking these, or byaffection for them, the means of cleansing ismanifestly the truth which shows these things tobe hurtful and wrong. Such truth, if fairlyapplied, separates the particles from the mind,and carries them off.

It is because this practical repentance is spiri-tual washing that baptism, which represents it, isthe appointed sign of introduction into theChurch.

Rightly received, it is an expression of desireand resolve to purify the life according to thetruth into which one is baptized; and therefore itadmits the recipient to the society of men andangels who are in the same effort, and entitleshim to their assistance.

The same is signified by the entrance to theLand of Canaan through the River Jordan, andalso by John’s baptizing in the Jordan. And, for asimilar reason, washings of the body and the


clothes were a prominent part of the Jewish cere-monial.

But this that we are now speaking of isknowledge of hurtfulness and wrong, and wewere before considering the knowledge of whatis useful and right, which appears to be a differ-ent thing. The difference, however, is only inappearance; for a knowledge of what is rightgives the means of recognizing what is not right,and of judging it justly according to its opposi-tion to the right. The truth which teaches what isuseful to be done shows also what is to beshunned. Thus the difference is not in the truth,but in the application of it.

In the Apocalypse John says, “And Heshowed me a pure river of water of life, clear ascrystal, proceeding out of the throne of God andof the Lamb.” By this pure river, Swedenborgtells us, is meant “the Apocalypse now openedand explained as to its spiritual sense, whereDivine truths are revealed in abundance from theLord, for those who will be in His New Church,which is the New Jerusalem.”

In the Apocalypse are now laid open the evilsand falsities of the Church, which must beshunned and held in aversion, and the goods andtruths of the Church which must be done, espe-cially concerning the Lord, and concerning eter-

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nal life from Him, which are meant in particularby the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,proceeding out of the throne of God and of theLamb. (Apocalypse Revealed #932)

Another difficulty which may appear serious isthat we seem to be confounding right and wrongwith practicability or expediency; whereas theseseem to be quite distinct, since a given course ofconduct may be entirely practicable, but whollywrong. But it must be remembered that water isnot in itself fixed and rigid like iron and stone,but yields and adapts itself to things which arefixed. Neither is it exclusive in its associations; itlaves, with equal readiness, golden quartz andthe slime of the docks, and ministers alike to theolive tree and the humblest moss. Spiritualwater, likewise, is neither law nor fact, but thetruth of life under all the circumstances of anycase. We call that “practicable” which considersthe external circumstances, and that “right”which considers the Divine laws. Spiritual waterconsiders either, or both, when both enter intothe case. It teaches a man how to repent of hissins, and to do his duties to God and his fellow-men; it teaches him also how to build his houseunder the conditions of the laws of health, andhow to conduct his business under the laws ofeconomy and honesty. It teaches the little bird


how to protect her featherless young from thestorm; it leads the wild goat to conceal her kidsamong the mountain crags, and the lioness tomake her den in the thickets; it guides thesalmon, in breeding time, up the rivers, andshows the butterflies where their offspring willfind suitable food; it causes the flowers toexpand their delicate petals to the sunlight,teaching some to fold them up again at theapproach of cold or wet. It is just as essential toNature in carrying out her ideas as it is to man.Solid fact and fixed law we shall find in therocks and metals; it is not these. It is truth which,adapting itself to every variety of circumstances,shows what can be done in those circumstances,under the impulse of a given desire. It does notalter the nature of the truth, that animals obey it“instinctively,” and plants perhaps “mechani-cally,” and man conscientiously and thought-fully; it is the same natural truth of life to all,showing what is wise or unwise, right or wrong,in their respective situations.

Almost colorless itself, it appears everywherein the colors of the subjects to which it isapplied. In general forms of knowledge of life, ittakes the color of our mental skies, reflecting theclear blue of Infinite Intelligence, or the dullnessof human obscurity; in relation to particular men

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or masses of men, it takes their colors, and isformed by their circumstances; regarded as thetruth of Nature, we see it in all the bright colorsof natural life. In Nature, it is the wisdom ofNature; in affairs of the world it is practical wis-dom; in moral affairs it is the truth of right andwrong; in history it is the wisdom of experience;in Scripture it is the wisdom of revelation. Nouseful life is possible without it. It enters intoevery development of intelligence, every theory,every plan of life. It is the living part of ourknowledge of history and of natural history, ofthe works of God and the works of men. Thewaters are as important and abundant in ourmental world as in the physical; and we shallfind them subject to corresponding influences,appearing in corresponding forms, and doingcorresponding uses in every particular.

SALT

Not only does water take its color and shapefrom the objects about it, as has been shown, butsome of them it dissolves in greater or lessdegree, and with them modifies its own quality.It dissolves little from the rocks; but salts of var-ious kinds, sugar, and many other vegetable sub-stances it takes up readily. And so, likewise,from a fixed, unchangeable truth, as that lightand heat are from the sun, the truth of life takesalmost nothing. It plays about it like water at thefoot of a rock, filling itself with its colors, andadapting itself to its form; it says, “Because thisis so, you must make windows in your houses,and open them towards the sun”; but it does notpresume to say that the fact itself is right orwrong, practicable or impracticable. But othertruths which contain suggestions as to ways ofdoing good—suggestions of sweetness, tartness,pungency, or other quality, are readily incorpo-rated in the thought of life. The most importantof these is the principle that goodness and truthneed each other and belong together, which is

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the correlative of common salt. Fixed as this is,and crystalline, the truth of life recognizes it asakin to itself, incorporates it readily into itself,and suggests everywhere to inquirers how to dogood, that it must be done according to the truth.The rain that soaks through the earth, receivesthe particles of the earth which are most ready tounite with it, the chief element in which is com-mon salt, and carries them to the sea, in token ofthe readiness of the earth to unite with the water,and of its own desire to unite with the earth infruitfulness. With the salt we season our food, toexpress its willingness to unite with the fluids ofthe body, and this willingness is to our percep-tion savoriness. But, when received, the salt inthe body excites thirst, which is like the desire ofthe earth for water, and represents a deficiencyof truth of life. When this is excessive, lifeceases; whence came the custom in ancienttimes of sowing with salt the cities which weredoomed to desolation—representing their lackof truth of life.

THE SEA

The seas of our minds are the memory of all thetruth of life we have seen. They are salt becausethere is with the truth the memory of its variedapplications.

The seas, and other large bodies of water, arehomes for the fishes; and spiritual fishes areaffections for thinking in the truth of Nature andof natural life, and accumulating knowledge ofit. By such accumulation they furnish food toaffections for spiritual life and thought.

These large bodies of water afford, also, themeans of transportation and intercommunicationto all the countries bordering upon the samewater. The ships, by which such communicationis effected, are substantial houses built to sailupon the water. Spiritually, they are doctrineswhich teach the proper relation and subordina-tion of natural truth and life to spiritual. Theyrest upon natural truth, but interpret it to the sup-port of spiritual life and its enjoyments. Theyresist the misapplication of natural truth, as shipsresist storms, and insist upon its proper subordi-

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nation. From such a ship the Lord taught of theheavenly life to people who before knew noother than the common truth of natural life.From it He quieted the waves of turbulent natu-ral thought, and reduced them to orderly service.The commerce of the earth carried on in shipscorresponds to the interchange of the goodthings of spiritual life among those who have acommon knowledge of good and evil.

The currents of the ocean have been men-tioned, which bring the coolness of the poles tothe tropics, and return the warmth of the tropicsfar towards the poles. And from memory andhistory, in like manner, come the currents ofcooler truth to allay the heat of popular excite-ment, or of warmer truth to restore confidence instates of discouragement. That there is such aninterchange among the nations of the earth isprobable.

THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN

What one loves supremely, or worships as thehighest good, is to him his god. Under its influ-ence he forms his ideas of the spiritual nature ofman, and of the eternal state of the spirit, select-ing for that purpose from his general knowledgeof human life, as the sun raises water from theseas and the earth into the air. It is written inGenesis that God made an “expanse, and dividedthe waters which were under the expanse fromthe waters which were above the expanse, and itwas so. And God called the expanse heaven.”The waters under the expanse are the knowledgeof life in this world; the waters above theexpanse are the knowledge of the life of thespirit and of eternity. The truth of life in theScriptures, regarded as relating to actions in thisworld, is water under the expanse; but, lookedupon as a revelation from God concerning thelife of the spirit here and hereafter, it rests abovethe firmament towards the heaven of our mind,like clouds in the sky. To the Scriptures, thusregarded, we go for the things which belong to

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heaven, and which help us into a heavenly state.We find there the light in which the God ofheaven sees, and by which He enlightens theminds of men; and thence also we obtain posi-tive ideas of a future life and of the utterly differ-ent states of the good and the evil in it.

But the Scriptures, regarded spiritually, arenot merely a revelation of another world; theyrelate also to the state of the spirit in this world.The truth of right and useful life is as applicableto the mind as to the body; for what it is wrongto do, it is wrong to think of doing, or to desire todo. The same truth cleanses both works andthoughts. To love it, think it, and apply it to thethoughts makes our spiritual atmosphere cleanerand brighter, and removes from it the obscuritiesbetween us and the Lord. When we read theScriptures for the sake of learning to live better,and to be better throughout, the truth whichshows us what it is right to do and think fallsgently into the mind, cleansing its thought andencouraging every principle of life, like fertiliz-ing showers upon the earth. And when our desireis satisfied, as the rain ceases, and we go onthinking the truth, the cloud dissolves, andbecomes a part of the air we breathe, andthrough the pure, blue heaven comes the gladsunshine of the Lord’s immediate presence.


It is in this way that our Lord is coming in theclouds of heaven; for all the precepts andinstructions in the Word, when opened interiorlyby means of correspondences, are pure, spiritualtruth concerning good life in relation to the Lord,and to the spiritual states of men; we have onlyto love it for the sake of thoroughly good life,and the letter disappears, while the spirit is to usas the breath of heaven.

At the time of His first coming, the discipleswere not able to think spiritually; they were sim-ple, natural men, who could receive instructionin regard to their natural duties, but must havetheir spiritual truth clothed in parables and prov-erbs, or they could not receive it. The Lordshowed Himself to three of the disciples in themount, His face shining as the sun, and His rai-ment white as the light; but they could not spiri-tually awake to see Him; they were heavy withsleep; nor did they recover their powers ofthought until after a cloud overshadowed them.

Centuries before, when the previous revela-tion of the Lord was made to their ancestors, sogross and material were their ideas of Him andHis kingdom that the mountain between Himand them smoked like a furnace, with darkness,clouds, and thick darkness.

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And to go back one step more, to the dayswhen the men of the earliest Church turnedwholly away from the Lord, and believed them-selves to be gods, the dire falseness of their ideasof their spiritual nature and future life, fromwhich came the most abominable works andprinciples, was represented by the heavens fromwhose windows come the waters of the floodwhich swept them all away.

STREAMS

It is characteristic of water, that when it fallsfrom the clouds it runs down the hills to theplains, and then further, seeking the lowest level.And so the truth of what is right and useful,when received in elevated states of mind, imme-diately sets itself to run through all the states ofthe life, everywhere purifying, nourishing, andurging to good works; nor will it rest till, thewhole active productive part of the mind tra-versed, it finds repose in the sea of the memory.If the state in which the truth is received begreatly elevated above the common plane of thelife, the truth descends with vehemence, andpossibly great power for good. But from mindsthat are self-exalted, especially if they be hardand stony—not inclined to do quiet uses them-selves—it descends with angry vehemence, andgreat power for evil; these throw off the truthfrom themselves, and direct it in pitiless torrentsto those whom they look down upon. Suchstreams received by many minds at once formgreat rivers of public opinion, which serve as a

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medium of communication among all who sharethem; which, wisely directed, set powerful socialmachinery in motion for good; or, angrily swell-ing, sweep away much that is good, with someevil, in a common ruin.

On the other hand, a mind full of earnestaffection for good holds the truth received fromheaven as a good soil does the rain, giving itforth slowly and steadily in useful springs andstreams of truth.

ICE

A certain degree of love for the Lord, or for theneighbor, is necessary to keep the streams ofthought concerning good life running. In a stateof indifference and coldness we cease to apply itto life, and our collected stores of truth exist onlyas hard fixed knowledge of what we have beenthinking, or have perceived to be true. Ourstreams are frozen to ice, till the returning loveof use sets them flowing again. In our cool statewe do not make much use of the truth; still, wetake an intellectual pleasure in skimming over it,as upon skates or sleighs, and use it as a commonground of communication with others—all themore readily for our want of tenderness towardsit. We also use it when any immoderate zeal orpassion, as of summer heat or fever, is excited,which, by the application of cool passionlesstruth, is tempered down to healthful moderation.

DEW

When the sun goes down in a clear, bright sky—full of moisture, as a very clear sky always is—the leaves and the grass, and the surface of theground, as they cool, condense the moisture inlittle drops all over themselves, from which theydrink as much as they will for their refreshment,and keep themselves warm with the rest. And soat the end of a state of labor in which the mindhas been intently thinking and loving spiritualtruth, with repose come pleasant views of thework of life, of friends, and of the community,suggesting everywhere useful applications of thetruth we have been thinking and loving. Everygrowing plant in the mind is revived by suchperceptions, and though not warmed by theimmediate presence of the sun, is kept from los-ing too much of its heat by the delight of know-ing the truth.

The dew is “sweeter and pleasanter thanshowers,” Swedenborg says, “whence the grassand the crops of the fields are gladdened.” “Thetruth of peace,” he calls it, spiritually; and says


that “it is the Divine truth from the Lord inheaven, and affects universally all who are there,and makes heaven to be heaven” (Arcana Coe-lestia #8455).

Hoarfrost is the dew made white and solid bycold. It is the “truth of peace” regarded as a goodthing in itself, and not applied at once to gooduses (Arcana Coelestia #8459).

SNOW

Snow is frozen cloud, which falls pure and whiteupon the earth, gently covering it from cold, andpreserving its life till the sun renews its energies.When the zeal for use is past, and the mind needsrest, relapsing into a quiet natural state, with nothought of work, there may still be delight inlearning truth, which is then loved for its ownbeauty, and as a good thing in itself; it is, like thesnow, white, beautiful, comparatively solid, andmay be accumulated. It keeps the mind fromcooling down into evil and death, by interestingit in the truth as an object of desire, and thus pre-serving its vitality as a garment does the warmthof the body.

In this form, truth affords easy means of com-munication and transportation; for, in this com-paratively cool state, we meet others easily onthe common ground of intellectual delight intruth alone; and the stores of experience and use-ful love, which we might not be able to commu-nicate when the affections are warmer, may bereadily produced and imparted.


Truths of moral philosophy, proverbs, pithysayings as to what men do or ought to do, maybe ice in various forms. Similar truth as to wis-dom of life from the Bible may be snow fromheaven; as when one says abstractly, the Bibleregards this or that as right or wrong. Such truthas to the Bible standards may be accumulatedindefinitely.

When recalled in warmer states, these storesof truth may be most useful to spiritual fruitful-ness; for, “As the rain cometh down, and thesnow, from heaven, and returneth not thither, butwatereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth andbud, that it may give seed to the sower and breadto the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forthout of my mouth” (Isaiah 55:10, 11).

HAIL

Hail is rain carried up so high that it is frozen,and then pelted down to the destruction of tenderplants. Yet, when melted, it turns to rainwater. Itis like truths of the Word carried up by intenseconceit into its own state of great self-exaltation,made hard by the total absence of charity, andcast at men as truths of a pitiless Divine Justice.When interpreted and softened by kindness,these same truths may be melted into gentle,beneficent truth of life.

STEAM

A most interesting development of the use ofwater has occurred in our day, in the universalapplication of steam to machinery. The locomo-tive, running over smoothly laid iron rails,brings even more than the utmost fleetness of thehorse to the general service of mankind. Appliedto ships upon the sea, the moving power ofsteam equally surpasses that of the wind; and inconnection with stationary machinery, itincreases the working power of man a hundred-fold.

The boiling of the waters is mentioned in Isa-iah as an illustration of the effect of the Lord’scoming: “Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heav-ens, that Thou wouldst come down, that themountains might flow down at Thy presence, aswhen the melting fire burneth, the fire causeththe waters to boil!” (Isaiah 64:1, 2). And as thecomparisons in the Scriptures are not mere com-parisons, but correspondences as well, weshould expect, in the fulfillment of the words,that the Divine love of the Lord, when His pres-

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ence is manifested, would expand, with Infiniteinterior meaning, all the natural truth of His cre-ation and His revelation. And so, indeed, it is.But we should hardly have looked for so literal afulfillment, also, as the effect of His coming inthe clouds of heaven.

The natural work of the steam is simply a cor-respondence of the spiritual work of that whichsteam represents. The opening of the spiritualmeanings in natural truth affects the mind with adelight and a power for good, which is not morethan adequately represented by the expansiveforce of steam. Beautiful thoughts are multipliedby it, and the ability to render helpful service tothe souls of men is greatly increased.

Especially does the opening of spiritual truthgive the means of understanding those in quitedissimilar states; it shows the unity of mankind,in the widest variety; and because of that unity itinterests us in states the most remote from ourown, and prepares the way for mutually advanta-geous intercourse.

The days are not yet long past in which it wasimpossible for conscientious people who helddifferent religious views to have any communi-cation with one another, or even to live peace-ably in the same country.


An improvement has already taken place, tothe extent of establishing a basis of mutual toler-ation and natural justice among many nationsand religions, which may be likened to the build-ing of good roads; but there is as yet scarcelyany of the opening of interior things, which wemay fairly expect to make the communicationsof the future so interesting and profitable.

That the approach of the Lord should producefirst a development of natural philanthropy andintelligence, before the corresponding increaseof spiritual wisdom and love, is according to theLord’s prediction: “Behold the fig tree and allthe trees.”

We may confidently accept the natural workthat has been accomplished, both as a manifesta-tion of the mighty spiritual power which ispresent, and as a sign that the spiritual work willshortly be brought to pass.

THE ROCKS

The rocks have many points of resemblance towater; so many that water is ranked among themas a mineral. They agree in their differencesfrom sensitive animals and growing plants. Butrocks are utterly unlike water in their hardness,inflexibility, and solidity.

We found the spiritual correlative of water inthe general truth which shows what is good andpracticable in any given case—truth which isuniversal, applicable to all circumstances, andtaking its quality in great degree from circum-stances. The rocks of the mind must be princi-ples that are fixed, unyielding, and nearlyunchangeable.

Such principles there are of many kinds.There is an immense quantity of truth concern-ing things that have been done; which truth isnow fixed, and not subject to change. This maybe called historical truth. When it is really fixed,it is solid, inflexible, and to be depended upon,like the stones. Another kind of truth, still moreextensive than that of history, is the fixed truth of


natural history. It is such truth as that the sungives heat; that grains and fruits are nutritious;that lambs are innocent; that birds have nests;that the morning always follows the night, andsummer the winter. There is an immense varietyof truth like this that is in the very nature ofthings, and it is the foundation of all theories,plans, and works.

All this fixed truth of natural history and ofhistory has the general characteristics of rock. Itis hard, solid, and unyielding; we trust to it, andbuild upon it and with it, in a manner exactlycorresponding to our use of stones.

Stones are inflexible, but they can be brokenor cut so that larger or smaller fragments may betaken for use. The facts of history, likewise, arenot easily bent out of their natural forms, butthey may readily be subdivided, and such por-tions of them taken as are wanted. The fixedtruths of nature also are inflexible, but may beopened by well-directed effort, and examined intheir details. It is a comprehensive truth of thiskind that the earth attracts towards itself allmaterial bodies. We readily separate from thisgeneral truth the particulars that the earth attractsthis falling stone or these fluttering leaves; forthis mental stone has been so long exposed to thewear of human thought that its surface is easily

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pulverized. It is more difficult to see that theearth extends her attractive power to the sun, theplanets, and the stars.

Another nobler rock is the truth that theLord’s Providence is over all the events of life.This rock lies deep, but not too deep for theknowledge of those whose lives are deeplyfounded; yet even they separate from the rockthe particulars, and see that the Divine Provi-dence is in this or that event, only by consider-able effort.

ROADS

Of broken stones we make our roads, which byuse become smooth and hard, suited for walking,riding, or the transportation of heavy loads. Spir-itual distance is difference of state. And spiritualroads are the ways by which we pass from ourown familiar states of thought and feeling to thestates of others like or unlike our own. If there bean abundance of fact, or of certain truth, more orless common, which reaches our neighbor’s stateas well as our own, and which we both are famil-iar with, or take for granted because of its gen-eral use, it is easy to pass from one state to theother, and to interchange the good things of both.If the truths we depend upon are new to us, and itis necessary to observe and recognize them sepa-rately, the way is tedious, and progress in com-ing together is slow, as by a freshly dressed road.Or if there be individual truths that we have tostop to explain away, and especially if they arrestthe whole attention and refuse to be explainedaway, our road is obstructed, perhaps altogetherclosed, by misplaced stones.

SOIL

The rocks, finely pulverized, make the greaterpart of the soil, and in this condition they givesupport to plants and trees. The particles of thesoil correspond to the little particulars of naturaltruth which we are obliged to depend upon andto use in the plans for work and for pleasure ofevery day’s life. No plan can be formed withoutbuilding into itself some particulars of truth ofnature, which, when the present need has passed,may serve for others; as there is no plant but hasits mineral ash which, when the plant decays, isfood for other plants.

MILLSTONES

Of the rocks we make millstones, by which thegrains are broken and ground into flour forbread. In this work millstones perform a similaruse to that of the teeth, which are little millstonesfor laying open the interior parts of food. Uponthe lower millstone the grain rests as it passesfrom the hopper, and the upper stone revolvinglays open and separates all its particles. Grainsare the works of everyday duty, more or lessnoble according to the principles of life of thosewho do them, and more or less filled withthought and affection for the neighbor. Theworks not understood do not nourish the souls ofmen; but examined and known as to the affectionand thought within them, they do give comfortand strength to human hearts. To examine themthoroughly, we need a lower millstone of generaltruth about the states and circumstances underwhich the works were done; and an upper, mov-able millstone about what it would be natural forus to do under such conditions. And this we needto apply to the works under consideration, bring-

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ing out the thought and feeling that entered intothem.

Millers know that after long use their mill-stones become smooth and blunted, so that thegrain passes through them imperfectly ground.And so by friction in the world, our fundamentalprinciples of human nature and human lifebecome worn and glossed over, so that we passmany things in a conventional way, withoutexamining them sufficiently to get hold of theirtrue quality. And then we need to attend to ourprinciples, to break up their worldly easiness,and to bring out their crystalline surfaces of gen-uine truth, which will examine thoroughly andjudge rightly.

POTTERY

Of stone were formerly made jugs and pitchersfor water; and nowadays these, and a thousandother vessels for containing food and drink, aremade of clay hardened to stone by fire. Thesevessels are the facts of our daily wants, whichformerly were few and simple, and fashionedfrom the truth of nature; but now are many andartificial formed from the truth of usage andfashion merely, hardened by our love for it intofixed customs. These, however, are easily bro-ken when genuine truth of nature is applied tothem; but even then, their fragments are almostindestructible—facts of what life has been.

DEPOSITED AND CRYSTALLINE ROCKS

The clay of which pottery is made is itself origi-nally derived from the primitive rocks. By theaction of ice and water, particles and larger frag-ments are continually separated from the rocks,and by their own friction they disengage otherfragments. These, borne by the running waterinto seas or inland lakes, are deposited, the largerbits early in beds of gravel or sand, the smaller,because they unite more intimately with thewater, more remotely in beds of clay; and thesebeds, if undisturbed, are hardened by Nature’sslow, gigantic kiln—the sand into sandstone, theclay into slate.

In the domain of mind we trace the corre-sponding process. The primitive rocks are thefixed truths of nature; running water is the truthwhich shows what is good, right, and useful,under any given circumstances. This truth, asmen receive it, is directed and guided by thefixed truth of nature—as, for example, that it isnot practicable to use stones for bread, or fruitsfor building; and it is continually incorporating


with itself such bits as show what is possible orimpossible—as that when we are hungry wemust eat what is soft and nutritious; and by thecomparison of these again with the original massof truth, it detaches more particulars—as thatgrains are edible, and are made more so by cook-ing; fruits, also, in various degrees. The greatstreams which bear onward these bits of naturaltruth are the thoughts and lives of communities;the lakes and seas to which they are borne, arethe various forms of memory and history; thewater of the seas is the truth which men havelived; and the deposited beds of stone are theportions of fundamental truth which they havereceived and worked into their lives, and whichnow constitute the facts of their lives.

In such deposited rock are imbedded in greatnumbers the remains of plants and animals, boththose that have been washed down from theland, and those that lived in the water; and sohistory preserves to us the biographies of indi-vidual men, imbedded like fossils in the mass ofgeneral knowledge of what was done andthought in their time. Especially do we have pre-served mementos of the historians and the accu-mulators of knowledge; for these are likeinhabitants of the sea, delighting in the knowl-

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edge to which the sea corresponds, and identify-ing themselves with it.

There are some beds of rock, as various kindsof limestone, which are made altogether of theremains of animals; the beds of coal, on the otherhand, are composed of vegetable remains. Tostudy them all would be to explore the wholespiritual history of mankind—a delightful sub-ject, indeed, to pursue, and one that will yieldprecious returns of spiritual knowledge to futurestudents of correspondences.

From what has already been said, however,we are prepared to interpret the distinctionbetween the stratified rocks, which were depos-ited underwater, and which cover nearly thewhole of the rock surface of the earth, and theunderlying rocks, mostly crystalline, and bearingthe marks of intense heat, which usually appearupon the surface only among high hills andmountains. The latter are the truths of nature andof human nature, as God made them and as theyreally are. The former are these truths as menhave understood them and lived them.

These two kinds of rock, where they come incontact, cannot readily be distinguished fromeach other, many crystalline rocks having beenoriginally deposited, and then modified by heator by hot water. The correlative truth is that even


the truths of nature took form by degrees, asnature itself came into form, and the order of itsoperations became established. For instance, thetruth that birds produce their young from eggsdid not always exist; for birds did not alwaysexist. But when birds were created they began tolay eggs, and from the little isolated facts of oneand another having laid eggs, soon grew up thecrystalline truth that they always produce theiryoung from eggs.

In mountains the fundamental rocks rise farabove the common level, sometimes bearingupon their slopes the stratified rocks, and some-times rising above them. They lift their headseven among the clouds, which cling about themwith special fondness, continually watering themwith pure rain and snow from heaven, and send-ing down their rocky sides life and power andfruitfulness to the country all around.

Upon such fundamental spiritual rocks as thatthe world, created by God, is from humanity andfor humanity; that the existence of the world isits continual creation, and that the Lord’s Provi-dence rules every particle in it; upon such rocksas these we rise, often with many less perfect tra-ditional ideas, far above the ordinary level oflife, to a height where the spiritual atmosphere isclear and pure, where we think and see truly, and

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where we drink of the water of life directly fromthe Lord through the clouds of His Word. It iswell for the spiritual and moral welfare of all,that such truths as these are acknowledged bysome.

PRECIOUS STONES

The facts which we have been considering aboutthe rocks are distinct clearly defined truths aboutthe very nature of the things. They are crystals,most of them opaque, yet reflecting obscurelythe light of spiritual truth. But there are also pre-cious stones which are distinguished from com-mon stones by their hardness and by theirbeautiful colors, or the brilliancy of the lightwhich they transmit. They are truths in naturalforms, from which or through which the light ofspiritual wisdom shines clearly.

When Peter confessed to the Lord, “Thou artthe Christ, the Son of the Living God,” the Lordreplied, “Upon this rock I will build myChurch.” This confession is, indeed, the founda-tion of the Christian Church; but it is no dull,opaque rock. It is open to the light of the Sun ofheaven, and to those who love that light it is fullof heavenly beauty. We need not wonder that thebroad foundation of the Church is a preciousstone. All the foundations of the Holy City are

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precious stones; her streets are pure gold, andher gates are pearls.

The Lord’s Word is full of jewels, finer, purer,more enduring, more full of light, than any otherstones.

All our spiritual life rests upon such certaintruths as these:

I and my Father are One. (John 10:30)He whom God hath sent speaketh the words ofGod. (John 3:34)I am the Living Bread that came down fromheaven. (John 6:51)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and thatwhich is born of the spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same ismy brother and sister and mother. (Mark 3:35)God so loved the world that He gave His onlybegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Himshould not perish, but have everlasting life. (John3:16)Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but acorrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. (Matthew7:17)

Among such jewels, those that reveal the love ofthe Lord for man, and the reciprocal love of menfor the Lord, if presented to our spiritual sight asgems, would shine with warm light as the ruby,the carbuncle, and the sardius. Those that show


the clear light of the Divine Wisdom wouldshine like clear crystal, or like the diamond.Those that treat of the love of wisdom in angelsand men, according to the quality and the pur-pose of the wisdom loved, might appear in avariety of colors, like those of the sapphire, thesardonyx, the beryl, or the jacinth; for these col-ors represent such heavenly affections.

METALS

Among the rocks we find metals; the most nobleof them, as gold and silver, especially amongcrystalline rocks. Metals differ from stone in thatthey can be bent, beaten out, and molded; theyalso melt easily, and can be cast into everydesired shape. They are opaque, but when purethey reflect light brilliantly, and if polished maybe used as mirrors. Of them are made coins,ornaments, plate, and tools of every kind—agri-cultural, domestic, mechanical, and warlike.

As stones are definite and certain truth whichcannot readily yield or change, metals are truthas firm and indestructible, but taking definiteform from circumstances. For instance, it is atruth, as unchangeable as rock, that fire is hotand burning. That rock naturally gives rise to thetruth that if you put any combustible thing intothe fire it will be burned; which truth may bemolded into various forms, as that you must notbring precious things near the fire, or they willbe burned; that the fire must be carefully con-fined, or it will endanger the house; and these


necessary forms of a stern natural law areexactly embodied in fenders and stoves and fireutensils of iron.

But this law is of a comparatively low kind. Itis a nobler law that the good of a community,and the real good of individuals, can be obtainedonly by the yielding of individual selfish prefer-ences. It is a law nobler still, that genuine happi-ness is found in serving others, never in servingoneself. And it is a more precious law than allthese that the Lord expressed in the words, “If aman love Me, he will keep my words; and MyFather will love him, and We will come untohim, and make our abode with him” (John14:23).

Laws of life of all these kinds, natural, moral,spiritual, and heavenly, correspond to the metals.They in some degree resemble water, in thattheir form may be changed to fit the subjecttreated of. But when they are applied to anygiven subject, they are inflexible and durable asthe stones themselves. The law that you must notput your unprotected hand into the fire, or it willbe burned, is just as unchangeable as the crystal-line truth that fire is hot and burning; but thesubstance of the law could be remolded andapplied to any other combustible thing, just aswell as to your hand.

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In molten form the metals, like water, applythemselves to the conditions at hand, saying thatunder those conditions one may do thus. But asthey cool, they harden into fixed usages.

The kinds of truth which correspond respec-tively to the most important metals, and thepeculiar characteristics of each, are fully illus-trated by Swedenborg’s description of the angelsfrom the ages called golden, silver, copper, andiron; so called because such was the character oftheir principles of life. In visiting them, heinquired particularly concerning their marriages;and as are the principles of marriage, so are allthe principles of life.

GOLD

An experience among the angels of the earliestpeople upon our earth—a people whose innocentcommunion with God is remembered in the tra-ditions of all races:

I looked by turns, on the husband and wife, andobserved as it were the unity of their souls intheir faces; and I said, “You are one.”

And the man answered, “We are one; her lifeis in me, and mine in her; we are two bodies, butone soul; the union between us is like that of the. . . heart and the lungs; she is my heart, and I amher lungs; but as by heart we here understandlove, and by lungs wisdom, she is the love of mywisdom, and I am the wisdom of her love;wherefore her love from without veils my wis-dom, and my wisdom from within is interiorly inher love; hence, as you said, there is an appear-ance of the unity of our souls in our faces.” . . .

After this I looked around, and I saw their tentas overlaid with gold, and I asked, “Whence isthis?”

He replied, “It is from a flaming light, whichglitters like gold, irradiates and tinges the cur-

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tains of our tent, whilst we are in discourse con-cerning conjugial love; for the heat from our sun,which in its essence is love, then bares itself, andtinges the light, which in its essence is wisdom,with its own color, which is golden; and thistakes place because conjugial love, in its origin,is the sport of wisdom and love, for the man wasborn to be wisdom, and the woman to be the loveof the man’s wisdom; thence are the delights ofthat sport in conjugial love and from it, betweenus and our wives. We have here seen clearly forthousands of years, that those delights as to quan-tity, degree, and virtue, are excellent and eminentaccording to the worship of the Lord Jehovahwith us, from Whom that heavenly union, or thatheavenly marriage, which is of love and wisdomflows in.”

As he spoke these words, I saw a great lightupon the hill in the midst among the tents, and Iasked, “Whence is that light?”

And he said, “It is from the sanctuary of thetent of our worship.”

And I asked whether it was permitted toapproach. And he said that it was permitted; andI approached, and saw the tent without andwithin, altogether according to the description ofthe tabernacle which was built for the sons; ofIsrael in the desert, the form whereof was shownto Moses upon Mount Sinai. And I asked, “Whatis within in that sanctuary, whence there is sogreat a light?”


And he replied, “It is a tablet with this inscrip-tion, The Covenant between Jehovah and theHeavens.” He said no more. (Conjugial Love#75)

“The Covenant between Jehovah and the heav-ens” is the light of their sanctuary and the lightof their lives. Their principle of marriage is thatits delights are excellent according as they laydown their own lives and live from the Lord,from whom true marriage comes. A golden prin-ciple, truly! Soft from love, and colored with thelight of love; pure and bright, and less liable tocorruption than principles of any other kind.

The streets of the Holy City, New Jerusalem,are such golden ways of useful life from theLord—ways of which we know little as yet, butwhich nevertheless are before us, waiting for usto walk in them. “If a man love Me, he will keepMy words; and My Father will love him, and wewill come unto him, and make our abode withhim,” is the golden substance of these heavenlyways.

A practical knowledge of the goodness of theLord in our uses done from Him is golden coin,stamped with the image of our King; andacknowledgments of His goodness and of ourlove and duty to Him are ornaments of gold,which we delight to use in His honor.

SILVER

The angels of the Silver Age said of themselves:We were from a people in Asia, and the study ofour age was the study of truths, by which we hadintelligence; this study was the study of our soulsand minds; but the study of our bodily senseswas the representations of truths in forms; and aknowledge of correspondences conjoined thesensuals of our bodies with the perceptions ofour minds, and gained for us intelligence.

In relation to their marriages, they said:There is a correspondence between spiritual mar-riage, which is of truth with good, and naturalmarriage, which is of a man with one wife; and,as we have studied correspondences, we haveseen that the Church, with its truths and goods,can by no means be given but with those wholive in love truly conjugial with one wife; for themarriage of good and truth is the Church withman; wherefore all here say, that the husband istruth and his wife is good, and that good cannotlove any truth but its own, neither can truth inreturn love any good but its own; if any otherwere loved, internal marriage, which makes the


Church, would perish, and there would be onlyexternal marriage, to which idolatry, and not theChurch corresponds; therefore marriage with onewife we call sacredness; whereas, if it shouldtake place with more than one among us, weshould call it sacrilege. (Conjugial Love #76)

And then they showed various images anddevices, representative of spiritual qualities; andthere was presented to them a rainbow which byits flowing colors exhibited the interchange oflove and wisdom between husband and wife, allof which things they delighted in, and explainedmost intelligently.

The principles of spiritual life which arelearned through the correspondences of the goodthings in nature, and especially of the functionsin the human body, principles which teach inperfection the duties of charity or neighborlylove, are represented by silver. Both harder thangold and whiter, it corresponds to the laws ofintelligent spiritual life, a life of spiritual uses tothe neighbor. Coins of silver and ornaments arethe practical knowledge and acknowledgment ofthe goodness of such principles, which they havewho, by living them, make them their own.

COPPER

The angels from the next age, which was namedfrom copper, related:

We possess, preserved among us, precepts con-cerning marriages, from the primeval or mostancient people, who were in love trulyconjugial. . . while in the world, and are now in amost blessed state in their own heaven, which isin the east. We are their posterity, and they, asfathers, have given us, as their sons, canons oflife, among which is this concerning marriages:“Sons, if you wish to love God and your neigh-bor, and if you wish to grow wise and be happyto eternity, we counsel you to live married to onewife; if you recede from this precept, every heav-enly love will fly from you, and therewith inter-nal wisdom, and you will be exterminated.” Thisprecept of our fathers we have obeyed as sons,and have perceived its truth, which is, that so faras anyone loves his consort alone, he becomesheavenly and internal; and that so far as anyonedoes not love his consort alone, he becomes natu-ral and external; and this man loves nothing buthimself and the images of his own mind, and is


mad and foolish. From these things it is that weall, in this heaven, live married to one wife.(Conjugial Love #77)

And afterward they exhibited the collections ofprecepts from the most ancient people, by whichthey were guided in all their duties.

It will be observed that these precepts weregiven by the people of the Golden Age, amongwhom they were golden precepts. Received bythose who live them not intelligently, or from theperception of love, but obediently, from a desirefor the promised reward, they become copper.Much of the light is left out; a keen scent detectsin them the odor of selfishness, unperceived bytheir possessors, who are not in interior percep-tion; and because of the lack of interior humilityand purity in which the Lord can dwell immedi-ately, they are sadly liable to corrosion by theallurements of what seems pleasant and good.

(See the Note on the Copper and Iron Ages atthe end of the volume.)

IRON

Again we descend to principles of a still lowerkind, and are instructed by those who are in themconcerning their marriages:

We do not live with one wife, but some with twoand three, and some with more, because variety,obedience, and honor, as of majesty, delight us;and these we have from our wives, if they aremany; with one wife there would be no pleasurefrom variety, but disgust from sameness; nor flat-tering courteousness from obedience, but disqui-etude from equality; nor satisfaction fromdominion and honor thence, but vexation fromdisputes concerning superiority. And what is awoman? Is she not born subject to the will of theman? To serve and not to rule? Wherefore hereevery husband in his own house has, as it were,royal majesty; and because this is of our love, itis also the blessedness of our life.

After some reproofs by Swedenborg for the self-ishness of their love:

There appeared through the gate, as it were,lightning; and I asked, “What is this?”


He said, “Such lightning is to us a sign thatthere will come the Ancient one from the East,who teaches us concerning God, that He is one,alone; Omnipotent, Who is the first and the last;He also admonishes us not to worship idols, butonly to look at them as images representative ofthe virtues proceeding from the one God, whichtogether form His worship. This Ancient one isour angel, whom we revere, and to whom wehearken; he comes to us, and raises us up, whenwe are falling into obscure worship of God, fromfantasy respecting images.” (Conjugial Love#78)

As the knowledge of the Lord’s love becamewith the men of the Copper Age mere preceptsof natural good, so the intelligent love of spiri-tual truth and of representative forms in the Sil-ver Age becomes with these last mere worshipof idols, and obedience to iron laws which forbidevil, and prescribe penalties for disobedience.The kindly softness, the brightness, and theresistance to corruption of the Silver Age aregone. We have left only the truth that is essentialto existence, necessarily hard, inflexible, andperemptory, because beyond that is destruction.Low as it is, compared with silver and gold, it istruth which the Christian world has mixed withthe clay of artificial and arbitrary teachings ofgoodness and truth. But it is again asserting

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itself, breaking off the weak clay, and laying afoundation, at least genuine and natural, for bet-ter principles. It is moral, civil, and natural law,by which the community is protected frominjury; it is law that compels everyone to be fairin his dealings, truthful, honest, faithful, andorderly, if from no better motive, from fear ofevil consequences to himself. The penal laws ofsociety are applications of such principles. Andwhenever, from change of circumstances orstates, a form of law becomes unsuitable, theprinciple of the law can be recast in anotherform.

CARBON

An important element in the air and the earth iscarbonic acid, the carbon of which, separatedfrom the oxygen by plant life, constitutes themain part of the substance of wood, and hence,also, of coal. It is the solid element in starch,sugar, and fat, and furnishes the fat-making andheat-giving food for the body. Carbon is found,also, in the form of plumbago, or black lead, andin that of diamonds. Carbon does not containheat in itself, and is not in itself a source of heat;but during the process of separating the carbonfrom the carbonic acid absorbed in the sap of theplant, so that it may be deposited in fruit or grainor woody fiber, a portion of the sun’s heat isabsorbed and expended, equal to the heat againevolved by the reuniting of oxygen with the car-bon, in combustion either by fire or by the slowprocesses of animal life or of decay.

No work or effort either of thought or of pro-duction is possible but under the stimulus ofsome affection, and all affection comes eitherdirectly or indirectly from the Lord, Who is the

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only Source of affection. And in the same way,no growth or production is possible in plants, butunder the stimulus of heat, which comes eitherdirectly or indirectly from the sun.

The deposit of carbon is the chief result ofthis stimulus in plants, and seems to correspondto the experience or the fact of the reception andenjoyment of affection from the Lord during thehuman processes of thinking and working whichcorrespond to the growth and fruitfulness ofplants.

The practical religious life of mankind, inages when the Lord is known and loved, is com-posed mostly of such experience; and this is laidup as habits and traditions of trust in God, andbelief in life from God, which sustain somedegree of spiritual life and activity in times andages when there is no direct knowledge of Godand reception from Him. They are like depositsof wood from the summer to be used in the win-ter, and deposits of coal in the youthful days ofthe world, to be drawn upon during the slow pro-cess of coming into a rational understanding ofthe Lord and full relations of manly love to Him.

The religious life of today is sustained bysuch habits and traditions from the early Chris-tian Church, and from still earlier Churches,though there is almost no sense of spiritual


warmth and enlightenment directly from theLord; and a truly rational knowledge of the Lordis only in its first beginning. And this is parallelto the dependence of the world upon the depositsof coal from the days of the youth of the world,which now furnishes the working power for theirmachinery (which is a sort of material rational-ity), while they are learning to obtain a full sup-ply of energy directly from the sun.

Plumbago, which is a non-combustible min-eral deposit of the same material, seems to repre-sent a historical knowledge of natural benefitsfrom the Lord, such as appears in the story of theJews. It is interesting that it should be combinedwith clay (which stands for the current knowl-edge of natural fact) to make lead pencils, forrecord of current impressions; and also that it isused for the blacking of stoves, and other ironimplements used for the control of fire—as if toadd to the natural laws by which such control isexercised, a recognition of the source of theactivity that is controlled, and of the power thatcontrols it.

The diamond, the hardest and most brilliantof precious stones, stands for the spiritual factthat all love, or life, is from the Lord. No othergem so perfectly reflects the light of the sun; andno other truth so absolutely ascribes all to theLord, retaining so little to self.

SULPHUR

Sulphur occurs as a common mineral in volcaniccountries, also in combination with other miner-als as sulphides and sulphates everywhere. It isan essential element of albumen, and. of albu-minous, or muscle-making articles of food; alsoof all tissues of the body. Though a mineral, it isextremely combustible, burning with a blueflame which gives little light but great heat. Theproducts of the combustion are sulphurous andsulphuric acids, both intensely corrosivedestroyers of plant and animal tissues.

All minerals correspond to fact or law; andthis apparently mineral substance, yet so com-bustible and volatile, seems to have its corre-spondence with what we may be permitted tocall the fact of man’s voluntary proprium; thatis, the fact that man’s life is his own, and that hehimself determines the activities of his life. Thisseems like a fact, and all the fire of self-love isbound up in it, and burns hotly and angrily whenthe real truth of the apparent fact is exposed. Thereal truth is that man has no life of his own, but


lives from the Lord, and that the Lord gives toman the consciousness of living of himself, thathe may as of himself do the good things whichthe Lord commands, and enjoy the Lord’s loveof doing them. Yet the apparent fact is essentialto man’s freedom, and to his existence as man;just as essential as sulphur is to all the tissues ofhis body. But when the apparent fact is con-firmed as the real truth, and man determines notto live as of himself in doing the Lord’s will, butto live absolutely of himself according to whatseems good to him, then this apparent factbecomes the basis of the love of self, and all theevil lusts of self-love come forth from it. Theeffect of thought from self-love in destroying thehappiness of others, as described in Heaven andHell #399, is much like that of the fumes of sul-phur in suffocating all living beings and corrod-ing their tissues. They also quickly tarnish andcorrode all metals but the noblest. On thisaccount fire and brimstone are used in the Wordto typify the heat and lustfulness of the wickedin hell; and “the lusts of evil” is the meaninggiven by Swedenborg. Yet in its necessary pres-ence in the composition of the body, and itsoccurrence in the earth in stony form, we see acorrespondence with the necessary apparent factthat man lives of himself; from the confirmationof which the lusts of evil spring forth.

PHOSPHOROUS

A substance very similar to sulphur in somerespects is phosphorus. It too is a mineral, but sovery inflammable that it never occurs in anuncombined mineral form. It burns with anintense white flame. It is necessary and abundantin animal tissues, especially those of the brainand nerves, and of the bones. Our supply ofphosphorus as a mineral is obtained from bones.

The similarity of this substance to sulphur,together with its necessary presence in the brain,and the bright light with which it burns, suggestsits correspondence with what we may call thefact of the intellectual proprium of man; that is,the apparent truth that we think and reason anddiscern of ourselves. Perhaps this is not thoughtof as a fact because it never is called in question.

That we think of ourselves is no more ques-tioned, or thought of, than that we are. “I think;therefore I am,” is the basis of modern philoso-phy. And yet the truth is that the Lord gives boththe faculty and the light by which we think anddiscern; and the appearance, also, that the fac-


ulty is our own, in order that we may as of our-selves think the truth which He loves to think,and which is the guide to all goodness. We can-not think at all without this appearance; it is nec-essary to any mental activity; yet if we confirm itas the truth, we surrender ourselves to the guid-ance of every will-o’-the-wisp which our brainsmay send forth of themselves.

The bones, also, are depositories of phospho-rus, because bones are correspondences of thetruths formulated and fixed in the memory andthe life, which give form and support to allthought and action; and the formulating and fix-ing of such truths is done as of ourselves, by ourown intellectual choice and act.

THE SUNBEAM

When a sunbeam passes through a prism of glassor salt or water or other transparent material, it isseparated into elements of different qualities.Some of these elements we see in the rainbowcolors of the spectrum; others are invisible, butcan be detected by suitable instruments. Thesunbeam is separated in this way by being turnedout of its direct course, some of its elementsbeing more easily bent than others. Of the pen-cils of light which form the rainbow colors, thered is bent least and the violet most; the orange,yellow, green, and blue arranging themselves inorder between the extremes according to theirdegrees of flexibility. But there is a pencil ofinvisible rays, which the thermometer shows tobe rays of heat, which is turned from its coursestill less than the red, and makes an invisibleextension of the spectrum, as of a color too redto be seen; and there is another portion of raysthat is bent more than the violet and extends thespectrum invisibly at the other end—which raysaffect the photographic plate and produce other


chemical changes, on account of which they areoften called “chemical rays.” The heat rays arevery sensible beyond the red, but extend alsoperceptibly through the whole or nearly thewhole visible spectrum. The chemical rays arenot so well known, but it is enough for ourpresent purpose to know that those which makethe photograph are most intense in the pale vio-let region; that beyond these they are active, and,though ordinarily invisible, can be made visibleby bodies that are phosphorescent or fluorescent;and that chemical effects are produced in othersubstances by the rays of other parts of the spec-trum, those changes that are essential to vegeta-ble growth taking place most rapidly in theyellow light.

All these effects of heat, light, and chemicalpower are produced by active motions of variouskinds in the ether; the motions that produce anygiven effect being necessarily uniform and con-stant, though exceedingly complex and rapid. Souniform are the movements that produce light,that their size and rapidity can be exactly deter-mined and are always the same in the samecolor. In the red color of the spectrum, it is saidthat 39,000 motions succeed one another in asingle inch, and their motion is propagated withsuch incredible quickness that more than 470

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millions of millions of them affect the eye in asingle second. Of the violet motions 57,500 arerequired to fill an inch, and 699 millions of mil-lions impinge upon the eye in a second. The heatmotions affect larger masses of the ether, rollingit, as it were, in larger waves, fewer of which arecontained in a given space, or will strike thebody in a given time. “The ethers and airs madeactive in masses produce heat, but modified inparticulars they produce light.” The same is saidof the spiritual atmospheres, as to their effects inthe spiritual world: “Made active in generalsthey give heat, and modified in particulars theygive light” (Apocalypse Explained #726). But atthe other end of the spectrum, the motions of thechemical rays are still more minute and morerapid than those of violet light.

And what does the sunbeam accomplish withthis intense and varied vitality? Imagine theearth deprived of the rays of the sun. If we canthink of it as existing at all, we have a deadearth; the waters are hard and still as rock; the airitself is frozen to a case of stone; vegetable andanimal life are gone; even mineral life is sus-pended; darkness, cold, and death prevail every-where. Admit the sunbeams again, and the windsmove, the waters flow and dance, the crystalsbusily pile their tiny masses, and verdure begins


to clothe the earth, and to give nourishment toanimals.

In a physical sense, the sunbeam gives life tothe world; and, in the same physical sense, it isthe creator of the world; that is, it is the naturalmeans by which the Lord animates and formsthe world.

It is heat which is the life of the world, and itis light with its peculiar invisible extension ofchemical power, which enables it to take form(Apocalypse Explained #1206). Consider thepart which light performs in the growth ofplants.

Heat and moisture are sufficient to put inmotion the substance of a seed or bulb; but cutoff light from it entirely, and if there is not meredecay, and no growing form at all, the growth isat best only a feeble development of the materi-als for growth already laid up in the seed; thereis no new material formed. Bring the seed to thelight, and its pale, sickly expansion stops; itassimilates new food from the air and the earth;it spreads forth and multiplies new leaves tingedwith healthy green and full of veins and poresand little vessels for useful work. It producesflowers of bright, glad colors, expressive ofdelight in the good work it can now accomplish;

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and finally perfects its seed or fruit which itoffers for the food of men and beasts.

How the light builds up those marvelousforms we do not fully know. But it seems that theactivity of its own particulars it communicates tothe substances of the plant and to the materialswhich serve for its food, and the plant life availsitself of so much of that motion as is needful toeffect the chemical and other modifications thatbelong to its growth. So that the forms of thegrowth of the plant are a part of the forms ofmotion of the light, made visible and interpretedto us.

The heat-giving power which the plant haswhen burnt or consumed as food is also the heatof the sunshine temporarily fixed and stored.And apparently all its physical properties andpowers are those of the sunshine, interpreted tous according to the nature of the plant.

Swedenborg says:The sun of heaven is the Lord, the light there isDivine Truth, and the heat there is Divine Good,which proceed from the Lord as a sun. It is fromthat origin that all things proceed which exist andappear in heaven. (Heaven and Hell #117)

And further:How immense, and of what nature, the DivineLove is, may be inferred from a comparison withthe sun of this world. It is most ardent; and, if


you will believe it, it is much more ardent thanthis. (Heaven and Hell #120)

A glorious image, indeed, is the sun, even as wesee it, with our present limited knowledge, itsintense heat permeating the solar system, givinglife and activity to every particle in it, whichmoves as if of its own energy, yet altogetherfrom the sun; its light building everywhere beau-tiful natural forms, which seem to grow of them-selves, yet can do nothing but with the formingactivity of the light. A glorious image it is, andmore glorious for every gain of knowledge aboutit, of that heavenly Sunbeam by which is every-thing heavenly made that is made, whose heat isthe Divine Love, which gives every human mindthe faculty of living and loving as of itself, yetalways and only from the Lord, and whose lightis the wisdom which gives form to every humanthought and plan and purpose, in beauty andexcellence according to the degree of wisdomwhich the mind receives, the man all the whileseeming to think and plan and speak altogetherfrom himself.

That love and wisdom are the heat and lightof the mind is evident to the senses in the spiri-tual world; for “all celestial and spiritual heat, orlove and charity, are perceived in an externalform in heaven as something flamy from the sun,

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and all celestial and spiritual light. . . appears inan external form in heaven as light from thesun. . . . All good is from the heat which flowsfrom the Lord as a sun, and all truth is from thelight thence; and, further, all affections whichare of love or good, are variations of that celes-tial and spiritual heat which is from the Lord,and thence are changes of state; and all thoughtswhich are of faith or truth, are variegations ofthat celestial and spiritual light which is from theLord, and thence is intelligence. In this heat andlight are all the angels who are in heaven, andtheir affections and thoughts are from no othersource, and are nothing else” (Arcana Coelestia#3862).

COLORS

The light which proceeds from the Lord pure,homogeneous, and apparently simple in qualityis received variously by the angels; no two are inexactly the same degree and quality of wisdomand, therefore, no two are in light of preciselythe same degree and color. From the very lightabout an angel another angel perceives instantlythe quality of the wisdom and intelligence withinhim. The angels, also, can discourse together,expressing their thoughts with the utmost full-ness and distinctness, merely by variations oflight and color; the meaning of which is instantlyperceived.

If we were in the spiritual world, and were toreceive flowers of beautiful colors—crimson,scarlet, white, yellow, and blue, with variationsand mixtures of them—from the affection thatflowed in as we looked at them we should knowinstantly the correspondence and origin of thecolors. The same affection flows in as we look atthem here, and produces the pleasant glow ofheart which makes us love the colors; but we are

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too obtuse to perceive the quality of the affec-tions. Still, if we attend to the correspondence asSwedenborg teaches it to us, we shall find manythings from reason and from our own percep-tions to confirm it.

Swedenborg says that there are two generalcolors, red and white, and that “the other colors,as green, yellow, blue, and many more are com-posed of them,” modified by black (ApocalypseRevealed #915). This is evidently true of manycolors; but we are in the habit of thinking of yel-low and blue as pure, simple colors. Yellow is,however, white warmed by a red which is insep-arable from it. Why it is inseparable we shall seepresently. A decided blue is made by the mixtureof white and black; or, better, by a thin layer ofwhite over a black ground, as in black onyx.This seems to be the cause of the blueness ofwood smoke. Seen against the sky, it is of a dirtywhite color; but against a background of darkgreen and shadow, it is blue. Not very beautifulblues are made in this way by our pigments; yetthere seems to be no other color needed to pro-duce them, only a more perfect blending ofthese.

Crimson, scarlet, and yellow are warm colors;white and blue are cool colors.


We call red “warm,” from a perception that itis from fire, and that it is expressive of someglowing affection. And we call blue “cool” fromits association with water and the sky, and from aperception of quiet purity and absence of passionin it. And this is as far as we usually go in ourdiscrimination of colors. Swedenborg says thatthe warmest red, the pure crimson of the finestrubies, is the color of that deepest human love—love to the Lord. This is the deepest and warmestlove because it is nearest to Him Who is the Sunof the Heavens, and the Source of all heavenlyheat and love; and when such love is presentedto the sight in heaven it is through the ruby color.It is this color that Swedenborg means by purple,which he always says represents “celestial love,”or love to the Lord (Arcana Coelestia #9467;True Christian Religion #216).

They who love the Lord, love also what isfrom Him in one another. Therefore from love tothe Lord proceeds mutual love (Arcana Coeles-tia #9468), less deep and warm, perhaps, butmore evident to the senses; and when this love isrepresented by light, it appears of a scarlet hue; acolor less deeply red but brighter than the ruby(Apocalypse Revealed #725). When this samelove desires to put itself forth in good works forthe neighbor from the Lord, it gathers to itself

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still more of light and presents itself in the colorof the brightest part of the spectrum, golden yel-low. It is because this is the color of uses donefrom love to the Lord that fields of ripeninggrain, especially wheat, which represents dutiesdone from the Lord, are yellow; oranges, also,which represent the wisdom of conjugial love;and gold of which the streets of the Holy City,that is the ways of life for those who know andlove the Lord, are made; and the oil of olives,which are the fruits of those who love to per-ceive the merciful goodness of the Lord. Andnow we see why the red cannot be separatedfrom the white in yellow. It is because it is thecolor of works done, in which love and wisdomare inseparably united. Therefore also, whenangels are in discourse concerning conjugiallove, a golden light plays about them (ConjugialLove #75), which they say is from the heat oftheir sun united with its light; and some in theworld of spirits, when they are in meditationconcerning conjugial love, see golden rain fall-ing from heaven (Conjugial Love #155, 208).

White light is light with the warmth left out.It corresponds to wisdom in states in which thelove within it is not felt. It is the light of themoon, or of states of faith in which the Lord’slove is not perceived. It is the light reflected


from silver, from the diamond, from clouds, andfrom snow, which represent respectively variousforms of pure truth (True Christian Religion#216). It is also the general color of light, notdiscriminated into colors; and is the light ofthose who are in general truths (ApocalypseRevealed #566).

The blue of the sky is produced by the blend-ing of the white light reflected by the atmo-sphere with the black which would be the colorof the sky were there no air. It is said that the airitself is slightly blue. If this be so, no doubt itadds to the beauty of the color of the sky, whichwould, however, be blue if the air were entirelywhite. Blackness represents the want of spirituallight, that is a state of utter spiritual ignorance,such as is the state of every man before regener-ation begins, and such as every spiritual manknows and confesses his own state to be withoutillumination from the Lord. But when that con-fession of darkness is illumined by the light ofwisdom from the Lord, it presents itself to viewin the heavens as a sky blue color; which colortherefore represents a state of spiritual enlighten-ment, and of affection for pure truth.

This beautiful blue appears in nature chieflyin the sky, and in large bodies of water whichreflect the blue of the sky. Both the air and the

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water correspond to purifying truth whichteaches what is right and wrong, good and evil;the water representing such truth concerningworks, and the air concerning thoughts and feel-ings.

When this truth is applied to our relation tothe Lord, with the effort to do justice to the Lordfrom the fire of love to Him, there appearsanother beautiful color which Swedenborg calls“hyacinthine blue,” that is, blue permeated withruby red, and which he explains as the color oftruth from love to the Lord (Arcana Coelestia#9466; True Christian Religion #220).

The many purples that are composed ofshades of blue and red combined are to be under-stood in the same way, as the colors of intelligentlove of truth from various kinds of warm affec-tion, according to the quality of the red.

Green is composed of blue combined withyellow. It is the general color of foliage, prevail-ing everywhere in nature, all over the surface ofthe earth. Now, blue is the color of the love oftruth, and yellow is the color of good works,which are spiritual grains and fruits. Green,therefore, represents the love of truth for thesake of uses. And what are green leaves? Theleaves are the part of a plant that receives thewater drawn up by the roots, with the nourish-


ment it contains, and exposes it to the air andsunlight, throwing out what is superfluous, andabsorbing from both air and sunshine elementswhich it combines with the sap to make the sub-stance of wood and fruit, which it returns to thetree. The leaves correspond evidently to the fac-ulty of perceiving truth for the sake of use, andof course are green in color.

Now, then, let us return to the spectrum,remembering that the spectrum shows the ele-ments of the sunbeam in the order in which theyare turned from their direct course by all trans-parent substances of suitable form. And first wehave invisible rays of heat, least of all bent fromthe direct line in which the sun sends them; animage and outbirth of the Lord’s love affectinginsensibly, yet being the life of, the inmost partof the human spirit. We may not be wrong inthinking that we have here a correspondence ofthe reception of the Lord in those unconsciousinmosts of human minds, which taken togethercompose what Swedenborg calls “the heaven ofhuman internals” (Arcana Coelestia #1999). Thecrimson red comes first to view; the color of firstconsciousness of the Lord’s love, and of love forHim in turn. The red, brightening through vari-ous shades, gives place to yellow; as love to the

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Lord, gathering its appropriate wisdom, leads touses from the Lord.

A little more deflected we see the green; anobscurer perception of truth, yet still for the sakeof doing good. Then the clear, cool blue of affec-tion for spiritual truth, deepening according tothe diminishing intelligence of the recipientsthrough darker blues. And, closing the visiblespectrum, we have a deep violet, in the blush ofwhich there is an assurance that truth from theLord both begins and ends in love. And, finally,we have the so-called chemical rays, extendingbeyond the rays of light and of heat, with powerto affect the order and arrangement of particlescorresponding to the power of the Divine truth tokeep in order and to arrange for uses beings thathave no consciousness of receiving life from theLord.

As, therefore, the sunbeam is a representativeand ultimate form of the Divine love and wis-dom, continually forming and vivifying the soulsof men with their own goodness and truth, so therainbow, which is the natural form of the spec-trum, is a representative and ultimate form of thevaried reception of that love and wisdom bymen. It is called “a token of the covenantbetween God and men”; for it is a natural repre-sentative of the communication of heavenly


goodness and truth by the Lord and the receptionof them by men; and this communication andreception are the two parts of the covenant byvirtue of which men are saved and enjoy eternallife (Apocalypse Explained #595).

In the heavens rainbows appear, not alwayswith a regular series of colors as in ours, some-times of one color only, and the color corre-sponding with the affection of the angels present(Arcana Coelestia #1042). In the highest heaventhere appear rainbows of a beautiful ruby color,because the angels there are in love to the Lord,and in full perception of His love; in the middleheaven of brilliant blue, because the angels of itare in the delight of receiving wisdom from theLord; and in the lowest heaven of emerald greenwith angels who are in the love of good but inobscure perception of truth, or of white, withthose who are in general or common spiritualtruth (Apocalypse Revealed #232, 566; Apoca-lypse Explained #269).

In the natural world our particular states arenot represented around us. We are not here toenjoy the full development of any state of good-ness or truth, but to choose, among all possiblestates of good or evil, that which we will makeour own. The natural objects of this world are,therefore, representatives of all spiritual states

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presented in a general form; and we chooseamong them those that we like. If our tastes arenatural and simple—not artificial or hypocriti-cal—we are delighted with the things that agreewith our spiritual states; they open the sensesand the natural mind to the inflow of the affec-tions which delight our souls; and these flowdown then into the sense as into open vessels,with gentle thrills of pleasure. This is the causeof our interior delight in the bright colors offlowers, in the beauty of the rainbow, in the bluesky and brilliant clouds, and especially of ourrestful, expansive satisfaction in the warm, cre-ative light of the returning spring. An innocent,peaceful delight flows into all these things fromheaven; and the affections from which it comesare the heavenly things to which the natural cor-respond.

CREATION THROUGH THE SUN

Another series of facts is disclosed to us by thesolar spectrum. When a solid or a liquid is whitehot, it gives a spectrum which shows all thebands of color continuously. But a shining hotvapor, as of a burning candle, or any burningmetal, gives only bars of color; and every sub-stance has its own bars or series of bars. Whenthe light from the incandescent solid passesthrough the shining vapor, instead of increasingthe intensity of the parts of the spectrum answer-ing to its own bars, the vapor puts them out; sothat the spectrum is interrupted by dark bars.Now the spectrum of the sun, when examinedwith appropriate glasses, shows a multitude ofsuch dark bars, many of which answer to thebars of well-known metals and gases whichenter into the composition of the earth and itsatmospheres. And this seems to prove that incan-descent vapors of those substances exist betweenthe more solid part of the sun and us—probablyin the immediate atmosphere of the sun. Thetelescope reveals to us the fact that the sun is

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surrounded with masses of such vapor shootingup from its surface like immense flames, andsometimes with a velocity of many thousandmiles in a minute. The dark spots often seenupon the sun are openings in the flamy atmo-sphere, disclosing the relatively darker, but stillbright, mass beneath. The spots are most exten-sive when the activity of the flames is greatest,and indeed they seem to be caused by that activ-ity. And it is remarkable that in the moments ofmost intense activity, the magnetic needles allover our earth are agitated; and where it is night,auroral flashes are displayed. And one thingmore should be added, which is that a fine dust,composed of some at least of such elements asare detected in the flamy masses about the sun, isconstantly falling upon the earth. It is known bythe name of the “cosmic dust,” and probablyadds some hundreds of tons to the mass of theearth every year.

We are taught in the revelations given to theNew Church that there is a creative influenceproceeding from the Lord, which appears as thesun in heaven; and that from that sun proceedatmospheres which furnish the means of all cre-ations in the spiritual world, which all are ani-mated by the love and the wisdom of the Lord.We are taught that these atmospheres descend


and become grosser by discrete degrees, orsteps, until the last plane of spiritual life isreached; and that the next step is from the lastspiritual to the first and purest natural, which isnot in itself living from the love of the Lord, butis the perfect instrument of that love in creatingand actuating the natural world. That purest nat-ural substance is the fire of the natural sun orsuns, which is the first natural embodiment ofthe Divine desire to create earths from whichmen may rise with the capacity to know and loveGod. This fire, intensely active, sends forth fromitself the elements of which worlds are made;first the purer atmospheres—the aura which isthe means of binding all things to itself and totheir uses, by the forces which we call gravityand cohesion; and the ether which is the meansof animating and modifying all the otherwiseinert materials, by the forces of heat, light, andprobably electricity and magnetism. Then followthe elements of the air, and those other elements,at first in the form of fiery vapors, from whichcome earths and metals.

As to these things the sun is a correspondenceand an expression of the Lord’s creative love.His love is a love of giving Himself to men whocan receive and be blessed by it. He puts Himselfforth in the spiritual sun; and in the natural sun

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He puts forth all the elements of Himself in theirultimate forms, all of which forms are fromHimself as Man, corresponding to the elementsof man, and capable of being built into man. Thecorrespondence of some of the elements of theearth with man we have already seen; the corre-spondence of them all could be traced, no doubt,by patient study. They all come from the sun,and many of them can be distinctly discovered inthe atmosphere of the sun, because the sun is themeans by which God creates from Himselfbeings who can receive His own life; and God isa Divine Man.

THE ATMOSPHERES

There are atmospheres proceeding from the sunof heaven, corresponding to the planes of theheavens. In the grossest of them, which seemsalmost watery to the angels above, dwell theangels of the lowest heaven; in a distinctly ordiscretely purer atmosphere dwell the angels ofthe higher heaven; and in an exquisitely pure airdwell the angels of the highest heaven. Thereare, no doubt, degrees within these degrees, anddegrees above them in which the unconsciousinternals of man reside; but this is the usualstatement, and is sufficiently full for our pur-pose.

To these general divisions of the spiritualatmospheres, the three natural atmospheres—theaura, the ether, and the air—correspond; the aurato the sphere of love from the Lord to the Lordand the neighbor, which fills the inmost heaven,and through that pervades all the heavens, andbinds them to the Lord and to one another; tothis also the brain and nervous system in thehuman body correspond. The ether has relation

THE ATMOSPHERES 283

to the sphere of intelligent love which pervadesthe middle heaven, and through it gives guidanceand impulses of charity to the lower heavens;corresponding to the uses of the heart and thelungs to the limbs and muscular and bony sys-tems in the body. And the air has relation to thesphere of effects in the lowest heaven, throughwhich the actual operations of development,increase, purification, and protection are per-formed upon the spirits of men. And thereforethe forces of the wind are so often used to repre-sent the action of the spiritual world in the natu-ral. “God formed man of the dust of the groundand breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”The Lord breathed on His disciples, and said,“Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” “Come from thefour winds, O breath, and breathe into theseslain, that they may live” (Ezekiel 37:10). (SeeApocalypse Revealed #343.)

The elements of these atmospheres are not sosimple as might at first be supposed. We knowlittle of the composition of the ether and theaura, but more about that of the air. The principalelements of the air are nitrogen and oxygen; butother constant elements are hydrogen, and vari-ous compounds of these three with one anothersuch as watery vapor and ammonia; and alsovery many compounds with carbon, the chief of


which is carbonic acid gas, but among whichalso would be included a large part of the vaporsof essential oils, which make the perfumes offlowers, also most of the exhalations of plantsand animals; compounds of hydrogen and ofoxygen with sulphur also, and possibly withmany other substances. Everything exhales fromitself a sphere of its own substance, which is likean odor about it. Many metals, even, can be rec-ognized by the odor of their spheres. And yetchemistry cannot detect the presence of the sub-stance in the air; and possibly the particlesexhaled do not belong to the air, but to the pureratmosphere which we have called ether. There isan immense amount of exhalations contained inthe atmospheres, some of them healthful andsome noxious; also a multitude of living germs,animal or vegetable, which produce fermentsand molds.

OXYGEN

The oxygen and the nitrogen may be consideredas the chief elements of the air, and other thingsas dependent upon circumstances. Oxygen, orthe acid maker, has its name from its capacity foruniting with other substances and making acidsof them. Its faculty seems to be that of makingactive what otherwise is inert, or of developingthe proper quality and capacity of other sub-stances. Of hydrogen it makes water; of nitrogenvarious oxides and potent acids; of sulphur someof the most powerful acids; of carbon, phospho-rus, arsenic, iron, and many other metals, activeacids, each with its own properties. With most ofthese an effect of union with oxygen is to pro-duce the heat and light which we associate withcombustion.

If this is a just view of the properties of oxy-gen, its correspondence seems to be with anatmosphere of pure truth from the Lord, whichbrings out the real qualities of things, and showsthem just as they are.

NITROGEN

Nitrogen, on the contrary, by its inertness dilutesthe oxygen, and prevents it from too rapidly dis-solving organic combinations, and reducingeverything to its elementary condition. It seemsto have no love for combining with oxygen,being mixed with it in the air for an indefinitetime without union in any degree. By variousorganic processes it is combined with oxygen,hydrogen, carbon, and a little sulphur, of whichelements all tissues and muscles in animal bod-ies are composed; also the grains and other nitro-genized kinds of food, by which such tissues arenourished. From the decomposition of suchcompounds, other compounds of nitrogen exist,as ammonia, nitrous and nitric acids, saltpeter,which is nitric acid and potash, and the numer-ous explosives which are made of nitric acidwith carbon compounds. The power of theseseems to arise from the quantity of oxygenlightly held by the nitrogen, and set free by heator a blow to unite with other substances.

NITROGEN 287

The correspondence of nitrogen seems to bewith the atmosphere of protection and accom-modation from the Lord; or, if a more positiveform of statement is preferred, to the truth thatall men are at liberty to accommodate the abso-lute truth to themselves; by means of which theycan think apparent truth, or a little truth, as theyare able to bear it, and their thoughts are not toorapidly disintegrated before they have done theiruse. Everyone’s present theories, plans, views,states of feeling, will be disintegrated in time,reduced to their elements of fact, and give placeto others; as the tissues of every plant and animalwill be reduced to their simple elements by oxi-dation, and give place to others. And this wouldbe done suddenly and at once, if everyone wascompelled to think the pure truth, unaccommo-dated; just as would happen with the correspond-ing natural phenomena in an atmosphere of pureoxygen. The liberty of accommodating truth tohimself everyone must take to himself, and fromit everyone must act, or he would not be himselfand have any power at all to act. And therefore itis that nitrogen is an essential element of muscu-lar and other tissues which make man and everyanimal to be himself, with power to act of him-self.


But the truth that is thus held in restraint byman’s liberty of accommodating it to himselfdoes not lose its force, even though restrained bycustom long after the living power that bound ithas disappeared from the scene; and upon occa-sions of violent feeling, or other emergency, itmay assert itself with tremendous force. Ourchief explosives, gunpowder, gun cotton, dyna-mite, and others, all owe their power to the oxy-gen held in restraint by nitrogen.

THE AIR IN GENERAL

These principal and constant elements of the air,together with other elements proceeding directlyfrom the sun, correspond to and are the ultimatesof the general sphere proceeding from the Lordthrough the heavens for the uses of creation andpreservation. The exhalations and odors that pro-ceed from all created things and mingle withthese general elements correspond to the spheresof thought and affection that proceed fromangels and spirits and men upon the earth; ofwhich Swedenborg has very much to tell us. Thebreathing of pure air, which purifies and stimu-lates the blood, corresponds with the thinking ofpure truth, adapted to our state, and the purifica-tion of our affections by it. The breathing ofsweet and nourishing odors and exhalations cor-responds to the perception and enjoyment ofspheres of spiritual affection and thought fromothers. And the breathing of foul odors corre-sponds to the reception of a sphere of foul andcontaminating thought and feeling. We recog-


nize this in familiar speech when we speak ofgood and bad moral atmospheres.1

1. On the correspondence of various odors and stenches,see True Christian Religion #569, 570; Divine Providence#40, 304, 340; Conjugial Love #461; Heaven and Hell#429, 488; Arcana Coelestia #7225; and many other plac-es.

NOTE ON THE COPPER AND IRON AGES (SEE PAGE 250)

The people of the Copper and the Iron ages,described in the Relations quoted, all livedbefore the Coming of the Lord; only the ironmixed with clay being assigned to the Christianperiod. But the terms are more relative thanabsolute, and are variously applied. Swedenborgoften disregards the Hebrew Church as separatefrom that of Israel, and names only the MostAncient, the Ancient, the Israelitish, and theChristian. And in this classification the Israelit-ish is copper relatively to the Ancient, and theChristian is iron, and later iron and clay, rela-tively to the Israelitish. But when the Hebrew isdistinguished from the Israelitish as a separatechurch, then relatively to the Silver Age it isplainly copper, and the Israelitish relatively tothe Hebrew is plainly iron.

Plants of the Bible - Paradise Primitive Baptist Church

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