E-text donated by the Kempton Project, submitted by William Rotella
Heaven and its Wonders and Hell
From Things Heard and Seen
by Emanuel Swedenborg.
Translated by John Ager.
1. The Lord, speaking in the presence of His disciples of the
consummation of the age, which is the final period of the church,{1}
says, near the end of what He foretells about its successive states
in respect to love and faith:{2}
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun
shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of
the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the
sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of
man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory. And He shall send forth His angels with a trumpet
and a great sound; and they shall gather together His
elect from the four winds, from the end to end of the
heavens (Matt. 24:29-31).
Those who understood these words according to the sense of the letter
have no other belief than that during that latest period, which is
called the final judgment, all these things are to come to pass just
as they are described in the literal sense, that is, that the sun and
moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky, that the
sign of the Lord will appear in the sky, and He Himself will be seen
in the clouds, attended by angels with trumpets; and furthermore, as
is foretold else where, that the whole visible universe will be
destroyed, and afterwards a new heaven with a new earth will come
into being. Such is the opinion of most men in the church at the
present day. But those who so believe are ignorant of the arcana that
lie hid in every particular of the Word. For in every particular of
the Word there is an internal sense which treats of things spiritual
and heavenly, not of things natural and worldly, such as are treated
of in the sense of the letter. And this is true not only of the
meaning of groups of words, it is true of each particular word.{3}
For the Word is written solely by correspondences,{4} to the end that
there may be an internal sense in every least particular of it. What
that sense is can be seen from all that has been said and shown about
it in the Arcana Coelestia; also from quotations gathered from that
work in the explanation of The White Horse spoken of in the
Apocalypse. It is according to that sense that what the Lord says in
the passage quoted above respecting His coming in the clouds of
heaven is to be understood. The "sun" there that is to be darkened
signifies the Lord in respect to love;{5} the "moon" the Lord in
respect to faith;{6} "stars" knowledges of good and truth, or of love
and faith;{7} "the sign of the Son of man in heaven" the
manifestation of Divine truth; "the tribes of the earth" that shall
mourn, all things relating to truth and good or to faith and love;{8}
"the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and glory"
His presence in the Word, and revelation,{9} "clouds" signifying the
sense of the letter of the Word,{10} and "glory" the internal sense
of the Word;{11} "the angels with a trumpet and great voice" signify
heaven as a source of Divine truth.{12} All this makes clear that
these words of the Lord mean that at the end of the church, when
there is no longer any love, and consequently no faith, the Lord will
open the internal meaning of the Word and reveal arcana of heaven.
The arcana revealed in the following pages relate to heaven and hell,
and also to the life of man after death. The man of the church at
this date knows scarcely anything about heaven and hell or about his
life after death, although all these matters are set forth and
described in the Word; and yet many of those born within the church
refuse to believe in them, saying in their hearts, "Who has come from
that world and told us?" Lest, therefore, such a spirit of denial,
which especially prevails with those who have much worldly wisdom,
should also infect and corrupt the simple in heart and the simple in
faith, it has been granted me to associate with angels and to talk
with them as man with man, also to see what is in the heavens and
what is in the hells, and this for thirteen years; so now from what I
have seen and heard it has been granted me to describe these, in the
hope that ignorance may thus be enlightened and unbelief dissipated.
Such immediate revelation is granted at this day because this is what
is meant by the Coming of the Lord.
[REFERENCES TO THE AUTHOR'S ARCANA COELESTIA.]
{Footnote 1} The consummation of the age is the final period of
the church (n. 4535, 10622).
{Footnote 2} The Lord's predictions in Matthew (24 and 25),
respecting the consummation of the age and His coming, and the
consequent successive vastation of the church and the final
judgment, are explained in the prefaces to chapters 26-40 of
Genesis (n. 3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3650-3655, 3751-3757,
3897-3901, 4056-4060, 4229-4231, 4332-4335, 4422-4424, 4635-
4638, 4661-4664, 4807-4810, 4954-4959, 5063-5071).
{Footnote 3} Both in the wholes and in the particulars of the
Word there is an internal or spiritual sense (n. 1143, 1984,
2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 4442, 9048, 9063, 9086).
{Footnote 4} The Word is written solely by correspondences, and
for this reason each thing and all things in it have a
spiritual meaning (n. 1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709,
1783, 2900, 9086).
{Footnote 5} In the Word the "sun" signifies the Lord in respect
to love, and in consequence love to the Lord (n. 1529, 1837,
2441, 2495, 4060, 4696, 7083, 10809).
{Footnote 6} In the Word the "moon" signifies the Lord in
respect to faith, and in consequence faith in the Lord (n.
1529, 1530, 2495, 4060, 4696, 7083).
{Footnote 7} In the Word "stars" signify knowledges of good and
truth (n. 2495, 2849,4697).
{Footnote 8} "Tribes" signify all truths and goods in the
complex, thus all things of faith and love (n. 3858, 3926,
4060, 6335).
{Footnote 9} The coming of the Lord signifies His presence in
the Word, and revelation (n 3900,4060).
{Footnote 10} In the Word clouds signify the Word in the letter
or the sense of its letter (n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752,
8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574).
{Footnote 11} In the Word "glory" signifies Divine truth as it
is in heaven and as it is in the internal sense of the Word (n.
4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429, 10574).
{Footnote 12} A "trumpet" or "horn" signifies Divine truth in
heaven, and revealed from heaven (n. 8158, 8823, 8915); and
"voice" has a like signification (n. 6771, 9926).
2. I. THE GOD OF HEAVEN IS THE LORD
First of all it must be known who the God of heaven is, since upon
that all the other things depend. Throughout all heaven no other than
the Lord alone is acknowledged as the God of heaven. There it is
said, as He Himself taught,
That He is one with the Father; that the Father is in Him,
and He in the Father; that he who sees Him sees the
Father; and that everything that is holy goes forth from
Him (John 10:30, 35; 14:9-11; 16:13-15).
I have often talked with angels on this subject, and they have
invariably declared that in heaven they are unable to divide the
Divine into three, because they know and perceive that the Divine is
One and this One is in the Lord. They also said that those of the
church who come from this world having an idea of three Divine beings
cannot be admitted into heaven, since their thought wanders from one
Divine being to another; and it is not allowable there to think three
and say one.{1} Because in heaven everyone speaks from his thought,
since speech there is the immediate product of the thought, or the
thought speaking. Consequently, those in this world who have divided
the Divine into three, and have adopted a different idea of each, and
have not made that idea one and centered it in the Lord, cannot be
received into heaven, because in heaven there is a sharing of all
thoughts, and therefore if any one came thinking three and saying
one, he would be at once found out and rejected. But let it be known
that all those who have not separated what is true from what is good,
or faith from love, accept in the other life, when they have been
taught, the heavenly idea of the Lord, that He is the God of the
universe. It is otherwise with those who have separated faith from
life, that is, who have not lived according to the precepts of true
faith.
{Footnote 1} Christians were examined in the other life in
regard to their idea of the one God and it was found that they
held the idea of three Gods (n. 2329, 5256, 10736, 10738,
10821). A Divine trinity in the Lord is acknowledged in heaven
(n. 14, 15, 1729, 2005, 5256, 9303).
3. Those within the church who have denied the Lord and have
acknowledged the Father only, and have confirmed themselves in that
belief, are not in heaven; and as they are unable to receive any
influx from heaven, where the Lord alone is worshiped, they gradually
lose the ability to think what is true about any subject whatever;
and finally they become as if dumb, or they talk stupidly, and ramble
about with their arms dangling and swinging as if weak in the joints.
Again, those who, like the Socinians, have denied the Divinity of the
Lord and have acknowledged His Humanity only, are likewise outside of
heaven; they are brought forward a little towards the right and are
let down into the deep, and are thus wholly separated from the rest
that come from the Christian world. Finally, those who profess to
believe in an invisible Divine, which they call the soul of the
universe [Ens universi], from which all things originated, and who
reject all belief in the Lord, find out that they believe in no God;
since this invisible Divine is to them a property of nature in her
first principles, which cannot be an object of faith and love,
because it is not an object of thought.{1} Such have their lot among
those called Naturalists. It is otherwise with those born outside the
church, who are called the heathen; these will be treated of
hereafter.
{Footnote 1} A Divine that cannot be perceived by any idea
cannot be received by faith (n. 4733, 5110, 5663, 6982, 6996,
7004, 7211, 9356, 9359, 9972, 10067, 10267).
4. Infants, who form a third part of heaven, are all initiated into
the acknowledgment and belief that the Lord is their Father, and
afterwards that He is the Lord of all, thus the God of heaven and
earth. That children grow up in heaven and are perfected by means of
knowledges, even to angelic intelligence and wisdom, will be seen in
the following pages.
5. Those who are of the church cannot doubt that the Lord is the God
of heaven, for He Himself taught,
That all things of the Father are His (Matt. 11:27; John
16:15; 17:2).
And that He hath all power in heaven and on earth (Matt.
28:18).
He says "in heaven and on earth," because He that rules heaven rules
the earth also, for the one depends upon the other.{1} "Ruling heaven
and earth" means to receive from the Lord every good pertaining to
love and every truth pertaining to faith, thus all intelligence and
wisdom, and in consequence all happiness, in a word, eternal life.
This also the Lord taught when He said:
He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life (John 3:36).
Again:
I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on
Me, though he die yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth
and believeth on Me shall never die (John 11:26, 26).
And again:
I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
{Footnote 1} The entire heaven is the Lord's (n. 2751, 7086).
He has all power in the heavens and on the earths (n. 1607,
10089, 10827). As the Lord rules heaven He rules also all
things that depend thereon, thus all things in the world (n.
2026, 2027, 4523, 4524). The Lord alone has power to remove the
hells, to withhold from evil and hold in good, and thus to save
(n. 10019).
6. There were certain spirits who while living in the world had
professed to believe in the Father; but of the Lord they had the same
idea as of any other man, and therefore did not believe Him to be the
God of heaven. For this reason they were permitted to wander about
and inquire wherever they wished whether there were any other heaven
than the heaven of the Lord. They searched for several days, but
nowhere found any. These were such as place the happiness of heaven
in glory and dominion; and as they were unable to get what they
desired, and were told that heaven does not consist in such things,
they became indignant, and wished for a heaven where they could lord
it over others and be eminent in glory like that in the world.
7. II. IT IS THE DIVINE OF THE LORD THAT MAKES HEAVEN.
The angels taken collectively are called heaven, for they constitute
heaven; and yet that which makes heaven in general and in particular
is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord and flows into the angels
and is received by them. And as the Divine that goes forth from the
Lord is the good of love and the truth of faith, the angels are
angels and are heaven in the measure in which they receive good and
truth from the Lord.
8. Everyone in the heavens knows and believes and even perceives that
he wills and does nothing of good from himself, and that he thinks
and believes nothing of truth from himself, but only from the Divine,
thus from the Lord; also that good from himself is not good, and
truth from himself is not truth, because these have in them no life
from the Divine. Moreover, the angels of the inmost heaven clearly
perceive and feel the influx, and the more of it they receive the
more they seem to themselves to be in heaven, because the more are
they in love and faith and in the light of intelligence and wisdom,
and in heavenly joy therefrom; and since all these go forth from the
Divine of the Lord, and in these the angels have their heaven, it is
clear that it is the Divine of the Lord, and not the angels from
anything properly their own that makes heaven.{1} This is why heaven
is called in the Word the "dwelling-place" of the Lord and "His
throne," and those who are there are said to be in the Lord.{2} But
in what manner the Divine goes forth from the Lord and fills heaven
will be told in what follows.
{Footnote 1} The angels of heaven acknowledge all good to be
from the Lord, and nothing from themselves, and the Lord dwells
in them in His own and not in their own (n. 9338, 10125, 10151,
10157). Therefore in the Word by "angels" something of the Lord
is meant (n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 8192, 10528). Furthermore,
angels are called "gods" from the reception of the Divine from
the Lord (n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8301). Again, all
good that is good, and all truth that is truth, consequently
all peace, love, charity, and faith, are from the Lord (n.
1614, 2016, 2751, 2882, 2883, 2891, 2892, 2904). Also all
wisdom and intelligence (n. 109, 112, 121, 124).
{Footnote 2} Those who are in heaven are said to be in the Lord
(n. 3637, 3638).
9. Angels from their wisdom go still further. They say that not only
everything good and true is from the Lord, but everything of life as
well. They confirm it by this, that nothing can spring from itself,
but only from something prior to itself; therefore all things spring
from a First, which they call the very Being [Esse] of the life of
all things. And in like manner all things continue to exist, for
continuous existence is a ceaseless springing forth, and whatever is
not continually held by means of intermediates in connection with the
First instantly disperses and is wholly dissipated. They say also
that there is but One Fountain of life, and that man's life is a
rivulet therefrom, which if it did not unceasingly continue from its
fountain would immediately flow away. [2] Again, they say that from
this One Fountain of life, which is the Lord, nothing goes forth
except Divine good and Divine truth, and that each one is affected by
these in accordance with his reception of them, those who receive
them in faith and life find heaven in them while those who reject
them or stifle them change them into hell; for they change good into
evil and truth into falsity, thus life into death. Again, that
everything of life is from the Lord they confirm by this: that all
things in the universe have relation to good and truth,-the life of
man's will, which is the life of his love, to good; and the life of
his understanding, which is the life of his faith, to truth; and
since everything good and true comes from above it follows that
everything of life must come from above. [3] This being the belief of
the angels they refuse all thanks for the good they do, and are
displeased and withdraw if any one attributes good to them. They
wonder how any one can believe that he is wise from himself or does
anything good from himself. Doing good for one's own sake they do not
call good, because it is done from self. But doing good for the sake
of good they call good from the Divine; and this they say is the good
that makes heaven, because this good is the Lord.{1}
{Footnote 1} Good from the Lord has the Lord inwardly in it,
but good from one's own has not (n. 1802, 3951, 8480).
10. Such spirits as have confirmed themselves during their life in
the world in the belief that the good they do and the truth they
believe is from themselves, or is appropriated to them as their own
(which is the belief of all who place merit in good actions and claim
righteousness to themselves) are not received into heaven. Angels
avoid them. They look upon them as stupid and as thieves; as stupid
because they continually have themselves in view and not the Divine;
and as thieves because they steal from the Lord what is His. These
are averse to the belief of heaven, that it is the Divine of the Lord
in the angels that makes heaven.
11. The Lord teaches that those that are in heaven and in the church
are in the Lord and the Lord is in them, when He says:
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye,
except ye abide in Me. I am the Vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much
fruit; for apart from Me ye can do nothing (John 15:4,5).
12. From all this it can now be seen that the Lord dwells in the
angels of heaven in what is His own, and thus that the Lord is the
all in all things of heaven; and this for the reason that good from
the Lord is the Lord in angels, for what is from the Lord is the
Lord; consequently heaven to the angels is good from the Lord, and
not anything of their own.
13. III. IN HEAVEN THE DIVINE OF THE LORD IS LOVE TO HIM AND CHARITY
TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOR.
The Divine that goes forth from the Lord is called in heaven Divine
truth, for a reason that will presently appear. This Divine truth
flows into heaven from the Lord from His Divine love. The Divine love
and the Divine truth therefrom are related to each other as the fire
of the sun and the light therefrom in the world, love resembling the
fire of the sun and truth therefrom light from the sun. Moreover, by
correspondence fire signifies love, and light truth going forth from
love.{1} From this it is clear what the Divine truth that goes forth
from the Lord's Divine love is-that in its essence it is Divine good
joined to Divine truth, and being so conjoined it vivifies all things
of heaven; just as in the world when the sun's heat is joined to
light it makes all things of the earth fruitful, which takes place in
spring and summer. It is otherwise when the heat is not joined with
the light, that is, when the light is cold; then all things become
torpid and lie dead. With the angels this Divine good, which is
compared to heat, is the good of love; and Divine truth, which is
compared to light, is that through which and out of which good of
love comes.
{Footnote 1} In the Word "fire" signifies heavenly love and
infernal love (n. 934, 4906, 5215). "Holy and heavenly fire"
signifies Divine love, and every affection that belongs to that
love (n. 934, 6314, 6832). "Light" from fire signifies truth
going forth from good of love; and light in heaven signifies
Divine truth (n. 3195, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413,
4415, 9548, 9684).
14. The Divine in heaven which makes heaven is love, because love is
spiritual conjunction. It conjoins angels to the Lord and conjoins
them to one another, so conjoining them that in the Lord's sight they
are all as one. Moreover, love is the very being [esse] of everyone's
life; consequently from love both angels and men have life. Everyone
who reflects can know that the inmost vitality of man is from love,
since he grows warm from the presence of love and cold from its
absence, and when deprived of it he dies.{1} But it is to be
remembered that the quality of his love is what determines the
quality of each one's life.
{Footnote 1} Love is the fire of life, and life itself is
actually therefrom (n. 4906, 5071, 6032, 6314).
15. In heaven there are two distinct loves, love to the Lord and love
towards the neighbor, in the inmost or third heaven love to the Lord,
in the second or middle heaven love towards the neighbor. They both
go forth from the Lord, and they both make heaven. How these two
loves are distinct and how they are conjoined is seen in heaven in
clear light, but in the world only obscurely. In heaven loving the
Lord does not mean loving Him in respect to His person, but it means
loving the good that is from Him; and to love good is to will and do
good from love; and to love the neighbor does not mean loving a
companion in respect to his person, but loving the truth that is from
the Word; and to love truth is to will and do it. This makes clear
that these two loves are distinct as good and truth are distinct, and
that they are conjoined as good is conjoined with truth.{1} But this
can scarcely be comprehended by men unless it is known what love is,
what good is, and what the neighbor is.{2}
{Footnote 1} To love the Lord and the neighbor is to live
according to the Lord's commandments (n. 10143, 10153, 10310,
10578, 10648).
{Footnote 2} To love the neighbor is not to love the person,
but to love that in him from which he is what he is, that is,
his truth and good (n. 5028. 10336). Those who love the person,
and not that in him from which he is what he is, love evil and
good alike (n. 3820). Charity is willing truths and being
affected by truths for the sake of truths (n. 3876, 3877).
Charity towards the neighbor is doing what is good, just, and
right, in every work and in every function (n. 8120-8122).
16. I have repeatedly talked with angels about this matter. They were
astonished, they said, that men of the church do not know that to
love the Lord and to love the neighbor is to love what is good and
true, and to do this from the will, when they ought to know that one
evinces love by willing and doing what another wishes, and it is this
that brings reciprocal love and conjunction, and not loving another
without doing what he wishes, which in itself is not loving; also
that men should know that the good that goes forth from the Lord is a
likeness of Him, since He is in it; and that those who make good and
truth to belong to their life by willing them and doing them become
likenesses of the Lord and are conjoined to Him. Willing is loving to
do. That this is so the Lord teaches in the Word, saying,
He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that
loveth Me; and I will love him and will make My abode with
him (John 14:21, 23).
And again:
If ye do My commandments ye shall abide in My love (John
15:10).
17. All experience in heaven attests that the Divine that goes forth
from the Lord and that affects angels and makes heaven is love; for
all who are in heaven are forms of love and charity, and appear in
ineffable beauty, with love shining forth from their faces, and from
their speech and from every particular of their life.{1} Moreover,
there are spiritual spheres of life emanating from and surrounding
every angel and every spirit, by which their quality in respect to
the affections of their love is known, sometimes at a great distance.
For with everyone these spheres flow forth from the life of his
affection and consequent thought, or from the life of his love and
consequent faith. The spheres that go forth from angels are so full
of love as to affect the inmosts of life of those who are with them.
They have repeatedly been perceived by me and have thus affected
me.{2} That it is love from which angels have their life is further
evident from the fact that in the other life everyone turns himself
in accordance with his love-those who are in love to the Lord and in
love towards the neighbor turning themselves always to the Lord,
while those who are in love of self turn themselves always away from
the Lord. This is so, however their bodies may turn, since with those
in the other life spaces conform to the states of their interiors,
likewise quarters, which are not constant as they are in this world,
but are determined in accordance with the direction of their faces.
And yet it is not the angels that turn themselves to the Lord; but
the Lord turns to Himself those that love to do the things that are
from Him.{3} But more on this subject hereafter, where the quarters
in the other life are treated of.
{Footnote 1} Angels are forms of love and charity (n. 3804,
4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177).
{Footnote 2} A spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of the life,
overflows and pours forth from every man, spirit, and angel,
and encompasses them (n. 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630). It flows from
the life of their affection and consequent thought (n. 2489,
4464, 6206).
{Footnote 3} Spirits and angels turn themselves constantly to
their loves, and those in the heavens turn themselves
constantly to the Lord (n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).
Quarters in the other life are to each one in accordance with
the direction of his face, and are thereby determined,
otherwise than in the world (n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).
18. The Divine of the Lord in heaven is love, for the reason that
love is receptive of all things of heaven, such as peace,
intelligence, wisdom and happiness. For love is receptive of each and
all things that are in harmony with it; it longs for them, seeks
them, and drinks them in as it were spontaneously, for it desires
unceasingly to be enriched and perfected by them.{1} This, too, man
well knows, for with him love searches as it were the stores of his
memory and draws forth all things that are in accord with itself,
collecting and arranging them in and under itself-in itself that they
may be its own, and under itself that they may be its servants; but
other things not in accord with it it discards and expels. That there
is present in love every capacity for receiving truths in harmony
with itself, and a longing to conjoin them to itself, has been made
clear also by the fact that some who were simple-minded in the world
were taken up into heaven, and yet when they were with the angels
they came into angelic wisdom and heavenly blessedness, and for the
reason that they had loved what is good and true for its own sake,
and had implanted it in their life, and had thereby become capacities
for receiving heaven with all that is ineffable there. But those who
are in love of self and of the world have no capacity for receiving
what is good and true; they loathe and reject it, and at its first
touch and entrance they flee and associate themselves with those in
hell who are in loves like their own. There were spirits who had
doubts about there being such capacities in heavenly love, and who
wished to know whether it were true; whereupon they were let into a
state of heavenly love, whatever opposed being for the time removed,
and were brought forward some distance, where there was an angelic
heaven, and from it they talked with me, saying that they perceived a
more interior happiness than they could possibly express in words,
and they lamented greatly that they must return into their former
state. Others also were taken up into heaven; and the higher or more
interiorly they were exalted the more of intelligence and wisdom were
they admitted into, such as enabled them to perceive what had before
been incomprehensible to them. From this it is clear that the love
that goes forth from the Lord is receptive of heaven and all things
therein.
{Footnote 1} Innumerable things are contained in love, and love
gathers to itself all things that are in harmony with it (n.
2500, 2572, 3078, 3189, 6323, 7490, 7750).
19. That love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor include in
themselves all Divine truths is made evident by what the Lord Himself
said of these two loves:
Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart and with all
thy soul. This is the greatest and first commandment. And
the second, like unto it, is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. On these two commandments hang the law and the
prophets (Matt. 22:37-40).
"The law and the prophets" are the whole Word, thus all Divine truth.
20. IV. HEAVEN IS DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS.
As there are infinite varieties in heaven, and no one society nor any
one angel is exactly like any other,{1} there are in heaven general,
specific, and particular divisions. The general division is into two
kingdoms, the specific into three heavens, and the particular into
innumerable societies. Each of these will be treated of in what
follows. The general division is said to be into kingdoms, because
heaven is called "the kingdom of God."
{Footnote 1} There is infinite variety, and nowhere any thing
the same as another (n. 7236, 9002). Also in the heavens there
is infinite variety (n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236). Varieties
in heaven are varieties of good (n. 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833,
7836, 9002). All societies in the heavens, and all angels in a
society, are thereby distinguished from each other (n. 690,
3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7833, 7836).
Nevertheless they are all made one by love from the Lord (n.
457, 3986).
21. There are angels that receive more interiorly the Divine that
goes forth from the Lord, and others that receive it less interiorly;
the former are called celestial angels, and the latter spiritual
angels. Because of this difference heaven is divided into two
kingdoms, one called the Celestial Kingdom, the other the Spiritual
Kingdom.{1}
{Footnote 1} Heaven as a whole is divided into two kingdoms, a
celestial kingdom and a spiritual kingdom (n. 3887, 4138). The
angels of the celestial kingdom receive the Divine of the lord
in their voluntary part, thus more interiorly than the
spiritual angels, who receive it in their intellectual part (n.
5113, 6367, 8521, 9936, 9995, 10124).
22. As the angels that constitute the celestial kingdom receive the
Divine of the Lord more interiorly they are called interior and also
higher angels; and for the same reason the heavens that they
constitute are called interior and higher heavens.{1} They are called
higher and lower, because these terms designate what is interior and
what is exterior.{2}
{Footnote 1} The heavens that constitute the celestial kingdom
are called higher while those that constitute the spiritual
kingdom are called lower (n. 10068).
{Footnote 2} Interior things are portrayed by higher things,
and higher things signify interior things (n. 2148, 3084, 4599,
5146, 8325).
23. The love in which those are, who are in the celestial kingdom is
called celestial love, and the love in which those are who are in the
spiritual kingdom is called spiritual love. Celestial love is love to
the Lord, and spiritual love is love towards the neighbor. And as all
good pertains to love (for good to any one is what he loves) the good
also of the other kingdom is called celestial, and the good of the
other spiritual. Evidently, then, the two kingdoms are distinguished
from each other in the same way as good of love to the Lord is
distinguished from good of love towards the neighbor.{1} And as the
good of love to the Lord is an interior good, and that love is
interior love, so the celestial angels are interior angels, and are
called higher angels.
{Footnote 1} The good of the celestial kingdom is good of love
to the Lord, and the good of the spiritual kingdom is good of
charity towards the neighbor (n. 3691, 6435, 9468, 9680, 9683,
9780).
24. The celestial kingdom is called also the Lord's priestly kingdom,
and in the Word "His dwelling-place;" while the spiritual kingdom is
called His royal kingdom, and in the Word "His throne." And from the
celestial Divine the Lord in the world was called "Jesus," while from
the spiritual Divine He was called "Christ."
25. The angels in the Lord's celestial kingdom, from their more
interior reception of the Divine of the Lord, far excel in wisdom and
glory the angels that are in His spiritual kingdom; for they are in
love to the Lord, and consequently are nearer and more closely
conjoined to Him.{1} These angels are such because they have received
and continue to receive Divine truths at once in their life, and not
first in memory and thought, as the spiritual angels do. Consequently
they have Divine truths written in their hearts, and they perceive
them, and as it were see them, in themselves; nor do they ever reason
about them whether they are true or not.{2} They are such as are
described in Jeremiah:
I will put my law in their mind, and will write it in
their heart. They shall teach no more everyone his friend
and everyone his brother, saying, Know ye Jehovah. They
shall know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest
of them (31:33, 34).
And they are called in Isaiah:
Taught of Jehovah (54:13).
That the "taught of Jehovah" are those who are taught by the Lord He
Himself teaches in John (6:45, 46).
{Footnote 1} The celestial angels immeasurably surpass in
wisdom the spiritual angels (n. 2718, 9995). The nature of the
distinction between celestial angels and spiritual angels (n.
2088, 2669, 2708, 2715, 3235, 3240, 4788, 7068, 8521, 9277,
10295).
{Footnote 2} The celestial angels do not reason about truths of
faith, because they perceive them in themselves; but the
spiritual angels reason about them whether they are true or not
(n. 202, 337, 597, 607, 784, 1121, 1384, 1898, 1919, 3246,
4448, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10786).
26. It has been said that these angels have wisdom and glory above
others for the reason that they have received and continue to receive
Divine truths at once in their life. For as soon as they hear Divine
truths, they will and do them, instead of storing them up in the
memory and afterwards considering whether they are true. They know at
once by influx from the Lord whether the truth they hear is true; for
the Lord flows directly into man's willing, but mediately through his
willing into his thinking. Or what is the same, the Lord flows
directly into good, but mediately through good into truth.{1} That is
called good which belongs to the will and action therefrom, while
that is called truth that belongs to the memory and to the thought
therefrom. Moreover, every truth is turned into good and implanted in
love as soon as it enters into the will; but so long as truth remains
in the memory and in the thought therefrom it does not become good,
nor does it live, nor is it appropriated to man, since man is a man
from his will and understanding therefrom, and not from his
understanding separated from his will.{2}
{Footnote 1} The Lord's influx is into good and through good
into truth, and not the reverse; thus into the will and through
that into the understanding, and not the reverse (n. 5482,
5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153).
{Footnote 2} The will of man is the very being [esse] of his
life, and the receptacle of the good of love, while his
understanding is the outgo [existere] of his life therefrom,
and the receptacle of the truth and good of faith (n. 3619,
5002, 9282). Thus the will's life is the chief life of man, and
the life of the understanding goes forth therefrom (n. 585,
590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109, 10110). Whatever is
received by the will comes to be the life, and is appropriated
to man (n. 3161, 9386, 9393). Man is a man from his will and
his understanding therefrom (n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109,
10110). Moreover, everyone who wills and understands rightly is
loved and valued by others, while he that understands rightly
and does not will rightly is rejected and despised (n. 8911,
10076). Also, after death man remains such as his will and his
understanding therefrom have been, while the things that
pertain to the understanding and not also to the will then
vanish, because they are not in the man (n. 9069, 9071, 9282,
9386, 10153).
27. Because of this difference between the angels of the celestial
kingdom and the angels of the spiritual kingdom they are not
together, and have no interaction with each other. They are able to
communicate only through intermediate angelic societies, which are
called celestial-spiritual. Through these the celestial kingdom flows
into the spiritual;{1} and from this it comes to pass that although
heaven is divided into two kingdoms it nevertheless makes one. The
Lord always provides such intermediate angels through whom there is
communication and conjunction.
{Footnote 1} Between the two kingdoms there is communication
and conjunction by mean's of angelic societies which are called
celestial-spiritual (n. 4047, 6435, 8796, 8802). The influx of
the Lord through the celestial kingdom into the spiritual (n.
3969, 6366).
28. As the angels of these two kingdoms will be fully treated of in
what follows, particulars are here omitted.
29. V. THERE ARE THREE HEAVENS.
There are three heavens, entirely distinct from each other, an inmost
or third, a middle or second, and an outmost or first. These have a
like order and relation to each other as the highest part of man, or
his head, the middle part, or body, and the lowest, or feet; or as
the upper, the middle, and the lower stories of a house. In the same
order is the Divine that goes forth and descends from the Lord;
consequently heaven, from the necessity of order, is threefold.
30. The interiors of man, which belong to his mind and disposition,
are also in like order. He has an inmost, a middle, and an outmost
part; for when man was created all things of Divine order were
brought together in him, so that he became Divine order in form, and
consequently a heaven in miniature.{1} For this reason also man, as
regards his interiors, has communication with the heavens and comes
after death among the angels, either among those of the inmost, or of
the middle, or of the outmost heaven, in accordance with his
reception of Divine good and truth from the Lord during his life in
the world.
{Footnote 1} All things of Divine order are brought together in
man, and by creation man is Divine order in form (n. 3628,
4219, 4220, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 5168, 6013, 6057, 6605,
6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). In man the internal man was formed
after the image of heaven, and the external after the image of
the world, and this is why man was called by the ancients a
microcosm (n. 3628, 4523, 5115, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9706, 10156,
10472). Thus man is respect to his interiors is by creation a
heaven in least form after the image of the greatest; and such
also man becomes when he has been created anew or regenerated
by the Lord (n. 911, 1900, 1928, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4041,
4279, 4523, 4524, 4625, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9632).
31. The Divine that flows in from the Lord and is received in the
third or inmost heaven is called celestial, and in consequence the
angels there are called celestial angels; the Divine that flows in
from the Lord and is received in the second or middle heaven is
called spiritual, and in consequence the angels there are called
spiritual angels; while the Divine that flows in from the Lord and is
received in the outmost or first heaven is called natural; but as the
natural of that heaven is not like the natural of the world, but has
the spiritual and the celestial within it, that heaven is called the
spiritual-natural and the celestial-natural, and in consequence the
angels there are called spiritual-natural and celestial-natural.{1}
Those who receive influx from the middle or second heaven, which is
the spiritual heaven, are called spiritual-natural; and those who
receive influx from the third or inmost heaven, which is the
celestial heaven, are called celestial-natural. The spiritual-natural
angels and the celestial-natural angels are distinct from each other;
nevertheless they constitute one heaven, because they are in one
degree.
{Footnote 1} There are three heavens, inmost, middle, and
outmost, or third, second, and first (n. 684 9594, 10270).
Goods therein also follow in triple order (n. 4938, 4939, 9992,
10005, 10017). The good of the inmost or third heaven is called
celestial, the good of the middle or second is called
spiritual, and the good of the outmost or first,
spiritual-natural (n. 4279, 4286, 4938, 4939, 9992, 10005,
10017, 10068).
32. In each heaven there is an internal and an external; those in the
internal are called there internal angels, while those in the
external are called external angels. The internal and the external in
the heavens, or in each heaven, hold the same relation as the
voluntary and intellectual in man-the internal corresponding to the
voluntary, and the external to the intellectual. Everything voluntary
has its intellectual; one cannot exist without the other. The
voluntary may be compared to a flame and the intellectual to the
light therefrom.
33. Let it be clearly understood that with the angels it is the
interiors that cause them to be in one heaven or another; for as
their interiors are more open to the Lord they are in a more interior
heaven. There are three degrees of interiors in each angel and
spirit, and also in man. Those in whom the third degree is opened are
in the inmost heaven. Those in whom the second degree is opened, or
only the first, are in the middle or in the outmost heaven. The
interiors are opened by reception of Divine good and Divine truth.
Those who are affected by Divine truths and admit them at once into
the life, thus into the will and into action therefrom, are in the
inmost or third heaven, and have their place there in accordance with
their reception of good from affection for truth. Those who do not
admit truths at once into the will but into the memory, and thence
into the understanding, and from the understanding will and do them,
are in the middle or second heaven. But those who live morally and
who believe in a Divine, and who care very little about being taught,
are in the outmost or first heaven.{1} From this it is clear that the
states of the interiors are what make heaven, and that heaven is
within everyone, and not outside of him; as the Lord teaches when He
says:
The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither
shall they say, Lo here, or Lo there; for behold the
kingdom of God ye have within you (Luke 17:20, 21).
{Footnote 1} There are as many degrees of life in man as there
are heavens, and these are opened after death in accordance
with his life (n. 3747, 9594). Heaven is in man (n. 3884).
Therefore he that has received heaven into himself in the
world, comes into heaven after death (n. 10717).
34. Furthermore, all perfection increases towards interiors and
decreases towards exteriors, since interiors are nearer to the
Divine, and are in themselves pure, while exteriors are more remote
from the Divine and are in themselves grosser.{1} Intelligence,
wisdom, love, everything good and the resulting happiness, are what
constitute angelic perfection; but not happiness apart from these,
for such happiness is external and not internal. Because in the
angels of the inmost heaven the interiors have been opened in the
third degree their perfection immeasurably surpasses the perfection
of angels in the middle heaven, whose interiors have been opened in
the second degree. So the perfection of these angels exceeds in like
measure the perfection of angels of the outmost heaven.
{Footnote 1} Interiors are more perfect because nearer to the
Divine (n. 3405, 5146, 5147). In the internal there are
thousands and thousands of things that appear in the external
as one general thing (n. 5707). As far as man is raised from
externals towards interiors, so far he comes into light and
thus into intelligence and the elevation is like rising out of
a cloud into clearness (n. 4598, 6183, 6313).
35. Because of this distinction an angel of one heaven cannot go
among the angels of another heaven, that is, no one can ascend from a
lower heaven and no one can descend from a higher heaven. One
ascending from a lower heaven is seized with a distress even to
anguish, and is unable to see those who are there, still less to talk
with them; while one descending from a higher heaven is deprived of
his wisdom, stammers in his speech, and is in despair. There were
some from the outmost heaven who had not yet been taught that the
interiors of angels are what constitute heaven, and who believed that
they might come into a higher heavenly happiness by simply gaining
access to a heaven where higher angels are. These were permitted to
enter among such angels. But when they were there they could see no
one, however much they searched, although there was a great multitude
present; for the interiors of the newcomers not having been opened in
the same degree as the interiors of the angels there, their sight was
not so opened. Presently they were seized with such anguish of heart
that they scarcely knew whether they were alive or not. Therefore
they hastily betook themselves to the heaven from which they came,
glad to get back among their like, and pledging themselves that they
would no longer covet higher things than were in agreement with their
life. Again, I have seen some let down from a higher heaven; and
these were deprived of their wisdom until they no longer knew what
their own heaven was. It is otherwise when, as is often done, angels
are raised up by the Lord out of a lower heaven into a higher that
they may behold its glory; for then they are prepared beforehand, and
are encompassed by intermediate angels, through whom they have
communication with those they come among. From all this it is plain
that the three heavens are entirely distinct from each other.
36. Those, however, who are in the same heaven can affiliate with any
who are there; but the delights of such affiliation are measured by
the kinships of good they have come into; of which more will be said
in the following chapters.
37. But although the heavens are so distinct that there can be no
companionship between the angels of one heaven and the angels of
another, still the Lord joins all the heavens together by both direct
and mediate influx-direct from Himself into all the heavens, and
mediate from one heaven into another.{1} He thus makes the three
heavens to be one, and all to be in such connection from the First to
the Last that nothing unconnected is possible. Whatever is not
connected through intermediates with the First can have no permanent
existence, but is dissipated and becomes nothing.{2}
{Footnote 1} Influx from the Lord is direct from Himself and
also mediate through on heaven into another, and in like manner
into man's interiors (n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683). Direct
influx of the Divine from the Lord (n. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717,
8728). Mediate influx through the spiritual world into the
natural world (n. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996).
{Footnote 2} All things spring from things prior to themselves,
thus from a First, and in like inner subsist, because
subsistence is unceasing springing forth; therefore nothing
unconnected is possible (n. 3626-3628, 3648, 4523, 4524, 6040,
6056).
38. Only he who knows how degrees are related to Divine order can
comprehend how the heavens are distinct, or even what is meant by the
internal and the external man. Most men in the world have no other
idea of what is interior and what is exterior, or of what is higher
and what is lower, than as something continuous, or coherent by
continuity, from purer to grosser. But the relation of what is
interior to what is exterior is discrete, not continuous. Degrees are
of two kinds, those that are continuous and those that are not.
Continuous degrees are related like the degrees of the waning of a
light from its bright blaze to darkness, or like the degrees of the
decrease of vision from objects in the light to those in the shade,
or like degrees of purity in the atmosphere from bottom to top. These
degrees are determined by distance. [2] On the other hand, degrees
that are not continuous, but discrete, are distinguished like prior
and posterior, like cause and effect, and like what produces and what
is produced. Whoever looks into the matter will see that in each
thing and all things in the whole world, whatever they are, there are
such degrees of producing and compounding, that is, from one a
second, and from that a third, and so on. [3] Until one has acquired
for himself a perception of these degrees he cannot possibly
understand the differences between the heavens, nor between the
interior and exterior faculties of man, nor the differences between
the spiritual world and the natural world, nor between the spirit of
man and his body. So neither can he understand the nature and source
of correspondences and representations, or the nature of influx.
Sensual men do not apprehend these differences, for they make
increase and decrease, even according to these degrees, to be
continuous, and are therefore unable to conceive of what is spiritual
otherwise than as a purer natural. And in consequence they remain
outside of and a great way off from intelligence.{1}
{Footnote 1} Things interior and things exterior are not
continuous but distinct and discrete according to degrees, and
each degree has its bounds (n. 3691, 5114, 5145, 8603, 10099).
One thing is formed from another, and the things so formed are
not continuously purer and grosser (n. 6326, 6465). Until the
difference between what is interior and what is exterior
according to such degrees is perceived, neither the internal
and external man nor the interior and exterior heavens can be
clearly understood (n. 5146, 6465, 10099, 10181).
39. Finally, a certain arcanum respecting the angels of the three
heavens, which has not hitherto come into any one's mind, because
degrees have not been understood, may be related. In every angel and
also in every man there is an inmost or highest degree, or an inmost
or highest something, into which the Divine of the Lord primarily or
proximately flows, and from which it disposes the other interiors in
him that follow in accordance with the degrees of order. This inmost
or highest degree may be called the entrance of the Lord to the angel
or man, and His veriest dwelling-place in them. It is by virtue of
this inmost or highest that a man is a man, and is distinguished from
irrational animals, for these do not have it. From this it is that
man, unlike the animals, is capable, in respect to all his interiors
which pertain to his mind and disposition, of being raised up by the
Lord to Himself, of believing in the Lord, of being moved by love to
the Lord, and thereby beholding Him, and of receiving intelligence
and wisdom, and speaking from reason. Also, it is by virtue of this
that he lives to eternity. But what is arranged and provided by the
Lord in this inmost does not distinctly flow into the perception of
any angel, because it is above his thought and transcends his wisdom.
40. These now are the general truths respecting the three heavens;
but in what follows each heaven will be particularly treated of.
41. VI. THE HEAVENS CONSIST OF INNUMERABLE SOCIETIES.
The angels of each heaven are not together in one place, but are
divided into larger and smaller societies in accordance with the
differences of good of love and of faith in which they are, those who
are in like good forming a single society. Goods in the heavens are
in infinite variety, and each angel is as it were his own good.{1}
{Footnote 1} There is infinite variety, and never any thing the
same with any other (n. 7236, 9002). So in the heavens there is
infinite variety (n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236). Varieties in
the heavens, which are infinite, are varieties of good (n.
3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002). These varieties exist
through truths, which are manifold from which is each one's
good (n. 3470, 3804, 4149, 6917, 7236). It is because of this
that all the societies in the heavens, and all angels in a
society, are distinct from each other (n. 690, 3241, 3519,
3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7833, 836). Nevertheless
they all make one through love from the Lord (n. 457, 3986).
42. Moreover, the angelic societies in the heavens are at a distance
from each other as their goods differ in general and in particular.
For in the spiritual world the only ground of distance is difference
in the state of interiors, thus in the heavens difference in the
states of love, those who differ much being far apart, and those who
differ but little being but little apart, and likeness causing them
to be together.{1}
{Footnote 1} All the societies of heaven have a constant
position in accordance with the differences of their state of
life, thus in accordance with the differences of love and faith
(n. 1274, 3638, 3639). Wonderful things in the other life, that
is, in the spiritual world, respecting distance, situation,
place space and time (n. 1273-1277).
43. All who are in the same society are arranged in like manner in
respect to each other; those who are more perfect, that is, who excel
in good, thus in love, wisdom, and intelligence, being in the middle;
those who are less pre-eminent being round about at a distance in
accordance with the decrease of their perfection. The arrangement is
like light diminishing from the middle to the circumference, those
who are in the middle being in the greatest light, and those towards
the circumference in less and less.
44. Like are drawn spontaneously as it were to their like; for with
their like they are as if with their own and at home, but with others
they are as if with strangers and abroad; also when with their like
they are in their freedom, and consequently in every delight of life.
45. All this makes clear that all in the heavens are affiliated by
good, and are distinguished according to the quality of the good.
Nevertheless it is not the angels who thus affiliate themselves, but
the Lord, from whom the good is. The Lord leads them, conjoins and
separates them, and preserves them in freedom proportionate to their
good. Thus He holds everyone in the life of his love and faith, of
his intelligence and wisdom, and the resulting happiness.{1}
{Footnote 1} All freedom pertains to love and affection, since
what a man loves, that he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987,
8990, 9555, 9591). Because freedom pertains to love everyone's
life and delight is therefrom (n. 2873). Nothing appears as
one's own, except what is from his freedom (n. 2880). The
veriest freedom is to be led by the Lord, because one is thus
led by the love of good and truth (n. 892, 905, 2872, 2886,
2890-2892, 9096, 9586-9591).
46. Again, all who are in like good, even though they have never seen
each other before, know each other, just as men in the world do their
kinsmen, near relations, and friends; and for the reason that in the
other life there are none but spiritual kinships, relationships, and
friendships, thus such as spring from love and faith.{1} This it has
sometimes been granted me to see, when I have been in the spirit, and
thus withdrawn from the body, and in the society of angels. Some of
those I then saw seemed as if I had known them from childhood, but
others as if not known at all. Those whom I seemed to have known from
childhood were such as were in a state similar to that of my spirit;
but those who seemed unknown were in a dissimilar state.
{Footnote 1} All nearness, relationship, connections, and as it
were ties of blood, in heaven are from good and in accordance
with its agreements and differences (n. 685, 917, 1394, 2739,
3612, 3815, 4121).
47. All who form the same angelic society resemble each other in
countenance in a general way, but not in particulars. How these
general resemblances are related to differences in particulars can in
some measure be seen from like things in the world. It is well known
that with every race there is a certain general resemblance of face
and eyes, by which it is known and distinguished from all other
races. This is still more true of different families. In the heavens
this is much more fully the case, because there all the interior
affections appear in and shine forth from the face, for there the
face is the external and representative form of those affections. No
one there can have any other face than that of his own affection. It
was also shown how this general likeness is varied in particulars
with individuals in the same society. A face like an angel's appeared
to me, and this was varied in accordance with such affections for
good and truth as are in those who belong to a single society. These
changes went on for a long time, and I noticed that the same face in
general continued as a ground work, all besides being what was
derived and produced from that. Thus by means of this face the
affections of the whole society were exhibited, whereby the faces of
those in it are varied. For, as has been said above, the faces of
angels are the forms of their interiors, thus of the affections that
belong to their love and faith.
48. From this it also comes to pass that an angel who excels in
wisdom instantly sees the quality of another from his face. In heaven
no one can conceal his interiors by his expression, or feign, or
really deceive and mislead by craft or hypocrisy. There are
hypocrites who are experts in disguising their interiors and
fashioning their exteriors into the form of that good in which those
are who belong to a society, and who thus make themselves appear
angels of light; and these sometimes insinuate themselves into a
society; but they cannot stay there long, for they begin to suffer
inward pain and torture, to grow livid in the face, and to become as
it were lifeless. These changes arise from the contrariety of the
life that flows in and affects them. Therefore they quickly cast
themselves down into hell where their like are, and no longer want to
ascend. These are such as are meant by the man found among the
invited guests at the feast not clothed with a wedding garment, who
was cast out into outer darkness (Matt. 22:11, seq.).
49. All the societies of heaven have communication with one another,
though not by open interaction; for few go out of their own society
into another, since going out of their own society is like going away
from themselves or from their own life, and passing into another life
which is less congenial. But all the societies communicate by an
extension of the sphere that goes forth from the life of each. This
sphere of the life is the sphere of the affections of love and faith.
This sphere extends itself far and wide into the surrounding
societies, and farther and wider in proportion as the affections are
the more interior and perfect.{1} In the measure of that extension do
the angels have intelligence and wisdom. Those that are in the inmost
heaven and in the middle of it have extension into the entire
heavens; thus there is a sharing of all in heaven with each one, and
of each one with all.{2} But this extension will be considered more
fully hereafter, where the form of heaven in accord with which the
angelic societies are arranged, and also the wisdom and intelligence
of angels, will be treated of, for in accordance with that form all
extension of affections and thoughts proceeds.
{Footnote 1} A spiritual sphere, which is the sphere of life
flows out from every man, spirit, and angel, and encompasses
them (n. 4464, 5179, 7454, 5630). It flows forth from the life
of their affection and thought (n. 2459, 4464, 6206). These
spheres extend themselves far into angelic societies in
accordance with the quality and quantity of their good (n.
6598-6612, 8063, 5794, 5797).
{Footnote 2} In the heavens a sharing of all goods is possible
because heavenly love shares with another everything that is
its own (n. 549, 550, 1390, 1391, 1399, 10130, 10723).
50. It has been said above that in the heavens there are larger and
smaller societies. The larger consist of myriads of angels, the
smaller of some thousands, and the least of some hundreds. There are
also some that dwell apart, house by house as it were, and family by
family. Although these live in this scattered way, they are arranged
in order like those who live in societies, the wiser in the middle
and the more simple in the borders. Such are more closely under the
Divine auspices of the Lord, and are the best of the angels.
51. VII. EACH SOCIETY IS A HEAVEN IN A SMALLER FORM, AND EACH ANGEL
IN THE SMALLEST FORM.
Each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the
smallest form, because it is the good of love and of faith that makes
heaven, and this good is in each society of heaven and in each angel
of a society. It does not matter that this good everywhere differs
and varies, it is still the good of heaven; and there is no
difference except that heaven has one quality here and another there.
So when any one is raised up into any society of heaven he is said to
come into heaven; and those who are there are said to be in heaven,
and each one in his own. This is known to all in the other life;
consequently those standing outside of or beneath heaven, when they
see at a distance companies of angels, say that heaven is in this or
that place. It is comparatively like civil and military officers and
attendants in a royal palace or castle, who, although dwelling apart
in their own quarters or chambers above and below, are yet in the
same palace or castle, each in his own position in the royal service.
This makes evident the meaning of the Lord's words, that:
In His Father's house are many abiding places (John 14:2);
also what is meant by the dwelling-places of heaven, and the heavens
of heavens, in the prophets.
52. That each society is a heaven in a smaller form can be seen from
this also, that each society there has a heavenly form like that of
heaven as a whole. In the whole heavens those who are superior to the
rest are in the middle, with the less excellent round about in a
decreasing order even to the borders (as stated in a preceding
chapter, n. 43). It can be seen also from this, that the Lord directs
all in the whole heaven as if they were a single angel; and the same
is true of all in each society; and as a consequence an entire
angelic society sometimes appears in angelic form like a single
angel, as I have been permitted by the Lord to see. Moreover, when
the Lord appears in the midst of the angels He does not appear as one
surrounded by many, but the appearance is as a one, in an angelic
form. This is why the Lord is called "an angel" in the Word, and why
an entire society is so called. "Michael," "Gabriel," and "Raphael"
are no other than angelic societies so named from their function.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word the Lord is called an angel (n. 6280,
6831, 8192, 9303). A whole angelic society is called an angel,
and Michael and Raphael are angelic societies, so called from
their functions (n. 8192). The societies of heaven and the
angels have no names, but are distinguished by the quality of
their good, and by the idea of it (n. 1705, 1754).
53. As an entire society is a heaven in a smaller form, so an angel
is a heaven in the smallest form. For heaven is not outside of the
angel, but is within him, since the interior things which belong to
his mind are arranged into the form of heaven, thus for the reception
of all things of heaven that are outside of him. These also he
receives according to the quality of the good that is in him from the
Lord. It is from this that an angel is a heaven.
54. It can in no sense be said that heaven is outside of any one; it
is within him. For it is in accordance with the heaven that is within
him that each angel receives the heaven that is outside of him. This
makes clear how greatly misled is he who believes that to come into
heaven is simply to be taken up among angels, without regard to what
one's interior life may be, thus that heaven is granted to each one
by mercy apart from means;{1} when, in fact, unless heaven is within
one, nothing of the heaven that is outside can flow in and be
received. There are many spirits who have this idea. Because of this
belief they have been taken up into heaven; but when they came there,
because their interior life was contrary to the angelic life, their
intellectual faculties began to be blinded until they became like
fools; and they began to be tortured in their voluntary faculties
until they became like madmen. In a word, if those that have lived
wickedly come into heaven they gasp for breath and writhe about, like
fishes out of water in the air, or like animals in ether in an
airpump when the air has been exhausted. From this it can be seen
that heaven is not outside of a man, but within him.{2}
{Footnote 1} Heaven is not granted from mercy apart from means,
but in accordance with the life; yet everything of the life by
which man is led to heaven by the Lord belongs to mercy; this
is what is meant by mercy (n. 5057, 10659). If heaven were
granted from mercy apart from means it would be granted to all
(n. 2401). About some evil spirits cast down from heaven who
believed that heaven was granted to everyone from mercy apart
from means (n. 4226).
{Footnote 2} Heaven is in man (n. 3884).
55. As everyone receives the heaven that is outside of him in
accordance with the quality of the heaven that is within him, so in
like manner does everyone receive the Lord, since it is the Divine of
the Lord that makes heaven. And for this reason when the Lord becomes
manifestly present in any society His appearance there is in accord
with the quality of the good in which the society is, thus not the
same in one society as in another. This diversity is not in the Lord;
it is in the angels who behold Him from their own good, and thus in
accordance with their good. And they are affected by His appearance
in accordance with the quality of their love, those who love Him
inmostly being inmostly affected, and those who love Him less being
less affected; while the evil who are outside of heaven are tortured
by His presence. When the Lord is seen in any society He is seen as
an angel, but is distinguished from others by the Divine that shines
through.
56. Again, heaven is where the Lord is acknowledged, believed in, and
loved. Variety in worship of the Lord from the variety of good in
different societies is not harmful, but beneficial, for the
perfection of heaven is therefrom. This can scarcely be made clear to
the comprehension without employing terms that are in common use in
the learned world, and showing by means of these how unity, that it
may be perfect, must be formed from variety. Every whole exists from
various parts, since a whole without constituents is not anything; it
has no form, and therefore no quality. But when a whole exists from
various parts, and the various parts are in a perfect form, in which
each attaches itself like a congenial friend to another in series,
then the quality is perfect. So heaven is a whole from various parts
arranged in a most perfect form, for the heavenly form is the most
perfect of all forms. That this is the ground of all perfection is
evident from the nature of all beauty, agreeableness and delight, by
which the senses and the mind are affected; for these qualities
spring and flow from no other source than the concert and harmony of
many concordant and congenial parts, either coexisting in order or
following in order, and never from a whole without many parts. From
this is the saying that variety gives delight; and the nature of
variety, as is known, is what determines the delight. From all this
it can be seen as in a mirror how perfection comes from variety even
in heaven. For from the things that exist in the natural world the
things of the spiritual world can be seen as in a mirror.{1}
{Footnote 1} Every whole is from the harmony and concert of
many parts. Otherwise it has no quality (n. 457). From this the
entire heaven is a whole (n. 457). And for the reason that all
there have regard to one end, which is the Lord (n. 9828).
57. What has been said of heaven may be said also of the church, for
the church is the Lord's heaven on earth. There are also many
churches, each one of which is called a church, and so far as the
good of love and faith reigns therein is a church. Here, too, the
Lord out of various parts forms a unity, that is, one church out of
many churches.{1} And the like may be said of the man of the church
in particular that is said of the church in general, namely, that the
church is within man and not outside of him; and that every man is a
church in whom the Lord is present in the good of love and of
faith.{2} Again, the same may be said of a man that has the church in
him as of an angel that has heaven in him, namely, that he is a
church in the smallest form, as an angel is a heaven in the smallest
form; and furthermore that a man that has the church in him, equally
with an angel, is a heaven. For man was created that he might come
into heaven and become an angel; consequently he that has good from
the Lord is a man-angel.{3} What man has in common with an angel and
what he has in contrast with angels may be mentioned. It is granted
to man, equally with the angel, to have his interiors conformed to
the image of heaven, and to become, so far as he is in the good of
love and faith, an image of heaven. But it is granted to man and not
to angels to have his exteriors conform to the image of the world;
and so far as he is in good to have the world in him subordinated to
heaven and made to serve heaven.{4} And then the Lord is present in
him both in the world and in heaven just as if he were in his heaven.
For the Lord is in His Divine order in both worlds, since God is
order.{5}
{Footnote 1} If good were the characteristic and essential of
the church, and not truth apart from good, the church would be
one (n. 1255, 1316, 2952, 3267, 3445, 3451. 3452). From good
all churches make one church before the Lord (n. 7396, 9276).
{Footnote 2} The church is in man, and not outside of him, and
the church in general is made up of men that have the church in
them (n. 3884 [6637]).
{Footnote 3} A man who is a church is a heaven in the smallest
form after the image of the greatest, because his interiors,
which belong to his mind, are arranged after the form of
heaven, and consequently for reception of all things of heaven
(n. 911, 1900, 1928, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523,
4524, 4625, 6013, 6057 9279, 9632).
{Footnote 4} Man has an internal and an external; hid internal
is formed by creation after the image of heaven, and his
external after the image of the world; and for this reason man
was called by the ancients a microcosm (n. 3628, 4523, 4524,
5115, 5368, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9706, 10156, 10472). Therefore
man was created to have the world in him serve heaven, and this
takes place with the good; but it is the reverse with the evil,
in whom heaven serves the world (n. 9278, 9283).
{Footnote 5} The Lord is order, since the Divine good and truth
that go forth from the Lord make order (n. 1728, 1919, 2011,
2258, 5110, 5703, 8988, 10336, 10619). Divine truths are laws
of order (n. 2447, 7995). So far as a man lives according to
order, that is, so far as he lives in good in accordance with
Divine truths, he is a man, and the church and heaven are in
him (n. 4839, 6605, 8513, [8547]).
58. Finally it should be said that he who has heaven in himself has
it not only in the largest or most general things pertaining to him
but also in every least or particular thing, and that these least
things repeat in an image the greatest. This comes from the fact that
everyone is his own love, and is such as his ruling love is. That
which reigns flows into the particulars and arranges them, and every
where induces a likeness of itself.{1} In the heavens love to the
Lord is the ruling love, for there the Lord is loved above all
things. Hence the Lord there is the All-in-all, flowing into all and
each, arranging them, clothing them with a likeness of Himself, and
making it to be heaven wherever He is. This is what makes an angel to
be a heaven in the smallest form, a society to be a heaven in a
larger form, and all the societies taken together a heaven in the
largest form. That the Divine of the Lord is what makes heaven, and
that He is the All-in-all, may be seen above (n. 7-12).
{Footnote 1} The ruling or dominant love with everyone is in
each thing and all things of his life, thus in each thing and
all things of his thought and will (n. 6159, 7648, 8067, 8853).
Man is such as is the ruling quality of his life (n. 987, 1040,
1568, 3570, 6571, 6935, 6938, 8853-8858, 10076, 10109, 10110,
10284). When love and faith rule they are in all the
particulars of man's life, although he does not know it (n.
8854, 8864, 8865).
59. VIII. ALL HEAVEN IN THE AGGREGATE REFLECTS A SINGLE MAN.
That heaven in its whole complex reflects a single man is an arcanum
hitherto unknown in the world, but fully recognized in the heavens.
To know this and the specific and particular things relating to it is
the chief thing in the intelligence of the angels there, and on it
many things depend which without it as their general principle would
not enter distinctly and clearly into the ideas of their minds.
Knowing that all the heavens with their societies reflect a single
man they call heaven the Greatest Man and the Divine Man;{1}--Divine
because it is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven (see above,
n. 7-12).
{Footnote 1} Heaven in the whole complex appears in form like a
man, and for this reason heaven is called the Greatest Man (n.
2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745, 4625).
60. That into such a form and image celestial and spiritual things
are arranged and joined cannot be seen by those who have no right
idea of spiritual and heavenly things. Such think that the earthy and
material things of which man's outmost nature is composed are what
makes the man; and that apart from these man is not a man. But let
them know that it is not from these that man is a man, but from his
ability to understand what is true and to will what is good. Such
understanding and willing are the spiritual and celestial things of
which man is made. Moreover, it is known that everyone's quality is
determined by the quality of his understanding and will; and it can
also be known that his earthly body is formed to serve the
understanding and the will in the world, and to skillfully accomplish
their uses in the outmost sphere of nature. For this reason the body
by itself can do nothing, but is moved always in entire subservience
to the bidding of the understanding and will, even to the extent that
whatever a man thinks he speaks with his tongue and lips, and
whatever he wills he does with his body and limbs, and thus the
understanding and the will are what act, while the body by itself
does nothing. Evidently, then, the things of the understanding and
will are what make man; and as these act into the minutest
particulars of the body, as what is internal into what is external,
they must be in a like form, and on this account man is called an
internal or spiritual man. Heaven is such a man in its greatest and
most perfect form.
61. Such being the angelic idea of man, the angels give no thought to
what a man does with his body, but only to the will from which the
body acts. This they call the man himself, and the understanding they
call the man so far as it acts in unison with the will.{1}
{Footnote 1} The will of man is the very being [esse] of his
life, and his understanding is the outgo [existere] of his life
therefrom (n. 3619, 5002, 9282). The chief life of man is the
life of his will, and from that the life of the understanding
proceeds (n. 585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109,
10110). Man is man by virtue of his will and his understanding
therefrom (n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109, 10110).
62. The angels, it is true, do not see heaven in its whole complex in
the human form, for heaven as a whole does not come within view of
any angel; but remote societies, consisting of many thousands of
angels, they sometimes see as a one in the human form; and from a
society, as from a part, they draw their conclusion as to the
general, which is heaven. For in the most perfect form generals are
like the parts, and parts are like the generals, with simply such a
difference as there is between like things of greater or less
magnitude; consequently, the angels say that since the Divine from
what is inmost or highest sees all things, so in the Lord's sight
heaven as a whole must be in the human form.
63. Heaven being such, it is ruled by the Lord as a single man is
ruled, thus as a one. For although man, as we know, consists of an
innumerable variety of parts, not only as a whole but also in each
part-as a whole, of members, organs, and viscera; and in each part,
of series of fibers, nerves, and blood-vessels, thus of members
within members, and of parts within parts-nevertheless, when he acts
he acts as a single man. Such likewise is heaven under the auspices
and direction of the Lord.
64. So many different things in man act as a one, because there is no
least thing in him that does not do something for the general welfare
and perform some use. The general performs a use for its parts, and
the parts for the general, for the general is composed of the parts
and the parts constitute the general; therefore they provide for each
other, have regard for each other, and are joined together in such a
form that each thing and all things have reference to the general and
its good; thus it is that they act as one. [2] In the heavens there
are like affiliations. Those there are conjoined according to uses in
a like form; and consequently those who do not perform uses for the
common good are cast out of heaven as something heterogeneous. To
perform use is to will well to others for the sake of the common
good; but to will well to others not for the sake of the common good
but for the sake of self is not to perform use. These latter are such
as love themselves supremely, while the former are such as love the
Lord supremely. Thence it is that those who are in heaven act as a
one; and this they do from the Lord, not from themselves, for they
look to Him as the Only One, the source of all things, and they
regard His kingdom as the general, the good of which is to be sought.
This is what is meant by the Lord's words,
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).
"To seek His righteousness" means to seek His good.{1} [3] Those who
in the world love their country's good more than their own, and their
neighbor's good as their own, are they who in the other life love and
seek the Lord's kingdom; for there the Lord's kingdom takes the place
of country; and those who love doing good to others, not with self as
an end but with good as an end, love the neighbor; for in heaven good
is the neighbor.{2} All such are in the Greatest Man, that is,
heaven.
{Footnote 1} In the Wood "righteousness" is predicated of good,
and "judgment" of truth; therefore "to do righteousness and
judgment" is to do what is good and true (n. 2235, 9857).
{Footnote 2} In the highest sense the Lord is the neighbor;
consequently to love the Lord is to love that which is from
Him, that is to love good and truth because the Lord is in
everything that is from Him (n. 2425, 3419, 6706, 6711 6819,
6823, 8123). Therefore all good that is from the Lord is the
neighbor, and to will and do that good is to love the neighbor
(n. 5028, 10336).
65. As the whole heaven reflects a single man, and is a Divine
spiritual man in the largest form, even in figure, so heaven like a
man is arranged into members and parts, and these are similarly
named. Moreover, angels know in what member this or that society is.
This society, they say, is in a certain part or province of the head,
that in a certain part or province of the breast, that in a certain
part or province of the loins, and so on. In general, the highest or
third heaven forms the head down to the neck; the middle or second
heaven forms the breast down to the loins and knees; the lowest or
first heaven forms the feet down to the soles, and also the arms down
to the fingers. For the arms and hands belong to the lowest parts of
man, although at the sides. From this again it is plain why there are
three heavens.
66. The spirits that are beneath heaven are greatly astonished when
they hear that heaven is not only above but below, for they have a
like faith and opinion as men in the world, that heaven is nowhere
but above, for they do not know that the arrangement of the heavens
is like the arrangement of the members, organs, and viscera in man,
some of which are above and some below; or like the arrangement of
the parts in each of the members, organs, and viscera, some of which
are within and some without. Hence their confused notions about
heaven.
67. These things about heaven as the Greatest Man are set forth,
because what follows in regard to heaven cannot be at all
comprehended until these things are known, neither can there be any
clear idea of the form of heaven, of the conjunction of the Lord with
heaven, of the conjunction of heaven with man, of the influx of the
spiritual world into the natural, or any idea at all of
correspondence-subjects to be treated of in their proper order in
what now follows. To throw some light on these subjects, therefore,
the above has been premised.
68. IX. EACH SOCIETY IN HEAVEN REFLECTS A SINGLE MAN.
I have frequently been permitted to see that each society of heaven
reflects a single man, and is in the likeness of a man. There was a
society into which several had insinuated themselves who knew how to
counterfeit angels of light. These were hypocrites. When these were
being separated from the angels I saw that the entire society
appeared at first like a single indistinct body, then by degrees in a
human form, but still indistinctly, and at last clearly as a man.
Those that were in that man and made up the man were such as were in
the good of that society; the others who were not in the man and did
not make up the man were hypocrites; these were cast out and the
former were retained; and thus a separation was effected. Hypocrites
are such as talk well and also do well, but have regard to themselves
in everything. They talk as angels do about the Lord, heaven, love,
and heavenly life, and also act rightly, so that they may appear to
be what they profess to be. But their thinking is different; they
believe nothing; and they wish good to none but themselves. Their
doing good is for the sake of self, or if for the sake of others it
is only for the appearance, and thus still for the sake of self.
69. I have also been permitted to see that an entire angelic society,
where the Lord is visibly present, appears as a one in the human
form. There appeared on high towards the east something like a cloud,
from glowing white becoming red, and with little stars round about,
which was descending; and as it gradually descended it became
brighter, and at last appeared in a perfect human form. The little
stars round about the cloud were angels, who so appeared by virtue of
light from the Lord.
70. It must be understood that although all in a heavenly society
when seen together as one appear in the likeness of a man; yet no one
society is just such a man as another. Societies differ from one
another like the faces of different individuals of the same family,
for the reason given above (n. 47), that is, they differ in
accordance with the varieties of good in which they are and which
determines their form. The societies of the inmost or highest heaven,
and in the center there, are those that appear in the most perfect
and beautiful human form.
71. It is worthy of mention that the greater the number in any
society in heaven and the more these make a one, the more perfect is
its human form, for variety arranged in a heavenly form is what
constitutes perfection, as has been shown above (n. 56), and number
gives variety. Moreover, every society of heaven increases in number
daily, and as it increases it becomes more perfect. Thus not only the
society becomes more perfect, but also heaven in general, because it
is made up of societies. As heaven gains in perfection by increase of
numbers, it is evident how mistaken those are who believe that heaven
may be closed by becoming full; for the opposite is true, that it
will never be closed, but is perfected by greater and greater
fullness. Therefore, the angels desire nothing so much as to have new
angel guests come to them.
72. Each society, when it appears as one whole is in the form of a
man, for the reason that heaven as a whole has that form (as has been
shown in the preceding chapter); moreover, in the most perfect form,
such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the parts to
the whole, and of lesser forms to the greatest. The lesser forms and
parts of heaven are the societies of which it consists, which are
also heavens in lesser form (see 51-58). This likeness is perpetual
because in the heavens the goods of all are from a single love, that
is, from a single origin. The single love, which is the origin of the
good of all in heaven, is love to the Lord from the Lord. It is from
this that the entire heaven in general, each society less generally,
and each angel in particular, is a likeness of the Lord, as has been
shown above (n. 58).
73. X. THEREFORE EVERY ANGEL IS IN A COMPLETE HUMAN FORM.
In the two preceding chapters it has been shown that heaven in its
whole complex, and likewise each society in heaven, reflects a single
man. From the sequence of reasons there set forth it follows that
this is equally true of each angel. As heaven is a man in largest
form, and a society of heaven in a less form, so is an angel in
least. For in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is,
there is a likeness of the whole in the part and of the part in the
whole. This is so for the reason that heaven is a common sharing, for
it shares all it has with each one, and each one receives all he has
from that sharing. Because an angel is thus a recipient he is a
heaven in least form, as shown above in its chapter; and a man also,
so far as he receives heaven, is a recipient, a heaven, and an angel
(see above, n. 57). This is thus described in the Apocalypse:
He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and
forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that
of an angel (21:17).
"Jerusalem" means here the Lord's church, and in a more eminent
sense, heaven;{1} the "wall" means truth, which is a defence against
the assault of falsities and evils;{2} "a hundred and forty and four"
means all goods and truths in the complex;{3} "measure" means what a
thing is,{4} a "man" means one in whom are goods and truths in
general and in particular, thus in whom is heaven. And as it is from
this that an angel is a man, it is said "the measure of a man, which
is that of an angel." This is the spiritual meaning of these words.
Without that meaning how could it be seen that "the wall of the Holy
Jerusalem" is "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel?"{5}
{Footnote 1} "Jerusalem" means the church (n. 402, 3654, 9166).
{Footnote 2} The "wall" means truth defending against the
assault of falsities and evils (n. 6419).
{Footnote 3} "Twelve" means all truths and goods in the complex
(n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913). Likewise
"seventy-two," and "a hundred and forty-four," since this comes
from twelve multiplied into itself (n. 7973). All numbers in
the Word signify things (n. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963,
1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265). Multiplied numbers
have a like signification as the simple numbers from which they
arise by multiplication (n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).
{Footnote 4} "Measure" in the Word signifies the quality of a
thing in respect to truth and good (n. 3104, 9603).
{Footnote 5} In regard to the spiritual or internal sense of
the Word see the explanation of The White Horse in the
Apocalypse, and the Appendix to The Heavenly Doctrine.
74. Let us now turn to experience. That angels are human forms, or
men, has been seen by me a thousand times. I have talked with them as
man with man, sometimes with one, sometimes with many together; and I
have seen nothing whatever in their form different from the human
form; and have occasionally been surprised to find them such. And
that this might not be said to be a delusion or a vision of fancy, I
have been permitted to see angels when fully awake or in possession
of all my bodily senses, and in a state of clear perception. And I
have often told them that men in the Christian world are in such
blind ignorance in regard to angels and spirits as to believe them to
be minds without form, even pure thoughts, of which they have no idea
except as something ethereal in which there is some vitality. And as
they thus ascribe to angels nothing human except a thinking faculty,
they believe that having no eyes they do not see, having no ears they
do not hear, and having no mouth or tongue they do not speak. [2] To
this the angels replied that they are aware that such a belief is
held by many in the world, and is prevalent among the learned, and to
their surprise, even among the clergy. The reason, they said, is that
the learned, who were the leaders and who first concocted such an
idea of angels and spirits, conceived of them from the
sense-conceptions of the external man; and those who think from
these, and not from interior light and from the general idea
implanted in everyone, must needs fabricate such notions, since the
sense-conceptions of the external man take in only what belongs to
nature, and nothing above nature, thus nothing whatever of the
spiritual world.{1} From these leaders as guides this falsity of
thought about angels extended to others who did not think from
themselves but adopted the thoughts of their leaders; and those who
first take their thoughts from others and make that thought their
belief, and then view it with their own understanding, cannot easily
recede from it, and are therefore in most cases satisfied with
confirming it. [3] The angels said, furthermore, that the simple in
faith and heart have no such idea about angels, but think of them as
the men of heaven, and for the reason that they have not extinguished
by learning what is implanted in them from heaven, and have no
conception of anything apart from form. This is why angels in
churches, whether sculptured or painted, are always depicted as men.
In respect to this insight from heaven they said that it is the
Divine flowing into such as are in the good of faith and life.
{Footnote 1} Unless man is raised above the sense-conceptions
of the external man he has very little wisdom (n. 5089). The
wise man thinks above these sense-conceptions (n. 5089, 5094).
When man is raised above these, he comes into clearer light,
and finally into heavenly light (n. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407,
9730, 9922). Elevation and withdrawal from these was known to
the ancients (n. 6313).
75. From all my experience, which is now of many years, I am able to
say and affirm that angels are wholly men in form, having faces,
eyes, ears, bodies, arms, hands, and feet; that they see and hear one
another, and talk together, and in a word lack nothing whatever that
belongs to men except that they are not clothed in material bodies. I
have seen them in their own light, which exceeds by many degrees the
noonday light of the world, and in that light all their features
could be seen more distinctly and clearly than the faces of men are
seen on the earth. It has also been granted me to see an angel of the
inmost heaven. He had a more radiant and resplendent face than the
angels of the lower heavens. I observed him attentively, and he had a
human form in all completeness.
76. But it must be remembered that a man cannot see angels with his
bodily eyes, but only with the eyes of the spirit within him,{1}
because his spirit is in the spiritual world, and all things of the
body are in the natural world. Like sees like from being like.
Moreover, as the bodily organ of sight, which is the eye, is too
gross, as everyone knows, to see even the smaller things of nature
except through magnifying glasses, still less can it see what is
above the sphere of nature, as all things in the spiritual world are.
Nevertheless these things can be seen by man when he has been
withdrawn from the sight of the body, and the sight of his spirit has
been opened; and this can be effected instantly whenever it is the
pleasure of the Lord that man should see these things; and in that
case man does not know but what he is seeing them with his bodily
eyes. Thus were angels seen by Abraham, Lot, Manoah, and the
prophets; and thus, too, the Lord was seen by the disciples after the
resurrection; and in the same way angels have been seen by me.
Because the prophets saw in this way they were called "seers," and
were said "to have their eyes opened" (1 Sam. 9:8; Num. 24:3); and
enabling them to see thus was called "opening their eyes," as with
Elisha's servant, of whom we read:
Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray Thee open his eyes
that he may see; and Jehovah opened the eyes of the young
man and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).
{Footnote 1} In respect to his interiors man is a spirit (n.
1594). And that spirit is the man himself, and it is from that
spirit that the body lived (n. 447, 4622, 6054).
77. Good spirits, with whom I have spoken about this matter, have
been deeply grieved at such ignorance in the church about the
condition of heaven and of spirits and angels; and in their
displeasure they charged me to declare positively that they are not
formless minds nor ethereal breaths, but are men in very form, and
see, hear, and feel equally with those who are in this world.{1}
{Footnote 1} Inasmuch as each angel is a recipient of Divine
order from the Lord, he is in a human form, perfect and
beautiful in the measure of his reception (n. 322, 1880, 1881,
3633, 3804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879,
10177, 10594). It is by means of Divine truth that order
exists; and Divine good is the essential of order (n. 2451,
3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555).
78. XI. IT IS FROM THE LORD'S DIVINE HUMAN THAT HEAVEN AS A WHOLE AND
IN PART REFLECTS MAN.
That it is from the Lord's Divine Human that heaven as a whole and in
part reflects man, follows as a conclusion from all that has been
stated and shown in the preceding chapters, namely: (i) That the God
of heaven is the Lord. (ii) It is the Divine of the Lord that makes
heaven. (iii) Heaven consists of innumerable societies; and each
society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest
form. (iv) All heaven in the aggregate reflects a single man. (v)
Each society in the heavens reflects a single man. (vi) Therefore
every angel is in a complete human form. All this leads to the
conclusion that as it is the Divine that makes heaven, heaven must be
human in form. That this Divine is the Lord's Divine Human can be
seen still more clearly, because in a compendium, in what has been
collected, brought together and collated from the Arcana Coelestia
and placed as a supplement at the end of this chapter. That the
Lord's Human is Divine, and that it is not true that His Human is not
Divine, as those with in the church believe, may also be seen in the
same extracts, also in the chapter on The Lord, in The New Jerusalem
and its Heavenly Doctrine, at the end.
79. That this is true has been proved to me by much experience, about
which something shall now be said. No angel in the heavens ever
perceives the Divine as being in any other than a human form; and
what is remarkable, those in the higher heavens are unable to think
of the Divine in any other way. The necessity of thinking in this way
comes from the Divine itself that flows in, and also from the form of
heaven in harmony with which their thoughts spread forth. For every
thought of an angel spreads forth into heaven; and the angels have
intelligence and wisdom in the measure of that extension. It is in
consequence of this that all in heaven acknowledge the Lord, because
only in Him does the Divine Human exist. Not only have I been told
all this by angels, but when elevated into the inner sphere of heaven
I have been able to perceive it. From this it is evident that the
wiser the angels are the more clearly they perceive this truth; and
it is from this that the Lord is seen by them; for the Lord is seen
in a Divine angelic form, which is the human form, by those who
acknowledge and believe in a visible Divine Being, but not by those
who believe in an invisible Divine. For the former can see their
Divine Being, but the latter cannot.
80. Because the angels have no perception of an invisible Divine,
which they call a Divine devoid of form, but perceive only a visible
Divine in human form, they are accustomed to say that the Lord alone
is man, and that it is from Him that they are men, and that each one
is a man in the measure of his reception of the Lord. By receiving
the Lord they understand receiving good and truth which are from Him,
since the Lord is in His good and in His truth, and this they call
wisdom and intelligence. Everyone knows, they say, that intelligence
and wisdom make man, and not a face without these. The truth of this
is made evident from the appearance of the angels of the interior
heavens, for these, being in good and truth from the Lord and in
consequent wisdom and intelligence, are in a most beautiful and most
perfect human form; while the angels of the lower heavens are in
human form of less perfection and beauty. On the other hand, those
who are in hell appear in the light of heaven hardly as men, but
rather as monsters, since they are not in good and truth but in evil
and falsity, and consequently in the opposites of wisdom and
intelligence. For this reason their life is not called life, but
spiritual death.
81. Because heaven as a whole and in part, from the Lord's Divine
Human, reflects a man, the angels say that they are in the Lord; and
some say that they are in His body, meaning that they are in the good
of His love. And this the Lord Himself teaches, saying,
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye,
except ye abide in Me. For apart from Me ye can do
nothing. Abide in My love. If ye keep My commandments ye
shall abide in My love (John 15:4-10).
82. Because such a perception of the Divine exists in the heavens, to
think of God as in a human form is implanted in every man who
receives any influx from heaven. Thus did the ancients think of Him;
and thus do the moderns think of Him both outside of the church and
within it. The simple see Him in thought as the Ancient One in
shining light. But this insight has been extinguished in all those
that by self-intelligence and by a life of evil have rejected influx
from heaven. Those that have extinguished it by self-intelligence
prefer an invisible God; while those that have extinguished it by a
life of evil prefer no God. Neither of these are aware that such an
insight exists, because they do not have it; and yet it is the Divine
heavenly itself that primarily flows into man out of heaven, because
man is born for heaven, and no one without a conception of a Divine
can enter heaven.
83. For this reason he that has no conception of heaven, that is, no
conception of the Divine from which heaven is, cannot be raised up to
the first threshold of heaven. As soon as such a one draws near to
heaven a resistance and a strong repulsion are perceived; and for the
reason that his interiors, which should be receptive of heaven, are
closed up from their not being in the form of heaven, and the nearer
he comes to heaven the more tightly are they closed up. Such is the
lot of those within the church who deny the Lord, and of those who,
like the Socinians, deny His Divinity. But the lot of those who are
born out of the church, and who are ignorant of the Lord because they
do not have the Word, will be described hereafter.
84. That the men of old time had an idea of the Divine as human is
evident from the manifestation of the Divine to Abraham, Lot, Joshua,
Gideon, Manoah and his wife, and others. These saw God as a man, but
nevertheless adored Him as the God of the universe, calling Him the
God of heaven and earth, and Jehovah. That it was the Lord who was
seen by Abraham He Himself teaches in John (8:56); and that it was He
who was seen by the rest is evident from His words:
No one hath seen the Father, nor heard His voice, nor seen
His form (John 1:18; 5:37).
85. But that God is man can scarcely be comprehended by those who
judge all things from the sense-conceptions of the external man, for
the sensual man must needs think of the Divine from the world and
what is therein, and thus of a Divine and spiritual man in the same
way as of a corporeal and natural man. From this he concludes that if
God were a man He would be as large as the universe; and if He ruled
heaven and earth it would be done through many others, after the
manner of kings in the world. If told that in heaven there is no
extension of space as in the world, he would not in the least
comprehend it. For he that thinks only from nature and its light must
needs think in accord with such extension as appears before his eyes.
But it is the greatest mistake to think in this way about heaven.
Extension there is not like extension in the world. In the world
extension is determinate, and thus measurable; but in heaven it is
not determinate, and thus not measurable. But extension in heaven
will be further treated of hereafter in connection with space and
time in the spiritual world. Furthermore, everyone knows how far the
sight of the eye extends, namely, to the sun and to the stars, which
are so remote; and whoever thinks deeply knows that the internal
sight, which is of thought, has a still wider extension, and that a
yet more interior sight must extend more widely still. What then must
be said of Divine sight, which is the inmost and highest of all?
Because thoughts have such extension, all things of heaven are shared
with everyone there, so, too, are all things of the Divine which
makes heaven and fills it, as has been shown in the preceding
chapters.
86. Those in heaven wonder that men can believe themselves to be
intelligent who, in thinking of God, think about something invisible,
that is, inconceivable under any form; and that they can call those
who think differently unintelligent and simple, when the reverse is
the truth. They add, "Let those who thus believe themselves to be
intelligent examine themselves, whether they do not look upon nature
as God, some the nature that is before their eyes, others the
invisible side of nature; and whether they are not so blind as not to
know what God is, what an angel is, what a spirit is, what their soul
is which is to live after death, what the life of heaven in man is,
and many other things that constitute intelligence; when yet those
whom they call simple know all these things in their way, having an
idea of their God that He is the Divine in a human form, of an angel
that he is a heavenly man, of their soul that is to live after death
that it is like an angel, and of the life of heaven in man that it is
living in accord with the Divine commandments." Such the angels call
intelligent and fitted for heaven; but the others, on the other hand,
they call not intelligent.
EXTRACTS FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA RELATING TO THE LORD AND HIS
DIVINE HUMAN.
[2] The Divine was in the Lord from very conception (n.
4641, 4963, 5041, 5157, 6716, 10125).
The Lord alone had a Divine seed (n. 1438).
His soul was Jehovah (n. 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025).
Thus the Lord's inmost was the Divine Itself, while the
clothing was from the mother (n. 5041).
The Divine Itself was the Being [Esse] of the Lord's life,
and from this the Human afterwards went forth and became
the outgo [existere] from that Being [Esse] (n. 3194,
3210, 10269, 10738).
[3] Within the church where the Word is and by it the Lord
is known, the Lord's Divine ought not to be denied, nor
the Holy that goes forth from Him (n. 2359).
Those within the church who do not acknowledge the Lord
have no conjunction with the Divine; but it is otherwise
with those outside of the church (n. 10205).
The essential of the church is to acknowledge the Lord's
Divine and His union with the Father (n. 10083, 10112,
10370, 10730, 10738, 10816-10820).
[4] The glorification of the Lord is treated of in the
Word in many passages (n. 10828).
And in the internal sense of the Word everywhere (n. 2249,
2523, 3245).
The Lord glorified His Human, but not the Divine, since
this was glorified in itself (n. 10057).
The Lord came into the world to glorify His Human (n.
3637, 4287, 9315).
The Lord glorified His Human by means of the Divine love
that was in Him from conception (n. 4727).
The Lord's life in the world was His love towards the
whole human race (n. 2253).
The Lord's love transcends all human understanding (n.
2077).
The Lord saved the human race by glorifying His Human (n.
4180, 10019; 10152, 10655, 10659 10828).
Otherwise the whole human race would have perished in
eternal death (n. 1676).
The state of the Lord's glorification and humiliation (n.
1785, 1999, 2159, 6866).
Glorification in respect to the Lord is the uniting of His
Human with the Divine; and to glorify is to make Divine
(n. 1603, 10053, 10828).
When the Lord glorified His Human He put off everything
human that was from the mother, until at last He was not
her son (n. 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10830).
[5] The Son of God from eternity was the Divine truth in
heaven (n. 2628, 2798, 2803, 3195, 3704).
When the Lord was in the world He made His Human Divine
truth from the Divine good that was in Him (n. 2803, 3194,
3195, 3210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199).
The Lord then arranged all things in Himself into a
heavenly form, which is in accord with Divine truth (n.
1928, 3633).
For this reason the Lord was called the Word, which is
Divine truth (n. 2533, 2813, 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712).
The Lord alone had perception and thought from Himself,
and this was above all angelic perception and thought (n.
1904, 1914, 1919).
The Divine truth which was Himself, the Lord united with
Divine good which was in Himself (n. 10047, 10052, 10076).
The union was reciprocal (n. 2004, 10067).
[6] In passing out of the world the Lord also made His
Human Divine good (n. 3194, 3210, 6864, 7499, 8724, 9199,
10076).
This is what is meant by His coming forth from the Father
and returning to the Father (n. 3194, 3210). Thus He
became one with the Father (n. 2751, 3704, 4766).
Since that union Divine truth goes forth from the Lord (n.
3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 7499, 8127, 8241, 9199,
9398). How Divine truth goes forth, illustrated (n. 7270,
9407).
It was from His own power that the Lord united the Human
with the Divine (n. 1616, 1749, 1752, 1813, 1921, 2025,
2026, 2523, 3141, 5005, 5045, 6716).
From this it is clear that the Lord's Human was not like
the human of any other man, in that it was conceived from
the Divine Itself (n. 10125, 10825, 10826).
His union with the Father, from whom was His soul, was not
as between two persons, but as between soul and body (n.
3737, 10824).
[7] The most ancient people could not worship the Divine
being [esse], but could worship only the Divine Outgo
[existere], which is the Divine Human; therefore the Lord
came into the world in order to become the Divine Existere
from the Divine Esse (n. 4687, 5321).
The ancients acknowledged the Divine because He appeared
to them in a human form, and this was the Divine Human (n.
5110, 5663, 6845, 10737).
The Infinite Being [Esse] could flow into heaven with the
angels and with men only by means of the Divine Human (n.
1676, 1990, 2016, 2034).
In heaven no other Divine than the Divine Human is
perceived (n. 6475, 9303, 10067, 10267).
The Divine Human from eternity was the Divine truth in
heaven and the Divine passing through heaven; thus it was
the Divine Outgo [existere] which afterwards in the Lord
became the Divine Being [Esse] per se, from which is the
Divine Existere in heaven (n. 3061, 6280, 6880, 10579).
What the state of heaven was before the Lord's coming (n.
6371-6373).
The Divine was not perceptible except when it passed
through heaven (n. 6982, 6996, 7004).
[8] The inhabitants of all the earth worship the Divine
under a human form, that is, the Lord (n. 6700, 8541-8547,
10736-10738).
They rejoice when they hear that God actually became Man
(n. 9361).
All who are in good and who worship the Divine under the
human form, are received by the Lord (n. 9359).
God cannot be thought of except in human form; and what is
incomprehensible does not fall into any idea, so neither
into belief (n. 9359, 9972).
Man is able to worship that of which he has some idea, but
not that of which he has no idea (n. 4733, 5110, 5663,
7211, 9356, 10067, 10267).
Therefore the Divine is worshiped under a human form by
most of the inhabitants of the entire globe, and this is
the effect of influx from heaven (n. 10159).
All who are in good in regard to their life, when they
think of the Lord, think of the Divine Human, and not of
the Human separate from the Divine; it is otherwise with
those who are not in good in regard to their life (n.
2326, 4724, 4731, 4766, 8878, 9193, 9198).
In the church at this day those that are in evil in regard
to their life, and those that are in faith separate from
charity, think of the Human of the Lord apart from the
Divine, and do not even comprehend what the Divine Human
is,-why they do not (n. 3212, 3241, 4689, 4692, 4724, 4731,
5321, 6872, 8878, 9193, 9198).
The Lord's Human is Divine because it is from the Being
[Esse] of the Father, and this was His soul,--illustrated
by a father's likeness in children (n. 10269, 10372,
10823).
Also because it was from the Divine love, which was the
very Being [Esse] of His life from conception (n. 6872).
Every man is such as his love is, and is his love (n.
6872, 10177, 10284). The Lord made all His Human, both
internal and external, Divine (n. 1603, 1815, 1902, 1926,
2083, 2093).
Therefore, differently from any man, He rose again as to
His whole body (n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825).
[9] That the Lord's Human is Divine is acknowledged from
His omnipresence in the Holy Supper (n. 2343, 2359).
Also from His transfiguration before His three disciples
(n. 3212).
Also from the Word of the Old Testament, in that He is
called God (n. 10154); and is called Jehovah (n. 1603,
1736, 1815, 1902, 2921, 3035, 5110, 6281, 6303, 8864,
9194, 9315).
In the sense of the letter a distinction is made between
the Father and the Son, that is, between Jehovah and the
Lord, but not in the internal sense of the Word, in which
the angels of heaven are (n. 3035).
In the Christian world the Lord's Human has been declared
not to be Divine; this was done in a council for the
pope's sake, that he might be acknowledged as the Lord's
vicar (n. 4738).
[10] Christians were examined in the other life in regard
to their idea of one God, and it was found they held an
idea of three gods (n. 2329, 5256, 10736-10738, 10821).
A Divine trinity or trine in one person, constituting one
God, is conceivable, but not in three persons (n. 10738,
10821, 10824).
A Divine trine in the Lord is acknowledged in heaven (n.
14, 15, 1729, 2004, 5256, 9303).
The trine in the Lord is the Divine Itself, called the
Father, the Divine Human, called the Son, and the Divine
going forth, called the Holy Spirit and this Divine trine
is a One (n. 2149, 2156, 2288, 2319, 2329, 2447, 3704,
6993, 7182, 10738, 10822, 10823).
The Lord Himself teaches that the Father and He are One
(n. 1729, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2751, 3704, 3736, 4766);
also that the Holy Divine goes forth from Him and is His
(n. 3969, 4673, 6788, 6993, 7499, 8127, 8302, 9199, 9228,
9229, 9264, 9407, 9818, 9820, 10330).
[11] The Divine Human flows into heaven and makes heaven
(n. 3038). The Lord is the all in heaven and is the life
of heaven (n. 7211, 9128). In the angels the Lord dwells
in what is His own (n. 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157).
Consequently those who are in heaven are in the Lord (n.
3637, 3638).
The Lord's conjunction with angels is measured by their
reception of the good of love and charity from Him (n.
904, 4198, 4205, 4211, 4220, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680,
9682, 9683, 10106, 10810).
The entire heaven has reference to the Lord (n. 551, 552).
The Lord is the common center of heaven (n. 3633, 3641).
All in heaven turn themselves to the Lord, who is above
the heavens (n. 9828, 10130, 10189).
Nevertheless angels do not turn themselves to the Lord,
but the Lord turns them to Himself (n. 10189).
It is not a presence of angels with the Lord, but the
Lord's presence with angels (n. 9415).
In heaven there is no conjunction with the Divine Itself,
but conjunction with the Divine Human (n. 4211, 4724,
5663).
[12] Heaven corresponds to the Divine Human of the Lord;
consequently heaven in general is as a single man, and for
this reason heaven is called the Greatest Man (n. 2996,
2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745, 4625).
The Lord is the Only Man, and those only are men who
receive the Divine from Him (n. 1894).
So far as they receive are they men and images of Him (n.
8547).
Therefore angels are forms of love and charity in human
form, and this from the Lord (n. 3804, 4735, 4797, 4985,
5199, 5530, 9879, 10177).
[13] The whole heaven is the Lord's (n. 2751, 7086).
He has all power in the heavens and on earth (n. 1607,
10089, 10827).
As the Lord rules the whole heaven He also rules all
things depending thereon, thus all things in the world (n.
2025, 2026, 4523, 4524).
The Lord alone has the power to remove the hells, to
withhold from evils, and to hold in good, thus to save (n.
10019).
87. XII. THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE OF ALL THINGS OF HEAVEN WITH ALL
THINGS OF MAN.
What correspondence is is not known at the present day, for several
reasons, the chief of which is that man has withdrawn himself from
heaven by the love of self and love of the world. For he that loves
self and the world above all things gives heed only to worldly
things, since these appeal to the external senses and gratify the
natural longings; and he does not give heed to spiritual things,
since these appeal to the internal senses and gratify the mind,
therefore he casts them aside, saying that they are too high for his
comprehension. This was not so with the ancient people. To them the
knowledge of correspondences was the chief of knowledges. By means of
it they acquired intelligence and wisdom; and by means of it those
who were of the church had communication with heaven; for the
knowledge of correspondences is angelic knowledge. The most ancient
people, who were celestial men, thought from correspondence itself,
as the angels do. And therefore they talked with angels, and the Lord
frequently appeared to them, and they were taught by Him. But at this
day that knowledge has been so completely lost that no one knows what
correspondence is.{1}
{Footnote 1} How far the knowledge of correspondences excels
other knowledges (n. 4280). The knowledge of correspondences
was the chief knowledge of the ancient people; but at the
present day it is wholly forgotten (n. 3021, 3419, 4280, 4749,
4844, 4964, 4966, 6004, 7729, 10252). The knowledge of
correspondences flourished among the Eastern nations and in
Egypt (5702, 6692, 7097, 7779, 9391, 10407).
88. Since, then, without a perception of what correspondence is there
can be no clear knowledge of the spiritual world or of its inflow
into the natural world, neither of what the spiritual is in its
relation to the natural, nor any clear knowledge of the spirit of
man, which is called the soul, and its operation into the body,
neither of man's state after death, it is necessary to explain what
correspondence is and the nature of it. This will prepare the way for
what is to follow.
89. First, what correspondence is. The whole natural world
corresponds to the spiritual world, and not merely the natural world
in general, but also every particular of it; and as a consequence
everything in the natural world that springs from the spiritual world
is called a correspondent. It must be understood that the natural
world springs from and has permanent existence from the spiritual
world, precisely like an effect from its effecting cause. All that is
spread out under the sun and that receives heat and light from the
sun is what is called the natural world; and all things that derive
their subsistence therefrom belong to that world. But the spiritual
world is heaven; and all things in the heavens belong to that world.
90. Since man is both a heaven and a world in least form after the
image of the greatest (see above, n. 57), there is in him both a
spiritual and a natural world. The interior things that belong to his
mind, and that have relation to understanding and will, constitute
his spiritual world; while the exterior things that belong to his
body, and that have relation to its senses and activities, constitute
his natural world. Consequently, everything in his natural world
(that is, in his body and its senses and activities), that has its
existence from his spiritual world (that is, from his mind and its
understanding and will) is called a correspondent.
91. From the human face it can be seen what correspondence is. In a
face that has not been taught to dissemble, all the affections of the
mind present themselves to view in a natural form, as in their type.
This is why the face is called the index of the mind; that is, it is
man's spiritual world presented in his natural world. So, too, what
pertains to the understanding is presented in speech, and what
pertains to the will is presented in the movements of the body. So
whatever effects are produced in the body, whether in the face, in
speech, or in bodily movements, are called correspondences.
92. All this shows also what the internal man is and what the
external, namely, that the internal is what is called the spiritual
man, and the external what is called the natural man; also that the
one is distinct from the other as heaven is from the world; also that
all things that take place and come forth in the external or natural
man take place and come forth from the internal or spiritual man.
93. This much has been said about the correspondence of man's
internal or spiritual with his external or natural; now the
correspondence of the whole heaven with everything pertaining to man
shall be treated of.
94. It has been shown that the entire heaven reflects a single man,
and that it is in image a man and is therefore called the Greatest
Man. It has also been shown that the angelic societies, of which
heaven consists, are therefore arranged as the members, organs, and
viscera are in man, that is, some are in the head, some in the
breast, some in the arms, and some in each of their particulars (see
above, n. 59-72); consequently the societies in any member there
correspond to the like member in man; those in the head corresponding
to the head in man, those in the breast to the breast in man, those
in the arms to the arms in man; and so with all the rest. It is from
this correspondence that man has permanent existence, for from heaven
alone does man have permanent existence.
95. That heaven is divided into two kingdoms, one called the
celestial kingdom and the other the spiritual kingdom, may be seen
above in its own chapter. The celestial kingdom corresponds in
general to the heart and all things of the heart in the whole body,
and the spiritual kingdom to the lungs and to all things of the lungs
in the whole body. Likewise in man heart and lungs form two kingdoms,
the heart ruling there through the arteries and veins, and the lungs
through the tendinous and motor fibers, both together in every
exertion and movement. So in every man, in his spiritual world, which
is called his spiritual man, there are two kingdoms, one of the will
and the other of the understanding, the will ruling through
affections for good, and the understanding through affections for
truth; and these kingdoms correspond to the kingdoms of the heart and
of the lungs in the body. It is the same in the heavens; the
celestial kingdom is the voluntary part of heaven, and in it good of
love reigns; the spiritual kingdom is the intellectual part of
heaven, and in it truth reigns. These are what correspond to the
functions of the heart and lungs in man. It is on account of this
correspondence that in the Word the "heart" signifies the will and
also good of love, and the "breath" of the lungs signifies the
understanding and the truth of faith. For the same reason affections
are ascribed to the heart, although they are neither in it nor from
it.{1}
{Footnote 1} The correspondence of the heart and lungs with the
Greatest Man, which is heaven, from experience (n. 3883-3896),
The heart corresponds to those in the celestial kingdom, and
the lungs to those in the spiritual kingdom (n. 3885-3887).
There is in heaven a pulse like that of the heart, and a
respiration like that of the lungs but interior (n. 3884, 3885,
3887). There the pulse of the heart varies in conformity to
states of love, and the respiration in conformity to states of
charity and faith (n. 3886, 3887, 3889). In the Word the
"heart" means the will, and "from the heart" means from the
will (n. 2930, 7542, 8910, 9113, 10336). In the Word the
"heart" also signifies love, and "from the heart" means from
love (7542, 9050, 10336).
96. The correspondence of the two kingdoms of heaven with the heart
and lungs is the general correspondence of heaven with man. There is
a less general correspondence with each one of his members, organs,
and viscera; and what this is shall also be explained. In the
Greatest Man, which is heaven, those that are in the head excel all
others in every good, being in love, peace, innocence, wisdom,
intelligence, and consequent joy and happiness. These flow into the
head of man and the things belonging to the head and corresponding
thereto. In the Greatest Man, or heaven, those that are in the breast
are in the good of charity and of faith, and these flow into the
breast of man and correspond to it. In the Greatest Man, or heaven,
those that are in the loins and the organs devoted to generation are
in marriage love. Those in the feet are in the lowest good of heaven,
which is called spiritual natural good. Those in the arms and hands
are in the power of truth from good. Those that are in the eyes are
in understanding; those in the ears are in attention and obedience;
those in the nostrils are in perception; those in the mouth and
tongue are in the ability to converse from understanding and
perception; those in the kidneys are in truths searching, separating,
and correcting; those in the liver, pancreas, and spleen are in
various purifications of good and truth; and so with the rest. All
these flow into the like things of man and correspond to them. This
inflow of heaven is into the functions and uses of the bodily
members; and the uses, since they are from the spiritual world, take
on a form by means of such things as are in the natural world, and
thus present themselves in effect. From this is the correspondence.
97. For the same reason these same members, organs, and viscera have
a like significance in the Word; for everything there has a meaning
in accordance with correspondence. Thus the "head" signifies
intelligence and wisdom; the "breast" charity; the "loins" marriage
love; the "arms and hands" power of truth; the "feet" what is
natural; the "eyes" understanding; the "nostrils" perception; the
"ears" obedience, the "kidneys" the scrutiny of truth, and so on.{1}
So, too, in the common speech of man it is said of one who is
intelligent and wise that he has a good head; of one who is
charitable that he is a bosom friend; of one who has clear perception
that he is keen scented; of one who is intelligent that he is sharp
sighted; of one who is powerful that he is long handed; of one who
exercises his will from love that it is done from the heart. These
and many other expressions in the speech of men are from
correspondence, for they are from the spiritual world, although man
is ignorant of it.
{Footnote 1} In the Word the "breast" signifies charity (n.
3934, 10081, 10087). The "loins" and organs of generation
signify marriage love (n. 3021, 4280, 4462, 5050-5052). The
"arms" and "hands" signify the power of truth (n. 878, 3091,
4931-4937, 6947, 7205, 10019). The "feet" signify the natural
(n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952). The "eye"
signifies understanding (n. 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 6923,
9051, 10569). The "nostrils" signify perception (n. 3577, 4624,
4625, 4748, 5621, 8286, 10054, 10292). The "ears" signify
obedience (n. 2542, 3869, 4523, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 8990,
9311, 9397, 10061). The "kidneys" signify the scrutiny and
correction of truth (n. 5380-5386, 10032).
98. That there is such a correspondence of all things of heaven with
all things of man has been made clear to me by much experience, by so
much that I am as convinced of it as of any evident fact that admits
of no doubt. But it is not necessary to describe all this experience
here; nor would it be permissible on account of its abundance. It may
be seen set forth in the Arcana Coelestia, where correspondences,
representations, the influx of the spiritual world into the natural
world, and the interaction between soul and body, are treated of.{1}
{Footnote 1} The correspondence of all the members of the body
with the Greatest Man, or heaven, in general and in particular,
from experience (n. 3021, 3624-3649, 3741-3750, 3883-3895,
4039-4054, 4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4421, 4523-4533,
4622-4633, 4652-4660, 4791-4805, 4931-4953, 5050-5061,
5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727, 10030). The influx
of the spiritual world into the natural world or of heaven into
the world, and the influx of the soul into all things of the
body, from experience (n. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6326,
6466-6495, 6598-6626). The interaction between soul and body,
from experience (n. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495,
6598-6626).
99. But notwithstanding that all things of man's body correspond to
all things of heaven, it is not in respect to his external form that
man is an image of heaven, but in respect to his internal form; for
man's interiors are what receive heaven, while his exteriors receive
the world. So far, therefore, as his interiors receive heaven man is
in respect to them a heaven in least form, after the image of the
greatest. But so far as his interiors do not receive heaven he is not
a heaven and an image of the greatest, although his exteriors, which
receive the world, may be in a form in accordance with the order of
the world, and thus variously beautiful. For the source of outward
beauty which pertains to the body is in parents and formation in the
womb, and it is preserved afterwards by general influx from the
world. For this reason the form of one's natural man differs greatly
from the form of his spiritual man. What the form of a man's spirit
is I have been shown occasionally; and in some who were beautiful and
charming in appearance the spirit was seen to be so deformed, black
and monstrous that it might be called an image of hell, not of
heaven; while in others not beautiful there was a spirit beautifully
formed, pure, and angelic. Moreover, the spirit of man appears after
death such as it has been in the body while it lived therein in the
world.
100. But correspondence applies far more widely than to man; for
there is a correspondence of the heavens with one another. To the
third or inmost heaven the second or middle heaven corresponds, and
to the second or middle heaven the first or outmost heaven
corresponds, and this corresponds to the bodily forms in man called
his members, organs, and viscera. Thus it is the bodily part of man
in which heaven finally terminates, and upon which it stands as upon
its base. But this arcanum will be more fully unfolded elsewhere.
101. Especially it must be understood that all correspondence with
heaven is with the Lord's Divine Human, because heaven is from Him,
and He is heaven, as has been shown in previous chapters. For if the
Divine Human did not flow into all things of heaven, and in
accordance with correspondences into all things of the world, no
angel or man could exist. From this again it is evident why the Lord
became Man and clothed His Divine from first to last with a Human. It
was because the Divine Human, from which heaven existed before the
Lord's coming, was no longer sufficient to sustain all things, for
the reason that man, who is the foundation of the heavens, had
subverted and destroyed order. What the Divine Human was before the
Lord's coming, and what the condition of heaven was at that time may
be seen in the extracts appended to the preceding chapter.
102. Angels are amazed when they hear that there are men who
attribute all things to nature and nothing to the Divine, and who
also believe that their body, into which so many wonders of heaven
are gathered, is a product of nature. Still more are they amazed that
the rational part of man is believed to be from nature, when, if men
will but lift their minds a little, they can see that such effects
are not from nature but from the Divine; and that nature has been
created simply for clothing the spiritual and for presenting it in a
correspondent form in the outmost of order. Such men they liken to
owls, which see in darkness, but in light see nothing.
103. XIII. THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE OF HEAVEN WITH ALL THINGS OF THE
EARTH.
What correspondence is has been told in the preceding chapter, and it
has there been shown that each thing and all things of the animal
body are correspondences. The next step is to show that all things of
the earth, and in general all things of the universe, are
correspondences.
104. All things of the earth are distinguished into three kinds,
called kingdoms, namely, the animal kingdom, the vegetable kingdom,
and the mineral kingdom. The things of the animal kingdom are
correspondences in the first degree, because they live; the things of
the vegetable kingdom are correspondences in the second degree,
because they merely grow; the things of the mineral kingdom are
correspondences in the third degree, because they neither live nor
grow. Correspondences in the animal kingdom are living creatures of
various kinds, both those that walk and creep on the ground and those
that fly in the air; these need not be specially named, as they are
well known. Correspondences in the vegetable kingdom are all things
that grow and abound in gardens, forests, fields, and meadows; these,
too, need not be named, because they are well known. Correspondences
in the mineral kingdom are metals more and less noble, stones
precious and not precious, earths of various kinds, and also the
waters. Besides these the things prepared from them by human activity
for use are correspondences, as foods of every kind, clothing,
dwellings and other buildings, with many other things.
105. Also the things above the earth, as the sun, moon, and stars,
and those in the atmosphere, as clouds, mists, rain, lightning and
thunder, are likewise correspondences. Things resulting from the
presence and absence of the sun, as light and shade, heat and cold,
are also correspondences, as well as those that follow in succession
therefrom, as the seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, and
winter; and the times of day, morning, noon, evening, and night.
106. In a word, all things that have existence in nature, from the
least to the greatest thereof, are correspondences.{1} They are
correspondences because the natural world with all things in it
springs forth and subsists from the spiritual world, and both worlds
from the Divine. They are said to subsist also, because everything
subsists from that from which it springs forth, subsistence being a
permanent springing forth; also because nothing can subsist from
itself, but only from that which is prior to itself, thus from a
First, and if separated from that it would utterly perish and vanish.
{Footnote 1} All things that are in the world and its three
kingdoms correspond to the heavenly things that are in heaven,
that is, the things in the natural world correspond to the
things in the spiritual world (n. 1632, 1881, 2758, 2760-2763,
2987-3003, 3213-3227, 3483, 3624-3649, 4044, 4053, 4116, 4366,
4939, 5116, 5377, 5428, 5477, 9280). By correspondences the
natural world is conjoined to the spiritual world (n. 8615).
For this reason all nature is a theatre representative of the
Lord's kingdom (n. 2758, 2999, 3000, 3483, 4938, 4939, 8848,
9280).
107. Everything in nature that springs forth and subsists in
accordance with Divine order is a correspondence. Divine order is
caused by the Divine good that flows forth from the Lord. It begins
in Him, goes forth from Him through the heavens in succession into
the world, and is terminated there in outmosts; and everything there
that is in accordance with order is a correspondence. Everything
there is in accordance with order that is good and perfect for use,
because everything good is good in the measure of its use; while its
form has relation to truth, truth being the form of good. And for
this reason everything in the whole world and of the nature thereof
that is in Divine order has reference to good and truth.{1}
{Footnote 1} Everything in the universe, both in heaven and in
the world, that is in accordance with order, has reference to
good and truth (n. 2451, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122);
and to the conjunction of these, in order to be anything (n.
10555).
108. That all things in the world spring from the Divine, and are
clothed with such things in nature as enable them to exist there and
perform use, and thus to correspond, is clearly evident from the
various things seen in both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. In
both there are things that any one who thinks interiorly can see to
be from heaven. For illustration a few things out of a countless
number may be mentioned; and first some things from the animal
kingdom. Many are aware what knowledge there is engrafted as it were
in every animal. Bees know how to gather honey from flowers, to build
cells out of wax in which to store their honey, and thus provide food
for themselves and their families, even for a coming winter. That a
new generation may be born their queen lays eggs, and the rest take
care of them and cover them. They live under a sort of government
which all know by instinct. They preserve the working bees and cast
out the drones, depriving them of their wings; besides other
wonderful things implanted in them from heaven for the sake of their
use, their wax everywhere serving the human race for candles, their
honey for adding sweetness to food. [2] Again, what wonders do we see
in worms, the meanest creatures in the animal kingdom! They know how
to get food from the juice of the leaves suited to them, and
afterward at the appointed time to invest themselves with a covering
and enter as it were into a womb, and thus hatch offspring of their
own kind. Some are first turned into nymphs and chrysalides, spinning
threads about themselves; and this travail being over they come forth
clad with a different body, furnished with wings with which they fly
in the air as in their heaven, and celebrate marriages and lay eggs
and provide posterity for themselves. [3] Besides these special
instances all creatures in general that fly in the air know the
proper food for their nourishment, not only what it is but where to
find it; they know how to build nests for themselves, one kind in one
way and another kind in another way; how to lay their eggs in the
nests, how to sit upon them, how to hatch their young and feed them,
and to turn them out of their home when they are able to shift for
themselves. They know, too, their enemies that they must avoid and
their friends with whom they may associate, and this from early
infancy; not to mention the wonders in the eggs themselves, in which
all things lie ready in their order for the formation and nourishment
of the chicks; besides numberless other things. [4] Who that thinks
from any wisdom of reason will ever say that these instincts are from
any other source than the spiritual world, which the natural serves
in clothing what is from it with a body, or in presenting in effect
what is spiritual in the cause? The beasts of the earth and the birds
of the air are born into all this knowledge, while man, who is far
superior to them, is not; for the reason that animals are in the
order of their life, and have not been able to destroy what is in
them from the spiritual world, because they have no rational faculty.
Man, on the other hand, whose thought is from the spiritual world,
having perverted what is in him from that world by a life contrary to
order, which his rational faculty has favored, must needs be born
into mere ignorance and afterwards be led back by Divine means into
the order of heaven.
109. How the things in the vegetable kingdom correspond can be seen
from many instances, as that little seeds grow into trees, put forth
leaves, produce flowers, and then fruit, in which again they deposit
seed, these things taking place in succession and existing together
in an order so wonderful as to be indescribable in a few words.
Volumes might be filled, and yet there would be still deeper arcana,
relating more closely to their uses, which science would be unable to
exhaust. Since these things, too, are from the spiritual world, that
is, from heaven, which is in the human form (as has been shown above
in its own chapter), so all the particulars in this kingdom have a
certain relation to such things as are in man, as some in the learned
world know. That all things in this kingdom also are correspondences
has been made clear to me by much experience. Often when I have been
in gardens and have been looking at the trees, fruits, flowers, and
plants there, I have recognized their correspondences in heaven, and
have spoken with those with whom these were, and have been taught
whence and what they were.
110. But at the present day no one can know the spiritual things in
heaven to which the natural things in the world correspond except
from heaven, since the knowledge of correspondences is now wholly
lost. But the nature of the correspondence of spiritual things with
natural I shall be glad to illustrate by some examples. The animals
of the earth correspond in general to affection, mild and useful
animals to good affections, fierce and useless ones to evil
affections. In particular, cattle and their young correspond to the
affections of the natural mind, sheep and lambs to the affections of
the spiritual mind; while birds correspond, according to their
species, to the intellectual things of the natural or the spiritual
mind.{1} For this reason various animals, as cattle and their young,
rams, sheep, he-goats, and she-goats, he-lambs and she-lambs, also
pigeons and turtledoves, were devoted to a sacred use in the
Israelitish Church, which was a representative church, and sacrifices
and burnt offerings were made of them. For they correspond in that
use to spiritual things, and in heaven these were understood in
accordance with the correspondences. Moreover, animals according to
their kinds and species, because they have life, are affections; and
the life of each one is solely from affection and in accordance with
affection; consequently every animal has an innate knowledge that is
in accord with its life's affection. Man is like an animal so far as
his natural man is concerned, and is therefore likened to animals in
common speech; for example, if he is gentle he is called a sheep or
lamb, if fierce a bear or wolf, if cunning a fox or serpent, and so
on.
{Footnote 1} From correspondence animals signify affections;
mild and useful animals good affections, fierce and useless
ones evil affections (n. 41, 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 716,
719, 2179, 2180, 3519, 9280); illustrated by experience from
the spiritual world (n. 3218, 5198, 9090). Influx of the
spiritual world into the lives of animals (n. 1633, 3646).
Cattle and their young from correspondence signify affections
of the natural mind (n. 2180, 2566, 9391, 10132, 10407). What
sheep signify (n. 4169, 4809); and lambs (n. 3994, 10132).
Flying creatures signify intellectual things (n. 40, 745, 776,
778, 866, 988, 991, 5149, 7441); with a difference according to
their genera and species, from experience in the spiritual
world (n. 3219).
111. There is a like correspondence with things in the vegetable
kingdom. In general, a garden corresponds to the intelligence and
wisdom of heaven; and for this reason heaven is called the Garden of
God, and Paradise;{1} and men call it the heavenly paradise. Trees,
according to their species, correspond to the perceptions and
knowledges of good and truth which are the source of intelligence and
wisdom. For this reason the ancient people, who were acquainted with
correspondences, held their sacred worship in groves;{2} and for the
same reason trees are so often mentioned in the Word, and heaven, the
church, and man are compared to them; as the vine, the olive, the
cedar, and others, and the good works done by men are compared to
fruits. Also the food derived from trees, and more especially from
the grain harvests of the field, corresponds to affections for good
and truth, because these affections feed the spiritual life, as the
food of the earth does the natural life;{3} and bread from grain, in
a general sense, because it is the food that specially sustains life,
and because it stands for all food, corresponds to an affection for
all good. It is on account of this correspondence that the Lord calls
Himself the bread of life; and that loaves of bread had a holy use in
the Israelitish Church, being placed on the table in the tabernacle
and called "the bread of faces;" also the Divine worship that was
performed by sacrifices and burnt offerings was called "bread."
Moreover, because of this correspondence the most holy act of worship
in the Christian Church is the Holy Supper, in which bread is given,
and wine.{4} From these few examples the nature of correspondence can
be seen.
{Footnote 1} From correspondence a garden and a paradise
signify intelligence and wisdom (n. 100, 108); from experience
(n. 3220). All things that have a correspondence have in the
Word the same significance (n. 2896, 2987, 2989, 2990, 2991,
3002, 3225).
{Footnote 2} Trees signify perceptions and knowledges (n. 103,
2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692). For this reason the ancient
people held Divine worship in groves under trees according to
their correspondence (n. 2722, 4552). Influx of heaven into
subjects of the vegetable kingdom, as into trees and plants (n.
3648).
{Footnote 3} From correspondence foods signify such things as
nourish the spiritual life (n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 4976, 5147,
5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 5915,
6277, 8562, 9003).
{Footnote 4} Bread signifies every good that nourishes the
spiritual life of man (n. 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211,
4217, 4735, 4976, 9323, 9545, 10686). Such was the
signification of the loaves that were on the table in the
tabernacle (n. 3478, 9545). Sacrifices in general were called
bread (n. 2165). Bread includes all food (n. 2165). Thus it
signifies all heavenly and spiritual food (n. 276, 680, 2165,
2177, 3478, 6118, 8410).
112. How conjunction of heaven with the world is effected by means of
correspondences shall also be told in a few words. The Lord's kingdom
is a kingdom of ends, which are uses; or what is the same thing, a
kingdom of uses which are ends. For this reason the universe has been
so created and formed by the Divine that uses may be every where
clothed in such a way as to be presented in act, or in effect, first
in heaven and afterwards in the world, thus by degrees and
successively, down to the outmost things of nature. Evidently, then,
the correspondence of natural things with spiritual things, or of the
world with heaven, is through uses, and uses are what conjoin; and
the form in which uses are clothed are correspondences and are
conjunctions just to the extent that they are forms of uses. In the
nature of the world in its threefold kingdom, all things that exist
in accordance with order are forms of uses, or effects formed from
use for use, and this is why the things in nature are
correspondences. But in the case of man, so far as he is in
accordance with Divine order, that is, so far as he is in love to the
Lord and in charity towards the neighbor, are his acts uses in form,
and correspondences, and through these he is conjoined to heaven. To
love the Lord and the neighbor means in general to perform uses.{1}
Furthermore, it must be understood that man is the means by which the
natural world and the spiritual world are conjoined, that is, man is
the medium of conjunction, because in him there is a natural world
and there is a spiritual world (see above, n. 57); consequently to
the extent that man is spiritual he is the medium of conjunction; but
to the extent that a man is natural, and not spiritual, he is not a
medium of conjunction. Nevertheless, apart from this mediumship of
man, a Divine influx into the world and into the things pertaining to
man that are of the world goes on, but not into man's rational
faculty.
{Footnote 1} Every good has its delight as well as its quality
from use and in accordance with use; therefore such as the use
is, such is the good (n. 3049, 4984, 7038). Angelic life
consists in the goods of love and charity, that is, in
performing uses (n. 454). The Lord, and consequently the
angels, look only, in regard to man, to ends, which are uses
(n. 1317, 1645, 5854). The Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses
that is, of ends (n. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). Serving
the Lord is performing uses (n. 7038). Each thing and all
things in man have been formed for use (n. 3626, 4104, 5189
9297; also from use, that is, the use is prior to the organic
forms in man through which the use is performed, because use is
from the inflowing of the Lord through heaven (n. 4223, 4926).
Moreover man's interiors, which constitute his mind, when he
grows to maturity are formed from use and for use (n. 1964,
6815, 9297). Consequently man is such as are the uses with him
(n. 1568, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 10284). Uses are the
ends for the sake of which (n. 3565, 4054, 4104, 6815). Use is
the first and the last, thus the all of man (n. 1964).
113. As all things that are in accord with Divine order correspond to
heaven, so all things contrary to Divine order correspond to hell.
All things that correspond to heaven have relation to good and truth;
but those that correspond to hell have relation to evil and falsity.
114. Something shall now be said about the knowledge of
correspondences and its use. It has been said above that the
spiritual world, which is heaven, is conjoined with the natural world
by means of correspondences; therefore by means of correspondences
communication with heaven is granted to man. For the angels of heaven
do not think from natural things, as man does; but when man has
acquired a knowledge of correspondences he is able, in respect to the
thoughts of his mind, to be associated with the angels, and thus in
respect to his spiritual or internal man to be conjoined with them.
That there might be such a conjunction of heaven with man the Word
was written wholly by correspondences, each thing and all things in
it being correspondent.{1} If man, therefore, had a knowledge of
correspondences he would understand the spiritual sense of the Word,
and from that it would be given him to know arcana of which he sees
nothing in the sense of the letter. For there is a literal sense and
there is a spiritual sense in the Word, the literal sense made up of
such things as are in the world, and the spiritual sense of such
things as are in heaven. And such a Word, in which everything down to
the least jot is a correspondence, was given to men because the
conjunction of heaven with the world is effected by means of
correspondences.{2}
{Footnote 1} The Word was written wholly by correspondences (n.
8615). By means, of the Word man has conjunction with heaven
(n. 2899, 6943, 9396, 9400, 9401, 10375, 10452).
{Footnote 2} Concerning the spiritual sense of the Word see the
little work on The White Horse referred to in the Apocalypse.
115. I have been taught from heaven that the most ancient men on our
earth, who were celestial men, thought from correspondences
themselves, the natural things of the world before their eyes serving
them as means of thinking in this way; and that they could be in
fellowship with angels and talk with them because they so thought,
and that thus through them heaven was conjoined to the world. For
this reason that period was called the Golden Age, of which it is
said by ancient writers that the inhabitants of heaven dwelt with men
and associated with them as friends with friends. But after this
there followed a period when men thought, not from correspondences
themselves, but from a knowledge of correspondences, and there was
then also a conjunction of heaven with man, but less intimate. This
period was called the Silver Age. After this there followed men who
had a knowledge of correspondences but did not think from that
knowledge, because they were in natural good, and not, like those
before them in spiritual good. This period was called the Copper Age.
After this man gradually became external, and finally corporeal, and
then the knowledge of correspondences was wholly lost, and with it a
knowledge of heaven and of the many things pertaining to heaven. It
was from correspondence that these ages were named from gold, silver,
and copper,{1} and for the reason that from correspondence gold
signifies celestial good in which were the most ancient people,
silver spiritual good in which were the ancient people that followed,
and copper natural good in which were the next posterity; while iron,
from which the last age takes its name, signifies hard truth apart
from good.
{Footnote 1} Gold from correspondence signifies celestial good
(n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881).
Silver signifies spiritual good, that is, truth from a
celestial origin (n. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658). Copper signifies
natural good (n. 425, 1551). Iron signifies truth in the
outmost of order (n. 425, 426).
116. XIV. THE SUN IN HEAVEN.
In heaven neither the sun of the world, nor anything from that sun,
is seen, because it is wholly natural. For nature has its beginning
from that sun, and whatever is produced by means of it is called
natural. But the spiritual, to which heaven belongs, is above nature
and wholly distinct from what is natural; and there is no
communication between the two except by correspondences. What the
distinction between them is may be understood from what has been
already said about degrees (n. 38), and what the communication is
from what has been said in the two preceding chapters about
correspondences.
117. Although the sun of the world is not seen in heaven, nor
anything from that sun, there is nevertheless a sun there, and light
and heat, and all things that are in the world, with innumerable
others, but not from a like origin; since the things in heaven are
spiritual, and those in the world are natural. The sun of heaven is
the Lord; the light there is the Divine truth and the heat the Divine
good that go forth from the Lord as a sun. From this origin are all
things that spring forth and are seen in the heavens. This light and
heat and things existing therefrom in heaven will be treated of in
the following chapters; in this chapter we will speak only of the sun
there. In heaven the Lord is seen as a sun, for the reason that He is
Divine love, from which all spiritual things, and by means of the sun
of the world all natural things, have their existence. That love is
what shines as a sun.
118. That the Lord is actually seen in heaven as a sun I have not
only been told by angels, but it has occasionally been granted me to
see it; and therefore what I have heard and seen respecting the Lord
as a sun I shall be glad to tell in a few words. The Lord is seen as
a sun, not in heaven, but high above the heavens; and not directly
overhead or in the zenith, but before the faces of the angels at a
middle height. He is seen at a considerable distance, in two places,
one before the right eye and the other before the left eye. Before
the right eye He is seen exactly like a sun, as it were, with a glow
and size like that of the sun of the world. But before the left eye
He is not seen as a sun, but as a moon, glowing white like the moon
of our earth, and of like size, but more brilliant, and surrounded
with many little moons, as it were, each of them of similar whiteness
and splendor. The Lord is seen so differently in two places because
every person sees the Lord in accordance with the quality of his
reception of the Lord, thus He is seen in one way by those that
receive Him with the good of love, and in another by those that
receive Him with the good of faith. Those that receive Him with the
good of love see Him as a sun, fiery and flaming, in accordance with
their reception of Him; these are in His celestial kingdom; while
those that receive Him with the good of faith see Him as a moon,
white and brilliant in accordance with their reception of Him, and
these are in His spiritual kingdom.{1} This is so because good of
love corresponds to fire; therefore in the spiritual sense fire is
love; and the good of faith corresponds to light, and in the
spiritual sense light is faith.{2} And the Lord appears before the
eyes because the interiors, which belong to the mind, see through the
eyes, from good of love through the right eye, and from good of faith
through the left eye;{3} since with angels and also with men all
things at the right correspond to good from which truth is derived,
and all at the left to truth that is from good.{4} Good of faith is
in its essence truth from good.
{Footnote 1} The Lord is seen in heaven as a sun, and is the
sun of heaven (n. 1053, 3636, 3643, 4060). The Lord is seen as
a sun by those who are in His celestial kingdom, where love to
Him reigns, and as a moon by those who are in His spiritual
kingdom, where charity to the neighbor and faith reign (n.
1521, 1529-1531, 1837, 4696). The Lord is seen as a sun at a
middle height before the right eye, and an a moon before the
left eye (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4321, 5097,
7078, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8812, 10809). The Lord is seen as a sun
and as a moon (n. 1531, 7173). The Lord's Divine Itself is far
above His Divine in heaven (n. 7270, 8760).
{Footnote 2} "Fire" in the Word signifies love, both in a good
sense and in a bad sense (n. 934, 4906, 5215). Holy or heavenly
fire signifies the Divine Love (n. 934, 6314, 6832). Infernal
fire signifies love of self and of the world and every lust of
those loves (n. 1861, 5071, 6314, 6832, 7575, 10747). Love is
the fire of life and life itself is really from it (n. 4906,
5071, 6032, 6314). "Light" signifies the truth of faith (n.
3195, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413, 4415, 9548, 9684).
{Footnote 3} The sight of the left eye corresponds to truths of
faith, and the sight of the right eye to their goods (n. 4410,
6923).
{Footnote 4} The things on man's right have relation to good
from which is truth, and those on his left to truth from good
(n. 9495, 9604).
119. This is why in the Word the Lord in respect to love is likened
to the sun, and in respect to faith to the moon; also that the "sun"
signifies love from the Lord to the Lord, and the "moon" signifies
faith from the Lord in the Lord, as in the following passages:
The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light
of seven days (Isa. 30:26).
And when I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens
and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with
a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine.
All luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark
over thee, and I will set darkness upon thy land (Ezek.
32:7, 8).
I will darken the sun in his going forth, and the moon
shall not make her light to shine (Isa. 13:10)
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars
shall withdraw their shining. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood (Joel 2:2, 10, 31; 3:16).
The sun became black as sackcloth and hair, and the moon
became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Apoc.
6:12, 13).
Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun
shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matt. 24:29).
And elsewhere. In these passages the "sun" signifies love, and the
"moon" faith, and the "stars" knowledges of good and truth.{1} These
are said to be darkened, to lose their light, and to fall from
heaven, when they are no more. That the Lord is seen as a sun in
heaven is evident also from His appearance when transfigured before
Peter, James, and John,
That His face did shine as the sun (Matt. 17:2).
These disciples thus saw the Lord when they were withdrawn from the
body, and were in the light of heaven. It was because of this
correspondence that the ancient people, with whom was a
representative church, turned the face to the sun in the east when
they were in Divine worship; and for the same reason they gave to
their temples an eastern aspect.
{Footnote 1} "Stars" and "constellations" in the Word signify
knowledges of good and truth (n. 2495, 2849, 4697).
120. How great the Divine love is and what it is can be seen by
comparison with the sun of the world, that it is most ardent, if you
will believe it, much more ardent than that sun. For this reason the
Lord as a sun does not flow without mediums into the heavens, but the
ardor of His love is gradually tempered on the way. These temperings
appear as radiant belts about the sun; furthermore, the angels are
veiled with a thin adapting cloud to prevent their being harmed by
the influx.{1} For this reason the heavens are more or less near in
accordance with reception. As the higher heavens are in good of love
they are nearest to the Lord as the sun; and as the lower heavens are
in good of faith they are farther away from Him. But those that are
in no good, like those in hell, are farthest away, at different
distances in accordance with their opposition to good.{2}
{Footnote 1} What the Lord's Divine love is, and how great it
is, illustrated by comparison with the fire of this world's sun
(n. 6834, 6849, 8644). The Lord's Divine love is love toward
the whole human race to save it (n. 1820, 1865, 2253, 6872).
The love that first goes forth from the fire of the Lord's love
does not enter heaven, but is seen as radiant belts about the
sun (n. 7270). The angels are veiled with a corresponding thin
cloud, to prevent their being harmed by the glow of burning
love (n. 6849).
{Footnote 2} The Lord's presence with the angels is in
proportion to their reception of good of love and faith from
Him (n. 904, 4198, 4320, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682,
9683, 10106, 10811). The Lord appears to each one in accordance
with what he is (n. 1861, 3235, 4198, 4206). The hells are at a
distance from the heavens because they cannot bear the presence
of Divine love from the Lord (n. 4299, 7519, 7738, 7989, 8137,
8265, 9327). For this reason the hells are very far away from
the heavens, and this is the "great gulf" (n. 9346, 10187).
121. When, however, the Lord appears in heaven, which often occurs,
He does not appear encompassed with a sun, but in the form of an
angel, yet distinguished from angels by the Divine shining through
from His face, since He is not there in person, for in person the
Lord is constantly encompassed by the sun, but He is present by look.
For it is a common occurrence in heaven for persons to appear to be
present in a place where their look is fixed or is terminated, even
when this place is far away from where they really are. This presence
is called the presence of internal sight, which will be treated of
further on. I have also seen the Lord out of the sun in an angelic
form, at a height a little below the sun; also near by in a like
form, with shining face, and once in the midst of angels as a
flame-like radiance.
122. To the angels the sun of the world appears like a dense darkness
opposite to the sun of heaven, and the moon like a darkness opposite
to the moon of heaven, and this constantly; and for the reason that
the world's fieriness corresponds to the love of self, and the light
from it corresponds to what is false from that love; and the love of
self is the direct opposite of the Divine love; and what is false
from that love is the direct opposite of the Divine truth; and the
opposite of the Divine love and the Divine truth is to the angels
thick darkness. Therefore, in the Word, to worship the sun and moon
of this world and bow down to them, signifies to love self and the
falsities that spring from the love of self, and it is said that such
would be cut off. (Deut. 4:19; 16:3-5; Jer. 8:1, 2; Ezek. 8:15, 16,
18; Apoc. 16:8; Matt. 13:6).{1}
{Footnote 1} The sun of the world is not seen by the angels,
but in its place something dark behind, opposite to the sun of
heaven or the Lord (n. 7078, 9755). In the opposite sense the
sun signifies the love of self (n. 2441); and in this sense "to
worship the sun" signifies to worship what is contrary to
heavenly love or to the Lord (n. 2441, 10584). To those in the
hells the sun of heaven is thick darkness (n. 2441).
123. As it is from the Divine love that is in and from Him that the
Lord appears in heaven like a sun, so all in the heavens are turned
constantly to Him those in the celestial kingdom to Him as a sun and
those in the spiritual kingdom to Him as a moon. But those that are
in hell turn themselves to an opposite darkness and dense darkness,
that is, they turn backwards, away from the Lord; and for the reason
that all in the hells are in love of self and the world, thus
antagonistic to the Lord. Those who turn themselves to the dense
darkness that is in the place where this world's sun is are in the
hells behind, and are called genii; while those that turn themselves
to the darkness that is in the place of the moon are in the hells
more in front, and are called spirits. This is why those in the hells
are said to be in darkness, and those in the heavens in light,
"darkness" signifying falsity from evil, and "light" truth from good.
They so turn themselves because all in the other life look towards
what rules in their interiors, thus to their loves; and with angels
and spirits the interiors determine the face; and in the spiritual
world quarters are not fixed, as in the natural world, but are
determined by the face. In respect to his spirit man turns himself in
like manner as a spirit does, backwards from the Lord if he is in
love of self and the world, and towards the Lord if he is in love to
the Lord and the neighbor. But of this man is ignorant, because he is
in the natural world where quarters are determined by the rising and
setting of the sun. But as this cannot be easily comprehended by men
it will be elucidated hereafter when Quarters, Space, and Time in
Heaven are treated of.
124. Because the Lord is the sun of heaven and everything that is
from Him looks to Him, He is also the common center, the source of
all direction and determination.{1} So, too, all things beneath are
in His presence and under His auspices, both in the heavens and on
the earths.
{Footnote 1} The Lord is the common center to which all things
of heaven turn (n. 3633, 3641).
125. From all this what has been said and shown in previous chapters
about the Lord may now be seen in clearer light, namely:
That He is the God of heaven (n. 2-6).
That it is His Divine that makes heaven (n. 7-12).
That the Lord's Divine in heaven is love to Him and
charity towards the neighbor (n. 13-19).
That there is a correspondence of all things of the world
with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord (n. 87-115).
Also that the sun and moon of the world are
correspondences (n. 105).
126. XV. LIGHT AND HEAT IN HEAVEN.
That there is light in the heavens those who think from nature alone
cannot comprehend; and yet such is the light in the heavens that it
exceeds by many degrees the noon-day light of the world. That light I
have often seen, even during the evening and night. At first I
wondered when I heard the angels say that the light of this world is
little more than a shadow in comparison with the light of heaven; but
having seen it I can testify that it is so. The brightness and
splendor of the light of heaven are such as cannot be described. All
things that I have seen in the heavens have been seen in that light,
thus more clearly and distinctly than things in this world.
127. The light of heaven is not a natural light, like the light of
the world, but a spiritual light, because it is from the Lord as a
sun, and that sun is the Divine love (as has been shown in the
foregoing chapter). That which goes forth from the Lord as a sun is
called in the heavens Divine truth, but in its essence it is Divine
good united to Divine truth. From this the angels have light and
heat, light from Divine truth, and heat from Divine good. As the
light of heaven, and the heat also, are from such a source, it is
evident that they are spiritual and not natural.{1}
{Footnote 1} All light in the heavens is from the Lord as a sun
(n. 1053, 1521, 3195, 3341, 3636, 3643, 4415, 9548, 9684,
10809). The Divine truth that goes forth from the Lord appears
in heaven as light, and furnishes all the light of heaven (n.
3195, 3222, 3223, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684).
128. The Divine truth is light to the angels because the angels are
spiritual and not natural. Spiritual beings see from their sun, and
natural beings from theirs. It is from Divine truth that angels have
understanding, and their understanding is their inner sight, which
flows into and produces their outer sight; therefore in heaven
whatever is seen from the Lord as the sun is seen in light.{1} This
being the source of light in heaven the light is varied there in
accordance with the reception of Divine truth from the Lord; or what
is the same, in accordance with the intelligence and wisdom in which
the angels are, thus differently in the celestial kingdom and in the
spiritual kingdom, and differently in each society. In the celestial
kingdom the light appears flaming because the angels there receive
light from the Lord as a sun; but in the spiritual kingdom the light
is shining white, because the angels there receive light from the
Lord as a moon (see above, n. 118). So, too, the light differs in
different societies, and again in each society, those that are at the
center being in greater light and those in the circumference in less
light (see n. 43). In a word, the angels have light in the same
degree in which they are recipients of Divine truth, that is, are in
intelligence and wisdom from the Lord;{2} and this is why the angels
of heaven are called angels of light.
{Footnote 1} The light of heaven illumines both the sight and
the understanding of angels and spirits (n. 2776, 3138).
{Footnote 2} The light in heaven is in harmony with the
intelligence and wisdom of the angels (n. 1524, 1529, 1530,
3339). Differences of light in the heavens are as many as there
are angelic societies; and as there are in the heavens endless
varieties of good and truth, so are there of wisdom and
intelligence (n. 684, 690, 3241, 3744, 3745, 4414, 5598, 7236,
7833, 7836).
129. As the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth, and the Divine truth
there is light, so in the Word He is called Light, likewise all truth
is from Him, as in the following passages:
Jesus said, I am the light of the world; he that followeth
Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life (John 8:12).
As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world
(John 9:5).
Jesus said, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk
while ye have the light, lest darkness overtake you. While
ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may be
sons of light. I have come a light into the world, that
whosoever believeth in Me may not abide in darkness (John
12:35, 36, 46).
Light has come into the world, but men have loved the
darkness rather than the light (John 3:19).
John says of the Lord:
This is the true light which lighteneth every man (John
1:9).
The people that sit in darkness have seen a great light,
and to them that were sitting in the shadow of death light
is sprung up (Matt. 4:16).
I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light
of the Gentiles (Isa. 13:6).
I have established Thee for a light of the Gentiles that
Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth
(Isa. 19:6).
The nations of them that are saved shall walk in His light
(Apoc. 21:24).
Send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me (Psalm
43:3).
In these and other passages the Lord is called light from Divine
truth, which is from Him; and the truth itself is likewise called
light. As light in the heavens is from the Lord as a sun, so when He
was transfigured before Peter, James, and John:
His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white
as the light (Matt. 17:2).
And His garments became shining, exceeding white as snow,
so as no fuller on earth can whiten them (Mark 9:3; Matt.
17:2).
The Lord's garments had this appearance because they represented
Divine truth which is from Him in the heavens, "garments" also in the
Word signifying truths,{1} consequently it is said in David:
O Jehovah, Thou coverest Thyself with light as with a
garment (Psalm 104:2).
{Footnote 1} In the Word "garments" signify truths, because
truths clothe good (n. 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9216,
9952, 10536). The Lord's garments when He was transfigured
signified Divine truth going forth from His Divine love (n.
9212, 9216).
130. That light in the heavens is spiritual and that this light is
Divine truth may be inferred also from the fact that men as well as
angels have spiritual light, and have enlightenment from that light
so far as they are in intelligence and wisdom from Divine truth.
Man's spiritual light is the light of his understanding, and the
objects of that light are truths, which he arranges analytically into
groups, forms into reason, and from them draws conclusions in
series.{1} The natural man does not know that the light from which
the understanding sees such things is a real light, for he neither
sees it with his eyes nor perceives it by thought. And yet there are
many who recognize this light, and distinguish it from the natural
light in which those are who think naturally and not spiritually.
Those think naturally who take account of the world only, and
attribute all things to nature; while those think spiritually who
take account of heaven and attribute all things to the Divine. It has
often been granted me to perceive and also to see that there is a
true light that enlightens the mind, wholly distinct from the light
that is called natural light [lumen]. I have been raised up
interiorly into that light by degrees; and as I was raised up my
understanding became so enlightened as to enable me to perceive what
I did not perceive before, and finally such things as I could not
even comprehend by thought from natural light. Sometimes I felt
indignant that I could not comprehend these things when they were so
clearly and plainly perceived in the light of heaven.{2} Because
there is a light that belongs to the understanding, the same things
are said of it as of the eye, as that it sees and is in light when it
perceives, and is in obscurity and shade when it does not perceive,
and so on.
{Footnote 1} Man is rational because his understanding is
illumined by the light of heaven (n. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408,
6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569). The understanding is
enlightened because it is a recipient of truth (n. 6222, 6608,
10659). The understanding is enlightened to the extent that man
receives truth in good from the lord (n. 3619). The
understanding is such as are the truths from good by which it
is formed (n. 10064). The understanding has light from heaven,
as the sight has light from the world (n. 1524, 5114, 6608,
9128). The light of heaven from the Lord is always present with
man, but it flows in only in the degree that man is in truth
from good (n. 4060, 4214).
{Footnote 2} When man is raised up from the sensual he comes
into a milder light, and at length into heavenly light (n.
6313, 6315, 9407). When man is raised up into intelligence
there is an actual elevation into the light of heaven (n.
3190). How great a light was perceived when I was withdrawn
from worldly ideas (n. 1526, 6608).
131. As the light of heaven is Divine truth, that light is also
Divine wisdom and intelligence; therefore to be raised up into the
light of heaven means the same as to be raised up into intelligence
and wisdom and enlightened. For this reason the angels have light in
just the same degree as they have intelligence and wisdom. Because
the light of heaven is Divine wisdom, in that light the character of
everyone is recognized. The interiors of everyone lie open to view in
his face just as they are, with not the least thing hidden. And
interior angels love to have all things that pertain to them lying
open, since they will nothing but good. It is otherwise with those
beneath heaven, who do not will what is good, and for that reason
fear greatly to be seen in the light of heaven. And wonderful to
tell, while those in hell appear to one another as men, in the light
of heaven they appear as monsters, with a horrid face and body, the
exact form of their own evil.{1} In respect to his spirit man
appears, when seen by angels, in a like way; if good as a man,
beautiful in accord with his good; if evil as a monster, ugly in
accord with his evil. From this it is clear that in the light of
heaven all things are made manifest, and for the reason that the
light of heaven is Divine truth.
{Footnote 1} Those in the hells, in their own light, which is
like the light from burning coals, appear to themselves as men
but in the light of heaven they appear as monsters (n. 4531,
4533, 4674, 5057, 5058, 6605, 6626).
132. As Divine truth is light in the heavens, so all truths wherever
they are, whether within an angel or outside of him, or whether
within the heavens or outside of them, emit light. Nevertheless,
truths outside of the heavens do not shine as truths within the
heavens do. Truths outside of the heavens shine coldly, like
something snowy, without heat, because they do not draw their essence
from good, as truths within the heavens do; therefore that cold light
vanishes as soon as the light of heaven falls on it, and if there is
evil underneath it it is turned into darkness. This I have
occasionally seen, with many other noteworthy things about the
shining of truth, which must be omitted here.
133. Something shall now be said about the heat of heaven. That heat
in its essence is love. It goes forth from the Lord as a sun, which
is Divine love in the Lord and from the Lord, as has been shown in
the preceding chapter. It is evident, therefore, that the heat of
heaven, like the light of heaven, is spiritual, because from the same
source.{1} There are two things that go forth from the Lord as a sun,
Divine truth and Divine good; Divine truth is manifested in the
heavens as light, and Divine good as heat; and yet Divine truth and
Divine good are so united that they are not two, but one.
Nevertheless, with angels they are separate, for there are angels
that receive more of Divine good than of Divine truth, and there are
those that receive more of Divine truth than of Divine good. Those
who receive more of Divine good are in the Lord's celestial kingdom,
and those who receive more of Divine truth are in His spiritual
kingdom. Those that receive both in a like degree are the most
perfect angels.
{Footnote 1} There are two sources of heat and also two sources
of light, the sun of the world and the sun of heaven (n. 3338,
5215, 7324). Heat from the Lord as a sun is affection of love
(n. 3636, 3643). Therefore spiritual heat in its essence is
love (n. 2146, 3338, 3339, 6314).
134. The heat of heaven, like the light of heaven, is everywhere
different. It is different in the celestial kingdom from what it is
in the spiritual kingdom, and it is different in each society
therein. It differs both in degree and in quality. It is more intense
and more pure in the Lord's celestial kingdom, because the angels
there receive more of Divine good; and it is less intense and pure in
His spiritual kingdom, because the angels there receive more of
Divine truth. Also in each society the heat differs in accordance
with reception. There is heat in the hells, but it is unclean
heat.{1} The heat in heaven is what is meant by holy and heavenly
fire, and the heat of hell by profane and infernal fire. Both mean
love--heavenly fire meaning love to the Lord and love to the
neighbor and every affection of those loves, and infernal fire
meaning love of self and love of the world and every lust of those
loves. That love is heat from a spiritual source is shown from one's
growing warm with love; for in accordance with the strength and
nature of his love a man is inflamed and grows warm; and the heat of
his love is made manifest when it is opposed. From this also it is
customary to speak of being inflamed, growing hot, burning, boiling,
being on fire, both in regard to the affections of the love of good
and the lusts of the love of evil.
{Footnote 1} There is heat in the hells, but it is unclean (n.
1773, 2757, 3340). The odor from it is like the odor from dung
and excrement in the world and in the worst hells like the odor
of dead bodies (n. 814, 815, 817, 819, 820, 943, 944, 5394).
135. Love going forth from the Lord as a sun is felt in heaven as
heat, because the interiors of the angels are in a state of love from
the Divine good that is from the Lord; and in consequence their
exteriors which grow warm therefrom are in a state of heat. For this
reason heat and love so correspond to each other in heaven that
everyone there is in heat such as his love is, according to what has
been said just above. This world's heat does not enter heaven at all,
because it is too gross, and is natural, and not spiritual; but with
men it is otherwise, because they are in both the spiritual world and
the natural world. As to their spirits they grow warm in exact
accordance with their loves; but as to the body they grow warm both
from the heat of their spirit and from the heat of the world. The
former flows into the latter, because they correspond. The nature of
the correspondence of the two kinds of heat can be seen from animal
life, in that the love of animals-the chief of which is the love of
propagating offspring of their kind-bursts forth and becomes active
in accordance with the presence and influence of heat from the sun of
the world, which is the heat of the spring and the summer seasons.
Those who believe that the world's heat flows in and excites these
loves are greatly mistaken, for there can be no influx from the
natural into the spiritual, but only from the spiritual into the
natural. This influx is of Divine order, but the other would be
contrary to Divine order.{1}
{Footnote 1} There is spiritual influx, but not physical, that
is, there is influx from the spiritual world into the natural,
but not from the natural world into the spiritual (n. 3219,
5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9109, 9110, 9111).
136. Angels, like men, have understanding and will. The light of
heaven constitutes the life of their understanding, because that
light is Divine truth and Divine wisdom therefrom; and the heat of
heaven constitutes the life of their will, because that heat is
Divine good and Divine love therefrom. The veriest life of the angels
is from heat, and from light only so far as heat is in it. That life
is from heat is shown by the fact that when heat is taken away life
perishes. The same is true of faith without love or of truth without
good; since the truth that is called truth of faith is light, and the
good that is called good of love is heat. {1} This is more clearly
shown by the heat and light of the world, to which the heat and light
of heaven correspond. By the world's heat when conjoined with light,
as in spring and summer, all things on the earth are quickened and
grow, but by light separate from heat nothing is quickened or grows,
but everything lies torpid and dies. They are not conjoined in
winter, when heat is absent though light remains. From this
correspondence heaven is called paradise, since truth is there joined
with good, or faith with love, as light is with heat in springtime on
the earth. All this makes more clear the truth set forth in its own
chapter (n. 13-19), that the Divine of the Lord in Heaven is love to
Him and charity towards the neighbor.
{Footnote 1} Truths apart from good are not in themselves
truths because they have no life; for truths have all their
life from good (n. 9603). Thus truths apart from good are like
a body without a soul (n. 3180, 9154). Truths apart from good
are not accepted by the Lord (n. 4368). What truth apart from
good, that is, what faith apart from love is, and what truth
from good or faith from love is (n. 1949-1951, 1964, 5830,
5951). It amounts to the same thing whether you say truth or
faith, or whether you say good or love, since truth is of faith
and good is of love (n. 2839, 4352, 4353, 4997, 7178, 7623,
7624, 10367).
137. It is said in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and God was the Word. All things were made through Him,
and without Him was not any thing made that hath been
made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we
beheld His glory (1:1-14).
Evidently the Lord is here meant by "the Word," for it is said that
"the Word became flesh." But what is specifically meant by "the Word"
is not known and shall therefore be explained. Here "the Word" means
the Divine truth which is in the Lord and from the Lord;{1} and this
is why it is also called "the Light," which is the Divine truth, as
has been already shown in this chapter. That it was by means of
Divine truth that all things were created and made shall now be
explained. [2] In heaven Divine truth has all power, and apart from
it there is no power whatever.{2} From the Divine truth angels are
called powers, and are powers to the extent that they are recipients
or receptacles of it. By means of it they prevail over the hells and
over all that oppose them. A thousand enemies there cannot stand
against a single ray of the light of heaven, which is Divine truth.
As angels are angels by their reception of Divine truth it follows
that the entire heaven is from no other source, since heaven consists
of angels. [3] That there is such power in Divine truth those cannot
believe that have no other idea of truth than that it is thought or
speech, which has in it no power except as others do it from
obedience. But Divine truth has power in itself, and such power that
by means of it heaven was created and the world with all things
therein. That there is such power in Divine truth may be shown by two
comparisons-by the power of truth and good in man, and by the power
of light and heat from the sun in the world. By the power of good and
truth in man, in that everything that a man does he does from his
understanding and will-from his will by means of good and from his
understanding by means of truth; for all things in the will have
relation to good and all things in the understanding have relation to
truth.{3} Therefore it is from good and truth that man moves his
whole body, and a thousand things therein rush with one accord to do
their will and pleasure. This makes clear that the whole body is
formed for subservience to good and truth, consequently is formed by
good and truth. [4] By the power of heat and light from the sun in
the world, in that all things that grow in the world, as trees,
cereals, flowers, grasses, fruits, and seeds, come into existence
wholly by means of the heat and light of the sun; which shows what
power of producing there is in them. What, then, must be the power in
Divine light, which is Divine truth, and in Divine heat, which is
Divine good? Because heaven has its existence from these, so does the
world have its existence therefrom, since the world has its existence
by means of heaven, as has been already shown. From all this the
meaning of these words can be seen that "all things were made through
the Word, and without the Word was not anything made that has been
made;" also that "the world was made through Him," that is, through
Divine truth from the Lord.{4} For the same reason, in the Book of
Creation, light is first spoken of, and then the things that are from
light (Gen. 1:3, 4). For this reason also all things in the universe,
both in heaven and in the world, have relation to good and truth and
to their conjunction, in order to be anything.
{Footnote 1} In the Sacred Scripture word signifies various
things, namely, speech, thought of the mind, any thing that
really exists, also something, and in the highest sense Divine
truth, and the Lord (n. 9987). "Word" signifies Divine truth
(n. 2803, 2894, 4692, 5075, 5272, 9383, 9987). "Word" signifies
the Lord (n. 2533, 2859).
{Footnote 2} Divine truth going forth from the Lord has all
power (n. 6948, 8200). Truth from good has all power in heaven
(n. 3091, 3563, 6344, 6423, 8304, 9643, 10019, 10182). Angels
are called powers, and are powers by the reception of Divine
truth from the Lord (n. 9639). Angels are recipients of Divine
truth from the Lord and therefore in the Word are sometimes
called gods (n. 4295, 4402, 7873, 8192, 8301).
{Footnote 3} The understanding is a recipient of truth, and the
will a recipient of good (n. 3623, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930).
Therefore all things in the understanding have relation to
truths, whether they are really truths or are believed by man
to be truths, and all things in the will in like manner have
relation to goods (n. 803, 10122).
{Footnote 4} Divine truth going forth from the Lord is the only
real thing (n. 6880, 7004, 8200). By means of Divine truth all
things were created and made (n. 2803, 2884, 5272, 7678).
139.{1} It must be understood that the Divine good and the Divine
truth that are from the Lord as a sun in the heavens are not in the
Lord, but are from the Lord. In the Lord there is only Divine love,
which is the Being [Esse] from which the Divine good and the Divine
truth spring. Outgo [existere] from being [esse] is meant by going
forth [procedere]. This, too, can be made clear by comparison with
the world's sun. The heat and light that are in the world are not in
the sun, but are from the sun. In the sun there is fire only, and it
is from this that heat and light spring and go forth.
{Footnote 1} [There is no n. 138 in the original. -- Editor.]
140. Since the Lord as a sun is Divine love, and Divine love is
Divine good itself, the Divine that goes forth from the Lord, which
is His Divine in heaven, is called, for the sake of distinction,
Divine truth, although it is in fact Divine good united to Divine
truth. This Divine truth is what is called the Holy that goes forth
from Him.
141. XVI. THE FOUR QUARTERS IN HEAVEN.
Both in heaven and in the world there are four quarters, east, south,
west, and north, determined in each world by its own sun; in heaven
by the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, in the world by the sun of
the world. And yet there are great differences between them. In the
first place, in the world that is called the south where the sun is
in its greatest altitude above the earth, north where it is in its
opposite position beneath the earth, east where it rises at an
equinox, and west where it then sets. Thus in the world it is from
the south that all the quarters are determined. But in heaven that is
called the east where the Lord is seen as a sun, opposite to this is
the west, at the right is the south in heaven, and at the left the
north; and this in whatever direction the face and the body are
turned. Thus in heaven it is from the east that all the quarters are
determined. That is called the east [oriens] where the Lord is seen
as a sun, because all origin [origo] of life is from Him as a sun;
moreover, so far as angels receive heat and light or love and
intelligence from the Lord He is said to arise [exoriri] upon them.
For the same reason the Lord is called the East [Oriens] in the
Word.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the highest sense the Lord is the east
[oriens], because He is the sun of heaven, which is always
rising and never setting (n. 101, 5097, 9668).
142. Another difference is that to the angels the east is always
before the face, the west behind, the south to the right, and the
north to the left. But since this cannot be easily comprehended in
the world, for the reason that men turn the face to every quarter, it
shall be explained. The entire heaven turns itself to the Lord as to
its common center; to that center do all the angels turn themselves.
Also on the earth, as is well known, there is a directing of all
things towards a common center; but there is this difference between
this directing in the world and that in heaven, that in heaven the
front parts are turned to the common center, but in the world the
lower parts of the body. In the world this directing is called
centripetal force, also gravitation. The interiors of angels are
actually turned forwards; and since interiors manifest themselves in
the face it is the face that determines the quarters.{1}
{Footnote 1} In heaven all turn themselves to the Lord (n.
9828, 10130, 10189, 10420). Nevertheless, it is not the angels
that turn themselves to the Lord, but the Lord turns the angels
to Himself (n. 10189). It is not that the angels are present
with the Lord, but the Lord is present with the angels (n.
9415).
143. It is still more difficult to comprehend in the world that in
every turning of their face and body the angels have the east before
the face, since man according as he turns, has every quarter before
his face. This shall also be explained. Although angels, like men,
turn and direct their faces and bodies in every direction, they
nevertheless have the east always before their eyes. But the turnings
of angels are unlike the turnings of men, because they are from a
different origin. They appear alike, but they are not. The origin of
these turnings is their ruling love, and from this all directions
with angels and spirits are determined, for, as just said, their
interiors are actually turned towards their common center, which in
heaven is the Lord as a sun; consequently their ruling love is always
before their face, because their love is always before their
interiors, and the face has existence from the interiors, for it is
their outward form; and in the heavens this love is the Lord as a sun
because it is from Him that they have their love.{1} And as the Lord
Himself is in angels in His love, it is the Lord who causes them to
look to Him whithersoever they turn. This cannot be explained any
farther now; but it will be made clearer to the understanding in
subsequent chapters, especially where representations and
appearances, and time and space in heaven, are treated of. That the
angels have the Lord constantly before their faces it has been
granted me to know and also to perceive from much experience; for
whenever I have been in company with angels I have noticed the Lord's
presence before my face, not actually seen, and yet perceptible in a
light; and angels have often testified that this is so. As the Lord
is constantly before the faces of the angels, so it is said in the
world of those who believe in the Lord and love Him that they have
God before their eyes and their face, and that they look to God, and
see God. These expressions have their origin in the spiritual world,
from which are many things in human speech, although their source is
unknown to men.
{Footnote 1} In the spiritual world all constantly turn
themselves to their loves; and the quarters there have their
beginning in the face and are determined by it (n. 10130,
10189, 10420, 10702). The face is formed to a correspondence
with the interiors (n. 4791-4805, 5695). Therefore the
interiors shine forth from the face (n. 3527, 4066, 4796). With
angels the face makes one with the interiors (n. 4796, 4797,
4799, 5695, 8250). The influx of the interiors into the face
and its muscles (n. 3631, 4800).
144. This turning to the Lord is among the wonderful things in
heaven. There may be many together in one place, some turning the
face and body one way and some another, and yet all see the Lord
before them, and have everyone has the south at his right, the north
at his left, and the west behind him. Another wonderful thing is
that, although the angels look only to the east they have also a look
towards the other three quarters; but the look to these is from their
interior sight, which pertains to their thought. And it is yet
another wonderful thing that in heaven no one is ever permitted to
stand behind another and look at the back of his head, for this would
disturb the influx of good and truth from the Lord.
145. The Lord is seen by the angels, and the angels are seen by the
Lord in another way. Angels see the Lord through their eyes; but the
Lord sees the angels in the forehead, and this for the reason that
the forehead corresponds to love, and it is through love that the
Lord flows into their will, while it is through the understanding, to
which the eyes correspond, that He causes Himself to be seen.{1}
{Footnote 1} The forehead corresponds to heavenly love;
therefore in the Word the "forehead" signifies that love (n.
9936). The eye corresponds to the understanding, because the
understanding is internal sight (n. 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051,
10569). For this reason "to lift up the eyes" and "to see"
signifies to understand, perceive, and observe (n. 2789, 2829,
3198, 3202, 4083, 4086, 4339, 5684).
146. The quarters in the heavens that give form to the Lord's
celestial kingdom differ from the quarters in the heavens that give
form to His spiritual kingdom, for the reason that He is seen by the
angels in His celestial kingdom as a sun, but by the angels in His
spiritual kingdom as a moon; and where the Lord is seen is the east.
The distance there between the position of the sun and that of the
moon is thirty degrees, and there is a like difference in the
position of the quarters. That heaven is divided into two kingdoms,
called the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, may be seen
in its own chapter (n. 20-28); and that the Lord is seen in the
celestial kingdom as a sun, and in the spiritual kingdom as a moon
(n. 118). But it does not follow that the quarters of heaven become
confused on this account, for neither can the spiritual angels ascend
among the celestial angels, nor the celestial descend among the
spiritual, as may be seen above (n. 35).
147. This makes clear the nature of the Lord's presence in the
heavens, that He is every where and with everyone in the good and
truth that go forth from Him; consequently He is with angels in what
is His own, as has been said above (n. 12). The perception of the
Lord's presence is in their interiors; and it is from these that
their eyes see, and it is by this continuity that they see the Lord
outside of themselves. This shows what is meant by the Lord's being
in them and they in Him, according to His own words:
Abide in Me and I in you (John 15:4).
He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in
Me and I in him (John 6:56).
"The Lord's flesh" signifies Divine good and "His blood" Divine
truth.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word "the Lord's flesh" signifies His
Divine Human, and the Divine good of His love (n. 3813, 7850,
9127, 10283). And "the Lord's blood" signifies Divine truth and
the holy of faith (n. 4735, 4978, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850,
7877, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152, 10210).
148. All in the heavens have their own places of abode in accordance
with the quarters. Those who are in the good of love dwell towards
the east and west, those who are in clear perception of it towards
the east, and those who are in obscure perception of it towards the
west. Those who are in wisdom from the good of love dwell towards the
south and north-those who are in the clear light of wisdom towards
the south, and those who are in obscure light of it towards the
north. The angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom and those of His
celestial kingdom dwell in a like order, but differently as their
good of love and light of truth from good differ; for in the
celestial kingdom the love is love to the Lord, and the light of
truth therefrom is wisdom; while in the spiritual kingdom there is
love towards the neighbor, which is called charity, and the light of
truth therefrom is intelligence, which is also called faith (see
above, n. 23). The quarters differ also in the two kingdoms by thirty
degrees, as has been said just above (n. 146).
149. In like order the angels in each society in heaven dwell in
relation to one another-towards the east there those who are in
greater degree of love and charity, towards the west those who are in
less degree; towards the south those who are in greater light of
wisdom and intelligence, and towards the north those who are in less.
This arrangement prevails because each society represents heaven, and
is a heaven in a smaller form (see above, n. 51-58). The same
arrangement prevails in their assemblies. They are brought into this
order by virtue of the form of heaven, from which everyone knows his
own place. The Lord also provides that there be in each society those
of every kind, for the reason that in form heaven is every where like
itself; and yet the arrangement of the whole heaven differs from the
arrangement of a society as what is general from its parts, since the
societies towards the east surpass those towards the west, and those
towards the south surpass those towards the north.
150. Because of this the quarters in the heavens signify such things
as pertain to those that dwell in them,--the east signifying love
and its good clearly perceived, the west the same obscurely
perceived, the south wisdom and intelligence in clear light, and the
north the same in obscure light. And because of this signification of
the quarters in heaven they have a like signification in the internal
or spiritual sense of the Word,{1} since the internal or spiritual
sense of the Word is in entire accord with what is in heaven.
{Footnote 1} In the Word the "east" signifies love clearly
perceived (n. 1250, 3708); the "west" love obscurely perceived
(n. 3708, 9653); the "south" a state of light, that is, of
wisdom and intelligence (n. 1458, 3708, 5672); and the "north"
that state in obscurity (n. 3708).
151. The reverse is true of those in the hells. Those who are there
do not look to the Lord as a sun nor as a moon; but they look
backward away from the Lord to that dense darkness that is in the
place of the sun of the world, and to the darkness that is in the
place of the earth's moon. Those that are called genii look to that
dense darkness that is in the place of the world's sun, and those
called spirits look to the darkness that is in the place of the
earth's moon.{1} It has been shown above (n. 122) that the world's
sun and the earth's moon are not seen in the spiritual world, but in
place of that sun a dense darkness over against the sun of heaven,
and in place of that moon a darkness over against the moon of heaven.
For this reason the quarters with those in the hells are opposite to
the quarters of heaven. The east to them is where that dense darkness
and darkness are, the west is where the sun of heaven is, the south
is to their right, and the north to their left, and this also in
every turning of their bodies. Nor can they face otherwise, because
the whole bent and consequent determination of their interiors tends
and strives that way. It has been shown above (n. 143) that the bent
and consequent actual determination of the interiors of all in the
other life are in harmony with their love. The love of those in the
hells is the love of self and the world, and these loves are what are
signified by the world's sun and the earth's moon (see n. 122); and
these loves are opposite to love to the Lord and love towards the
neighbor;{2} and this is the cause of their turning themselves
backwards away from the Lord to this dense darkness. Moreover, those
in the hells dwell likewise in accordance with their quarters, those
who are in evil from love of self dwelling from their east to their
west, and those who are in the falsities of evil from their south to
their north. But more will be said about this below, where the hells
are treated of.
{Footnote 1} Who and what those are who are called genii, and
who and what those are who are called spirits (n. 947, 5035,
5977, 8593, 8622, 8625).
{Footnote 2} Those that are in the loves of self and of the
world turn themselves backwards from the Lord (n. 10130, 10189,
10420, 10702). Love to the Lord and charity towards the
neighbor make heaven, while love of self and love of the world
make hell, because the two are opposite (n. 2041, 3610, 4225,
4776 6210, 7366, 7369, 7490, 8232, 8678, 10455, 10741-10745).
152. When an evil spirit comes among good spirits the quarters are
usually so confused that the good scarcely know where their east is.
This I have sometimes seen take place, and have also heard about it
from spirits who complained of it.
153. Evil spirits are sometimes seen turned towards the quarters of
heaven; and they then have intelligence and perception of truth, but
no affection for good; but as soon as they turn back to their own
quarters they have no intelligence or perception of truth; and then
they declare that the truths they heard and perceived are falsities
and not truths, and they wish falsities to be truths. In respect to
this turning I have been told that with the evil the intellectual
part of the mind can be so turned, but not the voluntary part; and
that this is provided by the Lord to the end that everyone may have
the ability to see and acknowledge truths, but that no one can
receive truths unless he is in good, since it is good, and never
evil, that receives them; also that man has a like ability to the end
that he may be made better by means of truths. Nevertheless, he is
made better only so far as he is in good; consequently a man can in
like manner be turned to the Lord; but if his life is evil he
immediately turns himself back and confirms in himself the falsities
of his evil, which are contrary to the truths he had understood and
seen; and this takes place when he thinks in himself from his
interior states.
154. XVII. CHANGES OF STATE OF THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN.
By changes of state of angels their changes in respect to love and
faith, and wisdom and intelligence therefrom, are meant, thus their
changes in respect to states of life. States are predicated of life
and of what belongs to life; and as angelic life is a life of love
and faith, and of wisdom and intelligence therefrom, states are
predicated of these and are called states of love and faith, and
states of wisdom and intelligence. How with angels these states are
changed shall now be told.
155. Angels are not constantly in the same state in respect to love,
and in consequence in the same state in respect to wisdom; for all
their wisdom is from their love and in accordance with their love.
Sometimes they are in a state of intense love, sometimes in a state
of love not so intense. The state decreases by degrees from its
greatest degree to its least. When in their greatest degree of love
they are in the light and warmth of their life, or in a clear and
delightful state; but in their least degree they are in shade and
cold, or in an obscure and undelightful state. From this last state
they return again to the first, and so on, these alternations
following one after another with variety. There is a sequence of
these states like the varied states of light and shade, or of heat
and cold, or like morning, noon, evening, and night, day after day in
the world, with unceasing variety throughout the year. There is also
a correspondence, morning corresponding to the state of their love in
its clearness, noon to the state of their wisdom in its clearness,
evening to the state of their wisdom in its obscurity, and night to a
state of no love or wisdom. But it must be understood that there is
no correspondence of night with the states of life of those in
heaven, although there is what corresponds to the dawn that precedes
morning; what corresponds to night is with those in hell.{1} From
this correspondence "day" and "year" signify in the Word states of
life in general; "heat" and "light" signify love and wisdom;
"morning" the first and highest degree of love "noon" wisdom in its
light; "evening" wisdom in its shade; "dawn" the obscurity that
precedes the morning; and "night" the absence of love and wisdom.{2}
{Footnote 1} In heaven there is a state corresponding to the
dawn that precedes morning, but no state corresponding to night
(n. 6110). The "dawn" signifies a middle state between the last
and the first (n. 10134).
{Footnote 2} Alternations of state in respect to enlightenment
and perception occur in heaven, like the times of day in the
world (n. 5672, 5962, 6110, 8426, 9213, 10605). In the Word
"day" and "year" signify all states in general (n. 23, 487,
488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 4850, 10656). "Morning" signifies
the beginning of a new state, and a state of love (n. 7218,
8426, 8427, 10114, 10134). "Evening" signifies a state of
declining light and love (n. 10134, 10135). "Night" signifies a
state of no love or faith (n. 221, 709, 2353, 6000, 6110, 7870,
7947).
156. Together with the state of the angels' interiors which pertain
to their love and wisdom, the states of various things that are
outside of them and that they see with their eyes are changed; for
the things outside of them take on an appearance that is in accord
with the things within them. But what things these are, and what kind
of things they are, shall be told presently in the chapter on
Representatives and Appearances in Heaven.
157. Every angel undergoes and passes through such changes of state,
and also every society in general, and yet each one differently, for
the reason that they differ in love and wisdom, those in the middle
being in a more perfect state than those round about even to the
circumference (see above, n. 43, 128). But it would be tedious to
specify the differences, since the changes each one undergoes are in
accord with the quality of his love and faith. From this it happens
that while one may be in clearness and delight another may be in
obscurity and lack of delight, and this at the same time within the
same society. So, too, the state differs in different societies; it
is different in the societies of the celestial kingdom from what it
is in those of the spiritual kingdom. These differences in the
changes of state are in general like the variations of the states of
days in different climates on the earth, for with some it is morning
when with others it is evening, and with some it is hot when with
others it is cold.
158. I have been taught from heaven why there are such changes of
state there. The angels said that there are many reasons-first, the
delight of life and of heaven, which they have from love and wisdom
from the Lord, would gradually lose its value if they were in it
continually, as happens with those that are in allurements and
pleasures without variety. A second reason is that angels, as well as
men, have what is their own [proprium], which is loving self; and all
that are in heaven are withheld from what is their own, and so far as
they are withheld from it by the Lord are in love and wisdom; but so
far as they are not withheld they are in the love of self; and
because everyone loves what is his own and is drawn by it{1} they
have changes of state or successive alternations. A third reason is
that they are in this way perfected, for they thus become accustomed
to being held in love to the Lord and withheld from love of self;
also that by alternations between delight and lack of delight the
perception and sense of good becomes more exquisite.{2} The angels
added that their changes of state are not caused by the Lord, since
the Lord as a sun is unceasingly flowing in with heat and light, that
is, with love and wisdom; but the cause is in themselves, in that
they love what is their own, and this continually leads them away.
This was illustrated by comparison with the sun of the world, that
the cause of the changes of state of heat and cold and of light and
shade, year by year and day by day, is not in that sun, since it
stands unchanged, but the cause is in the earth.
{Footnote 1} Man's own [proprium] is loving self (n. 694, 731,
4317, 5660). The Lord cannot be present unless what is man's
own is set aside (n. 1023, 1044). It is actually set aside when
one is held in good by the Lord (n. 9334-9336, 9447, 9452-9454,
9938).
{Footnote 2} The angels are being perfected to eternity (n.
4803, 6648). In the heavens one state is never just like
another, and from this there is an unceasing process of
perfection (n. 10200).
159. I have been shown how the Lord as a sun appears to the angels of
the celestial kingdom in their first state, in their second state,
and in their third state. I saw the Lord as a sun, at first glowing
and brilliant with a splendor that cannot be described; and I was
told that such is the appearance of the Lord as a sun to the angels
in their first state. Afterwards there appeared a great obscure belt
about the sun, and by this its first glow and brilliancy, which gave
it such splendor, began to be dulled, and I was told that such is the
appearance of the sun to them in their second state. Then the belt
seemed by degrees to grow darker, and the sun to appear less glowing,
and this by degrees until at length it took on a shining whiteness;
and I was told that such is the appearance of the sun to them in
their third state. After this, that shining whiteness was seen to
move to the left towards the moon of heaven, and to add itself to her
light; and in consequence the moon shone forth with unwonted
splendor; and I was told that such is the fourth state of those in
the celestial kingdom and the first state of those in the spiritual
kingdom, and that in both kingdoms changes of state have such
alternations; yet not in the whole kingdom at once, but in one
society after another. Furthermore, I was told that these
alternations are not fixed, but come upon them sooner or later
without their knowledge. And it was added that the sun in itself is
not thus changed or moved; but it takes on this appearance in accord
with their successive progressions of state, since the Lord appears
to everyone in accord with what his state is, thus glowing when one
is in intense love and less glowing and finally shining white as his
love subsides; and the quality of each one's state was represented by
the obscure belt that induced upon the sun these apparent variations
in its glow and light.
160. When angels are in the last of these states, which is when they
are in what is their own, they begin to be sad. I have talked with
them when they were in that state and have seen their sadness; but
they said that they hoped to return soon to their former state, and
thus into heaven again, as it were; for to them it is heaven to be
withheld from what is their own.
161. There are also changes of state in the hells, but these will be
described later when hell is treated of.
162. XVIII. TIME IN HEAVEN.
Although there is a succession and a progression of all things in
heaven, as in the world, yet angels have no notion or idea of time
and space; and this so completely that they do not even know at all
what time and space are. Time in heaven will here be considered, and
space in its own chapter.
163. Angels do not know what time is, although with them there is a
successive progression of all things, as there is in the world, and
this so completely that there is no difference whatever; and the
reason is that in heaven instead of years and days there are changes
of state; and where there are years and days there are times, but
where there are changes of state there are states.
164. In the world there are times because the sun of the world
seemingly advances in succession from one degree to another,
producing times that are called seasons of the year; and besides, it
revolves about the earth, producing times that are called times of
day; both of these by fixed alternations. With the sun of heaven it
is different. This does not mark years and days by successive
progressions and revolutions, but in its appearance it marks changes
of state; and this, as has been shown in the preceding chapter, is
not done by fixed alternations. Consequently no idea of time is
possible to angels; but in its place they have an idea of state (see
above n. 154).
165. As angels have no idea derived from time, such as men in the
world have, so neither do they have any idea about time and what
pertains to it. They do not even know what is meant by the terms of
time, such as year, month, week, day, hour, to-day, to-morrow,
yesterday. When angels hear these terms used by man (for angels are
always associated with man by the Lord) in place of them they
perceive state and what pertains to states. Thus the natural thought
of man is turned into spiritual thought with angels. This is why
times in the Word signify states, and the terms of time, as
enumerated above, signify corresponding spiritual things.{1}
{Footnote 1} Times in the Word signify states (n. 2788, 2837,
3254, 3356, 4814, 4901, 4916, 7218, 8070, 10133, 10605). Angels
think apart from the idea of time and space (n. 3404); the
reasons why (n. 1274, 1382, 3356, 4882, 4901, 6110, 7218,
7381). What a "year" signifies in the Word (n. 487, 488, 493,
893, 2906, 7828, 10209). What a "month" (n. 3814). What a
"week" (n. 2044, 3845). What a "day" (n. 23, 487, 488, 6110,
7680, 8426, 9213, 10132, 10605). What "today" (n. 2838, 3998,
4304, 6165, 6984, 9939). What "to-morrow" (n. 3998, 10497).
What "yesterday" (n. 6983, 7114, 7140).
166. The like is true of all things that exist from time, as the four
seasons of the year, called spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the
four periods of the day, morning, noon, evening, and night; and the
four ages of man, infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; and all other
things that either exist from time or have a succession in accordance
with time. In thinking of these a man thinks from time, but an angel
from state; and in consequence what there is in them from time with
man is with the angels turned into an idea of state. Spring and
morning are turned into an idea of the state of love and wisdom such
as they are in angels in their first state; summer and noon are
turned into an idea of love and wisdom such as they are in the second
state; autumn and evening such as they are in the third state; night
and winter into an idea of such a state as exists in hell. This is
why these periods have a like significance in the Word (see above,
n. 155). This makes clear how natural things in the thought of man
become spiritual with the angels who are with man.
167. As angels have no notion of time so they have an idea of
eternity different from that which men on the earth have. Eternity
means to the angels infinite state, not infinite time.{1} I was once
thinking about eternity, and was able, with the idea of time, to
perceive what to eternity means, namely, without end, but not what
from eternity means, thus not what God did from eternity before
creation. When anxiety on this account arose in my mind I was raised
up into the sphere of heaven, and thus into the perception that
angels have in respect to eternity; and it was then made clear to me
that eternity must be thought of, not from time but from state; and
then the meaning of from eternity can be seen. This then happened to
me.
{Footnote 1} Men have an idea of eternity associated with time,
but angels apart from time (n. 1382, 3404, 8325).
168. When angels speak with men they never express themselves in
natural ideas proper to man, all of which are from time, space,
matter, and things analogous thereto, but in spiritual ideas, all of
which are from states and their various changes within the angels and
outside of them. Nevertheless, when these angelic ideas, which are
spiritual, flow into men, they are turned in a moment and of
themselves into natural ideas proper to man, that correspond
perfectly to the spiritual ideas. Neither angels nor men know that
this takes place; but such is all influx of heaven into man. Certain
angels were permitted to enter more nearly into my thoughts, even
into the natural thoughts in which there were many things from time
and space; but as they then understood nothing they suddenly
withdrew; and after they had withdrawn I heard them talking, and
saying that they had been in darkness. [2] It has been granted me to
know by experience how ignorant the angels are about time. There was
a certain one from heaven who was able to enter into natural ideas,
such as man has; and after he had done this I talked with him as man
with man. At first he did not know what it was that I called time,
and I was therefore obliged to tell him all about it, how the sun
appears to be carried about our earth, and to produce years and days,
and how years are thereby divided into four seasons, and also into
months and weeks, and days into twenty-four hours; and how these
times recur by fixed alternations, and how this is the source of
times. On hearing this he was surprised, saying that he knew nothing
about such things, but only what states are. [3] In speaking with him
I added that it is known in the world, for men speak as if they knew
that there is no time in heaven, saying of those who die that they
"leave the things of time," and that they "pass out of time," meaning
by this out of the world. I said also that some know that times in
their origin are states, for they know that times are in exact accord
with the states of their affections, short to those who are in
pleasant and joyous states, long to those who are in unpleasant and
sorrowful states, and various in a state of hope and expectation; and
this therefore leads learned men to inquire what time and space are,
and some know that time belongs to the natural man.
169. The natural man might think that he would be deprived of all
thought if the ideas of time, space, and material things were taken
away; for upon these all the thought of man rests.{1} But let him
know that so far as thoughts partake of time, space, and matter they
are limited and confined, but are unlimited and extended so far as
they do not partake of these, since the mind is in that measure
raised above bodily and worldly things. This is the source of wisdom
to the angels; and such wisdom as is called incomprehensible, because
it does not fall into ideas that are wholly made up of what is
material.
{Footnote 1} Man does not think, as angels do, apart from the
idea of time (n. 3404).
170. XIX. REPRESENTATIVES AND APPEARANCES IN HEAVEN.
The man who thinks from natural light alone is unable to comprehend
that there is any thing in heaven like what is in the world; and for
the reason that from natural light he has previously thought, and
established himself in the idea, that angels are nothing but minds,
and that minds are like ethereal breaths, having no senses like those
of men, thus no eyes, and if no eyes no objects of sight; and yet the
angels have every sense that a man has, and far more exquisite
senses; and the light by which angels see is far brighter than the
light by which man sees. That angels are men in the most complete
form, and enjoy every sense, may be seen above (n. 73-77); and that
the light in heaven is far brighter than the light in the world (n.
126-132).
171. The nature of the objects that are visible to angels in heaven
cannot be described in a few words. For the most part they are like
things on earth, but in form far more perfect, and in number more
abundant. That such things exist in the heavens is evident from
things seen by the prophets,--as by Ezekiel in relation to the new
temple and the new earth (as described from chaps. 40 to 48); by
Daniel (from chap. 7 to 12); by John (from the first chapter of the
Apocalypse to the last); and by others, as described both in the
historic and the prophetic part of the Word. These things were seen
by them when heaven was open to them, and heaven is said to be opened
when the interior sight, which is the sight of man's spirit, is
opened. For what is in the heavens cannot be seen by the eyes of a
man's body, but are seen by the eyes of his spirit; and when it seems
good to the Lord these are opened, and man is then withdrawn from the
natural light that he is in from the bodily senses and is raised up
into spiritual light, which he is in from his spirit. In that light
the things in heaven have been seen by me.
172. But although the things seen in heaven are in large part like
those on the earth, in essence they are unlike them; for the things
in heaven come forth from the sun of heaven, and those on the earth
from the sun of the world. The things that come forth from the sun of
heaven are called spiritual; those that come forth from the sun of
the world are called natural.
173. The things that come forth in heaven do not come forth in the
same manner as those on the earth. All things in heaven come forth
from the Lord in correspondence with the interiors of the angels. For
angels have both interiors and exteriors. All things in their
interiors have relation to love and faith, thus to the will and
understanding, since the will and understanding are their
receptacles; while their exteriors correspond to their interiors.
That exterior things correspond to interior things may be seen above
(n. 87-115). This is illustrated by what has been said above about
the heat and light of heaven, that angels have heat in accordance
with the quality of their love, and light in accordance with the
quality of their wisdom (n. 128-134). The like is true of all other
things that present themselves to the senses of angels.
174. When I have been permitted to be in company with angels, the
things there appeared precisely the same as those in the world; and
so plainly that I would not have known that I was not in the world
and in a king's palace. I also talked with the angels as man with
man.
175. As all things that correspond to interiors also represent them
they are called representatives; and as they differ in each case in
accordance with the state of the interiors they are called
appearances. Nevertheless, the things that appear before the eyes of
angels in heaven and are perceived by their senses appear to their
eyes and senses as fully living as things on earth appear to man, and
even much more clearly, distinctly and perceptibly. Appearances from
this source in heaven are called real appearances, because they have
real existence. There are appearances also that are not real, which
are things that become visible, but do not correspond to
interiors.{1} These will be treated of further on.
{Footnote 1} All things that are visible to the angels are
representative (n. 1971, 3213-3226, 3342, 3457, 3475, 3485,
9481, 9457, 9576, 9577). The heavens are full of
representatives (n. 1521, 1532, 1619). The representatives are
more beautiful as they are more interior in the heavens (n.
3475). As the representatives there are from the light of
heaven they are real appearances (n. 3485). The Divine influx
is turned into representatives in the higher heavens, and
therefrom in the lower heavens also (n. 2179, 3213, 9457, 9481,
9576, 9577). Those things are called representative that appear
before the eyes of the angels in such form as are in nature,
that is, such as are in the world (n. 9457). Internal things
are thus turned into external (n. 1632, 2987-3002). What
representatives in the heavens are; this made clear by various
examples (n. 1521, 1532, 1619-1628, 1807, 1973, 1974, 1977,
1980, 1981, 2299, 2601, 2761, 2762, 3217, 3219, 3220, 3348,
3350, 5198, 9090, 10276). All things seen in the heavens are in
accordance with correspondences and are called representatives
(n. 3213-3226, 3342, 3475, 3485, 9481, 9457, 9576, 9577). All
things that correspond also represent and likewise signify what
they correspond to (n. 2896, 2987, 2989-2991, 3002, 3225).
176. To show what the things are that appear to the angels in
accordance with correspondences, I will here mention one only for the
sake of illustration. By those who are intelligent, gardens and parks
full of trees and flowers of every kind are seen. The trees are
planted in a most beautiful order, combined to form arbors with
arched approaches and encircling walks, all more beautiful than words
can describe. There the intelligent walk, and gather flowers and
weave garlands with which they adorn little children. Moreover, there
are kinds of trees and flowers there that are never seen and cannot
exist on earth. The trees bear fruit that are in accordance with the
good of love, in which the intelligent are. These things are seen by
them because a garden or park and fruit trees and flowers correspond
to intelligence and wisdom.{1} That there are such things in heaven
is known also on the earth, but only to those who are in good, and
who have not extinguished in themselves the light of heaven by means
of natural light and its fallacies; for when such think about heaven
they think and say that there are such things there as ear hath not
heard and eye hath not seen.
{Footnote 1} A "garden" or "park" signifies intelligence and
wisdom (n. 100, 108, 3220). What is meant by "the garden of
Eden" and "the garden of Jehovah" (n. 99, 100, 1588). How
magnificent the things seen in parks are in the other life (n.
1122, 1622, 2296, 4528, 4529). "Trees" signify perceptions and
knowledges, from which wisdom and intelligence are derived (n.
103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692). "Fruits" signify goods of
love and goods of charity (n. 3146, 7690, 9337).
177. XX. THE GARMENTS WITH WHICH ANGELS APPEAR CLOTHED.
Since angels are men, and live among themselves as men do on the
earth, they have garments and dwellings and other such things, with
the difference, however, that as they are in a more perfect state all
things with them are in greater perfection. For as angelic wisdom
surpasses human wisdom to such a degree as to be called ineffable, so
is it with all things that are perceived and seen by angels, inasmuch
as all things perceived and seen by them correspond to their wisdom
(see above, n. 173).
178. The garments with which angels are clothed, like all other
things with them, correspond; and because they correspond they have
real existence (see above n. 175). Their garments correspond to their
intelligence, and therefore all in the heavens appear clothed in
accordance with their intelligence; and as one is more intelligent
than another so the garments of one surpass those of another. The
most intelligent have garments that blaze as if with flame, others
have garments that glisten as if with light; the less intelligent
have garments that are glistening white or white without the
effulgence; and the still less intelligent have garments of various
colors. But the angels of the inmost heaven are not clothed.
179. As the garments of angels correspond to their intelligence they
correspond also to truth, since all intelligence is from Divine
truth; and therefore it is the same thing whether you say that angels
are clothed in accordance with intelligence or in accordance with
Divine truth. The garments of some blaze as if with flame, and those
of others glisten as if with light, because flame corresponds to
good, and light corresponds to truth from good.{1} Some have garments
that are glistening white and white without the effulgence, and
others garments of various colors, because with the less intelligent
the Divine good and truth are less effulgent, and are also received
in various ways,{2} glistening white and white corresponding to
truth,{3} and colors to its varieties.{4} Those in the inmost heaven
are not clothed, because they are in innocence, and innocence
corresponds to nakedness.{5}
{Footnote 1} From correspondence "garments" in the Word signify
truths (n. 1073, 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536).
For the reason that truths clothe good (n. 5248). A "covering"
signifies something intellectual, because the intellect is the
recipient of truth (n. 6378). "Shining garments of fine linen"
signify truths from the Divine (n. 5319, 9469). "Flame"
signifies spiritual good, and the light therefrom truth from
that good (n. 3222, 6832).
{Footnote 2} Angels and spirits appear clothed with garments in
accordance with their truths, thus in accordance with their
intelligence (n. 165, 5248, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9814, 9952,
10536). The garments of some angels are resplendent, others are
not (n. 5248).
{Footnote 3} In the Word "glistening white" and "white" signify
truth because they are from light in heaven (n. 3301, 3993,
4007).
{Footnote 4} Colors in heaven are variegations of the light
there (n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922).
Colors signify various things pertaining to intelligence and
wisdom (n. 4530, 4677, 4922, 9466). The precious stones in the
Urim and Thummim signified, in accordance with their colors,
all things of truth from good in the heavens (n. 9865, 9868,
9905). So far as colors partake of red they signify good; so
far as they partake of white they signify truth (n. 9466).
{Footnote 5} All in the inmost heavens are innocences, and in
consequence appear naked (n. 154, 165, 297, 2736, 3887, 8375,
9960). Innocence is presented in heaven as nakedness (n. 165,
8375, 9960). To the innocent and the chaste nakedness is no
shame, because without offence (n. 165, 213, 8375).
180. As in heaven the angels are clothed with garments, so when seen
in the world they have appeared clothed with garments, as those seen
by the prophets and those seen at the Lord's sepulchre:
Whose appearance was as lightning, and their garments
glistening and white (Matt. 28:3; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4;
John 20:12, 13);
and those seen in heaven by John:
Who had garments of fine linen and white (Apoc. 4:4;
19:14).
And because intelligence is from Divine truth:
The garments of the Lord, when He was transfigured, were
radiant and glistening white like the light (Matt. 17:2;
Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29).
As light is Divine truth going forth from the Lord (see above,
n. 129), so in the Word garments signify truths and intelligence
from truths, as in the Apocalypse:
Those that have not defiled their garments shall walk with
Me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall
be clothed in white garments (3:4, 5);
Blessed is he that is awake and keepeth his garments
(16:15).
And of Jerusalem, which means a church that is in truth,{1} it is
written in Isaiah:
Awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of
thy beauty, O Jerusalem (52:1).
And in Ezekiel:
Jerusalem, I girded thee about with fine linen, and
covered thee with silk. Thy garments were of fine linen
and silk (16:10, 13);
besides many other passages. But he who is not in truths is said "not
to be clothed with a wedding garment," as in Matthew:
When the king came in he saw a man that had not on a
wedding garment; and he said unto him, Friend, how camest
thou in hither not having a wedding garment? Wherefore he
was cast out into the outer darkness (22:11-13).
The house of the wedding feast means heaven and the church because of
the conjunction of the Lord with heaven and the church by means of
His Divine truth; and for this reason the Lord is called in the Word
the Bridegroom and Husband; and heaven, with the church, is called
the bride and the wife.
{Footnote 1} "Jerusalem" signifies a church in which there is
genuine doctrine (n. 402, 3654, 9166).
181. That the garments of angels do not merely appear as garments,
but are real garments, is evident from the fact that angels both see
them and feel them, that they have many garments, and that they put
them off and put them on, that they care for those that are not in
use, and put them on again when they need them. That they are clothed
with a variety of garments I have seen a thousand times. When I asked
where they got their garments, they said from the Lord, and that they
receive them as gifts, and sometimes they are clothed with them
unconsciously. They said also that their garments are changed in
accordance with their changes of state, that in the first and second
state their garments are shining and glistening white, and in the
third and fourth state a little less bright; and this likewise from
correspondence, because their changes of state have respect to
intelligence and wisdom (of which see above, n. 154, 161).
182. As everyone in the spiritual world has garments in accordance
with his intelligence, that is, in accordance with truths which are
the source of intelligence, so those in the hells, because they have
no truths, appear clothed in garments, but in ragged, squalid, and
filthy garments, each one in accordance with his insanity; and they
can be clothed in no others. It is granted them by the Lord to be
clothed, lest they be seen naked.
183. XXI. THE PLACES OF ABODE AND DWELLINGS OF ANGELS.
As there are societies in heaven and the angels live as men, they
have also places of abode, and these differ in accordance with each
one's state of life. They are magnificent for those in higher
dignity, and less magnificent for those in lower condition. I have
frequently talked with angels about the places of abode in heaven,
saying that scarcely any one will believe at the present day that
they have places of abode and dwellings; some because they do not see
them, some because they do not know that angels are men, and some
because they believe that the angelic heaven is the heaven that they
see with their eyes around them, and as this appears empty and they
suppose that angels are ethereal forms, they conclude that they live
in ether. Moreover, they do not comprehend how there can be such
things in the spiritual world as there are in the natural world,
because they know nothing about the spiritual. [2] The angels replied
that they are aware that such ignorance prevails at this day in the
world, and to their astonishment, chiefly within the church, and more
with the intelligent than with those whom they call simple. They said
also that it might be known from the Word that angels are men, since
those that have been seen have been seen as men; and the Lord, who
took all His Human with Him, appeared in like manner. It might be
known also that as angels are men they have dwellings and places of
abode, and do not fly about in air, as some think in their ignorance,
which the angels call insanity, and that although they are called
spirits they are not winds. This they said might be apprehended if
men would only think independently of their acquired notions about
angels and spirits, as they do when they are not bringing into
question and submitting to direct thought whether it is so. For
everyone has a general idea that angels are in the human form, and
have homes which are called the mansions of heaven, which surpass in
magnificence earthly dwellings; but this general idea, which flows in
from heaven, at once falls to nothing when it is brought under direct
scrutiny and inquiry whether it is so, as happens especially with the
learned, who by their own intelligence have closed up heaven to
themselves and the entrance of heavenly light. [3] The like is true
of the belief in the life of man after death. When one speaks of it,
not thinking at the same time about the soul from the light of
worldly learning or from the doctrine of its reunion with the body,
he believes that after death he is to live a man, and among angels if
he has lived well, and that he will then see magnificent things and
perceive joys; but as soon as he turns his thoughts to the doctrine
of reunion with the body, or to his theory about the soul, and the
question arises whether the soul be such, and thus whether this can
be true, his former idea is dissipated.
184. But it is better to present the evidence of experience. Whenever
I have talked with angels face to face, I have been with them in
their abodes. These abodes are precisely like abodes on the earth
which we call houses, but more beautiful. In them there are chambers,
parlors, and bedrooms in great number; there are also courts, and
there are gardens and flower beds and lawns round about. Where they
live together their houses are near each other, arranged one next to
the other in the form of a city, with avenues, streets, and public
squares, exactly like cities on the earth. I have been permitted to
pass through them, looking about on every side, and sometimes
entering the houses. This occurred when my inner sight was opened,
and I was fully awake.{1}
{Footnote 1} Angels have cities, palaces and houses (n.
940-942, 1116, 1626-1631, 4622).
185. I have seen palaces in heaven of such magnificence as cannot be
described. Above they glittered as if made of pure gold, and below as
if made of precious stones, some more splendid than others. It was
the same within. Both words and knowledge are inadequate to describe
the decorations that adorned the rooms. On the side looking to the
south there were parks, where, too, everything shone, in some places
the leaves glistening as if made of silver, and fruit as if made of
gold; while the flowers in their beds formed rainbows with their
colors. Beyond the borders, where the view terminated, were seen
other palaces. Such is the architecture of heaven that you would say
that art there is in its art; and no wonder, because the art itself
is from heaven. The angels said that such things and innumerable
others still more perfect are presented before their eyes by the
Lord; and yet these things are more pleasing to their minds than to
their eyes, because in everyone of them they see a correspondence,
and through the correspondences what is Divine.
186. As to these correspondences I have also been told that not only
the palaces and houses, but all things and each thing, both inside
and outside of them, correspond to the interior things which they
have from the Lord, the house itself in general corresponding to
their good, the particular things inside of a house to the various
things of which their good consists,{1} and the things outside to
truths derived from good, and also to their perceptions and
knowledges {2} and as these things correspond to the goods and truths
they have from the Lord they correspond to their love, and to their
wisdom and intelligence from love, since love belongs to good, wisdom
to good and truth together, and intelligence to truth from good.
These are what the angels perceive when they behold what is around
them, and thus their minds are more delighted and moved by them than
their eyes.
{Footnote 1} "Houses," with their contents, signify the things
in man that belong to his mind, thus his interiors (n. 710,
2233, 2331, 2559, 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023, 6639, 6690, 7353,
7848, 7910, 7929, 9150); consequently the things relating to
good and truth (n. 2233, 2331, 2559, 4982, 7848, 7929). "Rooms"
and "bed-chambers" signify interior things there (n. 3900,
5694, 7353). The "roof of a house" signifies what is inmost (n.
3652, 10184). A "house of wood" signifies what relates to good,
and a "house of stone" what relates to truth (n. 3720).
{Footnote 2} A "garden" or "park" signifies intelligence and
wisdom (n. 100, 108, 3220). What is meant by "the garden of
Eden" and "the garden of Jehovah" (n. 99, 100, 1588). How
magnificent the things seen in parks are in the other life (n.
1122, 1622, 2296, 4528, 4529). "Trees" signify perceptions and
knowledges, from which wisdom and intelligence are derived (n.
103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692). "Fruits" signify goods of
love and goods of charity (n. 3146, 7690, 9337).
187. This makes clear why the Lord called Himself the temple at
Jerusalem (John 2:19, 21),{1} namely, because the temple represented
His Divine Human; also why the New Jerusalem was seen to be of pure
gold, its gates of pearls, and its foundations of precious stones
(Apoc. 21), namely, because the New Jerusalem signifies the church
which was afterwards to be established, the twelve gates its truths
leading to good, and the foundations the truths on which the church
is founded.{2}
{Footnote 1} In the highest sense "the house of God" signifies
the Lord's Divine Human in respect to Divine good, and "the
temple" the same in respect to Divine truth; and in a relative
sense, heaven and the church in respect to good and truth (n.
3720).
{Footnote 2} "Jerusalem" signifies the church in which is
genuine doctrine (n. 402, 3654, 9166). "Gates" signify
introduction to the doctrine of the church, and through
doctrine introduction into the church (n. 2943, 4477, 4478).
"Foundation" signifies the truth on which heaven, the church,
and doctrine are founded (n. 9643).
188. The angels of whom the Lord's celestial kingdom consists dwell
for the most part in elevated places that appear as mountains of
soil; the angels of whom the Lord's spiritual kingdom consists dwell
in less elevated places that appear like hills; while the angels in
the lowest parts of heaven dwell in places that appear like ledges of
stone. These things spring from correspondence, for interior things
correspond to higher things, and exterior things to lower things;{1}
and this is why in the Word "mountains" signify celestial love,
"hills" spiritual love, and "rocks" faith.{2}
{Footnote 1} In the Word what is interior is expressed by what
is higher and what is higher signifies what is interior (n.
2148, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325). What is "high" signifies what is
internal, and likewise heaven (n. 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599,
8153).
{Footnote 2} In heaven, mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and
lands are seen exactly the same as in the world (n. 10608). On
the mountains angels who are in the good of love dwell, on the
hills those who are in the good of charity, on the rocks those
who are in the good of faith (n. 10438). Therefore in the Word
"mountains" signify the good of love (n. 795, 4210, 6435, 8327,
8758, 10438, 10608). "Hills" signify the good of charity (n.
6435, 10438). "Rocks" signify the good and truth of faith (n.
8581, 10580). "Stone," of which rock consists, in like manner
signifies the truth of faith (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426,
8609, 10376). This is why "mountains" signify heaven (n. 8327,
8805, 9420). And "the summit of a mountain" signifies the
highest part of heaven (n. 9422, 9434, 10608). Also why the
ancients had their holy worship on mountains (n. 796, 2722).
189. There are also angels who do not live associated together, but
apart, house by house. These dwell in the midst of heaven, since they
are the best of angels.
190. The houses in which angels dwell are not erected, as houses in
the world are, but are given to them gratuitously by the Lord, to
everyone in accordance with his reception of good and truth. They
also change a little in accordance with changes of the state of
interiors of the angels (of which above, n. 154-160). Everything
whatsoever that the angels possess they hold as received from the
Lord; and everything they have need of is given them.
191. XXII. SPACE IN HEAVEN.
All things in heaven appear, just as in the world, to be in place and
in space, and yet the angels have no notion or idea of place and
space. As this must needs sounds like a paradox, I will endeavor to
present the matter in a clear light, as it is of great importance.
192. All changes of place in the spiritual world are effected by
changes of state of the interiors, which means that change of place
is nothing else than change of state.{1} In this way I have been
taken by the Lord into the heavens and also to the earths in the
universe; and it was my spirit that so journeyed, while my body
remained in the same place.{2} Such are all movements of the angels;
and in consequence they have no distances, and having no distances
they have no spaces, but in place of spaces they have states and
their changes.
{Footnote 1} In the Word places and spaces signify states (n.
2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 7381, 10580); from experience (n. 1274,
1277, 1376-1381, 4321, 4882, 10146, 10580). Distance signifies
difference of state of life (n. 9104, 9967). In the spiritual
world movements and changes of place are changes of the state
of life, because they originate in these (n. 1273-1275, 1377,
3356, 9440). The same is true of journeyings (n. 9440, 10734);
illustrated by experience (n. 1273-1277, 5605). For this reason
"to journey" signifies in the Word to live and progress in
life; and "to sojourn has a like meaning (n. 3335, 4554, 4585,
4882, 5493, 5605, 5996, 8345, 8397, 8417, 8420, 8557). To go
with the Lord means to live with Him (n. 10567).
{Footnote 2} Man may be led a long distance in respect to his
spirit by means of changes of state, while his body remains in
its place, also from experience (n. 9440, 9967, 10734). What it
is to be "led by the spirit to another place" (n. 1884).
193. As changes of place are thus effected it is evident that
approaches are likenesses of state of the interiors, and separations
are unlikenesses; and for this reason those are near each other who
are in like states, and those are at a distance who are in unlike
states; and spaces in heaven are simply the external conditions
corresponding to the internal states. For the same reason the heavens
are distinct from each other, also the societies of each heaven and
the individuals in each society; and this is why also that the hells
are entirely separated from the heavens, because they are in a
contrary state.
194. For the same reason, again, any one in the spiritual world who
intensely desires the presence of another comes into his presence,
for he thereby sees him in thought, and puts himself in his state;
and conversely, one is separated from another so far as he is averse
to him. And since all aversion comes from contrariety of affection
and from disagreement of thought, whenever in that world several are
together in one place they are visible [to one another] so long as
they agree, but vanish as soon as they disagree.
195. Again, when any one goes from one place to another, whether it
be in his own city, or in courts or in gardens, or to others out of
his own society, he arrives more quickly when he eagerly desires it,
and less quickly when he does not, the way itself being lengthened
and shortened in accordance with the desire, although it remains the
same. This I have often seen to my surprise. All this again makes
clear how distances, and consequently spaces, are wholly in accord
with states of the interiors of the angels;{1} and this being so, no
notion or idea of space can enter their thought, although there are
spaces with them equally as in the world.
{Footnote 1} Places and spaces are presented to the sight in
accordance with the states of the interiors of angels and
spirits (n. 5605, 9440, 10146).
196. This can be illustrated by the thoughts of man, in that space
does not pertain to thought, for whatever is thought of intently is
set before one as present. Again, whoever reflects about it knows
that his sight recognizes space only by intermediate objects on the
earth that are seen at the same time, or by recalling what he already
knows about the distance. This happens because of the continuity; and
in what is continuous there is no appearance of distance except from
things not continuous. This is even more true of the angels, because
their sight acts as one with their thought, and their thought acts as
one with their affection, and things appear near or remote, and also
varied, in accordance with the states of their interiors, as has been
said above.
197. It follows from this that in the Word places and spaces, and all
things that in any way relate to space, signify such things as relate
to states, such as distances, near, far off, ways, journeys,
sojourning, miles and furlongs, plains, fields, gardens, cities and
streets, motions, measures of various kinds, long, broad, high, and
deep, and innumerable other things; for most things in man's thought
from the world take on something from space and time. [2] I will
mention here only what is signified in the Word by length, breadth,
and height. In this world, that is called long or broad which is long
or broad in relation to space, and the same is true of height. But in
heaven, where there is no thought from space, length means a state of
good, breadth a state of truth, and height the distinction between
them in accordance with degrees (see n. 38). Such is the meaning of
these three dimensions, because length in heaven is from east to
west, and those that dwell there are in good of love; while breadth
in heaven is from south to north, and those that dwell there are in
truth from good (see n. 148); while height in heaven applies to both
of these in respect to degrees. This is why length, breadth, and
height have these significations in the Word, as in Ezekiel (from
chap. 40 to 48), where the new temple and the new earth, with the
courts, chambers, gates, doors, windows, and surroundings are
described by measures giving the length, breadth, and height, by
which a new church, and the goods and truths that are in it are
signified. Otherwise to what purpose would be all those measures? [3]
In like manner the New Jerusalem is described in the Apocalypse in
these words:
The city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as
great as the breadth; and he measured the city with the
reed, twelve thousand furlongs; the length, the breadth,
and the height are equal (21:16).
Because "the New Jerusalem" here signifies a new church these
measures signify the things of the church, "length" its good of love,
"breadth" truth from that good, "height" good and truth in respect to
degrees, "twelve thousand furlongs" all good and truth in the
complex. Otherwise, how could there be said to be a height of twelve
thousand furlongs, the same as the length and the breadth? That
"breadth" in the Word signifies truth is evident from David:-
Jehovah, Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the
enemy, Thou hast made my feet to stand in a broad place
(Psalm 31:8).
Out of straitness I called upon Jah; He answereth me in a
broad place (Psalm 118:5). Besides other passages (as in
Isaiah 8:8; and in Habakkuk 1:6). So in all other cases.
198. From all this it can be seen that although there are spaces in
heaven as in the world, still nothing there is reckoned in accordance
with spaces but in accordance with states; and in consequence spaces
there cannot be measured as in the world, but can be seen only from
the state and in accordance with the state of the interiors there.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word length signifies good (n. 1613, 9487).
"Breadth" signifies truth (n. 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482, 9487,
10179). Height signifies good and truth in respect to their
degrees (n. 9489, 9773, 10181).
199. The primary and veriest cause of this is that the Lord is
present with everyone in the measure of his love and faith,{1} and
that it is in accordance with the Lord's presence that all things
appear near or far away, for it is from this that all things in the
heavens are determined. Also it is through this that angels have
wisdom, for it is through this that they have extension of thought
and through this a sharing of all things in the heavens; in a word,
it is through this that they think spiritually, and not naturally
like men.
{Footnote 1} The conjunction and presence of the Lord with the
angels is according to their reception of love and charity from
Him (n. 290, 681, 1954, 2658, 2886, 2888, 2889, 3001,
3741-3743, 4318 4319, 4524, 7211, 9128).
200. XXIII. THE FORM OF HEAVEN WHICH DETERMINES AFFILIATIONS AND
COMMUNICATIONS THERE.
What the form of heaven is can be seen in some measure from what has
been shown in the preceding chapters; as that heaven is like itself
both in its greatest and in its least divisions (n. 72); that
consequently each society is a heaven in a lesser form, and each
angel in the least form (n. 51-58); that as the entire heaven
reflects a single man, so each society of heaven reflects a man in a
lesser form, and each angel in the least form (n. 59-77); that the
wisest are at the center, and the less wise are round about even to
the borders, and the like is true of each society (n. 43); and that
those who are in the good of love dwell from the east to the west in
heaven, and those who are in truths from good from the south to the
north; and the same is true of each society (n. 148, 149). All this
is in accord with the form of heaven; consequently it may be
concluded from this what this form is in general.{1}
{Footnote 1} The entire heaven in respect to all angelic
societies, is arranged by the Lord in accordance with His
Divine order, since it is the Divine of the Lord with the
angels that makes heaven (n. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338, 10125,
10151, 10157). Concerning the heavenly form (n. 4040-4043,
6607, 9877).
201. It is important to know what the form of heaven is, because not
only is all affiliation there in accordance with it, but also all
mutual communication, and in consequence of this all extension of
thoughts and affections, and thus all the intelligence and wisdom of
angels. From this it follows that each one there is wise just to the
extent that he is in the form of heaven, and is thus a form of
heaven. It makes no difference whether you say in the form of heaven,
or in the order of heaven, since the form of any thing is from its
order and in accordance with its order.{1}
{Footnote 1} The form of heaven is a form in accordance with
the Divine order (n. 4040-4043, 6607, 9877).
202. Let us consider first what is meant by being in the form of
heaven. Man was created both in the image of heaven and in the image
of the world; his internal in the image of heaven, and his external
in the image of the world (see above, n. 57); and in the image means
the same thing as in accordance with the form. But as man by the
evils of his will and consequent falsities of thought has destroyed
in himself the image of heaven, that is, the form of heaven, and in
place of it has brought in the image and form of hell, his internal
is closed up from his very birth; and this is why man is born into
pure ignorance, while animals of every kind are not. And that man may
have the image of heaven or form of heaven restored to him he must be
taught the things that pertain to order; since form, as has been
said, is in accord with order. The Word contains all the laws of
Divine order, for its precepts are the laws of Divine order;
therefore to the extent that man knows these and lives in accordance
with them his internal is opened and the order or image of heaven is
there formed anew. This makes clear what is meant by being in the
form of heaven, namely, that it is to live in accordance with those
things that are in the Word.{1}
{Footnote 1} Divine truths are the laws of order (n. 2447,
7995). Man is a man to the extent that he lives in accordance
with order, that is, to the extent that he is in good in
accordance with Divine truths (n. 4839, 6605, 6626). All things
of Divine order are gathered up in man and he is from creation
Divine order in form (n. 4219, 4220, 4222, 4223, 4523, 4524,
5114, 6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). Man is not
born into good and truth, but into evil and falsity, that is,
into the opposite of Divine order, and consequently into pure
ignorance; and for this reason he must needs be born anew that
is, be regenerated, which is effected by means of Divine truths
from the Lord, that he may be introduced into order (n. 1047,
2307, 2308, 3518, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286,
10731). When the Lord forms man anew, that is, regenerates him,
He arranges all things in him in accordance with order, which
means, into the form of heaven (n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303).
203. So far as any one is in the form of heaven he is in heaven, and
is, in fact, a heaven in the least form (n. 57); consequently he is
to the same extent in intelligence and wisdom; for as has been said
above, all the thought of his understanding and all the affection of
his will extend themselves on every side into heaven in accord with
its form, and wonderfully communicate with the societies there, and
these in turn with him.{1} [2] There are some who do not believe that
thoughts and affections really extend themselves around about them,
but believe that they are within them, because whatever they think
they see within in themselves, and not as distant; but such are
greatly mistaken. For as the sight of the eye has extension to remote
objects, and is affected in accordance with the order of the things
seen in that extension, so the interior sight, which is that of the
understanding, has a like extension in the spiritual world, although
not perceived by man, for the reason given above (n. 196). The only
difference is that the sight of the eye is affected in a natural way,
because it is affected by the things in the natural world, while the
sight of the understanding is affected in a spiritual way, because by
the things in the spiritual world, all of which have relation to good
and truth; and man's ignorance of this is because of his not knowing
that there is any light that enlightens the understanding; and yet
without the light that enlightens the understanding man could not
think at all (of which light see above, n. 126-132). [3] There was a
certain spirit who believed that his thought was from himself, thus
without any extension outside of himself and communication thereby
with societies outside of him. That he might learn that this was not
true his communication with neighboring societies was cut off, and in
consequence, not only was he deprived of thought but he fell down as
if lifeless, although tossing his arms about like a new-born infant.
After a while the communication was restored to him, and then as it
was gradually restored he returned into the state of his thought. [4]
When other spirits had seen this they confessed that all thought and
affection, and in consequence, everything of life, flow in in
accordance with communication, since everything of man's life
consists in his ability to think and be moved by affection, or what
is the same, in his ability to understand and will.{2}
{Footnote 1} Everyone in heaven has communication of life,
which may be called its extension into angelic societies round
about, according to the quantity and quality of his good (n.
8794, 8797). Thoughts and affections have such extension (n.
2470, 6598-6613). They are united and separated in accordance
with the ruling affections (n. 4111).
{Footnote 2} There is only one Life, from which all, both in
heaven and in the world, live (n. 1954, 2021, 2536, 2658,
2886-2889, 3001, 3484, 3742, 5847, 6467). That life is from the
Lord above (n. 2886-2889, 3344, 3484, 4319, 4320, 4524, 4882,
5986, 6325, 6468-6470, 9276, 10196). It flows into angels,
spirits, and men, in a wonderful manner (n. 2886-2889, 3337,
3338, 3484, 3742). The Lord flows in from His Divine love,
which is such that what is its own it wills should be another's
(n. 3472, 4320). For this reason life appears to be in man, and
not flowing in (n. 3742, 4320). Of the joy of angels, perceived
and confirmed by what they told me, because of their not living
from themselves but from the Lord (n. 6469). The evil are
unwilling to be convinced that life flows in (n. 3743). Life
from the Lord flows in also with the evil (n. 2706, 3743, 4417,
10196). But they turn good into evil, and truth into falsity;
for such as man is such is his reception of life illustrated
(n. 4319, 4320, 4417).
204. But let it be understood that intelligence and wisdom vary with
everyone in accordance with this communication, those whose
intelligence and wisdom are formed out of genuine truths and goods
having communication with societies in accordance with the form of
heaven; while those whose intelligence and wisdom are not formed out
of genuine truths and goods, and yet out of what is in accord
therewith, have a broken and variously coherent communication, since
it is not with societies that are in a series in which there is a
form of heaven. On the other hand, those that are not in intelligence
and wisdom, because they are in falsities from evil, have
communication with societies in hell; and their extension is
determined by the degree of their confirmation. Let it also be known
that this communication with societies is not such a communication
with them as is clearly perceptible to those there, but is a
communication with what they really are, which is in them and flows
from them.{1}
{Footnote 1} Thought pours itself into societies of spirits and
of angels round about (n. 6600-6605). Still it does not move or
disturb the thoughts of the societies (n. 6601, 6603).
205. There is an affiliation of all in heaven in accordance with
spiritual relationships, that is, relationships of good and truth in
their order. It is so in the whole heaven; so in each society, and so
in each house. Because of this angels who are in like good and truth
recognize each other, as relatives by blood and marriage do on the
earth, precisely as if they had been acquainted from infancy. The
good and truth in each angel, which constitute his wisdom and
intelligence, are affiliated in like manner; they recognize each
other in like manner, and as they recognize each other they join
themselves together;{1} and in consequence those in whom truths and
goods are thus joined in accordance with a form of heaven see things
following one another in series, and how they cohere widely round
about; but those in whom goods and truths are not conjoined in
accordance with the form of heaven do not see this.
{Footnote 1} Good recognizes its truth, and truth its good (n.
2429, 3101, 3102, 3161, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5704, 5835, 9637). In
this way good and truth are conjoined (n. 3834, 4096, 4097,
4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530,
9258, 10555). This is effected by influx from heaven (n. 9079).
206. In each heaven there is such a form, and in accordance with it
the angels have communication and extension of thoughts and
affections, and thus in accordance with it they have intelligence and
wisdom. But the communication of one heaven with another is
different, that is, of the third or inmost with the second or middle,
and of this with the first or outmost. But the communication between
the heavens should not be called communication but influx. About this
something shall now be said. That there are three heavens distinct
from each other can be seen above in its own chapter (n. 29-40).
207. That between one heaven and another there is influx but not
communication can be seen from their relative position. The third or
inmost heaven is above, the second or middle heaven is below, and the
first or outmost heaven is still lower. There is a like arrangement
in all the societies in each heaven, for example, some dwell on
elevated places that appear like mountains (n. 188); on the top of
which those of the inmost heaven dwell; below these are the societies
of the second heaven, below these again the societies of the outmost
heaven. The same is true every where, both in elevated places and in
those not elevated. A society of a higher heaven has no communication
with a society of a lower except by correspondences (see above,
n. 100); and communication by correspondences is what is called influx.
208. One heaven is joined with another, or a society of one heaven
with the society of another, by the Lord alone, both by direct and by
mediate influx, directly from Himself, and mediately through the
higher heavens in order into the lower.{1} As the conjunction of the
heavens by this inflowing is from the Lord alone there is a most
careful precaution against any angel of a higher heaven looking down
into a society of a lower heaven and talking with any one there; for
the angel is thus immediately deprived of his intelligence and
wisdom. The reason of this also shall be told. As there are three
degrees of heaven, so each angel has three degrees of life, those in
the inmost heaven having the third or inmost degree open, while the
second and first degrees are closed; those in the middle heaven have
the second degree opened and the first and third closed; and those in
the lowest heaven have the first degree opened and the second and
third closed. Consequently, as soon as an angel of the third heaven
looks down into a society of the second heaven and talks with any one
there his third degree is at once closed; and as his wisdom resides
in that degree, if that is closed he is deprived of his wisdom, for
he has none in the second or first degree. This is what is meant by
the words of the Lord in Matthew:
He that is on the housetop, let him not go down to take
what is in his house; and he that is in the field, let him
not turn back to take his garment (24:17, 18).
And in Luke:
In that day he that shall be on the housetop and his goods
in the house, let him not go down to take them away; and
he that is in the field let him not turn back. Remember
Lot's wife (17:31, 32).
{Footnote 1} There is direct influx from the Lord and mediate
influx through heaven (n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683). There
is a direct influx of the Lord into the minutest parts of all
things (n. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717, 8728). Of the mediate influx
of the Lord through the heavens (n. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996).
209. No influx is possible from the lower heavens into the higher,
because this is contrary to order; but there is influx from the
higher heavens into the lower. Moreover, the wisdom of the angels of
a higher heaven surpasses the wisdom of the angels of a lower heaven
as a myriad to one; and this is another reason why the angels of a
lower heaven cannot converse with those of a higher heaven; and in
fact when they look towards them they do not see them, the higher
heaven appearing like a cloudy something over their heads. But the
angels of a higher heaven can see those in a lower heaven, although
if permitted to talk with them they would lose their wisdom, as has
been said above.
210. The thoughts and affections as well as the speech of the angels
of the inmost heaven are never perceived in the middle heaven,
because they so transcend what is there. But when it pleases the Lord
there is seen in the lower heavens from that source something like a
flame, and from the thoughts and affections in the middle heaven
there is seen in the outmost heaven something luminous, and sometimes
a cloud glowing white and variegated. From that cloud, its ascent,
descent, and form, what is being said there is in some measure known.
211. From all this it can be seen what the form of heaven is, namely,
that it is the most perfect of all in the inmost heaven; in the
middle heaven it is also perfect, but in a lower degree, and in the
outmost heaven in a degree still lower; also that the form of one
heaven has its permanent existence from another by means of influx
from the Lord. But what communication by influx is cannot be
understood unless it is known what degrees of height are, and how
they differ from degrees of length and breadth. What these different
degrees are may be seen above (n 38).
212. When it comes to the particulars of the form of heaven and how
it proceeds and flows, this not even the angels can comprehend. Some
conception of it can be gained from the form of all things in the
human body, when this is scanned and investigated by an acute and
wise man; for it has been shown above, in their respective chapters,
that the entire heaven reflects a single man (see n. 59-72) and that
all things in man correspond to the heavens (n. 87-102). How
incomprehensible and inexplicable that form is is evident only in a
general way from the nervous fibers, by which each part and all parts
of the body are woven together. What these fibers are, and how they
proceed and flow in the brain, the eye cannot at all perceive; for
innumerable fibers are there so interwoven that taken together they
appear like a soft continuous mass; and yet it is in accord with
these that each thing and all things of the will and understanding
flow with the utmost distinctness into acts. How again they
interweave themselves in the body is clear from the various plexuses,
such as those of the heart, the mesentery, and others; and also from
the knots called ganglions, into which many fibers enter from every
region and there intermingle, and when variously joined together go
forth to their functions, and this again and again; besides like
things in every viscus, member, organ, and muscle. Whoever examines
these fibers and their many wonders with the eye of wisdom will be
utterly bewildered. And yet the things seen with the eye are few, and
those not seen are still more wonderful because they belong to an
inner realm of nature. It is clearly evident that this form
corresponds to the form of heaven, because all the workings of the
understanding and the will are within it and are in accordance with
it; for it is in accordance with this form that whatever a man wills
passes spontaneously into act, and whatever he thinks spreads through
the fibers from their beginnings even to their terminations, which is
the source of sensations; and inasmuch as it is the form of thought
and will, it is the form of intelligence and wisdom. Such is the form
that corresponds to the form of heaven. And from this it can be known
that such is the form in accordance with which every affection and
thought of angels extends itself, and that so far as the angels are
in that form they are in intelligence and wisdom. That this form of
heaven is from the Divine Human of the Lord can be seen above (n.
78-86). All this has been said to make clear also that the heavenly
form is such that even as to its generals it can never be completely
known, thus that it is incomprehensible even to the angels, as has
been said above.
213. XXIV. GOVERNMENTS IN HEAVEN.
As heaven is divided into societies, and the larger societies consist
of some hundreds of thousands of angels (n. 50), and all within a
society, although in like good, are not in like wisdom (n. 43), it
must needs follow that governments exist there, since order must be
observed, and all things of order must be guarded. But the
governments in the heavens differ; they are of one sort in societies
that constitute the Lord's celestial kingdom, and of another sort in
the societies that constitute His spiritual kingdom; they differ also
in accordance with the functions of the several societies.
Nevertheless, no other government than the government of mutual love
is possible in the heavens, and the government of mutual love is
heavenly government.
214. Government in the Lord's celestial kingdom is called
righteousness because all in that kingdom are in the good of love to
the Lord from the Lord, and whatever is from that good is called
righteous. Government there belongs to the Lord alone. He leads them
and teaches them in the affairs of life. The truths that are called
truths of judgment are written on their hearts; everyone knows them,
perceives them, and sees them;{1} and in consequence matters of
judgment there never come into question, but only matters of
righteousness, which belong to the life. About these matters the less
wise consult the more wise, and these consult the Lord and receive
answers. Their heaven, that is, their inmost joy, is to live rightly
from the Lord.
{Footnote 1} The celestial angels do not think and speak from
truths, as the spiritual angels do, because they have from the
Lord a perception of all things of truth (n. 202, 597, 607,
784, 1121, 1384, 1398, 1442, 1919, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277,
10336). In respect to truths the celestial angels say, Yea,
yea, or Nay, nay; but the spiritual angels reason about them
whether they are true or not (n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786,
where the Lord's words, Let your speech be Yea, yea, Nay, nay;
what is beyond these is from evil (Matt. 5:37). are explained).
215. In the Lord's spiritual kingdom the government is called
judgment; because those in that kingdom are in spiritual good, which
is the good of charity towards the neighbor, and that good in its
essence is truth;{1} and truth pertains to judgment, as good pertains
to righteousness.{2} These, too, are led by the Lord, but mediately
(n. 208); and in consequence they have governors, few or many
according to the need of the society in which they are. They also
have laws according to which they live together. The governors
administer all things in accordance with the laws, which they
understand because they are wise, and in doubtful matters they are
enlightened by the Lord.
{Footnote 1} Those in the spiritual kingdom are in truths, and
those in the celestial kingdom are in good (n. 863, 875, 927,
1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113, 9596). The good
of the spiritual kingdom is the good of charity towards the
neighbor and this good in its essence is truth (n. 8042,
10296).
{Footnote 2} In the Word "righteousness" is predicated of good,
and "Judgment" of truth therefore "to do righteousness and
judgment" means good and truth (n. 2235, 9857). "Great
judgments" means the law of Divine order, thus Divine truths
(n. 7206).
216. As government from good, which is the kind of government that
exists in the Lord's celestial kingdom, is called righteousness; and
government from truth, which is the kind of government that exists in
the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is called judgment, so the terms
"righteousness and judgment" are used in the Word when heaven and the
church are treated of, "righteousness" signifying celestial good, and
"judgment" spiritual good, which good, as has been said above, is in
its essence truth, as in the following passages:
Of peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David
and upon His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it in
judgment and in righteousness from henceforth and even to
eternity (Isaiah 9:7).
By "David" here the Lord is meant;{1} and by "His kingdom" heaven, as
is evident from the following passage:
I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and He shall
reign as King, and shall deal intelligently and shall
execute judgment and righteousness in the land (Jer.
23:5).
Jehovah is exalted, for He dwelleth on high; He hath
filled Zion with judgment and righteousness (Isaiah 33:5).
"Zion" also means heaven and the church.{2}
I, Jehovah, doing judgment and righteousness on the earth,
for in these things I delight (Jer. 9:24).
I will betroth thee unto Me forever, and I will betroth
thee unto Me in righteousness and judgment (Hosea 2:19).
O Jehovah, in the heavens Thy righteousness is like the
mountains of God, and Thy judgments are like the great
deep (Psalm 36:5, 6).
They ask of Me the judgments of righteousness, they long
for an approach unto God (Isaiah 58:2). So in other
places.
{Footnote 1} By "David" in the prophetic parts of the Word, the
Lord is meant (n. 1888, 9954).
{Footnote 2} In the Word "Zion" means the church, and
specifically the celestial church (n. 2362, 9055).
217. In the Lord's spiritual kingdom there are various forms of
government, differing in different societies, the variety being in
accord with the functions performed by the societies; and the
functions of these are in accord with the functions of all things in
man to which they correspond. That these are various is well known,
the heart having one function, the lungs another, the liver another,
the pancreas and spleen another, and each sensory organ another. As
in the body these organs perform various services, so there are
various services pertaining to the societies in the Greatest Man,
which is heaven for the societies there correspond to these organs.
That there is a correspondence of all things of heaven with all
things of man may be seen in its own chapter above (n. 87-102). But
all these forms of government agree in this, that they look to the
public good as their end, and in that good to the good of the
individual.{1} And this is so because everyone in the whole heaven is
under the auspices of the Lord, who loves all, and from Divine love
ordains that there shall be a common good, from which each individual
shall receive his own good. Each one, moreover, receives good
according as he loves the common good; for so far as he loves the
common good he loves all and everyone; and as that love is love of
the Lord he is to that extent loved by the Lord, and good comes to
him.
{Footnote 1} Every man and every community, also one's country
and the church and in the universal sense the kingdom of the
Lord, is a neighbor, and to do good to these from love of good
in accordance with their state is to love the neighbor; that
is, the neighbor is the good of these, which is the common good
that must be consulted (n. 6818-6824, 8123). Civil good also,
which is justice, is a neighbor (n. 2915, 4730, 8120-8123).
Therefore charity towards the neighbor extends itself to all
things and each thing of the life of man; and loving good and
doing good from love of good and truth, and also doing what is
just from a love of what is just in every function and in every
work, is loving the neighbor (n. 2417, 8121-8124).
218. From all this it can be seen what the governors there are,
namely, that they are such as are preeminent in love and wisdom, and
therefore desire the good of all, and from wisdom know how to provide
for the realization of that good. Such governors do not domineer or
dictate, but they minister and serve (to serve meaning to do good to
others from a love of the good, and to minister meaning to see to it
that the good is done); nor do they make themselves greater than
others, but less, for they put the good of society and of the
neighbor in the first place, and put their own good last; and
whatever is in the first place is greater and what is last is less.
Nevertheless, the rulers have honor and glory; they dwell in the
midst of the society, in higher position than the rest, and also in
magnificent palaces; and this glory and honor they accept not for the
sake of themselves but for the sake of obedience; for all there know
that they have this honor and glory from the Lord, and on that
account should be obeyed. This is what is meant by the Lord's words
to His disciples:
Whosoever would become great among you let him be your
minister; and whosoever would be first among you let him
be your servant; as the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto but to minister (Matt. 20:27, 28).
He that is greatest among you let him be as the least, and
he that is chief as he that doth minister (Luke 22:26).
219. Also in each house there is a like government in a lesser form.
In every house there is a master and there are servants; the master
loves the servants and the servants love the master, consequently
they serve each other from love. The master teaches how they ought to
live, and tells what is to be done; the servants obey and perform
their duties. To perform use is the delight of everyone's life. This
shows that the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses.
220. Also in the hells there are governments, for without governments
they could not be kept in restraint; but the governments there are
opposite to the governments in the heavens; they are governments of
the love of self. Everyone there wishes to dictate to others and to
be over others. They hate those that do not favor them, and make them
objects of their vengeance and fury, for such is the nature of the
love of self. Therefore the more malignant are set over them as
governors, and these they obey from fear.{1} But of this below, where
the hells are treated of.
{Footnote 1} There are two kinds of rule, one from love towards
the neighbor the other from love of self (n. 10814). From the
rule that is from love towards the neighbor flow all goods and
all happinesses (n. 10160, 10814). In heaven no one desires to
rule from the love of self, but all desire to minister, which
means to rule from love to the neighbor; this is the source of
their great power (n. 5732). From rule from the love of self
all evils flow in (n. 10038). When the loves of self and the
world had begun to prevail men were compelled to subject
themselves to governments as a means of security (n. 7364,
10160, 10814).
221. XXV. DIVINE WORSHIP IN HEAVEN.
Divine worship in the heavens is not unlike in externals Divine
worship on the earth, but in internals it is different. In the
heavens, as on the earth, there are doctrines, preachings, and church
edifices. In essentials the doctrines there are everywhere the same;
but in the higher heavens they contain more interior wisdom than in
the lower. The preachings are in harmony with the doctrines; and as
they have houses and palaces (n. 183-190), so they have also church
edifices, in which there is preaching. Such things exist in heaven,
because the angels are being perfected continually in wisdom and
love. For they possess, as men do, understanding and will; and both
their understanding and their will are capable of being continually
perfected, the understanding by means of truths of intelligence, and
the will by means of the goods of love.{1}
{Footnote 1} The understanding is receptive of truth, and the
will of good (n. 3623, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930). As all things
have relation to truth and good, so everything of man's life
has relation to understanding and will (n. 803, 10122). Angels
are perfected to eternity (n. 4803, 6648).
222. But essential Divine worship in the heavens does not consist in
going to church and hearing preaching, but in a life of love,
charity, and faith, in accordance with doctrine; preachings in
churches serve solely as means of instruction in matters of life. I
have talked with angels on this subject, and have told them that it
is believed in the world that Divine worship consists solely in
attending church, listening to the preaching, observing the sacrament
of the Supper three or four times a year, and performing other acts
of worship according to the requirements of the church; also devoting
special times to prayers, and at such times, behaving devoutly. The
angels said that these are outward acts that ought to be done, but
are of no avail unless there is an internal from which they proceed,
which is a life in accordance with the precepts that doctrine
teaches.
223. That I might learn about their meeting in places of worship, I
have been permitted at times to attend and to hear the preaching. The
preacher stands in a pulpit at the east. Those who are in the light
of wisdom more than others sit in front of him; those who are in less
light sit to the right and left of these. There is a circular
arrangement of the seats, so that all are in the preacher's view, no
one so sitting at either side as to be out of his view. At the
entrance, which is at the east of the building and on the left of the
pulpit, those stand who are being initiated. No one is permitted to
stand behind the pulpit; when there is any one there the preacher
becomes confused. It is the same if any one in the congregation
dissents; and for this reason the dissenter must needs turn away his
face. The wisdom of the preachings is such as to be above all
comparison with the preachings of this world, for those in the
heavens are in interior light. The church edifices in the spiritual
kingdom are apparently built of stone, and those in the celestial
kingdom of wood; because stone corresponds to truth, and those who
are in the spiritual kingdom are in truth, while wood corresponds to
good, and those in the celestial kingdom are in good.{1} In that
kingdom the sacred edifices are not called churches but houses of
God. In that kingdom they are without magnificence; but in the
spiritual kingdom they are more or less magnificent.
{Footnote 1} "Stone" signifies truth (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720,
6426, 8609, 10376). "Wood" signifies good (n. 643, 3720, 8354).
For this reason the most ancient people, who were in celestial
good, had sacred buildings of wood (n. 3720).
224. I have also talked with one of the preachers about the holy
state in which those are who listen to the preaching in the churches.
He said that everyone is pious, devout, and holy in harmony with his
interiors, which pertain to love and faith, for holiness itself is in
love and faith, because the Divine of the Lord is in them. He also
said that he did not know what outward holiness is apart from love
and faith; and when he thought about it he said that perhaps it is
something counterfeiting holiness in outward appearance, either
conventional or hypocritical; and that such holiness is kindled and
sustained by spurious fire from the love of self and the world.
225. All the preachers are from the Lord's spiritual kingdom; none
are from the celestial kingdom. They are from the spiritual kingdom
because the angels there are in truths from good, and all preaching
must be from truths. There are no preachers from the celestial
kingdom because those who are there are in the good of love, and they
see and perceive truths from good, but do not talk about them. But
although the angels in the celestial kingdom perceive and see truths
there are preachings there, since by means of preachings they are
enlightened in the truths that they already know, and are perfected
by many truths that they did not know before. As soon as they hear
truths they acknowledge them and thus perceive them; and the truths
they perceive they love, and by living in accordance with them they
make them to be of their life, declaring that living in accordance
with truths is loving the Lord.{1}
{Footnote 1} Loving the Lord and the neighbor is living in
accordance with the Lord's commandments (n. 10143, 10153,
10310, 10578, 10645, 10683).
226. All preachers are appointed by the Lord, and have therefrom a
gift for preaching. No others are permitted to preach in the
churches. They are not called priests, but preachers. They are not
called priests because the celestial kingdom is the priesthood of
heaven; for priesthood signifies the good of love to the Lord, and
those in the celestial kingdom are in that good; while the spiritual
kingdom is the kingship of heaven, for kingship signifies truth from
good, and those in the spiritual kingdom are in that truth (see
above, n. 24).{1}
{Footnote 1} Priests represented the Lord in respect to the
Divine good, kings in respect to Divine truth (n. 2015, 6148).
Therefore, in the Word a "priest" signifies those who are in
the good of love to the Lord, and the priesthood signifies that
good (n. 9806, 9809). A "king" in the Word signifies those who
are in Divine truth, and therefrom kingship signifies truth
from good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044).
227. The doctrines with which their preachings are in accord all look
to life as their end, and none look to faith separate from the life.
The doctrine of the inmost heaven is more full of wisdom than the
doctrine of the middle heaven, and this more full of intelligence
than the doctrine of the outmost heaven; for in each heaven the
doctrines are adapted to the perceptions of the angels. The essential
of all doctrines is acknowledging the Divine Human of the Lord.
228. XXVI. THE POWER OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN.
That the angels possess power cannot be comprehended by those who
know nothing about the spiritual world and its influx into the
natural world. Such think that angels can have no power because they
are spiritual and are even so pure and unsubstantial that no eye can
see them. But those who look more interiorly into the causes of
things take a different view. Such know that all the power that a man
has is from his understanding and will (for apart from these he is
powerless to move a particle of his body), and his understanding and
will are his spiritual man. This moves the body and its members at
its pleasure; for whatever it thinks the mouth and tongue speak, and
whatever it wills the body does; and it bestows its strength at
pleasure. As man's will and understanding are ruled by the Lord
through angels and spirits, so also are all things of his body,
because these are from the will and understanding; and if you will
believe it, without influx from heaven man cannot even move a step.
That this is so has been shown me by much experience. Angels have
been permitted to move my steps, my actions, and my tongue and
speech, as they pleased, and this by influx into my will and thought;
and I have learned thereby that of myself I could do nothing. I was
afterwards told by them that every man is so ruled, and that he can
know this from the doctrine of the church and from the Word, for he
prays that God may send His angels to lead him, direct his steps,
teach him, and inspire in him what to think and what to say, and
other like things; although he says and believes otherwise when he is
thinking by himself apart from doctrine. All this has been said to
make known what power angels have with man.
229. But so great is the power of angels in the spiritual world that
if I should make known all that I have witnessed in regard to it it
would exceed belief. Any obstruction there that ought to be removed
because it is contrary to Divine order the angels cast down or
overthrow merely by an effort of the will and a look. Thus I have
seen mountains that were occupied by the evil cast down and
overthrown, and sometimes shaken from end to end as in earthquakes;
also rocks cleft asunder to their bottoms, and the evil who were upon
them swallowed up. I have seen also hundreds of thousands of evil
spirits dispersed by angels and cast down into hell. Numbers are of
no avail against them; neither are devices, cunning, or combinations;
for they see through them all, and disperse them in a moment. (But
more may be seen on this subject in the account of The Destruction of
Babylon.) Such power do angels have in the spiritual world. It is
evident from the Word that they have like power in the natural world
also when it is permitted; for instance, that they have given to
destruction entire armies; and that they brought on a pestilence from
which seventy thousand men died. Of this angel it is said:
The angel stretched out his hand against Jerusalem to
destroy it but Jehovah repented Him of the evil, and said
to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough, now
stay thy hand. And David saw the angel that smote the
people (2 Samuel 24:16, 17);
besides other passages. Because the angels have such power they are
called powers; as in David:
Bless Jehovah, ye angels, mighty in power (Psalm 103:20).
230. But it must be understood that the angels have no power whatever
from themselves, but that all their power is from the Lord; and that
they are powers only so far as they acknowledge this. Whoever of them
believes that he has power from himself instantly becomes so weak as
not to be able to resist even a single evil spirit. For this reason
angels ascribe no merit whatever to themselves, and are averse to all
praise and glory on account of any thing they do, ascribing all the
praise and glory to the Lord.
231. It is the Divine truth that goes forth from the Lord that has
all power in the heavens, for the Lord in heaven is Divine truth
united to Divine good (see n. 126-140). To the extent that angels are
receptions of this truth they are powers.{1} Moreover each one is his
own truth and his own good because each one is such as his
understanding and will are. The understanding pertains to truth
because everything of it is from truths, and the will pertains to
good because everything of it is from goods; for whatever any one
understands he calls truth, and whatever he wills he calls good. From
this it is that everyone is his own truth and his own good.{2}
Therefore so far as an angel is truth from the Divine and good from
the Divine he is a power, because to that extent the Lord is in him.
And as no one's good and truth are wholly like or the same as
another's, since in heaven, as in the world, there is endless variety
(n. 20), so the power of one angel is not like the power of another.
Those who constitute the arms in the Greatest Man, or heaven, have
the greatest power because such are more in truths than others, and
into their truths good flows from the entire heaven. Moreover, the
power of the whole man passes into the arms, and by means of these
the whole body exercises its powers. It is for this reason that in
the Word "arms" and "hand" signify powers.{3} Sometimes on this
account a naked arm is seen in heaven so powerful as to be able to
break in pieces everything in its way, even though it were a great
rock on the earth. Once it was moved towards me, and I perceived that
it was able to crush my bones to atoms.
{Footnote 1} Angels are called powers and are powers from their
reception of Divine truth from the Lord (n. 9639). Angels are
recipients of Divine truth from the Lord and on this account
are sometimes called "gods" in the Word (n. 4295, 4402, 7268,
7873, 8192, 8301, 9160).
{Footnote 2} A man or an angel is his own good and his own
truth, thus his own love and his own faith (n. 10298, 10367).
He is his own understanding and his own will, for everything of
life is there from; the life of good is from the will, and the
life of truth is from the understanding (n. 10076, 10177,
10264, 10284).
{Footnote 3} The correspondence of the hands, arms, and
shoulders, with the Greatest man or heaven (n. 4931-4937). In
the Word, "arms" and hands signify power (n. 878, 3091, 4932,
4933, 6947, 10019).
232. It has been shown above (n. 137) that the Divine truth that goes
forth from the Lord has all power, and that angels have power to the
extent that they are receptions of Divine truth from the Lord. But
angels are so far receptions of Divine truth as they are receptions
of Divine good, for truths have all their power from good, and none
apart from good. So, too, good has all its power through truths, and
none apart from truths. Power springs from the conjunction of these
two. The same is true of faith and love; for it is the same whether
you say truth or faith, since everything of faith is truth; also it
is the same whether you say good or love, since everything of love is
good.{1} The great power that angels have by means of truths from
good is shown also from this, that when an evil spirit is merely
looked at by the angels he falls into a swoon, and does not appear
like a man, and this until the angel turns away his eyes. Such an
effect is produced by the look of the eyes of angels, because the
sight of angels is from the light of heaven, and the light of heaven
is Divine truth (see above, n. 126-132). Moreover, the eyes
correspond to truths from good.{2}
{Footnote 1} All power in heaven is the power of truth from
good, thus of faith from loves (n. 3091, 3563, 6423, 8304,
9643, 10019, 10182). All power is from the Lord, because from
Him is every truth of faith and every good of love (n. 9327,
9410). This power is meant by the keys given to Peter (n.
6344). It is Divine truth going forth from the Lord that has
all power (n. 6948, 8200). This power of the lord is what is
meant by "sitting at the right hand of Jehovah" (n. 3387, 4592,
4933, 7518, 7673, 8281, 9133). The right had means power (n.
10019).
{Footnote 2} The eyes correspond to truths from good
(n. 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 6923).
233. As truths from good have all power, so falsities from evil have
no power at all;{1} and as all in hell are in falsities from evil
they have no power against truth and good. But what power they have
among themselves, and what power evil spirits have before they are
cast into hell, will be told hereafter.
{Footnote 1} Falsity from evil has no power, because truth from
food has all power (n. 6784, 10481).
234. XXVII. THE SPEECH OF ANGELS.
Angels talk with each other just as men do in the world, and on
various subjects, as on domestic matters, and on matters of the civil
state, and of moral, and spiritual life. And there is no difference
except that their talk is more intelligent than that of men, because
it is from more interior thought. I have been permitted to associate
with them frequently, and to talk with them as friend with friend,
and sometimes as stranger with stranger; and as I was then in a state
like theirs I knew no otherwise than that I was talking with men on
the earth.
235. Angelic speech, like human speech, is distinguished into words;
it is also audibly uttered and heard; for angels, like men, have
mouth, tongue, and ears, and an atmosphere in which the sound of
their speech is articulated, although it is a spiritual atmosphere
adapted to angels, who are spiritual. In their atmosphere angels
breathe and utter words by means of their breath, as men do In their
atmosphere.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the heavens there is respiration, but it is of
an interior kind (n. 3884, 3885) from experience (n. 3884,
3885, 3891, 3893). There are differing respirations there,
varying in accordance with their states (n. 1119, 3886, 3887,
3889, 3892, 3893). The evil are wholly unable to breathe in
heaven, and they are suffocated if they go there (n. 3894).
236. In the entire heaven all have the same language, and they all
understand one another, to whatever society, near or remote, they
belong. Language there is not learned but is instinctive with
everyone, for it flows from their very affection and thought, the
tones of their speech corresponding to their affections, and the
vocal articulations which are words corresponding to the ideas of
thought that spring from the affections; and because of this
correspondence the speech itself is spiritual, for it is affection
sounding and thought speaking. [2] Any one who gives any thought to
it can see that all thought is from affection which pertains to love,
and that the ideas of thought are the various forms into which the
general affection is distributed; for no thought or idea is possible
apart from affection-the soul and life of thought is from affection.
This enables angels to know, merely from another's speech, what he
is-from the tone what his affection is, and from the vocal
articulations or words what his mind is. The wiser angels know what
the ruling affection is from a single series of words, for that
affection is what they chiefly attend to. [3] It is known that each
individual has a variety of affections, one affection when in joy,
another when in grief, another when in sympathy and compassion,
another when in sincerity and truth, another when in love and
charity, another when in zeal or in anger, another when in simulation
and deceit, another when in quest of honor and glory, and so on. But
the ruling affection or love is in all of these; and for this reason
the wiser angels, because they perceive that love, know from the
speech the whole state of another. [4] This it has been granted me to
know from much experience. I have heard angels disclosing the
character of another's life merely from hearing him speak. They also
said that from any ideas of another's thought they could know all
things of his life, because from those ideas they know his ruling
love, in which are all things in their order. They know also that
man's book of life is nothing else.
237. Angelic language has nothing in common with human languages
except certain words that are the sounds of a specific affection; yet
this is true not of the words themselves but of their sounds; on
which subject something will be said in what follows That angelic
language has nothing in common with human languages is evident from
the fact that angels are unable to utter a single word of human
language. This was tried but they could not do it, because they can
utter nothing except what is in entire agreement with their
affections; whatever is not in agreement is repugnant to their very
life, for life belongs to affection, and their speech is from their
life. I have been told that the first language of men on our earth
coincided with angelic language because they had it from heaven; and
that the Hebrew language coincides with it in some respects.
238. As the speech of angels corresponds to their affection, and
their affection belongs to their love, and as the love of heaven is
love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor (see above, n. 13-19),
it is evident how choice and delightful their talk must be, affecting
not the ears only but also the interiors of the mind of those who
listen to it. There was a certain hard-hearted spirit with whom an
angel spoke. At length he was so affected by what was said that he
shed tears, saying that he had never wept before, but he could not
refrain, for it was love speaking.
239. The speech of angels is likewise full of wisdom because it
proceeds from their interior thoughts, and their interior thought is
wisdom, as their interior affection is love, and in their speech
their love and wisdom unite. For this reason their speech is so full
of wisdom that they can express in a single word what man cannot
express in a thousand words also the ideas of their thought include
things that are beyond man's comprehension, and still more his power
of expression. This is why the things that have been heard and seen
in heaven are said to be ineffable, and such as ear hath never heard
nor eye seen. [2] That this is true I have also been permitted to
learn by experience. At times I have entered into the state in which
angels are, and in that state have talked with them, and I then
understood everything. But when I was brought back into my former
state, and thus into the natural thought proper to man, and wished to
recall what I had heard I could not; for there were thousands of
things unadapted to the ideas of natural thought, and therefore
inexpressible except by variegations of heavenly light, and thus not
at all by human words. [3] Also the ideas of thought of the angels
from which their words spring are modifications of the light of
heaven, and the affections from which the tones of the words spring
are variations of the heat of heaven, the light of heaven being
Divine truth or wisdom, and the heat of heaven the Divine good or
love (see above, n. 126-140); and the angels have their affection
from the Divine love, and their thought from the Divine wisdom.{1}
{Footnote 1} The ideas of angels, from which they speak, are
expressed by wonderful variegations of the light of heaven (n.
1646, 3343, 3993).
240. Because the speech of angels proceeds directly from their
affection, and the ideas of their thought are the various forms into
which their general affection is distributed (see above, n. 236),
angels can express in a moment what a man cannot express in half an
hour; also they can set forth in a few words what has been expressed
in writing on many pages; and this, too, has been proved to me by
much experience.{1} Thus the angels' ideas of thought and the words
of their speech make one, like effecting cause and effect; for what
is in the ideas of thought as cause is presented in the words as
effect, and this is why every word comprehends in itself so many
things. Also all the particulars of angelic thought, and thus of
angelic speech, appear when presented to view like a thin wave or
circumfluent atmosphere, in which are innumerable things in their
order derived from angelic wisdom, and these enter another's thought
and affect him. The ideas of thought of everyone, both angel and man,
are presented to view in the light of heaven, whenever the Lord
pleases.{2}
{Footnote 1} Angels can express by their speech in a moment
more than a man can express by his in half an hour; and they
can also express things that do not fall into the expressions
of human speech (n. 1641-1643, 1645, 4609, 7089).
{Footnote 2} The innumerable things contained in one idea of
thought (n. 1008, 1869, 4946, 6613-6618). The ideas of man's
thought are opened in the other life, and what they are is
presented to view to the life (n. 1869, 3310, 5510). What their
appearance is (n. 6601, 8885). The ideas of angels of the
inmost heaven present an appearance of flamy light (n. 6615).
The ideas of angels of the outmost heaven present an appearance
of thin white clouds (n. 6614). An angelic idea seen, from
which there was a radiation towards the Lord (n. 6620). Ideas
of thought extend themselves widely into the societies of
angels round about (n. 6598-6613).
241. The speech of angels of the Lord's celestial kingdom resembles
the speech of the angels of His spiritual kingdom, but it is from
more interior thought. Celestial angels are in good of love to the
Lord, and therefore speak from wisdom; while spiritual angels are in
the good of charity towards the neighbor, which in its essence is
truth (n. 215), and therefore speak from intelligence, for wisdom is
from good, and intelligence is from truth. For this reason the speech
of celestial angels is like a gentle stream, soft, and as it were
continuous; but the speech of spiritual angels is slightly vibratory
and divided. The speech of celestial angels has much of the tones of
the vowels u and o; while the speech of spiritual angels has much of
the tones of e and i;{1} for the vowels stand for tone, and in the
tone there is affection, the tone of the speech of angels
corresponding to their affection, as has been said above (n. 236);
while the vocal articulations, which are words, correspond to the
ideas of thought which spring from affection. As the vowels are not
essential to a language, but serve by means of tones to elevate the
words to the various affections according to each one's state, so in
the Hebrew tongue the vowels are not expressed, and are also
variously pronounced. From this a man's quality in respect to his
affection and love is known to the angels. Also in the speech of
celestial angels there are no hard consonants, and it rarely passes
from one consonant to another without the interposition of a word
beginning with a vowel. This is why in the Word the particle "and" is
so often interposed, as can be seen by those who read the Word in the
Hebrew, in which this particle is soft, beginning and ending with a
vowel sound. Again, in the Word, in Hebrew, it can in some measure be
seen from the words used whether they belong to the celestial class
or the spiritual class, that is, whether they involve good or truth.
Those involving good partake largely of the sounds of u and o, and
also somewhat of a, while those involving truth partake of the sounds
of e and i. Because it is especially in tones that affections express
themselves, so in human speech, when great subjects are discussed,
such as heaven [caelum] and God [Deus], those words are preferred
that contain the vowels u and o; and musical tones, whenever such
themes are to be expressed, rise to the same fullness; but not when
less exalted themes are rendered. By such means musical art is able
to express affections of various kinds.
{Footnote 1} [As these vowels are pronounced in European
language. -- Tr.]
242. In angelic speech there is a kind of symphony that cannot be
described;{1} which comes from the pouring forth and diffusion of the
thoughts and affections from which speech flows, in accordance with
the form of heaven, and all affiliation and all communication in
heaven is in accordance with that form. That angels are affiliated in
accordance with the form of heaven, and that their thoughts and
affections flow in accordance with it may be seen above (n. 200-212).
{Footnote 1} In angelic speech there is a symphony with
harmonious cadence (n. 1648, 1649, 7191).
243. Speech like that in the spiritual world is inherent in every man
in his interior intellectual part; but man does not know this,
because this speech does not with man, as with angels, fall into
words analogous to affection; nevertheless this is what causes man,
when he enters the other life, to come into the same speech as
spirits and angels, and thus to know how to speak without
instruction.{1} But more on this subject hereafter.
{Footnote 1} There is spiritual or angelic speech belonging to
man, though he does not know it (n. 4104). The ideas of the
internal man are spiritual, but during his life in the world
man perceives them naturally, because he then thinks in what is
natural (n. 10236, 10237, 10551). Man comes after death into
his interior ideas (n. 3226, 3342, 3343, 10568, 10604). Those
ideas then form his speech (n. 2470-2479).
244. In heaven, as has been said above, all have one speech; but it
is varied in this respect, that the speech of the wise is more
interior and more full of variations of affections and ideas of
thought, while the speech of the less wise is more external and less
full; and the speech of the simple is still more external, consisting
of words from which the meaning is to be gathered in the same way as
when men are talking to one another. There is also speech by the
face, terminating in something sonorous modified by ideas. Again,
there is speech in which heavenly representatives are mingled with
the ideas, and go forth from ideas to sight. There is also speech by
gestures that correspond to affections, and represent things like
those expressed by their words. There is speech by means of the
generals of affections and the generals of thoughts. There is speech
like thunder; besides other kinds.
245. The speech of evil and infernal spirits is likewise natural to
them because it is from affections; but it is from evil affections
and consequent filthy ideas, to which angels are utterly averse. Thus
the modes of speaking in hell are opposite to those of heaven; and in
consequence evil spirits cannot endure angelic speech, and angels
cannot endure infernal speech. To the angels infernal speech is like
a bad odor striking the nostrils. The speech of hypocrites, who are
such as are able to feign themselves angels of light, resembles in
respect to words the speech of angels, but in respect to affections
and consequent ideas of thought it is the direct opposite.
Consequently, when the inner nature of their speech is perceived as
wise angels perceive it, it is heard as the gnashing of teeth, and
strikes with horror.
246. XXVIII. THE SPEECH OF ANGELS WITH MAN.
Angels who talk with man do not talk in their own language, nor in
any language unknown to man, but in the man's own language, or in
some other language with which he is acquainted. This is so because
when angels speak with man they turn themselves to him and conjoin
themselves with him; and this conjunction of angel with man causes
the two to be in like thought; and as man's thought coheres to his
memory, and this is the source of his speech, the two have the same
language. Moreover, when an angel or a spirit comes to a man, and by
turning to him is conjoined to him, he so enters into the entire
memory of the man that he is scarcely conscious that he does not
himself know whatever the man knows, including his languages. [2] I
have talked with angels about this, and have said that perhaps they
thought that they were addressing me in my mother tongue, since it is
so perceived; and yet it was I and not they that spoke; and that this
is evident from the fact that angels cannot utter a single word of
human language (see n. 237); furthermore, human language is natural
and they are spiritual, and spiritual beings cannot give expression
to any thing in a natural way. To this they replied that they are
aware that their conjunction with the man with whom they are speaking
is with his spiritual thought; but because his spiritual thought
flows into his natural thought, and his natural thought coheres to
his memory, the language of the man and all his knowledge appear to
them to be their own; and that this is so for this reason, that while
it is the Lord's pleasure that there should be such a conjunction
with and sort of insertion of man into heaven, yet the state of man
is now such that there can no longer be such conjunction with angels,
but only with spirits who are not in heaven. [3] When I talked about
this with spirits also they were unwilling to believe that it is the
man that speaks, insisting that they spoke in man, also that man's
knowledge is their knowledge and not the man's knowledge,
consequently that everything that man knows is from them. I tried to
convince them by many proofs that this is not true, but in vain. Who
are meant by spirits and who are meant by angels will be told further
on when the world of spirits is treated of.
247. There is another reason why angels and spirits conjoin
themselves so closely with man as not to know but that what is man's
is their own, namely, that there is such conjunction between the
spiritual world and the natural world in man that the two are
seemingly one. But inasmuch as man has separated himself from heaven
the Lord has provided that there should be angels and spirits with
each individual, and that man should be ruled by the Lord through
these. This is the reason for such close conjunction. It would have
been otherwise if man had not separated himself; for in that case he
might have been ruled by the Lord through the general influx from
heaven, without spirits and angels being adjoined to him. But this
subject will be specially considered in what follows when the
conjunction of heaven with man is treated of.
248. The speech of an angel or spirit with man is heard by him as
audibly as the speech of man with man, yet by himself only, and not
by others who stand near; and for the reason that the speech of an
angel or spirit flows first into a man's thought, and by an inner way
into his organ of hearing, and thus moves it from within; while the
speech of man with man flows first into the air and by an outward way
into his organ of hearing, and moves it from without. Evidently,
then, the speech of an angel or spirit with man is heard within him;
but as the organs of hearing are thus equally moved, the speech is
equally audible. That the speech of an angel or a spirit flows down
from within even into the ear has been made clear to me by the fact
that it flows also into the tongue, causing a slight vibration, but
without any such motion as when the man himself by means of the
tongue forms the sound of speech into words.
249. But at the present day to talk with spirits is rarely granted
because it is dangerous;{1} for then the spirits know, what otherwise
they do not know, that they are with man; and evil spirits are such
that they hold man in deadly hatred, and desire nothing so much as to
destroy him both soul and body, and this they do in the case of those
who have so indulged themselves in fantasies as to have separated
from themselves the enjoyments proper to the natural man. Some also
who lead a solitary life sometimes hear spirits talking with them,
and without danger; but that the spirits with them may not know that
they are with man they are at intervals removed by the Lord; for most
spirits are not aware that there is any other world than that in
which they live, and therefore are unaware that there are men
anywhere else; and this is why man is not permitted to speak with
them in return. If he did they would know. Again, those who meditate
much on religious subjects, and are so intent upon them as to see
them as it were inwardly within themselves, begin to hear spirits
speaking with them; for religious persuasions, whatever they are,
when man dwells upon them by himself and does not adapt them to the
various things of use in the world, penetrate to the interiors and
rest there, and occupy the whole spirit of the man, and even enter
into the spiritual world and act upon the spirits there. But such
persons are visionaries and enthusiasts; and whatever spirit they
hear they believe to be the Holy Spirit, when, in fact, such spirits
are enthusiastic spirits. Such spirits see falsities as truths, and
so seeing them they induce not themselves only but also those they
flow into to believe them. Such spirits, however, have been gradually
removed, because they began to lure others into evil and to gain
control over them. Enthusiastic spirits are distinguished from other
spirits by their believing themselves to be the Holy Spirit, and
believing what they say to be Divine. As man honors such spirits with
Divine worship they do not attempt to harm him. I have sometimes
talked with them, and the wicked things they infused into their
worshipers were then disclosed. They dwell together towards the left,
in a desert place.
{Footnote 1} Man is able to talk with spirits and angels; and
the ancient people frequently talked with them (n. 67-69, 784,
1634, 1636, 7802). In some earths angels and spirits appear in
human form and talk with the inhabitants (n. 10751, 10752). But
on this earth at this day it is dangerous to talk with spirits,
unless man is in true faith, and is led by the Lord (n. 784,
9438, 10751).
250. But to speak with the angels of heaven is granted only to those
who are in truths from good, especially to those who are in the
acknowledgment of the Lord and of the Divine in His Human, because
this is the truth in which the heavens are. For, as it has been shown
above, the Lord is the God of heaven (n. 2-6); it is the Divine of
the Lord that makes heaven (n. 7-12); the Divine of the Lord in
heaven is love to Him and charity towards the neighbor from Him (n.
13-19); the whole heaven in one complex reflects a single man; also
every society of heaven; and every angel is in complete human form,
and this from the Divine Human of the Lord (n. 59-86). All of which
makes evident that only those whose interiors are opened by Divine
Truths, even to the Lord, are able to speak with the angels of
heaven, since it is into these truths with man that the Lord flows,
and when the Lord flows in heaven also flows in. Divine truths open
the interiors of man because man was so created as to be in respect
to his internal man an image of heaven, and in respect to his
external an image of the world (n. 57); and the internal man is
opened only by means of Divine truth going forth from the Lord,
because that is the light of heaven and the life of heaven (n.
126-140).
251. The influx of the Lord Himself into man is into his forehead,
and from that into the whole face, because the forehead of man
corresponds to love, and the face corresponds to all his
interiors.{1} The influx of spiritual angels into man is into his
head every where, from the forehead and temples to the whole part
that contains the cerebrum, because that region of the head
corresponds to intelligence; but the influx of celestial angels is
into that part of the head that contains the cerebellum, and is
called the occiput, from the ears all around even to the neck, for
that region corresponds to wisdom. All the speech of angels with man
enters by these ways into his thought; and by this means I have
perceived what angels they were that spoke with me.
{Footnote 1} The "forehead" corresponds to heavenly love, and
consequently in the Word signifies that love (n. 9936). The
"face" corresponds to the interiors of man, which belong to
thought and affection (n. 1568, 2988 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797,
4800, 5165, 5168, 5695, 9306). The face is formed to
correspondence with the interiors (n. 4791-4805, 5695).
Consequently the "face," in the Word, signifies the interiors
(n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796).
252. Those who talk with the angels of heaven also see the things
that exist in heaven, because they are then seeing in the light of
heaven, for their interiors are in that light; also the angels
through them see the things that are on the earth,{1} because in them
heaven is conjoined to the world and the world is conjoined to
heaven. For (as has been said above n. 246), when the angels turn
themselves to man they so conjoin themselves to him as to be wholly
unaware that what pertains to the man is not theirs--not only what
pertains to his speech but also to his sight and hearing; while man,
on the other hand, is wholly unaware that the things that flow in
through the angels are not his. Such was the conjunction that existed
between angels of heaven and the most ancient people on this earth,
and for this reason their times were called the Golden Age. Because
this race acknowledged the Divine under a human form, that is, the
Lord, they talked with the angels of heaven as with their friends,
and angels of heaven talked with them as with their friends; and in
them heaven and the world made one. But after those times man
gradually separated himself from heaven by loving himself more than
the Lord and the world more than heaven, and in consequence began to
feel the delights of the love of self and the world as separate from
the delights of heaven, and finally to such an extent as to be
ignorant of any other delight. Then his interiors that had been open
into heaven were closed up, while his exteriors were open to the
world; and when this takes place man is in light in regard to all
things of the world, but in thick darkness in regard to all things of
heaven.
{Footnote 1} Spirits are unable to see through man any thing
that is in this solar world, but they have seen through my
eyes; the reason (n. 1880).
253. Since those times it is only rarely that any one has talked with
the angels of heaven; but some have talked with spirits who are not
in heaven. This is so because man's interior and exterior faculties
are such that they are turned either towards the Lord as their common
center (n. 124), or towards self, that is, backwards from the Lord.
Those that are turned towards the Lord are also turned towards
heaven. But those that are turned towards self, are turned also
towards the world. And to elevate these is a difficult matter;
nevertheless the Lord elevates them as much as is possible, by
turning the love about; which is done by means of truths from the
Word.
254. I have been told how the Lord spoke with the prophets through
whom the Word was given. He did not speak with them as He did with
the ancients, by an influx into their interiors, but through spirits
who were sent to them, whom He filled with His look, and thus
inspired with the words which they dictated to the prophets; so that
it was not influx but dictation. And as the words came forth directly
from the Lord, each one of them was filled with the Divine and
contains within it an internal sense, which is such that the angels
of heaven understand the words in a heavenly and spiritual sense,
while men understand them in a natural sense. Thus has the Lord
conjoined heaven and the world by means of the Word. How the Lord
fills spirits with the Divine by His look has also been made clear. A
spirit that has been filled by the Lord with the Divine does not know
otherwise than that he is the Lord, and that it is the Divine that is
speaking; and this continues until he has finished speaking. After
that he perceives and acknowledges that he is a spirit, and that he
spoke from the Lord and not from himself. Because this was the state
of the spirits who spoke with the prophets they said that it was
Jehovah that spoke; the spirits even called themselves Jehovah, as
can be seen both from the prophetical and historical parts of the
Word.
255. That the nature of the conjunction of angels and spirits with
man may be understood I am permitted to mention some notable things
by which it may be elucidated and verified. When angels and spirits
turn themselves to man they do not know otherwise than that the man's
language is their own and that they have no other language; and for
the reason that they are there in the man's language, and not in
their own, which they have forgotten. But as soon as they turn
themselves away from the man they are in their own angelic and
spiritual language, and know nothing about the man's language. I have
had a like experience when in company with angels and in a state like
theirs. I then talked with them in their language and knew nothing of
my own, having forgotten it; but as soon as I ceased to be present
with them I was in my own language. [2] Another notable fact is that
when angels and spirits turn themselves to a man they are able to
talk with him at any distance; they have talked with me at a
considerable distance as audibly as when they were near. But when
they turn themselves away from man and talk with each other man hears
nothing at all of what they are saying, even if it be close to his
ear. From this it was made clear that all conjunction in the
spiritual world is determined by the way they turn. [3] Another
notable fact is that many spirits together can talk with a man, and
the man with them; for they send one of their number to the man with
whom they wish to speak, and the spirit sent turns himself to the man
and the rest of them turn to their spirit and thus concentrate their
thoughts, which the spirit utters; and the spirit then does not know
otherwise than that he is speaking from himself, and they do not know
otherwise than that they are speaking. Thus also is the conjunction
of many with one effected by turning.{1} But of these emissary
spirits, who are also called subjects, and of communication by means
of them, more will be said hereafter.
{Footnote 1} Spirits sent from one society of spirits to other
societies are called subjects (n. 4403, 5856). Communications
in the spiritual world are effected by such emissary spirits
(n. 4403, 5856, 5983). A spirit when he is sent forth, and
serves as a subject thinks from those by whom he is sent forth
and not from himself (n. 5985-5987).
256. An angel or spirit is not permitted to speak with a man from his
own memory, but only from the man's memory; for angels and spirits
have a memory as well as man. If a spirit were to speak from his own
memory with a man the man would not know otherwise than that the
thoughts then in his mind were his own, although they were the
spirit's thoughts. This would be like the recollection of something
which the man had never heard or seen. That this is so has been given
me to know from experience. This is the source of the belief held by
some of the ancients that after some thousands of years they were to
return into their former life, and into everything they had done, and
in fact, had returned. This they concluded because at times there
came to them a sort of recollection of things that they had never
seen or heard. This came from an influx from the memory of spirits
into their ideas of thought.
257. There are also spirits called natural and corporeal spirits.
When these come to a man they do not conjoin themselves with his
thought, like other spirits, but enter into his body, and occupy all
his senses, and speak through his mouth, and act through his members,
believing at the time that all things of the man are theirs. These
are the spirits that obsess man. But such spirits have been cast into
hell by the Lord, and thus wholly removed; and in consequence such
obsessions are not possible at the present time.{1}
{Footnote 1} External or bodily obsessions are not permitted at
the present time, as they were formerly (n. 1983). But at
present internal obsessions, which pertain to the mind, are
permitted more than formerly (n. 1983, 4793). Man is inwardly
obsessed when he has filthy and scandalous thoughts about God
and the neighbor, and is withheld from making them known only
by external consideration, which are fear of the loss of
reputation, honor, gain and fear of the law and of loss of life
(n. 5990). Of the devilish spirits who chiefly obsess the
interiors of man (n. 4793). Of the devilish spirits who long to
obsess the exteriors of man; that such are shut up in hell (n.
2752, 5990).
258. XXIX. WRITINGS IN HEAVEN.
As the angels have speech, and their speech consists of words, they
also have writings; and by writing as well as by speech they give
expression to what is in their minds. At times I have had papers sent
to me, traced with written words precisely like manuscripts in the
world, and others like printed sheets; and I was able to read them in
a like way, but was allowed to get from them only an idea here and
there; for the reason that it is not in accordance with Divine order
for man to be taught by writings from heaven; but he must be taught
by means of the Word only; for it is only by means of the Word that
there is communication and conjunction of heaven with the world, thus
of the Lord with man. That papers written in heaven were seen also by
the prophets is shown in Ezekiel:
When I looked, behold a hand was put forth by a spirit
unto me, and a roll of a book was therein which he
unrolled in my sight; it was written on the front and on
the back (2:9, 10).
And in John:
I saw upon the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a
book written within and on the back, sealed up with seven
seals (Apoc. 5:1).
259. The existence of writings in the heavens is a provision of the
Lord for the sake of the Word; for the Word in its essence is Divine
truth, and from it is all heavenly wisdom, both with men and with
angels; for the Word was dictated by the Lord, and what is dictated
by the Lord passes through all the heavens in order and terminates
with man. Thereby it is adapted both to the wisdom of angels and the
intelligence of men. Thereby, too, the angels have a Word, and read
it the same as men do on the earth, and also draw from it their
doctrinals, and preach from it (n. 221). It is the same Word; but its
natural sense, which is the sense of the letter with us, does not
exist in heaven, but only the spiritual sense, which is its internal
sense. What this sense is can be seen in the small treatise on The
White Horse spoken of in the Apocalypse.
260. A little paper was at one time sent to me from heaven, on which
there were a few words only written in Hebrew letters, and I was told
that every letter involved arcana of wisdom, and that these arcana
were contained in the inflections and curvatures of the letters, and
thus also in the sounds. This made clear to me what is signified by
these words of the Lord:
Verily I say unto you, until heaven and earth pass away,
one iota or one tittle shall not pass away from the law
(Matt. 5:18).
That the Word in every tittle of it is Divine is known in the church;
but just where the Divine lies hid in every tittle has not been known
heretofore, and therefore shall be told. In the inmost heaven the
writing consists of various inflected and circumflected forms, and
the inflections and circumflections are in accordance with the forms
of heaven. By means of these angels express the arcana of their
wisdom, and also many things that they are unable to express in
spoken words; and what is wonderful, the angels know this writing
without training or a teacher, it being implanted in them like their
speech (see n. 236); therefore this writing is heavenly writing. It
is implanted because all extension of thoughts and affections and
consequent communication of intelligence and wisdom of the angels
proceeds in accordance with the form of heaven (n. 201); and for the
same reason their writing flows into that form. I have been told that
the most ancient people on this earth, before letters were invented,
had such writing; and that it was transferred into the letters of the
Hebrew language, and these letters in ancient times were all
inflected, and none of them, as at present, were bounded by straight
lines. Thus it is that in the Word Divine things and arcana of heaven
are contained even in its iotas, points and tittles.
261. This writing in characters of a heavenly form is in use in the
inmost heaven, the angels of which surpass all others in wisdom. By
means of these characters they express the affections, from which
thoughts flow and follow in order in accordance with the subject
treated of. Consequently these writings, which I have also been
permitted to see, involve arcana which thought cannot exhaust. But
such writings do not exist in the lower heavens. The writings there
resemble the writings in the world, having like characters, and yet
they are not intelligible to man, because they are in angelic
language; and angelic language is such that it has nothing in common
with human languages (n. 237), since by the vowels they express
affections, and by the consonants the ideas of thought from the
affections, and by the words from these the sense of the matter (see
above, n. 236, 241). Moreover, in this writing, which I have also
seen, more is involved in a few words than a man can express in
several pages. In this way they have the Word written in the lower
heavens; but in the inmost heaven in heavenly characters.
262. It is a notable fact that the writings in the heavens flow
naturally from their very thoughts, and this so easily that the
thought puts itself forth, as it were, and the hand never hesitates
in the choice of a word, because both the words they speak and those
they write correspond to the ideas of their thought; and all
correspondence is natural and spontaneous. There are also writings in
the heavens that exist without the aid of the hand, from mere
correspondence with the thoughts; but these are not permanent.
263. I have also seen writings from heaven made up of mere numbers
set down in order and in a series, just as in writings made up of
letters and words; and I have been taught that this writing is from
the inmost heaven, and that their heavenly writing (spoken of above,
n. 260, 261), when the thought from it flows down, is set forth
before the angels of the lower heavens in numbers, and that this
numerical writing likewise involves arcana, some of which can neither
be comprehended by thought nor expressed by words. For all numbers
correspond, and have a meaning, the same as words do, in accordance
with the correspondence;{1} yet with the difference that in numbers
generals are involved, and in words particulars; and as one general
involves innumerable particulars, so more arcana are involved in
numerical writing than in literal writing. From this I could see that
in the Word numbers as well as words signify things. What the simple
numbers signify, as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and what the
compound numbers, as 20, 30, 50, 70, 100, 144, 1000, 10,000, 12,000,
and others, may be seen in the Arcana Celestia, where they are
treated of. In this writing in heaven, a number is always prefixed on
which those following in a series depend as on their subject; for
that number is as it were an index to the matter treated of, and from
it is the determination of the numbers that follow to the particular
point.
{Footnote 1} All numbers in the Word signify things (n. 482,
487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264,
6470, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253). Shown from heaven (n.
4495, 5265). Composite numbers have the same signification as
the simple numbers from which they result by multiplication (n.
5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). The most ancient people possessed
heavenly arcana expressed in numbers forming a kind of
computation of states of the church (n. 575).
264. Those who know nothing about heaven, and who are unwilling to
have any other idea of it than as of something purely atmospherical,
in which the angels fly about as intellectual minds, having no sense
of hearing or seeing, are unable to conceive that the angels have
speech and writing; for they place the existence of everything real
in what is material; and yet the writings in heaven have as real an
existence as those in the world, and the angels there have everything
that is useful for life and useful for wisdom.
265. XXX. THE WISDOM OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN.
The nature of angelic wisdom can scarcely be comprehended, because it
so greatly transcends human wisdom that the two cannot be compared;
and whatever is thus transcendent does not seem to be any thing.
Moreover, some truths that must enter into a description of it are as
yet unknown, and until these become known they exist in the mind as
shadows, and thus hide the thing as it is in itself. Nevertheless,
these truths can be known, and when known be comprehended, provided
the mind takes any interest in them; for interest carries light with
it because it is from love; and upon those who love the things
pertaining to Divine and heavenly wisdom light shines forth from
heaven and gives enlightenment.
266. What the wisdom of the angels is can be inferred from the fact
that they are in the light of heaven, and the light of heaven in its
essence is Divine truth or Divine wisdom; and this light enlightens
at the same time their inner sight, or sight of the mind, and their
outer sight, or sight of the eyes. (That the light of heaven is
Divine truth or Divine wisdom may be seen above, n. 126-133.) The
angels are also in heavenly heat, which in its essence is Divine good
or Divine love, and from that they have an affection and longing to
become wise. (That the heat of heaven is Divine good or Divine love
may be seen above, n. 133-140.) That the angels are in wisdom, even
to the extent that they may be called wisdoms, follows from the fact
that their thoughts and affections all flow in accordance with the
heavenly form, and this form is the form of Divine wisdom; also that
their interiors, which are recipients of wisdom, are arranged in that
form. (That the thoughts and affections of angels flow in accordance
with the form of heaven, and consequently their intelligence and
wisdom, may be seen above, n. 201-212.) [2] That the angels have
supereminent wisdom is shown also by the fact that their speech is
the speech of wisdom, for it flows directly and spontaneously from
thought, and their thought from their affection, thus their speech is
thought from affection in outward form; consequently there is nothing
to withdraw them from the Divine influx, and nothing from without
such as enters into the speech of man from other thoughts. (That the
speech of angels is the speech of their thought and affection may be
seen above, n. 234-235.) That the angels have such wisdom is in
accord with the fact that all things that they behold with their eyes
and perceive by their senses agree with their wisdom, since they are
correspondences of it, and thus the objects perceived are
representative forms of the things that constitute their wisdom.
(That all things seen in the heavens are correspondences with the
interiors of angels and representations of their wisdom may be seen
above, n. 170-182.) [3] Furthermore, the thoughts of angels are not
limited and contracted by ideas from space and time, as human
thoughts are, for spaces and times belong to nature, and the things
that belong to nature withdraw the mind from spiritual things, and
deprive intellectual sight of its proper range. (That the ideas of
angels are apart from time and space, and thus less limited than
human ideas, may be seen above, n. 162-169 and 191-199.) Again, the
thoughts of angels are neither brought down to earthly and material
things, nor interrupted by anxieties about the necessities of life;
thus they are not withdrawn by such things from the delights of
wisdom, as the thoughts of men in the world are; for all things come
to them gratuitously from the Lord; they are clothed gratuitously,
are fed gratuitously, are housed gratuitously (n. 181-190), and
besides this they receive delights and pleasures in the degree of
their reception of wisdom from the Lord. These things have been said
to make clear why it is that angels have so great wisdom.{1}
{Footnote 1} The wisdom of angels, that it is incomprehensible
and ineffable (n. 2795, 2796, 2802, 3314, 3404, 3405, 9094,
9176).
267. Angels are capable of receiving such wisdom because their
interiors are open; and wisdom, like every other perfection,
increases towards the interiors, thus to the extent that interiors
are opened.{1} In every angel there are three degrees of life,
corresponding to the three heavens (see n. 29-40)--those in whom the
first degree has been opened are in the first or outmost heaven;
those in whom the second degree has been opened are in the second or
middle heaven; while those in whom the third degree has been opened
are in the third or inmost heaven. The wisdom of angels in the
heavens is in accordance with these degrees. Therefore the wisdom of
the angels of the inmost heaven immeasurably surpasses the wisdom of
angels of the middle heaven, and the wisdom of these immeasurably
surpasses the wisdom of angels of the outmost heaven (see above,
n. 209, 210; and what degrees are, n. 38). There are such differences
because the things which are in the higher degree are particulars,
and those in the lower degree are generals, and generals are
containants of particulars. Particulars compared with generals are as
thousands or myriads to one; and such is the wisdom of the angels of
a higher heaven compared with the wisdom of the angels of a lower
heaven. In like manner the wisdom of the latter surpasses the wisdom
of man, for man is in a bodily state and in those things that belong
to the bodily senses, and man's bodily sense belongs to the lowest
degree. This makes clear what kind of wisdom those possess who think
from things of sense, that is, who are called sensual men, namely,
that they have no wisdom, but merely knowledge.{2} But it is
otherwise with men whose thoughts are raised above the things of
sense, and especially with those whose interiors have been opened
even into the light of heaven.
{Footnote 1} So far as man is raised up from outward towards
inward things he comes into light, that is, into intelligence
(n. 6183, 6313). There is an actual elevation (n. 7816, 10330).
Elevation from outward to inward things is like elevation out
of a mist into light (n. 4598). As outer things in man are
farther removed from the Divine they are relatively obscure (n.
6451). Likewise relatively confused (n. 996, 3855). Inner
things are more perfect because they are nearer to the Divine
(n. 5146, 5147). In what is internal there are thousands and
thousands of things that appear in what is external as one
general thing (n. 5707). Consequently as thought and perception
are more interior they are clearer (n. 5920).
{Footnote 2} The sensual is the outmost of man's life adhering
to and inhering in his bodily part (n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216,
9331, 9730). He is called a sensual man who judges all things
and draws all his conclusions from the bodily senses, and
believes nothing except what he sees with his eyes and touches
with his hands (n. 5094, 7693). Such a man thinks in externals,
and not interiorly in himself (n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693). His
interiors are so closed up that he sees nothing of spiritual
truth in them (n. 6564, 6844, 6845). In a word, he is in gross
natural light and thus perceives nothing that is from the light
of heaven (n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624,
6844, 6845). Interiorly he is antagonistic to the things of
heaven and the church (n. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949).
The learned who have confirmed themselves against the truths of
the church come to be such (n. 6316). Sensual men are more
cunning and malicious than others (n. 7693, 10236). They reason
keenly and cunningly, but from the bodily memory, in which they
place all intelligence (n. 195, 196, 5700, 10236). But they
reason from the fallacies of the senses (n. 5084, 6948, 6949,
7693).
268. It can be seen how great the wisdom of angels is from the fact
that in the heavens there is a communication of all things;
intelligence and wisdom are communicated from one to another, and
heaven is a common sharing of all goods; and this for the reason that
heavenly love is such that it wishes what is its own to be another's;
consequently no one in heaven perceives his own good in himself to be
good unless it is also in another; and this is the source of the
happiness of heaven. This the angels derive from the Lord, for such
is His Divine love. That there is such a communication of all things
in the heavens it has been permitted me to know by experience.
Certain simple spirits were at one time taken up into heaven, and
when there they entered into angelic wisdom, and then understood
things that they were never before able to comprehend, and spoke
things that they were unable to utter in their former state.
269. The wisdom of the angels is indescribable in words; it can only
be illustrated by some general things. Angels can express in a single
word what a man cannot express in a thousand words. Again, a single
angelic word contains innumerable things that cannot be expressed in
the words of human language; for in each of the things uttered by
angels there are arcana of wisdom in continuous connection that human
knowledges never reach. Again, what the angels fail to express in the
words of their speech they make up by the tone, in which there is an
affection for the things in their order; for (as has been said above,
n. 236, 241) tones express affections, as words express ideas of
thought from the affections; and for this reason the things heard in
heaven are said to be ineffable. So, too, the angels are able to
express in a few words every least thing written in an entire volume,
and give to every word meanings that elevate the mind to interior
wisdom; for their speech is such as to be in accord with their
affections, and each word is in accord with their ideas; and their
words are varied in infinite ways in accord with the series of things
which in complex are in the thought. [2] Still again, the interior
angels are able to perceive from the tone and from a few words the
entire life of one speaking; for from the tone as varied by the ideas
in the words they perceive his ruling love upon which, as it were,
every particular of his life is inscribed.{1} All this makes clear
the nature of angelic wisdom. In comparison with human wisdom it is
as a myriad to one, or as the moving forces of the whole body, which
are numberless, to the activities from them which appear to human
sense as a single thing, or as the thousand particulars of an object
seen under a perfect microscope to the one obscure thing seen by the
naked eye. [3] Let me illustrate the subject by an example. An angel
from his wisdom was describing regeneration, and brought forward
arcana respecting it in their order even to some hundreds, filling
each of them with ideas in which there were interior arcana, and this
from beginning to end; for he explained how the spiritual man is
conceived anew, is carried as it were in the womb, is born, grows up
and is gradually perfected. He said that the number of arcana could
be increased even to thousands, and that those told were only about
the regeneration of the external man, while there were numberless
more about the regeneration of the internal man. From these and other
like things heard from the angels it has been made clear to me how
great is their wisdom, and how great in comparison is the ignorance
of man, who scarcely knows what regeneration is, and is ignorant of
every least step of the process when he is being regenerated.
{Footnote 1} That which universally rules or is dominant in man
is in every particular of his life, thus in each thing and all
things of his thought and affection (n. 4459, 5949, 6159, 6571,
7648, 8067, 8853-8858). A man is such as his ruling love is (n.
917, 1040, 8858); illustrated by examples (n. 8854, 8857). That
which rules universally constitutes the life of the spirit of
man (n. 7648). It is his very will, his very love, and the end
of his life, since that which a man will he loves, and that
which he loves he has as an end (n. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1909,
3796, 5949, 6936). Therefore man is such as his will is, or
such as his ruling love is, or such as the end of his life is
(n. 1568, 1571, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 8856, 10076,
10109, 10110, 10284).
270. The wisdom of the angels of the third or inmost heaven shall now
be described, and also how far it surpasses the wisdom of the angels
of the first or outmost heaven. The wisdom of the angels of the third
or inmost heaven is incomprehensible even to those who are in the
outmost heaven, for the reason that the interiors of the angels of
the third heaven have been opened to the third degree, while the
interiors of angels of the first heaven have been opened only to the
first degree; and all wisdom increases towards interiors and is
perfected as these are opened (n. 208, 267). [2] Because the
interiors of the angels of the third or inmost heaven have been
opened to the third degree, Divine truths are as it were inscribed on
them; for the interiors of the third degree are more in the form of
heaven than the interiors of the second and first degrees, and the
form of heaven is from the Divine truth, thus in accord with the
Divine wisdom, and this is why the truth is as it were inscribed on
these angels, or are as it were instinctive or inborn in them.
Therefore as soon as these angels hear genuine Divine truths they
instantly acknowledge and perceive them, and afterwards see them as
it were inwardly in themselves. As the angels of that heaven are such
they never reason about Divine truths, still less do they dispute
about any truth whether it is so or not; nor do they know what it is
to believe or to have faith. They say, "What is faith? for I perceive
and see that a thing is so." This they illustrate by comparisons; for
example, that it would be as when any one with a companion, seeing a
house and the various things in it and around it, should say to his
companion that he ought to believe that these things exist, and that
they are such as he sees them to be; or seeing a garden and trees and
fruit in it, should say to his companion that he ought to have faith
that there is a garden and trees and fruits, when yet he is seeing
them clearly with his eyes. For this reason these angels never
mention faith, and have no idea what it is; neither do they reason
about Divine truths, still less do they dispute about any truth
whether it is so or not.{1} [3] But the angels of the first or
outmost heaven do not have Divine truths thus inscribed on their
interiors, because with them only the first degree of life is opened;
therefore they reason about truths, and those who reason see almost
nothing beyond the fact of the matter about which they are reasoning,
or go no farther beyond the subject than to confirm it by certain
considerations, and having confirmed it they say that it must be a
matter of faith and must be believed. [4] I have talked with angels
about this, and they said that the difference between the wisdom of
the angels of the third heaven and the wisdom of the angels of the
first heaven is like that between what is clear and what is obscure;
and the former they compared to a magnificent palace full of all
things for use, surrounded on all sides by parks, with magnificent
things of many kinds round about them; and as these angels are in the
truths of wisdom they can enter into the palace and behold all
things, and wander about in the parks in every direction and delight
in it all. But it is not so with those who reason about truths,
especially with those who dispute about them, as such do not see
truths from the light of truth, but accept truths either from others
or from the sense of the letter of the Word, which they do not
interiorly understand, declaring that truths must be believed, or
that one must have faith, and are not willing to have any interior
sight admitted into these things. The angels said that such are
unable to reach the first threshold of the palace of wisdom, still
less to enter into it and wander about in its grounds, for they stop
at the first step. It is not so with those that are in truths
themselves; nothing impedes these from going on and progressing
without limit, for the truths they see lead them wherever they go,
and into wide fields, for every truth has infinite extension and is
in conjunction with manifold others. [5] They said still further that
the wisdom of the angels of the inmost heaven consists principally in
this, that they see Divine and heavenly things in every single
object, and wonderful things in a series of many objects; for
everything that appears before their eyes is a correspondent; as when
they see palaces and gardens their view does not dwell upon the
things that are before their eyes, but they see the interior things
from which they spring, that is, to which they correspond, and this
with all variety in accordance with the aspect of the objects; thus
they see innumerable things at the same time in their order and
connection; and this so fills their minds with delight that they seem
to be carried away from themselves. That all things that are seen in
the heavens correspond to the Divine things that are in the angels
from the Lord may be seen above (n. 170-176).
{Footnote 1} The celestial angels know innumerable things, and
are immeasurably wiser than the spiritual angels (n. 2718). The
celestial angels do not think and talk from faith, as the
spiritual angels do, for they have from the Lord a perception
of all things that constitute faith (n. 202, 597, 607, 784,
1121, 1384, 1442, 1898, 1919, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10336).
In regard to the truths of faith they say only "Yea, yea, or
Nay, nay," while the spiritual angels reason about whether a
thing is true (n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786, where the
Lord's words, "Let your discourse be Yea, yea, Nay nay" (Matt.
5:37), are explained).
271. Such are the angels of the third heaven because they are in love
to the Lord, and that love opens the interiors of the mind to the
third degree, and is a receptacle of all things of wisdom. It must be
understood also that the angels of the inmost heaven are still being
continually perfected in wisdom, and this differently from the angels
of the outmost heaven. The angels of the inmost heaven do not store
up Divine truths in the memory and thus make out of them a kind of
science; but as soon as they hear them they perceive them and apply
them to the life. For this reason Divine truths are as permanent with
them as if they were inscribed on them, for what is committed in such
a way to the life is contained in it. But it is not so with the
angels of the outmost heaven. These first store up Divine truths in
the memory and stow them away with their knowledge, and draw them out
therefrom to perfect their understanding by them, and will them and
apply them to the life, but with no interior perception whether they
are truths; and in consequence they are in comparative obscurity. It
is a notable fact that the angels of the third heaven are perfected
in wisdom by hearing and not by seeing. What they hear from
preachings does not enter into their memory, but enters directly into
their perception and will, and comes to be a matter of life; but what
they see with their eyes enters into their memory, and they reason
and talk about it; which shows that with them the way of hearing is
the way of wisdom. This, too, is from correspondence, for the ear
corresponds to obedience, and obedience belongs to the life; while
the eye corresponds to intelligence, and intelligence is a matter of
doctrine.{1} The state of these angels is described in different
parts of the Word, as in Jeremiah:
I will put My law in their mind, and write it on their
heart. They shall teach no more everyone his friend and
everyone his brother, saying, Know ye Jehovah; for they
shall all know Me, from the least of them even unto the
greatest of them (31:33, 34).
And in Matthew,
Let your speech be Yea, yea, Nay, nay; what is more than
these is from evil (5:37).
"What is more than these is from evil" because it is not from the
Lord; and inasmuch as the angels of the third heaven are in love to
the Lord the truths that are in them are from the Lord. In that
heaven love to the Lord is willing and doing Divine truth, for Divine
truth is the Lord in heaven.
{Footnote 1} Of the correspondence of the ear and of hearing
(n. 4652-4660). The ear corresponds to and therefore signifies
perception and obedience (n. 2542, 3869, 4653, 5017, 7216,
8361, 9311, 9397, 10061). The ear signifies the reception of
truths (n. 5471, 5475, 9926). The correspondence of the eye and
its sight (n. 4403-4421, 4523-4534); from which the sight of
the eye signifies the intelligence that belongs to faith, and
also faith (n. 2701, 4410, 4526, 6923 9051, 10569).
272. There is a still further reason, and this is in heaven the
primary reason, why the angels are able to receive so great wisdom,
namely, that they are without the love of self; for to the extent
that any one is without the love of self he can become wise in Divine
things. It is that love that closes up the interiors against the Lord
and heaven, and opens the exteriors and turns them toward itself; and
in consequence all in whom that love rules are in thick darkness in
respect to the things of heaven, however much light they may have in
worldly matters. The angels, on the other hand, are in the light of
wisdom because they are without the love of self, for the heavenly
loves in which they are, which are love to the Lord and love towards
the neighbor, open the interiors, because these loves are from the
Lord and the Lord Himself is in them. (That these loves constitute
heaven in general, and form heaven in each one in particular, may be
seen above, n. 13-19). As heavenly loves open the interiors to the
Lord so all angels turn their faces towards the Lord (n. 142);
because in the spiritual world the love turns the interiors of
everyone to itself, and whichever way it turns the interiors it also
turns the face, since the face there makes one with the interiors,
for it is their outward form. Because the love turns the interiors
and the face to itself, it also conjoins itself to them (love being
spiritual conjunction), and shares its own with them. From that
turning and consequent conjunction and sharing the angels have their
wisdom. That all conjunction and all turning in the spiritual world
are in accord may be seen above (n. 255).
273. Although the angels are continually perfected in wisdom,{1}
their wisdom, even to eternity, cannot become so perfect that there
can be any ratio between it and the Lord's Divine wisdom; for the
Lord's Divine wisdom is infinite and the wisdom of angels finite; and
between what is Infinite and what is finite no ratio is possible.
{Footnote 1} Angels are perfected to eternity (n. 4803, 6648).
274. As it is wisdom that makes the angels perfect and constitutes
their life, and as heaven with its goods flows into everyone in
accordance with his wisdom, so all in heaven desire and hunger for
wisdom much as a hungry man hungers for food. So, too, knowledge,
intelligence, and wisdom are spiritual nutriment, as food is natural
nutriment; and the one corresponds to the other.
275. The angels in the same heaven, or in the same society of heaven,
are not all in like wisdom; their wisdom differs. Those at the center
are in the greatest wisdom, and those round about even to the borders
are in less wisdom. The decrease of wisdom in accord with the
distance from the center is like the decrease of light verging to
shade (see n. 43 and 128). Their light is in the same degree as their
wisdom, since the light of heaven is the Divine wisdom, and everyone
is in light in the measure of his reception of wisdom. Respecting the
light of heaven and the varying kinds of reception of it see above
(n. 126-132).
276. XXXI. THE STATE OF INNOCENCE OF ANGELS IN HEAVEN.
What innocence is and its nature few in the world know, and those who
are in evil know nothing about it. It is, indeed, visible to the
eyes, as seen in the face, speech and movements, particularly of
children; and yet what innocence is, and especially that it is that
in which heaven is stored up in man is unknown. In making this known
let us proceed in order, and consider first the innocence of
childhood, then the innocence of wisdom, and lastly the state of
heaven in regard to innocence.
277. The innocence of childhood or of children is not genuine
innocence, for it is innocence not in internal form but only in
external form. Nevertheless one may learn from it what innocence is,
since it shines forth from the face of children and from some of
their movements and from their first speech, and affects those about
them. It can be seen that children have no internal thought, for they
do not yet know what is good and what is evil, or what is true and
what is false, of which such thought consists. [2] Consequently they
have no prudence from what is their own, no purpose or deliberation,
thus no end that looks to evil; neither have they anything of their
own acquired from love of self and the world; they do not attribute
anything to themselves, regarding all that they have as received from
their parents; they are content with the few and paltry things
presented to them, and find delight in them; they have no solicitude
about food and clothing, and none about the future; they do not look
to the world and covet many things from it; they love their parents
and nurses and their child companions with whom they play in
innocence; they suffer themselves to be led; they give heed and obey.
[3] And being in this state they receive everything as a matter of
life; and therefore, without knowing why, they have becoming manners,
and also learn to talk, and have the beginning of memory and thought,
their state of innocence serving as a medium whereby these things are
received and implanted. But this innocence, as has been said above,
is external because it belongs to the body alone, and not to the
mind;{1} for their minds are not yet formed, the mind being
understanding and will and thought and affection therefrom. [4] I
have been told from heaven that children are specially under the
Lord's auspices, and that they receive influx from the inmost heaven,
where there is a state of innocence that this influx passes through
their interiors, and that in its passing through, their interiors are
affected solely by the innocence; and for this reason innocence is
shown in their faces and in some of their movements and becomes
evident; and that it is this innocence by which parents are inmostly
affected, and that gives rise to the love that is called storge.
{Footnote 1} The innocence of children is not true innocence,
but true innocence has its abode in wisdom (n. 1616, 2305,
2306, 3494, 4563, 4797, 5608, 9301, 10021). The good of
childhood is not spiritual good, but it becomes such by the
implantation of truth (n. 3504). Nevertheless the good of
childhood is a medium whereby intelligence is implanted (n.
1616, 3183, 9301, 10110). Without the good of innocence in
childhood man would be a wild man (n. 3494). Whatever the mind
is imbued with in childhood appears natural (n. 3494).
278. The innocence of wisdom is genuine innocence, because it is
internal, for it belongs to the mind itself, that is, to the will
itself and from that to the understanding. And when there is
innocence in these there is also wisdom, for wisdom belongs to the
will and understanding. This is why it is said in heaven that
innocence has its abode in wisdom, and that an angel has just so much
of innocence as he has of wisdom. This is confirmed by the fact that
those who are in a state of innocence attribute nothing of good to
themselves, but regard all things as received and ascribe them to the
Lord; that they wish to be led by Him and not by themselves; that
they love everything that is good and find delight in everything that
is true, because they know and perceive that loving what is good,
that is, willing and doing it, is loving the Lord, and loving truth
is loving the neighbor; that they live contented with their own,
whether it be little or much, because they know that they receive
just as much as is good for them-those receiving little for whom a
little is useful, and those receiving much for whom much is useful;
also that they do not themselves know what is good for them, the Lord
alone knowing this, who looks in all things that He provides to what
is eternal. [2] Neither are they anxious about the future; anxiety
about the future they call care for the morrow, which they define as
grief on account of losing or not receiving things that are not
necessary for the uses of life. With companions they never act from
an evil end but from what is good, just, and sincere. Acting from an
evil end they call cunning, which they shun as the poison of a
serpent, since it is wholly antagonistic to innocence. As they love
nothing so much as to be led of the Lord, attributing all things they
receive to Him, they are kept apart from what is their own
[proprium]; and to the extent that they are kept apart from what is
their own the Lord flows into them; and in consequence of this
whatever they hear from the Lord, whether through the Word or by
means of preaching, they do not store up in the memory, but instantly
obey it, that is, will it and do it, their will being itself their
memory. These for the most part outwardly appear simple, but inwardly
they are wise and prudent. These are meant by the Lord in the words,
Be ye prudent as serpents and simple as doves (Matt.
10:16).
Such is the innocence that is called the innocence of wisdom. [3]
Because innocence attributes nothing of good to itself, but ascribes
all good to the Lord, and because it thus loves to be led by the
Lord, and is the source of the reception of all good and truth, from
which wisdom comes,--because of this man is so created as to be
during his childhood in external innocence, and when he becomes old
in internal innocence, to the end that he may come by means of the
former into the latter, and from the latter return into the former.
For the same reason when a man becomes old he dwindles in body and
becomes again like a child, but like a wise child, that is, an angel,
for a wise child is in an eminent sense an angel. This is why in the
Word, "a little child" signifies one who is innocent, and "an old
man" signifies one who is wise in whom is innocence.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word "little children" signify innocence
(n. 5608); likewise "sucklings" (n. 3183). An "old man"
signifies one who is wise, and in an abstract sense wisdom (n.
3183, 6524). Man is so created that in proportion as he verges
towards old age he may become like a little child, and that
innocence may then be in his wisdom, and in that state he may
pass into heaven and become an angel (n. 3183, 5608).
279. The same is true of everyone who is being regenerated.
Regeneration, as regards the spiritual man, is re-birth. Man is first
introduced into the innocence of childhood, which is that one knows
no truth and can do no good from himself, but only from the Lord, and
desires and seeks truth only because it is truth, and good only
because it is good. As man afterwards advances in age good and truth
are given him by the Lord. At first he is led into a knowledge of
them, then from knowledge into intelligence, and finally from
intelligence into wisdom, innocence always accompanying, which
consists, as has been said, in his knowing nothing of truth, and
being unable to do anything good from himself but only from the Lord.
Without such a belief and such a perception of it no one can receive
any thing of heaven. Therein does the innocence of wisdom chiefly
consist.
280. As innocence consists in being led by the Lord and not by self,
so all who are in heaven are in innocence; for all who are there love
to be led by the Lord, knowing that to lead themselves is to be led
by what is their own, and what is one's own is loving oneself, he
that loves himself not permitting himself to be led by any one else.
Therefore, so far as an angel is in innocence he is in heaven, in
other words, is in Divine good and Divine truth, for to be in these
is to be in heaven. Consequently the heavens are distinguished by
degrees of innocence-those who are in the outmost or first heaven are
in innocence of the first or outmost degree; those who are in the
middle or second heaven are in innocence of the second or middle
degree; while those who are in the inmost or third heaven are in
innocence of the third or inmost degree, and are therefore the
veriest innocences of heaven, for more than all others they love to
be led by the Lord as little children by their father; and for the
same reason the Divine truth that they hear immediately from the Lord
or mediately through the Word and preaching they take directly into
their will and do it, thus committing it to life. And this is why
their wisdom is so superior to that of the angels of the lower
heavens (see n. 270, 271). These angels of the inmost heaven, being
such are nearest to the Lord from whom they receive innocence, and
are so separated from what is their own that they live as it were in
the Lord. Externally they appear simple, and before the eyes of the
angels of the lower heavens they appear like children, that is, as
very small, and not very wise, although they are the wisest of the
angels of heaven; since they know that they have nothing of wisdom
from themselves, and that acknowledging this is being wise. They know
also that what they know is as nothing compared to what they do not
know; and they say that knowing, acknowledging, and perceiving this
is the first step towards wisdom. These angels have no clothing,
because nakedness corresponds to innocence.{1}
{Footnote 1} All in the inmost heaven are innocences (n. 154,
2736, 3887). Therefore they appear to others like children (n.
154). They are also naked (n. 165, 8375, 9960). Nakedness
belongs to innocence (n. 165, 8375). Spirits have a custom of
exhibiting innocence by laying aside their garments and
presenting themselves naked (n. 165, 8375, 9960).
281. I have talked much with angels about innocence, and have been
told that innocence is the being [esse] of all good, and that good is
therefore so far good as it has innocence in it, consequently that
wisdom is so far wisdom as it partakes of innocence; and the same is
true of love, charity, and faith;{1} and therefore no one can enter
heaven unless he possesses innocence; and this the Lord teaches when
He says:
Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them
not; for of such is the kingdom of the heavens. Verily I
say unto you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of the
heavens as a little child, he shall not enter into it
(Mark 10:14, 16; Luke 18:16, 17),
Here as elsewhere In the Word "little children" mean those who are
innocent. A state of innocence is also described by the Lord in
Matthew (6:25-34), but by correspondences only. Good is good so far
as it has innocence in it, for the reason that all good is from the
Lord, and innocence is a willingness to be led by the Lord. I have
also been told that truth can be conjoined to good and good to truth
only by means of innocence, and therefore an angel is not an angel of
heaven unless he has innocence in him; for heaven is not in any one
until good is conjoined to truth in him; and this is why the
conjunction of truth and good is called the heavenly marriage, and
the heavenly marriage is heaven. Again, I have been told that true
marriage love derives its existence from innocence, because it
derives its existence from the conjunction of good and truth, and the
two minds of husband and wife are in that conjunction, and when that
conjunction descends it presents the appearance of marriage love; for
consorts are in mutual love, as their minds are. This is why in
marriage love there is a playfulness like that of childhood and like
that of innocence.{2}
{Footnote 1} Every good of love and truth of faith, to be good
and true must have innocence in it (n. 2526, 2780, 3111, 3994,
6013, 7840, 9262, 10134). Innocence is the essential of good
and truth (n. 2780, 7840). No one is admitted into heaven
unless he possesses something of innocence (4797).
{Footnote 2} True marriage love is innocence (n. 2736).
Marriage love consists in willing what the other wills, thus
mutually and reciprocally (n. 2731). They who are in marriage
love dwell together in the inmosts of life (n. 2732). There is
a union of the two minds, and thus from love they are a one (n.
10168, 10169). True marriage love derives its origin and
essence from the marriage of good and truth (n. 2728, 2729).
About angelic spirits who have a perception from the idea of
the conjunction of good and truth whether anything of marriage
exists (n. 10756). Marriage love is wholly like the conjunction
of good and truth (n. 1904, 2173, 2508, 2729, 3103, 3132, 3155,
3179, 3180, 4358, 5807, 5835, 9206, 9207, 9495, 9637).
Therefore in the Word "marriage" means the marriage of good and
truth, such as there is in heaven and such as there will be in
the church (n. 3132, 4434, 4835).
282. Because innocence With the angels of heaven is the very being
[esse] of good, it is evident that the Divine good that goes forth
from the Lord is innocence itself, for it is that good that flows
into angels, and affects their inmosts, and arranges and fits them
for receiving all the good of heaven. It is the same with children,
whose interiors are not only formed by means of innocence flowing
through them from the Lord, but also are continually being fitted and
arranged for receiving the good of heavenly love, since the good of
innocence acts from the inmost; for that good, as has been said, is
the being [esse] of all good. From all this it can be seen that all
innocence is from the Lord. For this reason the Lord is called in the
Word a "lamb," a lamb signifying innocence.{1} Because innocence is
the inmost in all the good of heaven, it so affects minds that when
it is felt by any one-as when an angel of the inmost heaven
approaches-he seems to himself to be no longer his own master and is
moved and as it were carried away by such a delight that no delight
of the world seems to be anything in comparison with it. This I say
from having perceived it.
{Footnote 1} In the Word a "lamb" signifies innocence and its
good. (n. 3994, 10132).
283. Everyone who is in the good of innocence is affected by
innocence, and is affected to the extent that he is in that good; but
those who are not in the good of innocence are not affected by
innocence. For this reason all who are in hell are wholly
antagonistic to innocence; they do not know what it is; their
antagonism is such that so far as any one is innocent they burn to do
him mischief; therefore they cannot bear to see little children; and
as soon as they see them they are inflamed with a cruel desire to do
them harm. From this it is clear that what is man's own, and
therefore the love of self, is antagonistic to innocence; for all who
are in hell are in what is their own, and therefore in the love of
self.{1}
{Footnote 1} What is man's own is loving self more than God,
and the world more than heaven, and making one's neighbor of no
account as compared with oneself; thus it is the love of self
and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660). The evil are wholly
antagonistic to innocence, even to the extent that they cannot
endure its presence (n. 2126).
284. XXXII. THE STATE OF PEACE IN HEAVEN.
Only those that have experienced the peace of heaven can have any
perception of the peace in which the angels are. As man is unable, as
long as he is in the body, to receive the peace of heaven, so he can
have no perception of it, because his perception is confined to what
is natural. To perceive it he must be able, in respect to thought, to
be raised up and withdrawn from the body and kept in the spirit, and
at the same time be with angels. In this way has the peace of heaven
been perceived by me; and for this reason I am able to describe it,
yet not in words as that peace is in itself, because human words are
inadequate, but only as it is in comparison with that rest of mind
that those enjoy who are content in God.
285. There are two inmost things of heaven, namely, innocence and
peace. These are said to be inmost things because they proceed
directly from the Lord. From innocence comes every good of heaven,
and from peace every delight of good. Every good has its delight; and
both good and delight spring from love, for whatever is loved is
called good, and is also perceived as delightful. From this it
follows that these two inmost things, innocence and peace, go forth
from the Lord's Divine love and move the angels from what is inmost.
That innocence is the inmost of good may be seen in the preceding
chapter, where the state of innocence of the angels of heaven is
described. That peace is the inmost of delight from the good of
innocence shall now be explained.
286. The origin of peace shall be first considered. Divine peace is
in the Lord; it springs from the union of the Divine Itself and the
Divine Human in Him. The Divine of peace in heaven is from the Lord,
springing from His conjunction with the angels of heaven, and in
particular from the conjunction of good and truth in each angel.
These are the origins of peace. From this it can be seen that peace
in the heavens is the Divine inmostly affecting with blessedness
everything good therefrom, and from this is every joy of heaven; also
that it is in its essence the Divine joy of the Lord's Divine love,
resulting from His conjunction with heaven and with everyone there.
This joy, felt by the Lord in angels and by angels from the Lord, is
peace. By derivation from this the angels have everything that is
blessed, delightful, and happy, or that which is called heavenly
joy.{1}
{Footnote 1} By peace in the highest sense the Lord is meant,
because peace is from Him, and in the internal sense heaven is
meant, because those are in a state of peace (n. 3780, 4681).
Peace in the heavens is the Divine inmostly affecting with
blessedness everything good and true there, and this peace is
incomprehensible to man (n. 92, 3780, 5662, 8455, 8665). Divine
peace is in good, but not in truth apart from good (n. 8722).
287. Because these are the origins of peace the Lord is called "the
Prince of peace," and He declares that from Him is peace and in Him
is peace; and the angels are called angels of peace, and heaven is
called a habitation of peace, as in the following passages:
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the
government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Mighty, Father of
eternity, Prince of peace. Of the increase of His
government and peace there shall be no end (Isa. 9:6, 7).
Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto
you; not as the world giveth give I unto you (John 14:27).
These things have I spoken unto you that in Me ye may have
peace (John 16:33).
Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee
peace (Num. 6:26).
The angels of peace weep bitterly, the highways are wasted
(Isa. 33:7, 8).
The work of righteousness shall be peace; and My people
shall dwell in a habitation of peace (Isa. 32:17, 18).
[2] That it is Divine and heavenly peace that is meant in the Word by
"peace" can be seen also from other passages where it is mentioned
(As Isa. 52:7; 54:10; 59:8; Jer. 16:5; 25:37; 29:11; Hag. 2:9; Zech.
8:12; Psalm 37:37; and elsewhere.) Because "peace" means the Lord and
heaven, and also heavenly joy and the delight of good, "Peace be with
you" was an ancient form of salutation that is still in use; and it
was ratified by the Lord in His saying to the disciples whom He sent
forth:
Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to
this house; and if a son of peace be there, your peace
shall rest upon it (Luke 10:5, 6).
And when the Lord Himself appeared to the apostles, He said
Peace be with you (John 20:19, 21, 26).
[3] A state of peace is also meant in the Word where it is said that:
Jehovah smelled an odor of rest (as Exod. 29:18, 25, 41;
Lev. 1:9, 13, 17; 2:2, 9; 6:8, 14; 23:12, 13, 18; Num,
15:3, 7, 13; 28:6, 8, 13; 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36).
"Odor of rest" in the heavenly sense signifies a perception of
peace.{1} As peace signifies the union of the Divine Itself and the
Divine Human in the Lord, also the conjunction of the Lord with
heaven and with the church, and with all who are in heaven, and with
all in the church who receive Him, so the Sabbath was instituted as a
reminder of these things, its name meaning rest or peace, and was the
most holy representative of the church. For the same reason the Lord
called Himself "the Lord of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:27, 28;
Luke 6:5).{2}
{Footnote 1} In the word an "odor" signifies the perception of
agreeableness or disagreeableness, according to the quality of
the love and faith of which it is predicated (n. 3577, 4626,
4628, 4748, 5621, 10292). An "odor of rest," in reference to
Jehovah, means a perception of peace (n. 925, 10054). This is
why frankincense, incense, and odors in oils and ointments,
became representative (n. 925, 4748, 5621, 10177).
{Footnote 2} The "Sabbath" signifies in the highest sense the
union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human in the Lord; in
the internal sense the conjunction of the Divine Human of the
Lord with heaven and with the church; in general, the
conjunction of good and truth, thus the heavenly marriage (n.
8495, 10356, 10730). Therefore "rest on the Sabbath day"
signified the state of that union, because then the Lord had
rest, and thereby there is peace and salvation in the heavens
and on the earth; and in a relative sense it signified the
conjunction of the Lord with man, because man then has peace
and salvation (n. 8494, 8510, 10360, 10367, 10370, 10374,
10668, 10730).
288. Because the peace of heaven is the Divine inmostly affecting
with blessedness the veriest good in angels, it can be clearly
perceived by them only in the delight of their hearts when they are
in the good of their life, in the pleasure with which they hear truth
that agrees with their good, and in gladness of mind when they
perceive the conjunction of good and truth. From this it flows into
all the acts and thoughts of their life, and there presents itself as
joy, even in outward appearance. [2] But peace in the heavens differs
in quality and quantity in agreement with the innocence of those who
are there; since innocence and peace walk hand in hand; for every
good of heaven, as said above, is from innocence, and every delight
of that good is from peace. Evidently, then, the same that has been
said in the foregoing chapter about the state of innocence in the
heavens may be said here of the state of peace there, since innocence
and peace are conjoined like good and its delight; for good is felt
in its delight, and delight is known from its good. This being so, it
is evident that angels of the inmost or third heaven are in the third
or inmost degree of peace, because they are in the third or inmost
degree of innocence; and that angels of the lower heavens are in a
less degree of peace, because they are in a less degree of innocence
(see above n. 280). [3] That innocence and peace go together like
good and its delight can be seen in little children, who are in peace
because they are in innocence, and because they are in peace are in
their whole nature full of play. Yet the peace of little children is
external peace; while internal peace, like internal innocence, is
possible only in wisdom, and for this reason only in the conjunction
of good and truth, since wisdom is from that conjunction. Heavenly or
angelic peace is also possible in men who are in wisdom from the
conjunction of good and truth, and who in consequence have a sense of
content in God; nevertheless, while they live in the world this peace
lies hidden in their interiors, but it is revealed when they leave
the body and enter heaven, for their interiors are then opened.
289. As the Divine peace springs from the conjunction of the Lord
with heaven, and specially from the conjunction of good and truth in
each angel, so when the angels are in a state of love they are in a
state of peace; for then good and truth are conjoined in them. (That
the states of angels undergo successive changes may be seen above, n.
154-160.) The like is true also of a man who is being regenerated. As
soon as good and truth come to be conjoined in him, which takes place
especially after temptations, he comes into a state of delight from
heavenly peace.{1} This peace may be likened to morning or dawn in
spring time, when, the night being passed, with the rising of the sun
all things of the earth begin to live anew, the fragrance of growing
vegetation is spread abroad with the dew that descends from heaven,
and the mild vernal temperature gives fertility to the ground and
imparts pleasure to the minds of men, and this because morning or
dawn in the time of spring corresponds to the state of peace of
angels in heaven (see n. 155).{2}
{Footnote 1} The conjunction of good and truth in a man who is
being regenerated is effected in a state of peace (n. 3696,
8517).
{Footnote 2} The state of peace in the heavens is like a state
of dawn or springtime on the earth (n. 1726, 2780, 5662).
290. I have talked with the angels about peace, saying that what is
called peace in the world is when wars and hostilities cease between
kingdoms, and when enmities or hostilities cease among men; also that
internal peace is believed to consist in rest of mind when cares are
removed, especially in tranquility and enjoyment from success in
affairs. But the angels said that rest of mind and tranquility and
enjoyment from the removal of cares and success in affairs seem to be
constituents of peace, but are so only with those who are in heavenly
good, for only in that good is peace possible. For peace flows in
from the Lord into the inmost of such, and from their inmost descends
and flows down into the lower faculties, producing a sense of rest in
the mind, tranquility of disposition, and joy therefrom. But to those
who are in evil peace is impossible.{1} There is an appearance of
rest, tranquility, and delight when things succeed according to their
wishes; but it is external peace and not at all internal, for
inwardly they burn with enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, and many
evil lusts, into which their disposition is carried whenever any one
is seen to be unfavorable to them, and which burst forth when they
are not restrained by fear. Consequently the delight of such dwells
in insanity, while the delight of those who are in good dwells in
wisdom. The difference is like that between hell and heaven.
{Footnote 1} The lusts that originate in love of self and of
the world wholly take away peace (n. 3170, 5662). There are
some who think to find peace in restlessness, and in such
things as are contrary to peace (n. 5662). Peace is possible
only when the lusts of evil are removed (n. 5662).
291. XXXIII. THE CONJUNCTION OF HEAVEN WITH THE HUMAN RACE.
It is well known in the church that all good is from God, and that
nothing of good is from man, consequently that no one ought to
ascribe any good to himself as his own. It is also well known that
evil is from the devil. Therefore those who speak from the doctrine
of the church say of those who behave well, and of those who speak
and preach piously, that they are led by God; but the opposite of
those who do not behave well and who speak impiously. For this to be
true man must have conjunction with heaven and with hell; and this
conjunction must be with man's will and with his understanding; for
it is from these that the body acts and the mouth speaks. What this
conjunction is shall now be told.
292. With every individual there are good spirits and evil spirits.
Through good spirits man has conjunction with heaven, and through
evil spirits with hell. These spirits are in the world of spirits,
which lies midway between heaven and hell. This world will be
described particularly hereafter. When these spirits come to a man
they enter into his entire memory, and thus into his entire thought,
evil spirits into the evil things of his memory and thought, and good
spirits into the good things of his memory and thought. These spirits
have no knowledge whatever that they are with man; but when they are
with him they believe that all things of his memory and thought are
their own; neither do they see the man, because nothing that is in
our solar world falls into their sight.{1} The Lord exercises the
greatest care that spirits may not know that they are with man; for
if they knew it they would talk with him, and in that case evil
spirits would destroy him; for evil spirits, being joined with hell,
desire nothing so much as to destroy man, not alone his soul, that
is, his faith and love, but also his body. It is otherwise when
spirits do not talk with man, in which case they are not aware that
what they are thinking and also what they are saying among themselves
is from man; for although it is from man that they talk with one
another, they believe that what they are thinking and saying is their
own, and everyone esteems and loves what is their own. In this way
spirits are constrained to love and esteem man, although they do not
know it. That such is the conjunction of spirits with man has become
so well known to me from a continual experience of many years that
nothing is better known to me.
{Footnote 1} There are angels and spirits with every man, and
by means of them man has communication with the spiritual world
(n. 697, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 4048, 5846-5866, 5976-5993).
Man without spirits attending him cannot live (n. 5993). Man is
not seen by spirits, even as spirits are not seen by man (n.
5862). Spirits can see nothing in our solar world pertaining to
any man except the one with whom they are speaking (n. 1880).
293. The reason why spirits that communicate with hell are also
associated with man is that man is born into evils of every kind,
consequently his whole life is wholly from evil; and therefore unless
spirits like himself were associated with him he could not live, nor
indeed could he be withdrawn from his evils and reformed. He is
therefore both held in his own life by means of evil spirits and
withheld from it by means of good spirits; and by the two he is kept
in equilibrium; and being in equilibrium he is in freedom, and can be
drawn away from evils and turned towards good, and thus good can be
implanted in him, which would not be possible at all if he were not
in freedom; and freedom is possible to man only when the spirits from
hell act on one side and spirits from heaven on the other, and man is
between the two. Again, it has been shown that so far as a man's life
is from what he inherits, and thus from self, if he were not
permitted to be in evil he would have no life; also if he were not in
freedom he would have no life; also that he cannot be forced to what
is good, and that what is forced does not abide; also that the good
that man receives in freedom is implanted in his will and becomes as
it were his own.{1} These are the reasons why man has communication
with hell and communication with heaven.
{Footnote 1} All freedom pertains to love and affection, since
what a man loves, that he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987,
8990, 9585, 9591). As freedom belongs to man's love, so it
belongs to man's life (n. 2873). Nothing appears as man's own
except what is from freedom (n. 2880). Man must have freedom
that he may be reformed (n. 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146,
3158, 4031, 8700). Otherwise no love of good and truth can be
implanted in man and be appropriated seemingly as his own (n.
2877, 2879, 2880, 2883, 8700). Nothing that comes from
compulsion is conjoined to man (n. 2875, 8700). If man could be
reformed by compulsion everyone would be reformed (n. 2881).
Compulsion in reformation is harmful (n. 4031). What states of
compulsion are (n. 8392).
294. What the communication of heaven is with good spirits, and what
the communication of hell is with evil spirits, and the consequent
conjunction of heaven and hell with man, shall also be told. All
spirits who are in the world of spirits have communication with
heaven or with hell, evil spirits with hell, and good spirits with
heaven. Heaven is divided into societies, and hell also. Every spirit
belongs to some society, and continues to exist by influx from it,
thus acting as one with it. Consequently as man is conjoined with
spirits so is he conjoined with heaven or with hell, even with the
society there to which he is attached by his affection or his love;
for the societies of heaven are all distinguished from each other in
accordance with their affections for good and truth, and the
societies of hell in accordance with their affections for evil and
falsity. (As to the societies of heaven see above, n. 41-45 also
n. 148-151.)
295. The spirits associated with man are such as he himself is in
respect to his affection or love; but the Lord associates good
spirits with him, while evil spirits are invited by the man himself.
The spirits with man, however, are changed in accordance with the
changes of his affections; thus there are some spirits that are with
him in early childhood, others in boyhood, others in youth and
manhood, and others in old age. In early childhood those spirits are
present who are in innocence and who thus communicate with the heaven
of innocence, which is the inmost or third heaven; in boyhood those
spirits are present who are in affection for knowing, and who thus
communicate with the outmost or first heaven; in youth and manhood
spirits are present who are in affection for what is true and good,
and in consequent intelligence, and who thus communicate with the
second or middle heaven; while in old age spirits are present who are
in wisdom and innocence, and who thus communicate with the inmost or
third heaven. But the Lord maintains this association with such as
can be reformed and regenerated. It is otherwise with such as cannot
be reformed or regenerated. While with these also good spirits are
associated, that they may be thereby withheld from evil as much as
possible, they are directly conjoined with evil spirits who
communicate with hell, whereby they have such spirits with them as
are like themselves. If they are lovers of self or lovers of gain, or
lovers of revenge, or lovers of adultery, like spirits are present,
and as it were dwell in their evil affections; and man is incited by
these, except so far as he can be kept from evil by good spirits, and
they cling to him, and do not withdraw, so far as the evil affection
prevails. Thus it is that a bad man is conjoined to hell and a good
man is conjoined to heaven.
296. Man is governed by the Lord through spirits because he is not in
the order of heaven, for he is born into evils which are of hell,
thus into the complete opposite of Divine order; consequently he
needs to be brought back into order, and this can only be done
mediately by means of spirits. It would be otherwise if man were born
into the good that is in accord with the order of heaven; then he
would be governed by the Lord not through spirits, but by means of
the order itself, thus by means of general influx. By means of this
influx man is governed in respect to whatever goes forth from his
thought and will into act, that is, in respect to speech and acts;
for both of these proceed in harmony with natural order, and
therefore with these the spirits associated with man have nothing in
common. Animals also are governed by means of this general influx
from the spiritual world, because they are in the order of their
life, and animals have not been able to pervert and destroy that
order because they have no rational faculty.{1} What the difference
between man and beasts is may be seen above (n. 39).
{Footnote 1} The difference between men and beasts is, that men
are capable of being raised up by the Lord to Himself, of
thinking about the Divine, loving it, and being thereby
conjoined to the Lord, from which they have eternal life; but
it is otherwise with beasts (n. 4525, 6323, 9231). Beasts are
in the order of their life, and are therefore born into things
suitable to their nature, but man is not, and he must therefore
be led into the order of his life by intellectual means (n.
637, 5850, 6323). According to general influx thought with man
falls into speech and will into movements (n. 5862, 5990, 6192,
6211). The general influx of the spiritual world into the lives
of beasts (n. 1633, 3646).
297. As to what further concerns the conjunction of heaven with the
human race, let it be noted that the Lord Himself flows into each
man, in accord with the order of heaven, both into his inmosts and
into his outmosts, and arranges him for receiving heaven, and governs
his outmosts from his inmosts, and at the same time his inmosts from
his outmosts, thus holding in connection each thing and all things in
man. This influx of the Lord is called direct influx; while the other
influx that is effected through spirits is called mediate influx. The
latter is maintained by means of the former. Direct influx, which is
that of the Lord Himself, is from His Divine Human, and is into man's
will and through his will into his understanding, and thus into his
good and through his good into his truth, or what is the same thing,
into his love and through his love into his faith; and not the
reverse, still less is it into faith apart from love or into truth
apart from good or into understanding that is not from will. This
Divine influx is unceasing, and in the good is received in good, but
not in the evil; for in them it is either rejected or suffocated or
perverted; and in consequence they have an evil life which in a
spiritual sense is death.{1}
{Footnote 1} There is direct influx from the Lord, and also
mediate influx through the spiritual world (n. 6063, 6307,
6472, 9682, 9683). The Lord's direct influx is into the least
particulars of all things (n. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717, 8728). The
Lord flows in into firsts and at the same time into lasts-in
what manner (n. 5147, 5150, 6473, 7004, 7007, 7270). The Lord's
influx is into the good in man, and through the good into truth
and not the reverse (n. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153).
The life that flows in from the Lord varies in accordance with
the state of man and in accordance with reception (n. 2069,
5986, 6472, 7343). With the evil the good that flows in from
the Lord is turned into evil and the truth into falsity; from
experience (n. 3642, 4632). The good and the truth therefrom
that continually flow in from the Lord are received just to the
extent that evil and falsity therefrom do not obstruct (n.
2411, 3142, 3147, 5828).
298. The spirits who are with man, both those conjoined with heaven
and those conjoined with hell, never flow into man from their own
memory and its thought, for if they should flow in from their own
thought, whatever belonged to them would seem to man to be his (see
above n. 256). Nevertheless there flows into man through them out of
heaven an affection belonging to the love of good and truth, and out
of hell an affection belonging to the love of evil and falsity.
Therefore as far as man's affection agrees with the affection that
flows in, so far that affection is received by him in his thought,
since man's interior thought is wholly in accord with his affection
or love; but so far as man's affection does not agree with that
affection it is not received. Evidently, then, since thought is not
introduced into man through spirits, but only an affection for good
and an affection for evil, man has choice, because he has freedom;
and is thus able by his thought to receive good and reject evil,
since he knows from the Word what is good and what is evil. Moreover,
whatever he receives by thought from affection is appropriated to
him; but whatever he does not receive by thought from affection is
not appropriated to him. All this makes evident the nature of the
influx of good out of heaven with man, and the nature of the influx
of evil out of hell.
299. I have also been permitted to learn the source of human anxiety,
grief of mind, and interior sadness, which is called melancholy.
There are spirits not as yet in conjunction with hell, because they
are in their first state; these will be described hereafter when
treating of the world of spirits. Such spirits love things undigested
and pernicious, such as pertain to food becoming foul in the stomach;
consequently they are present with man in such things because they
find delight in them; and they talk there with one another from their
own evil affection. The affection that is in their speech flows in
from this source into man; and when this affection is the opposite of
man's affection there arises in him sadness and melancholy anxiety;
but when it agrees with it it becomes in him gladness and
cheerfulness. These spirits appear near to the stomach, some to the
left and some to the right of it, and some beneath and some above,
also nearer and more remote, thus variously in accordance with their
affections. That this is the source of anxiety of mind has been shown
and proved to me by much experience. I have seen these spirits, I
have heard them, I have felt the anxieties arising from them, and I
have talked with them; when they have been driven away the anxiety
ceased; when they returned the anxiety returned; and I have noted the
increase and decrease of it according to their approach and removal.
From this it has been made clear to me why some who do not know what
conscience is, because they have no conscience, ascribe its pangs to
the stomach.{1}
{Footnote 1} Those who have no conscience do not know what
conscience is (n. 7490, 9121). There are some who laugh at
conscience when they hear what it is (n. 7217). Some believe
that conscience is nothing; some that it is something natural
that is sad and mournful, arising either from causes in the
body or from causes in the world; some that it is something
that the common people get from their religion (n. 206, 831,
950; [TCR n. 665]). There is true conscience, spurious
conscience, and false conscience (n. 1033). Pain of conscience
is an anxiety of mind on account of what is unjust, insincere,
or in any respect evil, which man believes to be against God
and against the good of the neighbor (n. 7217). Those have
conscience who are in love to God and in charity towards the
neighbor, but those who are not so have no conscience (n. 831,
965, 2380, 7490).
300. The conjunction of heaven with man is not like the conjunction
of one man with another, but the conjunction is with the interiors of
man's mind, that is, with his spiritual or internal man; although
there is a conjunction with his natural or external man by means of
correspondences, which will be described in the next chapter where
the conjunction of heaven with man by means of the Word will be
treated of.
301. It will also be shown in the next chapter that the conjunction
of heaven with the human race and of the human race with heaven is
such that one has its permanent existence with the other.
302. I have talked with angels about the conjunction of heaven with
the human race, saying that while the man of the church declares that
all good is from God, and that angels are with man, yet few believe
that angels are conjoined to man, still less that they are in his
thought and affection. The angels replied that they knew that such a
belief and such a mode of speaking still exist in the world, and
especially, to their surprise, within the church, where the Word is
present to teach men about heaven and its conjunction with man;
nevertheless, there is such a conjunction that man is unable to think
the least thing unless spirits are associated with him, and on this
his spiritual life depends. They said that the cause of ignorance in
this matter is man's belief that he lives from himself, and that he
has no connection with the First Being [Esse] of life; together with
his not knowing that this connection exists by means of the heavens;
and yet if that connection were broken man would instantly fall dead.
If man only believed, as is really true, that all good is from the
Lord and all evil from hell, he would neither make the good in him a
matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him; for he would then
look to the Lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil
that flows in would be cast down to hell from which it comes. But
because man does not believe that anything flows into him either from
heaven or from hell, and therefore supposes that all things that he
thinks and wills are in himself and therefore from himself, he
appropriates the evil to himself, and the good that flows in he
defiles with merit.
303. XXXIV. CONJUNCTION OF HEAVEN WITH MAN BY MEANS OF THE WORD.
Those who think from interior reason can see that there is a
connection of all things through intermediates with the First, and
that whatever is not in connection is dissipated. For they know, when
they think about it, that nothing can have permanent existence from
itself, but only from what is prior to itself, thus all things from a
First; also that the connection with what is prior is like the
connection of an effect with its effecting cause; for when the
effecting cause is taken away from its effect the effect is dissolved
and dispersed. Because the learned thought thus they saw and said
that permanent existence is a perpetual springing forth; thus that
all things have permanent existence from a First; and as they sprang
from that First so they perpetually spring forth, that is, have
permanent existence from it. But what the connection of everything is
with that which is prior to itself, thus with the First which is the
source of all things, cannot be told in a few words, because it is
various and diverse. It can only be said in general that there is a
connection of the natural world with the spiritual world, and that in
consequence there is a correspondence of all things in the natural
world with all things in the spiritual (see n. 103-115); also that
there is a connection and consequently a correspondence of all things
of man with all things of heaven (see n. 87-102).
304. Man is so created as to have a conjunction and connection with
the Lord, but with the angels of heaven only an affiliation. Man has
affiliation with the angels, but not conjunction, because in respect
to the interiors of his mind man is by creation like an angel, having
a like will and a like understanding. Consequently if a man has lived
in accordance with the Divine order he becomes after death an angel,
with the same wisdom as an angel. Therefore when the conjunction of
man with heaven is spoken of his conjunction with the Lord and
affiliation with the angels is meant; for heaven is heaven from the
Lord's Divine, and not from what is strictly the angels' own
[proprium]. That it is the Lord's Divine that makes heaven may be
seen above (n. 7-12). [2] But man has, beyond what the angels have,
that he is not only in respect to his interiors in the spiritual
world, but also at the same time in respect to his exteriors in the
natural world. His exteriors which are in the natural world are all
things of his natural or external memory and of his thought and
imagination therefrom; in general, knowledges and sciences with their
delights and pleasures so far as they savor of the world, also many
pleasures belonging to the senses of the body, together with his
senses themselves, his speech, and his actions. And all these are the
outmosts in which the Lord's Divine influx terminates; for that
influx does not stop midway, but goes on to its outmosts. All this
shows that the outmost of Divine order is in man; and being the
outmost it is also the base and foundation. [3] As the Lord's Divine
influx does not stop midway but goes on to its outmosts, as has been
said, and as this middle part through which it passes is the angelic
heaven, while the outmost is in man, and as nothing can exist
unconnected, it follows that the connection and conjunction of heaven
with the human race is such that one has its permanent existence from
the other, and that the human race apart from heaven would be like a
chain without a hook; and heaven without the human race would be like
a house without a foundation.{1}
{Footnote 1} Nothing springs from itself, but from what is
prior to itself, thus all things from a First, and they also
have permanent existence from Him from whom they spring forth,
and permanent existence is a perpetual springing forth (n.
2886, 2888, 3627, 3628, 3648, 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056). Divine
order does not stop midway, but terminates in an outmost, and
that outmost is man, thus Divine order terminates in man (n.
634, 2853, 3632, 5897, 6239, 6451, 6465, 9215, 9216, 9824,
9828, 9836, 9905, 10044, 10329, 10335, 10548). Interior things
flow into external things, even into the extreme or outmost in
successive order, and there they spring forth and have
permanent existence (n. 634, 6239, 6465, 9215, 9216). Interior
things spring forth and have permanent existence in what is
outmost in simultaneous order (n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099).
Therefore all interior things are held together in connection
from a First by means of a Last (n. 9828). Therefore "the First
and the Last" signify all things and each thing, that is, the
whole (n. 10044, 10329, 10335). Consequently in outmosts there
is strength and power (n. 9836).
305. But man has severed this connection with heaven by turning his
exteriors away from heaven, and turning them to the world and to self
by means of his love of self and of the world, thereby so withdrawing
himself that he no longer serves as a basis and foundation for
heaven; therefore the Lord has provided a medium to serve in place of
this base and foundation for heaven, and also for the conjunction of
heaven with man. This medium is the Word. How the Word serves as such
a medium has been shown in many places in the Arcana Coelestia, all
of which may be seen gathered up in the little work on The White
Horse mentioned in the Apocalypse; also in the Appendix to the New
Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, from which some notes are here
appended.{1}
{Footnote 1} The Word in the sense of the letter is natural (n.
8783). For the reason that the natural is the outmost in which
spiritual and heavenly things, which are interior things,
terminate and on which they rest, like a house upon its
foundation (n. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436). That the Word
may be such it is composed wholly of correspondences (n. 1404,
1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615, 10687). Because
the Word is such in the sense of the letter it is the
containant of the spiritual and heavenly sense (n. 9407). And
it is adapted both to men and to angels (n. 1769-1772, 1887,
2143, 2157, 2275, 2333, 2395, 2540, 2541, 2547, 2553, 7381,
8862, 10322). And it is what makes heaven and earth one (n.
2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396, 10375). The conjunction of
the Lord with man is through the Word, by means of the internal
sense (n. 10375). There is conjunction by means of all things
and each particular thing of the Word, and in consequence the
Word is wonderful above all other writing (n. 10632-10634).
Since the Word was written the Lord speaks with men by means of
it (n. 10290). The church, where the Word is and the Lord is
known by means of it, in relation to those who are out of the
church where there is no Word and the Lord is unknown is like
the heart and lungs in man in comparison with the other parts
of the body, which live from them as from the fountains of
their life (n. 637, 931, 2054, 2853). Before the Lord the
universal church on the earth is as a single man (n. 7396,
9276). Consequently unless there were on this earth a church
where the Word is, and where the Lord is known by means of it,
the human race here would perish (n. 468, 637, 931, 4545,
10452).
306. I have been told from heaven that the most ancient people,
because their interiors were turned heavenwards, had direct
revelation, and by this means there was at that time a conjunction of
the Lord with the human race. After their times, however, there was
no such direct revelation, but there was a mediate revelation by
means of correspondences, inasmuch as all their Divine worship then
consisted of correspondences, and for this reason the churches of
that time were called representative churches. For it was then known
what correspondence is and what representation is, and that all
things on the earth correspond to spiritual things in heaven and in
the church, or what is the same, represent them; and therefore the
natural things that constituted the externals of their worship served
them as mediums for thinking spiritually, that is, thinking with the
angels. When the knowledge of correspondences and representations had
been blotted out of remembrance a Word was written, in which all the
words and their meanings are correspondences, and thus contain a
spiritual or internal sense, in which are the angels; and in
consequence, when a man reads the Word and perceives it according to
the sense of the letter or the outer sense the angels perceive it
according to the internal or spiritual sense; for all the thought of
angels is spiritual while the thought of man is natural. These two
kinds of thought appear diverse; nevertheless they are one because
they correspond. Thus it was that when man had separated himself from
heaven and had severed the bond the Lord provided a medium of
conjunction of heaven with man by means of the Word.
307. How heaven is conjoined with man by means of the Word I will
illustrate by some passages from it. "The New Jerusalem" is described
in the Apocalypse in these words:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the first heaven
and the first earth had passed away. And I saw the holy
city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. The
city was foursquare, its length as great as its breadth;
and an angel measured the city with a reed, twelve
thousand furlongs; the length, the breadth, and the height
of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an
hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that
is, of an angel. The building of the wall was of jasper;
but the city itself was pure gold, and like unto pure
glass; and the foundations of the wall were adorned with
every precious stone. The twelve gates were twelve pearls;
and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass (21:1, 2, 16-19, 21).
When man reads these words he understands them merely in accordance
with the sense of the letter, namely, that the visible heaven with
the earth is to perish, and a new heaven is to come into existence;
and upon the new earth the holy city Jerusalem is to descend, with
all its dimensions as here described. But the angels that are with
man understand these things in a wholly different way, that is,
everything that man understands naturally they understand
spiritually. [2] By "the new heaven and the new earth" they
understand a new church; by "the city Jerusalem coming down from God
out of heaven" they understand its heavenly doctrine revealed by the
Lord; by "its length, breadth, and height, which are equal," and
"twelve thousand furlongs," they understand all the goods and truths
of that doctrine in the complex; by its "wall" they understand the
truths protecting it; by "the measure of the wall, a hundred and
forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an
angel," they understand all those protecting truths in the complex
and their character; by its "twelve gates, which were of pearls,"
they understand introductory truths, "pearls" signifying such truths;
by "the foundations of the wall, which were of precious stones," they
understand the knowledge on which that doctrine is founded; by "the
gold like unto pure glass," of which the city and its street were
made, they understand the good of love which makes the doctrine and
its truths transparent. Thus do the angels perceive all these things;
and therefore not as man perceives them. The natural ideas of man
thus pass into the spiritual ideas with the angels without their
knowing anything of the sense of the letter of the Word, that is,
about "a new heaven and a new earth," "a new city Jerusalem," its
"wall, the foundations of the wall, and its dimensions." And yet the
thoughts of angels make one with the thoughts of man, because they
correspond; they make one almost the same as the words of a speaker
make one with the understanding of them by a hearer who attends
solely to the meaning and not to the words. All this shows how heaven
is conjoined with man by means of the Word: [3] Let us take another
example from the Word:
In that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to
Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt and Egypt into
Assyria; and the Egyptians shall serve Assyria. In that
day shall Israel be a third to Egypt and to Assyria, a
blessing in the midst of the land, Which Jehovah of hosts
shall bless, saying, Blessed be My people the Egyptian,
and the Assyrian the work of My hands, and Israel Mine
inheritance (Isaiah 19:23-25).
What man thinks when these words are read, and what the angels think,
can be seen from the sense of the letter of the Word and from its
internal sense. Man from the sense of the letter thinks that the
Egyptians and Assyrians are to be converted to God and accepted, and
are then to become one with the Israelitish nation; but angels in
accordance with the internal sense think of the man of the spiritual
church who is here described in that sense, whose spiritual is
"Israel," whose natural is the "Egyptian," and whose rational, which
is the middle, is the "Assyrian."{1} Nevertheless, these two senses
are one because they correspond; and therefore when the angels thus
think spiritually and man naturally they are conjoined almost as body
and soul are; in fact, the internal sense of the Word is its soul and
the sense of the letter is its body. Such is the Word throughout.
This shows that it is a medium of conjunction of heaven with man, and
that its literal sense serves as a base and foundation.
{Footnote 1} In the Word "Egypt" and "Egyptian" signify the
natural and its knowledge (n. 4967, 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160,
5460, 5799, 6015, 6147, 6252, 7355, 7648, 9340, 9391).
"Assyria" signifies the rational (n. 119, 1186). "Israel"
signifies the spiritual (n. 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817,
5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035,
7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7957, 8234, 8805, 9340).
308. There is also a conjunction of heaven by means of the Word with
those who are outside of the church where there is no Word; for the
Lord's church is universal, and is with all who acknowledge the
Divine and live in charity. Moreover, such are taught after death by
the angels and receive Divine truths;{1} on which subject more may be
seen below, in the chapter on the heathen. The universal church on
the earth in the sight of the Lord resembles a single man, just as
heaven does (see n. 59-72); but the church where the Word is and
where the Lord is known by means of it is like the heart and lungs in
that man. It is known that all the viscera and members of the entire
body draw their life from the heart and lungs through various
derivations; and it is thus that those of the human race live who are
outside of the church where the Word is, and who constitute the
members of that man. Again, the conjunction of heaven with those who
are at a distance by means of the Word may be compared to light
radiating from a center all around. The Divine light is in the Word,
and there the Lord with heaven is present, and from that presence
those at a distance are in light; but it would be otherwise if there
were no Word. This may be more clearly seen from what has been shown
above respecting the form of heaven in accordance with which all who
are in heaven have affiliation and communication. But while this
arcanum may be comprehended by those who are in spiritual light, it
cannot be comprehended by those who are only in natural light; for
innumerable things are clearly seen by those who are in spiritual
light that are not seen or are seen obscurely as a single thing by
those who are only in natural light.
{Footnote 1} The church specifically is where the Word is and
where the Lord is known by means of it, thus where Divine
truths from heaven are revealed (n. 3857, 10761). The Lord's
church is with all in the whole globe who live in good in
accordance with the principles of their religion (n. 3263,
6637, 10765). All wherever they are who live in good in
accordance with the principles of their religion and who
acknowledge the Divine are accepted of the Lord (n. 2589-2604,
2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197, 6700, 9256). And besides these
all children wheresoever they are born (n. 2289-2309, 4792).
309. Unless such a Word had been given on this earth the man of this
earth would have been separated from heaven; and if separated from
heaven he would have ceased to be rational, for the human rational
exists by an influx of the light of heaven. Again, the man of this
earth is such that he is not capable of receiving direct revelation
and of being taught about Divine truths by such revelation, as the
inhabitants of other earths are, that have been especially described
in another small work. For the man of this earth is more in worldly
things, that is, in externals, than the men of other earths, and it
is internal things that are receptive of revelation; if it were
received in external things the truth would not be understood. That
such is the man of this earth is clearly evident from the state of
those who are within the church, which is such that while they know
from the Word about heaven, about hell, about the life after death,
still in heart they deny these things; although among them there are
some who have acquired a pre-eminent reputation for learning, and who
might for that reason be supposed to be wiser than others.
310. I have at times talked with angels about the Word, saying that
it is despised by some on account of its simple style; and that
nothing whatever is known about its internal sense, and for this
reason it is not believed that so much wisdom lies hid in it. The
angels said that although the style of the Word seems simple in the
sense of the letter, it is such that nothing can ever be compared to
it in excellence, since Divine wisdom lies concealed not only in the
meaning as a whole but also in each word; and that in heaven this
wisdom shines forth. They wished to declare that this wisdom is the
light of heaven, because it is Divine truth, for that which shines in
heaven is the Divine truth (see n. 132). Again, they said that
without such a Word there would be no light of heaven with the men of
our earth, nor would there be any conjunction of heaven with them;
for there is conjunction only so far as the light of heaven is
present with man, and that light is present only so far as Divine
truth is revealed to man by means of the Word. This conjunction by
means of the correspondence of the spiritual sense of the Word with
its natural sense is unknown to man, because the man of this earth
knows nothing about the spiritual thought and speech of angels, and
how it differs from the natural thought and speech of men; and until
this is known it cannot in the least be known what the internal sense
is, and that such conjunction is therefore possible by means of that
sense. They said, furthermore, that if this sense were known to man,
and if man in reading the Word were to think in accordance with some
knowledge of it, he would come into interior wisdom, and would be
still more conjoined with heaven, since by this means he would enter
into ideas like the ideas of the angels.
311. XXXV. HEAVEN AND HELL ARE FROM THE HUMAN RACE.
In the Christian world it is wholly unknown that heaven and hell are
from the human race, for it is believed that in the beginning angels
were created and heaven was thus formed; also that the devil or Satan
was an angel of light, but having rebelled he was cast down with his
crew, and thus hell was formed. The angels never cease to wonder at
such a belief in the Christian world, and still more that nothing is
really known about heaven, when in fact that is the primary principle
of all doctrine in the church. But since such ignorance prevails they
rejoice in heart that it has pleased the Lord to reveal to mankind at
this time many things about heaven and about hell, thereby dispelling
as far as possible the darkness that has been daily increasing
because the church has come to its end. [2] They wish for this reason
that I should declare from their lips that in the entire heaven there
is not a single angel who was created such from the beginning, nor in
hell any devil who was created an angel of light and cast down; but
that all, both in heaven and in hell, are from the human race; in
heaven those who lived in the world in heavenly love and belief, in
hell those who lived in infernal love and belief, also that it is
hell taken as a whole that is called the Devil and Satan-the name
Devil being given to the hell that is behind, where those are that
are called evil genii, and the name Satan being given to the hell
that is in front, where those are that are called evil spirits.{1}
The character of these hells will be described in the following
pages. [3] The angels said that the Christian world had gathered such
a belief about those in heaven and those in hell from some passages
in the Word understood according to the mere sense of the letter not
illustrated and explained by genuine doctrine from the Word; although
the sense of the letter of the Word until illuminated by genuine
doctrine, draws the mind in different directions, and this begets
ignorance, heresies, and errors.{2}
{Footnote 1} The hells taken together, or the infernals taken
together, are called the Devil and Satan (n. 694). Those that
have been devils in the world become devils after death (n.
968).
{Footnote 2} The doctrine of the church must be derived from
the Word (n. 3464, 5402, 6822, 6832, 10763, 10765). Without
doctrine the Word is not understood (n. 9025, 9409, 9424, 9430,
10324, 10431, 10582). True doctrine is a lamp to those who read
the Word (n. 10400). Genuine doctrine must be from those who
are enlightened by the Lord (n. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105).
Those who are in the sense of the letter without doctrine come
into no understanding of Divine truths (n. 9409, 9410, 10582).
And they are led away into many errors (n. 10431). The
difference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine
of the church derived from the Word and those who teach and
learn from the sense of the letter alone (n. 9025).
312. The man of the church also derives this belief from his
believing that no man comes into heaven or into hell until the time
of the final judgment; and about that he has accepted the opinion
that all visible things will perish at that time and new things will
come into existence, and that the soul will then return into its
body, and from that union man will again live as a man. This belief
involves the other-that angels were created such from the beginning;
for it is impossible to believe that heaven and hell are from the
human race when it is believed that no man can go there until the end
of the world. [2] But that men might be convinced that this is not
true it has been granted me to be in company with angels, and also to
talk with those who are in hell, and this now for some years,
sometimes continuously from morning until evening, and thus be
informed about heaven and hell. This has been permitted that the man
of the church may no longer continue in his erroneous belief about
the resurrection at the time of judgment, and about the state of the
soul in the meanwhile, also about angels and the devil. As this
belief is a belief in what is false it involves the mind in darkness,
and with those who think about these things from their own
intelligence it induces doubt and at length denial, for they say in
heart, "How can so vast a heaven, with so many constellations and
with the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated; and how can the
stars which are larger than the earth fall from heaven to the earth;
and can bodies eaten up by worms, consumed by corruption, and
scattered to all the winds, be gathered together again to their
souls; and where in the meantime is the soul, and what is it when
deprived of the senses it had in the body?" [3] With many other like
things, which being incomprehensible cannot be believed, and which
destroy the belief of many in the life of the soul after death, and
their belief in heaven and hell, and with these other matters
pertaining to the faith of the church. That this belief has been
destroyed is evident from its being said, "Who has ever come to us
from heaven and told us that there is a heaven? What is hell? is
there any? What is this about man's being tormented with fire to
eternity? What is the day of judgment? has it not been expected in
vain for ages?" with other things that involve a denial of
everything. [4] Therefore lest those who think in this way-as many do
who from their worldly wisdom are regarded as erudite and
learned-should any longer confound and mislead the simple in faith
and heart, and induce infernal darkness respecting God and heaven and
eternal life, and all else that depends on these, the interiors of my
spirit have been opened by the Lord, and I have thus been permitted
to talk with all after their decease with whom I was ever acquainted
in the life of the body-with some for days, with some for months, and
with some for a year, and also with so many others that I should not
exaggerate if I should say a hundred thousand; many of whom were in
heaven, and many in hell. I have also talked with some two days after
their decease, and have told them that their funeral services and
obsequies were then being held in preparation for their interment; to
which they replied that it was well to cast aside that which had
served them as a body and for bodily functions in the world; and they
wished me to say that they were not dead, but were living as men the
same as before, and had merely migrated from one world into the
other, and were not aware of having lost anything, since they had a
body and its senses just as before, also understanding and will just
as before, with thoughts and affections, sensations and desires, like
those they had in the world. [5] Most of those who had recently died,
when they saw themselves to be living men as before, and in a like
state (for after death everyone's state of life is at first such as
it was in the world, but there is a gradual change in it either into
heaven or into hell), were moved by new joy at being alive, saying
that they had not believed that it would be so. But they greatly
wondered that they should have lived in such ignorance and blindness
about the state of their life after death; and especially that the
man of the church should be in such ignorance and blindness, when
above all others in the whole world he might be clearly enlightened
in regard to these things.{1} Then they began to see the cause of
that blindness and ignorance, which is, that external things which
are things, relating to the world and the body, had so occupied and
filled their minds that they could not be raised into the light of
heaven and look into the things of the church beyond its doctrinals;
for when matters relating to the body and the world are loved, as
they are at the present day, nothing but darkness flows into the mind
when men go beyond those doctrines.
{Footnote 1} There are few in Christendom at this day who
believe that man rises again immediately after death (preface
to Genesis, chap. 16 and n. 4622, 10758); but it is believed
that he will rise again at the time of the final judgment, when
the visible world will perish (n. 10595). The reason of this
belief (n. 10595, 10758). Nevertheless man does rise again
immediately after death, and then he is a man in all respects,
and in every least respect (n. 4527, 5006, 5078, 8939, 8991,
10594, 10758). The soul that lives after death is the spirit of
man, which in man is the man himself, and in the other life is
in a complete human form (n. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 4622, 4735,
5883, 6054, 6605, 6626, 7021, 10594); from experience (n. 4527,
5006, 8939); from the Word (n. 10597). What is meant by the
dead seen in the holy city (Matt. 27:53) explained (n. 9229).
In what manner man is raised from the dead, from experience (n.
168-189). His state after his resurrection (n. 317-319, 2119,
5079, 10596). False opinions about the soul and its
resurrection (n. 444, 445, 4527, 4622, 4658).
313. Very many of the learned from the Christian world are astonished
when they find themselves after death in a body, in garments, and in
houses, as in the world. And when they recall what they had thought
about the life after death, the soul, spirits, and heaven and hell,
they are ashamed and confess that they thought foolishly, and that
the simple in faith thought much more wisely than they. When the
minds of learned men who had confirmed themselves in such ideas and
had ascribed all things to nature were examined, it was found that
their interiors were wholly closed up and their exteriors were
opened, that they looked towards the world and thus towards hell and
not towards heaven. For to the extent that man's interiors are opened
he looks towards heaven, but to the extent that his interiors are
closed and his exteriors opened he looks towards hell, because the
interiors of man are formed for the reception of all things of
heaven, but the exteriors for the reception of all things of the
world; and those who receive the world, and not heaven also, receive
hell.{1}
{Footnote 1} In man the spiritual world and the natural world
are conjoined (n. 6057). The internal of man is formed after
the image of heaven, but the external after the image of the
world (n. 3628, 4523, 4524, 6013, 6057, 9706, 10156, 10472).
314. That heaven is from the human race can be seen also from the
fact that angelic minds and human minds are alike, both enjoying the
ability to understand, perceive and will, and both formed to receive
heaven; for the human mind is just as capable of becoming wise as the
angelic mind; and if it does not attain to such wisdom in the world
it is because it is in an earthly body, and in that body its
spiritual mind thinks naturally. But it is otherwise when the mind is
loosed from the bonds of that body; then it no longer thinks
naturally, but spiritually, and when it thinks spiritually its
thoughts are incomprehensible and ineffable to the natural man; thus
it becomes wise like an angel, all of which shows that the internal
part of man, called his spirit, is in its essence an angel (see
above, n. 57);{1} and when loosed from the earthly body is, equally
with the angel, in the human form. (That an angel is in a complete
human form may be seen above, n. 73-77.) When, however, the internal
of man is not open above but only beneath, it is still, after it has
been loosed from the body, in a human form, but a horrible and
diabolical form, for it is able only to look downwards towards hell,
and not upwards towards heaven.
{Footnote 1} There are as many degrees of life in man as there
are heavens, and they are opened after death in accordance with
his life (n. 3747, 9594). Heaven is in man (n. 3884). Men who
are living a life of love and charity have in them angelic
wisdom, although it is for the time hidden, but they come into
that wisdom after death (n. 2494). The man who receives from
the Lord the good of love and of faith is called in the Word an
angel (n. 10528).
315. Moreover, any one who has been taught about Divine order can
understand that man was created to become an angel, because the
outmost of order is in him (n. 304), in which what pertains to
heavenly and angelic wisdom can be brought into form and can be
renewed and multiplied. Divine order never stops midway to form there
a something apart from an outmost, for it is not in its fullness and
completion there; but it goes on to the outmost; and when it is in
its outmost it takes on its form, and by means there collected it
renews itself and produces itself further, which is accomplished
through procreations. Therefore the seed-ground of heaven is in the
outmost.
316. The Lord rose again not as to His spirit alone but also as to
His body, because when He was in the world He glorified His whole
Human, that is, made it Divine; for His soul which He had from the
Father was of Itself the very Divine, while His body became a
likeness of the soul, that is, of the Father, thus also Divine. This
is why He, differently from any man, rose again as to both;{1} and
this He made manifest to the disciples (who when they saw Him
believed that they saw a spirit), by saying:
See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye
behold Me having (Luke 24:36-39);
indicating thereby that He was a man both in respect to His spirit
and in respect to His body.
{Footnote 1} Man rises again only as to his spirit (n. 10593,
10594). The Lord alone rose again in respect also to His body
(n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825).
317. That it might be made clear that man lives after death and
enters in accordance with his life in the world either into heaven or
into hell, many things have been disclosed to me about the state of
man after death, which will be presented in due order in the
following pages, where the world of spirits is treated of.
318. XXXVI. THE HEATHEN, OR PEOPLES OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH, IN HEAVEN.
There is a general opinion that those born outside of the church, who
are called the nations, or heathen, cannot be saved, because not
having the Word they know nothing about the Lord, and apart from the
Lord there is no salvation. But that these also are saved this alone
makes certain, that the mercy of the Lord is universal, that is,
extends to every individual; that these equally with those within the
church, who are few in comparison, are born men, and that their
ignorance of the Lord is not their fault. Any one who thinks from any
enlightened reason can see that no man is born for hell, for the Lord
is love itself and His love is to will the salvation of all.
Therefore He has provided a religion for everyone, and by it
acknowledgment of the Divine and interior life; for to live in
accordance with one's religion is to live interiorly, since one then
looks to the Divine, and so far as he looks to the Divine he does not
look to the world but separates himself from the world, that is, from
the life of the world, which is exterior life.{1}
{Footnote 1} The heathen equally with the Christians are saved
(n. 932, 1032, 1059, 2284, 2589, 2590, 3778, 4190, 4197). The
lot of the nations and peoples outside of the church in the
other life (n. 2589-2604). The church is specifically where the
Word is, and by it the Lord is known (n. 3857, 10761).
Nevertheless, those born where the Word is and where the Lord
is known are not on that account of the church, but only those
who live a life of charity and of faith (n. 6637, 10143, 10153,
10578, 10645, 10829). The Lord's church is with all in the
whole world who live in good in accordance with their religion
and acknowledge a Divine, and such are accepted of the Lord and
come into heaven (n. 2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197,
6700, 9256).
319. That the heathen equally with Christians are saved any one can
see who knows what it is that makes heaven in man; for heaven is
within man, and those that have heaven within them come into heaven.
Heaven with man is acknowledging the Divine and being led by the
Divine. The first and chief thing of every religion is to acknowledge
the Divine. A religion that does not acknowledge the Divine is no
religion. The precepts of every religion look to worship; thus to the
way in which the Divine is to be worshiped that the worship may be
acceptable to Him; and when this has been settled in one's mind, that
is, so far as one wills this or so far as he loves it, he is led by
the Lord. Everyone knows that the heathen as well as Christians live
a moral life, and many of them a better life than Christians. Moral
life may be lived either out of regard to the Divine or out of regard
to men in the world; and a moral life that is lived out of regard to
the Divine is a spiritual life. In outward form the two appear alike,
but in inward form they are wholly different; the one saves man, the
other does not. For he who lives a moral life out of regard to the
Divine is led by the Divine; while he who leads a moral life out of
regard to men in the world is led by himself. [2] But this may be
illustrated by an example. He that refrains from doing evil to his
neighbor because it is antagonistic to religion, that is,
antagonistic to the Divine, refrains from doing evil from a spiritual
motive; but he that refrains from doing evil to another merely from
fear of the law, or the loss of reputation, of honor, or gain, that
is, from regard to self and the world, refrains from doing evil from
a natural motive, and is led by himself. The life of the latter is
natural, that of the former is spiritual. A man whose moral life is
spiritual has heaven within him; but he whose moral life is merely
natural does not have heaven within him; and for the reason that
heaven flows in from above and opens man's interiors, and through his
interiors flows into his exteriors; while the world flows in from
beneath and opens the exteriors but not the interiors. For there can
be no flowing in from the natural world into the spiritual, but only
from the spiritual world into the natural; therefore if heaven is not
also received, the interiors remain closed. All this makes clear who
those are that receive heaven within them, and who do not. [3] And
yet heaven is not the same in one as in another. It differs in each
one in accordance with his affection for good and its truth. Those
that are in an affection for good out of regard to the Divine, love
Divine truth, since good and truth love each other and desire to be
conjoined.{1} This explains why the heathen, although they are not in
genuine truths in the world, yet because of their love receive truths
in the other life.
{Footnote 1} Between good and truth there is a kind of marriage
(n. 1904, 2173, 2508). Good and truth are in a perpetual
endeavor to be conjoined, and good longs for truth and for
conjunction with it (n. 9206, 9207, 9495). How the conjunction
of good and truth takes place, and in whom (n. 3834, 3843,
4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627,
9258).
320. A certain spirit from among the heathen who had lived in the
world in good of charity in accordance with his religion, hearing
Christian spirits reasoning about what must be believed, (for spirits
reason with each other far more thoroughly and acutely than men,
especially about what is good and true,) wondered at such
contentions, and said that he did not care to listen to them, for
they reasoned from appearances and fallacies; and he gave them this
instruction: "If I am good I can know from the good itself what is
true; and what I do not know I can receive."
321. I have been taught in many ways that the heathen who have led a
moral life and have lived in obedience and subordination and mutual
charity in accordance with their religion, and have thus received
something of conscience, are accepted in the other life, and are
there instructed with solicitous care by the angels in the goods and
truths of faith; and that when they are being taught they behave
themselves modestly, intelligently, and wisely, and readily accept
truths and adopt them. They have not worked out for themselves any
principles of falsity antagonistic to the truths of faith that will
need to be shaken off, still less cavils against the Lord, as many
Christians have who cherish no other idea of Him than that He is an
ordinary man. The heathen on the contrary when they hear that God has
become a Man, and has thus manifested Himself in the world,
immediately acknowledge it and worship the Lord, saying that because
God is the God of heaven and of earth, and because the human race is
His, He has fully disclosed Himself to men.{1} It is a Divine truth
that apart from the Lord there is no salvation; but this is to be
understood to mean that there is no salvation except from the Lord.
There are many earths in the universe, and all of them full of
inhabitants, scarcely any of whom know that the Lord took on the
Human on our earth. Yet because they worship the Divine under a human
form they are accepted and led by the Lord. On this subject more may
be seen in the little work on The Earths in the Universe.
{Footnote 1} Difference between the good in which the heathen
are and that in which Christians are (n. 4189, 4197). Truths
with the heathen (n. 3263, 3778, 4190). The interiors cannot be
so closed up with the heathen as with Christians (n. 9256).
Neither can so thick a cloud exist with the heathen who live in
mutual charity in accordance with their religion as with
Christians who live in no charity; the reasons (n. 1059, 9256).
The heathen cannot profane the holy things of the church as the
Christians do, because they are ignorant of them (n. 1327,
1328, 2051). They have a fear of Christians on account of their
lives (n. 2596, 2597). Those that have lived well in accordance
with their religion are taught by angels and readily accept the
truths of faith and acknowledge the Lord (n. 2049, 2595, 2598,
2600, 2601, 2603, 2861, 2863, 3263).
322. Among the heathen, as among Christians, there are both wise and
simple. That I might learn about them I have been permitted to speak
with both, sometimes for hours and days. But there are no such wise
men now as in ancient times, especially in the Ancient Church, which
extended over a large part of the Asiatic world, and from which
religion spread to many nations. That I might wholly know about them
I have been permitted to have familiar conversation with some of
these wise men. There was with me one who was among the wiser of his
time, and consequently well known in the learned world, with whom I
talked on various subjects, and had reason to believe that it was
Cicero. Knowing that he was a wise man I talked with him about
wisdom, intelligence, order, and the Word, and lastly about the Lord.
[2] Of wisdom he said that there is no other wisdom than the wisdom
of life, and that wisdom can be predicated of nothing else; of
intelligence that it is from wisdom; of order, that it is from the
Supreme God, and that to live in that order is to be wise and
intelligent. As to the Word, when I read to him something from the
prophets he was greatly delighted, especially with this, that every
name and every word signified interior things; and he wondered
greatly that learned men at this day are not delighted with such
study. I saw plainly that the interiors of his thought or mind had
been opened. He said that he was unable to hear more, as he perceived
something more holy than he could bear, being affected so interiorly.
[3] At length I spoke with him about the Lord, saying that while He
was born a man He was conceived of God, and that He put off the
maternal human and put on the Divine Human, and that it is He that
governs the universe. To this he replied that he knew some things
concerning the Lord, and perceived in his way that if mankind were to
be saved it could not have been done otherwise. In the meantime some
bad Christians infused various cavils; but to these he gave no
attention, remarking that this was not strange, since in the life of
the body they had imbibed unbecoming ideas on the subject, and until
they got rid of these they could not admit ideas that confirmed the
truth, as the ignorant can.
323. It has also been granted me to talk with others who lived in
ancient times, and who were then among the more wise. At first they
appeared in front at a distance, and were able then to perceive the
interiors of my thoughts, thus many things fully. From one idea of
thought they were able to discern the entire series and fill it with
delightful things of wisdom combined with charming representations.
From this they were perceived to be among the more wise, and I was
told that they were some of the ancient people; and when they came
nearer I read to them something from the Word, and they were
delighted beyond measure. I perceived the essence of their delight
and gratification, which arose chiefly from this, that all things and
each thing they heard from the Word were representative and
significative of heavenly and spiritual things. They said that in
their time, when they lived in the world, their mode of thinking and
speaking and also of writing was of this nature, and that this was
their pursuit of wisdom.
324. But as regards the heathen of the present day, they are not so
wise, but most of them are simple in heart. Nevertheless, those of
them that have lived in mutual charity receive wisdom in the other
life, and of these one or two examples may be cited. When I read the
seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of Judges (about Micah, and how
the sons of Dan carried away his graven image and teraphim and
Levite) a heathen spirit was present who in the life of the body had
worshiped a graven image. He listened attentively to the account of
what was done to Micah, and his grief on account of his graven image
which the Danites took away, and such grief came upon him and moved
him that he scarcely knew, by reason of inward distress, what to
think. Not only was this grief perceived, but also the innocence that
was in all his affections. The Christian spirits that were present
watched him and wondered that a worshiper of a graven image should
have so great a feeling of sympathy and innocence stirred in him.
Afterwards some good spirits talked with him, saying that graven
images should not be worshiped, and that being a man he was capable
of understanding this; that he ought, apart from a graven image, to
think of God the Creator and Ruler of the whole heaven and the whole
earth, and that God is the Lord. When this was said I was permitted
to perceive the interior nature of his adoration, which was
communicated to me; and it was much more holy than is the case of
Christians, This makes clear that at the present day the heathen come
into heaven with less difficulty than Christians, according to the
Lord's words in Luke:
Then shall they come from the east and the west, and from
the north and the south, and shall recline in the kingdom
of God. And behold, there are last who shall be first, and
there are first who shall be last (13:29, 30).
For in the state in which that spirit was he could be imbued with all
things of faith and receive them with interior affection; there was
in him the mercy of love, and in his ignorance there was innocence;
and when these are present all things of faith are received as it
were spontaneously and with joy. He was afterwards received among
angels.
325. A choir at a distance was heard one morning, and from the
choir's representations I was permitted to know that they were
Chinese, for they exhibited a kind of woolly goat, then a cake of
millet, and an ebony spoon, also the idea of a floating city. They
desired to come nearer to me, and when they had joined me they said
that they wished to be alone with me, that they might disclose their
thoughts. But they were told that they were not alone, and that some
were displeased at their wishing to be alone, although they were
guests. When they perceived this displeasure they began to think
whether they had transgressed against the neighbor, and whether they
had claimed any thing to themselves that belonged to others. All
thought in the other life being communicated I was permitted to
perceive the agitation of their minds. It consisted of a recognition
that possibly they had injured those who were displeased, of shame on
that account, together with other worthy affections; and it was thus
known that they were endowed with charity. Soon after I spoke with
them, and at last about the Lord. When I called Him "Christ" I
perceived a certain repugnance in them; but the reason was disclosed,
namely, that they had brought this from the world, from their having
learned that Christians lived worse lives than they did, and were
destitute of charity. But when I called Him simply "Lord" they were
interiorly moved. Afterwards, they were taught by the angels that the
Christian doctrine beyond every other in the world prescribes love
and charity, but that there are few who live in accordance with it.
There are heathen who have come to know while they lived in the
world, both from interaction and report, that Christians lead bad
lives, are addicted to adultery, hatred, quarreling, drunkenness, and
the like, which they themselves abhor because such things are
contrary to their religion. These in the other life are more timid
than others about accepting the truths of faith; but they are taught
by the angels that the Christian doctrine, as well as the faith
itself, teaches a very different life, but that the lives of
Christians are less in accord with their doctrine than the lives of
heathen. When they recognize this they receive the truths of faith,
and adore the Lord, but less readily than others.
326. It is a common thing for heathen that have worshiped any god
under an image or statue, or any graven thing to be introduced, when
they come into the other life, to certain spirits in place of their
gods or idols, in order that they may rid themselves of their
fantasies. When they have been with these for some days, the
fantasies are put away. Also those that have worshiped men are
sometimes introduced to the men they have worshiped, or to others in
their place--as many of the Jews to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and
David-but when they come to see that they are human the same as
others, and that they can give them no help, they become ashamed, and
are carried to their own places in accordance with their lives. Among
the heathen in heaven the Africans are most beloved, for they receive
the goods and truths of heaven more readily than others. They
especially wish to be called obedient, but not faithful. They say
that as Christians possess the doctrine of faith they may be called
faithful; but not they unless they accept that doctrine, or as they
say, have the ability to accept it.
327. I have talked with some who were in the Ancient Church. That is
called the Ancient Church that was established after the deluge, and
extended through many kingdoms, namely, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria,
Ethiopia, Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Philistia as far as Tyre and Zidon,
and through the land of Canaan on both sides of the Jordan.{1} The
men of this church knew about the Lord that He was to come, and were
imbued with the goods of faith, and yet they fell away and became
idolaters. These spirits were in front towards the left, in a dark
place and in a miserable state. Their speech was like the sound of a
pipe of one tone, almost without rational thought. They said they had
been there for many centuries, and that they are sometimes taken out
that they may serve others for certain uses of a low order. From this
I was led to think about many Christians--who are inwardly though not
outwardly idolaters, since they are worshipers of self and of the
world, and in heart deny the Lord-what lot awaits such in the other
life.
{Footnote 1} The first and Most Ancient Church on this earth
was that which is described in the first chapters of Genesis,
and that church above all others was celestial (n. 607, 895,
920, 1121-1124, 2896, 4493, 8891, 9942, 10545). What the
celestial are in heaven (n. 1114-1125). There were various
churches after the flood which are called ancient churches (n.
1125-1127, 1327, 10355). What the men of the Ancient Church
were (n. 609, 895). The ancient churches were representative
churches (n. 519, 521, 2896). In the Ancient Church there was a
Word, but it has been lost (n. 2897). The character of the
Ancient Church when it began to decline (n. 1128). The
difference between the Most Ancient Church and the Ancient
Church (n. 597, 607, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 4493). The
statutes, the judgments, and the laws, which were commanded in
the Jewish Church, were in part like those in the Ancient
Church (n. 4288, 4449, 10149). The God of the Most Ancient
Church and of the Ancient Church was the Lord, and He was
called Jehovah (n. 1343, 6846).
328. That the church of the Lord is spread over all the globe, and is
thus universal; and that all those are in it who have lived in the
good of charity in accordance with their religion; and that the
church, where the Word is and by means of it the Lord is known, is in
relation to those who are out of the church like the heart and lungs
in man, from which all the viscera and members of the body have their
life, variously according to their forms, positions, and
conjunctions, may be seen above (n. 308).
329. XXXVII. LITTLE CHILDREN IN HEAVEN.
It is a belief of some that only such children as are born within the
church go to heaven, and that those born out of the church do not,
and for the reason that the children within the church are baptized
and by baptism are initiated into faith of the church. Such are not
aware that no one receives heaven or faith through baptism; for
baptism is merely for a sign and memorial that man should be
regenerated, and that those born within the church can be regenerated
because the Word is there, and in the Word are the Divine truths by
means of which regeneration is effected, and there the Lord who
regenerates is known.{1} Let them know therefore that every child,
wherever he is born, whether within the church or outside of it,
whether of pious parents or impious, is received when he dies by the
Lord and trained up in heaven, and taught in accordance with Divine
order, and imbued with affections for what is good, and through these
with knowledges of what is true; and afterwards as he is perfected in
intelligence and wisdom is introduced into heaven and becomes an
angel. Everyone who thinks from reason can be sure that all are born
for heaven and no one for hell, and if man comes into hell he himself
is culpable; but little children cannot be held culpable.
{Footnote 1} Baptism signifies regeneration by the Lord by
means of the truths of faith from the Word (n. 4255, 5120,
9088, 10239, 10386-10388, 10392). Baptism is a sign that the
man baptized is of the church in which the Lord, who
regenerates, is acknowledged, and where the Word is from which
are the truths of faith, by means of which regeneration is
effected (n. 10386-10388). Baptism confers neither faith nor
salvation, but it is a witness that those who are being
regenerated will receive faith and salvation (n. 10391).
330. When children die they are still children in the other life,
having a like infantile mind, a like innocence in ignorance, and a
like tenderness in all things. They are merely in the rudiments of a
capacity to become angels, for children are not angels but become
angels. For everyone passing out of this world enters the other in
the same state of life, a little child in the state of a little
child, a boy in the state of a boy, a youth, a man, an old man, in
the state of a youth, a man, or an old man; but subsequently each
one's state is changed. The state of little children surpasses the
state of all others in that they are in innocence, and evil has not
yet been rooted in them by actual life; and in innocence all things
of heaven can be implanted, for it is a receptacle of the truth of
faith and of the good of love.
331. The state of children in the other life far surpasses their
state in the world, for they are not clothed with an earthly body,
but with such a body as the angels have. The earthly body is in
itself gross, and receives its first sensations and first motions not
from the inner or spiritual world, but from the outer or natural
world; and in consequence in this world children must be taught to
walk, to guide their motions, and to speak; and even their senses, as
seeing and hearing, must be opened by use. It is not so with children
in the other life. As they are spirits they act at once in accordance
with their interiors, walking without practice, and also talking, but
at first from general affections not yet distinguished into ideas of
thought; but they are quickly initiated into these also, for the
reason that their exteriors are homogeneous with their interiors. The
speech of angels (as may be seen above, n, 234-245) so flows forth
from affection modified by ideas of thought that their speech
completely conforms to their thoughts from affection.
332. As soon as little children are resuscitated, which takes place
immediately after death, they are taken into heaven and confided to
angel women who in the life of the body tenderly loved little
children and at the same time loved God. Because these during their
life in the world loved all children with a kind of motherly
tenderness, they receive them as their own; while the children, from
an implanted instinct, love them as their own mothers. There are as
many children in each one's care as she desires from a spiritual
parental affection. This heaven appears in front before the forehead,
directly in the line or radius in which the angels look to the Lord.
It is so situated because all little children are under the immediate
auspices of the Lord; and the heaven of innocence, which is the third
heaven, flows into them.
333. Little children have various dispositions, some that of the
spiritual angels and some that of the celestial angels. Those who are
of a celestial disposition are seen in that heaven to the right, and
those of a spiritual disposition to the left. All children in the
Greatest Man, which is heaven, are in the province of the eyes-those
of a spiritual disposition in the province of the left eye, and those
of a celestial disposition in the province of the right eye. This is
because the angels who are in the spiritual kingdom see the Lord
before the left eye, and those who are in the celestial kingdom
before the right eye (see above, n. 118). This fact that in the
Greatest Man or heaven children are in the province of the eyes is a
proof that they are under the immediate sight and auspices of the
Lord.
334. How children are taught in heaven shall also be briefly told.
From their nurses they learn to talk. Their earliest speech is simply
a sound of affection; this by degrees becomes more distinct as ideas
of thought enter; for ideas of thought from affections constitute all
angelic speech (as may be seen in its own chapter, n. 234-245). Into
their affections, all of which proceed from innocence, such things as
appear before their eyes and cause delight are first instilled; and
as these things are from a spiritual origin the things of heaven at
once flow into them, and by means of these heavenly things their
interiors are opened, and they are thereby daily perfected. But when
this first age is completed they are transferred to another heaven,
where they are taught by masters; and so on.
335. Children are taught chiefly by representatives suited to their
capacity. These are beautiful and full of wisdom from within, beyond
all belief. In this way an intelligence that derives its soul from
good is gradually instilled into them. I will here describe two
representatives that I have been permitted to see, from which the
nature of others may be inferred. First there was a representation of
the Lord's rising from the sepulchre, and at the same time of the
uniting of His Human with the Divine. This was done in a manner so
wise as to surpass all human wisdom, and at the same time in an
innocent infantile manner. An idea of a sepulchre was presented, and
with it an idea of the Lord, but in so remote a way that there was
scarcely any perception of its being the Lord, except seemingly afar
off; and for the reason that in the idea of a sepulchre there is
something funereal, and this was thus removed, after wards they
cautiously admitted into the sepulchre something atmospheric, with an
appearance of thin vapor, by which with proper remoteness they
signified spiritual life in baptism. Afterwards I saw a
representation by the angels of the Lord's descent to those that are
"bound," and of His ascent with these into heaven, and this with
incomparable prudence and gentleness. In adaptation to the infantile
mind they let down little cords almost invisible, very soft and
tender, by which they lightened the Lord's ascent, always with a holy
solicitude that there should be nothing in the representation
bordering upon anything that did not contain what is spiritual and
heavenly. Other representations are there given, whereby, as by plays
adapted to the minds of children, they are guided into knowledges of
truth and affections for good.
336. It was also shown how tender their understanding is. When I was
praying the Lord's Prayer, and from their under standing they flowed
into the ideas of my thought, their influx was perceived to be so
tender and soft as to be almost solely a matter of affection; and at
the same time it was observed that their understanding was open even
from the Lord, for what flowed forth from them was as if it simply
flowed through them. Moreover, the Lord flows into the ideas of
little children chiefly from inmosts, for there is nothing, as with
adults, to close up their ideas, no principles of falsity to close
the way to the understanding of truth, nor any life of evil to close
the way to the reception of good, and thereby to the reception of
wisdom. All this makes clear that little children do not come at once
after death into an angelic state, but are gradually brought into it
by means of knowledges of good and truth, and in harmony with all
heavenly order; for the least particulars of their nature are known
to the Lord, and thus they are led, in accord with each and every
movement of their inclination, to receive the truths of good and the
goods of truth.
337. I have also been shown how all things are instilled into them by
delightful and pleasant means suited to their genius. I have been
permitted to see children most charmingly attired, having garlands of
flowers resplendent with most beautiful and heavenly colors twined
about their breasts and around their tender arms; and once to see
them accompanied by those in charge of them and by maidens, in a park
most beautifully adorned, not so much with trees, as with arbors and
covered walks of laurel, with paths leading inward; and when the
children entered attired as they were the flowers over the entrance
shone forth most joyously. This indicates the nature of their
delights, also how they are led by means of pleasant and delightful
things into the goods of innocence and charity, which goods the Lord
continually instilled into these delights and pleasures.
338. It was shown me, by a mode of communication common in the other
life, what the ideas of children are when they see objects of any
kind. Each and every object seemed to them to be alive; and thus in
every least idea of their thought there is life. And it was perceived
that children on the earth have nearly the same ideas when they are
at their little plays; for as yet they have no such reflection as
adults have about what is inanimate.
339. It has been said above that children are of a genius either
celestial or spiritual. Those of a celestial genius are easily
distinguished from those of a spiritual genius. Their thought,
speech, and action, is so gentle that hardly anything appears except
what flows from a love of good to the Lord and from a love for other
children. But those of a spiritual genius are not so gentle; but in
everything with them there appears a sort of vibration, as of wings.
The difference is seen also in their ill-feeling and in other
things.
340. Many may suppose that in heaven little children remain little
children, and continue as such among the angels. Those who do not
know what an angel is may have had this opinion confirmed by
paintings and images in churches, in which angels are represented as
children. But it is wholly otherwise. Intelligence and wisdom are
what constitute an angel, and as long as children do not possess
these they are not angels, although they are with the angels; but as
soon as they become intelligent and wise they become angels; and what
is wonderful, they do not then appear as children, but as adults, for
they are no longer of an infantile genius, but of a more mature
angelic genius. Intelligence and wisdom produce this effect. The
reason why children appear more mature, thus as youths and young men,
as they are perfected in intelligence and wisdom, is that
intelligence and wisdom are essential spiritual nourishment;{1} and
thus the things that nourish their minds also nourish their bodies,
and this from correspondence; for the form of the body is simply the
external form of the interiors. But it should be understood that in
heaven children advance in age only to early manhood, and remain in
this to eternity. That I might be assured that this is so I have been
permitted to talk with some who had been educated as children in
heaven, and had grown up there; with some also while they were
children, and again with the same when they had become young men; and
I have heard from them about the progress of their life from one age
to another.
{Footnote 1} Spiritual food is knowledge, intelligence, and
wisdom, thus the good and truth from which these are (n. 3114,
4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582,
5588, 5655, 8562, 9003). Therefore in a spiritual sense
everything that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord is food
(n. 681). Because bread means all food in general it signifies
every good, celestial and spiritual (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177,
3478, 6118, 8410). And for the reason that these nourish the
mind, which belongs to the internal man (n. 4459, 5293, 5576,
6277, 8410).
341. That innocence is a receptacle of all things of heaven, and thus
the innocence of children is a plane for all affections for good and
truth, can be seen from what has been shown above (n. 276-283) in
regard to the innocence of angels in heaven, namely, that innocence
is a willingness to be led by the Lord and not by oneself;
consequently so far as a man is in innocence he is separated from
what is his own, and so far as one is separated from what is his own
he is in what is the Lord's own. The Lord's own is what is called His
righteousness and merit. But the innocence of children is not genuine
innocence, because as yet it is without wisdom. Genuine innocence is
wisdom, since so far as any one is wise he loves to be led by the
Lord; or what is the same, so far as any one is led by the Lord he is
wise. [2] Therefore children are led from the external innocence in
which they are at the beginning, and which is called the innocence of
childhood, to internal innocence, which is the innocence of wisdom.
This innocence is the end that directs all their instruction and
progress; and therefore when they have attained to the innocence of
wisdom, the innocence of childhood, which in the meanwhile has served
them as a plane, is joined to them. [3] The innocence of children has
been represented to me as a wooden sort of thing, almost devoid of
life, which becomes vivified as they are perfected by knowledges of
truth and affections for good. Afterwards genuine innocence was
represented by a most beautiful child, naked and full of life; for
the really innocent, who are in the inmost heaven and thus nearest to
the Lord, always appear before the eyes of other angels as little
children, and some of them naked; for innocence is represented by
nakedness unaccompanied by shame, as is said of the first man and his
wife in Paradise (Gen. 2:25); so when their state of innocence
perished they were ashamed of their nakedness, and hid themselves
(chap. 3:7, 10, 11). In a word, the wiser the angels are the more
innocent they are, and the more innocent they are the more they
appear to themselves as little children. This is why in the Word
"childhood" signifies innocence (see above, n. 278).
342. I have talked with angels about little children, whether they
are free from evils, inasmuch as they have no actual evil as adults
have; and I was told that they are equally in evil, and in fact are
nothing but evil;{1} but, like all angels, they are so withheld from
evil and held in good by the Lord as to seem to themselves to be in
good from themselves. For this reason when children have become
adults in heaven, that they may not have the false idea about
themselves that the good in them is from themselves and not from the
Lord, they are now and then let down into their evils which they
inherited, and are left in them until they know, acknowledge and
believe the truth of the matter. [2] There was one, the son of a
king, who died in childhood and grew up in heaven, who held this
opinion. Therefore he was let down into that life of evils into which
he was born, and he then perceived from the sphere of his life that
he had a disposition to domineer over others, and regarded adulteries
as of no account; these evils he had inherited from his parents; but
after he had been brought to recognize his real character he was
again received among the angels with whom he had before been
associated. [3] In the other life no one ever suffers punishment on
account of his inherited evil, because it is not his evil, that is,
it is not his fault that he is such; he suffers only on account of
actual evil that is his, that is, only so far as he has appropriated
to himself inherited evil by actual life. When, therefore, the
children that have become adults are let down into the state of their
inherited evil it is not that they may suffer punishment for it, but
that they may learn that of themselves they are nothing but evil, and
that it is by the mercy of the Lord that they are taken up into
heaven from the hell in which they are, and that it is from the Lord
that they are in heaven and not from any merit of their own; and
therefore they may not boast before others of the good that is in
them, since this is contrary to the good of mutual love, as it is
contrary to the truth of faith.
{Footnote 1} All kinds of men are born into evils of every
kind, even to the extent that what is their own is nothing but
evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518,
3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731).
Consequently man must needs be reborn, that is, regenerated (n.
3701). Man's inherited evil consists in his loving himself more
than God, and the world more than heaven and in making his
neighbor, in comparison with himself, of no account, except for
the sake of self, that is, himself alone, thus it consists in
the love of self and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660).
All evils are from the love of self and of the world, when
those loves rule (n. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255,
7376, 7488, 7490, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742). These evils
are contempt of others, enmity, hatred revenge, cruelty, deceit
(n. 6667, 7370-7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). And from these evils
comes all falsity (n. 1047, 10283, 10284, 10286). These loves,
so far as the reins are given them, rush headlong; and the love
of self aspires even to the throne of God (n. 7375, 8678).
343. Several times when a number of children that were in a purely
infantile state have been with me in choirs, they were heard as a
tender unarranged mass, that is, as not yet acting as one, as they do
later when they have become more mature. To my surprise the spirits
with me could not refrain from inducing them to talk. This desire is
innate in spirits. But I noticed, each time, that the children
resisted, unwilling to talk in this way. This refusal and resistance,
which were accompanied by a kind of indignation, I have often
perceived; and when an opportunity to talk was given them they would
say nothing except that "It is not so." I have been taught that
little children are so tempted in order that they may get accustomed
to resisting, and may begin to resist falsity and evil, and also that
they may learn not to think, speak, and act, from another, and in
consequence may learn to permit themselves to be led by no one but
the Lord.
344. From what has been said it can be seen what child education is
in heaven, namely, that it is leading them by means of an
understanding of truth and the wisdom of good into the angelic life,
which is love to the Lord and mutual love, in which is innocence. But
how different in many cases is the education of children on the earth
can be seen from this example. I was in the street of a large city,
and saw little boys fighting with each other; a crowd flocked around
and looked on with much pleasure; and I was told that little boys are
incited to such fights by their own parents. Good spirits and angels
who saw this through my eyes so revolted at it that I felt their
horror; and especially that parents should incite their children to
such things, saying that in this way parents extinguish in the
earliest age all the mutual love and all the innocence that children
have from the Lord, and initiate them into the spirit of hatred and
revenge; consequently by their own endeavors they shut their children
out of heaven, where there is nothing but mutual love. Let parents
therefore who wish well to their children beware of such things.
345. What the difference is between those who die in childhood and
those who die in mature life shall also be told. Those dying in
mature life have a plane acquired from the earthly and material
world, and this they carry with them. This plane is their memory and
its bodily natural affection. This remains fixed and becomes
quiescent, but still serves their thought after death as an outmost
plane, since the thought flows into it. Consequently such as this
plane is, and such as the correspondence is between the things that
are in it and the rational faculty, such is the man after death. But
the children who die in childhood and are educated in heaven have no
such plane, since they derive nothing from the material world and the
earthly body; but they have a spiritual-natural plane. For this
reason they cannot be in such gross affections and consequent
thoughts, since they derive all things from heaven. Moreover, these
children do not know that they were born in the world, but believe
that they were born in heaven. Neither do they know about any other
than spiritual birth, which is effected through knowledges of good
and truth and through intelligence and wisdom, from which man is a
man; and as these are from the Lord they believe themselves to be the
Lord's own, and love to be so. Nevertheless it is possible for the
state of men who grow up on the earth to become as perfect as the
state of children who grow up in heaven, provided they put away
bodily and earthly loves, which are the loves of self and the world,
and receive in their place spiritual loves.
346. XXXVIII. THE WISE AND THE SIMPLE IN HEAVEN.
It is believed that in heaven the wise will have more glory and
eminence than the simple, because it is said in Daniel:
They that are intelligent shall shine as with the
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (12:3).
But few know who are meant by the "intelligent" and by those that
"turn many to righteousness." The common belief is that they are such
as are called the accomplished and learned, especially such as have
taught in the church and have surpassed others in acquirements and in
preaching, and still more such among them as have converted many to
the faith. In the world all such are regarded as the intelligent;
nevertheless such are not the intelligent in heaven that are spoken
of in these words, unless their intelligence is heavenly
intelligence. What this is will now be told.
347. Heavenly intelligence is interior intelligence, arising from a
love for truth, not with any glory in the world nor any glory in
heaven as an end, but with the truth itself as an end, by which they
are inmostly affected and with which they are inmostly delighted.
Those who are affected by and delighted with the truth itself are
affected by and delighted with the light of heaven; and those who are
affected by and delighted with the light of heaven are also affected
by and delighted with Divine truth, and indeed with the Lord Himself;
for the light of heaven is Divine truth, and Divine truth is the Lord
in heaven (see above, n. 126-140). This light enters only into the
interiors of the mind; for the interiors of the mind are formed for
the reception of that light, and are affected by and delighted with
that light as it enters; for whatever flows in and is received from
heaven has in it what is delightful and pleasant. From this comes a
genuine affection for truth, which is an affection for truth for
truth's sake. Those who are in this affection, or what is the same
thing, in this love, are in heavenly intelligence, and "shine in
heaven as with the brightness of the firmament." They so shine
because Divine truth, wherever it is in heaven, is what gives light
(see above, n. 132); and the "firmament" of heaven signifies from
correspondence the intellectual faculty, both with angels and men,
that is in the light of heaven. [2] But those that love the truth,
either with glory in the world or glory in heaven as an end, cannot
shine in heaven, since they are delighted with and affected by the
light of the world, and not with the very light of heaven; and the
light of the world without the light of heaven is in heaven mere
thick darkness.{1} For the glory of self is what rules, because it is
the end in view; and when that glory is the end man puts himself in
the first place, and such truths as can be made serviceable to his
glory he looks upon simply as means to the end and as instruments of
service. For he that loves Divine truths for the sake of his own
glory regards himself and not the Lord in Divine truths, thereby
turning the sight pertaining to his understanding and faith away from
heaven to the world, and away from the Lord to himself. Such,
therefore, are in the light of the world and not in the light of
heaven. [3] In outward form or in the sight of men they appear just
as intelligent and learned as those who are in the light of heaven,
because they speak in a like manner; and sometimes to outward
appearance they even appear wiser, because they are moved by love of
self, and are skilled in counterfeiting heavenly affections; but in
their inward form in which they appear before the angels they are
wholly different. All this shows in some degree who those are that
are meant by "the intelligent that will shine in heaven as with the
brightness of the firmament." Who are meant by those that "turn many
to righteousness," who will shine as the stars, shall now be told.
{Footnote 1} The light of the world is for the external man,
the light of heaven for the internal man (n. 3222-3224, 3337).
The light of heaven flows into the natural light, and so far as
the natural man receives the light of heaven he becomes wise
(n. 4302, 4408). The things that are in the light of heaven can
be seen in the light of heaven but not in the light of the
world, which is called natural light (n. 9755). Therefore those
who are solely in the light of the world do not perceive those
things that are in the light of heaven (n. 3108). To the angels
the light of the world is thick darkness (n. 1521, 1783, 1880).
348. By those who "turn many to righteousness" are meant those who
are wise, and in heaven those are called wise who are in good, and
those are in good that apply Divine truths at once to the life; for
as soon as Divine truth comes to be of the life it becomes good,
since it comes to be of will and love, and whatever is of will and
love is called good; therefore such are called wise because wisdom is
of the life. But those that do not commit Divine truths at once to
the life, but first to the memory, from which they afterwards draw
them and apply them to the life, are called the "intelligent." What
and how great the difference is between the wise and the intelligent
in the heavens can be seen in the chapter that treats of the two
kingdoms of heaven, the celestial and the spiritual (n. 20-28), and
in the chapter that treats of the three heavens (n. 29-40). Those
who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, and consequently in the
third or inmost heaven, are called "the righteous" because they
attribute all righteousness to the Lord and none to themselves. The
Lord's righteousness in heaven is the good that is from the Lord.{1}
Such, then, are here meant by those that "turn to righteousness;" and
such are meant also in the Lord's words,
The righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father (Matt. 13:43). Such "shine forth as the
Sun" because they are in love to the Lord from the Lord,
and that love is meant by the "sun" (see above,
n. 116-125). The light of such is flame-colored; and the
ideas of their thought are so tinged with what is flaming
because they receive the good of love directly from the
Lord as the sun in heaven.
{Footnote 1} The merit and righteousness of the Lord is the
good that rules in heaven (n. 9486, 9983). He that is
"righteous" or "made righteous" is one to whom the merit and
righteousness of the Lord is ascribed; and he is "unrighteous"
who holds to his own righteousness and merit (n. 5069, 9263).
The quality of those in the other life who claim righteousness
to themselves (n. 942, 2027). In the Word "righteousness" is
predicated of good and judgment of truth; therefore "doing
righteousness and judgment" is doing good and truth (n. 2235,
9857).
349. All who have acquired intelligence and wisdom in the world are
received in heaven and become angels, each in accordance with the
quality and degree of his intelligence and wisdom. For whatever a man
acquires in the world abides, and he takes it with him after death;
and it is further increased and filled out, but within and not beyond
the degree of his affection and desire for truth and its good, those
with but little affection and desire receiving but little, and yet as
much as they are capable of receiving within that degree; while those
with much affection and desire receive much. The degree itself of
affection and desire is like a measure that is filled to the full, he
that has a large measure receiving more, and he that has a small
measure receiving less. This is so because man's love, to which
affection and desire belong, receives all that accords with itself;
consequently reception is measured by the love. This is what is meant
by the Lord's words,
To him that hath it shall be given, that he may have more
abundantly (Matt. 13:12; 25:29).
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running
over, shall be given into your bosom (Luke 6:38).
350. All are received into heaven who have loved truth and good for
the sake of truth and good; therefore those that have loved much are
called the wise, and those that have loved little are called the
simple. The wise in heaven are in much light, the simple in less
light, everyone in accordance with the degree of his love for good
and truth. To love truth and good for the sake of truth and good is
to will and do them; for those love who will and do, while those who
do not will and do do not love. Such also love the Lord and are loved
by the Lord, because good and truth are from the Lord. And inasmuch
as good and truth are from the Lord the Lord is in good and truth;
and He is in those who receive good and truth in their life by
willing and doing. Moreover, when man is viewed in himself he is
nothing but his own good and truth, because good is of his will and
truth of his understanding, and man is such as his will and
understanding are. Evidently, then, man is loved by the Lord just to
the extent that his will is formed from good and his understanding
from truth. Also to be loved by the Lord is to love the Lord, since
love is reciprocal; for upon him who is loved the Lord bestows
ability to love.
351. It is believed in the world that those who have much knowledge,
whether it be knowledge of the teachings of the church and the Word
or of the sciences, have a more interior and keen vision of truth
than others, that is, are more intelligent and wise; and such have
this opinion of themselves. But what true intelligence and wisdom
are, and what spurious and false intelligence and wisdom are, shall
be told in what now follows. [2] True intelligence and wisdom is
seeing and perceiving what is true and good, and thereby what is
false and evil, and clearly distinguishing between them, and this
from an interior intuition and perception. With every man there are
interior faculties and exterior faculties; interior faculties
belonging to the internal or spiritual man, and exterior faculties
belonging to the exterior or natural man. Accordingly as man's
interiors are formed and made one with his exteriors man sees and
perceives. His interiors can be formed only in heaven, his exteriors
are formed in the world. When his interiors have been formed in
heaven the things they contain flow into his exteriors which are from
the world, and so form them that they correspond with, that is, act
as one with, his interiors; and when this is done man sees and
perceives from what is interior. The interiors can be formed only in
one way, namely, by man's looking to the Divine and to heaven, since,
as has been said, the interiors are formed in heaven; and man looks
to the Divine when he believes in the Divine, and believes that all
truth and good and consequently all intelligence and wisdom are from
the Divine; and man believes in the Divine when he is willing to be
led by the Divine. In this way and none other are the interiors of
man opened. [3] The man who is in that belief and in a life that is
in accordance with his belief has the ability and capacity to
understand and be wise; but to become intelligent and wise he must
learn many things, both things pertaining to heaven and things
pertaining to the world--things pertaining to heaven from the Word
and from the church, and things pertaining to the world from the
sciences. To the extent that man learns and applies to life he
becomes intelligent and wise, for to that extent the interior sight
belonging to his understanding and the interior affection belonging
to his will are perfected. The simple of this class are those whose
interiors have been opened, but not so enriched by spiritual, moral,
civil and natural truths. Such perceive truths when they hear them,
but do not see them in themselves. But the wise of this class are
those whose interiors have been both opened and enriched. Such both
see truths inwardly and perceive them. All this makes clear what true
intelligence is and what true wisdom is.
352. Spurious intelligence and wisdom is failing to see and perceive
from within what is true and what is good, and thereby what is false
and what is evil, but merely believing that to be true and good and
that to be false and evil which is said by others to be so, and then
confirming it. Because such see truth from some one else, and not
from the truth itself, they can seize upon and believe what is false
as readily as what is true, and can confirm it until it appears true;
for whatever is confirmed puts on the appearance of truth; and there
is nothing that can not be confirmed. The interiors of such are
opened only from beneath; but their exteriors are opened to the
extent that they have confirmed themselves. For this reason the light
from which they see is not the light of heaven but the light of the
world, which is called natural light [lumen]; and in that light
falsities can shine like truths; and when confirmed they can even
appear resplendent, but not in the light of heaven. Of this class
those are less intelligent and wise who have strongly confirmed
themselves, and those are more intelligent and wise who have less
strongly confirmed themselves. All this shows what spurious
intelligence and wisdom are. [2] But those are not included in this
class who in childhood supposed what they heard from their masters to
be true, if in a riper age, when they think from their own
understanding, they do not continue to hold fast to it, but long for
truth, and from that longing seek for it, and when they find it are
interiorly moved by it. Because such are moved by the truth for the
truth's sake they see the truth before they confirm it.{1} [3] This
may be illustrated by an example. There was a discussion among
spirits why animals are born into all the knowledge suited to their
nature, but man is not; and the reason was said to be that animals
are in the order of their life, and man is not, consequently man must
needs be led into order by means of what he learns of internal and
external things. But if man were born into the order of his life,
which is to love God above all things and his neighbor as himself, he
would be born into intelligence and wisdom, and as knowledges are
acquired would come into a belief in all truth. Good spirits saw this
at once and perceived it to be true, and this merely from the light
of truth; while the spirits who had confirmed themselves in faith
alone, and had thereby set aside love and charity, were unable to
understand it, because the light of falsity which they had confirmed
had made obscure to them the light of truth.
{Footnote 1} It is the part of the wise to see and perceive
whether a thing is true before it is confirmed and not merely
to confirm what is said by others (n. 1017, 4741, 7012, 7680,
7950). Only those can see and perceive whether a thing is true
before it is confirmed who are affected by truth for the sake
of truth and for the sake of life (n. 8521). The light of
confirmation is not spiritual light but natural light, and is
even sensual light which the wicked may have (n. 8780). All
things, even falsities, may be so confirmed as to appear like
truths (n. 2477, 2480, 5033, 6865, 8521).
353. False intelligence and wisdom is all intelligence and wisdom
that is separated from the acknowledgment of the Divine; for all such
as do not acknowledge the Divine, but acknowledge nature in the place
of the Divine, think from the bodily-sensual, and are merely sensual,
however highly they may be esteemed in the world for their
accomplishments and learning.{1} For their learning does not ascend
beyond such things as appear before their eyes in the world; these
they hold in the memory and look at them in an almost material way,
although the same knowledges serve the truly intelligent in forming
their understanding. By sciences the various kinds of experimental
knowledge are meant, such as physics, astronomy, chemistry,
mechanics, geometry, anatomy, psychology, philosophy, the history of
kingdoms and of the literary world, criticism, and languages. [2] The
clergy who deny the Divine do not raise their thoughts above the
sensual things of the external man; and regard the things of the Word
in the same way as others regard the sciences, not making them
matters of thought or of any intuition by an enlightened rational
mind; and for the reason that their interiors are closed up, together
with those exteriors that are nearest to their interiors. These are
closed up because they have turned themselves away from heaven, and
have retroverted those faculties that were capable of looking
heavenward, which are, as has been said above, the interiors of the
human mind. For this reason they are incapable of seeing anything
true or good, this being to them in thick darkness, while whatever is
false and evil is in light. [3] And yet sensual men can reason, some
of them more cunningly and keenly than any one else; but they reason
from the fallacies of the senses confirmed by their knowledges; and
because they are able to reason in this way they believe themselves
to be wiser than others.{2} The fire that kindles with affection
their reasonings is the fire of the love of self and the world. Such
are those who are in false intelligence and wisdom, and who are meant
by the Lord in Matthew:
Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do
they understand (13:13-15).
And again:
These things are hid from the intelligent and wise, and
revealed unto babes (11:25, 26).
{Footnote 1} The sensual is the outmost of man's life, clinging
to and inhering in his bodily part (n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216,
9331, 9730). He is called a sensual man who forms all his
judgments and conclusions from the bodily senses, and who
believes nothing except what he sees with his eyes and touches
with his hands (n. 5094, 7693). Such a man thinks in things
outermost and not interiorly in himself (n. 5089, 5094, 6564,
7693). His interiors are so closed up that he sees nothing of
Divine truth (n. 6564, 6844, 6845). In a word he is in gross
natural light and thus perceives nothing that is from the light
of heaven (n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624,
6844, 6845). Therefore he is inwardly opposed to all things
pertaining to heaven and the church (n. 6201, 6310, 6844, 6845,
6948, 6949). The learned that have confirmed themselves against
the truths of the church are sensual (n. 6316). A description
of the sensual man (n. 10236).
{Footnote 2} Sensual men reason keenly and cunningly, since
they place all intelligence in speaking from the bodily memory
(n. 195, 196, 5700, 10236). But they reason from the fallacies
of the senses (n. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693). Sensual men are more
cunning and malicious than others (n. 7693, 10236). By the
ancients such were called serpents of the tree of knowledge (n.
195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313).
354. It has been granted me to speak with many of the learned after
their departure from the world; with some of distinguished reputation
and celebrated in the literary world for their writings, and with
some not so celebrated, although endowed with profound wisdom. Those
that in heart had denied the Divine, whatever their professions may
have been, had become so stupid as to have little comprehension even
of anything truly civil, still less of anything spiritual. I
perceived and also saw that the interiors of their minds were so
closed up as to appear black (for in the spiritual world such things
become visible), and in consequence they were unable to endure any
heavenly light or admit any influx from heaven. This blackness which
their interiors presented was more intense and extended with those
that had confirmed themselves against the Divine by the knowledges
they had acquired. In the other life such accept all falsity with
delight, imbibing it as a sponge does water; and they repel all truth
as an elastic bony substance repels what falls upon it. In fact, it
is said that the interiors of those that have confirmed themselves
against the Divine and in favor of nature become bony, and their
heads down to the nose appear callous like ebony, which is a sign
that they no longer have any perception. Those of this description
are immersed in quagmires that appear like bogs; and there they are
harassed by the fantasies into which their falsities are turned.
Their infernal fire is a lust for glory and reputation, which prompts
them to assail one another, and from an infernal ardor to torment
those about them who do not worship them as deities; and this they do
one to another in turns. Into such things is all the learning of the
world changed that has not received into itself light from heaven
through acknowledgment of the Divine.
355. That these are such in the spiritual world when they come into
it after death may be inferred from this alone, that all things that
are in the natural memory and are in immediate conjunction with the
things of bodily sense (which is true of such knowledges as are
mentioned above) then become quiescent; and only such rational
principles as are drawn from these then serve for thought and speech.
For man carries with him his entire natural memory, but its contents
are not then under his view, and do not come into his thought as when
he lived in the world. He can take nothing from that memory and bring
it forth into spiritual light because its contents are not objects of
that light. But those things of the reason and understanding that man
has acquired from knowledges while living in the body are in accord
with the light of the spiritual world; consequently so far as the
spirit of man has been made rational in the world through knowledge
and science it is to the same extent rational after being loosed from
the body; for man is then a spirit, and it is the spirit that thinks
in the body.{1}
{Footnote 1} Knowledges belong to the natural memory that man
has while he is in the body (n. 5212, 9922). Man carries with
him after death his whole natural memory (n. 2475) from
experience (n. 2481-2486). But he is not able, as he was in the
world, to draw anything out of that memory, for several reasons
(n. 2476, 2477, 2479).
356. But in respect to those that have acquired intelligence and
wisdom through knowledge and science, who are such as have applied
all things to the use of life, and have also acknowledged the Divine,
loved the Word, and lived a spiritual moral life (of which above, n.
319), to such the sciences have served as a means of becoming wise,
and also of corroborating the things pertaining to faith. The
interiors of the mind of such have been perceived by me, and were
seen as transparent from light of a glistening white, flamy, or blue
color, like that of translucent diamonds, rubies, and sapphires; and
this in accordance with confirmations in favor of the Divine and
Divine truths drawn from science. Such is the appearance of true
intelligence and wisdom when they are presented to view in the
spiritual world. This appearance is derived from the light of heaven;
and that light is Divine truth going forth from the Lord, which is
the source of all intelligence and wisdom (see above, n. 126-133).
[2] The planes of that light, in which variegations like those of
colors exist, are the interiors of the mind; and these variegations
are produced by confirmations of Divine truths by means of such
things as are in nature, that is, in the sciences.{1} For the
interior mind of man looks into the things of the natural memory, and
the things there that will serve as proofs it sublimates as it were
by the fire of heavenly love, and withdraws and purifies them even
into spiritual ideas. This is unknown to man as long as he lives in
the body, because there he thinks both spiritually and naturally, and
he has no perception of the things he then thinks spiritually, but
only of those he thinks naturally. But when he has come into the
spiritual world he has no perception of what he thought naturally in
the world, but only of what he thought spiritually. Thus is his state
changed. [3] All this makes clear that it is by means of knowledges
and sciences that man is made spiritual, also that these are the
means of becoming wise, but only with those who have acknowledged the
Divine in faith and life. Such also before others are accepted in
heaven, and are among those there who are at the center (n. 43),
because they are in light more than others. These are the intelligent
and wise in heaven, who "shine as with the brightness of the
firmament" and "who shine as the stars," while the simple there are
those that have acknowledged the Divine, have loved the Word, and
have lived a spiritual and moral life, but the interiors of their
minds have not been so enriched by knowledges and sciences. The human
mind is like soil which is such as it is made by cultivation.
{Footnote 1} Most beautiful colors are seen in heaven (n. 1053,
1624). Colors in heaven are from the light there, and are
modifications or variegations of that light (n. 1042, 1043,
1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922). Thus they are
manifestations of truth from good, and they signify such things
as pertain to intelligence and wisdom (n. 4530, 4677, 4922,
9466).
EXTRACTS FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA RESPECTING KNOWLEDGES.
[In these extracts scientia, scientificum and cognitio are alike
rendered knowledge, because any distinction between them intended by
the author is not sufficiently obvious to be uniformly indicated in
English. -- Tr.]
Man ought to be fully instructed in knowledges [scientiis
et cognitionibus], since by means of them he learns to
think [cogitare], afterwards to understand what is true
and good, and finally to be wise (n. 129, 1450, 1451,
1453, 1548, 1802).
Knowledges [scientifica] are the first things on which the
life of man, civil, moral, and spiritual, is built and
founded, and they are to be learned for the sake of use as
an end (n. 1489, 3310).
Knowledges [cognitiones] open the way to the internal man,
and afterwards conjoin that man with the external in
accordance with uses (n. 1563, 1616).
The rational faculty has its birth by means of knowledges
[scientias et cognitiones] (n. 1895, 1900, 3086).
But not by means of knowledges [cognitiones] themselves,
but by means of affection for the uses derived from them
(n. 1895).
[2] There are knowledges [scientifica] that give entrance
to Divine truths, and knowledges [scientifica] that do not
(n. 5213).
Empty knowledges [scientifica] are to be destroyed (n.
1489, 1492, 1499, 1581).
Empty knowledges [scientifica] are such as have the loves
of self and of the world as an end, and sustain those
loves, and withdraw from love to God and love towards the
neighbor, because such knowledges close up the internal
man, even to the extent that man becomes unable to receive
any thing from heaven (n. 1563, 1600).
Knowledges [scientifica] are means to becoming wise and
means to becoming insane and by them the internal man is
either opened or closed, and thus the rational is either
enriched or destroyed (n. 4156, 8628, 9922).
[3] The internal man is opened and gradually perfected by
means of knowledges [scientifica] if man has good use as
an end, especially use that looks to external life (n.
3086).
Then knowledges [scientificis], which are in the natural
man, are met by spiritual and heavenly things from the
spiritual man, and these adopt such of them as are
suitable (n. 1495).
Then the uses of heavenly life are drawn forth by the Lord
and perfected and raised up out of the knowledges
[scientificis] in the natural man by means of the internal
man (n. 1895, 1896, 1900, 1901, 1902, 5871, 5874, 5901).
While incongruous and opposing knowledges [scientifica]
are rejected to the sides and banished (n. 5871, 5886,
5889).
[4] The sight of the internal man calls forth from the
knowledges [scientificis] of the external man only such
things as are in accord with its love (n. 9394).
As seen by the internal man what pertains to the love is
at the center and in brightness, but what is not of the
love is at the sides and in obscurity (n. 6068, 6084).
Suitable knowledges [scientifica] are gradually implanted
in man's loves and as it were dwell in them (n. 6325).
If man were born into love towards the neighbor he would
be born into intelligence, but because he is born into the
loves of self and of the world he is born into total
ignorance (n. 6323, 6325).
Knowledge [scientia], intelligence, and wisdom are sons of
love to God and of love towards the neighbor (n. 1226,
2049, 2116).
[5] It is one thing to be wise, another thing to
understand, another to know [scire], and another to do;
nevertheless, in those that possess spiritual life these
follow in order, and exist together in doing or deeds (n.
10331).
Also it is one thing to know [scire], another to
acknowledge, and another to have faith (n. 896).
[6] Knowledges [scientifica], which pertain to the
external or natural man, are in the light of the world,
but truths that have been made truths of faith and of
love, and have thus acquired life, are in the light of
heaven (n. 5212).
The truths that have acquired spiritual life are
comprehended by means of natural ideas (n. 5510).
Spiritual influx is from the internal or spiritual man
into the knowledges [scientifica] that are in the external
or natural man (n. 1940, 8005).
Knowledges [scientifica] are receptacles, and as it were
vessels, for the truth and good that belong to the
internal man (n. 1469, 1496, 3068, 5489, 6004, 6023, 6052,
6071, 6077, 7770, 9922).
Knowledges [scientifica] are like mirrors in which the
truths and goods of the internal man appear as an image
(n. 5201).
There they are together as in their outmost (n. 5373,
5874, 5886, 5901, 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071).
[7] Influx is not physical but spiritual, that is, influx
is from the internal man into the external, thus into the
knowledges of the external; and not from the external into
the internal, thus not from the knowledges [scientificis]
of the external into truths of faith (n. 3219, 5119, 5259,
5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9110).
A beginning must be made from the truths of doctrine of
the church, which are from the Word, and those truths must
first be acknowledged, and then it is permissible to
consult knowledges [scientifica] (n. 6047).
Thus it is permissible for those who are in an affirmative
state in regard to truths of faith to confirm them
intellectually by means of knowledges [scientifica], but
not for those who are in a negative state (n. 2568, 2588,
4760, 6047).
He that will not believe Divine truths until he is
convinced by means of knowledges [scientificis] will never
believe (n. 2094, 2832).
To enter from knowledge [scientificis] into the truths of
faith is contrary to order (n. 10236).
Those who do so become demented respecting the things of
heaven and the church (n. 128, 129, 130).
They fall into the falsities of evil (n. 232, 233, 6047).
In the other life when they think about spiritual matters
they become as it were drunken (n. 1072).
More respecting the character of such (n. 196).
Examples showing that things spiritual cannot be
comprehended when entered into through knowledges
[scientifica] (n. 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209).
In spiritual things many of the learned are more demented
than the simple, for the reason that they are in a
negative state, which they confirm by means of the
knowledges [scientifica] which they have continually and
in abundance before their sight (n. 4760, 8629).
[8] Those who reason from knowledges [scientificis]
against the truths of faith reason keenly because they
reason from the fallacies of the senses, which are
engaging and convincing, because they cannot easily be
dispelled (n. 5700).
What things are fallacies of the senses, and what they are
(n. 5084, 5094, 6400, 6948).
Those that have no understanding of truth, and also those
that are in evil, are able to reason about the truths and
goods of faith, but are not able to understand them (n.
4214).
Intelligence does not consist in merely confirming dogma
but in seeing whether it is true or not before it is
confirmed (n. 4741, 6047).
[9] Knowledges [scientiae] are of no avail after death,
but only that which man has imbibed in his understanding
and life by means of knowledges [scientias] (n. 2480).
Still all knowledge [scientifica] remains after death,
although it is quiescent (n. 2476-2479, 2481-2486).
[10] Knowledge [scientifica] with the evil are falsities,
because they are adapted to evils, but with the good the
same knowledges are truths, because applied to what is
good (n. 6917).
True knowledges [scientifica] with the evil are not true,
however much they may appear to be true when uttered,
because there is evil within them (n. 10331).
[11] An example of the desire to know [sciendi], which
spirits have (n. 1974). Angels have an illimitable longing
to know [sciendi] and to become wise, since learning
[scientia], intelligence, and wisdom are spiritual food
(n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 4976, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410,
5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 6277, 8562, 9003).
The knowledge [scientia] of the ancients was the knowledge
[scientia] of correspondences and representations, by
which they gained entrance into the knowledge
[cognitionem] of spiritual things; but that knowledge
[scientia] at this day is wholly lost (n. 4749, 4844,
4964, 4965).
[12] For spiritual truths to be comprehended the following
universals must be known [scientur]. (i) All things in the
universe have relation to good and truth and to their
conjunction that they may be anything, thus to love and
faith and their conjunction. (ii) Man has understanding
and will; and the understanding is the receptacle of truth
and the will of good; and all things in man have relation
to these two and to their conjunction, as all things have
relation to truth and good and their conjunction. (iii)
There is an internal man and an external man, which are as
distinct from each other as heaven and the world are, and
yet for a man to be truly a man, these must make one. (iv)
The internal man is in the light of heaven, and the
external man is in the light of the world; and the light
of heaven is Divine truth itself, from which is all
intelligence. (v) Between the things in the internal man
and those in the external there is a correspondence,
therefore the different aspect they present is such that
they can be distinguished only by means of a knowledge
[scientiam] of correspondences. Unless these and many
other things are known [scientur], nothing but incongruous
ideas of spiritual and heavenly truths can be conceived
and formed; therefore without these universals the
knowledges [scientifica et cognitiones] of the natural man
can be of but little service to the rational man for
understanding and growth. This makes clear how necessary
knowledges [scientifica] are.
357. XXXIX. THE RICH AND THE POOR IN HEAVEN.
There are various opinions about reception into heaven. Some are of
the opinion that the poor are received and the rich are not; some
that the rich and the poor are equally received; some that the rich
can be received only by giving up their wealth and becoming like the
poor; and proofs are found in the Word for all of these opinions. But
those who make a distinction in regard to heaven between the rich and
the poor do not understand the Word. In its interiors the Word is
spiritual, but in the letter it is natural; consequently those who
understand the Word only in accordance with its literal sense, and
not according to any spiritual sense, err in many respects,
especially about the rich and the poor; for example, that it is as
difficult for the rich to enter into heaven as for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle; and that it is easy for the poor because
they are poor, since it is said,
Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of the
heavens (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20, 21).
But those who know anything of the spiritual sense of the Word think
otherwise; they know that heaven is for all who live a life of faith
and love, whether rich or poor. But who are meant in the Word by "the
rich" and who by "the poor" will be told in what follows. From much
conversation and interaction with angels it has been granted me to
know with certainty that the rich enter heaven just as easily as the
poor, and that no man is shut out of heaven on account of his wealth,
or received into heaven on account of his poverty. Both the rich and
the poor are in heaven, and many of the rich in greater glory and
happiness than the poor.
358. It should be said to begin with that a man may acquire riches
and accumulate wealth as far as opportunity is given, if it is not
done by craft or fraud; that he may enjoy the delicacies of food and
drink if he does not place his life therein; that he may have a
palatial dwelling in accord with his condition, have interaction with
others in like condition, frequent places of amusement, talk about
the affairs of the world, and need not go about like a devotee with a
sad and sorrowful countenance and drooping head, but may be joyful
and cheerful; nor need he give his goods to the poor except so far as
affection leads him; in a word, he may live outwardly precisely like
a man of the world; and all this will be no obstacle to his entering
heaven, provided that inwardly in himself he thinks about God as he
ought, and acts sincerely and justly in respect to his neighbor. For
a man is such as his affection and thought are, or such as his love
and faith are, and from these all his outward acts derive their life;
since acting is willing, and speaking is thinking, acting being from
the will, and speaking from the thought. So where it is said in the
Word that man will be judged according to his deeds, and will be
rewarded according to his works, it is meant that he will be judged
and rewarded in accordance with his thought and affection, which are
the source of his deeds, or which are in his deeds; for deeds are
nothing apart from these, and are precisely such as these are.{1} All
this shows that the man's external accomplishes nothing, but only his
internal, which is the source of the external. For example: if a man
acts honestly and refrains from fraud solely because he fears the
laws and the loss of reputation and thereby of honor or gain, and if
that fear did not restrain him would defraud others whenever he
could; although such a man's deeds outwardly appear honest, his
thought and will are fraud; and because he is inwardly dishonest and
fraudulent he has hell in himself. But he who acts honestly and
refrains from fraud because it is against God and against the
neighbor would have no wish to defraud another if he could; his
thought and will are conscience, and he has heaven in himself. The
deeds of these two appear alike in outward form, but inwardly they
are wholly unlike.
{Footnote 1} It is frequently said in the Word that man will be
judged and will be rewarded according to his deeds and works
(n. 3934). By "deeds and works" deeds and works in their
internal form are meant, not in their external form, since good
works in external form are likewise done by the wicked, but in
internal and external form together only by the good (n. 3934,
6073). Works, like all activities, have their being and outgo
[esse et existere] and their quality from the interiors of man,
which pertain to his thought and will, since they proceed from
these; therefore such as the interiors are such are the works
(n. 3934, 8911, 10331). That is, such as the interiors are in
regard to love and faith (n. 3934, 6073, 10331, 10332). Thus
works contain love and faith, and are love and faith in effect
(n. 10331). Therefore to be judged and rewarded in accordance
with deeds and works, means in accordance with love and faith
(n. 3147, 3934, 6073, 8911, 10331, 10332). So far as works look
to self and the world they are not good, but they are good so
far as they look to the Lord and the neighbor (n. 3147).
359. Since a man can live outwardly as others do, can grow rich, keep
a plentiful table, dwell in an elegant house and wear fine clothing
according to his condition and function, can enjoy delights and
gratifications, and engage in worldly affairs for the sake of his
occupation and business and for the life both of the mind and body,
provided he inwardly acknowledges the Divine and wishes well to the
neighbor, it is evident that to enter upon the way to heaven is not
so difficult as many believe. The sole difficulty lies in being able
to resist the love of self and the world, and to prevent their
becoming dominant; for this is the source of all evils.{1} That this
is not so difficult as is believed is meant by these words of the
Lord:
Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye
shall find rest to your souls; for My yoke is easy and My
burden is light (Matt. 11:29, 30).
The Lord's yoke is easy and His burden light because a man is led by
the Lord and not by self just to the extent that he resists the evils
that flow forth from love of self and of the world; and because the
Lord then resists these evils in man and removes them.
{Footnote 1} All evils are from the love of self and of the
world (n. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488,
7490, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742). These are contempt of
others, enmities, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit (n. 6667,
7370-7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). Into such loves man is born,
thus in them are his inherited evils (n. 694, 4317, 5660).
360. I have spoken with some after death who, while they lived in the
world, renounced the world and gave themselves up to an almost
solitary life, in order that by an abstraction of the thoughts from
worldly things they might have opportunity for pious meditations,
believing that thus they might enter the way to heaven. But these in
the other life are of a sad disposition; they despise others who are
not like themselves; they are indignant that they do not have a
happier lot than others, believing that they have merited it; they
have no interest in others, and turn away from the duties of charity
by which there is conjunction with heaven. They desire heaven more
than others; but when they are taken up among the angels they induce
anxieties that disturb the happiness of the angels; and in
consequence they are sent away; and when sent away they betake
themselves to desert places, where they lead a life like that which
they lived in the world. [2] Man can be formed for heaven only by
means of the world. In the world are the outmost effects in which
everyone's affection must be terminated; for unless affection puts
itself forth or flows out into acts, which is done in association
with others, it is suffocated to such a degree finally that man has
no longer any regard for the neighbor, but only for himself. All this
makes clear that a life of charity towards the neighbor, which is
doing what is just and right in every work and in every employment,
is what leads to heaven, and not a life of piety apart from
charity;{1} and from this it follows that only to the extent that man
is engaged in the employments of life can charity be exercised and
the life of charity grow; and this is impossible to the extent that
man separates himself from those employments. [3] On this subject I
will speak now from experience. Of those who while in the world were
employed in trade and commerce and became rich through these pursuits
there are many in heaven, but not so many of those who were in
stations of honor and became rich through those employments; and for
the reason that these latter by the gains and honors that resulted
from their dispensing justice and equity, and also by the lucrative
and honorable positions bestowed on them were led into loving
themselves and the world, and thereby separating their thoughts and
affections from heaven and turning them to themselves. For to the
extent that a man loves self and the world and looks to self and the
world in everything, he alienates himself from the Divine and
separates himself from heaven.
{Footnote 1} Charity towards the neighbor is doing what is
good, just, and right, in every work and every employment (n.
8120-8122). Thus charity towards the neighbor extends to all
things and each thing that a man thinks, wills, and does (n.
8124). A life of piety apart from a life of charity is of no
avail, but together they are profitable for all things (n.
8252, 8253).
361. As to the lot of the rich in heaven, they live more splendidly
than others. Some of them dwell in palaces within which everything is
resplendent as if with gold and silver. They have an abundance of all
things for the uses of life, but they do not in the least set their
heart on these things, but only on uses. Uses are clearly seen as if
they were in light, but the gold and silver are seen obscurely, and
comparatively as if in shade. This is because while they were in the
world they loved uses, and loved gold and silver only as means and
instruments. It is the uses that are thus resplendent in heaven, the
good of use like gold and the truth of use like silver.{1} Therefore
their wealth in heaven is such as their uses were in the world, and
such, too, are their delight and happiness. Good uses are providing
oneself and one's own with the necessaries of life; also desiring
wealth for the sake of one's country and for the sake of one's
neighbor, whom a rich man can in many ways benefit more than a poor
man. These are good uses because one is able thereby to withdraw his
mind from an indolent life which is harmful, since in such a life
man's thoughts run to evil because of the evil inherent in him. These
uses are good to the extent that they have the Divine in them, that
is, to the extent that man looks to the Divine and to heaven, and
finds his good in these, and sees in wealth only a subservient good.
{Footnote 1} Every good has its delight from use and in
accordance with use (n. 3049, 4984, 7038); also its quality;
and in consequence such as the use is such is the good (n.
3049). All the happiness and delight of life is from uses (n.
997). In general, life is a life of uses (n. 1964). Angelic
life consists in the goods of love and charity, thus in
performing uses (n. 454). The ends that man has in view, which
are uses, are the only things that the Lord, and thus the
angels, consider (n. 1317, 1645, 5844). The kingdom of the Lord
is a kingdom of uses (n. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038).
Performing uses is serving the Lord (n. 7038). Everyone's
character is such as are the uses he performs (n. 4054, 6315);
illustrated (n. 7038).
362. But the lot of the rich that have not believed in the Divine,
and have cast out of their minds the things pertaining to heaven and
the church, is the opposite of this. Such are in hell, where filth,
misery, and want exist; and into these riches that are loved as an
end are changed; and not only riches, but also their very uses, which
are either a wish to live as they like and indulge in pleasures, and
to have opportunity to give the mind more fully and freely to
shameful practices, or a wish to rise above others whom they despise.
Such riches and such uses, because they have nothing spiritual, but
only what is earthly in them, become filthy; for a spiritual purpose
in riches and their uses is like a soul in the body, or like the
light of heaven in moist ground; and such riches and uses become
putrid as a body does without a soul, or as moist ground does without
the light of heaven. Such are those that have been led and drawn away
from heaven by riches.
363. Every man's ruling affection or love remains with him after
death, nor is it rooted out to eternity, since a man's spirit is
wholly what his love is, and what is unknown, the body of every
spirit and angel is the outward form of his love, exactly
corresponding to his inward form, which is the form of his
disposition and mind; consequently the quality of his spirit is known
from his face, movements, and speech. While a man is living in the
world the quality of the spirit would be known if he had not learned
to counterfeit in his face, movements, and speech what is not his
own. All this shows that man remains to eternity such as his ruling
affection or love is. It has been granted me to talk with some who
lived seventeen hundred years ago, and whose lives are well known
from writings of that time, and it was found that the same love still
rules them as when they were on the earth. This makes clear also that
the love of riches, and of uses from riches, remains with everyone to
eternity, and that it is exactly the same as the love acquired in the
world, yet with the difference that in the case of those who devoted
their riches to good uses riches are changed in the other world into
delights which are in accord with the uses performed; while in the
case of those who devoted their riches to evil uses riches are turned
into mere filth, in which they then take the same delight as they did
in the world in their riches devoted to evil uses. Such then take
delight in filth because filthy pleasures and shameful acts, which
had been the uses to which they had devoted their riches, and also
avarice, which is a love of riches without regard to use, correspond
to filth. Spiritual filth is nothing else.
364. The poor come into heaven not on account of their poverty but
because of their life. Everyone's life follows him, whether he be
rich or poor. There is no peculiar mercy for one in preference to
another;{1} he that has lived well is received, while he that has not
lived well is rejected. Moreover, poverty leads and draws man away
from heaven just as much as wealth does. There are many among the
poor who are not content with their lot, who strive after many
things, and believe riches to be blessings;{2} and when they do not
gain them are much provoked, and harbor ill thoughts about the Divine
providence; they also envy others the good things they possess, and
are as ready as any one to defraud others whenever they have
opportunity, and to indulge in filthy pleasures. But this is not true
of the poor who are content with their lot, and are careful and
diligent in their work, who love labor better than idleness, and act
sincerely and faithfully, and at the same time live a Christian life.
I have now and then talked with those belonging to the peasantry and
common people, who while living in the world believed in God and did
what was just and right in their occupations. Since they had an
affection for knowing truth they inquired about charity and about
faith, having heard in this world much about faith and in the other
life much about charity. They were therefore told that charity is
everything that pertains to life, and faith everything that pertains
to doctrine; consequently charity is willing and doing what is just
and right in every work, and faith is thinking justly and rightly;
and faith and charity are conjoined, the same as doctrine and a life
in accordance with it, or the same as thought and will; and faith
becomes charity when that which a man thinks justly and rightly he
also wills and does, and then they are not two but one. This they
well understood, and rejoiced, saying that in the world they did not
understand believing to be anything else but living.
{Footnote 1} There can be no mercy apart from means, but only
mercy through means, that is, to those who live in accordance
with the commandments of the Lord; such the Lord by His mercy
leads continually in the world, and afterwards to eternity (n.
8700, 10659).
{Footnote 2} Dignities and riches are not real blessings,
therefore they are granted both to the wicked and to the good
(n. 8939, 10775, 10776). The real blessing is reception of love
and faith from the Lord, and conjunction thereby, for this is
the source of eternal happiness (n. 1420, 1422, 2846, 3017,
3406, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584, 4216, 4981, 8939, 10495).
365. All this makes clear that the rich and the poor alike come into
heaven, the one as easily as the other. The belief that the poor
enter heaven easily and the rich with difficulty comes from not
understanding the Word where the rich and the poor are mentioned. In
the Word those that have an abundance of knowledges of good and
truth, thus who are within the church where the Word is, are meant in
the spiritual sense by the "rich;" while those who lack these
knowledges, and yet desire them, thus who are outside of the church
and where there is no Word, are meant by the "poor." [2] The rich man
clothed in purple and fine linen, and cast into hell, means the
Jewish nation, which is called rich because it had the Word and had
an abundance of knowledges of good and truth therefrom, "garments of
purple" signifying knowledges of good, and "garments of fine linen"
knowledges of truth.{1} But the poor man who lay at the rich man's
gate and longed to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich
man's table, and who was carried by angels into heaven, means the
nations that have no knowledges of good and truth and yet desired
them (Luke 16:19-31). Also the rich that were called to a great
supper and excused themselves mean the Jewish nation, and the poor
brought in in their place mean the nations outside of the church
(Luke 14:16-24). [3] By the rich man of whom the Lord says:
It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Matt.
19:24),
the rich in both the natural sense and the spiritual sense are meant.
In the natural sense the rich are those that have an abundance of
riches and set their heart upon them; but in the spiritual sense they
are those that have an abundance of knowledges and learning, which
are spiritual riches, and who desire by means of these to introduce
themselves into the things of heaven and the church from their own
intelligence. And because this is contrary to Divine order it is said
to be "easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye," a "camel"
signifying in general in the spiritual sense the knowing faculty and
things known, and a "needle's eye" signifying spiritual truth.{2}
That such is the meaning of a "camel" and a "needle's eye" is not at
present known, because the knowledge that teaches what is signified
in the spiritual sense by the things said in the literal sense of the
Word has not up to this time been disclosed. In every particular of
the Word there is a spiritual sense and also a natural sense; for the
Word was made to consist wholly of correspondences between natural
and spiritual things in order that conjunction of heaven with the
world, or of angels with men might thereby be effected, direct
conjunction having ceased. This makes clear who in particular are
meant in the Word by the "rich man." [4] That the "rich" in the Word
mean in the spiritual sense those who are in knowledges of truth and
good, and "riches" the knowledges themselves, which are spiritual
riches, can be seen from various passages (as in Isa. 10:12-14; 30:6,
7; 45:3; Jer. 17:3; 48:7; 50:36, 37; 51:13; Dan. 5:2-4; Ezek. 26:7,
12; 27:1 to the end; Zech. 9:3, 4; Psalm 45:12; Hosea 12:9; Apoc.
3:17, 18; Luke 14:33; and elsewhere). Also that the "poor" in the
spiritual sense signify those who do not possess knowledges of good
and of truth, and yet desire them (Matt. 11:5; Luke 6:20, 21; 14:21;
Isa. 14:30; 29:19; 41:17, 18; Zeph. 3:12, 13). All these passages may
be seen explained in accordance with the spiritual sense in the
Arcana Coelestia (n. 10227).
{Footnote 1} "Garments" signify truths, thus knowledges (n.
1073, 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536). "Purple"
signifies celestial good (n. 9467). "Fine linen" signifies
truth from a celestial origin (n. 5319, 9469, 9744).
{Footnote 2} A "camel" signifies in the Word the knowing
faculty and knowledge in general (n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145).
What is meant by "needlework, working with a needle," and
therefore by a "needle" (n. 9688). To enter from knowledge into
the truths of faith is contrary to Divine order (n. 10236).
Those that do this become demented in respect to the thing of
heaven and the church (n. 128-130, 232, 233, 6047). And in the
other life, when they think about spiritual things they become
as it were drunken (n. 1072). Further about such (n. 196).
Examples showing that when spiritual things are entered into
through knowledges they cannot be comprehended (n. 233, 2094,
2196, 2203, 2209). It is permissible to enter from spiritual
truth into knowledges which pertain to the natural man, but not
the reverse, because there can be spiritual influx into the
natural, but not natural influx into the spiritual (n. 3219,
5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9110). The truths of the
word and of the church must first be acknowledged, after which
it is permissible to consider knowledges, but not before (n.
6047).
366. XL. MARRIAGES IN HEAVEN.
As heaven is from the human race, and angels therefore are of both
sexes, and from creation woman is for man and man is for woman, thus
the one belongs to the other, and this love is innate in both, it
follows that there are marriages in heaven as well as on the earth.
But marriages in heaven differ widely from marriages on the earth.
Therefore what marriages in heaven are, and how they differ from
marriages on the earth and wherein they are like them, shall now be
told.
367. Marriage in heaven is a conjunction of two into one mind. It
must first be explained what this conjunction is. The mind consists
of two parts, one called the understanding and the other the will.
When these two parts act as one they are called one mind. In heaven
the husband acts the part called the understanding and the wife acts
the part called the will. When this conjunction, which belongs to
man's interiors, descends into the lower parts pertaining to the
body, it is perceived and felt as love, and this love is marriage
love. This shows that marriage love has its origin in the conjunction
of two into one mind. This in heaven is called cohabitation; and the
two are not called two but one. So in heaven a married pair is spoken
of, not as two, but as one angel.{1}
{Footnote 1} It is not known at this day what marriage love is,
or whence it is (n. 2727). Marriage love is willing what
another wills, thus willing mutually and reciprocally (n.
2731). Those that are in marriage love dwell together in the
inmosts of life (n. 2732). It is such a union of two minds that
from love they are one (n. 10168, 10169). For the love of
minds, which is spiritual love, is a union (n. 1594, 2057,
3939, 4018, 5807, 6195, 7081-7086, 7501, 10130).
368. Moreover, such a conjunction of husband and wife in the inmosts
of their minds comes from their very creation; for man is born to be
intellectual, that is, to think from the understanding, while woman
is born to be affectional, that is, to think from her will; and this
is evident from the inclination or natural disposition of each, also
from their form; from the disposition, in that man acts from reason
and woman from affection; from the form in that man has a rougher and
less beautiful face, a deeper voice and a harder body; while woman
has a smoother and more beautiful face, a softer voice, and a more
tender body. There is a like difference between understanding and
will, or between thought and affection; so, too, between truth and
good and between faith and love; for truth and faith belong to the
understanding, and good and love to the will. From this it is that in
the Word "youth" or "man" means in the spiritual sense the
understanding of truth, and "virgin" or "woman" affection for good;
also that the church, on account of its affection for good and truth,
is called a "woman" and a "virgin;" also that all those that are in
affection for good are called "virgins" (as in Apoc. 14:4).{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word "young men" signify understanding of
truth, or the intelligent (n. 7668). "Men" have the same
signification (n. 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517, 3134, 3236,
4823, 9007). "Woman" signifies affection for good and truth (n.
568, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994); likewise the church (n. 252, 253,
749, 770); "wife" has the same signification (n. 252, 253, 409,
749, 770); with what difference (n. 915, 2517, 3236, 4510,
4823). In the highest sense "husband and wife" are predicated
of the Lord and of His conjunction with heaven and the church
(n. 7022). A "virgin" signifies affection for good (n. 3067,
3110, 3179, 3189, 6729, 6742); likewise the church (n. 2362,
3081, 3963, 4638, 6729, 6775, 6788).
369. Everyone, whether man or woman, possesses understanding and
will; but with the man the understanding predominates, and with the
woman the will predominates, and the character is determined by that
which predominates. Yet in heavenly marriages there is no
predominance; for the will of the wife is also the husband's will,
and the understanding of the husband is also the wife's
understanding, since each loves to will and to think like the other,
that is mutually and reciprocally. Thus are they conjoined into one.
This conjunction is actual conjunction, for the will of the wife
enters into the understanding of the husband, and the understanding
of the husband into the will of the wife, and this especially when
they look into one another's faces; for, as has been repeatedly said
above, there is in the heavens a sharing of thoughts and affections,
more especially with husband and wife, because they reciprocally love
each other. This makes clear what the conjunction of minds is that
makes marriage and produces marriage love in the heavens, namely,
that one wishes what is his own to be the others, and this
reciprocally.
370. I have been told by angels that so far as a married pair are so
conjoined they are in marriage love, and also to the same extent in
intelligence, wisdom and happiness, because Divine truth and Divine
good which are the source of all intelligence, wisdom, and happiness,
flow chiefly into marriage love; consequently marriage love, since it
is also the marriage of good and truth, is the very plane of Divine
influx. For that love, as it is a conjunction of the understanding
and will, is also a conjunction of truth and good, since the
understanding receives Divine truth and is formed out of truths, and
the will receives Divine good and is formed out of goods. For what a
man wills is good to him, and what he understands is truth to him;
therefore it is the same whether you say conjunction of understanding
and will or conjunction of truth and good. Conjunction of truth and
good is what makes an angel; it makes his intelligence, wisdom, and
happiness; for an angel is an angel accordingly as good in him is
conjoined with truth and truth with good; or what is the same,
accordingly as love in him is conjoined with faith and faith with
love.
371. The Divine that goes forth from the Lord flows chiefly into
marriage love because marriage love descends from a conjunction of
good and truth; for it is the same thing as has been said above,
whether you say conjunction of understanding and will or conjunction
of good and truth. Conjunction of good and truth has its origin in
the Lord's Divine love towards all who are in heaven and on earth.
From Divine love Divine good goes forth, and Divine good is received
by angels and men in Divine truths. As truth is the sole receptacle
of good nothing can be received from the Lord and from heaven by any
one who is not in truths; therefore just to the extent that the
truths in man are conjoined to good is man conjoined to the Lord and
to heaven. This, then, is the very origin of marriage love, and for
this reason that love is the very plane of Divine influx. This shows
why the conjunction of good and truth in heaven is called the
heavenly marriage, and heaven is likened in the Word to a marriage,
and is called a marriage; and the Lord is called the "Bridegroom" and
"Husband," and heaven and also the church are called the "bride" and
the "wife."{1}
{Footnote 1} The origin, cause, and essence of true marriage
love is the marriage of good and truth; thus it is from heaven
(n. 2728, 2729). Respecting angelic spirit, who have a
perception whether there is anything of marriage from the idea
of a conjunction of good and truth (n. 10756). It is with
marriage love in every respect the same as it is with the
conjunction of good and truth (n. 1904, 2173, 2429, 2508, 3101,
3102, 3155, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5807, 5835, 9206, 9495, 9637).
How and with whom the conjunction of good and truth is effected
(n. 3834, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365,
7623-7627, 9258). Only those that are in good and truth from
the Lord know what true marriage love is (n. 10171). In the
Word "marriage" signifies the marriage of good and truth (n.
3132, 4434, 4835). The kingdom of the Lord and heaven are in
true marriage love (n. 2737).
372. Good and truth conjoined in an angel or a man are not two but
one, since good is then good of truth and truth is truth of good.
This conjunction may be likened to a man's thinking what he wills and
willing what he thinks, when the thought and will make one, that is,
one mind; for thought forms, that is, presents in form that which the
will wills, and the will gives delight to it; and this is why a
married pair in heaven are not called two, but one angel. This also
is what is meant by the Lord's words:
Have ye not read that He who made them from the beginning
made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall
a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his
wife, and they twain shall become one flesh? Therefore,
they are no more twain, but one flesh. What, therefore,
God hath joined together let not man put asunder. Not all
can receive this word but they to whom it is given (Matt.
19:4-6, 11; Mark 10:6-9; Gen. 2:24).
This is a description both of the heavenly marriage in which the
angels are and of the marriage of good and truth, "man's not putting
asunder what God has joined together" meaning that good is not to be
separated from truth.
373. From all this the origin of true marriage love is made clear,
namely, that it is formed first in the minds of those who are in
marriage, and descends therefrom and is derived into the body, where
it is perceived and felt as love; for whatever is felt and perceived
in the body has its origin in the spiritual, because it is from the
understanding and the will. The understanding and the will constitute
the spiritual man. Whatever descends from the spiritual man into the
body presents itself there under another aspect, although it is
similar and accordant, like soul and body, and like cause and effect;
as can be seen from what has been said and shown in the two chapters
on Correspondences.
374. I heard an angel describing true marriage love and its heavenly
delights in this manner: That it is the Lord's Divine in the heavens,
which is Divine good and Divine truth so united in two persons, that
they are not as two but as one. He said that in heaven the two
consorts are marriage love, since everyone is his own good and his
own truth in respect both to mind and to body, the body being an
image of the mind because it is formed after its likeness. From this
he drew the conclusion that the Divine is imaged in the two that are
in true marriage love; and as the Divine is so imaged so is heaven,
because the entire heaven is Divine good and Divine truth going forth
from the Lord; and this is why all things of heaven are inscribed on
marriage love with more blessings and delights than it is possible to
number. He expressed the number by a term that involved myriads of
myriads. He wondered that the man of the church should know nothing
about this, seeing that the church is the Lord's heaven on the earth,
and heaven is a marriage of good and truth. He said he was astounded
to think that within the church, even more than outside of it,
adulteries are committed and even justified; the delight of which in
itself is nothing else in a spiritual sense, and consequently in the
spiritual world, than the delight of the love of falsity conjoined to
evil, which delight is infernal delight, because it is the direct
opposite of the delight of heaven, which is the delight of the love
of truth conjoined with good.
375. Everyone knows that a married pair who love each other are
interiorly united, and that the essential of marriage is the union of
dispositions and minds. And from this it can be seen that such as
their essential dispositions or minds are, such is their union and
such their love for each other. The mind is formed solely out of
truths and goods, for all things in the universe have relation to
good and truth and to their conjunction; consequently such as the
truths and goods are out of which the minds are formed, exactly such
is the union of minds; and consequently the most perfect union is the
union of minds that are formed out of genuine truths and goods. Let
it be known that no two things mutually love each other more than
truth and good do; and therefore it is from that love that true
marriage love descends.{1} Falsity and evil also love each other, but
this love is afterwards changed into hell.
{Footnote 1} All things in the universe, both in heaven and in
the world, have relation to good and truth (n. 2452, 3166,
4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122). And to the conjunction of these
(n. 10555). Between good and truth there is marriage (n. 1904,
2173, 2508). Good loves truth, and from love longs for truth
and for the conjunction of truth with itself, and from this
they are in a perpetual endeavor to be conjoined (n. 9206,
9207, 9495). The life of truth is from good (n. 1589, 1997,
2572, 4070, 4096, 4097, 4736, 4757, 4884, 5147, 9667). Truth is
the form of good (n. 3049, 3180, 4574, 9154). Truth is to good
as water is to bread (n. 4976).
376. From what has now been said about the origin of marriage love
one may conclude who are in that love and who are not; namely, that
those are in marriage love who are in Divine good from Divine truths;
and that marriage love is genuine just to the extent that the truths
are genuine with which the good is conjoined. And as all the good
that is conjoined with truths is from the Lord, it follows that no
one can be in true marriage love unless he acknowledges the Lord and
His Divine; for without that acknowledgment the Lord cannot flow in
and be conjoined with the truths that are in man.
377. Evidently, then, those that are in falsities, and especially
those that are in falsities from evil, are not in marriage love.
Moreover, those that are in evil and in falsities therefrom have the
interiors of their minds closed up; and in such, therefore, there can
be no source of marriage love; but below those interiors, in the
external or natural man separated from the internal, there can be a
conjunction of falsity and evil, which is called infernal marriage. I
have been permitted to see what this marriage is between those that
are in the falsities of evil, which is called infernal marriage. Such
converse together, and are united by a lustful desire, but inwardly
they burn with a deadly hatred towards each other, too intense to be
described.
378. Nor can marriage love exist between two partners belonging to
different religions, because the truth of the one does not agree with
the good of the other; and two unlike and discordant kinds of good
and truth cannot make one mind out of two; and in consequence the
love of such does not have its origin in any thing spiritual. If they
live together in harmony it is solely on natural grounds.{1} And this
is why in the heavens marriages are found only with those who are in
the same society, because such are in like good and truth and not
with those outside of the society. It may be seen above (n. 41, seq.)
that all there in a society are in like good and truth, and differ
from those outside the society. This was represented in the
Israelitish nation by marriages being contracted within tribes, and
particularly within families, and not outside of them.
{Footnote 1} Marriages between those of different religions are
not permissible, because there can be no conjunction of like
good and truth in the interiors (n. 8998).
379. Nor is true marriage love possible between one husband and
several wives; for its spiritual origin, which is the formation of
one mind out of two, is thus destroyed; and in consequence interior
conjunction, which is the conjunction of good and truth, from which
is the very essence of that love, is also destroyed. Marriage with
more than one is like an understanding divided among several wills;
or it is like a man attached not to one but to several churches,
since his faith is so distracted thereby as to come to naught. The
angels declare that marrying several wives is wholly contrary to
Divine order, and that they know this from several reasons, one of
which is that as soon as they think of marriage with more than one
they are alienated from internal blessedness and heavenly happiness,
and become like drunken men, because good is separated from its truth
in them. And as the interiors of their mind are brought into such a
state merely by thinking about it with some intention, they see
clearly that marriage with more than one would close up their
internal mind, and cause marriage to be displaced by lustful love,
which love withdraws from heaven.{1} [2] They declare further that
this is not easily comprehended by men because there are few who are
in genuine marriage love, and those who are not in it know nothing
whatever of the interior delight that is in that love, knowing only
the delight of lust, and this delight is changed into what is
undelightful after living together a short time; while the delight of
true marriage love not only endures to old age in the world, but
after death becomes the delight of heaven and is there filled with an
interior delight that grows more and more perfect to eternity. They
said also that the varieties of blessedness of true marriage love
could be enumerated even to many thousands, not even one of which is
known to man, or could enter into the comprehension of any one who is
not in the marriage of good and truth from the Lord.
{Footnote 1} As husband and wife should be one, and should live
together in the inmost of life, and as they together make one
angel in heaven, so true marriage love is impossible between
one husband and several wives (n. 1907, 2740). To marry several
wives at the same time is contrary to Divine order (n. 10837).
That there is no marriage except between one husband and one
wife is clearly perceived by those who are in the Lord's
celestial kingdom (n. 865, 3246, 9002, 10172). For the reason
that the angels there are in the marriage of good and truth (n.
3246). The Israelitish nation were permitted to marry several
wives, and to add concubines to wives, but not Christians, for
the reason that that nation was in externals separate from
internals, while Christians are able to enter into internals,
thus into the marriage of good and truth (n. 3246, 4837, 8809.)
380. The love of dominion of one over the other entirely takes away
marriage love and its heavenly delight, for as has been said above,
marriage love and its delight consists in the will of one being that
of the other, and this mutually and reciprocally. This is destroyed
by love of dominion in marriage, since he that domineers wishes his
will alone to be in the other, and nothing of the other's will to be
reciprocally in himself, which destroys all mutuality, and thus all
sharing of any love and its delight one with the other. And yet this
sharing and consequent conjunction are the interior delight itself
that is called blessedness in marriage. This blessedness, with
everything that is heavenly and spiritual in marriage love, is so
completely extinguished by love of dominion as to destroy even all
knowledge of it; and if that love were referred to it would be held
in such contempt that any mention of blessedness from that source
would excite either laughter or anger. [2] When one wills or loves
what the other wills or loves each has freedom, since all freedom is
from love; but where there is dominion no one has freedom; one is a
servant, and the other who rules is also a servant, for he is led as
a servant by the lust of ruling. But all this is wholly beyond the
comprehension of one who does not know what the freedom of heavenly
love is. Nevertheless from what has been said above about the origin
and essence of marriage love it can be seen that so far as dominion
enters, minds are not united but divided. Dominion subjugates, and a
subjugated mind has either no will or an opposing will. If it has no
will it has also no love; and if it has an opposing will there is
hatred in place of love. [3] The interiors of those who live in such
marriage are in mutual collision and strife, as two opposites are
wont to be, however their exteriors may be restrained and kept quiet
for the sake of tranquillity. The collision and antagonism of the
interiors of such are disclosed after their death, when commonly they
come together and fight like enemies and tear each other; for they
then act in accordance with the state of the interiors. Frequently I
have been permitted to see them fighting and tearing one another,
sometimes with great vengeance and cruelty. For in the other life
everyone's interiors are set at liberty; and they are no longer
restrained by outward bounds or by worldly considerations, everyone
then being just such as he is interiorly.
381. To some a likeness of marriage love is granted. Yet unless they
are in the love of good and truth there is no marriage love, but only
a love which from several causes appears like marriage love, namely,
that they may secure good service at home; that they may be free from
care, or at peace, or at ease; that they may be cared for in sickness
or in old age; or that the children whom they love may be attended
to. Some are constrained by fear of the other consort, or by fear of
the loss of reputation, or other evil consequences, and some by a
controlling lust. Moreover, in the two consorts marriage love may
differ, in one there may be more or less of it, in the other little
or none; and because of this difference heaven may be the portion of
one and hell the portion of the other.
382. [a.] In the inmost heaven there is genuine marriage love because
the angels there are in the marriage of good and truth, and also in
innocence. The angels of the lower heavens are also in marriage love,
but only so far as they are in innocence; for marriage love viewed in
itself is a state of innocence; and this is why consorts who are in
the marriage love enjoy heavenly delights together, which appear
before their minds almost like the sports of innocence, as between
little children; for everything delights their minds, since heaven
with its joy flows into every particular of their lives. For the same
reason marriage love is represented in heaven by the most beautiful
objects. I have seen it represented by a maiden of indescribable
beauty encompassed with a bright white cloud. It is said that the
angels in heaven have all their beauty from marriage love. Affections
and thought flowing from that love are represented by diamond-like
auras with scintillations as if from carbuncles and rubies, which are
attended by delights that affect the interiors of the mind. In a
word, heaven itself is represented in marriage love, because heaven
with the angels is the conjunction of good and truth, and it is this
conjunction that makes marriage love.
382. [b.] Marriages in heaven differ from marriages on the earth in
that the procreation of offspring is another purpose of marriages on
the earth, but not of marriages in heaven, since in heaven the
procreation of good and truth takes the place of procreation of
offspring. The former takes the place of the latter because marriage
in heaven is a marriage of good and truth (as has been shown above);
and as in that marriage good and truth and their conjunction are
loved above all things so these are what are propagated by marriages
in heaven. And because of this, in the Word births and generations
signify spiritual births and generations, which are births and
generations of good and truth; mother and father signify truth
conjoined to good, which is what procreates; sons and daughters
signify the truths and goods that are procreated; and sons-in-law and
daughters-in-law conjunction of these, and so on.{1} All this makes
clear that marriages in heaven are not like marriages on earth. In
heaven marryings are spiritual, and cannot properly be called
marryings, but conjunctions of minds from the conjunction of good and
truth. But on earth there are marryings, because these are not of the
spirit alone but also of the flesh. And as there are no marryings in
heaven, consorts there are not called husband and wife; but from the
angelic idea of the joining of two minds into one, each consort
designates the other by a name signifying one's own, mutually and
reciprocally. This shows how the Lord's words in regard to marrying
and giving in marriage (Luke 20:35, 36), are to be understood.
{Footnote 1} Conceptions, pregnancies, births, and generations
signify those that are spiritual, that is, such as pertain to
good and truth, or to love and faith (n. 613, 1145, 1255, 2020,
2584, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668, 6239, 8042, 9325, 10249).
Therefore generation and birth signify regeneration and rebirth
through faith and love (n. 5160, 5598, 9042, 9845). Mother
signifies the church in respect to truth, and thus the truth of
the church; father the church in respect to good, and thus the
good of the church (n. 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897). Sons
signify affections for truth, and thus truths (n. 489, 491,
533, 2623, 3373, 4257, 8649, 9807). Daughters signify
affections for good, and the goods (n. 489-491, 2362, 3963,
6729, 6775, 6778, 9055). Son-in-law signifies truth associated
with affection for good (n. 2389). Daughter-in-law signifies
good associated with its truth (n. 4843).
383. I have also been permitted to see how marriages are contracted
in the heavens. As everywhere in heaven those who are alike are
united and those who are unlike are separated, so every society in
heaven consists of those who are alike. Like are brought to like not
by themselves but by the Lord (see above, n. 41, 43, 44, seq.); and
equally consort to consort whose minds can be joined into one are
drawn together; and consequently at first sight they inmostly love
each other, and see themselves to be consorts, and enter into
marriage. For this reason all marriages in heaven are from the Lord
alone. They have also marriage feasts; and these are attended by
many; but the festivities differ in different societies.
384. Marriages on the earth are most holy in the sight of the angels
of heaven because they are seminaries of the human race, and also of
the angels of heaven (heaven being from the human race, as already
shown under that head), also because these marriages are from a
spiritual origin, namely, from the marriage of good and truth, and
because the Lord's Divine flows especially into marriage love.
Adulteries on the other hand are regarded by the angels as profane
because they are contrary to marriage love; for as in marriages the
angels behold the marriage of good and truth, which is heaven, so in
adulteries they behold the marriage of falsity and evil, which is
hell. If, then, they but hear adulteries mentioned they turn away.
And this is why heaven is closed up to man when he commits adultery
from delight; and when heaven is closed man no longer acknowledges
the Divine nor any thing of the faith of church.{1} That all who are
in hell are antagonistic to marriage love I have been permitted to
perceive from the sphere exhaling from hell, which was like an
unceasing endeavor to dissolve and violate marriages; which shows
that the reigning delight in hell is the delight of adultery, and the
delight of adultery is a delight in destroying the conjunction of
good and truth, which conjunction makes heaven. From this it follows
that the delight of adultery is an infernal delight directly opposed
to the delight of marriage, which is a heavenly delight.
{Footnote 1} Adulteries are profane (n. 9961, 10174). Heaven
is closed to adulterers (n. 2750). Those that have experienced
delight in adulteries cannot come into heaven (n. 539, 2733,
2747-2749, 2751, 10175). Adulterers are unmerciful and
destitute of religion (n. 824, 2747, 2748). The ideas of
adulterers are filthy (n. 2747, 2748). In the other life they
love filth and are in filthy hells (n. 2755, 5394, 5722). In
the Word adulteries signify adulterations of good, and
whoredoms perversions of truth (n. 2466, 2729, 3399, 4865,
8904, 10648).
385. There were certain spirits who, from a practice acquired in the
life of the body, infested me with peculiar craftiness, and this by a
very gentle wave-like influx like the usual influx of well disposed
spirits; but I perceived that there was craftiness and other like
evils in them prompting them to ensnare and deceive. Finally, I
talked with one of them who, I was told, had been when he lived in
the world the leader of an army; and perceiving that there was a
lustfulness in the ideas of his thought I talked with him about
marriage, using spiritual speech with representatives, which fully
expresses all that is meant and many things in a moment. He said that
in the life of the body he had regarded adulteries as of no account.
But I was permitted to tell him that adulteries are heinous, although
to those like himself they do not appear to be such, and even appear
permissible, on account of their seductive and enticing delights.
That they are heinous he might know from the fact that marriages are
the seminaries of the human race, and thus also the seminaries of the
heavenly kingdom; consequently they must on no account be violated,
but must be esteemed holy. This he might know from the fact, which he
ought to know because of his being in the other life and in a state
of perception, that marriage love descends from the Lord through
heaven, and from that love, as from a parent, mutual love, which is
the foundation of heaven is derived; and again from this, that if
adulterers merely draw near to heavenly societies they perceive their
own stench and cast themselves down therefrom towards hell. At least
he must have known that to violate marriages is contrary to Divine
laws, and contrary to the civil laws of all kingdoms, also contrary
to the genuine light of reason, because it is contrary to both Divine
and human order; not to mention other considerations. But he replied
that he had not so thought in the life of the body. He wished to
reason about whether it were so, but was told that truth does not
admit of such reasonings; for reasonings defend what one delights in,
and thus one's evils and falsities; that he ought first to think
about the things that had been said because they are truths; or at
least think about them from the principle well known in the world,
that no one should do to another what he is unwilling that another
should do to him; thus he should consider whether he himself would
not have detested adulteries if any one had in that way deceived his
wife, whom he had loved as everyone loves in the first period of
marriage, and if in his state of wrath he had expressed himself on
the subject; also whether being a man of talent he would not in that
case have confirmed himself more decidedly than others against
adulteries, even condemning them to hell.
386. I have been shown how the delights of marriage love advance
towards heaven, and the delights of adultery towards hell. The
advance of the delights of marriage love towards heaven is into
states of blessedness and happiness continually increasing until they
become innumerable and ineffable, and the more interiorly they
advance the more innumerable and more ineffable they become, until
they reach the very states of blessedness and happiness of the inmost
heaven, or of the heaven of innocence, and this through the most
perfect freedom; for all freedom is from love, thus the most perfect
freedom is from marriage love, which is heavenly love itself. On the
other hand, the advance of adultery is towards hell, and by degrees
to the lowest hell, where there is nothing but what is direful and
horrible. Such a lot awaits adulterers after their life in the world,
those being meant by adulterers who feel a delight in adulteries, and
no delight in marriages.
387. XLI. THE EMPLOYMENTS OF ANGELS IN HEAVEN.
It is impossible to enumerate the employments in the heavens, still
less to describe them in detail, but something may be said about them
in a general way; for they are numberless, and vary in accordance
with the functions of the societies. Each society has its peculiar
function, for as societies are distinct in accordance with goods (see
above, n. 41), so they are distinct in accordance with uses, because
with all in the heavens goods are goods in act, which are uses.
Everyone there performs a use, for the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of
uses.{1}
{Footnote 1} The Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses (n. 454,
696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). Performing uses is serving the
Lord (n. 7038). In the other life all must perform uses (n.
1103); even the wicked and infernal, but in what manner (n.
696). All are such as are the uses they perform (n. 4054,
6815); illustrated (n. 7038). Angelic blessedness consists in
the goods of charity, that is, in performing uses (n. 454).
388. In the heavens as on the earth there are many forms of service,
for there are ecclesiastical affairs, there are civil affairs, and
there are domestic affairs. That there are ecclesiastical affairs is
evident from what has been said and shown above, where Divine worship
is treated of (n. 221-227); civil affairs, where governments in
heaven are treated of (n. 213-220); and domestic affairs, where the
dwellings and homes of angels are treated of (n. 183-190); and
marriages in heaven (n. 366-368); all of which show that in every
heavenly society there are many employments and services.
389. All things in the heavens are organized in accordance with
Divine order, which is everywhere guarded by the services performed
by angels, those things that pertain to the general good or use by
the wiser angels, those that pertain to particular uses by the less
wise, and so on. They are subordinated just as uses are subordinated
in the Divine order; and for this reason a dignity is connected with
every function according to the dignity of the use. Nevertheless, an
angel does not claim dignity to himself, but ascribes all dignity to
the use; and as the use is the good that he accomplishes, and all
good is from the Lord, so he ascribes all dignity to the Lord.
Therefore he that thinks of honor for himself and subsequently for
the use, and not for the use and subsequently for himself, can
perform no function in heaven, because this is looking away backwards
from the Lord, and putting self in the first place and use in the
second. When use is spoken of the Lord also is meant, because, as has
just been said, use is good, and good is from the Lord.
390. From this it may be inferred what subordinations in the heavens
are, namely, that as any one loves, esteems, and honors the use he
also loves, esteems, and honors the person with whom the use is
connected; also that the person is loved, esteemed and honored in the
measure in which he ascribes the use to the Lord and not to himself;
for to that extent he is wise, and the uses he performs he performs
from good. Spiritual love, esteem, and honor are nothing else than
the love, esteem, and honor of the use in the person, together with
the honor to the person because of the use, and not honor to the use
because of the person. This is the way, moreover, in which men are
regarded when they are regarded from spiritual truth, for one man is
then seen to be like another, whether he be in great or in little
dignity, the only perceptible difference being a difference in
wisdom; and wisdom is loving use, that is, loving the good of a
fellow citizen, of society, of one's country, and of the church. It
is this that constitutes love to the Lord, because every good that is
a good of use is from the Lord; and it constitutes also love towards
the neighbor, because the neighbor means the good that is to be loved
in a fellow citizen, in society, in one's country, and in the church,
and that is to be done in their behalf.{1}
{Footnote 1} Loving the neighbor is not loving the person, but
loving that which is in him and which constitutes him (n. 5025,
10336). Those who love the person, and not that which is in
him, and which constitutes him, love equally an evil man and a
good man (n. 3820); and do good alike to the evil and to the
good; and yet to do good to the evil is to do evil to the good
and that is not loving the neighbor (n. 3820, 6703, 8120). The
judge who punishes the evil that they may be reformed, and may
not contaminate or injure the good, loves his neighbor (n.
3820, 8120, 8121). Every individual and every community also
one's country and the church, and in the most general sense the
kingdom of the Lord, are the neighbor, and to do good to these
from a love of good in accord with the quality of their state,
is loving the neighbor; that is, the neighbor is their good,
which is to be consulted (n. 6818-6824, 8123).
391. As all the societies in the heavens are distinct in accordance
with their goods (as said above, n. 41, seq.) so they are distinct in
accordance with their uses, goods being goods in act, that is, goods
of charity which are uses. Some societies are employed in taking care
of little children; others in teaching and training them as they grow
up; others in teaching and training in like manner the boys and girls
that have acquired a good disposition from their education in the
world, and in consequence have come into heaven. There are other
societies that teach the simple good from the Christian world, and
lead them into the way to heaven; there are others that in like
manner teach and lead the various heathen nations. There are some
societies that defend from infestations by evil spirits the newly
arrived spirits that have just come from the world; there are some
that attend upon the spirits that are in the lower earth; also some
that attend upon spirits that are in the hells, and restrain them
from tormenting each other beyond prescribed limits; and there are
some that attend upon those who are being raised from the dead. In
general, angels from each society are sent to men to watch over them
and to lead them away from evil affections and consequent thoughts,
and to inspire them with good affections so far as they will receive
them in freedom; and by means of these they also direct the deeds or
works of men by removing as far as possible evil intentions. When
angels are with men they dwell as it were in their affections; and
they are near to man just in the degree in which he is in good from
truths, and are distant from him just in the degree in which his life
is distant from good.{1} But all these employments of angels are
employments of the Lord through the angels, for the angels perform
them from the Lord and not from themselves. For this reason, in the
Word in its internal sense "angels" mean, not angels, but something
belonging to the Lord; and for the same reason angels are called
"gods" in the Word.{2}
{Footnote 1} Of the angels that are with little children and
afterwards with boys, and thus in succession (n. 2303). Man is
raised from the dead by means of angels; from experiences (n.
168-189). Angels are sent to those who are in hell to prevent
their tormenting each other beyond measure (n. 967). Of the
services rendered by the angels to men on their coming into the
other life (n. 2131). There are spirits and angels with all men
and man is led by the Lord by means of spirits and angels (n.
50, 697, 2796, 2887, 2888, 5846-5866, 5976-5993, 6209). Angels
have dominion over evil spirits (n. 1755).
{Footnote 2} In the Word by angels something Divine from the
Lord is signified (n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 6280, 8192). In
the Word angels are called "gods," because of their reception
of Divine truth and good from the Lord (n. 4295, 4402, 8192,
8301).
392. These employments of the angels are their general employments;
but each one has his particular charge; for every general use is
composed of innumerable uses which are called mediate, ministering,
and subservient uses, all and each coordinated and subordinated in
accordance with Divine order, and taken together constituting and
perfecting the general use, which is the general good.
393. Those are concerned with ecclesiastical affairs in heaven who in
the world loved the Word and eagerly sought in it for truths, not
with honor or gain as an end, but uses of life both for themselves
and for others. These in heaven are in enlightenment and in the light
of wisdom in the measure of their love and desire for use; and this
light of wisdom they receive from the Word in heaven, which is not a
natural Word, as it is in the world, but a spiritual Word (see above,
n. 259.) These minister in the preaching office; and in accordance
with Divine order those are in higher positions who from
enlightenment excel others in wisdom. [2] Those are concerned with
civil affairs who in the world loved their country, and loved its
general good more than their own, and did what is just and right from
a love for what is just and right. So far as these from the eagerness
of love have investigated the laws of justice and have thereby become
intelligent, they have the ability to perform such functions in
heaven, and they perform these in that position or degree that
accords with their intelligence, their intelligence being in equal
degree with their love of use for the general good. [3] Furthermore,
there are in heaven more functions and services and occupations than
can be enumerated; while in the world there are few in comparison.
But however many there may be that are so employed, they are all in
the delight of their work and labor from a love of use, and no one
from a love of self or of gain; and as all the necessaries of life
are furnished them gratuitously they have no love of gain for the
sake of a living. They are housed gratuitously, clothed gratuitously,
and fed gratuitously. Evidently, then, those that have loved
themselves and the world more than use have no lot in heaven; for his
love or affection remains with everyone after his life in the world,
and is not extirpated to eternity (see above, n. 563).
394. In heaven everyone comes into his own occupation in accordance
with correspondence, and the correspondence is not with the
occupation but with the use of each occupation (see above, n. 112);
for there is a correspondence of all things (see n. 106). He that in
heaven comes into the employment or occupation corresponding to his
use is in much the same condition of life as when he was in the
world; since what is spiritual and what is natural make one by
correspondences; yet there is this difference, that he then comes
into an interior delight, because into spiritual life, which is an
interior life, and therefore more receptive of heavenly blessedness.
395. XLII. HEAVENLY JOY AND HAPPINESS.
Hardly any one at present knows what heaven is or what heavenly joy
is. Those who have given any thought to these subjects have had so
general and so gross an idea about them as scarcely to amount to
anything. From spirits that have come from the world into the other
life I have been able to learn fully what idea they had of heaven and
heavenly joy; for when left to themselves, as they were in the world,
they think as they then did. There is this ignorance about heavenly
joy for the reason that those who have thought about it have formed
their opinion from the outward joys pertaining to the natural man,
and have not known what the inner and spiritual man is, nor in
consequence the nature of his delight and blessedness; and therefore
even if they had been told by those who are in spiritual or inward
delight what heavenly joy is, would have had no comprehension of it,
for it could have fallen only into an idea not yet recognized, thus
into no perception; and would therefore have been among the things
that the natural man rejects. Yet everyone can understand that when a
man leaves his outer or natural man he comes into the inner or
spiritual man, and consequently can see that heavenly delight is
internal and spiritual, not external and natural; and being internal
and spiritual, it is more pure and exquisite, and affects the
interiors of man which pertain to his soul or spirit. From these
things alone everyone may conclude that his delight is such as the
delight of his spirit has previously been and that the delight of the
body, which is called the delight of the flesh, is in comparison not
heavenly; also that whatever is in the spirit of man when he leaves
the body remains after death, since he then lives a man-spirit.
396. All delights flow forth from love, for that which a man loves he
feels to be delightful. No one has any delight from any other source.
From this it follows that such as the love is such is the delight.
The delights of the body or of the flesh all flow forth from the love
of self and love of the world; consequently they are lusts and their
pleasures; while the delights of the soul or spirit all flow forth
from love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, consequently
they are affections for good and truth and interior satisfactions.
These loves with their delights flow in out of heaven from the Lord
by an inner way, that is, from above, and affect the interiors; while
the former loves with their delights flow in from the flesh and from
the world by an external way, that is, from beneath, and affect the
exteriors. Therefore as far as the two loves of heaven are received
and make themselves felt, the interiors of man, which belong to his
soul or spirit and which look from the world heavenwards, are opened,
while so far as the two loves of the world are received and make
themselves felt, his exteriors, which belong to the body or flesh and
look away from heaven towards the world, are opened. As loves flow in
and are received their delights also flow in, the delights of heaven
into the interiors and the delights of the world into the exteriors,
since all delight, as has just been said above, belongs to love.
397. Heaven in itself is so full of delights that viewed in itself it
is nothing else than blessedness and delight; for the Divine good
that flows forth from the Lord's Divine love is what makes heaven in
general and in particular with everyone there, and the Divine love is
a longing for the salvation of all and the happiness of all from
inmosts and in fullness. Thus whether you say heaven or heavenly joy
it is the same thing.
398. The delights of heaven are both ineffable and innumerable; but
he that is in the mere delight of the body or of the flesh can have
no knowledge of or belief in a single one of these innumerable
delights; for his interiors, as has just been said, look away from
heaven towards the world, thus backwards. For he that is wholly in
the delight of the body or of the flesh, or what is the same, in the
love of self and of the world, has no sense of delight except in
honor, in gain, and in the pleasures of the body and the senses; and
these so extinguish and suffocate the interior delights that belong
to heaven as to destroy all belief in them; consequently he would be
greatly astonished if he were told that when the delights of honor
and of gain are set aside other delights are given, and still more if
he were told that the delights of heaven that take the place of these
are innumerable, and are such as cannot be compared with the delights
of the body and the flesh, which are chiefly the delights of honor
and of gain. All this makes clear why it is not known what heavenly
joy is.
399. One can see how great the delight of heaven must be from the
fact that it is the delight of everyone in heaven to share his
delights and blessings with others; and as such is the character of
all that are in the heavens it is clear how immeasurable is the
delight of heaven. It has been shown above (n. 268), that in the
heavens there is a sharing of all with each and of each with all.
Such sharing goes forth from the two loves of heaven, which are, as
has been said, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; and to
share their delights is the very nature of these loves. Love to the
Lord is such because the Lord's love is a love of sharing everything
it has with all, since it wills the happiness of all. There is a like
love in everyone of those who love the Lord, because the Lord is in
them; and from this comes the mutual sharing of the delights of
angels with one another. Love towards the neighbor is of such a
nature, as will be seen in what follows. All this shows that it is
the nature of these loves to share their delights. It is otherwise
with the loves of self and of the world. The love of self takes away
from others and robs others of all delight, and directs it to itself,
for it wishes well to itself alone; while the love of the world
wishes to have as its own what belongs to the neighbor. Therefore
these loves are destructive of the delights of others; or if there is
any disposition to share, it is for the sake of themselves and not
for the sake of others. Thus in respect to others it is the nature of
those loves not to share but to take away, except so far as the
delights of others have some relation to self. That the loves of self
and of the world, when they rule, are such I have often been
permitted to perceive by living experience. Whenever the spirits that
were in these loves during their life as men in the world drew near,
my delight receded and vanished; and I was told that at the mere
approach of such to any heavenly society the delight of those in the
society diminished just in the degree of their proximity; and what is
wonderful, the evil spirits are then in their delight. All this
indicates the state of the spirit of such a man while he is in the
body, since it is the same as it is after it is separated from the
body, namely, that it longs for or lusts after the delights or goods
of another, and finds delight so far as it secures them. All this
makes clear that the loves of self and of the world tend to destroy
the joys of heaven, and are thus direct opposites of heavenly loves,
which desire to share.
400. But it must be understood that the delight of those who are in
the loves of self and of the world, when they draw near to any
heavenly society, is the delight of their lust, and thus is directly
opposite to the delight of heaven. And such enter into this delight
of their lust in consequence of their taking away and dispelling
heavenly delight in those that are in such delight. When the heavenly
delight is not taken away or dispelled it is different, for they are
then unable to draw near; for so far as they draw near they bring
upon themselves anguish and pain; and for this reason they do not
often venture to come near. This also I have been permitted to learn
by repeated experience, something of which I would like to add. [2]
Spirits who go from this world into the other life desire more than
any thing else to get into heaven. Nearly all seek to enter,
supposing that heaven consists solely in being admitted and received.
Because of this desire they are brought to some society of the lowest
heaven. But as soon as those who are in the love of self and of the
world draw near the first threshold of that heaven they begin to be
distressed and so tortured inwardly as to feel hell rather than
heaven to be in them; and in consequence they cast themselves down
headlong therefrom, and do not rest until they come into the hells
among their like. [3] It has also frequently occurred that such
spirits have wished to know what heavenly joy is, and having heard
that it is in the interiors of angels, they have wished to share in
it. This therefore was granted; for whatever a spirit who is not yet
in heaven or hell wishes is granted if it will benefit him. But as
soon as that joy was communicated they began to be so tortured as not
to know how to twist or turn because of the pain. I saw them thrust
their heads down to their feet and cast themselves upon the ground,
and there writhe into coils like serpents, and this in consequence of
their interior agony. Such was the effect produced by heavenly
delight upon those who are in the delights of the love of self and of
the world; and for the reason that these loves are directly opposite
to heavenly loves, and when opposite acts against opposite such pain
results. And since heavenly delight enters by an inward way and flows
into the contrary delight, the interiors which are in the contrary
delight are twisted backwards, thus into the opposite direction, and
the result is such tortures. [4] They are opposite for the reason
given above, that love to the Lord and love to the neighbor wish to
share with others all that is their own, for this is their delight,
while the loves of self and of the world wish to take away from
others what they have, and take it to themselves; and just to the
extent that they are able to do this they are in their delight. From
this, too, one can see what it is that separates hell from heaven;
for all that are in hell were, while they were living in the world,
in the mere delights of the body and of the flesh from the love of
self and of the world; while all that are in the heavens were, while
they lived in the world, in the delights of the soul and spirit from
love to the Lord and love to the neighbor; and as these are opposite
loves, so the hells and the heavens are entirely separated, and
indeed so separated that a spirit in hell does not venture even to
put forth a finger from it or raise the crown of his head, for if he
does this in the least he is racked with pain and tormented. This,
too, I have frequently seen.
401. One who is in the love of self and love of the world perceives
while he lives in the body a sense of delight from these loves and
also in the particular pleasures derived from these loves. But one
who is in love to God and in love towards the neighbor does not
perceive while he lives in the body any distinct sense of delight
from these loves or from the good affections derived from them, but
only a blessedness that is hardly perceptible, because it is hidden
away in his interiors and veiled by the exteriors pertaining to the
body and dulled by the cares of the world. But after death these
states are entirely changed. The delights of love of self and of the
world are then turned into what is painful and direful, because into
such things as are called infernal fire, and by turns into things
defiled and filthy corresponding to their unclean pleasures, and
these, wonderful to tell, are then delightful to them. But the
obscure delight and almost imperceptible blessedness of those that
had been while in the world in love to God and in love to the
neighbor are then turned into the delight of heaven, and become in
every way perceived and felt, for the blessedness that lay hidden and
unrecognized in their interiors while they lived in the world is then
revealed and brought forth into evident sensation, because such had
been the delight of their spirit, and they are then in the spirit.
402. In uses all the delights of heaven are brought together and are
present, because uses are the goods of love and charity in which
angels are; therefore everyone has delights that are in accord with
his uses, and in the degree of his affection for use. That all the
delights of heaven are delights of use can be seen by a comparison
with the five bodily senses of man. There is given to each sense a
delight in accordance with its use; to the sight, the hearing, the
smell, the taste, and the touch, each its own delight; to the sight a
delight from beauty and from forms, to the hearing from harmonious
sounds, to the smell from pleasing odors, to taste from fine flavors.
These uses which the senses severally perform are known to those who
study them, and more fully to those who are acquainted with
correspondences. Sight has such a delight because of the use it
performs to the understanding, which is the inner sight; the hearing
has such a delight because of the use it performs both to the
understanding and to the will through giving attention; the smell has
such a delight because of the use it performs to the brain, and also
to the lungs; the taste has such a delight because of the use it
performs to the stomach, and thus to the whole body by nourishing it.
The delight of marriage, which is a purer and more exquisite delight
of touch, transcends all the rest because of its use, which is the
procreation of the human race and thereby of angels of heaven. These
delights are in these sensories by an influx of heaven, where every
delight pertains to use and is in accordance with use.
403. There were some spirits who believed from an opinion adopted in
the world that heavenly happiness consists in an idle life in which
they would be served by others; but they were told that happiness
never consists in abstaining from work and getting satisfaction
therefrom. This would mean everyone's desiring the happiness of
others for himself, and what everyone wished for no one would have.
Such a life would be an idle not an active life, and would stupefy
all the powers of life; and everyone ought to know that without
activity of life there can be no happiness of life, and that rest
from this activity should be only for the sake of recreation, that
one may return with more vigor to the activity of his life. They were
then shown by many evidences that angelic life consists in performing
the good works of charity, which are uses, and that the angels find
all their happiness in use, from use, and in accordance with use. To
those that held the opinion that heavenly joy consists in living an
idle life and drawing breaths of eternal joy in idleness, a
perception was given of what such a life is, that they might become
ashamed of the idea; and they saw that such a life is extremely sad,
and that all joy thus perishing they would in a little while feel
only loathing and disgust for it.
404. There were some spirits who thought themselves better instructed
than others, and who said that they had believed in the world that
heavenly joy would consist solely in praising and giving glory to
God, and that this would be an active life. But these were told that
praising and giving glory to God is not a proper active life, also
that God has no need of praises and glorification, but it is His will
that they should perform uses, and thus the good works that are
called goods of charity. But they were unable to associate with goods
of charity any idea of heavenly joy, but only of servitude, although
the angels testified that this joy is most free because it comes from
an interior affection and is conjoined with ineffable delight.
405. Almost all who enter the other life think that hell is the same
to everyone, and heaven the same; and yet in both there are infinite
varieties and diversities, and in no case is hell or heaven wholly
the same to one as to another; as it is impossible that any one man,
spirit or angel should ever be wholly like another even as to the
face. At my mere thought of two being just alike or equal the angels
expressed horror, saying that everyone thing is formed out of the
harmonious concurrence of many things, and that the one thing is such
as that concurrence is; and that it is thus that a whole society in
heaven becomes a one, and that all the societies of heaven together
become a one, and this from the Lord alone by means of love.{1} Uses
in the heavens are likewise in all variety and diversity, and in no
case is the use of one wholly the same as and identical with the use
of another; so neither is the happiness of one the same as and
identical with the happiness of another. Furthermore, the delights of
each use are innumerable, and these innumerable delights are likewise
various, and yet conjoined in such order that they mutually regard
each other, like the uses of each member, organ, and viscus, in the
body, and still more like the uses of each vessel and fiber in each
member, organ and viscus; each and all of which are so affiliated as
to have regard to another's good in their own good, and thus each in
all, and all in each. From this universal and individual aspect they
act as one.
{Footnote 1} One thing consists of various things, and receives
thereby its form and quality and perfection in accordance with
the quality of the harmony and concurrence (n. 457, 3241,
8003). There is an infinite variety and never any one thing the
same as another (n. 7236, 9002). It is the same in the heavens
(n. 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002). In consequence all the
societies in the heavens and all the angels in a society are
distinct from each other because they are in different goods
and uses (n. 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263,
7236, 7833). The Lord's Divine love arranges all into a
heavenly form, and so conjoins them that they are as a single
man (n. 457, 3986, 5598).
406. I have talked at times with spirits that had recently come from
the world about the state of eternal life, saying that it is
important to know who the Lord of the kingdom is, and what kind and
what form of government it has. As nothing is more important for
those entering another kingdom in the world than to know who and what
the king is, and what the government is, and other particulars in
regard to the kingdom, so is it of still greater consequence in
regard to this kingdom in which they are to live to eternity.
Therefore they should know that it is the Lord who governs both
heaven and the universe, for He who governs the one governs the
other; thus that the kingdom in which they now are is the Lord's; and
that the laws of this kingdom are eternal truths, all of which rest
upon the law that the Lord must be loved above all things and the
neighbor as themselves; and even more than this, if they would be
like the angels they must love the neighbor more than themselves. On
hearing this they could make no reply, for the reason that although
they had heard in the life of the body something like this they had
not believed it, wondering how there could be such love in heaven,
and how it could be possible for any one to love his neighbor more
than himself. But they were told that every good increases
immeasurably in the other life, and that while they cannot go further
in the life of the body than to love the neighbor as themselves,
because they are immersed in what concerns the body, yet when this is
set aside their love becomes more pure, and finally becomes angelic,
which is to love the neighbor more than themselves. For in the
heavens there is joy in doing good to another, but no joy in doing
good to self unless with a view to its becoming another's, and thus
for another's sake. This is loving the neighbor more than oneself.
They were told that the possibility of such a love is shown in the
world in the marriage love of some who have suffered death to protect
a consort from injury, in the love of parents for their children, as
in a mother's preferring to go hungry rather than see her child go
hungry; in sincere friendship, in which one friend will expose
himself to danger for another; and even in polite and pretended
friendship that wishes to emulate sincere friendship, in offering the
better things to those to whom it professes to wish well, and bearing
such good will on the lips though not in the heart; finally, in the
nature of love, which is such that its joy is to serve others, not
for its own sake but for theirs. But all this was incomprehensible to
those who loved themselves more than others, and in the life of the
body had been greedy of gain; most of all to the avaricious.
407. There was one who in the life of the body had exercised power
over others, and who had retained in the other life the desire to
rule; but he was told that he was now in another kingdom, which is
eternal, and that his rule on earth had perished, and that he was now
where no one is esteemed except in accordance with his goodness and
truth, and that measure of the Lord's mercy which he enjoyed by
virtue of his life in the world; also that the same is true in this
kingdom as on the earth, where men are esteemed for their wealth and
for their favor with the prince, wealth here being good and truth,
and favor with the prince the mercy bestowed on man by the Lord in
accordance with his life in the world. Any wish to rule otherwise
would make him a rebel, since he is in another's kingdom. On hearing
these things he was ashamed.
408. I have talked with spirits who believed heaven and heavenly joy
to consist in their being great; but such were told that in heaven he
that is least is greatest, since he is called least who has, and
wishes to have, no power or wisdom from himself, but only from the
Lord, he that is least in that sense having the greatest happiness,
and as he has the greatest happiness, it follows that he is greatest;
for he has thereby from the Lord all power and excels all in wisdom.
What is it to be the greatest unless to be the most happy? For to be
the most happy is what the powerful seek through power and the rich
through riches. It was further said that heaven does not consist in a
desire to be least for the purpose of being greatest, for that would
be aspiring and longing to be the greatest; but it consists in
desiring from the heart the good of others more than one's own, and
in serving others with a view to their happiness, not with recompense
as an end, but from love.
409. Heavenly joy itself, such as it is in its essence, cannot be
described, because it is in the inmost of the life of angels and
therefrom in everything of their thought and affection, and from this
in every particular of their speech and action. It is as if the
interiors were fully opened and unloosed to receive delight and
blessedness, which are distributed to every least fiber and thus
through the whole. Thus the perception and sensation of this joy is
so great as to be beyond description, for that which starts from the
inmosts flows into every particular derived from the inmosts,
propagating itself away with increase towards the exteriors. Good
spirits who are not yet in that joy, because not yet raised up into
heaven, when they perceive a sense of that joy from an angel from the
sphere of his love, are filled with such delight that they come as it
were into a delicious trance. This sometimes happens with those who
desire to know what heavenly joy is.
410. When certain spirits wished to know what heavenly joy is they
were allowed to feel it to such a degree that they could no longer
bear it; and yet it was not angelic joy; it was scarcely in the least
degree angelic, as I was permitted to perceive by sharing it, but was
so slight as to be almost frigid; nevertheless they called it most
heavenly, because to them it was an inmost joy. From this it was
evident, not only that there are degrees of the joys of heaven, but
also that the inmost joy of one scarcely reaches to the outmost or
middle joy of another; also that when any one receives his own inmost
joy he is in his heavenly joy, and cannot endure what is still more
interior, for such a joy becomes painful to him.
411. Certain spirits, not evil, sinking into a quiescence like sleep,
were taken up into heaven in respect to the interiors of their minds;
for before their interiors are opened spirits can be taken up into
heaven and be taught about the happiness of those there. I saw them
in the quiescent state for about half an hour, and afterwards they
relapsed into their exteriors in which they were before, and also
into a recollection of what they had seen. They said that they had
been among the angels in heaven, and had there seen and perceived
amazing things, all of which were resplendent as if made of gold,
silver, and precious stones, in exquisite forms and in wonderful
variety; also that angels are not delighted with the outward things
themselves, but with the things they represented, which were Divine,
ineffable, and of infinite wisdom, and that these were their joy;
with innumerable other things that could not be described in human
language even as to a ten-thousandth part, or fall into ideas which
partake of any thing material.
412. Scarcely any who enter the other life know what heavenly
blessedness and happiness are, because they do not know what internal
joy is, deriving their perception of it solely from bodily and
worldly gladness and joy; and in consequence what they are ignorant
of they suppose to be nothing, when in fact bodily and worldly joys
are of no account in comparison. In order, therefore, that the well
disposed, who do not know what heavenly joy is, may know and realize
what it is, they are taken first to paradisal scenes that transcend
every conception of the imagination. They then think that they have
come into the heavenly paradise; but they are taught that this is not
true heavenly happiness; and they are permitted to realize such
interior states of joy as are perceptible to their inmost. They are
then brought into a state of peace even to their inmost, when they
confess that nothing of it is in the least expressible or
conceivable. Finally they are brought into a state of innocence even
to their inmost sense. Thus they are permitted to learn what true
spiritual and heavenly good is.
413. But that I might learn the nature of heaven and heavenly joy I
have frequently and for a long time been permitted by the Lord to
perceive the delights of heavenly joys; but while I have been enabled
to know by living experience what they are I am not at all able to
describe them. Nevertheless, that some idea of them may be formed,
something shall be said about them. Heavenly joy is an affection of
innumerable delights and joys, which together present something
general, and in this general, that is, this general affection, are
harmonies of innumerable affections that come to perception
obscurely, and not distinctly, because the perception is most
general. Nevertheless I was permitted to perceive that there are
innumerable things in it, in such order as cannot be at all
described, those innumerable things being such as flow from the order
of heaven. The order in the particulars of the affection even to the
least, is such that these particulars are presented and perceived
only as a most general whole, in accordance with the capacity of him
who is the subject. In a word, each general affection contains
infinite affections arranged in a most orderly form, with nothing
therein that is not alive, and that does not affect all of them from
the inmosts; for heavenly joys go forth from inmosts. I perceived
also that the joy and ecstasy came as from the heart, diffusing most
softly through all the inmost fibers, and from these into the bundles
of fibers, with such an inmost sense of delight that the fiber seemed
to be nothing but joy and ecstasy, and everything perceptive and
sensitive therefrom seemed in like manner to be alive with happiness.
Compared with these joys the joy of bodily pleasures is like a gross
and pungent dust compared with a pure and most gentle aura. I have
noticed that when I wished to transfer all my delight to another, a
more interior and fuller delight continually flowed in in its place,
and the more I wished this, the more flowed in; and this was
perceived to be from the Lord.
414. Those that are in heaven are continually advancing towards the
spring of life, with a greater advance towards a more joyful and
happy spring the more thousands of years they live; and this to
eternity, with increase according to the growth and degree of their
love, charity, and faith. Women who have died old and worn out with
age, if they have lived in faith in the Lord, in charity to the
neighbor, and in happy marriage love with a husband, advance with the
succession of years more and more into the flower of youth and early
womanhood, and into a beauty that transcends every conception of any
such beauty as is seen on the earth. Goodness and charity are what
give this form and thus manifest their own likeness, causing the joy
and beauty of charity to shine forth from every least particular of
the face, and causing them to be the very forms of charity. Some who
beheld this were struck with amazement. The form of charity that is
seen in a living way in heaven, is such that it is charity itself
that both forms and is formed; and this in such a manner that the
whole angel is a charity, as it were, especially the face; and this
is both clearly seen and felt. When this form is beheld it is beauty
unspeakable, affecting with charity the very inmost life of the mind.
In a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow young. Such forms or such
beauties do those become in the other life who have lived in love to
the Lord and in charity towards the neighbor. All angels are such
forms in endless variety; and of these heaven is constituted.
415. XLIII. THE IMMENSITY OF HEAVEN.
The immensity of the heaven of the Lord is evident from many things
that have been said and shown in the foregoing chapters, especially
from this, that heaven is from the human race (n. 311-317), both from
those born within the church and from those born out of it (n.
318-328); thus it consists of all from the beginning of this earth
that have lived a good life. How great a multitude of men there is in
this entire world any one who knows anything about the divisions, the
regions, and kingdoms of the earth may conclude. Whoever goes into a
calculation will find that several thousands of men die every day,
that is, some myriads of millions every year; and this from the
earliest times, since which several thousands of years have elapsed.
All of these after death have gone into the other world, which is
called the spiritual world, and they are constantly going into it.
But how many of these have become or are becoming angels of heaven
cannot be told. This I have been told, that in ancient times the
number was very great, because men then thought more interiorly and
spiritually, and from such thought were in heavenly affection; but in
the following ages not so many, because in the process of time man
became more external and began to think more naturally, and from such
thought to be in earthly affection. All of this shows how great
heaven is even from the inhabitants of this earth alone.
416. The immensity of the heaven of the Lord is shown also by this,
that all children, whether born within the church or out of it, are
adopted by the Lord and become angels; and the number of these
amounts to a fourth or fifth part of the whole human race on the
earth. That every child, wherever born, whether within the church or
out of it, whether of pious or impious parents, is received by the
Lord when it dies, and is brought up in heaven, and is taught and
imbued with affections for good, and through these with knowledges of
truth, in accordance with Divine order, and as he becomes perfected
in intelligence and wisdom is brought into heaven and becomes an
angel, can be seen above (n. 329-345). From all this a conclusion may
be formed of the multitude of angels of heaven, derived from this
source alone, from the first creation to the present time.
417. Again, how immense the heaven of the Lord is can be seen from
this, that all the planets visible to the eye in our solar system are
earths, and moreover, that in the whole universe there are
innumerable earths, all of them full of inhabitants. These have been
treated of particularly in a small work on those earths from which I
will quote the following passage:
It is fully known in the other life that there are many earths
inhabited by men from which spirits and angels come; for everyone
there who desires from a love of truth and of use to do so is
permitted to talk with spirits of other earths, and thus be assured
that there is a plurality of worlds, and learn that the human race is
not from one earth alone, but from innumerable earths. I have
frequently talked about this with spirits of our earth, and was told
that any intelligent person ought to know from many things that he
does know that there are many earths inhabited by men; for it may be
reasonably inferred that immense bodies like the planets, some of
which exceed this earth in magnitude, are not empty masses created
merely to be borne through space and to be carried around the sun,
and to shine with their scanty light for the benefit of a single
earth, but must have a more important use. He that believes, as
everyone must believe, that the Divine created the universe for no
other end than that the human race might exist, and heaven therefrom,
for the human race is a seminary of heaven, must needs believe that
wherever there is an earth there are men. That the planets visible to
us because they are within the limits of our solar system are earths
is evident from their being bodies of earthy matters, which is known
from their reflecting the sun's light, and from their not appearing,
when viewed through telescopes, like stars, sparkling with flame, but
like earths varied with darker portions; also from their passing like
our earth around the sun and following in the path of the zodiac,
thus making years and seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn,
and winter, also revolving on their axes like our earth, making days
and times of the day, morning, mid-day, evening, and night; also from
some of them having moons, called satellites, that revolve around
their earth at stated times, as the moon does around ours; while the
planet Saturn, being at a greater distance from the sun, has also a
large luminous belt which gives much light, though reflected, to that
earth. Who that knows all this and thinks rationally can ever say
that the planets are empty bodies? Moreover, I have said to spirits
that man might believe that there are more earths in the universe
than one, from the fact that the starry heaven is so immense, and the
stars there so innumerable, and each of them in its place or in its
system a sun, resembling our sun, although of a varying magnitude.
Any one who duly weighs the subject must conclude that such an
immense whole must needs be a means to an end that is the final end
of creation; and this end is a heavenly kingdom in which the Divine
may dwell with angels and men. For the visible universe or the heaven
illumined by stars so numberless, which are so many suns, is simply a
means for the existence of earths with men upon them from whom the
heavenly kingdom is derived. From all this a rational man must needs
conclude that so immense a means to so great an end could not have
been provided merely for the human race on a single earth. What would
this be for a Divine that is infinite, to which thousands and even
myriads of earths, all of them full of inhabitants, would be little
and scarcely anything? There are spirits whose sole pursuit is the
acquisition of knowledges, because their delight is in this alone;
and for this reason they are permitted to wander about, and even to
pass out of our solar system into others, in acquiring knowledge.
These spirits, who are from the planet Mercury, have told me that
there are earths with men upon them not only in this solar system but
also beyond it in the starry heaven in immense numbers. It was
calculated that with a million earths in the universe, and on each
earth three hundred millions of men, and two hundred generations in
six thousand years, and a space of three cubic ells allowed to each
man or spirit, the total number of so many men or spirits would not
fill the space of this earth, and scarcely more than the space of one
of the satellites about one of the planets--a space in the universe
so small as to be almost invisible, since a satellite can scarcely be
seen by the naked eye. What is this for the Creator of the universe,
to whom it would not be sufficient if the whole universe were filled,
since He is infinite? I have talked with angels about this, and they
said that they had a similar idea of the fewness of the human race
compared with the infinity of the Creator, although their thought is
from states, not from spaces, and that in their thought earths
amounting to as many myriads as could possibly be conceived of would
still be nothing at all to the Lord.
The earths in the universe, with their inhabitants, and the spirits
and angels from them, are treated of in the above mentioned work.
What is there related has been revealed and shown to me to the intent
that it may be known that the heaven of the Lord is immense, and that
it is all from the human race; also that our Lord is every where
acknowledged as the God of heaven and earth.
418. Again, the immensity of the heaven of the Lord is shown in this,
that heaven in its entire complex reflects a single Man, and
corresponds to all things and each thing in man, and that this
correspondence can never be filled out, since it is a correspondence
not only with each of the members, organs, and viscera of the body in
general, but also with all and each of the little viscera and little
organs contained in these in every minutest particular, and even with
each vessel and fiber; and not only with these but also with the
organic substances that receive interiorly the influx of heaven, from
which come man's interior activities that are serviceable to the
operations of his mind; since everything that exists interiorly in
man exists in forms which are substances, for anything that does not
exist in a substance as its subject is nothing. There is a
correspondence of all these things with heaven, as can be seen from
the chapter treating of the correspondence of all things of heaven
with all things of man (n. 87-102). This correspondence can never be
filled out because the more numerous the angelic affiliations are
that correspond to each member the more perfect heaven becomes; for
every perfection in the heavens increases with increase of number;
and this for the reason that all there have the same end, and look
with one accord to that end. That end is the common good; and when
that reigns there is, from the common good, good to each individual,
and from the good of each individual there is good to the whole
community. This is so for the reason that the Lord turns all in
heaven to Himself (see above, n. 123), and thereby makes them to be
one in Himself. That the unanimity and concord of many, especially
from such an origin and held together by such a bond, produces
perfection, everyone with a reason at all enlightened can see
clearly.
419. I have also been permitted to see the extent of the inhabited
and also of the uninhabited heaven; and the extent of the uninhabited
heaven was seen to be so great that it could not be filled to
eternity even if there were many myriads of earths, and as great a
multitude of men on each earth as on ours. (On this also see the
treatise on The Earths in the Universe, n. 168.)
420. That heaven is not immense, but it is of limited extent, is a
conclusion that some have derived from certain passages in the Word
understood according to the sense of its letter; for example, where
it is said that only the poor are received into heaven, or only the
elect, or only those within the church, and not those outside of it,
or only those for whom the Lord intercedes; that heaven is closed
when it is filled, and that this time is predetermined. But such are
unaware that heaven is never closed, and that there is no time
predetermined, or any limit of number; and that those are called the
"elect" who are in a life of good and truth;{1} and those are called
"poor" who are lacking in knowledges of good and truth and yet desire
them; and such from that desire are also called hungry.{2} Those that
have conceived an idea of the small extent of heaven from the Word
not understood believe it to be in one place, where all are gathered
together; when, in fact, heaven consists of innumerable societies
(see above, n. 41-50). Such also have no other idea than that heaven
is granted to everyone from mercy apart from means, and thus that
there is admission and reception from mere favor; and they fail to
understand that the Lord from mercy leads everyone who accepts Him,
and that he accepts Him who lives in accordance with the laws of
divine order, which are the precepts of love and of faith, and that
the mercy that is meant is to be thus led by the Lord from infancy to
the last period of life in the world and afterwards to eternity. Let
them know, therefore, that every man is born for heaven, and that he
is received that receives heaven in himself in the world, and he that
does not receive it is shut out.
{Footnote 1} Those are the elect who are in a life of good and
truth (n. 3755, 3900). Election and reception into heaven are
not from mercy, as that term is understood, but are in
accordance with the life (n. 5057, 5058). There is no mercy of
the Lord apart from means, but only through means, that is, to
those that live in accordance with His precepts; such the Lord
from His mercy leads continually in the world, and afterwards
to eternity (n. 8700, 10659).
{Footnote 2} By the "poor," in the Word, those are meant who
are spiritually poor, that is, who are ignorant of truth and
yet wish to be taught (n. 9209, 9253, 10227). Such are said to
hunger and thirst, which is to desire knowledges of good and of
truth, by which there is introduction into the church and into
heaven (n. 4958, 10227).
421. XLIV. WHAT THE WORLD OF SPIRITS IS.
The world of spirits is not heaven, nor is it hell, but it is the
intermediate place or state between the two; for it is the place that
man first enters after death; and from which after a suitable time he
is either raised up into heaven or cast down into hell in accord with
his life in the world.
422. The world of spirits is an intermediate place between heaven and
hell and also an intermediate state of the man after death. It has
been shown to me not only that it is an intermediate place, having
the hells below it and the heavens above it, but also that it is in
an intermediate state, since so long as man is in it he is not yet
either in heaven or in hell. The state of heaven in man is the
conjunction of good and truth in him; and the state of hell is the
conjunction of evil and falsity in him. Whenever good in a man-spirit
is conjoined to truth he comes into heaven, because that conjunction,
as just said, is heaven in him; but whenever evil in a man-spirit is
conjoined with falsity he comes into hell, because that conjunction
is hell in him. That conjunction is effected in the world of spirits,
man then being in an intermediate state. It is the same thing whether
you say the conjunction of the understanding and the will, or the
conjunction of good and truth.
423. Let something first be said about the conjunction of the
understanding and the will, and its being the same thing as the
conjunction of good and truth, that being the conjunction that is
effected in the world of spirits. Man has an understanding and a
will. The understanding receives truths and is formed out of them,
and the will receives goods and is formed out of them; therefore
whatever a man understands and thinks from his understanding he calls
true, and whatever a man wills and thinks from his will he calls
good. From his understanding man can think and thus perceive both
what is true and what is good; and yet he thinks what is true and
good from the will only when he wills it and does it. When he wills
it and from willing does it, it is both in his understanding and in
his will, consequently in the man. For neither the understanding
alone nor the will alone makes the man, but the understanding and
will together; therefore whatever is in both is in the man, and is
appropriated to him. That which is in the understanding alone is in
man, and yet not really in him; it is only a thing of his memory, or
a matter of knowledge in his memory about which he can think when in
company with others and outside of himself, but not in himself; that
is, about which he can speak and reason, and can simulate affections
and gestures that are in accord with it.
424. This ability to think from the understanding and not at the same
time from the will is provided that man may be capable of being
reformed; for reformation is effected by means of truths, and truths
pertain to the understanding, as just said. For in respect to his
will man is born into every evil, and therefore of himself wills good
to no one but himself; and one who wills good to himself alone
delights in the misfortunes that befall another, especially when they
tend to his own advantage; for his wish is to divert to himself the
goods of all others, whether honors or riches, and so far as he
succeeds in this he inwardly rejoices. To the end that this will of
man may be corrected and reformed, an ability to understand truths,
and an ability to subdue by means of truths the affections of evil
that spring from the will, are given to man. This is why man has this
ability to think truths with his understanding, and to speak them and
do them. But until man is such that he wills truths and does them
from himself, that is, from the heart, he is not able to think truths
from his will. When he becomes such, whatever he thinks from his
understanding belongs to his faith, and whatever he thinks from his
will belongs to his love; and in consequence his faith and his love,
like his understanding and his will, are conjoined in him.
425. To the extent, therefore, that the truths of the understanding
and the goods of the will are conjoined, that is, to the extent that
a man wills truths and does them from his will, he has heaven in
himself, since the conjunction of good and truth, as just said, is
heaven. And on the other hand, just to the extent that the falsities
of the understanding and the evils of the will are conjoined man has
hell in himself, since the conjunction of falsity and evil is hell.
But so long as the truths of the understanding and the goods of the
will are not conjoined man is in an intermediate state. At the
present time nearly everyone is in such a state that he has some
knowledge of truths, and from his knowledge and understanding gives
some thought to them, and conforms to them either much or little or
not at all, or acts contrary to them from a love of evil and
consequent false belief. In order, therefore, that man may have in
him either heaven or hell, he is first brought after death into the
world of spirits, and there with those who are to be raised up into
heaven good and truth are conjoined, and with those who are to be
cast down into hell evil and falsity are conjoined. For neither in
heaven nor in hell is any one permitted to have a divided mind, that
is, to understand one thing and to will another; but everyone must
understand what he wills, and will what he understands. Therefore in
heaven he who wills good understands truth, while in hell he who
wills evil understands falsity. So in the intermediate state the
falsities that the good have are put away, and truths that agree and
harmonize with their good are given them; while the truths that the
evil have are put away, and falsities that agree and harmonize with
their evil are given them. This shows what the world of spirits is.
426. In the world of spirits there are vast numbers, because the
first meeting of all is there, and all are there explored and
prepared. The time of their stay in that world is not fixed; some
merely enter it, and are soon either taken into heaven or are cast
down into hell; some remain only a few weeks, some several years, but
not more than thirty. These differences in the time they remain
depend on the correspondence or lack of correspondence of man's
interiors with his exteriors. How man is led in that world from one
state into another and prepared shall now be told.
427. As soon as men after death enter the world of spirits the Lord
clearly discriminates between them; and the evil are at once attached
to the infernal society in which they were, as to their ruling love
while in the world; and the good are at once attached to the heavenly
society in which they were as to their love, charity and faith while
in the world. But although they are thus divided, all that have been
friends and acquaintances in the life of the body, especially wives
and husbands, and also brothers and sisters, meet and converse
together whenever they so desire. I have seen a father talking with
six sons, whom he recognized, and have seen many others with their
relatives and friends; but having from their life in the world
diverse dispositions, after a short time they separate. But those who
have passed from the world of spirits into heaven or into hell,
unless they have a like disposition from a like love, no longer see
or know each other. The reason that they see each other in the world
of spirits, but not in heaven or in hell, is that those who are in
the world of spirits are brought into one state after another, like
those they experienced in the life of the body; but afterwards all
are brought into a permanent state in accord with their ruling love,
and in that state one recognizes another only by similarity of love;
for then similarity joins and dissimilarity disjoins (see above,
n. 41-50).
428. As the world of spirits is an intermediate state between heaven
and hell with man, so it is an intermediate place with the hells
below and the heavens above. All the hells are shut towards that
world, being open only through holes and clefts like those in rocks
and through wide openings that are so guarded that no one can come
out except by permission, which is granted in cases of urgent
necessity (of which hereafter). Heaven, too, is enclosed on all
sides; and there is no passage open to any heavenly society except by
a narrow way, the entrance to which is also guarded. These outlets
and entrances are what are called in the Word the gates and doors of
hell and of heaven.
429. The world of spirits appears like a valley between mountains and
rocks, with windings and elevations here and there. The gates and
doors of the heavenly societies are visible to those only who are
prepared for heaven; others cannot find them. There is one entrance
from the world of spirits to each heavenly society, opening through a
single path which branches out in its ascent into several. The gates
and doors of the hells also are visible only to those who are about
to enter, to whom they are then opened. When these are opened gloomy
and seemingly sooty caverns are seen tending obliquely downwards to
the abyss, where again there are many doors. Through these caverns
nauseous and fetid stenches exhale, which good spirits flee from
because they abominate them, but evil spirits seek for them because
they delight in them. For as everyone in the world has been delighted
with his own evil, so after death he is delighted with the stench to
which his evil corresponds. In this respect the evil may be likened
to rapacious birds and beasts, like ravens, wolves, and swine, which
fly or run to carrion or dunghills when they scent their stench. I
heard a certain spirit crying out loudly as if from inward torture
when struck by a breath flowing forth from heaven; but he became
tranquil and glad as soon as a breath flowing forth from hell reached
him.
430. With every man there are two gates; one that leads to hell and
that is open to evils and their falsities; while the other leads to
heaven and is open to goods and their truths. Those that are in evil
and its falsity have the gate to hell opened in them, and only
through chinks from above does something of light from heaven flow
into them, and by that inflowing they are able to think, to reason,
and to speak; but the gate to heaven is opened in those that are in
good and its truth. For there are two ways that lead to the rational
mind of man; a higher or internal way through which good and truth
from the Lord enter, and a lower or external way through which evil
and falsity enter from hell. The rational mind itself is at the
middle point to which the ways tend. Consequently, so far as light
from heaven is admitted man is rational; but so far as it is not
admitted he is not rational, however rational he may seem to himself
to be. This has been said to make known the nature of the
correspondence of man with heaven and with hell. While man's rational
mind is being formed it corresponds to the world of spirits, what is
above it corresponding to heaven and what is below to hell. With
those preparing for heaven the regions above the rational mind are
opened, but those below are closed to the influx of evil and falsity;
while with those preparing for hell the parts below it are opened,
and the parts above it are closed to the influx of good and truth.
Thus the latter can look only to what is below themselves, that is,
to hell; while the former can look only to what is above themselves,
that is, to heaven. To look above themselves is to look to the Lord,
because He is the common center to which all things of heaven look;
while to look below themselves is to look backwards from the Lord to
the opposite center, to which all things of hell look and tend (see
above, n. 123, 124).
431. In the preceding pages whenever spirits are mentioned those that
are in the world of spirits are meant; but when angels are mentioned
those that are in heaven are meant.
432. XLV. IN RESPECT TO HIS INTERIORS EVERY MAN IS A SPIRIT.
Whoever duly considers the subject can see that as the body is
material it is not the body that thinks, but the soul, which is
spiritual. The soul of man, upon the immortality of which many have
written, is his spirit, for this as to everything belonging to it is
immortal. This also is what thinks in the body, for it is spiritual,
and what is spiritual receives what is spiritual and lives
spiritually, which is to think and to will. Therefore, all rational
life that appears in the body belongs to the soul, and nothing of it
to the body; for the body, as just said, is material, and the
material, which is the property of the body, is added to and
apparently almost joined to the spirit, in order that the spirit of
man may be able to live and perform uses in the natural world, all
things of which are material and in themselves devoid of life. And as
it is the spiritual only that lives and not the material, it can be
seen that whatever lives in man is his spirit, and that the body
merely serves it, just as what is instrumental serves a moving living
force. An instrument is said indeed to act, to move, or to strike;
but to believe that these are acts of the instrument, and not of him
who acts, moves, or strikes by means of the instrument, is a fallacy.
433. As everything in the body that lives, and that acts and feels
from that life, belongs exclusively to the spirit, and nothing of it
to the body, it follows that the spirit is the man himself; or what
is the same thing, that a man viewed in himself is a spirit
possessing a like form; for whatever lives and feels in man belongs
to his spirit and everything in man, from his head to the sole of his
foot, lives and feels; and in consequence when the body is separated
from its spirit, which is what is called dying, man continues to be a
man and to live. I have heard from heaven that some who die, while
they are lying upon the bier, before they are resuscitated, continue
to think even in their cold body, and do not know that they are not
still alive, except that they are unable to move a particle of matter
belonging to the body.
434. Unless man were a subject which is a substance that can serve a
source and containant he would be unable to think and will. Any thing
that is supposed to exist apart from a substantial subject is
nothing. This can be seen from the fact that a man is unable to see
without an organ which is the subject of his sight, or to hear
without an organ which is the subject of his hearing. Apart from
these organs, sight and hearing are nothing and have no existence.
The same is true of thought, which is inner sight, and of perception,
which is inner hearing; unless these were in substances and from
substances which are organic forms and subjects, they would have no
existence at all. All this shows that man's spirit as well as his
body is in a form, and that it is in a human form, and enjoys
sensories and senses when separated from the body the same as when it
was in it, and that all the life of the eye and all the life of the
ear, in a word, all the life of sense that man has, belongs not to
his body but to his spirit, which dwells in these organs and in their
minutest particulars. This is why spirits see, hear, and feel, as
well as men. But when the spirit has been loosed from the body, these
senses are exercised in the spiritual world, not in the natural
world. The natural sensation that the spirit had when it was in the
body it had by means of the material part that was added to it; but
it then had also spiritual sensations in its thinking and willing.
435. All this has been said to convince the rational man that viewed
in himself man is a spirit, and that the corporeal part that is added
to the spirit to enable it to perform its functions in the natural
and material world is not the man, but only an instrument of his
spirit. But evidences from experience are preferable, because there
are many that fail to comprehend rational deductions; and those that
have established themselves in the opposite view turn such deductions
into grounds of doubt by means of reasonings from the fallacies of
the senses. Those that have established themselves in the opposite
view are accustomed to think that beasts likewise have life and
sensations and thus have a spiritual part, the same as man has, and
yet that part dies with the body. But the spiritual of beasts is not
the same as the spiritual of man is; for man has what beasts have
not, an inmost, into which the Divine flows, raising man up to
Itself, and thereby conjoining man to Itself. Because of this, man,
in contrast with beasts, has the ability to think about God and about
the Divine things of heaven and the church, and to love God from
these and in these, and thus be conjoined to Him; and whatever can be
conjoined to the Divine cannot be dissipated, but whatever cannot be
conjoined is dissipated. The inmost that man has, in contrast with
beasts, has been treated of above (n. 39), and what was there said
will here be repeated, since it is important to have the fallacies
dispelled that have been engendered in the minds of many who from
lack of knowledge and trained intellect are unable to form rational
conclusions on the subject. The words are these:
I will mention a certain arcanum respecting the angels of the three
heavens, which has not hitherto come into any one's mind, because
degrees have not been understood. In every angel and in every man
there is an inmost or highest degree, or an inmost or highest
something, into which the Divine of the Lord first or most directly
flows, and from which it disposes the other interiors in him that
succeed in accordance with the degrees of order. This inmost or
highest degree may be called the entrance of the Lord to the angel or
man, and His veriest dwelling-place in them. It is by virtue of this
inmost or highest that a man is a man, and distinguished from the
animals, which do not have it. From this it is that man, unlike the
animals, is capable, in respect to all his interiors which pertain to
his mind and disposition, of being raised up by the Lord to Himself,
of believing in the Lord, of being moved by love to the Lord, and
thereby beholding Him, and of receiving intelligence and wisdom, and
speaking from reason. Also it is by virtue of this that he lives to
eternity. But what is arranged and provided by the Lord in this
inmost does not distinctly fall into the perception of any angel,
because it is above his thought and transcends his wisdom.
436. That in respect to his interiors man is a spirit I have been
permitted to learn from much experience, which, to employ a common
saying, would fill volumes if I were to describe it all. I have
talked with spirits as a spirit, and I have talked with them as a man
in the body; and when I talked with them as a spirit they knew no
otherwise than that I myself was a spirit and in a human form as they
were. Thus did my interiors appear before them, for when talking with
them as a spirit my material body was not seen.
437. That in respect to his interiors man is a spirit can be seen
from the fact that after his separation from the body, which takes
place when he dies, man goes on living as a man just as before. That
I might be convinced of this I have been permitted to talk with
nearly everyone I had ever known in their life in the body; with some
for hours, with some for weeks and months, and with some for years,
and this chiefly that I might be sure of it and might testify to it.
438. To this may be added that every man in respect to his spirit,
even while he is living in the body, is in some society with spirits,
although he does not know it; if a good man he is by means of spirits
in some angelic society; if an evil man in some infernal society; and
after death he comes into that same society. This has been often told
and shown to those who after death have come among spirits. Man, to
be sure, does not appear in that society as a spirit while he is
living in the world, for the reason that he then thinks naturally;
but when one is thinking abstractly from the body, because he is then
in the spirit, he sometimes appears in his society; and when seen he
is easily distinguished from the spirits there, for he goes about
meditating and in silence, not looking at others, and apparently not
seeing them; and as soon as any spirit speaks to him he vanishes.
439. To make clear that man in respect to his interiors is a spirit I
will relate from experience what happens when man is withdrawn from
the body, and what it is to be carried away by the spirit to another
place.
440. First, as to withdrawal from the body, it happens thus. Man is
brought into a certain state that is midway between sleeping and
waking, and when in that state he seems to himself to be wide awake;
all the senses are as perfectly awake as in the completest bodily
wakefulness, not only the sight and the hearing, but what is
wonderful, the sense of touch also, which is then more exquisite than
is ever possible when the body is awake. In this state spirits and
angels have been seen to the very life, and have been heard, and what
is wonderful, have been touched, with almost nothing of the body
intervening. This is the state that is called being withdrawn from
the body, and not knowing whether one is in the body or out of it. I
have been admitted into this state only three or four times, that I
might learn what it is, and might know that spirits and angels enjoy
every sense, and that man does also in respect to his spirit when he
is withdrawn from the body.
441. As to being carried away by the spirit to another place, I have
been shown by living experience what it is, and how it is done, but
only two or three times. I will relate a single instance. Walking
through the streets of a city and through fields, talking at the same
time with spirits, I knew no otherwise than that I was fully awake,
and in possession of my usual sight. Thus I walked on without going
astray, and all the while with clear vision, seeing groves, rivers,
palaces, houses, men, and other objects. But after walking thus for
some hours, suddenly I saw with my bodily eyes, and noted that I was
in another place. Being greatly astonished I perceived that I had
been in the same state as those who were said to have been led away
by the spirit into another place. For in this state the distance,
even though it be many miles, and the time, though it be many hours
or days, are not thought of; neither is there any feeling of fatigue;
and one is led unerringly through ways of which he himself is
ignorant, even to the destined place.
442. But these two states of man, which are his states when he is in
his interiors, or what is the same, when he is in the spirit, are
extraordinary; but as they are states known about in the church, they
were exhibited to me only that I might know what they are. But it has
been granted to me now for many years to speak with spirits and to be
with them as one of them, even in full wakefulness of the body.
443. That in respect to his interiors man is a spirit there are
further evidences in what has been said and shown above (n. 311-317),
where it is explained that heaven and hell are from the human race.
444. That man is a spirit in respect to his interiors means in
respect to the things pertaining to his thought and will, for these
are the interiors themselves that make man to be man, and such a man
as he is in respect to these interiors.
445. XLVI. THE RESUSCITATION OF MAN FROM THE DEAD AND HIS ENTRANCE
INTO ETERNAL LIFE.
When the body is no longer able to perform the bodily functions in
the natural world that correspond to the spirit's thoughts and
affections, which the spirit has from the spiritual world, man is
said to die. This takes place when the respiration of the lungs and
the beatings of the heart cease. But the man does not die; he is
merely separated from the bodily part that was of use to him in the
world, while the man himself continues to live. It is said that the
man himself continues to live since man is not a man because of his
body but because of his spirit, for it is the spirit that thinks in
man, and thought with affection is what constitutes man. Evidently,
then, the death of man is merely his passing from one world into
another. And this is why in the Word in its internal sense "death"
signifies resurrection and continuation of life.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word "death" signifies resurrection, for
when man dies his life still goes on (n. 3498, 3505, 4618,
4621, 6036, 6221).
446. There is an inmost communication of the spirit with the
breathing and with the beating of the heart, the spirit's thought
communicating with the breathing, and its affection, which is of
love, with the heart;{1} consequently when these two motions cease in
the body there is at once a separation. These two motions, the
respiration of the lungs and the beating of heart, are the very bond
on the sundering of which the spirit is left to itself; and the body
being then deprived of the life of its spirit grows cold and begins
to decay. This inmost communication of the spirit of man is with the
respiration and with the heart, because on these all vital motions
depend, not only in general but in every particular.{2}
{Footnote 1} The heart corresponds to the will, thus to the
affection which belongs to the love, while the respiration of
the lungs corresponds to the understanding, thus to the thought
(n. 3888). From this the "heart" in the Word signifies the will
and love (n. 7542, 9050, 10336). The "soul" signifies
understanding, faith, and truth; therefore "from the soul and
from the heart" signifies what is from the understanding,
faith, and truth, and what is from the will, love, and good (n.
2930, 9050). The correspondence of the heart and lungs with the
Greatest Man, or heaven (n. 3883-3895).
{Footnote 2} The beating of the heart and the respiration of
the lungs reign in the body throughout, and flow mutually into
every part (n. 3887, 3889, 3890).
447. After the separation the spirit of man continues in the body for
a short time, but only until the heart's action has wholly ceased,
which happens variously in accord with the diseased condition that
causes death, with some the motion of the heart continuing for some
time, with others not so long. As soon as this motion ceases the man
is resuscitated; but this is done by the Lord alone. Resuscitation
means the drawing forth of the spirit from the body, and its
introduction into the spiritual world; this is commonly called the
resurrection. The spirit is not separated from the body until the
motion of the heart has ceased, for the reason that the heart
corresponds to the affection of love, which is the very life of man,
for it is from love that everyone has vital heat;{1} consequently as
long as this conjunction continues correspondence continues, and
thereby the life of the spirit in the body.
{Footnote 1} Love is the being [esse] of the life of man (n.
5002). Love is spiritual heat, and therefore the very vital
itself of man (n. 1589, 2146, 3338, 4906, 7081-7086, 9954,
10740). Affection is a continuation of love (n. 3938).
448. How this resuscitation is effected has both been told to me and
shown to me in living experience. The actual experience was granted
to me that I might have a complete knowledge of the process.
449. As to the senses of the body I was brought into a state of
insensibility, thus nearly into the state of the dying; but with the
interior life and thought remaining unimpaired, in order that I might
perceive and retain in the memory the things that happened to me, and
that happen to those that are resuscitated from the dead. I perceived
that the respiration of the body was almost wholly taken away; but
the interior respiration of the spirit went on in connection with a
slight and tacit respiration of the body. Then at first a
communication of the pulse of the heart with the celestial kingdom
was established, because that kingdom corresponds to the heart in
man.{1} Angels from that kingdom were seen, some at a distance, and
two sitting near my head. Thus all my own affection was taken away
although thought and perception continued. [2] I was in this state
for some hours. Then the spirits that were around me withdrew,
thinking that I was dead; and an aromatic odor like that of an
embalmed body was perceived, for when the celestial angels are
present everything pertaining to the corpse is perceived as aromatic,
and when spirits perceive this they cannot approach; and in this way
evil spirits are kept away from man's spirit when he is being
introduced into eternal life. The angels seated at my head were
silent, merely sharing their thoughts with mine; and when their
thoughts are received the angels know that the spirit of man is in a
state in which it can be drawn forth from the body. This sharing of
their thoughts was effected by looking into my face, for in this way
in heaven thoughts are shared. [3] As my thought and perception
continued, that I might know and remember how resuscitation is
effected, I perceived the angels first tried to ascertain what my
thought was, whether it was like the thought of those who are dying,
which is usually about eternal life; also that they wished to keep my
mind in that thought. Afterwards I was told that the spirit of man is
held in its last thought when the body expires, until it returns to
the thoughts that are from its general or ruling affection in the
world. Especially was I permitted to see and feel that there was a
pulling and drawing forth, as it were, of the interiors of my mind,
thus of my spirit, from the body; and I was told that this is from
the Lord, and that the resurrection is thus effected.
{Footnote 1} The heart corresponds to the Lord's celestial
kingdom, the lungs to His spiritual kingdom (n. 3635, 3886,
3887).
450. The celestial angels who are with the one that is resuscitated
do not withdraw from him, because they love everyone; but when the
spirit comes into such a state that he can no longer be affiliated
with celestial angels, he longs to get away from them. When this
takes place angels from the Lord's spiritual kingdom come, through
whom is given the use of light; for before this he saw nothing, but
merely thought. I was shown how this is done. The angels appeared to
roll off, as it were, a coat from the left eye towards the bridge of
the nose, that the eye might be opened and be enabled to see. This is
only an appearance, but to the spirit it seemed to be really done.
When the coat thus seems to have been rolled off there is a slight
sense of light, but very dim, like what is seen through the eyelids
on first awakening from sleep. To me this dim light took on a
heavenly hue, but I was told afterwards that the color varies. Then
something is felt to be gently rolled off from the face, and when
this is done spiritual thought is awakened. This rolling off from the
face is also an appearance, which represents the spirit's passing
from natural thought into spiritual thought. The angels are extremely
careful that only such ideas as savor of love shall proceed from the
one resuscitated. They now tell him that he is a spirit. When he has
come into the enjoyment of light the spiritual angels render to the
new spirit every service he can possibly desire in that state; and
teach him about the things of the other life so far as he can
comprehend them. But if he has no wish to be taught the spirit longs
to get away from the company of the angels. Nevertheless, the angels
do not withdraw from him, but he separates himself from them; for the
angels love everyone, and desire nothing so much as to render
service, to teach, and to lead into heaven; this constitutes their
highest delight. When the spirit has thus withdrawn he is received by
good spirits, and as long as he continues in their company everything
possible is done for him. But if he had lived such a life in the
world as would prevent his enjoying the company of the good he longs
to get away from the good, and this experience is repeated until he
comes into association with such as are in entire harmony with his
life in the world; and with such he finds his own life, and what is
surprising, he then leads a life like that which he led in the world.
451. This opening state of man's life after death lasts only a few
days. How he is afterwards led from one state to another, and finally
either into heaven or into hell, will be told in what follows. This,
too, I have been permitted to learn by much experience.
452. I have talked with some on the third day after their decease,
when the process described above (n. 449, 450) had been completed,
especially with three whom I had known in the world, to whom I
mentioned that arrangements were now being made for burying their
bodies; I said, for burying them; on hearing which they were smitten
with a kind of surprise, saying that they were alive, and that the
thing that had served them in the world was what was being buried.
Afterwards they wondered greatly that they had not believed in such a
life after death while they lived in the body, and especially that
scarcely any within the church so believed. Those that have not
believed in the world in any life of the soul after the life of the
body are greatly ashamed when they find themselves to be alive. But
those that have confirmed themselves in that disbelief seek
affiliation with their like, and are separated from those that have
had faith. Such are for the most part attached to some infernal
society, because they have also denied the divine and have despised
the truths of the church; for so far as any one confirms himself
against the eternal life of his soul he confirms himself also against
whatever pertains to heaven and the church.
453. XLVII. MAN AFTER DEATH IS IN A COMPLETE HUMAN FORM
It has already been shown in several previous chapters that the form
of the spirit of man is the human form, that is, that the spirit is a
man even in form, especially where it is shown that every angel has a
complete human form (n. 73-77) that in respect to his interiors every
man is a spirit (n. 432-444); and that the angels in heaven are from
the human race (n. 311-317). [2] This can be seen still more clearly
from the fact that it is by virtue of his spirit, and not by virtue
of his body that man is a man, and that the bodily form is added to
the spirit in accordance with the spirit's form, and not the reverse,
for it is in accordance with its own form that the spirit is clothed
with a body. Consequently the spirit of man acts into every part of
the body, even the minutest, insomuch that if any part is not
actuated by the spirit, or the spirit is not active in it, it does
not live. Any one can see that this is true from this fact alone,
that thought and will actuate all things and each thing of the body
with such entire command that everything concurs, and any thing that
does not concur is not a part of the body, but is cast out as
something without life; and thought and will belong, not to the body,
but to the spirit of man. [3] A spirit that has been loosed from the
body or the spirit in another man, is not visible in the human form
to man, because the body's organ of sight, or its eye, so far as it
sees in the world, is a material organ, and what is material can see
only what is material, while what is spiritual sees what is
spiritual. When, therefore, the material part of the eye becomes
darkened and is deprived of its cooperation with the spiritual, the
eye sees spirits in their own form, which is the human form, not only
the spirits that are in the spiritual world, but also the spirit of
another man while it is yet in its body.
454. The form of the spirit is the human form because man is created
in respect to his spirit in the form of heaven, for all things of
heaven and of the order of heaven are brought together in the things
that constitute the mind of man;{1} and from this comes his capacity
to receive intelligence and wisdom. Whether you say the capacity to
receive intelligence and wisdom or the capacity to receive heaven it
is the same thing, as can be seen from what has been shown about the
light and heat of heaven (n. 126-140); the form of heaven (n.
200-212); the wisdom of angels (n. 265-275); and in the chapter that
the form of heaven as a whole and in part reflects a single man (n.
59-77); and this by virtue of the Divine Human of the Lord, which is
the source of heaven and its form (n. 78-86).
{Footnote 1} Man is the being into whom are brought together
all things of Divine order, and by creation he is Divine order
in form (n. 4219, 4222, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 6013, 6057,
6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). So far as a man lives in
accordance with Divine order he is seen in the other life as a
man, complete and beautiful (n. 4839, 6605, 6626).
455. That which has now been said can be understood by the rational
man, for he can see it from the connection of causes and from truths
in their order; but it is not understood by a man who is not
rational, and for several reasons, the chief of which is that he has
no desire to understand it because it is opposed to the falsities
that he has made his truths; and he that is unwilling to understand
for this reason has closed to his rational faculty the way to heaven,
although that way can still be opened whenever the will's resistance
ceases (see above, n. 424). That man is able to understand truths and
be rational whenever he so wishes has been made clear to me by much
experience. Evil spirits that have become irrational in the world by
rejecting the Divine and the truths of the church, and confirming
themselves against them, have frequently been turned by Divine power
towards those who were in the light of truth, and they then
comprehended all things as the angels did, and acknowledged them to
be true, and also that they comprehended them all. But the moment
these spirits relapsed into themselves, and turned back to the love
of their will, they had no comprehension of truths and affirmed the
opposite. [2] I have also heard certain dwellers in hell saying that
they knew and perceived that which they did to be evil and that which
they thought to be false; but that they were unable to resist the
delight of their love, that is, their will, and that it is their will
that drives their thought to see evil as good and falsity as truth.
Evidently, then, those that are in falsity from evil have the ability
to understand and be rational, but have no wish to; and they have no
wish to for the reason that they have loved falsities more than
truths, because these agree with the evils in which they are. To love
and to will is the same thing, for what a man wills he loves, and
what he loves he wills. [3] Because the state of men is such that
they are able to understand truths if they wish to, I have been
permitted to confirm spiritual truths, which are truths of heaven and
the church, even by reasonings, and this in order that the falsities
by which the rational mind in many has been closed up may be
dispersed by reasonings, and thus the eye may perhaps in some degree
be opened; for to confirm spiritual goods by reasonings is permitted
to all that are in truths. Who could ever understand the Word from
the sense of its letter, unless he saw from an enlightened reason the
truths it contains? Is not this the source of so many heresies from
the same Word?{1}
{Footnote 1} The truths of doctrine of the church derived from
the Word must be the starting-point, and these must first be
acknowledged, and afterwards it is permissible to consult
knowledges (n. 6047). Thus it is permissible for those that are
in an affirmative state towards the truths of faith to confirm
them rationally by knowledges, but it is not permissible for
those who are in a negative state (n. 2568, 2588, 4760, 6047).
It is in accordance with Divine order to enter rationally from
spiritual truths into knowledges, which are natural truths, but
not to enter from the latter into the former, because spiritual
influx into natural things is possible, but not natural or
physical influx into spiritual things (n. 3219, 5119, 5259,
5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9109, 9110).
456. That the spirit of man, when it has been loosed from the body,
is still a man and in a like form, has been proved to me by the daily
experience of many years; for I have seen such and have listened to
them a thousand times, and have talked with them about this fact,
that men in the world do not believe them to be men, and that those
that do believe this are regarded by the learned as simple. Spirits
are grieved at heart that such ignorance still continues in the
world, and above all within the church. [2] But this belief they said
had emanated chiefly from the learned, who had thought about the soul
from ideas derived from bodily sense; and from such ideas the only
conception they formed of the soul was as being mere thought; and
when this is regarded apart from any subject as its containant and
source it is merely a fleeting breath of pure ether that must needs
be dissipated when the body dies. But as the church believes from the
Word in the immortality of the soul they are compelled to ascribe to
it something vital, such as pertains to thought, but they deny to it
any thing of sense, such as man possesses, until it has again been
joined to the body. On this opinion the doctrine in regard to the
resurrection is based, with the belief that the soul and body will be
joined again at the time of the final judgment. For this reason when
any one thinks about the soul in accordance with this doctrine and
these conjectures, he has no conception that it is a spirit, and in a
human form. And still further, scarcely any one at this day knows
what the spiritual is, and still less that spiritual beings, as all
spirits and angels are, have any human form. [3] Consequently, nearly
all that go from this world are greatly surprised to find that they
are alive, and are as much men as before, that they see, hear, and
speak, and that their body enjoys the sense of touch as before, with
no difference whatever (see above, n. 74). And when they cease to be
astonished at themselves they are astonished that the church should
know nothing about this state of men after death, thus nothing about
heaven or hell, when in fact all that have ever lived in the world
are in the other life and live as men. And as they wondered also why
this had not been disclosed to man by visions, being an essential of
the faith of the church, they were told from heaven that although
this might have been done, since nothing is easier when it is the
Lord's good pleasure, yet those that have confirmed themselves in the
opposite falsities would not believe even if they themselves should
behold it; also that there is danger in confirming any thing by
visions when men are in falsities, for they would then first believe
and afterwards deny, and thus would profane the truth itself, since
to believe and afterwards deny is to profane; and those who profane
truths are cast down into the lowest and most grievous of all the
hells.{1} [4] This danger is what is meant by the Lord's words:
He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts lest they should
see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and should turn
and I should heal them (John 12:40).
And that those that are in falsities would not believe [even if
visions were given] is meant by these words:
Abraham said to the rich man in hell, They have Moses and the
Prophets, let them hear them. But he said, Nay, father Abraham, but
if one came to them from the dead they would be converted. But
Abraham said to him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither
will they believe though one should rise from the dead (Luke
16:29-31).
{Footnote 1} Profanation is the mixing of good and evil and of
truth and falsity in man (n. 6348). Only those can profane
truth and good, or the holy things of the Word and the church,
who first acknowledge them, and still more who live according
to them, and who afterwards recede from the belief and reject
it, and live for themselves and the world (n. 593, 1008, 1010,
1059, 3398, 3399, 3898, 4289, 4601, 10284, 10287). If man after
repentance of heart relapses to former evils he profanes, and
his latter state is then worse than his former (n. 8394). Those
that have not acknowledged holy things, still less those that
have no knowledge of them, cannot profane them (n. 1008, 1010,
1059, 9188, 10284). The heathen who are out of the church and
do not have the Word cannot profane it (n. 1327, 1328, 2051,
2284). On this account interior truths were not disclosed to
the Jews, for if they had been disclosed and acknowledged that
people would have profaned them (n. 3398, 4289, 6963). The lot
of profaners in the other life is the worst of all, because not
only the good and truth they have acknowledged, but also their
evil and falsity remain, and as these cling together, the life
is rent asunder (n. 571, 582, 6348). Consequently most careful
provision is made by the Lord to prevent profanation (n. 2426,
10287).
457. When the spirit of man first enters the world of spirits, which
takes place shortly after his resuscitation, as described above, his
face and his tone of voice resemble those he had in the world,
because he is then in the state of his exteriors, and his interiors
are not as yet uncovered. This is man's first state after death. But
subsequently his face is changed, and becomes entirely different,
resembling his ruling affection or ruling love, in conformity with
which the interiors of his mind had been while he was in the world
and his spirit while it was in the body. For the face of a man's
spirit differs greatly from the face of his body. The face of his
body is from his parents, but the face of his spirit is from his
affection, and is an image of it. When the life of the spirit in the
body is ended, and its exteriors are laid aside and its interiors
disclosed, it comes into this affection. This is man's second state.
I have seen some that have recently arrived from the world, and have
recognized them from their face and speech; but seeing them
afterwards I did not recognize them. Those that had been in good
affections appeared with beautiful faces; but those that had been in
evil affections with misshapen faces; for man's spirit, viewed in
itself, is nothing but his affection; and the face is its outward
form. Another reason why faces are changed is that in the other life
no one is permitted to counterfeit affections that are not his own,
and thus assume looks that are contrary to his love. All in the other
life are brought into such a state as to speak as they think, and to
manifest in their looks and gestures the inclinations of their will.
And because of this the faces of all become forms and images of their
affections; and in consequence all that have known each other in the
world know each other in the world of spirits, but not in heaven nor
in hell (as has been said above, n. 427).{1}
{Footnote 1} The face is so formed as to correspond with the
interiors (n. 4791-4805, 5695). The correspondence of the face
and its expressions with the affections of the mind (n. 1568,
2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 5695, 9306).
With the angels of heaven the face makes one with the interiors
that belong to the mind (n. 4796-4799, 5695, 8250). Therefore
in the Word the face signifies the interiors that belong to the
mind, that is, to the affection and thought (n. 1999, 2434,
3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546). In what manner the influx
from the brain into the face has been changed in process of
time and with it the face itself as regards its correspondence
with the interiors (n. 4326, 8250).
458. The faces of hypocrites are changed more slowly than those of
others, because by practice they had formed a habit of so managing
their interiors as to imitate good affections; consequently for a
long time they appear not unbeautiful. But as that which they had
assumed is gradually put off, and the interiors of the mind are
brought into accord with the form of their affections, they become
after awhile more misshapen than others. Hypocrites are such as have
been accustomed to talk like angels, but interiorly have acknowledged
nature alone and not the Divine, and have therefore denied what
pertains to heaven and the church.
459. It should be known that everyone's human form after death is the
more beautiful in proportion as he has more interiorly loved Divine
truths and lived according to them; for everyone's interiors are
opened and formed in accordance with his love and life; therefore the
more interior the affection is the more like heaven it is, and in
consequence the more beautiful the face is. This is why the angels in
the inmost heaven are the most beautiful, for they are forms of
celestial love. But those that have loved Divine truths more
exteriorly, and thus have lived in accordance with them in a more
external way, are less beautiful; for exterior affections only shine
forth from their faces; and through these no interior heavenly love
shines, consequently nothing of the form of heaven as it is in
itself. There is seen in the faces of such something comparatively
obscure, not vivified by any thing of interior life shining through
it. In a word, all perfection increases toward interiors and
decreases toward exteriors, and as perfection increases and decreases
so does beauty. I have seen angelic faces of the third heaven of such
radiance that no painter with all his art could possibly give any
such light to his colors as to equal a thousandth part of the
brightness and life that shone forth from their countenances. But the
faces of the angels of the lowest heaven may in some measure be
equalled.
460. In conclusion I will mention a certain arcanum hitherto unknown
to any one, namely, that every good and truth that goes forth from
the Lord and makes heaven is in the human form; and this not only as
a whole and in what is greatest, but also in every part and what is
least; also that this form affects everyone who receives good and
truth from the Lord, and causes everyone who is in heaven to be in
the human form in accordance with his reception of good and truth. It
is in consequence of this that heaven is like itself in general and
in particular, and that the human form is the form of the whole, of
every society, and of every angel (as has been shown in the four
chapters from n. 59 to 86); to which let it be added that it is the
form of the least things of thought derived from heavenly love with
the angels. No man, however, can easily comprehend this arcanum; but
it is clearly comprehended by the angels, because they are in the
light of heaven.
461. XLVIII. AFTER DEATH MAN IS POSSESSED OF EVERY SENSE, AND OF ALL
THE MEMORY, THOUGHT, AND AFFECTION, THAT HE HAD IN THE WORLD, LEAVING
NOTHING BEHIND EXCEPT HIS EARTHLY BODY.
It has been proved to me by manifold experience that when man passes
from the natural world into the spiritual, as he does when he dies,
he carries with him all his possessions, that is, everything that
belongs to him as a man, except his earthly body. For when man enters
the spiritual world or the life after death, he is in a body as he
was in the world, with no apparent difference, since he neither sees
nor feels any difference. But his body is then spiritual, and thus
separated or purified from all that is earthly; and when what is
spiritual touches or sees what is spiritual, it is just the same as
when what is natural touches or sees what is natural. So when a man
has become a spirit he does not know otherwise than that he is in the
same body that he had in the world and thus does not know that he has
died. [2] Moreover, a man's spirit enjoys every sense, both outer and
inner, that he enjoyed in the world; he sees as before, he hears and
speaks as before, smells and tastes, and when touched, he feels the
touch as before; he also longs, desires, craves, thinks, reflects, is
stirred, loves, wills, as before; and one who takes delight in
studies, reads and writes as before. In a word, when a man passes
from one life into the other, or from one world into the other, it is
like passing from one place into another, carrying with him all
things that he had possessed in himself as a man; so that by death,
which is only the death of the earthly body, man cannot be said to
have lost anything really his own. [3] Furthermore, he carries with
him his natural memory, retaining everything that he has heard, seen,
read, learned, or thought, in the world from earliest infancy even to
the end of life; although the natural objects that are contained in
the memory, since they cannot be reproduced in the spiritual world,
are quiescent, just as they are when one is not thinking of them.
Nevertheless, they are reproduced when the Lord so wills. But more
will be said presently about this memory and its state after death. A
sensual man finds it impossible to believe that such is the state of
man after death, because he cannot comprehend it; for a sensual man
must needs think naturally even about spiritual things; therefore,
any thing that does not appeal to his senses, that is, that he does
not see with his bodily eyes and touch with his hands (as is said of
Thomas, John 20:25, 27, 29) he denies the existence of. (What the
sensual man is may be seen above, n. 267 and notes.)
462. [a.] And yet there is a great difference between man's life in
the spiritual world and his life in the natural world, in regard both
to his outer senses and their affections and his inner senses and
their affections. Those that are in heaven have more exquisite
senses, that is, a keener sight and hearing, and also think more
wisely than when they were in the world; for they see in the light of
heaven, which surpasses by many degrees the light of the world (see
above, n. 126); and they hear by means of a spiritual atmosphere,
which likewise surpasses by many degrees the earthly atmosphere (n.
235). This difference in respect to the outward senses is like the
difference between clear sunshine and dark cloudiness in the world,
or between noonday light and evening shade. For the light of heaven,
since it is Divine truth, enables the eyes of angels to perceive and
distinguish most minute things. [2] Moreover, their outer sight
corresponds to their inner sight or understanding; for with angels
one sight so flows into the other as to act as one with it; and this
gives them their great keenness of vision. In like manner, their
hearing corresponds to their perception, which pertains both to the
understanding and to the will, and in consequence they perceive in
the tone and words of one speaking the most minute things of his
affection and thought; in the tone what pertains to his affection,
and in the words what pertains to his thought (see above,
n. 234-245). But the rest of the senses with the angels are less
exquisite than the senses of seeing and hearing, for the reason that
seeing and hearing serve their intelligence and wisdom, and the rest
do not; and if the other senses were equally exquisite they would
detract from the light and joy of their wisdom, and would let in the
delight of pleasures pertaining to various appetites and to the body;
and so far as these prevail they obscure and weaken the
understanding. This takes place in the world, where men become gross
and stupid in regard to spiritual truths so far as they indulge the
sense of taste and yield to the allurements of the sense of touch.
[3] From what has already been said and shown in the chapter on the
wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275), it can be seen that the
inner senses also of the angels of heaven, which pertain to their
thought and affection, are more exquisite and perfect than the senses
they had in the world. But as regards the state of those that are in
hell as compared with the state of those in the world there is also a
great difference, for as great as is the perfection and excellence of
the outer and inner senses of the angels in heaven, with those who
are in hell the imperfection is equally great. But the state of these
will be treated of hereafter.
462. [b.] That when a man leaves the world he takes with him all his
memory has been shown to me in many ways, and many of the things I
have seen and heard are worthy of mention, some of which I will
relate in order. There were some who denied their crimes and
villainies which they had perpetrated in the world; and in
consequence, that they might not be believed innocent, all their
deeds were disclosed and reviewed from their memory in order, from
their earliest to their latest years; these were chiefly adulteries
and whoredoms. [2] There were some who had deceived others by wicked
arts and had committed thefts. The deceits and thefts of these were
also enumerated in detail, many of which were known to scarcely any
in the world except themselves. These deeds they confessed, because
they were plainly set forth, with every thought, intention, pleasure,
and fear which occupied their minds at the time. [3] There were
others who had accepted bribes, and had rendered venal judgments, who
were similarly explored from their memory and from it everything they
had done from the beginning to the end of their office was reviewed.
Every detail in regard to what and how much they had received, as
well as the time, and their state of mind and intention, were brought
to their recollection and made visibly clear to the number of many
hundreds. This was done with several and what is wonderful, in some
cases their memorandum-books, in which they had recorded these
things, were opened and read before them page by page. [4] Others who
had enticed maidens to shame or had violated chastity were called to
a like judgment; and the details of their crimes were drawn forth
from their memory and reviewed. The very faces of the maidens and
women were also exhibited as if present, with the places, words and
intentions, and this as suddenly as when a scene is presented to the
sight, the exhibitions continuing sometimes for hours. [5] There was
one who had made light of slandering others; and I heard his slanders
recounted in order, and his defamations, with the very words, and the
persons about whom and before whom they were uttered; all of which
were produced and presented to the very life, although while he lived
in the world he had most carefully concealed everything. [6] There
was one who had deprived a relative of his inheritance under a
fraudulent pretext; and he was in like manner convicted and judged;
and what is wonderful, the letters and papers that passed between
them were read in my hearing, and it was said that not a word was
lacking. [7] The same person shortly before his death had also
secretly poisoned his neighbor. This was disclosed in this way. He
appeared to be digging a trench under his feet, from which a man came
forth as out of a grave, and cried out to him, "What have you done to
me?" Then everything was revealed, how the poisoner had talked with
him in a friendly manner, and had held out the cup, also what he
thought beforehand, and what happened afterwards. When all this had
been disclosed he was sentenced to hell. [8] In a word, to each evil
spirit all his evils, villainies, robberies, artifices, and deceits
are made clear, and are brought forth from his very memory, and his
guilt is fully established; nor is there any possible room for
denial, because all the circumstances are exhibited together.
Moreover, I have learned from a man's memory, when it was seen and
inspected by angels, what his thoughts had been for a month, one day
after another, and this without mistake, the thoughts being recalled
just as they arose from day to day. [9] From these examples it can be
seen that man carries with him all of his memory, and that nothing
can be so concealed in the world as not to be disclosed after death,
which is done in the presence of many, according to the Lord's words:
There is nothing concealed that shall not be uncovered,
and nothing secret that shall not be known; therefore what
ye have spoken in the dark shall be heard in the light and
what ye have spoken in the ear shall be proclaimed on the
housetops (Luke 12:2, 3).
463. In disclosing his acts to a man after death, the angels to whom
the office of searching is assigned look into his face, and their
search extends through the whole body, beginning with the fingers of
each hand, and thus proceeding through the whole. As I wondered at
this the reason was given, namely, that as all things of the thought
and will are inscribed on the brain, for their beginnings are there,
so are they likewise inscribed on the whole body, since all things of
thought and will extend from their beginnings into all things of the
body and there terminate as in their outmosts; and this is why the
things that are inscribed on the memory from the will and consequent
thought are inscribed not only on the brain, but also upon the whole
man, and there exist in order in accordance with the order of the
parts of the body. It was thus made clear that man as a whole is such
as he is in his will and its thought, even to the extent that an evil
man is his own evil, and a good man his own good.{1} This shows what
is meant by the book of man's life spoken of in the Word, namely,
that all things that he has done and all things that he has thought
are inscribed on the whole man, and when they are called forth from
the memory they appear as if read in a book, and when the spirit is
viewed in the light of heaven, they appear as in an image. To all
this I would add something remarkable in regard to the continuance of
the memory after death, by which I was assured that not only things
in general but also the minutest particulars that have entered the
memory remain and are never obliterated. I saw books there containing
writings as in the world, and was told that they were from the memory
of those who wrote, and that there was not a single word lacking in
them that was in a book written by the same person in the world; and
thus all the minutest particulars might be drawn from one's memory,
even those that he had forgotten in the world. And the reason was
given, namely, that man has an external and an internal memory, an
external memory belonging to his natural man, and an internal memory
belonging to his spiritual man; and that every least thing that a man
has thought, willed, spoken, done or even heard and seen, is
inscribed on his internal or spiritual memory;{2} and that what is
there is never erased, since it is also inscribed on the spirit
itself and on the members of its body, as has been said above; and
that the spirit is thus formed in accordance with the thoughts and
acts of its will. I know that this sounds like a paradox, and is
therefore difficult to believe; but still it is true. Let no one
believe, then, that there is any thing that a man has ever thought in
himself or done in secret that can be concealed after death; but let
him believe that all things and each single thing are then laid open
as clear as day.
{Footnote 1} A good man, spirit, or angel, is his own good and
his own truth, that is, he is wholly such as his good and truth
are (n. 10298, 10367). This is because good is what makes the
will and truth the understanding; and the will and
understanding make everything of life in man, spirit, or angel
(n. 3332, 3623, 6065). It is the same thing to say that a man,
spirit, or angel is his own love (n. 6872, 10177, 10284).
{Footnote 2} Man has two memories an outer and an inner, or a
natural and a spiritual memory (n. 2469-2494). Man does not
know that he has an inner memory (n. 2470, 2471). How far the
inner memory surpasses the outer (n. 2473). The things
contained in the outer memory are in the light of the world,
but the things contained in the inner are in the light of
heaven (n. 5212). It is from the inner memory that man is able
to think and speak intellectually and rationally (n. 9394). All
things and each thing that a man has thought, spoken, and done,
and that he has seen and heard, are inscribed on the inner
memory (n. 2474, 7398). That memory is the book of his life (n.
2474, 9386, 9841, 10505). In the inner memory are the truths
that have been made truths of faith, and the goods that have
been made goods of love (n. 5212, 8067). Those things that have
become matters of habit and have come to be things of the life,
and have thus disappeared from the outer memory, are in the
inner memory (n. 9394, 9723, 9841). Spirits and angels speak
from the inner memory and consequently have a universal
language (n. 2472, 2476, 2490, 2493). The languages of the
world belong to the outer memory (n. 2472, 2476).
464. Although the external or natural memory remains in man after
death, the merely natural things in it are not reproduced in the
other life, but only the spiritual things adjoined to the natural by
correspondences; but when these are present to the sight they appear
in exactly the same form as they had in the natural world; for all
things seen in the heavens have just the same appearance as in the
world, although in their essence they are not natural but spiritual
(as may be seen in the chapter on Representatives and Appearances in
Heaven, n. 170-176). [2] But the external or natural memory in
respect to the things in it that are derived from the material, and
from time and space, and from other properties of nature, is not
serviceable to the spirit in the way that it was serviceable to it in
the world, for whenever man thinks in the world from his external
sensual, and not at the same time from his internal or intellectual
sensual, he thinks naturally and not spiritually; but in the other
life when he is a spirit in the spiritual world he does not think
naturally but spiritually, and to think spiritually is to think
intellectually or rationally. For this reason the external or natural
memory in respect to its material contents is then quiescent, and
only those things that man has imbibed in the world by means of
material things, and has made rational, come into use. The external
memory becomes quiescent in respect to material things because these
cannot then be brought forth, since spirits and angels speak from
those affections and thoughts that are proper to their minds; and are
therefore unable to give expression to any thing that is not in
accord with their affections and thoughts as can be seen in what is
said about the speech of angels in heaven and their speech with man
(n. 234-257). [3] Because of this man after death is rational, not in
the degree that he was skilled in languages and sciences in the
world, but in the degree in which he became rational by means of
these. I have talked with many who were believed in the world to be
learned because they were acquainted with ancient languages, such as
the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, but had not cultivated their rational
faculty by what is written in those languages. Some of them were seen
to be just as simple as those who knew nothing of those languages,
and some even stupid, and yet they retained the conceit of being
wiser than others. [4] I have talked with some who had believed in
the world that man is wise in the measure of the contents of his
memory, and who had stored up many things in their memory, speaking
almost solely from the memory, and therefore not from themselves but
from others, and their rationality had not been at all perfected by
means of the things in their memory. Some of these were stupid and
some sottish, not in the least comprehending whether a truth is true
or not, and seizing upon all falsities that are passed off for truths
by those who called themselves learned; for from themselves they are
unable to see any thing, whether it be true or not, and consequently
are unable to see any thing rationally when listening to others. [5]
I have also talked with some who had written much in the world on
scientific subjects of every kind, and had thereby acquired a
worldwide reputation for learning. Some of these, indeed, had the
ability to reason about truths, whether they are true or not; and
some, when they had turned to those who were in the light of truth,
had some comprehension that truths are true, but still had no wish to
comprehend them, and therefore when they were in their own falsities,
and thus in themselves, denied them. Some had no more wisdom than the
unlearned common people. Thus each differed from the other according
as he had cultivated his rational faculty by means of the knowledges
he had written about or collated. But those who were opposed to the
truths of the church, and who thought from mere knowledges and
confirmed themselves thereby in falsities, did not cultivate their
rational faculty, but cultivated only an ability to reason, which in
the world is believed to be rationality. But this ability is wholly
different from rationality; it is an ability to prove any thing it
pleases, and from preconceived principles and from fallacies to see
falsities and not truths. Such persons can never be brought to
acknowledge truths, since truths cannot be seen from falsities; but
falsities may be seen from truths. [6] The rational faculty of man is
like a garden or shrubbery, or like fresh ground; the memory is the
soil, truths known and knowledges are the seeds, the light and heat
of heaven cause them to grow; without light and heat there is no
germination; so is it with the mind when the light of heaven, which
is Divine truth, and the heat of heaven, which is Divine love, are
not admitted; rationality is solely from these. It is a great grief
to the angels that learned men for the most part ascribe all things
to nature, and have thereby so closed up the interiors of their minds
as to be unable to see any thing of truth from the light of truth,
which is the light of heaven. In consequence of this such in the
other life are deprived of their ability to reason that they may not
disseminate falsities among the simple good and lead them astray; and
are sent away into desert places.
465. A certain spirit was indignant because he was unable to remember
many things that he knew in the life of the body, grieving over the
lost pleasure which he had so much enjoyed, but he was told that he
had lost nothing at all, that he still knew each and everything that
he had known, although in the world where he now was no one was
permitted to call forth such things from the memory, and that he
ought to be satisfied that he could now think and speak much better
and more perfectly than before, and that his rational was not now
immersed as before in gross, obscure, material and corporeal things,
which are of no use in the kingdom into which he had now come; also
that he now possessed everything conducive to the uses of eternal
life, and that this is the only way of becoming blessed and happy;
and therefore it is the part of ignorance to believe that in this
kingdom intelligence perishes with the removal or quiescence of the
material things in the memory; for the real fact is that so far as
the mind can be withdrawn from things of sense pertaining to the
external man or the body, so far it is elevated to things spiritual
and heavenly.
466. What these two memories are is sometimes presented to view in
the other life in forms not elsewhere seen; for many things which in
man take the form of ideas are there presented as objects of sight.
The external memory there presents the appearance of a callus, the
internal the appearance of a medullary substance like that in the
human brain; and from this what they are can be known. With those
that have devoted themselves in the life of the body to the
cultivation of the memory alone, and have not cultivated their
rational faculty, the callosity appears hard and streaked within as
with tendons. With those that have filled the memory with falsities
it appears hairy and rough, because of the confused mass of things in
it. With those that have cultivated the memory with the love of self
and the world as an end it appears glued together and ossified. With
those that have wished to penetrate into Divine arcana by means of
learning, especially of a philosophical kind, with an unwillingness
to believe until convinced by such proofs, the memory appears like a
dark substance, of such a nature as to absorb the rays of light and
turn them into darkness. With those that have practiced deceit and
hypocrisy it appears hard and bony like ebony, which reflects the
rays of light. But with those that have been in the good of love and
the truths of faith there is no such callous appearance, because
their inner memory transmits the rays of light into the outer; and in
its objects or ideas as in their basis or their ground, the rays
terminate and find delightful receptacles; for the outer memory is
the out most of order in which, when goods and truths are there, the
spiritual and heavenly things are gently terminated and find their
seat.
467. Men living in the world who are in love to the Lord and charity
toward the neighbor have with them and in them angelic intelligence
and wisdom, but it is then stored up in the inmosts of the inner
memory; and they are not at all conscious of it until they put off
corporeal things. Then the natural memory is laid asleep and they
awake into their inner memory, and then gradually into angelic memory
itself.
468. How the rational faculty may be cultivated shall also be told in
a few words. The genuine rational faculty consists of truths and not
of falsities; whatever consists of falsities is not rational. There
are three kinds of truths, civil, moral, and spiritual. Civil truths
relate to matters of judgment and of government in kingdoms, and in
general to what is just and equitable in them. Moral truths pertain
to the matters of everyone's life which have regard to companionships
and social relations, in general to what is honest and right, and in
particular to virtues of every kind. But spiritual truths relate to
matters of heaven and of the church, and in general to the good of
love and the truth of faith. [2] In every man there are three degrees
of life (see above, n. 267). The rational faculty is opened to the
first degree by civil truths, to the second degree by moral truths,
and to the third degree by spiritual truths. But it must be
understood that the rational faculty that consists of these truths is
not formed and opened by man's knowing them, but by his living
according to them; and living according to them means loving them
from spiritual affection; and to love truths from spiritual affection
is to love what is just and equitable because it is just and
equitable, what is honest and right because it is honest and right,
and what is good and true because it is good and true; while living
according to them and loving them from the bodily affection is loving
them for the sake of self and for the sake of one's reputation, honor
or gain. Consequently, so far as man loves these truths from a bodily
affection he fails to become rational, for he loves, not them, but
himself; and the truths are made to serve him as servants serve their
Lord; and when truths become servants they do not enter the man and
open any degree of life in him, not even the first, but merely rest
in the memory as knowledges under a material form, and there conjoin
themselves with the love of self, which is a bodily love. [3] All
this shows how man becomes rational, namely, that he becomes rational
to the third degree by a spiritual love of the good and truth which
pertain to heaven and the church; he becomes rational to the second
degree by a love of what is honest and right; and to the first degree
by a love of what is just and equitable. These two latter loves also
become spiritual from a spiritual love of good and truth, because
that love flows into them and conjoins itself to them and forms in
them as it were its own semblance.
469. Spirits and angels, equally with men, have a memory, whatever
they hear, see, think, will and do, remaining with them, and thereby
their rational faculty is continually cultivated even to eternity.
Thus spirits and angels, equally with men, are perfected in
intelligence and wisdom by means of knowledges of truth and good.
That spirits and angels have a memory I have been permitted to learn
by much experience, having seen everything that they have thought and
done, both in public and in private, called forth from their memories
when they were with other spirits; and I have seen those that were in
some truth from simple good imbued with knowledges, and thereby with
intelligence, and afterwards raised up into heaven. But it must be
understood that such are not imbued with knowledges and thereby with
intelligence beyond the degree of affection for good and for truth
that they have attained to while in the world; for such and so much
of affection as any spirit or angel had in the world remains with
him; and this affection is afterwards perfected by being filled out,
which goes on to eternity. For everything is capable of being filled
out to eternity, since everything is capable of infinite variation,
thus of enrichment by various things, and consequently of
multiplication and fructification. To any thing good there is no
limit because it is from the Infinite. That spirits and angels are
being perfected unceasingly in intelligence and wisdom by means of
knowledges of truth and good may be seen above, in the chapters on
the wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275); on the heathen or
people outside the church in heaven (n. 318-328); and on little
children in heaven (n. 329-345); and that this is done to that degree
of affection for good and for truth in which they had been in the
world, and not beyond it, may be seen in n. 349.
470. XLIX. MAN AFTER DEATH IS SUCH AS HIS LIFE HAD BEEN IN THE WORLD.
Every Christian knows from the Word that one's own life awaits him
after death; for it is there said in many passages that man will be
judged and rewarded according to his deeds and works; and no one who
thinks from good and from real truth can help seeing that he who
lives well goes to heaven and that he who lives wickedly goes to
hell. But the evil man is unwilling to believe that his state after
death is according to his life in the world; he thinks, especially
when he is sick, that heaven is granted to everyone out of pure
mercy, whatever his life may have been, and that this is done in
accordance with his faith, which he separates from life.
471. That man will be judged and rewarded according to his deeds and
works is declared in many passages in the Word, some of which I will
here quote:
The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with
His angels and then He will render unto everyone according
to his works (Matt. 16:27).
Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord; yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their
works follow them (Apoc. 14:13).
I will give to everyone according to his works (Apoc.
2:23).
I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God; and
the books were opened and the dead were judged out of the
things that were written in the books according to their
works. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death
and hell gave up those that were in them, and they were
judged everyone according to their works (Apoc. 20:12,
13).
Behold I come, and My reward is with Me, to give to
everyone according to his works (Apoc. 22:12).
Everyone that heareth My words and doeth them I will liken
to a prudent man; but everyone that heareth My words and
doeth them not is likened to a foolish man (Matt. 7:24,
26).
Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of the heavens; but he that doeth the
will of My Father who is in the heavens. Many will say
unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
Thy name, and through Thy name cast out demons, and in Thy
name done many mighty works? But then will I confess to
them, I know you not: depart from Me, ye workers of
iniquity (Matt. 7:21-23).
Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk before
Thee; Thou hast taught in our streets. But He will say, I
tell you I know you not, ye workers of iniquity (Luke
13:25-27).
I will recompense them according to their work and
according to the doing of their hands (Jer. 25:14).
Jehovah, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of men, to
give to everyone according to his ways and according to
the fruit of his works (Jer. 32:19).
I will visit upon his ways and recompense to him his works
(Hosea 4:9).
Jehovah doeth with us according to our ways and according
to our works (Zech. 1:6).
In foretelling the last judgment the Lord recounts nothing but works,
teaching that those that have done good works will enter into eternal
life, and those that have done evil works will enter into damnation,
as in Matthew (25:32-46), and in many other passages that treat of
the salvation and condemnation of man. It is clear that works and
deeds constitute the outward life of man, and that the quality of his
inward life is made evident in them.
472. But by deeds and works, what they are inwardly is here meant,
and not the way they outwardly appear; for everyone knows that every
deed and work goes forth from the man's will and thought; otherwise
it would be nothing but a movement like that of an automaton or
image. Consequently, a deed or work viewed in itself is merely an
effect that derives its soul and life from will and thought, even to
the extent that it is nothing but will and thought in effect, and
thus is will and thought in outward form. From this it follows that a
deed or work is in quality such as are the will and thought that
produce it. If the thought and will are good the deeds and works are
good; but if the thought and will are evil the deeds and works are
evil, although in outward form they appear alike. A thousand men may
act alike, that is, may do like deeds, so alike in outward form as to
be almost undistinguishable, and yet each one regarded in itself be
different, because from an unlike will. [2] For example, when one
acts honestly and justly with a companion, one person may do it for
the purpose of appearing to be honest and just out of regard to
himself and his own honor; another out of regard to the world and
gain; a third out of regard to reward and merit; a fourth out of
regard to friendship; a fifth from fear of the law and the loss of
reputation or employment; a sixth that he may draw some one to his
own side, even when he is in the wrong; a seventh that he may
deceive; and others from other motives. In all these instances
although the deeds are good in appearance, since it is a good thing
to act honestly and justly with a companion, they are nevertheless
evil, because they are done, not out of regard to honesty and justice
and for the love of these, but out of regard to love of self and the
world which are loved; and honesty and justice are made to serve that
love as servants serve a lord, whom the lord despises and dismisses
when they fail to serve him. [3] In outward form those act in a like
way who act honestly and justly with a companion because they love
what is honest and just. Some of these act from the truth of faith or
from obedience, because the Word so commands; some from the good of
faith or from conscience, because from a religious motive; some from
good of charity towards the neighbor because his good should be
regarded; some from the good of love to the Lord because good should
be done for the sake of good, as also what is honest and just should
be done for the sake of honesty and justice; and this they love
because it is from the Lord, and because the Divine that goes forth
from the Lord is in it, and consequently regarded in its very essence
it is Divine. The deeds or works of such are inwardly good, and
therefore are outwardly good also; for, as has been said above, deeds
or works are precisely such in quality as the thought and will from
which they proceed, and apart from thought and will they are not
deeds and works, but only inanimate movements. All this explains what
is meant in the Word by works and deeds.
473. As deeds and works are from the will and thought, so are they
from the love and faith, consequently they are such as the love and
faith are; for it is the same thing whether you say one's love or his
will, and it is the same thing whether you say one's faith or his
established thought; for that which a man loves he wills, and that
which a man believes he thinks; and when a man loves what he believes
he also wills it and as far as possible does it. Everyone may know
that love and faith are within man's will and thought, and not
outside of them, for love is what kindles the will, and the thought
is what it enlightens in matters of faith; therefore only those that
are able to think wisely are enlightened, and in the measure of their
enlightenment they think what is true and will it, or what is the
same, they believe what is true and love it.{1}
{Footnote 1} As all things that exist according to order in the
universe have relation to good and truth, so in man all things
have relation to will and understanding (n. 803, 10122). For
the reason that the will is a recipient of good and the
understanding a recipient of truth (n. 3332, 3623, 5232, 6065,
6125, 7503, 9300, 9995). It amounts to the same whether you say
truth or faith, for faith belongs to truth and truth belongs to
faith; and it amounts to the same whether you say good or love
for love belongs to good and good belongs to love (n. 4353,
4997, 7179, 10122, 10367). From this it follows that the
understanding is a recipient of faith, and the will a recipient
of love (n. 7179, 10122, 10367). And since the understanding of
man is capable of receiving faith in God and the will is
capable of receiving love to God, man is capable of being
conjoined with God in faith and love, and he that is capable of
being conjoined with God in love and faith can never die (n.
4525, 6323, 9231).
474. But it must be understood that it is the will that makes the
man, while thought makes the man only so far as it goes forth from
the will; and deeds and works go forth from both; or what is the
same, it is love that makes the man, and faith only so far as it goes
forth from love; and deeds or works go forth from both. Consequently,
the will or love is the man himself, for whatever goes forth belongs
to that from which it goes forth. To go forth is to be brought forth
and presented in suitable form for being perceived and seen.{1} All
this makes clear what faith is when separated from love, namely, that
it is no faith, but mere knowledge, which has no spiritual life in
it; likewise what a deed or work is apart from love, namely, that it
is not a deed or work of life, but a deed or work of death, which
possesses an appearance of life from an evil love and a belief in
what is false. This appearance of life is what is called spiritual
death.
{Footnote 1} The will of man is the very being [esse] of his
life, because it is the receptacle of love or good, and the
understanding is the outgo [existere] of life therefrom,
because it is the receptacle of faith or truth (n. 3619, 5002,
9282). Thus the life of the will is the chief life of man, and
the life of the understanding proceeds therefrom (n. 585, 590,
3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109, 10110). In the same way
as light proceeds from fire or flame (n. 6032, 6314). From this
it follows that man is man by virtue of his will and his
understanding therefrom (n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109,
10110). Every man is loved and esteemed by others in accordance
with the good of his will and of his understanding therefrom,
for he that wills well and understands well is loved and
esteemed; and he that understands well and does not will well
is set aside and despised (n. 8911, 10076). After death man
continues to be such as his will is, and his understanding
therefrom (n, 9069, 9071, 9386, 10153). Consequently after
death man continues to be such as his love is, and his faith
therefrom; and whatever belongs to his faith and not also to
his love then vanishes, because it is not in the man, thus not
of the man (n. 553, 2364, 10153).
475. Again, it must be understood that in deeds or works the whole
man is exhibited, and that his will and thought or his love and
faith, which are his interiors, are not complete until they exist in
deeds or works, which are his exteriors, for these are the outmosts
in which the will and thought terminate, and without such
terminations they are interminate, and have as yet no existence, that
is, are not yet in the man. To think and to will without doing, when
there is opportunity, is like a flame enclosed in a vessel and goes
out; also like seed cast upon the sand, which fails to grow, and so
perishes with its power of germination. But to think and will and
from that to do is like a flame that gives heat and light all around,
or like a seed in the ground that grows up into a tree or flower and
continues to live. Everyone can know that willing and not doing, when
there is opportunity, is not willing; also that loving and not doing
good, when there is opportunity, is not loving, but mere thought that
one wills and loves; and this is thought separate, which vanishes and
is dissipated. Love and will constitute the soul itself of a deed or
work, and give form to its body in the honest and just things that
the man does. This is the sole source of man's spiritual body, or the
body of his spirit; that is, it is formed solely out of the things
that the man does from his love or will (see above, n. 463). In a
word, all things of man and his spirit are contained in his deeds or
works.{1}
{Footnote 1} Interior things flow in successively into exterior
things even down to the extreme or outmost, and there they come
forth and have permanent existence (n. 634, 6451, 6465, 9215,
9216). They not only flow in, but in the outmost they form the
simultaneous, in what order (n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099).
Thereby all interior things are held together in connection,
and have permanent existence (n. 9828). Deeds or works are the
outmosts which contain the interiors (n. 10331). Therefore
being recompensed and judged according to deeds and works is
being recompensed and judged in accordance with all things of
one's love and faith, or of his will and thought because these
are the interiors contained in deeds and works (n. 3147, 3934,
6073, 8911, 10331, 10332).
476. All this makes clear what the life is that awaits man after
death, namely, that it is his love and his faith therefrom, not only
in potency, but also in act; thus that it is his deeds or works,
because in these all things of man's love and faith are contained.
477. It is man's ruling love that awaits him after death, and this is
in no way changed to eternity. Everyone has many loves; but they are
all related to his ruling love, and make one with it or together
compose it. All things of the will that are in harmony with the
ruling love are called loves, because they are loved. These loves are
both inner and outer; some directly connected and some mediately;
some nearer and some more remote; they are subservient in various
ways. Taken together they constitute a kingdom, as it were, such
being the order in which they are arranged in man, although man knows
nothing what ever about that arrangement. And yet something of it is
made manifest to him in the other life, for the spread of his thought
and affection there is in accordance with the arrangement of his
loves, his thought and affection extending into heavenly societies
when the ruling love is made up of the loves of heaven, but into
infernal societies when it is made up of the loves of hell. That all
the thought and affection of spirits and of angels has extension into
societies may be seen above, in the chapters on the wisdom of the
angels of heaven, and on the form of heaven which determines
affiliations and communications there.
478. But what has been said thus far appeals only to the thought of
the rational man. That it may also be presented to the perception
derived from the senses, I will add some experiences by which it may
be illustrated and confirmed. First, Man after death is his own love
or his own will. Second, Man continues to eternity such as his will
or ruling love is. Third, The man who has heavenly and spiritual love
goes to heaven, while the man who has corporeal and worldly love, and
no heavenly and spiritual love, goes to hell. Fourth, Unless faith is
from heavenly love it does not endure in man. Fifth, Love in act,
that is, the life of man, is what endures.
479. (i) Man after death is his own love or his own will. This has
been proved to me by manifold experience. The entire heaven is
divided into societies according to differences of good of love; and
every spirit who is taken up into heaven and becomes an angel is
taken to the society where his love is; and when he arrives there he
is, as it were, at home, and in the house where he was born; this the
angel perceives, and is affiliated with those there that are like
himself. When he goes away to another place he feels constantly a
kind of resistance, and a longing to return to his like, thus to his
ruling love. Thus are affiliations brought about in heaven; and in a
like manner in hell, where all are affiliated in accordance with
loves that are the opposites of heavenly loves. It has been shown
above (n. 41-50 and 200-212) that both heaven and hell are composed
of societies, and that they are all distinguished according to
differences of love. [2] That man after death is his own love might
also be seen from the fact that whatever does not make one with his
ruling love is then separated and as it were taken away from him.
From one who is good everything discordant or inharmonious is
separated and as it were taken away, and he is thus let into his own
love. It is the same with an evil spirit, with the difference that
from the evil truths are taken away, and from the good falsities are
taken away, and this goes on until each becomes his own love. This is
effected when the man-spirit is brought into the third state, which
will be described hereafter. When this has been done he turns his
face constantly to his own love, and this he has continually before
his eyes, in whatever direction he turns (see above, n. 123, 124).
[3] All spirits, provided they are kept in their ruling love, can be
led wherever one pleases, and are incapable of resistance, however
clearly they may see that this is being done, and however much they
may think that they will resist. They have often been permitted to
try whether they could do anything contrary to their ruling love, but
in vain. Their love is like a bond or a rope tied around them, by
which they may be led and from which they cannot loose themselves. It
is the same with men in the world who are also led by their love, or
are led by others by means of their love; but this is more the case
when they have become spirits, because they are not then permitted to
make a display of any other love, or to counterfeit what is not their
own. [4] All interaction in the other life proves that the spirit of
man is his ruling love, for so far any one is acting or speaking in
accord with the love of another, to the same extent is the other
plainly present, with full, joyous, and lively countenance; but when
one is speaking or acting contrary to another's love, to that extent
the other's countenance begins to be changed, to be obscured and
undiscernible, until at length he wholly disappears as if he had not
been there. I have often wondered how this could be, for nothing of
the kind can occur in the world; but I have been told that it is the
same with the spirit in man, which when it turns itself away from
another ceases to be within his view. [5] Another proof that a spirit
is his ruling love is that every spirit seizes and appropriates all
things that are in harmony with his love, and rejects and repudiates
all that are not. Everyone's love is like a spongy or porous wood,
which imbibes such fluids as promote its growth, and repels others.
It is also like animals of every kind, which know their proper food
and seek the things that agree with their nature, and avoid what
disagrees; for every love wishes to be nourished on what belongs to
it, evil love by falsities and good love by truths. I have sometimes
been permitted to see certain simple good spirits desiring to
instruct the evil in truths and goods; but when the instruction was
offered them they fled far away, and when they came to their own they
seized with great pleasure upon the falsities that were in agreement
with their love. I have also seen good spirits talking together about
truths, and the good who were present listened eagerly to the
conversation, but the evil who were present paid no attention to it,
as if they did not hear it. In the world of spirits ways are seen,
some leading to heaven, some to hell, and each to some particular
society. Good spirits go only in the ways that lead to heaven, and to
the society there that is in the good of their love; and do not see
the ways that lead elsewhere; while evil spirits go only in the ways
that lead to hell, and to the society there that is in the evil of
their love; and do not see the ways that lead elsewhere; or if they
see them have no wish to enter them. In the spiritual world these
ways are real appearances, which correspond to truths or falsities;
and this is why ways have this signification in the Word.{1} By this
evidence from experience what has previously been affirmed on the
ground of reason is made more certain, namely, that every man after
death is his own love and his own will. It is said one's own will
because everyone's will is his love.
{Footnote 1} A "way," a "path," a "road," a "street," and a
"broad street," signify truths leading to good, or falsities
leading to evil (n. 627, 2333, 10422). "To sweep [or prepare] a
way" means to prepare for the reception of truths (n. 3142).
"To make known the way" means, in respect to the Lord, to
instruct in truths that lead to good (n. 10565).
480. (ii) Man after death continues to eternity such as his will or
ruling love is. This, too, has been confirmed by abundant experience.
I have been permitted to talk with some who lived two thousand years
ago, and whose lives are described in history, and thus known; and I
found that they continued to be just the same as they were described,
that is, in respect to the love out of which and according to which
their lives were formed. There were others known to history, that had
lived seventeen centuries ago, others that had lived four centuries
ago, and three, and so on, with whom I was permitted to talk; and I
found that the same affection still ruled in them, with no other
difference than that the delights of their love were turned into such
things as correspond. The angels declare that the life of the ruling
love is never changed in any one even to eternity, since everyone is
his love; consequently to change that love in a spirit is to take
away or extinguish his life; and for the reason that man after death
is no longer capable of being reformed by instruction, as in the
world, because the outmost plane, which consists of natural
knowledges and affections, is then quiescent and not being spiritual
cannot be opened (see above, n. 464); and upon that plane the
interiors pertaining to the mind and disposition rest as a house
rests on its foundation; and on this account such as the life of
one's love had been in the world such he continues to be to eternity.
The angels are greatly surprised that man does not know that everyone
is such as his ruling love is, and that many believe that they may be
saved by mercy apart from means, or by faith alone, whatever their
life may be; also that they do not know that Divine mercy works by
means, and that it consists in man's being led by the Lord, both in
the world and afterwards to eternity, and that those who do not live
in evils are led by the Divine mercy; and finally that faith is
affection for truth going forth from heavenly love, which is from the
Lord.
481. (iii) The man who has heavenly and spiritual love goes to
heaven; while the man who has corporeal and worldly love and no
heavenly and spiritual love goes to hell. This has been made evident
to me from all whom I have seen taken up into heaven or cast into
hell. The life of those taken up into heaven had been derived from a
heavenly and spiritual love, while the life of those cast into hell
had been derived from a corporeal and worldly love. Heavenly love
consists in loving what is good, honest, and just, because it is
good, honest and just, and in doing this from love; and those that
have this love have a life of goodness, honesty, and justice, which
is the heavenly life. Those that love what is good, honest, and just,
for its own sake, and who do this or live it, love the Lord above all
things, because this is from Him; they also love the neighbor,
because this is the neighbor who is to be loved.{1} But corporeal
love is loving what is good, honest, and just, not for its own sake
but for the sake of self, because reputation, honor, and gain can
thus be acquired. Such, in what is good, honest, and just, do not
look to the Lord and to the neighbor, but to self and the world, and
find delight in fraud; and the goodness, honesty and justice that
spring forth from fraud are evil, dishonesty, and injustice, and
these are what are loved by such in their practice of goodness,
honesty, and justice. [2] As the life of everyone is determined by
these different kinds of love, as soon as men after death enter the
world of spirits they are examined to discover their quality, and are
joined to those that are in a like love; those that are in heavenly
love to those that are in heaven, and those that are in corporeal
love to those that are in hell; and after they have passed through
the first and second state they are so separated as to no longer see
or know each other; for each one becomes his own love, both in
respect to his interiors pertaining to his mind, and in respect to
his exteriors pertaining to his face, body, and speech; for everyone
becomes an image of his own love, even in externals. Those that are
corporeal loves appear gross, dusky, black and misshapen; while those
that are heavenly loves appear fresh, bright, fair and beautiful.
Also in their minds and thoughts they are wholly unlike, those that
are heavenly loves being intelligent and wise, while those that are
corporeal loves are stupid and as it were silly. [3] When it is
granted to behold the interiors and exteriors of thought and
affection of those that are in heavenly love, their interiors appear
like light, and some like a flamy light, while their exteriors appear
in various beautiful colors like rainbows. But the interiors of those
that are in corporeal love appear as if black, because they are
closed up; and the interiors of some who were interiorly in malignant
deceit appear like a dusky fire. But their exteriors appear of a
dirty color, and disagreeable to the sight. (The interiors and
exteriors of the mind and disposition are made visible in the
spiritual world whenever the Lord pleases.) [4] Those that are in
corporeal love see nothing in the light of heaven; to them the light
of heaven is thick darkness; but the light of hell, which is like
light from burning coals, is to them as clear light. Moreover, in the
light of heaven their inward sight is so darkened that they become
insane; consequently they shun that light and hide themselves in dens
and caverns, more or less deeply in accordance with the falsities in
them derived from their evils. On the other hand those who are in
heavenly love, the more interiorly and deeply they enter into the
light of heaven, see all things more clearly and all things appear
more beautiful to them, and they perceive truths more intelligently
and wisely. [5] Again, it is impossible for those who are in
corporeal love to live at all in the heat of heaven, for the heat of
heaven is heavenly love; but they can live in the heat of hell, which
is the love of raging against others that do not favor them. The
delights of that love are contempt of others, enmity, hatred and
revenge; and when they are in these delights they are in their life,
and have no idea what it is to do good to others from good itself and
for the sake of good itself, knowing only what it is to do good from
evil and for the sake of evil. [6] Those who are in corporeal love
are unable to breathe in heaven. When any evil spirit is brought into
heaven he draws his breath like one struggling in a contest; while
those that are in heavenly love have a freer respiration and a fuller
life the more interiorly they are in heaven. All this shows that
heaven with man is heavenly and spiritual love, because on that love
all things of heaven are inscribed; also that hell in man is
corporeal and worldly love apart from heavenly and spiritual love,
because on such loves all things of hell are inscribed. Evidently,
then, he whose love is heavenly and spiritual enters heaven, and he
whose love is corporeal and worldly apart from heavenly and spiritual
love enters hell.
{Footnote 1} In the highest sense, the Lord is the neighbor,
because He is to be loved above all things; but loving the Lord
is loving what is from Him, because He Himself is in everything
that is from Him, thus it is loving what is good and true (n.
2425, 3419, 6706, 6711, 6819, 6823, 8123). Loving what is good
and true which is from the Lord is living in accordance with
good and truth, and this is loving the Lord (n. 10143, 10153,
10310, 10336, 10578, 10645). Every man and every society, also
one's country and the church, and in a universal sense the
Lord's kingdom, are the neighbor, and doing good to these from
a love of good in accord with their state is loving the
neighbor; that is, their good that should be consulted is the
neighbor (n. 6818-6824, 8123). Moral good also, which is
honesty, and civil good, which is justice, are the neighbor;
and to act honestly and justly from the love of honesty and
justice is loving the neighbor (n. 2915, 4730, 8120-8123). Thus
charity towards the neighbor extends to all things of the life
of man, and loving the neighbor is doing what is good and just,
and acting honestly from the heart, in every function and in
every work (n. 2417, 8121, 8124). The doctrine in the Ancient
Church was the doctrine of charity, and from that they had
wisdom (n. 2385, 2417, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628).
482. (iv) Unless faith is from heavenly love it does not endure in
man. This has been made clear to me by so much experience that if
everything I have seen and heard respecting it were collected, it
would fill a volume. This I can testify, that those who are in
corporeal and worldly love apart from heavenly and spiritual love
have no faith whatever, and are incapable of having any; they have
nothing but knowledge or a persuasion that a thing is true because it
serves their love. Some of those who claimed that they had faith were
brought to those who had faith, and when they communicated with them
they perceived that they had no faith at all; and afterwards they
confessed that merely believing what is true and believing the Word
is not faith, but that faith is loving truth from heavenly love, and
willing and doing it from interior affection. Moreover, they were
shown that their persuasion which they called faith was merely like
the light of winter, in which light, because it has no heat in it,
all things on the earth are bound up in frost, become torpid, and lie
buried under the snow. As soon, therefore, as the light of persuasive
faith in them is touched by the rays of the light of heaven it is not
only extinguished but is turned into a dense darkness, in which no
one can see himself; and at the same time their interiors are so
obscured that they can understand nothing at all, and at length
become insane from falsities. Consequently with such, all the truths
that they have known from the Word and from the doctrine of the
church, and have called the truths of their faith, are taken away;
and they imbibe in their place every falsity that is in accord with
the evil of their life. For they are all let down into their loves
and into the falsities agreeing with them; and they then hate and
abhor and therefore reject truths, because they are repugnant to the
falsities of evil in which they are. From all my experience in what
pertains to heaven and hell I can bear witness that all those who
from their doctrine have professed faith alone, and whose life has
been evil, are in hell. I have seen many thousands of them cast down
to hell. (Respecting these see the treatise on The Last Judgment and
the Destruction of Babylon.)
483. (v) Love in act, that is, the life of man, is what endures. This
follows as a conclusion from what has just been shown from
experience, and from what has been said about deeds and works. Love
in act is work and deed.
484. It must be understood that all works and deeds pertain to moral
and civil life, and therefore have regard to what is honest and
right, and what is just and equitable, what is honest and right
pertaining to moral life, and what is just and equitable to civil
life. The love from which deeds are done is either heavenly or
infernal. Works and deeds of moral and civil life, when they are done
from heavenly love, are heavenly; for what is done from heavenly love
is done from the Lord, and everything done from the Lord is good. But
the deeds and works of moral and civil life when done from infernal
love are infernal; for what is done from this love, which is the love
of self and of the world, is done from man himself, and everything
that is done from man himself is in itself evil; for man regarded in
himself, that is, in regard to what is his own, is nothing but
evil.{1}
{Footnote 1} Man's own consists in loving himself more than
God, and the world more than heaven, and in making nothing of
his neighbor in comparison with himself, thus it consists in
the love of self and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317). Man is
born into this own, and it is dense evil (n. 210, 215, 731,
874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550,
10283, 10284, 10286, 10732). From what is man's own not only
every evil but also every falsity is derived (n. 1047, 10283,
10284, 10286). The evils that are from what is man's own are
contempt for others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit
(n. 6667, 7370, 7373, 7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). So far as what
is man's own rules, the good of love and the truth of faith are
either rejected or suffocated or perverted (n. 2041, 7491,
7492, 7643, 8487, 10455, 10742). What is man's own is hell in
him (n. 694, 8480). The good that man does from what is his own
is not good, but in itself is evil (n. 8480).
485. L. THE DELIGHTS OF EVERY ONE'S LIFE ARE CHANGED AFTER DEATH INTO
THINGS THAT CORRESPOND.
It has been shown in the preceding chapter that the ruling affection
or dominant love in everyone continues to eternity. It shall now be
explained how the delights of that affection or love are changed into
things that correspond. Being changed into corresponding things means
into things spiritual that correspond to the natural. That they are
changed into things spiritual can be seen from this, that so long as
man is in his earthly body he is in the natural world, but when he
leaves that body he enters the spiritual world and is clothed with a
spiritual body. It has already been shown that angels, and men after
death, are in a complete human form, and that the bodies with which
they are clothed are spiritual bodies (n. 73-77 and 453-460); also
what the correspondence is of spiritual things with natural (n.
87-115).
486. All the delights that a man has are the delights of his ruling
love, for he feels nothing to be delightful except what he loves,
thus especially that which he loves above all things. It means the
same whether you say the ruling love or that which is loved above all
things. These delights are various. In general, there are as many as
there are ruling loves; consequently as many as there are men,
spirits, and angels; for no one's ruling love is in every respect
like that of another. For this reason no one has a face exactly like
that of any other; for each one's face is an image of his mind; and
in the spiritual world it is an image of his ruling love. In
particular, everyone's delights are of infinite variety. It is
impossible for any one delight to be exactly like another, or the
same as another, either those that follow one after another or those
that exist together at the same time, no one ever being the same as
another. Nevertheless, the particular delights in everyone have
reference to his one love, which is his ruling love, for they compose
it and thus make one with it. Likewise all delights in general have
reference to one universally ruling love, which in heaven is love to
the Lord, and in hell is the love of self.
487. Only from a knowledge of correspondences can it be known what
spiritual delights everyone's natural delights are changed into after
death, and what kind of delights they are. In general, this knowledge
teaches that nothing natural can exist without something spiritual
corresponding to it. In particular it teaches what it is that
corresponds, and what kind of a thing it is. Therefore, any one that
has this knowledge can ascertain and know what his own state after
death will be, if he only knows what his love is, and what its
relation is to the universally ruling loves spoken of above, to which
all loves have relation. But it is impossible for those who are in
the love of self to know what their ruling love is, because they love
what is their own, and call their evils goods; and the falsities that
they incline to and by which they confirm their evils they call
truths. And yet if they were willing they might know it from others
who are wise, and who see what they themselves do not see. This
however, is impossible with those who are so enticed by the love of
self that they spurn all teaching of the wise. [2] On the other hand,
those who are in heavenly love accept instruction, and as soon as
they are brought into the evils into which they were born, they see
them from truths, for truths make evils manifest. From truth which is
from good any one can see evil and its falsity; but from evil none
can see what is good and true; and for the reason that falsities of
evil are darkness and correspond to darkness; consequently those that
are in falsities from evil are like the blind, not seeing the things
that are in light, but shunning them instead like birds of night.{1}
But as truths from good are light, and correspond to light (see
above, n. 126-134), so those that are in truths from good have sight
and open eyes, and discern the things that pertain to light and
shade. [3] This, too, has been proved to me by experience. The angels
in heaven both see and perceive the evils and falsities that
sometimes arise in themselves, also the evils and falsities in
spirits in the world of spirits that are connected with the hells,
although the spirits themselves are unable to see their own evils and
falsities. Such spirits have no comprehension of the good of heavenly
love, of conscience, of honesty and justice, except such as is done
for the sake of self; neither what it is to be led by the Lord. They
say that such things do not exist, and thus are of no account. All
this has been said to the intent that man may examine himself and may
recognize his love by his delights; and thus so far as he can make it
out from a knowledge of correspondences may know the state of his
life after death.
{Footnote 1} From correspondence "darkness" in the Word
signifies falsities, and "thick darkness" the falsities of evil
(n. 1839, 1860, 7688, 7711). To the evil the light of heaven is
thick darkness (n. 1861, 6832, 8197). Those that are in the
hells are said to be in darkness because they are in falsities
of evil; of such (n. 3340, 4418, 4531). In the Word "the blind"
signify those that are in falsities and are not willing to be
taught (n. 2383, 6990).
488. How the delights of everyone's life are changed after death into
things that correspond can be known from a knowledge of
correspondences; but as that knowledge is not as yet generally known
I will try to throw some light on the subject by certain examples
from experience. All who are in evil and who have established
themselves in falsities in opposition to the truths of the church,
especially those that have rejected the Word, flee from the light of
heaven and take refuge in caves that appear at their openings to be
densely dark, also in clefts of rocks, and there they hide
themselves; and this because they have loved falsities and hated
truths; for such caves and clefts of rocks,{1} well as darkness,
correspond to falsities, as light corresponds to truths. It is their
delight to dwell in such places, and undelightful to dwell in the
open country. [2] Those that have taken delight in insidious and
secret plots and in treacherous machinations do the same thing. They
are also in such caves; and they frequent rooms so dark that they are
even unable to see one another; and they whisper together in the ears
in corners. Into this is the delight of their love changed. Those
that have devoted themselves to the sciences with no other end than
to acquire a reputation for learning, and have not cultivated their
rational faculty by their learning, but have taken delight in the
things of memory from a pride in such things, love sandy places,
which they choose in preference to fields and gardens, because sandy
places correspond to such studies. [3] Those that are skilled in the
doctrines of their own and other churches, but have not applied their
knowledge to life, choose for themselves rocky places, and dwell
among heaps of stones, shunning cultivated places because they
dislike them. Those that have ascribed all things to nature, as well
as those that have ascribed all things to their own prudence, and by
various arts have raised themselves to honors and have acquired
wealth, in the other life devote themselves to the study of magic
arts, which are abuses of Divine order, and find in these the chief
delight of life. [4] Those that have adapted Divine truths to their
own loves, and thereby have falsified them, love urinous things
because these correspond to the delights of such loves.{2} Those that
have been sordidly avaricious dwell in cells, and love swinish filth
and such stenches as are exhaled from undigested food in the stomach.
[5] Those that have spent their life in mere pleasures and have lived
delicately and indulged their palate and stomach, loving such things
as the highest good that life affords, love in the other life
excrementitious things and privies, in which they find their delight,
for the reason that such pleasures are spiritual filth. Places that
are clean and free from filth they shun, finding them undelightful.
[6] Those that have taken delight in adulteries pass their time in
brothels, where all things are vile and filthy; these they love, and
chaste homes they shun, falling into a swoon as soon as they enter
them. Nothing is more delightful to them than to break up marriages.
Those that have cherished a spirit of revenge, and have thereby
contracted a savage and cruel nature, love cadaverous substances, and
are in hells of that nature; and so on.
{Footnote 1} In the word a "hole" or "the cleft of a rock"
signifies obscurity and falsity of faith (n. 10582). Because a
"rock" signifies faith from the Lord (n. 8581, 10580); and a
"stone" the truth of faith (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426,
8609, 10376).
{Footnote 2} The defilements of truth correspond to urine (n.
5390).
489. But the delights of life of those that have lived in the world
in heavenly love are changed into such corresponding things as exist
in the heavens, which spring from the sun of heaven and its light,
that light presenting to view such things as have what is Divine
inwardly concealed in them. The things that appear in that light
affect the interiors of the minds of the angels, and at the same time
the exteriors pertaining to their bodies; and as the Divine light,
which is Divine truth going forth from the Lord, flows into their
minds opened by heavenly love, it presents outwardly such things as
correspond to the delights of their love. It has already been shown,
in the chapter on representatives and appearances in heaven (n.
170-176), and in the chapter on the wisdom of the angels (n.
265-275), that the things that appear to the sight in the heavens
correspond to the interiors of angels, or to the things pertaining to
their faith and love and thus to their intelligence and wisdom. [2]
Having already begun to establish this point by examples from
experience, to make clearer what has been previously said on the
ground of causes of things I will state briefly some particulars
respecting the heavenly delightful things into which the natural
delights of those that have lived in heavenly love in the world are
changed. Those that have loved Divine truths and the Word from an
interior affection, or from an affection for truth itself, dwell in
the other life in light, in elevated places that appear like
mountains, where they are continually in the light of heaven. They do
not know what darkness is, like that of night in the world; they live
also in a vernal temperature; there are presented to their view
fields filled with grain and vine-yards; in their houses everything
glows as if from precious stones; and looking through the windows is
like looking through pure crystal. Such are the delights of their
vision; but these same things are interiorly delightful because of
their being correspondences of Divine heavenly things, for the truths
from the Word which they have loved correspond to fields of grain,
vineyards, precious stones, windows, and crystals.{1} [3] Those that
have applied the doctrinals of the church which are from the Word
immediately to life, are in the inmost heaven, and surpass all others
in their delights of wisdom. In every object they see what is Divine;
the objects they see indeed with their eyes; but the corresponding
Divine things flow in immediately into their minds and fill them with
a blessedness that affects all their sensations. Thus before their
eyes all things seem to laugh, to play, and to live (see above,
n. 270). [4] Those that have loved knowledges and have thereby
cultivated their rational faculty and acquired intelligence, and at
the same time have acknowledged the Divine-these in the other life
have their pleasure in knowledges, and their rational delight changed
into spiritual delight, which is delight in knowing good and truth.
They dwell in gardens where flower beds and grass plots are seen
beautifully arranged, with rows of trees round about, and arbors and
walks, the trees and flowers changing from day to day. The entire
view imparts delight to their minds in a general way, and the
variations in detail continually renew the delight; and as everything
there corresponds to something Divine, and they are skilled in the
knowledge of correspondences, they are constantly filled with new
knowledges, and by these their spiritual rational faculty is
perfected. Their delights are such because gardens, flower beds,
grass plots, and trees correspond to sciences, knowledges, and the
resulting intelligence.{2} [5] Those that have ascribed all things to
the Divine, regarding nature as relatively dead and merely
subservient to things spiritual, and have confirmed themselves in
this view, are in heavenly light; and all things that appear before
their eyes are made by that light transparent, and in their
transparency exhibit innumerable variegations of light, which their
internal sight takes in as it were directly, and from this they
perceive interior delights. The things seen within their houses are
as if made of diamonds, with similar variegations of light. The walls
of their houses, as already said, are like crystal, and thus also
transparent; and in them seemingly flowing forms representative of
heavenly things are seen also with unceasing variety, and this
because such transparency corresponds to the understanding when it
has been enlightened by the Lord and when the shadows that arise from
a belief in and love for natural things have been removed. With
reference to such things and infinite others, it is said by those
that have been in heaven that they have seen what eye has never seen;
and from a perception of Divine things communicated to them by those
who are there, that they have heard what ear has never heard. [6]
Those that have not acted in secret ways, but have been willing to
have all that they have thought made known so far as civil life would
permit, because their thoughts have all been in accord with what is
honest and just from the Divine-these in heaven have faces full of
light; and in that light every least affection and thought is seen in
the face as in its form, and in their speech and actions they are
like images of their affections. Such, therefore, are more loved than
others. While they are speaking the face becomes a little obscured;
but as soon as they have spoken, the things they have said become
plainly manifest all at once in the face. And as all the objects that
exist round about them correspond to their interiors, these assume
such an appearance that others can clearly perceive what they
represent and signify. Spirits that have found delight in clandestine
acts, when they see such at a distance flee from them, and appear to
themselves to creep away from them like serpents. [7] Those that have
regarded adulteries as abominable, and have lived in a chaste love of
marriage, are more than all others in the order and form of heaven,
and therefore in all beauty, and continue unceasingly in the flower
of youth. The delights of their love are ineffable, and increase to
eternity; for all the delights and joys of heaven flow into that
love, because that love descends from the conjunction of the Lord
with heaven and with the church, and in general from the conjunction
of good and truth, which conjunction is heaven itself in general, and
with each angel in particular (see above, n. 366-386). What their
outward delights are it is impossible to describe in human words.
These are only a few of the things that have been told me about the
correspondences of the delights of those that are in heavenly love.
{Footnote 1} In the Word a "field of corn" signifies a state of
the reception and growth of truth from good (n. 9294).
"Standing corn" signifies truth in conception (n. 9146),
"Vineyards" signify the spiritual church and the truths of that
church (n. 1069, 9139). "Precious stones" signify the truths of
heaven and of the church transparent from good (n. 114, 9863,
9865, 9868, 9873, 9905). A "window" signifies the intellectual
faculty which pertains to the internal sight (n. 655, 658,
3391).
{Footnote 2} A "garden," a "grove," and a "park," signify
intelligence (n. 100, 108, 3220). This is why the ancients
celebrated holy worship in groves (n. 2722, 4552). "Flowers"
and "flower beds" signify truths learned and knowledges (n.
9553). "Herbs," "grasses," and "grass plots" signify truths
learned (n. 7571). "Trees" signify perception and knowledges
(n. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692).
490. All this makes evident that everyone's delights are changed
after death into their correspondences, while the love itself
continues to eternity. This is true of marriage love, of the love of
justice, honesty, goodness and truth, the love of sciences and of
knowledges, the love of intelligence and wisdom, and the rest. From
these loves delights flow like streams from their fountain; and these
continue; but when raised from natural to spiritual delights they are
exalted to a higher degree.
491. LI. THE FIRST STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH.
There are three states that man passes through after death before he
enters either heaven or hell. The first state is the state of his
exteriors, the second state the state of his interiors, and the third
his state of preparation. These states man passes through in the
world of spirits. There are some, however, that do not pass through
them; but immediately after death are either taken up into heaven or
cast into hell. Those that are immediately taken up into heaven are
those that have been regenerated in the world and thereby prepared
for heaven. Those that have been so regenerated and prepared that
they need simply to cast off natural impurities with the body are at
once taken up by the angels into heaven. I have seen them so taken up
soon after the hour of death. On the other hand, those that have been
inwardly wicked while maintaining an outward appearance of goodness,
and have thus filled up the measure of their wickedness by artifices,
using goodness as a means of deceiving-these are at once cast into
hell. I have seen some such cast into hell immediately after death,
one of the most deceitful with his head downward and feet upward, and
others in other ways. There are some that immediately after death are
cast into caverns and are thus separated from those that are in the
world of spirits, and are taken out from these and put back again by
turns. They are such as have dealt wickedly with the neighbor under
civil pretences. But all these are few in comparison with those that
are retained in the world of spirits, and are there prepared in
accordance with Divine order for heaven or for hell.
492. In regard to the first state, which is the state of the
exteriors, it is that which man comes into immediately after death.
Every man, as regards his spirit, has exteriors and interiors. The
exteriors of the spirit are the means by which it adapts the man's
body in the world, especially the face, speech, and movements, to
fellowship with others; while the interiors of the spirit are what
belong to its own will and consequent thought; and these are rarely
manifested in face, speech, and movement. For man is accustomed from
childhood to maintain a semblance of friendship, benevolence, and
sincerity, and to conceal the thoughts of his own will, thereby
living from habit a moral and civil life in externals, whatever he
may be internally. As a result of this habit man scarcely knows what
his interiors are, and gives little thought to them.
493. The first state of man after death resembles his state in the
world, for he is then likewise in externals, having a like face, like
speech, and a like disposition, thus a like moral and civil life; and
in consequence he is made aware that he is not still in the world
only by giving attention to what he encounters, and from his having
been told by the angels when he was resuscitated that he had become a
spirit(n. 450). Thus is one life continued into the other, and death
is merely transition.
494. The state of man's spirit that immediately follows his life in
the world being such, he is then recognized by his friends and by
those he had known in the world; for this is something that spirits
perceive not only from one's face and speech but also from the sphere
of his life when they draw near. Whenever any one in the other life
thinks about another he brings his face before him in thought, and at
the same time many things of his life; and when he does this the
other becomes present, as if he had been sent for or called. This is
so in the spiritual world because thoughts there are shared, and
there is no such space there as in the natural world (see above,
n. 191-199). So all, as soon as they enter the other life, are
recognized by their friends, their relatives, and those in any way
known to them; and they talk with one another, and afterward
associate in accordance with their friendships in the world. I have
often heard that those that have come from the world were rejoiced at
seeing their friends again, and that their friends in turn were
rejoiced that they had come. Very commonly husband and wife come
together and congratulate each other, and continue together, and this
for a longer or shorter time according to their delight in living
together in the world. But if they had not been united by a true
marriage love, which is a conjunction of minds by heavenly love,
after remaining together for a while they separate. Or if their minds
had been discordant and were inwardly adverse, they break forth into
open enmity, and sometimes into combat; nevertheless they are not
separated until they enter the second state, which will be treated of
presently.
495. As the life of spirits recently from the world is not unlike
their life in the natural world and as they know nothing about their
state of life after death and nothing about heaven and hell except
what they have learned from the sense of the letter of the Word and
preaching from it, they are at first surprised to find themselves in
a body and in every sense that they had in the world, and seeing like
things; and they become eager to know what heaven is, what hell is,
and where they are. Therefore their friends tell them about the
conditions of eternal life, and take them about to various places and
into various companies, and sometimes into cities, and into gardens
and parks, showing them chiefly such magnificent things as delight
the externals in which they are. They are then brought in turn into
those notions about the state of their soul after death, and about
heaven and hell, that they had entertained in the life of the body,
even until they feel indignant at their total ignorance of such
things, and at the ignorance of the church also. Nearly all are
anxious to know whether they will get to heaven. Most of them believe
that they will, because of their having lived in the world a moral
and civil life, never considering that the bad and the good live a
like life outwardly, alike doing good to others, attending public
worship, hearing sermons, and praying; and wholly ignorant that
external deeds and external acts of worship are of no avail, but only
the internals from which the externals proceed. There is hardly one
out of thousands who knows what internals are, and that it is in them
that man must find heaven and the church. Still less is it known that
outward acts are such as the intentions and thoughts are, and the
love and faith in these from which they spring. And even when taught
they fail to comprehend that thinking and willing are of any avail,
but only speaking and acting. Such for the most part are those that
go at this day from the Christian world into the other life.
496. Such, however, are explored by good spirits to discover what
they are, and this in various ways; since in this the first state the
evil equally with the good utter truths and do good acts, and for the
reason mentioned above, that like the good they have lived morally in
outward respects, since they have lived under governments, and
subject to laws, and have thereby acquired a reputation for justice
and honesty, and have gained favor, and thus been raised to honors,
and have acquired wealth. But evil spirits are distinguished from
good spirits chiefly by this, that the evil give eager attention to
whatever is said about external things, and but little attention to
what is said about internal things, which are the truths and goods of
the church and of heaven. These they listen to, but not with
attention and joy. The two classes are also distinguished by their
turning repeatedly in specific directions, and following, when left
to themselves, the paths that lead in those directions. From such
turning to certain quarters and going in certain ways it is known by
what love they are led.
497. All spirits that arrive from the world are connected with some
society in heaven or some society in hell, and yet only as regards
their interiors; and so long as they are in exteriors their interiors
are manifested to no one, for externals cover and conceal internals,
especially in the case of those who are in interior evil. But
afterwards, when they come into the second state, their evils become
manifest, because their interiors are then opened and their exteriors
laid asleep.
498. This first state of man after death continues with some for
days, with some for months, and with some for a year; but seldom with
any one beyond a year; for a shorter or longer time with each one
according to the agreement or disagreement of his interiors with his
exteriors. For with everyone the exteriors and interior must make one
and correspond. In the spiritual world no one is permitted to think
and will in one way and speak and act in another. Everyone there must
be an image of his own affection or his own love, and therefore such
as he is inwardly such he must be outwardly; and for this reason a
spirit's exteriors are first disclosed and reduced to order that they
may serve the interiors as a corresponding plane.
499. LII. THE SECOND STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH.
The second state of man after death is called the state of his
interiors, because he is then let into the interiors of his mind,
that is, of his will and thought; while his exteriors, which he has
been in during his first state, are laid asleep. Whoever gives any
thought to man's life and speech and action can see that everyone has
exteriors and interiors, that is, exterior and interior thoughts and
intentions. This is shown by the fact that in civil life one thinks
about others in accordance with what he has heard and learned of them
by report or conversation; but he does not talk with them in
accordance with his thought; and if they are evil he nevertheless
treats them with civility. That this is so is seen especially in the
case of pretenders and flatterers, who speak and act in one way and
think and will in a wholly different way; also in the case of
hypocrites, who talk about God and heaven and the salvation of souls
and the truths of the church and their country's good and their
neighbor as if from faith and love, although in heart they believe
otherwise and love themselves alone. [2] All this makes clear that
there are two kinds of thought, one exterior and the other interior;
and that there are those who speak from exterior thought, while from
their interior thought they have other sentiments, and that these two
kinds of thought are kept separate, since the interior is carefully
prevented from flowing into the exterior and becoming manifest in any
way. By creation man is so formed as to have his interior and
exterior thought make one by correspondence; and these do make one in
those that are in good, for such both think and speak what is good
only. But in those that are in evil interior and exterior thought do
not make one, for such think what is evil and say what is good. With
such there is an inversion of order, for good with them is on the
outside and evil within; and in consequence evil has dominion over
good, and subjects it to itself as a servant, that it may serve it as
a means for gaining its ends, which are of the same nature as their
love. With such an end contained in the good that they seek and do,
their good is evidently not good, but is infected with evil, however
good it may appear in outward form to those not acquainted with their
interiors. [3] It is not so with those that are in good. With such
order is not inverted; but good from interior thought flows into
exterior thought, and thus into word and act. Into this order man was
created; and in heaven, and in the light of heaven, his interiors are
in this order. And as the light of heaven is the Divine truth that
goes forth from the Lord, and consequently is the Lord in heaven (n.
126-140), therefore such are led by the Lord. All this has been said
to make known that every man has interior thought and exterior
thought, and that these are distinct from each other. The term
thought includes also the will, for thought is from the will, and
thought apart from willing is impossible. All this makes clear what
is meant by the state of man's exteriors and the state of his
interiors.
500. When will and thought are mentioned will includes affection and
love, and all the delight and pleasure that spring from affection and
love, since all these relate to the will as to their subject; for
what a man wills he loves and feels to be delightful or pleasurable;
and on the other hand, what a man loves and feels to be delightful or
pleasurable, that he wills. But by thought is then meant everything
by which affection or love is confirmed, for thought is simply the
will's form, or that whereby what is willed may appear in light. This
form is made apparent through various rational analyses, which have
their origin in the spiritual world and belong properly to the spirit
of man.
501. Let it be understood that man is wholly such as his interiors
are, and not such as his exteriors are separate from his interiors.
This is because his interiors belong to his spirit, and the life of
his spirit is the life of man, for from it his body lives; and
because of this such as a man's interiors are such he continues to be
to eternity. But as the exteriors pertain to the body they are
separated after death, and those of them that adhere to the spirit
are laid asleep, and serve purely as a plane for the interiors, as
has been shown above in treating of the memory of man which continues
after death. This makes evident what is man's own and what is not his
own, namely, that with the evil man nothing that belongs to his
exterior thought from which he speaks, or to the exterior will from
which he acts, is his own, but only that which belongs to his
interior thought and will.
502. When the first state, which is the state of the exteriors
treated of in the preceding chapter, has been passed through, the
man-spirit is let into the state of his interiors, or into the state
of his interior will and its thought, in which he had been in the
world when left to himself to think freely and without restraint.
Into this state he unconsciously glides, just as when in the world he
withdraws the thought nearest to his speech, that is, from which he
speaks, towards his interior thought and abides in the latter.
Therefore in this state of his interiors the man-spirit is in
himself and in his very life; for to think freely from his own
affection is the very life of man, and is himself.
503. In this state the spirit thinks from his very will, thus from
his very affection, or from his very love; and thought and will then
make one, and one in such a manner that he seems scarcely to think
but only to will. It is nearly the same when he speaks, yet with the
difference that he speaks with a kind of fear that the thoughts of
the will may go forth naked, since by his social life in the world
this has come to be a part of his will.
504. All men without exception are let into this state after death,
because it is their spirit's own state. The former state is such as
the man was in regard to his spirit when in company; and that is not
his own state. That this state, namely, the state of the exteriors
into which man first comes after death (as shown in the preceding
chapter) is not his own state, many things show, for example, that
spirits not only think but also speak from their affection, since
their speech is from their affection (as has been said and shown in
the chapter on the speech of angels, n. 234-245). It was in this way
that man had thought while in the world when he was thinking within
himself, for at such times his thought was not from his bodily words,
but he [mentally] saw the things, and in a minute of time saw more
than he could afterwards utter in half an hour. Again that the state
of the exteriors is not man's own state or the state of his spirit is
evident from the fact that when he is in company in the world he
speaks in accord with the laws of moral and civil life, and at such
times interior thought rules the exterior thought, as one person
rules another, to keep him from transgressing the limits of decorum
and good manners. It is evident also from the fact that when a man
thinks within himself, he thinks how he must speak and act in order
to please and to secure friendship, good will, and favor, and this in
extraneous ways, that is, otherwise than he would do if he acted in
accordance with his own will. All this shows that the state of the
interiors that the spirit is let into is his own state, and was his
own state when he was living in the world as a man.
505. When the spirit is in the state of his interiors it becomes
clearly evident what the man was in himself when he was in the world,
for at such times he acts from what is his own. He that had been in
the world interiorly in good then acts rationally and wisely, and
even more wisely than in the world, because he is released from
connection with the body, and thus from those earthly things that
caused obscurity and interposed as it were a cloud. But he that was
in evil in the world then acts foolishly and insanely, and even more
insanely than in the world, because he is free and under no
restraint. For while he lived in the world he was sane in outward
appearance, since by means of externals he made himself appear to be
a rational man; but when he has been stripped of his externals his
insanities are revealed. An evil man who in externals takes on the
semblance of a good man may be likened to a vessel shining and
polished on the outside and covered with a lid, within which filth of
all kinds is hidden, in accordance with the Lord's saying:
Ye are like whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear
beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones and
of all uncleanness (Matt. 23:27).
506. All that have lived a good life in the world and have acted from
conscience, who are such as have acknowledged the Divine and have
loved Divine truths, especially such as have applied those truths to
life, seem to themselves, when let into the state of their interiors,
like one aroused from sleep into full wakefulness, or like one
passing from darkness into light. They then think from the light of
heaven, thus from an interior wisdom, and they act from good, thus
from an interior affection. Heaven flows into their thoughts and
affections with an interior blessedness and delight that they had
previously had no knowledge of; for they have communication with the
angels of heaven. They then acknowledge the Lord and worship Him from
their very life, for being in the state of their interiors they are
in their proper life (as has been said just above, n. 505); and as
freedom pertains to interior affection they then acknowledge and
worship the Lord from freedom. Thus, too, they withdraw from external
sanctity and come into that internal sanctity in which worship itself
truly consists. Such is the state of those that have lived a
Christian life in accordance with the commandments in the Word. [2]
But the state of those that have lived an evil life in the world and
who have had no conscience, and have in consequence denied the
Divine, is the direct opposite of this. For everyone who lives an
evil life, inwardly in himself denies the Divine, however much he may
suppose when in external thought that he acknowledges the Lord and
does not deny Him; for acknowledging the Divine and living an evil
life are opposites. When such in the other life enter into the state
of their interiors, and are heard speaking and seen acting, they
appear foolish; for from their evil lusts they burst forth into all
sorts of abominations, into contempt of others, ridicule and
blasphemy, hatred and revenge; they plot intrigues, some with a
cunning and malice that can scarcely be believed to be possible in
any man. For they are then in a state of freedom to act in harmony
with the thoughts of their will, since they are separated from the
outward conditions that restrained and checked them in the world. In
a word, they are deprived of their rationality, because their reason
while they were in the world did not have its seat in their
interiors, but in their exteriors; and yet they seemed to themselves
to be wiser than others. [3] This being their character, while in the
second state they are let down by short intervals into the state of
their exteriors, and into a recollection of their actions when they
were in the state of their interiors; and some of them then feel
ashamed, and confess that they have been insane; some do not feel
ashamed; and some are angry because they are not permitted to remain
permanently in the state of their exteriors. But these are shown what
they would be if they were to continue in that state, namely, that
they would attempt to accomplish in secret ways the same evil ends,
and by semblances of goodness, honesty, and justice, would mislead
the simple in heart and faith, and would utterly destroy themselves;
for their exteriors would at length burn with the same fire as their
interiors, and their whole life would be consumed.
507. When in this second state spirits become visibly just what they
had been in themselves while in the world, what they then did and
said secretly being now made manifest; for they are now restrained by
no outward considerations, and therefore what they have said and done
secretly they now say and endeavor to do openly, having no longer any
fear of loss of reputation, such as they had in the world. They are
also brought into many states of their evils, that what they are may
be evident to angels and good spirits. Thus are hidden things laid
open and secret things uncovered, in accordance with the Lord's
words:
There is nothing covered up that shall not be revealed,
and hid that shall not be known. Whatsoever ye have said
in the darkness shall be heard in the light, and what ye
have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be
proclaimed on the housetops (Luke 12:2, 3).
And elsewhere:
I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment
(Matt. 12:36).
508. The nature of the wicked in this state cannot be described in a
few words, for each one is insane in accord with his own lusts, and
these are various; therefore I will merely mention some special
instances from which conclusions may be formed respecting the rest.
Those that have loved themselves above everything, and in their
occupations and employments have looked to their own honor, and have
performed uses and found delight in them not for the use's sake but
for the sake of reputation, that they might because of them be
esteemed more worthy than others, and have thus been fascinated by
their reputation for honor, are more stupid in this second state than
others; for so far as one loves himself he is separated from heaven,
and so far as he is separated from heaven he is separated from
wisdom. [2] But those that have not only been in self-love but have
been crafty also, and have raised themselves to honors by means of
crafty practices, affiliate themselves with the worst of spirits, and
learn magic arts, which are abuses of Divine order, and by means of
these they assail and infest all who do not honor them, laying
snares, fomenting hatred, burning with revenge, and are eager to vent
their rage on all who do not yield to them; and they rush into all
these enormities so far as their fiendish companions favor them; and
at length they meditate upon how they can climb up into heaven to
destroy it, or be worshiped there as gods. To such length does their
madness carry them. [3] Papists of this character are more insane
than the rest, for they cherish the notion that heaven and hell are
subject to their power, and that they can remit sins at pleasure,
claiming to themselves all that is Divine, and calling themselves
Christ. This persuasion is such with them that wherever it flows in
it disturbs the mind and induces darkness even to pain. Such are
nearly the same in both the first and the second state; but in the
second they are without rationality. Of their insanities and their
lot after this state some particulars will be given in the treatise
on The Last Judgement and the Destruction of Babylon. [4] Those that
have attributed creation to nature, and have therefore in heart if
not with the lips denied the Divine, and thus all things of the
church and of heaven, affiliate with their like in this second state,
and call everyone a god who excels in craftiness, worshiping him even
with Divine honors. I have seen such in an assembly adoring a
magician, debating about nature, and behaving like fools, as if they
were beasts under a human form, while among them there were some who
in the world had been in stations of dignity, and some who had been
esteemed learned and wise. So with others in other states. [5] From
these few instances it may be inferred what those are who have the
interiors of their minds closed heaven-wards, as is the case with
all who have received no influx out of heaven through acknowledgment
of the Divine and a life of faith. Everyone can judge from himself
how he would act if, being such, he were left free to act with no
fear of the law and no fear in regard to his life, and with no
outward restraints, such as fear of injury to one's reputation or of
loss of honor and gain and consequent pleasures. [6] Nevertheless,
the insanity of such is restrained by the Lord that it may not rush
beyond the limits of use; for even such spirits perform some use. In
them good spirits see what evil is and its nature, and what man is
when he is not led by the Lord. Another of their uses is their
collecting together evil spirits like themselves and separating them
from the good; and another, that the truths and goods that the evil
had outwardly professed and feigned are taken away from them, and
they are brought into the evils of their life and the falsities of
their evil, and are thus prepared for hell. [7] For no one enters
hell until he is in his own evil and the falsities of evil, since no
one is permitted there to have a divided mind, that is, to think and
speak one thing and to will another. Every evil spirit there must
think what is false from evil, and speak from the falsity of evil, in
both respects from the will, thus from his own essential love and its
delight and pleasure, in the same way that he thought while in the
world when he was in his spirit, that is, in the same way as he
thought in himself when he thought from interior affection. The
reason is that the will is the man himself, and not the thought
except so far as it partakes of the will, the will being the very
nature itself or disposition of the man. Therefore man's being let
into his will is being let into his nature or disposition, and
likewise into his life; for by his life man puts on a nature; and
after death he continues to be such as the nature is that he has
acquired by his life in the world; and with the evil this nature can
no longer be amended and changed by means of the thought or by the
understanding of truth.
509. When evil spirits are in this second state, as they rush into
evils of every kind they are subjected to frequent and grievous
punishments. In the world of spirits there are many kinds of
punishment; and there is no regard for person, whether one had been
in the world a king or a servant. Every evil carries its punishment
with it, the two making one; therefore whoever is in evil is also in
the punishment of evil. And yet no one in the other world suffers
punishment on account of the evils that he had done in this world,
but only on account of the evils that he then does; although it
amounts to the same and is the same thing whether it be said that men
suffer punishment on account of their evils in the world or that they
suffer punishment on account of the evils they do in the other life,
since everyone after death returns into his own life and thus into
like evils; and the man continues the same as he had been in the life
of the body (n. 470-484). Men are punished for the reason that the
fear of punishment is the sole means of subduing evils in this state.
Exhortation is no longer of any avail, neither is instruction or fear
of the law and of the loss of reputation, since everyone then acts
from his nature; and that nature can be restrained and broken only by
punishments. But good spirits, although they had done evils in the
world, are never punished, because their evils do not return.
Moreover, I have learned that the evils they did were of a different
kind or nature, not being done purposely in opposition to the truth,
or from any other badness of heart than that which they received by
inheritance from their parents, and that they were borne into this by
a blind delight when they were in externals separate from internals.
510. Everyone goes to his own society in which his spirit had been in
the world; for every man, as regards his spirit, is conjoined to some
society, either infernal or heavenly, the evil man to an infernal
society and the good man to a heavenly society, and to that society
he is brought after death (see n. 438). The spirit is led to his
society gradually, and at length enters it. When an evil spirit is in
the state of his interiors he is turned by degrees toward his own
society, and at length, before that state is ended, directly to it;
and when that state is ended he himself casts himself into the hell
where those are who are like himself. This act of casting down
appears to the sight like one falling headlong with the head
downwards and the feet upwards. The cause of this appearance is that
the spirit himself is in an inverted order, having loved infernal
things and rejected heavenly things. In this second state some evil
spirits enter the hells and come out again by turns; but these do not
appear to fall headlong as those do that are fully vastated.
Moreover, the society itself in which they had been as regards their
spirit while in the world is shown to them when they are in the state
of their exteriors, that they may thus learn that even while in the
life of the body they were in hell, although not in the same state as
those that are in hell itself, but in the same state as those who are
in the world of spirits. Of this state, as compared with those that
are in hell, more will be said hereafter.
511. In this second state the separation of evil spirits from good
spirits takes place. For in the first state they are together, since
while a spirit is in his exteriors he is as he was in the world, thus
the evil with the good and the good with the evil; but it is
otherwise when he has been brought into his interiors and left to his
own nature or will. The separation of evil spirits from good spirits
is effected by various means; in general by their being taken about
to those societies with which in their first state they had
communication by means of their good thoughts and affections, thus to
those societies that they had induced to believe by outward
appearances that they were not evil. Usually they are led about
through a wide circle, and everywhere what they really are is made
manifest to good spirits. At the sight of them the good spirits turn
away; and at the same time the evil spirits who are being led about
turn their faces away from the good towards that quarter where their
infernal society is, into which they are about to come. Other methods
of separation, which are many, will not now be mentioned.
512. LIII. THIRD STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, WHICH IS A STATE OF
INSTRUCTION FOR THOSE WHO ENTER HEAVEN.
The third state of man after death, that is, of his spirit, is a
state of instruction. This state is for those who enter heaven and
become angels. It is not for those who enter hell, because such are
incapable of being taught, and therefore their second state is also
their third, ending in this, that they are wholly turned to their own
love, thus to that infernal society which is in a like love. When
this has been done they will and think from that love and as that
love is infernal they will nothing but what is evil and think nothing
but what is false; and in such thinking and willing they find their
delights, because these belong to their love; and in consequence of
this they reject everything good and true which they had previously
adopted as serviceable to their love as means. [2] Good spirits, on
the other hand, are led from the second state into the third, which
is the state of their preparation for heaven by means of instruction.
For one can be prepared for heaven only by means of knowledges of
good and truth, that is, only by means of instruction, since one can
know what spiritual good and truth are, and what evil and falsity
are, which are their opposites, only by being taught. One can learn
in the world what civil and moral good and truth are, which are
called justice and honesty, because there are civil laws in the world
that teach what is just, and there is interaction with others whereby
man learns to live in accordance with moral laws, all of which have
relation to what is honest and right. But spiritual good and truth
are learned from heaven, not from the world. They can be learned from
the Word and from the doctrine of the church that is drawn from the
Word and yet unless man in respect to his interiors which belong to
his mind is in heaven spiritual good and truth cannot flow into his
life; and man is in heaven when he both acknowledges the Divine and
acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act
because it is commanded in the Word. This is living justly and
honestly for the sake of the Divine, and not for the sake of self and
the world, as ends. [3] But no one can so act until he has been
taught, for example, that there is a God, that there is a heaven and
a hell, that there is a life after death, that God ought to be loved
supremely, and the neighbor as oneself, and that what is taught in
the Word, ought to be believed because the Word is Divine. Without a
knowledge and acknowledgment of these things man is unable to think
spiritually; and if he has no thought about them he does not will
them; for what a man does not know he cannot think, and what he does
not think he cannot will. So it is when man wills these things that
heaven flows into his life, that is, the Lord through heaven, for the
Lord flows into the will and through the will into the thought, and
through both into the life, and the whole life of man is from these.
All this makes clear that spiritual good and truth are learned not
from the world but from heaven, and that one can be prepared for
heaven only by means of instruction. [4] Moreover, so far as the Lord
flows into the life of any one He instructs him, for so far He
kindles the will with the love of knowing truths and enlightens the
thought to know them; and so far as this is done the interiors of man
are opened and heaven is implanted in them; and furthermore, what is
Divine and heavenly flows into the honest things pertaining to moral
life and into the just things pertaining to civil life in man, and
makes them spiritual, since man then does these things from the
Divine, which is doing them for the sake of the Divine. For the
things honest and just pertaining to moral and civil life which a man
does from that source are the essential effects of spiritual life;
and the effect derives its all from the effecting cause, since such
as the cause is such is the effect.
513. Instruction is given by the angels of many societies, especially
those in the northern and southern quarters, because those angelic
societies are in intelligence and wisdom from a knowledge of good and
truth. The places of instruction are towards the north and are
various, arranged and distinguished according to the kinds and
varieties of heavenly goods, that all and each may be instructed
there according to their disposition and ability to receive; the
places extending round about to a great distance. The good spirits
who are to be instructed are brought by the Lord to these places when
they have completed their second state in the world of spirits, and
yet not all; for there are some that have been instructed in the
world, and have been prepared there by the Lord for heaven, and these
are taken up into heaven by another way-some immediately after death,
some after a short stay with good spirits, where the grosser things
of their thoughts and affections which they had contracted from
honors and riches in the world are removed, and in that way they are
purified. Some first endure vastations, which is effected in places
under the soles of the feet, called the lower earth, where some
suffer severely. These are such as had confirmed themselves in
falsities and yet had led good lives, for when falsities have been
confirmed they inhere with much force, and until they have been
dispersed truths cannot be seen, and thus cannot be accepted. But
vastations and how they are effected have been treated of in the
Arcana Coelestia, from which the notes below have been collected.{1}
{Footnote 1} Vastations are effected in the other life, that
is, those that pass into the other life from the world are
vastated (n. 698, 7122, 7474, 9763). The well disposed are
vastated in respect to falsities, while the evil are vastated
in respect to truths (n, 7474, 7541, 7542). The well disposed
undergo vastations that they also may be divested of what
pertains to the earth and the world, which they had contracted
while living in the world (n. 7186, 9763). Also that evils and
falsities may be removed, and thus there may be room for the
influx of goods and truths out of heaven from the Lord, and
ability to accept these (n. 7122, 9330). Elevation into heaven
is impossible until such things have been removed, because they
obstruct heavenly things and are not in harmony with them (n.
6928, 7122, 7186, 7541, 7542, 9763). Those who are to be raised
up into heaven are thus prepared for it (n. 4728, 7090). It is
dangerous to come into heaven before being prepared (n. 537,
538). The state of enlightenment and the joy of those who come
out of vastation and are raised up into heaven, and their
reception there (n. 2699, 2701, 2704). The region where those
vastations are effected is called the lower earth (n. 4728,
7090). That region is under the soles of the feet surrounded by
the hells; its nature described (n. 4940-4951, 7090); from
experience (n. 699). What the hells are which more than others
infest and vastate (n. 7317, 7502, 7545). Those that have
infested and vastated the well disposed are afterwards afraid
of them, shun them, and turn away from them (n. 7768). These
infestations and vastations are effected in different ways in
accordance with the adhesion of evils and falsities, and they
continue in accordance with their quality and quantity (n.
1106-1113). Some are quite willing to be vastated (n. 1107).
Some are vastated by fears (n. 4942). Some by being infested
with the evils they have done in the world, and with the
falsities they have thought in the world, from which they have
anxieties and pangs of conscience (n. 1106). Some by spiritual
captivity, which is ignorance of truth and interception of
truth, combined with a longing to know truths (n. 1109, 2694).
Some by sleep; some by a middle state between wakefulness and
sleep (n. 1108). Those that have placed merit in works seem to
themselves to be cutting wood (n. 1110). Others in other ways,
with great variety (n. 699).
514. All who are in places of instruction dwell apart; for each one
is connected in regard to his interiors with that society of heaven
which he is about to enter; thus as the societies of heaven are
arranged in accord with the heavenly form (see above, n. 200-212), so
are the places there where instruction is given; and for this reason
when those places are viewed from heaven something like a heaven in a
smaller form is seen. They are spread out in length from east to
west, and in breadth from south to north; but the breadth appears to
be less than the length. The arrangement in general is as follows. In
front are those who died in childhood and have been brought up in
heaven to the age of early youth; these after passing the state of
their infancy with those having charge of them, are brought hither by
the Lord and instructed. Behind these are the places where those are
taught who died in adult age, and who in the world had an affection
for truth derived from good of life. Again, behind these are those
who in the world were connected with the Mohammedan religion, and
lived a moral life and acknowledged one Divine, and the Lord as the
very Prophet. When these withdraw from Mohammed, because he can give
them no help, they approach the Lord and worship Him and acknowledge
His Divinity, and they are then instructed in the Christian religion.
Behind these more to the north are the places of instruction of
various heathen nations who in the world have lived a good life in
conformity with their religion, and have thereby acquired a kind of
conscience, and have done what is just and right not so much from a
regard to the laws of their government, as from a regard to the laws
of religion, which they believed ought to be sacredly observed, and
in no way violated by their doings. When these have been taught they
are all easily led to acknowledge the Lord, because it is impressed
on their hearts that God is not invisible, but is visible under a
human form. These in number exceed all the rest, and the best of them
are from Africa.
515. But all are not taught in the same way, nor by the same
societies of heaven. Those that have been brought up from childhood
in heaven, not having imbibed falsities from the falsities of
religion or defiled their spiritual life with the dregs pertaining to
honors and riches in the world, receive instruction from the angels
of the interior heavens; while those that have died in adult age
receive instruction mainly from angels of the lowest heaven, because
these angels are better suited to them than the angels of the
interior heavens, who are in interior wisdom which is not yet
acceptable to them. But the Mohammedans receive instruction from
angels who had been previously in the same religion and had been
converted to Christianity. The heathen, too, are taught by their
angels.
516. All teaching there is from doctrine drawn from the Word, and not
from the Word apart from doctrine. Christians are taught from
heavenly doctrine, which is in entire agreement with the internal
sense of the Word. All others, as the Mohammedans and heathen, are
taught from doctrines suited to their apprehension, which differ from
heavenly doctrine only in this, that spiritual life is taught by
means of moral life in harmony with the good tenets of their religion
from which they had derived their life in the world.
517. Instruction in the heavens differs from instruction on earth in
that knowledges are not committed to memory, but to life; for the
memory of spirits is in their life, for they receive and imbibe
everything that is in harmony with their life, and do not receive,
still less imbibe, what is not in harmony with it; for spirits are
affections, and are therefore in a human form that is similar to
their affections. [2] Being such they are constantly animated by an
affection for truth that looks to the uses of life; for the Lord
provides for everyone's loving the uses suited to his genius; and
that love is exalted by the hope of becoming an angel. And as all the
uses of heaven have relation to the general use, which is the good of
the Lord's kingdom, which in heaven is the fatherland, and as all
special and particular uses are to be valued in proportion as they
more closely and fully have regard to that general use, so all of
these special and particular uses, which are innumerable, are good
and heavenly; therefore in everyone an affection for truth is so
conjoined with an affection for use that the two make one; and
thereby truth is so implanted in use that the truths they acquire are
truths of use. In this way are angelic spirits taught and prepared
for heaven. [3] An affection for truth that is suited to the use is
insinuated by various means, most of which are unknown in the world;
chiefly by representatives of uses which in the spiritual world are
exhibited in a thousand ways, and with such delights and pleasures
that they permeate the spirit from the interiors of its mind to the
exteriors of its body, and thus affect the whole; and in consequence
the spirit becomes as it were his use; and therefore when he comes
into his society, into which he is initiated by instruction, he is in
his life by being in his use.{1} From all this it is clear that
knowledges, which are external truths, do not bring any one into
heaven; but the life itself, which is a life of uses implanted by
means of knowledges.
{Footnote 1} Every good has both its delight and its quality
from uses and in accordance with uses; therefore such as the
good is such the use is (n. 3049, 4984, 7038). Angelic life
consists in the goods of love and charity, thus in performing
uses (n. 454). The Lord and therefore the angels, have regard
to nothing in man but ends which are uses (n. 1317, 1645,
5854). The kingdom of the Lord is a kingdom of uses (n. 454,
696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). Serving the Lord is performing
uses (n. 7038). What man is, such are his uses (n. 1568, 3570,
4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 10284).
518. There were some spirits who had convinced themselves, by
thinking about it in the world, that they would go to heaven and be
received before others because of their learning and their great
knowledge of the Word and of the doctrines of their churches,
believing that they were wise in consequence, and were such as are
meant by those of whom it is said that
They shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and
as the stars (Daniel 12:3).
But these were examined to see whether their knowledges resided in
the memory or in the life. Such of them as had a genuine affection of
truth, that is, who had uses separated from what pertains to the body
and the world as their end, which are essentially spiritual
uses--these, when they had been instructed, were received into
heaven; and it was then given them to know what it is that shines in
heaven, namely, Divine truth (which is the light of heaven) in use,
which is a plane that receives the rays of that light and turns them
into various splendors. But those in whom knowledges resided merely
in the memory, and who had acquired therefrom an ability to reason
about truths and to prove what they had already accepted as
principles, seeing such principles, after they had confirmed them, as
truths, although they were falsities, these, as they were in no
heavenly light, and yet were in a belief derived from the conceit
that usually adheres to such intelligence that they were more learned
than others, and would for that reason enter heaven and be served by
the angels, in order that they might be withdrawn from their delusive
faith, were taken up to the first or outmost heaven to be introduced
into an angelic society. But at the very threshold their eyes began
to be darkened by the inflowing of the light of heaven, and their
understanding to be disturbed, and at length they began to gasp as if
at the point of death; and as soon as they felt the heat of heaven,
which is heavenly love, they began to be inwardly tormented. They
were therefore cast down, and afterwards were taught that knowledges
do not make an angel, but the life itself, which is gained by means
of knowledges, for knowledges regarded in themselves are outside of
heaven; but life acquired by means of knowledges is within heaven.
519. When spirits have been prepared for heaven by instruction in the
places above described, which is effected in a short time on account
of their being in spiritual ideas that comprehend many particulars
together, they are clothed with angelic garments, which are mostly
glowing white as if made of fine linen; and they are thus brought to
the way that leads upwards towards heaven, and are delivered there to
angel guards, and afterwards are received by other angels and
introduced into societies and into many blessednesses there. After
this each one is led by the Lord into his own society, which is also
effected by various ways, sometimes by winding paths. The ways by
which they are led are not known to any angel, but are known to the
Lord alone. When they come to their own society their interiors are
opened; and as these are in conformity with the interiors of the
angels who are in that society they are immediately recognized and
received with joy.
520. To this I will add a memorable fact respecting the ways that
lead from these places to heaven, by which the newly arrived angels
are introduced. There are eight ways, two from each place of
instruction, one going up in an eastern direction the other towards
the west. Those that enter the Lord's celestial kingdom are
introduced by the eastern way, while those that enter the spiritual
kingdom are introduced by the western way. The four ways that lead to
the Lord's celestial kingdom appear adorned with olive trees and
fruit trees of various kinds; but those that lead to the Lord's
spiritual kingdom appear adorned with vines and laurels. This is from
correspondence, because vines and laurels correspond to affection for
truth and its uses, while olives and fruits correspond to affection
for good and its uses.
521. LIV. NO ONE ENTERS HEAVEN BY MERCY APART FROM MEANS.
Those that have not been instructed about heaven and the way to
heaven, and about the life of heaven in man, suppose that being
received into heaven is a mere matter of mercy, and is granted to
those that have faith, and for whom the Lord intercedes; thus that it
is an admission from mere favor; consequently that all men without
exception might be saved if the Lord so pleased, and some even
believe that all in hell might be so saved. But those who so think
know nothing about man, that he is just such as his life is, and that
his life is such as his love is, both in respect to the interiors
pertaining to his will and understanding and in respect to the
exteriors pertaining to his body; also that his bodily form is merely
the external form in which the interiors exhibit themselves in
effect; consequently that one's love is the whole man (see above, n.
363). Nor do they know that the body lives not from itself, but from
its spirit, and that a man's spirit is his essential affection, and
his spiritual body is nothing else than his affection in human form,
and in such a form it appears after death (see above, n. 453-460). So
long as man remains ignorant of all this he may be induced to believe
that salvation involves nothing but the Divine good pleasure, which
is called mercy and grace.
522. But first let us consider what the Divine mercy is. The divine
mercy is pure mercy towards the whole human race, to save it; and it
is also unceasing towards every man, and is never withdrawn from any
one; so that everyone is saved who can be saved. And yet no one can
be saved except by Divine means, which means the Lord reveals in the
Word. The Divine means are what are called Divine truths, which teach
how man must live in order to be saved. By these truths the Lord
leads man to heaven, and by them He implants in man the life of
heaven. This the Lord does for all. But the life of heaven can be
implanted in no one unless he abstains from evil, for evil obstructs.
So far, therefore, as man abstains from evil he is led by the Lord
out of pure mercy by His Divine means, and this from infancy to the
end of his life in the world and afterwards to eternity. This is what
is meant by the Divine mercy. And from this it is evident that the
mercy of the Lord is pure mercy, but not apart from means, that is,
it does not look to saving all out of mere good pleasure, however
they may have lived.
523. The Lord never does anything contrary to order, because He
Himself is Order. The Divine truth that goes forth from the Lord is
what constitutes order; and Divine truths are the laws of order. It
is in accord with these laws that the Lord leads man. Consequently to
save man by mercy apart from means would be contrary to Divine order,
and what is contrary to Divine order is contrary to the Divine.
Divine order is heaven in man, and man has perverted this in himself
by a life contrary to the laws of order, which are Divine truths.
Into this order man is brought back by the Lord out of pure mercy by
means of the laws of order; and so far as he is brought back into
this order he receives heaven in himself; and he that receives heaven
in himself enters heaven. This again makes evident that the Lord's
Divine mercy is pure mercy, and not mercy apart from means.{1}
{Footnote 1} Divine truth going forth from the Lord is the
source of order, and Divine good is the essential of order (n.
1728, 2258, 8700, 8988). Thus the Lord is order (n. 1919, 2011,
5110, 5703, 10336, 10619). Divine truths are the laws of order
(n. 2447, 7995). The whole heaven is arranged by the Lord in
accordance with His Divine order (n. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338,
10125, 10151, 10157). Therefore the form of heaven is a form in
accord with the Divine order (n. 4040-4043, 6607, 9877). So far
as a man is living in accordance with order, that is, so far as
he is living in good in accordance with Divine truths, he is
receiving heaven in himself (n. 4839). Man is the being in whom
are brought together all things of Divine order, and by
creation he is Divine order in form, because he is a recipient
of Divine order (n. 3628, 4219, 4220, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5214,
6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). Man is not born
into good and truth but into evil and falsity, thus not into
Divine order but into the opposite of order, and for this
reason he is born into pure ignorance; consequently it is
necessary for him to be born anew, that is, to be regenerated,
which is effected by the Lord by means of Divine truths, that
he may be brought back into order (n. 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518,
8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731). When the Lord forms
man anew, that is, regenerates him, He arranges all things in
him in harmony with order, that is, in the form of heaven (n.
5700, 6690, 9931, 10303). Evils and falsities are contrary to
order; nevertheless those who are in them are ruled by the Lord
not in accordance with order but from order (n. 4839, 7877,
10777). It is impossible for a man who lives in evil to be
saved by mercy alone, for that would be contrary to Divine
order (n. 8700).
524. If men could be saved by mercy apart from means all would be
saved, even those in hell; in fact, there would be no hell, because
the Lord is mercy itself, love itself, and goodness itself. Therefore
it is inconsistent with His Divine to say that He is able to save all
apart from means and does not save them. It is known from the Word
that the Lord wills the salvation of all, and the damnation of no
one.
525. Most of those who enter the other life from the Christian world
bring with them this belief that they can be saved by mercy apart
from means, and pray for that mercy; but when examined they are found
to believe that entering heaven is merely gaining admission, and that
those who are let in are in heavenly joy. They are wholly ignorant of
what heaven is and what heavenly joy is, and consequently are told
that the Lord denies heaven to no one, and that they can be admitted
and can stay there if they desire it. Those who so desired were
admitted; but as soon as they reached the first threshold they were
seized with such anguish of heart from a draught of heavenly heat,
which is the love in which angels are, and from an inflow of heavenly
light, which is Divine truth, that they felt in themselves infernal
torment instead of heavenly joy, and struck with dismay they cast
themselves down headlong. Thus they were taught by living experience
that it is impossible to grant heaven to any one from mercy apart
from means.
526. I have occasionally talked with angels about this, and have told
them that most of those in the world who live in evil, when they talk
with others about heaven and eternal life, express no other idea than
that entering heaven is merely being admitted from mercy alone. And
this is believed by those especially who make faith the only medium
of salvation. For such from the principles of their religion have no
regard to the life and the deeds of love that make life, and thus to
none of the other means by which the Lord implants heaven in man and
renders him receptive of heavenly joy; and as they thus reject every
actual mediation they conclude, as a necessary consequence of the
principle, that man enters heaven from mercy alone, to which mercy
God the Father is believed to be moved by the intercession of the
Son. [2] To all this the angels said that they knew such a tenet
follows of necessity from the assumption that man is saved by faith
alone, and since that tenet is the head of all the rest, and since
into it, because it is not true, no light from heaven can flow, this
is the source of the ignorance that prevails in the church at this
day in regard to the Lord, heaven, the life after death, heavenly
joy, the essence of love and charity, and in general, in regard to
good and its conjunction with truth, consequently in regard to the
life of man, whence it is and what it is; when it should be known
that thought never constitutes any one's life, but the will and the
consequent deeds; and that the life is from the thought only to the
extent that the thought is derived from the will; neither is life
from the faith except so far as the faith is derived from love.
Angels are grieved that these persons do not know that faith alone is
impossible in any one, since faith apart from its origin, which is
love, is nothing but knowledge, and in some is merely a sort of
persuasion that has the semblance of faith (see above, n. 482). Such
a persuasion is not in the life of man, but outside of it, since it
is separated from man unless it coheres with his love. [3] The angels
said further that those who hold to this principle concerning the
essential means of salvation in man must needs believe in mercy apart
from means, for they perceive both from natural light and from the
experience of sight that faith separate does not constitute the life
of man, since those who lead an evil life are able to think and to be
persuaded the same as others; and from this comes the belief that the
evil as well as the good can be saved, provided that at the hour of
death they talk with confidence about intercession, and about the
mercy that is granted through that intercession. The angels declared
that they had never yet seen any one who had lived an evil life
received into heaven from mercy apart from means, whatever trust or
confidence (which is preeminently meant by faith) he had exhibited in
his talk in the world. [4] When asked about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
David, and the apostles, whether they were not received into heaven
from mercy apart from means, the angels replied that not one of them
was so received, but everyone in accordance with his life in the
world; that they knew where these were, and that they were no more
esteemed there than others. They said that these persons are
mentioned with honor in the Word for the reason that in the internal
sense the Lord is meant by them--by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
Lord in respect to the Divine and the Divine Human; by David the Lord
in respect to the Divine royalty; and by the apostles the Lord in
respect to Divine truths; also that when the Word is read by man the
angels have no perception whatever of these men, for their names do
not enter heaven; but they have instead a perception of the Lord as
He has just been described; consequently in the Word that is in
heaven (see above, n. 259) there are no such names mentioned, since
that Word is the internal sense of the Word that is in the world.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the internal sense of the Word by Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord in respect to the Divine itself and
the Divine Human is meant (n. 1893, 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276,
6804, 6847). In heaven Abraham is unknown (n. 1834, 1876,
3229). By David the Lord in respect to the Divine royalty is
meant (n. 1888, 9954). The twelve apostles represented the Lord
in respect to all things of the church, that is, all things
pertaining to faith and love (n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397).
Peter represented the lord in respect to faith, James in
respect to charity, and John in respect to the works of charity
(n. 3750, 10087). The twelve apostles sitting on twelve thrones
and judging the twelve tribes of Israel, signified that the
Lord will judge in accord with the truths and goods of faith
and love (n. 2129, 6397). The names of persons and of places in
the Word do not enter heaven, but are changed into things and
states; and in heaven these names cannot even be uttered (n.
1876, 5225, 6516, 10216, 10282, 10432). Moreover, the angels
think abstractedly from persons (n. 8343, 8985, 9007).
527. I can testify from much experience that it is impossible to
implant the life of heaven in those who in the world have lived a
life opposite to the life of heaven. There were some who had believed
that when after death they should hear Divine truths from the angels
they would readily accept them and believe them, and consequently
live a different life, and could thus be received into heaven. But
this was tried with very many, although it was confined to those who
held this belief, and was permitted in their case to teach them that
repentance is not possible after death. Some of those with whom the
experiment was made understood truths and seemed to accept them; but
as soon as they turned to the life of their love they rejected them,
and even spoke against them. Others were unwilling to hear them, and
at once rejected them. Others wished to have the life of love that
they had contracted from the world taken away from them, and to have
the angelic life, or the life of heaven, infused in its place. This,
too, was permitted to be done; but as soon as the life of their love
was taken away they lay as if dead, with their powers gone. By these
and other experiments the simple good were taught that no one's life
can by any means be changed after death; and that an evil life can in
no way be converted into a good life, or an infernal life into an
angelic life, for every spirit from head to heel is such as his love
is, and therefore such as his life is; and to convert his life into
its opposite is to destroy the spirit completely. The angels declare
that it would be easier to change a night-owl into a dove, or a
horned-owl into a bird of paradise, than to change an infernal spirit
into an angel of heaven. That man after death continues to be such as
his life had been in the world can be seen above in its own chapter
(n. 470-484). From all this it is evident that no one can be received
into heaven from mercy apart from means.
528. LV. IT IS NOT SO DIFFICULT TO LIVE THE LIFE THAT LEADS TO HEAVEN
AS IS BELIEVED.
There are some who believe that to live the life that leads to
heaven, which is called the spiritual life, is difficult, because
they have been told that man must renounce the world, must divest
himself of the lusts called the lusts of the body and the flesh, and
must live spiritually; and they understand this to mean that they
must discard worldly things, which consist chiefly in riches and
honors; that they must walk continually in pious meditation on God,
salvation, and eternal life; and must spend their life in prayers and
in reading the Word and pious books. Such is their idea of renouncing
the world, and living in the spirit and not in the flesh. But that
this is not at all true it has been given me to know by much
experience and from conversation with the angels. I have learned, in
fact, that those who renounce the world and live in the spirit in
this manner acquire a sorrowful life that is not receptive of
heavenly joy, since everyone's life continues the same after death.
On the contrary, to receive the life of heaven a man must needs live
in the world and engage in its business and employments, and by means
of a moral and civil life there receive the spiritual life. In no
other way can the spiritual life be formed in man, or his spirit
prepared for heaven; for to live an internal life and not at the same
time an external life is like dwelling in a house that has no
foundation, that gradually sinks or becomes cracked and rent asunder,
or totters till it falls.
529. When the life of man is scanned and explored by rational insight
it is found to be threefold, namely, spiritual, moral, and civil,
with these three lives distinct from each other. For there are men
who live a civil life and not as yet a moral and spiritual life; and
there are men who live a moral life and not as yet a spiritual life;
and there are those who live a civil life, a moral life, and a
spiritual life at the same time. These live the life of heaven; but
the former live the life of the world separated from the life of
heaven. This shows, in the first place, that the spiritual life is
not a life separated from natural life or the life of the world, but
is joined with it as the soul is joined with its body, and if it were
separated it would be, as was said, like living in a house that has
no foundation. For moral and civil life is the active plane of the
spiritual life, since to will well is the province of the spiritual
life, and to act well of the moral and civil life, and if the latter
is separated from the former the spiritual life consists solely of
thought and speech, and the will, left with no support, recedes; and
yet the will is the very spiritual part of man.
530. That it is not so difficult as some believe to live the life
that leads to heaven will now be shown. Who cannot live a civil and
moral life? For everyone from his childhood is initiated into that
life, and learns what it is by living in the world. Moreover,
everyone, whether evil or good, lives that life; for who does not
wish to be called honest, and who does not wish to be called just?
Almost everyone practices honesty and justice outwardly, so far as to
seem to be honest and just at heart, or to seem to act from real
honesty and justice. The spiritual man ought to live in like manner,
and can do so as easily as the natural man can, with this difference
only, that the spiritual man believes in the Divine, and acts
honestly and justly, not solely because to so act is in accord with
civil and moral laws, but also because it is in accord with Divine
laws. As the spiritual man, in whatever he is doing, thinks about
Divine things, he has communication with the angels of heaven; and so
far as this takes place he is conjoined with them; and thereby his
internal man, which regarded in itself is the spiritual man, is
opened. When man comes into this state he is adopted and led by the
Lord, although himself unconscious of it, and then whatever he does
that is honest and just pertaining to moral and civil life, is done
from a spiritual motive; and doing what is honest and just from a
spiritual motive is doing it from honesty and justice itself, or
doing it from the heart. [2] His justice and honesty appear outwardly
precisely the same as the justice and honesty of natural men and even
of evil and infernal men; but in inward form they are wholly unlike.
For evil men act justly and honestly solely for the sake of
themselves and the world; and therefore if they had no fear of laws
and penalties, or the loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, and of
life, they would act in every respect dishonestly and unjustly, since
they neither fear God nor any Divine law, and therefore are not
restrained by any internal bond; consequently they would use every
opportunity to defraud, plunder, and spoil others, and this from
delight. That inwardly they are such can be clearly seen from those
of the same character in the other life, while everyone's externals
are taken away, and his internals in which he at last lives to
eternity are opened (see above, n. 499-511). As such then act without
external restraints, which are, as just said, fear of the law, of the
loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, and of life, they act
insanely, and laugh at honesty and justice. [3] But those who have
acted honestly and justly from regard to Divine laws, when their
externals are taken away and they are left to their internals, act
wisely, because they are conjoined to the angels of heaven, from whom
wisdom is communicated to them. From all this it can now be seen, in
the first place, that when the internal man, that is, the will and
thought, are conjoined to the Divine, the civil and moral life of the
spiritual man may be wholly like the civil and moral life of the
natural man (see above, n. 358-360).
531. Furthermore, the laws of spiritual life, the laws of civil life,
and the laws of moral life are set forth in the ten commandments of
the Decalogue; in the first three the laws of spiritual life, in the
four that follow the laws of civil life, and in the last three the
laws of moral life. Outwardly the merely natural man lives in
accordance with the same commandments in the same way as the
spiritual man does, for in like manner he worships the Divine, goes
to church, listens to preachings, and assumes a devout countenance,
refrains from committing murder, adultery, and theft, from bearing
false witness, and from defrauding his companions of their goods. But
all this he does merely for the sake of himself and the world, to
keep up appearances; while inwardly such a person is the direct
opposite of what he appears outwardly, since in heart he denies the
Divine, in worship acts the hypocrite, and when left to himself and
his own thoughts laughs at the holy things of the church, believing
that they merely serve as a restraint for the simple multitude. [2]
Consequently he is wholly disjoined from heaven, and not being a
spiritual man he is neither a moral man nor a civil man. For although
he refrains from committing murder he hates everyone who opposes him,
and from his hatred burns with revenge, and would therefore commit
murder if he were not restrained by civil laws and external bonds,
which he fears; and as he longs to do so it follows that he is
continually committing murder. Although he does not commit adultery,
yet as he believes it to be allowable he is all the while an
adulterer, since he commits adultery to the extent that he has the
ability and as often as he has opportunity. Although he does not
steal, yet as he covets the goods of others and does not regard fraud
and wicked devices as opposed to what is lawful, in intent he is
continually acting the thief. The same is true of the commandments
relating to moral life, which forbid false witness and coveting the
goods of others. Such is every man who denies the Divine, and who has
no conscience derived from religion. That he is such is clearly
evident from those of like character in the other life when their
externals have been removed and they are let into their internals. As
they are then separated from heaven they act in unity with hell, and
in consequence are affiliated with those who are in hell. [3] It is
not so with those who in heart have acknowledged the Divine, and in
the actions of their lives have had respect to Divine laws, and have
lived as fully in accord with the first three commandments of the
Decalogue as they have in accordance with the others. When the
externals of such are removed and they are let into their internals
they are wiser than they were in the world; for entering into their
internals is like entering from darkness into light, from ignorance
into wisdom, and from a sorrowful life into a happy life, because
they are in the Divine, thus in heaven. This has been said to make
known what the one kind of man is and what the other is, although
they have both lived the same external life.
532. Everyone may know that thoughts are led or tend in accord with
the intentions, that is, in the directions that one intends; for
thought is man's internal sight, and resembles the external sight in
this, that to whatever point it is directed or aimed, thither it
turns and there it rests. Therefore when the internal sight or the
thought is turned towards the world and rests there, the thought in
consequence becomes worldly; when it turns to self and self-honor it
becomes corporeal; but when it is turned heavenwards it becomes
heavenly. So, too, when turned heavenwards it is elevated; but when
turned selfward it is drawn down from heaven and immersed in what is
corporeal; and when turned towards the world it is also turned
down-wards from heaven, and is spent upon those objects that are
presented to the natural sight. [2] Man's love is what constitutes
his intention and determines his internal sight or thought to its
objects; thus the love of self fixes it upon self and its objects,
the love of the world upon worldly objects, and the love of heaven
upon heavenly objects; and when the love is known the state of the
interiors which constitute the mind can be known, that is, the
interiors of one who loves heaven are raised towards heaven and are
opened above; while the interiors of one who loves the world or who
loves himself are closed above and are opened outwardly. From this
the conclusion follows that when the higher regions of the mind are
closed above, man can no longer see the objects pertaining to heaven
and the church, but those objects are in thick darkness to him; and
what is in thick darkness is either denied or not understood. And
this is why those that love themselves and the world above all things
since the higher regions of their minds are closed, in heart deny
Divine truths; and if from their memory they say anything about them
they nevertheless do not understand them. Moreover, they regard them
in the same way as they regard worldly and corporeal things. And
being such they are able to direct the mind to those things only that
enter through the senses of the body, and in these alone do they find
delight. Among these are also many things that are filthy, obscene,
profane and wicked; and these cannot be removed, because into the
minds of such no influx from heaven is possible, since their minds,
as just now said, are closed above. [3] Man's intention, by which his
internal sight or thought is determined, is his will; for what a man
wills he intends, and what he intends he thinks. Therefore when his
intention is heavenward his thought is determined heavenward, and
with it his whole mind, which is thus in heaven; and from heaven he
beholds the things of the world beneath him like one looking down
from the roof of a house. So the man that has the interiors of his
mind open can see the evils and falsities that are in him, for these
are beneath the spiritual mind. On the other hand, the man whose
interiors are not open is unable to see his evils and falsities,
because he is not above them but in them. From all this one may
conclude whence man has wisdom and whence insanity, also what a man
will be after death when he is left to will and think and to act and
speak in accordance with his interiors. All this also has been said
in order to make clear what constitutes a man's interior character,
however he may seem outwardly to resemble others.
533. That it is not so difficult to live the life of heaven as some
believe can now be seen from this, that when any thing presents
itself to a man that he knows to be dishonest and unjust, but to
which his mind is borne, it is simply necessary for him to think that
it ought not to be done because it is opposed to the Divine precepts.
If a man accustoms himself so to think, and from so doing establishes
a habit of so thinking, he is gradually conjoined to heaven; and so
far as he is conjoined to heaven the higher regions of his mind are
opened; and so far as these are opened he sees whatever is dishonest
and unjust, and so far as he sees these evils they can be dispersed,
for no evil can be dispersed until it is seen. Into this state man is
able to enter because of his freedom, for is not any one able from
his freedom to so think? And when man has made a beginning the Lord
quickens all that is good in him, and causes him not only to see
evils to be evils, but also to refrain from willing them, and finally
to turn away from them. This is meant by the Lord's words,
My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matt. 11:30).
But it must be understood that the difficulty of so thinking and of
resisting evils increases so far as man from his will does evils, for
in the same measure he becomes accustomed to them until he no longer
sees them, and at length loves them and from the delight of his love
excuses them, and confirms them by every kind of fallacy, and
declares them to be allowable and good. This is the fate of those who
in early youth plunge into evils without restraint, and also reject
Divine things from the heart.
534. The way that leads to heaven, and the way that leads to hell
were once represented to me. There was a broad way tending towards
the left or the north, and many spirits were seen going in it; but at
a distance a large stone was seen where the broad way came to an end.
From that stone two ways branched off, one to the left and one in the
opposite direction to the right. The way that went to the left was
narrow or straitened, leading through the west to the south, and thus
into the light of heaven; the way that went to the right was broad
and spacious, leading obliquely downwards towards hell. All at first
seemed to be going the same way until they came to the large stone at
the head of the two ways. When they reached that point they divided;
the good turned to the left and entered the straitened way that led
to heaven; while the evil, not seeing the stone at the fork of the
ways fell upon it and were hurt; and when they rose up they ran on in
the broad way to the right which went towards hell. [2] What all this
meant was afterwards explained to me. The first way that was broad,
wherein many both good and evil went together and talked with each
other as friends, because there was no visible difference between
them, represented those who externally live alike honestly and
justly, and between whom seemingly there is no difference. The stone
at the head of the two ways or at the corner, upon which the evil
fell and from which they ran into the way leading to hell,
represented the Divine truth, which is rejected by those who look
towards hell; and in the highest sense this stone signified the
Lord's Divine Human. But those who acknowledged the Divine truth and
also the Divine of the Lord went by the way that led to heaven. By
this again it was shown that in externals the evil lead the same kind
of life as the good, or go the same way, that is, one as readily as
the other; and yet those who from the heart acknowledge the Divine,
especially those within the church who acknowledge the Divine of the
Lord, are led to heaven; while those who do not are led to hell. [3]
The thoughts of man that proceed from his intention or will are
represented in the other life by ways; and ways are visibly presented
there in exact accord with those thoughts of intention; and in accord
with his thoughts that proceed from intention everyone walks. For
this reason the character of spirits and their thoughts are known
from their ways. This also makes clear what is meant by the Lord's
words:
Enter ye in through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate
and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many
be they that enter in thereby; for straitened is the way
and narrow the gate that leadeth to life, and few be they
who find it (Matt. 7:13, 14).
The way that leads to life is straitened not because it is difficult
but because there are few who find it, as is said here. The stone
seen at the corner where the broad and common way ended, and from
which two ways were seen to lead in opposite directions, illustrated
what is signified by these words of the Lord:
Have ye not read what is written? The stone which the
builders rejected was made the head of the corner.
Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken
(Luke. 20:17, 18).
"Stone" signifies Divine truth, and "the stone of Israel" the Lord in
respect to His Divine Human; the "builders" mean those who are of the
church; "the head of the corner" is where the two ways are; "to fall"
and "to be broken" is to deny and perish.{1}
{Footnote 1} "Stone" signifies truth (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720,
6426, 8609, 10376). For this reason the law was inscribed on
tables of stone (n. 10376). "The stone of Israel" means the
Lord in respect to the Divine truth and His Divine Human (n.
6426).
535. I have been permitted to talk with some in the other life who
had withdrawn from worldly affairs that they might live in a pious
and holy manner, also with some who had afflicted themselves in
various ways, believing that they were thereby renouncing the world
and subduing the lusts of the flesh. But as most of these have thus
acquired a sorrowful life and had withdrawn from the life of charity,
which life can be lived only in the midst of the world, they are
incapable of being affiliated with angels, because the life of angels
is a life of joy resulting from a state of blessedness, and consists
in performing good deeds, which are works of charity. Moreover, those
who have lived a life withdrawn from worldly employments are inflamed
with the idea of their own merit, and are continually desiring heaven
on that account, and thinking of heavenly joy as a reward, utterly
ignorant of what heavenly joy is. When such are admitted into the
company of angels and into their joy, which discards merit and
consists in active labors and practical services, and in a
blessedness resulting from the good thereby accomplished, they are
astonished like one who has found out something quite foreign to his
belief; and since they are not receptive of that joy they go away and
ally themselves with spirits of their own kind that have lived in the
world a life like their own. [2] But those who have lived an
outwardly holy life, constantly attending church and praying and
afflicting their souls, and at the same time have thought constantly
of themselves that they would be esteemed and honored for all this
above others, and finally after death would be accounted saints--
such in the other life are not in heaven because they have done all
this for the sake of themselves. And as they have defiled Divine
truths by the self-love in which they have immersed them, some of
them are so insane as to think themselves gods; and are consequently
in hell among those like themselves. Some are cunning and deceitful,
and are in the hells of the deceitful. These are such as by means of
cunning arts and devices have maintained such pious conduct as
induced the common people to believe that they possessed a Divine
sanctity. [3] Of this character are many of the Roman Catholic
saints. I have been permitted to talk with some of them, and their
life was then plainly disclosed, such as it had been in the world and
as it was afterwards. All this has been said to make known that the
life that leads to heaven is not a life withdrawn from the world, but
a life in the world; and that a life of piety separated from a life
of charity, which is possible only in the world, does not lead to
heaven; but a life of charity does; and a life of charity consists in
acting honestly and justly in every employment, in every business,
and in every work, from an interior, that is, from a heavenly,
motive; and this motive is in that life whenever man acts honestly
and justly because doing so is in accord with the Divine laws. Such a
life is not difficult. But a life of piety separate from a life of
charity is difficult; and as much as such a life is believed to lead
towards heaven so much it leads away from heaven.{1}
{Footnote 1} A life of piety separated from a life of charity
is of no avail, but united with charity it is profitable for
all things (n. 8252, 8253). Charity to the neighbor consists in
doing what is good, just, and right in every work and in every
employment (n. 8120-8122). Charity to the neighbor takes in all
things and each thing that a man thinks, wills, and does (n.
8124). A life of charity is a life in accordance with the
Lord's commandments (n. 3249). Living in accordance with the
Lord's commandments is loving the Lord (n. 10143, 10153, 10310,
10578, 10645). Genuine charity claims no merit, because it is
from interior affection and consequent delight (n. 2371, 2380,
2400, 3816, 3887, 6388-6393). Man continues to be after death
such as was his life of charity in the world (n. 8256).
Heavenly blessedness flows in from the Lord into a life of
charity (n. 2363). Mere thinking admits no one into heaven; it
must be accompanied by willing and doing good (n. 2401, 3459).
Unless doing good is joined with willing good and thinking good
there is no salvation nor any conjunction of the internal man
with the external (n. 3987).
536. LVI. THE LORD RULES THE HELLS.
Above, in treating of heaven it has been everywhere shown (especially
in n. 2-6) that the God of heaven is the Lord, thus that the whole
government of the heavens is the Lord's government. And as the
relation of heaven to hell and of hell to heaven is like the relation
between two opposites which mutually act contrary to each other, and
from the action and re-action of which an equilibrium results, which
gives permanence to all things of their action and reaction, so in
order that all things and each thing may be kept in equilibrium it is
necessary that He who rules the one should rule the other; for unless
the same Lord restrained the uprisings from the hells and checked
insanities there the equilibrium would perish and everything with it.
537. But something about that equilibrium shall first be told. It is
acknowledged that when two things mutually act against each other,
and as much as one reacts and resists the other acts and impels,
since there is equal power on either side, neither has any effect,
and both can then be acted upon freely by a third. For when the force
of the two is neutralized by equal opposition the force of a third
has full effect, and acts as easily as if there were no opposition.
[2] Such is the equilibrium between heaven and hell. Yet it is not an
equilibrium like that between two bodily combatants whose strength is
equal; but it is a spiritual equilibrium, that is, an equilibrium of
falsity against truth and of evil against good. From hell falsity
from evil continually exhales, and from heaven truth from good. It is
this spiritual equilibrium that causes man to think and will in
freedom; for whatever a man thinks and wills has reference either to
evil and falsity therefrom or to good and truth therefrom. [3]
Therefore when he is in that equilibrium he is in freedom either to
admit or accept evil and its falsity from hell or to admit or accept
good and its truth from heaven. Every man is held in this equilibrium
by the Lord, because the Lord rules both heaven and hell. But why man
is held in this freedom by such an equilibrium, and why evil and
falsity are not taken away from him and good and truth implanted in
him by Divine power will be told hereafter in its own chapter.
538. A perception of the sphere of falsity from evil that flows forth
from hell has often been granted me. It was like a perpetual effort
to destroy all that is good and true, combined with anger and a kind
of fury at not being able to do so, especially an effort to
annihilate and destroy the Divine of the Lord, and this because all
good and truth are from Him. But out of heaven a sphere of truth from
good was perceived, whereby the fury of the effort ascending from
hell was restrained. The result of this was an equilibrium. This
sphere from heaven was perceived to come from the Lord alone,
although it appeared to come from the angels in heaven. It is from
the Lord alone, and not from the angels, because every angel in
heaven acknowledges that nothing of good and of truth is from
himself, but all is from the Lord.
539. In the spiritual world truth from good is the source of all
power, and falsity from evil has no power whatever. This is because
the Divine Itself in heaven is Divine good and Divine truth, and all
power belongs to the Divine. Falsity from evil is powerless because
truth from good is the source of all power, and in falsity from evil
there is nothing of truth from good. Consequently in heaven there is
all power, and none in hell; for everyone in heaven is in truths from
good, and everyone in hell is in falsities from evil. For no one is
admitted into heaven until he is in truths from good, neither is any
one cast down into hell until he is in falsities from evil, (That
this is so can be seen in the chapters treating of the first, second,
and third states of man after death, n. 491-520; and that all power
belongs to truth from good can be seen in the chapter on the power of
angels in heaven, n. 228-233.)
540. Such, then, is the equilibrium between heaven and hell. Those
who are in the world of spirits are in that equilibrium, for the
world of spirits is midway between heaven and hell. From the same
source all men in the world are kept in a like equilibrium, since men
in the world are ruled by the Lord by means of spirits in the world
of spirits, as will be shown hereafter in its own chapter. No such
equilibrium would be possible unless the Lord ruled both heaven and
hell and regulated both sides. Otherwise falsities from evil would
preponderate, and would affect the simple good who are in the
outmosts regions of heaven, and who can be more easily perverted than
the angels themselves; and thereby equilibrium would perish, and with
it freedom in men.
541. Hell, like heaven, is divided into societies, and into as many
societies as there are in heaven; for every society in heaven has a
society opposite to it in hell, and this for the sake of equilibrium.
But evils and falsities therefrom are what distinguish the societies
in hell, as goods and truths therefrom are what distinguish the
societies in heaven. That for every good there is an opposite evil,
and for every truth an opposite falsity may be known from this, that
nothing can exist without relation to its opposite, and what anything
is in kind and degree can be known from its opposite, and from this
all perception and sensation is derived. For this reason the Lord
continually provides that every society in heaven shall have an
opposite in some society of hell, and that there shall be an
equilibrium between the two.
542. As hell is divided into the same number of societies as heaven,
there are as many hells as there are societies of heaven; for as each
society of heaven is a heaven in smaller form (see above, n. 51-58),
so each society in hell is a hell in smaller form. As in general
there are three heavens, so in general there are three hells, a
lowest, which is opposite to the inmost or third heaven, a middle,
which is opposite to the middle or second heaven, and a higher, which
is opposite to the outmost or first heaven.
543. How the hells are ruled by the Lord shall be briefly explained.
In general the hells are ruled by a general outflow from the heavens
of Divine good and Divine truth whereby the general endeavor flowing
forth from the hells is checked and restrained; also by a particular
outflow from each heaven and from each society of heaven. The hells
are ruled in particular by means of the angels, to whom it is granted
to look into the hells and to restrain insanities and disturbances
there; and sometimes angels are sent to them who moderate these
insanities and disturbances by their presence. But in general all in
the hells are ruled by means of their fears. Some are ruled by fears
implanted in the world and still inherent in them; but as these fears
are not sufficient, and gradually subside, they are ruled by fears of
punishments; and it is especially by these that they are deterred
from doing evil. The punishments in hell are manifold, lighter or
more severe in accordance with the evils. For the most part the more
wicked, who excel in cunning and in artifices, and who are able to
hold the rest in subjection and servitude by means of punishments and
consequent terror, are set over them; but these governors dare not
pass beyond the limits prescribed to them. It must be understood that
the sole means of restraining the violence and fury of those who are
in the hells is the fear of punishment. There is no other way.
544. It has been believed heretofore in the world that there is one
devil that presides over the hells; that he was created an angel of
light; but having become rebellious he was cast down with his crew
into hell. This belief has prevailed because the Devil and Satan, and
also Lucifer, are mentioned by name in the Word, and the Word in
those places has been understood according to the sense of the
letter. But by "the devil" and "Satan" there hell is meant, "devil"
meaning the hell that is behind, where the worst dwell, who are
called evil genii; and "Satan" the hell that is in front, where the
less wicked dwell, who are called evil spirits; and "Lucifer" those
that belong to Babel, or Babylon, who would extend their dominion
even into heaven. That there is no one devil to whom the hells are
subject is evident also from this, that all who are in the hells,
like all who are in the heavens, are from the human race (see n.
311-317); and that those who have gone there from the beginning of
creation to this time amount to myriads of myriads, and everyone of
them is a devil in accord with his opposition to the Divine while he
lived in the world (see above, n. 311, 312).
545. LVII. THE LORD CASTS NO ONE INTO HELL; THE SPIRIT CASTS HIMSELF
DOWN.
An opinion has prevailed with some that God turns away His face from
man, casts man away from Himself, and casts him into hell, and is
angry with him on account of his evil; and some believe also that God
punishes man and does evil to him. In this opinion they establish
themselves by the sense of the letter of the Word, where such things
are declared, not knowing that the spiritual sense of the Word, by
which the sense of the letter is made clear, is wholly different; and
consequently that the genuine doctrine of the church, which is from
the spiritual sense of the Word, teaches otherwise, namely, that God
never turns away His face from man, and never casts man away from
Himself, that He casts no one into hell and is angry with no one.{1}
Everyone, moreover, whose mind is enlightened perceives this to be
true when he reads the Word, from the simple truth that God is good
itself, love itself, and mercy itself; and that good itself cannot do
evil to any one, and love itself and mercy itself can not cast man
away from itself, because this is contrary to the very essence of
mercy and love, thus contrary to the Divine Itself. Therefore those
who think from an enlightened mind clearly perceive, when they read
the Word, that God never turns Himself away from man; and as He never
turns Himself away from him He deals with him from goodness, love,
and mercy, that is, wills good to him, loves him, and is merciful to
him. And from this they see that the sense of the letter of the Word,
in which such things are declared, has stored up within itself a
spiritual sense, and that these expressions that are used in the
sense of the letter in accommodation to man's apprehension and
according to his first and general ideas are to be explained in
accordance with the spiritual sense.
{Footnote 1} In the Word anger and wrath are attributed to the
Lord, but they are in man, and it is so expressed because such
is the appearance to man when he is punished and damned (n.
798, 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483, 8875, 9306, 10431). Evil also is
attributed to the Lord, although nothing but good is from Him
(n. 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7679, 7926, 8227, 8228,
8632, 9306). Why it is so expressed in the Word (n. 6071, 6991,
6997, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8282, 9010, 9128). The Lord
is pure mercy and clemency (n. 6997, 8875).
546. Those who are enlightened see further that good and evil are two
opposites, and are therefore opposed as heaven and hell are, and that
all good is from heaven and all evil from hell; and as it is the
Divine of the Lord that makes heaven (n. 7-12), nothing but good
flows into man from the Lord, and nothing but evil from hell; thus
the Lord is continually withdrawing man from evil and leading him to
good, while hell is continually leading man into evil. Unless man
were between these two, he could have no thought nor any will, still
less any freedom or any choice; for all these man has by virtue of
the equilibrium between good and evil; consequently if the Lord
should turn Himself away, leaving man to evil alone, man would cease
to be man. All this shows that the Lord flows into every man with
good, into the evil man as well as the good; but with the difference
that the Lord is continually withdrawing the evil man from evil and
is continually leading the good man to good; and this difference lies
in the man himself, because he is the recipient.
547. From this it is clear that it is from hell that man does evil,
and from the Lord that he does good. But man believes that whatever
he does he does from himself, and in consequence of this the evil
that he does sticks to him as his own; and for this reason man is the
cause of his own evil, and in no way the Lord. Evil in man is hell in
him, for it is the same thing whether you say evil or hell. And since
man is the cause of his own evil he is led into hell, not by the Lord
but by himself. For so far is the Lord from leading man into hell
that it is He who delivers man from hell, and this He does so far as
man does not will and love to be in his own evil. All of man's will
and love continues with him after death (n. 470-484). He who wills
and loves evil in the world wills and loves the same evil in the
other life, but he no longer suffers himself to be withdrawn from it.
If, therefore, a man is in evil he is tied to hell, and in respect to
his spirit is actually there, and after death desires nothing so much
as to be where his evil is; consequently it is man who casts himself
into hell after death, and not the Lord.
548. How this comes about shall also be explained. When man enters
the other life he is received first by angels, who perform for him
all good offices, and talk with him about the Lord, heaven, and the
angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good. But
if the man, now a spirit, be one who knew about these things in the
world, but in heart denied or despised them, after some conversation
he desires and seeks to get away from these angels. As soon as the
angels perceive this they leave him. After some interaction with
others he at length unites himself with those who are in evil like
his own (see above, n. 445-452). When this takes place he turns
himself away from the Lord and turns his face towards the hell to
which he had been joined in the world, in which those abide who are
in a like love of evil. All this makes clear that the Lord draws
every spirit to Himself by means of angels and by means of influx
from heaven; but those spirits that are in evil completely resist,
and as it were tear themselves away from the Lord, and are drawn by
their own evil, thus by hell, as if by a rope. And as they are so
drawn, and by reason of their love of evil are eager to follow, it is
evident that they themselves cast themselves into hell by their own
free choice. Men in the world because of their idea of hell are
unable to believe that this is so. In fact, in the other life before
the eyes of those who are outside of hell it does not so appear; but
only so to those who cast themselves into hell, for such enter of
their own accord. Those who enter from a burning love of evil appear
to be cast headlong, with the head downwards and the feet upwards. It
is because of this appearance that they seem to be cast into hell by
Divine power. (But about this more will be said below, n. 574.) From
all this it can be seen that the Lord casts no one into hell, but
everyone casts himself into hell, both while he is living in the
world and also after death when he comes among spirits.
549. The Lord from His Divine Essence, which is goodness, love, and
mercy, is unable to deal in the same way with every man, because
evils and their falsities prevent, and not only quench His Divine
influx but even reject it. Evils and their falsities are like black
clouds which interpose between the sun and the eye, and take away the
sunshine and the serenity of its light; although the unceasing
endeavor of the sun to dissipate the opposing clouds continues, for
it is operating behind them; and in the meantime transmits something
of obscure light into the eye of man by various roundabout ways. It
is the same in the spiritual world. The sun there is the Lord and the
Divine love (n. 116-140); and the light there is the Divine truth (n.
126-140); black clouds there are falsities from evil; the eye there
is the understanding. So far as any one in that world is in falsities
from evil he is encompassed by such a cloud, which is black and dense
according to the degree of his evil. From this comparison it can be
seen that the Lord is unceasingly present with everyone, but that He
is received variously.
550. Evil spirits are severely punished in the world of spirits in
order that by means of punishments they may be deterred from doing
evil. This also appears to be from the Lord; and yet nothing of
punishment there is from the Lord, but is from the evil itself; since
evil is so joined with its own punishment that the two cannot be
separated. For the infernal crew desire and love nothing so much as
doing evil, especially inflicting punishments and torment upon
others; and they maltreat and inflict punishments upon everyone who
is not protected by the Lord. When, therefore, evil is done from an
evil heart, because it thereby discards all protection from the Lord,
infernal spirits rush upon the one who does the evil, and inflict
punishment. This may be partly illustrated by evils and their
punishments in the world, where the two are also joined. For laws in
the world prescribe a penalty for every evil; therefore he that
rushes into evil rushes also into the penalty of evil. The only
difference is that in the world the evil may be concealed; but in the
other life it cannot be concealed. All this makes clear that the Lord
does evil to no one; and that it is the same as it is in the world,
where it is not the king nor the judge nor the law that is the cause
of punishment to the guilty, because these are not the cause of the
evil in the evil doer.
551. LVIII. ALL WHO ARE IN THE HELLS ARE IN EVILS AND IN FALSITIES
THEREFROM DERIVED FROM THE LOVES OF SELF AND OF THE WORLD.
All who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom, and
no one there is in evils and at the same time in truths. In the world
evil men for the most part have some knowledge of spiritual truths,
which are the truths of the church, having been taught them from
childhood and later by preaching and by reading the Word; and
afterwards they have talked about them. Some have even led others to
believe that they are Christians at heart because of their knowing
how to talk with pretended affection in harmony with the truth, also
how to act uprightly as if from spiritual faith. But those of this
class whose interior thoughts have been hostile to these truths, and
who have refrained from doing the evils that were in harmony with
their thoughts only because of the civil laws, or with a view to
reputation, honors, and gain, are all of them evil in heart, and are
in truths and goods not in respect to their spirit but only in
respect to their body; and consequently, when their externals are
taken away from them in the other life, and their internals which
pertain to their spirit are revealed, they are wholly in evils and
falsities, and not at all in truths and goods; and it is thus made
clear that truths and goods resided only in their memory merely as
things known about, and that they brought them forth therefrom when
talking, putting on a semblance of good seemingly from spiritual love
and faith. When such are let into their internals and thus into their
evils they are no longer able to speak what is true, but only what is
false; since they speak from evils; for to speak what is true from
evils is then impossible, since the spirit is nothing but his own
evil, and from evil what is false goes forth. Every evil spirit is
reduced to this state before he is cast into hell (see above,
n. 499-512). This is called being vastated in respect to truths and
goods.{1} Vastation is simply being let into one's internals, that
is, into what is the spirit's own, or into the spirit itself (see
above, n. 425).
{Footnote 1} Before the evil are cast down into hell they are
devastated of truths and goods, and when these have been taken
away they are of themselves carried into hell (n. 6977, 7039,
7795, 8210, 8232, 9330). The Lord does not devastate them, but
they devastate themselves (n. 7643, 7926). Every evil has in it
what is false; therefore those who are in evil are also in
falsity, although some do not know it (n. 7577, 8094). Those
who are in evil must needs think what is false when they think
from themselves (n. 7437). All who are in hell speak falsities
from hell (n. 1695, 7351, 7352, 7357, 7392, 7689).
552. When man after death comes into this state he is no longer a
man-spirit, as he was in his first state (of which above, n.
491-498), but is truly a spirit; for he is truly a spirit who has a
face and body that correspond to his internals which pertain to his
mind, that is, has an external form that is a type or effigy of his
internals. A spirit is such after he has passed through the first and
second states spoken of above; consequently when he is looked upon
his character is at once known, not only from his face and from his
body, but also from his speech and movements; and as he is then in
himself he can be nowhere else than where his like are. [2] For in
the spiritual world there is a complete sharing of affections and
their thoughts, and in consequence a spirit is conveyed to his like
as if of himself, since it is done from his affection and its
delight. In fact, he turns himself in that direction; for thus he
inhales his own life or draws his breath freely, which he cannot do
when he turns another way. It must be understood that this sharing
with others in the spiritual world is effected in accordance with the
turning of the face, and that each one has constantly before his face
those who are in a love like his own, and this in every turning of
the body (see above, n. 151) [3] In consequence of this all infernal
spirits turn themselves away from the Lord toward the densely dark
body and the dark body that are there in place of the sun and moon of
this world, while all the angels of heaven turn themselves to the
Lord as the sun of heaven and as the moon of heaven (see above,
n. 123, 143, 144, 151). From all this it is clear that all who are in
the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom; also that they are
turned to their own loves.
553. All spirits in the hells, when seen in any light of heaven,
appear in the form of their evil; for everyone there is an image of
his evil, since his interiors and his exteriors act as a one, the
interiors making themselves visible in the exteriors, which are the
face, body, speech and movements; thus the character of the spirit is
known as soon as he is seen. In general evil spirits are forms of
contempt of others and of menaces against those who do not pay them
respect; they are forms of hatreds of various kinds, also of various
kinds of revenge. Fierceness and cruelty from their interiors show
through these forms. But when they are commended, venerated, and
worshiped by others their faces are restrained and take on an
expression of gladness from delight. [2] It is impossible to describe
in a few words how all these forms appear, for no one is like
another, although there is a general likeness among those who are in
the same evil, and thus in the same infernal society, from which, as
from a plane of derivation, the faces of all are seen to have a
certain resemblance. In general their faces are hideous, and void of
life like those of corpses; the faces of some are black, others fiery
like torches, others disfigured with pimples, warts, and ulcers; some
seem to have no face, but in its stead something hairy or bony; and
with some only the teeth are seen; their bodies also are monstrous;
and their speech is like the speech of anger or of hatred or of
revenge; for what everyone speaks is from his falsity, while his tone
is from his evil. In a word, they are all images of their own hell.
[3] I have not been permitted to see what the form of hell itself in
general is; I have only been told that as the entire heaven in one
complex reflects a single man (n. 59-67), so the entire hell in one
complex reflects a single devil, and might be exhibited in an image
of a single devil (see above, n. 544). But the forms of particular
hells or infernal societies I have often been permitted to see; for
at their entrances, which are called the gates of hell, a monster
commonly appears that represents in a general way the form of those
within. The fierce passions of those who dwell there are represented
at the same time in horrible and hideous ways that I forbear to
describe. [4] But it must be understood that this is the way infernal
spirits appear in the light of heaven, while among themselves they
appear as men. This is of the Lord's mercy, that they may not appear
as loathsome to one another as they appear before the angels. But
this appearance is a fallacy, for as soon as any ray of light from
heaven is let in, their human forms appear changed into monstrous
forms, such as they are in themselves (as has been described above).
For in the light of heaven everything appears as it is in itself. For
this reason they shun the light of heaven and cast themselves down
into their own light, which is like that from lighted coals, and in
some cases like that from burning sulphur; but this light also is
turned into mere thick darkness when any light from heaven flows in
upon it. This is why the hells are said to be in thick darkness and
in darkness; and why "thick darkness" and "darkness" signify
falsities derived from evil, such as are in hell.
554. From an inspection of these monstrous forms of spirits in the
hells (which, as I have said, are all forms of contempt of others and
of menaces against those who do not pay them honor and respect, also
forms of hatred and revenge against those who do not favor them), it
became evident that in general they were all forms of the love of
self and the love of the world; and that the evils of which these are
the specific forms have their origin in these two loves. Moreover, I
have been told from heaven, and it has been proved to me by much
experience, that these two loves, the love of self and the love of
the world, rule in the hells and constitute the hells as love to the
Lord and love towards the neighbor rule in the heavens and constitute
the heavens; also that the two loves that are the loves of hell and
the two loves that are the loves of heaven are diametrically opposite
to each other.
555. At first I wondered how it is that love of self and love of the
world could be so diabolical, and how those who are in these loves
could be such monsters in appearance; for in the world not much
thought is given to love of self, but only to that elated state of
mind in external matters which is called haughtiness, and that alone,
being so apparent to the sight, is regarded as love of self.
Furthermore, love of self, when it is not so displayed, is believed
in the world to be the very fire of life by which man is stimulated
to seek employment and to perform uses, and if he found no honor or
glory in these his mind would grow torpid. It is asked, Who has ever
done any worthy, useful, and distinguished deed except for the sake
of being praised and honored by others, or regarded with esteem and
honor by others? And can this be from any other source than the fire
of love for glory and honor, consequently for self. For this reason,
it is unknown in the world that love of self, regarded in itself, is
the love that rules in hell and constitutes hell in man. This being
so I will first describe what the love of self is, and then will show
that all evils and their falsities spring from that love as their
fountain.
556. The love of self is wishing well to oneself alone, and to others
only for the sake of self, even to the church, one's country, or any
human society. It consists also in doing good to all these solely for
the sake of one's own reputation, honor, and glory; and unless these
are seen in the uses he performs in behalf of others he says in his
heart, How does it concern me? Why should I do this? What shall I get
from it? and therefore he does not do it. Evidently, then, he who is
in the love of self does not love the church or his country or
society, nor any use, but himself alone. His delight is solely the
delight of the love of self; and as the delight that comes forth from
his love is what constitutes the life of man, his life is a life of
self; and a life of self is a life from what is man's own, and what
is man's own, regarded in itself, is nothing but evil. He who loves
himself loves also those who belong to him, that is, in particular,
his children and grandchildren, and in general, all who are at one
with him, whom he calls his. To love these is to love himself, for he
regards them as it were in himself, and himself in them. Among those
whom he calls his are also all who commend, honor, and pay their
court to him.
557. What love of self is can be seen by comparing it with heavenly
love. Heavenly love consists in loving uses for the sake of uses, or
goods for the sake of goods, which are done by man in behalf of the
church, his country, human society, and a fellow-citizen; for this is
loving God and loving the neighbor, since all uses and all goods are
from God, and are the neighbor who is to be loved. But he who loves
these for the sake of himself loves them merely as servants, because
they are serviceable to him; consequently it is the will of one who
is in self-love that the church, his country, human societies, and
his fellow citizens, should serve him, and not he them, for he places
himself above them and places them beneath himself. Therefore so far
as any one is in love of self he separates himself from heaven,
because he separates himself from heavenly love.
558. [a.] Furthermore, so far as any one is in heavenly love, which
consists in loving uses and goods and being moved by delight of heart
when doing them for the sake of the church, country, human society,
and ones fellow-citizens, he is so far led by the Lord, because that
love is the love in which the Lord is, and which is from Him. But so
far as any one is in the love of self, which consists in performing
uses and goods for the sake of himself, so far he is led by himself;
and so far as any one is led by himself he is not led by the Lord.
And from this it also follows that so far as any one loves himself he
separates himself from the Divine, thus also from heaven. To be led
by one's self is to be led by what is one's own; and what is man's
own is nothing but evil; for man's inherited evil consists in loving
self more than God, and the world more than heaven.{1} Whenever man
looks to himself in the good that he does he is let into what is his
own, that is, into his inherited evils for he then looks from good to
himself and from himself to good, and therefore he presents an image
of himself in his good, and not an image of the Divine. That this is
so has also been proved to me by experience. There are evil spirits
whose dwelling places are in the middle quarter between the north and
the west, beneath the heavens, who are skilled in the art of leading
well-disposed spirits into their nature [proprium] and thus into
evils of various kinds. This they do by leading them into thoughts
about themselves, either openly by praises and honors, or secretly by
directing their affections to themselves; and so far as this is done
they turn the faces of the well-disposed spirits away from heaven,
and to the same extent they obscure their understanding and call
forth evils from what is their own.
{Footnote 1} Man's own, which he derives by inheritance from
his parents, is nothing but dense evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 876,
987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283,
10284, 10286, 10731). Man's own is loving self more than God,
and the world more than heaven, and making nothing of one's
neighbor in comparison with oneself, except for the sake of
self, that is one's own self; thus it consists in love of self
and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660). All evils flow from
the love of self and the love of the world when these
predominate (n. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376,
7488, 7489, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742). These evils are
contempt of others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit
(n. 6667, 7370, 7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). From these evils all
falsity flows (n. 1047, 10283, 10284, 10286).
558. [b.] That the love of self is the opposite of love to the
neighbor can be seen from the origin and essence of both. The love of
the neighbor of one who is in the love of self begins with oneself,
for he claims that everyone is neighbor to himself; and it goes forth
from him as its center to all who make one with him, diminishing in
accordance with the degree of their conjunction with him by love. All
outside of this circle are regarded as of no account; and those who
are opposed to those in the circle and to their evils are accounted
as enemies, whatever their character may be, however wise, upright,
honest, or just. But spiritual love to the neighbor begins with the
Lord, and goes forth from Him as its center to all who are conjoined
to Him by love and faith, going forth in accordance with the quality
of their love and faith.{1} Evidently, then, the love of the neighbor
that has its beginning in man is the opposite of the love to the
neighbor that has its beginning in the Lord; and the former proceeds
from evil because it proceeds from what is man's own, while the
latter proceeds from good because it proceeds from the Lord, who is
good itself. Evidently, also, the love of the neighbor that proceeds
from man and from what is his own is corporeal, while the love to the
neighbor that proceeds from the Lord is heavenly. In a word, in the
man in whom love of self prevails that love constitutes the head, and
heavenly love constitutes the feet. On that love he stands; and if it
does not serve him he tramples it under foot. This is the cause of
the appearance that those who are cast down into hell fall with the
head downward towards hell, and with the feet upwards towards heaven
(see above, n. 548).
{Footnote 1} Those who do not know what it is to love the
neighbor imagine every man to be a neighbor, and that good is
to be done to everyone who is in need of help (n. 6704). They
also believe that everyone is neighbor to himself, and thus
that love to the neighbor begins with self (n. 6933). Those who
love themselves above all things, that is, with whom self-love
prevails, also make love to the neighbor to begin with
themselves (n. 6710). In what manner everyone is neighbor to
himself, explained (n. 6933-6938). But those who are
Christians and who love God above all things make love to the
neighbor to begin with the Lord, because He is to be loved
above all things (n. 6706, 6711, 6819, 6824). The distinctions
of neighbor are as many as the distinctions of good from the
Lord, and there should be distinction in doing good to everyone
in accordance with the quality of his state, and this is a
matter of Christian prudence (n. 6707, 6709, 6711, 6818). These
distinctions are innumerable, and for this reason the ancients,
who knew what is meant by the neighbor, reduced the exercises
of charity into classes, which they denoted by suitable names,
and from this knew in what respect everyone was a neighbor, and
in what manner good was to be done to everyone with prudence
(n. 2417, 6628, 6705, 7259-7262). The doctrine in the ancient
churches was the doctrine of charity towards the neighbor, and
from this they had wisdom (n. 2417, 2385, 3419, 3420, 4844,
6628).
559. Again, love of self is such that so far as the reins are given
it, that is, so far as external bonds are removed, which are fears of
the law and its penalties, and of the loss of reputation, honor,
gain, employment, and life, so far it rushes on until it finally
longs to rule not only over the entire world but also over the entire
heaven, and over the Divine Himself, knowing no limit or end. This
propensity lurks hidden in everyone who is in love of self, although
it is not manifest to the world, where it is held in check by such
bonds as have been mentioned. Everyone can see examples of this in
potentates and kings who are subject to no such restraints and bonds,
but rush on and subjugate provinces and kingdoms so far as they are
successful, and aspire to power and glory without limit; and still
more strikingly in the Babylon of this day, which has extended its
dominion into heaven, and has transferred to itself all the Divine
power of the Lord, and continually lusts for more. That such men,
when they have entered after death the other life, are directly
opposed to the Divine and to heaven, and are on the side of hell, can
be seen in the little work on The Last Judgment and the Destruction
of Babylon.
560. Picture to yourself a society of such persons, all of whom love
themselves alone and love others only so far as they make one with
themselves, and you will see that their love is precisely like the
love of thieves for each other, who embrace and call one another
friends so long as they are acting together; but when they cease to
act together and discard their subordination to one another, they
rise up against and murder one another. When the interiors or the
minds of such are explored they will be seen to be full of bitter
hatred one against another, and at heart will laugh at all justice
and honesty, and likewise at the Divine, which they reject as of no
account. This is still more evident in the societies of such in the
hells treated of below.
561. The interiors pertaining to the thoughts and affections of those
who love themselves above all things are turned towards themselves
and the world, and thus are turned away from the Lord and from
heaven; and consequently they are obsessed with evils of every kind,
and the Divine cannot flow in; for if it does flow in it is instantly
submerged in thoughts of self, and is defiled, and is also mingled
with the evils that flow from what is their own. This is why all such
in the other life look backwards away from the Lord, and towards the
densely dark body that is there in the place of the sun of the world,
and is diametrically opposite to the sun of heaven, which is the Lord
(see above, n. 123). "Thick darkness" signifies evil, and the "sun of
the world" the love of self.{1}
{Footnote 1} "The sun of the world" signifies the love of self
(n. 2441). In this sense "to worship the sun" signifies to
worship those things that are antagonistic to heavenly love and
to the Lord (n. 2441, 10584). "The sun's growing hot" means an
increasing lust of evil (n. 8487).
562. The evils of those who are in the love of self are, in general,
contempt of others, envy, enmity against all who do not favor them,
and consequent hostility, hatred of various kinds, revenge, cunning,
deceit, unmercifulness, and cruelty; and in respect to religious
matters there is not merely a contempt for the Divine and for Divine
things, which are the truths and goods of the church, but also
hostility to them. When man becomes a spirit this hostility is turned
into hatred; and then he not only cannot endure to hear these truths
and goods mentioned, he even burns with hatred against all who
acknowledge and worship the Divine. I once talked with a certain
spirit who in the world had been a man in authority, and had loved
self to an unusual degree; and when he simply heard some one mention
the Divine, and especially when he heard him mention the Lord, he was
so excited by hatred arising from anger as to burn with the desire to
kill; and when the reins of his love were loosened he wished to be
the devil himself, that from his love of self he might continually
infest heaven. This is the desire also of some of the Papist religion
when they perceive in the other life that the Lord has all power and
they have none.
563. Certain spirits were seen by me in the western quarter towards
the south, who said that they had been in positions of great dignity
in the world, and that they deserved to be more highly esteemed than
others and to rule over others. Their interior character was explored
by angels, and it was found that in their offices in the world they
had not looked to uses but to themselves, and thus that they had set
themselves before uses. But as they were very eager and importunate
to be set over others they were allowed to associate with those who
were consulting about matters of great importance; but it was
perceived that they were unable to give any thought to the business
under discussion, or to see matters as they are in themselves, or to
speak with reference to the use of the thing, but were able to speak
only with reference to self, and that they wished to act from what is
pleasing on the ground of favor. They were therefore dismissed from
that duty, and left to seek employment for themselves elsewhere.
Therefore they went further into the western quarter, where they were
received here and there, but everywhere were told that they thought
only of themselves, and of no business except with reference to self,
and for this reason were stupid and like merely sensual corporeal
spirits. On this account wheresoever they went they were sent away.
Some time afterwards they were seen reduced to a destitute state and
asking alms. Thus it was made clear that those who are in the love of
self, however from the fire of that love they may seem to speak in
the world wisely, speak merely from the memory, and not from any
rational light. Therefore in the other life, when they are no longer
permitted to bring forth the things of the natural memory, they are
more stupid than others, and for the reason that they are separated
from the Divine.
564. There are two kinds of dominion, one of love towards the
neighbor and the other of love of self. These two dominions in their
essence are direct opposites. One who rules from love towards the
neighbor wills good to all, and loves nothing so much as uses, that
is, serving others; which is willing good to others and performing
uses, either to the church, or to the country, or to society, or to a
fellow citizen. This is his love and the delight of his heart.
Moreover, so far as he is exalted to dignities above others he
rejoices, not for the sake of the dignities but for the sake of the
uses he is then able to perform in greater abundance and of a higher
order. Such dominion exists in the heavens. [2] But one who rules
from the love of self wills good to no one except himself; the uses
he performs are for the sake of his own honor and glory, which to him
are the only uses; his end in serving others is that he may himself
be served, honored, and permitted to rule; he seeks dignities not for
the sake of the good offices he may render to his country and the
church, but that he may gain eminence and glory and thereby the
delight of his heart. [3] Moreover this love of dominion continues
with everyone after his life in the world. Those that have ruled from
love towards the neighbor are entrusted with authority in the
heavens; but then it is not they who rule, but the uses which they
love; and when uses rule the Lord rules. But those who have ruled
while in the world are in hell, and are there vile slaves. I have
seen those who had power in the world, but who exercised dominion
from love of self, cast out among the most vile, and some among those
who are in excrementitious places.
565. But in respect to the love of the world: it is a love opposed to
heavenly love in a less degree than love of self, because the evils
hidden within it are lesser evils. The love of the world consists in
one's desiring to secure to himself, by any kind of artifice, the
wealth of others, and in setting his heart upon riches, and
permitting the world to draw him and lead him away from spiritual
love, which is love towards the neighbor, and thus from heaven and
from the Divine. But this love is manifold. There is a love of wealth
for the sake of being exalted to honors, when these alone are loved.
There is a love of honors and dignities with a view to the increase
of wealth. There is a love of wealth for the sake of various uses
that give delight in the world. There is a love of wealth merely for
the sake of wealth, which is a miserly love; and so on. The end for
the sake of which wealth is sought is called its use; and it is the
end or use that gives to love its quality; for the love is such as is
the end in view, and all other things merely serve it as means.
566. LVIV. WHAT HELL FIRE IS AND WHAT THE GNASHING OF TEETH IS.
What eternal fire is, and what the gnashing of teeth is, which are
mentioned in the Word in reference to those who are in hell, scarcely
any one as yet has known, because the contents of the Word have been
thought about only in a material way, and nothing has been known
about its spiritual sense. So fire has been understood by some to
mean material fire, by others to mean torment in general, by others
remorse of conscience, and others have held that it is mentioned
merely to excite terror in the wicked. Likewise some have supposed
the gnashing of teeth to mean actual gnashing, and some only a
horror, such as is excited when such a collision of teeth is heard.
But any one who is acquainted with the spiritual meaning of the Word
may know what eternal fire is, and what the gnashing of teeth is; for
every expression and every meaning of the expressions in the Word
contains a spiritual meaning, since the Word in its bosom is
spiritual; and what is spiritual can be set before man only in
natural forms of expression, because man is in the natural world and
thinks from the things of that world. Therefore it shall now be told
what is meant by "eternal fire" and "the gnashing of teeth" into
which the spirits of evil men enter after death, or which their
spirits, then in the spiritual world, endure.
567. There are two origins of heat, one the sun of heaven which is
the Lord, and the other the sun of the world. The heat that is from
the sun of heaven, that is, the Lord, is spiritual heat; and this in
its essence is love (see above, n. 126-140); but the heat from the
sun of the world is natural heat, and this in its essence is not
love, but serves spiritual heat or love as a receptacle. Evidently
love in its essence is heat, since it is love, in accord with its
degree and quality, that gives heat to the mind, and thence to the
body; and this man experiences as well in the winter as in the
summer. The heating of the blood is from the same source. That the
natural heat that springs from the sun of the world serves spiritual
heat as a receptacle is evident from the heat of the body, which is
excited by the heat of its spirit, and is a kind of substitute for
that heat in the body. It is especially evident from the spring and
summer heat in animals of every kind which then annually renew their
loves. [2] It is not the natural heat that produces this effect, but
it disposes their bodies to receive the heat that flows into them
from the spiritual world; for the spiritual world flows into the
natural as cause into effect. Whoever believes that natural heat
produces these loves is much deceived, for influx is from the
spiritual world into the natural world, and not from the natural
world into the spiritual; and as all love belongs to the life itself
it is spiritual. [3] Again, he who believes that any thing comes
forth in the natural world without influx from the spiritual world is
deceived, for what is natural comes forth and continues to exist only
from what is spiritual. Furthermore, the subjects of the vegetable
kingdom derive their germinations from influx out of the spiritual
world. The natural heat of spring time and summer merely disposes the
seeds into their natural forms by expanding and opening them so that
influx from the spiritual world can there act as a cause. These
things are mentioned to make clear that there are two kinds of heat,
spiritual heat and natural heat; and that spiritual heat is from the
sun of heaven and natural heat from the sun of the world, and that
influx and consequent cooperation produce the effects that appear
before the eyes in the world.{1}
{Footnote 1} There is an influx from the spiritual world into
the natural world (n. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327,
6466-6495, 6598-6626). There is also an influx into the lives
of animals (n. 5850). And into the subjects of the vegetable
kingdom (n. 3648). This influx is a continual endeavor to act
in accordance with the Divine order (n. 6211 at the end).
568. Spiritual heat in man is the heat of his life, because, as was
said above, it is in its essence love. This heat is what is meant in
the Word by "fire," love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor by
"heavenly fire," and love of self and love of the world by "infernal
fire."
569. Infernal fire or love springs from a like origin as heavenly
fire or love, namely, the sun of heaven, or the Lord; but it is made
infernal by those who receive it. For all influx from the spiritual
world varies in accordance with reception, that is, in accordance
with the forms into which it flows, just as it is with the heat and
light from the sun of the world. The heat from that sun flowing into
shrubberies and beds of flowers produces vegetation, and draws forth
grateful and sweet odors; but the same heat flowing into
excrementitious and decaying substances produces putrefactions, and
draws forth rank and disgusting stenches. In like manner the light
from the same sun produces in one subject beautiful and pleasing
colors, in another unbeautiful and disagreeable colors. The same is
true of the heat and light from the sun of heaven, which is love.
When the heat, or love, from that sun flows into good, as it does in
good men and angels, it makes their good fruitful; but when it flows
into the evil it produces a contrary effect, for their evils either
suffocate it or pervert it. In like manner when the light of heaven
flows into the truths of good it imparts intelligence and wisdom; but
when it flows into the falsities of evil it is turned into insanities
and phantasies of various kinds. Thus in every instance the result is
in accordance with reception.
570. As infernal fire is the love of self and of the world it is also
every lust of these loves, since lust is love in its continuity, for
what a man loves he continually lusts after. Infernal fire is also
delight, since what a man loves and lusts after he perceives, when he
obtains it, to be delightful. Man's delight of heart is from no other
source. Infernal fire, therefore, is the lust and delight that spring
from these two loves as their origins. The evils flowing from these
loves are contempt of others, enmity, and hostility against those who
do not favor them, envy, hatred, and revenge, and from these
fierceness and cruelty; and in respect to the Divine they are denial
and consequent contempt, derision, and detraction of the holy things
of the church; and after death, when man becomes a spirit, these
evils are changed to anger and hatred against these holy things (see
above, n. 562). And as these evils breathe forth continually the
destruction and murder of those whom they account as enemies, and
against whom they burn with hatred and revenge, so it is the delight
of their life to will to destroy and kill, and so far as they are
unable to do this, to will to do mischief, to injure, and to exercise
cruelty. [2] Such is the meaning of "fire" in the Word, where the
evil and the hells are treated of, some passages from which I will
here quote in the way of proof:
Everyone is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth
speaketh folly. For wickedness burneth as the fire; it
devoureth the briers and thorns, and kindleth in the
thickets of the forests, and they roll upward in the
rising of smoke; and the people is become like food for
fire; no man spareth his brother (Isa. 9:17-19).
I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth blood
and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned
into darkness (Joel 2:30, 31).
The land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be
quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up
forever (Isa. 34:9, 10).
Behold the day cometh burning as a furnace, and all the
proud and every worker of wickedness shall be stubble; and
the day that cometh shall set them on fire (Mal. 4:1).
Babylon is become a habitation of demons. They cried out
as they saw the smoke of her burning. Her smoke goeth up
unto the ages of the ages (Apoc. 18:2, 18; 19:3).
He opened the pit of the abyss, and there went up a smoke
out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace; and the
sun was darkened, and the air, by the smoke of the pit
(Apoc. 9:2).
Out of the mouth of the horses went forth fire and smoke
and brimstone; by these was the third part of men killed,
by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone (Apoc.
4:17, 18).
If any one adores the beast he shall drink of the wine of
the wrath of God mixed with unmixed wine in the cup of His
anger, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
(Apoc. 16:9, 10).
The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it
was given unto it to scorch men with fire; therefore men
were scorched with great heat (Apoc. 16:8, 9).
They were cast into a lake burning with fire and brimstone
(Apoc. 19:20; 20:14, 15; 21:8).
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be
hewn down and cast into the fire (Matt. 3:10; Luke 3:9).
The Son of man shall send His angels, and they shall
gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling
and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire (Matt. 13:41, 42, 50).
The King shall say to them that are on the left hand,
Depart from Me, ye cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).
They shall be sent into everlasting fire, into the hell of
fire, where their worm shall not die, and the fire shall
not be quenched (Matt. 18:8, 9; Mark 9:43-49).
The rich man in hell said to Abraham that he was tormented
in flame (Luke 16:24).
In these and in many other passages "fire" means the lust pertaining
to love of self and love of the world, and the "smoke" therefrom
means falsity from evil.
571. As the lust of doing the evils that are from the love of self
and of the world is meant by "infernal fire," and as such is the lust
of all in the hells (as shown in the foregoing chapter) so when the
hells are opened there is an appearance of fire with smoke, such as
is seen in conflagrations, a dense fire from the hells where the love
of self prevails, and a flaming fire from the hells where love of the
world prevails. But when the hells are closed this fiery appearance
is not seen, but in its place there is a kind of obscurity like a
condensation of smoke; although the fire still rages within, as can
be seen by the heat exhaling therefrom, which is like the heat from
the burnt ruins after a fire, and in some places like the heat from a
heated furnace, in others like the heat from a hot bath. When this
heat flows into man it excites lusts in him, and in evil men hatred
and revenge, and in the sick insanities. Such is the fire or such the
heat that affects those who are in the above-mentioned loves, because
in respect to their spirit they are attached to those hells, even
while living in the body. But it must be understood that those who
are in the hells are not in fire; the fire is an appearance; those
there are conscious of no burning, but only of a warmth like that
which they had felt when in the world. This appearance of fire is
from correspondence, since love corresponds to fire, and all things
seen in the spiritual world are seen in accordance with
correspondences.
572. It must be noted that this infernal fire or heat is changed into
intense cold when heat from heaven flows in; and those who are in it
then shiver like those seized with chills and fever, and are inwardly
distressed; and for the reason that they are in direct opposition to
the Divine; and the heat of heaven (which is Divine love)
extinguishes the heat of hell (which is the love of self), and with
it the fire of their life; and this is the cause of such cold and
consequent shivering and distress. This is accompanied by thick
darkness and by infatuation and mutual blindness therefrom. But this
rarely happens, and only when outbreaks that have increased beyond
measure need to be repressed.
573. Since infernal fire means every lust for doing evil that flows
forth from the love of self, this fire means also such torment as
exists in the hells. For the lust from that love is a lust for
injuring others who do not honor, venerate and worship oneself; and
in proportion to the anger thereby excited, and the hatred and
revenge from that anger, is there a lust for venting one's rage upon
them. When such lust is active in everyone in a society, and is
restrained by no external bond, such as the fear of the law, and of
the loss of reputation, honor, gain, and life, everyone from the
impulse of his own evil rushes upon another; and so far as he
prevails subjugates the rest and subjects them to his dominion, and
vents his rage with delight upon those who do not submit themselves.
This delight is so intimately united with the delight of bearing rule
that they exist in the same measure, since the delight of doing harm
is contained in all enmity, envy, hatred, and revenge, which as said
above, are the evils of that love. All the hells are such societies,
and in consequence everyone there bears hatred in his heart against
others, and from hatred bursts forth into cruelty so far as he has
power. These cruelties and their torments are also meant by infernal
fire, since they are the effects of lusts.
574. It has been shown above (n. 548) that an evil spirit casts
himself into hell of his own accord. It shall now be told in a few
words how this comes about, when yet there are in hell such torments.
From every hell there exhales a sphere of the lusts of those who are
in it. Whenever this sphere is perceived by one who is in a like lust
he is affected at heart and filled with delight, for lust and its
delight make one, since whatever one lusts after is delightful to
him; and because of this a spirit turns himself hellwards, and from
delight of heart lusts to go thither, since he does not yet know that
such torments exist there, although he who knows it still lusts to go
there. For no one in the spiritual world can resist his lust, because
his lust belongs to his love, and his love belongs to his will, and
his will belongs to his nature, and everyone there acts from his
nature. [2] When, therefore, a spirit of his own accord and from his
freedom drifts towards his hell and enters it, he is received at
first in a friendly manner, which makes him believe that he has come
among friends. But this continues for a few hours only. In the
meanwhile he is explored in respect to his astuteness and consequent
ability; and when this has been done they begin to infest him, and
this by various methods, and with gradually greater severity and
vehemence. This is accomplished by introducing him more interiorly
and deeply into hell; for the more interior and deeper the hell the
more malignant are the spirits. After these infestations they begin
to treat him cruelly by punishments, and this goes on until he is
reduced to the condition of a slave. [3] But rebellious movements are
continually springing up there, since everyone wishes to be greatest,
and burns with hatred against the others; and in consequence new
uprisings occur, and thus one scene is changed into another, and
those who are made slaves are delivered that they may assist some new
devil to subjugate others; and again those who refuse to submit and
render implicit obedience are tormented in various ways; and so on
continually. Such torments are the torments of hell, which are called
hell fire.
575. Gnashing of teeth is the continual contention and combat of
falsities with each other, consequently of those who are in
falsities, joined with contempt of others, with enmity, mockery,
ridicule, blaspheming; and these evils burst forth into lacerations
of various kinds; since everyone fights for his own falsity and calls
it truth. These contentions and combats are heard outside of these
hells like the gnashings of teeth; and are also turned into gnashings
of teeth when truths from heaven flow in among them. In these hells
are all who have acknowledged nature and have denied the Divine. In
the deeper of these hells are those that have confirmed themselves in
such denials. As such are unable to receive any thing of light from
heaven, and are thus unable to see any thing inwardly in themselves,
they are for the most part corporeal sensual spirits, who believe
nothing except what they see with their eyes and touch with their
hands. Therefore all the fallacies of the senses are truths to them;
and it is from these that they dispute. This is why their contentions
are heard as gnashings of teeth; for in the spiritual world all
falsities give a grating sound, and the teeth correspond to the
outmost things in nature and to the outmost things in man, which are
corporeal sensual.{1} (That there is gnashing of teeth in the hells
may be seen in Matthew 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke
13:28.)
{Footnote 1} The correspondence of the teeth (n. 5565-5568).
Those who are purely sensual and have scarcely anything of
spiritual light correspond to the teeth (n. 5565). In the Word
a tooth signifies the sensual, which is the outmost of the life
of man (n. 9052, 9062). Gnashing of teeth in the other life
comes from those who believe that nature is everything and the
Divine nothing (n. 5568).
576. LX. THE MALICE AND HEINOUS ARTIFICES OF INFERNAL SPIRITS
In what way spirits are superior to men everyone can see and
comprehend who thinks interiorly and knows any thing of the operation
of his own mind; for in his mind he can consider, evolve, and form
conclusions upon more subjects in a single moment than he can utter
or express in writing in half an hour. This shows the superiority of
man when he is in his spirit, and therefore when he becomes a spirit.
For it is the spirit that thinks, and it is the body by which the
spirit expresses its thoughts in speech or writing. In consequence of
this, when man after death becomes an angel he is in intelligence and
wisdom ineffable in comparison with his intelligence and wisdom while
he lived in the world; for while he lived in the world his spirit was
bound to his body, and was thereby in the natural world; and
therefore whatever he thought spiritually flowed into natural ideas,
which are comparatively general, gross, and obscure, and which are
incapable of receiving innumerable things that pertain to spiritual
thought; and which infold spiritual thought in the obscurities that
arise from worldly cares. It is otherwise when the spirit is released
from the body and comes into its spiritual state, which takes place
when it passes out of the natural world into the spiritual world to
which it belongs. From what has already been said it is evident that
the state of its thoughts and affections is then immeasurably
superior to its former state. Because of this the thoughts of angels
are ineffable and inexpressible, and are therefore incapable of
entering into the natural thoughts of man; and yet every angel was
born a man, and has lived as a man, and he then seemed to himself to
be no wiser than any other like man.
577. In the same degree in which angels have wisdom and intelligence
infernal spirits have malice and cunning; for the case is the same,
since the spirit of man when released from the body is in his good or
in his evil--if an angelic spirit in his good, and if an infernal
spirit in his evil. Every spirit is his own good or his own evil
because he is his own love, as has been often said and shown above.
Therefore as an angelic spirit thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, from
his good, an infernal spirit does this from his evil; and to think,
will, speak, and act from evil itself, is to think, will, speak, and
act from all things included in the evil. [2] So long as man lived in
the body it was different, since the evil of the spirit was then
under the restraints that every man feels from the law, from hope of
gain, from honor, from reputation, and from the fear of losing these;
and therefore the evil of his spirit could not then burst forth and
show what it was in itself. Moreover, the evil of the spirit of man
then lay wrapped up and veiled in outward probity, honesty, justice,
and affection for truth and good, which such a man professes and
counterfeits for the sake of the world; and under these semblances
the evil has lain so concealed and obscured that he himself scarcely
knew that his spirit contained so much malice and craftiness, that
is, that in himself he was such a devil as he becomes after death,
when his spirit comes into itself and into its own nature. [3] Such
malice then manifests itself as exceeds all belief. There are
thousands of evils that then burst forth from evil itself, among
which are such as cannot be described in the words of any language.
What they are has been granted me to know and also to perceive by
much experience, since it has been granted me by the Lord to be in
the spiritual world in respect to my spirit and at the same time in
the natural world in respect to my body. This I can testify, that
their malice is so great that it is hardly possible to describe even
a thousandth part of it; and so great that if man were not protected
by the Lord he could never be rescued from hell; for with every man
there are spirits from hell as well as angels from heaven (see above,
n. 292, 293); and yet the Lord cannot protect man unless he
acknowledges the Divine and lives a life of faith and charity; for
otherwise man turns himself away from the Lord and turns himself to
infernal spirits, and thus his spirit becomes imbued with a malice
like theirs. [4] Nevertheless, man is continually withdrawn by the
Lord from the evils that he attaches and as it were attracts to
himself by his affiliation with infernal spirits. If he is not
withdrawn by the internal bonds of conscience, which he fails to
receive if he denies a Divine, he is nevertheless withdrawn by
external bonds, which are, as said above, fears in respect to the law
and its penalties, and fears of the loss of gain and the deprivation
of honor and reputation. In fact, such a man may be withdrawn from
evils by means of the delights of his love and through fear of the
loss or deprivation of those delights; but he cannot be led thereby
into spiritual goods. For as soon as such a man is led into these he
begins to give his thought to pretenses and devices by simulating or
counterfeiting what is good, honest, and just, for the purpose of
persuading and thus deceiving. Such cunning adjoins itself to the
evil of his spirit and gives form to it, causing his evil to be of
the same nature as itself.
578. Those are the worst of all who have been in evils from love of
self and at the same time inwardly in themselves have acted from
deceit; for deceit penetrates more deeply into the thoughts and
intentions than other evils, and infects them with poison and thus
wholly destroys the spiritual life of man. Most of these spirits are
in the hells behind the back, and are called genii; and there they
delight to make themselves invisible, and to flutter about others
like phantoms secretly infusing evil into them, which they spread
around like the poison of a viper. These are more direfully tormented
than others. But those who are not deceitful, and who have not been
so filled with malignant craftiness, and yet are in the evils derived
from the love of self, are also in the hells behind, but in those
less deep. On the other hand, those that have been in evils from the
love of the world are in the hells in front, and are called spirits.
These spirits are not such forms of evil, that is, of hatred and
revenge, as those are who are in evils from the love of self; and
therefore do not have such malice and cunning; and in consequence
their hells are milder.
579. I have been permitted to learn by experience what kind of malice
those possess who are called genii. Genii act upon and flow into the
affections, and not the thoughts. They perceive and smell out the
affections as dogs do wild beasts in the forest. Good affections,
when they perceive them in another, they turn instantly into evil
affections, leading and bending them in a wonderful manner by means
of the other's delights; and this so secretly and with such malignant
skill that the other knows nothing of it, for they most carefully
guard against anything entering into the thought, as thereby they
would be manifested. The seat of these in man is beneath the back
part of the head. In the world they were such as deceitfully
captivated the minds of others, leading and persuading them by the
delights of their affections or lusts. But such spirits are not
permitted by the Lord to come near to any man of whose reformation
there is any hope; for they have the ability not only to destroy the
conscience, but also to stir up in man his inherited evils, which
otherwise lie hidden. Therefore to prevent man's being led into these
evils, these hells, by the Lord's provision, are entirely closed up;
and when any man of such a character comes after death into the other
life, he is at once cast into their hell. When the deceit and
craftiness of these spirits are clearly seen they appear as vipers.
580. The kind of malice infernal spirits possess is evident from
their nefarious arts, which are so many that to enumerate them would
fill a volume, and to describe them would fill many volumes. These
arts are mostly unknown in the world. One kind relates to abuses of
correspondences; a second to abuses of the outmosts of Divine order;
a third to the communication and influx of thoughts and affections by
means of turning towards another, fixing the sight upon another, and
by the instrumentality of other spirits apart from themselves, and
spirits sent out by themselves; a fourth to operations by phantasies;
a fifth to a kind of casting themselves out beyond themselves and
consequent presence elsewhere than where they are in the body; a
sixth to pretenses, persuasion, and lies. The spirit of an evil man
enters of itself into these arts when he is released from his body,
for they are inherent in the nature of the evil in which he then is.
By these arts they torment each other in the hells. But as all of
these arts, except those that are effected by pretenses, persuasions,
and lies, are unknown in the world, I will not here describe them in
detail, both because they would not be comprehended, and because they
are too abominable to be told.
581. The Lord permits torments in the hells because in no other way
can evils be restrained and subdued. The only means of restraining
and subduing evils and of keeping the infernal crew in bonds is the
fear of punishment. It can be done in no other way; for without the
fear of punishment and torment evil would burst forth into madness,
and everything would go to pieces, like a kingdom on earth where
there is no law and there are no penalties.
582. LXI. THE APPEARANCE, SITUATION, AND NUMBER OF THE HELLS.
In the spiritual world, that is, in the world where spirits and
angels are, the same objects appear as in the natural world, that is,
where men are. In external appearance there is no difference. In that
world plains and mountains, hills and rocks, and valleys between them
are seen; also waters, and many other things that are seen on earth.
And yet all these things are from a spiritual origin, and all are
therefore seen by the eyes of spirits and angels, and not by the eyes
of men, because men are in the natural world. Spiritual beings see
such things as are from a spiritual origin, and natural beings such
things as are from a natural origin. Consequently man with his eyes
can in no way see the objects that are in the spiritual world unless
he is permitted to be in the spirit, or after death when he becomes a
spirit. On the other hand, an angel or a spirit is unable to see any
thing at all in the natural world unless he is with a man who is
permitted to speak with him. For the eyes of man are fitted to
receive the light of the natural world, and the eyes of angels and
spirits are fitted to receive the light of the spiritual world;
although the eyes of the two are exactly alike in appearance. That
the spiritual world is such the natural man cannot comprehend, and
least of all the sensual man, who believes nothing except what he
sees with his bodily eyes and touches with his hands, and therefore
takes in by sight and touch. As his thought is from such things it is
material and not spiritual. Such being the likeness between the
spiritual world and the natural world, man can hardly believe after
death that he is not in the world where he was born, and from which
he has departed. For this reason death is called simply a translation
from one world into another like it. (That the two worlds are thus
alike can be seen above, where representatives and appearances in
heaven have been treated of, n. 170-176.)
583. The heavens are in the higher parts of the spiritual world, the
world of spirits in the lower parts, and under both are the hells.
The heavens are visible to spirits in the world of spirits only when
their interior sight is opened; although they sometimes see them as
mists or as bright clouds. This is because the angels of heaven are
in an interior state in respect to intelligence and wisdom; and for
this reason they are above the sight of those who are in the world of
spirits. But spirits who dwell in the plains and valleys see one
another; and yet when they are separated there, which takes place
when they are let into their interiors, the evil spirits do not see
the good spirits; but the good spirits can see the evil spirits.
Nevertheless, the good spirits turn themselves away from the evil
spirits; and when spirits turn themselves away they become invisible.
But the hells are not seen because they are closed up. Only the
entrances, which are called gates, are seen when they are opened to
let in other like spirits. All the gates to the hells open from the
world of spirits, and none of them from heaven.
584. The hells are everywhere, both under the mountains, hills, and
rocks, and under the plains and valleys. The openings or gates to the
hells that are under the mountains, hills, and rocks, appear to the
sight like holes and clefts in the rocks, some extended and wide, and
some straitened and narrow, and many of them rugged. They all, when
looked into, appear dark and dusky; but the infernal spirits that are
in them are in such a luminosity as arises from burning coals. Their
eyes are adapted to the reception of that light, and for the reason
that while they lived in the world they were in thick darkness in
respect to Divine truths, because of their denying them, and were in
a sort of light in respect to falsities because of their affirming
them. In this way did the sight of their eyes become so formed. And
for the same reason the light of heaven is thick darkness to them,
and therefore when they go out of their dens they see nothing. All
this makes it abundantly clear that man comes into the light of
heaven just to the extent that he acknowledges the Divine, and
establishes in himself the things of heaven and the church; and that
he comes into the thick darkness of hell just to the extent that he
denies the Divine, and establishes in himself what is contrary to the
truths of heaven and the church.
585. The openings or gates to the hells that are beneath the plains
and valleys present to the sight different appearances. Some resemble
those that are beneath the mountains, hills and rocks; some resemble
dens and caverns, some great chasms and whirlpools; some resemble
bogs, and some standing water. They are all covered, and are opened
only when evil spirits from the world of spirits are cast in; and
when they are opened there bursts forth from them either something
like the fire and smoke that is seen in the air from burning
buildings, or like a flame without smoke, or like soot such as comes
from a burning chimney, or like a mist and thick cloud. I have heard
that the infernal spirits neither see nor feel these things, because
when they are in them they are as in their own atmosphere, and thus
in the delight of their life; and this for the reason that these
things correspond to the evils and falsities in which they are, fire
corresponding to hatred and revenge, smoke and soot to the falsities
therefrom, flame to the evils of the love of self, and a mist or
thick cloud to falsities from that love.
586. I have also been permitted to look into the hells and to see
what they are within; for when the Lord wills, the sight of a spirit
or angel from above may penetrate into the lowest depths beneath and
explore their character, notwithstanding the coverings. In this way I
have been permitted to look into them. Some of the hells appeared to
the view like caverns and dens in rocks extending inward and then
downward into an abyss, either obliquely or vertically. Some of the
hells appeared to the view like the dens and caves of wild beasts in
forests; some like the hollow caverns and passages that are seen in
mines, with caverns extending towards the lower regions. Most of the
hells are threefold, the upper one appearing within to be in dense
darkness, because inhabited by those who are in the falsities of
evil; while the lower ones appear fiery, because inhabited by those
who are in evils themselves, dense darkness corresponding to the
falsities of evil, and fire to evils themselves. Those that have
acted interiorly from evil are in the deeper hells, and those that
have acted exteriorly from evil, that is, from the falsities of evil,
are in the hells that are less deep. Some hells present an appearance
like the ruins of houses and cities after conflagrations, in which
infernal spirits dwell and hide themselves. In the milder hells there
is an appearance of rude huts, in some cases contiguous in the form
of a city with lanes and streets, and within the houses are infernal
spirits engaged in unceasing quarrels, enmities, fightings, and
brutalities; while in the streets and lanes robberies and
depredations are committed. In some of the hells there are nothing
but brothels, disgusting to the sight and filled with every kind of
filth and excrement. Again, there are dark forests, in which infernal
spirits roam like wild beasts and where, too, there are underground
dens into which those flee who are pursued by others. There are also
deserts, where all is barren and sandy, and where in some places
there are ragged rocks in which there are caverns, and in some places
huts. Into these desert places those are cast out from the hells who
have suffered every extremity of punishment, especially those who in
the world have been more cunning than others in undertaking and
contriving intrigues and deceits. Such a life is their final lot.
587. As to the positions of the hells in detail, it is something
wholly unknown even to the angels in heaven; it is known to the Lord
alone. But their position in general is known from the quarters in
which they are. For the hells, like the heavens, are distinguished by
their quarters; and in the spiritual world quarters are determined in
accordance with loves; for in heaven all the quarters begin from the
Lord as the sun, who is the East; and as the hells are opposite to
the heavens their quarters begin from the opposite point, that is,
from the west. (On this see the chapter on the four quarters in
heaven, n. 141-153.) [2] For this reason the hells in the western
quarter are the worst of all, and the most horrible, becoming
gradually worse and more horrible by degrees the more remote they are
from the east. In the western hells are those who in the world were
in the love of self, and in consequent contempt of others, and in
enmity against those who did not favor them, also in hatred and
revenge against those who did not render them respect and homage. In
the most remote hells in that quarter are those that had belonged to
the Catholic religion, so called, and that had wished to be worshiped
as gods, and consequently had burned with hatred and revenge against
all who did not acknowledge their power over the souls of men and
over heaven. These continue to have the same disposition, that is,
the same hatred and revenge against those who oppose them, that they
had in the world. Their greatest delight is to practice cruelties;
but in the other life this delight is turned against themselves; for
in their hells, with which the western quarter is filled, one rages
against everyone who detracts from his Divine power. (But more will
be said about this in the treatise on The Last Judgment and the
Destruction of Babylon.) [3] Nevertheless, no one can know how the
hells in that quarter are arranged, except that the most dreadful
hells of that kind are at the sides towards the northern quarter, and
the less dreadful towards the southern quarter; thus the dreadfulness
of the hells decreases from the northern quarter to the southern, and
likewise by degrees towards the east. Towards the east are the
dwelling places of the haughty, who have not believed in the Divine,
and yet have not been in such hatred and revenge, or in such deceit,
as those have who are in a greater depth in the western quarter. [4]
In the eastern quarter there are at present no hells, those that were
there having been transferred to the western quarter in front. In the
northern and southern quarters there are many hells; and in them are
those who while in the world were in love of the world, and in
various kinds of evil therefrom, such as enmity, hostility, theft,
robbery, cunning, avarice, and unmercifulness. The worst hells of
this kind are in the northern quarter, the milder in the southern.
Their dreadfulness increases as they are nearer to the western
quarter, and also as they are farther away from the southern quarter,
and decreases towards the eastern quarter and towards the southern
quarter. Behind the hells that are in the western quarter there are
dark forests, in which malignant spirits roam like wild beasts; and
it is the same behind the hells in the northern quarter. But behind
the hells in the southern quarter there are deserts, which have been
described just above. This much respecting the situation of the
hells.
588. In regard to the number of the hells, there are as many of them
as there are angelic societies in the heavens, since there is for
every heavenly society a corresponding infernal society as its
opposite. That the heavenly societies are numberless, and are all
distinguished in accordance with the goods of love, charity, and
faith, may be seen in the chapter that treats of the societies of
which the heavens consist (n. 41-50), and in the chapter on the
immensity of heaven (n. 415-420). The like is true, therefore, of the
infernal societies, which are distinguished in accordance with the
evils that are the opposites of those goods. [2] Every evil, as well
as every good, is of infinite variety. That this is true is beyond
the comprehension of those who have only a simple idea regarding
every evil, such as contempt, enmity, hatred, revenge, deceit, and
other like evils. But let them know that each one of these evils
contains so many specific differences, and each of these again so
many specific or particular differences, that a volume would not
suffice to enumerate them. The hells are so distinctly arranged in
order in accordance with the differences of every evil that nothing
could be more perfectly ordered or more distinct. Evidently, then,
the hells are innumerable, near to and remote from one another in
accordance with the differences of evils generically, specifically,
and particularly. [3] There are likewise hells beneath hells. Some
communicate with others by passages, and more by exhalations, and
this in exact accordance with the affinities of one kind or one
species of evil with others. How great the number is of the hells I
have been permitted to realize from knowing that there are hells
under every mountain, hill, and rock, and likewise under every plain
and valley, and that they stretch out beneath these in length and in
breadth and in depth. In a word, the entire heaven and the entire
world of spirits are, as it were, excavated beneath, and under them
is a continuous hell. Thus much regarding the number of the hells.
589. LXII. THE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL.
For any thing to have existence there must be an equilibrium of all
things. Without equilibrium is no action and reaction; for
equilibrium is between two forces, one acting and the other reacting,
and the state of rest resulting from like action and reaction is
called equilibrium. In the natural world there is an equilibrium in
all things and in each thing. It exists in a general way even in the
atmosphere, wherein the lower parts react and resist in proportion as
the higher parts act and press down. Again, in the natural world
there is an equilibrium between heat and cold, between light and
shade, and between dryness and moisture, the middle condition being
the equilibrium. There is also an equilibrium in all the subjects of
the three kingdoms of nature, the mineral, the vegetable, and the
animal; for without equilibrium in them nothing can come forth and
have permanent existence. Everywhere there is a sort of effort acting
on the one side and reacting on the other. [2] All existence or all
effect is produced in equilibrium, that is, by one force acting and
another suffering itself to be acted upon, or when one force by
acting flows in, the other receives and harmoniously submits. In the
natural world that which acts and reacts is called force, and also
endeavor [or effort]; but in the spiritual world that which acts and
reacts is called life and will. Life in that world is living force,
and will is living effort; and the equilibrium itself is called
freedom. Thus spiritual equilibrium or freedom has its outcome and
permanence in the balance between good acting on the one side and
evil reacting on the other side; or between evil acting on the one
side and good reacting on the other side. [3] With the good the
equilibrium is between good acting and evil reacting; but with the
evil the equilibrium is between evil acting and good reacting.
Spiritual equilibrium is between good and evil, because the whole
life of man has reference to good and to evil, and the will is the
receptacle. There is also an equilibrium between truth and falsity,
but this depends on the equilibrium between good and evil. The
equilibrium between truth and falsity is like that between light and
shade, in that light and shade affect the objects of the vegetable
kingdom only so far as heat and cold are in them. That light and
shade themselves have no effect, but only the heat that acts through
them, is evident from the fact that light and shade are the same in
winter time and in spring time. This comparison of truth and falsity
with light and shade is from correspondence, for truth corresponds to
light, falsity to shade, and heat to the good of love; in fact,
spiritual light is truth, spiritual shade is falsity, and spiritual
heat is good of love (see the chapter where light and heat in heaven
are treated of, n. 126-140).
590. There is a perpetual equilibrium between heaven and hell. From
hell there continually breathes forth and ascends an endeavor to do
evil, and from heaven there continually breathes forth and descends
an endeavor to do good. In this equilibrium is the world of spirits;
which world is intermediate between heaven and hell (see above,
n. 421-431). The world of spirits is in this equilibrium because every
man after death enters first the world of spirits, and is kept there
in a state like that which he was in while in the world, and this
would be impossible if there were not a perfect equilibrium there;
for by means of this the character of everyone is explored, since
they then remain in the same freedom as they had in the world.
Spiritual equilibrium is freedom in man and spirit (as has been said
just above, n. 589). What each one's freedom is the angels recognize
by a communication of affections and thoughts therefrom; and it
becomes visible to the sight of angelic spirits by the ways in which
the spirits go. Good spirits there travel in the ways that go towards
heaven, but evil spirits in the ways that go towards hell. Ways
actually appear in that world; and that is the reason why ways in the
Word signify the truths that lead to good, or in the opposite sense
the falsities that lead to evil; and for the same reason going,
walking, and journeying in the Word signify progressions of life.{1}
Such ways I have often been permitted to see, also spirits going and
walking in them freely, in accord with their affections and thoughts.
{Footnote 1} In the word "to journey," as well as "to go,"
signifies progression of life (n. 3335, 4375, 4554, 4585, 4882,
5493, 5605, 5996, 8181, 8345, 8397, 8417, 8420, 8557). "To go
(and to walk) with the Lord" means to receive spiritual life,
and to live with Him (n. 10567). "To walk" means to live (n.
519, 1794, 8417, 8420).
591. Evil continually breathes forth and ascends out of hell, and
good continually breathes forth and descends out of heaven, because
everyone is encompassed by a spiritual sphere; and that sphere flows
forth and pours out from the life of the affections and the thoughts
therefrom.{1} And as such a sphere flows forth from every individual,
it flows forth also from every heavenly society and from every
infernal society, consequently from all together, that is, from the
entire heaven and from the entire hell. Good flows forth from heaven
because all there are in good; and evil flows forth from hell because
all there are in evil. The good that is from heaven is all from the
Lord; for the angels in the heavens are all withheld from what is
their own, and are kept in what is the Lord's own, which is good
itself. But the spirits in the hells are all in what is their own,
and everyone's own is nothing but evil; and because it is nothing but
evil it is hell.{2} Evidently, then, the equilibrium in which angels
are kept in the heavens and spirits in the hells is not like the
equilibrium in the world of spirits. The equilibrium of angels in the
heavens exists in the degree in which they have been willing to be in
good, or in the degree in which they have lived in good in the world,
and thus also in the degree in which they have held evil in aversion;
but the equilibrium of spirits in hell exists in the degree in which
they have been willing to be in evil, or have lived in evil in the
world, and thus in heart and spirit have been opposed to good.
{Footnote 1} A spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of life,
flows forth and pours forth from every man, spirit, and angel,
and encompasses him (n. 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630). It flows forth
from the life of their affections and thoughts (n. 2489, 4464,
6206). The quality of spirits is recognized at a distance from
their spheres (n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504). Spheres from the
evil are the opposites of spheres from the good (n. 1695,
10187, 10312). Such spheres extend far into angelic societies
in accordance with the quality and quantity of good (n.
6598-6613, 8063, 8794, 8797). And into infernal societies in
accordance with the quality and quantity of evil (n. 8794).
{Footnote 2} Man's self is nothing but evil (n. 210, 215, 731,
874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550,
10283, 10284, 10286, 10732). Man's self is hell in him (n. 684,
8480).
592. Unless the Lord ruled both the heavens and the hells there would
be no equilibrium; and if there were no equilibrium there would be no
heaven or hell; for all things and each thing in the universe, that
is, both in the natural world and in the spiritual world, endure by
means of equilibrium. Every rational man can see that this is true.
If there were a preponderance on one part and no resistance on the
other would not both perish? So would it be in the spiritual world if
good did not react against evil and continually restrain its
uprising; and unless this were done by the Divine Itself both heaven
and hell would perish, and with them the whole human race. It is said
unless the Divine Itself did this, because the self of everyone,
whether angel, spirit, or man, is nothing but evil (see above,
n. 591); consequently neither angels nor spirits are able in the least
to resist the evils continually exhaling from the hells, since from
self they all tend towards hell. It is evident, then, that unless the
Lord alone ruled both the heavens and the hells no one could ever be
saved. Moreover, all the hells act as one; for evils in the hells are
connected as goods are in the heavens; and the Divine alone, which
goes forth solely from the Lord, is able to resist all the hells,
which are innumerable, and which act together against heaven and
against all who are in heaven.
593. The equilibrium between the heavens and the hells is diminished
or increased in accordance with the number of those who enter heaven
and who enter hell; and this amounts to several thousands daily. The
Lord alone, and no angel, can know and perceive this, and regulate
and equalize it with precision; for the Divine that goes forth from
the Lord is omnipresent, and sees everywhere whether there is any
wavering, while an angel sees only what is near himself, and has no
perception in himself of what is taking place even in his own
society.
594. How all things are so arranged in the heavens and in the hells
that each and all of those who are there may be in their equilibrium,
can in some measure be seen from what has been said and shown above
respecting the heavens and the hells, namely, that all the societies
of heaven are distinctly arranged in accordance with goods and their
kinds and varieties, and all the societies of hell in accordance with
evils, and their kinds and varieties; and that beneath each society
of heaven there is a society of hell corresponding to it from
opposition, and from this opposing correspondence equilibrium
results; and in consequence of this the Lord unceasingly provides
that no infernal society beneath a heavenly society shall gain any
preponderance, and as soon as it begins to do so it is restrained by
various means, and is reduced to an exact measure of equilibrium.
These means are many, only a few of which I will mention. Some of
these means have reference to the stronger presence of the Lord; some
to the closer communication and conjunction of one or more societies
with others; some to the casting out of superabundant infernal
spirits into deserts; some to the transference of certain spirits
from one hell to another; some to the reducing of those in the hells
to order, and this also is effected in various ways; some to the
screening of certain hells under denser and thicker coverings, also
letting them down to greater depths; besides other means; and still
others that are employed in the heavens above the hells. All this has
been said that it may in some measure be perceived that the Lord
alone provides that there shall be an equilibrium everywhere between
good and evil, thus between heaven and hell; for on such equilibrium
the safety of all in the heavens and of all on the earth rests.
595. It should be known that the hells are continually assaulting
heaven and endeavoring to destroy it, and that the Lord continually
protects the heavens by withholding those who are in it from the
evils derived from their self, and by holding them in the good that
is from Himself. I have often been permitted to perceive the sphere
that flows forth from the hells, which was wholly a sphere of effort
to destroy the Divine of the Lord, and thus heaven. The ebullitions
of some hells have also at times been perceived, which were efforts
to break forth and to destroy. But on the other hand the heavens
never assault the hells, for the Divine sphere that goes forth from
the Lord is a perpetual effort to save all; and as those who are in
the hells cannot be saved, (since all who are there are in evil and
are antagonistic to the Divine of the Lord,) so as far as possible
outrages in the hells are subdued and cruelties are restrained to
prevent their breaking out beyond measure one against another. This
also is effected by innumerable ways in which the Divine power is
exercised.
596. There are two kingdoms into which the heavens are divided, the
celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom (of which see above, n.
20-28). In like manner the hells are divided into two kingdoms, one
of which is opposite to the celestial kingdom and the other opposite
to the spiritual kingdom. That which is opposite to the celestial
kingdom is in the western quarter, and those who are in it are called
genii; and that which is opposite to the spiritual kingdom is in the
northern and southern quarters, and those which are in it are called
spirits. All who are in the celestial kingdom are in love to the
Lord, and all who are in the hells opposite to that kingdom are in
the love of self; while all who are in the spiritual kingdom are in
love towards the neighbor, and all who are in the hells opposite to
that kingdom are in love of the world. Evidently, then, love to the
Lord and the love of self are opposites; and in like manner love
towards the neighbor and love of the world are opposites. The Lord
continually provides that there shall be no outflowing from the hells
that are opposite the Lord's celestial kingdom towards those who are
in the spiritual kingdom; for if this were done the spiritual kingdom
would perish (for the reason given above, n. 678, 579). These are the
two general equilibriums that are unceasingly maintained by the Lord.
597. LXIII. BY MEANS OF THE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL MAN
IS IN FREEDOM.
The equilibrium between heaven and hell has now been described, and
it has been shown that it is an equilibrium between the good that is
from heaven and the evil that is from hell, thus that it is a
spiritual equilibrium, which in its essence is freedom. A spiritual
equilibrium in its essence is freedom because it is an equilibrium
between good and evil, and between truth and falsity, and these are
spiritual. Therefore to be able to will either what is good or what
is evil and to think either what is true or what is false, and to
choose one in preference to the other, is the freedom which is here
treated of. This freedom is given to every man by the Lord, and is
never taken away; in fact, by virtue of its origin it is not man's
but the Lord's, since it is from the Lord. Nevertheless, it is given
to man with his life as if it were his; and this is done that man may
have the ability to be reformed and saved; for without freedom there
can be no reformation or salvation. With any rational intuition any
one can see that it is a part of man's freedom to be able to think
wrongly or rightly, sincerely or insincerely, justly or unjustly;
also that he is free to speak and act rightly, honestly, and justly;
but not to speak and act wrongly, insincerely, and unjustly, because
of the spiritual, moral, and civil laws whereby his external is held
in restraint. Evidently, then, it is man's spirit, which thinks and
wills, that is in freedom, and not his external which speaks and
acts, except in agreement with the above mentioned laws.
598. Man cannot be reformed unless he has freedom, for the reason
that he is born into evils of every kind; and these must be removed
in order that he may be saved; and they cannot be removed unless he
sees them in himself and acknowledges them, and afterwards ceases to
will them, and finally holds them in aversion. Not until then are
they removed. And this cannot be done unless man is in good as well
as in evil, since it is from good that he is able to see evils, while
from evil he cannot see good. The spiritual goods that man is capable
of thinking he learns from childhood by reading the Word and from
preaching; and he learns moral and civil good from his life in the
world. This is the first reason why man ought to be in freedom. [2]
Another reason is that nothing is appropriated to man except what is
done from an affection of his love. Other things may gain entrance,
but no farther than the thought, not reaching the will; and whatever
does not gain entrance into the will of man does not become his, for
thought derives what pertains to it from memory, while the will
derives what pertains to it from the life itself. Only what is from
the will, or what is the same, from the affection of love, can be
called free, for whatever a man wills or loves that he does freely;
consequently man's freedom and the affection of his love or of his
will are a one. It is for this reason that man has freedom, in order
that he may be affected by truth and good or may love them, and that
they may thus become as if they were his own [3] In a word, whatever
does not enter into man's freedom has no permanence, because it does
not belong to his love or will, and what does not belong to man's
love or will does not belong to his spirit; for the very being [esse]
of the spirit of man is love or will. It is said love or will, since
a man wills what he loves. This, then, is why man can be reformed
only in freedom. But more on the subject of man's freedom may be seen
in the Arcana Coelestia in the passages referred to below.
599. In order that man may be in freedom, to the end that he may be
reformed, he is conjoined in respect to his spirit both with heaven
and with hell. For with every man there are spirits from hell and
angels from heaven. It is by means of hell that man is in his own
evil, while it is by means of angels from heaven that man is in good
from the Lord; thus is he in spiritual equilibrium, that is, in
freedom. That angels from heaven and spirits from hell are joined to
every man may be seen in the chapter on the conjunction of heaven
with the human race (n. 291-302).
600. It must be understood that the conjunction of man with heaven
and with hell is not a direct conjunction with them, but a mediate
conjunction by means of spirits who are in the world of spirits.
These spirits, and none from hell itself or from heaven itself, are
with man. By means of evil spirits in the world of spirits man is
conjoined with hell, and by means of good spirits there he is
conjoined with heaven. Because of this the world of spirits is
intermediate between heaven and hell, and in that world is
equilibrium itself. (That the world of spirits is intermediate
between heaven and hell may be seen in the chapter on the world of
spirits, n. 421-431; and that the essential equilibrium between
heaven and hell is there may be seen in the preceding chapter,
n. 589-596.) From all this the source of man's freedom is evident.
601. Something more must be said about the spirits that are joined
with man. An entire society can have communication with another
society, or with an individual wherever he is; by means of a spirit
sent forth from the society; this spirit is called the subject of the
many. The same is true of man's conjunction with societies in heaven,
and with societies in hell, by means of spirits from the world of
spirits that are joined with man. (On this subject see also the
Arcana Coelestia in the passages referred to below.)
602. Finally something must be said respecting man's intuition in
regard to his life after death which is derived from the influx of
heaven into man. There were some of the simple common people who had
lived in the world in the good of faith who were brought back into a
state like that in which they had been in the world, which can be
done with any one when the Lord grants it; and it was then shown what
opinion they had held about the state of man after death. They said
that some intelligent persons had asked them in the world what they
thought about their soul after the life on earth; and they replied
that they did not know what the soul is. They were then asked what
they believed about their state after death; and they said that they
believed that they would live as spirits. Again they were asked what
belief they had respecting a spirit; and they said that he is a man.
They were asked how they knew this; and they said that they knew it
because it is so. Those intelligent men were surprised that the
simple had such a faith, which they themselves did not have. This is
a proof that in every man who is in conjunction with heaven there is
an intuition respecting his life after death. This intuition is from
no other source than an influx out of heaven, that is, through heaven
from the Lord by means of spirits from the world of spirits who are
joined with man. This intuition those have who have not extinguished
their freedom of thinking by notions previously adopted and confirmed
by various arguments respecting the soul of man, which is held to be
either pure thought, or some vital principle the seat of which is
sought for in the body; and yet the soul is nothing but the life of
man, while the spirit is the man himself; and the earthly body which
he carries about with him in the world is merely an agent whereby the
spirit, which is the man himself, is enabled to act fitly in the
natural world.
603. What has been said in this work about heaven, the world of
spirits, and hell, will be obscure to those who have no interest in
learning about spiritual truths, but will be clear to those who have
such an interest, and especially to those who have an affection for
truth for the sake of truth, that is, who love truth because it is
truth; for whatever is then loved enters with light into the mind's
thought, especially truth that is loved, because all truth is in
light.
EXTRACTS FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA RESPECTING THE FREEDOM OF MAN,
INFLUX, AND THE SPIRITS THROUGH WHOM COMMUNICATIONS ARE EFFECTED.
FREEDOM.
All freedom pertains to love or affection, since whatever
a man loves he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990,
9585, 9591).
Since freedom pertains to love it is the life of everyone
(n. 2873).
Nothing appears to be man's own except what is from
freedom (n. 2880).
There is heavenly freedom and infernal freedom (n. 2870,
2873, 2874, 9589, 9590).
[2] Heavenly freedom pertains to heavenly love, or the
love of good and truth (n. 1947, 2870, 2872).
And as the love of good and truth is from the Lord freedom
itself consists in being led by the Lord (n. 892, 905,
2872, 2886, 2890-2892, 9096, 9586, 9587, 9589-9591).
Man is led into heavenly freedom by the Lord through
regeneration (n. 2874, 2875, 2882, 2892).
Man must have freedom in order to be regenerated (n. 1937,
1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031, 8700).
In no other way can the love of good and truth be
implanted in man, and appropriated by him seemingly as his
own (n. 2877, 2879, 2880, 2888).
Nothing is conjoined to man in a state of compulsion (n.
2875, 8700).
If man could be reformed by compulsion all would be saved
(n. 2881).
In reformation compulsion is harmful (n. 4031).
All worship from freedom is worship, but worship from
compulsion is not worship (n. 1947, 2880, 7349, 10097).
Repentance must be effected in a free state, and
repentance effected in a state of compulsion is of no
avail (n. 8392).
States of compulsion, what they are (n. 8392).
[3] It is granted to man to act from the freedom of
reason, to the end that good may be provided for him, and
this is why man has the freedom to think and will even
what is evil, and to do it so far as the laws do not
forbid (n. 10777).
Man is kept by the Lord between heaven and hell, and thus
in equilibrium, that he may be in freedom for the sake of
reformation (n. 5982, 6477, 8209, 8987).
What is implanted in freedom endures, but not what is
implanted under compulsion (n. 9588).
For this reason no one is ever deprived of his freedom (n.
2876, 2881). The Lord compels no one (n. 1937, 1947).
Compelling one's self is from freedom, but not being
compelled (n. 1937, 1947).
A man ought to compel himself to resist evil (n. 1937,
1947, 7914).
Also to do good as if from himself, and yet to acknowledge
that it is from the Lord (n. 2883, 2891, 2892, 7914).
Man has a stronger freedom in the temptation combats in
which he conquers, since he then compels himself more
interiorly to resist, although it appears otherwise (n.
1937, 1947, 2881).
[4] Infernal freedom consists in being led by the loves of
self and of the world and their lusts (n. 2870, 2873).
Those who are in hell know no other freedom (n. 2871).
Heavenly freedom is as far removed from infernal freedom
as heaven is from hell (n. 2873, 2874).
Infernal freedom, which consists in being led by the loves
of self and of the world, is not freedom but servitude (n.
2884, 2890).
For servitude is in being led by hell (n. 9586,
9589-9591).
INFLUX.
[5] All things that man thinks and wills flow into him
from experience (n. 904, 2886-2888, 4151, 4319, 4320,
5846, 5848, 6189, 6191, 6194, 6197-6199, 6213, 7147,
10219).
Man's capacity to give attention to subjects, to think,
and to draw conclusions analytically, is from influx (n.
4319, 4320, 5288).
Man could not live a single moment if influx from the
spiritual world were taken away from him; from experience
(n. 2887, 5849, 5854, 6321).
The life that flows in from the Lord varies in accordance
with the state of man and in accordance with reception (n.
2069, 5986, 6472, 7343).
With those who are evil the good that flows in from the
Lord is changed into evil, and the truth into falsity;
from experience (n. 3642, 4632).
The good and truth that continually flow in from the Lord
are received just to the extent that they are not hindered
by evil and falsity (n. 2411, 3142, 3147, 5828).
[6] All good flows in from the Lord, and all evil from
hell (n. 904, 4151).
At the present day man believes that all things are in
himself and are from himself, when in fact they flow in;
and this he might know from the doctrine of the church,
which teaches that all good is from God, and all evil from
the devil (n. 4249, 6193, 6206).
But if man's belief were in accord with this doctrine he
would not appropriate evil to himself nor would he make
good to be his own (n. 6206, 6324, 6325).
How happy man's state would be if he believed that all
good flows in from the Lord and all evil from hell. (n.
6325).
Those who deny heaven or who know nothing about it do not
know that there is any influx from heaven (n. 4322, 5649,
6193, 6479).
What influx is, illustrated by comparisons (n. 6128, 6190,
9407).
[7] Everything of life flows in from the first fountain of
life, because that is the source of it; and it continually
flows in thus everything of life is from the Lord (n.
3001, 3318, 3337, 3338, 3344, 3484, 3619, 3741-3743,
4318-4320, 4417, 4524, 4882, 5847, 5986, 6325, 6468-6470,
6479, 9276, 10196).
Influx is spiritual and not physical, that is, influx is
from the spiritual world into the natural, and not from
the natural into the spiritual (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427,
5428, 5477, 6322, 9110).
Influx is through the internal man into the external, or
through the spirit into the body, and not the reverse,
because the spirit of man is in the spiritual world, and
his body in the natural (n. 1702, 1707, 1940, 1954, 5119,
5259, 5779, 6322, 9380).
The internal man is in the spiritual world and the
external in the natural world (n. 978, 1015, 3628, 4459,
4523, 4524, 6057, 6309, 9701-9709, 10156, 10472).
There is an appearance that there is an influx from the
externals of man into internals, but this is a fallacy (n.
3721).
With man there is influx into things rational, and through
these into knowledges, and not the reverse (n. 1495, 1707,
1940).
What the order of influx is (n. 775, 880, 1096, 1495,
7270).
There is direct influx from the Lord, and likewise mediate
influx through the spiritual world or heaven (n. 6063,
6307, 6472, 9682, 9683).
The Lord's influx is into the good in man, and through
good into truth, and not the reverse (n. 5482, 5649, 6027,
8685, 8701, 10153).
Good gives the capacity to receive influx from the Lord,
but truth without good does not (n. 8321).
Nothing that flows into the thought is harmful, but only
what flows into the will, since this is what is
appropriated to man (n. 6308).
[8] There is a general influx (n. 5850).
This is a continual effort to act in accordance with order
(n. 6211).
This influx is into the lives of animals (n. 5850).
Also into the subjects of the vegetable kingdom (n. 3648).
It is in accord with this general influx that thought
falls into speech with man, and will into acts and
movements (n. 5862, 5990, 6192, 6211).
SUBJECT SPIRITS.
[9] Spirits sent forth from societies of spirits to other
societies and to other spirits, are called "subjects" (n.
4403, 5856).
Communications in the other life are effected by means of
such emissary spirits (n. 4403, 5856, 5983).
A spirit sent forth to serve as a subject does not think
from himself, but thinks from those by whom he is sent
forth (n. 5985-5987).
Many particulars relating to such spirits (n. 5988, 5989).