ID WIDENER
W RR23 M


(8461.55.2

LATE
VEL 1R11
CHRI
Theophilus
Harvard College Library
Parsous.

FROM
Boquest of
Prof. E. A. Sophocles,
22 Jan. 1887.














THE DIVINE LOVE
AND
THE DIVINE WISDOM.


4036
0.8461.55.2
Bequest of
.
Prof. E. A. Sophocles,
23 Jan. 1887.
HAKVAKU COLLEGE LIBRARY
This Work is printed at the expense of, and published for
“ THE SOCIETY FOR PRINTING AND PUBLISHING THE
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, INSTITUTED IN
LONDON IN THE YEAR 1810.”
PRINTED BY WALTON AND MITCHELL, WARDOUR STREET, OXFORD STReet.


CONTENTS.
Page.
S
PART I.
That Love is the Life of Man .....
That God alone, consequently the Lord, is Love itself,
because He is Life itself; and that angels and men
are recipients of Life .....
..............
That the Divine is not in space ...................
That God is very Man..........................
That Esse and Existere in God-Man are distinctly one
That in God-Man infinite things are distinctly one ... 17
That there is one God-Man, from whom all things are 23
That the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom ..
That the Divine Love is of the Divine Wisdom, and the
Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love...............
That the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom are a
substance and a form .........................
That the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom are sub-
stance and form in themselves, consequently the
self-existing and sole-subsisting Being .......... 44
44
That the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom cannot
but be and exist in other beings or existences created
from itself ...................................
That all things in the universe were created from the
Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom of God-Man ...
That all things in the created universe are recipients of
the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom of God-Man
That all created things in a certain image represent
man.......................................
That the uses of all created things ascend by degrees
from ultimates to man, and through man to God the
Creator, from whom they had their origin .........
That the Divine fills all spaces of the universe without
space.......................................
That the Divine is in all time without time...........
That the Divine in the greatest and least things is the
same ......................................
15
PART II.
That the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom appear
in the spiritual world as a sun..................
That heat and light proceed from the sun, which exists
from the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom ....
83


CONTENTS.
Page.
No.
That that sun is not God, but that it is the proceeding
from the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom of
God-Man: in like manner the heat and light from
that sun.................................... 93
That spiritual heat and spiritual light, in proceeding
from the Lord as a sun, make one, as His Divine
Love and His Divine Wisdom make one..........
That the son of the spiritual world appears in a middle
altitude, distant from the angels as the sun of the
natural world is distant from men ...............
That the distance between the sun and the angels in
the spiritual world is an appearance according to the
reception of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom
by them. .................................. 108
That the angels are in the Lord, and the Lord in
them; and that as the angels are recipients, the
ne is heaven. ..........................
That in the spiritual world the east is where the Lord
appears as a sun, and that the other quarters are
determined thereby .......................... 119
That the quarters in the spiritual world do not ori-
ginate from the Lord as a sun, but from the angels
according to reception .......
124
That the angels constantly turn their faces to the Lord
as a sun, and thus have the south to the right, the
north to the left, and the west behind. ........... 129
That all the interiors both of the minds and of the
bodies of angels are turned to the Lord as a sun ...
That every spirit, whatever be his quality, turns in
like manner to his ruling love .................. 140
That the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, which
proceed from the Lord as a sun, and cause heat and
light in heaven, is the proceeding Divine, which is
the Holy Spirit.............................. 146
That the Lord created the universe and all things in it
by means of the sun, which is the first proceeding of
the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom ........ 151
That the sun of the natural world is pure fire, and
therefore dead, and since nature derives its origin
from that sun, that it also is dead .............. 157
That without two suns, the one living and the other
dead, there can be no creation.................. 163
That the end of creation, which is, that all things may
return to the Creator, and that there may be con-
junction, exists in its ultimates ................ 167
ales .........
55
PART III.
That in the spiritual world there are atmospheres,
waters, and earths, as in the natural world; but that
the former are spiritual, whereas the latter are
natural ............
.............. 173
57


CONTENTS.
No,
That there are degrees of love and wisdom, and thence
degrees of heat and light, and degrees of atmospheres 179
That degrees are of two kinds, degrees of altitude and
degrees of latitude.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 184
That the degrees of altitude are homogeneous, and one
derived from another in a series, like end, cause, and
effect .........
........ 189
That the first degree is all in all in the subsequent
degrees .................................... 195
That all perfections increase and ascend with degrees
and according to degrees .......................
That in successive order the first degree constitutes the
highest, and the third the lowest; but that in simul-
taneous order the first degree constitutes the inmost,
and the third the outmost ..................... 205
That the ultimate degree is the complex, continent, and
basis of the prior degrees..... ...............
That the degrees of altitude in their ultimate are in
their fulness and their power .................. 217
That there are degrees of both kinds in the greatest
and least of all created things .................. 222
That there are three infinite and uncreate degrees of
altitude in the Lord, and three finite and created
degrees in man.......
............ 230
That these three degrees of altitude are in every man
from his birth, and may be opened successively, and
that, as they are opened, a man is in the Lord, and
the Lord in him ............................ 236
That spiritual light flows into a man by three degrees,
but not spiritual heat, except so far as he avoids
evils as sins, and looks to the Lord. ............. 242
That if the superior or spiritual degree is not opened
in a man, he becomes natural and sensual ........ 248
I. What the natural man is, and what the
spiritual man ........................ 251
II. The quality of the natural man in whom the
spiritual degree is opened. .............. 252
The quality of the natural man in whom the
spiritual degree is not opened, but still not
shut...................:::::::::::
253
:::...................
IV. The quality of the natural man in whom the
spiritual degree is entirely shut .......... 254
V. The difference between the life of a natural
man and the life of a beast. ............. 255
That the natural degree of the human mind, considered
in itself, is continuous, but that by correspondence
with the two superior degrees, while it is elevated,
it appears as if it were discrete ................ 256
That the natural mind, being the tegument and conti-
nent of the higher degrees of the human mind, is a
re-agent, and if the superior degrees are not opened,
it acts against them, but if they are opened, it acts
with them ..................................
........
200
260
91


viii
CONTENTS.
Page.
No.
That the abuse of the faculties which are proper to
man, called rationality and liberty, is the origin of
evil. ...
........ 264
I. That a bad man enjoys these two faculties as
well as a good man .................... 266
II. That a bad man abuses these faculties to
confirm evils and falses, and a good man
uses them to confirm goods and truths .... 267
III. That evils and falses when confirmed remain,
and become parts of a man's love and life .. 268
IV. That the things which become parts of a
man's love, and thence of his life, are com-
municated hereditarily to his offspring .... 269
V. That all evils and consequent falses, both
hereditary and acquired, reside in the natu-
ral mind .............................
That evils and falses are entirely opposed to goods and
truths, because evils and falses are diabolical and in-
fernal, and goods and truths are divine and heavenly 271
I. That the natural mind, which is in evils and
consequent falses, is a form and image of
hell ................................ 273
II. That the natural mind, which is a form or
image of hell, descends by three degrees .. 274
III. That the three degrees of the natural mind,
which is a form and image of hell, are oppo-
site to the three degrees of the spiritual
mind, which is a form and image of heaven 275
IV. That the natural mind, which is a hell, is in
complete opposition to the spiritual mind,
which is a heaven ..................... 276
That all things of the three degrees of the natural
mind, are included in works, which are performed
by acts of the body .......................... 277
101
ib.
103
104
PART IV.
That the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, created
the universe and all things therein from Himself,
and not from nothing ........................ 282
That the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, could not
have created the universe and all things therein, if
He were not a man .......................... 285
That the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, produced
from Himself the sun of the spiritual world, and
from it created the universe and all things therein.. 290
That in the Lord there are three things which are the
Lord, the divine of love, the divine of wisdom, and
the divine of use; and that these three are presented
in appearance out of the sun of the spiritual world;
the divine of love by heat, the divine of wisdom by
light, and the divine of use by the atmosphere,
which is the continent .......
..... 296
106
109


CONTENTS.
Page.
110
112
ib.
113
114
117
No.
That the atmospheres, which are three in both the spi-
ritual and natural worlds, in their ultimates end in
substances and matters, like those on the earth.... 302
That in the substances and matters of which earths
consists, there is nothing of the Divine in itself,
but that still they are from the Divine in itself. ... 305
That all uses, which are the ends of creation, are in
forms, and that they receive their forms from such
substances and matters as those on the earth. ..... 307
I. That in earths there is an endeavor to pro-
duce uses in forms, or forms of uses...... 310
II. That there is a certain image of creation in
all forms of uses. ..................... 313
III. That there is a certain image of man in all
forms of uses ...........
......... 317
IV. That there is a certain image of infinite and
eternal in all forms of uses. ... .......... 318
That all things in the created universe, viewed from
uses, represent man in an image; and that this testi-
fies that God is a man ........................ 319
That all things created by the Lord are uses; and that
they are uses in the order, degree, and respect, in
which they have relation to man, and by man to the
Lord their Creator ........................... 327
Uses for sustaining the body .............. 331
Uses for perfecting the rational principle ..... 332
Uses for receiving a spiritual principle from the
Lord .................................
That evil uses were not created by the Lord, but that
they originated together with hell ............... 336
I. What is meant by evil uses on earth ...... 338
II. That all things that are evil uses are in hell,
and all that are good uses in heaven ...... 339
III. That there is a continual influx from the spi-
ritual into the natural world ............ 340
IV. That influx from hell operates those things
that are evil uses, in places where those
things are that correspond .............. 341
V. That the spiritual ultimate, separated from
its higher principle, operates this ........ 345
VI. That there are two forms on which operation
takes place by influx, the vegetable and the
animal form.......................... 346
VII. That both forms, as long as they exist,
receive the means of propagation .........
That the visible things in the created universe testify,
that nature has produced nothing and does produce
nothing, but that the Divine has produced and does
produce all things from Himself, and through the
spiritual world.....
............ 349
119
121
123
ib.
124
ib.
125
127
.
128
129
i b.


CONTENTS.
PART V.
No.
Page.
134
136
ib.
:::.... 363
137
138
139
ib.
ib.
That two receptacles and habitations for Himself, called
the will and understanding, have been created and
formed by the Lord in man; the will for His divine
love, and the understanding for His divine wisdom. 358
That the will and understanding, which are the recep-
tacles of love and wisdom, are in the brains, in the
whole and in every part thereof, and thence in the
body, in the whole and in every part thereof...... 362
1. That love and wisdom, and hence the will
and understanding, constitute man's very
life ................................ 300
II. That man's life in its principles is in the
brains, and in its principiates in the body.. 365
III. That as the life is in its principles, such is
it in the whole and in every part ........ 366
IV. That the life, by these principles, is from
every part in the whole, and from the whole
in every part ......................... 367
V. That such as the love is, such is the wisdom,
and hence such is the man. ............. 368
That there is a correspondence of the will with the
heart, and of the understanding with the lungs .... 371
I. That all things of the mind are referable to
the will and understanding, and all things of
the body to the heart and lungs. ......... 372
II. That there is a correspondence of the will
and understanding with the heart and lungs,
and thence a correspondence of all things of
the mind with all things of the body...... 374
III. That the will corresponds to the heart .... 378
IV. That the understanding corresponds to the
lungs ............................... 382
V. That this correspondence may be the means
of discovering many arcana concerning the
will and understanding, thus also concerning
love and wisdom ...................... 385
VI. That a man's mind is his spirit, and that
the spirit is a man, and that the body is the
external by which the mind or spirit feels
and acts in the world .................. 386
VII. That the conjunction of a man's spirit with
his body is by the correspondence of his will
and understanding with his heart and lungs,
and their disjunction by the non-correspond-
ence ................................ 390
That all things that can be known of the will and un-
derstanding, or of love and wisdom, consequently
all that can be known of man's soul, may be known
from the correspondence of the heart with the will,
and of the understanding with the lungs ......... 394
142
145
147
149
150
151
153


CONTENTS.
No.
Page.
175
XVIII. That love purified by wisdom in the under-
standing becomes spiritual and celestial.... 422
XIX. That love defiled in and by the understand-
ing, becomes natural, sensual, and corporeal 424
XX. That the faculty of understanding, called
rationality, and the faculty of acting, called
liberty, still remain.................... 425
XXI. That spiritual and celestial love is love to-
wards the neighbor, and love to the Lord;
and that natural and sensual love is love of
the world and love of self .............. 426
XXII. That it is the same with charity and faith
and their conjunction, as with the will and
understanding and their conjunction ...... 427
The nature of a man's initiament at conception ...... 432
176
179


ANGELIC WISDOM
CONCERNING
THE DIVINE LOVE.
PART I.
1. THAT LOVE IS THE LIFE OF Man. Man is aware of
the existence, but not of the nature, of love. He is aware of
its existence from the use of the word in common speech,
as when it is said, such a one loves me, the king loves his
subjects and subjects love their king, the husband loves his
wife and the mother her children, and vice versa ; also when
it is said that this or that person loves his country, his fellow-
citizens, or his neighbor ; in like manner when it is said of
things abstracted from person, that we love this or that
thing. Nevertheless, though the word love is so universally
in the mouths of men, scarcely any one knows what love
is : whilst meditating on it, since he cannot form any idea of
thought concerning it, he says either that it is nothing real, or
that it is only something that flows in through the sight, hear-
ing, feeling, and conversation, and thereby affects him ; he is
altogether ignorant that it is his very life, not only the common
life of his whole body, and the common life of all his thoughts,
but also the life of all the particulars thereof. A wise man may
perceive this from the following queries : If you remove the
affection which is of love, can you think any thing ? and can
you do any thing? In proportion as the affection which is of
love grows cold, do not thought, speech, and action grow cold
also ? and in proportion as it is heated, are not they also
heated ? But this a wise man perceives, not from a knowledge
that love is the life of man, but from experience of this fact.
2. No one knows what is the life of man, unless he knows
that it is love. If this be not known, one person may believe
that the life of man consists only in feeling and in acting,
another in thinking, when nevertheless thought is the first
effect of life, and sensation and action are the second. It is
said that thought is the first effect of life; but thought is of


THE DIVINE LOVE.
5—7
wisdoms from themselves, but from the Lord. This spiritual
heat and spiritual light not only descend by influx into angels
and affect them, but also into men, and affect them, altogether
in proportion as they become recipients; and they become reci-
pients according to their love of the Lord, and their love to-
wards the neighbor. This sun, or divine love, cannot create
any one immediately from itself by its heat and light; for
in that case he would be love in its essence, or the Lord
Himself; but it can create beings from substances and mate-
rials so formed as to be capable of receiving its heat and light;
comparatively as the sun of this world cannot, by its heat and
light, immediately produce germination in the earth; but it
can produce it from earthy materials, in which it may be pre-
sent by its heat and light, and give vegetation. That the divine
love of the Lord appears as a sun in the spiritual world, and
that spiritual heat and spiritual light proceed therefrom, whence
the angels have their love and wisdom, may be seen in the work
ON HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 116 to 140.
6. Since therefore a man is not life, but a recipient of life,
it follows that the conception of a man from his father is not a {
conception of life, but only of the first and purest form recep-
tible of life, to which, as a stamen or beginning, substances and
matters are successively added in the womb, in forms adapted
to the reception of life in their order and degree.
7. THAT THE DIVINE IS NOT IN SPACE. That the Divine
or God is not in space, although He is omnipresent, and pre-
sent with every man in the world, and every angel in heaven,
and every spirit under heaven, cannot be comprehended by any
merely natural idea, but it may by a spiritual idea. The reason
why it cannot be comprehended by a natural idea, is, because
there is space in such idea; for it is formed of such things as
are in the material world, in all and every one of which, that
are seen with the eyes, there is space. Every thing in that
world, both great and small, has relation to space; every thing
that has length, breadth, and height, has the same relation; in
a word, space is connected with every measure, figure, and form
that exists in the world of matter. Wherefore it is said, that
it cannot be comprehended by any merely natural idea, that the
Divine is not in space, when it is said that the Divine is every
where. Nevertheless, a man may comprehend this by natural
thought, if he will only admit into such thought somewhat of
spiritual light; wherefore, first of all, something shall be said
concerning spiritual ideas and the thought thence derived. A }
spiritual idea does not derive any thing from space, but it de-
rives every thing appertaining to it from state. State is predi-
cated of love, of life, of wisdom, of the affections, of the joys
thence derived ; in general of good and of truth. An idea truly
spiritual concerning those things has nothing in common with
B 2


THE DIVINE LOVE.
11, 12
idea of God whole, and in pcels, constit
11. That GOD IS VERY Man. In all the heavens there is
no other idea of God than that of a Man: the reason is, be- /
cause heaven in the whole, and in part, is in form as a man,
and the Divine, which is with the angels, constitutes heaven;
and thought proceeds according to the form of heaven; where-
fore it is impossible for the angels to think of God otherwise :
hence it is that all those in the world who are in conjunction
with heaven, think in like manner of God, when they think
inwardly in themselves, or in their spirit. Since God is a Man,
all angels and all spirits are men in a perfect form : this is a
consequence of the form of heaven, which in its greatest and
least parts is like itself. That heaven in the whole, and in
every part, is in form as a man, may be seen in the work On
HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 59 to 86; and that thoughts proceed
according to the form of heaven, n. 203, 204. That men were
created after the image and likeness of God, is known from
Genesis i. 26, 27; also that God was seen as a Man by Abraham
and others. The ancients, from the wise to the simple, thought
no otherwise of God than as of a Man, and at length, when
they began to worship a plurality of gods, as at Athens and
Rome, they worshiped them all as men. What has been said
may be illustrated by the following extract from a small treatise,
published some time ago : “ The Gentiles, particularly the
Africans, who acknowledge and worship one God the Creator
of the universe, entertain an idea of God as of a Man, and
say that no one can have any other idea of God. When they
hear that many form an idea of God as of a little cloud in the
midst of the universe, they ask where such are ; and when it
is said that there are such among Christians, they deny that it
is possible; but in reply it is shewn, that some Christians con-
ceive such an idea from this circumstance, that God in the
Word is called a spirit, and of a spirit they think no otherwise
than as of a thin cloud, not knowing that every spirit and every
angel is a man. Nevertheless examination was made, whether
their spiritual idea was similar to their natural idea, and it was
found that with those who interiorly acknowledge the Lord as
the God of heaven and earth it was not similar. I heard a cer-
tain presbyter of the Christians say, that no one can have any
idea of a Divine Humanity; and I saw him carried about to
various nations, successively to such as were more and more
interior, and from them to their heavens, and lastly to the
Christian heaven, and every where there was a communication
of their interior perception of God; and he observed that they
had no other idea of God than the idea of a Man, which is the
same with the idea of a Divine Humanity.”
12. The idea of the common people in the Christian world
concerning God is as of a Man, because God is called a Person
in the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity : but those who are


THE DIVINE LOVE.
15-19
hing. Taat well be called thi
not in a form; and what is not in a form has no quality, and
what has no quality is nothing. Whatever exists from an Esse,
makes one with the Esse, because it is from the Esse : hence
there is a uniting into one; and hence one is the other's mu-
tually and reciprocally, and one is all in all in the other as in
itself.
16. Hence it may appear that God is a Man, and that
thereby He is a God existing; not existing from Himself, but
in Himself. He who exists in Himself is God, from whom all
things are.
17. That in God-MAN INFINITE THINGS ARE DISTINCTLY
ONE. It is well known that God is infinite, for He is called
infinite; but He is called infinite because He is infinite. He is
not infinite by virtue of this alone, that He is real Esse and
Existere in Himself, but because infinite things are in Him: an
infinite without infinite things in Himself is not infinite but as
to the bare name. Infinite things in Him cannot be said to be
infinitely many, nor infinitely all, because of the natural idea
of many and all; for the idea of infinitely many is limited, and
the idea of infinitely all, although unlimited, is derived from
limited things in the universe : wherefore since man's ideas are
natural, he cannot by any sublimation and approximation come
to a perception of the infinite things in God; but an angel,
whose ideas are spiritual, may by sublimation and approxima-
tion be elevated above the degree of a man, but yet not to the
thing itself.
18. That there are infinite things in God, any one may
affirm in himself who believes that God is a Man; and that
being a Man, He has a body and every thing belonging to it;
thus that He has a face, a breast, an abdomen, loins, and feet;
for without these He would not be a man; and that having
these, He has also eyes, ears, nostrils, a mouth, and a tongue;
and also the organs that are within a man, as the heart and
lungs and their dependencies; all which, taken together, are
what make a man to be a man. In created man those things
are many, and, in their contextures, innumerable ; but in God-
Man they are infinite, there being nothing wanting ; whence
He has infinite perfection. A comparison is made between un-
created Man, who is God, and created man, because God is a
Man, and it is said by Him in the first chapter of Genesis,
that man in this world was “created after His image and ac-
cording to His likeness.” v. 26, 27.
19. That there are infinite things in God appears more mani-
festly to the angels from the heavens in which they are. The
universal heaven, consisting of myriads of myriads of angels, in
its universal form is as a man; so also are all the societies in
heaven, great and small : hence also an angel is a man; for an
angel is a heaven in its least form. That this is the case may
thing. That hele who the body art, an abdom


19-23
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
be seen in the work On HEAVEN AND Hell, n. 51 to 87. The
form of heaven in the whole, in part, and individually, is such
by virtue of the Divine which the angels receive; for in proportion
as an angel receives of the Divine, in the same proportion he is
in perfect form a man: hence it is that the angels are said to be
in God, and God in them, also that God is all in all with them.
It is impossible to describe the innumerable things in heaven;
and as the Divine constitutes heaven, and consequently those
ineffably many things are from the Divine, it is evident that
there are infinite things in Very Man, who is God.
20. The same conclusion may be formed from the created
universe, when it is regarded with a view to uses and their cor-
respondences : but before this can be understood, some things
must be premised by way of illustration.
21. Since in God-Man there are infinite things, which ap-
pear in the heavens, in angels, and in men, as in a mirror, and
since God-Man is not in space, as was shown above, n. 7, 8, 9,
10, it may in some degree be seen and comprehended, how
God may be omnipresent, omniscient, and all-provident; and
how as a Man He could create all things, and can as a Man
preserve the things created from Himself in their order to
eternity.
22. That infinite things are distinctly one in God-Man,
may also appear evident in man as in a mirror. In man there
are many and innumerable things, as was said above, but still
a man perceives them as one: he does not from sense know any
thing of his brain, his heart and lungs, his liver, spleen, and
pancreas; nor of the innumerable things in his eyes, ears,
tongue, stomach, organs of generation, and the rest; and as
he does not know these things from sense, he is to himself as a
one. The reason is, because all those things are in such a form,
that no one of them can be wanting; for he is a form recipient
of life from God-Man, as was shown above, n. 4, 5, 6. The
order and connection of all in such a form produces a sense,
and an idea, as if they were not many and innumerable things,
but a one. Hence it may be concluded, that the many and in-
numerable things, which constitute in man as it were a one, in
Very Man, who is God, are distinctly, yea, most distinctly one.
23. THAT THERE IS ONE GOD-MAN, FROM WHOM ALL
THINGS ARE. *All the principles of human reason agree, and as
it were concentre in this, that there is one God, the Creator of
the universe; wherefore a reasonable man, by virtue of the
common principle of understanding, thinks no otherwise, and can
think no otherwise. Tell any man of sound reason, that there
are two creators of the universe, and you will find in yourself
a repugnance thence arising, and possibly from the bare sound
of the words in your ear: whence it is evident that all the prin-
ciples of human reason join and concentre in this, that God


THE DIVINE LOVE.
23–25
IS ONE. There are two causes why this is so. Firstly, the
faculty of thinking rationally, viewed in itself, is not man's,
but God's in man : on this faculty depends human reason in its
common [ground], and this common [ground] causes it to see
as from itself that God is. one. Secondly, a man, by means of
that faculty, either is in the light of heaven, or derives the
common [ground] of his thought therefrom; and it is a uni-
versal of the light of heaven that God is one. The case is
otherwise if a man, by that faculty, has perverted the lower parts
of his understanding : such a one indeed possesses the faculty,
but by the intorsion of the lower parts he turns it another way,
and his reason becomes unsound.
24. Every man, although he is ignorant of it, thinks of a ,
collective body of men as of a single man; wherefore also he
immediately perceives what is meant when it is said, that a king
is the head, and his subjects the body; also when it is said,
that this or that person is such and such in the common body,
that is, in the kingdom. The case is the same with the spiritual
body as with the civil body : the spiritual body is the church;
its head is God-Man. Hence it is evident how in this perception
the church would appear as a man, if one God, the Creator
and Sustainer of the universe, were not thought of, but in-
stead of one, several. It would appear in that perception like
one body with several heads, consequently not like a man, but
like a monster. If it should be said, that those heads have one
essence, and that thereby they all together make one head, no
other idea can thence result, but the idea either of one head
with several faces, or of several heads with one face; conse-
quently the church in such perception would be presented as
deformed; when nevertheless one God is the head, and the
church is the body, which acts from the control of the head,
and not from itself, as is also the case in man. Hence also it
is, that there is only one king in a kingdom: for more than
one would distract it, whereas one may preserve in it unity.
25. The case would be similar in the church dispersed over
the whole world, which is called a communion, because like one
body it is under one head. It is well known, that the head
governs and controls the body under it; for the understanding
and the will reside in the head, and the body is acted on from
the understanding and the will, insomuch that the body is no-
thing but obedience. The body cannot act at all but from the
understanding and will in the head; nor can the man of the
church act at all but from God. It appears as if the body acted
from itself, as if the hands and feet in acting moved of them-
selves, and as if the mouth and tongue in speaking vibrated of
themselves, when nevertheless they do not in the least do so of
themselves, but from the affection of the will and the conse-
quent thought of the understanding in the head. Think then


25–29
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
if one body had several heads, and each head were at liberty to
determine itself from its own understanding and its own will,
whether the body could subsist: unanimity, such as has place
under one head, is in this case impossible. As it is in the
church, so it is in the heavens, which consist of myriads of
myriads of angels : unless all and every one of them had re-
spect to one God, they would fall away from one another, and
heaven would be dissolved : wherefore, if an angel of heaven
only thinks of a plurality of Gods, he is immediately separated;
for he is cast to the uttermost boundary of heaven, and falls
down.
26. Since the universal heaven, and all things therein, have
relation to one God, therefore the speech of the angels is such,
that by a certain agreeing harmony flowing from the agreeing
harmony of heaven, it terminates in one: an indication that it
is impossible for them to think of more than one God; for their
speech proceeds from their thought.
27. What person of sound reason does not perceive, that
the Divine is not divisible; also, that a plurality of Infinites,
Uncreates, Omnipotents, and Gods, is not possible? If an-
other, who has no reason, should say that several Infinites,
Uncreates, Omnipotents, and Gods are possible, provided they
have the same essence, and that thereby there is one infinite,
uncreate, omnipotent God—is not one and the same essence
one and the same identity ? and one and the same identity is
not communicable to many. If it should be said that one is
from the other, then he that is from the other is not God in
Himself; and nevertheless God in Himself is the God from
whom all things are. See above, n. 16.
28. THAT THE DIVINE ESSENCE ITSELF IS LOVE AND
WISDOM. If you collect together all the things that you know,
and place them under the intuition of your mind, and inquire
in some elevation of spirit what is the universal of them all,
you cannot conclude otherwise than that it is love and wisdom;
for these two principles are the essentials of all things of the
life of man: all things civil, moral, and spiritual, belonging
to him, depend upon these two, and without these two they
are nothing. Similar is the case with all things of the life
of man in his compound state, which is, as was before said, a
greater or less society, a kingdom or empire, the church, and
also the angelic heaven. Take away from them love and wisdom,
and think whether they are any thing, and you will discover
that without these, as grounds of their existence, they are
nothing.
29. That in God there is love, and at the same time wisdom,
in their very essence, cannot be denied by any one; for He
loves all from love in Himself, and leads all from wisdom in
Himself. The created universe also, viewed from a principle of
10


THE DIVINE LOVE.
29–33
hich God, does
and deed calls the that
order, is so full of wisdom grounded in love, that it may be
said that all things in the complex are wisdom itself: for inde-
finite things are in such order, successively and simultaneously,
that taken together they make one : it is on this account, and
no other, that they are capable of being held together and pre-
served perpetually.
30. In consequence of the Divine Essence Itself being
love and wisdom, man has two faculties of life, from one of
which he has his understanding, and from the other his will.
The faculty from which he has his understanding, derives all it
has from the influx of wisdom from God; and the faculty from
which he has his will, derives all it has from the influx of love
from God. Man's not being justly wise, and not exercising his
love justly, does not take away the faculties, but only closes
them up inwardly: and so long as it closes them up inwardly,
the understanding is indeed called understanding, and the will
is called will, but yet essentially they are not so: wherefore if
those faculties were taken away, all that is human would perish,
which consists in thinking and in speaking from thought, and
in willing and in acting from will. Hence it is evident, that
the Divine resides with man in those two faculties, which are
the faculty of being wise, and the faculty of loving ; that is, in
the ability. That in man there is a power of loving, although
he is not wise and does not love as he might, has been made
known to me by much experience, which you may see abun-
dantly elsewhere.
31. In consequence of the Divine Essence Itself being love ,
and wisdom, all things in the universe have relation to good
and truth; for all that proceeds from love is called good, and
all that proceeds from wisdom is called truth : but of these
more hereafter.
32. In consequence of the Divine Essence being love and
wisdom, the universe and all things in it, as well those which
are living as those which are not, subsist from heat and light;
for heat corresponds to love, and light corresponds to wisdom;
wherefore also spiritual heat is love, and spiritual light is wis-
dom : but of these also more hereafter.
33. From the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, which
constitute the very Essence which is God, proceed all the affec-
tions and thoughts in man, the affections from the Divine Love,
and the thoughts from the Divine Wisdom: and all and singular
the things appertaining to man are nothing but affection and
thought, these two principles being as it were the fountains of
all things of his life. All the delights and pleasantnesses of his
life are derived from them; the delights from the affection of
his love, and the pleasantnesses from the thought therein
grounded. Now since a man was created to be a recipient, and
is a recipient so far as he loves God, and from the love of God
11


THE DIVINE LOVE.
38—40
Psalms : “ Justice and judgment are the support of Thy throne,"
Psalm xcvii. 2. “The Lord shall bring forth thy justice as the
light, and thy judgment as the noon-day," Psalm xxxvii. 6.
In Hosea : “ I will betroth thee unto Me for ever in justice and
judgment," ii. 19. In Jeremiah : “I will raise unto David a
just branch, and he shall reign a king, and shall execute judg-
ment and justice in the earth,” xxiii. 5. In Isaiah : “He shall
sit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish
it in judgment and in justice,” ix. 6. In the same : “Jehovah
shall be exalted, for He hath filled the earth with judgment and
justice,” xxxiii. 5. In the Psalms: “When I shall have learned
the judgments of Thy justice :” “Seven times in the day do I
praise Thee, because of the judgments of Thy justice," Psalm
cxix. 7, 164. The same is understood by life and light in John:
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men,” i. 4.
Life in this passage means the divine love of the Lord, and
light, His divine wisdom. The same is also meant by life and
spirit in John: “Jesus said, the words which I speak unto you,
they are spirit, and they are life,” vi. 63.
39. In man, love and wisdom appear as two separate things,
but still in themselves they are distinctly one; because such as
his love is, such is his wisdom, and such as his wisdom is, such
is his love. The wisdom which does not make one with its love,
appears as if it were wisdom, and yet is not so; and the love
which does not make one with its wisdom, appears as if it was
the love of wisdom, although it is not; for the one derives its
essence and its life from the other reciprocally. The reason
why wisdom and love in a man appear as two separate things, is,
because his faculty of understanding is capable of being elevated
into the light of heaven, but not the faculty of loving, except
so far as he does what he understands; wherefore that principle
of apparent wisdom which does not make one with the love
of wisdom, relapses into a love with which it does make one,
which may be the love not of wisdom, but of insanity: for a
man may know from wisdom that he ought to do this or that,
and still not do it, because he does not love it; but so far as he
does from love that which is of wisdom, so far he is an image
of God.
40. THAT THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM
ARE A SUBSTANCE AND A FORM. The common idea of men con-
cerning love and wisdom, is that of something volatile and
floating in subtile air or æther; or of an exhalation from some-
thing of the kind; scarcely any one thinks that they are really
and actually a substance and a form. Those who see that
they are a substance and a form, nevertheless perceive love
and wisdom out of their subject as issuing from it; and what
they perceive out of the subject as issuing from it, although it
be perceived as something volatile and floating, they also call a
13


40, 41
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
substance and a form ; not knowing that love and wisdom are the
subject itself, and that what is perceived without it, as some-
üroo tau, sething volatile and floating, is only an appearance of the state
of the subject within itself. The causes why this has not here-
tofore been seen are several ; one is, that appearances are the
first things from which the human mind forms its understand-
ing, and that it cannot shake them off but by an investigation
of the cause, and if the cause lies very deep, it cannot inves-
tigate it without keeping the understanding for some time in
spiritual light, in which it cannot keep it long by reason of the
natural light which continually draws it down. Nevertheless,
the truth is, that love and wisdom are a real and actual sub-
stance and form, and constitute the subject itself.
41. But as this is contrary to appearance, it may seem not
to merit belief unless it be demonstrated, and it cannot be de-
monstrated except by such things as a man can perceive by his
bodily senses; wherefore by them it shall be demonstrated. A
man has five senses, which are called feeling, taste, smell, hear-
ing, and sight. The subject of feeling is the skin with which
a man is encompassed, the substance and form of the skin
causing it to feel what is applied ; the sense of feeling is not in
the things which are applied, but in the substance and form of
the skin, which is the subject; the sense is only an affection
thereof from things applied. It is the same with the taste;
this sense is only an affection of the substance and form of the
tongue; the tongue is the subject. It is the same with the
smell ; that odors affect the nose, and are in the nose, and that
there is an affection thereof from odoriferous substances touch-
ing it, is well known. It is the same with the hearing; it
appears as if the hearing were in the place where the sound
begins; but the hearing is in the ear, and is an affection of its
substance and form; that the hearing is at a distance from the
ear is an appearance. It is the same with the sight; it appears
when a man sees objects at a distance as if the sight were there,
but nevertheless it is in the eye which is the subject, and is in
like manner an affection thereof; the distance is only from the
judgment concluding concerning space from intermediate ob-
jects, or from the diminution and consequent obscuration of
the object, whose image is produced within the eye, according
to the angle of incidence. Hence it appears, that the sight
does not go from the eye to the object, but that the image of
the object enters the eye, and affects its substance and form :
for it is the same with the sight as it is with the hearing; the
hearing does not go out of the ear to catch the sound, but the
sound enters the ear and affects it. Hence it may appear, that
the affection of a substance and form, which constitutes the
sense, is not a thing separate from the subject, but only causes
a change in it, the subject remaining the subject then as before,
14


45–48
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
subsisting and sole-subsisting Being is a substance and a form, it
follows that it is the self-subsisting and sole-subsisting substance
and form ; and as this very substance and form is the divine
love and the divine wisdom, it follows, that it is the self-sub-
sisting and sole-subsisting love, and the self-subsisting and
sole-subsisting wisdom, consequently that it is the self-subsist-
ing and sole-subsisting essence, also the self-subsisting and
sole-subsisting life; for love and wisdom is life.
46. Hence it may appear how sensually, that is, how much
from the bodily senses and their darkness, those who say that
nature is from herself, think in spiritual things. They think
from the eye, and cannot think from the understanding.
Thought from the eye shuts the understanding, but thought
from the understanding opens the eye. They cannot think any
thing of esse and existere in itself, and that it is eternal, un-
create, and infinite; neither can they think any thing of life,
but as of some volatile thing, passing off into nothing; nor in
like manner of love and wisdom; being altogether incapable of
discerning that all things of nature derive thence their exist-
ence. Neither can it be seen that all things of nature exist
thence, unless nature be considered from uses in their series
and order, and not from some of her forms, which are objects
of the eye alone; for uses proceed only from life, and their
series and order from wisdom and love; but forms are the conti-
nents of uses : therefore if the forms only are regarded, nothing
of life can be seen in nature, much less any thing of love and
wisdom, consequently nothing of God.
47. THAT THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM
CANNOT BUT BE AND EXIST IN OTHER BEINGS OR EXISTENCES
CREATED FROM ITSELF. It is an essential of love, not to love
itself, but to love others, and to be joined to them by love;
it is also an essential of love to be beloved by others, for thereby
conjunction is effected. The essence of all love consists in
conjunction; yea, the life of it, which is called enjoyment, plea-
santness, delight, sweetness, beatitude, happiness, and felicity.
Love consists in our willing what is our own to be another's,
and feeling his delight as delight in ourselves; this is to love :
but for a man to feel his own delight in another, and not the
other's delight in himself, is not to love; for in the latter case
he loves himself, but in the former he loves his neighbor.
These two kinds of love are diametrically opposite to each other:
they both indeed effect conjunction, and it does not appear,
that for a man to love his own, that is, himself, in another,
disjoins; when nevertheless it so disjoins; that in proportion as
any one has thus loved another, he afterwards hates him ; for
that conjunction is successively dissolved of itself, and then such
love becomes hatred in a similar degree.
48. Who that is capable of looking into the essence of love,
16


THE DIVINE LOVE.
18—52
in whom he recipect to Go
cannot see that this is the case? For what is it for a man to love
himself alone, and not any one out of himself, by whom he may
be beloved again? This is rather dissolution than conjunction :
the conjunction of love arises from reciprocation, and recipro-
cation does not exist in self alone: if it is thought to exist it
is from an imaginary reciprocation in others. Hence it is evi-
dent, that the divine love cannot but be and exist in other
beings or existences, whom it loves, and by whom it is beloved;
for when such a quality exists in all love, it must needs exist in
the greatest degree, that is, infinitely, in love itself.
49. With respect to God, it is not possible that He can
love and be reciprocally beloved by other beings or existences
in whom there is any thing of infinite, or any thing of the
essence and life of love in itself, that is, any thing of divine ;
for if there were any thing of infinite, or of the essence and
life of love in itself, that is, any thing of divine, in them, then
He would not be beloved by others, but He would love Himself;
for infinite, or the Divine, is one. If this existed in others, it
would be itself, and God would be self-love, whereof not the
least is possible in Him ; for this is totally opposite to the
divine essence : wherefore this reciprocation of love must have
place between God and other beings or existences in whom
there is nothing of the self-existent Divine. That it has place
in the beings created from the Divine will be seen below. But
that it may exist, there must be infinite wisdom, which must
make one with infinite love ; that is, there must exist the divine
love of divine wisdom, and the divine wisdom of divine love,
concerning which see above, n. 34 to 39.
50. On the perception and knowledge of this arcanum de-
pend the perception and knowledge of all things relating to
existence or creation, also of all things relating to subsistence
or preservation, by God; that is, of all the works of God in the
created universe, which are to be treated of in what follows.
51. But do not, I beseech you, confound your ideas with
time and space; for in proportion as you have any thing of time
and space in your ideas when you read what follows, so far you
will not understand it, for the Divine is not in time and space;
which will be clearly seen in the continuation of this work,
especially in treating of eternity, infinity, and omnipresence.
52. THAT ALL THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE WERE CREATED
FROM THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM OF
GOD-MAN. The Universe in its greatest and smallest parts,
as well as in its first and ultimate principles, is so full of divine
love and divine wisdom, that it may be said to be divine love and
divine wisdom in an image. That this is the case is manifest
from the correspondence of all things in the universe with all
things in man. All and singular the things which exist in the
created universe, have such a correspondence with all and sin,
17


52-55
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
gular the things of man, that it may be said that man also is a
kind of universe : there is a correspondence of his affections
and of his thoughts thence derived with all things of the animal
kingdom; a correspondence of his will and of his understanding
thence derived with all things of the vegetable kingdom ; and
a correspondence of his ultimate life with all things of the
mineral kingdom. That there is such a correspondence does
not appear to any one in the natural world, but to every one,
who attends to it, in the spiritual world. In that world there
are all things which exist in the natural world in its three king-
doms, and they are correspondences of affections and thoughts;
of the affections of the will and the thoughts of the understand-
ing, as also of the ultimates of the life, of those who inhabit
there; and both the latter and the former appear about them
with an aspect like that of the created universe, with this dif-
ference, that they are in a smaller form. Hereby it is manifest
to the angels, that the created universe is an image representa-
tive of God-Man, and that it is His love and wisdom which in
the universe are manifested in an image: not that the created
universe is God-Man, but that it is from Him ; for nothing
whatever in the created universe is a substance and form in
itself, nor life in itself, nor love and wisdom in itself; yea, neither
is a man a man in himself; but all is from God, who is Man,
wisdom, and love, and form and substance, in Himself: that
which is in itself is uncreate and infinite; but what is from
thence, as having nothing about it which is in itself, is created
and finite, and this represents the image of Him from whom it
is and exists.
53. Of created and finite things may be predicated esse
and existere, also substance and form, and life, yea, wisdom
and love; but all these are created and finite : not that created
and finite things possess any thing divine, but because they are
in the Divine and the Divine in them : for all created things,
in themselves, are inanimate and dead; but they are animated
and vivified by this, that the Divine is in them and they in the
Divine.
54. The Divine is not in one subject different from what it
is in another ; but one created subject is different from another.
No two things are the same, and therefore each thing is a dif-
ferent continent, whereby the Divine in its image appears
various. His presence in opposites will be spoken of in what
follows.
55. THAT ALL THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE ARE
RECIPIENTS OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM
of God-Man. It is known that all and every thing in the
universe was created from God; hence the universe with all
and every thing in it, in the Word, is called the work of the
hands of Jehovah. It is commonly said, that the world in its
18


THE DIVINE LOVE.
55–58
of Gobollows, wherenowning, by virtuet of God, and not by
complex was created out of nothing, of which nothing an idea is
entertained as of absolute nothing; but out of absolute nothing,
nothing is made, or can be made This is a manifest truth.
Wherefore the universe, which is an image of God, and there-
fore full of God, could not be created but in God from God :
for God is Esse itself, and that which is must exist from an
Esse : to create what does exist from nothing, which does not
exist, is an absolute contradiction. Nevertheless, what is created
in God from God, is not continuous from Himself; for God is
Esse in itself, and in created things there is nothing of esse in
itself; if in created things there were any thing of esse in
itself, that would be continuous from God, and what is con-
tinuous from God is God. The idea of the angels is, that what
is created in God from God, is like that in a man, which he
had derived from his life, but from which the life is extracted,
which is such, that it is conformable to his life, but neverthe-
less is not his life. This the angels confirm by many things
which exist in their heaven, where they say that they are in
God and God in them, and that nevertheless they have nothing
of God which is God in their esse. More will be adduced in
what follows, whereby they prove this; here it is only necessary
that it should be known.
56. Every created thing, by virtue of this its origin, is of
such a nature, that it may be a recipient of God, not by way of
continuity but of contiguity; by the latter way and not by the
former the conjunctive principle exists, there being a principle
suited for conjunction in consequence of its being created in
God from God; and forasmuch as it was so created, there is an
analogous principle, and by means of that conjunction it is as
an image of God in a mirror.
57. Hence it is that the angels are not angels from them-
selves, but from the above conjunction with God-Man; and this
conjunction is according to their reception of divine good and
divine truth, which are God, and appear to proceed from Him,
although they are in Him; and their reception is according to
their application of the laws of order, which are divine truths,
to themselves, from their free power of thinking and willing
according to the reason which they possess from the Lord as
their own : hereby there is a reception of divine good and divine
truth as from themselves, and hereby there is a reciprocation of
love ; for, as was said above, love does not exist unless it be re-
ciprocal. Similar is the case with men on earth. From what
has been said it may now first be seen, that all things in the
created universe are recipients of the divine love and divine
wisdom of God-Man.
58. That the other things in the universe, which are not like
angels and men, are also recipients of the divine love and divine
wisdom of God-Man, as those things which are inferior to man
19
c 2


58–60
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
in the animal kingdom, and the things inferior to these in the
vegetable kingdom, and the things inferior to these in the
mineral kingdom, cannot as yet be explained to the understand-
ing; for, first of all, more must be said concerning the degrees
of life, and the degrees of the recipients of life. Conjunction
with these is according to their uses; for all good uses derive
their origin from no other source, than by similar conjunction
with God, but dissimilar according to degrees; which conjunc-
tion successively in descent becomes such, that there is nothing
of free-will because nothing of reason, and hence there is no
appearance of life in them, but still they are recipients. Since
they are recipients, they are also re-agents, for they are con-
tinents in consequence of being re-agents. Conjunction with
good uses will be spoken of after the origin of evil is shown.
59. Hence it may appear, that the Divine is in all and every
thing of the created universe, and consequently that the created
universe is the work of the hands of Jehovah, as it is called in
the Word, that is, the work of divine love and divine wisdom,
for these are understood by the hands of Jehovah : and although
the Divine is in all and every thing of the created universe, still
there is nothing of what is Divine in itself in their esse ; for
the created universe is not God but from God; and being from
God, His image is in it, as the image of a man in a mirror, in
which indeed the man appears, but still there is nothing of the
man in it.
60. I heard several in conversation about me in the spiritual
world say, that they were willing to acknowledge indeed, that
the Divine is in all and every thing of the universe, because
therein they see the wonderful works of God, and the more
interiorly those works are examined, so much the more won-
derful they appear; nevertheless, when they heard that the
Divine actually is in all and every thing of the created universe,
they were indignant; a proof that they assert this indeed, but
do not believe it. Wherefore it was urged that they might see
this merely from the wonderful faculty which every seed has of
producing its particular vegetable in such order, even to the
production of new seeds, and that every seed suggests an
idea of what is infinite and eternal; for there is in them an
effort to multiply themselves, and fructify infinitely and eter-
nally. The same might be seen also from every animal,
even the most diminutive, as having organs of the senses, a
brain, heart, lungs, and so forth, with arteries, veins, fibres,
muscles, and consequent acts, besides the surprising instincts
peculiar to each, concerning which whole volumes have been
written. All these wonderful things are from God, but the
forms with which they are clothed are from the material sub-
stances of the earth : hence come vegetables, and in their order,
men; wherefore it is said of man, that "he was created from
20


THE DIVINE LOVE.
60–63
the ground, and that he is dust of the earth, and that the soul
of lives was breathed into him," Genesis ï. 7. Whence it is
evident, that the Divine is not man's, but is adjoined to him.
61. THAT ALL CREATED THINGS IN A CERTAIN IMAGE RE-
PRESENT MAN. This may appear from all and every thing of
the animal kingdom; and from all and every thing of the ve-
getable kingdom ; and from all and every thing of the mineral
kingdom. The relation to man in all and every thing of the
animal kingdom, is evident from the following considerations :
that animals of all kinds have members by which they move,
organs by which they feel, and viscera by which they actuate
them, which are common to them with men; they have also
appetites and affections similar to the natural appetites and
affections in man; and they have connate knowledges corre-
sponding to their affections, in some of which there appears as
it were somewhat spiritual, which is more or less evident in
the beasts of the earth, the birds of heaven, bees, silk-worms,
ants, &c. Hence it is that merely natural men liken the
living things of that kingdom to themselves, except as to
speech. The relation to man from all and every thing of the
vegetable kingdom, is evident from the following considerations :
that they exist from seed, and from thence proceed successively
in their several stages; that they have something similar to
marriage, followed by prolification ; that their vegetative soul is
use, whereof they are forms, besides many other things which
are relations to man, which have also been described by some.
The relation to man from all and every thing of the mineral king-
dom, appears only in the endeavor to produce forms which repre-
sent themselves, which are, as has been said, all and every thing
of the vegetable kingdom, and hereby of performing uses; for
as soon as a seed falls into the bosom of the earth, the earth
cherishes it, and gives it supplies from all sides, that it may
germinate, and show itself in a form representative of man ;
that such an endeavor exists also in its dry parts, is evident
from corals in the bottom of the sea, and from flowers in mines,
produced there from minerals and from metals. The endeavor
to vegetate, and thereby to become useful, is the ultimate prin-
ciple derived from the Divine in created things.
62. As there is an endeavor of the minerals of the earth to
vegetate, so there is an endeavor of vegetables to vivify them-
selves; hence exist various kinds of insects corresponding to
their odoriferous exhalations. That this is not an effect of the
heat of the sun of this world alone, but of life, by that heat,
according to the recipients, will be seen in what follows.
63. That there is a relation to man in all things of the
created universe, may indeed be known from what has been
adduced, but can only be seen obscurely; whereas in the spi-
ritual world it is seen clearly. In that world also there are all
21


63–66
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
mineral Power actindeavor to
things of the three kingdoms, in the midst of which is the
angel, who sees them about him, and knows that they are re-
presentations of himself; yea, when the inmost principle of his
understanding is opened, he knows himself, and sees his image
in them as in a glass.
64. From these and many other similar things, which there
is not room to adduce here, it may be known for certain, that
God is a Man, and that the created universe is an image of
Him; for all things have a common relation to Him, as they
have a particular relation to man.
65. THAT THE USES OF ALL CREATED THINGS ASCEND BY
DEGREES FROM ULTIMATES TO MAN, AND THROUGH MAN TO GOD
THE CREATOR, FROM WHOM THEY HAD THEIR ORIGIN. Ulti-
mates, as has been said above, are all and every thing of the
mineral kingdom, which are material substances of various
kinds, as stony, saline, oily, mineral, and metallic substances,
covered over with earth, consisting of vegetable and animal mat-
ters reduced to the finest powder : in these resides the end, and
also the beginning, of all the uses which are from life; the end
of all uses is the endeavor to produce them, and the beginning
is the power acting from that endeavor. These are of the
mineral kingdom. Mediates (media) are all and every thing of
the vegetable kingdom, which are grasses and herbs of all kinds,
plants and shrubs of all kinds, and trees of all kinds. The uses
of these are for all and every thing of the animal kingdom, as
well imperfect as perfect; they nourish them, delight them,
and vivify them ; they nourish their bodies with their materials,
delight their senses with their taste, smell, and beauty, and
· vivify their affections. An endeavor to do these things is
in them from the principle of life. Primaries (prima) are all
and every thing of the animal kingdom ; the lowest in this
kingdom are called worms and insects, the middle, birds and
beasts, and the supreme, men; in every kingdom there are
things lowest, middle, and supreme; the lowest for the use of
the middle, and the middle for the use of the supreme. Thus
the uses of all created things ascend in order from ultimates to
man, who is the first in order.
66. There are three degrees of ascent in the natural world,
and there are three degrees of ascent in the spiritual world.
All animals are recipients of life; the more perfect animals, of
the life of the three degrees of the natural world, the less per-
fect, of the life of two degrees of that world, and the imperfect,
of one degree of the same. But man alone is a recipient of the
life of the three degrees, not only of the natural world, but
also of the three degrees of the spiritual world. Hence it is,
that man may be elevated above nature, which is not the case
with any other animal : he has the power of thinking analyti-
cally and rationally of civil and moral things which are within
22


THE DIVINE LOVE.
66—68
the sphere of nature, and of spiritual and celestial things which
are above it; yea, he may be elevated into wisdom, insomuch
that he may see God. But the six degrees, by which the uses
of all created things in order ascend to God the Creator, will
be treated of in the proper place. From this summary it may
be seen, that there is an ascent of all created things to the First
Being, Who alone is life, and that the uses of all things are the
very recipients of life, and consequently the forms of uses.
67. It shall also be shewn in a few words, how man ascends,
or is elevated, from the ultimate degree to the first. He is
born into the ultimate degree of the natural world; he is then
elevated by sciences to the second degree ; and as by means of
sciences he perfects his understanding, he is elevated to the
third degree, and becomes rational. The three degrees of ascent
in the spiritual world are in him above the three natural degrees,
nor do they appear before he puts off his earthly body: when
he puts it off, the first spiritual degree is opened to him, after-
wards the second, and lastly the third, but only in those who
become angels of the third heaven ; these are they who see
God. Those in whom the second and ultimate degree is capable
of being opened, become angels of the second and of the ulti-
mate heaven. Every spiritual degree in man is opened accord-
ing to the reception of divine love and divine wisdom from the
Lord. Those who receive some portion thereof, come into the
first or ultimate spiritual degree: those who receive more, into
the second or middle spiritual degree; and those who receive
much, into the third or supreme: but those who receive none of
these, remain in the natural degrees, and derive nothing more
from the spiritual degrees, than the power of thinking and
thence of speaking, and the power of willing and thence of
acting, but not intelligently.
68. Concerning the elevation of the interiors of a man's
mind, this also is to be observed : there is from God in every į
created thing a re-action : life alone has action, and re-action is
excited by the action of life : this re-action appears as if it
belonged to the created being, because it exists when the being
is acted upon; thus in man it appears as if it were his own,
because he does not perceive any otherwise than that life is his
own, when nevertheless man is only a recipient of life. From
this cause it is, that man, from his own hereditary evil, re-acts
against God; but so far as he believes that all his life is from
God, and every good of life from the action of God, and every
evil of life from the re-action of man, re-action becomes corre-
spondent with action, and man acts with God as from himself.
The equilibrium of all things is from action and joint re-action,
and every thing must be in equilibrium. These things are said,
that no man may believe that he ascends to God from himself,
but from the Lord.
23


69, 70
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
69. THAT THE DIVINE FILLS ALL SPACES OF THE UNIVERSE
WITHOUT SPACE. There are two things proper to nature, space
and time : from these in the natural world man forms the ideas
of his thought and thence his understanding : if he remains in
these ideas, and does not elevate his mind above them, he never
can perceive any thing spiritual and divine; for he involves it in
ideas which are derived from space and time, and in proportion
as he does this, the light of his understanding is merely natural.
Thinking from this merely natural light in reasoning of things
spiritual and divine, is like thinking from the darkness of night
of those things which only appear in the light of day; hence
comes naturalism. But he that knows how to elevate his mind
above the ideas of thought which partake of space and time,
passes from darkness to light, and becomes wise in spiritual and
divine things, and at length sees those things which are in them
and from them; and then, by virtue of that light, he shakes
off the darkness of natural light, and removes its fallacies from
the middle to the sides. Every man who has understanding,
may think above those things proper to nature, and does actually
so think, and then he affirms and sees, that the Divine, as being
omnipresent, is not in space; and also he may affirm and see
those things which are adduced above : but if he denies the
divine omnipresence, and ascribes all things to nature, then he
is not willing to be elevated, although he is able.
70. All who die, and become angels, put off those two things
proper to nature, which, as has been said, are space and time;
for they enter into spiritual light, in which the objects of thought
are truths, and the objects of sight are similar to those in the
natural world, but corresponding to their thoughts. The objects
of their thoughts, which, as has been said, are truths, derive
nothing at all from space and time: the objects of their sight
indeed appear as in space and in time, but still they do not
think from them. The reason is, because spaces and times there
are not stated, as in the natural world, but changeable according
to the states of their life: hence instead of spaces and times, in
the ideas of their thought, there are states of life : instead of
spaces, such things as relate to states of love, and instead of
times, such things as relate to states of wisdom. Hence it is,
that spiritual thought, and thence also spiritual speech, differ
so much from natural thought and speech derived from it, that
they have nothing in common, except as to the interiors of
things which are all spiritual ; concerning which difference more
will be said elsewhere. Now since the thoughts of the angels
derive nothing from space and time, but from states of life, it
is evident that they do not comprehend what is meant when it
is said, that the Divine fills space, for they do not know what
space is, but that they comprehend clearly when it is said, with-
out any idea of space, that the Divine fills all things.
24


72—75
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
nipresent, and hears and knows all things. More may be seen
on this subject above, n. 7 to 10.
73. THAT THE DIVINE IS IN ALL TIME WITHOUT TIME. As
the Divine is in all space without space, so it is in all time with-
out time; for nothing which is proper to nature can be predi-
cated of the Divine, and space and time are proper to nature.
Space and time in nature are measurable. Time is measured
by days, weeks, months, years, and ages ; and days, by hours ;
weeks and months, by days; years, by the four seasons; and
ages, by years. Nature derives this mensuration from the
apparent gyration and revolution of the sun of this world.
But it is not so in the spiritual world ; there the progressions of
life in like manner appear in time, for its inhabitants live with
one another, as men in the world live with one another, which
is not possible without an appearance of time : but time there
is not distinguished into seasons as in the world, for their sun
is constantly in its east, never removed : it is the divine love of
the Lord which appears to them as a sun ; therefore they have
no days, weeks, months, years, and ages, but states of life
instead, by which a distinction is made, which cannot be called
a distinction into times, but into states. Hence the angels do
not know what time is, and when it is named, they perceive
state instead of it; and when state determines time, time is
only an appearance: for the delight of state causes time to ap-
pear short, and the unpleasantness of state causes it to appear
long; from which it is evident that time there is nothing but
the quality of state. Hence hours, days, weeks, months, and
years, in the Word, signify states, and their progressions in
their series and their complex; and when times are predicated
of the church, morning signifies its first state, noon, its fullness,
evening, its decrease, and night, its end; and the four seasons
of the year,--spring, summer, autumn, and winter,-signify the
same.
74. From these considerations it appears, that time makes
one with thought grounded in affection ; for hence the quality of
a man's state is derived. That distances in progressions through
spaces in the spiritual world make one with the progressions of
time, might be illustrated by many things; for ways in that
world are actually shortened according to the desires of the
thought from affection, and vice versa are lengthened. Hence
it is that we speak also of spaces of time. But in such things,
when thought does not join itself with the proper affection of
man, time does not appear, as in dreams.
75. Now since times, which are proper to nature in her
world, are pure states in the spiritual world, which there appear
progressive, because angels and spirits are finite, it may be seen
that in God they are not progressive, because He is infinite,
and infinite things in Him are one, according to what was de-
26


THE DIVINE LOVE.
75—79
monstrated above, n. 17 to 22; from which it follows, that the
Divine is in all time without time.
76. He that does not know, and cannot from some percep-
tion think of God without time, cannot at all perceive eternity
any otherwise than as eternity of time, and then he cannot but
be in a kind of delirium in thinking of God from eternity ; for
he thinks from a beginning, and a beginning is only of time.
His delirium in this case is, that God existed from Himself,
whence he falls immediately into the origin of nature from her-
self; from which idea he can only be extricated by the spiritual
or angelic idea of eternal, which is without time, and when it
is without time, eternal and the Divine are the same : the Di-
vine is the Divine in itself, and not from itself. The angels say,
that they can indeed perceive God from eternity, but by no
means nature from eternity, and much less nature from herself,
and not at all nature as nature in herself ; for what is in itself,
is the esse from which all things are, and esse in itself is life
itself, which is the divine love of divine wisdom and the divine
wisdom of divine love. This to the angels is eternal, therefore
abstracted from time, as uncreate is from created, or infinite
from finite, between which there is no comparison.
77. THAT THE DIVINE IN THE GREATEST AND LEAST THINGS
IS THE SAME. This follows from the two preceding articles,
that the Divine is in all space without space, and in all time
without time; for spaces are greater and greatest, and lesser
and least; and as spaces and times make one, as was said above,
it is the same with times. The Divine in them is the same,
because the Divine is not variable and mutable, like every thing
of space and time, or every thing of nature, but it is invariable
and immutable; hence it is every where and always the same.
78. It appears as if the Divine were not the same in one
man that it is in another, as that it is different in the wise man
from what it is in the simple, and different in the old man from
what it is in the infant; but this is a fallacy from appearance :
man is different, but the Divine in him is not different. Man
is a recipient, and recipients or receptacles are various : a wise
man is more adequately, and therefore more fully, a recipient
of the divine love and divine wisdom, than a simple man; and
an old man who is wise, more so than an infant and a boy; but
nevertheless the Divine is the same in the one that it is in the
other. In like manner it is a fallacy from appearance, that the
Divine is various in the angels of heaven and men of the earth,
because the angels of heaven are in wisdom ineffable, and men
not so; but the apparent variety is in the subjects according to
the quality of their reception of the Divine, and not in the
Lord.
79. That the Divine is the same in things the greatest and
most minute, may be illustrated by heaven and the angels there.
27


THE DIVINE LOVE.
83-8
PART II.
83. THAT THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM
APPEAR IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD AS A SUN. There are two
worlds, the spiritual and the natural; and the spiritual world
derives nothing from the natural world, nor the natural world
from the spiritual world : they are altogether distinct, and com-
municate only by correspondences; the nature of which has
elsewhere been abundantly shewn. To illustrate this, let us
take an example: Heat in the natural world corresponds to the
good of charity in the spiritual world, and light in the natural
world corresponds to the truth of faith in the spiritual world.
Who does not see that heat and the good of charity, and light
and the truth of faith, are totally distinct ? At first sight they
appear as distinct,—as two totally different things : so they ap-
pear if we inquire in thought, What has the good of charity in
common with heat, and what has the truth of faith in common
with light ? nevertheless spiritual heat is that good, and spi-
ritual light is that truth. But these principles, though so
distinct in themselves, make one by correspondence ; for while
a man reads of heat and light in the Word, the spirits and
angels who are with him, instead of heat perceive charity, and
instead of light, faith. This example is adduced to shew, that
the spiritual and natural worlds are so distinct, that they have
nothing in common with each other; and yet are so created,
that they communicate, and are conjoined by correspondences.
84. Since the two worlds are so distinct, it may clearly be
seen, that the spiritual world is under a different sun from that
of the natural world; for in the spiritual world there are heat
and light, as well as in the natural world ; but the heat and light
there are spiritual, and spiritual heat is the good of charity, and
spiritual light is the truth of faith. Now as heat and light must
originate from a sun, it is evident that there is a different sun
in the spiritual world from that in the natural world, and that
the sun of the spiritual world has such an essence, that spiritual
heat and light may exist from it, and that the sun of the natural
world has such an essence, that natural heat may exist from it.
Every thing spiritual, which has relation to good and truth, can
proceed from no other origin than the divine love and divine
wisdom; for every good is of love, and every truth is of wisdom.
He that is wise may see that they are from no other source.
85. The existence of another sun than that of the natural
world has hitherto been unknown; because the spiritual prin-
ciple of man had sunk so far into his natural, that he did not
know what the spiritual is, nor consequently that there is a spi-
ritual world, in which spirits and angels dwell, different and
distinct from the natural world. As the spiritual world has
29


THE DIVINE LOVE.
96-100
and those who think spiritually, see truths, and this in the
middle of the night equally as in the day; wherefore, also,
light is predicated of the understanding, and it is said to see;
for of what one person speaks, another sometimes says, that he
sees it to be so, which amounts to saying, he understands it.
The understanding, being spiritual, cannot see thus from natural
light, for natural light does not abide with it, but departs with
the sun; hence the understanding has evidently a different light
from the eye, and a light from a different origin.
· 97. But beware of thinking that the sun of the spiritual
world is God Himself: God is a Man. The first proceeding
from His love and wisdom is a firy spiritual principle, which
appears in the sight of the angels as a sun; hence, when the
Lord manifests Himself to the angels in person, He manifests
Himself as a Man, sometimes in the sun, and sometimes out
of it.
98. In consequence of this correspondence, the Lord in the
Word is called not only a sun, but also fire and light; and the
sun means Him as to His divine. love and His divine wisdom
together; fire, as to His divine love, and light, as to His divine
wisdom.
99. THAT SPIRITUAL HEAT AND SPIRITUAL LIGHT, IN PRO-
CEEDING FROM THE LORD AS A SUN, MAKE ONE, As His DIVINE
LOVE AND HIS DIVINE WISDOM MAKE ONE. How the divine
love and the divine wisdom in the Lord make one, was shewn
in the first part : in like manner heat and light make one, be-
cause they proceed, and the things which proceed make one by
correspondence; for heat corresponds to love, and light to wis-
dom. Hence it follows, that as the divine love is the divine
esse, and the divine wisdom, the divine existere, as shewn above,
n. 14 to 16, so spiritual heat is the Divine proceeding from the
divine esse, and spiritual light is the Divine proceeding from
the divine existere. Wherefore as by that union the divine love
is of the divine wisdom, and the divine wisdom is of the divine
love, as shewn above, n. 34 to 39, so spiritual heat is of spi-
ritual light, and spiritual light is of spiritual heat : and as there
is such a union, it follows, that heat and light, in proceeding
from the Lord as a sun, are one. But that they are not received
as one by angels and men, will be seen in what follows.
100. The heat and light which proceed from the Lord as a
sun, by way of eminence are called the spiritual, and they are
called the spiritual in the singular number, because they are
one; wherefore in the following pages when the spiritual is
spoken of, both are understood together. By virtue of this
spiritual that whole world is called spiritual: all things in that
world derive their origin, and their name, through that spiritual.
That heat and that light are called the spiritual, because God
is called a spirit, and God as a spirit is that proceeding. God
33


101-103
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
byeding fromat heat Pirit
is called Jehovah from His essence; but by that proceeding He
vivifies and enlightens the angels of heaven and the men of the
church : wherefore, also, vivification and illustration are said to
be effected by the spirit of Jehovah.
101. That heat and light, in other words, the spiritual pro-
ceeding from the Lord as a sun, make one, may be illustrated
by the heat and light which proceed from the sun of the natural
world, for these two also make one in issuing from that sun.
Their not making one on earth, is not owing to the sun, but to
the earth : for the latter revolves every day round her axis, and
makes a yearly revolution according to the ecliptic; hence it
appears as if heat and light do not make one, for at midsummer
there is more heat than light, and in mid-winter there is more
light than heat. The case is similar in the spiritual world; only
that the earth there has no circumrotation and revolution, but
the angels turn more or less to the Lord, and those who turn to
Him most receive more heat and less light, and those who turn
to Him less receive more light and less heat. Hence the hea-
vens, which consist of angels, are distinguished into two king-
doms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual; the celestial
angels receive more of heat, and the spiritual angels more of
light. The appearance also of the lands on which they dwell,
is according to the reception of heat and light by the inha-
bitants. There is a plenary correspondence, if instead of the
motion of the earth you substitute the change of state of the
angels.
102. That all spiritual things also, which derive their origin
through the heat and light of their sun, regarded in themselves,
in like manner make one, but that the same things, regarded
as proceeding from the affections of the angels, do not make
one, will be seen in what follows. When the heat and light
make one in the heavens, it is, as it were, spring with the
angels ; but when they do not make one, it is, as it were, either
summer or winter; not like winter in the frigid zones, but like
winter in warmer climates : for the equal reception of love and
wisdom constitutes the angelic principle, and therefore an angel
is an angel of heaven according to the union of love and wisdom
in him. It is the same with the man of the church, if in him
love and wisdom, or charity and faith, make one.
103. THAT THE SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD APPEARS IN
A MIDDLE ALTITUDE, DISTANT FROM THE ANGELS AS THE SUN
OF THE NATURAL WORLD IS DISTANT FROM MEN. Most people
carry out of the world an idea that God is overhead on high,
and that the Lord is in heaven among the angels. The reason
of this idea of God, is, that in the Word God is called the
Most High, and He is said to dwell on high ; wherefore they
lift up their eyes and hands when they supplicate and adore ;
not knowing that the Most High signifies the inmost. The
34


106-109
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
from the angels as the sun of the natural world appears distant
from men, the universal angelic heaven, and hell under it, and
our terraqueous globe under them, would not be under the view,
protection, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, and pro-
vidence of the Lord; comparatively as the sun of our world,
unless it were at the distance it appears from the earth, could
not be present and powerful in all countries by heat and light,
and therefore could not give aid as a substitute to the sun of
the spiritual world.
107. It is highly necessary to be known, that there are two
suns, the one spiritual and the other natural; the spiritual sun
for those who are in the spiritual world, and the natural sun for
those who are in the natural world. Unless this be known,
nothing can be accurately understood concerning creation and
concerning man, which subjects are to be treated of; the effects
indeed may be seen, but unless the causes of the effects are
seen at the same time, the effects must appear only in a kind
of night.
108. THAT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE
ANGELS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD IS AN APPEARANCE ACCORD-
ING TO THE RECEPTION OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE
WISDOM BY THEM. All the fallacies which prevail with the
evil and with the simple, arise from the confirmation of appear-
ances. So long as appearances remain appearances, they are
truths in appearance, according to which any one may think
and speak; but when they are taken for real truths, which is
the case when they are confirmed, then apparent truths become
falsities and fallacies. For example: it is an appearance, that
the sun every day revolves round the earth, and proceeds every
year according to the course of the ecliptic. This, so long as it
is not confirmed, is an apparent truth, according to which any
one may think and speak; for he may say, that the sun rises
and sets, causing morning, noon, evening, and night; also that
the sun is at particular times in this or that degree of the
ecliptic, or in such a degree of altitude, thereby causing spring,
summer, autumn, and winter ; but in confirming this appear-
ance as the real truth, the confirmer thinks and speaks a falsity
grounded in a fallacy. It is the same with innumerable other
appearances, not only in natural, civil, and moral, but also in
spiritual things.
109. It is the same with the distance of the sun of the spi-
ritual world, which sun is the proximately proceeding emanation
of the divine love and divine wisdom of the Lord. The truth
is, that there is no distance; but that distance is an appearance
according to the reception of the divine love and divine wisdom
in their respective degrees by the angels. That distances in
the spiritual world are appearances, is evident from what was
said above; as in n. 7 to 9, that the Divine is not in Space; and
36


THE DIVINE LOVE.
109–112
in 69 to 72, that the Divine fills all Spaces without Space; and
if there are no spaces, there are no distances ; or, what is the
same, if spaces are appearances, distances also are appearances,
for distances are predicated of space.
110. The sun of the spiritual world appears at a distance
from the angels, because the divine love and the divine wisdom
are received by them in a degree of heat and light adapted to
their state : for an angel, being a created and finite being, can-
not receive the Lord in the first degree of heat and light, such
as is in the sun, for he would be entirely consumed ; wherefore
the Lord is received by them in a degree of heat and light cor-
responding to their love and wisdom. This may be illustrated
by the fact, that an angel of the ultimate heaven cannot ascend
to the angels of the third heaven; if he ascends and enters
their heaven he falls as it were into a swoon, and his life is in a
kind of conflict with death; for he has love and wisdom in a
less degree, and the heat of love and the light of wisdom in the
same. What then would be the case, if an angel were to ascend
towards the sun itself, and enter its fire ? The difference of
the reception of the Lord by the angels, causes the heavens also
to appear distinct from each other: the supreme heaven, which
is called the third, appears above the second, and the second
above the first : not that there is any distance between the hea-
vens, but that they appear to be distant from each other; for
the Lord is equally present with those of the ultimate heaven
as with those of the third heaven. The causes of the appear-
ance of distance is in the subjects, which are the angels, not in
the Lord.
lll. It is difficult to comprehend that this is the case by a
natural idea, because in such idea there is space, but it may be
comprehended by a spiritual idea, because in such idea there is
no space; the angels are in the latter idea. It may, however,
be comprehended by a natural idea, that love and wisdom, or
what is the same, that the Lord, who is divine love and divine
wisdom, cannot be progressive through spaces, but is present
with every one according to his reception. That the Lord
is present with all, He teaches in Matthew, chap. xxviii. 20,
and that He makes His abode with those who love Him, John
xiv. 21.
112. This may seem a matter of superior wisdom, because
the heavens and the angels are adduced to prove it; but never-
theless the case is the same with men. They, as to the interiors.
of their minds, receive heat and enlightenment from the same
sun: its heat warms them, and its light enlightens them, in pro-
portion as they receive love and wisdom from the Lord. The
difference between angels and men is, that angels are under
that sun only, but men are not only under that sun, but also
under the sun of this world; for the bodies of men cannot
37


112-115
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
the not anthe angenisdom mly is inta
possibly exist and subsist unless they are under both suns; not
so the bodies of the angels, which are spiritual.
113. THAT THE ANGELS ARE IN THE LORD, AND THE LORD
IN THEM; AND THAT AS THE ANGELS ARE RECIPIENTS, THE
LORD ALONE IS HEAVEN. Heaven is called the dwelling-place
of God, and the throne of God, and hence it is believed that
God is there as a king in his kingdom; but God, that is to say,
the Lord, is in the sun above the heavens, and by His presence
in heat and light is in the heavens, (see the two last articles ;)
and although the Lord is in that manner in heaven, still He is
there as in Himself: for, (as was shown above, n. 108 to 112,)
the distance between the sun and heaven is not distance, but
an appearance of distance; and being only an appearance, it
follows that the Lord Himself is in heaven, for He is in the
love and wisdom of the angels of heaven; and as He is in the
love and wisdom of all the angels, and the angels constitute
heaven, He is in the universal heaven.
114. The Lord not only is in heaven, but also is heaven,
because love and wisdom make an angel, and these two are the
Lord's in the angels : hence the Lord is heaven. For the angels
are not angels from their own proprium, this being exactly like
the proprium of a man, which is evil : and it is so, because all
angels have been men, and that proprium is inherent in them
from their birth; it is only removed ; and in proportion as it is
removed, they receive love and wisdom, that is, the Lord, in
them. Any one may see, if he only elevates His understanding
a little, that the Lord cannot dwell with the angels but in what
is His own, that is, in His proprium, which is love and wisdom,
and not at all in the proprium of the angels, which is evil :
hence it is, that so far as evil is removed, so far the Lord is in
them, and so far they are angels. The essential angelic prin-
ciple of heaven is the divine love and divine wisdom : this divine
principle is called angelic when it resides in the angels : hence
it is evident again, that angels are angels from the Lord, and
not from themselves; consequently also heaven.
115. But how the Lord is in an angel, and an angel in the
Lord, cannot be comprehended, unless the nature of their con-
junction be known. There is a conjunction of the Lord with the
angel, and of the angel with the Lord; wherefore there is a
reciprocal conjunction. This, on the part of the angel, is as
follows : the angel does not perceive otherwise than that he is
in love and wisdom from himself, just as it appears to man, and
hence it seems to him, as if his love and wisdom were of himself,
or his own : if he did not perceive the matter thus, there would
be no conjunction, therefore the Lord would not be in him, nor
he in the Lord : nor is it possible for the Lord to be in any
particular angel or man, unless he, in whom the Lord with
His love and wisdom is, perceives and feels it as his own : by
38


117–120
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
posterity : but this is a mistake; for man is not life but a reci-
pient of life, as may be seen above, n. 4 to 6, 54 to 60; and
he who is a recipient of life, cannot love and be wise from any
thing of his own : hence Adam, when he was desirous to be
wise and to love from what was his own, fell from wisdom and
love, and was cast out of Paradise.
118. The same which is here said of an angel may be said
of heaven, which consists of angels, because the Divine in the
greatest and least things is the same, as was shown above, n. 77
to 82. The same which has been said of an angel and of heaven,
may be said of a man and the church, for an angel of heaven
and a man of the church act as one by conjunction; and also
a man of the church, as to the interiors of his mind, is an
angel : by a man of the church we mean a man in whom the
church is.
119. THAT IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD THE EAST IS WHERE
THE LORD APPEARS AS A SUN, AND THAT THE OTHER QUARTERS
ARE DETERMINED THEREBY. The sun of the spiritual world
and its essence, and the heat and light of it, and the presence
of the Lord from thence, have been treated of; we shall now
proceed to treat of the quarters of that world. That sun and
that world are treated of, because God is treated of, and love
and wisdom; and to treat of them otherwise than from their
original source, would be to treat from effects and not from
causes ; and yet effects teach nothing but effects, and when
they are considered alone they do not explain a single cause ;
but causes explain effects; and to know effects from causes is
to be wise ; but to inquire into causes from effects is not to be
wise, because then fallacies present themselves, which the ex-
aminer calls causes, and this is confounding wisdom ; for causes
are prior and effects posterior; and from posterior things prior
ones cannot be seen, but posterior ones may be seen from prior
ones : this is order. For this reason the spiritual world is here
first treated of; for all causes exist there: we shall afterwards
treat of the natural world, where all things which appear are
effects.
120. We shall begin with the quarters of the spiritual world.
There are quarters in that world as in the natural world; but
the quarters of the spiritual world, like that world itself, are
spiritual ; whereas the quarters of the natural world, like that
world itself, are natural; wherefore they differ so much that
they have nothing in common. There are four quarters in both
worlds, the east, west, south, and north: these four quarters
in the natural world are constant, being determined by the sun
in its meridian ; opposite thereto is the north, on one side is
the east, and on the other side is the west, which quarters are
determined by the meridian of each particular place; for the
sun's station in the meridian is always the same every where,
to be wise ; main effects ; and do not expl.
40


THE DIVINE LOVE.
120-124
and therefore fixed. It is otherwise in the spiritual world :
there the quarters are determined by the sun of that world,
which constantly appears in its place, and where it appears is
the east; wherefore the determination of the quarters in that
world is not, as in the natural world, from the south, but from
the east; opposite is the west, on one side is the south, and on
the other the north. That these quarters do not originate from
the sun there, but from the inhabitants of that world, who are
angels and spirits, will be seen in the following pages.
121. As these quarters, by virtue of their origin from the
Lord as a sun, are spiritual, therefore the habitations of angels
and spirits, which are all according to these quarters, are also
spiritual; and they are spiritual because their inhabitants dwell
according to their reception of love and wisdom from the Lord.
Those who are in a superior degree of love dwell in the east,
those who are in an inferior degree of love in the west, those who
are in a superior degree of wisdom in the south, and those who
are in an inferior degree of wisdom in the north. Hence it is
that, in the Word, the east, in a supreme sense, means the
Lord, and, in a respective sense, love towards Him; the west,
love towards Him decreasing; the south, wisdom in light; and
the north, wisdom in shade; or similar things determined in
regard to the state of those who are treated of.
122. Since all the quarters in the spiritual world are deter-
mined from the east, and the east, in a supreme sense, means
the Lord, and also the divine love, it is evident, that it is the
Lord, and love to Him, from which all things exist; and that
in proportion as any one is not in that love, he is removed from
the Lord, and dwells either in the west, or in the south, or
in the north, at a distance there according to his reception of
love.
123. Since the Lord as a sun is constantly in the east,
therefore the ancients, with whom all the particulars of worship
represented spiritual things, turned their faces to the east in
their adorations; and that they might do the same in all wor-
ship, they also turned their temples towards the same quarter :
hence churches at this day are built in the same manner.
124. THAT THE QUARTERS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD DO
NOT ORIGINATE FROM THE LORD AS A SUN, BUT FROM THE AN-
GELS ACCORDING TO RECEPTION. It has been shewn that the
angels dwell distinctly among themselves, some in the eastern
quarter, some in the western, some in the southern, and some
in the northern; and that in the east they are in a superior de-
gree of love; in the west, in an inferior degree of love ; in the
south, in the light of wisdom; and in the north, in the shade
of wisdom. This diversity of their habitations appears to ori-
ginate from the Lord as a sun, when nevertheless it is from the
angels. The Lord is not in a greater degree of love and wisdom,
41


124-127
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
nor as a sun is He in a greater degree of heat and light, with
one than with another, for He is every where the same; but
He is not received by one in the same degree as by another;
and this causes them to appear to themselves at a greater or less
distance from each other, and to dwell variously according to
the different quarters. Hence, the quarters in the spiritual
world are no other than various receptions of love and wisdom,
and consequently of heat and light, from the Lord as a sun.
That this is the case, is evident from what was shewn above,
n. 108 to 112, that distances in the spiritual world are ap-
pearances.
125. Since the quarters are various receptions of love and
wisdom by the angels, it may be expedient to speak of the va-
riety from which that appearance exists. The Lord is in an
angel, and an angel in the Lord, as was shewn in the preceding
article; but as it appears as if the Lord as a sun was without
the angel, it also appears as if the Lord saw him from the sun,
and as if he saw the Lord in the sun, almost in the same man-
ner as an image appears in a glass. Speaking therefore accord-
ing to that appearance, the Lord sees and looks at every one
face to face, but the angels, in their turn, do not in that manner
see the Lord. Those who are in love to the Lord from the Lord,
see Him directly, being therefore in the east and west; those
who are more in wisdom, see the Lord obliquely to the right,
and those who are less in wisdom, obliquely to the left, the for-
mer being therefore in the south, and the latter in the north.
The latter are in an oblique aspect, because love and wisdom
proceed as one from the Lord, but are not received as one by
the angels, as was said before ; and the wisdom which abounds
over and above love, appears indeed to be wisdom, but still is
' not, because it has no life in it from love. These considerations
shew the origin of that diversity of reception, agreeably to which
the dwellings of the angels appear according to the quarters in
the spiritual world.
126. That the various reception of love and wisdom consti-
tutes the quarter in the spiritual world, may appear from the
circumstance, that an angel changes his quarter according to
the increase and decrease of his love; whence it is evident that
the quarter does not originate from the Lord as the sun, but
from the angel according to reception. It is the same with man
as to his spirit, by which he is in a certain quarter of the spiri-
tual world, in whatever quarter of the natural world he may be;
for, as was said above, the quarters of the spiritual world have
nothing in common with the quarters of the natural world ;
in the latter man exists as to his body, but in the former as to
his spirit.
127. In order that love and wisdom may make one in angel
and man, there are pairs in all parts of his body; the eyes, ears,
42


THE DIVINE LOVE.
127—130
and nostrils are pairs; the hands, loins, and feet are pairs; the
brain is divided into two hemispheres, the heart into two cham-
bers, the lungs into two lobes, and the other members in the
same manner : thus angels and men have a right and a left
side; and all the parts on their right side have relation to love
from which wisdom is derived, and all the parts on their left
side to wisdom from love; or, what is the same, all the parts
on the right have relation to good from which truth is derived,
and all the parts on the left to truth from good. Angels and
men have these pairs in order that love and wisdom, or good
and truth, may act as one, and as one may look to the Lord :
but of this more in what follows.
128. Hence we may see the fallacy and consequent falsity
of those persons, who imagine that the Lord bestows heaven
arbitrarily, or that He arbitrarily grants more wisdom and love
to one than to another; when the Lord is equally desirous for
one to become wise and to be saved as another; for He provides
means for all; and every one is wise and is saved in proportion
as he receives and lives according to those means: for the Lord
is the same with one as with another; but the recipients, which
are angels and men, are dissimilar in consequence of a dissimilar
reception and life. That this is the case may appear from what
has now been said concerning the quarters, and the habitations
of the angels according to those quarters, namely, that that
diversity is not from the Lord, but from the recipients.
129. THAT THE ANGELS CONSTANTLY TURN THEIR FACES TO
THE LORD AS A SUN, AND THUS HAVE THE SOUTH TO THE RIGHT,
THE NORTH TO THE LEFT, AND THE WEST BEHIND. All that is
here said of the angels and of their turning to the Lord as a
sun, is also to be understood of man as to his spirit, for man
as to his mind is a spirit, and, if he be in love and wisdom, he
is an angel ; wherefore also after death, when he puts off his
externals, which he had derived from the natural world, he
becomes a spirit or an angel: and since the angels constantly
turn their faces eastward to the sun, consequently to the Lord,
it is also said of the man who is in love and wisdom from the
Lord, that he sees God, that he looks to God, and that he has
God before his eyes ; by which is meant that he leads the life of
an angel. Such things are said in the world, as well because
they actually exist in heaven, as because they actually exist in
man's spirit. In prayer, who does not look before him up to
God, to whatever quarter his face is turned ?
130. The angels constantly turn their faces to the Lord as
a sun, because they are in the Lord and the Lord in them,
and the Lord interiorly leads their affections and thoughts, and
constantly turns them to Himself; consequently they cannot
look any otherwise than to the east, where the Lord appears as
a sun : hence it is evident that the angels do not turn them-
43


130—133
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
selves to the Lord, but that the Lord turns them to Himself.
For when the angels think interiorly of the Lord, they do not
think of Him otherwise than in themselves. Interior thought
itself does not cause distance ; b'ut exterior thought, which acts
as one with the sight of the eyes, does make distance; the
reason is, because exterior thought is in space, but not interior
thought, and when it is not in space, as in the spiritual world,
still it is in the appearance of space. These things however can
be but little understood by any one who thinks of God from
space; for God is every where, and yet not in space; wherefore
He is as well within as without an angel, and hence an angel
can see God, that is, the Lord, both within and without him-
self: within, when he thinks from love and wisdom; without,
when he thinks of love and wisdom. But of these things we
shall speak more particularly when we come to treat of THE
Lord's OMNIPRESENCE, OMNISCIENCE, AND OMNIPOTENCE.
Beware of falling into the execrable heresy, that God has
infused Himself into men, and is in them, and no longer
in Himself. God is every where, as well within man as
without him, for He is in all space without space, as was shewn
above, n. 7 to 10, and 69 to 72. Were He in man, He
would not only be divisible, but also included in space, and
man might then even think himself to be God. This heresy
is so abominable, that in the spiritual world it stinks like a
dead carcase.
131. The turning of the angels to the Lord is such, that at
every turn of their bodies they look to the Lord as a sun before
them: an angel can turn himself round and round, and thereby
see various things which are about him, but still the Lord con-
stantly appears before his face as a sun. This may seem won-
derful, but nevertheless it is the truth. It has also been given
me to see the Lord thus as a sun : I see Him before my face,
and this with continuance for many years, and to whatever
quarter of the world I have turned myself.
132. Since the Lord as a sun, and therefore the east, is
before the faces of all the angels of heaven, therefore at their
right hand is the south, at their left, the north, and behind
them the west; and this is the case in every turning of their
bodies : for, as was said before, all the quarters of the spiritual
world are determined from the east; wherefore those who have
the east before their eyes, are in the quarters themselves, yea,
they are the very determinations of them ; for, as was shown
above, n. 124 to 128, the quarters are not from the Lord as the
sun, but from the angels according to reception.
133. Now as heaven consists of angels, and angels are such,
therefore the universal heaven turns to the Lord, and by so
turning is governed by the Lord as one man, which it also is in
the sight of the Lord : that heaven is as one man in the sight
44


THE DIVINE LOVE,
133—136
en here is stick their homes probleme all thin ich exist
of the Lord, may be seen in the work On HEAVEN AND HELL,
n. 59 to 87 : thence also are the quarters of heaven.
134. The quarters being thus as it were inscribed on every
angel, and on the universal heaven, therefore an angel, unlike
a man in the world, knows his house and his habitation, wherever
he goes. A man does not know his house and place of abode
from the quarter in himself, because he thinks from space, thus
from the quarters of the natural world, which have nothing in
common with the quarters of the spiritual world. Nevertheless
there is such a knowledge in birds and beasts, for they know
instinctively their homes and places of abode, as is well known
from much experience; a proof this that such knowledge pre-
vails in the spiritual world ; for all things which exist in the
natural world are effects, and all things which exist in the spi-
ritual world are the causes of those effects, and every thing
natural derives its cause from something spiritual.
135. THAT ALL THE INTERIORS BOTH OF THE MINDS AND OF
THE BODIES OF ANGELS ARE TURNED TO THE LORD AS A SUN.
The angels have an understanding and a will, a face and a body;
they have also the interiors of the understanding and will, as
well as of the face and body : the interiors of the understand-
ing and of the will are the things which belong to their interior
affection and thought; the interiors of the face are the brains ;
and the interiors of the body are the viscera, whereof the prin-
cipal are the heart and lungs. In a word, the angels have all
and every thing that men have on earth: by virtue thereof
angels are men : an external form without those internals does
not make them men; but an external form with them, yea,
from them, makes them men : otherwise they would only be
images of men, in which there is no life, because they have not
within them the form of life.
136. It is well known, that the will and the understanding
govern the body at pleasure; for the mouth speaks what the un-
derstanding thinks, and the body does what the will wills :
hence it is evident, that the body is a form corresponding to the
understanding and will; and as form is also predicated of the
understanding and the will, it is evident that the form of the
body corresponds to the form of the understanding and of the
will. To describe the nature of both these forms, does not
properly fall within the present plan. There are innumerable
things in both; and innumerable things on both sides act as
one, because they mutually correspond to each other: hence the
mind, or the will and understanding, governs the body at plea-
sure, thus altogether as itself. From these considerations it
follows, that the interiors of the mind act as one with the inte-
riors of the body, and the exteriors of the mind with the exte-
riors of the body. The interiors of the mind as well as the
45


THE DIVINE LOVE.
140-142
who is prepare is in conjunctits in the world of of the
Every man after death first enters the world of spirits, which is
in the midst between heaven and hell, and there goes through
his times or states, and according to his life is prepared either
for heaven or for hell. So long as he abides in that world he is
called a spirit : he who is taken up from that world into heaven
is called an angel; but he who is cast down into hell is called a
satan or a devil. So long as the same are in the world of spirits,
he who is preparing for heaven is called an angelic spirit, and he
who is preparing for hell an infernal spirit; the angelic spirit in
the meantime is in conjunction with heaven, and the infernal
spirit with hell. All the spirits in the world of spirits are ad- {
joined to men, because men, as to the interiors of their minds,
are in like manner between heaven and hell, and through those
spirits communicate with heaven or with hell, according to their
life. It is to be observed, that the WORLD OF SPIRITS is one
thing, and the SPIRITUAL WORLD another; the world of spirits
is what is now spoken of; but the spiritual world, in the com-
plex, is both that world and heaven and hell.
141. It may be expedient also to say somewhat concerning
the different kinds of love, since the turning of angels and
spirits from their loves to their loves, is the subject under con-
sideration. The universal heaven is distinguished into societies
according to all the differences of loves ; in like manner hell;
and irr like manner the world of spirits. Heaven is distin-
guished into societies according to the differences of celestial
loves, whereas hell is distinguished into societies according to
the differences of infernal loves, and the world of spirits accord-
ing to the differences of both celestial and infernal loves. There
are two loves which are the heads of the rest, or to which all
other loves are referable. The love which is the head, or to
which all the celestial loves refer themselves, is love to the
Lord; and the love which is the head, or to which all the in-
fernal loves refer themselves, is the love of rule, grounded in
the love of self: these two loves are diametrically opposite to
each other.
142. Since love towards the Lord, and the love of rule
grounded in the love of self, are altogether opposite to each
other; and since all who are in love towards the Lord turn
themselves to the Lord as a sun, (as was shewn in the preceding
article,) it may appear that all who are in the love of rule
grounded in the love of self turn themselves from the Lord.
They thus turn their backs on the Lord, because those who are
in love towards the Lord, love nothing more than to be led by
the Lord, and desire that the Lord only may rule; but those
who are in the love of rule grounded in the love of self, love
nothing more than to be led by themselves, and desire that
themselves only may rule. The love of rule grounded in the
love of self is here specified, because there is a love of rule
47


142–146
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
grounded in a love of performing uses; which love, as it makes
one with love towards the neighbor, is spiritual love : this latter
love however cannot be called the love of rule, but the love of
being useful.
143. Every spirit, of whatever quality he be, turns to his
ruling love, because love is the life of every one, as was shewn
in part the first, n. 1, 2, 3, and the life turns its receptacles,
which are called members, organs, and viscera, consequently
the whole man, to that society which is in a similar love with
itself, that is, where its love is.
144. Since the love of rule, grounded in the love of self is
entirely opposite to love towards the Lord, therefore spirits who
are in that love of rule turn their faces from the Lord, and
look with their eyes to the west of the spiritual world ; and
since their bodies are thus turned, the east is behind them, the
north to the right, and the south to the left. The east is behind
them because they hate the Lord, the north is to their right,
because they love fallacies and the falsities derived from them,
and the south is to their left because they spurn the light of
wisdom. They can turn round and round, but all things which
they see about them, appear similar to their love. All such
spirits are sensual-natural, and think that they alone live, and
look on others as images : they think themselves wiser than all
others, although they are in a state of insanity.
145. In the spiritual world appear ways, like the ways or
roads in the natural world; some lead to heaven and some to
hell ; but the ways which lead to hell do not appear to those
who go to heaven, nor the ways which lead to heaven to those
who go to hell. Such ways are innumerable, there being some
which lead to every society of heaven, and to every society of
hell. Every spirit enters the way which leads to the society of
his love, and does not see the ways which lead to any other :
hence every spirit proceeds in the same direction as that in which
he turns himself to his ruling love.
146. THAT THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM,
WHICH PROCEED FROM THE LORD AS A SUN, AND CAUSE HEAT
AND LIGHT IN HEAVEN, IS THE PROCEEDING DIVINE, WHICH
IS THE HOLY SPIRIT. In the DocTRINE OF THE NEW JERU-
SALEM CONCERNING THE LORD it has been shewn, that God is
one in person and in essence, that there is a trinity in Him, and
that that God is the Lord ; also, that His trinity is called Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, and that the Divine from whom all things
are [Divinum a quo] is called the Father, the Divine Human
the Son, and the Divine proceeding the Holy Spirit. Although
the latter is called the Divine proceeding, yet no one knows
why it is called proceeding: this is unknown, because it is also
unknown that the Lord appears before the angels as a sun, and
that heat, which in its essence is divine love, and light, which
48


149–152
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
149. That the Holy Spirit is identical with the Lord, and
that it is the essential truth which enlightens man, is evident
from the following passages of the Word : “ Jesus said, when
the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth : he
shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak.” “He shall glorify Me; for he shall receive
of mine, and shall shew it unto you,” John xvi. 13, 14, 15.
“That he shall be with the disciples and in them,” John xvii.
26. “ Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit and they are life," John vi. 63. From these passages
it is evident, that the truth which proceeds from the Lord, is
called the Holy Spirit; which enlightens because it is in the
light.
150. The enlightenment which is attributed to the Holy
Spirit, is indeed from the Lord in man, but still, it is effected
through the medium of spirits and angels. The nature of this
mediation cannot yet be described ; only that angels and spirits
are by no means able to enlighten man from themselves, because
they, like man, are enlightened by the Lord : and as this is the
case, hence all enlightenment comes from the Lord alone. It
is communicated through the medium of angels or spirits,
because a man, who is in enlightenment, is then placed in the
midst of such angels and spirits as receive more.enlightenment
than others from the Lord alone.
151. THAT THE LORD CREATED THE UNIVERSE AND ALL
THINGS IN IT BY MEANS OF THE SUN, WHICH IS THE FIRST
PROCEEDING OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM.
By the Lord is meant God from eternity, or Jehovah, who is
called the Father and Creator, because He is one with Him, as
was shown in the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERN-
ING THE LORD: wherefore in the following pages, which also
treat of creation, He is called the Lord.
152. That all things in the universe were created from the
divine love and the divine wisdom, was fully shown in Part I.,
particularly in n. 52, 53; we shall here shew that it was by
means of the sun, which is the first proceeding of the divine
love and the divine wisdom. No one who can see effects by
virtue of causes, and afterwards effects derived from causes in
their order and series, can deny that the sun is the first [begin-
ning] of creation, for all things in the natural world subsist
from it; and since they subsist from it, they also existed from
it; the one implies and testifies the other; for they are all under
its view, because it has determined and disposed them for ex-
istence (posuit ut sint); and to keep them under its view is to
determine and dispose them for existence continually (continue
ponere) ; wherefore it is also said, that subsistence is perpetual
existence. Were any thing to be entirely withdrawn from the
sun's influx through the atmospheres, it would be immediately
e intere); wherefofispose them to keep th
50


THE DIVINE LOVE.
152–155
dissolved; for the atmospheres, which are purer and purer, and
actuated in power by the sun, contain all things in connection.
Now since the subsistence of the universe, and of all things in
it, depends on the sun, it is evident that the sun is the first of
creation, and that all other things proceed from it. The expres-
sion, from the sun, means from the Lord, through the sun;
for the sun also was created from the Lord.
153. There are two suns by which all things were created
from the Lord, the sun of the spiritual world, and the sun of
the natural world : all things were created from the Lord by the
sun of the spiritual world, but not by the sun of the natural
world; for the latter is far below the former, and in a mean dis-
tance: the spiritual world is above it, and the natural world is
beneath it; and the sun of the natural world was created to act
as a medium or substitute: its mediate operation will be spoken
of in what follows.
154. The universe and all things therein were created from
the Lord by the sun of the spiritual world, because that sun is
the proximate proceeding of the divine love and the divine wis-
dom, and from the divine love and the divine wisdom all things
are, as was shown above, n. 52 to 82. There are three things
in every created thing, as well in the greatest as in the least,
namely, end, cause, and effect. There is no created thing in
which these three do not exist. In the greatest, or in the
universe, these three exist in the following order: The end of
all things is in the sun, which is the proximate proceeding of the
divine love and the divine wisdom ; the causes of all things are
in the spiritual world ; and the effects of all things are in the
natural world. How these three exist in the first and last prin-
ciples of things, shall be shown in what follows. Now since
there is no created thing in which these three do not exist, it
follows that the universe, and every thing in it, was created
from the Lord by the sun, which has in it the end of all things.
155. Creation cannot be explained so as to be apprehended,
unless space and time be removed from the thought; but if
these are removed it may be apprehended. Remove them
if you can, or as much as you can, and keep the mind in an
idea abstracted from space and time, and you will perceive
that the greatest of space and the least of space do not at all
differ; and then you cannot but have an idea of the creation of
the universe, similar to that of the creation of the particulars
in the universe ; and that there is a diversity in created things,
because there are infinite things in God-Man, and thence inde-
finite things in the sun, which is the proximate proceeding from
Him, and these indefinite things are imaged in the created
universe. Hence no one thing can any where be the same as
another : hence, too, the variety of all things which is presented
before the eyes, together with space, in the natural world, and
51
E 2


155—157
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
in the appearance of space in the spiritual world : and this va-
riety is of things in general and also of things in particular.
These are the things which were demonstrated in Part I., where
it was shewn, that in God-Man infinite things are distinctly
one, n. 17 to 22. That all things in the universe were created
from the divine love and the divine wisdom, n. 52, 54. That
all things in the created universe are recipients of the divine
love and the divine wisdom of God-Man, n. 55 to 60. That
the Divine is not in space, n. 7 to 10. That the Divine fills all
spaces without space, n. 69 to 72. That the Divine in the
greatest and least things is the same, n. 77 to 82.
156. The creation of the universe, and of all things in it,
cannot be said to have been effected from space to space, nor
from time to time, progressively and successively, but from
eternity and infinity; not eternity of time, for this has no ex-
istence, but eternity not of time, for this is identical with the
Divine; nor from infinity of space, for this also has no exist-
ence, but from infinity not of space, which also is identical with
the Divine. I know that these things transcend the ideas of
thoughts which are in natural light; but they do not transcend
the ideas of thoughts which are in spiritual light, for in these
last there is nothing of space and time: nor do they altogether
transcend the ideas which are in natural light; for when it is
said, that there is no such thing as infinite space, every one
assents to it from reason: it is the same with eternity, this
being the infinite of time. The expression, “to eternity," is
comprehended from time, but “from eternity," is not compre-
hended unless time be removed.
157. THAT THE SUN OF THE NATURAL WORLD IS PURE FIRE,
AND THEREFORE DEAD, AND SINCE NATURE DERIVES ITS ORIGIN
FROM THAT SUN, THAT IT ALSO IS DEAD. Creation itself can-
not in the least be ascribed to the sun of the natural world, but
all to the sun of the spiritual world, because the sun of the
natural world is wholly dead, but the sun of the spiritual world
is alive, being the first proceeding of the divine love and the
divine wisdom ; and what is dead does not act from itself, but
is acted on; wherefore to ascribe to it any thing of creation,
would be like ascribing to the instrument with which the hand
of the artificer operates, the work of the artificer. The sun of
the natural world is pure fire, from which all life is abstracted ;
but the sun of the spiritual world is fire containing divine life.
The idea of the angels concerning the fire of the sun of the
natural world, and the fire of the sun of the spiritual world, is
this ; that the divine life is internally in the fire of the sun of
the spiritual world, but externally in the fire of the sun of the
natural world. From this it may be seen, that the actuality
of the sun of the natural world is not from itself, but from
the living power proceeding from the sun of the spiritual
52


162–165
ANGELIC WISDOM.CONCERNING
all things to nature. Those who have confirmed themselves in
favor of nature, bring themselves into such a state, that they
no longer desire to elevate their minds above nature; for this
reason their minds are shut above, and opened below, and thus
they become sensual-natural, or spiritually dead; and as they
then think only from such things as they have learned from the
bodily senses, or from the world through the senses, they also
in their hearts deny God. In this case, since man's conjunction
with heaven is broken, he forms conjunction with hell, and has
only the faculty remaining of thinking and willing; the faculty
of thinking, from rationality, and the faculty of willing, from
liberty ; which two faculties every man has from the Lord, nor
are they ever taken away. They are possessed equally by the
devils as by the angels; but devils apply them to make them-
selves insane and to do evil, whereas angels apply them to make
themselves wise and to do good.
163. THAT WITHOUT TWO SUNS, THE ONE LIVING AND THE
OTHER DEAD, THERE CAN BE NO CREATION. The universe in
general is distinguished into two worlds, the spiritual and the
natural : angels and spirits dwell in the spiritual world, and
men in the natural world. The two worlds are entirely alike in
their external face, so much so that they cannot be distin-
guished; but as to their internal face they are entirely different.
The men who are in the spiritual world, and who, as was said,
are called angels and spirits, are spiritual, and, being spiritual,
think and speak spiritually; but the men who are in the natural
world, are natural, and think and speak naturally; and spiritual
thought and speech have nothing in common with natural
thought and speech. Hence it is evident, that these two worlds,
the spiritual and the natural, are entirely distinct from each
other; so much so, that they can by no means be together. .
164. Now since these two worlds are so distinct, there is a
necessity for two suns, one from which all spiritual things pro-
ceed, and another from which all natural things proceed : and
since all spiritual things in their origin are alive, and all natural
things from their origin are dead, and their respective suns are
those origins, it follows that the one sun is living and that the
other sun is dead; also, that the dead sun was created by the
living sun from the Lord.
165. A dead sun was created, to the end that all things
may be fixed, stated, and constant in the ultimates, and that
hence there may be permanent and enduring existences. On
this, and no other ground, creation is founded. The terra-
queous globe, in which, on which, and about which, such things
exist, is, as it were, the basis and firmament, as being the ulti-
mate work, in which all things close, and on which they rest.
It is also as it were the matrix, from which effects, which are the
ends of creation, are produced, as will be shown in what follows.
54


THE DIVINE LOVE.
165–168
166. That the Lord created all things by the living sun, and
not by the dead sun, is evident from the consideration, that
what is living disposes at pleasure what is dead, and forms it
for uses, which are its ends; but not vice versa. No rational
person can think, that all things, and even life itself, are from
nature : he who so thinks, does not know what life is. Nature
cannot dispense life to any thing, being in itself altogether inert.
It is entirely contrary to order, for what is dead to act on what
is living, or for a dead power to act on a living power, or, what
is the same thing, for natural to act on spiritual, and, therefore,
to think so is contrary to the light of sound reason. What is
dead, or natural, may indeed in many ways, by external acci-
dents, be perverted or changed; but still it cannot act on life,
but life acts on it, according to the change induced in its form :
the same is true with respect to physical influx into the spiritual
operations of the soul, which, it is well known, does not exist,
because it is not possible.
167. THAT THE END OF CREATION, which is, THAT ALL
THINGS MAY RETURN TO THE CREATOR, AND THAT THERE MAY
BE CONJUNCTION, EXISTS IN ITS ULTIMATES. It may be expe-
dient first to speak concerning ends. There are three things
which follow in order; these are called the first end, the middle
end, and the ultimate end; and they are also called end, cause,
and effect. These three must needs be in every thing, in order
that it may be any thing; for a first end without a middle end,
and an ultimate end, is impossible; or, what is the same, an
end without a cause and an effect cannot exist : so neither can
a cause exist without the end from which it proceeds, and the
effect in which it is (manifested): nor can an effect exist alone,
without a cause and an end. This may be comprehended if it
be considered, that an end without, or separate from, an effect,
has no existence, and is a mere term : for an end, to be actual,
must be terminated, and it is terminated in its effect, in which
it is first called an end, because it is an end. The agent or
efficient appears indeed to exist by itself; but this is an appear-
ance arising from the fact of its being in its effect; if it be
separated from the effect, it disappears in a moment. Hence it
is evident, that these three, end, cause, and effect, must exist
in every thing, to make it anything.
168. Moreover it is to be observed, that the end is all in the
cause, and all in the effect: hence it is that end, cause, and
effect, are called the first end, the middle end, and the ulti-
mate end. But that the end may be all in the cause, there
must be something from the end in which it may be; and that
it may be all in the effect there must be something from the
end, through the cause, in which it may be; for the end cannot
be in itself alone,-it must be in something existing from itself,
in which it may be as to every thing of its own, and by acting
55


174—178
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
they each of them receive, and treasure up in them its fire, and
temper it, and convey it as heat to the earth, which is the dwel-
ling-place of men ; and in like manner the light.
175. The difference between the spiritual atmospheres and
the natural atmospheres, is, that the spiritual atmospheres are
receptacles of divine fire and divine light, consequently of love
and wisdom, for they contain these within them; whereas the
natural atmospheres are not receptacles of divine fire and divine
light, but of the fire and light of their own sun, which in itself
is void of life, (as was shown above,) and therefore they contain
nothing from the sun of the spiritual world, but still they are
surrounded by spiritual atmospheres which come from that sun.
That this is the difference between the spiritual atmospheres
and the natural atmospheres, is learnt from the wisdom of the
angels.
176. The existence of atmospheres in the spiritual world,
as well as in the natural, may appear from the fact, that angels
and spirits breathe, speak, and hear, equally with men in the
natural world; and respiration, like speech and hearing, is ef-
fected by means of the air or ultimate atmosphere ; also from
the fact, that angels and spirits see, equally as men in the na-
tural world, and sight is not possible but by means of an atmos-
phere purer than air; also from this, that angels and spirits
think and are affected equally with men in the natural world,
and thought and affection do not exist but by means of still
purer atmospheres; and lastly from this, that all things belong-
ing to the bodies of angels and spirits, as well external as in-
ternal, are held in the proper connection by atmospheres; their
externals by an aerial atmosphere, and their internals by æthe-
real atmospheres : were it not for the circumpressure and action
of these atmospheres, the interior and exterior forms of the
body would evidently be dissolved. Since the angels are spi-
ritual, and their bodies in general and in particular are held in
their connection, form, and order, by atmospheres, it follows
that those atmospheres are also spiritual ; and they are spiritual,
because they originate from the spiritual sun, which is the first
proceeding of the divine love and divine wisdom of the Lord.
177. That in the spiritual world there are also waters and
earths, as in the natural world, but that the waters and earths
of the spiritual world are spiritual, was mentioned above, and
has been shown in the work On HEAVEN AND HELL: these,
being spiritual, are actuated and modified by the heat and light
of the spiritual sun by the atmospheres derived from it, just as
the water and the earth in the natural world are acted on and
modified by the heat and light of their sun by its atmospheres. -
178. Atmospheres, waters, and earths, are here spoken of,
as being the generals by and from which all and singular things
exist in infinite variety. The atmospheres are active powers,
58


THE DIVINE LOVE.
178–181
the waters the intermediate powers, and the earths the passive
powers, from which all effects exist. These three are such
powers in their series, solely from the life which proceeds from
the Lord as a sun and causes them to be active.
179. THAT THERE ARE DEGREES OF LOVE AND WISDOM, AND
THENCE DEGREES OF HEAT AND LIGHT, AND DEGREES OF ATMO-
SPHERES. Unless it be known that there are degrees, and what,
and of what nature they are, that which follows cannot be com-
prehended; for there are degrees in every created thing, conse-
quently in every form ; wherefore in this PART OF THE ANGELIC
WISDOM we shall treat of degrees. The existence of degrees
of love and wisdom, may appear manifestly from the angels of
the three heavens. The angels of the third heaven excel the
angels of the second heaven in love and wisdom, and these last
excel the angels of the first heaven, insomuch that they cannot
be together; the degrees of love and wisdom distinguish and
separate them. Hence it is that the angels of the inferior hea-
vens cannot ascend to the angels of the superior heavens; and
if they are allowed to ascend, they do not see the superior
angels, nor any thing that is about them ; for their love and
wisdom is in a superior degree, which transcends the perception
of the inferior angels. Every angel is his own love and his own
wisdom; and love with wisdom is in its form a man, because
God, who is love itself and wisdom itself, is a Man. It has
occasionally been given me to see the angels of the ultimate
heaven ascend to the angels of the third heaven, and when they
have reached that heaven, I have heard them complaining, that
they saw no one, although they were in the midst of its angels:
afterwards they were instructed, that those angels were invi-
sible to them, because their love and wisdom were imperceptible
to them and that love and wisdom are what cause an angel to
appear as a man.
180. That there are degrees of love and wisdom, appears
still more manifestly from the love and wisdom of the angels,
relatively to the love and wisdom of men. It is well known
that the wisdom of the angels is relatively ineffable; that it is
also incomprehensible to men when they are in natural love,
will be seen in what follows. It appears ineffable and incom-
prehensible, because it is in a superior degree.
181. Since there are degrees of love and wisdom, there are
also degrees of heat and light. By heat and light are meant
spiritual heat and light, such as the angels have in the heavens,
and such as men have as to the interiors of their minds; for the
heat of men's love, and the light of their wisdom, are similar to
the heat and light of the angels. In the heavens the case is
this : the quality and quantity of love which the angels have,
determines the quality and quantity of their heat; and their
light has the same relation to their wisdom; because there is
59


181 -184
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
in their heat, ane with men on fereas men do
love in their heat, and wisdom in their light, as was shown
before. It is the same with men on earth, only that the angels
feel that heat, and see that light, whereas men do not, because
men are in natural heat and light; and so long as this is the
case, they do not feel spiritual heat, save by a certain delight
of love, nor do they see spiritual light, save by a perception of
truth. Now as a man, whilst in natural heat and light, knows
nothing of spiritual heat and light in himself, and as this can-
not be known but by experience from the spiritual world, there-
fore we shall here first speak of the heat and light in which the
angels and their heavens are, this being the only source of
enlightenment on the subject.
182. The degrees of spiritual heat cannot, however, be de-
scribed from experience, because love, to which spiritual heat
corresponds, does not fall definitely under the ideas of thought;
but the degrees of spiritual light may be described, because it
does fall under the ideas of thought, for spiritual light is of
thought; and from the degrees of light the degrees of spiritual
heat may be comprehended, for they are similar in degree. Now
as to the spiritual light, in which the angels are, it has been
given me to see it with my eyes. The light of the angels of the
superior heavens is so bright that it cannot be described, not
even by the whiteness of snow, and so glistening, that it cannot
be described, even by the flaming rays of this world's sun; in
a word, it a thousand times exceeds the sun's meridian light on
earth. But the light of the angels of the inferior heavens may
in some measure be described by comparisons, yet still it exceeds
the greatest light of our world. The light of the angels of the
superior heavens cannot be described, because their light makes
one with their wisdom; and as their wisdom, relatively to the
wisdom of men, is ineffable, so also is their light. From these
few considerations it may appear, that there are degrees of light;
and as wisdom and love resemble each other in degree, it follows
that there are similar degrees of heat.
183. Since atmospheres are the receptacles and continents
of heat and light, it follows that there are as many degrees of
atmospheres as there are degrees of heat and light, and as
there are degrees of love and wisdom. The existence of several
atmospheres, distinct from each other by degrees, has been ma-
nifested to me from much experience in the spiritual world;
especially from the fact, that the angels of the inferior heavens
cannot breathe in the region of the superior angels, and that
they seem to themselves to gasp for breath, as is the case with
animals raised out of air into æther, or out of water into air;
the spirits also below the heavens appear to those who are in
the heavens as in a mist. That there are several atmospheres,
distinct from each other by degrees, may be seen above, n. 176.
184. THAT DEGREES ARE OF TWO KINDS, DEGREES OF ALTI-
a word, it at the light ofcribed by compight of
60


THE DIVINE LOVE.
184, 185
TUDE AND DEGREES OF LATITUDE. The knowledge of degrees
is as it were the key to open the causes of things, and enter
into them : without it scarcely any thing of cause can be known;
for without it, the objects and subjects of both worlds appear so
general (univoca) as to seem to have nothing in them but what
is seen with the eye; when nevertheless this, respectively to the
things which lie interiorly concealed, is as one to thousands,
yea to myriads. The interior things which lie hid can by no
means be discovered, unless degrees be understood; for exterior
things advance to interior things, and these to inmost, by de-
grees; not by continuous degrees, but by discrete degrees.
Decrements or decreasings from grosser to finer, or from denser
to rarer, or rather increments and increasings from finer to
grosser, or from rarer to denser, like that of light to shade, or
of heat to cold, are called continuous degrees. But discrete
degrees are entirely different: they are in the relation of prior,
posterior, and postreme, or of end, cause, and effect. They
are called discrete degrees, because the prior is by itself, the
posterior by itself, and the postreme by itself; but still, taken
together, they make a one. The atmospheres which are called
æther and air, from highest to lowest, or from the sun to the
earth, are discriminated into such degrees; and are as simples,
the congregates of these simples, and again the congregates of
these congregates, which taken together, are called a composite.
These last degrees are discrete, because they exist distinctly;
and they are understood by degrees of altitude; but the former
degrees are continuous, because they continually increase; and
they are understood by degrees of latitude.
'185. All and singular the things which exist in the spiritual
and natural worlds, coexist at once from discrete continuous
degrees, or from degrees of altitude and degrees of latitude.
That dimension which consists of discrete degrees is called alti-
tude, and that which consists of continuous degrees, is called
latitude: their situation relatively to sight does not change their
denomination. Without a knowledge of these degrees nothing
can be known of the difference between the three heavens, or
of the difference between the love and wisdom of the angels
there, or of the difference between the heat and light in which
they are, or of the difference between the atmospheres which
surround and contain them. Moreover, without a knowledge
of these degrees, nothing can be known of the difference of the
interior faculties of the mind in men; or, therefore, of their
state as to reformation and regeneration; or of the difference
of the exterior faculties, which are of the body, as well of angels
as of men ; and nothing at all of the difference between spiritual
and natural, or therefore of correspondence; yea, or of any
difference of life between men and beasts, or of the difference
between the more perfect and the imperfect beasts; or of the
61


185—187
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
differences between the forms of the vegetable kingdom, and
between the materials which compose the mineral kingdom.
Whence it may appear, that those who are ignorant of these
degrees, cannot from any judgment see causes; they only see
effects, and judge of causes from them, which is done for the
most part by an induction continuous with effects; when never-
theless causes do not produce effects by continuity, but dis-
cretely, for a cause is one thing, and an effect another; there
is a difference as between prior and posterior, or as between the
thing forming and the thing formed.
186. That the nature and quality of discrete degrees, and
the difference between them and continuous degrees, may be still
better comprehended, let us take the angelic heavens for ex-
ample. There are three heavens, and these distinct by degrees
of altitude, so that one heaven is under another; and they do
not communicate with each other but by influx, which proceeds
from the Lord through the heavens in their order to the lowest,
and not vice versa. But each heaven is distinct by itself, not
by degrees of altitude, but by degrees of latitude: those who are
in the midst, or in the centre, are in the light of wisdom, and
those who are in the circumference to the boundaries, are in the
shade of wisdom ; thus wisdom decreases to ignorance as light
decreases to shade, which is done by continuity. It is the same
with men: the interiors of their minds are distinguished into
as many degrees as the angelic heavens, and one of these de-
grees is above another; wherefore the interiors of their minds
are distinguished by discrete degrees, or degrees of altitude:
hence, a man may be in the lowest degree, or in the higher, or
in the highest, according to the degree of his wisdom ; and
when he is only in the lowest degree, the superior degree is shut,
and this is opened as he receives wisdom from the Lord. There
are also in man, as in heaven, degrees of continuity or of lati-
tude. A man is similar to the heavens, because as to the interiors
of his mind, he is a heaven in its least form, so far as he is in
love and in wisdom from the Lord: that a man, as to the interiors
of his mind, is a heaven in its least form, may be seen in the
work On HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 51 to 58.
187. From these few considerations it may appear, that one
who knows nothing of discrete degrees or degrees of altitude,
can know nothing of the state of man as regards reformation
and regeneration, which are effected by the reception of divine
love and divine wisdom from the Lord, and by the consequent
opening of the interior degrees of the mind in their order; nor
can he know any thing of the influx through the heavens from
the Lord, or of the order in which he was created. If any
one think of these things, not from discrete degrees or degrees
of altitude, but from continuous degrees or degrees of latitude,
he can then see nothing of them but from effects, and not from
62


THE DIVINE LOVE.
187-189
causes; and seeing from effects alone is seeing from fallacies,
whence come errors, one after another, which may be so multi-
plied by induction, that at length enormous falsities may be
called trutlothing, so fares or degrees ot yet without a
ughout? Lomwe shall theres not any :niet witho
darkiscovered, andhe end of this treat of the
188. Nothing, so far as I am aware, has hitherto been
known of discrete degrees or degrees of altitude, but only of
continuous degrees or degrees of latitude; yet without a know-
ledge of degrees of both kinds, not any thing of cause can be
truly known; we shall therefore treat of them in this Part
throughout: for the end of this little work is, that causes may
be discovered, and effects seen from them, and that thereby the
darkness in which the man of the church is involved with re-
spect to God, and the Lord, and in general with respect to
divine things which are called spiritual, may be dispelled. This
I can declare, that the angels are in sadness on account of the
darkness that prevails upon earth: they say that light is scarcely
any where to be seen, and that men seize on and confirm falla-
cies, and thereby multiply falsities upon falsities; and to con-
firm them devise, by reasonings grounded in falses and in truths
falsified, such figments as cannot be dispelled, so great is the
darkness that prevails concerning causes, and the ignorance
concerning truths. They principally lament the confirmations
concerning faith separate from charity, and justification thereby,
—the ideas concerning God, angels, and spirits, and the igno-
rance of the nature of love and wisdom.
189. THAT THE DEGREES OF ALTITUDE ARE HOMOGENEOUS,
AND ONE DERIVED FROM ANOTHER IN A SERIES, LIKE END,
CAUSE, AND EFFECT. Since degress of latitude or of continuity
are like degrees from light to shade, from heat to cold, from
hard to soft, from dense to rare, from gross to subtile, &c., and
since these degrees are known from sensual and ocular experi-
ence, but not so the degrees of altitude or discrete degrees,
therefore in this Part we shall treat especially of the latter; for
without a knowledge of these degrees, causes cannot be seen.
It is indeed well known that end, cause, and effect follow in
order, like prior, posterior, and postreme; also that the end
produces the cause, and by the cause, the effect, in order that
the end may exist : several other things are also known on the
subject. Nevertheless to know these things and not to see them
in application to things which exist, is only to know abstrac-
tions; which remain only so long as there are analytical and
metaphysical matters in the thought. Hence it is, that al-
though end, cause, and effect proceed by discrete degrees, still
little or nothing of those degrees is known in the world ; for
the bare knowledge of things in the abstract is like something
aereal, which is soon dispersed; but if abstract things are ap-
plied to things in the world, they are then like visible objects,
and remain in the memory.
63


THE DIVINE LOVE.
192—198
LED
like, which are of the same genius and nature, or with which
they are homogeneous.
193. That these, in their order, are as ends, causes, and
effects, is evident; for the first, or least, produces its cause by
the intermediate, and its effect by the ultimate.
194. It is to be observed, that every degree is distinguished
from another by its proper coverings, and all the degrees toge-
ther are distinguished by their common covering; and that the
common covering communicates with the inner and inmost in
their order; hence there is a conjunction and unanimous action
of all the degrees.
195. THAT THE FIRST DEGREE IS ALL IN ALL IN THE SUBSE-
QUENT DEGREES. For the degrees of every subject and of every
thing are homogeneous, and they are homogeneous because they
are produced from the first degree. The formation of them is
such, that the first, by confasciculation or conglobation, in a
word, by congregation, produces the second, and by it the
third; and distinguishes each from the other by a superinduced
covering. Hence it is evident, that the first degree is the prin-
cipal and sole governing in the subsequent ones; consequently
the first degree is all in all in the subsequent degrees.
196. When it is said that degrees are of this nature with
respect to each other; the meaning is, that the substances
are such in their degrees; speaking by degrees is speaking ab-
stractedly, that is, universally, and therefore in a way appli-
cable to any subject or thing which is in such degrees.
197. The application may be made to all those things which
were enumerated in the preceding article, as the muscles and
nerves, the matters and parts of the vegetable and mineral
kingdoms, the organic substances which are the subjects of the
thoughts and affections in man, the atmospheres, heat and
light, and love and wisdom. In all these things, the first prin-
ciple is the sole governing in the subsequent, yea, it is the sole
in them; and being so, it is the all in them. This is also
evident from things that are known, namely, that the end is
the all of the cause, and through the cause the all of the effect;
wherefore end, cause, and effect, are called the first, the middle,
and the ultimate end ; also that the cause of the cause is like-
wise the cause of the thing caused ; and that there is nothing
essential in causes but the end, and nothing essential in motion
but effort; also that there is only one substance which is sub-
CA
stractedly, that`i degrees ; speakinning is, that the
197. amy subject of thisally, and the degrees is speakistances
es ut effort itself. hese conside substane that is abiy to was the divine
sta 198. 2. Divine, Kand everyniverse, ac vine love that the
198. From these considerations it may be clearly seen, that
from the Divine, which is substance in itself, or the only and
sole substance, all and every thing that is created exists; thus
that God is all in all in the universe, agreeably to what was des
monstrated in Part I; as, that the divine love and the divine
wisdom are a substance and a form, n. 40 to 43; that the divine
65


198–201
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
DEGREES degrees, degresa to 188 ; and or of wisdomnd effect,
love and the divine wisdom are substance and form in itself, and
therefore the self-subsisting and sole-subsisting (Being), n. 44
to 46; that all things in the universe were created from the
divine love and the divine wisdom, n. 52 to 54; that hence the
created universe is an image of Him, n. 61 to 65; that the
Lord alone is heaven, where the angels dwell, n. 113 to 118.
199. THAT ALL PERFECTIONS INCREASE AND ASCEND WITH
DEGREES AND ACCORDING TO DEGREES. That there are two
kinds of degrees, degrees of latitude and degrees of altitude,
was shown above, n. 184 to 188; and that the degrees of lati-
tude are as of light verging to shade, or of wisdom verging to
ignorance, but the degrees of altitude as end, cause, and effect, or
as prior, posterior, and postreme. These degrees are said to
ascend or descend, for they are degrees of altitude ; but the
former are said to increase or decrease, for they are degrees of
latitude. The latter degrees differ so much from the former,
that the two have nothing in common, wherefore they ought
to be perceived distinctly, and by no means to be confounded.
200. All perfections increase and ascend with degrees, and
according to degrees, because all predicates follow their subjects;
and perfection and imperfection are general predicates, for they
are predicated of life, of powers, and of forms. Perfection of
life is perfection of love and wisdom; and as the will and the
understanding are receptacles of love and wisdom, perfection of
life is also perfection of the will and understanding, and thence
of the affections and thoughts; and as spiritual heat is the con-
tinent of love, and spiritual light is the continent of wisdom, per-
fection of these also may be referred to perfection of life. Per-
fection of powers is the perfection of all things that are actuated
and moved by life, without having life themselves : such powers
are the atmospheres in their actualities; such powers are the
interior and exterior organic substances in man, and in all kinds
of animals; and such powers are all things in the natural world
which possess activities immediately and mediately from the
natural sun. Perfection of forms and perfection of powers make
one, for such as the powers are, such are the forms; only that
forms are substances, but powers are their activities, wherefore
they have both similar degrees of perfection : forms, which are
not at the same time powers, are also perfect according to
degrees.
201. I shall not here speak of the perfections of life, powers,
and forms, increasing or decreasing according to the degrees of
latitude or continuous degrees; because these degrees are known
in the world ; but of the perfections of life, powers, and forms,
ascending or descending according to degrees of altitude, or
discrete degrees; because these degrees are not known in the
world. The manner in which perfections ascend and descend
according to these degrees, can be but little known from the
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202—205
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
heaven are thoughts of effects. It is to be observed, that it is
one thing to think from ends, and another to think of ends;
also, that it is one thing to think from causes, and another to
think of causes ; and that it is one thing to think from effects,
and another to think of effects. The angels of the inferior
heavens think of causes and of ends, but the angels of the
superior heavens from causes and from ends; and to think
from these is a property of superior wisdom, but to think of
them is a property of inferior wisdom. To think from ends is
a property of wisdom, to think from causes, of intelligence,
and to think from effects, of science. Hence it is evident,
that all perfection ascends and descends with degrees and ac-
cording to them.
203. Since the interiors of a man, which belong to his will
and understanding, are similar to the heavens, as regards their
degrees, (for a man, as to the interiors of his mind, is a heaven
in its least form,) therefore their perfections also are similar.
Those perfections, however, do not appear to any man during
his life in the world; for then he is in the lowest degree, and
from the lowest degree the higher degrees cannot be known:
but after death they are known. A man then comes into the
degree which corresponds to his love and wisdom, for he becomes
an angel, and thinks and speaks things ineffable to his natural
man : there is then an elevation of all things of his mind, not
in a simple, but in a triplicate ratio ; in the latter ratio are the
degrees of altitude, but in the former the degrees of latitude.
None, however, ascend and are elevated to those degrees, but
those who in the world were in truths, and applied them to life.
204. It appears as if prior were less perfect than posterior
things, or simple than compound things; nevertheless prior
things, from which posterior ones are formed, or simple things,
from which compounds are formed, are the more perfect; for
prior, or simple things, are more naked, and less covered with
substances and matters void of life, and are as it were more
divine; wherefore they are nearer to the spiritual sun, where
the Lord is : for perfection itself is in the Lord, and thence in
the sun, which is the first proceeding of His divine love and
divine wisdom, and thence in those things which proximately
succeed, and so in order to the lowest, which, according to their
distance, are more imperfect. If there were not such an emi-
nent perfection in things prior and simple, neither man nor
any animal could exist from seed, and afterwards subsist; nor
could the seeds of trees and fruits vegetate and become prolific :
for every prior thing, in proportion to its priority, and every
simple thing, in proportion to its simplicity, as being more per-
fect, is more exempt from harm.
205. THAT IN SUCCESSIVE ORDER THE FIRST DEGREE CON-
STITUTES THE HIGHEST, AND THE THIRD THE LOWEST; BUT
.08


THE DIVINE LOVE.
205—208
THAT IN SIMULTANEOUS ORDER THE FIRST DEGREE CONSTITUTES
THE INMOST, AND THE THIRD THE OUTMOST. There is succes-
sive order and simultaneous order : the successive order of these
degrees is from highest to lowest, or from top to bottom. The
angelic heavens are in this order; the third heaven is the
highest, the second is the middle, and the first is the lowest;
such is their relative situation : in similar successive order are
the states of love and wisdom there with the angels, as also of
heat and light, and likewise of the spiritual atmospheres : in
similar order are all the perfections of forms and powers there.
When the degrees of altitude, or discrete degrees, are in suc-
cessive order, they may be compared to columns divided into
three degrees, by which there is an ascent and descent; in the
superior mansion of which are the things the most perfect and
most beautiful, in the middle the less perfect and less beautiful,
and in the lowest the still less perfect and less beautiful. But
simultaneous order, which consists of similar degrees, has ano-
ther appearance: in this the highest things of successive order,
which, as was said, are the most perfect and most beautiful, are
in the inmost, inferior things in the middle, and the lowest
things in the circumference. They are as in a solid substance
consisting of those three degrees, in the middle or centre of
which are the most subtile parts, about it are parts less subtile,
and in the extremes, which constitute the circumference, there
are parts composed of these, and consequently more gross: it
is like that column, which was spoken of above, subsiding into
a plane, whose highest part constitutes the inmost, whose mid-
dle part the middle, and its lowest the extreme.
206. Since the highest of successive order is the inmost of
simultaneous order, and the lowest is the outmost, therefore, in
the Word, superior signifies interior, and inferior signifies ex-
terior; and upwards and downwards, and height and depth,
signify the same.
207. In every ultimate there are discrete degrees in simul-
taneous order : the moving fibres in every muscle, the fibres in
every nerve, and the fibres and vessels in every viscus and organ,
are in such order; in their inmost are the most simple and per-
fect things, whereof their outmost is composed. A similar
order of those degrees is in every seed, and in every fruit, and
in every metal and stone; the parts of them, of which the
whole consists, are such ; the inmost, intermediate, and out-
most principles of the parts, are in those degrees, for they are
successive compositions, or confasciculations and conglobations,
from simples, which are their first substances or materials.
208. In a word, there are such degrees in every ultimate,
thus in every effect; for every ultimate consists of prior things,
and these of their first; and every effect consists of a cause,
and this of an end; and the end is the all of the cause, and the
69


208–210
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
cause is the all of the effect, as was demonstrated above; and
the end constitutes the inmost, the cause the middle, and the
effect the ultimate. That the case is the same with the degrees
of love and wisdom, of heat and light, and with the organic
forms of the affections and thoughts in man, will be seen in
what follows. The series of these degrees in successive order
and simultaneous order, is also treated of in THE DOCTRINE OF
THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURES,
n. 38, and elsewhere; where it is shown that there are similar
degrees in all and every part of the Word.
209. THAT THE ULTIMATE DEGREE IS THE COMPLEX, CON-
TINENT, AND BASIS OF THE PRIOR DEGREES. The doctrine of
degrees, which is delivered in this part, has hitherto been illus-
trated by various things which exist in both worlds; as by the
degrees of the heavens where the angels dwell; by the degrees
of heat and light therein; by the degrees of the atmospheres ;
and by various things in the human body, and in the animal
and mineral kingdoms. But this doctrine is of more ample
extension ; it reaches not only to natural things, but to civil,
moral, and spiritual things, and to the whole and every part of
them. There are two causes why the doctrine of degrees ex-
tends also to such things; Firstly, because in every thing, of
which any thing can be predicated, there is the trine, which is
called end, cause, and effect, and these three are to each other
according to the degrees of altitude; Secondly, because every
thing civil, moral, and spiritual, is not any thing abstracted
from substance, but is a substance; for as love and wisdom are
not abstract things, but a substance, (as was shown above, n. 40
to 43,) so in like manner are all civil, moral, and spiritual things.
These indeed may be thought of abstractedly from substances,
but still in themselves they are not abstracted; for example,
affection and thought, charity and faith, will and understanding,
are not mere abstractions, for the case with these is the same
as with love and wisdom : they do not exist out of their sub-
jects, which are substances, but they are states of subjects or
substances. That there are changes of these, which produce
variations, will be seen in what follows. By substance is also
understood form; for there is no substance without a form.
210. Because the will and understanding, affection and
thought, and charity and faith, may be thought of, and have
been thought of, abstractedly from the substances which are
their subjects, therefore the just idea of them has perished,
which is, that they are states of substances or forms; altogether
like sensations and actions, which also are not things abstracted
from the organs of sensation and motion: abstracted or sepa-
rated from these they are nothing but mental figments, like
sight without an eye, hearing without an ear, taste without a
tongue, &c.
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215—218
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
in them, and so fully that there is nothing wanting; they are
included in them like wine in a vessel, and like utensils in a
house. They do not appear, because they are only viewed ex-
ternally, and in this view they are only activities and motions,
It is as when the arms and hands move themselves, and it is
not known that a thousand moving fibres concur in each motion,
and that to these thousand moving fibres a thousand things of
the thought and affection correspond, which excite the moving
fibres, but which, because they act interiorly, do not appear to
any of the bodily senses." It is well known, that nothing is
done in the body, or by it, but from the will by the thought;
and as both these act, therefore all and every thing of the will
and thought must necessarily exist in action; for they cannot
be separated : hence it is that from actions, or works, judgment
is formed of the thought of a man's will, or of his intention.
It has been made manifest to me, that the angels, from a man's
action or work alone, perceive and see every thing of the will
and thought of the doer; the angels of the third heaven per-
ceive and see from his will the end for which he acts, and the
angels of the second heaven, the cause by which the end ope-
rates. Hence it is that, in the Word, works and actions
are so often enjoined, and that it is said that a man is known
by them.
216. It is a tenet of angelic wisdom, that unless the will
and the understanding, or affection and thought, as also charity
and faith, invest and involve themselves in works or actions
whenever it is possible, they are only like aereal things which
pass away, or like phantoms (imagines) in the air, which perish;
and that they only remain with man, and become principles of
his life, when he operates and does them; because the ultimate
is the complex, continent, and basis of prior things. Such an
aereal vapor and phantom is faith separate from good works,
and such also are faith and charity without their exercises; only,
that those who establish faith and charity as principles necessary
to be conjoined, have the knowledge and may have the will to
do good, but not those who are in faith separate from charity.
217. THAT THE DEGREES OF ALTITUDE IN THEIR ULTIMATE
ARE IN THEIR FULNESS AND THEIR POWER. It was shown in
the preceding article, that the ultimate degree is the complex
and continent of the prior degrees : hence it follows, that the
prior degrees are in their fulness in their ultimate ; for they are
in their effect, and every effect is the fulness of its causes.
218. That the ascending and descending degrees, which are
called prior and posterior, and degrees of altitude or discrete
degrees, are in their power in their ultimate, may be confirmed
by all those things which were adduced, by way of confirmation,
from sensible and perceptible things in the preceding pages;
but here I choose to confirm them only by efforts, powers, and
72


THE DIVINE LOVE.
218-220
still"apmotion, Whincy in endo
cepti ilustratiese
motions, in dead subjects and in living subjects. It is well
known that endeavor of itself does nothing, but that it acts by
powers corresponding to it, and by them produces motion;
hence that endeavor is the all in the powers, and through the
powers in the motion; and motion being the ultimate degree
of endeavor, that by this it produces its efficacy. Endeavor,
power, and motion, are no otherwise connected than according
to degrees of altitude, conjunction by which is not by continuity,
for they are discrete, but by correspondences; for endeavor is
not power, nor power, motion ; but power is produced by en-
deavor, being endeavor excited, and motion is produced by
power; wherefore there is no potency in endeavor alone, or
in power alone, but in motion, which is their product. That
this is the casė, still appears doubtful, because it has not
been illustrated by application to things sensible and per-
ceptible in nature; but nevertheless such is their progression
into potency.
219. Let us apply these principles to living endeavor, living
power, and living motion. The living endeavor in a man, who
is a living subject, is his will united to his understanding; the
living powers in him are what constitute the interiors of his
body, in all of which there are moving fibres variously inter-
woven; and living motion in him is action, which is produced
through those powers by the will united to the understanding.
The interiors of the will and understanding constitute the first
degree, the interiors of the body constitute the second, and
the whole body, which is their complex, constitutes the third
degree. That the interiors of the mind have no potency but
by powers in the body, and that powers have no potency but
by action of the body, is a well known fact. These three do
not act by continuity, but discretely; and to act discretely is to
act by correspondences. The interiors of the mind correspond
to the interiors of the body, and the interiors of the body to its
exteriors, by which actions exist; wherefore the two former are
in potency by means of the exteriors of the body. It may
seem as if endeavor and powers in a man are in some potency
although there is no action, as in dreams and states of rest;
but in these cases the determination of endeavors and powers
fall on the common moving principles of the body, which are
the heart and lungs; but when the action of these ceases, the
powers also cease, and the endeavor with the powers.
220. Since the whole, or the body, has determined its
powers principally to the arms and the hands, which are ulti-
mates, therefore arms and hands, in the Word, signify power,
and the right hand, superior power. Since the evolution and ex-
ertion of degrees into power is such, therefore the angels who
are with a man, and who are in the correspondence of all things
belonging to him, know from action alone, which is effected by
173


220, 221
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
the hands, the state of the man as to his understanding and
will ; likewise as to charity and faith, and consequently as to
the internal life of his mind, and as to the external life which
is thence in the body. I have often wondered that the angels
have such knowledge from the mere action of the body by the
hands, but nevertheless it has occasionally been made manifest
by lively experience, and it has been told me that this is the
reason why inauguration into the ministry is performed by the
imposition of hands, and why touching with the hand signifies
communicating, besides other things of a similar nature. Hence
it may be concluded, that the whole of charity and faith is in
works; and that charity and faith without works are like rain-
bows about the sun, which vanish and are dissipated by a
cloud; wherefore works are so often mentioned in the Word,
and it is said that we are to do them, and that our salvation
depends on them : moreover he who does them is called a wise
man, and he who does not is called a foolish man. But it is to
be observed, that by works here are meant uses, which are
actually performed; for in and according to them is the whole
of charity and faith : there is this correspondence with uses,
because this correspondence is spiritual, but it is effected by
substances and matters, which are its subjects.
221. Here two arcana, which may be comprehended by
what has been said above, may be revealed. The FIRST AR-
CANUM is, that the Word in its literal sense is in its fulness and
power: for there are three senses according to the three degrees
in the Word, a celestial sense, a spiritual sense, and a natural
sense. Since these senses are according to the three degrees of
altitude in the Word, and conjunction between them is effected
by correspondences, therefore the ultimate, natural, or, as it is
called, the literal sense, is not only the complex, continent, and
basis of the interior corresponding senses, but the Word in its
ultimate sense is also in its fulness and in its power. That this
is the case, is abundantly shown and confirmed in The Doc-
TRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED
SCRIPTURE, n. 27 to 36, 37 to 49, 50 to 61, 62 to 69. The
SECOND ARCANUM is, that the Lord came into the world, and
assumed the Human, that He might put Himself in power to
subjugate the hells, and to reduce all things to order both in
the heavens as on earth. This Human He superinduced over
His former Human. The Human that He superinduced in the
world was like the human of a man in the world; nevertheless
both were divine, and therefore infinitely transcending the finite
human of angels and men: and as He fully glorified His natural
Human even to its ultimates, therefore He rose again with His
whole body, different from any man. By the assumption of
this Human He invested Himself with divine omnipotence, not
only to subjugate the hells, and to reduce the heavens to order,
74


THE DIVINE LOVE.
221-223
but also to hold the hells in a state of subjugation to eternity,
and to save mankind. This power is meant by His sitting at
the right hand of the power and might of God. Since the
Lord, by the assumption of the natural Human, made Himself
divine truth in ultimates, therefore He is called the Word, and
it is said that the Word was made flesh Divine truth in ulti-
mates is the Word in the literal sense; this He made Himself
by fulfilling all things of the Word concerning Himself in
Moses and the prophets. Every man is his own good and his
own truth, and a man is a man from no other ground; but the
Lord, by the assumption of the natural Human, is divine good
and divine truth itself; or, what is the same, He is divine love
and divine wisdom itself, both in first principles and in ulti-
mates : hence, in the angelic heavens He appears as a sun,
after His coming into the world with more powerful rays and in
greater splendor than before His coming. This is an arcanum
which may be comprehended by the doctrine of degrees. His
omnipotence before His coming into the world, will be spoken
of in what follows.
222. THAT THERE ARE DEGREES OF BOTH KINDS IN THE
GREATEST AND LEAST OF ALL CREATED THINGS. That the
greatest and least of all things consist of discrete and conti-
nuous degrees, or of degrees of altitude and latitude, cannot
be illustrated by examples from visible things; because the least
things are not visible to the eye, and the greatest things which
are visible, are not apparently distinguished into degrees; where-
fore this matter cannot be demonstrated but by universals; and
as the angels are in wisdom from universals, and thence in
science respecting particulars, we may declare what they affirm
on this subject.
223. The angels affirm, that there is nothing so minute, but
there are degrees in it of both kinds : for example, that there
is not the least thing in any animal, vegetable, or mineral, or
in æther and air, in which there are not these degrees; and as
æther and air are receptacles of heat and light, that there is
not the least of heat and light; and as spiritual heat and light
are receptacles of love and wisdom, that there is not the least
of these, in which there are not degrees of both kinds. They
also affirm, that the least of affection and the least of thought,
yea, that the least of an idea of thought, consists of degrees of
both kinds, and that a least not consisting of such degrees, is
nothing; for it has not a form, and therefore not a quality or not
a state which can be changed and varied, and thereby exist. The
angels confirm this by the truth, that infinite things in God the
Creator, who is the Lord from eternity, are distinctly one, and
that there are infinite things in His infinites, and that in these
infinitely infinite things there are degrees of both kinds, which
are also in Him distinctly one; and as these things are in Him,
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223—226
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
and all things were created by Him, and the things which are
created in a certain image represent those things which are in
Him, it follows that there is no finite thing however minute,
in which there are not such degrees. These degrees are equally
in the least and in the greatest things, because the Divine in
the greatest and least things is the same. That in God-Man
infinite things are distinctly one, may be seen above, n. 17
to 22; and that the Divine in the greatest and least things is
the same, n. 77 to 82; which are further illustrated, n. 155,
169, 171.
224. There is not the least of love and wisdom, nor the least
of affection and thought, nor of an idea of thought, in which
there are not degrees of both kinds, because love and wisdom
are a substance and form, as was shown above, n. 40 to 43, in
like manner affection and thought; and as there is no form in
which these degrees are not, it follows that similar degrees are
in them; for to separate love and wisdom, or affection and
thought, from substance in form, is to annihilate them, because
they do not exist out of their subjects ; for the states of sub-
jects, perceived by man in their variation, are what exhibit
them.
225. The greatest things in which there are degrees of both
kinds, are the universe in its whole complex, the natural world
in its complex, and the spiritual world in its complex, every
empire and every kingdom in its complex, every thing civil,
moral and spiritual, belonging to them, in theirs; the whole
animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, each in its complex,
and all the atmospheres of both worlds taken together, and
their heat and light, in theirs : also less general things, as a
man in his complex, every animal in its, every tree and shrub
in its, and every stone and metal in its. The forms of these
things are so far similar, that they consist of degrees of both
kinds; because the Divine, by whom they were created, is the
same in the greatest and least things, as was shown above,
n. 77 to 82. The particulars and singulars of all these things
are similar to the generals and their generals, in being forms of
both kinds of degrees.
226. Since the greatest and least things are forms of both
kinds of degrees, there is a connection of them from first prin-
ciples to ultimates; for similitude conjoins them. But still not
any the least thing is the same as another; thus there is a dis-
tinction of all things particular and most particular. Not any
the least thing in any form, or among any forms, is the same
with another, because in the greatest things there are similar
degrees, and the greatest things consist of the least; and since
such degrees are in the greatest things, and there are perpetual
differences from highest to lowest, and from centre to circumfe-
rence, according to them, it follows, that there are not any of
11. 77. toilar to the sees
test and letion of them.
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
226—231
the lesser and least of those things, in which there are similar
degrees, that are the same.
227. It is also a tenet of angelic wisdom, that the perfection
of the created universe consists in the similitude of generals
and particulars, or of the greatest and least things, as to these
degrees; for then one respects the other as its like, with which
it may be conjoined for every use, fixing and exhibiting every
end in the effect.
228. These things, however, may seem as paradoxes, be-
cause they are not illustrated by application to visible things ;
yet abstract things, being universals, are usually better compre-
hended than things applied; for the latter are of perpetual va-
riety, and variety obscures.
229. It is asserted by some, that a substance so simple
exists, that it is not a form from lesser forms, and that from
that substance, by coacervation, substantiate or composite things
exist, and at length those substances which are called matter.
Nevertheless, such simple substances do not exist; for what is
a substance without a form ? It is a thing that nothing can be
predicated of; and from an entity, of which nothing can be pre-
dicated, nothing can be compounded by coacervation. That
there are innumerable things in the first of all created sub-
stances, which are the least and most simple, will be seen in
what follows, when forms are treated of.
230. THAT THERE ARE THREE INFINITE AND UNCREATE
DEGREES OF ALTITUDE IN THE LORD, AND THREE FINITE AND
CREATED DEGREES IN MAN. There are three infinite and un-
create degrees of altitude in the Lord, because the Lord is love
itself and wisdom itself (as was shewn in the preceding pages);
and being love itself and wisdom itself, He is also use itself,
since love has use for its end, which it produces by wisdom.
Without use, love and wisdom have no termination or end, or
no habitation belonging to them ; wherefore it cannot be said
that they are and exist, unless there be use in which they are
and exist. These three constitute the three degrees of altitude
in subjects of life. They are as the first end, the mediate end
or cause, and the ultimate end or effect. That end, cause, and
effect constitute the three degrees of altitude, was shewn and
abundantly proved above.
231. That there are these three degrees in a man, may be
seen from the elevation of his mind to the degrees of love and
wisdom in which the angels of the second and third heaven
are principled; for all angels were born men, and a man, as to
the interiors of his mind, is a heaven in its least form; there-
fore there are as many degrees of altitude in a man by crea-
tion as there are heavens : a man also is an image and likeness
of God, wherefore these three degrees are inscribed in him,
because they are in God-Man, that is, in the Lord. That these
77


THE DIVINE LOVE.
233-237
through the angelic heaven, which existed before the Lord's
coming, may be compared to the light of the moon, which is
the mediate light of the sun; and as this was made immediate
after His coming, it is said in Isaiah, “That the light of the
moon shall be as the light of the sun;" and in the Psalms, “In
His days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace
until there is no longer any moon,” lxxii. 7; this also is spoken
of the Lord.
234. The Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, put on this third
degree by the assumption of the Human in the world, because
He could not enter into this degree but by a nature similar to
the human nature; therefore only by conception from His
Divine, and by nativity from a virgin; for thus He could put
off nature, which in itself is dead, and yet a receptacle of the
Divine, and put on the Divine. This is meant by the Lord's
two states in the world, of exinanition and of glorification,
which are treated of in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERU-
SALEM CONCERNING THE LORD.
235. The above are general propositions concerning the triple
ascent of the degrees of altitude; but as these degrees exist in
the greatest and least things, as was said in the preceding ar-
ticle, therefore nothing more can here be said of them in par-
ticular, than that there are such degrees in all and every thing
of love, and thence in all and every thing of wisdom, and de-
rivatively in all and every thing of uses; but that all these in
the Lord are infinite, whereas in an angel and a man they are
finite. But how these degrees have place in love, in wisdom, and
in uses, cannot be described and unfolded except in a series.
236. THAT THESE THREE DEGREES OF ALTITUDE ARE IN
EVERY MAN FROM HIS BIRTH, AND MAY BE OPENED SUCCES-
SIVELY, AND THAT, AS THEY ARE OPENED, A MAN IS IN THE
LORD, AND THE LORD IN HIM. That there are three degrees
of altitude in every man, has been hitherto unknown, because
these degrees were unknown; and so long as this is the case,
none but continuous degrees could be known; and when these
only are known, it may be supposed that love and wisdom in a
man increase simply by continuity. But be it known, that in
every man from his birth there are three degrees of altitude,
or discrete degrees, one above or within another; and that each
degree of altitude, or discrete degree, has also degrees of lati-
tude, or continuous degrees, according to which it increases by
continuity : there are degrees of both kinds in the greatest and
least of all things, as was shown above, n. 222 to 229; for
a degree of one kind cannot exist without the other.
237. These three degrees of altitude are named natural,
spiritual, and celestial, as was said above, n. 232. When a
man is born, he first comes into the natural degree, and this
increases in him by continuity, according to his knowledge and
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ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
the understanding he acquires by it, to the highest point of
understanding called rationality. Nevertheless the second, or
spiritual degree, is not hereby opened. This degree is opened
by the love of uses derived from intellectual things, that is by
the spiritual love of uses, which is love towards the neighbor.
This degree likewise may increase by degrees of continuity to
its summit, and it increases by the knowledges of truth and
good, or by spiritual truths. Nevertheless the third or celestial
degree, is not opened by these, but by the celestial love of use,
which is love towards the Lord ; and love towards the Lord is
nothing else than committing to life the commandments of the
Word; of which the sum is, to flee from evils because they are
infernal and diabolical, and to do goods because they are hea-
venly and divine. These three degrees are thus successively
opened in a man.
.238. So long as a man is living in the world, he knows no-
thing of the opening of these degrees in him, because he is then
in the natural or ultimate degree, and thinks, wills, speaks, and
acts from it; and the spiritual degree, which is interior, does
not communicate with the natural degree by continuity, but by
correspondences, and communication by correspondence is not
felt. Nevertheless, when he puts off the natural degree, which
is the case when he dies, he comes into the degree which was
opened in him in the world ; if the spiritual degree was opened,
into the spiritual degree, and if the celestial degree was opened,
into the celestial degree: if he comes into the spiritual degree
after death, he no longer thinks, wills, speaks, and acts natu-
rally, but spiritually; and if he comes into the celestial degree,
he thinks, wills, speaks, and acts according to that degree. And
as the communication of the three degrees with each other is
effected only by correspondences, therefore the differences of
love, wisdom, and use, are such, that they have nothing in
common by any thing of continuity. Hence it is evident, that
there are in a man three degrees of altitude, and that they may
be opened successively.
239. Since there are three degrees of love and wisdom, and
thence of use, in a man, it follows that there are likewise in him
three degrees of will and understanding, and thence of conclu-
sions, and thus of determination to use; for the will is the
receptacle of love, and the understanding is the receptacle of
wisdom, and conclusions are the use derived from them; whence
it is evident, that in every man there are a natural, a spiritual,
and a celestial will and understanding, in potency from his birth,
and in act when they are opened. In a word, the human mind,
which consists of will and understanding, by creation, and thence
by birth, is of three degrees, so that a man has a natural mind,
a spiritual mind, and a celestial mind, and may thereby be ele-
vated to angelic wisdom, and possess it while he lives in the
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
239-241
world; but still he does not come into it till after death, when, if
he becomes an angel, he speaks things ineffable and incompre-
hensible to the natural man. I knew a man of moderate
learning in the world, and after death I saw him and conversed
with him in heaven, and I clearly perceived that he spoke as an
angel, and that what he said was imperceptible to the natural
man; and this, because in the world he had applied the com-
mandments of the Word to life, and had worshiped the Lord,
and therefore was elevated by the Lord to the third degree of
love and wisdom. It is of importance that this elevation of the
human mind should be known, for thereon depends the under-
standing of what follows.
240. There are two faculties from the Lord in man, whereby
man is distinguished from the beasts: one faculty is, that he
can understand what is true and what is good; this is called
rationality, and is the faculty of his understanding : the other
is, that he can do what is true and good; this faculty is called
liberty, and is the faculty of his will. A man, by virtue of his
rationality, can think whatever he pleases, as well with God as
against God, and with his neighbor and against his neighbor,
and he can also will and do what he thinks; but when he sees
evil and fears punishment, he can freely desist from doing it.
A man is a man, and is distinguished from beasts, by these two
faculties. Man has them from the Lord, and this continually,
nor are they ever taken away from him, for were they taken
away, his humanity would perish. In these two faculties the
Lord resides with every man, whether he be good or evil, they
being the Lord's mansions in the human race: hence every
man, as well good as evil, lives to eternity. But the mansion
of the Lord is nearer with a man, in proportion as the man
opens the superior degrees by these faculties ; for by the open-
ing thereof he comes into superior degrees of love and wisdom,
and consequently nearer to the Lord. Hence it may appear,
that as these degrees are opened, so a man is in the Lord, and
the Lord in him.
241. It was said above, that the three degrees of altitude
are as end, cause, and effect, and that love, wisdom, and use,
succeed according to these degrees; wherefore here we may
say a few words of love as being the end, of wisdom as being
the cause, and of use as being the effect. Every one who con-
sults his reason, whilst it is in light, may see, that a man's love
is the end of all things belonging to him ; for what he loves, he
thinks, he concludes upon and he does, consequently he has for
his end. Any man may also from his reason see, that wisdom
is the cause ; for he, or his love which is his end, seeks for
means in his understanding, by which he may arrive at his
end ; thus he consults his wisdom, and those means constitute
the instrumental cause: that use is the effect, is evident with-
is end. We concludings belo in light, effect. Pof wishore we
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ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
out any explanation. But the love in one man is not the samo
as in another, so neither is the wisdom, nor consequently the
use; and as these three are homogeneous, (as was shown above,
n. 189 to 194,) it follows, that such as the love is in a man,
such is the wisdom, and such is the use. We use the term
wisdom, meaning thereby what is of his understanding.
242. THAT SPIRITUAL LIGHT FLOWS INTO MAN BY THREE
DEGREES, BUT NOT SPIRITUAL HEAT, EXCEPT SO FAR AS HE
AVOIDS EVILS AS SINS, AND LOOKS TO THE LORD. From what
was shown above it is evident, that from the sun of heaven,
which is the first proceeding of the divine love and the divine
wisdom, (see Part II.,) proceed light and heat; from its wis-
dom light, and from its love heat; and that light is the recep-
tacle of wisdom, and heat the receptacle of love, and that so
far as man comes into wisdom, so far he comes into that divine
light, and so far as he comes into love, so far he comes into
that divine heat. From what was shown above it is also evident,
that there are three degrees of light and three degrees of heat,
or three degrees of wisdom and three degrees of love, and that
these degrees are formed in man, in order that he may be a
receptacle of divine love and divine wisdom, and thus of the
Lord. We shall now proceed to shew, that spiritual light flows
by these three degrees into man, but not spiritual heat, except
so far as a man avoids evils as sins, and looks to the Lord ; or,
what is the same, that a man may receive wisdom to the third
degree, but not love, unless he avoids evils as sins, and looks
to the Lord; or, what is still the same, that a man's under-
standing may be elevated to wisdom, but not his will, except so
far as he avoids evils as sins.
243. That the understanding may be elevated to the light
of heaven, or to angelic wisdom, but that the will cannot be
elevated to the heat of heaven, or into angelic love, unless man
avoids evils as sins and looks to the Lord, was made very mani-
fest to me from experience in the spiritual world. I have several
times seen and perceived, that simple spirits, who only knew
that there is a God, and that the Lord was born a Man, and
scarcely any thing else, fully understood the arcana of angelic
wisdom, almost as angels; and not only they, but also many
of the diabolical crew. They understood them, however, only
when they heard them, but not when they thought by them-
selves; for when they heard them, the light entered from above;
but when they thought by themselves, no other light could
enter than what corresponded to their heat or love; wherefore
also, after they had heard those arcana, and perceived them,
when they turned away their ears, they retained nothing of
them ; yea, those who were of the diabolical crew, then rejected
and entirely denied them : the reason was, because the fire of
their love and its light, which were delusive, induced darkness,
else, fully unchot only they, b however, only
82


THE DIVINE LOVE.
243-246
by which the heavenly light entering from above was extin-
guished.
244. It is the same in the world. When any one who is
not absolutely stupid, and has not confirmed himself in falses
from the pride of self-intelligence, hears persons conversing on
elevated subjects, or reads of those subjects, if he has any affec-
tion for science, then he understands, retains, and can afterwards
confirm them. This may be done by the wicked as well as the
good. Even a wicked man, although in heart he denies the
divine things of the church, can still understand, and speak
and preach them, and learnedly confirm them by writing ; but
when left to himself and his own thoughts, from his hellish
love he thinks against them and denies them. Whence it is
evident, that the understanding may be in spiritual light, al-
though the will is not in spiritual heat : also, that the under-
standing does not lead the will, or that wisdom does not produce
love, but that it only teaches and shows the way; it teaches
how a man ought to live, and shows the way in which he ought
to walk : also, that the will leads the understanding and causes
it to act in unity with itself; and that the love which is of the
will calls that wisdom in the understanding, which agrees with
itself. In what follows it will be seen, that the will does nothing
by itself without the understanding, but does every thing that
it does in conjunction with the understanding ; yet that the
will associates the understanding with it by influx, and not the
understanding the will.
245. We shall now proceed to shew the nature of the influx
of light into the three degrees of life, which belong to the mind
in man. The forms which are the receptacles of heat and light,
or of love and wisdom in him, and which, as was said, are in
triple order, or of three degrees, are transparent from birth,
and transmit spiritual light, as a crystal glass does natural light;
and hence man, as to wisdom, may be elevated to the third
degree. Nevertheless these forms are not opened, till spiritual
heat joins itself to spiritual light, or love to wisdom : this con-
junction opens these transparent forms according to degrees.
This case is similar to that of the light and heat of the sun of
this world, with respect to the vegetable kingdom : the light of
winter, which is as bright as the light of summer, does not
open any thing in a seed or a tree; but when the vernal heat
joins itself to the light, then it opens them : the case is similar,
because spiritual light corresponds to natural light, and spiritual
heat to natural heat.
246. This spiritual heat is no otherwise obtained than by
avoiding evils as sins, and then looking to the Lord; for so
long as a man is in evils, he is also in the love of evils; he lusts
after them, and the love of evil and its concupiscences is in a
love opposed to spiritual love and affection; and this love or
83
G2


246–249
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
Love or heat to Wistrom above, and degree is opened. Troduced in
concupiscence can be removed only by avoiding evils as sins :
and as man cannot avoid them from himself but from the Lord,
therefore he must look to Him. When therefore he avoids
them from the Lord, then the love of evil and its heat are re-
moved, and the love of good and its heat are introduced in
their stead, by which a superior degree is opened. The Lord
enters by influx from above, and opens it, and joins spiritual
love or heat to wisdom or spiritual light; and by this conjunc-
tion the man begins to flourish spiritually, like a tree in time
of spring.
247. The influx of spiritual light into all the three degrees
of the mind, distinguishes man from beasts, and enables him
to think analytically, which beasts cannot do, and to see not
only natural but spiritual truths, and when he sees them to
acknowledge them, and so to be reformed and regenerated.
The faculty of receiving spiritual light is understood by the
rationality mentioned above, which every man has from the
Lord, and which is never taken away from him ; for if it were
taken away he could not be reformed. From this faculty, called
rationality, it is, that man can not only think but speak from
thought, which is not the case with beasts; and afterwards from
his other faculty, or liberty, which was also mentioned before,
he can do those things which he thinks from his understanding.
Since the two faculties, of rationality and liberty, which are
proper to man, were treated of above, n. 240, therefore nothing
more need be said of them here.
248. THAT IF THE SUPERIOR OR SPIRITUAL DEGREE IS NOT
OPENED IN A MAN, HE BECOMES NATURAL AND SENSUAL. It
was shown above, that there are three degrees of the human
mind, natural, spiritual, and celestial, and that these degrees
may successively be opened; also, that the natural degree is
first opened, and that afterwards, if a man avoids evils as sins,
and looks to the Lord, the spiritual degree is opened, and lastly,
the celestial. Since these degrees are successively opened ac-
cording to a man's life, it follows, that the two superior degrees
may be not opened, and that man then continues in the natural
or ultimate degree. It is also known in the world, that there
is both a natural and a spiritual, or an external and an internal
man; but it is not known that the natural man becomes spi-
ritual by the opening of any superior degree in him, and that
such opening is effected by a spiritual life, which is a life accord-
ing to the divine commandments; and that without such life,
a man continues natural.
249. There are three kinds of natural men; one kind con-
sists of those who know nothing of the divine commandments;
the second consists of those who know that there are such com-
mandments, but think nothing of a life according to them;
and the third consists of those who despise and deny them.
84


THE DIVINE LOVE.
249–251
The first kind, who know nothing of the divine commandments,
must needs continue natural, since they cannot be taught from
themselves : every man is taught concerning the divine com-
mandments by others who know them from religion, and not
by immediate revelation; see the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JE-
RUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, n. 114 to 118.
The second kind, who know that there are divine command-
ments, but think nothing of a life according to them, also
remain natural, and care for nothing but what is of the world
and of the body : after death they become drudges and servants
according to the uses which they can perform to those who are
spiritual ; for the natural man is a drudge and a servant, and
the spiritual man is his master and lord. The third kind, who
despise and deny the divine commandments, not only remain
natural, but also become sensual, in proportion to their con-
tempt and denial : sensual men are the lowest natural men,
who cannot think above the appearances and fallacies of the
bodily senses : after death these are in hell.
250. Since it is not known in the world what the spiritual
man is, and what the natural, and since men who are merely
natural are often called spiritual, and vice versa, therefore the
two shall be distinctly treated of; and we shall shew, I. What
the natural man is, and what the spiritual man. II. The quality
of the natural man in whom the spiritual degree is opened.
III. The quality of the natural man in whom the spiritual degree
is not opened, but still not shut. IV. The quality of the natural
man in whom the spiritual degree is entirely shut. V. Lastly,
the difference between the life of a merely natural man and
the life of a beast.
251. 1. What the natural man is, and what the spiritual
man. A man is not a man by virtue of his face and body, but
by virtue of his understanding and will; wherefore by the na-
tural man and the spiritual man is meant his understanding and
will, which are either natural or spiritual. The natural man,
with respect to his understanding and will, is like the natural
world, and may also be called a little world, or microcosm ;
and the spiritual man, with respect to his understanding and
will, is like the spiritual world, and may also be called a spirit-
ual world, or heaven. Hence it is evident, that as the natural
man is in a certain image a natural world, he loves the things
of the natural world ; and that as the spiritual man is in a
certain image a spiritual world, he loves the things of that
world, or of heaven. The spiritual man, indeed, also loves the
natural world, but only as a master loves a servant, by whose
means he performs uses : according to uses also the natural man
becomes like the spiritual, and this when the natural man feels
pleasure in uses from the spiritual ; this natural man may be
called spiritual-natural. The spiritual man loves spiritual truths;
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251-253
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
he not only loves to know and understand them, but he also
wills them; while the spiritual-natural man loves to speak those
truths and to do them: to do truths is to perform uses. This
subordination arises from the conjunction of the spiritual and
natural worlds; for whatever appears and happens in the na-
tural world derives its cause from the spiritual world. Hence it
may appear, that the spiritual man is altogether distinct from
the natural man, and that there is no other communication be-
tween them than such as there is between cause and effect.
252. II. The quality of the natural man in whom the spirit-
ual degree is opened, is evident from what has been said above;
to which it may be added, that the natural man is a full man
when his spiritual degree is opened; he is then in association at
once with angels in heaven and with men in the world, and, in
his relation to both, lives under the guidance of the Lord; for
the spiritual man imbibes precepts through the Word from the
Lord, and executes them by the natural man. The natural
man, in whom the spiritual degree is open, does not know that
he thinks and acts from his spiritual man; for it appears as if it
was from himself; when nevertheless it is not from himself but
from the Lord : nor does he know that by his spiritual man he
is in heaven; nevertheless, his spiritual man is in the midst of
the angels of heaven, and he sometimes even appears to the
angels, but disappears after a short stay there, because he re-
tires into his natural man : nor does he know that his spiritual
mind is filled by the Lord with a thousand arcana of wisdom,
and a thousand delights of love, and that he comes into them
after death, when he becomes an angel. The natural man does
not know these things, because the communication between the
natural and spiritual man is effected by correspondences; and
communication by correspondences is not perceived any other-
wise in the understanding than that truths are seen in the
light, and in the will, than that uses are performed from
affection.
253. III. The quality of the natural man in whom the spi-
ritual degree is not opened, but still not shut. The spiritual de-
gree is not opened, but still not shut, in those who have lived
in some sort a life of charity, and yet have known but little of
genuine truth; for that degree is opened by the conjunction of
love and wisdom, or of heat and light: love alone, or spiritual
heat alone, does not open it, nor does wisdom alone or spiritual
light alone, but both in conjunction; wherefore, if genuine
truths, from which wisdom or light is derived, are not known,
love has no power to open that degree, but only keeps it capable
of being opened ; which is meant by its not being shut. The
same thing happens in the vegetable kingdom ; heat alone does
not cause seeds and trees to vegetate, but heat in conjunction
with light. It is to be observed, that all truths belong to spi-
86


THE DIVINE LOVE.
256, 257
because it is a tenet of angelic wisdom, which wisdom, although
it cannot be conceived by the natural man in the same manner
as by the angels, yet may be comprehended by the understand-
ing while it is elevated to the degree of light in which the an-
gels are ; for the understanding is capable of being so far
elevated, and of being enlightened according to its elevation.
The enlightenment of the natural mind, however, does not
ascend by discrete degrees, but increases by a continuous de-
gree, and as it increases, it is illustrated from within by the
light of the two higher degrees. How this is effected, may be
comprehended from a perception of the degrees of altitude, in
that one is above another, and that the natural or ultimate
degree, is as it were the common covering of the two higher
degrees; then as the natural degree is elevated to the degree of
the higher, so the higher from within acts on the exterior na-
tural, and illuminates it. Illumination is produced indeed from
within by the light of the superior degrees; but that light is re-
ceived by the natural degree, which infölds and surrounds them,
by continuity, therefore more clearly and purely according to
its ascent; that is, the natural degree is enlightened from
within by the light of the superior degrees discretely, but in
itself, continuously. Hence it is evident, that a man, so long as
he lives in the world, and is in the natural degree, cannot be
elevated into wisdom, like that of the angels, but only into
superior light, even to the angels, and to receive enlighten- !
ment from their light, which is influent from within and illu-
minates. These things, however, cannot be more clearly de-
scribed ; they may be comprehended better from effects, for
effects place causes, provided these are first a little understood,
in the light in themselves, and so illustrate them.
257. Effects are 1. That the natural mind may be elevated
to the light of heaven, in which the angels are, and perceive
naturally what the angels perceive spiritually, consequently, not
so fully ; but still the natural mind of man cannot be elevated
into true angelic light. 2. That a man, by his natural mind,
elevated to the light of heaven, may think with angels, and
speak with them ; but then the thought and speech of the an-
gels flow into the natural thought and speech of the man, and
not vice versa ; wherefore the angels speak with man in natural
language, or in the man's mother tongue. 3. That this is ef-
fected by spiritual influx into the natural principle, and not by
natural influx into the spiritual. 4. That human wisdom, which
is natural so long as a man lives in the world, cannot possibly be
exalted into angelic wisdom, but only into a certain image of it;
because the elevation of the human mind is effected by conti-
nuity, as from shade to light, or from grosser to purer : but
still the man in whom the spiritual degree is open, comes into
that wisdom when he dies, and may also come into it by laying
nowereken dede borst en het to
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257-259
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
asleep the sensations of the body, and by influx from above at
the same time into the spirituals of his mind. 5. The natural
mind of man consists both of spiritual and natural substances;
from its spiritual substances thought is produced, but not from
its natural substances; the latter substances recede when a man
dies, but not the spiritual substances; hence the same mind
after death, when a man becomes a spirit or angel, remains in a
form like what it had in the world. 6. The natural substances
of that mind, which, as has been said, recede by death, consti-
tute the cutaneous covering of the spiritual body of spirits and
angels : by means of this covering, which is taken from the
natural world, their spiritual bodies subsist; for the natural is
the ultimate continent: hence, there is no spirit or angel who
was not born a man. These arcana of angelic wisdom are here
adduced, that the quality of the natural mind in man may be
known; which is also further treated of in what follows.
258. Every man is born into the faculty of understanding
truths to the inmost degree, like the angels of the third heaven;
for the human understanding, rising by continuity about the
two superior degrees, receives the light of the wisdom of those
degrees, as before shewn, n. 256. Hence a man may become
rational according to this elevation. If it be elevated to the
third degree, he becomes rational from the third degree; if to
the second, from the second ; and if it is not elevated, he is
rational in the first degree. We say that he becomes rational
from those degrees, because the natural degree is the common
receptacle of their light. A man does not become rational to the
full height that he may, because love (which belongs to the will)
cannot be elevated in the same manner as wisdom, which be-
longs to the understanding : love, which belongs to the will, is
elevated only by shunning evils as sins, and by the goods of
charity, which are uses, which a man afterwards performs from
the Lord; consequently if love, which belongs to the will, be
not elevated at the same time, wisdom, which belongs to the
understanding, however it may have ascended, still relapses to
its love: hence a man, if his love be not at the same time ele-
vated to the spiritual degree, is still only rational in the ultimate
degree. From these considerations it may appear, that a man's
rational principle is in appearance as of three degrees, from a
celestial ground, from a spiritual ground, and from a natural
ground; also that rationality, which is the faculty of being
capable of elevation, whether it be elevated or not, still remains
in man.
259. We said that every man is born to that faculty, or to
rationality, but we mean every man whose externals are not
injured by accident, either in the womb, or after birth, by dis-
ease, or by wounds of the head, or from some insane love
breaking out and loosening all restraints. In such persons, the
90


THE DIVINE LOVE.
259-261
rational principle cannot be elevated; for life, which belongs to
the will and understanding, has in such persons no closing
terms or limits, so disposed as to enable it to perform ultimate
acts according to order : it acts according to ultimate determi-
nations, but not from them. That rationality cannot have
place in infants and children, may be seen below, n. 266,
the end.
260. THAT THE NATURAL MIND, BEING THE TEGUMENT AND
CONTINENT OF THE HIGHER DEGREES OF THE HUMAN MIND,
IS A RE-AGENT, AND IF THE SUPERIOR DEGREES ARE NOT
OPENED, IT ACTS AGAINST THEM, BUT IF THEY ARE OPENED,
IT ACTS WITH THEM. In the preceding article it was shewn,
that the natural mind, being in the ultimate degree, surrounds
and includes the spiritual and celestial minds, which are higher
as to degree ; it now comes to be shewn, that the natural mind
reacts against these higher or interior minds. It reacts, because
it covers, includes, and contains them, and this cannot be done
without reaction; if it did not react, the interiors or things
included would be relaxed and escape, and would be dispersed ;
just as if the coverings of the human body did not react, in
which case the viscera, or interiors of the body, would fall out,
and be dispersed; and as if the membrane that covers the
moving fibres of a muscle did not react against the powers of
those fibres in action, in which case not only would action cease,
but the interior textures would all be dissolved. It is the same
with every ultimate degree of the degrees of altitude; conse-
quently with the natural mind in respect to the higher degrees;
for, as was said above, there are three degrees of the human
mind, natural, spiritual, and celestial, and the natural mind is
in the ultimate degree. Again, the natural mind reacts against
the spiritual mind, because the natural mind consists of sub-
stances not only of the spiritual, but also of the natural world,
(as was said above, n. 257,) and the substances of the natural
world, from their nature, react against the substances of the
spiritual world : the substances of the natural world in them-
selves are dead, and are acted on from without by the substances
of the spiritual world; and things dead, and which are acted on
from without, naturally resist, and consequently react from their
very nature. Hence it is evident, that the natural man reacts
against the spiritual man, and that there is a combat. It is
the same thing whether you say the natural and spiritual man,
or the natural and spiritual mind.
261. Hence it may appear, that if the spiritual mind is
closed, the natural mind continually acts against the things of 1
the spiritual mind, and is afraid lest any thing should inflow
therefrom to disturb its states. All that inflows through the
spiritual mind is from heaven, for the spiritual mind in its form
is a heaven; and all that inflows into the natural mind is from
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261-263
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
men take thithin : here, and imitate them ; the
the world, for the natural mind in its form is a world ; whence,
the natural mind, when the spiritual mind is closed, reacts
against all things of heaven, and does not admit them, except
so far as they serve it as means to acquire and possess the things
of the world ; and when the things of heaven serve as means to
the natural man for his own ends, then those means, though
they appear heavenly, still become natural, and the end quali-
fies them; for they become as scientifics of the natural man, in
which there is no life internally. But as heavenly things cannot
be so joined to natural ones as to act as one, therefore they
separate themselves; and the heavenly things in merely natural
men take their station without, round about the natural things
which are within : hence a merely natural man can say and
preach heavenly things, and imitate them in his actions, al-
though inwardly he thinks against them; the latter he does
when alone, the former when in company. But of these things
more in what follows.
262. The natural mind or man, by a connate reaction, acts
against the things of the spiritual mind or man, when a man
loves himself and the world above all things; he then also feels
pleasure in evils of all kinds, as adultery, fraud, revenge, re-
viling, and the like; and he acknowledges nature as the creator
of the universe, and confirms all these things by his rational
principle; and after confirmation he either perverts, suffocates,
or reflects, the goods and truths of heaven and the church, and
at length either shuns, or holds in aversion, or hates them : this
he does in his spirit, and in body also so far as he dares to speak
from his spirit to others without fear of loss of reputation, which
he values for the sake of honor and gain. When a man is such,
he successively shuts his spiritual mind closer and closer: con-
firmations of evils by falses especially shut it: hence, confirmed
evil and false principles cannot be extirpated after death; they
can only be extirpated in the world by repentance.
263. But the state of the natural mind is altogether differ-
ent, when the spiritual mind is opened ; in this case the natural
mind is disposed in obedience to the spiritual mind, and held in
subordination. The spiritual mind acts from above and within
on the natural mind, and removes the things which react there,
and adapts to it those that act in the same manner with itself,
and hence the superabundant reaction is successively removed.
It is to be noted, that there is action and reaction in the greatest
and least things in the universe, as well living as dead; hence the
equilibrium of all things; which is taken away when action over-
comes reaction, or vice versa. It is the same with the natural
mind and the spiritual mind: when the natural mind acts from
the delights of its loves and the pleasantnesses of its thoughts,
which in themselves are evils and falses, then the reaction of the
natural mind removes the things of the spiritual mind, and shuts
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
263–266
the door against them, and causes action to proceed from such
things as accord with its own reaction : thus there is an action
and reaction of the natural mind, which is opposite to the action
and reaction of the spiritual mind; hence there is a closing of
the spiritual mind like the retorsion of a spire. But if the spi-
ritual mind is opened, then the action and reaction of the na-
tural mind is inverted; for the spiritual mind acts from above
or from within, and at the same time, by the things which are
disposed in obedience to it in the natural mind, from below or
from without, and retwists the spire which contains the action
and reaction of the natural mind; this mind by birth being in
opposition to the things of the spiritual mind, which opposition
it derives hereditarily from parents, as is well known. Such is
the change of state called reformation and regeneration. The
state of the natural mind before reformation may be compared
to a spire wreathing or convoluting downwards; but after re-
formation to a spire wreathing or convoluting upwards; where-
fore a man before reformation looks downwards to hell, but
after reformation he looks upwards to heaven.
264. THAT THE ABUSE OF THE FACULTIES WHICH ARE PRO-
PER TO MAN, CALLED RATIONALITY AND LIBERTY, IS THE
ORIGIN OF EVIL. By rationality is meant the faculty of under-
standing truths and thence falses, and goods and thence evils;
and by liberty is meant the faculty of thinking, willing, and
acting freely. From what has been said before it may appear,
and from what follows it will appear further, that every man
has these two faculties by creation and thence by birth, and
that they are from the Lord; and that they are not taken away
from him; and that by virtue thereof there is an appearance
that man thinks, speaks, wills, and acts as from himself; and
that the Lord dwells in these faculties in every man; and that
man in consequence of that conjunction lives to eternity; and
that man may be reformed and regenerated by them, and not
without them; also that they distinguish man from beasts.
265. That the abuse of these faculties is the origin of evil,
shall be shown in this order. I. That a bad man enjoys these
two faculties as well as a good man. II. That a bad man abuses
them to confirm evils and falses, and a good man uses them to
confirm goods and truths. III. That evils and falses when con-
firmed, remain, and become principles of a man's love and
thence of his life. IV. That those things which become prin-
ciples of the love, and of the life, are hereditary in a man's
offspring. V. That all evils, both hereditary and acquired, reside
in the natural mind.
266. I. That a bad man enjoys these two faculties as well as
a good man. That the natural mind may be elevated with respect
to the understanding, to the light in which the angels of the
third heaven dwell, and see truths, acknowledge them, and then
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
270—272
149
is made a man. The natural mind, with all things appertain-
ing to it, turns in spiral circumvolutions from right to left, but
the spiritual mind from left to right: thus these minds turn
contrariwise to each other; a sign that evil resides in the
natural mind, and that from itself it acts against the spiritual
mind : and the circumgyration from right to left turn down-
wards, consequently towards hell, but the circumgyration from
left to right tends upwards, consequently towards heaven. That
this is the case was made evident to me from the fact, that an
evil spirit cannot circumgyrate his body from left to right, but
from right to left; whereas a good spirit feels it difficult to cir-
cumgyrate his body from right to left, but easy from left to
right : the circumgyration follows the flux of the interiors be-
longing to the mind.
271. THAT EVILS AND FALSES ARE ENTIRELY OPPOSED TO
GOODS AND TRUTHS, BECAUSE EVILS AND FALSES ARE DIAB0-
LICAL AND INFERNAL, AND GOODS AND TRUTHS ARE DIVINE AND
HEAVENLY. That evil and good are opposites, as also the false
of evil and the truth of good, is acknowledged by everyone
who hears it; but as those who are in evil do not feel, and con-
sequently do not perceive otherwise than that evil is good, for
evil delights their senses, especially the sight and hearing, and
thence also delights the thoughts and thereby the perceptions,
therefore they acknowledge indeed that evil and good are oppo-
site; but when they are in evil, its delight causes them to say
that evil is good, and good evil. For example; he that abuses
his liberty to think and do evil, calls the abuse liberty, and its
opposite, which is to think good, which is good in itself, he
calls slavery, when nevertheless the latter is truly liberty, but
the former bondage. He that loves adultery, calls it liberty to
commit adultery, but slavery not to be allowed to commit it,
for he feels a delight in lasciviousness, and a disagreeableness
in chastity. He that is in the love of rule from the love of self,
feels a delight of life in that love, exceeding all other delights
whatever ; hence every thing appertaining to that love he calls
good, and every thing which opposes it, evil, when nevertheless
the reverse is true. It is the same with every other evil. Al-
though, therefore, every one acknowledges that evil and good
are opposite, still those who are in evils entertain a contrary
idea of that opposition, and only those who are in good enter-
tain a just idea : no one, while he is in evil, can see good, but
he who is in good can see evil. Evil is below as in a cave, good
is above as on a mountain.
272. Now as many do not know what evil is, and that it is
altogether opposite to good, and nevertheless it is of importance
that it should be known, therefore the subject shall be con-
sidered in the following order. I. That the natural mind, which
is in evils and consequent falses, is a form and image of hell.
97
HI


283–285
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
76. in and that the Dices of the universabove, n. 7 to 10:
Many have seen this, for reason gives to see it; but they durst
not confirm it, fearing that thereby they might come to think,
that the created universe is God, because it is from God, or that
nature exists from itself, and thus that its inmost is what is
called God. Hence, although many have seen, that the exist-
ence of all things is from no other source than from God and
His esse, nevertheless they durst not proceed beyond the first
thought on the subject, lest they should entangle their under-
standings in a Gordian knot, as it is called, from whence they
might not afterwards be able to extricate them. The reason
why they might not have been able to extricate their understand-
ings, is, because they thought of God, and of the creation of
the universe by God, from time and space, which are proper to
nature; and no one can perceive God and the creation of the
universe from nature, but every one, whose understanding is in
any degree of interior light, may perceive nature and its crea-
tion from God, because God is not in time and space. That
the Divine is not in space, may be seen above, n. 7 to 10: that
the Divine fills all spaces of the universe without space, n. 69
to 72 : and that the Divine is in all time without time, n. 73 to
76. In what follows it will be seen, that although God created
the universe and all things therein from Himself, still there is
nothing at all in the created universe, which is God: other things
will also be shewn, which will place this matter in its proper
light.
284. The first part of this work treated of God; that He is
divine love and divine wisdom, and that He is life, also that He
is a substance and form which is the real and sole esse. The
second part treated of the spiritual sun and its world, and of the
natural sun and its world; and that the universe with all things
therein was created from God by means of these two suns. The
third part treated of the degrees in which is all and every thing
that is created. This fourth part will now treat of the creation
of the universe by God. These subjects are treated of because
the angels have lamented before the Lord, that when they look
into the world they see nothing but darkness, and among men
no knowledge of God, of heaven, and of the creation of nature,
whereupon their wisdom might rest.
285. THAT THE LORD FROM ETERNITY, OR JEHOVAH, COULD
NOT HAVE CREATED THE UNIVERSE AND ALL THINGS THERE-
IN, IF HE WERE NOT A MAN. Those who have a natural cor-
poreal idea of God as a man, cannot at all comprehend, how
God as a man could create the universe and all things therein;
for they think to themselves, how can God as a man wander
through the universe from space to space, and create; or how
can He from His place speak the word, and, when it is spoken,
creation ensue? Such things fall into the ideas, when it is
said that God is a man, among those who think of God-Man as
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
285, 286
of a man in the world, and who think of God from nature, and
the things proper to nature, which are time and space. But
those who think of God-Man, not from their ideas of a man in
the world, and not from nature and the space and time thereof,
clearly perceive that the universe could not have been created,
if God were not a man. Give your thought into the angelic
idea concerning God as being a man, and remove as much as
you can the idea of space, and in thought you will come near
to the truth. Certain of the learned even perceive that spirits
and angels are not in space, because they perceive what is spi-
ritual without space; for it is like thought, which although it is
in a man, still he can thereby be as it were present elsewhere,
even in the remotest place. Such is the state of spirits and
angels, who are men, even as to their bodies. They appear in the
place where their thought is, because spaces and distances in
the spiritual world are appearances, and act as one with their
thought from affection. Whence it may be evident, that God,
who appears far above the spiritual world as a sun,—to whom
there cannot be any appearance of space,-is not to be thought
of from space; and that in this case it may be comprehended,
that He created the universe not from nothing, but from Himself:
also that His human body cannot be thought either great or
small, or of any stature, because this also is of space; and hence
that in principles and ultimates, and in the greatest and least
things, He is the same; and moreover, that the human is the
inmost in every thing created, but without space. That the
Divine in the greatest and least things is the same, may be seen
above, n. 77 to 82: and that the Divine fills all spaces without
space, n. 69 to 72; and as the Divine is not in space, neither is
it continuous, as the inmost of nature is.
286. That God could not have created the universe and all
things therein if He were not a man, may be very clearly com-
prehended by an intelligent person from this consideration, that
he cannot deny in himself, that in God there are love and wis-
dom, mercy and clemency, and good and truth itself, because
they are from Him; and as he cannot deny that these things
are in God, neither can he deny that God is a man; for none
of these things can exist abstractedly from man; man is their
subject, and to separate them from their subject is to say that
they do not exist. Think of wisdom, and suppose it out of a man;
is it any thing? Can you conceive of it as something æthereal,
or flaming? You cannot, unless possibly as in those principles;
and if in them, it must then be wisdom in a form, such as a man
has; it must be in all his form,—not one thing can be wanting
for wisdom to be in it: in a word, the form of wisdom is a man;
and as a man is the form of wisdom, he is also the form of love,
mercy, clemency, good, and truth, because these make one
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ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
with wisdom. That love and wisdom cannot exist but in a form,
may be seen above, n. 40 to 43.
287. That love and wisdom are man, may also appear from
the angels of heaven, who, in proportion as they are in love and
consequent wisdom from the Lord, are in the same proportion
in beauty, men. The same may appear from its being said of
Adam, in the Word, “that he was created into the likeness and
image of God,” Genesis i. 26, 27, because into the form of love
and wisdom. Every man of the earth is born in a human form
as to his body; because his spirit, which is also called his soul,
is a man; and it is a man, because it is receptible of love and
wisdom from the Lord ; and in as far as the spirit or soul of a
man receives, in so far does he become a man after the death of
the material body that surrounded him; and in so far as he does
not receive, he becomes a monster, which partakes something
of man from the faculty of receiving.
288. As God is a man, therefore the universal angelic heaven
in its complex resembles one man; and it is divided into regions
and provinces according to the members, viscera, and organs of
a man. There are societies of heaven which constitute the pro-
vince of all parts of the brain, and of all the organs of the
face, also of all the viscera of the body; and these provinces
are distinct from each other, just as those organs are in man;
the angels know also in what province of man they are. The
universal heaven is in this form, because God is a man: and
God is heaven, because the angels, who constitute heaven, are
recipients of love and wisdom from the Lord, and recipients are
images. That heaven is in the form of all parts of a man, is
shown in the ARCANA CELESTIA at the end of several chapters.
289. These considerations shew the emptiness of ideas with
those who think of God otherwise than as of a man, and
of the divine attributes otherwise than as being in God as a
man; because, when separated from man they are mere figments
of the mind. That God is very man, and that from God every
man is a man according to the reception of love and wisdom,
may be seen above, n. 11, 12, 13: the same thing is here shewn
on account of what follows, that the creation of the universe
may be perceived as being produced by God because He is man.
290. THAT THE LORD FROM ETERNITY, OR JEHOVAH, PRO-
DUCED FROM HIMSELF THE SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD,
AND FROM IT CREATED THE UNIVERSE AND ALL THINGS
THEREIN. The sun of the spiritual world was treated of in
Part II, and there it was shown, that the divine love and wis-
dom appear in the spiritual world as a sun, n. 83 to 88: that
spiritual heat and light proceed from that sun, n. 89 to 92:
that that sun is not God, but a proceeding from the divine love
and divine wisdom of God-man, so likewise the heat and light
of that sun, n. 93 to 98: that the sun of the spiritual world is
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
295—299
which contained a distinct sense. But what is wonderful, they
said, that they seemed to themselves to think, speak, and write
in their spiritual state, in the same manner as a man does in
his natural state ; when nevertheless there is nothing similar.
Hence it was evident, that natural and spiritual differ according
to degrees of altitude, and have no communication with each
other but by correspondences.
296. THAT IN THE LORD THERE ARE THREE THINGS WHICH
ARE THE LORD, THE DIVINE OF LOVE, THE DIVINE OF WISDOM,
AND THE DIVINE OF USE; AND THAT THESE THREE ARE PRE-
SENTED IN APPEARANCE OUT OF THE SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL
WORLD; THE DIVINE OF LOVE BY HEAT, THE DIVINE OF WIS-
DOM BY LIGHT, AND THE DIVINE OF USE BY THE ATMOSPHERE,
WHICH IS THE CONTINENT. That heat and light proceed from
the sun of the spiritual world, and that the heat proceeds from
the Lord's divine love, and the light from His divine wisdom,
may be seen above, n. 89 to 92, 99 to 102, 146 to 150. It
shall now be shown, that the third proceeding from the sun in
that world is the atmosphere, which is the continent of heat
and light, and that this atmosphere proceeds from the Lord's
Divine, which is called use.
297. Every one, who thinks with any enlightenment, may
see, that love has for end and intends use, and produces use by
wisdom. Love of itself cannot produce any use, but by means
of wisdom. What, indeed, is love, unless there be something
that is loved ? This something is use : and as use is what is
loved, and it is produced by wisdom, it follows that use is the
continent of wisdom and love. That these three, love, wisdom,
and use, follow in order according to the degrees of altitude,
and that the ultimate degree is the complex, continent, and
basis of the prior degrees, was shown at n. 209 to 216, and
elsewhere. Hence it may appear, that these three, the Divine
of love, the Divine of wisdom, and the Divine of use, are in
the Lord, and that in essence they are the Lord.
298. That man considered as to exteriors and interiors is a
form of all uses, and that all uses in the created universe cor-
respond to those uses, will be fully shown in what follows: it is
merely mentioned here, in order to shew, that God as a Man is
the essential form of all uses,—the form from which all the uses
in the created universe derive their origin; and that the created
universe, viewed as to uses, is an image of God. Those things
that are from God-Man, that is, from the Lord, by creation in
order are called uses ; but not those that are from man's pro-
prium, for that proprium is hell, and those things that are from
it are contrary to order.
299. Now as these three, love, wisdom, and use, are in the
Lord, and are the Lord, and as the Lord is every where, being
omnipresent; and as He cannot present Himself to any angel
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299–302
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
: The is to wisay such
or man, as He is in Himself and in His own sun, therefore
He presents Himself by such things as can be received,—as to
love by heat, as to wisdom by light, and as to use by the atmo-
sphere. The Lord presents Himself as to use by the atmo-
sphere, because the atmosphere is the continent of heat and
light, as use is the continent of love and wisdom. The light
and heat that proceed from the divine sun cannot proceed in
nothing, consequently not in a vacuum, but in some continent
which is their subject; and this continent we call the atmo-
sphere, which surrounds the sun, and receives him in its bosom,
and conveys him to the heavens where angels dwell, and thence
to the world the dwelling of men, and thus presents the Lord
every where.
300. That there are atmospheres in the spiritual world as
well as in the natural world, was shown above, n. 173 to 178,
179 to 183; and it was said, that the atmospheres of the spi-
ritual world are spiritual, and those of the natural world, natural.
Now from the origin of the spiritual atmosphere proximately
surrounding the spiritual sun, it may appear, that every part of
it in its essence is such as the sun is in its essence. The angels
prove this by their spiritual ideas which are without space, from
the consideration, that there is one only substance, the source
of all things, and that the sun of the spiritual world is that
substance; and as the Divine is not in space, and as it is the
same in the greatest and least things, that so in like manner is
that sun, which is the first proceeding of God-Man: and more-
over, that that only substance, the sun, proceeding by means
of atmospheres through degrees of continuity or latitude, and
at the same time through discrete degrees or degrees of alti-
tude, produces the varieties of all things in the created universe.
The angels said, that these things can in no wise be compre-
hended, unless spaces be removed from the ideas; and that if
spaces be not removed, it is impossible but appearances must
induce fallacies; which nevertheless cannot be induced, so long
as men think that God is the real esse from which all things
originate.
301. Moreover from angelic ideas, which are without space,
it is manifest, that in the created universe nothing lives, but
God-Man alone, that is, the Lord, and that nothing moves
but by life from Him; and that nothing exists but by the
sun from Him; thus that it is a truth, that in God we live,
move, and are.
302. THAT THE ATMOSPHERES, WHICH ARE THREE IN BOTH
THE SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL WORLDS, IN THEIR ULTIMATES
END IN SUBSTANCES AND MATTERS, LIKE THOSE ON THE EARTH.
That there are three atmospheres in both the spiritual and
natural worlds, distinct from each other according to degrees of
altitude, and which in descending decrease according to degrees
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ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
degrees of both kinds in the least of all things, because the
spiritual sun is the only substance, and the source of all things,
according to the spiritual ideas of the angels, n. 300.
305. THAT IN THE SUBSTANCES AND MATTERS OF WHICH
EARTHS CONSIST, THERE IS NOTHING OF THE DIVINE IN IT-
SELF, BUT THAT STILL THEY ARE FROM THE DIVINE IN ITSELF.
The origin of earths, treated of in the preceding article, may
shew that in the substances and matters of which they consist
there is nothing of the Divine in itself, but that they are de-
prived of all that is Divine in itself; being, as was there said,
the ends and terminations of the atmospheres, whose heat has
ended in cold, their light in darkness, and their activity in
inertness; but still they have brought with them, by continua-
tion from the substance of the spiritual sun, that which was
there from the Divine, which (as was said above, n. 291 to 293)
was a sphere surrounding God-Man or the Lord; from this
sphere, by continuation from the sun, proceeded, by means of
the atmospheres, the substances and matters of which the earths
consist.
306. The origin of earths from the spiritual sun by means
of the atmospheres, cannot be otherwise described by words
flowing from natural ideas, but only by words flowing from
spiritual ideas, because the latter are without space; and being
so, they do not fall into any words of natural language. That
spiritual thought, speech, and writing, differ so much from na-
tural thought, speech, and writing, that the two have nothing
in common, and communicate only by correspondences, may
be seen above, n. 295; it is enough therefore that the origin
of earths may be in some measure perceived naturally
307. THAT ALL USES, WHICH ARE THE ENDS OF CREATION,
ARE IN FORMS, AND THAT THEY RECEIVE THEIR FORMS FROM
SUCH SUBSTANCES AND MATTERS AS THOSE ON THE EARTH.
All things which have hitherto been spoken of, as the sun, the
atmospheres, and earths, are only means to ends: the ends of
creation are the things produced by the Lord as a sun, through
the atmospheres, from the earths, and these ends are called
uses; they embrace, in their whole extent, all things of the
vegetable kingdom, all things of the animal kingdom, and at
length the human race, and by the human race the angelic
heaven. These are called uses, because they are recipients of
divine love and divine wisdom ; also because they look to God,
their Creator, and thereby conjoin Him to His great work, and
by this conjunction cause themselves to subsist from Him as
they existed. We say that they look to God their Creator, and
conjoin Him to His great work, but this is spoken from ap-
pearance: the meaning is, that God the Creator causes them to
look, and conjoin themselves as of themselves; but how they
look, and thereby conjoin, will be shewn in what follows. On
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
307–310
these subjects something was before said, where it was shewn,
that divine love and divine wisdom cannot do otherwise than be
and exist in others created from them, n. 47 to 51: that all
things in the created universe are recipients of divine love and
divine wisdom, n. 54 to 60: that the uses of all created things
ascend by degrees to man, and by man to God the Creator
from whom they originate, n. 65 to 68.
308. That the ends of creation are uses, is clearly seen
by every one, when he thinks that from God the Creator no-
thing else can exist, and therefore nothing else be created, but
use; and in order to its being use, that it must be for others;
and that use for a man's self is also for others, since use for
himself is to the intent that he may be in a state to be of use
to others. He who thinks this, may also think, that use, which
is use, cannot exist from man, but with man from Him from
whom all which exists is use, thus from the Lord.
309. But as the forms of uses are here to be considered,
they shall be treated of in the following order: 1. That there
is an endeavor in earths to produce uses in forms, or forms of
uses. II. That there is a certain image of the universal crea-
tion in all forms of uses. III. That there is a certain image of
man in all forms of uses. IV. That there is a certain image of
infinite and eternal in all forms of uses.
310. I. That in earths there is an endeavor to produce uses
in forms, or forms of uses. That in earths there is such an
endeavor, is evident from their origin, in that the substances
and matters of which earths consist are the ends and termina-
tions of the atmospheres which proceed as uses from the spi-
ritual sun (as may be seen above, n. 305, 306); and as the
substances and matters of which earths consist are from that
origin, and their masses are held in connection by the circum-
pressure of the atmospheres, it follows that they have thence
a perpetual endeavor to produce forms of uses: the quality of
being able to produce they derive from their origin, which is,
that they are the ultimates of the atmospheres, with which
therefore they accord. It is said that that endeavor and quality
are in earths, but it is meant that they are in the substances
and matters of which earths consist, whether they be in earths,
or exhaled from earths in the atmospheres : that the atmospheres
are full of such substances is well known. That such an endea-
vor and quality exists in the substances and matters of earths,
is manifest from the fact, that seeds of all kinds, opened to
their inmost by means of heat, are impregnated by very subtile
substances, which being from a spiritual origin, and thereby
having the power of conjoining themselves to use, whence their
prolific quality, and then by conjunction with matters from
a natural origin, cannot but produce forms of uses, and after-
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ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
wards send them forth as it were from the womb, that they may
also come into the light, and germinate and grow. This endea-
vor is afterwards continual from the earths by the root to the
ultimates, and from the ultimates to the primaries, in which
the use itself is in its origin. Thus uses pass into forms: and
forms derived from use, which is as it were the soul in their
progression from primaries to ultimates, and from ultimates to
primaries, receive this property, that all and each of them is of
some use: it is said that use is as it were the soul, because its
form is as it were the body. That there is a still more interior
endeavor,—to produce uses by egermination for the animal
kingdom, also follows of consequence, for animals of all kinds
are nourished thereby. That there is also an inmost endeavor
in them to furnish use to mankind, likewise follows, as is mani.
fest from these considerations, I. That they are ultimates, and
ultimates contain all prior things together in their order, ac-
cording to what was shown above in divers places. II. That
there are degrees of both kinds in the greatest and least of all
things, as was shown above, n. 222 to 229, which is true in
respect to the above endeavor. III. That all uses are produced
by the Lord from ultimates, wherefore the endeavor towards
uses must be in ultimates.
311. But still all these endeavors are not living, for they
are endeavors of the ultimate powers of life, in which powers,
by virtue of the life from whence they are derived, there is at
length an effort to return to their origin by proffered means :
the atmospheres in their ultimates become such powers, whereby
substances and matters, like those in earths, are actuated into
forms, and contained in forms within and without. But there
is not time to demonstrate this matter more at large, the sub-
ject being so extensive.
312. The first production from those earths, when they were
still recent, and in their simplicity, was the production of seeds;
the first endeavor in them could not be any other.
313. II. That there is a certain image of creation in all
forms of uses. Forms of uses are of three kinds; forms of uses
of the mineral kingdom, forms of uses of the vegetable king-
dom, and forms of uses of the animal kingdom. The forms of
uses of the mineral kingdom cannot be described, because they
are invisible: the first forms are the substances and matters of
earths in their least parts; the second forms are compositions
therefrom, of infinite variety; the third forms are from vege-
tables fallen to dust, and from dead animals, and from their
continual evaporations and exhalations, which added to earths,
constitute the ground. The forms of the three degrees of the
mineral kingdom exhibit an image of creation, in that being
actuated by the atmospheres and their heat and light, they pro-
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319–322
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
of living by its heat, sees by its light, and hears and breathes
by its atmospheres : these circumstances, however, do not make
a man a microcosm, as the universe with all things therein is a
macrocosm. The ancients called a man a microcosm, or little
universe, from the science of correspondences, in which the
most ancient people were principled, and in their communica-
tion with the angels of heaven; for the angels of heaven know,
from the visible things about them, that all things in the uni-
verse, viewed as to uses, represent man in an image.
320. But that a man is a microcosm, or little universe, because
the created universe, viewed as to uses, is in image a man, can-
not enter the thought and knowledge of any one, but from the
idea of the universe as seen in the spiritual world ; wherefore it
cannot be proved but by some angel in the spiritual world, or
by some one to whom it has been granted to be in that world,
and to see the things therein; as this has been granted to me,
I am enabled, by what I have seen there, to reveal this arcanum.
321. Be it known, that the spiritual world in external ap-
pearance is altogether similar to the natural world: lands, moun-
tains, hills, valleys, plains, fields, lakes, rivers, fountains, ap-
pear there, consequently all things of the mineral kingdom
appear there; also paradises, gardens, groves, woods, contain-
ing trees and shrubs of all kinds with fruits and seeds, also
plants, flowers, herbs, and grasses, consequently all things of
the vegetable kingdom ; animals, birds, and fishes of all kinds,
consequently all things of the animal kingdom appear there :
a man there is an angel and a spirit. This is premised in order
that it may be known, that the universe of the spiritual world
is altogether similar to the universe of the natural world, only
that things there are not fixed and stationary like those in the
natural world, because nothing is natural, but every thing spi-
ritual in the spiritual world.
322. That the universe of that world resembles in image a
man, may appear manifest from this, that all the things just
mentioned, n. 321, appear to the life, and exist about an angel,
and about angelic societies, as produced or created from them;
they remain about them, and do not go away : that they are as
things produced or created from them is evident from this, that
when an angel goes away, or a society departs to another place,
they no longer appear; also when other angels come in their
place, that the face of all things about them changes, the para-
dises change as to trees and fruits, the gardens as to roses and
seeds, the fields as to herbs and grasses, and the kinds of ani-
mals and birds likewise change. Such things exist, and so
change, because they all exist according to the affections and
derivative thoughts of the angels, for they are correspondences;
and as things which correspond make one with him to whom
they correspond, therefore they are a representative image of
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333-335
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
joy, protection to infesting evils, and preservation of state to
eternal life. All these are given by the Lord, according to the
acknowledgment that all things of the body are also from the
Lord, and that a man is but a servant and steward appointed
over the goods of his Lord.
334. That such things are given to man to use, and that
they are gratuitous gifts, is manifest from the state of the an-
gels in the heavens, who have a body and a rational and spi-
ritual principle, like men on earth. They are nourished gratis,
for every day food is given them; they are clothed gratis, be-
cause garments are given them; they dwell gratis, because
houses are given them; and they have no care for all these
things, and so far as they are rational-spiritual, they have de-
light, protection, and preservation of state. The difference is,
that the angels see that these things are from the Lord, because
they are created according to their state of love and wisdom, as
was shown in the preceding article, n. 322, and that men do
not see it, because they return yearly, and do not exist accord-
ing to the state of their love and wisdom, but according to
their care.
335. Although it is said that they are uses, because through
man they have relation to the Lord, still it cannot be said that
they are uses from man for the Lord's sake, but from the Lord
for man's sake; because all uses are infinitely one in the Lord,
and none in man except from the Lord ; a man cannot do good
from himself, but from the Lord, and good is use. The essence
of spiritual love is to do good to others, not for the sake of self,
but for the sake of others; infinitely more so is the essence of
divine love. This is like the love of parents towards children,
who do good to them out of love, not for their own sake, but
for the sake of their children, as is manifest in the love of a
mother towards her children. It is believed that the Lord, be-
cause He is to be adored, worshiped, and glorified, loves adora-
tion, worship, and glory, for His own sake; but He loves them
for man's sake, because man thereby comes into such a state,
that the Divine can flow in and be perceived, for thereby man
removes his proprium which prevents influx and reception : his
proprium, which is the love of self, hardens his heart and shuts
it. This is removed by the acknowledgment that from himself
nothing is done but evil, and from the Lord nothing but good;
hence comes a softening of the heart and humiliation, from
which adoration and worship flow. Hence it follows, that the
use which the Lord performs to Himself by man, is, that out
of love He may be able to do good to man, and because this is
His love, reception is the delight of his love. Let not any one
therefore believe that the Lord is with those who only adore
Him, but that He is with those who do His commandments,
consequently who perform uses; with the latter He has His
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
335-338
abode, but not with the former. See what was said above on
this subject, n. 47, 48, 49.
336. THAT EVIL USES WERE NOT CREATED BY THE LORD,
BUT THAT THEY ORIGINATED TOGETHER WITH HELL. All goods
which exist in act are called uses, and all evils which exist in
act are also called uses, but the latter are called evil uses, and
the former good uses. Now as all goods are from the Lord, and
all evils from hell, it follows, that no other than good uses were
created by the Lord, and that evil uses originated from hell.
By uses, which are treated of in particular in this article, we
mean all things that appear on earth, as animals of all kinds
and vegetables of all kinds; of both the latter and the former,
those which furnish use to man are from the Lord, and those
which do hurt to man are from hell. In like manner by uses
from the Lord we mean all things that perfect man's rational,
and cause him to receive a spiritual principle from the Lord ;
but by evil uses, all things that destroy the rational principle,
and prevent man from becoming spiritual. The things that do
hurt to man are called uses, because they are of use to the
wicked to do evil, and because they contribute to absorb malig-
nities, and thus also as remedies. Use is applied in both senses,
like love; for we speak of good love and evil love, and love calls
all that use which is done by itself.
337. That good uses are from the Lord, and evil uses from
hell, will be shewn in this order. I. What is meant by evil
uses on earth. II. That all things that are evil uses are in hell,
and all that are good uses in heaven. III. That there is a con-
tinual influx from the spiritual into the natural world. IV.
That influx from hell operates those things that are evil uses in
places where those things are that correspond. V. That the
spiritual ultimate separated from its higher principle, operates
this. VI. That there are two forms on which operation takes
place by influx, the vegetable and the animal form. VII. That
both these forms receive the faculty of propagating their kind,
and the means of propagation.
338. 1. What is meant by evil uses on earth. Evil uses on
earth mean all noxious things in both the animal and vegetable
kingdoms, and also in the mineral kingdom. It would be
tedious to enumerate all the noxious things in these kingdoms;
for this would be to heap up names, which, without indication of
the noxious effect that each kind produces, does not promote
the use which this work intends. For the sake of science it is
sufficient here to name some particulars. Such in the animal
kingdom are poisonous serpents, scorpions, crocodiles, dragons,
horned-owls, screech-owls, mice, locusts, frogs, spiders ; also flies,
drones, moths, lice, mites, in a word, those that consume grasses,
leaves, fruits, seeds, meat, and drink, and are noxious to beasts
and men. In the vegetable kingdom they are all malignant,
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
346—3-19
animals, by virtue of theirs, are affections and appetites, as
was said before.
347. VII. That both forms, as long as they exist, receive
the means of propagation. That in all products of the earth,
which, as was said, belong either to the vegetable or animal
kingdom, there is an image of creation, and an image of man,
and also an image of infinite and eternal, was shewn above,
n. 313 to 318, and that the image of infinite and eternal is
manifest in this, that they may be propagated to infinity and
eternity: hence they all receive the means of propagation,—the
subjects of the animal kingdom by seed in the egg, or in the
womb, or by spawning, and the subjects of the vegetable king-
dom by seed in the earth. Hence it may appear, that although
imperfect and noxious animals and vegetables originate by im-
mediate influx from hell, still they are mediately propagated
afterwards by seeds, eggs, or graffs; the one position does not
disprove the other.
348. That all uses, both good and evil, are from a spiritual
origin, thus from the sun where the Lord is, may be illustrated
by this experience. I heard that certain goods and truths were
sent down through the heavens from the Lord to the hells, and
that the same being received were by degrees changed in their
descent into the evils and falses opposite to the goods and truths
that were sent down : the reason of this was, that recipient
subjects turn all things that flow into them into what accords
with their own forms, as objects whose substances are interiorly
in such a form as to suffocate and extinguish the light, turn the
sun’s white light into blackness and foul colors; and as stag-
nant waters, dung, and dead carcases, turn the heat of the sun
into offensive smells. Hence it may appear, that even evil uses
are from the spiritual sun, but that good uses are converted into
evil uses in hell. And hence it is evident that the Lord does
not and never did create any but good uses, but that hell pro-
duces evil uses.
349. THAT THE VISIBLE THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE
TESTIFY, THAT NATURE HAS PRODUCED NOTHING AND DOES PRO-
DUCE NOTHING, BUT THAT THE DIVINE HAS PRODUCED AND
DOES PRODUCE ALL THINGS FROM HIMSELF, AND THROUGH THE
SPIRITUAL WORLD. Most people, in the world, speak from ap-
pearance, and say, that the sun by heat and light produces what
is seen in plains, fields, gardens, and woods; also that the sun
by his heat brings forth worms from eggs, and causes the beasts
of the earth and the fowls of heaven to be prolific; yea, that it
even vivifies man. Those who speak thus only from appearance,
may do so without ascribing these things to nature, for they do
not think on the subject : just like those who speak of the sun
as rising and setting, and causing days and years, and being
now in this or that degree of altitude ; such persons speak from
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349–351
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
appearance, and may do so, and yet not attribute such things
to the sun, for they do not think of the sun's station and the
earth’s revolution. But those who confirm themselves in think-
ing, that the sun by heat and light produces those things that
appear on earth, at length ascribe all things to nature, even the
creation of the universe, and become naturalists, and at last
atheists : these indeed can say afterwards, that God created
nature, and endued her with the power of producing such
things; this they say from fear of losing reputation; but still
by God the Creator they mean nature, some, her inmost, and
in this case they make light of the divine things taught by the
church.
350. Some indeed are to be excused for ascribing certain
visible things to nature, for two reasons : firstly, because they
knew nothing of the sun of heaven, where the Lord is, or of
influx thence; and nothing of the spiritual world and its state,
or of its presence with man; and hence could not think other-
wise than that spiritual was a purer natural; and thus that the
angels were either in the ether or in the stars; and respecting
the devil, that he was either man's evil, or, if he actually ex-
isted, was either in the air or the deep; also that the souls of
men after death were either in the middle of the earth, or in
some abstract place or space till the day of judgment; and
other such like things, which phantasy has suggested from ig-
norance of the spiritual world and its sun: secondly, because
they could not know how the Divine could produce all things
that appear on earth, where there are both good and evil
things; fearing to confirm themselves in this lest they should
also ascribe evil things to God, and conceive a material idea of
God, and make God and nature one, and confound them.
These are the two reasons why those who have believed that
nature produces visible things by an inherent power from crea-
tion are to be excused; yet still those who have made them-
selves atheists by confirmations in favor of nature, are not to
be excused, because they might have confirmed themselves in
favor of the Divine : ignorance excuses indeed, but does not
take away the confirmed false, which false coheres with evil,
consequently with hell : wherefore those persons, who have so
far confirmed themselves in favor of nature as to separate the
Divine from it, consider nothing as sin, because all sin is
against the Divine, which they have separated and rejected;
and those who in spirit consider nothing as sin, after death,
when they become spirits, are allied to hell, and rush into
wickedness, according to the lusts to which they have yielded
themselves.
351. Those who believe the divine operation in all things in
nature, may confirm themselves in favor of the Divine by much
that they see there. Those who so confirm themselves, attend
tion de produce two pd and mod
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
351, 352
to the wonders that are seen in the production of vegetables
and animals. In the production of vegetables : that from a little
seed cast into the earth proceeds a root, and from the root a
stem, and successively branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, ending
in new seeds; just as though the seed knew the order of suc-
cession, or process whereby it was to renew itself. What rational
man can think, that the sun, which is pure fire, knows this,
or that he can endue his heat and light with power to effect
such things, or can form the wonders in them, and intend use?
No man of elevated rationality, who sees and weighs these
things, can think otherwise than that they are from Him who
has infinite wisdom, thus from God. Those who acknowledge
the Divine, see and think this, but those who do not, neither
see nor think it, because they will not; thus they let down
their rationality into sensuality, which derives all its ideas from
the light of the bodily senses, and confirms their fallacies, sug-
gesting, Do not you see the sun by his heat and light producing
these things ? What is that which you do not see? Is it any
thing? Those who confirm themselves in favor of the Divine,
attend to the wonderful things that are seen in the production
of animals : to mention here only with respect to eggs, that in
them lies a chicken in its seed or initiament, with every requi-
site until it leaves the shell, and with all its progression after-
wards, until it becomes a fowl or bird of the same form as its
parent: and if he attends to its form, it is such as must astonish
him, if he thinks deeply, seeing that in both the smallest and
largest of such animals, in both the invisible and the visible,
there are the organs of the senses,—of sight, smell, taste, feel-
ing,-organs of motion, or muscles, for they fly and walk; and
viscera, surrounding the heart and lungs, that are set in action
by the brains. That mean insects also have such things, is
known from their anatomy as described by writers, especially
by Swammerdam, in the BIBLIA NATURÆ. ' Those who ascribe
all things to nature, do indeed see these things, but they only
think that they exist, and say that nature produces them, and
this they say because they have averted the mind from thinking
of the Divine; and those who have done this, when they see the
wonders of nature, cannot think rationally, much less spiritually,
but think sensually and materially, and then think in nature
from nature, and not above her, just as those do who are in
hell, differing from beasts only in having rationality, that is,
in being able to understand, and so to think otherwise, if
they will.
352. Those who have averted themselves from thinking of
the Divine when they see the wonders of nature, and thereby
are become sensual, do not recollect that the sight of the eye is
so gross, as to see several little insects as one obscure thing,
and that nevertheless every one of these is organized to feel and
131
se who have
the world that the core olbalto feel
K
2


352–351
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
move, and thus endowed with fibres and vessels, with little
hearts, pulmonary pipes, viscera, and brains, and that these
are woven of the purest things in nature, and that their tissues
correspond to something of life, by which their minutest parts
are distinctly actuated. Since the sight of the eye is so gross,
that many such, with innumerable things in each, appear as
one little obscure thing, and yet those who are sensual think
and judge from such sight, it is evident how gross their minds
have become, and in what darkness they are concerning spi-
ritual things.
353. Every one may confirm himself in favor of the Divine,
if he will, from things visible in nature, and he that thinks of
i God from life, does also so confirm himself; as while he sees
the fowls of heaven,—that each species of them knows its food
and where it is, knows its companions by sound and sight, and
among others, which are its friends, and which its enemies;
that they join in connubial connection, know how to copulate,
build nests with art, lay eggs there, sit upon them, know the
time of incubation, on the completion of which they hatch
their young, love them most tenderly, cherish them under their
wings, provide food for them and feed them, until they can pro-
vide for themselves and do the like, and procreate a family to
perpetuate their kind. Every one who will think of the divine
influx through the spiritual world into the natural, may see it
in these things; for ħe may say in his heart, if he will, such
knowledge cannot flow into them from the sun by his rays of
light, for the sun, from which nature derives its origin and
essence, is pure fire, and therefore its rays of light are abso-
lutely dead, and thus he may conclude that such things are
from an influx of divine wisdom into the ultimates of nature.
354. Every one may confirm himself in favor of the Divine
from things visible in nature, when he sees worms, which, from
the delight of a certain desire, affect and aspire to a change of
their earthly state into a kind of heavenly one, and for that
purpose creep into particular places, and lay themselves as in
the womb, to be born again, and there become chrysalises,
aureliæ, caterpillars, nymphs, and butterflies; having undergone
this metamorphosis, and been clothed with beautiful wings ac-
cording to their kind, they fly into the air as their heaven, and
there sport with delight, celebrate connubial rites, lay eggs, and
provide themselves a posterity; and meanwhile nourish them-
selves with sweet and pleasant food from flowers. Who that
confirms himself in favor of the Divine from things visible in
nature, does not see some image of the earthly state of man in
these creatures as worms, and of his heavenly state in them as
butterflies ? But those who confirm themselves in favor of
nature, see them indeed, but, having rejected from the mind the
heavenly state of man, they call them mere instincts of nature.
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
355, 356
355. Every one may confirm himself in favor of the Divine
from things visible in nature, while he attends to the things
that are known of bees; as that they have the skill to collect
wax and suck honey from herbs and flowers, and to build cells
like small houses, and arrange them in the form of a city, with
streets, by which they may come in and go out; that they
smell from afar the flowers and herbs, from which they collect
wax for their houses and honey for their food, and that, laden
with them, they fly back in the right direction to the hive.
Thus they provide themselves with food and dwelling for the
winter, as if they foresaw and knew it. They also set over
themselves a mistress or queen, from whom a new generation
may be propagated; and build her a palace over them, with
guards about it; and she, when the time of bringing forth is at
hand, goes, attended by her guards, from cell to cell and lays
her eggs, which her followers smear over lest they should be
hurt by the air; thence they have a new offspring. Afterwards
when this offspring is of mature age, and can do the like, they
are expelled from home; and the swarm thus expelled first col-
lects, and then in a body, to prevent dispersion, flies forth to
seek a home. About autumn also the useless drones are led out
and deprived of their wings, lest they should return, and con-
sume food for which they have not labored : besides many other
particulars. Whence it may appear, that on account of their
use to the human race, they have, by influx from the spiritual
world, a form of government, such as men have on earth, yea,
such as the angels have in heaven. What man of sound mind
does not see that such instincts in these animals are not from
the natural world ? What has the sun, from which nature is
derived, in common with a government imitative of, and analo-
gous to, that of heaven? From these, and other similar things
in the brute creation, the confessor and worshiper of nature
confirms himself for nature, whilst the confessor and worshiper
of God confirms himself for the Divine: the spiritual man sees
spiritual things in them, and the natural man sees natural things
in them. As to myself, such things were proofs to me of an
influx from spiritual into natural, that is, from the spiritual
world into the natural world; consequently from the divine
wisdom of the Lord. Consider only, can you think analytically
of any form of government, any civil law, moral virtue, or spi-
ritual truth, unless the Divine flow in with His wisdom through
the spiritual world ? As for me, I never could, nor can I now;
for I have perceptibly and sensibly remarked that influx now
for nineteen years continually; wherefore I say this from
experience.
356. Can any thing natural have use for an end, and dis-
pose uses into orders and forms? None but a wise (being) can
do this ; and none but God, who has infinite wisdom, can so
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356—359
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
order and form the universe. Who, or what else, can foresee
and provide all things that are for men's food and clothing,
food from fruits of the earth and animals, and clothing from
the same? It is one among many wonders, that a mean crea-
ture like the silk-worm should clothe with silk and magnificently
adorn both men and women, from kings and queens to men-
servants and maid-servants; and that poor worms like bees
should supply wax for lights, whereby churches and palaces are
illuminated. These, and many other things, are evident proofs
that the Lord produces all things that exist in nature from
Himself, through the spiritual world.
357. Add to this, that in the spiritual world I have seen
those who have confirmed themselves in favor of nature from
things visible in the world, until they became atheists; and
that, in spiritual light, their understandings appeared open be-
low, but closed above, because in thought they looked down-
ward to the earth, and not upward to heaven; above the sensual
principle, which is the lowest of the understanding, there ap-
peared as it were a veil, in some flashing with infernal fire, in
some black like soot, in some livid like a dead body. Let every
one then take heed how he confirms himself for nature : let
him confirm himself for the Divine; there is no want of mate-
rials for so doing.
PART V.
358. THAT TWO RECEPTACLES AND HABITATIONS FOR HIM-
SELF, CALLED THE WILL AND UNDERSTANDING, HAVE BEEN
CREATED AND FORMED BY THE LORD IN MAN; THE WILL FOR
HIS DIVINE LOVE, AND THE UNDERSTANDING FOR HIS DIVINE
WISDOM. We have already treated of the divine love and divine
wisdom of God the Creator, who is the Lord from eternity, and
of the creation of the universe; we shall now speak of the
creation of man. We read, that man was created in the image
of God according to His likeness (Genesis i. 26): the image of
God there means the divine wisdom, and the likeness of God
the divine love; wisdom being no other than the image of love,
for love makes itself to be seen and known in wisdom; conse-
quently, wisdom is its image. Love is the esse of life, and wis-
dom is the existere of life therefrom. The likeness and image
of God appear plainly in the angels : love shines forth from
within in their faces, and wisdom in their beauty; and beauty
is the form of their love: this I have seen and know.
359. A man cannot be an image of God according to His
likeness, unless God be in him, and be his life from his inmost
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
359—361
part. That God is in man, and is his life from his inmost part,
follows from what was shown above, n. 4 to 6, that God alone
is life, and that men and angels are recipients of life from Him.
It is also known from the Word, that God is in man, and
makes His abode with him; and hence it is usual for preachers
to exhort their hearers to prepare themselves to receive God,
that He may enter into them, and be in their hearts, and that
they may be His dwelling-place; the devout also express them-
selves in prayer in the same way, and some more openly so of
the Holy Spirit, which they believe to be in them when they
are in holy zeal, and think, speak, and preach from it. That
the Holy Spirit is the Lord, and not any God who is a separate
person, is shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
CONCERNING THE LORD, n. 51, 52, 53; for the Lord says, “In
that day ye shall know, that ye are in me, and I in you,” John
xiv. 20; so also in chap. xv. 4; chap. xvii. 23.
360. Now as the Lord is divine love and divine wisdom,
and these two are essentially Himself, in order that He may
dwell in man and give life to man, it is necessary that He
should have created and formed in man receptacles and habita-
tions for Himself, one for love and another for wisdom. The
will and understanding are such receptacles and habitations;
the will of love, and the understanding of wisdom. That these
two are the Lord's in man, and that all a man's life comes
thence, will be seen in what follows.
361. That every man has these two, will and understanding,
and that they are distinct from each other, like love and wisdom,
is known and not known in the world : it is known from com-
mon perception, and it is not known from thought, and still less
from the latter in description. Who does not know from com-
mon perception, that the will and understanding are two dis-
tinct things in man? every one perceives this when he hears it,
and moreover can say to others, “ This person's will is good,
but not his understanding; and that person's understanding is
good, but not his will : I love him that has a good understand-
ing and a good will, but not him that has a good understanding
and a bad will.” But when the same person thinks of the will
and understanding, he does not make them two and distinguish
them, but confounds them, because his thought communicates
with the sight of his body: he comprehends still less that the
will and understanding are two distinct things when he writes,
because then his thought communicates with the sensual prin-
ciple, which is his proprium. Hence some can think well, and
speak well, but cannot write well; this is common with the
female sex. It is the same with many other things. Who does
not know, from common perception, that a man that leads a
good life is saved, and that a man that leads a wicked one is
condemned ? also, that a man that leads a good life enters the
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361-363
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
society of angels, and there sees, hears, and speaks like a man?
also, that he that does what is just from justice, and what is
upright from uprightness, has conscience? But if he departs
from common perception, and submits these things to thought,
then he does not know what conscience is; or that the soul
can see, hear, and speak, like a man; or that good of life is
any other than giving to the poor; and if from thought you
write these things, you confirm them by appearances and falla-
cies, and by words of sound and no sense. Hence many of the
learned who have thought much, and especially who have written
much, have weakened and obscured their common perception,
yea, have destroyed it; and hence the simple see more clearly
what is good and true than those who think themselves wiser.
This common perception comes by influx from heaven, and falls
into thought and sight; but thought separate from common
perception falls into imagination from sight and from proprium.
That this is the case you may know by experience. Tell any
one who is in common perception some truth, and he will see
it; tell him that we are, live, and move, from God and in God,
and he will see it; tell him that God dwells in love and wisdom
in man, and he will see it; tell him moreover that the will is
the receptacle of love, and the understanding of wisdom, and
explain it a little, and he will see it; tell him that God is love
itself and wisdom itself, and he will see it; ask him what con-
science is, and he will tell you. But say the same things to
one of the learned, who has not thought from common percep-
tion, but from principles or from ideas taken from the world by
sight, and he will not see them. Consider afterwards which is
the wiser.
362. THAT THE WILL AND UNDERSTANDING, WHICH ARE
THE RECEPTACLES OF LOVE AND WISDOM, ARE IN THE BRAINS,
IN THE WHOLE AND IN EVERY PART THEREOF, AND THENCE IN
THE BODY, IN THE WHOLE AND IN EVERY PART THEREOF. We
shall prove these things in the following order. I. That love
and wisdom, and hence the will and understanding, constitute
man's very life. II. That man's life is in its principles in the
brains, and in its principiates in the body. III. That as the
life is in its principles, such is it in the whole and in every part.
IV. That the life, by these principles, is from every part in the
whole, and from the whole in every part. V. That such as the
love is, such is the wisdom, and hence such is the man.
363. I. That love and wisdom, and hence the will and under-
standing, constitute man's very life. Scarcely any one knows
what life is : when a man thinks of it, it appears as something
volatile, whereof he has no idea : this appears so because it is
unknown that God alone is life, and that His life is divine love
and divine wisdom. Hence it is evident that life in man is no
other, and that in the degree in which he receives it, life is in
136


THE DIVINE LOVE.
363–365
el from him, and th There are being deri
him. It is well known that heat and light proceed from the
sun, and that all things in the universe are recipients, and that
in the degree in which they receive they grow warm and shine :
so also from the sun where the Lord is, from which the pro-
ceeding heat is love and the proceeding light is wisdom, as
shown in Part II. From these two, then, that proceed from
the Lord as a sun, life is. That love and wisdom from the Lord
is life, may also appear from this, that a man grows torpid as
love recedes from him, and grows stupid as wisdom recedes
from him, and that, if they were to recede entirely, he would
be annihilated. There are several predicates of love that have
obtained distinct names as being derivations, as affections, de-
sires, appetites, and their pleasures and delights : and there are
also several predicates of wisdom, as perception, reflection, re-
membrance, thought, attention : and several of love and wisdom
conjointly, as consent, conclusion, determination to action, and
others : all these indeed are of both, but they are named from
the most powerful and the nearest. From these two principles
are ultimately derived the sensations, sight, hearing, smell,
taste, and feeling, with their pleasures and delights. The ap-
pearance is that the eye sees ; but the understanding sees
through the eye; hence seeing is predicated of the understand-
ing; the appearance is that the ear hears; but the understand-
ing hears through the ear; hence hearing is predicated of at-
tention and hearkening, two acts of the understanding; the
appearance is that the nose smells and the tongue tastes; but
the understanding by its perception smells, and tastes; and
hence smelling and tasting are predicated of perception : and
so in other cases. The sources of all these, both the former
and the latter, are love and wisdom: whence it may appear that
these two constitute the life of men.
364. Every one sees that the understanding is the receptacle
of wisdom, but few see that the will is the receptacle of love.
This is because the will does nothing of itself, but acts through
the understanding; and because the love of the will in passing
into the wisdom of the understanding, first enters into the affec-
tion, and passes by this way, and affection is only perceived by a
certain pleasure in thinking, speaking, and acting, which is not
attended to: that nevertheless it is thence, is evident from the
fact, that every one wills what he loves, and does not will what
he does not love.
365. II. That man's life in its principles is in the brains,
and in its principiates in the body. Its principles are its primary
[forms], and its principiates are the parts produced and formed
therefrom; and by life in its principles is meant the will and
understanding. These two are what are in the brains in their
principles, and in the body in their principiates. That the
principles or primary [forms) of life are in the brains, is mani-
137


365, 366
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
of the times they too great äther in the one
general sem sight, hewanders. Cation, thou
fest, I. From sense itself, in that when a man applies his mind
and thinks, he perceives that he thinks in the brain; he in-
draws as it were his eye-sight, and keeps his forehead on the
stretch, and perceives an inward speculation, chiefly within the
forehead, and somewhat above. II. From the formation of
man in the womb, the brain or head being the first, and for a
long time afterwards larger than the body. III. That the head
is above, and the body below; and it is according to order for
superiors to act on inferiors, and not the reverse. IV. That
when the brain is hurt, either in the womb, or by a wound, or
by disease, or by too great application, thought is weakened, and
sometimes the mind wanders. V. That all the external senses
of the body, sight, hearing, smell, and taste, together with the
general sense or feeling, also speech, are in the anterior part of
the head, called the face, and have immediate communication
by fibres with the brain, and derive therefrom their sensitive
and active life. VI. Hence the affections of a man's love ap-
pear imaged in his face, and the thoughts of his wisdom appear in
a certain light in the eyes. VII. Anatomy shews that all the
fibres from the brain descend into the body through the neck,
and that none ascend from the body through the neck into the
brain ; and where the fibres are in their principles and primary
[forms], there life is in its principles and primary [forms].
Can any one deny that the origin of life is in the same place
as the origin of fibres ? VIII. Ask any man of common sense,
where his thought is, or where he thinks it is, and he will
answer, In his head; but afterwards take any one who has
assigned a seat to the soul, either in some particular gland, or
in the heart, or elsewhere, and ask him where affection and
thought are in their primary [forms], if they are not in the
brain; and he will answer, No; or, That he does not know :
the reason of this want of knowledge may be seen above,
n. 361.
366. III. That as the life is in its principles, such is it in
the whole and in every part. In order that this may be per-
ceived, we shall now declare where those principles in the brains
are, and how they are derived. Anatomy shews where the prin-
ciples in the brains are: it shews that there are two brains, and
that they are continued from the head into the spine; and that
they consist of two substances, a cortical and a medullary sub-
stance; and that the cortical substance consists as it were of
innumerable glands, and the medullary substance as it were of
innumerable fibres. Now since these glands are the heads of
the fibrillæ, they are also their principles; the fibres begin from
them, and then proceed, and successively fasciculate into nerves,
and the fasciculi or nerves descend to the organs of sense in the
face, and to the organs of motion in the body, and form them :
consult any anatomist, and you will be convinced. This cortical
138


THE DIVINE LOVE.
366-368
or glandular substance constitutes the surface of the cerebrum
and corpora striata, which gives origin to the medulla oblongata,
and constitutes the middle of the cerebellum, and also of the
spinal marrow; but the medullary or fibrillary substance through-
out begins and proceeds from thence, and forms the nerves which
form all things of the body. That this is the case, we have ocu-
lar demonstration. He that knows these things, either from
anatomy, or from confirmation by anatomists, may see that the
principles of life are in the same place as the beginnings of
fibres, and that fibres cannot proceed from themselves, but from
those principles. These principles, or beginnings, are what ap-
pear as glands, almost innumerable; the multitude of them
may be compared to the multitude of stars in the universe; and
the multitude of fibrillæ proceeding from them to the multitude
of rays proceeding from the stars, and conveying their heat and
light to the earth. The multitude of these glands may also be
compared to the multitude of angelic societies in the heavens,
which also are innumerable, and in the same order (as was told
me) as the glands; and the multitude of fibrillæ proceeding from
these glands, to spiritual truths and goods, that in like manner
flow from them as rays. Hence it is that a man is as it were
a universe, and a heaven, in the least form; as was said and
shown in divers places above. And hence it may appear, that
as the life is in principles, such is it in principiates; or as it is
in its primary [forms] in the brains, such is it in the parts aris-
ing from them in the body.
367. IV. That the life, by these principles, is from every part
in the whole, and from the whole in every part. For the whole,
which is the brain and the body taken together, originally con-
sists of nothing but fibres that proceed from their beginnings in
the brains. They have no other origin, as is evident from what
was shown above, n. 366; hence the whole is from every part.
And the life also, by these principles, is in every part from the
whole, because the whole supplies every part with its task and
requirement, and so causes the part to be in the whole; in a
word, the whole exists from the parts, and the parts subsist
from the whole. That there is such a reciprocal communion,
and thereby conjunction, is evident from many things in the
body; for there, as in a city, commonwealth, or kingdom, the
community exists from men, who are its parts, and the parts
or men subsist from the community. It is also the same with
every thing that has any form ; especially in man.
368. V. That such as the love is, such is the wisdom, and
hence such is the man. Such as the love and wisdom are, such
are the will and understanding, the will being the receptacle of
love, and the understanding, of wisdom, as was shown above,
which two make the man and his quality. Love is manifold ;
so much so that its varieties are indefinite; as may appear from
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368, 369
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
the human race on earth and in the heavens, where there is no
man or angel so like another, as to be without distinction from
him. Love is what distinguishes, for every man is his own love.
It is supposed that wisdom distinguishes, but wisdom is from
love, being its form : love is the esse of life, and wisdom is the
existere of life from that esse. In the world the understanding
is believed to make the man ; but this is because the under-
standing can be elevated into the light of heaven, as was shown
above, and so a man may appear wise ; but still so much of the
understanding as transcends, that is, as is not of the love, ap-
pears indeed to be the man's, and hence that the man is such,
but it is only an appearance. So much of the understanding as
transcends, belongs indeed to the love of knowing and being
wise, but not at the same time to the love of applying to life
what it knows and is wise in; hence this in the world either
recedes in time, or abides without the things of the memory,
in the extreme boundaries, as a thing ready to fall off; and
hence after death it is separated, and no more remains than
accords with the proper love of the spirit. Since love makes
, the life of man, and so the man himself, hence all the societies
in heaven, and all the angels in the societies, are arranged ac-
cording to affections of love; and no society, and no angel in a
society, according to any thing of understanding separate from
his love: so also in the hells and their societies, but according
to loves opposite to heavenly ones. Hence it may appear, that
as the love is, such is the wisdom, and consequently such the
man.
369. It is acknowledged indeed that a man is such as his
ruling love, but only such as to mind and disposition, not as to
body, thus not wholly such. But from much experience in the
spiritual world it has been made known to me, that a man from
head to foot, or from the first things in the head to the last in
the body, is such as his love. All in that world are forms of
their own love, the angels forms of heavenly love, and the devils
of infernal love; the latter being deformed in face and in body,
but the former beautiful; and when their love is assaulted, their
faces change, and if it is much assaulted, they disappear to-
tally: this is peculiar to that world, and happens because their
bodies are at one with their minds. Hence it is evident why all
things of the body are principiates, that is, are compositions of
fibres from principles, which are receptacles of love and wis-
dom; and why the principiates must be such as the principles
are; wherefore whither the principiates follow the principles
tend ; the two cannot be separated. Hence he that elevates his
mind to the Lord, is wholly elevated to the Lord; and he that
debases his mind to hell, is wholly debased to it: so that the
whole man, according to his life's love, goes either to heaven or
to hell. It is a tenet of angelic wisdom, that the mind of a
140


THE DIVINE LOVE.
369-372
man is a man, because God is a Man; and that the body is the
external of the mind, that feels and acts; and that thus they!
are one, and not two.
370. It is to be observed, that the forms of a man's mem-
bers, organs, and viscera, with regard to composition, are from
fibres that arise from their principles in the brains, but that
they are fixed by substances and matters such as they are on
the earth, and from the earth in the air and ether; this is done
by means of the blood. Hence, in order that all things of the
body may preserve their formation, and thus be permanent in
their functions, a man must be nourished by material food, and
constantly renewed.
371. THAT THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE OF THE WILL
WITH THE HEART, AND OF THE UNDERSTANDING WITH THE
LUNGS. This shall be proved in the following series : I. That
all things of the mind are referable to the will and understand-
ing, and all things of the body to the heart and lungs. II.
That there is a correspondence of the will and understanding
with the heart and lungs, and thence a correspondence of all
things of the mind with all things of the body. III. That the
will corresponds to the heart. IV. That the understanding
corresponds to the lungs. V. That this correspondence may be
the means of discovering many arcana concerning the will and
understanding, and also concerning love and wisdom. ' VI.
That the mind of a man is his spirit, and that the spirit is a man,
and the body the external by which the mind or spirit perceives
and acts in the world. VII. That the conjunction of a man's
spirit and body is brought about by the correspondence of his
will and understanding with his heart and lungs, and their dis-
junction by the non-correspondence.
372. Í. That all things of the mind are referable to the will
and understanding, and all things of the body to the heart and
lungs. By the mind we mean nothing more than the will and
understanding, which in their complex are all things that affect
a man and that he thinks, thus all things of his affection and
thought: the things that affect him are of his will, and the
things that he thinks are of his understanding. That all things
of a man's thought are of his understanding, is well known,
because a man thinks from understanding : but that all things
of a man's affection are of his will, is not so well known, be-
cause when a man thinks, he does not attend to the affection,
but only to what he thinks; as when he hears a person speak-
ing, he does not attend to the tone, but to the speech ; when
yet affection is related to thought, as tone to speech : wherefore
a speaker's tone shews his affection, and his speech shews his
thought. Affection is of the will, because all affection is of
love, and the will is the receptacle of love, as was shown above.
He that does not know that affection is of the will, confounds
141


THE DIVINE LOVE.
380—382
derives its origin from the light of the same sun; and as love
corresponds to the heart, hence the blood cannot be otherwise
than red, and indicate its origin. Hence, in the heavens where
love to the Lord is predominant, the light is flame-colored, and
the angels are clothed in purple garments; and in the heavens
where wisdom is predominant, the light is white, and the angels
are clothed in white linen garments.
381. The heavens are distinguished into two kingdoms, the
celestial and the spiritual kingdom; love to the Lord is predo-
minant in the celestial kingdom, and wisdom from that love, in
the spiritual kingdom : the kingdom where love is predominant
is called the cardiac kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom
where wisdom is predominant is called the pulmonic kingdom
of heaven. It is to be noted, that the universal angelic hea-
ven in its complex resembles one man, and before the Lord
appears as one man ; wherefore its heart constitutes one king-
dom, and its lungs another. There is a cardiac and pulmonic
motion in common in the whole heaven, and thence in particular
in each angel; and the common cardiac and pulmonic motion
is from the Lord alone, because love and wisdom are from Him
alone. In the sun, where the Lord is, and which is from the
Lord, there are those two motions, and hence they are in the
angelic heaven, and in the universe: abstract space, and think
of omnipresence, and you will be convinced that it is so. That
the heavens are distinguished into two kingdoms, the celestial
and the spiritual, see the work on HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 20
to 28; and that the universal angelic heaven in its complex
resembles one man, n. 59 to 87.
382. IV. That the understanding corresponds to the lungs.
This follows from what we said of the correspondence of the
will with the earth. There are two things that rule in the spi-
ritual man, or in the mind—the will and understanding, and
there are two things that rule in the natural man, or in the
body—the heart and lungs; and there is a correspondence of
all things of the mind with all things of the body, as was said
above: hence it follows, that while the will corresponds to the
heart, the understanding corresponds to the lungs. Every one
also may perceive in himself, that the understanding corre-
sponds to the lungs, both from his thought and his speech.
From thought ; because no one can think unless his breathing
conspires and accords; wherefore when he thinks tacitly he
breathes tacitly, if he thinks deeply, he breathes deeply, he
retracts and relaxes, compresses and elevates the lungs, accord-
ing to the influx of affection from love, either slowly, hastily,
eagerly, mildly, or attentively ; yea, if he hold his breath alto-
gether, he cannot think, except in his spirit by its respiration,
which is not manifestly perceived. From speech ; because not
the smallest expression can proceed from the mouth without the
147
L2


382, 383
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
od, or the wisdom of the sushewn abovelha
assistance of the lungs; for all articulate sound is generated by
the lungs through the trachea and epiglottis; wherefore speech
may be raised to clamor, according to the inflation of those
bellows, and the opening of their passage, and diminished ac-
cording to their contraction; and if the passage be closed,
speech and thought cease.
383. Since the understanding corresponds to the lungs, and
hence thought to respiration, therefore soul and spirit, in the
Word, signify the understanding; as where it is said, “ Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul,” Matt. xxii. 37 ; and “ That God will give a new heart
and a new spirit,” Ezek. xxxvi. 26; Psalm li. 10. That the
heart signifies the love of the will, was shewn above; hence
soul and spirit signify the wisdom of the understanding. That
the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit, means divine wisdom
and thence divine truth, which enlighten men, may be seen in
THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE
LORD, n. 50, 51. Hence “ The Lord breathed on His disciples,
and said, receive ye the Holy Spirit,” John xx. 22: hence also
it is said, that Jehovah God breathed into the nostrils of Adam
the breath of lives, and he became a living soul," Gen. ii. 7;
and that He said to the prophet, “Prophesy unto the wind, and
say unto the wind, come from the four winds, O breath [spirit]
and breathe upon these slain, that they may live,” Ezek. xxxvii.
9; and so in other places : hence the Lord is called the breath
[spirit] of the nostrils, and the breath [spiraculum] of life. Since
the breath passes through the nostrils, therefore the nostrils
signify perception; and an intelligent person is said to be of an
acute nostril [acutæ naris], and one who is not intelligent to be
of a dull nostril [obesæ naris]. Hence also spirit (or breath)
and wind, in the Hebrew, and in some other languages, are
expressed by one word ; for the word spirit derives its origin
from breathing [animatio], wherefore also when a man dies it is
said that he gives up the ghost ſemittat animam]. And hence
men believe, that a spirit is wind, or somewhat aereal, like the
breath of the lungs; and the soul the same. Hence it may
appear that by loving God with all the heart and all the soul, is
meant with all the love and all the understanding; and that by
giving a new heart and a new spirit, is meant giving a new will
and a new understanding. As spirit signifies understanding,
therefore it is said of Bezaleel, « That he was filled with the
spirit of wisdom, of intelligence, and of knowledge," Exod.
xxxi. 3; and of Joshua, “ That he was filled with the spirit of
wisdom,” Deut. xxxiv. 9; and Nebuchadnezzar says of Daniel,
“ That the excellent spirit of knowledge, of intelligence, and of
wisdom, was in him,” Dan. vi. 3; and in Isaiah it is said, “ They
that erred in spirit shall have intelligence.” xxix. 24. So also
in many other places.
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
387-390
all things of the mind relate to the will and understanding, and
that the will and understanding are the receptacles of love and
wisdom from the Lord, and that these two constitute a man's
life, was shown in the preceding pages.
388. From what has now been said it may also be seen, that
a man's mind is the man himself. The first rudiment of the
human form, or the human form itself, with all and singular
its parts, is derived from principles continued from the brain
through the nerves; according to what was also shown above.
After death a man comes into this form, which is then called
a spirit and an angel, and which is in all perfection a man, but
spiritual. The material form, added and superinduced in the
world, is not a human form of itself, but from the above spi-
ritual form, being added and superinduced, to enable a man to
perform uses in the natural world, and to carry along with him,
from the purer substances of the world, some fixed continent
for spiritual things, and so to continue and perpetuate his life. li
It is a tenet of angelic wisdom, that the mind of a man, not
only in general, but in every particular, is in a perpetual effort
to the human form, because God is a Man.
389. For a man to be a man, no part must be wanting,
that exists in perfect man either in the head or the body. There
is nothing there that does not enter into that form, and con-
stitute it. It is the form of love and wisdom, which, viewed
in itself, is divine. It involves all the determinations of love
and wisdom, which are infinite in God-Man, but finite in His
images,-in men, angels, and spirits. If any part that exists
in a man were wanting, there would be wanting something of
determination from love and wisdom corresponding to it, through
which the Lord might be in man from primaries in ultimates,
and from His divine love by His divine wisdom provide uses in
the created world.
390. VII. That the conjunction of a man's spirit with his
body is by the correspondence of his will and understanding with
his heart and lungs, and their disjunction by the non-correspond-
ence. Since hitherto it has not been known that a man's mind,
by which we mean his will and understanding, is his spirit, and
that the spirit is a man, and that the spirit of a man has a
pulse and respiration as well as his body, it could not be known
that the pulse and respiration of a man's spirit flow into the
pulse and respiration of his body, and produce them. Seeing
Therefore that a man's spirit has a pulse and respiration as well
as his body, it follows that there is a similar correspondence of
the pulse and respiration of a man's spirit with the pulse and
respiration of his body; for, as was said, the mind is his spirit:
wherefore when the correspondence of these two motions ceases,
a separation is effected, which is death. Separation or death
ensues, when the body comes into such a state, from whatever
151


THE DIVINE LOVE.
392—394
particular is in them; and the universal angelic heaven is in
them, because the Lord from the sun, where He Himself is,
and which is from Him, infuses them. That sun operates these
two motions from the Lord. And as all things of heaven and
the world depend on the Lord by that sun, in such connection,
by virtue of their form, that they are a connected work from
first to last, and as the life of love and wisdom is from Him,
and all the powers of the universe are from life, it is evident
that they have no other source. It follows, that their variation
is according to the reception of love and wisdom..
393. Of the correspondence of these motions more will be
said in what follows; as what it is with those who respire with
heaven, and with those who respire with hell, also what with
those who speak with heaven, and think with hell, thus with
hypocrites, flatterers, dissemblers, and others.
394. THAT ALL THINGS THAT CAN BE KNOWN OF THE
WILL AND UNDERSTANDING, OR OF LOVE AND WISDOM, CONSE-
QUENTLY ALL THAT CAN BE KNOWN OF MAN'S SOUL, MAY BE
KNOWN FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HEART WITH
THE WILL, AND OF THE UNDERSTANDING WITH THE LUNGS.
Many in the learned world have labored in investigating the
soul; but as they knew nothing of the spiritual world, and of
the state of man after death, they could not do otherwise than
construct hypotheses, not respecting the soul's nature, but its
operation on the body: of the soul's nature they could have no
other idea, than as of something most pure in ether, and of its
continent as of ether. On this subject however they durst not
publish much, for fear they should attribute any thing natural
to the soul, knowing that the soul is spiritual. Now having
such a conception of the soul, and yet knowing that the soul
acts on the body, and produces every thing in it that has rela-
tion to sense and motion; therefore they labored, as we before
observed, to investigate the soul's operation on the body, which
some said was effected by influx, and some, by harmony. But
as this means discovered nothing, in which a mind desirous to
see the ground of things can acquiesce, therefore it has been
given me to converse with angels, and to be enlightened by their
wisdom on this subject. It is a tenet of this wisdom, that the
soul of man, that lives after death, is his spirit, and that this is
in perfect form a man, and that the soul of this form is the will
and understanding, and that the soul of these is love and wis-
dom from the Lord, and these two constitute the life of man,
which is from the Lord alone, and that the Lord, for the sake
of the reception of Himself by man, causes life to appear as if
it were man's. But lest a man should ascribe life to himself as
his own, and thus withdraw himself from the reception of the
Lord, He also has taught that the all of love which is called
good, and the all of wisdom which is called truth, is from Him,
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394396
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
abovéhich he is no may also coman, having n love, hase and habi
and nothing of them from man; and as these two are life, that
the all of life, which is life, is from Him.
395. As the soul, in its very esse, is love and wisdom, and
these two are from the Lord in man, therefore two receptacles
are created in man, and these are the Lord's habitations, one
for love, and the other for wisdom; that for love is the will,
and that for wisdom is the understanding. Now as love and
wisdom in the Lord are distinctly one, (as may be seen above,
n. 17 to 22, and His divine love is of His divine wisdom, and
His divine wisdom is of His divine love, n. 34 to 39, and as
they so proceed from God-Man, that is, from the Lord, there-
fore, in man, these two receptacles and habitations, the will and
understanding, are so created by the Lord, that they may be
distinctly two, but still may act as one in every operation and
sensation, for therein the will and understanding cannot be
separated. But in order that man may be enabled to become
a receptacle and habitation, from the necessity of the end, it
was provided, that the understanding of man may be elevated
above his own love into a certain light of wisdom, in the love
of which he is not, and by it see and be taught how he ought
to live, that he may also come into that love, and so enjoy
beatitude to eternity. Now man, having abused the faculty of
elevating his understanding above his own love, has destroyed
in himself that which might have been the receptacle and habi-
tation of the Lord, that is, of love and wisdom from the Lord,
by making his will the habitation of self-love and the love of
the world, and his understanding the habitation of confirma-
tions of those loves. This is the original cause whence these
two habitations, the will and understanding, became the habi-
tations of infernal love, and, by confirmations in their favor, of
infernal thought, which in hell they consider wisdom.
396. The reason that the loves of self and the world are
infernal loves, and that man could come into them, and so
destroy will and understanding in himself, is because the loves
of self and the world are by creation heavenly, for they are
loves of the natural man subservient to spiritual loves, as foun-
dations are subservient for houses. Man from the loves of self
and the world wishes well to his body; desires to be fed,
clothed, to have a habitation, to consult the good of his house,
to seek after employment for the sake of use, yea, to be
honored according to the dignity of the affairs which he ad-
ministers, for the sake of obedience, and also to be delighted
and recreated by the pleasures of the world; but all these for
a certain end, which should be use, for by these he is in a
state to serve the Lord, and to serve the neighbor: but when
there is no love of serving the Lord and the neighbor, but
only a love of serving self from the world, then that love ceases
to be heavenly and becomes infernal, for it causes a man to im-
homesnal love, and well they come self and them, and so
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ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
which are of the light of heaven, and perceive them. ' XIV.
That love or the will can in like manner be elevated, and per-
ceive the things which are of the heat of heaven, if it love its
spouse in that degree. XV. That otherwise love or the will
draws down wisdom or the understanding from its elevation, to
act as one with it. XVI. That love or the will is purified by
wisdom in the understanding, if they be elevated together.
XVII. That love or the will is defiled in the understanding,
and by it, if they are not elevated together. XVIII. That love
purified by wisdom in the understanding becomes spiritual
and celestial. XIX. That love defiled in and by the under-
standing becomes natural and sensual. XX. That the faculty
of understanding, called rationality, and the faculty of acting,
called liberty, still remain. XXI. That spiritual and celestial
love is love towards the neighbor and love to the Lord; and
that natural and sensual love is love of the world and love of
self. XXII. That it is the same with charity and faith and
their conjunction, as with the will and understanding and their
conjunction.
399. I. That love or the will is ļ man's essential life, follows
from the correspondence of the heart with the will, of which
see above, n. 378 to 381, for the will acts in the mind as the
heart acts in the body; and as the existence and motion of all
things of the body depend on the heart, so the existence and
life of all things of the mind depend on the will : in using the
expression, on the will, we mean on the love, because the will
is the receptacle of love, and love is life itself, see above, n. 1,
2, 3, and love which is life itself is from the Lord alone. From
the heart and its expansion throughout the body by the arteries
and veins, it may be known that love or the will is the life of
man, because things that correspond act in the same manner,
only that the one is natural and the other spiritual. How the
heart acts in the body is shown by anatomy-as that every
thing lives, or is in obedience to life, where the heart acts by
the vessels it sends forth, and that nothing lives where the
heart does not act by its vessels : and moreover the heart is the
first and last organ that acts in the body; that it is the first,
is evident from the fætus, and that it is the last, is evident
from dying persons; and that it acts without the co-operation
of the lungs, is evident from persons suffocated, and from
swoons. Hence it may be seen, that as the substituted life of
the body depends on the heart alone, so the life of the mind
depends on the will alone; and that the will lives when the
thought ceases, as the heart lives when the respiration ceases,
as is also evident from foetuses, dying and suffocated persons,
and in swoons. Whence it follows, that love or the will is a
man's essential life.
400. II. That love or the will constantly tends to the human
156


THE DIVINE LOVE.
400—402
lifean, acted be formed, nake
form, and to all things of the human form, is evident from the
correspondence of the heart with the will. It is well known,
that all things of the body are formed in the womb, and that
they are formed by fibres from the brains, and by blood vessels
from the heart, and that the tissues of all the organs and vis-
cera are formed by these two; whence it is evident, that all
things in man exist from the life of the will, which is love,
from its principles proceeding from the brains by fibres, and
that all things of his body exist from the heart by the arteries
and veins. And hence it is manifest, that life, or love, and
consequently the will, is in a continual effort to the human
form ; and as the human form consists of all things that are in
man, it follows that love or the will is in a continual endeavor
and effort of forming all those things. There is an endeavor
and effort to the human form, because God is a Man, and
divine love and divine wisdom is His life; from which the all of
life proceeds. Any one may see, that unless life, which is very
Man, acted on what in itself is not life, nothing like what is in
man could be formed, in whom there are thousands of thou-
sands of things that make one, and unanimously conspire to
the image of the life from which they are derived, that man
may be able to be this receptacle and habitation. Hence it
may be seen, that love, and consequently the will, and conse-
quently again the heart, are in a continual effort to the human
form.
401. III. That love or the will cannot do any thing by its
human form without a marriage with wisdom or the understanding.
This also is evident from the correspondence of the heart with
the will. The foetal man lives in his heart, but not in his lungs.
In this state the blood does not flow from the heart into the
lungs, and give him the faculty of respiration, but by the
foramen ovale into the left ventricle of the heart; consequently
the fætus cannot move any part of the body, but lies confined,
nor can it feel, for the organs of the senses are closed. It is
the same with love or the will, from which still he lives, but in
obscurity, that is, without sense and action : but as soon as the
lungs are opened, which is the case after birth, then he begins
to feel and to act, and in like manner to will and to think.
Hence it may appear, that love or the will without a marriage
with wisdom or the understanding, cannot do any thing by its
human form.
402. IV. That love or the will prepares a house or bridal
apartment for a future spouse, which is wisdom or the understand-
ing. In the created universe and all its parts there is a mar-
riage of good and truth, and this because good is of love and
truth is of wisdom, and these two are in the Lord, by whom
all things were created. How this marriage exists in man may
be seen, as in a glass, in the conjunction of the heart with the
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402, 403
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
lungs; for the heart corresponds to love or good, and the lungs
to wisdom or truth, as shown above, n. 378 to 381, 382 to 384.
From that conjunction it may be seen, how love or the will
betroths to it wisdom or the understanding, and afterwards
takes it to wife, or marries it: love betroths wisdom, in that
it prepares a house or bridal apartment for wisdom, and it takes
wisdom to wife, in that it conjoins it to itself by affections, and
then operates wisdom with it in that house. That it is so can-
not be fully described, except in spiritual language, because
love and wisdom, and the will and understanding, are spiritual
things, which indeed may be set forth in natural language, but
only obscurely to the perception, because of the want of know-
ledge of the nature of love and wisdom, and also of the affec-
tions of good, and of the affections of wisdom, which are
affections of truth. But yet the nature of the betrothing and
marriage of love and wisdom, or of the will and understanding,
may be seen, by the parallelism that exists by virtue of their
correspondence with the heart and lungs. It is the same with
the latter as with the former; so much so that there is no dif-
ference, except that one is spiritual and the other natural.
From the heart therefore and the lungs it is evident, that the
heart first forms the lungs, and afterwards conjoins itself to
them; it forms the lungs in the foetus, and conjoins itself to
them after birth: this the heart does in its house, the breast,
where their dwelling-place is, separated from the rest of the
body by a partition, called the diaphragm, and by a membrane
inclosing them, called the pleura. It is the same with love and
wisdom, or with the will and understanding.
403. V. That love or the will also prepares all things in its
human form, that it may act conjointly with wisdom or the under-
standing. We use the words will and understanding, but be it
remembered, that the will is the whole man; for the will and
understanding is in its principles in the brains, and in its prin-
cipiates in the body, and thence in the whole and in every part,
as was shown above, n. 365, 366, 367 : hence it may appear,
that the will is the whole man as respects form, both as respects
the general form and that of all the particulars, and that the
understanding is its companion, as the lungs are to the heart.
Beware how you entertain an idea of the will as of any thing
separate from the human form, for it is the same. From this
it may be seen, not only how the will prepares a bridal apart-
ment for the understanding, but also how it prepares all things
in its house, which is the whole body, that it may act in con-
junction with the understanding: this it prepares in such a
manner, that all and singular the parts of the body may be
joined to the understanding as they are to the will, or that all
and singular the parts of the body may be in obedience to the
understanding as they are to the will. How all and every part
that was shothe body, its princip the w
ent for the uphich is the whole this it preparesody ma
158


THE DIVINE LOVE,
403, 404
of the body is prepared for conjunction with the understanding
as with the will, cannot be seen, except in a kind of glass or
image by anatomical science in the body. This shews how all
things in the body are so connected, that when the lungs respire,
all and every thing is influenced by their respiration, at the
same time that they are also influenced by the pulsation of the
heart. Anatomy shews, that the heart is joined to the lungs
by the auricles, and that these are continued into the interiors
of the lungs; also that all the viscera of the body are joined
by ligaments to the cavity of the chest; and this in such a
manner, that when the lungs respire, all and singular things in
general and in particular receive something of the respiratory
motion. When the lungs are inflated, then the ribs expand the
thorax, the pleura is dilated, and the diaphragm pressed down-
ward, and with these all the inferior parts of the body, which
are connected to them by ligaments, receive some action from
the action of the lungs : not to mention other particulars, lest
those who have no knowledge of anatomy, should be brought
into obscurity on this matter, by their ignorance of the terms
of that science. Only consult those who have skill and know-
ledge in anatomy, whether all things in the whole body, from
the breast to the lowest part, be not so connected, that when
the lungs are inflated in respiration, they are all excited to an
action synchronous with that of the lungs. Hence, then, the
nature of the conjunction prepared for the understanding with
all and every particular of the human form by the will, is evi-
dent: only examine their connection, and survey them with an
anatomical eye, and then according to their connection consider
their co-operation with the lungs in respiration and with the
heart, and then instead of the lungs think of the understanding,
and instead of the heart of the will, and you will see.
404. VI. That after the marriage, the first conjunction is by
the affection of knowing, whence comes the affection of truth. By
nuptials we mean a man's state after birth, from the state of
ignorance to the state of intelligence, and from this to the state
of wisdom. The first state, or that of mere ignorance, is not
here meant by nuptials, because then there is no thought of the
understanding, but only an obscure affection, which is of love
or the will. This state is the initiation to the nuptials. That
in the second state, which is that of childhood, there is an
affection of knowing, is well known : by this the infant child
learns to speak and to read, and learns successively such things
as are of the understanding. That love, which is of the will,
operates this, cannot be doubted; for if love or the will did
not, it would not be done. That every man after birth has the
affection of knowing, and thereby learns things by which his
understanding is gradually formed, increased, and perfected, is
acknowledged by all who from reason consult experience. That
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404
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
hence comes the affection of truth is also evident ; for when a
man by the affection of knowing becomes intelligent, he is not
so much led by affection to know, as by affection to reason, and
to conclude such things as are of his love, whether they be
economical, civil, or moral. When this affection is elevated
to spiritual things, it becomes the affection of spiritual truth.
That its first principle or initiament was the affection of know-
ing, may be seen from this, that the affection of truth is an
exalted affection of knowing; for to be affected by truths, is
from affection to will to know them, and when one has found
them, from the delight of affection to imbibe them. VII.
That the second conjunction is by the affection of understanding,
whence comes the perception of truth, is evident to every one who
is willing to view this from a rational intuition. From rational
intuition it is evident, that the affection of truth and the percep-
tion of truth are two faculties of the understanding, which in
some persons meet in one, and in others do not. They meet in
one in those who desire to perceive truths in the understanding,
and not in those who only desire to know truths. It is evident,
that every one is in the perception of truth, in proportion as he
is in the affection of understanding : take away the affection of
understanding truth, and there will be no perception of truth;
but give the affection of understanding truth, and there will
be a perception thereof according to the degree of affection: a
man, whose reason is sound, never is without a perception of
truth, if only he has the affection of understanding truth.
That every man has the faculty of understanding truth, which
is called rationality, was shown above. VIII. That the third con-
junction is by the affection of seeing truth, whence comes thought.
That the affection of knowing truth is one thing, the affection
of understanding it another, and the affection of seeing it an-
other; or that the affection of truth is one thing, the perception
of truth another, and thought another, is manifested only ob-
scurely in those who cannot distinctly perceive the operations
of the mind, but very clearly in those who can. It is mani-
fested only obscurely in those who do not distinctly perceive
the operations of the mind, because they are together in thought
with those who are in the affection of truth and in the percep-
tion of truth, and when they are together they cannot be
distinguished. A man is in manifest thought when his spirit
thinks in his body, which is especially the case when he is in
company with others; but when he is in the affection of under-
standing, and thereby comes into the perception of truth, then
he is in the thought of his spirit, or in meditation, which does
indeed fall into thought of the body, but tacit thought; for it is
above it, and looks down on the things that are of thought from
the memory as below it, from which it either concludes or con-
firms. The affection of truth, however, is not perceived only
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405-407
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
which were shown above, n. 404, concerning the affection and
l! perception of truth, and concerning thought : the correspond-
!ence discovered this to me, and many other things concerning
them, that cannot be described in a few words. Since love or
the will corresponds to the heart, and wisdom or the under-
standing to the lungs, it follows, that the blood vessels of the
heart in the lungs correspond to the affections of truth, and
the ramifications of the bronchia in the lungs to perceptions
and thoughts from those affections. Whoever examines all the
tissues of the lungs from these origins, and makes a comparison
with the love of the will, and with the wisdom of the under-
standing, may see in a kind of image the things spoken of
above, n. 404, and so be confirmed in a belief of them. But
as anatomical details respecting the heart and lungs are only
known to a few, and as confirming any thing by what is un-
known induces obscurity, therefore I forbear to point out this
resemblance more at length.
406. IX. That love or the will by these three conjunctions
is in its sensitive and active life. Love without understanding,
or affection which is of love, without thought which is of the
understanding, cannot feel or act in the body, because love
without understanding is as it were blind, or affection without
thought as it were in the dark, the understanding being the
light by which love sees. The wisdom of the understanding is
also from the light which proceeds from the Lord as a sun.
Since therefore the love of the will, without the light of the
understanding, does not see, but is blind, it follows, that with-
out the light of the understanding the senses of the body also
would be in blindness and dulness [obesitas], not only the sight
and the hearing, but the other senses also. The other senses
would be so also, because all perception of truth is of love in
the understanding, as was shown above, and all the senses of
the body derive their perception from the perception of the
mind. It is the same with every act of the body: an act from
love without understanding is as an act of a man in the night,
when he does not know what he acts; consequently in the act
there would be nothing from intelligence and wisdom, and the
act could not be called a living act; for an act derives its essence
from love, and its quality from intelligence. Besides, all the
power of good is by truth, wherefore good acts in truth, and so
by it, and good is of love, and truth is of the understanding.
Hence it may appear, that love or the will by these three con-
junctions, (see above, n. 404), is in its sensitive and active life.
407. That this is the case may be confirmed to the life by the
conjunction of the heart with the lungs, because there is such
a correspondence between the will and the heart, and between
the understanding and the lungs, that as love acts with the
understanding spiritually, so the heart acts with the lungs na-
Auld be so also, bas was shown from the perfe? an act from,
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408—410
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
selves, as the arteries and veins also do by ramifications. Hence
it may appear that the respiration of the lungs is in perfect
conjunction with the heart in all and every thing of the body:
and that the conjunction may be complete, the heart itself also
is in the pulmonary motion ; for it lies in the bosom of the
lungs, adheres to them by its auricles, and rests on the dia-
phragm, by which also its arteries participate of the pulmonary
motion. The stomach moreover is in similar conjunction, by
the connexion between the æsophagus and the trachæa. These
anatomical facts are adduced to shew what kind of conjunction
there is of love or the will with wisdom or the understanding,
and of both in concert with all things of the mind, for the
case is similar.
409. XI. That love or the will does nothing but in conjunction
with wisdom or the understanding. Since love has no sensitive
or active life, without the understanding; and since love intro-
duces the understanding into all things of the mind, as was
shown above, n. 407, 408, it follows, that love or the will does
nothing except in conjunction with the understanding; for what
is it to act from love without understanding ? This cannot be
called otherwise than irrational, for the understanding instructs
what is to be done, and how it is to be done: love does not
know this without the understanding; wherefore there is such a
marriage between love and the understanding, that although
they are two, still they act as one. There is a similar marriage
between good and truth, for good is of love and truth is of the
understanding. Such a marriage has place in all things of the
universe, which have been created by the Lord, their use having
relation to good, and the form of use to truth. From this mar-
riage it is, that in all and singular things of the body there is a
right and a left, and the right relates to good from which truth
proceeds, and the left to truth from good,—thus to conjunction.
Hence it is that there are pairs in man; there are two brains,
two hemispheres of the brain, two ventricles of the heart, two
lobes of the lungs, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two arms,
hands, loins, feet, kidneys, testicles, &c., and where there are
not pairs, there is a right and a left : all this is, because good
respects truth that it may exist, and truth respects good that it
may be. It is the same in the angelic heavens, and in each
heavenly society. More on this subject may be seen above, n.
401, where it is shown that love or the will cannot do any thing
by its human form, without a marriage with wisdom or the
understanding. The conjunction of evil and the false, which is
opposite to the conjunction of good and truth, shall be spoken
of elsewhere.
410. XII. That love or the will conjoins itself to wisdom or
the understanding, and causes wisdom or the understanding to be
reciprocally conjoined to it. That love or the will conjoins itself
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410—412
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
own things, when it has not as yet determined itself to uses,
which are its ends, and which are called its goods. Hence every
man, and every spirit and angel, is regarded by the Lord ac-
cording to his love or good, and not according to his under-
standing and truth separate from his love or good. A man's
life is his love, as was shewn above, and his life is according as
he has exalted his affections by truths, that is, according as he
has perfected his affections by wisdom. The affections of love
are exalted and perfected by truths, thus by wisdom; and in
such case love acts in conjunction with wisdom, as if it were
from wisdom; but it acts from itself by wisdom, as its form,
which derives nothing at all from the understanding, but every
thing from some determination of love, or from some affection.
411. Love calls all those things that favor it, its goods, and
all those things that lead to goods as means, its truths: and as
they are means, they are loved and made instruments of its
affection, and thus they become affections in form; wherefore
truth is no other than the form of the affection of love. The
human form is no other than the form of all the affections of
love ; beauty is its intelligence, which it acquires by truths,
received either by the external or internal sight or by hearing.
These the love disposes into the forms of its affections, which
forms are of great variety; but they all derive their similitude
from their common form, which is the human : all these forms
are beautiful and amiable to it, but the rest are the reverse.
Hence it is also evident, that love joins itself to the under-
standing, and not vice versa, and that their reciprocal conjunc-
tion also is from love. This is what is meant by love or the
will causing wisdom or the understanding to be reciprocally
joined to it.
412. What has been said may in a certain image be seen
and so confirmed by the correspondence of the heart with love
and of the lungs with the understanding, of which see above;
for since the heart corresponds to love, its determinations, which
are arteries and veins, correspond to affections, and in the lungs
to affections of truth; and as in the lungs there are also other
vessels, called air vessels, whereby respiration is carried on,
therefore these vessels correspond to perceptions. It is well to
be attended to, that the arteries and veins in the lungs are not
affections, and that respirations are not perceptions and thoughts,
but that they are correspondences, for they act correspondently
or synchronously: in like manner it is to be observed of the
heart and lungs, that they are not love and the understanding,
but that they are correspondences; and being correspondences,
one may be seen in the other. Whoever knows the anatomical
structure of the lungs and compares them with the understand-
ing, may clearly see, that the understanding does nothing from
itself, that it does not perceive or think from itself, but that it
166


THE DIVINE LOVE.
412, 413
does all from the affections of love, which in the understanding
are called the affection of knowing, understanding, and seeing
it, which were treated of above: for all the states of the lungs
depend on blood from the heart, vena cava, and aorta ; and the
respirations that go on in the bronchial ramifications, exist ac-
cording to their state ; for when the influx of blood ceases,
respiration ceases. Much more might be discovered by com-
paring the structure of the lungs with the understanding, to
which they correspond; but as anatomy is known only to few,
and as demonstrating or confirming any thing by what is un-
known places the subject in obscurity, therefore it is not expe-
dient to say more on these matters. By knowing the structure
of the lungs, I was fully convinced, that love, by its affections,
joins itself to the understanding, and that the understanding
does not join itself to any affection of love, but is reciprocally
joined by love to itself, to the end that love may have sensitive
and active life. But it is particularly to be noted, that man has
a twofold respiration—one, of his spirit, and the other, of his
body, and that the respiration of the spirit depends on the fibres
from the brains, and the respiration of the body on the blood-
vessels from the heart, vena cava, and aorta. Moreover it is
evident that thought produces respiration, and also that the
affection of love produces thought : thought without affection
would be like respiration without a heart, which is impossible.
Hence it is manifest, that the affection of love conjoins itself
to the thought of the understanding, as we said above, in the
same manner as the heart conjoins itself to the lungs.
413. XIII. That wisdom or the understanding by virtue of
the power given it by love or the will, may be elevated, and receive
the things which are of the light of heaven, and perceive them.
That men can perceive the arcana of wisdom, when they hear
them, was shown in many places above. This faculty is the
rationality which every man has by creation. By this, which
is the faculty of understanding things interiorly, and deciding
what is just and equitable, and good and true, men are distin-
guished from beasts : it is this therefore that is meant when it is
said, that the understanding can be elevated, and receive and
perceive things that are of the light from heaven. That this
is the case may also be seen in a certain image in the lungs,
because the lungs correspond to the understanding. It may be
seen from their cellular substance, which consists of bronchia
continued to the smallest follicles, which are receptions of the
air in respiration : these are the substances with which the
thoughts make one by correspondence. This follicular substance :
is such, that it may be expanded and contracted in two states;
in one with the heart, and in the other almost separate from
the heart. In the state with the heart it is expanded and con-
tracted by the pulmonary arteries and veins, which are from the
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413—415
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
heart only; in the state almost separate from the heart, by the
bronchial arteries and veins, which are from the vena cava and
aorta : these last vessels are external to the heart. This is the
case in the lungs, because the understanding can be elevated
above the man's own love, which corresponds to the heart, and
receive light from heaven : but still, when the understanding is
elevated above the man's own love, it does not recede from it,
but derives from it what is called the affection of knowing and
understanding for the sake of somewhat of honor, glory, or
gain in the world : this somewhat cleaves to every love as a sur-
face, by virtue whereof the love is lucid at the surface; but with
the wise it is translucent. These observations are adduced con-
cerning the lungs, in order to prove, that the understanding
can be elevated, and receive and perceive things that are of the
light of heaven, for there is a plenary correspondence. By cor-
respondence the lungs may be seen from the understanding, and
the understanding from the lungs, and thus confirmation may
be derived from both.
414. XIV. That love or the will can in like manner be ele-
vated, and perceive the things which are of the heat of heaven, if
it love its spouse in that degree. That the understanding may be
elevated into the light of heaven, and imbibe wisdom, was
shown in the preceding article, and in many places above;
and that love or the will can equally be elevated, if it loves
things that are of the light of heaven, or of wisdom, was also
shown in many places above. ove, however, or the will, can-
not be elevated by any thing of honor, glory, or gain as its
end, but by the love of use, not for the sake of self, but for
the sake of the neighbor; and as this love is given only from
heaven by the Lord, and this, when men shun evils as sins,
therefore love or the will also may be elevated by these means,
but not without them. Love, however, or the will, is elevated
into the heat of heaven, but the understanding into the light of
heaven; and if both are elevated, a marriage is effected there,
which is called the heavenly marriage, because it is of heavenly
love and wisdom; wherefore it is said that the love also is
elevated, if it loves wisdom, its consort, in that degree: love
towards the neighbor from the Lord is the love of wisdom, or
the genuine love of the human understanding. This is similar
to the case of light and heat in the world. Light exists without
heat, and with heat; without heat, in winter, and with heat, in
summer; and when there is heat with light, then all things
flourish : the light in man corresponding to the light of winter
is wisdom without its love, and the light in man corresponding
to the light of summer is wisdom with its love.
415. This conjunction and disjunction of wisdom and love
may be seen imaged as it were in the conjunction of the lungs
and the heart. The heart, by the blood put forth by it, may be
168


THE DIVINE LOVE.
415, 416
conjoined to the branches of bronchial vesicles, and it may also
be conjoined by the blood not put forth by itself, but by the
vena cava and aorta. Thus the respiration of the body may be
separated from the respiration of the spirit; but when only the
blood from the heart acts, then the respirations cannot be sepa-
rated. Now as, by correspondence, the thoughts make one with
the respirations, therefore the twofold state of the lungs as re-
gards respiration, clearly proves that a man may think one
thing, and speak and act in company with others, from his
thought, and may think, speak, and 'act otherwise, when he
is not in company, that is, when he is not afraid of any loss of
reputation from his thought. He may then think and speak
against God, the neighbor, the spiritual things of the church,
and moral and civil laws, and also act against them by stealing,
revenging, blaspheming, and committing adultery; but in
company, where he is afraid of the loss of reputation, he may
speak, preach, and act, altogether like a spiritual, moral, and
civil man. Hence it is evident, that love or the will, like the
understanding, may be elevated and receive things that are of
the heat or of the love of heaven, if it loves wisdom in that
degree ; and if it does not love wisdom, that it may as it were
be separated.
476. XV. That otherwise love or the will draws down wisdom
or the understanding from its elevation, to act as one with it.
There is natural love and there is spiritual love. He that is in
natural and at the same time in spiritual love, is rational; but
he that is only in natural love, may think rationally just like a
spiritual man, but still he is not rational; although he elevates
his understanding to the light of heaven, consequently to wis-
dom, yet things that are of wisdom, or of the light of heaven,
are not of his love. His love indeed does this, but from the
affection of honor, glory, and gain. When, however, he per-
ceives that he does not receive any such thing from that eleva-
tion, which is the case when he thinks with himself from his
natural love, then he does not love things that are of the light
of heaven or of wisdom ; wherefore he then draws down the
understanding from its elevation, to act as one with himself.
-For example; when the understanding by its elevation is in
wisdom, then the love sees the nature of justice, of sincerity,
of chastity, and of genuine love: this the natural love can see
by its faculty of understanding and seeing things in the light
of heaven; and it can even speak, preach, and describe them
as at once moral and spiritual virtues. But when the under-
standing is not elevated, then the love, if it be merely natural,
does not see these virtues, but instead of justice injustice,
instead of sincerity fraud, instead of chastity lasciviousness,
and so forth; if it then thinks of the things it spoke of when
the understanding was elevated, it possibly laughs at them, and
169


416_419
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
lunos conseg" the 100 her old respiro rest
tural..r of his spil. In meret in spiriti
na
om the where but
only thinks that they serve it to deceive other men. Hence it
may appear how it is to be understood, that love, unless it love
wisdom its consort in that degree, draws her down from her
elevation, to act as one with itself. That love can be elevated
if it loves wisdom in that degree, may be seen above, n. 414.
417. Now as love corresponds to the heart, and the under-
standing to the lungs, what was said above may be proved by
their correspondence; consequently, how the understanding can
be elevated to wisdom above the man's own love, and how the
understanding is drawn down from her elevation by that love,
if it be merely natural. Man has a twofold respiration, one of
his body and the other of his spirit. These two respirations
can be either separated or conjoined. In merely natural men,
especially in hypocrites, they are separated, but in spiritual and
sincere men this is rarely the case; wherefore the merely na-
tural man and hypocrite, in whom the understanding is elevated,
and in whose memory therefore many things that are of wisdom
remain, can speak wisely in company from thought out of the
memory; but when he is not in company he thinks, not from
the memory, but from his spirit, consequently from his love;
and in the same manner he respires, because thought and respi-
ration act correspondently. That the structure of the lungs
is such, that they can respire by virtue of blood from the
heart, and also by virtue of blood extrinsic to the heart, was
shown above.
418. It is a common opinion that wisdom makes the man;
and thus when people hear any one speak and teach wisely, they
believe him to be wise ; yea, he thinks himself so at that time;
for when he speaks and teaches in company, he thinks from the
memory, and if he be merely natural, from the surface of his
love, which is the affection of honor, glory, or gain : but when
he is alone, he thinks from the interior love of his spirit, and
then sometimes not wisely but insanely. Hence it may appear,
that no one is to be judged of from wisdom of speech, but
from his life; that is, not from wisdom of speech separate from
life, but from wisdom of speech conjoined to life. By life we
mean love. That love is life was shown above.
419. XVI. That love or the will is purified by wisdom in the
understanding, if they be elevated together. Man from his birth
loves nothing but himself and the world, for nothing else ap-
pears before his eyes, and therefore he revolves nothing else in
his mind. This love is corporeal-natural, and may be called
material ; and moreover it has become impure by reason of the
separation of heavenly love from it in parents. This love can-
not be separated from its impurity, unless a man have the faculty
of elevating his understanding into the light of heaven, and of
seeing how he ought to live, that his love may be elevated toge-
ther with his understanding into wisdom. By the understand-
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420, 421
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
venous, and hence full of the chyle collected from the food and
drink, but also from the humidity of the expirations, and from
their smell, as well as from the diminished quantity of the blood
returned into the left ventricle of the heart. That the blood
nourishes itself with suitable matters from the air inspired, is evi-
dent from the immense abundance of odors and exhalations
that are continually issuing from shrubberies, gardens and
plantations, and from the immense quantity of salts of various
kinds issuing with water from land, rivers, and lakes, and from
the immense quantity of human and animal exhalations and
effluvia with which the air is impregnated. That these enter
the lungs with the air, cannot be denied; and as this is the
case, it cannot be denied that the blood attracts therefrom such
things as are serviceable to it, and those things are serviceable
that correspond to the affections of its love. Hence, in the
air-cells or inmost parts of the lungs, there are multitudes of
small veins with little mouths, which absorb such things; and
hence the blood returned into the left ventricle of the heart is
changed into arterial and florid blood. These considerations
prove, that the blood purifies itself of heterogeneous things,
and nourishes itself from homogeneous ones. That the blood
in the lungs purifies and nourishes itself correspondently to the
affections of the mind, is not yet known, but it is very well
known in the spiritual world; for the angels in the heavens are
delighted only with odors that correspond to the love of their
wisdom; whereas the spirits in hell are delighted only with
odors that correspond to some love in opposition to wisdom ;
the latter odors are stinking, but the former odors are fragrant.
That men in the world impregnate their blood with similar
things according to correspondence with the affections of their
love, follows of consequence; for what a man's spirit loves,
that, according to correspondence, his blood craves, and attracts
in respiration. From this correspondence it follows, that a man
is purified as to his love, if he loves wisdom, and that he is
defiled if he does not love her; all a man's purification being
effected by the truths of wisdom, and all his defilement by the
falses that are opposed to them.
421. XVII. That love or the will is defiled in the under-
standing, and by it, if they be not elevated together : because, if
love be not elevated, it remains impure, as we said above, n.
419, 420; and when it remains impure, it loves impure things,
such as revenge, hatred, fraud, blasphemy, adultery; these are
then its affections, which are lusts, and it rejects the things of
charity, justice, sincerity, truth, and chastity. We say that
love is defiled in the understanding, and by it; in the under-
standing, when love is affected by those impure things; by the
understanding, when love causes the things of wisdom to be
made its servants, and still more so when it perverts, falsifies,
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
421-423
and adulterates them. Of the state of the heart, or of its
blood in the lungs, corresponding to these things, there is no
need to say more than has been said above, n. 420; only that
instead of the purification of the blood its defilement is effected;
and instead of the nourishment of the blood by fragrant exha-
lations, it is nourished by stenches; just as it is in heaven and
in hell.
422. XVIII. That love purified by wisdom in the understand-
ing becomes spiritual and celestial. A man is born natural, but in
proportion as his understanding is elevated into the light of
heaven, and his love at the same time into the heat of heaven,
he becomes spiritual and celestial; in this case he becomes like
the garden of Eden, which is at once in vernal light and in
vernal heat. The understanding is not made spiritual and ce-
lestial, but the love is; and when the love is, it also makes its
spouse the understanding spiritual and celestial. The love is
made so by a life according to the truths of wisdom, that the
understanding teaches and shows. The love imbibes these by
its understanding, and not from itself; for the love cannot ele-
vate itself unless it knows truths, and it cannot know them but
by an elevated and enlightened understanding; and then it is
elevated, in proportion as it loves truths by doing them. It is
one thing to understand, and another to will ; or one thing to
say, and another to do. There are some that understand and
speak the truths of wisdom, but neither will nor do them.
When the love does the truths of light that it understands and
speaks, then it is elevated. A man may see this from his rea-
son alone; for what is he that understands and speaks the
truths of wisdom, while he lives contrary to them, that is,
while he wills and acts against them ? Love purified by wisdom
becomes spiritual and celestial, because a man has three degrees
of life, natural, spiritual, and celestial (treated of in Part III.);
and man is capable of being elevated from one to another; but
he is not elevated by wisdom alone, but by a life according to
wisdom, for a man's life is his love : so far, therefore, as he
lives according to wisdom, so far he loves it, and he lives ac-
cording to wisdom in proportion as he purifies himself from
uncleannesses, which are sins; and he loves wisdom in propor-
tion as he does this.
4:23. That love purified by wisdom in the understanding
becomes spiritual and celestial, cannot so well be seen by corre-
spondence with the heart and lungs, because no one can see
the quality of the blood by which the lungs are kept in their
state of respiration : the blood may abound with impurities,
and yet not be distinguishable from pure blood; and the respi- .
ration of a merely natural man appears similar to the respiration
of a spiritual man. But the difference is well understood in
heaven, for every one there breathes according to the marriage
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423, 424
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
of love and wisdom; wherefore as the angels are known by that
marriage, they are also known by their respiration; and hence
when any one, who is not in that marriage, comes into heaven,
he experiences anguish at the chest, and gasps for breath like
one in the agonies of death; wherefore such persons throw
themselves headlong down, and never rest till they are with
those who are in a similar respiration, for then by correspond-
ence they are in similar affection, and thence in similar thought.
Hence it may appear, that with the spiritual man, the purer
blood, which by some is called the animal spirit, is purified ;
and that it is purified in proportion as the man is in the mar-
riage of love and wisdom : this purer blood proximately corre-
sponds to that marriage; and as this flows into the blood of the
body, it follows that the latter is also purified by it: the con-
trary takes place with those in whom the love is defiled in the
understanding. But, as we said, no one can explore this by
any experiment on the blood, but only by the affections of love,
because these correspond to the blood.
424. XIX. That love defiled in and by the understanding,
becomes natural, sensual, and corporeal. Natural love, separated
from spiritual love, is opposite to spiritual love; for natural love
is the love of self and the world, and spiritual love is the love of
the Lord and the neighbor; and the love of self and the world
looks downward and outward, and the love of the Lord looks
upward and inward. Wherefore, when natural love is separated
from spiritual love, it cannot be elevated from a man's proprium,
but remains immersed therein, and so far as it loves this, so far
it is glued to it; and then if the understanding ascends, and
sees the truths of wisdom by the light of heaven, the natural
love draws it down and joins it to itself in its proprium, and
there either rejects the truths of wisdom, or falsifies them, or
encompasses itself with them, in order that it may speak them
for fame. As natural love may ascend by degrees, and become
spiritual and celestial, so also it may descend by degrees, and
become sensual and corporeal; and it descends in proportion as
it loves dominion from no love of use, but solely from the love
of self: this love it is that is called the devil. Those who are in
this love can speak and act like those who are in spiritual love;
but then they speak and act either from memory, or from the
understanding elevated by itself into the light of heaven: ne-
vertheless the things which they say and do are comparatively
as fruits, the surface of which appears beautiful, but which
are rotten within ; or like almonds, the shells of which appear
sound, but which are worm eaten within. These things in
the spiritual world are called phantasies, and by them harlots,
which are there called syrens, make themselves beautiful, and
adorn themselves with becoming garments, but nevertheless,
when the phantasy is removed they appear as spectres. These
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THE DIVINE LOVE.
424, 425
things also are like devils that make themselves angels of light.
When that corporeal love draws down its understanding, as is
the case when men are alone, and think from their love, then
they think against God in favor of nature, against heaven in
favor of the world, and against the goods and truths of the
church in favor of the evils and falses of hell; thus contrary to
wisdom. Hence appears the nature of corporeal men: they are
not corporeal as to their understanding but as to their love, that
is, they are not corporeal as to their understanding when they
speak in company, but when they speak with themselves in
spirit; and as in spirit they are such, therefore after death as to
both the love and the understanding, they become what are
called corporeal spirits: then those who in the world have been
in extreme love of rule from the love of self, and at the same
time in superior elevation of the understanding, appear as to
their bodies like Egyptian mummies, and as to their minds
stupid and idiotic. Who in the world at this day knows that
this love in itself is of such a nature? Nevertheless, there does
exist a love of rule from the love of use,—from the love of use
not for the sake of self, but for the sake of the common good :
men however can scarcely distinguish one from the other, but
still there is a difference between them as great as between
heaven and hell. The differences between these two loves of
rule may be seen in the work On HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 531
to 565.
425. XX. That the faculty of understanding, called ration-
ality, and the faculty of acting, called liberty, still remain. These
two faculties of man were treated of above, n. 264 to 267. Man
has these two faculties, that he may from natural become spi-
ritual, that is, be regenerated; for, as we said above, it is a
man's love that becomes spiritual and is regenerated, and it can-
not become spiritual, or be regenerated, unless by its under-
standing it knows what is evil and what is good, and thence
what is true and what is false. When it knows these things, it
may choose one or the other; and if it chooses good, it may be
informed by its understanding of the means whereby it may
come to good. All the means by which men may come to good
are provided. To know and understand these means is the part
of rationality, and to will and do them is the part of liberty ;
liberty also is to will to know, understand, and think them.
Those who from the doctrine of the church, believe that spi-
ritual or theological things transcend the understanding, and
that therefore they are to be believed without being under-
stood, know nothing of the faculties of rationality and liberty.
Such persons cannot but deny the faculty of rationality. And
those who, from the doctrine of the church, believe that no one
can do good of himself, and that therefore good is not to be
done from any will for the sake of salvation, cannot but deny
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425, 426
ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
from a principle of religion both these faculties which man is
possessed of: therefore also those who have confirmed themselves
in these persuasions, after death, according to their belief are
deprived of both, and instead of heavenly liberty in which they
might have been, are in infernal liberty, and instead of angelic
wisdom, which they might have been in from rationality, are in
infernal insanity : and, what is wonderful, they acknowledge
both these faculties to have place in doing evils and in thinking
things false ; not knowing that the liberty of doing evils is
slavery, and that the rationality of thinking things false is irra-
tional. It is however to be borne in mind, that both liberty
and rationality are not man's, but the Lord's in man, and that
they cannot be appropriated to a man as his own; also, that they
cannot be given to a man as his own, but that they are con-
tinually the Lord's in him, and still that they are never taken
away from man. Without them a man cannot be saved, for with-
out them he cannot be regenerated, as was said above; where-
fore a man is instructed by the church that he cannot think truth
from himself, nor do good from himself. But as a man does not
perceive otherwise than that he thinks truth from himself and
does good from himself, it is manifest that he ought to believe
that he thinks truth as from himself, and does good as from
himself: if he does not believe this, then he either does not
think truth or do good, and so has no religion, or he thinks
truth and does good from himself, and in this case ascribes to
himself what is divine. That a man ought to think truth and do
good as from himself, may be seen in the DOCTRINE OF LIFE
FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, from beginning to end.
426. XXI. That spiritual and celestial love is love towards
the neighbor and love to the Lord; and that natural and sensual
love is love of the world and love of self. By love towards the
i neighbor we mean the love of uses, and by love to the Lord we
mean the love of doing uses, as was shown before. These loves
are spiritual and celestial, because to love uses, and to do them
from the love of them, is separate from the love of man's pro-
prium. He that spiritually loves uses has no respect to himself,
but to others without himself, by whose good he is affected.
The loves opposed to these are the loves of self and of the
world, for these have no respect to use for the sake of others,
but for the sake of self, and those who do this invert the divine
order, and put themselves in the place of the Lord, and the
world in the place of heaven; hence they look back from the
Lord and from heaven, and to look back from them is to look
towards hell: but more concerning these loves may be seen
above, n. 424. A man however does not feel and perceive the
love of doing uses for the sake of uses, as he does the love of
doing uses for the sake of self; hence also he does not know,
when he does uses, whether he does them for the sake of use
176