Читать книгу The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love - Emanuel Swedenborg - Страница 6

77. THE THIRD MEMORABLE RELATION. The next day, my conducting and attendant angel came to me and said, "Make ready, and let us go to the heavenly inhabitants in the west, who are from the men that lived in the third period, or in the copper age. Their dwellings are from the south by the west towards the north; but they do not reach into the north." Having made myself ready, I attended him, and we entered their heaven on the southern quarter. There was a magnificent grove of palm trees and laurels. We passed through this, and immediately on the confines of the west we saw giants, double the size of ordinary men. They asked us, "Who let you in through the grove?" The angel said, "The God of heaven." They replied, "We are guards to the ancient western heaven; but pass on." We passed on, and from a rising ground we saw a mountain rising to the clouds, and between us and the mountain a number of villages, with gardens, groves, and plains intermixed. We passed through the villages and came to the mountain, which we ascended; and lo! its summit was not a point but a plain, on which was a spacious and extensive city. All the houses of the city were built of the wood of the pine-tree, and their roofs consisted of joists or rafters; and I asked, "Why are the houses here built of wood?" The angel replied, "Because wood signifies natural good; and the men of the third age of the earth were principled in this good; and as copper also signifies natural good, therefore the age in which they lived the ancients named from copper. Here are also sacred buildings constructed of the wood of the olive, and in the middle of them is the sanctuary, where is deposited in an ark the Word that was given to the inhabitants of Asia before the Israelitish Word; the historical books of which are called the WARS OF JEHOVAH, and the prophetic books, ENUNCIATIONS; both mentioned by Moses, Numb. xxi. verses 14, 15, and 27–30. This Word at this day is lost in the kingdoms of Asia, and is only preserved in Great Tartary." Then the angel led me to one of the sacred buildings, which we looked into, and saw in the middle of it the sanctuary, the whole in the brightest light; and the angel said, "This light is from that ancient Asiatic Word: for all divine truth in the heavens gives forth light." As we were leaving the sacred building, we were informed that it had been reported in the city that two strangers had arrived there; and that they were to be examined as to whence they came, and what was their business; and immediately one of the public officers came running towards us, and took us for examination before the judges: and on being asked whence we came, and what was our business, we replied, "We have passed the grove of palm-trees, and also the abodes of the giants, the guards of your heaven, and afterwards the region of villages; from which circumstances you may conclude, that we have not come here of ourselves, but by direction of the God of heaven. The business on which we are come is, to be instructed concerning your marriages, whether they are monogamical or polygamical." and they said, "What are polygamical marriages? Are not they adulterous?" And immediately the bench of judges deputed an intelligent person to instruct us in his own house on this point: and when we were come to his house, he set his wife by his side, and spoke as follows: "We are in possession of precepts concerning marriages, which have been handed down to us from the primeval or most ancient people, who were principled in love truly conjugial, and thereby excelled all others in the virtue and potency of that love while they were in the world, and who are now in a most blessed state in their heaven, which is in the east. We are their posterity, and they, as fathers, have given us, their sons, rules of life, among which is the following concerning marriages: 'Sons, if you are desirous to love God and your neighbour, and to become wise and happy to eternity, we counsel you to live married to one wife; if you depart from this precept, all heavenly love will depart from you, and therewith internal wisdom; and you will be banished.' This precept of our Fathers we have obeyed as sons, and have perceived its truth, which is, that so far as any one loves his conjugial partner alone, so far he becomes celestial and internal, and that so far as any one does not love his married partner alone, so far he becomes natural and external; and in this case he loves only himself and the images of his own mind, and is doating and foolish. From these considerations, all of us in this heaven live married to one wife; and this being the case, all the borders of our heaven are guarded against polygamists, adulterers, and whoremongers; if polygamists invade us, they are cast out into the darkness of the north; if adulterers, they are cast out into fires of the west; and if whoremongers, they are cast out into the delusive lights of the south." On hearing this, I asked, "What he meant by the darkness of the north, the fires of the west, and the delusive lights of the south?" He answered, "The darkness of the north is dulness of mind and ignorance of truths; the fires of the west are the loves of evil; and the delusive lights of the south are the falsifications of truth, which are spiritual whoredoms." After this, he said, "Follow me to our repository of curiosities:" so we followed him, and he shewed us the writings of the most ancient people, which were on the tables of wood and stone, and afterwards on smooth blocks of wood; the writings of the second age were on sheets of parchment; of these he brought me a sheet, on which were copied the rules of the people of the first age from their tables of stone, among which also was the precept concerning marriages. Having seen these and other ancient curiosities, the angel said, "It is now time for us to take our leave;" and immediately our host went into the garden, and plucked some twigs off a tree, and bound them into a little bunch, and gave them to us, saying, "These twigs are from a tree, which is native of or peculiar to our heaven, and whose juice has a balsamic fragrance." We brought the bunch down with us, and descended by the eastern way, which was not guarded; and lo! the twigs were changed into shining brass, and the upper ends of them into gold, as a sign that we had been with the people of the third age, which is named from copper or brass.

78. THE FOURTH MEMORABLE RELATIONS. After two days the angel again addressed me, saying, "Let us complete the period of the ages; the last still remains, which is named from IRON. The people of this age dwell in the north on the side of the west, in the inner parts or breadth-ways: they are all from the old inhabitants of Asia, who were in possession of the ancient Word, and thence derived their worship; consequently they were before the time of our Lord's coming into the world. This is evident from the writings of the ancients, in which those times are so named. These same periods are meant by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, whose head was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet of iron and of clay, Dan. ii. 32, 33." These particulars the angel related to me in the way, which was contracted and anticipated by changes of state induced in our minds according to the genius or disposition of the inhabitants whom we passed; for spaces and consequent distances in the spiritual world are appearances according to the state of their minds. When we raised our eyes, lo! we were in a forest consisting of beeches, chestnut-trees and oaks: and on looking around us, there appeared bears to the left, and leopards to the right: and when I wondered at this, the angel said, "They are neither bears nor leopards, but men, who guard these inhabitants of the north; by their nostrils they have a scent of the sphere of life of those who pass by, and they rush violently on all who are spiritual, because the inhabitants are natural. Those who only read the Word, and imbibe thence nothing of doctrine, appear at a distance like bears; and those who confirm false principles thence derived, appear like leopards." On seeing us, they turned away, and we proceeded. Beyond the forest there appeared thickets, and afterwards fields of grass divided into areas, bordered with box: this was succeeded by a declivity which led to a valley, wherein were several cities. We passed some of them, and entered into one of a considerable size: its streets were irregular, and so were the houses, which were built of brick, with beams between, and plastered. In the places of public resort were consecrated buildings of hewn lime-stone; the under-structure of which was below the ground, and the super-structure above. We went down into one of them by three steps, and saw on the walls idols of various forms, and a crowd on their knees paying adoration to them: in the middle of the building was a company, above whom might be seen the head of the tutelary god of that city. As we went out, the angel said to me, "Those idols, with the ancients who lived in the silver age, as above described, were images representative of spiritual truths and moral virtues; and when the science of correspondence was forgotten and extinct, they first became objects of worship, and afterwards were adored as deities: hence came idolatry." When we were come out of the consecrated building, we made our observations on the men and their dress. Their faces were like steel, of a grayish color, and they were dressed like comedians, with napkins about their loins hanging from a tunic buttoned close at the breast; and on their heads they wore curled caps like sailors. But the angel said, "Enough of this; let us seek some instruction concerning the marriages of the people of this age." We then entered into the house of one of the grandees, who wore on his head a high cap. He received us kindly, and said, "Come in and let us converse together." We entered into the vestibule, and there seated ourselves; and I asked him about the marriages of his city and country. He said, "We do not here live with one wife, but some with two or three, and some with more, because we are delighted with variety, obedience, and honor, as marks of dignity; and these we receive from our wives according to their number. With one wife there would be no delight arising from variety; but disgust from sameness: neither would there be any flattering courteousness arising from obedience, but a troublesome disquietude from equality; neither would there be any satisfaction arising from dominion and the honor thence derived, but vexation from wrangling about superiority. And what is a woman? Is she not born subject to man's will; to serve, and not to domineer? Wherefore in this place every husband in his own house enjoys as it were royal dignity; and as this is suited to our love, it constitutes also the blessedness of our life." But I asked, "In such case, what becomes of conjugial love, which from two souls makes one, and joins minds together, and renders a man (homo) blessed? This love cannot be divided; for if it be it becomes a heat which effervesces and passes away." To this he replied, "I do not understand what you say; what else renders a man (homo) blessed, but the emulation of wives contending for the honor of the first place in the husband's favor?" As he said this, a man entered into the women's apartment and opened the two doors; whence there issued a libidinous effluvium, which had a stench like mire; this arose from polygamical love, which is connubial, and at the same time adulterous; so I rose and shut the doors. Afterwards I said, "How can you subsist upon this earth, when you are void of any love truly conjugial, and also when you worship idols?" He replied, "As to connubial love, we are so jealous of our wives, that we do not suffer any one to enter further within our houses than the vestibule; and where there is jealousy, there must also be love. In respect to idols, we do not worship them; but we are not able to think of the God of the universe, except by means of such forms presented to our eyes; for we cannot elevate our thoughts above the sensual things of the body, nor think of God above the objects of bodily vision." I then asked him again, "Are not your idols of different forms? How then can they excite the idea of one God?" He replied, "This is a mystery to us; somewhat of the worship of God lies concealed in each form." I then said, "You are merely sensual corporeal spirits; you have neither the love of God nor the love of a married partner grounded in any spiritual principle; and these loves together form a man (homo) and from sensual make him celestial." As I said this, there appeared through the gate as it were lightning: and on my asking what it meant, he said, "Such lightning is a sign to us that there will come the ancient one from the east, who teaches us concerning God, that He is one, the alone omnipotent, who is the first and the last; he also admonishes us not to worship idols, but only to look at them as images representative of the virtues proceeding from the one God, which also together form his worship. This ancient one is our angel, whom we revere and obey. He comes to us, and raises us, when we are falling into obscure worship of God from mere fancies respecting images." On hearing this, we left the house and went out of the city; and in the way, from what we had seen in the heavens, we drew some conclusions respecting the circuit and the progression of conjugial love; of the circuit that it had passed from the east to the south, from the south to the west, and from the west to the north; and of the progression, that it had decreased according to its circulation, namely, that in the east it was celestial, in the south spiritual, in the west natural, and in the north sensual; and also that it had decreased in a similar degree with the love and the worship of God: from which considerations we further concluded, that this love in the first age was like gold, in the second like silver, in the third like brass, and in the fourth like iron, and that at length it ceased. On this occasion the angel, my guide and companion, said, "Nevertheless I entertain a hope that this love will be revived by the God of heaven, who is the Lord, because it is capable of being so revived."

79. THE FIFTH MEMORABLE RELATION, The angel that had been my guide and companion to the ancients who had lived in the four ages, the golden, the silver, the copper, and the iron, again presented himself to me, and said, "Are you desirous of seeing the age which succeeded those ancient ones, and to know what its quality formerly was, and still is? Follow me, and you shall see. They are those concerning whom Daniel thus prophesied: 'A kingdom shall arise after those four in which iron shall be mixed with miry clay: they shall mingle themselves together by the seed of man: but they shall not cohere one with the other, as iron is not mixed with clay, Dan. ii. 41–43:'" and he said, "By the seed of man, whereby iron shall be mixed with clay, and still they shall not cohere, is meant the truth of the Word falsified." After he had said this, I followed him, and in the way, he related to me these particulars. "They dwell in the borders between the south and the west, but at a great distance beyond those who lived in the four former ages, and also at a greater depth." We then proceeded through the south to the region bordering on the west, and passed though a formidable forest; for in it there were lakes, out of which crocodiles raised their heads, and opened at us their wide jaws beset with teeth; and between the lakes were terrible dogs, some of which were three-headed like Cerberus, some two-headed, all looking at us as we passed with a horrible hungry snarl and fierce eyes. We entered the western tract of this region, and saw dragons and leopards, such as are described in the Revelation, chap. xii. 3; chap. xiii. 2. Then the angel said to me, "All these wild beasts which you have seen, are not wild beasts but correspondences, and thereby representative forms of the lusts of the inhabitants whom we shall visit. The lusts themselves are represented by those horrible dogs; their deceit and cunning by crocodiles; their falsities and depraved inclinations to the things which relate to worship, by dragons and leopards: nevertheless the inhabitants represented do not live close behind the forest, but behind a great wilderness which lies intermediate, that they may be fully withheld and separated from the inhabitants of the foregoing ages, being of an entirely different genius and quality from them: they have indeed heads above their breasts, and breasts above their loins, and loins above their feet, like the primeval men; but in their heads there is not any thing of gold, nor in their breasts any thing of silver, nor in their loins any thing of brass, no, nor in their feet any thing of pure iron; but in their heads is iron mixed with clay, in their breasts is each mixed with brass, in their loins is also each mixed with silver, and in their feet is each mixed with gold: by this inversion they are changed from men (homines) into graven images of men, in which inwardly nothing coheres; for what was highest, is made lowest, thus what was the head is become the heel, and vice versa. They appear to us from heaven like stage-players, who lie upon their elbows with the body inverted, and put themselves in a walking motion; or like beasts, which lie on their backs, and lift the feet upwards, and from the head, which they plunge in the earth, look towards heaven." We passed through the forest, and entered the wilderness, which was not less terrible: it consisted of heaps of stones, and ditches between them, out of which crept hydras and vipers, and there flew forth venomous flying serpents. This whole wilderness was on a continual declivity: we descended by a long steep descent, and at length came into the valley inhabited by the people of that region and age. There were here and there cottages, which appeared at length to meet, and to be joined together in the form of a city: this we entered, and lo! the houses were built of the scorched branches of trees, cemented together with mud and covered with black slates. The streets were irregular; all of them at the entrance narrow, but wider as they extended, and at the end spacious, where there were places of public resort: here there were as many places of public resort as there were streets. As we entered the city, it became dark, because the sky did not appear; we therefore looked up and light was given us, and we saw: and then I asked those we met, "Are you able to see because the sky does not appear above you?" They replied "What a question is this! we see clearly; we walk in full light." On hearing this, the angel said to me, "Darkness to them is light, and light darkness, as is the case with birds of night; as they look downwards and not upwards." We entered into some of the cottages, and saw in each a man with his woman, and we asked them, "Do all live here in their respective houses with one wife only?" And they replied with a hissing, "What do you mean by one wife only? Why do not you ask, whether we live with one harlot? What is a wife but a harlot? By our laws it is not allowable to commit fornication with more than one woman; but still we do not hold it dishonorable or unbecoming to do so with more; yet out of our own houses we glory in the one among another: thus we rejoice in the license we take, and the pleasure attending it, more than polygamists. Why is a plurality of wives denied us, when yet it has been granted, and at this day is granted in the whole world about us? What is life with one woman only, but captivity and imprisonment? We however in this place have broken the bolt of this prison, and have rescued ourselves from slavery, and made ourselves free, and who is angry with a prisoner for asserting his freedom when it is in his power?" to this we replied, "You speak, friend, as if without any sense of religion. What rational person does not know that adulteries are profane and infernal, and that marriages are holy and heavenly. Do not adulteries take place with devils in hell, and marriages with angels in heaven? Did you never read the sixth commandment [Footnote: According to the division of the commandments adopted by the Church of England, it is the seventh that is here referred to.] of the decalogue? and in Paul, that adulterers can by no means enter heaven?" Hereupon our host laughed heartily, and regarded me as a simpleton, and almost as out of my senses. But just then there came running a messenger from the chief of the city, and said, "Bring the two strangers into the town-hall; and if they refuse to come, drag them there: we have seen them in a shade of light; they have entered privately; they are spies." Hereupon the angel said to me, "The reason why we were seen in a shade, is, because the light of heaven in which we have been, is to them a shade, and the shade of hell is to them light; and this is because they regard nothing as sin, not even adultery: hence they see what is false altogether as what is true; and what is false is lucid in hell before satans, and what is true darkens their eyes like the shade of night." We said to the messenger, "We will not be pressed, still less will we be dragged into the town-hall; but we will go with you of our own accord." So we went: and lo! there was a great crowd assembled, out of which came some lawyers, and whispered to us, saying, "Take heed to yourselves how you speak any thing against religion, the form of our government, and good manners:" and we replied, "We will not speak against them, but for them and from them." Then we asked, "What are your religious notions respecting marriages?" At this the crowd murmured, and said, "What have you to do here with marriages? Marriages are marriages." Again we asked, "What are your religious notions respecting whoredoms?" At this also they murmured, saying, "What have you to do here with whoredoms? Whoredoms are whoredoms: let him that is guiltless cast the first stone." And we asked thirdly, "Does your religion teach that marriages are holy and heavenly, and that adulteries are profane and infernal?" Hereupon several in the crowd laughed aloud, jested, and bantered, saying, "Inquire of our priests, and not of us, as to what concerns religion. We acquiesce entirely in what they declare; because no point of religion is an object of decision in the understanding. Have you never heard that the understanding is without any sense or discernment in mysteries, which constitute the whole of religion? And what have actions to do with religion? Is not the soul made blessed by the muttering of words from a devout heart concerning expiation, satisfaction, and imputation, and not by works?" But at this instant there came some of the wise ones of the city, so called, and said, "Retire hence; the crowd grows angry; a storm is gathering: let us talk in private on this subject; there is a retired walk behind the town-hall; come with us there." We followed them; and they asked us whence we came, and what was our business there? And we said, "to be instructed concerning marriages, whether they are holy with you, as they were with the ancients who lived in the golden, silver, and copper ages; or whether they are not holy." And they replied, "What do you mean by holiness? Are not marriages works of the flesh and of the night?" And we answered, "Are they not also works of the spirit? and what the flesh does from the spirit, is not that spiritual? and all that the spirit does, it does from the marriage of good and truth. Is not this marriage spiritual, which enters the natural marriage of husband and wife?" To this the wise ones, so called, made answer, "There is too much subtlety and sublimity in what you say on this subject; you ascend far above rational principles to spiritual: and who, beginning at such an elevation, can descend thence, and thus form any decision?" To this they added with a smile of ridicule, "Perhaps you have the wings of an eagle, and can fly in the highest region of heaven, and make these discoveries: this we cannot do." We then asked them to tell us, from the altitude or region in which the winged ideas of their minds fly, whether they knew, or were able to know, that the love of one man with one wife is conjugial love, into which are collected all the beatitudes, satisfactions, delights, pleasantnesses, and pleasures of heaven; and that this love is from the Lord according to the reception of good and truth from him; thus according to the state of the church? On hearing this, they turned away, and said, "These men are out of their senses; they enter the ether with their judgement, and scatter about vain conjectures like nuts and almonds." After this they turned to us, saying, "We will give a direct answer to your windy conjectures and dreams;" and they said, "What has conjugial love in common with religion and inspiration from God? Is not this love with every one according to the state of his potency? Is it not the same with those who are out of the church as with those who are in it, with Gentiles as with Christians, yea, with the impious as with the pious? Has not every one the strength of this love either hereditarily, or from bodily health, or from temperance of life, or from warmth of climate? By medicines also it may be strengthened and stimulated. Is not the case similar with the brute creation, especially with birds which unite in pairs? Moreover, is not this love carnal? and what has a carnal principle in common with the spiritual state of the church? Does this love, as to its ultimate effect with a wife, differ at all from love as to its effect with a harlot? Is not the lust similar, and the delight similar? Wherefore it is injurious to deduce the origin of conjugial love from the holy things of the church." On hearing this, we said to them, "You reason from the stimulus of lasciviousness, and not from conjugial love; you are altogether ignorant what conjugial love is, because it is cold with you; from what you have said we are convinced that you are of the age which has its name from and consists of iron and clay, which do not cohere, according to the prophecy in Daniel, chap. ii. 43; for you make conjugial love and adulterous love the same thing; and do these two cohere any more than iron and clay? You are believed and called wise, and yet you have not the smallest pretensions to that character." On hearing this, they were inflamed with rage and made a loud cry, and called the crowd together to cast us out; but at that instant, by virtue of power given us by the Lord, we stretched out our hands, and lo! the flying serpents, vipers, and hydras, and also the dragons from the wilderness, presented themselves, and entered and filled the city; at which the inhabitants being terrified fled away. The angel then said to me, "Into this region new comers from the earth daily enter, and the former inhabitants are by turns separated and cast down into the gulphs of the west, which appear at a distance like lakes of fire and brimstone. All in those gulphs are spiritual and natural adulterers."

80. THE SIXTH MEMORABLE RELATION. As the angel said this, I looked to the western boundary, and lo! there appeared as it were lakes of fire and brimstone; and I asked him, why the hells in that quarter had such an appearance? He replied, "They appear as lakes in consequence of the falsifications of truth; because water in the spiritual sense signifies truth; and there is an appearance as it were of fire round about them, and in them, in consequence of the love of evil, and as it were of brimstone in consequence of the love of what is false. Those three things, the lake, the fire, and the brimstone, are appearances, because they are correspondences of the evil loves of the inhabitants. All in that quarter are shut up in eternal work-houses, where they labor for food, for clothing, and for a bed to lie on; and when they do evil, they are grievously and miserably punished." I further asked the angel, why he said that in that quarter are spiritual and natural adulterers, and why he had not rather said, that they were evil doers and impious? He replied, "Because all those who make light of adulteries, that is, who commit them from a confirmed persuasion that they are not sins, and thus are in the purpose of committing them from a belief of their being harmless, are in their hearts evil doers and impious; for the conjugial human principle ever goes hand in hand with religion; and every step and movement made under the influence of religion, and leading to it, is also a step and movement made under the influence of the conjugial principle, and leading to it, which is peculiar and proper to the Christian." On asking what that conjugial principle was, he said, "It is the desire of living with one wife; and every Christian has this desire according to his religion." I was afterwards grieved in spirit to think that marriages, which in the most ancient times had been most holy, were so wretchedly changed into adulteries. The angel said, "The case is the same at this day with religion; for the Lord says 'In the consummation of the age there will be the abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel. And there will be great affliction, such as there has not been from the beginning of the world,' Matt. xxiv. 15, 21. The abomination of desolation signifies the falsification and deprivation of all truth; affliction signifies the state of the church infested by evils and falses; and the consummation of the age, concerning which those things are spoken, signifies the last time or end of the church. The end is now, because there does not remain a truth which is not falsified; and the falsification of truth is spiritual whoredom, which acts in unity with natural whoredom, because they cohere."

81. As we were conversing and lamenting together on this occasion, there suddenly appeared a beam of light, which, darting powerfully upon my eyes, caused me to look up: and lo! the whole heaven above us appeared luminous; and from the east to the west in an extended series we heard a GLORIFICATION: and the angel said to me, "That is a glorification of the Lord on account of his coming, and is made by the angels of the eastern and western heavens." From the northern and southern heavens nothing was heard but a soft and pleasing murmur. As the angel understood everything, he told me first, that glorifications and celebrations of the Lord are made from the Word, because then they are made from the Lord; for the Lord is the Word, that is, the essential divine truth therein; and he said, "Now in particular they glorify and celebrate the Lord by these words, which were spoken by Daniel the prophet, 'Thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay; they shall mingle themselves together by the seed of man; but they shall not cohere. Nevertheless in those days the God of the heavens shall cause a kingdom to arise, which shall not perish for ages. It shall bruise and consume those kingdoms; but itself shall stand for ages.' Dan. ii. 43, 44." After this, I heard as it were the voice of singing, and further in the east I saw a glittering of light more resplendent than the former; and I asked the angel what was the subject of their glorification? He said, "These words in Daniel; 'I saw in the visions of the night, and lo! with the clouds of heaven there came as it were the SON OF MAN: and to him was given dominion and a kingdom; and all people and nations shall worship him. His dominion is the dominion of an age, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom that which shall not perish,' Dan. vii. 13, 14. They are further celebrating the Lord from these words in the Revelation: 'To JESUS CHRIST be glory and strength: behold he cometh with clouds. He is alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last; who is, who was, and who is to come, the almighty. I, John, heard this from the SON OF MAN, out of the midst of the seven candlesticks,' Rev. i. 5–7, 10–13; chap. xxii. 13; Matt. xxiv. 30, 31." I looked again into the eastern heaven: it was enlightened on the right side, and the light entered the southern expanse. I heard a sweet sound; and I asked the angel, what was the subject of their glorification in that quarter respecting the Lord? He said, "These words in the Revelation: 'I saw a new heaven and a new earth; and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a BRIDE for her HUSBAND: and the angel spake with me, and said, Come, I will shew thee the BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE: and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me the holy city, Jerusalem,' Rev. xxi. 1, 2, 9, 10: also these words, 'I JESUS am the bright and morning star; and the spirit and the bride say, COME; AND HE SAID, EVEN I COME QUICKLY; Amen: even COME, LORD JESUS,' Rev. xxii. 16, 17, 20." After these and several other subjects of glorification, there was heard a common glorification from the east to the west of heaven, and also from the south to the north; and I asked the angel, "What now is the subject?" He said, "These words from the prophets; 'Let all flesh know that I, JEHOVAH, AM THY SAVIOUR AND THY REDEEMER,' Isaiah xlix. 26. 'Thus saith JEHOVAH, the King of Israel, and HIS REDEEMER, JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH, I am the first and the last, and BESIDE ME THERE IS NO GOD,' Isaiah xliv. 6. 'It shall be said in that day, LO! THIS IS OUR GOD, whom we have expected to deliver us; THIS is JEHOVAH WHOM WE HAVE EXPECTED.' Isaiah xxv. 9. 'The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare a way for JEHOVAH. Behold the LORD JEHOVAH cometh in strength. He shall feed his flock like a SHEPHERD,' Isaiah xl. 3, 10, 11. 'Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; whose name is Wonderful Counsellor, GOD, Hero, FATHER OF ETERNITY, Prince of Peace,' Isaiah ix. 6. 'Behold the days will come, and I will raise up to David a righteous branch, who shall reign a King: and this is his name, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,' Jeremiah xxiii. 5, 6; chap, xxxiii. 15, 16. 'JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH is his name, and THY REDEEMER the holy one of Israel: THE GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL HE BE CALLED,' Isaiah liv. 5. 'IN THAT DAY THERE SHALL BE ONE JEHOVAH, AND HIS NAME ONE,' Zech. xiv. 9." On hearing and understanding these words, my heart exulted, and I went home with joy; and there I returned out of a state of the spirit into a state of the body; in which latter state I committed to writing what I had seen and heard: to which I now add the following particular. That conjugial love, such as it was with the ancients, will be revived again by the Lord after his coming; because this love is from the Lord alone, and is the portion of those who from him, by means of the Word, are made spiritual.

82. After this, a man from the northern quarter came running in great haste, and looked at me with a threatening countenance, and addressing me in a passionate tone of voice, said, "Are you the man that wishes to seduce the world, under the notion of re-establishing a new church, which you understand by the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God; and teaching, that the Lord will endow with love truly conjugial those who embrace the doctrines of that church; the delights and felicity of which love you exalt to the very heaven? Is not this a mere fiction? and do you not hold it forth as a bait and enticement to accede to your new opinions? But tell me briefly, what are the doctrinals of the New Church, and I will see whether they agree or disagree." I replied, "The doctrines of the church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem, are as follow: I. That there is one God, in whom there is a divine trinity; and that he is the LORD JESUS CHRIST. II. That a saving faith is to believe on him. III. That evils are to be shunned, because they are of the devil and from the devil. IV. That goods are to be done, because they are of God and from God. V. That these are to be done by a man as from himself; but that it ought to be believed, that they are done from the Lord with him and by him." On hearing these doctrines, his fury for some moments abated; but after some deliberation he again looked at me sternly, and said, "Are these five precepts the doctrines of faith and charity of the New Church?" I replied, "They are." He then asked sharply, "How can you demonstrate the FIRST, 'that there is one God in whom there is a divine trinity; and that he is the Lord Jesus Christ?" I said, "I demonstrate it thus: Is not God one and individual? Is not there a trinity? If God be one and individual, is not he one person? If he be one person, is not the trinity in that person? That this God is the LORD JESUS CHRIST, is evident from these considerations, that he was conceived from God the Father, Luke i. 34, 35; and thus that as to his soul he is God; and hence, as he himself saith, that the Father and himself are one, John x. 30; that he is in the Father, and the Father in him, John xix. 10, 11; that he that seeth him and knoweth him, seeth and knoweth the Father, John xiv. 7, 9; that no one seeth and knoweth the Father, except he that is in the bosom of the Father, John i. 18; that all things of the Father are his, John iii. 35; chap. xvi. 15; that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and that no one cometh to the Father but by him, John xiv. 6; thus of or from him, because the Father is in him; and, according to Paul, that all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily in him, Coloss. ii. 9; and moreover, that he hath power over all flesh, John xvii. 2; and that he hath all power in heaven and in earth, Matt, xxviii. 18: from which declarations it follows, that he is God of heaven and earth." He afterwards asked how I proved the SECOND, "that a saving faith is to believe on him?" I said, "By these words of the Lord, 'This is the will of the Father, that every one that BELIEVETH ON THE SON should have eternal life, John vi. 40.' 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that every one that BELIEVETH ON HIM should not perish, but should have eternal life,' John iii. 15, 16. 'HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON, hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son will not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,' John iii. 36." He afterwards said, "Demonstrate also the THIRD, and the next two doctrines:" I replied, "What need is there to demonstrate 'that evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil and from the devil; and that goods ought to be done, because they are of God and from God;' also 'that the latter are to be done by a man as from himself; but that he ought to believe that they are from the Lord with him and by him?' That these three doctrines are true, is confirmed by the whole Sacred Scripture from beginning to end; for what else is therein principally insisted on, but to shun evils and do goods, and believe on the Lord God? Moreover, without these three doctrines there can be no religion: for does not religion relate to life? and what is life but to shun evils and do goods? and how can a man do the latter and shun the former but as from himself? Therefore if you remove these doctrines from the church, you remove from it the Sacred Scripture, and also religion; and these being removed, the church is no longer a church." The man on hearing this retired, and mused on what he had heard; but still he departed in indignation.

ON THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE AS GROUNDED IN THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH.

83. There are both internal and external origins of conjugial love, and several of each; nevertheless there is but one inmost or universal origin of all. That this origin is the marriage of good and truth, shall be demonstrated in what now follows. The reason why no one heretofore has deduced the origin of that love from this ground, is, because it has never yet been discovered that there is any union between good and truth; and the reason why this discovery has not been made, is, because good does not appear in the light of the understanding, as truth does, and hence the knowledge of it conceals itself and evades every inquiry: and as from this circumstance good is as it were unknown, it was impossible for any one to conjecture that any marriage subsisted between it and truth: yea, before the rational natural sight, good appears so different from truth, that no conjunction between them can be supposed. That this is the case, may be seen from common discourse whenever they are mentioned; as when it is said, "This is good," truth is not at all thought of; and when it is said, "This is true," neither is good at all thought of; therefore at this day it is believed by many, that truth is one thing and good another; and by many also, that a man is intelligent and wise, and thereby a man (homo), according to the truths which he thinks, speaks, writes, and believes, and not at the same time according to goods. That nevertheless there is no good without truth, nor any truth without good, consequently that there is an eternal marriage between them; also that this marriage is the origin of conjugial love, shall now be shewn and explained in the following order: I. Good and truth are the universals of creation, and thence are in all created things; but they are in created subjects according to the form of each. II. There is neither solitary good nor solitary truth, but in all cases they are conjoined. III. There is the truth of good, and from this the good of truth; or truth grounded in good, and good grounded in that truth: and in those two principles is implanted from creation an inclination to join themselves together into a one. IV. In the subjects of the animal kingdom, the truth of good, or truth grounded in good, is male (or masculine); and the good of that truth, or good grounded in that truth, is female (or feminine). V. From the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord, the love of the sex and conjugial love are derived. VI. The love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man, and hence it is common to every animal. VII. But conjugial love belongs to the internal or spiritual man; and hence this love is peculiar to man. VIII. With man conjugial love is in the love of the sex as a gem in its matrix. IX. The love of the sex with man is not the origin of conjugial love, but its first rudiment; thus it is like an external natural principle, in which an internal spiritual principle is implanted. X. During the implantation of conjugial love, the love of the sex inverts itself and becomes the chaste love of the sex. XI. The male and the female were created to be the essential form of the marriage of good and truth. XII. They are that form in their inmost principles, and thence in what is derived from those principles, in proportion as the interiors of their minds are opened. We will now proceed to the explanation.

84. I. GOOD AND TRUTH ARE THE UNIVERSALS OF CREATION, AND THENCE ARE IN ALL CREATED THINGS; BUT THEY ARE IN CREATED SUBJECTS ACCORDING TO THE FORM OF EACH. The reason why good and truth are the universals of creation, is, because these two are in the Lord God the Creator; yea, they are himself; for he is essential divine good and essential divine truth. But this enters more clearly into the perception of the understanding, and thereby into the ideas of thought, if instead of good we say love, and instead of truth we say wisdom: consequently that in the Lord God the Creator there are divine love and divine wisdom, and that they are himself; that is, that he is essential love and essential wisdom; for those two are the same as good and truth. The reason of this is, because good has relation to love, and truth to wisdom; for love consists of goods, and wisdom truths. As the two latter and the two former are one and the same, in the following pages we shall sometimes speak of the latter and sometimes of the former, while by both the same is understood. This preliminary observation is here made, lest different meanings should be attached to the expressions when they occur in the following pages.

85. Since therefore the Lord God the Creator is essential love and essential wisdom, and from him was created the universe, which thence is as a work proceeding from him, it must needs be, that in all created things there is somewhat of good and of truth from him; for whatever is done and proceeds from any one, derives from him a certain similarity to him. That this is the case, reason also may see from the order in which all things in the universe were created; which order is, that one exists for the sake of another, and that thence one depends upon another, like the links of a chain: for all things are for the sake of the human race, that from it the angelic heaven may exist, through which creation returns to the Creator himself, in whom it originated: hence there is a conjunction of the created universe with its Creator, and by conjunction everlasting conservation. Hence it is that good and truth are called the universals of creation. That this is the case, is manifested to every one who takes a rational view of the subject: he sees in every created thing something which relates to good, and something which relates to truth.

86. The reason why good and truth in created subjects are according to the form of each, is, because every subject receives influx according to its form. The conservation of the whole consists in the perpetual influx of divine good and divine truth into forms created from those principles; for thereby subsistence or conservation is perpetual existence or creation. That every subject receives influx according to its form, may be illustrated variously; as by the influx of heat and light from the sun into vegetables of every kind; each of which receives influx according to its form; thus every tree and shrub according to its form, every herb and every blade of grass according to its form: the influx is alike into all; but the reception, which is according to the form, causes every species to continue a peculiar species. The same thing may also be illustrated by the influx into animals of every kind according to the form of each. That the influx is according to the form of every particular thing, may also be seen by the most unlettered person, if he attends to the various instruments of sound, as pipes, flutes, trumpets, horns, and organs which give forth a sound from being blown alike, or from a like influx of air, according to their respective forms.

87. II. THERE IS NEITHER SOLITARY GOOD NOR SOLITARY TRUTH. BUT IN ALL CASES THEY ARE CONJOINED. Whoever is desirous from any of the senses to acquire an idea respecting good, cannot possibly find it without the addition of something which exhibits and manifests it: good without this is a nameless entity; and this something, by which it is exhibited and manifested, has relation to truth. Pronounce the term good only, and say nothing at the same time of this or that thing with which it is conjoined; or define it abstractedly, or without the addition of anything connected with it; and you will see that it is a mere nothing, and that it becomes something with its addition; and if you examine the subject with discernment, you will perceive that good, without some addition, is a term of no predication, and thence of no relation, of no affection, and of no state; in a word, of no quality. The case is similar in regard to truth, if it be pronounced and heard without what it is joined with: that what it is joined with relates to good, may be seen by refined reason. But since goods are innumerable, and each ascends to its greatest, and descends to its least, as by the steps of a ladder, and also, according to its progression and quality, varies its name, it is difficult for any but the wise to see the relation of good and truth to their objects, and their conjunction in them. That nevertheless there is not any good without truth, nor any truth without good, is manifest from common perception, provided it be first acknowledged that every thing in the universe has relation to good and truth; as was shewn in the foregoing article, n. 84, 85. That there is neither solitary good nor solitary truth, may be illustrated and at the same time confirmed by various considerations; as by the following: that there is no essence without a form, nor any form without an essence; for good is an essence or esse; and truth is that by which the essence is formed and the esse exists. Again in a man (homo) there are the will and the understanding. Good is of the will, and truth is of the understanding; and the will alone does nothing but by the understanding; nor does the understanding alone do anything but from the will. Again, in a man there are two fountains of bodily life, the heart and the lungs. The heart cannot produce any sensitive and moving life without the respiring lungs; neither can the lungs without the heart. The heart has relation to good, and the respiration of the lungs to truth: there is also a correspondence between them. The case is similar in all the things of the mind and of the body belonging to him; but we have not leisure to produce further confirmations in this place; therefore the reader is referred to the ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, n. 3–16, where this subject is more fully confirmed and explained in the following order: I. That the universe with all its created subjects, is from the divine love by the divine wisdom; or, what is the same thing, from the divine good by the divine truth. II. That the divine good and the divine truth proceed as a one from the Lord. III. That this one, in a certain image, is in every created thing. V. That good is not good, only so far as it is united with truth; and that truth is not truth, only so far as it is united with good. VII. That the Lord doesn't suffer that any thing should be divided; wherefore a man must either be in good and at the same time in truth, or in evil and at the same time in falsehood: not to mention several other considerations.

88. III. THERE IS THE TRUTH OF GOOD, AND FROM THIS THE GOOD OF TRUTH; OR TRUTH GROUNDED IN GOOD, AND GOOD GROUNDED IN THAT TRUTH; AND IN THOSE TWO PRINCIPLES IS IMPLANTED FROM CREATION AN INCLINATION TO JOIN THEMSELVES TOGETHER INTO A ONE. It is necessary that some distinct idea be acquired concerning these principles; because on such idea depends all knowledge respecting the essential origin of conjugial love: for, as will be seen presently, the truth of good, or truth grounded on good, is male (or masculine), and the good of truth, or good grounded in that truth, is female (or feminine): but this may be comprehended more distinctly, if instead of good we speak of love, and instead of truth we speak of wisdom; which are one and the same, as may be seen above, n. 84. Wisdom cannot exist with a man but by means of the love of growing wise; if this love be taken away, it is altogether impossible for him to become wise. Wisdom derived from this love is meant by the truth of good, or by truth grounded in good: but when a man has procured to himself wisdom from that love, and loves it in himself, or himself for its sake, he then forms a love which is the love of wisdom, and is meant by the good of truth, or by good grounded in that truth. There are therefore two loves belonging to a man, whereof one, which is prior, is the love of growing wise; and the other, which is posterior, is the love of wisdom: but this latter love if it remains with man, is an evil love, and is called self-conceit, or the love of his own intelligence. That it was provided from creation, that this love should be taken out of the man, lest it should destroy him, and should be transferred to the woman, for the effecting of conjugial love, which restores man to integrity, will be confirmed in the following pages. Something respecting those two loves, and the transfer of the latter to the woman, may be seen above, n. 32, 33, and in the preliminary MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 20. If therefore instead of love is understood good, and instead of wisdom truth, it is evident, from what has been already said, that there exists the truth of good, or truth grounded in good, and from this the good of truth, or good grounded in that truth.

89. The reason why in these two principles there is implanted from creation an inclination to join themselves together into a one, is because the one was formed from the other; wisdom being formed from the love of growing wise, or truth being formed from good; and the love of wisdom being formed from that wisdom, or the good of truth from that truth; from which formation it may be seen, that there is a mutual inclination to re-unite themselves, and to join themselves together into a one. This effect takes place with men who are in genuine wisdom, and with women who are in the love of that wisdom in the husband; thus with those who are in love truly conjugial. But concerning the wisdom which ought to exist with the man, and which should be loved by the wife, more will be said in what follows.

90. IV. IN THE SUBJECT OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM THE TRUTH OF GOOD, OR TRUTH GROUNDED IN GOOD, IS MALE (OR MASCULINE); AND THE GOOD OF THAT TRUTH, OR GOOD GROUNDED IN THAT TRUTH, IS FEMALE (OR FEMININE). That from the Lord, the Creator and Supporter of the universe, there flows a perpetual union of love and wisdom, or a marriage of good and truth, and that created subjects receive the influx, each according to its form, was shewn above, n. 84–86: but that the male from this marriage, or from that union, receives the truth of wisdom, and that the good of love from the Lord is conjoined thereto according to reception, and that this reception takes place in the intellect, and that hence the male is born to become intellectual, reason, by its own light, may discover from various particulars respecting him, especially from his affection, application, manners, and form. It is discoverable from his AFFECTION, which is the affection of knowing, of understanding, and of growing wise; the affection of knowing takes place in childhood, the affection of understanding in youth and in the entrance upon manhood, and the affection of growing wise takes place from the entrance upon manhood even to old age; from which it is evident, that his nature or peculiar temper is inclinable to form the intellect; consequently that he is born to become intellectual: but as this cannot be effected except by means of love, therefore the Lord adjoins love to him according to his reception; that is, according to his intention in desiring to grow wise. The same is discoverable from his APPLICATION, which is to such things as respect the intellect, or in which the intellect is predominant; several of which relate to public offices and regard the public good. The same is discoverable too from his MANNERS, which are all grounded in the intellect as a ruling principle; in consequence whereof the actions of his life, which are meant by manners, are rational; and if not, still he is desirous they should appear so; masculine rationality is also discernible in every one of his virtues. Lastly, the same is discoverable from his FORM, which is different and totally distinct from the female form; on which subject see also what was said above, n. 33. Add to this, that the principle of prolification is in him, which is derived from the intellect alone; for it is from truth grounded in good in the intellect: that the principle of prolification is from this source may be seen in the following pages.

91. But that the female is born to be a subject of the will (ut sit voluntaria), yet a subject of the will as grounded in the intellectual principle of the man, or what is the same, to be the love of the man's wisdom, because she was formed through his wisdom, (on which subject see above, n. 88, 89,) may also appear from the female's affection, application, manners, and form. From her AFFECTION, which is the affection of loving knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom; nevertheless not in herself but in the man; and thus of loving the man: for the man (vir) cannot be loved merely on account of his form, in that he appears as a man (homo), but on account of the talent with which he is gifted, which causes him to be a man. From her APPLICATION; in that it is to such manual works as knitting, needlework, and the like, serving for ornament, both to decorate herself and to exalt her beauty: and moreover from her application to various domestic duties, which connect themselves with the duties of men, which, as was said, relate to public offices. They are led to these duties from an inclination to marriage, that they may become wives, and thereby one with their husbands. That the same is also discoverable from their MANNERS and FORM, needs no explanation.

92. V. FROM THE INFLUX OF THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH FROM THE LORD, THE LOVE OF THE SEX AND CONJUGIAL LOVE ARE DERIVED. That good and truth are the universals of creation, and thence are in all created subjects; and that they are in created subjects according to the form of each; and that good and truth proceed from the Lord not as two but as one, was shewn above, n. 84–87: from these considerations it follows, that the UNIVERSAL CONJUGIAL SPHERE proceeds from the Lord, and pervades the universe from its primaries to its ultimates; thus from angels even to worms. The reason why such a sphere of the marriage of good and truth proceeds from the Lord, is, because it is also the sphere of propagation, that is, of prolification and fructification; and this sphere is the same with the divine providence relating to the preservation of the universe by successive generations. Now since this universal sphere, which is that of the marriage of good and truth, flows into its subjects according to the form of each, see n. 86, it follows that the male receives it according to his form, thus in the intellect, because he is in an intellectual form; and that the female receives it according to her form, thus in the will, because she is a form of the will grounded in the intellect of the man; and since that sphere is also the sphere of prolification, it follows that hence is the love of the sex.

93. The reason why conjugial love also is from this same source, is, because that sphere flows into the form of wisdom with men, and also with angels; for a man may increase in wisdom to the end of his life in the world, and afterwards to eternity in heaven; and in proportion as he increases in wisdom, his form is perfected; and this form receives not the love of the sex, but the love of one of the sex; for with one of the sex it may be united to the inmost principles in which heaven with its felicities consists, and this union is conjugial love.

94. VI. THE LOVE OF THE SEX BELONGS TO THE EXTERNAL OR NATURAL MAN, AND HENCE IT IS COMMON TO EVERY ANIMAL. Every man is born corporeal, and becomes more and more interiorly natural, and in proportion as he loves intelligence he becomes rational, and afterwards, if he loves wisdom, he becomes spiritual. What the wisdom is by which a man becomes spiritual, will be shewn in the following pages, n. 130. Now as a man advances from knowledge into intelligence, and from intelligence into wisdom, so also his mind changes its form; for it is opened more and more, and conjoins itself more nearly with heaven, and by heaven with the Lord; hence it becomes more enamored of truth, and more desirous of the good of life. If therefore he halts at the threshold in the progression to wisdom, the form of his natural mind remains; and this receives the influx of the universal sphere, which is that of the marriage of good and truth, in the same manner as it is received by the inferior subjects of the animal kingdom—beasts and birds; and as these are merely natural, the man in such case becomes like them, and thereby loves the sex just as they do. This is what is meant by the assertion—the love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man, and hence it is common to every animal.

95. VII. BUT CONJUGIAL LOVE BELONGS TO THE INTERNAL OR SPIRITUAL MAN; AND HENCE THIS LOVE IS PECULIAR TO MAN. The reason why conjugial love belongs to the internal or spiritual man is, because in proportion as a man becomes more intelligent and wise, in the same proportion he becomes more internal and spiritual, and in the same proportion the form of his mind is more perfected; and this form receives conjugial love: for therein it perceives and is sensible of a spiritual delight, which is inwardly blessed, and a natural delight thence arising, which derives its soul, life, and essence from the spiritual delight.

96. The reason why conjugial love is peculiar to man, is because he only can become spiritual, he being capable of elevating his intellect above his natural loves, and from that state of elevation of seeing them beneath him, and of judging of their quality, and also of amending, correcting, and removing them. No other animal can do this; for the loves of other animals are altogether united with their inborn knowledge; on which account this knowledge cannot be elevated into intelligence, and still less into wisdom; in consequence of which every other animal is led by the love implanted in his knowledge, as a blind person is led through the streets by a dog. This is the reason which conjugial love is peculiar to man; it may also be called native and near akin to him; because man has the faculty of growing wise, with which faculty this love is united.

97. VIII. WITH MAN CONJUGIAL LOVE IS IN THE LOVE OF THE SEX AS A GEM IN ITS MATRIX. As this however is merely a comparison, we will explain it in the article which immediately follows: this comparison also illustrates what was shown just above, n. 94, 95—that the love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man, and conjugial love to the internal or spiritual man.

98. IX. THE LOVE OF THE SEX WITH MAN IS NOT THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, BUT ITS FIRST RUDIMENT; THUS IT IS LIKE AN EXTERNAL NATURAL PRINCIPLE, IN WHICH AN INTERNAL SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE IS IMPLANTED. The subject here treated of is love truly conjugial, and not ordinary love, which also is called conjugial, and which with some is merely the limited love of the sex. Love truly conjugial exists only with those who desire wisdom, and who consequently advance more and more into wisdom. These the Lord foresees, and provides for them conjugial love; which love indeed commences with them from the love of the sex, or rather by it; but still it does not originate in it; for it originates in proportion to the advancement in wisdom and the dawning of the light thereof in man; for wisdom and that love are inseparable companions. The reason why conjugial love commences by the love of the sex is, because before a suitable consort is found, the sex in general is loved and regarded with a fond eye, and is treated with civility from a moral ground: for a young man has to make his choice; and while this is determining, from an innate inclination to marriage with one, which lies concealed in the interiors of his mind, his external receives a gentle warmth. A further reason is, because determinations to marriage are delayed from various causes even to riper years, and in the mean time the beginning of that love is as lust; which with some actually goes astray into the love of the sex; yet with them it is indulged no further than may be conducive to health. This, however, is to be understood as spoken of the male sex, because it has enticements which actually inflame it; but not of the female sex. From these considerations it is evident that the love of the sex is not the origin of love truly conjugial; but that it is its first rudiment in respect to time, yet not in respect to end; for what is first in respect to end, is first in the mind and its intention, because it is regarded as primary; but to this first there is no approaching unless successively through mediums, and these are not first in themselves, but only conducive to what is first in itself.

99. X. DURING THE IMPLANTATION OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, THE LOVE OF THE SEX INVERTS ITSELF AND BECOMES THE CHASTE LOVE OF THE SEX. It is said that in this case the love of the sex inverts itself; because while conjugial love is coming to its origin, which is in the interiors of the mind, it sees the love of the sex not before itself but behind, or not above itself but beneath, and thus as somewhat which it passes by and leaves. The case herein is similar to that of a person climbing from one office to another through a great variety, till he reaches one which exceeds the rest in dignity; when he looks back upon the offices through which he had passed, as behind or beneath him; or as when a person intends a journey to the palace of some king, after his arrival at his journey's end, he inverts his view in regard to the objects which he had seen in the way. That in this case the love of the sex remains and becomes chaste, and yet, to those who are principled in love truly conjugial, is sweeter than it was before, may be seen from the description given of it by those in the spiritual world, in the two MEMORABLE RELATIONS, n. 44 and 55.

100. XI. THE MALE AND THE FEMALE WERE CREATED TO BE THE ESSENTIAL FORM OF THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. The reason for this is, because the male was created to be the understanding of truth, thus truth in form; and the female was created to be the will of good, thus good in form; and there is implanted in each, from their inmost principles, an inclination to conjunction into a one, as may be seen above, n. 88; thus the two make one form, which emulates the conjugial form of good and truth. It is said to emulate it, because it is not the same, but is like it; for the good which joins itself with the truth belonging to the man, is from the Lord immediately; whereas the good of the wife, which joins itself with the truth belonging to the man, is from the Lord mediately through the wife; therefore there are two goods, the one internal, the other external, which join themselves with the truth belonging to the husband, and cause him to be constantly in the understanding of truth, and thence in wisdom, by love truly conjugial: but on this subject more will be said in the following pages.

101. XII. MARRIED PARTNERS ARE THAT FORM IN THEIR INMOST PRINCIPLES, AND THENCE IN WHAT IS DERIVED FROM THOSE PRINCIPLES, IN PROPORTION AS THE INTERIORS OF THEIR MINDS ARE OPENED. There are three things of which every man consists, and which follow in an orderly connection—the soul, the mind, and the body: his inmost is the soul, his middle is the mind, and his ultimate is the body. Every thing which flows from the Lord into a man, flows into his inmost principle, which is the soul, and descends thence into his middle principle, which is the mind, and through this into his ultimate principle, which is the body. Such is the nature of the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord with man: it flows immediately into his soul, and thence proceeds to the principles next succeeding, and through these to the extreme or outermost: and thus conjointly all the principles constitute conjugial love. From an idea of this influx it is manifest, that two married partners are the form of conjugial love in their inmost principles, and thence in those derived from the inmost.

102. But the reason why married partners become that form in proportion as the interiors of their minds are opened, is, because the mind is successively opened from infancy even to extreme old age: for a man is born corporeal: and in proportion as the mind is opened proximately above the body, he becomes rational; and in proportion as his rational principle is purified, and as it were drained of the fallacies which flow in from the bodily senses, and of the concupiscences which flow in from the allurements of the flesh, in the same proportion it is opened; and this is affected solely by wisdom: and when the interiors of the rational mind are open, the man becomes a form of wisdom; and this form is the receptacle of love truly conjugial. "The wisdom which constitutes this form, and receives this love, is rational, and at the same time moral, wisdom: rational wisdom regards the truths and goods which appear inwardly in man, not as its own, but as flowing in from the Lord; and moral wisdom shuns evils and falses as leprosies, especially the evils of lasciviousness, which contaminate its conjugial love."

103. To the above I shall add two MEMORABLE RELATIONS: the FIRST is this. One morning before sun-rise I was looking towards the east in the spiritual world, and I saw four horsemen as it were issuing from a cloud refulgent with the flame of the dawning day. On their heads they had crested helmets, on their arms as it were wings, and around their bodies light orange-colored tunics; thus clad as for expedition, they rose in their seats, and gave their horses the reins, which thus ran as if they had had wings to their feet. I kept my eye fixed on their course or flight, desiring to know where they were going; and lo! three of the horsemen took their direction towards three different quarters, the south, the west, and the north; and the fourth in a short space of time halted in the east. Wondering at all this, I looked up into heaven, and inquired where those horsemen were going? I received for answer, "To the wise men in the kingdoms of Europe, who with clear reasoning and acute discernment discuss the subjects of their investigation, and are distinguished above the rest for their genius, that they may assemble together and explain the secret RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY."

It was then said from heaven, "Wait awhile, and you will see twenty-seven chariots; three, in which are Spaniards; three, in which are Frenchmen; three, in which are Italians; three, in which are Germans; three, in which are Dutchmen or Hollanders; three, in which are Englishmen; three, in which are Swedes; three, in which are Danes; and three, in which are Poles." In about two hours I saw the chariots, drawn by horses of a pale-red color, with remarkable trappings: they passed rapidly along towards a spacious house in the confines of the east and south, around which all alighted from their several chariots, and entered in with much confidence. Then it was said to me, "Go, and do you also enter, and you will hear." I went and entered: and on examining the house within, I saw that it was square, the sides looking to the four quarters: in each side there were three high windows of crystalline glass, the frames of which were of olive-wood; on each side of the frames were projections from the walls, like chambers vaulted above, in which there were tables. The walls of these chambers were of cedar, the roof of the noble almug wood, and the floor of poplar boards. Near the eastern wall, where no windows were seen, there was set a table overlaid with gold, on which was placed a TURBAN set with precious stones, which was to be given as a prize or reward to him who should by investigation discover the secret about to be proposed. While my attention was directed to the chamber projections like closets near the windows, I saw five men in each from every kingdom of Europe, who were prepared and waiting to know the object for the exercise of their judgements. An angel then presented himself in the middle of the palace, and said, "The object for the exercise of your judgements shall be RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY. Investigate this and decide upon it; and write your decision on a piece of paper, and put it into the silver urn which you see placed near the golden table, and subscribe the initial letter of the kingdom from which you come; as F for French, B for Batavians or Hollanders, I for Italians, E for English, P for Poles, G for German, H for Spaniards (Hispani), D for Danes, S for Swedes." As he said this, the angel departed, saying, "I will return." Then the five men, natives of the same country, in each closet near the windows, took into consideration the proposed subject, examined it attentively, and came to a decision according to their respective talents and powers of judgement, which they wrote on a piece of paper, and placed it in the silver urn, having first subscribed the initial letter of their kingdom. This business being accomplished in about three hours, the angel returned and drew the papers in order from the urn, and read them before the assembly.

104. From the FIRST PAPER which he happened to lay hold of, he read as follows; "We five, natives of the same country, in one closet have decreed that the origin of conjugial love is from the most ancient people in the golden age, and that it was derived to them from the creation of Adam and his wife; hence is the origin of marriages, and with marriages the origin of conjugial love. The virtue or potency of conjugial love we derive from no other source than climate or situation in regard to the sun, and the consequent heat of the country; and we are confirmed in this sentiment, not by vain conjectures of reason, but by evident proofs of experience, as by the case of the people who live under the line, or the equinoctial, where the heat of the day is intense, and by the case of those who live nearer to the line, or more distant from it; and also from the co-operation of the sun's heat with the vital heat in the living creatures of the earth and the fowls of heaven, in the time of spring during prolification. Moreover, what is conjugial love but heat, which becomes virtue or potency, if the heat supplied from the sun be added to it?" To this decision was subscribed the letter H, the initial of the kingdom from which they were.

105. After this he put his hand into the urn a SECOND TIME, and took out a paper from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our lodge have agreed that the origin of conjugial love is the same with the origin of marriages, which were sanctioned by laws in order to restrain man's innate concupiscences prompting him to adultery, which ruins the soul, defiles the reason, pollutes the morals, and infects the body with disease: for adultery is not human but bestial, not rational but brutish, and thus not in any respect Christian but barbarous: with a view to the condemnation of such adultery, marriages originated, and at the same time conjugial love. The case is the same with the virtue or potency of this love; for it depends on chastity, which consists in abstaining from the rovings of whoredom: the reason is, because virtue or potency, with him who loves his married partner alone, is confined to one, and is thus collected and as it were concentrated; and then it becomes refined like a quintessence from which all defilement is separated, which would otherwise be dispersed and cast away in every direction. One of us five, who is a priest, has also added predestination as a cause of that virtue or potency, saying, 'Are not marriages predestinated? and this being the case, are not the progeny thence issuing and the means conducive thereto, predestinated also?' He insisted on adding this cause because he had sworn to it." To this decision was subscribed the letter B. On hearing it, a certain spirit observed with a smile, "How fair an apology is predestination for weakness or impotence!"