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The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love

by Emanuel Swedenborg · English · Gutenberg #11248 · 1,489,752 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love

Author: Emanuel Swedenborg


        
Release date: February 1, 2004 [eBook #11248]
                Most recently updated: October 28, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DELIGHTS OF WISDOM PERTAINING TO CONJUGIAL LOVE ***

The Delights of Wisdom

Pertaining To

Conjugial Love

_To Which is Added_

The Pleasures of Insanity

Pertaining To

Scortatory Love

By

Emanuel Swedenborg

_A Swede_

_Being a translation of his work_

"Delitiæ Sapientiæ de Amore Conjugiali; post quas sequuntur Voluptates
Insaniæ de Amore Scortatorio" (Amstelodami 1768)


1892

_Published_ A.D. 1850




PRELIMINARY RELATIONS RESPECTING THE JOYS OF HEAVEN AND NUPTIALS THERE.


1. "I am aware that many who read the following pages and the Memorable
Relations annexed to the chapters, will believe that they are fictions
of the imagination; but I solemnly declare they are not fictions, but
were truly done and seen; and that I saw them, not in any state of the
mind asleep, but in a state of perfect wakefulness: for it has pleased
the Lord to manifest himself to me, and to send me to teach the things
relating to the New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the
Revelation: for which purpose he has opened the interiors of my mind and
spirit; by virtue of which privilege it has been granted me to be in the
spiritual world with angels, and at the same time in the natural world
with men, and this now (1768) for twenty-five years."

2. On a certain time there appeared to me an angel flying beneath the
eastern heaven, with a trumpet in his hand, which he held to his mouth,
and sounded towards the north, the west, and the south. He was clothed
in a robe, which waved behind him as he flew along, and was girt about
the waist with a band that shone like fire and glittered with
carbuncles, and sapphires: he flew with his face downwards, and alighted
gently on the ground, near where I was standing. As soon as he touched
the ground with his feet, he stood erect, and walked to and fro: and on
seeing me he directed his steps towards me. I was in the spirit, and was
standing in that state on a little eminence in the southern quarter of
the spiritual world. When he came near, I addressed him and asked him
his errand, telling him that I had heard the sound of his trumpet, and
had observed his descent through the air. He replied, "My commission is
to call together such of the inhabitants of this part of the spiritual
world, as have come hither from the various kingdoms of Christendom, and
have been most distinguished for their learning, their ingenuity, and
their wisdom, to assemble on this little eminence where you are now
standing, and to declare their real sentiments, as to what they had
thought, understood, and inwardly perceived, while in the natural world,
respecting Heavenly Joy and Eternal Happiness. The occasion of my
commission is this: several who have lately come from the natural world,
and have been admitted into our heavenly society, which is in the east,
have informed us, that there is not a single person throughout the whole
Christian world that is acquainted with the true nature of heavenly joy
and eternal happiness; consequently that not a single person is
acquainted with the nature of heaven. This information greatly surprised
my brethren and companions; and they said to me, 'Go down, call together
and assemble those who are most eminent for wisdom in the world of
spirits, (where all men are first collected after their departure out of
the natural world,) so that we may know of a certainty, from the
testimony of many, whether it be true that such thick darkness, or dense
ignorance, respecting a future life, prevails among Christians.'" The
angel then said to me, "Wait awhile, and you will see several companies
of the wise ones flocking together to this place, and the Lord will
prepare them a house of assembly." I waited, and lo! in the space of
half an hour, I saw two companies from the north, two from the west, and
two from the south; and as they came near, they were introduced by the
angel that blew the trumpet into the house of assembly prepared for
them, where they took their places in the order of the quarters from
which they came. There were six groups or companies, and a seventh from
the east, which, from its superior light, was not visible to the rest.
When they were all assembled, the angel explained to them the reason of
their meeting, and desired that each company in order would declare
their sentiments respecting Heavenly Joy and Eternal Happiness. Then
each company formed themselves into a ring, with their faces turned one
towards another, that they might recall the ideas they had entertained
upon the subject in the natural world, and after examination and
deliberation might declare their sentiments.

3. After some deliberation, the First Company, which was from the north,
declared their opinion, that heavenly joy and eternal happiness
constitute the very life of heaven; so much so that whoever enters
heaven, enters, in regard to his life, into its festivities, just as a
person admitted to a marriage enters into all the festivities of a
marriage. "Is not heaven," they argued, "before our eyes in a particular
place above us? and is there not there and nowhere else a constant
succession of satisfactions and pleasures? When a man therefore is
admitted into heaven, he is also admitted into the full enjoyment of all
these satisfactions and pleasures, both as to mental perception and
bodily sensation. Of course heavenly happiness, which is also eternal
happiness, consists solely in admission into heaven, and that depends
purely on the divine mercy and favor." They having concluded, the Second
Company from the north, according to the measure of the wisdom with
which they were endowed, next declared their sentiments as follows:
"Heavenly joy and eternal happiness consist solely in the enjoyment of
the company of angels, and in holding sweet communications with them, so
that the countenance is kept continually expanded with joy; while the
smiles of mirth and pleasure, arising from cheerful and entertaining
conversation, continually enliven the faces of the company. What else
can constitute heavenly joys, but the variations of such pleasures to
eternity?" The Third Company, which was the first of the wise ones from
the western quarter, next declared their sentiments according to the
ideas which flowed from their affections: "In what else," said they, "do
heavenly joy and eternal happiness consist but in feasting with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob; at whose tables there will be an abundance of rich and
delicate food, with the finest and most generous wines, which will be
succeeded by sports and dances of virgins and young men, to the tunes of
various musical instruments, enlivened by the most melodious singing of
sweet songs; the evening to conclude with dramatic exhibitions, and this
again to be followed by feasting, and so on to eternity?" When they had
ended, the Fourth Company, which was the second from the western
quarter, declared their sentiments to the following purpose: "We have
entertained," said they, "many ideas respecting heavenly joy and eternal
happiness; and we have examined a variety of joys, and compared them one
with another, and have at length come to the conclusion, that heavenly
joys are paradisiacal joys: for what is heaven but a paradise extended
from the east to the west, and from the south to the north, wherein are
trees laden with fruit, and all kinds of beautiful flowers, and in the
midst the magnificent tree of life, around which the blessed will take
their seats, and feed on fruits most delicious to the taste, being
adorned with garlands of the sweetest smelling flowers? In this paradise
there will be a perpetual spring; so that the fruits and flowers will be
renewed every day with an infinite variety, and by their continual
growth and freshness, added to the vernal temperature of the atmosphere,
the souls of the blessed will be daily fitted to receive and taste new
joys, till they shall be restored to the flower of their age, and
finally to their primitive state, in which Adam and his wife were
created, and thus recover their paradise, which has been transplanted
from earth to heaven." The Fifth Company, which was the first of the
ingenious spirits from the southern quarter, next delivered their
opinion: "Heavenly joys and eternal happiness," said they, "consist
solely in exalted power and dignity, and in abundance of wealth, joined
with more than princely magnificence and splendor. That the joys of
heaven, and their continual fruition, which is eternal happiness,
consist in these things, is plain to us from the examples of such
persons as enjoyed them in the former world; and also from this
circumstance, that the blessed in heaven are to reign with the Lord, and
to become kings and princes; for they are the sons of him who is King of
kings and Lord of lords, and they are to sit on thrones and be
ministered to by angels. Moreover, the magnificence of heaven is plainly
made known to us by the description given of the New Jerusalem, wherein
is represented the glory of heaven; that it is to have gates, each of
which shall consist of a single pearl, and streets of pure gold, and a
wall with foundations of precious stones; consequently, every one that
is received into heaven will have a palace of his own, glittering with
gold and other costly materials, and will enjoy dignity and dominion,
each according to his quality and station: and since we find by
experience, that the joys and happiness arising from such things are
natural, and as it were, innate in us, and since the promises of God
cannot fail, we therefore conclude that the most happy state of heavenly
life can be derived from no other source than this." After this, the
Sixth Company, which was the second from the southern quarter, with a
loud voice spoke as follows: "The joy of heaven and its eternal
happiness consist solely in the perpetual glorification of God, in a
never-ceasing festival of praise and thanksgiving, and in the
blessedness of divine worship, heightened with singing and melody,
whereby the heart is kept in a constant state of elevation towards God,
under a full persuasion that he accepts such prayers and praises, on
account of the divine bounty in imparting blessedness." Some of the
company added further, that this glorification would be attended with
magnificent illuminations, with most fragrant incense, and with stately
processions, preceded by the chief priest with a grand trumpet, who
would be followed by primates and officers of various orders, by men
carrying palms, and by women with golden images in their hand.

4. The Seventh Company, which, from its superior light, was invisible to
the rest, came from the east of heaven, and consisted of angels of the
same society as the angel that had sounded the trumpet. When these heard
in their heaven, that not a single person throughout the Christian world
was acquainted with the true nature of heavenly joy and eternal
happiness, they said one to another, "Surely this cannot be true; it is
impossible that such thick darkness and stupidity should prevail amongst
Christians: let us even go down and hear whether it be true; for if it
be so, it is indeed wonderful." Then those angels said to the one that
had the trumpet, "You know that every one that has desired heaven, and
has formed any definite conception in his mind respecting its joys, is
introduced after death into those particular joys which he had imagined;
and after he experiences that such joys are only the offspring of the
vain delusions of his own fancy, he is led out of his error, and
instructed in the truth. This is the case with most of those in the
world of spirits, who in their former life have thought about heaven,
and from their notions of its joys have desired to possess them." On
hearing this, the angel that had the trumpet said to the six companies
of the assembled wise ones, "Follow me; and I will introduce you into
your respective joys, and thereby into heaven."

5. When the angel had thus spoken, he went before them; and he was first
attended by the company who were of opinion that the joys of heaven
consisted solely in pleasant associations and entertaining conversation.
These the angel introduced to an assembly of spirits in the northern
quarter, who, during their abode in the former world, had entertained
the same ideas of the joys of heaven. There was in the place a large and
spacious house, wherein all these spirits were assembled. In the house
there were more than fifty different apartments, allotted to different
kinds and subjects of conversation: in some of these apartments they
conversed about such matters as they had seen or heard in the public
places of resort and the streets of the city; in others the conversation
turned upon the various charms of the fair sex, with a mixture of wit
and humor, producing cheerful smiles on the countenances of all present;
in others they talked about the news relating to courts, to public
ministers, and state policy, and to various matters which had transpired
from privy councils, interspersing many conjectures and reasonings of
their own respecting the issues of such councils; in others again they
conversed about trade and merchandise; in others upon subjects of
literature; in others upon points of civil prudence and morals; and in
others about affairs relating to the Church, its sects, &c. Permission
was granted me to enter and look about the house; and I saw people
running from one apartment to another, seeking such company as was most
suited to their own tempers and inclinations; and in the different
parties I could distinguish three kinds of persons; some as it were
panting to converse, some eager to ask questions, and others greedily
devouring what was said. The house had four doors, one towards each
quarter; and I observed several leaving their respective companies with
a great desire to get out of the house. I followed some of them to the
east door, where I saw several sitting with great marks of dejection on
their faces; and on my inquiring into the cause of their trouble, they
replied, "The doors of this house are kept shut against all persons who
wish to go out; and this is the third day since we entered, to be
entertained according to our desire with company and conversation; and
now we are grown so weary with continual discoursing, that we can
scarcely bear to hear the sound of a human voice; wherefore, from mere
irksomeness, we have betaken ourselves to this door; but on our knocking
to have it opened, we were told, that the doors of this house are never
opened to let any persons out, but only to let them in, and that we must
stay here and enjoy the delights of heaven; from which information we
conclude, that we are to remain here to eternity; and this is the cause
of our sorrow and lowness of spirits; now too we begin to feel an
oppression in the breast, and to be overwhelmed with anxiety." The angel
then addressing them said: "These things in which you imagined the true
joys of heaven to consist, prove, you find, the destruction of all
happiness; since they do not of themselves constitute true heavenly
joys, but only contribute thereto." "In what then," said they to the
angel, "does heavenly joy consist?" The angel replied briefly, "In the
delight of doing something that is useful to ourselves and others; which
delight derives its essence from love and its existence from wisdom. The
delight of being useful, originating in love, and operating by wisdom,
is the very soul and life of all heavenly joys. In the heavens there are
frequent occasions of cheerful intercourse and conversation, whereby the
minds (_mentes_) of the angels are exhilarated, their minds (_animi_)
entertained, their bosoms delighted, and their bodies refreshed; but
such occasions do not occur, till they have fulfilled their appointed
uses in the discharge of their respective business and duties. It is
this fulfilling of uses that gives soul and life to all their delights
and entertainments; and if this soul and life be taken away, the
contributory joys gradually cease, first exciting indifference, then
disgust, and lastly sorrow and anxiety." As the angel ended, the door
was thrown open, and those who were sitting near it burst out in haste,
and went home to their respective labors and employments, and so found
relief and refreshment to their spirits.

6. After this the angel addressed those who fancied the joys of heaven
and eternal happiness consisted of partaking of feasts with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, succeeded by sports and public exhibitions, and these
by other feasts, and so on to eternity. He said, "Follow me; and I will
introduce you into the possession of your enjoyments:" and immediately
he led them through a grove into a plain floored with planks, on which
were set tables, fifteen on one side and fifteen on the other. They then
asked, "What is the meaning of so many tables?" and the angel replied,
"The first table is for Abraham, the second for Isaac, the third for
Jacob, and the rest in order for the twelve apostles: on the other side
are the same number of tables for their wives; the first three are for
Sarah, Abraham's wife, for Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, and for Leah and
Rachel, the wives of Jacob; and the other twelve are for the wives of
the twelve apostles." They had not waited long before the tables were
covered with dishes; between which, at stated distances, were ornaments
of small pyramids holding sweetmeats. The guests stood around the tables
waiting to see their respective presidents: these soon entered according
to their order of precedency, beginning with Abraham, and ending with
the last of the apostles; and then each president, taking his place at
the head of his own table, reclined on a couch, and invited the
bystanders to take their places, each on his couch: accordingly the men
reclined with the patriarchs and apostles, and the women with their
wives: and they ate and drank with much festivity, but with due decorum.
When the repast was ended, the patriarchs and apostles retired; and then
were introduced various sports and dances of virgins and young men; and
these were succeeded by exhibitions. At the conclusion of these
entertainments, they were again invited to feasting; but with this
particular restriction, that on the first day they should eat with
Abraham, on the second with Isaac, on the third with Jacob, on the
fourth with Peter, on the fifth with James, on the sixth with John, on
the seventh with Paul, and with the rest in order till the fifteenth
day, when their festivity should be renewed again in like order, only
changing their seats, and so on to eternity. After this the angel called
together the company that had attended him, and said to them, "All those
whom you have observed at the several tables, had entertained the same
imaginary ideas as yourselves, respecting the joys of heaven and eternal
happiness; and it is with the intent that they may see the vanity of
such ideas, and be withdrawn from them, that those festive
representations were appointed and permitted by the Lord. Those who with
so much dignity presided at the tables, were merely old people and
feigned characters, many of them husbandmen and peasants, who, wearing
long beards, and from their wealth being exceedingly proud and arrogant,
were easily induced to imagine that they were those patriarchs and
apostles. But follow me to the ways that lead from this place of
festivity." They accordingly followed, and observed groups of fifty or
more, here and there, surfeited with the load of meat which lay on their
stomachs, and wishing above all things to return to their domestic
employments, their professions, trades, and handicraft works; but many
of them were detained by the keepers of the grove, who questioned them
concerning the days they had feasted, and whether they had as yet taken
their turns with Peter and Paul; representing to them the shame and
indecency of departing till they had paid equal respect to the apostles.
But the general reply was, "We are surfeited with our entertainment; our
food has become insipid to us, we have lost all relish for it, and the
very sight of it is loathsome to us; we have spent many days and nights
in such repasts of luxury, and can endure it no longer: we therefore
earnestly request leave to depart." Then the keepers dismissed them, and
they made all possible haste to their respective homes.

After this the angel called the company that attended him, and as they
went along he gave them the following information respecting
heaven:--"There are in heaven," says he, "as in the world, both meats
and drinks, both feasts and repasts; and at the tables of the great
there is a variety of the most exquisite food, and all kinds of rich
dainties and delicacies, wherewith their minds are exhilarated and
refreshed. There are likewise sports and exhibitions, concerts of music,
vocal and instrumental, and all these things in the highest perfection.
Such things are a source of joy to them, but not of happiness; for
happiness ought to be within external joys, and to flow from them. This
inward happiness abiding in external joys, is necessary to give them
their proper relish, and make them joys; it enriches them, and prevents
their becoming loathsome and disgusting; and this happiness is derived
to every angel from the use he performs in his duty or employment. There
is a certain vein latent in the affection of the will of every angel,
which attracts his mind to the execution of some purpose or other,
wherein his mind finds itself in tranquillity, and is satisfied. This
tranquillity and satisfaction form a state of mind capable of receiving
from the Lord the love of uses; and from the reception of this love
springs heavenly happiness, which is the life of the above-mentioned
joys. Heavenly food in its essence is nothing but love, wisdom, and use
united together; that is, use effected by wisdom and derived from love;
wherefore food for the body is given to every one in heaven according to
the use which he performs; sumptuous food to those who perform eminent
uses; moderate, but of an exquisite relish, to those who perform less
eminent uses; and ordinary to such as live in the performance of
ordinary uses; but none at all to the slothful."

7. After this the angel called to him the company of the so-called wise
ones, who supposed heavenly joys, and the eternal happiness thence
derived, to consist in exalted power and dominion, with the possession
of abundant treasures, attended with more than princely splendor and
magnificence, and who had been betrayed into this supposition by what is
written in the Word,--that they should be kings and princes, and should
reign for ever with Christ, and should be ministered unto by angels;
with many other similar expressions. "Follow me," said the angel to
them, "and I will introduce you to your joys." So he led them into a
portico constructed of pillars and pyramids: in the front there was a
low porch, through which lay the entrance to the portico; through this
porch he introduced them, and lo! there appeared to be about twenty
people assembled. After waiting some time, they were accosted by a
certain person, having the garb and appearance of an angel, and who said
to them, "The way to heaven is through this portico; wait awhile and
prepare yourselves; for the elder among you are to be kings, and the
younger princes." As he said this, they saw near each pillar a throne,
and on each throne a silken robe, and on each robe a sceptre and crown;
and near each pyramid a seat raised three feet from the ground, and on
each seat a massive gold chain, and the ensigns of an order of
knighthood, fastened at each end with diamond clasps. After this they
heard a voice, saying, "Go now and put on your robes; be seated, and
wait awhile:" and instantly the elder ones ran to the thrones, and the
younger to the seats; and they put on their robes and seated themselves.
When lo! there arose a mist from below, which, communicating its
influence to those on the thrones and the seats, caused them instantly
to assume airs of authority, and to swell with their new greatness, and
to be persuaded in good earnest that they were kings and princes. That
mist was an _aura_ of phantasy or imagination with which their minds
were possessed. Then on a sudden, several young pages presented
themselves, as if they came on wings from heaven; and two of them stood
in waiting behind every throne, and one behind every seat. Afterwards at
intervals a herald proclaimed:--"Ye kings and princes, wait a little
longer; your palaces in heaven are making ready for you; your courtiers
and guards will soon attend to introduce you." Then they waited and
waited in anxious expectation, till their spirits were exhausted, and
they grew weary with desire.

After about three hours, the heavens above them were seen to open, and
the angels looked down in pity upon them, and said, "Why sit ye in this
state of infatuation, assuming characters which do not belong to you?
They have made a mockery of you, and have changed you from men into mere
images, because of the imagination which has possessed you, that you
should reign with Christ as kings and princes, and that angels should
minister unto you. Have you forgotten the Lord's words, that whosoever
would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven must be the least of all,
and the servant of all? Learn then what is meant by kings and princes,
and by reigning with Christ; that it is to be wise and perform uses. The
kingdom of Christ, which is heaven, is a kingdom of uses; for the Lord
loves every one, and is desirous to do good to every one; and good is
the same thing as use: and as the Lord promotes good or use by the
mediation of angels in heaven, and of men on earth, therefore to such as
faithfully perform uses, he communicates the love thereof, and its
reward, which is internal blessedness; and this is true eternal
happiness. There are in the heavens, as on earth, distinctions of
dignity and eminence, with abundance of the richest treasures; for there
are governments and forms of government, and consequently a variety of
ranks and orders of power and authority. Those of the highest rank have
courts and palaces to live in, which for splendor and magnificence
exceed every thing that the kings and princes of the earth can boast of;
and they derive honor and glory from the number and magnificence of
their courtiers, ministers, and attendants; but then these persons of
high rank are chosen from those whose heartfelt delight consists in
promoting the public good, and who are only externally pleased with the
distinctions of dignity for the sake of order and obedience; and as the
public good requires that every individual, being a member of the common
body, should be an instrument of use in the society to which he belongs,
which use is from the Lord and is effected by angels and men as of
themselves, it is plain that this is meant by reigning with the Lord."
As soon as the angels had concluded, the kings and princes descended
from their thrones and seats, and cast away their sceptres, crowns, and
robes; and the mist which contained the _aura_ of phantasy was
dispersed, and a bright cloud, containing the _aura_ of wisdom
encompassed them, and thus they were presently restored to their sober
senses.

8. After this the angel returned to the house of assembly, and called to
him those who had conceived the joys of heaven and eternal happiness to
consist in paradisiacal delights; to whom he said, "Follow me, and I
will introduce you into your paradisiacal heaven, that you may enter
upon the beatitudes of your eternal happiness." Immediately he
introduced them through a lofty portal, formed of the boughs and shoots
of the finest trees interwoven with each other. After their admission,
he led them through a variety of winding paths in different directions.
The place was a real paradise, on the confines of heaven, intended for
the reception of such as, during their abode on earth, had fancied the
whole heaven to be a single paradise, because it is so called, and had
been led to conceive that after death there would be a perfect rest from
all kinds of labor; which rest would consist in a continual feast of
pleasures, such as walking among roses, being exhilarated with the most
exquisite wines, and participating in continual mirth and festivity; and
that this kind of life could only be enjoyed in a heavenly paradise. As
they followed the angel, they saw a great number of old and young, of
both sexes, sitting by threes and tens in a company on banks of roses;
some of whom were wreathing garlands to adorn the heads of the seniors,
the arms of the young, and the bosoms of the children; others were
pressing the juice out of grapes, cherries, and mulberries, which they
collected in cups, and then drank with much festivity; some were
delighting themselves with the fragrant smells that exhaled far and wide
from the flowers, fruits, and odoriferous leaves of a variety of plants;
others were singing most melodious songs, to the great entertainment of
the hearers; some were sitting by the sides of fountains, and directing
the bubbling streams into various forms and channels; others were
walking, and amusing one another with cheerful and pleasant
conversation; others were retiring into shady arbors to repose on
couches; besides a variety of other paradisiacal entertainment. After
observing these things, the angel led his companions through various
winding paths, till he brought them at length to a most beautiful grove
of roses, surrounded by olive, orange, and citron trees. Here they found
many persons sitting in a disconsolate posture, with their heads
reclined on their hands, and exhibiting all the signs of sorrow and
discontent. The companions of the angel accosted them, and inquired into
the cause of their grief. They replied, "This is the seventh day since
we came into this paradise: on our first admission we seemed to
ourselves to be elevated into heaven, and introduced into a
participation of its inmost joys; but after three days our pleasures
began to pall on the appetite, and our relish was lost, till at length
we became insensible to their taste, and found that they had lost the
power of pleasing. Our imaginary joys being thus annihilated we were
afraid of losing with them all the satisfaction of life, and we began to
doubt whether any such thing as eternal happiness exists. We then
wandered through a variety of paths and passages, in search of the gate
at which we were admitted; but our wandering was in vain: for on
inquiring the way of some persons we met, they informed us, that it was
impossible to find the gate, as this paradisiacal garden is a spacious
labyrinth of such a nature, that whoever wishes to go out, enters
further and further into it; 'wherefore,' said they, 'you must of
necessity remain here to eternity; you are now in the middle of the
garden, where all delights are centred.'" They further said to the
angel's companions, "We have now been in this place for a day and a
half, and as we despair of ever finding our way out, we have sat down to
repose on this bank of roses, where we view around us olive-trees,
vines, orange and citron-trees, in great abundance; but the longer we
look at them, the more our eyes are wearied with seeing, our noses with
smelling, and our palates with tasting: and this is the cause of the
sadness, sorrow, and weeping, in which you now behold us." On hearing
this relation, the attendant angel said to them, "This paradisiacal
labyrinth is truly an entrance into heaven; I know the way that leads
out of it; and if you will follow me, I will shew it you." No sooner had
he uttered those words than they arose from the ground, and, embracing
the angel, attended him with his companions. The angel as they went
along, instructed them in the true nature of heavenly joy and eternal
happiness thence derived. "They do not," said he, "consist in external
paradisiacal delights, unless they are also attended with internal.
External paradisiacal delights reach only the senses of the body; but
internal paradisiacal delights reach the affections of the soul; and the
former without the latter are devoid of all heavenly life, because they
are devoid of soul; and every delight without its corresponding soul,
continually grows more and more languid and dull, and fatigues the mind
more than labor. There are in every part of heaven paradisiacal gardens,
in which the angels find much joy; and so far as it is attended with a
delight of the soul, the joy is real and true." Hereupon they all asked,
"What is the delight of the soul, and whence is it derived?" The angel
replied, "The delight of the soul is derived from love and wisdom
proceeding from the Lord; and as love is operative, and that by means of
wisdom, therefore they are both fixed together in the effect of such
operation; which effect is use. This delight enters into the soul by
influx from the Lord, and descends through the superior and inferior
regions of the mind into all the senses of the body, and in them is full
and complete; becoming hereby a true joy, and partaking of an eternal
nature from the eternal fountain whence it proceeds. You have just now
seen a paradisiacal garden; and I can assure you that there is not a
single thing therein, even the smallest leaf, which does not exist from
the marriage of love and wisdom in use: wherefore if a man be in this
marriage, he is in a celestial paradise, and therefore in heaven."

9. After this, the conducting angel returned to the house of assembly,
and addressed those who had persuaded themselves that heavenly joy and
eternal happiness consist in a perpetual glorification of God, and a
continued festival of prayer and praise to eternity; in consequence of a
belief they had entertained in the world that they should then see God,
and because the life of heaven, originating in the worship of God, is
called a perpetual sabbath. "Follow me," said the angel to them, "and I
will introduce you to your joy." So he led them into a little city, in
the middle of which was a temple, and where all the houses were said to
be consecrated chapels. In that city they observed a great concourse of
people flocking together from all parts of the neighboring country; and
among them a number of priests, who received and saluted them on their
arrival, and led them by the hand to the gates of the temple, and from
thence into some of the chapels around it, where they initiated them
into the perpetual worship of God; telling them that the city was one of
the courts leading to heaven, and that the temple was an entrance to a
most spacious and magnificent temple in heaven, where the angels glorify
God by prayers and praises to eternity. "It is ordained," said they,
"both here and in heaven, that you are first to enter into the temple,
and remain there for three days and three nights and after this
initiation you are to enter the houses of the city, which are so many
chapels consecrated by us to divine worship, and in every house join the
congregation in a communion of prayers, praises, and repetitions of holy
things; you are to take heed also that nothing but pious, holy, and
religious subjects enter into your thoughts, or make a part of your
conversation." After this the angel introduced his companions into the
temple, which they found filled and crowded with many persons, who on
earth had lived in exalted stations, and also with many of an inferior
class: guards were stationed at the doors to prevent any one from
departing until he had completed his stay of three days. Then said the
angel, "This is the second day since the present congregation entered
the temple: examine them, and you will see their manner of glorifying
God." On their examining them, they observed that most of them were fast
asleep, and that those who were awake were listless and yawning; many of
them, in consequence of the continual elevation of their thoughts to
God, without any attention to the inferior concerns of the body, seemed
to themselves, and thence also to others, as if their faces were
unconnected with their bodies; several again had a wild and raving look
with their eyes, because of their long abstraction from visible objects;
in short, every one, being quite tired out, seemed to feel an oppression
at the chest, and great weariness of spirits, which showed itself in a
violent aversion to what they heard from the pulpit, so that they cried
out to the preacher to put an end to his discourse, for their ears were
stunned, they could not understand a single word he said, and the very
sound of his voice was become painful to them. They then all left their
seats, and, crowding in a body to the doors, broke them open, and by
mere violence made their way through the guards. The priests hereupon
followed, and walked close beside them, teaching, praying, sighing, and
encouraging them to celebrate the solemn festival, and to glorify God,
and sanctify themselves; "and then," said they, "we will initiate you
into the eternal glorification of God in that most magnificent and
spacious temple which is in heaven, and so will introduce you to the
enjoyment of eternal happiness." These words, however, made but little
impression upon them, on account of the listlessness of their minds,
arising from the long elevation of their thoughts above their ordinary
labors and employments. But when they attempted to disengage themselves
from them, the priests caught hold of their hands and garments, in order
to force them back again into the temple to a repetition of their
prayers and praises; but in vain: they insisted on being left to
themselves to recruit their spirits; "we shall else die," they said,
"through mere faintness and weariness." At that instant, lo! there
appeared four men in white garments, with mitres on their heads; one of
them while on earth had been an archbishop, and the other three bishops,
all of whom had now become angels. As they approached, they addressed
themselves to the priests, and said, "We have observed from heaven how
you feed these sheep. Your instruction tends to their infatuation. Do
you not know that to glorify God means to bring forth the fruits of
love; that is, to discharge all the duties of our callings with
faithfulness, sincerity, and diligence? for this is the nature of love
towards God and our neighbor; and this is the bond and blessing of
society. Hereby God is glorified, as well as by acts of worship at
stated times after these duties. Have you never read these words of the
Lord, _Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit; so
shall ye be my disciples_, John xv. 8. Ye priests indeed may glorify God
by your attendance on his worship, since this is your office, and from
the discharge of it you derive honor, glory, and recompense; but it
would be as impossible for you as for others thus to glorify God, unless
honor, glory, and recompense were annexed to your office." Having said
this, the bishops ordered the doorkeepers to give free ingress and
egress to all, there being so great a number of people, who, from their
ignorance of the state and nature of heaven, can form no other idea of
heavenly joy than that it consists in the perpetual worship of God.

10. After this the angel returned with his companions to the place of
assembly, where the several companions of the wise ones were still
waiting; and next he addressed those who fancied that heavenly joy and
eternal happiness depend only on admittance into heaven, which is
obtained merely by divine grace and favor; and that in such case the
persons introduced would enter into the enjoyments of heaven, just as
those introduced to a court-festival or a marriage, enter into the
enjoyment of such scenes. "Wait here awhile," said the angel, "until I
sound my trumpet, and call together those who have been most
distinguished for their wisdom in regard to the spiritual things of the
Church." After some hours, there appeared nine men, each having a wreath
of laurel on his head as a mark of distinction: these the angel
introduced into the house of assembly, where all the companies before
collected were still waiting; and then in their presence he addressed
the nine strangers, and said, "I am informed, that in compliance with
your desire, you have been permitted to ascend into heaven, according to
your ideas thereof, and that you have returned to this inferior or
sub-celestial earth, perfectly well informed as to the nature and state
of heaven: tell us therefore what you have seen, and how heaven appeared
to you." Then they replied in order; and the First thus began: "My idea
of heaven from my earliest infancy to the end of my life on earth was,
that it was a place abounding with all sorts of blessings,
satisfactions, enjoyments, gratifications, and delights; and that if I
were introduced there, I should be encompassed as by an atmosphere of
such felicities, and should receive it with the highest relish, like a
bridegroom at the celebration of his nuptials, and when he enters the
chamber with his bride. Full of this idea, I ascended into heaven, and
passed the first guard and also the second; but when I came to the
third, the captain of the guard accosted me and said, 'Who are you,
friend?' I replied, 'Is not this heaven? My longing desire to ascend
into heaven has brought me hither; I pray you therefore permit me to
enter.' Then he permitted me; and I saw angels in white garments, who
came about me and examined me, and whispered to each other, 'What new
guest is this, who is not clothed in heavenly raiment?' I heard what
they said, and thought within myself, This is a similar case to that
which the Lord describes, of the person who came to the wedding, and had
not on a wedding garment: and I said, 'Give me such garments;' at which
they smiled: and instantly one came from the judgment-hall with this
command: 'Strip him naked, cast him out, and throw his clothes after
him;' and so I was cast out." The Second in order then began as follows:
"I also supposed that if I were but admitted into heaven, which was over
my head, I should there be encompassed with joys, which I should partake
of to eternity. I likewise wished to be there, and my wish was granted;
but the angels on seeing me fled away, and said one to another, 'What
prodigy is this! how came this bird of night here?' On hearing which, I
really felt as if I had undergone some change, and was no longer a man:
this however was merely imaginary, and arose from my breathing the
heavenly atmosphere. Presently, however, there came one running from the
judgment-hall, with an order that two servants should lead me out, and
conduct me back by the way I had ascended, till I had reached my own
home; and when I arrived there, I again appeared to others and also to
myself as a man." The Third said, "I always conceived heaven to be some
place of blessedness independent of the state of the affections;
wherefore as soon as I came into this world, I felt a most ardent desire
to go to heaven. Accordingly I followed some whom I saw ascending
thither, and was admitted along with them; but I did not proceed far;
for when I was desirous to delight my mind (_animus_) according to my
idea of heavenly blessedness, a sudden stupor, occasioned by the light
of heaven, which is as white as snow, and whose essence is said to be
wisdom, seized my mind (_mens_) and darkness my eyes, and I was reduced
to a state of insanity: and presently, from the heat of heaven, which
corresponds with the brightness of its light, and whose essence is said
to be love, there arose in my heart a violent palpitation, a general
uneasiness seized my whole frame, and I was inwardly excruciated to such
a degree that I threw myself flat on the ground. While I was in this
situation, one of the attendants came from the judgment-hall with an
order to carry me gently to my own light and heat; and when I came there
my spirit and my heart presently returned to me." The Fourth said that
he also had conceived heaven to be some place of blessedness independent
of the state of the affections. "As soon therefore," said he, "as I came
into the spiritual world, I inquired of certain wise ones whether I
might be permitted to ascend into heaven, and was informed that this
liberty was granted to all, but that there was need of caution how they
used it, lest they should be cast down again. I made light of this
caution, and ascended in full confidence that all were alike qualified
for the reception of heavenly bliss in all its fulness: but alas! I was
no sooner within the confines of heaven, than my life seemed to be
departing from me, and from the violent pains and anguish which seized
my head and body, I threw myself prostrate on the ground, where I
writhed about like a snake when it is brought near the fire. In this
state I crawled to the brink of a precipice, from which I threw myself
down, and being taken up by some people who were standing near the place
where I fell, by proper care I was soon brought to myself again." The
other Five then gave a wonderful relation of what befell them in their
ascents into heaven, and compared the changes they experienced as to
their states of life, with the state of fish when raised out of water
into air, and with that of birds when raised out of air into ether; and
they declared that, after having suffered so much pain, they had no
longer any desire to ascend into heaven, and only wished to live a life
agreeable to the state of their own affections, among their like in any
place whatever. "We are well informed," they added, "that in the world
of spirits, where we now are, all persons undergo a previous
preparation, the good for heaven, and the wicked for hell; and that
after such preparation they discover ways open for them to societies of
their like, with whom they are to live eternally; and that they enter
such ways with the utmost delight, because they are suitable to their
love." When those of the first assembly had heard these relations, they
all likewise acknowledged, that they had never entertained any other
notion of heaven than as of a place where they should enter upon the
fruition of never-ceasing delights. Then the angel who had the trumpet
thus addressed them: "You see now that the joys of heaven and eternal
happiness arise not from the place, but from the state of the man's
life; and a state of heavenly life is derived from love and wisdom; and
since it is use which contains love and wisdom, and in which they are
fixed and subsist, therefore a state of heavenly life is derived from
the conjunction of love and wisdom in use. It amounts to the same if we
call them charity, faith, and good works; for charity is love, faith is
truth whence wisdom is derived, and good works are uses. Moreover in our
spiritual world there are places as in the natural world; otherwise
there could be no habitations and distinct abodes; nevertheless place
with us is not place, but an appearance of place according to the state
of love and wisdom, or of charity and faith. Every one who becomes an
angel, carries his own heaven within himself, because he carries in
himself the love of his own heaven; for a man from creation is the
smallest effigy, image, and type of the great heaven, and the human form
is nothing else; wherefore every one after death comes into that society
of heaven of whose general form he is an individual effigy;
consequently, when he enters into that society he enters into a form
corresponding to his own; thus he passes as it were from himself into
that form as into another self, and again from that other self into the
same form in himself, and enjoys his own life in that of the society,
and that of the society in his own; for every society in heaven may be
considered as one common body, and the constituent angels as the similar
parts thereof, from which the common body exists. Hence it follows, that
those who are in evils, and thence in falses, have formed in themselves
an effigy of hell, which suffers torment in heaven from the influx and
violent activity of one opposite upon another; for infernal love is
opposite to heavenly love, and consequently the delights of those two
loves are in a state of discord and enmity, and whenever they meet they
endeavor to destroy each other."

11. After this a voice was heard from heaven, saying to the angel that
had the trumpet, "Select ten out of the whole assembly, and introduce
them to us. We have heard from the Lord that He will prepare them so as
to prevent the heat and light, or the love and wisdom, of our heaven,
from doing them any injury during the space of three days." Ten were
then selected and followed the angel. They ascended by a steep path up a
certain hill, and from thence up a mountain, on the summit of which was
situated the heaven of those angels, which had before appeared to them
at a distance like an expanse in the clouds. The gates were opened for
them; and after they had passed the third gate, the introducing angel
hastened to the prince of the society, or of that heaven, and announced
their arrival. The prince said, "Take some of my attendants, and carry
them word that their arrival is agreeable to me, and introduce them into
my reception-room, and provide for each a separate apartment with a
chamber, and appoint some of my attendants and servants to wait upon
them and attend to their wishes:" all which was done. On being
introduced by the angel, they asked whether they might go and see the
prince; and the angel replied, "It is now morning, and it is not
allowable before noon; till that time every one is engaged in his
particular duty and employment: but you are invited to dinner, and then
you will sit at table with our prince; in the meantime I will introduce
you into his palace, and show you its splendid and magnificent
contents."

12. When they were come to the palace, they first viewed it from
without. It was large and spacious, built of porphyry, with a foundation
of jasper; and before the gates were six lofty columns of lapis lazuli;
the roof was of plates of gold, the lofty windows, of the most
transparent crystal, had frames also of gold. After viewing the outside
they were introduced within, and were conducted from one apartment to
another; in each of which they saw ornaments of inexpressible elegance
and beauty; and beneath the roof were sculptured decorations of
inimitable workmanship. Near the walls were set silver tables overlaid
with gold, on which were placed various implements made of precious
stones, and of entire gems in heavenly forms, with several other things,
such as no eye had ever seen on earth, and consequently such as could
never be supposed to exist in heaven. While they were struck with
astonishment at these magnificent sights, the angel said, "Be not
surprised; the things which you now behold are not the production and
workmanship of any angelic hand, but are framed by the Builder of the
universe, and presented as a gift to our prince; wherefore the
architectonic art is here in its essential perfection, and hence are
derived all the rules of that art which are known and practised in the
world." The angel further said, "You may possibly conceive that such
objects charm our eyes, and infatuate us by their grandeur, so that we
consider them as constituting the joys of our heaven: this however is
not the case; for our affections not being set on such things, they are
only contributory to the joys of our hearts; and therefore, so far as we
contemplate them as such, and as the workmanship of God, so far we
contemplate in them the divine omnipotence and mercy."

13. After this the angel said to them, "It is not yet noon: come with me
into our prince's garden, which is near the palace." So they went with
him; and as they were entering, he said, "Behold here the most
magnificent of all the gardens in our heavenly society!" But they
replied, "How! there is no garden here. We see only one tree, and on its
branches and at its top as it were golden fruit and silver leaves, with
their edges adorned with emeralds, and beneath the tree little children
with their nurses." Hereupon the angel, with an inspired voice said,
"This tree is in the midst of the garden; some of us call it the tree of
our heaven, and some, the tree of life. But advance nearer, and your
eyes will be opened, and you will see the garden." They did so, and
their eyes were opened, and they saw numerous trees bearing an abundance
of fine flavored fruit, entwined about with young vines, whose tops with
their fruit inclined towards the tree of life in the midst. These trees
were planted in a continuous series, which, proceeding from a point, and
being continued into endless circles, or gyrations, as of a perpetual
spiral, formed a perfect spiral of trees, wherein one species
continually succeeded another, according to the worth and excellence of
their fruit. The circumgyration began at a considerable distance from
the tree in the midst, and the intervening space was radiant with a beam
of light, which caused the trees in the circle to shine with a graduated
splendor that was continued from the first to the last. The first trees
were the most excellent of all, abounding with the choicest fruits, and
were called paradisiacal trees, being such as are never seen in any
country of the natural world, because none such ever grew or could grow
there. These were succeeded by olive-trees, the olives by vines, these
by sweet-scented shrubs, and these again by timber trees, whose wood was
useful for building. At stated intervals in this spiral or gyre of
trees, were interspersed seats, formed of the young shoots of the trees
behind, brought forward and entwined in each other, while the fruit of
the trees hanging over at the same time enriched and adorned them. At
this perpetually winding circle of trees, there were passages which
opened into flower-gardens, and from them into shrubberies, laid out
into areas and beds. At the sight of all these things the companions of
the angels exclaimed, "Behold heaven in form! wherever we turn our eyes
we feel an influx of somewhat celestially-paradisiacal, which is not to
be expressed." At this the angel rejoicing said, "All the gardens of our
heaven are representative forms or types of heavenly beatitudes in their
origins; and because the influx of these beatitudes elevated your minds,
therefore you exclaimed, 'Behold heaven in form!' but those who do not
receive that influx, regard these paradisiacal gardens only as common
woods or forests. All those who are under the influence of the love of
use receive the influx; but those who are under the influence of the
love of glory not originating in use, do not receive it." Afterwards he
explained to them what every particular thing in the garden represented
and signified.

14. While they were thus employed, there came a messenger from the
prince, with an invitation to them to dine with him; and at the same
time two attendants brought garments of fine linen, and said, "Put on
these; for no one is admitted to the prince's table unless he be clothed
in the garments of heaven." So they put them on, and accompanied their
angel, and were shewn into a drawing-room belonging to the palace, where
they waited for the prince; and there the angel introduced them to the
company and conversation of the grandees and nobles, who were also
waiting for the prince's appearing. And lo! in about an hour the doors
were opened, and through one larger than the rest, on the western side,
he was seen to enter in stately procession. His inferior counsellors
went before him, after them his privy-counsellors, and next the chief
officers belonging to the court; in the middle of these was the prince;
after him followed courtiers of various ranks, and lastly the guards; in
all they amounted to a hundred and twenty. Then the angel, advancing
before the ten strangers, who by their dress now appeared like inmates
of the place, approached with them towards the prince, and reverently
introduced them to his notice; and the prince, without stopping the
procession, said to them, "Come and dine with me." So they followed him
into the dining-hall, where they saw a table magnificently set out,
having in the middle a tall golden pyramid with a hundred branches in
three rows, each branch having a small dish, or basket, containing a
variety of sweetmeats and preserves, with other delicacies made of bread
and wine; and through the middle of the pyramid there issued as it were
a bubbling fountain of nectareous wine, the stream of which, falling
from the summit of the pyramid separated into different channels and
filled the cups. At the sides of this pyramid were various heavenly
golden forms, on which were dishes and plates covered with all kinds of
food. The heavenly forms supporting the dishes and plates were forms of
art, derived from wisdom, such as cannot be devised by any human art, or
expressed by any human words: the dishes and plates were of silver, on
which were engraved forms similar to those that supported them; the cups
were transparent gems. Such was the splendid furniture of the table.

15. As regards the dress of the prince and his ministers, the prince
wore a long purple robe, set with silver stars wrought in needle-work;
under this robe he had a tunic of bright silk of a blue or hyacinthine
color; this was open about the breast, where there appeared the forepart
of a kind of zone or ribbon, with the ensign of his society; the badge
was an eagle sitting on her young at the top of a tree; this was wrought
in polished gold set with diamonds. The counsellors were dressed nearly
after the same manner, but without the badge; instead of which they wore
sapphires curiously cut, hanging from their necks by a golden chain. The
courtiers wore brownish cloaks, wrought with flowers encompassing young
eagles; their tunics were of an opal-colored silk, so were also their
lower garments; thus were they dressed.

16. The privy-counsellors, with those of inferior order, and the
grandees stood around the table, and by command of the prince folded
their hands, and at the same time in a low voice said a prayer of
thanksgiving to the Lord; and after this, at a sign from the prince,
they reclined on couches at the table. The prince then said to the ten
strangers, "Do ye also recline with me; behold, there are your couches:"
so they reclined; and the attendants, who were before sent by the prince
to wait upon them, stood behind them. Then said the prince to them,
"Take each of you a plate from its supporting form, and afterwards a
dish from the pyramid;" and they did so; and lo! instantly new plates
and dishes appeared in the place of those that were taken away; and
their cups were filled with wine that streamed from the fountain out of
the tall pyramid: and they ate and drank. When dinner was about half
ended, the prince addressed the ten new guests, and said, "I have been
informed that you were convened in the country which is immediately
under this heaven, in order to declare your thoughts respecting the joys
of heaven and eternal happiness thence derived, and that you professed
different opinions each according to his peculiar ideas of delight
originating in the bodily senses. But what are the delights of the
bodily senses without those of the soul? The former are animated by the
latter. The delights of the soul in themselves are imperceptible
beatitudes; but, as they descend into the thoughts of the mind, and
thence into the sensations of the body, they become more and more
perceptible: in the thoughts of the mind they are perceived as
satisfactions, in the sensations of the body as delights, and in the
body itself as pleasures. Eternal happiness is derived from the latter
and the former taken together; but from the latter alone there results a
happiness not eternal but temporary, which quickly comes to an end and
passes away, and in some cases becomes unhappiness. You have now seen
that all your joys are also joys of heaven, and that these are far more
excellent than you could have conceived; yet such joys do not inwardly
affect our minds. There are three things which enter by influx from the
Lord as a one into our souls; these three as a one, or this trine, are
love, wisdom, and use. Love and wisdom of themselves exist only ideally,
being confined to the affections and thoughts of the mind; but in use
they exist really, because they are together in act and bodily
employment; and where they exist really, there they also subsist. And as
love and wisdom exist and subsist in use, it is by use we are affected;
and use consists in a faithful, sincere, and diligent discharge of the
duties of our calling. The love of use, and a consequent application to
it, preserve the powers of the mind, and prevent their dispersion; so
that the mind is guarded against wandering and dissipation, and the
imbibing of false lusts, which with their enchanting delusions flow in
from the body and the world through the senses, whereby the truths of
religion and morality, with all that is good in either, become the sport
of every wind; but the application of the mind to use binds and unites
those truths, and disposes the mind to become a form receptible of the
wisdom thence derived; and in this case it extirpates the idle sports
and pastimes of falsity and vanity, banishing them from its centre
towards the circumference. But you will hear more on this subject from
the wise ones of our society, when I will send to you in the afternoon."
So saying, the prince arose, and the new guests along with him, and
bidding them farewell, he charged the conducting angel to lead them back
to their private apartments, and there to show them every token of
civility and respect, and also to invite some courteous and agreeable
company to entertain them with conversation respecting the various joys
of this society.

17. The angel executed the prince's charge; and when they were turned to
their private apartments, the company, invited from the city to inform
them respecting the various joys of the society, arrived, and after the
usual compliments entered into conversation with them as they walked
along in a strain at once entertaining and elegant. But the conducting
angel said, "These ten men were invited into this heaven to see its
joys, and to receive thereby a new idea concerning eternal happiness.
Acquaint us therefore with some of its joys which affect the bodily
senses; and afterwards, some wise ones will arrive, who will acquaint us
with what renders those joys satisfactory and happy." Then the company
who were invited from the city related the following particulars:--"1.
There are here days of festivity appointed by the prince, that the mind,
by due relaxation, may recover from the weariness which an emulative
desire may occasion in particular cases. On such days we have concerts
of music and singing in the public places, and out of the city are
exhibited games and shows: in the public places at such times are raised
orchestras surrounded with balusters formed of vines wreathed together,
from which hang bunches of ripe grapes; within these balusters in three
rows, one above another, sit the musicians, with their wind and stringed
instruments of various tones, both high and low, loud and soft; and near
them are singers of both sexes who entertain the citizens with the
sweetest music and singing, both in concert and solo, varied at times as
to its particular kind: these concerts continue on those days of
festivity from morning till noon, and afterwards till evening. 2.
Moreover, every morning from the houses around the public places we hear
the sweetest songs of virgins and young girls, which resound though the
whole city. It is an affection of spiritual love, which is sung every
morning; that is, it is rendered sonorous by modifications of the voice
in singing, or by modulations. The affection in the song is perceived as
the real affection, flowing into the minds of the hearers, and exciting
them to a correspondence with it: such is the nature of heavenly
singing. The virgin-singers say, that the sound of their song is as it
were self-inspired and self-animated from within, and exalted with
delight according to the reception it meets with from the hearers. When
this is ended, the windows of the houses around the public places, and
likewise of those in the streets, are shut, and so also are the doors;
and then the whole city is silent, and no noise heard in any part of it,
nor is any person seen loitering in the streets, but all are intent on
their work and the duties of their calling. 3. At noon, however, the
doors are opened, and in the afternoon also the windows in some houses,
and boys and girls are seen playing in the streets, while their masters
and mistresses sit in the porches of their houses, watching over them,
and keeping them in order. 4. At the extreme parts of the city there are
various sports of boys and young men, as running, hand-ball, tennis,
&c.; there are besides trials of skill among the boys, in order to
discover the readiness of their wit in speaking, acting, and perceiving;
and such as excel receive some leaves of laurel as a reward; not to
mention other things of a like nature, designed to call forth and
exercise the latent talents of the young people. 5. Moreover out of the
city are exhibited stage-entertainments, in which the actors represent
the various graces and virtues of moral life, among whom are inferior
characters for the sake of relatives." And one of the ten asked, "How
for the sake of relatives?" And they replied, "No virtue with its graces
and beauties, can be suitably represented except by means of relatives,
in which are comprised and represented all its graces and beauties, from
the greatest to the least; and the inferior characters represent the
least, even till they become extinct; but it is provided by law, that
nothing of the opposite, which is indecorous and dishonorable, should be
exhibited, except figuratively, and as it were remotely. The reason of
which provision is, because nothing that is honorable and good in any
virtue can by successive progressions pass over to what is dishonorable
and evil: it only proceeds to its least, when it perishes; and when that
is the case, the opposite commences; wherefore heaven, where all things
are honorable and good, has nothing in common with hell, where all
things are dishonorable and evil."

18. During this conversation, a servant came in and brought word, that
the eight wise ones, invited by the prince's order, were arrived, and
wished to be admitted; whereupon the angel went out to receive and
introduce them: and presently the wise ones, after the customary
ceremonies of introduction, began to converse with them on the
beginnings and increments of wisdom, with which they intermixed various
remarks respecting its progression, shewing, that with the angels it
never ceases or comes to a period, but advances and increases to
eternity. Hereupon the attendant angel said to them, "Our prince at
table while talking with these strangers respecting the seat or abode of
wisdom, showed that it consists in use: if agreeable to you, be pleased
to acquaint them further on the same subject." They therefore said,
"Man, at his first creation, was endued with wisdom and its love, not
for the sake of himself, but that he might communicate it to others from
himself. Hence it is a maxim inscribed on the wisdom of the wise, that
no one is wise for himself alone, or lives for himself, but for others
at the same time: this is the origin of society, which otherwise could
not exist. To live for others is to perform uses. Uses are the bonds of
society, which are as many in number as there are good uses; and the
number of uses is infinite. There are spiritual uses, such as regard
love to God and love towards our neighbour; there are moral and civil
uses, such as regard the love of the society and state to which a man
belongs, and of his fellow-citizens among whom he lives; there are
natural uses, which regard the love of the world and its necessities;
and there are corporeal uses, such as regard the love of
self-preservation with a view to superior uses. All these uses are
inscribed on man, and follow in order one after another; and when they
are together, one is in the other. Those who are in the first uses,
which are spiritual, are in all the succeeding ones, and such persons
are wise; but those who are not in the first, and yet are in the second,
and thereby in the succeeding ones, are not so highly principled in
wisdom, but only appear to be so by virtue of an external morality and
civility; those who are neither in the first nor second, but only in the
third and fourth, have not the least pretensions to wisdom; for they are
satans, loving only the world and themselves for the sake of the world;
but those who are only in the fourth, are least wise of all; for they
are devils, because they live to themselves alone, and only to others
for the sake of themselves. Moreover, every love has its particular
delight; for it is by delight that love is kept alive; and the delight
of the love of uses is a heavenly delight, which enters into succeeding
delights in their order, and according to the order of succession,
exalts them and makes them eternal." After this they enumerated the
heavenly delights proceeding from the love of uses, and said, that they
are a thousand times ten thousand; and that all who enter heaven enter
into those delights. With further wise conversation on the love of use,
they passed the day with them until evening.

19. Towards evening there came a messenger clothed in linen to the ten
strangers who attended the angel, and invited them to a
marriage-ceremony which was to be celebrated the next day, and the
strangers were much rejoiced to think that they were also to be present
at a marriage-ceremony in heaven. After this they were conducted to the
house of one of the counsellors, and supped with him; and after supper
they returned to the palace, and each retired to his own chamber, where
they slept till morning. When they awoke, they heard the singing of the
virgins and young girls from the houses around the public places of
resort, which we mentioned above. They sung that morning the affection
of conjugial love; the sweetness of which so affected and moved the
hearers, that they perceived sensibly a blessed serenity instilled into
their joys, which at the some time exalted and renewed them. At the hour
appointed the angel said, "Make yourselves ready, and put on the
heavenly garments which our prince sent you;" and they did so, and lo!
the garments were resplendent as with a flaming light; and on their
asking the angel, "Whence is this?" he replied, "Because you are going
to a marriage-ceremony; and when that is the case, our garments always
assume a shining appearance, and become marriage garments."

20. After this the angel conducted them to the house where the nuptials
were to be celebrated, and the porter opened the door; and presently
being admitted within the house, they were received and welcomed by an
angel sent from the bridegroom, and were introduced and shewn to the
seats intended for them: and soon after they were invited into an
ante-chamber, in the middle of which they saw a table, and on it a
magnificent candlestick with seven branches and sconces of gold: against
the walls there were hung silver lamps, which being lighted made the
atmosphere appear of a golden hue: and they observed on each side of the
candlestick two tables, on which were set loaves in three rows; there
were tables also at the four corners of the room, on which were placed
crystal cups. While they were viewing these things, lo! a door opened
from a closet near the marriage-chamber, and six virgins came out, and
after them the bridegroom and the bride, holding each other by the hand,
and advancing towards a seat placed opposite to the candlestick, on
which they seated themselves, the bridegroom on the left hand, and the
bride on the right, while the six virgins stood by the seat near the
bride. The bridegroom was dressed in a robe of bright purple, and a
tunic of fine shining linen, with an ephod, on which was a golden plate
set round with diamonds, and on the plate was engraved a young eagle,
the marriage-ensign of that heavenly society; on his head he wore a
mitre: the bride was dressed in a scarlet mantle, under which was a
gown, ornamented with fine needle-work, that reached from her neck to
her feet, and beneath her bosom she wore a golden girdle, and on her
head a golden crown set with rubies. When they were thus seated, the
bridegroom turning himself towards the bride, put a golden ring on her
finger; he then took bracelets and a pearl necklace, and clasped the
bracelets about her wrists, and the necklace about her neck, and said,
"_Accept these pledges_;" and as she accepted them he kissed her, and
said, "Now thou art mine;" and he called her his wife. On this all the
company cried out, "May the divine blessing be upon you!" These words
were first pronounced by each separately, and afterwards by all
together. They were pronounced also in turn by a certain person sent
from the prince as his representative; and at that instant the
ante-chamber was filled with an aromatic smoke, which was a token of
blessing from heaven. Then the servants in waiting took loaves from the
two tables near the candlestick, and cups, now filled with wine, from
the tables at the corners of the room, and gave to each of the guests
his own loaf and his own cup, and they ate and drank. After this the
husband and his wife arose, and the six virgins attended them with the
silver lamps, now lighted, in their hands to the threshold; and the
married pair entered their chamber; and the door was shut.

21. Afterwards the conducting angel talked with the guests about his ten
companions, acquainting them how he was commissioned to introduce them,
and shew them the magnificent things contained in the prince's palace,
and other wonderful sights; and how they had dined at table with him,
and afterwards had conversed with the wise ones of the society; and he
said, "May I be permitted to introduce them also to you, in order that
they may enjoy the pleasure of your conversation?" So he introduced
them, and they entered into discourse together. Then a certain wise
personage, one of the marriage-guests, said, "Do you understand the
meaning of what you have seen?" They replied, "But little;" and then
they asked him, "Why was the bridegroom, who is now a husband, dressed
in that particular manner?" He answered, "Because the bridegroom, now a
husband, represented the Lord, and the bride, who is now a wife,
represented the church; for marriages in heaven represent the marriage
of the Lord with the church. This is the reason why he wore a mitre on
his head, and was dressed in a robe, a tunic, and an ephod, like Aaron;
and why the bride had a crown on her head, and wore a mantle like a
queen; but to-morrow they will be dressed differently, because this
representation lasts no longer than to-day." They further asked, "Since
he represented the Lord, and she the church, why did she sit at his
right hand?" The wise one replied, "Because there are two things which
constitute the marriage of the Lord with the church--love and wisdom;
the Lord is love, and the church is wisdom; and wisdom is at the right
hand of love; for every member of the church is wise as of himself, and
in proportion as he is wise he receives love from the Lord. The right
hand also signifies power; and love has power by means of wisdom; but,
as we have just observed, after the marriage-ceremony the representation
is changed; for then the husband represents wisdom, and the wife the
love of his wisdom. This love however is not primary, but secondary
love; being derived from the Lord to the wife through the wisdom of the
husband: the love of the Lord, which is the primary love, is the
husband's love of being wise; therefore after marriage, both together,
the husband and his wife, represent the church." They asked again, "Why
did not you men stand by the bridegroom, now the husband, as the six
virgins stood by the bride, now the wife?" The wise one answered,
"Because we to-day are numbered among the virgins; and the number six
signifies all and what is complete." But they said, "Explain your
meaning." He replied, "Virgins signify the church; and the church
consists of both sexes: therefore also we, with respect to the church,
are virgins. That this is the case, is evident from these words in the
Revelation: '_These are those who were not defiled with women; for they
are Virgins: and they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth_,' chap.
xiv. 4. And as virgins signify the church, therefore the Lord likened it
to ten Virgins invited to a marriage, Mat. xxv. And as Israel, Zion, and
Jerusalem, signify the church, therefore mention is so often made in the
Word, of the Virgin and Daughter of Israel, of Zion, and of Jerusalem.
The Lord also describes his marriage with the church in these words:
'_upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in gold of Ophir: her clothing
is of wrought gold: she shall be brought unto the king in raiment of
needlework: the Virgins her companions that follow her shall enter into
the king's palace_.' Psalm xlv. 9-16." Lastly they asked, "Is it not
expedient that a priest be present and minister at the marriage
ceremony?" The wise one answered, "This is expedient on the
earth, but not in the heavens, by reason of the representation of the
Lord himself and the church. On the earth they are not aware of this;
but even with us a priest ministers in whatever relates to betrothings,
or marriage contracts, and hears, receives, confirms, and consecrates
the consent of the parties. Consent is the essential of marriage; all
succeeding ceremonies are its formalities."

22. After this the conducting angel went to the six virgins, and gave
them an account of his companions, and requested that they would
vouchsafe to join company with them. Accordingly they came; but when
they drew near, they suddenly retired, and went into the ladies'
apartment to the virgins their companions. On seeing this, the
conducting angel followed them, and asked why they retired so suddenly
without entering into conversation? They replied. "We cannot approach:"
and he said, "Why not?" They answered, "We do not know; but we perceived
something which repelled us and drove us back again. We hope they will
excuse us." The angel then returned to his companions, and told them
what the virgins had said, and added, "I conjecture that your love of
the sex is not chaste. In heaven we love virgins for their beauty and
the elegance of their manners; and we love them intensely, but
chastely." Hereupon his companions smiled and said, "You conjecture
right: who can behold such beauties near and not feel some excitement?"

23. After much entertaining conversation the marriage-guests departed,
and also the ten strangers with their attendant angel; and the evening
being far advanced, they retired to rest. In the morning they heard a
proclamation, TO-DAY IS THE SABBATH. They then arose and asked the angel
what it meant: he replied, "It is for the worship of God, which returns
at stated periods, and is proclaimed by the priests. The worship is
performed in our temples and lasts about two hours; wherefore if it
please you, come along with me, and I will introduce you." So they made
themselves ready, and attended the angel, and entered the temple. It was
a large building capable of containing about three thousand persons, of
a semicircular form, with benches or seats carried round in a continued
sweep according to the figure of the temple; the hinder ones being more
elevated than those in front. The pulpit in front of the seats was drawn
a little from the centre; the door was behind the pulpit on the left
hand. The ten strangers entered with their conducting angel, who pointed
out to them the places where they were to sit; telling them, "Every one
that enters the temple knows his own place by a kind of innate
perception; nor can he sit in any place but his own: in case he takes
another place, he neither hears nor perceives anything, and he also
disturbs the order; the consequence of which is, that the priest is not
inspired."

24. When the congregation had assembled, the priest ascended the pulpit,
and preached a sermon full of the spirit of wisdom. The discourse was
concerning the sanctity of the Holy Scriptures, and the conjunction of
the Lord with both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, by means
thereof. In the illustration in which he then was, he fully proved, that
that holy book was dictated by Jehovah the Lord, and that consequently
He is in it, so as to be the wisdom it contains; but that the wisdom
which is Himself therein, lies concealed under the sense of the letter,
and is opened only to those who are in the truths of doctrine, and at
the same time in goodness of life, and thus who are in the Lord, and the
Lord in them. To his discourse he added a votive prayer and descended.
As the audience were going out, the angel requested the priest to speak
a few words of peace with his ten companions; so he came to them, and
they conversed together for about half an hour. He discoursed concerning
the divine trinity--that it is in Jesus Christ, in whom all the fulness
of the Godhead dwells bodily, according to the declaration of the
apostle Paul; and afterwards concerning the union of charity and faith;
but he said, "the union of charity and truth;" because faith is truth.

25. After expressing their thanks they returned home; and then the angel
said to them, "This is the third day since you came into the society of
this heaven, and you were prepared by the Lord to stay here three days;
it is time therefore that we separate; put off therefore the garments
sent you by the prince, and put on your own." When they had done so,
they were inspired with a desire to be gone; so they departed and
descended, the angel attending them to the place of assembly; and there
they gave thanks to the Lord for vouchsafing to bless them with
knowledge, and thereby with intelligence, concerning heavenly joys and
eternal happiness.

26. "I again solemnly declare, that these things were done and said as
they are related; the former in the world of spirits, which is
intermediate between heaven and hell, and the latter in the society of
heaven to which the angel with the trumpet and the conductor belonged.
Who in the Christian world would have known anything concerning heaven,
and the joys and happiness there experienced, the knowledge of which is
the knowledge of salvation, unless it had pleased the Lord to open to
some person the sight of his spirit, in order to shew and teach them?
That similar things exist in the spiritual world is very manifest from
what were seen and heard by the apostle John, as described in the
Revelation; as that he saw the Son of Man in the midst of seven
candlesticks; also a tabernacle, temple, ark, and altar in heaven; a
book sealed with seven seals; the book opened, and horses going forth
thence; four animals around the throne; twelve thousand chosen out of
every tribe; locusts ascending out of the bottomless pit; a dragon, and
his combat with Michael; a woman bringing forth a male child, and flying
into a wilderness on account of the dragon; two beasts, one ascending
out of the sea, the other out of the earth; a woman sitting upon a
scarlet beast; the dragon cast out into a lake of fire and brimstone; a
white horse and a great supper; a new heaven and a new earth, and the
holy Jerusalem descending described as to its gates, wall, and
foundation; also a river of the water of life, and trees of life bearing
fruits every month; besides several other particulars; all which things
were seen by John, while as to his spirit he was in the spiritual world
and in heaven: not to mention the things seen by the apostles after the
Lord's resurrection; and what were afterwards seen and heard by Peter,
Acts xi.; also by Paul; moreover by the prophets; as by Ezekiel, who saw
four animals which were cherubs, chap i. and chap x.; a new temple and a
new earth, and an angel measuring them, chap. xl.-xlviii.; and was led
away to Jerusalem, and saw there abominations: and also into Chaldea
into captivity, chap. viii. and chap. xi. The case was similar with
Zechariah, who saw a man riding among myrtles; also four horns, chap. i.
8, and following verses; and afterwards a man with a measuring-line in
his hand, chap. ii. 1, and following verses; likewise a candlestick and
two olive trees, chap. iv. 2, and following verses; also a flying roll
and an ephah, chap. v. 1, 6; also four chariots going forth between two
mountains, and horses, chap. vi. 1, and following verses. So likewise
with Daniel, who saw four beasts coming up out of the sea, chap. vii. 1,
and following verses; also combats of a ram and he-goat, chap. viii. 1,
and following verses; who also saw the angel Gabriel, and had much
discourse with him, chap. ix.: the youth of Elisha saw chariots and
horses of fire round about Elisha, and saw them when his eyes were
opened, 2 Kings vi. 15, and following verses. From these and several
other instances in the Word, it is evident, that the things which exist
in the spiritual world, appeared to many both before and after the
Lord's coming: is it any wonder then, that the same things should now
also appear when the church is commencing, or when the New Jerusalem is
coming down from the Lord out of heaven?"

ON MARRIAGES IN HEAVEN.

27. That there are marriages in heaven cannot be admitted as an article
of faith by those who imagine that a man after death is a soul or
spirit, and who conceive of a soul or spirit as of a rarefied ether or
vapor; who imagine also, that a man will not live as a man till after
the day of the last judgment; and in general who know nothing respecting
the spiritual world, in which angels and spirits dwell, consequently in
which there are heavens and hells: and as that world has been heretofore
unknown, and mankind have been in total ignorance that the angels of
heaven are men, in a perfect form, and in like manner infernal spirits,
but in an imperfect form, therefore it was impossible for anything to be
revealed concerning marriages in that world; for if it had it would have
been objected, "How can a soul be joined with a soul, or a vapor with a
vapor, as one married partner with another here on earth?" not to
mention other similar objections, which, the instant they were made,
would take away and dissipate all faith respecting marriages in another
life. But now, since several particulars have been revealed concerning
that world, and a description has also been given of its nature and
quality, in the treatise on HEAVEN AND HELL, and also in the APOCALYPSE
REVEALED, the assertion, that marriages take place in that world, may be
so far confirmed as even to convince the reason by the following
propositions: I. _A man (homo) lives a man after death._ II. _In this
case a male is a male, and a female a female._ III. _Every one's
peculiar love remains with him after death._ IV. _The love of the sex
especially remains; and with those who go to heaven, which is the case
with all who become spiritual here on earth, conjugial love remains._ V.
_These things fully confirmed by ocular demonstration._ VI.
_Consequently that there are marriages in the heavens._ VII. _Spiritual
nuptials are to be understood by the Lord's words, where he says, that
after the resurrection they are not given in marriage._ We will now give
an explanation of these propositions in their order.

28. I. A MAN LIVES A MAN AFTER DEATH. That a man lives a man after death
has been heretofore unknown in the world, for the reasons just now
mentioned; and, what is surprising, it has been unknown even in the
Christian world, where they have the Word, and illustration thence
concerning eternal life, and where the Lord himself teaches, _That all
the dead rise again; and that God is not the God of the dead but of the
living_, Matt. xxii. 31, 32. Luke xx. 37, 38. Moreover, a man, as to the
affections and thoughts of his mind, is in the midst of angels and
spirits, and is so consociated with them that were he to be separated
from them he would instantly die. It is still more surprising that this
is unknown, when yet every man that has departed this life since the
beginning of creation, after his decease has come and does still come to
his own, or, as it is said in the Word, has been gathered and is
gathered to his own: besides every one has a common perception, which is
the same thing as the influx of heaven into the interiors of his mind,
by virtue of which he inwardly perceives truths, and as it were sees
them, and especially this truth, that he lives a man after death; a
happy man if he has lived well, and an unhappy one if he has lived ill.
For who does not think thus, while he elevates his mind in any degree
above the body, and above the thought which is nearest to the senses; as
is the case when he is interiorly engaged in divine worship, and when he
lies on his death-bed expecting his dissolution; also when he hears of
those who are deceased, and their lot? I have related a thousand
particulars respecting departed spirits, informing certain persons that
are now alive concerning the state of their deceased brethren, their
married partners, and their friends. I have written also concerning the
state of the English, the Dutch, the Papists, the Jews, the Gentiles,
and likewise concerning the state of Luther, Calvin, and Melancthon; and
hitherto I never heard any one object, "How can such be their lot, when
they are not yet risen from their tombs, the last judgement not being
yet accomplished? Are they not in the meantime mere vaporous and
unsubstantial souls residing, in some place of confinement (_in quodam
pu seu ubi_)?" Such objections I have never yet heard from any quarter;
whence I have been led to conclude, that every one perceives in himself
that he lives a man after death. Who that has loved his married partner
and his children when they are dying or are dead, will not say within
himself (if his thought be elevated above the sensual principles of the
body) that they are in the hand of God, and that he shall see them again
after his own death, and again be joined with them in a life of love and
joy?

29. Who, that is willing, cannot see from reason, that a man after death
is not a mere vapor, of which no idea can be formed but as of a breath
of wind, or of air and ether, and that such vapor constitutes or
contains in it the human soul, which desires and expects conjunction
with its body, in order that it may enjoy the bodily senses and their
delights, as previously in the world? We cannot see, that if this were
the case with a man after death, his state would be more deplorable than
that of fishes, birds, and terrestrial animals, whose souls are not
alive, and consequently are not in such anxiety of desire and
expectation? Supposing a man after death to be such a vapor, and thus a
breath of wind, he would either fly about in the universe, or according
to certain traditions, would be reserved in a place of confinement, or
in the _limbo_ of the ancient fathers, until the last judgement. Who
cannot hence from reason conclude, that those who have lived since the
beginning of creation, which is computed to be about six thousand years
ago, must be still in a similar anxious state, and progressively more
anxious, because all expectation arising from desire produces anxiety,
and being continued from time to time increases it; consequently, that
they must still be either floating about in the universe, or be kept
shut up in confinement, and thereby in extreme misery; and that must be
the case with Adam and his wife, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
with all who have lived since that time? All this being supposed true,
it must needs follow, that nothing would be more deplorable than to be
born a man. But the reverse of this is provided by the Lord, who is
Jehovah from eternity and the Creator of the universe; for the state of
the man that conjoins himself with him by a life according to his
precepts, becomes more blessed and happy after death than before it in
the world; and it is more blessed and happy from this circumstance, that
the man then is spiritual, and a spiritual man is sensible of and
perceives spiritual delight, which is a thousand times superior to
natural delight.

30. That angels and spirits are men, may plainly appear from those seen
by Abraham, Gideon, Daniel, and the prophets, and especially by John
when he wrote the Revelation, and also by the women in the Lord's
sepulchre, yea, from the Lord himself as seen by the disciples after his
resurrection. The reason of their being seen was, because the eyes of
the spirits of those who saw them were opened; and when the eyes of the
spirit are opened, angels appear in their proper form, which is the
human; but when the eyes of the spirit are closed, that is, when they
are veiled by the vision of the bodily eyes, which derive all their
impressions from the material world, then they do not appear.

31. It is however to be observed, that a man after death is not a
natural, but a spiritual man; nevertheless he still appears in all
respects like himself; and so much so, that he knows not but, that he is
still in the natural world: for he has a similar body, countenance,
speech, and senses; for he has a similar affection and thought, or will
and understanding. He is indeed actually not similar, because he is a
spiritual, and consequently an interior man; but the difference does not
appear to him, because he cannot compare his spiritual state with his
former natural state, having put off the latter, and being in the
former; therefore I have often heard such persons say, that they know
not but that they are in the former world, with this difference,
however, that they no longer see those whom they had left in that world;
but that they see those who had departed out of it, or were deceased.
The reason why they now see the latter and not the former, is, because
they are no longer natural men, but spiritual or substantial; and a
spiritual or substantial man sees a spiritual or substantial man, as a
natural or material man sees a natural or material man, but not _vice
versa_, on account of the difference between what is substantial and
what is material, which is like the difference between what is prior and
what is posterior; and what is prior, being in itself purer, cannot
appear to what is posterior, which in itself is grosser; nor can what is
posterior, being grosser, appear to what is prior, which in itself is
purer; consequently an angel cannot appear to a man of this world, nor a
man of this world to an angel. The reason why a man after death is a
spiritual or substantial man, is, because this spiritual or substantial
man lay inwardly concealed in the natural or material man; which natural
or material man was to it as a covering, or as a skin about to be cast
off; and when the covering or skin is cast off, the spiritual or
substantial man comes forth, a purer, interior, and more perfect man.
That the spiritual man is still a perfect man, notwithstanding his being
invisible to the natural man, is evident from the Lord's being seen by
the apostles after his resurrection, when he appeared, and presently he
did not appear; and yet he was a man like to himself both when seen and
when not seen: it is also said, that when they saw him, their eyes were
opened.

32. II. IN THIS CASE A MALE IS A MALE, AND A FEMALE A FEMALE. Since a
man (_homo_) lives a man after death, and man is male and female, and
there is such a distinction between the male principle and the female
principle, that the one cannot be changed into the other, it follows,
that after death the male lives a male, and the female a female, each
being a spiritual man. It is said that the male principle cannot be
changed into the female principle, nor the female into the male, and
that therefore after death the male is a male, and the female a female;
but as it is not known in what the masculine principle essentially
consists, and in what the feminine, it may be expedient briefly to
explain it. The essential distinction between the two is this: in the
masculine principle, love is inmost, and its covering is wisdom; or,
what is the same, the masculine principle is love covered (or veiled) by
wisdom; whereas in the feminine principle, the wisdom of the male is
inmost, and its covering is love thence derived; but this latter love is
feminine, and is given by the Lord to the wife through the wisdom of the
husband; whereas the former love is masculine, which is the love of
growing wise, and is given by the Lord to the husband according to the
reception of wisdom. It is from this circumstance, that the male is the
wisdom of love, and the female is the love of that wisdom; therefore
from creation there is implanted in each a love of conjunction so as to
become a one; but on this subject more will be said in the following
pages. That the female principle is derived from the male, or that the
woman was taken out of the man, is evident from these words in Genesis:
_Jehovah God took out one of the man's ribs, and closed up the flesh in
the place thereof; and he builded the rib, which he had taken out of the
man, into a woman; and he brought her to the man; and the man said, This
is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; hence she shall be called
Eve, because she was taken out of man_, chap. ii. 21-23: the
signification of a rib and of flesh will be shewn elsewhere.

33. From this primitive formation it follows, that by birth the
character of the male is intellectual, and that the female character
partakes more of the will principle; or, what amounts to the same, that
the male is born into the affection of knowing, understanding, and
growing wise, and the female into the love of conjoining herself with
that affection in the male. And as the interiors form the exteriors to
their own likeness, and the masculine form is the form of intellect, and
the feminine is the form of the love of that intellect, therefore the
male and the female differ as to the features of the face, the tone of
the voice, and the form of the body; the male having harder features, a
harsher tone of voice, a stronger body, and also a bearded chin, and in
general a form less beautiful than that of the female; they differ also
in their gestures and manners; in a word, they are not exactly similar
in a single respect; but still, in every particular of each, there is a
tendency to conjunction; yea, the male principle in the male, is male in
every part of his body, even the most minute, and also in every idea of
his thought, and every spark of his affection; the same is true of the
female principle in the female; and since of consequence the one cannot
be changed into the other, it follows, that after death a male is a
male, and a female a female.

34. III. EVERY ONE'S PECULIAR LOVE REMAINS WITH HIM AFTER DEATH. Man
knows that there is such a thing as love; but he does not know what love
is. He knows that there is such a thing from common discourse; as when
it is said, that such a one loves me, that a king loves his subjects,
and subjects love their king; that a husband loves his wife, and a
mother her children, and _vice versa_; also when it is said, that any
one loves his country, his fellow citizens, and his neighbour; in like
manner of things abstracted from persons; as when it is said that a man
loves this or that. But although the term love is thus universally
applied in conversation, still there is scarcely any one that knows what
love is: even while meditating on the subject, as he is not then able to
form any distinct idea concerning it, and thus not to fix it as present
in the light of the understanding, because of its having relation not to
light but to heat, he either denies its reality, or he calls it merely
an influent effect arising from the sight, the hearing, and the
conversation, and thus accounts for the motions to which it gives birth;
not being at all aware, that love is his very life, not only the common
life of his whole body and of all his thoughts, but also the life of all
their particulars. A wise man may perceive this from the consideration,
that if the affection of love be removed, he is incapable both of
thinking and acting; for in proportion as that affection grows cold, do
not thought, speech, and action grow cold also? and in proportion as
that affection grows warm, do not they also grow warm in the same
degree? Love therefore is the heat of the life of man (_hominis_), or
his vital heat. The heat of the blood, and also its redness, are from
this source alone. The fire of the angelic sun, which is pure love,
produces this effect.

35. That every one has his own peculiar love, or a love distinct from
that of another; that is, that no two men have exactly the same love,
may appear from the infinite variety of human countenances, the
countenance being a type of the love; for it is well known that the
countenance is changed and varied according to the affection of love; a
man's desires also, which are of love, and likewise his joys and
sorrows, are manifested in the countenance. From this consideration it
is evident, that every man is his own peculiar love; yea, that he is the
form of his love. It is however to be observed, that the interior man,
which is the same with his spirit which lives after death, is the form
of his love, and not so the exterior man which lives in this world,
because the latter has learnt from infancy to conceal the desires of his
love; yea, to make a pretence and show of desires which are different
from his own.

36. The reason why every one's peculiar love remains with him after
death, is, because, as was said just above, n. 34, love is a man's
(_hominis_) life; and hence it is the man himself. A man also is his own
peculiar thought, thus his own peculiar intelligence and wisdom; but
these make a one with his love; for a man thinks from this love and
according to it; yea, if he be in freedom, he speaks and acts in like
manner; from which it may appear, that love is the _esse_ or essence of
a man's life, and that thought is the _existere_ or existence of his
life thence derived; therefore speech and action, which are said to flow
from the thought, do not flow from the thought, but from the love
through the thought. From much experience I have learned that a man
after death is not his own peculiar thought, but that he is his own
peculiar affection and derivative thought; or that he is his own
peculiar love and derivative intelligence; also that a man after death
puts off everything which does not agree with his love; yea, that he
successively puts on the countenance, the tone of voice, the speech, the
gestures, and the manners of the love proper to his life: hence it is,
that the whole heaven is arranged in order according to all the
varieties of the affections of the love of good, and the whole hell
according to all the affections of the love of evil.

37. IV. THE LOVE OF THE SEX ESPECIALLY REMAINS; AND WITH THOSE WHO GO TO
HEAVEN, WHICH IS THE CASE WITH ALL WHO BECOME SPIRITUAL HERE ON EARTH,
CONJUGIAL LOVE REMAINS. The reason why the love of the sex remains with
man (_homo_) after death, is, because after death a male is a male and a
female a female; and the male principle in the male is male (or
masculine) in the whole and in every part thereof; and so is the female
principle in the female; and there is a tendency to conjunction in all
their parts, even the most singular; and as this conjunctive tendency
was implanted from creation, and thence perpetually influences, it
follows, that the one desires and seeks conjunction with the other.
Love, considered itself, is a desire and consequent tendency to
conjunction; and conjugial love to conjunction into a one; for the
male-man and the female-man were so created, that from two they may
become as it were one man, or one flesh; and when they become a one,
then, taken together they are a man (_homo_) in his fulness; but without
such conjunction, they are two, and each is a divided or half-man. Now
as the above conjunctive tendency lies concealed in the inmost of every
part of the male, and of every part of the female, and the same is true
of the faculty and desire to be conjoined together into a one, it
follows, that the mutual and reciprocal love of the sex remains with men
(_homines_) after death.

38. We speak distinctively of the love of the sex and of conjugial love,
because the one differs from the other. The love of the sex exists with
the natural man; conjugial love with the spiritual man. The natural man
loves and desires only external conjunctions, and the bodily pleasures
thence derived; whereas the spiritual man loves and desires internal
conjunctions and the spiritual satisfactions thence derived; and these
satisfactions he perceives are granted with one wife, with whom he can
perpetually be more and more joined together into a one: and the more he
enters into such conjunction the more he perceives his satisfactions
ascending in a similar degree, and enduring to eternity; but respecting
anything like this the natural man has no idea. This then is the reason
why it is said, that after death conjugial love remains with those who
go to heaven, which is the case with all those who become spiritual here
on earth.

39. V. THESE THINGS FULLY CONFIRMED BY OCULAR DEMONSTRATION. That a man
(_homo_) lives as a man after death, and that in this case a male is a
male, and a female a female; and that every one's peculiar love remains
with him after death, especially the love of the sex and conjugial love,
are positions which I have wished hitherto to confirm by such arguments
as respect the understanding, and are called rational; but since man
(_homo_) from his infancy, in consequence of what has been taught him by
his parents and masters, and afterwards by the learned and the clergy,
has been induced to believe, that he shall not live a man after death
until the day of the last judgement, which has now been expected for six
thousand years; and several have regarded this article of faith as one
which ought to be believed, but not intellectually conceived, it was
therefore necessary that the above positions should be confirmed also by
ocular proofs; otherwise a man who believes only the evidence of his
senses, in consequence of the faith previously implanted, would object
thus: "If men lived men after death, I should certainly see and hear
them: who has ever descended from heaven, or ascended from hell, and
given such information?" In reply to such objections it is to be
observed, that it never was possible, nor can it ever be, that any angel
of heaven should descend, or any spirit of hell ascend, and speak with
any man, except with those who have the interiors of the mind or spirit
opened by the Lord; and this opening of the interiors cannot be fully
effected except with those who have been prepared by the Lord to receive
the things which are of spiritual wisdom: on which accounts it has
pleased the Lord thus to prepare me, that the state of heaven and hell,
and of the life of men after death, might not remain unknown, and be
laid asleep in ignorance, and at length buried in denial. Nevertheless,
ocular proofs on the subjects above mentioned, by reason of their
copiousness, cannot here be adduced; but they have been already adduced
in the treatise on HEAVEN and HELL, and in the CONTINUATION RESPECTING
THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, and afterwards in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED; but
especially, in regard to the present subject of marriages, in the
MEMORABLE RELATIONS which are annexed to the several paragraphs or
chapters of this work.

40. VI. CONSEQUENTLY THERE ARE MARRIAGES IN HEAVEN. This position having
been confirmed by reason, and at the same time by experience, needs no
further demonstration.

41. VII. SPIRITUAL NUPTIALS ARE TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE LORD'S WORDS,
"AFTER THE RESURRECTION THEY ARE NOT GIVEN IN MARRIAGE." In the
Evangelists are these words, _Certain of the Sadducees, who say that
there is no resurrection, asked Jesus, saying, Master, Moses wrote, If a
man die, having no children, his brother shall take his wife, and raise
up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren and the
first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and having no issue, left
his wife unto his brother; likewise the second also, and the third unto
the seventh; last of all the woman died also; therefore in the
resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? But Jesus answering,
said unto them, The sons of this generation marry, and are given in
marriage; but those who shall be accounted worthy to attain to another
generation, and the resurrection from the dead, shall neither marry nor
be given in marriage, neither can they die any more; for they are like
unto the angels, and are the sons of God, being sons of the
resurrection. But that the dead rise again, even Moses shewed at the
bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob; for he is not the God of the dead, but of the
living; for all live unto him_, Luke xx. 27-38, Matt. xxii. 22-32; Mark
xii. 18-27. By these words the Lord taught two things; first, that a man
(_homo_) rises again after death; and secondly, that in heaven they are
not given in marriage. That a man rises again after death, he taught by
these words, _God is not the God of the dead, but of the living_, and
when he said that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are alive: he taught the
same also in the parable concerning the rich man in hell, and Lazarus in
heaven, Luke xvi. 22-31. Secondly, that in heaven they are not given in
marriage, he taught by these words, "_Those who shall be accounted
worthy to attain to another generation, neither marry nor are given in
marriage_." That none other than spiritual nuptials are here meant, is
very evident from the words which immediately follow--"_neither can they
die any more; because they are like unto the angels, and are the sons of
God, being sons of the resurrection_." Spiritual nuptials mean
conjunction with the Lord, which is effected on earth; and when it is
effected on earth, it is also effected in the heavens; therefore in the
heavens there is no repetition of nuptials, nor are they again given in
marriage: this is also meant by these words, "_The sons of this
generation marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted
worthy to attain to another generation, neither marry nor are given in
marriage_". The latter are also called by the Lord "_sons of nuptials_"
Matt, ix. 15; Mark ii. 19; and in this place, _angels, sons of God, and
sons of the resurrection_. That to celebrate nuptials, signifies to be
joined with the Lord, and that to enter into nuptials is to be received
into heaven by the Lord, is manifest from the following passages: _The
kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, a king, who made a marriage
(nuptials) his son, and sent out servants and invited to the marriage_.
Matt. xxii. 2-14. _The kingdom of heaven is like unto ten virgins, who
went forth to meet the bridegroom: of whom five being prepared entered
into the marriage (nuptials)_, Matt. xxv. 1, and the following verses.
That the Lord here meant himself, is evident from verse 13, where it is
said, _Watch ye; because ye know not the day and hour in which the Son
of Man will come_: also from the Revelation, _The time of the marriage
of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready; blessed are
those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb_, xix. 7, 9.
That there is a spiritual meaning in everything which the Lord spake,
has been fully shewn in the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE
SACRED SCRIPTURE, published at Amsterdam in the year 1763.

       *       *       *       *       *

42. To the above I shall add two MEMORABLE RELATIONS RESPECTING THE
SPIRITUAL WORLD. The first is as follows: One morning I was looking
upwards into heaven and saw over me three expanses one above another; I
saw that the first expanse, which was nearest, opened, and presently the
second which was above it, and lastly the third which was highest; and
by virtue of illustration thence, I perceived, that above the first
expanse were the angels who compose the first or lowest heaven; above
the second expanse were the angels who compose the second or middle
heaven; and above the third expanse were the angels who compose the
third or highest heaven. I wondered at first what all this meant: and
presently I heard from heaven a voice as of a trumpet, saying, "We have
perceived, and now see, that you are meditating on CONJUGIAL LOVE; and
we are aware that no one on earth as yet knows what true conjugial love
is in its origin and in its essence; and yet it is of importance that it
should be known: therefore it has pleased the Lord to open the heavens
to you in order that illustrating light and consequent perception may
flow into the interiors of your mind. With us in the heavens, especially
in the third heaven, our heavenly delights are principally derived from
conjugial love; therefore, in consequence of leave granted us, we will
send down to you a conjugial pair for your inspection and observation;"
and lo! instantly there appeared a chariot descending from the highest
or third heaven, in which I saw one angel; but as it approached I saw
therein two. The chariot at a distance glittered before my eyes like a
diamond, and to it were harnessed young horses white as snow; and those
who sat in the chariot held in their hands two turtle-doves, and called
to me, saying, "Do you wish us to come nearer to you? but in this case
take heed, lest the radiance, which is from the heaven whence we have
descended, and is of a flaming quality, penetrate too interiorly; by its
influence the superior ideas of your understanding, which are in
themselves heavenly, may indeed be illustrated; but these ideas are
ineffable in the world in which you dwell: therefore what you are about
to hear, receive rationally, that you may explain it so that it may be
understood." I replied, "I will observe your caution; come nearer:" so
they came nearer; and lo! it was a husband and his wife; who said, "We
are a conjugial pair: we have lived happy in heaven from the earliest
period, which you call the golden age, and have continued during that
time in the same bloom of youth in which you now see us." I viewed each
of them attentively, because I perceived they represented conjugial love
in its life and in its decoration; in its life in their faces, and in
its decoration in their raiment; for all the angels are affections of
love in a human form. The ruling affection itself shines forth from
their faces; and from the affection, and according to it, the kind and
quality of their raiment is derived and determined: therefore it is said
in heaven, that every one is clothed by his own affection. The husband
appeared of a middle age, between manhood and youth: from his eyes
darted forth sparkling light derived from the wisdom of love; by virtue
of which light his face was radiant from its inmost ground; and in
consequence of such radiance the surface of his skin had a kind of
refulgence, whereby his whole face was one resplendent comeliness. He
was dressed in an upper robe which reached down to his feet and
underneath it was a vesture of hyacinthine blue, girded about with a
golden band, upon which were three precious stones, two sapphires on the
sides, and a carbuncle in the middle; his stockings were of bright
shining linen, with threads of silver interwoven, and his shoes were of
velvet: such was the representative form of conjugial love with the
husband. With the wife it was this; I saw her face, and I did not see
it; I saw it as essential beauty, and I did not see it because this
beauty was inexpressible; for in her face there was a splendor of
flaming light, such as the angels in the third heaven enjoy, and this
light made my sight dim; so that I was lost in astonishment: she
observing this addressed me, saying, "What do you see?" I replied, "I
see nothing but conjugial love and the form thereof; but I see, and I do
not see." Hereupon she turned herself sideways from her husband; and
then I was enabled to view her more attentively. Her eyes were bright
and sparkling from the light of her own heaven, which light, as was
said, is of a flaming quality, which it derives from the love of wisdom;
for in that heaven wives love their husbands from their wisdom, and in
it, and husbands love their wives from that love of wisdom and in it, as
directed towards themselves; and thus they are united. This was the
origin of her beauty; which was such that it would be impossible for any
painter to imitate and exhibit it in its form, for he has no colors
bright and vivid enough to express its lustre; nor is it in the power of
his art to depict such beauty: her hair was arranged in becoming order
so as to correspond with her beauty; and in it were inserted diadems of
flowers; she had a necklace of carbuncles, from which hung a rosary of
chrysolites; and she wore pearl bracelets: her upper robe was scarlet,
and underneath it she had a purple stomacher, fastened in front with
clasps of rubies; but what surprised me was, that the colors varied
according to her aspect in regard to her husband, being sometimes more
glittering, sometimes less; if she were looking towards him, more, if
sideways, less. When I had made these observations, they again talked
with me; and when the husband was speaking, he spoke at the same time as
from his wife; and when the wife was speaking, she spoke at the same
time as from her husband; such was the union of their minds from whence
speech flows; and on this occasion I also heard the tone of voice of
conjugial love; inwardly it was simultaneous, and it proceeded from the
delights of a state of peace and innocence. At length they said, "We are
recalled; we must depart;" and instantly they again appeared to be
conveyed in a chariot as before. They went by a paved way through
flowering shrubberies, from the beds of which arose olive and
orange-trees laden with fruit: and when they approached their own
heaven, they were met by several virgins, who welcomed and introduced
them.

43. After this I saw an angel from that heaven holding in his hand a
roll of parchment, which he unfolded, saying, "I see that you are
meditating on conjugial love; in this parchment are contained arcana of
wisdom respecting that love, which have never yet been disclosed in the
world. They are now to be disclosed, because it is of importance that
they should be: those arcana abound more in our heaven than in the rest,
because we are in the marriage of love and wisdom; but I prophesy that
none will appropriate to themselves that love, but those who are
received by the Lord into the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem."
Having said this, the angel let down the unfolded parchment, which a
certain angelic spirit received from him, and laid on a table in a
certain closet, which he instantly locked, and holding out the key to
me, said, "Write."

44. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. I once saw three spirits recently
deceased, who were wandering about in the world of spirits, examining
whatever came in their way, and inquiring concerning it. They were all
amazement to find that men lived altogether as before, and that the
objects they saw were similar to those they had seen before: for they
knew that they were departed out of the former or natural world, and
that in that world they believed that they should not live as men until
after the day of the last judgement, when they should be again clothed
with the flesh and bones that had been laid in the tomb; therefore, in
order to remove all doubt of their being really and truly men, they by
turns viewed and touched themselves and others, and felt the surrounding
objects and by a thousand proofs convinced themselves that they now were
men as in the former world; besides which they saw each other in a
brighter light, and the surrounding objects in superior splendor, and
thus their vision was more perfect. At that instant two angelic spirits
happening to meet them, accosted them, saying, "Whence are you?" They
replied, "We have departed out of a world, and again we live in a world;
thus we have removed from one world to another; and this surprises us."
Hereupon the three novitiate spirits questioned the two angelic spirits
concerning heaven; and as two of the three novitiates were youths, and
there darted from their eyes as it were a sparkling fire of lust for the
sex, the angelic spirit said, "Possibly you have seen some females;" and
they replied in the affirmative; and as they made inquiry respecting
heaven, the angelic spirits gave them the following information: "In
heaven there is every variety of magnificent and splendid objects, and
such things as the eye had never seen; there are also virgins and young
men; virgins of such beauty that they may be called personifications of
beauty, and young men of such morality that they may be called
personifications of morality; moreover the beauty of the virgins and the
morality of the young men correspond to each other, as forms mutually
suited to each other." Hereupon the two novitiates asked, "Are there in
heaven human forms altogether similar to those in the natural world?"
And it was replied, "They are altogether similar; nothing is wanting in
the male, and nothing in the female; in a word, the male is a male, and
the female a female, in all the perfection of form in which they were
created: retire, if you please, and examine if you are deficient in
anything, and whether you are not a complete man as before." Again, the
novitiates said, "We have been told in the world we have left, that in
heaven they are not given in marriage, because they are angels:--is
there then the love of the sex there?" And the angelic spirits replied,
"In heaven _your_ love of the sex does not exist; but we have the
angelic love of the sex, which is chaste, and devoid all libidinous
allurement." Hereupon the novitiates observed, "If there be a love of
the sex devoid of all allurement, what in such cases is the love of the
sex?" And while they were thinking about this love they sighed, and
said, "Oh, how dry and insipid is the joy of heaven! What young man, if
this be the case, can possibly wish for heaven? Is not such love barren
and devoid of life?" To this the angelic spirits replied, with a smile,
"The angelic love of the sex, such as exists in heaven, is nevertheless
full of the inmost delights: it is the most agreeable expansion of all
the principles of the mind, and thence of all the parts of the breast,
existing inwardly in the breast, and sporting therein as the heart
sports with the lungs, giving birth thereby to respiration, tone of
voice, and speech; so that the intercourse between the sexes, or between
youths and virgins, is an intercourse of essential celestial sweets,
which are pure. All novitiates, on ascending into heaven, are examined
as to the quality of their chastity, being let into the company of
virgins, the beauties of heaven, who from their tone of voice, their
speech, their face, their eyes, their gesture, and their exhaling
sphere, perceive what is their quality in regard to the love of the sex;
and if their love be unchaste, they instantly quit them, and tell their
fellow angels that they have seen satyrs or priapuses. The new comers
also undergo a change, and in the eyes of the angels appear rough and
hairy, and with feet like calves' or leopards', and presently they are
cast down again, lest by their lust they should defile the heavenly
atmosphere." On receiving this information, the two novitiates again
said, "According to this, there is no love of the sex in heaven; for
what is a chaste love of the sex, but a love deprived of the essence of
its life? And must not all the intercourse of youths and virgins, in
such case, consist of dry insipid joys? We are not stocks and stones,
but perceptions and affections of life." To this the angelic spirits
indignantly replied, "You are altogether ignorant what a chaste love of
the sex is; because as yet you are not chaste. This love is the very
essential delight of the mind, and thence of the heart; and not at the
same time of the flesh beneath the heart. Angelic chastity, which is
common to each sex, prevents the passage of that love beyond the
enclosure of the heart; but within that and above it, the morality of a
youth is delighted with the beauty of a virgin in the delights of the
chaste love of the sex: which delights are of too interior a nature, and
too abundantly pleasant, to admit of any description in words. The
angels have this love of the sex, because they have conjugial love only;
which love cannot exist together with the unchaste love of the sex. Love
truly conjugial is chaste, and has nothing in common with unchaste love,
being confined to one of the sex, and separate from all others; for it
is a love of the spirit and thence of the body, and not a love of the
body and thence of the spirit; that is, it is not a love infesting the
spirit." On hearing this, the two young novitiates rejoiced, and said,
"There still exists in heaven a love of the sex; what else is conjugial
love?" But the angelic spirits replied, "Think more profoundly, weigh
the matter well in your minds, and you will perceive, that your love of
the sex is a love extra-conjugial, and quite different from conjugial
love; the latter being as distinct from the former, as wheat is from
chaff, or rather as the human principle is from the bestial. If you
should ask the females in heaven, 'What is love extra-conjugial?' I take
upon me to say, their reply will be, 'What do you mean? What do you say?
How can you utter a question which so wounds our ears? How can a love
that is not created be implanted in any one?' If you should then ask
them, 'What is love truly conjugial?' I know they will reply, 'It is not
the love of the sex, but the love of one of the sex; and it has no other
ground of existence than this, that when a youth sees a virgin provided
by the Lord, and a virgin sees a youth, they are each made sensible of a
conjugial principle kindling in their hearts, and perceive that each is
the other's, he hers, and she his; for love meets love and causes them
to know each other, and instantly conjoins their souls, and afterwards
their minds, and thence enters their bosoms, and after the nuptials
penetrates further, and thus becomes love in its fulness, which grows
every day into conjunction, till they are no longer two, but as it were
one.' I know also that they will be ready to affirm in the most solemn
manner, that they are not acquainted with any other love of the sex; for
they say, 'How can there be a love of the sex, unless it be tending
mutually to meet, and reciprocal, so as to seek an eternal union, which
consists in two becoming one flesh?'" To this the angelic spirits added,
"In heaven they are in total ignorance what whoredom is; nor do they
know that it exists, or that its existence is even possible. The angels
feel a chill all over the body at the idea of unchaste or
extra-conjugial love; and on the other hand, they feel a genial warmth
throughout the body arising from chaste or conjugial love. With the
males, all the nerves lose their proper tension at the sight of a
harlot, and recover it again at the sight of a wife." The three
novitiates, on hearing this, asked, "Does a similar love exist between
married partners in the heavens as in the earths?" The two angelic
spirits replied, that it was altogether similar; and as they perceived
in the novitiates an inclination to know, whether in heaven there were
similar ultimate delights, they said, that they were exactly similar,
but much more blessed, because angelic perception and sensation is much
more exquisite than human: "and what," added they, "is the life of that
love unless derived from a flow of vigor? When this vigor fails, must
not the love itself also fail and grow cold? Is not this vigor the very
measure, degree, and basis of that love? Is it not its beginning, its
support, and its fulfilment? It is a universal law, that things primary
exist, subsist, and persist from things ultimate: this is true also of
that love; therefore unless there were ultimate delights, there would be
no delights of conjugial love." The novitiates then asked, whether from
the ultimate delights of that love in heaven any offspring were
produced; and if not, to what use did those delights serve? The angelic
spirit answered, that natural offspring were not produced, but spiritual
offspring: and the novitiates said, "What are spiritual offspring?" They
replied, "Two conjugial partners by ultimate delights are more and more
united in the marriage of good and truth, which is the marriage of love
and wisdom; and love and wisdom are the offspring produced therefrom: in
heaven the husband is wisdom, and the wife is the love thereof, and both
are spiritual; therefore, no other than spiritual offspring can be there
conceived and born: hence it is that the angels, after such delights, do
not experience sadness, as some do on earth, but are cheerful; and this
in consequence of a continual influx of fresh powers succeeding the
former, which serve for their renovation, and at the same time
illustration: for all who come into heaven, return into their vernal
youth, and into the vigor of that age, and thus continue to eternity."
The three novitiates, on hearing this, said, "Is it not written in the
Word, that in heaven they are not given in marriage, because they are
angels?" To which the angelic spirits replied, "Look up into heaven and
you will receive an answer:" and they asked, "Why are we to look up into
heaven?" They said, "Because thence we receive all interpretations of
the Word. The Word is altogether spiritual and the angels being
spiritual, will teach the spiritual understanding of it." They did not
wait long before heaven was opened over their heads, and two angels
appeared in view, and said, "There are nuptials in the heavens, as on
earth; but only with those in the heavens who are in the marriage of
good and truth; nor are any other angels: therefore it is spiritual
nuptials, which relate to the marriage of good and truth, that are there
understood. These (viz. spiritual nuptials) take place on earth, but not
after departure thence, thus not in the heavens; as it is said of the
live foolish virgins, who were also invited to the nuptials, that they
could not enter, because they were not in the marriage of good and
truth; for they had no oil, but only lamps. Oil signifies good, and
lamps truth; and to be given in marriage denotes to enter heaven, where
the marriage of good and truth takes place." The three novitiates were
made glad by this intelligence; and being filled with a desire of
heaven, and with the hope of heavenly nuptials, they said, "We will
apply ourselves with all diligence to the practice of morality and a
becoming conduct of life, that we may enjoy our wishes."

       *       *       *       *       *

ON THE STATE OF MARRIED PARTNERS AFTER DEATH.

45. That there are marriages in the heavens, has been shewn just above;
it remains now to be considered, whether the marriage-covenant ratified
in the world will remain and be in force after death, or not. As this is
a question not of judgement but of experience, and as experience herein
has been granted me by consociation with angels and spirits, I will here
adduce it; but yet so that reason may assent thereto. To have this
question determined, is also an object of the wishes and desires of all
married persons; for husbands who have loved their wives, in case they
die, are desirous to know whether it be well with them, and whether they
shall ever meet again; and the same is true of wives in regard to their
husbands. Many married pairs also wish to know beforehand whether they
are to be separated after death, or to live together: those who have
disagreed in their tempers, wish to know whether they are to be
separated; and those who have agreed, whether they are to live together.
Information on this subject then being much wished for, we will now
proceed to give it in the following order: I. _The love of the sex
remains with every man (homo) after death, according to its interior
quality; that is, such as it had been in his interior will and thought
in the world._ II. _The same is true of conjugial love._ III. _Married
partners most commonly meet after death, know each other, again
associate and for a time live together: this is the case in the first
state, thus while they are in externals as in the world._ IV. _But
successively, as they put off their externals, and enter into their
internals, they perceive what had been the quality of their love and
inclination for each other, and consequently whether they can live
together or not._ V. _If they can live together, they remain married
partners; but if they cannot they separate; sometimes the husband from
the wife, sometimes the wife from the husband, and sometimes each from
the other._ VI. _In this case there is given to the man a suitable wife,
and to the woman a suitable husband._ VII. _Married partners enjoy
similar communications with each other as in the world, but more
delightful and blessed, yet without prolification; in the place of which
they experience spiritual prolification, which is that of love and
wisdom._ VIII. _This is the case with those who go to heaven; but it is
otherwise with those who go to hell._ We now proceed to an explanation
of these propositions, by which they may be illustrated and confirmed.

46. I. THE LOVE OF THE SEX REMAINS WITH EVERY MAN AFTER DEATH, ACCORDING
TO ITS INTERIOR QUALITY; THAT IS, SUCH AS IT HAD BEEN IN HIS INTERIOR
WILL AND THEREBY IN THE WOMAN. Every love follows a man after death,
because it is the _esse_ of his life; and the ruling love, which is the
head of the rest, remains with him to eternity, and together with it the
subordinate loves. The reason why they remain, is, because love properly
appertains to the spirit of man, and to the body by derivation from the
spirit; and a man after death becomes a spirit and thereby carries his
love along with him; as love is the _esse_ of a man's life, it is
evident, that such as a man's life has been in the world, such is his
lot after death. The love of the sex is the most universal of all loves,
being implanted from creation in the very soul of man, from which the
essence of the whole man is derived, and this for the sake of the
propagation of the human race. The reason why this love chiefly remains
is, because after death a male is a male, and a female a female, and
because there is nothing in the soul, the mind, and the body, which is
not male (or masculine) in the male, and female (or feminine) in the
female; and these two (the male and female) are so created, that they
have a continual tendency to conjunction, yea, to such a conjunction as
to become a one. This tendency is the love of the sex, which precedes
conjugial love. Now, since a conjunctive inclination is inscribed on
every part and principle of the male and of the female, it follows, that
this inclination cannot be destroyed and die with the body.

47. The reason why the love of the sex remains such as it was interiorly
in the world, is, because every man has an internal and an external,
which are also called the internal and external man; and hence there is
an internal and an external will and thought. A man when he dies, quits
his external, and retains his internal; for externals properly belong to
his body, and internals to his spirit. Now since every man is his own
love, and love resides in the spirit, it follows, that the love of the
sex remains with him after death, such as it was interiorly with him; as
for example, if the love interiorly had been conjugial and chaste, it
remains such after death; but if it had been interiorly adulterous
(anti-conjugial), it remains such also after death. It is however to be
observed that the love of the sex is not the same with one person as
with another; its differences are infinite: nevertheless, such as it is
in any one's spirit, such it remains.

48. II. CONJUGIAL LOVE IN LIKE MANNER REMAINS SUCH AS IT HAD BEEN
INTERIORLY; THAT IS, SUCH AS IT HAD BEEN IN THE MAN'S INTERIOR WILL AND
THOUGHT IN THE WORLD. As the love of the sex is one thing, and conjugial
love another, therefore mention is made of each; and it is said, that
the latter also remains after death such as it has been internally with
a man, during his abode in the world: but as few know the distinction
between the love of the sex and conjugial love, therefore, before we
proceed further in the subject of this treatise, it may be expedient
briefly to point it out. The love of the sex is directed to several, and
contracted with several of the sex; but conjugial love is directed to
only one, and contracted with one of the sex; moreover, love directed to
and contracted with several is a natural love; for it is common to man
with beasts and birds, which are natural: but conjugial love is a
spiritual love, and peculiar and proper to men; because men were
created, and are therefore born to become spiritual; therefore, so far
as a man becomes spiritual, so far he puts off the love of the sex, and
puts on conjugial love. In the beginning of marriage the love of the sex
appears as if conjoined with conjugial love; but in the progress of
marriage they are separated; and in this case, with such as are
spiritual, the love of the sex is removed, and conjugial love is
imparted; but with such as are natural, the contrary happens. From these
observations it is evident, that the love of the sex, being directed to
and contracted with several and being in itself natural, yea, animal, is
impure and unchaste, and being vague and indeterminate in its object, is
adulterous; but the case is altogether different with conjugial love.
That conjugial love is spiritual, and truly human, will manifestly
appear from what follows.

[Transcriber's Note: The out-of-order section numbers which follow are
in the original text, as are the asterisks which do not seem to indicate
footnotes. There are several cases of this in the text, apparently
indicating insertions by the author.]

47.* III. MARRIED PARTNERS MOST COMMONLY MEET AFTER DEATH, KNOW EACH
OTHER, AGAIN ASSOCIATE, AND FOR A TIME LIVE TOGETHER: THIS IS THE CASE
IN THE FIRST STATE, THUS WHILE THEY ARE IN EXTERNALS AS IN THE WORLD.
There are two states in which a man (_homo_) enters after death, an
external and an internal state. He comes first into his external state,
and afterwards into his internal; and during the external state, married
partners meet each other, (supposing they are both deceased,) know each
other, and if they have lived together in the world, associate again,
and for some time live together; and while they are in this state they
do not know the inclination of each to the other, this being concealed
in the internals of each; but afterwards, when they come into their
internal state, the inclination manifests itself; and if it be in mutual
agreement and sympathy, they continue to live together a conjugial life;
but if it be in disagreement and antipathy, their marriage is dissolved.
In case a man had had several wives, he successively joins himself with
them, while he is in his external state; but when he enters into his
internal state, in which lie perceives the inclinations of his love, and
of what quality they are, he then either adopts one or leaves them all;
for in the spiritual world, as well as in the natural, it is not
allowable for any Christian to have more than one wife, as it infests
and profanes religion. The case is the same with a woman that had had
several husbands: nevertheless the women in this case do not join
themselves to their husbands; they only present themselves, and the
husbands join them to themselves. It is to be observed that husbands
rarely know their wives, but that wives well know their husbands, women
having an interior perception of love, and men only an exterior.

48.* IV. BUT SUCCESSIVELY, AS THEY PUT OFF THEIR EXTERNALS AND ENTER
INTO THEIR INTERNALS, THEY PERCEIVE WHAT HAD BEEN THE QUALITY OF THEIR
LOVE AND INCLINATION FOR EACH OTHER, AND CONSEQUENTLY WHETHER THEY CAN
LIVE TOGETHER OR NOT. There is no occasion to explain this further, as
it follows from what is shewn in the previous section; suffice it here
to shew how a man (_homo_) after death puts off his externals and puts
on his internals. Every one after death is first introduced into the
world which is called the world of spirits, and which is intermediate
between heaven and hell; and in that world he is prepared, for heaven if
he is good, and for hell if he is evil. The end or design of this
preparation is, that the internal and external may agree together and
make a one, and not disagree and make two: in the natural world they
frequently make two, and only make a one with those who are sincere in
heart. That they make two is evident from the deceitful and the cunning;
especially from hypocrites, flatterers, dissemblers, and liars: but in
the spiritual world it is not allowable thus to have a divided mind; for
whoever has been internally wicked must also be externally wicked; in
like manner, whoever has been good, must be good in each principle: for
every man after death becomes of such a quality as he had been
interiorly, and not such as he had been exteriorly. For this end, after
his decease, he is let alternately into his external and his internal;
and every one, while he is in his external, is wise, that is, he wishes
to appear wise, even though he be wicked; but a wicked person internally
is insane. By those changes he is enabled to see his follies, and to
repent of them: but if he had not repented in the world, he cannot
afterwards; for he loves his follies, and wishes to remain in them:
therefore he forces his external also to be equally insane: thus his
internal and his external become a one; and when this is effected, he is
prepared for hell. But it is otherwise with a good spirit: such a one,
as in the world he had looked unto God and had repented, was more wise
in his internal than in his external: in his external also, through the
allurements and vanities of the world, he was sometimes led astray;
therefore his external is likewise reduced to agreement with his
internal, which, as was said, is wise; and when this is effected he is
prepared for heaven. From these considerations it may plainly appear,
how the case is in regard to putting off the external and putting on the
internal after death.

49. V. IF THEY CAN LIVE TOGETHER, THEY REMAIN MARRIED PARTNERS; BUT IF
THEY CANNOT, THEY SEPARATE; SOMETIMES THE HUSBAND FROM THE WIFE,
SOMETIMES THE WIFE FROM THE HUSBAND, AND SOMETIMES EACH FROM THE OTHER.
The reason why separations take place after death is, because the
conjunctions which are made on earth are seldom made from any internal
perception of love, but from an external perception, which hides the
internal. The external perception of love originates in such things as
regard the love of the world and of the body. Wealth and large
possessions are peculiarly the objects of worldly love, while dignities
and honors are those of the love of the body: besides these objects,
there are also various enticing allurements, such as beauty and an
external polish of manners, and sometimes even an unchasteness of
character. Moreover, matrimonial engagements are frequently contracted
within the particular district, city, or village, in which the parties
were born, and where they live; in which case the choice is confined and
limited to families that are known, and to such as are in similar
circumstances in life: hence matrimonial connections made in the world
are for the most part external, and not at the same time internal; when
yet it is the internal conjunction, or the conjunction of souls, which
constitutes a real marriage; and this conjunction is not perceivable
until the man puts off the external and puts on the internal; as is the
case after death. This then is the reason why separations take place,
and afterwards new conjunctions are formed with such as are of a similar
nature and disposition; unless these conjunctions have been provided on
earth, as happens with those who from an early age have loved, have
desired, and have asked of the Lord an honorable and lovely connection
with one of the sex, shunning and abominating the impulses of a loose
and wandering lust.

50. VI. IN THIS CASE THERE IS GIVEN TO THE MAN A SUITABLE WIFE, AND TO
THE WOMAN A SUITABLE HUSBAND. The reason of this is, because no married
partners can be received into heaven, so as to remain there, but such as
have been interiorly united, or as are capable of being so united; for
in heaven two married partners are not called two, but one angel; this
is understood by the Lord's words "_They are no longer two, but one
flesh_." The reason why no other married partners are there received is,
because in heaven no others can live together in one house, and in one
chamber and bed; for all in the heavens are associated according to the
affinities and relationships of love, and have their habitations
accordingly. In the spiritual world there are not spaces, but the
appearance of spaces; and these appearances are according to the states
of life of the inhabitants, which are according to their states of love;
therefore in that world no one can dwell but in his own house, which is
provided for him and assigned to him according to the quality of his
love: if he dwells in any other, he is straitened and pained in his
breast and breathing; and it is impossible for two to dwell together in
the same house unless they are likenesses; neither can married partners
so dwell together, unless they are mutual inclinations; if they are
external inclinations, and not at the same time internal, the very house
or place itself separates, and rejects and expels them. This is the
reason why for those who after preparation are introduced into heaven,
there is provided a marriage with a consort whose soul inclines to
mutual union with the soul of another, so that they no longer wish to be
two lives, but one. This is the reason why after separation there is
given to the man a suitable wife and to the woman in like manner a
suitable husband.

51. VII. MARRIED PAIRS ENJOY SIMILAR COMMUNICATIONS WITH EACH OTHER AS
IN THE WORLD, BUT MORE DELIGHTFUL AND BLESSED, YET WITHOUT
PROLIFICATION; IN THE PLACE OF WHICH THEY EXPERIENCE SPIRITUAL
PROLIFICATION, WHICH IS THAT OF LOVE AND WISDOM. The reason why married
pairs enjoy similar communications as in the world, is, because after
death a male is a male, and a female a female, and there is implanted in
each at creation an inclination to conjunction; and this inclination
with man is the inclination of his spirit and thence of his body;
therefore after death, when a man becomes a spirit, the same mutual
inclination remains, and this cannot exist without similar
communications; for after death a man is a man as before; neither is
there any thing wanting either in the male or in the female: as to form
they are like themselves, and also as to affections and thoughts; and
what must be the necessary consequence, but that they must enjoy like
communications? And as conjugial love is chaste, pure, and holy,
therefore their communications are ample and complete; but on this
subject see what was said in the MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 44. The reason
why such communications are more delightful and blessed than in the
world, is, because conjugial love, as it is the love of the spirit,
becomes interior and purer, and thereby more perceivable; and every
delight increases according to perception, and to such a degree that its
blessedness is discernible in its delight.

52. The reason why marriages in the heavens are without prolification,
and that in place thereof there is experienced spiritual prolification,
which is that of love and wisdom, is, because with the inhabitants of
the spiritual world, the third principle--the natural, is wanting; and
it is this which contains the spiritual principles; and these without
that which contains them have no consistence, like the productions of
the natural world: moreover spiritual principles, considered in
themselves, have relation to love and wisdom; therefore love and wisdom
are the births produced from marriages in the heavens. These are called
births, because conjugial love perfects an angel, uniting him with his
consort, in consequence whereof he becomes more and more a man (_homo_)
for, as was said above, two married partners in heaven are not two but
one angel; wherefore by conjugial unition they fill themselves with the
human principle, which consists in desiring to grow wise, and in loving
whatever relates to wisdom.

53. VIII. THIS IS THE CASE WITH THOSE WHO GO TO HEAVEN; BUT IT IS
OTHERWISE WITH THOSE WHO GO TO HELL. That after death a suitable wife is
given to a husband, and a suitable husband to a wife, and that they
enjoy delightful and blessed communications, but without prolification,
except of a spiritual kind, is to be understood of those who are
received into heaven and become angels; because such are spiritual, and
marriages in themselves are spiritual and thence holy: but with respect
to those who go to hell, they are all natural; and marriages merely
natural are not marriages, but conjunctions which originate in unchaste
lust. The nature and quality of such conjunctions will be shewn in the
following pages, when we come to treat of the chaste and the unchaste
principles, and further when we come to treat of adulterous love.

54. To what has been above related concerning the state of married
partners after death, it may be expedient to add the following
circumstances. I. That all those married partners who are merely
natural, are separated after death; because with them the love of
marriage grows cold, and the love of adultery grows warm: nevertheless
after separation, they sometimes associate as married partners with
others; but after a short time they withdraw from each other: and this
in many cases is done repeatedly; till at length the man is made over to
some harlot, and the woman to some adulterer; which is effected in an
infernal prison: concerning which prison, see the APOCALYPSE REVEALED,
n. 153, § x., where promiscuous whoredom is forbidden each party under
certain pains and penalties. II. Married partners, of whom one is
spiritual and the other natural, are also separated after death; and to
the spiritual is given a suitable married partner: whereas the natural
one is sent to the resorts of the lascivious among his like. III. But
those, who in the world have lived a single life, and have altogether
alienated their minds from marriage, in case they be spiritual, remain
single; but if natural, they become whoremongers. It is otherwise with
those, who in their single state have desired marriage, and especially
if they have solicited it without success; for such, if they are
spiritual, blessed marriages are provided, but not until they come into
heaven. IV. Those who in the world have been shut up in monasteries,
both men and women, at the conclusion of the monastic life, which
continues some time after death, are let loose and discharged, and enjoy
the free indulgence of their desires, whether they are disposed to live
in a married state or not: if they are disposed to live in a married
state, this is granted them; but if otherwise, they are conveyed to
those who live in celibacy on the side of heaven; such, however, as have
indulged the fires of prohibited lust, are cast down. V. The reason why
those who live in celibacy are on the side of heaven, is, because the
sphere of perpetual celibacy infests the sphere of conjugial love, which
is the very essential sphere of heaven; and the reason why the sphere of
conjugial love is the very essential sphere of heaven, is, because it
descends from the heavenly marriage of the Lord and the church.

       *        *        *        *        *

55. To the above, I shall add two MEMORABLE RELATIONS: the FIRST is
this. On a certain time I heard from heaven the sweetest melody, arising
from a song that was sung by wives and virgins in heaven. The sweetness
of their singing was like the affection of some kind of love flowing
forth harmoniously. Heavenly songs are in reality sonorous affections,
or affections expressed and modified by sounds; for as the thoughts are
expressed by speech, so the affections are expressed by songs; and from
the measure and flow of the modulation, the angels perceive the object
of the affection. On this occasion there were many spirits about me; and
some of them informed me that they heard this delightful melody, and
that it was the melody of some lovely affection, the object of which
they did not know: they therefore made various conjectures about it, but
in vain. Some conjectured that the singing expressed the affection of a
bridegroom and bride when they sign the marriage-articles; some that it
expressed the affection of a bridegroom and a bride at the solemnizing
of the nuptials; and some that it expressed the primitive love of a
husband and a wife. But at that instant there appeared in the midst of
them an angel from heaven, who said, that they were singing the chaste
love of the sex. Hereupon some of the bystanders asked, "What is the
chaste love of the sex?" And the angel answered, "It is the love which a
man bears towards a beautiful and elegant virgin or wife, free from
every lascivious idea, and the same love experienced by a virgin or a
wife towards a man." As he said this, he disappeared. The singing
continued; and as the bystanders then knew the subject of the affection
which it expressed, they heard it very variously, every one according to
the state of his love. Those who looked upon women chastely, heard it as
a song of symphony and sweetness; those who looked upon them unchastely,
heard it as a discordant and mournful song; and those who looked upon
them disdainfully, heard it as a song that was harsh and grating. At
that instant the place on which they stood was suddenly changed into a
theatre, and a voice was heard, saying, "INVESTIGATE THIS LOVE:" and
immediately spirits from various societies presented themselves, and in
the midst of them some angels in white. The latter then said, "We in
this spiritual world have inquired into every species of love, not only
into the love which a man has for a man, and a woman for a woman; and
into the reciprocal love of a husband and a wife; but also into the love
which a man has for woman, and which a woman has for men; and we have
been permitted to pass through societies and examine them, and we have
never yet found the common love of the sex chaste, except with those who
from true conjugial love are in continual potency, and these are in the
highest heavens. We have also been permitted to perceive the influx of
this love into the affections of our hearts, and have been made sensible
that it surpasses in sweetness every other love, except the love of two
conjugial partners whose hearts are as one: but we have besought you to
investigate this love, because it is new and unknown to you; and since
it is essential pleasantness, we in heaven call it heavenly sweetness."
They then began the investigation; and those spoke first who were unable
to think chastely of marriages. They said, "What man when he beholds a
beautiful and lovely virgin or wife, can so correct or purify the ideas
of his thought from concupiscence, as to love the beauty and yet have no
inclination to taste it, if it be allowable? Who can convert
concupiscence, which is innate in every man, into such chastity, thus
into somewhat not itself, and yet love? Can the love of the sex, when it
enters by the eyes into the thoughts, stop at the face of a woman? Does
it not descend instantly into the breast, and beyond it? The angels talk
idly in saying that this love is chaste, and yet is the sweetest of all
loves, and that it can only exist with husbands who are in true
conjugial love, and thence in an extreme degree of potency with their
wives. Do such husbands possess any peculiar power more than other men,
when they see a beautiful woman, of keeping the ideas of their thought
in a state of elevation, and as it were of suspending them, so that they
cannot descend and proceed to what constitutes that love?" The argument
was next taken up by those who were in cold and in heat; in cold towards
their wives, and in heat towards the sex; and they said, "What is the
chaste love of the sex? Is it not a contradiction in terms to talk of
such a love? If chastity be predicated of the love of the sex, is not
this destroying the very thing of which it is predicated? How can the
chaste love of the sex be the sweetest of all loves, when chastity
deprives it of its sweetness? You all know where the sweetness of that
love resides; when therefore the idea connected therewith is banished
from the mind, where and whence is the sweetness?" At that instant
certain spirits interrupted them, and said, "We have been in company
with the most beautiful females and have had no lust; therefore we know
what the chaste love of the sex is." But their companions, who were
acquainted with their lasciviousness, replied, "You were at those times
in a state of loathing towards the sex, arising from impotence; and this
is not the chaste love of the sex, but the ultimate of unchaste love."
On hearing what had been said, the angels were indignant and requested
those who stood on the right, or to the south, to deliver their
sentiments. They said, "There is a love of one man to another, and also
of one woman to another; and there is a love of a man to a woman, and of
a woman to a man; and these three pairs of loves totally differ from
each other. The love of one man to another is as the love of
understanding and understanding; for the man was created and
consequently born to become understanding; the love of one woman to
another is as the love of affection and affection of the understanding
of men; for the woman was created and born to become a love of the
understanding of a man. These loves, viz., of one man to another, and of
one woman to another, do not enter deeply into the bosom, but remain
without, and only touch each other; thus they do not interiorly conjoin
the two parties: wherefore also two men, by their mutual reasonings,
sometimes engage in combat together like two wrestlers; and two women,
by their mutual concupiscences, are at war with each other like two
prize-fighters. But the love of a man and a woman is the love of the
understanding and of its affection; and this love enters deeply and
effects conjunction, which is that love; but the conjunction of minds,
and not at the same time of bodies, or the endeavour towards that
conjunction alone, is spiritual love, and consequently chaste love; and
this love exists only with those who are in true conjugial love, and
thence in an eminent degree of potency; because such, from their
chastity, do not admit an influx of love from the body of any other
woman than of their own wives; and as they are in an extreme degree of
potency, they cannot do otherwise than love the sex, and at the same
time hold in aversion whatever is unchaste. Hence they are principled in
a chaste love of the sex, which, considered in itself, is interior
spiritual friendship, deriving its sweetness from an eminent degree of
potency, but still being chaste. This eminent degree of potency they
possess in consequence of a total renunciation of whoredom; and as each
loves his own wife alone, the potency is chaste. Now, since this love
with such partakes not of the flesh, but only of the spirit, therefore
it is chaste; and as the beauty of the woman, from innate inclination,
enters at the same time into the mind, therefore the love is sweet." On
hearing this, many of the bystanders put their hands to their ears,
saying, "What has been said offends our ears; and what you have spoken
is of no account with us." These spirits were unchaste. Then again was
heard the singing from heaven, and sweeter now than before; but to the
unchaste it was so grating and discordant that they hurried out of the
theatre and fled, leaving behind them only the few who from wisdom loved
conjugial chastity.

56. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. As I was conversing with angels some
time ago in the spiritual world, I was inspired with a desire, attended
with a pleasing satisfaction, to see the TEMPLE OF WISDOM, which I had
seen once before; and accordingly I asked them the way to it. They said,
"Follow the light and you will find it." I said, "What do you mean by
following the light?" They replied, "Our light grows brighter and
brighter as we approach that temple; wherefore, follow the light
according to the increase of its brightness; for our light proceeds from
the Lord as a sun, and thence considered in itself is wisdom." I
immediately directed my course, in company with two angels, according to
the increase of the brightness of the light, and ascending by a steep
path to the summit of a hill in the southern quarter. There we found a
magnificent gate, which the keeper, on seeing the angels with me,
opened; and lo! we saw an avenue of palm-trees and laurels, according to
which we directed our course. It was a winding avenue, and terminated in
a garden, in the middle of which was the TEMPLE OF WISDOM. On arriving
there, and looking about me, I saw several small sacred buildings,
resembling the temple, inhabited by the WISE. We went towards one of
them, and coming to the door accosted the person who dwelt there, and
told him the occasion and manner of our coming. He said, "You are
welcome; enter and be seated, and we will improve our acquaintance by
discourses respecting wisdom." I viewed the building within, and
observed that it was divided into two, and still was but one; it was
divided into two by a transparent wall; but it appeared as one from its
translucence, which was like that of the purest crystal. I inquired the
reason of this? He said, "I am not alone; my wife is with me, and we are
two; yet still we are not two, but one flesh." But I replied, "I know
that you are a wise one; and what has a wise one or a wisdom to do with
a woman?" Hereupon our host, becoming somewhat indignant, changed
countenance, and beckoned his hand, and lo! instantly other wise ones
presented themselves from the neighboring buildings, to whom he said
humorously, "Our stranger here asks, 'What has a wise one or a wisdom to
do with a woman?'" At this they smiled and said, "What is a wise one or
a wisdom without a woman, or without love, a wife being the love of a
wise man's wisdom?" Our host then said, "Let us now endeavor to improve
our acquaintance by some discourse respecting wisdom; and let it be
concerning causes, and at present concerning the cause of beauty in the
female sex." Then they spoke in order; and the first assigned as a
cause, that women were created by the Lord's affections of the wisdom of
men, and the affection of wisdom is essential beauty. A second said,
that the woman was created by the Lord through the wisdom of the man,
because from the man; and that hence she is a form of wisdom inspired
with love-affection; and since love-affection is essential life, a
female is the life of wisdom, whereas a male is wisdom; and the life of
wisdom is essential beauty. A third said, that women have a perception
of the delights of conjugial love; and as their whole body is an organ
of that perception, it must needs be that the habitation of the delights
of conjugial love, with its perception, be beauty. A fourth assigned
this cause; that the Lord took away from the man beauty and elegance of
life, and transferred it to the woman; and that hence the man, unless he
be re-united with his beauty and elegance in the woman, is stern,
austere, joyless, and unlovely; so one man is wise only for himself, and
another is foolish; whereas, when a man is united with his beauty and
elegance of life in a wife, he becomes engaging, pleasant, active, and
lovely, and thereby wise. A fifth said, that women were created
beauties, not for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of the men;
that men, who of themselves are hard, might be made soft; that their
minds, of themselves grave and severe, might become gentle and cheerful;
and that their hearts, of themselves cold, might be made warm; which
effects take place when they become one flesh with their wives. A sixth
assigned as a cause, that the universe was created by the Lord a most
perfect work; but that nothing was created in it more perfect than a
beautiful and elegant woman, in order that man may give thanks to the
Lord for his bounty herein, and may repay it by the reception of wisdom
from him. These and many other similar observations having been made,
the wife of our host appeared beyond the crystal wall, and said to her
husband, "Speak if you please;" and then when he spoke, the life of
wisdom from the wife was perceived in his discourse; for in the tone of
his speech was her love: thus experience testified to the truth. After
this we took a view of the temple of wisdom, and also of the
paradisiacal scenes which encompassed it, and being thereby filled with
joy, we departed, and passed through the avenue to the gate, and
descended by the way we had ascended.

       *       *       *       *       *

ON LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL.

57. There are infinite varieties of conjugial love, it being in no two
persons exactly similar. It appears indeed as if it were similar with
many; but this appearance arises from corporeal judgement, which, being
gross and dull, is little qualified to discern aright respecting it. By
corporeal judgement we mean the judgement of the mind from the evidence
of the external senses; but to those whose eyes are opened to see from
the judgment of the spirit, the differences are manifest; and more
distinctly to those who are enabled to elevate the sight arising from
such judgement to a higher degree, which is effected by withdrawing it
from the senses, and exalting it into a superior light; these can at
length confirm themselves in their understanding, and thereby see that
conjugial love is never exactly similar in any two persons. Nevertheless
no one can see the infinite varieties of this love in any light of the
understanding however elevated, unless he first know what is the nature
and quality of that love in its very essence and integrity, thus what
was its nature and quality when, together with life, it was implanted in
man from God. Unless this its state, which was most perfect, be known,
it is in vain to attempt the discovery of its differences by any
investigation; for there is no other fixed point, from which as a first
principle those differences may be deduced, and to which as the focus of
their direction they may be referred, and thus may appear truly and
without fallacy. This is the reason why we here undertake to describe
that love in its essence; and as it was in this essence when, together
with life from God, it was infused into man, we undertake to describe it
such as it was in its primeval state; and as in this state it was truly
conjugial, therefore we have entitled this section, ON LOVE TRULY
CONJUGIAL. The description of it shall be given in the following order:
I. _There exists a love truly conjugial, which at this day is so rare
that it is not known what is its quality, and scarcely that it exists._
II. _This love originates in the marriage of good and truth._ III.
_There is a correspondence of this love with the marriage of the Lord
and the church._ IV. _This love from its origin and correspondence, is
celestial, spiritual, holy, pure, and clean, above every other love
imparted by the Lord to the angels of heaven and the men of the church._
V. _It is also the foundation love of all celestial and spiritual loves,
and thence of all natural loves._ VI. _Into this love are collected all
joys and delights from first to last._ VII. _None however come into this
love, and can be in it, but those who approach the Lord, and love the
truths of the church and practise its goods._ VIII. _This love was the
love of loves with the ancients, who lived in the golden, silver, and
copper ages; but afterwards it successively departed._ We now proceed to
the explanation of each article.

58. I. THERE EXISTS A LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, WHICH AT THIS DAY IS SO RARE
THAT IS NOT KNOWN WHAT IS ITS QUALITY, AND SCARCELY THAT IT EXISTS. That
there exists such conjugial love as is described in the following pages,
may indeed be acknowledged from the first state of that love, when it
insinuates itself, and enters into the hearts of a youth and a virgin;
thus from its influence on those who begin to love one alone of the sex,
and to desire to be joined therewith in marriage; and still more at the
time of courtship and the interval which precedes the marriage-ceremony;
and lastly during the marriage-ceremony and some days after it. At such
times who does not acknowledge and consent to the following positions;
that this love is the foundation of all loves, and also that into it are
collected all joys and delights from first to last? And who does not
know that, after this season of pleasure, the satisfactions thereof
successively pass away and depart, till at length they are scarcely
sensible? In the latter case, if it be said as before, that this love is
the foundation of all loves, and that into it are collected all joys and
delights, the positions are neither agreed to nor acknowledged, and
possibly it is asserted that they are nonsense or incomprehensible
mysteries. From these considerations it is evident, that primitive
marriage love bears a resemblance to love truly conjugial, and presents
it to view in a certain image. The reason of which is, because then the
love of the sex, which is unchaste, is put away, and in its place the
love of one of the sex, which is truly conjugial and chaste, remains
implanted: in this case, who does not regard other women with
indifference, and the one to whom he is united with love and affection?

59. The reason why love truly conjugial is notwithstanding so rare, that
its quality is not known, and scarcely its existence, is, because the
state of pleasurable gratifications before and at the time of marriage,
is afterwards changed into a state of indifference arising from an
insensibility to such gratifications. The causes of this change of state
are too numerous to be here adduced; but they shall be adduced in a
future part of this work, when we come to explain in their order the
causes of coldnesses, separations, and divorces; from which it will be
seen, that with the generality at this day this image of conjugial love
is so far abolished, and with the image the knowledge thereof, that its
quality and even its existence are scarcely known. It is well known,
that every man by birth is merely corporeal, and that from corporeal he
becomes natural more and more interiorly, and thus rational, and at
length spiritual. The reason why this is effected progressively is,
because the corporeal principle is like ground, wherein things natural,
rational, and spiritual are implanted in their order; thus a man becomes
more and more a man. The case is nearly similar when he enters into
marriage; on this occasion a man becomes a more complete man, because he
is joined with a consort, with whom he acts as one man: but this, in the
first state spoken of above, is effected only in a sort of image: in
like manner he then commences from what is corporeal, and proceeds to
what is natural as to conjugial life, and thereby to a conjunction into
a one. Those who, in this case, love corporeal natural things, and
rational things only as grounded therein, cannot be conjoined to a
consort as into a one, except as to those externals: and when those
externals fail, cold takes possession of the internals; in consequence
whereof the delights of that love are dispersed and driven away, as from
the mind so from the body, and afterwards as from the body so from the
mind; and this until there is nothing left of the remembrance of the
primeval state of their marriage, consequently no knowledge respecting
it. Now since this is the case with the generality of persons at this
day, it is evident that love truly conjugial is not known as to its
quality, and scarcely as to its existence. It is otherwise with those
who are spiritual. With them the first state is an initiation into
lasting satisfactions, which advance in degree, in proportion as the
spiritual rational principle of the mind, and thence the natural sensual
principle of the body, in each party, conjoin and unite themselves with
the same principles in the other party; but such instances are rare.

60. II. THIS LOVE ORIGINATES IN THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. That all
things in the universe have relation to good and truth, is acknowledged
by every intelligent man, because it is a universal truth; that likewise
in every thing in the universe good is conjoined with truth, and truth
with good, cannot but be acknowledged, because this also is a universal
truth, which agrees with the former. The reason why all things in the
universe have relation to good and truth, and why good is conjoined with
truth, and truth with good, is, because each proceeds from the Lord, and
they proceed from him as a one. The two things which proceed from the
Lord, are love and wisdom, because these are himself, thus from himself;
and all things relating to love are called good, or goods, and all
things relating to wisdom are called true, or truths; and as these two
proceed from him as the creator, it follows that they are in the things
created. This may be illustrated by heat and light which proceed from
the sun: from them all things appertaining to the earth are derived,
which germinate according to their presence and conjunction; and natural
heat corresponds to spiritual heat, which is love, as natural light
corresponds to spiritual light, which is wisdom.

61. That conjugial love proceeds from the marriage of good and truth,
will be shewn in the following section or paragraph: It is mentioned
here only with a view of shewing that this love is celestial, spiritual,
and holy, because it is from a celestial, spiritual, and holy origin. In
order to see that the origin of conjugial love is from the marriage of
good and truth, it may be expedient in this place briefly to premise
somewhat on the subject. It was said just above, that in every created
thing there exists a conjunction of good and truth; and there is no
conjunction unless it be reciprocal; for conjunction on one part, and
not on the other in its turn, is dissolved of itself. Now as there is a
conjunction of good and truth, and this is reciprocal, it follows that
there is a truth of good, or truth grounded in good, and that there is a
good of truth, or good grounded in truth; that the truth of good, or
truth grounded in good, is in the male, and that it is the very
essential male (or masculine) principle, and that the good of truth, or
good grounded in truth, is in the female, and that it is the very
essential female (or feminine) principle; also that there is a conjugial
union between those two, will be seen in the following section: it is
here only mentioned in order to give some preliminary idea on the
subject.

62. III. THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE OF THIS LOVE WITH THE MARRIAGE OF THE
LORD AND THE CHURCH; that is, that as the Lord loves the church, and is
desirous that the church should love him, so a husband and a wife
mutually love each other. That there is a correspondence herein, is well
known in the Christian world: but the nature of that correspondence as
yet is not known; therefore we will explain it presently in a particular
paragraph. It is here mentioned in order to shew that conjugial love is
celestial, spiritual, and holy, because it corresponds to the celestial,
spiritual, and holy marriage of the Lord and the church. This
correspondence also follows as a consequence of conjugial love's
originating in the marriage of good and truth, spoken of in the
preceding article; because the marriage of good and truth constitutes
the church with man: for the marriage of good and truth is the same as
the marriage of charity and faith; since good relates to charity, and
truth to faith. That this marriage constitutes the church must at once
be acknowledged, because it is a universal truth; and every universal
truth is acknowledged as soon as it is heard, in consequence of the
Lord's influx and at the same time of the confirmation of heaven. Now
since the church is the Lord's, because it is from him, and since
conjugial love corresponds to the marriage of the Lord and the church,
it follows that this love is from the Lord.

63. But in what manner the church from the Lord is formed with two
married partners, and how conjugial love is formed thereby, shall be
illustrated in the paragraph spoken of above: we will at present only
observe, that the church from the Lord is formed in the husband, and
through the husband in the wife; and that when it is formed in each, it
is a full church; for in this case is effected a full conjunction of
good and truth; and the conjunction of good and truth constitutes the
church. That the uniting inclination, which is conjugial love, is in a
similar degree with the conjunction of good and truth, which is the
church, will be proved by convincing arguments in what follows in the
series.

64. IV. THIS LOVE, FROM ITS ORIGIN AND CORRESPONDENCE, IS CELESTIAL,
SPIRITUAL, HOLY, PURE, AND CLEAN, ABOVE EVERY OTHER LOVE IMPARTED BY THE
LORD TO THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN AND THE MEN OF THE CHURCH. That such is the
nature and quality of conjugial love from its origin, which is the
marriage of good and truth, was briefly shewn above; but the subject was
then barely touched upon: in like manner that such is the nature and
quality of that love, from its correspondence with the marriage of the
Lord and the church. These two marriages, from which conjugial love, as
a slip or shoot, descends, are essentially holy, therefore if it be
received from its author, the Lord, holiness from him follows of
consequence, which continually cleanses and purifies it: in this case,
if there be in the man's will a desire and tendency to it, this love
becomes daily and continually cleaner and purer. Conjugial love is
called celestial and spiritual because it is with the angels of heaven;
celestial, as with the angels of the highest heaven, these being called
celestial angels; and spiritual, as with the angels beneath that heaven,
these being called spiritual angels. Those angels are so called, because
the celestial are loves, and thence wisdoms, and the spiritual are
wisdoms and thence loves; similar thereto is their conjugial principle.
Now as conjugial love is with the angels of both the superior and the
inferior heavens, as was also shewn in the first paragraph concerning
marriages in heaven, it is manifest that it is holy and pure. The reason
why this love in its essence, considered in regard to its origin, is
holy and pure above every other love with angels and men, is, because it
is as it were the head of the other loves: concerning its excellence
something shall be said in the following article.

65. V. IT IS ALSO THE FOUNDATION LOVE OF ALL CELESTIAL AND SPIRITUAL
LOVES, AND THENCE OF ALL NATURAL LOVES. The reason why conjugial love
considered in its essence is the foundation love of all the loves of
heaven and the church, is, because it originates in the marriage of good
and truth, and from this marriage proceed all the loves which constitute
heaven and the church with man: the good of this marriage constitutes
love, and its truth constitutes wisdom; and when love draws near to
wisdom, or joins itself therewith, then love becomes love; and when
wisdom in its turn draws near to love, and joins itself therewith, then
wisdom becomes wisdom. Love truly conjugial is the conjunction of love
and wisdom. Two married partners, between or in whom this love subsists,
are an image and form of it: all likewise in the heavens, where faces
are the genuine types of the affections of every one's love, are
likenesses of it; for, as was shewn above, it pervades them in the whole
and in every part. Now as two married partners are an image and form of
this love, it follows that every love which proceeds from the form of
essential love itself, is a resemblance thereof; therefore if conjugial
love be celestial and spiritual, the loves proceeding from it are also
celestial and spiritual. Conjugial love therefore is as a parent, and
all other loves are as the offspring. Hence it is, that from the
marriages of the angels in the heavens are produced spiritual offspring,
which are those of love and wisdom, or of good and truth; concerning
which production, see above, n. 51, 52.

66. The same is evident from man's having been created for this love,
and from his formation afterwards by means of it. The male was created
to become wisdom grounded in the love of growing wise, and the female
was created to become the love of the male grounded in his wisdom, and
consequently was formed according thereto; from which consideration it
is manifest, that two married partners are the very forms and images of
the marriage of love and wisdom, or of good and truth. It is well to be
observed, that there is not any good or truth which is not in a
substance as in its subject: there are no abstract goods and truths;
for, having no abode or habitation, they no where exist, neither can
they appear as airy unfixed principles; therefore in such case they are
mere entities, concerning which reason seems to itself to think
abstractedly; but still it cannot conceive of them except as annexed to
subjects: for every human idea, however elevated, is substantial, that
is, affixed to substances. It is moreover to be observed, that there is
no substance without a form; an unformed substance not being any thing,
because nothing can be predicated of it; and a subject without
predicates is also an entity which has no existence in reason. These
philosophical considerations are adduced in order to shew still more
clearly, that two married partners who are principled in love truly
conjugial, are actually forms of the marriage of good and truth, or of
love and wisdom.

67. Since natural loves flow from spiritual, and spiritual from
celestial, therefore it is said that conjugial love is the foundation
love of all celestial and spiritual loves, and thence of all natural
loves. Natural loves relate to the loves of self and of the world;
spiritual loves to love towards the neighbour; and celestial loves to
love to the Lord; and such as are the relations of the loves, it is
evident in what order they follow and are present with man. When they
are in this order, then the natural loves live from the spiritual, and
the spiritual from the celestial, and all in this order from the Lord,
in whom they originate.

68. VI. INTO THIS LOVE ARE COLLECTED ALL JOYS AND DELIGHTS FROM FIRST TO
LAST. All delights whatever, of which a man (_homo_) has any perception,
are delights of his love; the love manifesting itself, yea, existing and
living thereby. It is well known that the delights are exalted in
proportion as the love is exalted, and also in proportion as the
incident affections touch the ruling love more nearly. Now as conjugial
love is the foundation love of all good loves, and as it is inscribed on
all the parts and principles of man, even the most particular, as was
shewn above, it follows that its delights exceed the delights of all
other loves, and also that it gives delight to the other loves,
according to its presence and conjunction with them; for it expands the
inmost principles of the mind, and at the same time the inmost
principles of the body, as the delicious current of its fountain flows
through and opens them. The reason why all delights from first to last
are collected into this love, is on account of the superior excellence
of its use, which is the propagation of the human race, and thence of
the angelic heaven; and as this use was the chief end of creation, it
follows that all the beatitudes, satisfactions, delights,
pleasantnesses, and pleasures, which the Lord the Creator could possibly
confer upon man, are collected into this his love. That delights follow
use, and are also communicated to man according to the love thereof, is
manifest from the delights of the five senses, seeing, hearing,
smelling, taste, and touch: each of these has its delights with
variations according to the specific uses of each; what then must be the
delight annexed to the sense of conjugial love, the use of which
comprehends all other uses?

69. I am aware that few will acknowledge that all joys and delights from
first to last are collected into conjugial love; because love truly
conjugial, into which they are collected, is at this day so rare that
its quality is not known, and scarcely its existence, agreeably to what
was explained and confirmed above, n. 58, 59; for such joys and delights
exist only in genuine conjugial love; and as this is so rare on earth,
it is impossible to describe its super-eminent felicities any otherwise
than from the mouth of angels, because they are principled in it. They
have declared, that the inmost delights of this love, which are delights
of the soul, into which the conjugial principle of love and wisdom, or
of good and truth from the Lord, first flows, are imperceptible and
thence ineffable, because they are the delights of peace and innocence
conjointly; but that in their descent they become more and more
perceptible; in the superior principles of the mind as beatitudes, in
the inferior as satisfactions, in the breast as delights thence derived;
and that from the breast they diffuse themselves into every part of the
body, and at length unite themselves in ultimates and become the delight
of delights. Moreover the angels have related wonderful things
respecting these delights; adding further, that their varieties in the
souls of conjugial pairs, and from their souls in their minds, and from
their minds in their breasts, are infinite and also eternal; that they
are exalted according to the prevalence of wisdom with the husband; and
this, because they live to eternity in the bloom of their age, and
because they know no greater blessedness than to grow wiser and wiser.
But a fuller account of these delights, as given by the angels, may be
seen in the MEMORABLE RELATIONS, especially in those added to some of
the following chapters.

70. VII. NONE HOWEVER COME INTO THIS LOVE, AND CAN REMAIN IN IT, BUT
THOSE WHO APPROACH THE LORD, AND LOVE THE TRUTHS OF THE CHURCH AND
PRACTISE ITS GOODS. The reason why none come into that love but those
who approach the Lord, is, because monogamical marriages, which are of
one husband with one wife, correspond to the marriage of the Lord and
the church, and because such marriages originate in the marriage of good
and truth; on which subject, see above, n. 60 and 62. That from this
origin and correspondence it follows, that love truly conjugial is from
the Lord, and exists only with those who come directly to him, cannot be
fully confirmed unless these two arcana be specifically treated of, as
shall be done in the chapters which immediately follow; one of which
will treat on the origin of conjugial love as derived from the marriage
of good and truth, and the other on the marriage of the Lord and the
church, and on its correspondence. That it hence follows, that,
conjugial love with man (_homo_) is according to the state of the church
with him, will also be seen in those chapters.

71. The reason why none can be principled in love truly conjugial but
those who receive it from the Lord, that is, who come directly to him,
and by derivation from him live the life of the church, is, because this
love, considered in its origin and correspondence, is celestial,
spiritual, holy, pure, and clean, above every love implanted in the
angels of heaven and the men of the church; as was shewn above, n. 64;
and these its distinguishing characters and qualities cannot possibly
exist, except with those who are conjoined to the Lord, and by him are
consociated with the angels of heaven; for these shun extra-conjugial
loves, which are conjunctions with others than their own conjugial
partner, as they would shun the loss of the soul and the lakes of hell;
and in proportion as married partners shun such conjunctions, even as to
the libidinous desires of the will and the intentions thence derived, so
far love truly conjugial is purified with them, and becomes successively
spiritual, first during their abode on earth, and afterwards in heaven.
It is not however possible that any love should become perfectly pure
either with men or with angels; consequently neither can this love:
nevertheless, since the intention of the will is what the Lord
principally regards, therefore so far as any one is in this intention,
and perseveres in it, so far he is initiated into its purity and
sanctity, and successively advances therein. The reason why none can be
principled in spiritual conjugial love, but those who are of the above
description by virtue of conjunction with the Lord, is, because heaven
is in this love; and the natural man, whose conjugial love derives its
pleasure only from the flesh, cannot approach to heaven nor to any
angel, no, nor to any man principled in this love, it being the
foundation of all celestial and spiritual loves; which may be seen
above, n. 65-67. That this is the case, has been confirmed to me by
experience. I have seen genii in the spiritual world, who were in a
state of preparation for hell, approaching to an angel while he was
being entertained by his consort; and at a distance, as they approached,
they became like furies, and sought out caverns and ditches as asylums,
into which they cast themselves. That wicked spirits love what is
similar to their affection, however unclean it is, and hold in aversion
the spirits of heaven, as what is dissimilar, because it is pure, may be
concluded from what was said in the PRELIMINARY MEMORABLE RELATION, n.
10.

72. The reason why those who love the truths of the church and practise
its goods, come into this love and are capable of remaining in it, is,
because no others are received by the Lord; for these are in conjunction
with him, and thereby are capable of being kept in that love by
influence from him. The two constituents of the church and heaven in man
(_homo_) are the truth of faith and the good of life; the truth of faith
constitutes the Lord's presence, and the good of life according to the
truths of faith constitutes conjunction with him, and thereby the church
and heaven. The reason why the truth of faith constitutes the Lord's
presence, is, because it relates to light, spiritual light being nothing
else; and the reason why the good of life constitutes conjunction, is,
because it relates to heat; and spiritual heat is nothing but the good
of life, for it is love; and the good of life originates in love; and it
is well known, that all light, even that of winter, causes presence, and
that heat united to light causes conjunction; for gardens and
shrubberies appear in all degrees of light, but they do not bear flowers
and fruits unless when heat joins itself to light. From these
considerations the conclusion is obvious, that those are not gifted by
the Lord with love truly conjugial, who merely know the truths of the
church, but those who know them and practise their good.

73. VIII. THIS LOVE WAS THE LOVE OF LOVES WITH THE ANCIENTS, WHO LIVED
IN THE GOLDEN, SILVER, AND COPPER AGES. That conjugial love was the love
of loves with the most ancient and the ancient people, who lived in the
ages thus named, cannot be known from historical records, because their
writings are not extant; and there is no account given of them except by
writers in succeeding ages, who mention them, and describe the purity
and integrity of their lives, and also the successive decrease of such
purity and integrity, resembling the debasement of gold to iron: but an
account of the last or iron age, which commenced from the time of those
writers, may in some measure be gathered from the historical records of
the lives of some of their kings, judges, and wise men, who were called
_sophi_ in Greece and other countries. That this age however should not
endure, as iron endures in itself, but that it should be like iron mixed
with clay, which do not cohere, is foretold by Daniel, chap. ii. 43. Now
as the golden, silver, and copper ages passed away before the time when
writing came into use, and thus it is impossible on earth to acquire any
knowledge concerning their marriages, it has pleased the Lord to unfold
to me such knowledge by a spiritual way, by conducting me to the heavens
inhabited by those most ancient people, that I might learn from their
own mouths the nature and quality of their marriages during their abode
here on earth in their several ages: for all, who from the beginning of
creation have departed by death out of the natural world, are in the
spiritual world, and as to their loves resemble what they were when
alive in the natural world, and continue such to eternity. As the
particulars of this knowledge are worthy to be known and related, and
tend to confirm the sanctity of marriages, I am desirous to make them
public as they were shown me in the spirit when awake, and were
afterwards recalled to my remembrance by an angel, and thus described.
And as they are from the spiritual world, like the other accounts
annexed to each chapter, I am desirous to arrange them so as to form six
MEMORABLE RELATIONS according to the progressions of the several periods
of time.

       *       *       *       *       *

74. THESE SIX MEMORABLE RELATIONS from the spiritual world, concerning
conjugial love, discover the nature and quality of that love in the
earliest times and afterwards, and also at the present day; whence it
appears that that love has successively fallen away from its sanctity
and purity, until it became adulterous; but that nevertheless there is a
hope of its being brought back again to its primeval or ancient
sanctity.

75. THE FIRST MEMORABLE RELATION. On a time, while I was meditating on
conjugial love, my mind was seized with a desire of knowing what had
been the nature and quality of that love among those who lived in the
GOLDEN AGE, and afterwards among those who lived in the following ages,
which have their names from silver, copper, and iron: and as I knew that
all who lived well in those ages are in the heavens, I prayed to the
Lord that I might be allowed to converse with them and be informed: and
lo! an angel presented himself and said, "I am sent by the Lord to be
your guide and companion: I will first lead and attend you to those who
lived in the first age or period of time, which is called golden:" and
he said, "The way to them is difficult; it lies through a shady forest,
which none can pass unless he receive a guide from the Lord." I was in
the spirit, and prepared myself for the journey; and we turned our faces
towards the east; and as we advanced I saw a mountain, whose height
extended beyond the region of the clouds. We passed a great wilderness,
and came to the forest planted with various kinds of trees and rendered
shady by their thickness, of which the angel had advertised me. The
forest was divided by several narrow paths; and the angel said, that
according to the number of those paths are the windings and intricacies
of error: and that unless his eyes were opened by the Lord, so as to see
olives entwined with vine tendrils, and his steps were directed from
olive to olive, the traveller would miss his way, and fall into the
abodes of Tartarus, which are round about at the sides. This forest is
of such a nature, to the end that the passage may be guarded; for none
but a primeval nation dwells upon that mountain. After we had entered
the forest, our eyes were opened, and we saw here and there olives
entwined with vines, from which hung bunches of grapes of a blue or
azure color, and the olives were ranged in continual wreaths; we
therefore made various circuits as they presented themselves to our
view; and at length we saw a grove of tall cedars and some eagles
perched on their branches; on seeing which the angel said, "We are now
on the mountain not far from its summit:" so we went forward, and lo!
behind the grove was a circular plain, where there were feeding he and
she-lambs, which were representative forms of the state of innocence and
peace of the inhabitants of the mountain. We passed over this plain, and
lo! we saw tabernacles, to the number of several thousands in front on
each side in every direction as far as the eye could reach. And the
angel said, "We are now in the camp, where are the armies of the Lord
Jehovah; for so they call themselves and their habitations. These most
ancient people, while they were in the world, dwelt in tabernacles;
therefore now also they dwell in the same. But let us bend our way to
the south, where the wiser of them live, that we may meet some one to
converse with." In going along I saw at a distance three boys and three
girls sitting at a door of a certain tent; but as we approached, the
boys and girls appeared like men and women of a middle stature. The
angel then said, "All the inhabitants of this mountain appear at a
distance like infants, because they are in a state of innocence; and
infancy is the appearance of innocence." The men on seeing us hastened
towards us and said, "Whence are you; and how came you here? Your faces
are not like those of our mountain." But the angel in reply told them
how, by permission, we had had access through the forest, and what was
the cause of our coming. On hearing this, one of the three men invited
and introduced us into his tabernacle. The man was dressed in a blue
robe and a tunic of white wool: and his wife had on a purple gown, with
a stomacher under it of fine linen wrought in needle-work. And as 

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